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