I have an appointment for a haircut. Woo.
The Italians have been measuring the heat in the office, and apparently it hit 31 Celsius on Wednesday. Thursday was equally bad, but Friday was bearable. I did go out on Wednesday and buy four new light tops, and a headset for using Skype now I've paid in to be able to call normal phones.
Except the MacBook Pros don't come with a microphone port. They come with a line-in port, which normal headsets can't use. So, I can't use it. Need to get myself a USB headset or some kind of external amp or sound card. Spent a huge amount of time researching what will or won't work and think I have found one now that I can use.
Had a massive thunderstorm last night with constant thunder and lightning, and another one has just moved in. At least it will cool things down a bit. It's hard to concentrate on anything with it so hot, but I have at least managed to buy a card for my cousin's wedding (although I've managed to lose his address) and write to my homestay family in Japan.
My brother has finally firmed up his dates for Mongolia, so I can start plotting my next trip to Japan. Finnair are having a seat sale, and seem to make the journey via Helsinki faster than Emirates via Dubai. The direct flights are all over £800, much as I would love to go direct again.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Round and round and round we go
For anyone wondering what on earth I'm talking about with kumihimo, here's a photo of my attempts so far. One of them is being used a decorative dangle on my bag, as I wove it around a clip. I'm not sure if the thinner ones are meant to twist as mine do... But still an awful lot of fun and really relaxing.
Yesterday was too hot. It was the kind of day where you either are dressed, or move, but not both. Everything I own seems to be too heavy. Yesterday was 23 degrees - today, tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be 29. I'm going to melt.
Still trying to get a haircut.
Yesterday was too hot. It was the kind of day where you either are dressed, or move, but not both. Everything I own seems to be too heavy. Yesterday was 23 degrees - today, tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be 29. I'm going to melt.
Still trying to get a haircut.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
The horror is in the post
Love these Hammer House of Horror commemorative stamps from Royal Mail - along with the Carry On ones.
Not sure what it says about the contents of what it's on though...
Not sure what it says about the contents of what it's on though...
Monday, 26 May 2008
Oops
Apparently, I can lose track of time while doing kumihimo. I was planning on being in bed early tonight...
Easily distracted
I ended up undoing the kumihimo cord and redoing it - then undoing it again after realising I'd got the pattern wrong. How I did that I don't know, as it is literally weave-by-numbers. But on the third go I cut a new thread for the cross-weave so that it would be long enough to use up all the other cords, and wove away while watching a video - I now have a very nice red, gold and brown cord attached to a clip!
I don't have a weight to keep it tense and so keep the weave even, but I found that just holding the braid as it comes from the disc worked nicely. Very happy with it for a third first attempt...
But I really shouldn't be doing it in the morning before work. Need to run now.
I don't have a weight to keep it tense and so keep the weave even, but I found that just holding the braid as it comes from the disc worked nicely. Very happy with it for a third first attempt...
But I really shouldn't be doing it in the morning before work. Need to run now.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Not too bad
As predicted, Friday felt like being called into work on a Saturday, Saturday felt like Sunday and Sunday didn't know what to do with itself. Such is a bank holiday Thursday.
Managed to get some things done - finally did a jewellery repair that I've had since Easter. I needed a few beads for it, so went to search for bead shops in Frankfurt without much hope - I'd searched before and found naught. But someone had posted a question about it a few days earlier on an 'answers' site and I got addresses for two places - the first of which had what I wanted (which was nothing special) and I also caved in and bought a kumihimo set and some carabiners with chains to weave onto. The second store was much larger and nicer, with a larger range of beads, and there too I was unable to resist buying something - in this case a set of 6 butterfly and dragonfly stamps and a set of blue/green ink pads. I know, I shouldn't. But I did.
The other thing I was on the lookout for was headphones. I found a real hi-fi shop, which predictably enough only stocked serious merchandise - 300 and 400 Euro Sennheiser headphones. The strange thing is that I can get both the headphones and the iAudio D2 much cheaper in the UK than here, even taking the strong Euro into account. But I can't seem to pay for them with my German bank card, so I'll have to see if I can get them delivered to a non-cardholder address (always a bit of a pain).
Otherwise, I finished the first section of the Social Science Readings translation, and read the central part we don't have to translate. I still have some way to go before I finish (due on June 13) but at least I've cracked the ice.
Went out to dinner last night with Z to the Thai place around the corner - cheap and cheerful (6 Euro main course) but tasty and just what we were looking for. He sent me one of his songs in production, and I am extremely impressed.
So, I'm now sitting surrounded by rattail (satin cord, in case you think it's something strange) and templates. I translated the kumihimo booklet online from German to English, and although not all of it made sense, I found a video that cleared up most things and actually making one piece has made a lot of the rest obvious. One bit I missed was that some threads have to be longer than others, so my 'finished item' has uneven straggly tails, but I quite like it anyway.
Managed to get some things done - finally did a jewellery repair that I've had since Easter. I needed a few beads for it, so went to search for bead shops in Frankfurt without much hope - I'd searched before and found naught. But someone had posted a question about it a few days earlier on an 'answers' site and I got addresses for two places - the first of which had what I wanted (which was nothing special) and I also caved in and bought a kumihimo set and some carabiners with chains to weave onto. The second store was much larger and nicer, with a larger range of beads, and there too I was unable to resist buying something - in this case a set of 6 butterfly and dragonfly stamps and a set of blue/green ink pads. I know, I shouldn't. But I did.
