When a herb is a hat...

And I don't mean when you take palm leaves or whatever and make a lovely Tom Hanks Castaway style hat out of them.

So, I have managed to come down with a cold in the days leading up to coming home for Xmas. It is always the way, that you become sick just before going on holidays, as the stress is finally gone, and your body relaxes it's defence mechinisms, and then the nasties take hold. Little bastards.

Anyway, I am "working" from home today, and B and I had agreed to have lunch together. After lunch we went to the Chemist to try and get Echinacea tablets, so that I can try and get a little better before flying tomorrow.

B, being the intelligent one of the two of us, had already looked up what the german word for Echinacea was, so we were well prepared. We walk into the Chemist, and it goes something like this (roughly translated).

Them: Can we help you?
Us: Do you have "Sonnenhüte"?
Them: No, we don't.
Us: Oh. (I start thinking that we could go to the Naturopath...)
Them: We have a spray that you could use for sun protection, but no sun hats.
Us: *looking confused* Um, we were looking for "Echinacea" in English.
What's that called in German?
Them: Oh, you mean Echinacea (with german pronunciation)
Us: Yes. So, it is the same in German?
Them: No, it is Latin.
Us: Oh.

So, here is the problem broken down for you into detail:
"The Sun" is "die Sonne" in German.
"Hat" is "der Hut", and "hats" is "die Hüte".
Put the two of them together, and you get "Sonnenhüte", or "Sun hats".
But, "Echinacea", or should I say the plant that it comes from is also called "Sonnenhut" or in plural "Sonnenhüte", as described in Wikipedia.

Na ja, what can you do? You do the right thing, and prepare yourselves ahead of time, and then you still screw it up. :) Either way, we scored a free calendar detailing herbs that you can used to keep healthy and stuff. :)

PS: Flying home tomorrow! See you all soon!!!!!

Tschüß,
'Brush

The week from hell...

So, the work week started this week (and next) for me on Sunday, as I had a meeting first thing on Monday morning in Munich. And, of course, the weather in Munich was pretty darn foggy, so we were delayed by about 1/2hr.

Monday I had 2 meetings at Siemens in Munich, which were fairly uneventful, and then I piled back into a plane and flew to Amsterdam for a meeting on Tuesday.

Amsterdam was also fairly uneventful, except for us getting told by a Customer that if we don't fix a problem they have before March, then we may as well not come back. Gotta love situations like that.

From Amsterdam, I poured myself into another plane, and flew out to Berlin. I landed in Berlin around 19:30, and poured myself into a hire car with a colleague, and we drove 2.5hrs north east to Greifswald on the coast.

Wednesday morning we had our meeting in Greifswald, and finished up around 12:00. Again, back into the car, and 2.5hrs back to Berlin...and this is where the fun begins.

Ok, so I originally thought that our meeting would finish around 1pm, and that we would require 3hrs to get back to Berlin, and hence I hadn't booked on the 15:45 plane from Berlin to Denmark. The next flight after that, from Berlin to Copenhagen direct, was at 20:55, and I had booked on that.
Right, so we left Greifswald at 12:00, and arrived about 2.5hrs later at the Tegel airport in Berlin. I went to the ticketing counter, and asked if I could change onto the earlier flight at 15:45. The lady told me that, due to the class of my ticket, I couldn't change, and would have to take the 20:55 flight. Stoked.
So, I cruise on to the Gold Class / First Class check-in area, check-in, and check my suitcase (carry-on size, but it is just easier to check them, with the new security regulations). This guy tries again to change my flight, but it was a no-go. So it is now 15:00, and I have around 6hrs to wait. I cruise into the Gold lounge and do a bit of work, and then decide to go into Berlin to have a look around.
In Berlin I bought a copy of "The Never-ending Story" book in German to have a bit of a read, and picked up a "Hazelnut Great One" coffee (500ml) from Dunkin' Donuts (I love this shit!).
Anyway, I eventually take the train back to the airport, waste a bit more time in the Lounge, realise that I left my paper tickets at the Check-in counter and cruise back and pick them up (the check-in guy was at fault here) ,and after a 20min delay, I board the Turbo-Prop plane to Denmark.

The flight to Denmark wasn't anything special (except for loud, and vibratey (??)). I came into the baggage hall, and waited...and waited...and waited...and eventually the baggage thing stopped turning...without my bad. Turns out that checking in 6 hours early for the flight mustn't be enough, and therefore they left my bag in Berlin. Stoked x 2.
Cutting it short - they said my bag would arrive at 11am the next day, but I would have already checked out of my hotel by then, so I told them to keep it, and send it to Frankfurt for me. They also gave me some toiletries and stuff...so it wasn't too bad.

