Among other things.....

T-Punkt, as I neglected to mention in my diatribe (thanks, Aunt B.), is defined by T-Com (http://212.184.6.43/tpunkte/index.html) as: "erleben Sie moderne Telekommunikation, Computer und Multimedia live. Wir bieten überzeugende Komplettlösungen inklusive einer kompetenten, freundlichen Beratung, die sich an Ihren Wünschen orientiert." or ~you experience modern Telecommunication, Computer and Multimedia live. [You could probably figure out most of that sentence on your own....amazing how many English words have been simply adopted into the German language. Today I heard someone say "upgedatet", which is taken from the English "update" and the Germans use frequently in reference to receiving information - I've been updated - or to documents - the document has been updated. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. But the only use it in past tense, interestingly enough. Anyway....] We offer convincingly complete solutions including competent, friendly advice, which is oriented to your wishes/desires ~
And here we've found my problem!! Instead of calling and emailing, I should have visited my local T-Punkt! But, where is that again???? (I checked online, it's just doors away from my bank, I'll have to pay better attention next time I'm at the bank.)

By the way, I have not received Splitter #1 or #2 yet....

Can I just say a brief word, and I promise to keep it brief, about living in an apartment with cats? Okay, it's gonna be a few words, not just one, but I'll keep it brief nonetheless. I was SPOILED with a basement (and here I'm referring to the location of the litter box). I'll leave it at that and the rest can be up to you to work out. See, I promised to keep it brief! Let me just add that by virtue of now living in an apartment, said litter box receives WAY more frequent cleaning AND is NOT in the guest room, where you will be staying when you come to visit (When is that again? Email me your dates, please, I seem to have misplaced them.) If you live in an apartment and have creative ideas, let me know!!

Could my neighbors actually never want to meet me because I don't let my cats outside?? I promise, they roll down their Rollladen as early as possible and they seem to make every effort to avoid ever, ever seeing me. I feel slightly distressed about this, but have no idea how to fix it, because the cats are not going outside. Period. (And now you're asking what Rollladen are, right? They're like metal "shutters" but they roll down instead of coming from the sides. Awesome if you like sleeping in complete darkness!! Here....)

I booked my flight for Christmas. The outbound flight is direct Frankfurt-Detroit. But on the return flight, they offered me only Detroit-Amsterdam-Frankfurt. So I thought, if I have to have a layover anyway, I might as well check into flying back into Stuttgart (there aren't any direct Detroit-Stuttgart flights). So I did the multi-city thing and it ended up being cheaper to fly out of Frankfurt, but into Stuttgart. Weird, huh? In a country with public transportation, this odd flight plan is totally doable. Now I have to find a place to board the cats for the duration and I have to do that sort of soon, because I think the whole country goes on vacation twice a year, not just in August, but in December too.....

I've been slacking off on my Stuttgart weather reports....since the beginning of September, we've mostly had sun and upper 70s or low 80s nearly every day. It's been beautiful!!!!

I spilled cat food all over the floor tonight. And I really, really don't feel like cleaning it up. Do they care if they eat off the floor rather than out of a bowl? It's like a little experiment....Poor things, I'm going to switch their food again (no worries, I'll transition them properly). The food I've been giving them is just way too expensive and they go through it way too fast. So I spent like a half hour at the pet store the other night, trying to pick out a new one, where cheaper does not equal junkier (I cannot believe how much filler and fat some cat foods have!!) I found one where the nutritional content is fairly similar and it's about half the price. Hope they like it!

What do you think (about cat food, about utilities, about cleaning, about vacation, about litter boxes, about customer service, about unfriendly neighbors, about.....)? I realized that in the approximately the last month, I have had one comment. One single, solitary, lonely comment (thanks Andrew!!). Just making an observation....................

Speaking of readership, my Germany stats jumped significantly as soon as I posted the T-Com saga. Odd, huh? And I've officially had a reader from Spain and one from Canada!! SarahMovestoGermany is going even more international!!!! :o) Let's just hope Sarah herself gets to go more international.
(Yuck, did I just write about myself in the third person?? Must be time to go to call it a night!)

Mom, less than 24 hours to go!!!!!!!!!!

One last thing....blogspot offers Webdings as a font. WHY?????? It's gibberish!! Someone please explain.

The saga....

[author's note: prepare for a written tirade of gigantic proportions. No worries, there's some fun stuff at the end, if you can make it all the way through.]

with T-Com continues.

(Turbo writes, "Tip to novice bloggers: Using people's names in your blog posts often helps draw their attention to them." Not sure how much using T-Com's name will help, but being a novice blogger, I'll give it a try!!)

I've mentioned T-Com already - they're the largest provider of landline phone services here in Germany. I've also mentioned that I've struggled with getting my internet set up through their T-Online branch. To summarize: I was signed up by my relocation consultant at the end of July. To be exact, the paperwork I (eventually) received was dated July 28th. The first problem was that I only received a form with my phone number and nothing else. So my relo consultant called T-Com and was told that everything else had been returned by the Post because my name wasn't on the mailbox. She told them that she personally had seen my name on the mailbox and asked them to resend everything. So the next thing I got was a box of hardware (modem, cables) and a CD. That was on August 19th. But when I plugged it in, the DSL connection indicator light was red. Hmm. So I emailed my relo consultant and asked her to check in with T-Com again. Well, she was on vacation (like the rest of the country) so I ended up (yes, after procrastinating for a few days - hey, you know how fun it is to deal with utility companies in your mother tongue....try doing it in a foreign language!) calling T-Com myself. I requested that they send me my original contract (which I had never received, although they had managed to send me a bill by this time - for services which I, to this point, couldn't even use!). The representative agreed to send me the contract, but said she couldn't help me with T-Online, I would have to call them directly. So I called the one other number I could find on my paperwork (to this point, I hadn't actually received anything from T-Online, everything came from T-Com). But that turned out to be the department that ships stuff out. She offered to provide the number to T-Online, but when I called it, it was actually the T-Com number (again). So, I had to wait until I came home to look up T-Online's number. While doing so, I noticed that you can email them and get a response 24/7. Fantastic, right? (Avoid mistake-laden telephone conversation!!) So I did. And the guy wrote me back something about signing up for Internet access. So I thought I must have explained myself poorly in the email - I didn't want to sign up, I wanted to get my user name and password to access the internet that I was already signed up for. So I wrote him back, telling him something along those lines. He wrote back that, no, I was signed up with T-Com for a landline, but I wasn't signed up with T-Online for internet access (something's missing here, because I actually exchanged three sets of emails with them, but you get the idea). What? So then I decided I really needed to consult my relo consultant, because it can't be that she had signed me up for DSL without internet access (isn't that even possible?? Apparently so with T-Online!). She said she had in fact requested internet access (why else would I need the stupid hardware?). So she came by my office and we called T-Com together. And then they told us to call T-Online. But then we pressed some wrong key in the utterly confusing menu and ended up back at T-Com, where the Rep told us to call T-Online. So we called T-Online again. And sure enough, whoever had processed the order had not requested internet access (how clever!). They apologized, very, very briefly, and offered to sign me up for internet access at a reduced rate from what they had originally offered at the end of July (note that they're now offering the reduced rate as standard in the month of September). Then they said we had to call T-Rechnung (Billing - how many subsets can they have??) to get the bill adjusted as I'm paying monthly for hardward that I'm unable to use. We called there and she said she would credit my bill - to which my relo consultant replied "Your words to God's ear," which she later said was very unpolite of her by German standards, but she was almost as frustrated as I am. T-Online said it would take 3-5 business days to process the request. Hmm again. I subsequently received a bunch of mail from them, one being a letter which said that my internet would be turned on as of September 12th (the calls we made were on September 5th, so nothing like pushing the 3-5 days to the outer limit!!). So, today being September 12th and finally having received my access information, I turned on the modem. But the DSL light is still red. So, I reread the installation instructions. And it turns out, I'm missing a piece of hardware. It's called a Splitter (in both German and English). I don't know what it does, but apparently it's required (I didn't need one in Michigan). But it's not in the box of hardware. Okay, I thought, you must have to buy it at the store. So I went to Media Markt (think Best Buy). And walked up and down the aisle(s) a couple of times. And found.....no splitters. So I asked, which I HATE doing (even in the States). And the guy was like, "Lady, that has to come from T-Online." And I was like "Guy, it didn't." And he was like "Well, I don't have any splitters here." And I was like "I have only had problems with T-Com/Online/whatever. I'm so done with them." And he was like "[Oh, poor distressed female foreigner], there is a guy here in our store who works for them" Me: "Where???" (Side note: this conversation was much more polite than I've written it, because we were both using the formal address as we were speaking and I've definitely dramatized the interaction.) So he takes me to the T-Com guy and tells the guy that I didn't get a splitter, to which the T-Com guy asks me a bazillion questions, tells me that pretty much can't be that I didn't get it and when I reiterate that it is in fact true (sad, but true nonetheless), he says I have to talk to T-Online (are we seeing a theme here??). And so the guy says I should go to my local T-Punkt (T-Point). Me: Where is that?
Him: Well, there must be one in your area, where do you live?
Me: Feuerbach (Media Markt is also in Feuerbach).
Him: Hmm, well don't you know where your local T-Punkt is?