The other thing I was on the lookout for was headphones. I found a real hi-fi shop, which predictably enough only stocked serious merchandise - 300 and 400 Euro Sennheiser headphones. The strange thing is that I can get both the headphones and the iAudio D2 much cheaper in the UK than here, even taking the strong Euro into account. But I can't seem to pay for them with my German bank card, so I'll have to see if I can get them delivered to a non-cardholder address (always a bit of a pain).
Otherwise, I finished the first section of the Social Science Readings translation, and read the central part we don't have to translate. I still have some way to go before I finish (due on June 13) but at least I've cracked the ice.
Went out to dinner last night with Z to the Thai place around the corner - cheap and cheerful (6 Euro main course) but tasty and just what we were looking for. He sent me one of his songs in production, and I am extremely impressed.
So, I'm now sitting surrounded by rattail (satin cord, in case you think it's something strange) and templates. I translated the kumihimo booklet online from German to English, and although not all of it made sense, I found a video that cleared up most things and actually making one piece has made a lot of the rest obvious. One bit I missed was that some threads have to be longer than others, so my 'finished item' has uneven straggly tails, but I quite like it anyway.
Friday, 23 May 2008
It's dead, Jim
I had a few things I was going to do on the bank holiday yesterday - and did exactly none of them. I slept for 12 hours, watched videos and listened to music and generally faffed around.
Today, the content management system misbehaved to the extent that I managed to get about half of what I was hoping to done, and the rest of the day rechecking files it hadn't loaded properly the first time. I get paid for this.
My beloved and heavily used iAudio G2 has bitten the dust. It was declaring its 1GB disk full although there was nothing on it, so I proceeded to do a firmware update, which fixed that last time. No such luck - it went from being recognisable but full on the Mac to being recognisable on the Windows virtual machine only, and then to only being seen as a defective USB mass storage device. Oh well. I have had it for ages, and used it most days in that time. It has earned its eternal rest.
I'm currently interested it its younger sibling, the iAudio D2, and a pair of out-of-ear earphones. While I hate the way they look, my inner ears are starting to feel funny, possibly because due to the complete and total lack of soundproofing in these flats, I always have headphones on when listening to anything. I'm still not convinced that my hearing is 100%, despite a visit to the Royal Berkshire.
And now - the weekend, where I will attempt to do what I should have done yesterday.
Today, the content management system misbehaved to the extent that I managed to get about half of what I was hoping to done, and the rest of the day rechecking files it hadn't loaded properly the first time. I get paid for this.
My beloved and heavily used iAudio G2 has bitten the dust. It was declaring its 1GB disk full although there was nothing on it, so I proceeded to do a firmware update, which fixed that last time. No such luck - it went from being recognisable but full on the Mac to being recognisable on the Windows virtual machine only, and then to only being seen as a defective USB mass storage device. Oh well. I have had it for ages, and used it most days in that time. It has earned its eternal rest.
I'm currently interested it its younger sibling, the iAudio D2, and a pair of out-of-ear earphones. While I hate the way they look, my inner ears are starting to feel funny, possibly because due to the complete and total lack of soundproofing in these flats, I always have headphones on when listening to anything. I'm still not convinced that my hearing is 100%, despite a visit to the Royal Berkshire.
And now - the weekend, where I will attempt to do what I should have done yesterday.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Dream and nightmare
This morning went swimmingly. Oh, I did my usual (this must be the right stop - oh no, the destination looks wrong - cross to other bus stop - bus arrives - tells me I need the other direction - RUN across dual carriageway and only catch bus because it is late) but I was at UPS as they opened, paid my money, got my package and had a good 25 minutes opening everything and reading manuals before the bus arrived.
And I spent the entire day - I kid you not - merging files on the content management system. So I've played some of all three games...
My new neighbour downstairs might be from the music school. I think he's playing saxophone. I can hear it over my own music with headphones in, and it's given me a raging headache in the 20 minutes I've been home.
Bank holiday tomorrow. Must get a few things done that I've been waiting to do. I just hope Mr. Saxophone is out.
And I spent the entire day - I kid you not - merging files on the content management system. So I've played some of all three games...
My new neighbour downstairs might be from the music school. I think he's playing saxophone. I can hear it over my own music with headphones in, and it's given me a raging headache in the 20 minutes I've been home.
Bank holiday tomorrow. Must get a few things done that I've been waiting to do. I just hope Mr. Saxophone is out.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
German efficiency?
Dad mentioned on the phone that the TGV booking website is allegedly the worst. No, I can beat it...
Frankfurt's route planner was sending me out two towns to the east before coming back in. Hence the hour journey and unknown fare.
It was only when I used Google Maps (no, not just plugging it because himself works for them) that I realised what on earth was happening. And that there was a U-Bahn station close by that I might be able to walk from. And when I traced the route, I could clearly see a tram on the street.
So, it's now down to a short hop to Willy-Brant-Platz and then Tram 11 to Hugo-Junkers-Strasse. 42 minutes. Or the S-Bahn to the next town east and then a bus. 33 minutes.
I'm sure it's something to do with not defining where I'm going in terms that the site can understand, but it doesn't exactly help me plan my journey...
