Jale in hospital - review of a day

First of all, let me say "thank you" to those of you who knew about Jale's disease, the surgery/opration and my thoughts and doubts about it. None will ever be able to follow my thoughts in detail, but everyone who talked with me about it, helped me and lifted me up.

Thank you friends!

Today was a special day. Jale had to go to hospital for a little, ambulant surgery. Her adenoids (palatine tonsil) had to be removed. She was having trouble with ear infections since nearly 8 months and so we decided to let them be removed and to let the doctor make a cut into the eardrum.

That's how it works in germany:
We were in hospital at 7.15h and she could choose a bed to relax. At 7.45h she got a little "drink"...to cool her down, to make her a bit dizzy. At 8.15h she had to change clothes for one of the ugly hospital-skirts - at least there were some mussels, fishes and seahorsed on it. Lying in her bed,we carried her to the Operation(surgery) zone and then had to wait 40minutes until she came back. The operation was being made under full anaesthesia.
When she came back to her room, she cried from 9.10 - 10.10h. She cried and raved, shouted and screamed. Everyone of the hospital crew was very astounded, shocked, worried...whatever....about Jale's behaviour. No child ever before had the energy to scream and rave as loud and as long as she did.

We were worried too of course but we know that Jale does everything very intense and excessive...whether good or bad doesn't matter. The only thing we were really worried about was that she would probably keep this bad moment in her head, just as all her bad and hard experiences with any doctor before. But the (real good, feelfull and perfect Turkish) anaesthetist promised us that she won't remember anything at all and that all her impressions will be lcoked in amnesia. That was hard to believe because Jale spoke quite clearly after the operation. She said like: "I want to change my clothes now and go home." Or "This bed is not comfy...let's go home-my bed is much better"

After all, she really did not remember anything between 8.00h am and 1.00h pm.
She slept in hospital from 10.10h a.m. til 1.10h p.m. and when she woke up, she was thirsty and hungry. She ate some soft kiddies sandwich and drank a lot of water. Then she began complaining about her throat ache. The throat ache was just because of the laryngeal mask used during anaesthesia.
So, at 3.00h p.m. we left hospital and prepared a nice, comfy bed for Jale at home. She slept a lot and while I am writing this, I am expecting her to cry again and complain about her throat ache...

To be brief: even at home she was still suffering a lot from throat ache. She was not able to eat and drink. But she was not bleeding anywhere anymore and did not complain about any pain in her ears anymore. She even mentioned that she was able to hear better now.

I really hope that we made a good decision and that Jale will have a better life now. Those thoughts are constantly in my head now. It is easy to decide but it is hard to get along with such a decision if it turns to be wrong.
Our daughter missed more then 50% of her kindergarten days and every second weekend we had to spend inside because of her ears infections. Jale was very sad about that and said like: "I think I will never get healthy anymore". Jale must have a better quality of life and I hope that I decided right...in the end.

Anyone of you with similar experiences/thoughts? Share them...would be nice and helpfull maybe.

Can This Black Box See Into the Future?

ASTOUNDING....and I do not really believe in this. Do you???? Read this:

DEEP in the basement of a dusty university library in Edinburgh lies a small black box, roughly the size of two cigarette packets side by side, that churns out random numbers in an endless stream.

At first glance it is an unremarkable piece of equipment. Encased in metal, it contains at its heart a microchip no more complex than the ones found in modern pocket calculators.

But, according to a growing band of top scientists, this box has quite extraordinary powers. It is, they claim, the 'eye' of a machine that appears capable of peering into the future and predicting major world events.

The machine apparently sensed the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre four hours before they happened - but in the fevered mood of conspiracy theories of the time, the claims were swiftly knocked back by sceptics. But last December, it also appeared to forewarn of the Asian tsunami just before the deep sea earthquake that precipitated the epic tragedy.

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found on www.redorbit.com

Geocaching 24.05.07

Finally, after a lot of busy days I had the chance to go out for a relaxing geocaching tour. Blue skies, 25°C, no disturbing phone calls or dates in sight...that was just perfect.
I was intending to search for some nice places somewhere in the woods again but then I made up my mind and started for a tour along the river "Weser". That was a good decision and I discovered some nice places.

My favourite for this day was an old smal church, situated directly near a dike. This church was small with no big bell tower but it had the special something. So, I remained there for a while with a lot of silence and peace.

