Quarter to three in the morning.

The time is quarter to three Monday morning, ridicules I know but I just can’t sleep so instead of tossing and turning in bed for the next four hours I decided to get up and start this post. I haven’t a clue if I will finish it, or fall asleep doing it, we’ll see.
The last week has flown by at a speed, which to me is a bit scary, maybe it’s because it was a busy week for me, or it is because I am now at an age when time just seems to fly? Monday was a normal day I think!!! To tell the truth I don’t know if it was or not.
Tuesday I was at work (that I do know) and I managed to finish off the project that I have been working on over the last nine months, (a good feeling.)
My knocking off time is normally 15 pm and last Tuesday was no acceptation to the rule. I had just put my bag and my laptop in the car when my boss gave me a shout from his office door if I had a minute for him, knowing my boss as I do, when he says a minute it’s normally a hour. Last month we installed a new die cutter in our company in Hungary and they are having a technical problem with the feeding unit, my boss wanted to know if I had an idea how to solve the problem. With the help of a college I showed him on our die cutter how the problem could be rectified. After that the conversation turned from problems in Hungary to our problems here. Apparently it seems that the young man that took over my job hasn’t been doing the job too well according to his colleges, on hearing this the boss blew his top and ordered a meeting for this coming Tuesday which I also have to attend.
By the time I left the company grounds it was 16 pm and it meant a 100 km drive home for me in heavy traffic. On the Cologne ring Autobahn is the traffic situation critical at this hour of the evening.
On Wednesday morning I had an appointment in Düsseldorf to have our dog trimmed (the hair is plucked out by hand) I was home for half past twelve, dinner, then off with my wife to do the weekly shopping.
Thursday morning was taken up cleaning the three houses, which is part of my janitor job that I do. In the afternoon my wife and I drove to the local town to buy a new toaster, ours had gone bust after twelve years.
On Friday afternoon I donated blood at the Red Cross. (That was a lazy day for me)
It’s now half past four in the morning and my concentration is slowly but surely going, I will close for now and finish it tomorrow, or I should say today.
Feeling a bit groggy from lack of sleep, but will have a nap after dinner, which should see me right.
On Sunday morning I went for a run (which I do nearly every Sunday) this time it was different I had no energy (loss of blood) and I decided in the future when I donate blood, (which is always on a Friday afternoon) I won’t do my run on the Sunday, give me time to recuperate, not getting any younger.
On Sunday afternoon we had our neighbours round for advent coffee and cake and afterwards a few drinks it was an enjoyable afternoon and they left around about quarter past six, which gave me enough time to go out with the dog before settling down for the evening (there was a good film on the telly.)
I have to complement the Blotter and my brother No1broad Street for their posts, especially the Blotter who is turning them out at a speed which is defiantly fantastic.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photo, a winter day in the woods

Weinachtsmarkt (Hilden)

The weeks just seem to fly and the closer we get to Christmas the faster they fly or is that just my imagination? On Tuesday we went to Düsseldorf to do that bit of Christmas shopping that we only have to do these days. My wife bought herself a pair of slacks and two blouses I bought the program Tune-Up and our dog Toby became a safety collar (one with a light in it for when we go out in the dark) I bought a second hand digital video camera, a Canon MV20 an old model I know. The camera is in perfect working condition and is easy to operate, fits well in the hand, so for 149 Euros I just couldn’t say no. I had been thinking for some considerable time of buying a digital camera but not wanting to pay so much for a new one because I won’t be using it all that much; I looked around for a good second hand one.
In our local town (Hilden) the yearly Weinachtsmarket is taking place it lasts three days from Friday till Sunday evening. On Saturday evening my wife and I walked to Hilden (6 km) the reason for walking? So that I could enjoy the Glühwein (Punch) the plan was the return journey would be with the bus. It was an enjoyable evening and my wife and I were having fun, we then decided to visit the church were we got married in 44 years ago (it’s open when the market is on).
After spending a few moments of reminiscence we stepped outside and to our dismay it was pouring down. Straight away the atmosphere was gone, people were scurrying about trying to find some were to shelter, to top it off the rain was bitter cold. We stood for awhile on the church steps sheltering from the rain and then decided to make a run for the bus because the evening was over not just for us but for most of the crowd.
The photos are taken with my wife’s new camera, we had hoped to make a lot more, it’s a pity really because the evening started off so good.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Storm and snow.