Frankfurt's route planner was sending me out two towns to the east before coming back in. Hence the hour journey and unknown fare.
It was only when I used Google Maps (no, not just plugging it because himself works for them) that I realised what on earth was happening. And that there was a U-Bahn station close by that I might be able to walk from. And when I traced the route, I could clearly see a tram on the street.
So, it's now down to a short hop to Willy-Brant-Platz and then Tram 11 to Hugo-Junkers-Strasse. 42 minutes. Or the S-Bahn to the next town east and then a bus. 33 minutes.
I'm sure it's something to do with not defining where I'm going in terms that the site can understand, but it doesn't exactly help me plan my journey...
Adventure calls
Or disaster. It's not clear which it will be...
I could have sworn I checked my mailbox yesterday, but when I checked it today I found two 'we tried to deliver' notices from UPS for the order I placed ages ago for some Japanese language software on the DS - one of the games was out of stock for weeks.
The postal system here has a nasty habit of sending things back, so after hastily online-translating the options I called up and asked for delivery to 'a nearby UPS Centre' - there's one around the corner!
I called the UPS number and after a reasonable start, the conversation degenerated to the point where the call handler switched to English. I got the street name and number for my pickup and was assured I could pay what I assume is import tax.
'Nearby' must be some kind of euphemism. The UPS Center is in a massive industrial park way out on the east side of the city, out by the docks. Google Maps came through for me again, pinpointing the street even though I'd left out a hyphen. The Frankfurt public transport site was far less helpful until I switched to searching on the larger street the UPS Centre is off - it will take me just over an hour on a combination of U-bahn, commuter train and bus to get anywhere near the place.
They're open from 8am to 9pm, so I'll try to get there tomorrow am - and get into work on time...
I could have sworn I checked my mailbox yesterday, but when I checked it today I found two 'we tried to deliver' notices from UPS for the order I placed ages ago for some Japanese language software on the DS - one of the games was out of stock for weeks.
The postal system here has a nasty habit of sending things back, so after hastily online-translating the options I called up and asked for delivery to 'a nearby UPS Centre' - there's one around the corner!
I called the UPS number and after a reasonable start, the conversation degenerated to the point where the call handler switched to English. I got the street name and number for my pickup and was assured I could pay what I assume is import tax.
'Nearby' must be some kind of euphemism. The UPS Center is in a massive industrial park way out on the east side of the city, out by the docks. Google Maps came through for me again, pinpointing the street even though I'd left out a hyphen. The Frankfurt public transport site was far less helpful until I switched to searching on the larger street the UPS Centre is off - it will take me just over an hour on a combination of U-bahn, commuter train and bus to get anywhere near the place.
They're open from 8am to 9pm, so I'll try to get there tomorrow am - and get into work on time...
Monday, 19 May 2008
Weekender
After the morning of misfortune, I met up with A as promised at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. We headed back to mine to drop his case and then had a quick lunch at the Italian place near Iroha. From there we wandered through the historic Romerplatz and through to the river, where we took the 100 minute cruise up and down the river. The boat was bigger than the one I'd taken before for the cruise and Night of the Museums - maybe they're getting into high season. We could hear all the commentary, although it was playing a minute or so after we'd passed whatever they were talking about.
For dinner we tried out a place with a terrace on top of the Galeria department store, but it didn't do much in the way of food. We ended up at the bar at Eschenheimer Tor, where they forgot my cheeseburger. When it did come, I stopped eating the chips halfway through as they seemed a bit funny. And spent most of the night being kept up by having to go to the loo. If it wasn't that, it would have been the party at the house next door. At least A judged the inflatable mattress to be comfortable, and it was large enough.
On Sunday morning, mindful of what might or might not be open, we headed to the Main Tower, passing some really nice parks that trace the old town walls. After the airport-style security check (where they let a man with a pocket knife through...) we got into the lifts, which had a panel showing you where in the building you were and how fast the lift was going - I think we hit 18kmph. The view from the top (190m) was fantastic and it is definitely on my list of Places to Bring People.
Next stop was Fressgasse, supposed to be Frankfurt's one-street stop for all things gourmet. It was however very quiet and many places were closed. After deciding against anything too outrageous, we ended up having sandwiches and coffee at a really nice place that I'll definitely go to again.
Suitably fortified, we got back on the U-bahn and headed to the Sudbahnhof and connected with the No. 14 tram. It all looked very urban until the stop before ours, when we suddenly came into trees and the tram started to climb slightly. By the time we got off, you couldn't see any trace of Frankfurt. We headed off in one direction and found an arboretum and the City Forest House, full of interactive exhibits for kids. It also had a very impressive map of the city and forest with height gradations, and we could see there was a lake not far from the tram stop, so we set off back there with brief pauses to rescue a snail and investigate some kind of dragon mascot.
After crossing the tracks, we headed off in one direction and found some streams, but also a dead end (coming up against allotments) and then went uphill, which we thought couldn't be right. Back to the tram station and map - the only maps were on each side of the tram stop, and there was almost no signposting. The fact that neither of us has any sense of direction didn't help, but we weren't desperate to get anywhere. It was a glorious day and nice to be out of the city. We finally found the lake, took photos and staggered off to a rest stop for beer and diet coke.