Meeting in Denmark was good, and then I rocked up to the airport to fly home. I tried to check-in and told the chick that they had my bag, and I wanted it sent to Frankfurt with me. She told me that I had to go and call some number, and check that it was there first.
After I did that, I went back to her and checked-in again. She asked me "did they use the same baggage tag for your bag to Frankfurt?" How the hell should I know?!?! I told her I didn't know, and she said "Ok, I will call them." Why didn't she just call them in the first place, instead of sending me away???
Ok, now I am checked in, and I go to security, and stand in a Fast-Track queue for 1hr, waiting to clear security. I realise as I reach the front of the queue, that I don't have my gold card anymore! F§"$" IT!
Leave the line, head back to the check-in counter. "Do you have my gold card?" "No, I gave it back to you with your passport! You can look for yourself if you want." "If you say so, then you must have" "Oh, wait! Here it is, under my keyboard!" "Thanks" (with sarcasm).
Back to the queue, and luckily I can skip through to the front, as the guys who were behind me still hadn't gone through, so they let me back in.

Anyway, eventually get on the plane and get back home...glad that my shitty week was over. But next week doesn't look much better either.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Ich möchte auch ein Spieß werden!

Ok, so there is this ad on TV in Germany at the moment that I find particularly funny.

There is a Dad and his approx 10yr old Daughter sitting outside watching people and things go by. Every now and then the little girl says that someone or other had this cool thing, and someone or other had that cool thing. Each time the father responds with "Spießer".

The little girl, because it is the response to everything that she thinks is cool, then says to her Dad "Wenn ich älter bin, will ich auch ein Spieß werden!". The father proceeds to choke on his coffee... But why?

"Spießer", which the father kept using, means that someone is "bourgeois" (which I had to look up in an English dictionary), or simply common or materialistic.

The little girl's response in English is "When I am older, I want to also become a 'Spieß'!" - meaning that she also wants to be materialistic...or so she thinks.

But here is the problem, "der Spieß" means a spit, or a skewer. So basically the little girl has said that she wanted to be "spit roasted"...if you know that term, when it has nothing to do with roasting meat over hot coals... :) No wonder the Dad nearly choked himself on his coffee!

Anyway, I find it kinda funny.

Tschüß,
'Brush

I've been around the world and I, I, I...

I've been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby!
I don't know where, I don't know why
Why he's gone away!

One of our friends had a pic on her blog site showing how much of the world she has seen, so I thought I would give it a crack too. Results below:



create your own visited countries map

Only 8% of the world in around 33% of my life. Better get my arse into gear.

Tschüß
'Brush

WTF, Leute!

Ok, Germany just recorded it's warmest November on record in the last 100yrs, Icebergs are floating off the coast of New Zealand, and it has been snowing in Australia. Has the world gone retarded or what? Next thing you know, England will win the Ashes, the USA will pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and Australia will get a Labor federal government!

Na ja, anyway. Quick question for you. Which of the following products will allow you to reach into the toilet to retrieve a lost ring, and end up with a dry hand?

1. Hair Gel
   
2. Baby Powder
   
3. Waterproof impregnating spray
   

Answer at the end of this post.

Now for those who like the pics, here are some that we took of an old Roman Fort, not far from Frankfurt. The fort originates from 200AD or something like that, and was reconstructed in the 1800s by one of the German Kaisers.

The ruins of the Roman Baths...where men would get naked and cuddle	The front gates...
Belinda and ex-colleague Anna lookin' for da N.M.E	A hungry tree...or it looks like a fat man's belly hanging over his belt

Ok, so the answer is 2) Baby Powder. If you sprinkle enough (a couple of centimeters thick worth) on top of the water, then as you reach through the powder into the water it builds a barrier around your hand that the water cannot get through.

PS: 1 month and counting.

Tschüß,
'Brush

It's gettin' colder

So, today I walked to the supermarket to get some bread, and had the following clothing on the top half of my body:

1. Singlet (you know it's getting cold when I start wearing them)
2. Long-sleeved t-shirt (Timberland)
3. Hooded jumper (Roots, Canada)
4. Hockey Jersey (UNH, silver, 3rd jersey)
5. Thick jacket (grey, timberland)

And I was still a little cold. I checked www.wetter.de and they said that it is 10C, which I don't believe for a minute. But they also show the "it feels like" temperature, and it apparently feels like 2C, which is a lot more like it.