As I mentioned in my last post we had been warned beforehand that we were in for a bad storm over the weekend. On Friday it hit us in the form of high winds, which did indeed cause a lot of material damage around the country. During Saturday we had sleet and the temperature had dropped considerably, the wind had died down over night and it was damp and cold just the right weather to catch a cold. On Sunday evening to our amazement it started to snow and in a matter of a few hours we had around 15 centimetres of snow. I intended to take some photos the next morning of the snowed countryside but to our surprise the temperature had risen during the night and the snow had nearly all melted.
On Tuesday I was at work and it was a day for me full of apprehensions because I had to present my project to my boss that I have been working on for the last six month (remembering that I only work two days a month). The project consists of completing maintenance handbooks for all of the company’s machines. I went about this task combining, photos and text into each handbook so that even the thickest of heads know what they are doing.
Ten past two was my appointment with my boss (not a easy chap to get on with) mostly when I present something he has always (up till now) made some radical changes. Mostly because of them I have in nine times out of ten to start from scratch again. This time was different he accepted my project without a change to it. To tell you the truth I couldn’t believe my ears when he said “ accepted” you see it has to conform with ISO 2000 and that’s were my worry’s were.

We had been invited to our neighbours 70th birthday celebration (he’s a English guy who lives across the road from us) it was to take place on Saturday in Düsseldorf in the English international library at one pm, it was a surprise party organised by his children. My wife was not all that keen on going (to many strange people for her liking) so I went by myself. I caught the bus into the city because it was the first Advent weekend and the Weihnachtsmarkt was open.
The city is then over run from Dutch people that come over with buses to visit the market, also I heard a lot of English being spoken this year as well. I was told that the British fly over for the day on cheap flights just to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt.
The birthday party wasn’t all that exciting, stayed a couple of hours had a beer or two and then caught the bus back home in time to watch the football on TV.
In the evening I had a link with my brother via Skype and like always it was a very enjoyable 75 minutes, he gave me one or two good tips regarding the computer (which he nearly always does) and the rest was a good old chin wag.
My brother no1broadstreet titled his last post “ Keeping up with the Jones’s” I myself have no intentions in keeping up with anybody, I have practised “Keeping up” that far too often in my life and have learnt a lesson through it. I have enough to do in keeping up with myself let alone with some one else.
The photo is taken from the grounds of the company were I work two days a month. There was snow there last Tuesday.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Coffee and Holland.

From the beginning of the week and every day onwards the Meteorologen have been warning us that a low-pressure front will hit us on Friday bringing an early winter start. They have forecasted high winds and heavy snow falls in the high regions and light snow showers for the rest of the land with gale force winds. Temperatures will fall during Friday night below freezing point causing dangers roads conditions and because of the high winds snow drifting is expected in open places on higher grounds. On hearing that we may be snowed in till early spring (laugh) and thankful that we have contact to the outer world via Skype!!!We decided to have a day out on Wednesday; our destination was a town in Holland called Venlo which is 80 km from were we live. Our decision to go there was because my wife had seen on the web that the coffee was half the price in Holland then it was here and also one can buy Lyle’s Golden Syrup there which I love on toast, there are also one or two odds and ends which one can buy there which you can’t buy in Germany. (Mostly English stuff)
We bought 12 lbs of coffee beans (we grind them ourselves) on that alone we saved 25 Euros we also filled the car up with Diesel which was 9 cents a litre cheaper.
The weather was good (sunny) but cold, we had our dog with us and before we went shopping we had a good walk around the town.
All in all it was a good day out and a change for us.
On Tuesday afternoon my friend came round he wanted some photos that had been taken on his 60th birthday they had red eyes and he asked me if I could change that with Photoshop, no better said then done. My wife had baked an apple cake in the morning for coffee, so all was set for a pleasant afternoon with good company and as always a good chin wag.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Night photography.