Then it was back to the city center and another new discovery for dinner - although it took us a little while to find, the Historical Stork Restaurant was lovely and had great food - veal with mushrooms in cream sauce with noodles with butter and white truffle oil. And very reasonable, compared to Iwase.
Finally it was the traditional sprint for the station, but we got there with 5 minutes to spare and I waved A off. As he'd said, it was great to have someone familiar to chat to, and I was hit by a wave of loneliness as I watched the train fill up. Giving in to the urge to treat myself - but wanting to carry on avoiding sweeties as I had been doing so successfully for that week - I stumbled across a huge selection of novels in English in a bookshop in the station and bought a crime thriller.
Which came in very handy today, which finally was not party time at the laundrette.
But all in all a fantastic weekend - three new places to take people and a comfy mattress to put them up on.
For dinner we tried out a place with a terrace on top of the Galeria department store, but it didn't do much in the way of food. We ended up at the bar at Eschenheimer Tor, where they forgot my cheeseburger. When it did come, I stopped eating the chips halfway through as they seemed a bit funny. And spent most of the night being kept up by having to go to the loo. If it wasn't that, it would have been the party at the house next door. At least A judged the inflatable mattress to be comfortable, and it was large enough.
On Sunday morning, mindful of what might or might not be open, we headed to the Main Tower, passing some really nice parks that trace the old town walls. After the airport-style security check (where they let a man with a pocket knife through...) we got into the lifts, which had a panel showing you where in the building you were and how fast the lift was going - I think we hit 18kmph. The view from the top (190m) was fantastic and it is definitely on my list of Places to Bring People.
Next stop was Fressgasse, supposed to be Frankfurt's one-street stop for all things gourmet. It was however very quiet and many places were closed. After deciding against anything too outrageous, we ended up having sandwiches and coffee at a really nice place that I'll definitely go to again.
Suitably fortified, we got back on the U-bahn and headed to the Sudbahnhof and connected with the No. 14 tram. It all looked very urban until the stop before ours, when we suddenly came into trees and the tram started to climb slightly. By the time we got off, you couldn't see any trace of Frankfurt. We headed off in one direction and found an arboretum and the City Forest House, full of interactive exhibits for kids. It also had a very impressive map of the city and forest with height gradations, and we could see there was a lake not far from the tram stop, so we set off back there with brief pauses to rescue a snail and investigate some kind of dragon mascot.
After crossing the tracks, we headed off in one direction and found some streams, but also a dead end (coming up against allotments) and then went uphill, which we thought couldn't be right. Back to the tram station and map - the only maps were on each side of the tram stop, and there was almost no signposting. The fact that neither of us has any sense of direction didn't help, but we weren't desperate to get anywhere. It was a glorious day and nice to be out of the city. We finally found the lake, took photos and staggered off to a rest stop for beer and diet coke.
Then it was back to the city center and another new discovery for dinner - although it took us a little while to find, the Historical Stork Restaurant was lovely and had great food - veal with mushrooms in cream sauce with noodles with butter and white truffle oil. And very reasonable, compared to Iwase.
Finally it was the traditional sprint for the station, but we got there with 5 minutes to spare and I waved A off. As he'd said, it was great to have someone familiar to chat to, and I was hit by a wave of loneliness as I watched the train fill up. Giving in to the urge to treat myself - but wanting to carry on avoiding sweeties as I had been doing so successfully for that week - I stumbled across a huge selection of novels in English in a bookshop in the station and bought a crime thriller.
Which came in very handy today, which finally was not party time at the laundrette.
But all in all a fantastic weekend - three new places to take people and a comfy mattress to put them up on.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
And on and on
The Mac is again convinced that the hard drive on my music player is full, despite there being nothing on it. I think I've at least remembered how I fixed it last time, although I think it involved a laborious firmware upgrade.
I walked into town to look for tops - found only one I liked which looked great on the hanger but not on me. Gave up and went to walk to the Hauptbanhof.
Despite being convinced I had gone in the right direction, none of the streets were what they should have been. I gave up and once again got the U-Bahn.
I walked into town to look for tops - found only one I liked which looked great on the hanger but not on me. Gave up and went to walk to the Hauptbanhof.
Despite being convinced I had gone in the right direction, none of the streets were what they should have been. I gave up and once again got the U-Bahn.
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Plan C, anyone?
If I thought Wednesday nights were party time at the laundrette, I was wrong. The true party time is Saturday morning. All 18 washing machines and 6 dryers in use.
Have hidden the washing. It would have been a nice walk if it wasn't so damn hot out. Will now have to wait until Monday night before I can try again...
I might just go into town and buy some more tops.
Have hidden the washing. It would have been a nice walk if it wasn't so damn hot out. Will now have to wait until Monday night before I can try again...
I might just go into town and buy some more tops.
Visitor
After work on Thursday I ran into town to pick up an inflatable mattress and pillow plus pump as I have company! A friend of David's working in Munich is coming up for the weekend. I just hope the mattress is okay, as it was a choice between slightly too small and far too big...
The plan for this morning was to tidy up between loads of washing - as usual in hot weather it seems to breed in the corner when I'm not looking - but the washing machine in the basement is on the blink. So I now have to run to the laundrette and hope I have enough time before having to meet my visitor at the station. Great way to start an early Saturday morning.