Am I counting down the days until I come home for Summer? HELL YEAH!

Tschüß,
'Brush

Two things I didn't expect...

Got up this morning to go to the Airport to fly to Norway. Thought I should turn on the PC to check the weather in Oslo, and I discovered 2 things I didn't expect:

1. The high for the week in Oslo will be 3C;
2. The clocks went back 1hr last night, so now I have an extra hour to kill.

Oh well. Good thing is that the clocks didn't go forward 1 hour, or we would have been in trouble.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Für die, die Deutsch können...

Belinda hat Angst, daß dieser Blog nur ein Videosarchiv wird. Aber, ich denke, daß diese Videos lohnen sich, für die Leute, die Deutsch sprechen/verstehen können.

Vorher gab es eine Werbung über deutsche Leute, die nicht lesen können. Danach kamen diese Parodien. Viel Spaß...

Kein Ostdeutsch...



Kein Bayerisch...



Es gibt auch eine Parodie des Films "Tarzan - König des Dschungels", die darum geht, was die Deutschen von den Türken halten...



Tschüß,
'Brush

Peter Andre and Wifey-poos get their song on

Peter Andre (remember him? ) and his wife (talent, but in the wronge department) got their song on at some benefit concert recently, tackling "A Whole New World" from Aladdin.



Apparently they audio on the video was fairly heavily produced to make Wifey-poos sound good...so here is the audio as it was "reportedly" heard.

A Whole New World (of pain)

MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! IT HURTS!!!!!

Tschüß,
'Brush

PS: Extra bonus for ya! Here are some of the worst moments of German Popstars history (I am addicted to this show!). You don't need to understand the judges...just listen to the singing.

{Removed because it always starts to play when I load the blog to check for comments. The video is here.}

Google

For a bit of fun type 'failure' into the google search filed and hit 'I'm feeling lucky'

hehe
B

The Answer and the Hockey

Ok, firstly here is the answer:

Saying: Er atmet gesiebte Luft - He breaths sieved air
Meaning: He is in jail

Secondly, Bel and I had our second outing to the German Hockey last night. This time it was Frankfurt Lions playing host to the Straubing Tigers. It also happened to be the 15 Year Anniversary of the Lions first game in the League, so they played in their original strip...and I really wish that they didn't. :)



Above are the Original / Third jerseys. Pretty, huh?

Above are the home jerseys for this season.

And above are the away jerseys.

Thing that bugs me about the jerseys in this league is that the focus is on getting as much sponsorship as possible on the things, rather than having some distinguishing team markings. It also means that if you buy a jersey this season, it will definitely be out of date next season, as the sponsors will probably change. But, with that being said, the fans went nutty last night and were buying the new jersey like it was going out of fashion.

But, back to the game. Was a good game with Frankfurt winning 6:5 after 0:42 of overtime. Frankfurt did lead the game 5:2 at one point in time, but Staubingen came back very strongly, with a lot of help from Frankfurt penalties. I think that 4 of Staubingen's goals were scored on Power Plays, whereas Frankfurt scored 4 of theirs at even strength, one in a PP, and one when they were a man down, through a terrific breakaway, and a one-on-one battle with the goalie. Nice little last minute backhand flick into the top of the net from the right hand side was sweet!

Anyway, Josh and Pat, you would have loved it. :)

Tschüß
'Brush

Cool saying

Not that I would get the chance to say it much, but I heard/learnt a new German saying today:

Er atmet gesiebte Luft - He breaths sieved air

So, what does it mean? You will find the answer in the comments after a few of you have a bit of a guess first.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Lions or Löwen - MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

Bel and I headed out to the Eishockey (Ice Hockey) last night to see the Frankfurt Lions take on the DEG Metro-Stars (from Düsseldorf). This was our first outing to see German Ice-Hockey, and hopefully not our last.

For those who don't have an interest in the game, some of the following may not make sense, but bear with me...if you want.

Anyway, the German game is a little different to the American style of hockey. To start with, the ice is wider than the NHL ice, and this creates more room for the players to move, and the potential for a more flowing style of hockey. Downside is there are less big hits. There also seems to be a distinct lack of fighting in the German game, where as it is an expected part of the NHL game, and is in fact regulated in the rule book. The crowds here also get very worked up every time there is a big hit, and start abusing the ref for not calling a penalty, when the hit is, in my mind, nothing more than a big hit. Oh well.

