Let´s Move

Golden October for a change. Nice weather for the 2,5km walk to our doc in the easterly ring area where I used to live, our good ole Gauss is held in honour everywhere :-)

When I came to Braunschweig in 2002 I didn´t know if I´d keep the job, so I went into flat-sharing.

The two windows in the middle, first floor were mine.

The big window to the left had various mates, the last one finally made me move out, I still have to thank her...

To the right, M. Dr. of agriculture, single, ever since, he still lives there, we met him when we went to our old bakery a while ago:

They call Ingo still Mr. K. But since I live low carb I don´t go there anymore.

I moved on to...

Never in my life will I live in a house with an access balcony again.
Isn´t funny when you got a dement and angry lady living next to you...
My then-teamleader TI once picked me up and when I turned on the lights he said it looked like a christmas tree :-)

Ingo´s apartment flooded again, he moved in with me, 34 m² isn´t that much and hence we finally moved again, still easterly ring area, it was fun walking there:

This belongs to "famous" Brunsviga

opposite our house, second floor to the right is where we finally, finally ended our weekend-relationship!

This lille place was closed - for good?

A couple of years later and after much searching we finally...

Yep, we got our own condo :-)

And left the easterly ring area.
Now we live near said Gauss in the northerly ring area.
I simply can´t go for easy parking ;-)

25 748 - To Start With

Henry doesn´t look happy, no? Being different... huh? But I love the reflection!
Yesterday I had to see my doc due to my stiff neck. And to get my blood tested. Did that last time ages ago, not good when you got a malfunctioning hyperthyroidism.

Ran out of meds weeks ago, too, bu-huu, not funny, she said.

Date one: 09:20 am to get the blood taken, then 11:15 to see my doc (in theory!!! - 01:15 it was! But she´s good, worth the wait.).

You can guess I had to fill the time in between and by golly - it.was.fun.

Time-travel is always fun, no?

Our doc moved, but she´s still in the Easterly Ring Area, my formerly home for nearly 10 years, ours, after a move for a while, too.

This is a new shop in the old street I walked a thousand times, btw.

I think I should be thankful.
I would never have been able to even search for a job if we had the technology we have now back in 1999.
I´d still be editing pics!

Only today I took nearly 50 pics!!!
Imagine 7 MONTHS Australia... North, West, mainly. Outback, awwww.

"LUCKY" me! bu-huuu...

"... my hair" - haha, not a poet, I know ;-)

So much happened yesterday, so much I´ve seen, noticed, dwelled on and shook my (inner) fist upon.
Oh, my.
I´m a Braunschweig-person since some whopping 13 years, and I am thankful for it.

Even if I´m a magnet for weirdness, see FB-entry on the In-Laws...

Oh, the weird title? 25 748 steps today.
And yes - training included.

Heaps to come if you wanna see where I moved from A to B in this city, fellow BS-mover, you´re welcome to see if you recognise places ;-)
So sad we missed each other by so many years...

Life At A Late Party

I finally put up the garland I got in the summer-holiday-edition in the flow-magazine.
The door to the balcony is a good reminder the next summer will come, right? :-)

Funny enough two days later when I looked outside the window/balcony door I saw another garland - in the neighbour´s garden.

Tough peeps partying outside in this weather!

But weird things keep coming up to me, maybe I´m a "magnet" for stuff like that?

I hurried by an accordion-player in the city.
And he suddenly played the tune a bride gets being led down the aisle to her wedding by her Father.

Huh???? What the...?

Thanks, I had neither on that date, not the music, not the Dad.
And I wasn´t in such a hurry ;-)

Life´s not always a window...

Sweet Memories Anew

Awww.
R took her on one of the last rides this year.

Took the time to take pics - which we/Ingo never did.

He´s so proud having her. In the HD-team he found to have tours with from time to time she´s the most color- and loudful one.
Oh, and oldest.
Always the star, he says.

When they drive through villages little boys always point their finger at her.
Ohhh, looook!

If you care about the salad-thingy, please read the comment to this post - thanks Grace, I am a happy salad now (still a tad afraid of Big´s words not coming true...)

A Pleasant Autumn Afternoon

Yesterday I parked in the road we all take to get to the city and I ran into neighbour A.
We chatted for about 15 minutes, he said he´s on the way to the city, I said, me, soon, too, prob alone, Ingo isn´t well.

The switch to winter-time is contra-productive in my eyes.
More so. I hate it.

12C, yet all empty...

