Clouds In My Coffee
Friday, December 31, 2004
One song I should have placed on my "50+1 Greatest Songs" was Elton John's "Your Song." I think that's the title. No matter, I love it, even though you may laugh.
New Year's Eve is upon us. I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish:
haircut
oil change
library
post office
bank
New Year's Eve is upon us. I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish:
haircut
oil change
library
post office
bank
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
I had a good Christmas, did you?
I'm banging out the daily grind with 5am wake-ups and cold, damp work conditions. It's a living.
New Year's Eve is knocking on the door and I probably will not answer it. It seems everyone I know that's COOL is either:
a.) is out of town until 2005
b.) going out of town until 2005
c.) lives thousands of miles away
choose your answer
I'm banging out the daily grind with 5am wake-ups and cold, damp work conditions. It's a living.
New Year's Eve is knocking on the door and I probably will not answer it. It seems everyone I know that's COOL is either:
a.) is out of town until 2005
b.) going out of town until 2005
c.) lives thousands of miles away
choose your answer
Friday, December 24, 2004
Winter has defeated my Christmas spirit this year.
Being the day before, I tried to go out and buy my father that kick-ass Christmas present. Single digit temperatures combined with holiday traffic and icy snowy roads made driving impossible. I literally got stuck at an intersection and after 10-15 minutes, two good Samaritans got out of their trucks and pushed me Nascar-style out of my quagmire. Yes, I ran a redlight and made a left hand turn. dangerous I know, but I had to get out. In 90 minutes of driving/being stuck, I drove an amazing 8.5 miles. Dad is just going to have to understand this year... I guess I can just buy him his present when the roads become normal again.
P.S. Dear Diary, I watched the movie "White Chicks" with my Mom & sister. I tried avoiding it because it looked horrible. The truth of the matter is that I found it funny. Have I lowered my movie standards? No, I watched "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" over my trip and I found that to be terrible. MF terrible.
Being the day before, I tried to go out and buy my father that kick-ass Christmas present. Single digit temperatures combined with holiday traffic and icy snowy roads made driving impossible. I literally got stuck at an intersection and after 10-15 minutes, two good Samaritans got out of their trucks and pushed me Nascar-style out of my quagmire. Yes, I ran a redlight and made a left hand turn. dangerous I know, but I had to get out. In 90 minutes of driving/being stuck, I drove an amazing 8.5 miles. Dad is just going to have to understand this year... I guess I can just buy him his present when the roads become normal again.
P.S. Dear Diary, I watched the movie "White Chicks" with my Mom & sister. I tried avoiding it because it looked horrible. The truth of the matter is that I found it funny. Have I lowered my movie standards? No, I watched "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" over my trip and I found that to be terrible. MF terrible.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Yes, the post time on this blog is correct. It is pre-6am.
Being a real trooper, family man, loyal employee, etc. I awoke this morning at roughly 5am, preparing to travel up to Sandusky, Ohio (it's on the lake for all non-ohioans, 1 hour away) for work. Since the weather outside is deadly, I checked the tv news for weather reports. The Columbus area is under a Level 3 Snow Warning, prohibiting any driving. Mansfield's own WMFD offers me ZERO info as to what's going on around here, but judging from my driveway and street, there's 4-6 inches of fresh snow and it is now being coated by freezing rain. I can't move the "usually unstoppable Focus" from the garage because of the foot-deep snow drift.
Verdict: No work today.
It is true that I enjoy a day-off here and there, but I was somewhat looking forward to working today. Maybe it's because I've been on holiday for approximately 24 out of the past 28 weeks.*
* - I count my time in Arizona as a holiday although I did actually work.
Being a real trooper, family man, loyal employee, etc. I awoke this morning at roughly 5am, preparing to travel up to Sandusky, Ohio (it's on the lake for all non-ohioans, 1 hour away) for work. Since the weather outside is deadly, I checked the tv news for weather reports. The Columbus area is under a Level 3 Snow Warning, prohibiting any driving. Mansfield's own WMFD offers me ZERO info as to what's going on around here, but judging from my driveway and street, there's 4-6 inches of fresh snow and it is now being coated by freezing rain. I can't move the "usually unstoppable Focus" from the garage because of the foot-deep snow drift.