As for the arena - it is about the same size as "The Whit" at the University of New Hampshire, seating around 6,000 people, with some sections that are "standing room". Good side to this is that you are nice and close to the ice - we were 4 rows from the front, behind the opposition's net.

As for the game, it was pretty good, with Frankfurt winning 2:1 in the final minutes of the 3rd period.

A few points:

1. Skating skills are pretty good
2. Frankfurt's passing, offense, and defense was appauling
3. Frankfurt's penalty killing was pretty damn good, shutting down a number of 3-on-5 power-play opportunities
4. The atmosphere in the arena is pretty good, as the fan clubs bring in drums and the likes, so there is a lot of noise to encourage the teams
5. If you thought that chanting was limited to soccer, then you are wrong
6. Frankfurt needs to decide if they are the Lions or Löwen. The team is the Lions, but the crowd cheers for the Löwen...maybe confusing the players, and hence some bad passing

Sorry for a crap blog, but I am sure that Josh will get some kicks out of it.

Tschüß,
'Brush

We got wheels!

On Saturday Bel and I caught the train into Frankfurt and went shopping for Inline Skates. Thought that they may inspire us to get out on the weekends, do a bit of exercise, and have a bit of fun at the same time.

So, apart from getting bugger all help in the store, we finally got ourselves kitted out, with everything at about 40%-50% discount, due to the fact that winter is rapidly approaching.

Sunday we headed out with the plan to head to Bad Homburg on our skates, but gave up on that pretty quickly when we realised that we suck, and that we need practise. So, instead, we headed into some corn-fields, that have paved paths through them, and gave it a bit of a go. The practise wasn't very long, as it started to rain, but we were getting the general hang of it by the end...

Now, if only winter would hold off for a few more weeks, and if the sun would shine instead of it pissing down rain, we could have a bit of fun.



Tschüß,
'Brush

Völlig geil!

For those who worked with me in Aus, you will remember, and have carried on, the lessons in SBC - The Standards of Bathroom Conduct. Today I stumbled across this ripper on YouTube. Gets a little strange towards the end, but it is worth it:



Then, for both the English speakers, and the German speakers out there, there is this ripper about Hitler's bunker at the end of the war:



And one more that I think I sent some of you before, but deserves to be seen again:



Enjoy!

Tschüß,
'Brush

Space Blog

I gotta admit that I have, quite often, a serious case of the Tall Poppy Syndrome, and it pisses me off when rich people buy their way into things - for example, a trip to the Space Station.

But, putting all of my personal problems aside, I acutally read the blog from Anousheh Ansari (US Business-woman who bough a ticket to space), and it acutally seems like this chick has her head fair square and level on her shoulders. I think that everyone should have a read of it, and consider some of the cool things that she says about Earth as it appears from Space, especially about lack of borders etc...

PS: Sorry that this blog entry wasn't funny...so here's some dancing giraffes to make up for it...


PPS: These are another pair of Puma boots that I bought around the time of B&T's wedding...

Geil, oder?

Tschüß,
'Brush

I'm bored, so here are my shoes!

I am bored at work, waiting for our Oktoberfest Grillfest to start (sausages and beer in the office), so I took some pics of my shoes. I picked these babies up for a cool €50 in Nürnburg last week at the Puma Outlet.

Are they the Duck's Nuts or what?!?!

Tschüß,
'Brush

Landratsamt and a pain in my arse

So, on Monday we headed to the Landratsamt in Bad Homburg to try and renew our Residence and Work Permits. The Landratsamt Ausländerbehörde (which LEO translates as "public authority responsible for aliens") opens at 08:00, and we got there about 5 minutes later (because the times aren't published on the web anywhere), only to find that all the appointment numbers for the day were gone already. What a crock! Gotta come back tomorrow.

So, Bel went to work, and I went home to wait for Ikea to deliver the wardrobes that I purchased on the weekend. The guys finally came at about 15:00, and managed to drag the flat-packed things in by themselves (these puppies are H-E-A-V-Y!!!). They then left them leaning up against the wall, and left.
Naturally, I didn't want them up against the wall, so I decided to lie them down. In the process of doing the second one, something in my lower back went PING! and pain resulted.
Bel convinced me that I should go to the Physio (Krankengymnast) and get it checked out - so we went together. But, the system here isn't as simple as us getting an appointment with Dean, as you have to get a referral from a Doctor first. So, with Bin ranting about a crap system, I booked in to the Orthopedic Doctor in Friedrichsdorf for first thing on Tuesday morning.

