Cookies

"Yes, yes...we can bake some cookies next week. I know how it works!" That's what I said to Jale one week ago. It was a bit of a lie. I know how to bake a cake but never prepared any cookies by myself. Ha-no big deal you may think, ask your wife! Funny but she knows even less about such things. Good that I have my mother nearby to ask her for some recipe and to get a slight idea of what this cookie-baking-thing is about...approximately!
To say it short: it ended without any heavy injuries, and the mess in our kitchen was not too bad. We are still all alive! The cookies were delicious but in the end looked not half as nice as the ones that you see in the cookery books. That is why I won't post any photo of the results but only of the beginning of our cookie experience!!
Wanna try one??? Drop me your address.....

RAW!!!

someone seems to enjoy...

another one a bit suspicious???

Gmail Space

Did anyone ever wonder where Google gets all that memory space from? I mean, Gmail provides more than 7 GB of storage space for every mailbox, Picasa, Blogger, docs + spreadsheets, Reader...and not to forget YouTube with unlimited (?) storage.
I have read an article today about how the huge storage space that Google provides for its users and now I know exactly where all that memory space comes from:
There must be a built-in HDD....somewhere....

Kündigung

Sehr geehrter Herr....

die derzeitige wirtschaftliche Lage veranlasst uns...blabla...blabla...blablabla....blaundblaundblupp.
Wir kündigen Ihnen daher betriebsbedingt das bestehende Arbeitsverhältnis fristgerecht zum 30.06.209.

Ohje, ohje...am 27.11.2008 war es dann soweit das ich dieses Schreiben bekam. Naja, so ähnlich zumindest. Natürlich haben wir es tausendmal vorher besprochen und es war ja keine Überraschung, deshalb fühlte ich mich nach der Entgegennhame dieses Schriebs recht entspannt, und sogar ein wenig frei und in Aufbruchstimmung.
Ob der Aufbruch denn stattfinden wird und, wenn ja, wie und wohin er führen wird, das bleibt natürlich äußerst fragwürdig.
Aber aller Trauer zum Trotz: Dieser Tag war geil!

Three Men on a Hike

Seems as if you all like those discriminatory jokes on men!! So, attention women, here comes another one! But hey, why do I never receive those kinda jokes about women???


Three Men on a Hike

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed : 'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.'
Poof! ... God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.

After witnessing that, the second man prayed : 'God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river.'
Poof! .... God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.

Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed: 'God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river.'
Poof! .... He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge

I will miss those views

On my way to work this morning by bike, I had another chance to watch a breathtaking sunrise. Today it looked as if the skinny branches of the tress have just been burned. I cannot get enough of those views, they always make me stop for a while and stare in awe at this outstanding performance of nature.
In about half a year my work will change and I will not go this way anymore. I hope that I won't have to go by public transportation then, cause I will miss those views over here.

No smoking - update

One week now since I had the idea to quit smoking. And I did it. Very unspectatcular so far. No substitue drugs such as candy or chocolate, no nervousness, did not add weight so far...I must admit that I did not even think about smoking at all. Looks as if it is quite easy to quit smoking for me.
I still have a closed and sealed package of tobacco in my bag. So, if anyone needs it, drop me your address and I will send it to you!

Snow

When I got up this morning, I could hardly believe what I saw: 15 cm of snow!! Wow!
It was said to be snowing but usually over here it all melts away again pretty fast. It is a long time since we had that much snow and we really enjoyed it. I hope that it will last this time for at least a week or so!
Took some photos, if you are interested, you can find them here.

No Smoking

Lately Jale has drawn a little picture for me, cuz she is afraid that I may get seriously ill from smoking:

This morning on bike I had a similar idea. So, should I really stop smoking?? Hmmm...
I will keep you informed...

More fun with Windows OS

Firefox Popup

Some of you still don't use Mozillas Firefox browser? I do! But I am using a pop-up blocker....

Happy Men??

This day really isn't my day! In the morning when I drove to work by bike, it was still dark. I don't really care for darkness, I even like it for some reason. But these days it is not just dark, it is raining a bit and there is a strong wind. Usually that should wake me up, but it does not. The whole day is like wrapped into a fluffy grey piece of cotton...I feel as if I am sleeping the whole day.
Since I know that there are some female readers here (one of them forwarded this little piece to me -THANKS), all I can offer today is a little fun about men in general:

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:

Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and thin k of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Jale at school

It is 12 weeks now since Jales school enrolment and yesterday was our first date for a talk with Jales teachers at school.
Some of you may remember our doubts in summer if we should really send Jale to school already. We were in doubt especially because all the experts (kindergarten, therapists) advised us not to send her to school but to kind of a pre-school kindergarten for a year.
In the year Julia and me made our decision against all the experts advises and sent Jale to school.

Yesterday we talked to Jales maths teacher, to her class teacher and to an educationalist. They all were surprised of how good, motivated and dilligent Jale is at school. From her cognitive abilities there is nearly no difference between her and other pupils her age. She still has some lacks...many kids that age still have that. And she is getting additional support lessons at school.

But generally, Julia and me have been very proud to have made our decision and did not listen to others. The educationalist even gave in that she also was wrong with her first judgement about Jale in August 2008. YYYYYYYEESSSSSS!!!

Gorbi and Obi

In Germany we have the BRAVO which is the leading magazine for teenagers, juveniles and those who believe that they belong to the very young generation still.

Now, BRAVO dedicated and published a poster of Barack Obama and I think he is the first politician who now has the official status of a popstar. Oh no...there has been another political popstar earlier on. It was the former soviet president Michail Gorbatschov. People inside Russia hated him, but western countries admired him and even gave him the cute nickname "Gorbi".
Which leads me to the question: Will OBAMA soon be called OBI??