Dude, I'm glad I know how to get to work, where my bank is and where to buy food and where to buy supplies for the cats. I even know where to buy aspirin for the headache this drama is giving me. But I have NO idea where my local T-Punkt is. Well, he doesn't know (even though he works for them), because he only moved here from Munich two weeks ago.
Me: (Felt like saying "and you're point is what? Isn't it your job to know?", but instead said) I'm from America.

Well, I guess that won the whole "I came here from farther away than you contest", because he forgave me for not knowing where my T-Punkt is (or he just gave up on trying to force me to admit that I wasn't serious, of course I knew where my T-Punkt is, because everyone knows where their local T-Punkt is - NOT!!). And then he proceeds to ask the guy who works for Media Markt selling phone service of all kinds. And I have to repeatedly assure guy #2 that I have received the router already, the access data already (finally!) and the Splitter is the only thing missing. The general conclusion is that this is just not possible, but I'll have to visit my T-Punkt to resolve it.
Me: (Okay, fine) WHERE is that?
By this time, the T-Com guy (not a German) has patted my arm like a million times, which was driving me insane (touching doesn't help and I just don't appreciate having my personal space invaded). They still don't answer, but somehow guy #2 brings up that T-Com has fabulous service. I reply that I can't comment on their internet service, as I still haven't been able to access the internet, but that they have terrible customer service based on my experience. Well, that fired him right up. And so he said "I shouldn't do this, because it's really your task, but I'm going to call them for you..."
Excuse me, it's my task? And who asked you to call them? Not me! I just asked for you to tell me the location of "my" T-Punkt. But hey, whatever floats your boat....So he calls and get's someone like almost right away (average wait time is 4 minutes by T-Com guy's own admission). He tells them that he has an American customer standing here telling him how horrible and awful T-Com is and he wants to show her that they're not (he literally said that!!). He tells them my name - pronouncing it as an American would, to which the T-Com guy said in German "Oh, you can speak American!!" :o)
Well, it turns out they send the splitter separately when they sign you up for internet access (which they did on September 5th), but somehow they never told me that (but I felt slightly vindicated that guy #1 and guy #2 now knew that I hadn't just overlooked it in the box of hardware of something). The splitter was sent out on the 8th and so I should have received it by now and it hasn't come back to them. But just to appease me, they'll request that a second one be sent and it should go out tomorrow, so I'll probably end up with two. Guy #2 gets off the phone and is like "See how easy that was?" And the T-Com guy (#1) starts singing the praises of telephone guy (#2) whilst patting my arm: "See how wonderfully the Spanish guy can solve the American woman's problem?" I was thinking "Huh??????" and "Yikes!!!!!!" at the same time (I'm not sure if he was really Spanish...his German wasn't accented at all!!). So I said thanks and left (running). Sure, it's easy to make a phone call. But this is the eighth phone call, no, ninth phone call that has been placed to T-whatever to establish my landline and DSL. When is enough enough? And when will I actually be connected? And why am I not receiving my mail??

That last question is perhaps the most concerning one. Why am I getting some mail and not other mail? Today I was at the bank, because after requesting a new card to replace my demagnetized ATM card on August 28th, the new one still hasn't arrived. The bank guy confirmed that it was sent out and I should have had it at least a week ago. And it hasn't been returned to them as undeliverable, nor has the pin #. YIKES!! I checked my bank balance and it's correct, but.....So he cancelled the card and requested that a new one be sent to them, at which point they will call me to pick it up.

I should probably call my car insurance company tomorrow and see if the lack of mail from them is also due to a problem with the post, huh? Because if I get pulled over by the policeman and still don't have an insurance card to show him, he might not accept the "Sorry, my mailman doesn't like to deliver my mail to me" excuse, right?

A piece of mail I did receive was a letter from the government of my wonderful host country, requesting that I register my radios and TV. Yep, that's right, you have to register your radios and TVs here, including your car radio. And you have to pay a monthly fee for them. So, one TV, one radio alarm clock and one car radio are going to cost me a total of 28 Euro per month (or about $35) not based on volume of usage, but simply because I own them. Super, huh?

[author's note: end of said tirade. thanks for reading.]

(On a lighter note) the attempted replacement of the baby socks was not completely successful. The butterfly has become a played-with toy, but the baby socks are still carried from room to room. (Mac couldn't really care less about toys overall and Cheese is currently playing with a perfectly normal sponge ball. At least I hope it's a ball, 'cause it's moving, but I am NOT going to check......)

Speaking of my cats, I've created a monster, who's name is Jemma. Background: She likes people food and cat treats. (The boys don't.) And since she's so little, I don't feel bad giving it to her. Well, she LOVES my cereal (which, by the way, I eat for dinner as well as breakfast on a regular basis). So, I occasionally give her pieces of cereal. Well, now she thinks that whenever I'm eating, she should be able to have some of whatever it is. She stands on her back legs with her front paws on my leg. When I don't immediately provide her with a morsel, she prods my arm with one of her paws. I tell her repeatedly that she's not getting any and eventually she'll wander off.....Maybe she's actually a dog in a cat's body??

Well, that's that for tonight.

Oh, except, fair warning, Mom, the birthday posting will be occurring in approximately 45 hours from this very moment.....

I Remember.....

Today's headlines:
CNN.com: "Behind the staggering number of deaths are the individuals, each of whom left behind family, friends and co-workers who feel the national tragedy on a personal level."
Spiegel.de: Commemoration - A Country Mourns.
MSNBC.com: "We Stand Together" & "World Remembers"

And then, something I really didn't realize at all, a heart-wrenching headline from ABC News: "The missing - The search for loved ones continues even five years after the attacks."

What does it mean to "remember?" The dictionary definitions:

re‧mem‧ber –verb (used with object)

1.	to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again

2.	to retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of

3.	to have (something) come into the mind again

4.	to bear (a person) in mind as deserving a gift, reward, or fee

5.	to give a tip, donation, or gift to

6.	to mention (a person) to another as sending kindly greetings

7.	(of an appliance, computer, etc.) to perform (a programmed activity) at a later time or according to a preset schedule

8.	Archaic. to remind.

–verb (used without object)

9.	to possess or exercise the faculty of memory.