So, Tuesday morning we trundle (who says that shit? What am I, 80 or something?) off to the Doctor. The dude comes in, asks what is up, and then checks out my back briefly (about 60sec), and they says "You need an injection". Next thing I know, I have dropped my strides, and a nurse has stuck a needle in my arse. Now, the natural questions that follow are:

1. What did they inject me with?
2. Why inject me in the arse, when it was my back that was hurting?
3. Why hasn't Dean ever injected me?

Funny thing is, that after all that, my back didn't really hurt that much anymore, but my arse was killing me!

Now, with a sore arse, Bel and I trundle (there's that word again) back to the Landratsamt to get on the list for today's sitting. We got there at 10:30, and put our names on a pin-board, to ensure that we would be first on the list that would be posted at 11:30, for an appointment at 13:30 when they were due to open. What a crock!

Anyway, after many hours of waiting, I finally got my permit extended, and Bel got a temp extension until the office in Frankfurt has finished processing hers.

So, the question is, which was the bigger pain in the arse? The system, or the injection?

Tschüß,
'Brush

Philippines (Mindanao) Aug - Part 1

Well, I know its late, but I thought a few people might be interested in hearing about how my trip to the Philippines went, and seeing a few pics....

Most of these pics make it look like I wasn't working very hard - but that's not true - it was a very busy tiring trip. 2 evaluations and a workshop. 3 full-on weeks!!

As this was my first work trip and my first evaluations (the first one my very experienced collegue was with me, the second one not!!) I was slightly nervous about how I would go, but it was great and I learnt a lot.

**** WARNING! BINDY RANT AHEAD!!! ****

I spent a week in an urban project, and a rural one. Both were interesting, but I found the urban one fascinating - for people who are so poor life in a city is far more difficult than in the country - they can't grow their own food, often have no access to land to build a house on and don't have skills to get employment. In this particular project most of the people are squatters or illegal settlers - which is differnt to what we picture as squatters in a Aus, (moving into an empty building with a sleeping bag) but they find unused land (usually government land) and build a (basic) house there. This isn't a choice - there is often simply no other option. The problem then is that as illegal settlers they have no rights over the land, and can be (and are) evicted any time. The project we were visiting is facing the relocation of 6000 families out of the city so that the governemnt can widen the river and build a park. The irony is, it is called THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS MEMORIAL PARK!!!!! For those who don't know what that means - in 2000 the UN and world governments pledged to halve world poverty by 2015 by meeting certain goals - these are the Millenium development goals. The area the people are being relocated from is currently subject to some flooding, but under the government's scheme it will be regualrly flooded - they built the flood walls AROUND the community. In fairness, the government is helping to relocate the people - but they are being relocated far from the city so have no way to make a living (generally they make money by selling things along the streets, or other small type jobs only available in a city) there are no schools ot infrastructure, and its is land established from dredging the river (really safe!!). So to celebrate the effort to reduce poverty 6000 odd families will be placed in a situation that further empoverishes them, and gives their children no chance of education. Additionally the relocation plan will take until 2010 to be completed - unfortunately the river scheme will be completed at the end of this year - so for the next 3 years most families homes will be generally under water!!!! We had a few meeting with a number of government deperatments who were so proudly telling us about this scheme - it was HORRIFYING!!!! The consultant we had with us asked me a few times if I had any questions for the people we were meeting - but it was so awful there was nothing to say.

this is the community that has the flood walls built around it	4000 odd families will be relocated from this side of the river	this side is where the park will go - in front of the wall. The homes behind the wall will be safe, but 2000 families still need to be relocated from this side

Philippines (Mindanao) Aug - Part 2

continued...

What I really loved though was the people!! They were so friendly and welcoming, and despite having no money were clearly people who were proud.




While their homes are simple they had usually made every effort to make them comfortable - with roughly constructed benchseats, tables and so on outside and other simple improvements.




they are amazing dancers and singers - these are kids performances


Out in the rural areas the roads are terrible - in this area they grow pineapples and bannanas for the big companies who pay them almost nothing, and bring their big trucks through and destroy the roads - it was seriously crazy. Our driver was a total legend though. We only got bogged once - which was an great effort!! This is it...

Philippines (Mindinao) Aug - Part 3

continued...

The people are very innovate, and make the most of what they have...

The joke here is that thes people have a balanced life - but in order to keep their balance they have to SMILE.


The scenery was also gorgeous.
This is in the rural area...

