Double-Half
or One Ten without ham

So yesterday I was at Bro´s place, also to get my eyes tested for ... bu-huuu... bifocals.

Little Niece didn´t sleep all day, bummer, was she in a very bad mood!
Bro at one time just closed the (glass-)door to test my eyes and left the girls by themselves.
Niece did a wonderful job trying to calm down her little Sis!

I was more than impressed!

On telling her later she was like, yah, I tried my best....
Yeah, us big Sisters, huh?
Guess, though she still did not really get that her Daddy is my little Brother...

Now. I really do not wanna seem like a narcissist - but... which glasses do I take?
These...



.. which Bro called "more serious" (do I want to look "serious"? No idea...):



Or those...



Do I look like Puck, the loo-fly?



I don´t like such huge glasses, but Bro said for a beginner with bifocals this is best...

Any guess, green or blue?

Any experiences with bifocals? I´m a tad afraid I can´t see stairs properly. And reverse parking might be difficult?

Hair, btw... bonnet on, off, on, off...

Shoot. That is narcissist, is it? Sorry... publish?

Yesterday I just had to go to the city, since only yesterday you could help by buying Braunschweiger Lebkuchen-hearts for the charity-campaign Braunschweig zeigt Herz.

Please note 6 m tall Bruno in the pic above to the left - he´s welcoming guests since 2002. Actually he comes from Bangkok, some 9 000 km away, see more here (some beautiful pics of the Christmas market included).

The weather thankfully cleared up - sure, I had a brolly with me (Ingo sadly is still sick)!

The Christmas-Market was just plain packed - all I grabbed was some almonds for my friend P and family - and left as quickly as I could.

The jeweler where Ingo got me this beautiful heart is neatly decorated, no, classic.



A bit of a Christmas-spirit is already there...



Also this bike is ready for the season.



And, no, this doesn´t "suck" - SUCK is a place where you get milkshakes and Flammkucken, aka Tarte Flambée.

My loot:



Ours will get preserved and remain as deco, certainly :-)

Let´s see how the almonds are...



Off to Bro´s place now - so looking forward to see the family again.
Not at all looking forward to get my eyes tested. I bet Bro will let me run through every.single.test.there.is.
And then... bifocals?!
I´ll see the family, right? :-)

That´s the KTZ Mühle, a kid´s and youth center on the way to the city.

Looks like a castle from a fairy tale with that tree in front, huh, kinda scary.

But when you follow the link above you see the inside is quite friendly.

Most activities this year had to take place somewhere else - no money, I learned from their website.

Bummer.
Let´s see what we find next year.
No idea if they can keep it at all....

4C, rainy and I need to go to the city.
Not enough rain for the new rain-clothes, though. Icky weather.

Quite a while ago I got my first training-DVD.
A start with Michaela Süßbauer for €10.

She explains real well, I got the concept of always holding your back straight when training so well, just wake me up in the middle of the night - back is straight when moving ;-)
I also got the idea of doing the units "the other way round" - her left is my right, got it!

Her dance-moves, though... hardly a chance, sadly, very sadly.

Last Saturday I found the training by Nina Winkler and Ina Münsberg. Also 10 bucks.
Weeee.
Certainly a change, which is good, and more intense, also good.

I´m kinda proud I´m that fit and can nearly do the whole program!

But, quite frankly, without Michaela I´d be lost!!!

Nina-Ina explain once you have to keep your back straight.
Often when they show a move you only see the upper body. Ummm. WHAT do you do with your legs?!

And again I have a very, very hard time coordinating arms and legs.

Bummer.
Dancing is so darn healthy! Esp when you get old - I know, there are some years before it comes to that! ;-)
But, really, good for your brain to keep fit.
Fun, too.
Share with your partner.

Bu-huuu.
Not my world.

But, all in all these DVDs suit me well!
What a waste of time and money the gym and the crosstrainer at home have been!

But: No looking back in anger, right?

Embracing the found solution!

Tiredness: Gone!
Despite the nasty weather, I feel good, fit, healthy, yay!

20 bucks, that´s all!

Anyone who likes "power yoga"? That DVD (German) does not suit me at all. I prefer my good ole yoga book from the 1970´s by Kareen Zebroff!

FSK, as seen on the covers, means "Voluntary Self Regulation of the Movie Industry" and both DVDs are considered to be suitable from age 0 on.
I´d like to see that baby, huh? ;-)

So, mostly I´m doing training inside, weekends often also outside, that seems to be my way for now - how about you, in or out, by yourself or guided, lead by life as it goes?

Nasty winter-time: You.cannot.harm.me! :-)

Pic: Food-booth

Yesterday I headed to the city.
As did all my colleagues.

I was one of the few who could walk in - thanks to my super-great work-hours and due to the fact I live in walking distance.
And since I was surprise... way too early I had a look at how Xmas-sy the city already is.

Now, our boss certainly is no Santa Clause, and it was not a nice fairy-tale he had to tell.

The scandal around our customer sure takes it´s toll on us, too.
Boss apologised for mainly reading from his script. He said, this is just plain hard for him.
He even had to let go of six people.

Despite using headhunters and all.

And he had good news, too.
It´s a tad like Burgpassage:



Not in the sense of getting the Xmas-spirit, but like getting many under one roof - so unlike German!