10.	to have recollection (sometimes fol. by of)

---

[Origin: 1300–50; ME remembren < OF remembrer < LL rememorārī, equiv. to re- re- + L memor mindful (see memory) + -ārī inf. suffix] (Source: Dictionary.com)

The definitions I find most fitting: think of again, remain aware of, to have a recollection. I think these definitions say that it doesn't take a lot of effort to remember.

I don't have to think very long to remember where I was on September 11, 2001, when I found out about the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I easily recollect that we thought it must be a a pilot's or air traffic controller's error of drastic proportions. But then the question - couldn't he (the pilot) see the building coming far enough in advance to avoid it? It must be a media prank. It can't be a reality. But then, I don't have to exercise the faculty of memory very hard to remember watching the other crashes and events unfold with total disbelief and crushing sadness. It was in fact a reality, America was indeed under attack and people were actually dying as we watched.

And yet it still seemed so unreal, didn't it? It seemed like something that could never, ever, ever happen on American soil. But why not? Why did I think that we were invulnerable? I don't know exactly, I can't explain. Americans commit crimes against Americans daily. The level of violence in Detroit alone is staggering. But somehow, an event of this magnitude, crafted with such animosity, hatred and basic disregard for innocent human lives, seemed completely impossible.

And then it happened.

And a nation, no a world, mourned with the families of 2,973 people killed in the attacks.

And then we woke up to a changed world on September 12th. A world where "terror" was an international term, no longer relegated to describing events in geographically distant places. A world in which you sometimes have to allow yourself to be subjected to very personal searches to board a plane. A world where you can't ride the trains in London or Spain without worrying. A world in which Turkish vacation resorts experience a string of bombings. A world in which planes are turned around on what seems to be a regular basis. A world in which bombs are found in German train stations, sparking a debate about invading the coveted privacy of this nation by installing security cameras in public locations. A world in which you can't take any carry-ons on the plane with you if flying out of London and no liquids whatsoever if flying into the United States from anywhere else.

And on September 12, 2001, our nation went to war.

And then the outpouring of international support changed. Our international "allies" didn't support the decision (Although I did hear that Freedom Fries are back to being called French Fries in the US. And the camaraderie between President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his visit in July was a huge news story here and probably at least made the press in the US). And those who did support the US were widely criticized in their own countries. I don't want to comment on the war, others have done so enough and you can read about all that somewhere else.

But I do question if violence can be used to stop violence? Can democracy be a successful form of government for every country? I don't have the answers and I wouldn't begin to pretend that I do. I don't think that many people can answer these questions and those who think they can, generally can't....Regarding the war on terror (as it's come to be known), Angela Merkel said something I find worth repeating: „Wir müssen hier angemessene Antworten finden, wie wir den Terroristen begegnen, ohne unsere fundamentalen Prinzipien und Grundwerte in Frage zu stellen“, sagte die CDU-Chefin (Source: www.welt.de/data/2006/09/09/1030381.html). In my (not professional) translation: ~Here we must find suitable answers as to how we confront the terrorists, without bringing our fundamental principles and basic values into question.~

I have my own opinions on President Bush, which I'm also not going to post, because I just don't think it would add any benefit (and you can find every shape, shade and manner of opinion elsewhere on the web). Suffice it to say that no matter what I think of his Presidency, I think he has the toughest job in the US. I can't imagine directing an entire country. I can't imagine asking so many men and women to go into potentially deadly situations. I can't imagine having my every move, my every decision, nearly my every breath so closely scrutinized by an entire planet. Can you imagine waking up on nearly a daily basis to newspaper headlines which rake you over the coals? Can you imagine carrying so much weight on your shoulders? How would you sleep, eat, vacation, laugh...?

You might tell me that he signed up for it, that he asked for it. You might tell me that he has an army of staffers to support him. You might tell me that he doesn't take it so personally. You might even tell me that he's not even making the decisions. And I know some would tell me that he's not doing a good job of it.

I've heard it before. But the fact is that he has the job. And I know that when, in the course of my job, I make my small-scale decisions which affect others in any way at all, I carry that decision with me personally. And so I have to believe that each time a soldier's life is lost, President Bush feels some burden of responsibility for having deployed the soldier in the first place.

Am I naive? Maybe. Do I want to generally believe the best of everyone? Absolutely. Is that what makes me who I am? Definitely.

On another blog, I read a request to the media to stop playing and replaying the footage of the events of September 11th as if it were reruns of a drama. I'm not there, so I don't know what's being shown stateside on television, although from the last 4 anniversaries, I think I have a pretty good idea. At first, I agreed. Why aggravate the sadness of the families by replaying the images?

But then I wondered - how quickly would we forget if fell out of the media spotlight? What do you remember about Oklahoma City? What do you remember about Columbine? What do you remember about the Space Shuttle Columbia? How often do you think about these (or other) national tragedies? This is not to say that I think about them any more than you do. It's only my thought on how easily events are lost into the recesses of our memories.

So I come back to my first question: what does it mean to remember? I think it's defined pretty well above. So I add to that a second: what's the importance of remembering?

I read somewhere that with remembering, we show the younger generation how the world as it is today was created - remembering provides the historical context. I also read that remembering explains the inheritance received by the generations that follow. I read that it hurts more not to remember. I read that by finding answers to the questions of the past, we might be able to build a better future.
The first one strikes me - if I don't learn about the past, how can I understand the present? Doesn't knowing about what my grandfather lived through help me to understand my world better?
Explaining our inheritance - don't you want to know why we do what we do? This is a good reason as well.
I think that last one resonates with me the most. How can we make the world a better place tomorrow if we don't understand why it is the way it is today or why it was as it was yesterday?

And mostly, if we don't remember, aren't we bound to repetition?

So, with a heart heavy with sadness, I, along with so many others, remember......
Photo: Peter Morgan/Reuters, Source: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040910/
040910_sept11_02.standard.jpg

Another Saturday come and gone....

We've gone two whole days without rain! It was a nice day today, although it looked like rain as the afternoon progressed, so I wouldn't be surprised if we're still in for some tonight. Today I did a little shopping - little being the key word, because my ATM card is broken (well, I guess broken isn't really the right word, but the magnet strip stopped working), so I actually have to go into the bank during working hours to obtain money, which means that my spending ability is very limited at the moment, as I'm not interested in carrying around massive amounts of cash and because it's hard to get to the bank during the week.

I bought this cute little....hmm, don't have a name for it exactly, but I bought it to hold my jewelry (I layed the hairbrush in front of it for size context :)
Isn't it cute? Even in Michigan, I had my jewelry in a ziploc bag (whereby you can tell I don't own anything valuable), which meant that I pretty much didn't wear more than two pairs of earrings. This way, they'll all be accessible.


I now have a dishwasher. And since I don't want to run it when it's not very full, I never seem to have enough clean dishes. So, I decided that I would buy another set and I found a set of these on sale for only 15 Euro.....4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 dessert plates, 4 mugs and I think it's adorable!
For the same reason, I needed more silverware, so I also went to Ikea today to purchase more of the same silverware that I have. I also bought Jemma this cute little butterfly toy, in hopes that I can switch her from the baby socks to an actual cat toy. We'll see how successful that is.


And here I'd just like to add that in traveling around to various locations today, I did NOT once get lost!! That's a super-huge achievement!


Then, just for fun, because I had my camera in the kitchen to photograph the dishes when I took my dinner out of the oven, I took a picture of that too:
It looks like pizza, but it's actually Pflammkuechen. It's delicious, it's enough for at least two meals and when you come to visit you can try it too!