This is on a small island we visited. On the way over to this island we caught an ancient ferry, which ended up being quiet scary because it became quiet rough and we weren't sure the ferry would hold out. A huge pod (?) of dolphins was swimming with the boat, but despite taking heaps of pictures I don't get a single picture of a dolphin - just lots of empty ocean!!!

from a sand bar, looking back to the bigger island - with a volcanoe in the background	this is a marker for the sunken cemetry - in the late 1800s a volcanic erruption burried this cemetry, but apparently it makes for a really interesting dive site with all the tomb stones below.
this massive church was also burried by the volcanoe - this is whats left of the roof structure, the rest is underground	and then someone built this chapel inside the remains

Eine Bat-wurst

So, on the way back from Brussels the other night, I had to make "ein Pinkelstop" at one of the many rest stops along the autobahn.

I go into the toilets there - deciding to use the urinal (h8 that word) - and start going about my business. About 1/2 way through, this guy comes in and pulls in beside me (violation of Standards of Bathroom Conduct #1?). Then, rather than peeing, this guy starts having a bit of a bat, in a public toilet, with other people around! (Mother of all SBC violations, right?!?!?)

I promptly finished and got the hell out of there, and was damn glad that the autobahn speedlimit was unlimited at that point...

Tschüß,
'Brush

Dunno how, but I did it!

I dunno how, but somehow I managed to deliver a 5 hour training session on our Product, completely in German today. Sure, it probably sounded like crap, but the Customers seemed to follow it, and were happy to have it delivered in crap German instead of good English, because it is easier for them to follow. :)

Now for some stupid pictures I have taken lately on my Palm...

Found this sign on the walk back from Bad Homburg. I love it, but I think it could have done without the "details".

This was painted on the wall in my room in Basel, Switzerland. My room was painted to look like a cave, looking out on Ayers Rock. They couldn't have chosen a better room for me if they tried.

This was outside a shop near where we live. Basically the long and the short of it is, that they purchase gold used to cap teeth, as well as other gold and silver. In the fine print it says that they purchase teeth-gold, even if it still has the teeth attached! EW!

Pity that this one didn't really turn out, but I couldn't get much closer to this guy. Basically he is using a huge blow-torch to kill/burn the weeds that were growing in the cracks of the paving. There has to be a better way, right? But I am sure that the "better way" wouldn't be nearly as much fun!

Tschüß,
'Brush

One man went to mow, went to mow the meadow...

On the weekend, about 8 weeks after it was mowed the last time (rough guess-timate), I decided to mow the lawn. 'Twas also the first time that I have mowed the lawn with an electric mower, that actaully has a cord on it. I have used a battery powered one before, but they are a pain, because you keep having to run to Safeway to buy more batteries! :)

Anyway, the grass was so thick, that every lap I did up and down the back lawn, I had to stop and empty the catcher. I also got some funny looks from the two floors above us, because, up until last year, they had a Mittagsrühe (Midday silence) in our state, and that meant that you couldn't mow your lawns between 13:00 und 15:00...but luckily that doesn't exist anymore. Although, we still aren't allowed to mow them on Sundays...

As it was, the grass wasn't the only thing that was nearly cut short. A couple of times I ran over the cable, and actually cut through to the earth wire at one point. Luckily, thanks to the events of a few weeks ago, I had some electrical tape, so I was able to repair it and keep going. :)

Bel and I also took the opportunity to go to the Laternenfest (Lantern Festival) in Bad Homburg. This festival is held once per year, and they close all the shutters in the local castle, and you can tour through it by candle light. Any excuse for a piss-up, really.

Tschüß,
'Brush

What a shock!

So, after my second weekend of franatic drilling, wiring, screwing (screws), the lights are finally all installed, and ALL WORKING! WHAT A SHOCK!

But that's not the biggest shock. The biggest shock came when I touched a live wire, while trying to wire up one of the lights. Gives you one hell of a jolt, and I am lucky that it was with the back of my finger and not with the front. Anyway, it left me feeling kinda dopey (yes - more than usual) for the rest of the day, but I am feeling better now. :)

And the good news is that our house is starting to resemble one. Things are slowly disappearing off the floor, boxes are getting emptied, and I even vacuumed today! Give it a few more weeks, and it will be like we have been here forever.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Let there be light...pop!

So, this is the tail end of two hell weekends in a row. Last weekend was moving from Darmstadt to Friedrichsdorf, into our new apartment. This week was IKEA shopping, and installation.