Geocaching - Mein 140. Cache

Endlich hab ich mal wieder Zeit gefunden für eine anständige Feierabend Caching Tour. Es war sehr schön warm an diesem späten Nachmittag, kaum Wind und blauer Himmel - keine Termine oder fiese Anrufe zu befürchten, kurzum: das passte!!

Meine kleine Tour führte mich an insgesamt 8 Caches links der Weser, Lemwerder Richtung Berne. Es war ein toller Abend und neben den 3 Weserfähren ist unbedingt erwähnenswert die Kirche in Warfleth. Eine kleine schnuckelige Kirche ohne großen Glockenturm direkt am Deich. Ein sehr schönes Fleckchen! Hier hab ich eine ziemlich ausgedehnte Pause eingelegt.
Der letzte Cache an diesem Tag war die Kirche in Berne. Eigentlich nix besonderes, aber entweder hab ich einen Knick in der Optik oder der Kirchturm neigt sich wirklich Richtung Kirchenschiff...werd ich es jemals erfahren?? Ich glaub nicht....aber damit kann ich leben.
Der 140. Cache war jedenfalls Wedding Geocache-Berne und das war tatsächlich die einzige große Dose an diesem Tag *seufz*

Rhododendronpark & Botanical Garden Bremen

And another beautiful place in Bremen. It is said that it is the worlds second largest Rhododendron Park (after a Park near London). Especially now that the Rhododendron are in bloom it is a fanatastic place to be!!

What is this muddy water good for?? Simple. Try to find out how many turtles are on this pic. Can you see them all?? Have a guess...

Aerial views Part 1

Aerial views from around the world

Aerial photograph of Ste-Croix Dam, Provence, France.

Aerial photograph of rows of red vans awaiting distribution, Oxfordshire, England.
Aerial view of trees standing on Lava flows, Pitchstone Plateau, Wyoming, USA.
Aerial view of pleasure boat on Loch Ness, Scotland.
Aerial photograph of Ben Bulden, County Sligo, Ireland.

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found on news.jasonhawkes.com

Everything is green...me too

Today after work I went to a forest for some geocaching. It was raining hard all day and so I took my waterproof equipment (jacket, trousers and boots) with me and thought that it would be nice maybe to go caching in rain. I did that before and found it very relaxing because none else seems to be outside then.
But I did not think of one thing: branches of green trees are giving their colour away if they get wet. I was wearing black trousers and a black jacket and after 10 minutes in the woods, I looked as green as if I was wearing Robin Hoods costume.

Remember, when I say that I have been to a forest, I do not only follow the normal ways but also have to search and find in deep forests. No problem when it is dry but today it was a mess and I hope that all the chlorophyll will somehow get washed out of my clothes.

Hey do you know what: in spite of this, I had a great time!!!

A woman without her man is nothing

An English professor wrote the words:
"A Woman without her man is nothing"
on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote:
"A woman, without her man, is nothing"

All the females in the class wrote:
"A woman: without her, man is nothing"

Punctuation is powerful!!!!!!!!!

Have a nice day :-)

Noahs wife

Last night I was playing with Jale. We were playing with "Noahs Arch". It is a huge boat - a childrens toy of about 40x15cm, with 2 animals of each kind, Noah and his wife.

We like to play with it but Jale repeatedly asks me the question: "What is the name of Noahs wife?". Since months she is only called "Noahs wife". That is not really satisfying for Jale. So, I took out my bible and looked through the Old Testament..but found only the names of Noahs sons: Sem, Ham and Japhet.

So, here is the question of the day: What is the name of Noahs wife?? Any idea?? Anyone????

Mothers Day

This weekend again was the yearly celebration day of all the florists and the producers of candy + praline. The so called "Mothers Day"!

I have heard that for some mothers it is quite a hard day if their families decided to spoil them at this special day. I have heard a mother saying:
"I usually like to get up early to have enough time during the day. But on this special day, I have to stay in bed as long as my husband and kids need to somehow manage to deliver something like breakfast to my bed. After that I have to hurry. My mother also wants some attention and so we are visiting her in the afternoon. All in all I really appreciate those efforts from my kids and husband, but I can find more relaxation in the normal daily routine"

Haha, that sounds funny to me and I wonder if it will be the same on coming thursday when it will be Ascension Day -in Germany also celebrated as Fathers Day.