My saga with T-Com continues. I mentioned that I haven't been able to properly set up the Internet, because I haven't received my password from them yet, which I attributed to my difficulties with the mail when I first moved into my apartment. So I wrote them an email asking them to resend me my Internet access data. They wrote back that I have phone service, but that I'm not signed up for internet service with them. I wrote back that I had just paid a bill for a DSL installation fee and my first monthly charge for DSL and asked them to please explain what I am paying for if I'm not signed up for internet. We'll see what the response is....


{It's now raining, just as I predicted it would....I really do have a promising future in weather, don't I??}


My cousin finally got his website up and running. He, like my brother, is a computer genius. So while I love the title of his first post (so clever, Matt!!), I have no idea what he's talking about in the third paragraph! If you can answer his question, then you earn one million billion kudos points (not the candy bar, the congratulations). Make sure you click on the tabs at the top of his page (About, Contact, Features), because the little commentary is sure to make you laugh! I personally am really, really looking forward to the photo gallery!!!!


Tomorrow I'll be at the FeG Stuttgart (hopefully, I won't get lost trying to find it!!). I've now been officially invited by 4 separate people, so I feel very warmly welcomed and I haven't even been there yet!! :o) I'm looking forward to meeting these people!! And then in the afternoon, I don't know, maybe the art museum (I didn't make it to the art museum or the zoo today, I was simply too lazy (or "faul" in German). And it's actually a Monet exhibit, not Renoir, but interesting all the same!

Have you seen Mr. Mom?

It's a movie from the 80s with Michael Keaton and Teri Garr. He loses his job, so she goes to work and he stays home with the kids. It's pretty funny, if you haven't seen it, you really should rent it (for those of you who know her, I first saw this movie with Jena at her house, so I think of her everytime I think about/see this movie). Anyway, I was thinking about Mr. Mom because of the "Woobie." In the movie one of the kids has this blanket that he calls "Woobie." I can't remember much more than that he carries it around all the time and his dad almost vaccuums it up with the vaccuum cleaner. Cassie, my parents' dog, who now lives with my brother in Chicago, had this stuffed toy that she would carry around everywhere. So I started calling it her Woobie. {Are you keeping up with my train of thought here? I'm coming to the point eventually...} Well, I think Jemma (my little cat) now has a Woobie also. Her Woobie is a baby sock. Hmmm, {you wonder} how did Jemma get a hold of a baby sock?
Well....after Mac & Cheese were declawed, it didn't go so well. It was between Christmas 2004 and New Year's 2005. I wasn't having the best week (and it only got worse), because I got the stomach flu around 11 p.m. on Christmas night. I still wasn't feeling great two days later when I picked them up from their declawing (my mom had taken them because I was so sick). For some reason, the glue they used wasn't sticking, so their paws were bleeding a bit. I called the vet, who said to wrap their paws with gauze and see if the bleeding stopped (eventually they had to go back in to get "reglued"). Well, I didn't have any gauze, so I went to the drugstore and bought some. No sooner had I wrapped their paws then they were pulling the gauze off. What could I do to make it stay on? Aha, thought my illness-influenced brain, I'll go to Target (boy, do I miss Target....Target and Diet Coke!) and buy some baby socks to put on their paws over the gauze and that will keep it on. (Man, when I write this out, it seems really stupid, but at the time, it seemed like such a good idea!) Well, {I was going to write as fate would have it, but I don't believe in fate, so...} as it turned out, it was when I was coming home from Target with the baby socks that I was rear-ended by a pickup truck and my car was totaled. So that really, really was not the best idea I ever had. Anyways, after the policeman brought me home (that can be a story for another time), I tried to put the socks on the cats. Yes, you can laugh now, if you're not already. Needless to say, it didn't work. Cat's paws and baby's feet are not the same and the socks intended for baby don't work for cat. So the socks got tossed in the linen cupboard and because the movers move EVERYTHING (seriously, if you don't empty your garbage cans, the trash is goin' with you!), the socks came to Germany with me. And I don't even know where they were, but Jemma found them (she finds everything!). And now she is carrying them around the apartment in her mouth (I promise I give my cats regular cat toys, but no, she likes hair bands and twist ties and baby socks). All that to say, Jemma has a Woobie. If I can manage to get a photo of it, I will share it with you.
I did more laundry yesterday and it's become apparent, I'm definitely going to have to iron. Everything just comes out pretty wrinkled. If you know me well, you know that I hate to iron. I'm just lazy when it comes to ironing. And I'm really not that good at it. I always find wrinkles after I iron, once I put on the article of clothing that I have ironed. (One time, I saw a wrinkle on the shoulder of my shirt after I put it on. I couldn't be bothered to take it off and iron out the wrinkle and since I had already unplugged the iron, I thought it couldn't be that hot anymore. So I tried to iron out the wrinkle while wearing the shirt. Well, I burned myself. And at that time, I was working in the doctor's office. So imagine how it was to go into work and ask for treatment for this burn where my neck meets my shoulder. Of course I had to tell what I had done. So that became a big joke around the office. One of the nurses very shortly thereafter received an email with a list of warnings on products that seem so self-explanatory that they shouldn't even be necessary. What was one of those products? An iron. What was the warning? Do not iron clothes while wearing.)

~Wow, this particular post does not leave you with the impression that I'm very intelligent, does it??~

Just so you're keeping up with the weather here in Stuttgart, today was gorgeous! Sunny, high of 75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky - just beautiful! Tomorrow will be in the mid-60s, but it's supposed to rain. I thought I would go to the zoo tomorrow, but maybe I'll go to the Renoir exhibit at the art museum instead. We'll see....Sunday should be nice, again in the 70s, Monday in the low 80s (!!) and then back to the low 70s as we progress through the week. It's a lovely start to the month of September! (Hmmm, maybe if I ever need a new career, instead of a test engineer, I could be a weather girl! ;o)

And now, because I had nothing better to do and because my little brother is so curious about the layout of my apartment, I present you with.....my floor plan:
It's totally not to scale!! (Obviously, my bed isn't actually as big as my bathroom, though it's probably pretty close! And it only took me like an hour to put it together....) But it gives you a pretty good idea of where I live. And where you'll sleep when you come to visit. :o)

Have a fantastic weekend!!

Today

....it's still cold, but the sun is shining!!!!!!!! It rained today, too, pretty hard, but I'm not complaining, because today I saw the sun!!!!!! And it's 8 already, but it's not dark yet!!

I really don't have much to tell, so here are my random ramblings for you:

Today while we were at lunch in the cafeteria, I ran into one of the Boschlers from Farmington Hills who I always got along really well with and who's here for a conference. To my {happy} surprise, S. stopped right next to my table, set down the lunch tray and gave me a hug. (I know, I never use initials, but I feel compelled to do so here for some reason.) We really didn't get a chance to talk, but it was just nice to see a familiar friendly face and to hear that I'm missed!

Also today, I was considering my vacation plans. We have to use our vacation days here by March. So I was planning on using about 6 days of vacation at Christmas (the rest being holiday or weekend) and I figured I would then have 9 left (!!) to use before March. But then I realized that I was counting wrong....I don't have 15 days to use before March, I have 19! And that's just my vacation days for 2006!! I better get to some vacationing! I'm thinking Greece, I'm thinking Spain, I'm thinking Budapest, I'm thinking Casablanca.....No that's the movie, the place is Morocco, right? Suggestions of where to go and what to see are welcomed!!

Tomorrow I'm going to be alone at work for most of the day.....most of my colleagues are on vacation and the one person who's in the office with me has meetings which will take her out of the office most of the day. It's gonna be a quiet one.....