Work is as usual. The heat in the office makes it very difficult not to get sleepy. My team are working themselves up to request reference books as they put together a style guide, but apparently 10 books requested a year ago turned into one book received last week. I am starting to get a bit disheartened that not only will I be doing no translation (no boost to language skills) but I will be reading over-the-top American English until September.
Anyway. Time to bring the guidebook to the laundrette...
The plan for this morning was to tidy up between loads of washing - as usual in hot weather it seems to breed in the corner when I'm not looking - but the washing machine in the basement is on the blink. So I now have to run to the laundrette and hope I have enough time before having to meet my visitor at the station. Great way to start an early Saturday morning.
Work is as usual. The heat in the office makes it very difficult not to get sleepy. My team are working themselves up to request reference books as they put together a style guide, but apparently 10 books requested a year ago turned into one book received last week. I am starting to get a bit disheartened that not only will I be doing no translation (no boost to language skills) but I will be reading over-the-top American English until September.
Anyway. Time to bring the guidebook to the laundrette...
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
... and relax
Had a wonderful long weekend - after an annoying start, with Aer Lingus supplying no information whatsoever about delays until we were halfway through the flight, I met up with himself at Dublin Airport and we headed out to my parents. Much talking, laughing, eating, walking on the beach and playing with the cat ensued, along with some computer fixing.
I got back on Monday night and got down to some actual work on Tuesday - after a week of having almost nothing to do, it was a relief although I really can get used to having free time... I was good and ate at the salad bar at lunch, but suffered for it - I think the sweetcorn had been left out too long. Today was more of the same work-wise, along with some objectively petty discussions about grammar and punctuation that have been dredged up by some of the translators starting to write up an in-house style. At the end of the day, it's not important if we put spaces before and/or after ellipsis denoting a pause in speech or not. It would be nice to do it either rightly or wrongly consistently, if anyone can ever agree on what right is. At least my stomach was happy with the Chinese food counter in the supermarket.
I have booked my flights to the UK for the craft fair and university residential week in July. I also have a guest arriving on Saturday, so one thing I have to do in the next day or so is go and purchase an inflatable mattress. And think of fun places to go.
I started on the translation for the Social Sciences course tonight, and ended up spending most of the evening finding other things quoting a quote I was looking up. Ah, the supreme time-wasting potential of the internet. As usual for this course, it turned out to be immensely depressing if worthy reading.
"They [fascism and religious fundamentalism] both come from very primitive parts of us that have always been the default setting of our species: amity toward our in-group, enmity toward out-groups, hierarchical deference to alpha male figures, a powerful identification with our territory, and so forth. It is that brutal default setting that all civilizations have tried to raise us above, but it is always a fragile thing, civilization, and has to be achieved over and over and over again." (Sermon: Living Under Fascism) I may not agree completely with the list of causes, but definitely do about civilisation.
It has gone hot and stuffy, especially at work where there is no air conditioning (apparently it's been promised for years now) - I need to try to get to sleep on time to have a chance of surviving the day. The heating is off and the window open, so let's hope that does the trick.
I got back on Monday night and got down to some actual work on Tuesday - after a week of having almost nothing to do, it was a relief although I really can get used to having free time... I was good and ate at the salad bar at lunch, but suffered for it - I think the sweetcorn had been left out too long. Today was more of the same work-wise, along with some objectively petty discussions about grammar and punctuation that have been dredged up by some of the translators starting to write up an in-house style. At the end of the day, it's not important if we put spaces before and/or after ellipsis denoting a pause in speech or not. It would be nice to do it either rightly or wrongly consistently, if anyone can ever agree on what right is. At least my stomach was happy with the Chinese food counter in the supermarket.
I have booked my flights to the UK for the craft fair and university residential week in July. I also have a guest arriving on Saturday, so one thing I have to do in the next day or so is go and purchase an inflatable mattress. And think of fun places to go.
I started on the translation for the Social Sciences course tonight, and ended up spending most of the evening finding other things quoting a quote I was looking up. Ah, the supreme time-wasting potential of the internet. As usual for this course, it turned out to be immensely depressing if worthy reading.
"They [fascism and religious fundamentalism] both come from very primitive parts of us that have always been the default setting of our species: amity toward our in-group, enmity toward out-groups, hierarchical deference to alpha male figures, a powerful identification with our territory, and so forth. It is that brutal default setting that all civilizations have tried to raise us above, but it is always a fragile thing, civilization, and has to be achieved over and over and over again." (Sermon: Living Under Fascism) I may not agree completely with the list of causes, but definitely do about civilisation.
It has gone hot and stuffy, especially at work where there is no air conditioning (apparently it's been promised for years now) - I need to try to get to sleep on time to have a chance of surviving the day. The heating is off and the window open, so let's hope that does the trick.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Party time!
It seems that 7:30pm on a Wednesday is the time to do your laundry.
After heading down to the basement to try to use the washing machine, I found that it was in use with another load piled next to it - and I still don't know if the dryer is fixed. So, after a sandwich I headed off to the laundrette which is a pleasant 10 minutes walk away.
It was packed. I got the last of the 18 washing machines and had to wait about 20 minutes for a dryer as two were on the blink. The pay machine wasn't giving change, so I ended up paying for about 40 minutes in the dryer, a huge Miele professional affair, and everything came out bone dry and so hot you couldn't touch any zips or buttons.