It was a bit different for us yesterday. I was preparing breakfast before anyone of my girls opened her eyes. Jale had drawn a nice painting and written a funny letter (consisting of the letters A and B - the only ones she knows so far) for her mother and we had quite a relaxing time. Because Jale is still seriously ill, we did not leave the house all day.
We visited my parents in the afternoon and had a cup of coffee together. We live in the same house and are togethre daily, so it was not a very special meeting.

How about you? Do you all celebrate kind of a "Mothers Day"? If so, what happens on this special day??

DNA could predict your surname

the following I found on BBC news (news.bbc.co.uk)...unbelievable and alarming. Where will all this lead to?? Soon some observing technologies will know more about you than you know yourself.


Forensic scientists could use DNA retrieved from a crime scene to predict the surname of the suspect, according to a new British study.

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It is not perfect, but could be an important investigative tool when combined with other intelligence.

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The method exploits genetic likenesses between men who share the same surname, and may help prioritise inquiries.

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Details of the research from the University of Leicester, UK, appear in the latest edition of Current Biology.

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The technique is based on work comparing the Y chromosomes of men with the same surname. The Y chromosome is a package of genetic material found normally only in males.

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It is passed down from father to son, just like a surname.

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Mining the information would require building a database of at least 40,000 surnames and the Y chromosome profiles associated with them.

Men vs. Women

Found this text on clipmarks.com:

The Differences Between Men And Women

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A man has six items in his bathroom -- a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

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A woman makes a list of things she needs and then goes out to the store and buys these things. A man waits till the only items left in his fridge are half a lime and a soda. Then he goes grocery shopping. He buys everything that looks good. By the time a man reaches the checkout counter, his cart is packed tighter than the Clampett's car on Beverly Hillbillies. Of course, this will not stop him from going to the 10-items-or-less lane.

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A woman will dress up to: Go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, get the mail. A man will dress up for: weddings, funerals.

Rehabilitation by Geocaching ;-)

Finally, after some hard days I had the opportunity to leave work already at 5.00pm. And what is the best way for me to relax?? Yes...go geocaching. Yesterday I was lucky. It was raining a bit and so I was nearly alone out in the woods.
I discovered some really nice places that I did not expect to find only 30 kilometres far from my home. I followed a small river for some kilometres and it was winding its way through nature with a lot of turns.
The spots have been like from a picture book...very idyllic and when I returned from my geocaching adventure, I felt very relaxed. All the stressy thoughts had left me.


So, I don't want to hold back some of the photos I took yesterday. Nature photos always only give you a slight idea of how it was there...but if you add the sound of leaves on trees in wind..the sound of a river gurgling its way and the sound of singing birds...well, then you may be able to imagine how nice those hours in the woods have been for me.
This last way was a challenge. The way was all wet and slippery and ended at a small plank over a river of maybe 3 metres width. A lot of water was in that river cause it has been raining all day...but after all I was brave enough to cross it twice

What a week..

Since some of you seem to be really worried about me and my silence, I thought I should just drop a line here to say: THANK YOU!! It feels so good to know that there are a lot of friends who think and care about me.

The last days have been quite busy. Jale is ill again. Since 7 months she is suffering from pain in her ears from time to time. We always go to the doc and all he repeatetly says is: she has no infection, give her this medicine and it will soon be better. Yes, the medicine always works after some days. But...she suffers from this always about 4-6 days with fever at 39°C and it is always a hard time not only for Jale. I rarely sleep at all those night cause I hear her crying and cannot help her...that is making me sick myself.

Besides that, work is getting more and more and only yesterday I was able to leave office at 5.00 p.m. All the other days it was about 7 or 8.00 p.m. Well, you all know how ambitious I am (*sigh*) so this is really going on my nerves.

So much for that. I have not forgotten about any of my friends. It is the opposite. The more hard times I have, the more I think about my dear friends out there in their corners of the world :-)

Geocaching - Mein 130. Cache

Nummer 130 war "Hunte meets Kampbruch". Einer von vielen tollen Caches in super idyllischen Gegenden. Diese Feierabend Caches waren wie ein kleiner Urlaub. Total entspannt zu suchen und zu loggen und Locations wie aus dem Bilderbuch.

An diesem Nachmittag habe ich gefunden:

Felix' Wunsch
Plietenberger See
Hunte meets Kampbruch
Alter Huntearm

Hunte Meets Eisenbahn

Hunte Meets Sannum

Einmal Rot-Weiss bitte