Tuesday I have to give a presentation.....auf Deutsch. (If I were telling you this in person, you would hear "Yikes!!!" from my tone of voice.) We'll see how that goes. My German teacher insists I'll be fine, but I have this teensy wheensy problem....when I get nervous, my German gets worse! Think about me while you're sleeping early Tuesday morning around 3 a.m., okay?

[When I got to this point, I decided that I would run my Biomuell downstairs and take some pictures of my car - for you!]

So, here's my cute car!! And yes, it's parked on the street, because I'm still afraid of my garage...Ernst says he'll come over and do a test "park the car in the garage" run with me, so I can see that I'm not going to break the car by parking it in the garage and can start using my garage before it snows (which given the weather we're having right now, feels like it could be next week!!).It's cute, but old; small, but functional; peppy, but old (oops, did I mention that already?). Seriously, though, so far it's a good car, really low mileage, not too expensive, insurance is reasonable, registration fees are comparable to what they were in Michigan for my Jetta. And best of all? It's a Mercedes, people! Never expected to be driving a Merc!! I love cars....well, you're not supposed to love things, right, so I REALLY like cars. If I had to go to university again (besides finishing my Master's, which I really AM going to do!!), I think I'd be an engineer so I could work with cars, particularly a test engineer....I think getting to test these new cars is such a fun job! I love walking across the campus at work looking at all these test cars under cover. There's some really cool stuff out there!! And just so you engineers don't feel offended, I know that you work hard; that there are parts of the job that aren't fun, that you don't like and that it's not all fun and games....but you have to admit, there are some serious benefits to what you do!

And while I was uploading the photos of the car, I found this one that I had taken of Mac sitting in front of my laptop. I guess he had something he wanted to blog, too.... :o) (Too bad you can see the mess in the background - it's not there any more!!)
Hmm, well there was more to this post than I thought.

Happy Wednesday! Drop me a line - I'd love to hear how your week's going!!

{By the way, it's now raining and dark!!!}

Guess what!!

It's RAINING! And what's it supposed to do tomorrow? RAIN!!! Did I move to London or to Stuttgart? Is it August or April?? Hmmm......Somebody send me some sunshine!!! Please!!

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Currently in Stuttgart, Germany 52°F Light Rain Feels Like 52°F Dew Point: 48°F Humidity: 88% Pressure: 29.80 inches Wind: From the Southwest at 5 mph Satellite | Map Room Tonight: Cloudy with occasional light rain . Low 49F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Tomorrow: Occasional light rain. High near 60F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Hourly Forecast Complete 10-Day Forecast Video Forecast My Stuttgart, Germany Links Edit Links

On a positive note, my German teacher says that I'm losing my slight accent. :o)

I love...

....knowing that you all are reading my blog! I've not only gotten comments, I've gotten emails, too. And that's just so heartening....since I can't connect with you in person, I love the feeling that you're still "virtually" connected to my life. Thanks!

Last week I had dinner with some very nice American women, including Tina, whom I've already mentioned. We went to this outdoor cafe and got to know each other. Nicole is from SC and she lives two streets away from me here in Feuerbach! That was a fun discovery!!

I've also connected via email with a pastor from Germany who will be working at C3 (and he and his wife will be living in my house until it sells or he comes back to Germany in January....let's hope it sells by then at the latest!). He gave me info on a couple more churches to check out and he's put me in contact with some people he knows here. It's such a good feeling, to start to connect with more people here. :o)

It's still raining here and I understand it's raining in Michigan, too. But, you have weather in the 70s and we have weather in the 50s....brrr! And I still don't think my heat is turned on (if I was 100% sure how my heat worked, then I'd probably know if it was turned on or not...). I wore an actual sweater to work today. It's August in Germany, but feels like March in Michigan! Hopefully September will be better!!

I figured out an interim solution to the drippy washing machine....I put a pot under the drip to collect the water and ran the machine anyways. So this was an interesting experience....I think it took about two hours to do one load of laundry! And it's a washing machine/dryer combo, but the clothes aren't completely dry...I think I need to set the drying cycle for longer. So there were clothes pretty much everywhere hanging to dry, because I hadn't purchased a drying rack since I have a dryer. You can probably guess what I bought today....yep, a drying rack! :o) But in the end, I'm happy that the clothes are clean!!!!!!

I also resolved the garment rack problem: Moved the dresser into my bedroom, thereby creating room in the guest bedroom for the garment rack. Completed assembly of said garment rack. Hung up winter coats (yea!!).
And my apartment's not pristine, but much more orderly than previously described. It's not 100%, but it's getting there!! A girl can only tackle so much at one time, right?

I decided that I'm going to teach you, my gentle Readers (I'm feeling very "Emily Post" at the moment) some German with each blog (except for those of you who are German and therefore don't need to learn any....you can skip this part). One of my favorite phrases is used at mealtime and I just find it so wonderfully "Germanesque" (which is probably not a word): "Lass es dir schmecken." Translation: "Let it taste good to you." I love how this phrase is formulated. What do we Americans say at mealtime? Not much, if anything, maybe "Enjoy!" At almost every meal here, someone wishes you a "Good appetite" and then everyone else says "Same to you." I just think it's so great that people take the time to share such good wishes with one another....try it sometime, it's fun!!

I'm going to bed now, but since you're probably eating dinner shortly - Lass es dir schmecken! And have a good week!

This one's for you, Buddy!

It only took me about 18 trys to get these two photos for you. I think he's much cuter in person!!
Love you!!!!!!

Yahoo!

{Author's note: This post has been under construction for the last 4 or so days! Therefore day "indicators" have been added. I apologize in advance for the length!}
No, not the website, but the exclamation of glee. I got a lot done today {Thursday} after work! I went grocery shopping, I went to the pet store, I emptied two moving boxes and a suitcase, I put away lots of clothes (See?? How good does that look???)
I also assembled the coat tree (IKEA) for my hallway. My coats are no longer draped across a moving box, they're now properly hanging up, thereby reducing the amount of cat hair they're carrying around and just generally improving the look of the place. You might be asking, "Sarah, do you really need a coat in August?" The answer is a resounding "YES!" It's chilly here in the mornings. And the evenings....right now, I'm wearing a sweater!

{Friday} I had dinner with fellow expats Joe and Tina. Joe also works at Bosch, but I've known them both since before I worked at Bosch. It was a great time! Tina made Rouladen and Dumplings (yum!). They have a little girl, who is the cutest thing ever. We had so much fun reading books and playing with Little People! It was wonderful to connect with them, to share our experiences and see where there were some definite commonalities (and to not be sitting at home on Friday night)! I had several - aha, I'm not the only one who feels that way!! - moments. I ended up staying there and on Saturday morning, Tina made pancakes. The mix here is a little bit different than Aunt Jemima or than my mom's made-from-scratch recipe, but it was tasty nonetheless and felt like a little piece of home with maple syrup on top!

Tina's also been so kind as to make some plans for us to have dinner with another expat friend of hers, who actually has some German friends! So I'm proud to say that I have mid-week plans! We'll be meeting on Wednesday for dinner, which I've very much looking forward to!