And while is it nice to not have to repeatedly go up and down the stairs and worry about whether the machine is in use, and it costs about the same (when I can get change anyway), I have to say that folding my undies while two men sit beside me singing and drinking beer is not my idea of a fun time. I ended up folding everything else first and creating a barricade of jeans and fleeces between us so I could fold with some privacy...
After heading down to the basement to try to use the washing machine, I found that it was in use with another load piled next to it - and I still don't know if the dryer is fixed. So, after a sandwich I headed off to the laundrette which is a pleasant 10 minutes walk away.
It was packed. I got the last of the 18 washing machines and had to wait about 20 minutes for a dryer as two were on the blink. The pay machine wasn't giving change, so I ended up paying for about 40 minutes in the dryer, a huge Miele professional affair, and everything came out bone dry and so hot you couldn't touch any zips or buttons.
And while is it nice to not have to repeatedly go up and down the stairs and worry about whether the machine is in use, and it costs about the same (when I can get change anyway), I have to say that folding my undies while two men sit beside me singing and drinking beer is not my idea of a fun time. I ended up folding everything else first and creating a barricade of jeans and fleeces between us so I could fold with some privacy...
Monday, 5 May 2008
Yes, it really is
One other thing that happened on Sunday was lots of being talked to by older German ladies who don't seem to mind that we're not getting most of what they say. The first one was outside our building, ringing all the doorbells that had German names - I think someone's car was blocking her in the courtyard behind us.
The next time was when we got to the cemetary in Wiesbaden - the button for the pedestrian crossing wasn't working and the ladies who had been on the bus with us sounded like they were cross about it. We did get one bit of German vocabulary out of it though - or rather confirmation that 'das ist kaput' is real German!
The next time was when we got to the cemetary in Wiesbaden - the button for the pedestrian crossing wasn't working and the ladies who had been on the bus with us sounded like they were cross about it. We did get one bit of German vocabulary out of it though - or rather confirmation that 'das ist kaput' is real German!
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Brain like a sieve
I don't even have the hayfever to blame for this (that has largely cleared up). I wanted to write my assessed report today, so I could review it during the week and send it on Thursday as I'm flying to Dublin on Friday.
Except the first half of it, which I wrote in work, and the soft copies of the newspaper articles, which I painstakingly typed up in work, are on my memory stick - still plugged into my machine at work.
Okay, I'll do the Social Studies translation... or I would, except that the glossary I made during the week is - you guessed it - on the memory stick, which I managed to leave in work on Friday.
Another coffee and some practice at newspaper articles and short stories, or some grammar study... not that my brain seems to be up to much today.
Except the first half of it, which I wrote in work, and the soft copies of the newspaper articles, which I painstakingly typed up in work, are on my memory stick - still plugged into my machine at work.
Okay, I'll do the Social Studies translation... or I would, except that the glossary I made during the week is - you guessed it - on the memory stick, which I managed to leave in work on Friday.
Another coffee and some practice at newspaper articles and short stories, or some grammar study... not that my brain seems to be up to much today.
Hunt for the Red Baron
Photos are here!
I woke up early on Saturday and checked my maps to get to the Japanese bookshop I'd found online - and while doing so finally found the opening hours. It wasn't open until 10:00 so I hung around for a while and then headed in. I found it easily, and it has a good if small selection of books, magazines and comics with a scattering of Japanese food and 'fancy goods' like origami paper. I got a book of short stories by Miyazawa Kenji and one on 'How to be a proper member of society' (there are many of these quasi-etiquette books in Japanese), both on sale for 3 Euro. The full-price books are quite expensive, but all I want is some reading practice. I also got some writing paper, one of my favourite soft drinks and - after some advice from the very friendly staff - some powdered bonito stock to use in my nikujaga recipe. I stopped by the supermarket near the flat to get the ingredients, but they had no beef so it's going to be done with chicken this time.
Z was walking in to do his shopping as I was walking out, we stopped and chatted and I went home to get more information on Wiesbaden. Then at 1:00 we headed out! First stop was Hauptwache station, where we got the S-Bahn commuter service to Wiesbaden, which took just over 45 minutes. Google maps helpfully shows bus stops and what buses they're for, so after we coaxed some all-day bus tickets out of the machines we jumped on the No. 16 east to the Sudfriedhof cemetary. It was huge, spacious and much more like a park than a graveyard. The directions weren't great, but we eventually found what we were looking for - the grave of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.
He's been buried three times - once by the other side, with full military honours, near Amiens, then moved to a state war cemetary in Berlin, then moved again after his surviving brother Bolko asked for him to be buried in the family grave in Wiesbaden when Berlin was divided and Manfred's grave could only be visited by special permission as it was right up alongside the Russian zone. Both Manfred and his other brother Lothar were awarded the highest honour in Germany, 'pour le Merit'.
We headed back to the main train station and stopped for an ice cream - it was an absolutely glorious day, and we saw a temperature sign saying 20 degrees Centigrade. Z had a chocolate and cream sundae that rapidly degenerated into a lake of chocolate, and I had a scoop of chocolate, mocha and amaretto. You wouldn't want to drive after the amaretto.
Then it was back on the bus, this time the No. 1 north to Nerotal, a hill overlooking the town. The main attraction - for me anyway - is the Nerobergbahn, Europe's only water ballast funicular! The traditional stepped cars operate as a pair, with the car at the top of the hill pumped full of water to weigh it down - the driver of the downhill car controls the rate of release of water to ensure the uphill car is pulled smoothly to the top, then the water is dumped at the bottom of the hill and pumped back up again to be reused!