Verdict: No work today.
It is true that I enjoy a day-off here and there, but I was somewhat looking forward to working today. Maybe it's because I've been on holiday for approximately 24 out of the past 28 weeks.*
* - I count my time in Arizona as a holiday although I did actually work.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Title
23 Hours later, I arrived in Ohio.
Intro:
It's snowing like the dickens outside. 4-8 inches of snow is the forecast. Big thanks to the management of MGM for not having me work today. I'm unpacking my bags now and emptying out the memories of one heck of a great trip. A few years ago, i said i wouldn't visit Germany because it sounded "boring." I proved to myself, i was wrong. Germany is great. I loved seeing Conny. Myriam and Arnuad made my stay in Brussels anything but boring. I also loved meeting the rest of the Helfmann family, Spiegelberg, and Stuttgart. My wish for 2005 is to see everyone again in Flagstaff - and you know who YOU are.
Popular terms/phrases of the trip:
g-g-g-g-unit!
canadian money (kleenex)
canadian flag (snot rag)
glühwein
weihnachtsmarkt
servus alde
du bist quatsch!
mongos
Facts:
Germans celebrate Christmas on both the 25th and 26th.
Conny's brother, Michael gets 60+ vacation days a year.
Micheal talks a lot about hating to pay taxes - when he's drunk.
Closing:
Reality is setting in that i have only 2 days left to buy 80% of my Christmas presents.
23 Hours later, I arrived in Ohio.
Intro:
It's snowing like the dickens outside. 4-8 inches of snow is the forecast. Big thanks to the management of MGM for not having me work today. I'm unpacking my bags now and emptying out the memories of one heck of a great trip. A few years ago, i said i wouldn't visit Germany because it sounded "boring." I proved to myself, i was wrong. Germany is great. I loved seeing Conny. Myriam and Arnuad made my stay in Brussels anything but boring. I also loved meeting the rest of the Helfmann family, Spiegelberg, and Stuttgart. My wish for 2005 is to see everyone again in Flagstaff - and you know who YOU are.
Popular terms/phrases of the trip:
g-g-g-g-unit!
canadian money (kleenex)
canadian flag (snot rag)
glühwein
weihnachtsmarkt
servus alde
du bist quatsch!
mongos
Facts:
Germans celebrate Christmas on both the 25th and 26th.
Conny's brother, Michael gets 60+ vacation days a year.
Micheal talks a lot about hating to pay taxes - when he's drunk.
Closing:
Reality is setting in that i have only 2 days left to buy 80% of my Christmas presents.
Monday, December 20, 2004
my last day here. we stayed up until 4am this morning watching horrible music videos and laughing.
i´m going to town in a few minutes to go shopping with michael, conny´s brother.
Spiegelberg is a winterwonderland right now. last night we attended waldweihnacht, christmas carols in the forest. quite cold but there was glühwein afterwards and that always makes things good. note: glühwein is a hot, spiced red wine. very cheap and terribly good.
news: i have officially been offered the postion of supervisor with ACE in Flagstaff. i could possibly be starting in mid-march and working thorough the summer or later. i know i am definitely going to take the job, but when i´ll go there is still being decided.
i´m going to town in a few minutes to go shopping with michael, conny´s brother.