I went to the city hall to deliver our surveys.
Oh, my. The guy behind the window sat behind an open window - I was searching for a slit to pass it through till he nearly fell off his chair, laughing! Admitting it´s hard to see there is no window in the front.
I still had to laugh about myself when reaching the door....

... where I ran into... A.
How are the chances?!

We chatted some more, on "do you you know where..." I said no, so we went together - first Asia-store in my life to enter.
Followed by a Turkish one - I saw the best Scotch fillet ("Scotch"?! Why is it called Scotch?).
Jerky-to-be?

I had some more oh-HERE-we-are-moments again and suddenly the fitbit vibrated - 10 000 steps, I happily exclaimed.

A while later A exclaimed also happily, 15 000! (Where did this dude go?! We live in the same house, work in the same complex...).

He lead me into the shop I wanted to go, grabbed a voucher I would not have seen.
A good day with no one crying, I needa get outta here, it´s too hot!

And in the near future I climb up 2 stairs and trade some black olives in for dry black beans and some curry :-)
And maybe I´ll JUMP through his apartment, too! And pay back the darn neighbours above!

Times Are A Changin

The old rails turn into a bike trail slowly and get more attractive.
What I really love: They kept my Bonanzarad:

Sadly I have no idea who the artists are. School kids? Former nasty-grafitti-sprayers? Students from the art college?

It´s pointing out we have elderlies and handicapped peeps - I wonder why. On a bike-trail?

Ran out of ideas?

What´s nearby is here as well:

Nice, how it´s all getting more colorful here, no?

Wicked Saturday

Saturday started good.
We went to the White Horse shopping center and found this rather cute note of our ever so very polite Iranian Mr. Kahn:

He´s not on a but on the training.
German language ain´t easy ;-)

From there we went on to the other side to ALDI and got some yummy red cabbage, frozen duck, I fulfilled 10 000 steps easily.
I had a headache, though, around lunchtime and soon after my stomach hurt, I even had to get the lunch out where I really hate it.

I have no idea how Ingo manages the pain all the time.
I could only try a bit of the cabbage, Ingo was darn disappointed :-(

The rest of the evening I didn´t know what to hold, stomach or head/neck. Reckon it was a light migraine due to the stiff neck which still comes from having the laptop to the left weeks ago.
That or/and because I´m still in the same office with ###.

Stomach still hurts and I wonder if it might be stomach ulcer even.

It could still take time or maybe we all have to stay where we are and I can no more.
I´m unmotivated beyond normal, I feel tired and sick.

Tuesday I´ll see my doc about it hopefully (it´s school holidays). Hope she can help, get the blood tested and all.

It´s warmed up, 12C, yet thanks to Ingo I´m ready for the darn cold:

That Was Then...

The other day I spotted this old house that´ll soon be no more.

The German-American petroleum company was founded in 1890.

In the early 1900s they were sold and called DAPOL.
Their logo was an Indian with a feathered headdress. D'oh!

Today it´s... exxonmobil, aka Mobil in Australia.
We got many a liter from them :-)

That was ZEN
This is TAO

A grafitti on the poster in our loo... (see title).

If I was a teacher, this could be a good start to a lesson in history, walking there, no?

NONE

One gimmick in the holiday-edition of the summer-flow-magazine was this lille leaflet "Write For a Fresh View".

Funny enough the first two pages were kinda glued together, so that wasn´t the first to answer.

The first question that popped up (for me) was:
This decision I still regret

Bummer.
There I sat.

Rewinding my life.

Dunno, what would your answer be?

Mine was, after some more thinking:

"Pleasantly: NONE!"

Really!
Yes. I was together with the wrong man for five long years.
But there were good moments, too, things I would not have encountered otherwise.
I was stupid sticking with him so long, but in the long run, do I really regret it?
No.

I just have to think of this worthy memory.

I was so stupid and listened to a friend and went on a horse´s back.
I fell badly, spent quite some time in hospitals and all the blablabla.

See the good: I met heaps of nice peeps on that "ride", too.
And... whenever I fall on my right side, sure as hell the upper arm has not a chance to break again - I still have the fixing inside :-)
And the scars put my colleague who´d lost a few fingers at ease, too. Summer, what a bliss, huh? ;-)
(He hid said hand all winter!)

I studied the wrong stuff?
Yes.
But it wasn´t totally a waste of time.
I´m a graded engineer and that helped me get this job. And, boy, Figure drawing was fun!