We wandered around the top of the hill for a while, admiring the view and the stone amphitheatre (and the rope/treetop adventure centre, just like the one in Bracknell Forest) before setting off to find a church built on the hill. We initially went the wrong way - Z was foolish enough to let me read the map - and wondered how you can't find an Orthodox church with five gold domes on the top of a hill. We came back to where we started, realised where we went wrong and soon saw the domes glinting through the forest. The church was being restored so we couldn't go in, but the outside and the view were impressive.
After a calf-killing return up the hill, we got back on the Nerobergbahn and took the No. 1 bus to the town centre. It had just gone 6:00pm, so the shops were closed with only some cafes and restaurants still open. We wandered around the old town and saw the church and market hall, then opted to get back to Frankfurt for dinner.
We went to the Japanese restaurant we'd happened across while wandering around the city a few weeks ago, Iwase. It is tiny, and we just managed to get two seats at the counter between reservations - the place is booked solid. There are about 16 seats plus 8 at the counter, and it is popular! Compared to our other favourite, Iroha, it was expensive but definitely worth it. I had a tempura set (with rice and soup) and some fried aubergine, and Z had a large sashimi plate set. I paid 30 Euro and his was 38 Euro, but it was delicious. We got talking to the people behind the counter - who had already guessed where we worked, as they said the only foreigners who spoke good Japanese were from Nintendo. They actually said 'like a native', which I was most chuffed by.
The owner had actually met the previous two presidents of Nintendo when they were over visiting - and there were a lot of Japanese there as well, always a good sign. They also operated a Japanese bar system, with multiple bottles of the same thing with the owners' names written on them behind the counter. We will definitely be back, although it's not something we could do every week. After chatting over refills of green tea, we finally headed back via a different supermarket that has a much better selection - must go there instead.
So, all in all, a fantastic day. I'd definitely go back to Wiesbaden and explore the town centre. And Iwase is officially a new favourite place. It was a glorious day, I had company and all went well.
The shadow over it all was waiting for me when I got home - an email from a friend working in Munich, who was suggesting days to come up and visit. Nothing wrong with with that, except that he was leaving Germany for tax reasons and after a morning looking up various contractor and government websites, I think I may have to pay tax here too. Although the UK's tax year runs from April - so I don't become non-resident while I'm here - the German tax year is the calendar year and they consider me automatically resident for tax purposes after I've been here for 183 days. In theory I should be paying German tax on income earned in Germany regardless of length of stay, but if it's under 183 days they assume it's covered under the double taxation agreements with the UK. I may need some professional help with this one...
I woke up early on Saturday and checked my maps to get to the Japanese bookshop I'd found online - and while doing so finally found the opening hours. It wasn't open until 10:00 so I hung around for a while and then headed in. I found it easily, and it has a good if small selection of books, magazines and comics with a scattering of Japanese food and 'fancy goods' like origami paper. I got a book of short stories by Miyazawa Kenji and one on 'How to be a proper member of society' (there are many of these quasi-etiquette books in Japanese), both on sale for 3 Euro. The full-price books are quite expensive, but all I want is some reading practice. I also got some writing paper, one of my favourite soft drinks and - after some advice from the very friendly staff - some powdered bonito stock to use in my nikujaga recipe. I stopped by the supermarket near the flat to get the ingredients, but they had no beef so it's going to be done with chicken this time.
Z was walking in to do his shopping as I was walking out, we stopped and chatted and I went home to get more information on Wiesbaden. Then at 1:00 we headed out! First stop was Hauptwache station, where we got the S-Bahn commuter service to Wiesbaden, which took just over 45 minutes. Google maps helpfully shows bus stops and what buses they're for, so after we coaxed some all-day bus tickets out of the machines we jumped on the No. 16 east to the Sudfriedhof cemetary. It was huge, spacious and much more like a park than a graveyard. The directions weren't great, but we eventually found what we were looking for - the grave of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.
He's been buried three times - once by the other side, with full military honours, near Amiens, then moved to a state war cemetary in Berlin, then moved again after his surviving brother Bolko asked for him to be buried in the family grave in Wiesbaden when Berlin was divided and Manfred's grave could only be visited by special permission as it was right up alongside the Russian zone. Both Manfred and his other brother Lothar were awarded the highest honour in Germany, 'pour le Merit'.
We headed back to the main train station and stopped for an ice cream - it was an absolutely glorious day, and we saw a temperature sign saying 20 degrees Centigrade. Z had a chocolate and cream sundae that rapidly degenerated into a lake of chocolate, and I had a scoop of chocolate, mocha and amaretto. You wouldn't want to drive after the amaretto.
Then it was back on the bus, this time the No. 1 north to Nerotal, a hill overlooking the town. The main attraction - for me anyway - is the Nerobergbahn, Europe's only water ballast funicular! The traditional stepped cars operate as a pair, with the car at the top of the hill pumped full of water to weigh it down - the driver of the downhill car controls the rate of release of water to ensure the uphill car is pulled smoothly to the top, then the water is dumped at the bottom of the hill and pumped back up again to be reused!