The main saga from last weekend was that we had reserved a van from B's work, in order to move our fold-out-couch from Darmstadt to Friedrichsdorf. Problem was that it got broken into the weekend before our move, and therefore had to be repaired. Thus, we were left without a van.
Na ja, so we had a few ppl come and help us move, which was great. Then, after we had sent them all home, we got a call from B's colleague to say that he had a van we could use. Cool! Problem is, the sofa is still on the top floor, and there is nobody left to help us.
So, Belinda and I start off, and try to bring it down ourselves. This ain't any easy task, given the size, the weight, and the extremely narrow stairwell. The sofa nearly had to be balanced on it's end in order to move the bastard down the stairs.
Halfway down, we get a little stuck. Luckily our landlord was at home, and she opened the door so that we could manouver in and out of her apartment with the couch.
We were still having a hell of a time, so this 80yr old lady, who was nearly hospitalised a few days earlier with a blood pressure of 260, helped us get it the rest of the way down the stairs, and finally on it's way to Friedrichsdorf.

This weekend was IKEA shopping. We had to buy:
1. A bed
2. Wardrobes
3. TV unit
4. Lights (bought them last weekend though)

The wardrobes are in a partially completed state at the moment. The problem here was that we wanted 2 wardrobes that were 100cm wide, and 2 that were 50cm wide. They had the shells for the 50cm ones, but no shelves. They had the shelves for the 100cm, but no shells. Therefore, the 50cm ones are put together, with the hanging rails and stuff, but no shelves.

Then today I decided to install the first set of lights. That's right - in Germany some people take their lights with them when they leave.

Normal AC wiring is what? Green/Yellow, Blue, and Brown. The wires hanging out of our roof were Blue, Brown, Green/Yellow, and 2 sets of Black. But, the brown one wasn't stripped at all, and the adaptor from the last lights (which I had to remove first) was connected with the Green/Yellow, Blue, and one of the Black...so we went with that too.
Bel was all freakin' over this, as it involved drilling some holes in the roof, right next to these live wires...which couldn't be deactivated as they are on the same circuit as the socket for the drill. She was also a little freaked over the fact that there were too many wires...but I said "Don't worry about it!".
Ok, so without much fuss, the lights are installed...

And we give them the first trial run. They function beautifully...for about long enough for us to start celebrating with high-fives, and then POP!

See that char mark? Turns out that the other black wire was live as well, and shorted against the metal casing on the lights. There is this nice weld on the inside of the bracket now. :) So, I pulled the bastards back down, clipped the wire, taped it up (will have to repeat with something that is more insulative that Gaffa Tape next weekend), and all is good again. Maybe Bel's fears of electricity are a little more justified now. :)

Tja, let's see what next weekend holds... :)

Tschüß,
'Brush

Morgen

Morgen wird Belinda wieder hier sein.
Morgen fangen wir an umzuziehen.
Morgen wird das Wetter wieder schlecht.
Morgen-Latte ist nicht, was du denkst, daß es ist... :)

Tomorrow Belinda will be here again.
Tomorrow we start to move house.
Tomorrow the weather will be bad again.
A Morning-Latte is not what you think it is... :)

Ski jumping

So, it's only August, and the ski jumping season has started again. That's right, in 25C temperatures, these freaks are hurling themselves down the hill again, and flying around 120m, before gracefully (mostly) touching down.

So, ski jumping in Summer?? Yep, darn right!

Basically works like this:
- The tracks on the jump ramp are made of ceramic tiles, which usually are iced over in winter...but in Summer, with the application of water, they are just as slippery.
- The jump hill is covered in fake grass, which again is covered in snow in winter, but is also pretty slippery when wet in Summer.
- At the bottom of the landing hill, where they can usually do a nice hockey-stop in their massive skis, there appears to be pine bark chips or something, which helps them to slow down.

It's kinda cool (though warm) watching this - especially watching a guy go down like a sack of crap on landing last night. Luckily they still jump in their full on suits, so he didn't lose any skin or anything...just damaged pride.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Maserati

Currently chillin' in Norway, visiting some Customers. Weather here is a lot better than the first time I was here - this time it is around 25C...a lot more bearable than the -10C that it was then. :)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I got a lift to my hotel tonight...in a Maserati. YUM!

Tschüss
'Brush

PS: No funny little German sharp-S on the keyboard here...

Off to the Philippines

So today I am off to the Philippines on a work trip...

I will be there three weeks taking part in 2 project evaluations and a workshop. It should be a good trip, but it leaves Brett with all the packing...

I get back from my trip 6am 12 Aug and we are moving that weekend so everything will be packed when I get back.