I went against my prof.
Yeah. I was stupid like that. He made a female fellow student cry. In front of everybody.
I didn´t even like her, but that was too much. It was my diploma, pre-internet (yes, I´m old) and I had serious questions. Questions he could not answer.
A very embarassing situation for him.
Long story short: I got a ...2,1? Or such - not a chance to get a job.

Lucky me!
I have a waaaay better job instead! And lots of experience, too.
Hello, internet :-)

I had a car-accident.
Best thing that could´ve happened!
I wasn´t injured.
It was a company-car - no costs for me.
I went to a training.
I´m way more careful now.
Win (ok, apart from the constant fear!).

There is really nothing I regret, not a thing.

I consider myself a very, very lucky person, I am thankful, too.

In case you wonder. The first question was a tad crazy in the aftermath:

The most beautiful compliment I ever got.

Eww.
After some thinking I wrote down:
"That I´m an honest person."

The magazine and it´s gimmicks are really great.
Helps me to clear my mind, get to the ground, cherish life more, be thankful.

Is there something you still regret?

In case you wanna get going, too, this is what I found in the leaflet:

The most beautiful compliment I ever got
This decision I still regret
The best in my job is for me
That´s how I want to be when I´m old
A bad feature of mine
This touches me
My pamper-momemt
In this point I changed my mind
This is the best news I got last year
I always look forward to...
This I don´t like doing
This is what I do not like at work
I´m proud of this
....

More to come - if you like?
Even if not. I think those are questions you can ask yourself from time to time.

And I know me.
I´ll put the leaflet some place I can´t remember. But online, it´s there :-)

I´m In The Flow

No idea if this simply comes along with age, but I concentrate more on the moment.
And I found in Nürnberg a very good (international) magazine that is just what I like, that gives me ideas, I just love it.

So much that for the first time in my life I subscribed for something, and no, I don´t get paid for writing this.

On Tuesday the first edition arrived.

As a first hello some stuff came in double, wise selling-guys they sure are.
P, whom I visited yesterday, was quite thrilled :-)

Weee.
That was some visit.
P was like me, she wanted no kids. Now there are the twins - and, my.
She is doing great! She´s a fantastic Mum, so cool.
A new person, still the "old" shining through, amazing!

Amazing also how different the girls are!

Hehe.
I didn´t want to come with empty hands, so I got two pieces of cake, ya know, from a real bakery.
P likes sweet stuff, but certainly knows I don´t (she once made pizza-muffins for her Birthday just for me at work - did I hate being the point of interest, hence...). ... Aw, well, reckon she and the hubs had it for dinner :-)
We had a very yummy, hearty lunch instead :-)

When I came back home... awwww, goodie!

The "holiday-flow-summer-edition" had arrived!!
Ingo was home a sec earlier and said, "your funny ... coloring-book... arrived."

They´re not slow, I got to know them late, but, awww...
EVEN MORE SUMMER FOR ME!

Such interesting ideas, so much creative thoughts, try not to be sad to have missed out on it for so long!!! So many gimmicks, too (is that a German word, gimmick?).

Just have a look:

I.Need.Time!
So many new stuff to learn, to focus on, to live better.

I think I need a holiday. ... ;-)

Or play lotto and win big.

Yesterday sure was a very nice "time-out-day"!
Plus my muscles ached so badly from resuming training... it was a good break, too.
Back to training today!
And then: Swing and flow :-)

If you care about the salad-thingy, please read the comment to this post - thanks Grace, I am a happy salad now (still a tad afraid of Big´s words not coming true...)

Done And Dusted

The Advent-calendar for the big Niece is ready.
I really love finding pressies, but gah, do I hate the wrapping up!

And I really wonder, in the aftermath, if this was a wise idea after all? Soon I´ll "have to" make two of those!

But I can split it up, right? 2*2 each month is do-able.
If there is discipline!

This one is covered, too:

Well, not wrapped yet. But one book, pffft, easy.

Now they only have to make the time for me to visit.
Me doing the driving.
Must be very complicated.
I´m still to present lille Niece to her first B-day...
I try not to be... ya know.
Family.
Not easy at times.

Getting back to training yesterday felt good.
So far I´m ok, too!
Off to P and maybe fit enough to resume training when I´m back!
Discipline, right?
Plus.... it´s ccccccold, training keeps you warm!

OH! AND! What do you think? 3pm German time... will Marty McFly arrive in his Delorean???
If I remember right it was this part II we watched on this very hot Christmas day!

Shoot I don´t work today, really bad planning!
I could´ve seen THE CAR today!