I had only been home for a little while on Saturday when my doorbell (? it's kinda like a doorbell...it's actually the intercom buzzer) "rang." Well, I don't get visitors, so I suspiciously said "Hallo?" into my intercom phone (yep, I have an intercom phone built into the hallway wall inside the door). It was the Post! With my DSL router!!! Well, wasn't my day off to a good start? Pancakes and a router! So I happily made my list of purchases I needed to make, washed my hair and started the washing machine. Now, Simi's dad kinda jerry-rigged the washing machine. We didn't have the right connection for the hose with the outgoing water (don't ask me what it's real name is) to connect into the wall opening. So, (I guess because Simi told him that Americans keep their cars togther with duct tape) he duct taped it. Which seemed okay until it started dripping. Not a problem, I thought. I know where the Obi (think Home Depot) is, in fact I've been there lots. I'm sure I can find the connecter thingie there (I literally wrote "washing machine thing-a-ma-bob" on my list). So I added that to my list of stops and headed out. First stop was the cell phone store, because whenever I tried to make a call (which I do only occasionally), my friendly recording requested that I please call my service provider. Well, I'm scared of telephoning with strangers. It's much harder to understand over the telephone. So I went to the store. Well...in Germany, the Deutsche Post has lost it's monopoly on postal services. There are now private carriers who are delivering mail to some areas (don't ask me, I don't understand it - it would be like if the US Postal Service suddenly had competition for letter delivery, Simi's dad can tell you all about it). Apparently, the service isn't so hot sometimes with these new private firms. So they sent some mail back to the cell phone company (like they did with the Router even though my name is clearly on the mailbox!!). (The guy at the cell phone store says that's been happening to a lot of people. ) And so the cell phone company, as a safety measure, blocked my account. That was thoughtful, wasn't it? So as easily as that, it was solved and my account was unblocked. I headed next to a furniture store in Leonberg that I've heard about on the radio. They have nice stuff, but their furniture is tooooo expensive! I bought a couple of baskets and some other small things, but no couch. Then I went to Obi, where I was so proud of myself thinking I found the necessary whatchamajigit for the washing machine. I also bought a couple of plants (don't worry, I checked to make sure they're not poisonous). Then I headed to Media Markt, where I bought (another) new phone (the guy assured me this will work with Skype and Mac!). I picked up a few groceries, a binder and a hole punch at Marktkauf and headed back here.
I tried to set up my router. Wow, was I unsuccessful. This, I believe, stems from the mail problems. You see, T Com sent me a letter when I first signed up with them. This letter contained my password, etc. for the internet. Unfortunately, I never received this letter. And I now need it to set up my internal modem (at least I hope that's what the problem is, because otherwise I'm going to have to pay 0.12 Euro a minute to receive technical support from T Com). So, I guess I'll have to call T Com tomorrow. I just don't think the German utilities like me (satellite, internet). And then I had a very, very big scare (don't worry, Mom, it all turns out okay)....I had gotten warm crawling on the floor with these cables and moving stuff around my office, so I opened the roof window. It doesn't have a screen, but I was sure that the cats couldn't get out it. I stand up from messing with the plug and the cord and I see that Jemma is outside of the window on the roof. Well, if you know her, she gets very nervous when you try to pet her (except in the middle of the night or if you have food) But I was so freaked, there was no way I was going to try to quietly coax her back in. I grabbed her leg, which was all I could reach and prayed and started talking very nicely to her. She tried to pull away, but I was able to pull her in toward me and grab the rest of her. I promptly closed the window and do not plan to open it again until I purchase a screen. I think I came very close to a heart attack. She wanted to be let go, but I held her for a while....her heart was pounding, my heart was pounding.
Once we calmed down, I tried the internet connection again, but it just wasn't gonna happen. Very frustrated, I decided to assemble the garment rack that I bought at IKEA (my coats and dresses are too long to hang in the Kleiderschrank) and planned to put in the guest room. Well, being the American that I am, I didn't carefully measure the space first. The rack didn't look that big. It might not be "that" big, but it's just too big! So again becoming very frustrated, I left it almost assembled and closed the door to the guest room and went to bed (I have since decided to reconfigure the furniture and it should work out, but by then I was just so done!).
I had decided that Sunday I would go to the International Baptist Church in Stuttgart-Vaihingen. So I set off at around 9 to attend the 9:30 service. Did I mention that my cute little car (still promising pictures!) doesn't have Navigation (yet!!)? I got lost*. You have to understand that the streets here in Germany aren't on a grid. And when the directions say leave the Friedrichstr. (B295) and go onto the Stuttgarter Str. (B295) it could mean, turn right, left or in a circle. You have no idea where the B295 is going or what it's going to do. I mean seriously! What I did was, instead of leaving the traffic circle (which we don't have in Michigan and I'm not sure if you know what I mean, maybe I can find a picture somewhere) to the left, I left it perpendicular to where I entered. So I backtracked, found an empty spot, parked (turned off the car - very important, cars must not idle in Germany - they have remote starters, but unlike at home, they only start the battery to start the heat and not the motor....dunno, ask an engineer, but my colleague said so and he's was an engineer) and pulled out the map. Now this is no little map, it's a book. And you have to change pages to follow it. Eventually, I realized that if I left the circle to the left, I might have found it. So I did that. Somehow I unintentionally made a few more turns and suddenly found myself on the correct street. Then, following not the street signs, but the signs for Vaihingen, I found my way there, mostly. *That's the other thing....you never really get lost here, because eventually you happen on a sign that looks like this or this:

I personally think there are a lot MORE traffic signs in Germany. If you don't believe me, check out Wikipedia here. My personal favorite is this, which means end of the 60 km/hr speed limit (Read: no speed limit at all!!).



Then I drove the wrong way again. But I realized it pretty quickly, turned around and went in the opposite direction. At which point, I was on a street which dead-ended into some American Military property - the Patch Barracks. Now, I know I'm American, but I don't think surprise drop-in guests are welcomed at military barracks. So I turned around before the gate and promptly saw the street I had overlooked, because it looked like a private drive. At the end of that street was the church. But the service had started at 9:30 and it was now 10:30.....5 minutes late, okay; 10 minutes late, maybe okay and probably the norm at C3; 15-20 minutes late, not so okay; an hour late, uh-uh, I'm still my mother's daughter! They have a second service at 11:30, so I figured I had time to find my way back to Stuttgart-Feuerbach and then find my way to the church again, so that if I wanted to go there again, I wouldn't get lost. So that's what I did. I didn't get lost again and I was back there still 15 minutes early. When I walked in, there were a bunch of people in the lobby, mostly speaking English and a man with a big Southern-USA accent greeted me with a handshake and a "nice to see you here." Hmm, I was suddenly transported back to last summer and Anderson, SC. Was I still in Deutschland? I quickly came to realize that as lovely as this church is (and it did seem very nice), it's services are held in English, as it's home to many military personnel from America as well as people of other nationalities who's common language is English. The man in the lobby was the Senior Pastor, a former military officer from Texas. The speaker was the pastor from the IBC in Hamburg, who is a Welshman! What an international place! I think it's fantastic that people who don't speak German have a place to worship on Sunday while they're in Germany, but I feel a little funny going to an English-speaking church while I'm living in Germany. So I'm going to keep looking.
After church, I followed my usual Sunday ritual and went out to Scheppach, where I was again provided with lunch (thank you!!). Then, we went to the new house to see all the progress. It looks great!! The kitchen was supposed to be delivered today and the carpets are supposed to arrive this week, as are the toilets and sinks. The big move is next weekend!! Then we went to the Besen again for dinner....this week I'll tell you that I had Wurstsalat....and around 9:30 I left for home. I thought I'd be home by 10:15. Nope. There was a back-up on the Autobahn and I didn't get home until 11, when I went straight to bed.
That was my weekend. It was good, but I still have a few issues.....My open items in a nutshell:
-drippy washing machine hose
-internet router issues
-garment rack doesn't fit (need to move dresser into my bedroom and complete garment rack assembly)
-no couch
-need to call the landlord to get the phone number for the satellite provider to schedule an appointment for a new cable
-still need to return the first phone to Conrad
-apartment in general disorder

Today I emailed the guy that sold me my car, because I haven't heard from the insurance company yet. (I'm sure I'm insured, right? But will the policeman agree with me when he pulls me over and I don't have an insurance paper to show him??) He promptly emailed the insurance guy, who said they had called, but apparently they called my cell, because they didn't have my work number. Well I never have my cell on at work. So about two minutes later my phone rang and it was insurance guy. Which took me a while to get, because he set off with his name, which I didn't recognize (it was not the same guy from the email). I caught up when he asked me if anyone else drove the car besides me (I guess I did a good job of mmhmm'ing at all the right places until then, because he never questioned me). He mentioned some number in the 800s and asked me if I wanted full or partial somethin'. Huh? I mentioned this letter from State Farm, asked if that would help and asked for a clarification of the full or partial somethin'. He said yes, please fax me the letter and explained the difference in full and partial kasko (sounds to me like Costco, the warehouse store). Well, I have no idea if I need full or partial kasko, so I ask him to hold and go to my colleague to ask him. He says partial kasko. So I go back and say partial kasko to the insurance guy. Later, he actually came to Bosch to have me sign it - such service! My insurance is less than 400 Euro a year! And now when I get pulled over, I can prove I'm insured! Yahoo!!
And that brings you to the current point in my life. So I'm going to bed! G'nite!