I probably won't be able to keep you updated while I am travelling, but if I can I will.

Love to all
B

Freakin' stoopid hot!

So, for about the last month running, we have had temperatures of around 30-37C nearly every day. But, the problem is not with the sheer temperature, but with the humidity...it has been roughtly 80% humidicyl, which is just plain oppressive. Luckily we had a fair old thunderstorm today, which helped drop the temp back into the 20s for the evening, but it's going to be stoopid hot again tomorrow, with no end in sight.

One of the real cons with this kind of heat is Germans and their facination with short shorts. And we aren't talking a pretty facination with them either, but quite a disturbing one.
There seems to be a trend for 40-something men to wear cut-off jeans shorts, cut so short that you can nearly see the beans and frank hanging out the bottom. EW! We even saw a chick the other night whos arse cheeks were literally hanging out the bottom of her shorts. Not a pretty sight.

The other thing that Germans like to do in Summer, is to wear Tivas, or other kinds of sandal things. Now, I don't disagree with this at all, as I like to kick around in my Tivas too. The difference between me and the Germans is that I choose not to wear socks with my Tivas...

Na ja, it certainly is a different world we live in now... :)

Tschüß,
'Brush.

Quick wrap

Greetings from Athens. Stinking hot, bitching tired, dying for food and sleep. Arrived here at 02:00am this morning, and then spent the day on site with a Customer, during the evaluation phase of a big deal. Luckily I had some strong coffee. :)

So, here's a little wrap of the last week or so:

• Mum came to town, and went again, to the south of France (watch out for head-butters...)
  
• Did a bit of touring with Mum, and saw some cool little towns that we wouldn't have seen by ourselves, z.B. Marburg. Will post some pics, unless B has done so already.
  
• Tour de France is on again, and this time I am actually seeing less of it that when I was in Australia. The coverage is live every day, but I kinda have to work, so I miss it all. Kinda miss Phil's commentary too.
  
• Jan Ullrich is out of the tour, as most probably know, but on his website he is still proclaiming his innocence (in German, of course). Read it here.
  
• World Cup is over. I was truly shattered when Italy knocked Germany out of the final, but it was great to see the Germans rally behind their team, and support them and celebrate with them after their win in the 3rd/4th game, just like they had won.
  
• Not happy that the Italians won, simply because they beat Australia and Germany.
  

Ok, that's enough, as I wanna fall asleep while typing this.

Tschüß,
'Brush

Italy

So, a quick update about our trip to Italy with Bel's sister.

The trip roughly went like this:
Darmstadt, Germany -> Innsbruck, Austria -> Venice, Italy -> Florence, Italy -> Innsbruck, Austria -> Darmstadt, Germany
and it was all by car...some 2800kms.

Out of all of it, the concensus was that our favorite part was Innsbruck, which was just supposed to be our little stopover on the way to fun.

I dunno, but it seems that the parts of Italy that we went to were too touristy for our liking, but that is probably because they were the major tourist places. But, I must say, that I did a bloody good job in picking the hotels and B&Bs that we were staying in! :)

Some tips about Italy for you:
1. One day in Venice is enough, in my mind.
2. Most restaurants charge a cover charge, and a service charge.
Usually this is mentioned on the menu in an obvious place, but some hide it near the back, where you don't often look until it is too late.
3. The drive like freakin' idiots!
Many times we saw ppl on a 2 lane road "lane splitting" the whole time (straddling the two lanes), or, you would be overtaking someone coming into a corner, and they would decide that they wanted the "racing line" and nearly squeezed you into a barrier. What makes it worse, is that trucks do it too!

So, here are some pics.


Top of the take off ramp at the ski jump in Innsbruck. Picture doesn't doesn't do it justice. Let's just say, I would wear my brown undies if I had to jump.

Bel and Sus at the top of the Cupola of the Duomo in Florence. You gotta climb this if you get the chance.

Venice at night. I think that this is an awesome pic...even if I do say so myself.

Yes, that is McLeods Daughters on the big screen in Florence. I have now seen this show in 3 countries, in 3 different languages, and it's still SHIT!

Some of the towers of San Gimignano. Once there were 72 of these towers in the city, but now only 15 remain. They were built for security, to see the advancing enemy. But, it turned into a bit of a competition between the rich families, who wanted to have the highest tower in the town.


"Cinderella's Castle", aka Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany.

Bel, Sus, and the horses that pulled the carriage we rode back down from Neuschwanstein.

Tschüß,
'Brush