(As an explanation to anyone from outside germany: If so, we would finally show the german sense of humour. OBI in germany simply is a hardware store/building center with shops all over germany...and they have an orange beaver in their emblem for corporate identity!)

Proclamation

In recognition to the election results last week, I am removing the United States of America for an indefinite period from the list of rogue states.
With this step I am paying my respect to the U.S. which have signaled their goodwill towards the international community.

Mugs and Money, reloaded

Maybe some of you will remember a post on this blog where I was writing about my collection of mugs and how I am using foreign money.
I know that it is nothing special if someone collects mugs and I know that there are people who collect money (yes, yes...Dagobert Duck is only one of them)!
I had visitors here in my home who brought me a mug as a present and I was soooo happy about that.
But I never ever expected someone to be so smart and bring those both of my hobbies together in a very charming way. Today I received a package...a lovely package, well packed and stuffed with love, and candy and chocolate and mugs!!!! It was absolutely lovely and would be enough for the next 3 christmas celebrations.

But top of all was a mug with a 100 estonian crown (EEK) on it! Perfect combination...you are the best, Triina...thanks a milion!!!
For all those who have never heard of the currency of estonian crown (EEK), here is an information about my cool mug and especially about the 100 EEK banknote:

On top of the 100 EEK is a portrait of the Estonian poet Lydia Koidula (born as: Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, 1843-1886). Lydia Koidula wrote patriotic lyrics as well as poems about the beauty of nature.
100 EEK = 100 Krooni = about € 6,60 today
The 100 EEK banknote is said to be even more safe and uncopyable than the Euro!!! So, if you wanna own this safe currency, hurry up! Estonia will probably switch over to the Euro soon...but not before 2010

Deutsche Bahn

Wenn ich schonmal wieder anfange hier was zu schreiben, dann auch gleich weiter mit etwas was mir gehörig aufstösst:

Was ist denn nur mit unserer Deutschen Bahn los?? Da werden laufend irgendwelche Kinder aus Zügen geworfen, weil sie keine gültigigen Ticket dabei haben. 12,13 und 14 jährige die dann irgendwie sehen müssen wie sie nach Hause kommen. Kann doch wohl nicht wahr sein!!! Was sind das für stumpfsinnige Kontrolleure die scheinbar überhaupt kein eigenes Denken mehr entwickeln??
Tja, wenn man das Geld für die Ausbildung der Zugbegleiter lieber in den Börsengang steckt kommt sowas wahrscheinlich zwangsläufig.

Das erinnert mich unter anderem auch an den Lokführer Streik 2006. Als die Lokführer endlich ihren Tarifabschluß hatten, hat Mehdorn gleich nachgelegt, das die Kunden diesen Tarifabschluß in Zukunft teuer bezahlen müsste. Das ist sowas von absurd...Mehdorn legt die Eier, wir müssen sie ausbrüten und er gackert dazu.
Schlimm!

Lazyness??

Lately I have been pretty lazy with my postings here. Not that I stopped thinking and/or living. Not that there isn't anything to mention about my life. Lots of things, good and bad, are going on and taking a lot of my attention.

I should mention that I will be unemployed by June 30th, 2009. I should write about the overwhelming friendlyness that I received from my far away friends during the last weeks. Maybe someone would even be interested in my review of the new James Bond film or the latest audio books I listened to. The daily weather report could also be of interest.
Maybe at least I should drop an excuse for being lazy?

Yes, yes...I could write about all that. But this photo says it all.

neuer Computer

Also, nach Allem was ich so gehört hab, sollte ich mich vielleicht doch von meinem alten Rechner trennen:


es soll da ja schon was Besseres geben. Nur, wo krieg ich soviel D-Mark her???

Geocaching - Unnötige Caches??

In verschiedenen Podcasts wurde darüber gesprochen und in Blogs und Foren wird darüber diskutiert: Caches die sinnlos sind.

Ich selbst habe am Sonntag 3 solcher vermeintlich sinnlosen Caches gemacht und ich fand nichts Anrüchiges dabei. Wir waren am Sonntag nämlich zu einem ausgedehnten Spaziergang in einem schönen Waldgebiet. Die Anfahrt dahin sind etwa 10 Kilometer. Auf dem Weg dahin und auf dem Rückweg haben wir jeweils einen Autobahn-Parkplatz-Cache gemacht. Der dritte Cache - die Filmdose als Tradi im Wald wird wohl ewig polarisieren, aber ich zumindest wurde nicht gezwungen diese Dose zu machen. Ich hätte sie auch einfach ignorieren können und denen überlassen, die daran Spaß haben. In diesem Waldgebiet liegen übrigens schon tolle Multis und Mysteries, es ist dort also für alles Mögliche Platz. Anders würde es sich natürlich verhalten wenn eine lieblos in den Wald geworfene Tradi-Filmdose das Legen eines schönen Multis verhindern würde. Trotzdem - jeder soll seine Meinung kundtun aber generell finde ich eine Vorverurteilung von 1/1ern nicht gut.

Direkt vor meiner Haustür (350m Luftlinie) zum Beispiel liegt ein 1/1 Filmdose auf dem Gelände eines Baumarktes. Den werde ich wohl nicht machen weil ich persönlich darin keinen Sinn sehe. Auswärtige auf Cachetour werden sich aber vielleicht über diese Dose freuen, zumal sie zumindest eine ausreichende Parkmöglichkeit vorhält.
Jeder soll sich einfach das raussuchen was er machen möchte, und nicht den Oberlehrer geben der meint das nur seine Ansprüche die einzig richtigen sind.