It's Saturday afternoon and one of these dull November days with a touch of drizzle now and again.This morning I took my wife to have her knee Tomographic computerised the result was not all that good, a cyst 6 centimeters long in the back of her knee and also a small crack in the outer meniscus. She now has to wait till the 1st of December for her appointment with her Orthopaedic and then we shall know what the next move will be.
On Tuesday I was at work, (every second Tuesday in the month) I enjoy the day in the company, keeping up with the working world so to say and the job I am doing is interesting and keeps my mind active.
At the moment I am kept busy with racking leaves( the janitor job) were we live there are lots of trees and every year I am busy clearing leaves away right into the middle of December.
Last night I decided to do some night photography so off I went on my bike with my camera and tripod and spent a good hour (the first time with a digital camera) with trial and error photographing a few subjects (see photos)
On Thursday we bought our dog a new harness with anew lead to go with it, you would think I was buying one for a horse the price I paid for it 62 Euros. Wow! thing are expensive now a days if I reckoned that out in German Marks that's 124 Marks. No one in their right minds would have paid 124 Marks for a lead and harness in those days and those days are not all that long gone.

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss.

The Patio

Our patio is set lower than the garden and is,or I should say was encased all round with large wooden beams. Naturally with age they have rotted and made the patio looking very unattractive.
We had complained a few times to our landlord unfornately he never responded to to our complaints. I then decided to photograph the patio and deliver the photos personally. That did the trick, in a matter of a few weeks we had someone come round to make an estimate.
Last week the workers were here, they removed the wooden beams and replaced them with rather attractive stones (see photos). On Friday my wife and I went to the DIY store and bought a new pergola to replace the old one (it was falling apart with age). Over the weekend I have erected it having first to concrete in the fittings for the posts that support it. I then gave the whole thing a coat of weather protective varnish (another good job done) one of my favourite sayings.
A week ago I bought my wife a new digital camera. There was a special offer on at a local shop, the camera was a no name product and after reading the write up on it I thought it would be a good buy for 129 Euros. Sorry to say it wasn't, after just one day half the menu settings didn't function anymore, so back to the shop I went and got my money back. The guy asked me if I would like a replacement, my answer was "not on your Nelly" Later on in the day I went on Internet and had a look in Amazon, there I found a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150/W170 for 163 Euros, the memory stick came extra for 19 Euros. So for 182 Euros my wife had a new camera and I must say she is thrilled to bits with it.
Two weeks ago I had a Skype link with my brother, as always very enjoyable this time we talked 90 minuets, looking forwards to our next link.
We were very pleased indeed when we heard that Obama had won the Presidential Elections it means a new change after that idiot Bush. Let's hope that the world will be a better place in the future with Obama.
Just heard from my wife that my brother's daughter has passed her driving licence, Well done and drive carefully.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The car week.

There are things one puts off and although you keep telling yourself that you will tackle the job tomorrow or maybe next week, you never seem to get round to doing it.

This was exactly what I have been practising for the last two years, the job, polishing the car!

On Monday morning after breakfast ( it was a lovely day) I decided to polish the car. The job took me just over two and a half hours , the car was looking good (see photo) and I was feeling great. I then give the inside of the car a good going over and afterwards I couldn’t understand why I had put the job off for so long.

On Wednesday afternoon we went and did our weekly shopping. Afterwards I drove to the locale garden centre. On parking my car I had a funny feeling, couldn’t put my finger on it but it was there. I found what I was looking for and on my way to the cash register I realised I had left my money in the car. On my way to the car I saw this women looking at my car and writing something on a piece of paper. I asked her if there was something wrong with my car, she said, “ The car that was parked next to you had on leaving scraped the side of your car and drove off”. Now this is in Germany is classified as hit and run and can cost you your driving licence plus a heavy fine.

At this moment the driver of the other car (a older women) appeared and started to argue with the women that was talking to me. Her remarks were, “what the hell was she doing, it was none of her business, and she wasn’t driving off just re-parking her car”.

Well to cut the story short, this old dear insisted that she was not aware that she had even touched my car and only came back to see what the fuss was about. I showed her the damage she had caused, on this her reply was “there is no damage on my car”. It was tit for tat for a while until I said “ I would call the police” and that my brother was a police inspector (only kidding) On inspecting her car we found that it was also scratched badly on the right rear wing. Anyway there were no police involved, no insurance, she would pay cash. I drove to the garage got an estimate, drove round to her house picked up my money and that was that. Most of the scratches I have got rid of with a special polishing paste and the money I have put in my wallet.

On Friday I changed my summer tyres for my winter ones because they say that we are going to have a cold spell next week and I have to go to work on Tuesday. So all in all you can call this week A CAR WEEK.

Take care out there were ever you are. TshüssJust a snap shot taken from our window