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Today is my (biggest) little brother's birthday! So today's blog is about him. In my last blog, I posted a picture of him as he looks today. I did a little digging and amazingly (in the mess that is my apartment at the moment), I located the following:

Andy was born when I was 19 months old. I honestly think I remember looking at him through the hospital window. I'm sure I had no idea what it meant to have a little brother at that point! He was also pretty sick when he was a baby, but I don't remember any of that. I think I remember him as a pretty quiet baby. I do clearly remember your Lambie (whose tail you wore off!).








My memories start to be clearer more around this age....Andy is probably around 1 year old here, which would make me almost about 2.5. The date in the corner of the picture says November '81, but given the clothes we're wearing, I don't see how it could possibly have been taken in Michigan in the winter time (love the picture in the background, by the way, Mom....). So I'm going with November being the date the photo was printed. These are my paternal grandparents and my great aunt. We loved having my grandparents come to visit and going to visit them in turn. And when my great uncle Dale was there, Andy used to love to sit on his lap and comb his hair. I guess he just had to have a special affinity for Uncle Dale from the start (my parents say that's where he got his height - I wish you would have shared a little with me....two inches maybe??).

Josh was born when Andy was 22 months old, so the three of us were really close in age. What I remember most from growing up with Andy was how much fun we had (yep, Josh you were part of that fun, too!). Playing GI Joe, playing Legos, playing school, going to the park with Mom. Being in the Garden Club (heehee - but we sure made tasty gingerbread houses there!), going to the pool, playing on the T-Ball team (Andy picking grass when he was in the outfield - or was that Josh - well whatever, one of my brothers got a mock award for that when we were little), fishing with Grandpa, going to Boblo Island on the ferry with Dad...it didn't matter what we did or where we went, I always had somebody to play with (or wrestle with.....remember how I usually won until you got so doggone tall??) because of my brothers. Sometimes, then, I might not have thought it was so great.....but now when I look back on those times, I can see it so clearly! And for that, I consider myself to be so blessed. So I have to say "thanks for being my little brother, Brother! It just wouldn't have been or be the same without you!"

Of course, later, we had our moments, like all siblings. I can remember some pretty good "discussions" (if you know what I mean). But we always got through it....And now my little brother's a man.....He's married, he's going to be a dad soon, he gives great hugs, he's sooooo much like my dad (which is a good thing - mostly!!)...And he can answer (almost) all of my techie questions!! I'm impressed by what you've accomplished and I can't wait to see what happens next in your life!

So, Happy Birthday!!! Hugs from across an ocean....
Love,
Your Big Sister (Forever and Ever!!)

(Yes, older and therefore closer to 30, but what's 19 months in the perspective of a lifetime? And they say that older means wiser, by the way....just don't ask me who "they" are!)

P.S. Seth, I just want to say that I didn't forget you, it's just that you came along later, but I'm betting you would say that Andy's a pretty good big brother, too!

Aha, success!

My links now open in a new window!!!!!!!
Thank you to my almost-birthday-boy-brother!!

Now if you can just teach me how to write code.....then I wouldn't have to use the pre-fab template from Blogger......
You like a challenge right?
Happy Birthday Week!

Imagine that!

Me posting twice in one day! Do you believe it?? Well, the guys from Bierstoffer came at about 11 or maybe a little bit before. I feel bad now every time that someone has to bring something heavy to my apartment....I have only seen grown men sweat so much playing sports. The one guy was literally groaning on his way up the stairs. When I rented this apartment, I definitely did not consider delivery men! But they were very uncomplaining about it....or maybe their dialect was just so deep (hmm, "deep" - literal translation from German....in English I probably should have written "heavy") that I didn't understand their complaints? Anyhow, here it is in all it's glory. May I introduce you to my Kleiderschrank??? I was very impressed by the professionalism of the delivery men. This was not the most expensive piece of furniture by any means and yet they took their time, used a level and everything!
Okay, Blogger is taking far too long to load the pictures. So instead, I am uploading them to Flickr here. I'm also going to try to figure out how to add that nifty little Flickr window to my blog.... (Andy, if you don't see that little window here soon, can you email me instructions???? I'm still trying to figure out how to make the links open in a new window!~Hopefully with this post, I've done it!)
Anyway, it may not have photographed well, but it's a beauty! Two sliding doors, one mirrored. Four shelves and two thingamabobs to hang clothes on. You might be able to just see the pile of clothes laying on the bed....I intentionally put them on the bed so that I have to hang them up before I can go to bed (maybe I can thwart my procrastinative tendencies yet!).
Is procrastinative a word?? Nope, Dictionary.com says "uh-uh." So, maybe I can lessen my tendency to procrastinate. There, that's better.
Can you tell that I'm in a much better mood than I was on Saturday? And that's despite the fact that it continues to rain here! And despite the fact that I learned today that the phone I purchased last week is definitely not compatible with Mac: "Dear Mrs Brown, i'm afraid, but there are no addition drivers or software for the Mac." Love, Philips. C'mon, people! Oh well....everyone needs at least one good return experience, right? I'll let you know how it goes...
If you find the mundane details of my life interesting (right now my mom is thinking that she could never find anything I write about mundane....), then I'll share with you that I bought another new kind of cat litter today. I absolutely detest the kind I bought last. It's disgusting (no details, I promise). And the kind before that smelled like baby powder which should be good, but just wasn't! So now I bought a third kind. Cross your fingers, please. If this doesn't cut it, I might be asking you to send me good ol' Arm&Hammer cat litter from Stateside. There are other options, too, but they only come in 20 liter bags and there is no physical possibility of me getting that kind of weight up to my apartment. I'm huffing by the time I actually make it all the way up with the 10 L bag!
Speaking, no actually writing, about cats, I have to ask again why they like the sink? Check out this pretty kitty....
Tomorrow morning I start my German lessons. At 7:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 1.5 hours for at least the next six weeks, I will be at the ISD (Industrie Sprachen Dienst GmbH Stuttgart - you're glad to know what it stands for, aren't you??). I'm really happy about this. Even though I get my meaning through, it's frustrating to feel like a 4 year old at times, either not being able to find a word or hearing my own mistakes. So I'm really looking forward to these lessons. I don't know how people live here when they don't speak any German....or maybe if I spoke in English all the time, everyone would just reply in English?
By the way, I want to be clear that when I comment on German culture or people or whatever, it's not a criticism (unless of course, I were to openly write a criticism). When I point out differences, it's only so that you, my beloved friends and family, understand what my life is like. I've read a few blogs now by American Expatriates where they actually talk about detesting life here. I sooooo do not feel that way!
Okay, a couple more pictures. The view from my bedroom window is pretty great!!
And then, hot off the presses....snapped just moments ago: who needs knick knacks when you have cats?? Again, they just find the most interesting places to lay!