We wandered around the top of the hill for a while, admiring the view and the stone amphitheatre (and the rope/treetop adventure centre, just like the one in Bracknell Forest) before setting off to find a church built on the hill. We initially went the wrong way - Z was foolish enough to let me read the map - and wondered how you can't find an Orthodox church with five gold domes on the top of a hill. We came back to where we started, realised where we went wrong and soon saw the domes glinting through the forest. The church was being restored so we couldn't go in, but the outside and the view were impressive.
After a calf-killing return up the hill, we got back on the Nerobergbahn and took the No. 1 bus to the town centre. It had just gone 6:00pm, so the shops were closed with only some cafes and restaurants still open. We wandered around the old town and saw the church and market hall, then opted to get back to Frankfurt for dinner.
We went to the Japanese restaurant we'd happened across while wandering around the city a few weeks ago, Iwase. It is tiny, and we just managed to get two seats at the counter between reservations - the place is booked solid. There are about 16 seats plus 8 at the counter, and it is popular! Compared to our other favourite, Iroha, it was expensive but definitely worth it. I had a tempura set (with rice and soup) and some fried aubergine, and Z had a large sashimi plate set. I paid 30 Euro and his was 38 Euro, but it was delicious. We got talking to the people behind the counter - who had already guessed where we worked, as they said the only foreigners who spoke good Japanese were from Nintendo. They actually said 'like a native', which I was most chuffed by.
The owner had actually met the previous two presidents of Nintendo when they were over visiting - and there were a lot of Japanese there as well, always a good sign. They also operated a Japanese bar system, with multiple bottles of the same thing with the owners' names written on them behind the counter. We will definitely be back, although it's not something we could do every week. After chatting over refills of green tea, we finally headed back via a different supermarket that has a much better selection - must go there instead.
So, all in all, a fantastic day. I'd definitely go back to Wiesbaden and explore the town centre. And Iwase is officially a new favourite place. It was a glorious day, I had company and all went well.
The shadow over it all was waiting for me when I got home - an email from a friend working in Munich, who was suggesting days to come up and visit. Nothing wrong with with that, except that he was leaving Germany for tax reasons and after a morning looking up various contractor and government websites, I think I may have to pay tax here too. Although the UK's tax year runs from April - so I don't become non-resident while I'm here - the German tax year is the calendar year and they consider me automatically resident for tax purposes after I've been here for 183 days. In theory I should be paying German tax on income earned in Germany regardless of length of stay, but if it's under 183 days they assume it's covered under the double taxation agreements with the UK. I may need some professional help with this one...
Friday, 2 May 2008
Playtime is officially over
My new project at work is kicking off, I move to a new desk on the other side of the building on Monday. I will in all likelihood still spend lunchtimes with the other English translators though.
Which is not to say that I won't have any free time at all... I just can't continue doing other things quite as blatantly as I have been doing, i.e. printouts of MA assignments all over my desk.
I finally managed to get Firefox working (proxy issues) which means I can use the marvellous Rikaichan plugin, which is a pop-up Japanese-English (or -German or -French or -Russian) dictionary which activates when you hover over a Japanese word on a web page. Saving Word assignments as html and using Rikaichan on them is a great time-saver.
Which is not to say that I won't have any free time at all... I just can't continue doing other things quite as blatantly as I have been doing, i.e. printouts of MA assignments all over my desk.
I finally managed to get Firefox working (proxy issues) which means I can use the marvellous Rikaichan plugin, which is a pop-up Japanese-English (or -German or -French or -Russian) dictionary which activates when you hover over a Japanese word on a web page. Saving Word assignments as html and using Rikaichan on them is a great time-saver.
Minor miracle
I actually said something unrehearsed in German.
At the post office, I had my practiced lines for 'How much will it cost to send this package to England?' (it was going to Wales, but they don't seem to know where that is) and 'How much will it cost to send this letter to Ireland?' It all went off well and I even understood the numbers. It cost 9.30 Euro, I handed over a 50 Euro bill and then heard myself saying 'I have the 30'.
Wow. My first spontaneous German. Nothing amazing, but a first.
The second minor miracle was when I was nearly at the office - there's a big dual carriageway with signals to cross each one, so you have to wait in the centre for the next light. However, the woman crossing towards me must have seen the light on the far side and thought it was for her - it's the only thing I can think of - because she crossed as three lanes of traffic started moving off and turning left. Somehow, she wasn't hit and nobody crashed into anyone, although there are now some impressive tyre marks on the road. She seemed to have no idea, she just smiled vaguely at the man who nearly hit her.
At the post office, I had my practiced lines for 'How much will it cost to send this package to England?' (it was going to Wales, but they don't seem to know where that is) and 'How much will it cost to send this letter to Ireland?' It all went off well and I even understood the numbers. It cost 9.30 Euro, I handed over a 50 Euro bill and then heard myself saying 'I have the 30'.
Wow. My first spontaneous German. Nothing amazing, but a first.
The second minor miracle was when I was nearly at the office - there's a big dual carriageway with signals to cross each one, so you have to wait in the centre for the next light. However, the woman crossing towards me must have seen the light on the far side and thought it was for her - it's the only thing I can think of - because she crossed as three lanes of traffic started moving off and turning left. Somehow, she wasn't hit and nobody crashed into anyone, although there are now some impressive tyre marks on the road. She seemed to have no idea, she just smiled vaguely at the man who nearly hit her.
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