Spiegelberg is a winterwonderland right now. last night we attended waldweihnacht, christmas carols in the forest. quite cold but there was glühwein afterwards and that always makes things good. note: glühwein is a hot, spiced red wine. very cheap and terribly good.
news: i have officially been offered the postion of supervisor with ACE in Flagstaff. i could possibly be starting in mid-march and working thorough the summer or later. i know i am definitely going to take the job, but when i´ll go there is still being decided.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
you mean it gets cold in Germany too?
freaking freezing my face off here. last night was strutting our stuff on the mean streets of Stuttgart and its weihnachtsmarkt, getting rained on but being happy. glühwein and german beer kept us alive. i think i only have 3 or 4 days left and it has been such a great trip. 250+ pictures taken. my nose is running and i better go catch it.
freaking freezing my face off here. last night was strutting our stuff on the mean streets of Stuttgart and its weihnachtsmarkt, getting rained on but being happy. glühwein and german beer kept us alive. i think i only have 3 or 4 days left and it has been such a great trip. 250+ pictures taken. my nose is running and i better go catch it.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
shhh, I think this internet café is being run by the Triad...
Here in Brussels freezing my fingers and toes off. Yes, It is COLD. I am still having a greqt time with Myriam and Arnaud. And I've only been in town for 2 days! Last night was bowling at the Playboy club aptly named "Brussels Bowling" very nice place, not what you think a bowling alley should look like in America. More pictures taken and even some movie footage. I'll admit I like digital cameras now. I won't surrender SLR photography though. I'm here until Friday in Brussels and then back to Deutschland for the remainder. I'm eating too good here so don't worry about airlifting me food and supplies, this isn't east Berlin.
Here in Brussels freezing my fingers and toes off. Yes, It is COLD. I am still having a greqt time with Myriam and Arnaud. And I've only been in town for 2 days! Last night was bowling at the Playboy club aptly named "Brussels Bowling" very nice place, not what you think a bowling alley should look like in America. More pictures taken and even some movie footage. I'll admit I like digital cameras now. I won't surrender SLR photography though. I'm here until Friday in Brussels and then back to Deutschland for the remainder. I'm eating too good here so don't worry about airlifting me food and supplies, this isn't east Berlin.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Train 1, Me 0.
It shouldn't be so difficult to find a train in a trainstation (bahnhof) but somehow I took the wrong train heading in the right direction. I arrived an hour late in Sulzbach with no ride and freezing weather. I figured out how to take the bus and it happened to be the last bus for the night. Oh, I missed the train in Stuttgart after a busy day of window shopping and drink warm, mulled wine called frühwein. It's totally sweet.
Brussels tomorrow and that means par-tay.
It shouldn't be so difficult to find a train in a trainstation (bahnhof) but somehow I took the wrong train heading in the right direction. I arrived an hour late in Sulzbach with no ride and freezing weather. I figured out how to take the bus and it happened to be the last bus for the night. Oh, I missed the train in Stuttgart after a busy day of window shopping and drink warm, mulled wine called frühwein. It's totally sweet.
Brussels tomorrow and that means par-tay.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
I am finally here in Fortress Europe. I was going to say it was the best flight I've ever been on, but upon landing in Stuttgart, my luggage decided to not show up. WTF, mate!?! So I'm sitting here in Speigelberg, Germany with nothing but a toothbrush, the clothes on my back, and a smile. I could only smile when I was at the lost baggage counter. The look on the girl's face as she typed away on the computer pretty much told me I am screwed. With luck I should get my luggage in a few days. Jetlag is rough. I accidentally slept here from 2pm to 8pm, just in time for dinner. I have been fed quite regularly , strange enough. It's approaching midnight here and even though I woke up 4 hours ago, I'm ready for bed. 6+ hour time difference. My plan is to be in Brussels on Friday. Whether or not I am wearing the same clothes has yet to be determined.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
In just over 48 hours, I'll be on a different continent.* I guess that's why I like travel. You can be at home in the morning and go to bed some place thousand of miles away.
I got my digital camera that I've been stalking these past few months. It's cool and should come in handy for my trip.
* - You thought I forgot about Carmen SanDiego? Well Interpol has and I haven't.
I got my digital camera that I've been stalking these past few months. It's cool and should come in handy for my trip.
* - You thought I forgot about Carmen SanDiego? Well Interpol has and I haven't.
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