Waiting.....

I don't know about this weather. Today, the high is supposed to be 62 and there's a definite possibility of showers, although the sun is shining right now. But by Wednesday (I had a really hard time spelling that!), the high is supposed to be 85! It's just like living in Michigan!
The un-summer weather is really sad for the people who are on vacation. August is basically vacation month in Germany. Because school is out, most parents pack up their kids and head for various vacation destinations. Take my department at work for example....There are 9 of us. According to my calculations, there will be several days in the next few weeks in which there are only 2 of 9 of us actually at work. Many of my coworkers have at least two weeks, if not three weeks of vacation planned.
If you're very astute, you've noticed that I'm posting at ~10:30 a.m. (German time) and you're now wondering why I'm not at work (and if you hadn't noticed on your own, now that I've pointed it out, you're also wondering). I'm home because my Kleiderschrank is being delivered today. And just like in the US, they say they'll deliver it between 9 and 12. So here I sit, feeling guilty for not being at work, waiting for it to be delivered, making the cats stay in the office with me so they don't get in the way once they arrive (which they don't seem to be enjoying...) hoping it will make it into my bedroom! And hoping they come pretty soon, so that I can eventually make it in to work!
This weekend, while cold, was good. I didn't get too much cleaning done around here (actually, in reference to that, I learned the German word for procrastinate yesterday, because Simi's dad asked me if I had gotten my cable for the new satellite yet and when I said that I haven't yet called, he told me that I shouldn't procrastinate....hmm, see a pattern here?)
Saturday night I went to a "Stairway to Heaven" night (Germans love English phrases) at the BGG. I knew almost all of the songs, but none of the words, because while the songs were all from Hillsong or Matt Redmond, they were naturally all in German. And the words on the screen were perpetually delayed, so I found myself feeling a little silly just standing there waiting for the words to appear. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it was a bit too charasmatic for me. But I though I would check out their Sunday morning service as well. I also found it to be a bit too charasmatic. So I think I might have to try some other places. The International Baptist Church has been recommended to me. And of course, there's the FeG which has a relationship with C3. So we'll see....
After church, I drove to Scheppach, where I was provided with a tasty lunch of zucchini Pfannkueche (yum!). Then we went to the Hohenloher Freiland Museum, which reminded me a bit of Greenfield Village, only the houses are older. It was rainy at first, but then the sun came out and it was actually quite pleasant. After that we went to a Besenwirtschaft, which is a "restaurant" that's run by someone with a vineyard. It's really different here than at home, because people sit together at tables with other people that they don't know and everybody talks to everybody else. I won't tell you what I ate, because it might gross you out (although, Sarah S., now that I know that you used to eat marrow, I guess there really shouldn't be anything that can gross you out, because this is much less gross than that!), but even if it didn't gross you out, you'd be very surprised at me, given my reluctance to eat meat which is identified by the part of the animal's body from which it comes.....But the food was good! The guy next to us had some very interesting theories on Israel, Hollywood and the United States government, which he shared even though he knew I was American. None of it particularly offensive, but some pretty out-there ideas. Also different in Germany: you don't pay and leave until you're ready to do so. So you sit at your table, with or without food or drink, and talk. If you need more to drink, you have to call the waitress over, she doesn't stop by perpetually asking if you'd like something else (and there's no such thing as free refills). Then when you're ready to go, you call the waitress over and tell her you'd like to pay. There's also not the same concept of tipping here. Here you give Trinkgeld (drink money), which usually means that you just round out the bill. For example, our bill was 36 something Euro. And so you give the waitress money and tell her how much you'd like back. In this instance, a 50 and 12 Euro back.
So that was my weekend.....how was yours?
Oh and in my avoidance of cleaning Saturday, I found this fun page! Enjoy!
I'll let you know how the Kleiderschrank works out. :)

Randomness...

What's that saying about paybacks? Oh, right, it has a not-so-nice word in it....so being the good girl that I am, I won't write it here. But you know what I'm thinking right? And I'm thinking it in context of the weather here.....it's cold! As in 55 degrees. And the high tomorrow is 60 and the high on Sunday is 61. And it's rainy! So why paybacks? Because I was complaining about how hot it was here just two weeks ago!!! And now I'm wearing a sweater and my fuzzy slippers from Land's End. Hence my thoughts on paybacks today. By the way, in these multiple family houses, they shut off the heat (completely) from early May or so until October. So I can't even turn on the heat if I want to, even when the lows at night are in the 40s....
I'm also thinking about mourning doves. Why? Because there's one parked outside and as far as I can tell, it lives around here full time. I hear it now, even with the window closed. I hear it in the morning when I wake up, even with the window closed. Aaargh!
Plans for this weekend....clean, clean and clean some more. (Exciting, right??) I want everything to be organized! I just wish someone else wanted to organize it for me! My wardrobe is being delivered Monday morning and it will be good to get all my clothes off the floor.....here's hoping it fits through the door!!!
Sunday I want to check out the BGG. It's a big church here in the area that Simi's dad recommended to me...
I bought a phone on Wednesday that is supposed to operate with Skype....Super, right? Yep, except I didn't read that you have to have Windows in order to install the software. And I love my Mac, but it doesn't have Windows.....Hmmmm......so I emailed Philips to ask if they have the software available for Mac, but I'm not expecting a positive reply. So I think I will probably be having my first experience with returning something to a store in Germany next week....Wish me luck........(How do you say "not compatible with my computer" in German???)
What do you have planned for the weekend? Surely it's more interesting than cleaning! Gee, it seems that I am in a bit of a negative mood this evening....I think it's the weather. I'll try to be more positive with the next post!

Ho hum and the Princess Bride

I unfortunately have no TV at the moment. My building and the building next door share a satellite dish. And it was switched from analog to digital on Friday night. So now I have to call up some company to come and put in a new cable for the dish. So I'm not getting any signal. And while I bragged earlier that I hadn't watched TV since the WM finals, I now realize that was due less to my lack of desire to watch TV and more to actually having fun people around to talk to.....now living alone and with all the shops closing around 7, I find that TV is a very useful source of distraction to pass the hours until bedtime. Without it, I'm quite bored...(I think I need to go to the bookstore!)...Therefore, to amuse myself, I did a google search on americans living in Germany and found all sorts of interesting blogs and ultimately a quiz on the Princess Bride. I, apparently, am Buttercup, which actually doesn't surprise me much....Which character are you? Take the quiz, please, it's short and let me know. I'm curious....


Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti"

I do have a car of my own now! Pictures will follow eventually, when I can be sure that my neighbors aren't watching that strange american take pictures of her very ordinary, not so new model year car....

I do not, however, have a couch. It didn't fit. They even took my front door off the hinge, removed the railing from the stairs and managed to get it through the front door of my apartment. But then they couldn't get it out of my hallway into the living room. I contemplated telling them that it could stay in the hallway, but I think it would be a fire hazard and I would probably wish it wasn't there pretty soon, so I let them take it back. They measured to see if they could hoist it up to the balcony, but once they got it there, it still wouldn't fit through the door or the window. So, off to storage it goes, sadly, for the next three years. And now I need to buy a couch.

Saturday, I not only bought a car, I also bought my wardrobe/armoire. I think I mentioned that there aren't closets, right? So I had to essentially buy one. Unfortunately, it won't be delivered for the next ten days or so, so I have to continue to iron (gasp, yes, me iron and no, mom, I don't iron while wearing the clothes any more....burning myself and the subsequent incessant teasing that I should come with a warning label taught me a lesson) prior to wearing my clothes. Let's just hope that this piece of furniture passes through my door! ;o)