Together with some other IT-companies they turned to the customer to make sure the problems on our side are known and to still offer our help.
And there was response from "high up".

Likely all the IT-companies who refused to join... will loose out in the future.

Maybe Boss is more like one of the Elves, huh?
He gives his very best to save us.

He also said, colleagues stepped up at him and said a Christmas-party does not make sense, they don´t feel like partying.


Pic: Christmas-market still closed.

Boss said, it´s not about partying, it´s, as always, his thanks to us for our work.

One colleague exclaimed, OK, so it will be!.

Well, then.
Despite it´s again this awful location where last time dinner was served at 10:30 and hence without us (Ingo has to eat on time and also I didn´t think it was funny) - we go.

I´m pretty confident our Boss´ll lead us through these rocky times.

Spotted this ad in the easterly ring area.
What better way to advertise for chairs made of dyer's-weed than using paper on a tree, right?

Consistent mate, I´d say.

I´d call. If I had a garden to call my own.
Our lille balcony is too small.
And the garden belonging to our house is an ugly mess, so, sorry, no chair for me.

But nice idea, no?

When I went to the city on Sat St Andreas´ tower was open to be climbed.

St Andreas was build likely 1160, first documented in 1230.
Such an ole building, ha, easy, you say?



But, as it goes, by 1544 the south-tower measured 122 m and with that it was one of the highest towers in Central Europe!
It was destroyed in WWII (likely that happened, huh, kinda screaming, here I am, dare you get me, here I am!... ok, probably not so, happened anyways, be that tall, huh).
1955 it was rebuild and still today, with it´s now "only" 93 m, St Andreas is the highest church spire Braunschweig´s, only two other towers are higher, one being our long Henry with 250 m, the other being the telecommunications tower Broitzem with 154,65 m.

And this makes St Andreas the second town's landmark after our real Henry (don´t tell him he´s just a replica and the real real Henry is in Burg Dankwarderobe due to pollution - he´s not aware of it).

Since summer 2000 you can climb up the 389 steps to the platorm in 72 m hight.



And that... well, that is a tad too much for someone who´s fighting fear of heights, right?
Especially since it´s a flight of winding stairs where you can look through...

But Ingo already promised he´ll climb up with Niece.
That is good. Because Mama and Daddy... fear of heights, too!

I´m on my way, btw.
The other day I went up the escalator in fake castle - all by myself, (accidentially) waay up to the parking.
And down again.

A start, right?

One day... maybe... St Andreas?
Not so near future, that is...

What´s the saying, there isn´t wrong weather, just wrong clothes, right.
So yesterday I made another tour to Lake Ölper.

Even though, eek, there was a hint of to what (hopefully not) is to come:



On the way to it was quite some traffic, families, with elderlies, maybe there is a cemetary nearby or they were on the way to the little church to think of the ones we had to leave behind, after all it was Totensonntag.

I prefered to take a little break here:



Later Bro called, they´d been to our parent´s grave, tidied up, brought winter-plants and a candle.
That´s always stuck to the ones who live near...

That is also why I put in my last will my urn will go to an unknown spot.

Next weekend, finally, I may visit - still in time for Niece´s Advent-calendar.

Ewww. And.
Bro won.
He´ll measure my eyes again and order progressive-addition lenses. Bu-huu.
If I really can´t cope, he can send them back for free.
I better hope that is the truth and was not just a trick to get me into this!

Bu-huuu cause a) I´ve heard from different people how difficult it is in the beginning and esp b) ... my green glasses! Too small for lenses like that!

Let´s see, right?

If Niece wants to say hi to me on the phone, Bro asked? "Nope."
Ok... ;-)
Last time we saw each other was her birthday - guess I´m rather a stranger, kinda.

Well. I look forward to meet them again.
I am not to judge, what do I know about life with two little kids, right?

I sure do love living in Braunschweig and I guess I´m not wrong about considering this being a wonderful place to call a home.

Guess many know this stuff:



The original text to it was, "must be something about it".
Quite honestly... to me it´s just very sweet stuff, and I don´t like sweets.

Anyhows we - living exactly 13 km from door to door - had to get this, as many a Braunschweig person, btw!:



Now we only need to find someone who likes to drink it! ;-)
Consider yourself welcome for a visit!
If you like sweets it sure is yummy....


(It´s a "poem" to the hunter in the old-fashioned writing. Hunter - Jäger)

Today is Totensonntag.
From how I grew up and with religions fighting each other as bad as never before I take a distance to it all.
But when I´m off now to Lake Öper I sure will think of Mum and Dad.

Quite a while ago I read the book “…” – well. Difficult to translate, actually.
It´s called “Glück kommt selten allein” by Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen.

If you look up Glück you get all sorts of words defining it, joy, luck, happiness, luckiness, bliss, fortune… (it seldom comes by itself)

Germans are easy on this one, huh.
Or rather don´t have or feel enough to need to differ in nuances?

At one point he writes about “luck” in the sense of superstition.

And rightfully he says: Take the four-leafed clover – what is it?
It´s above all: seldom. More seldom than the three-leafed ones. Why ever we feel the need to attach luck to the four-leafed-ones and are sad we´re lucky so seldom.

See pic above – he´s totally right, no?

So. In the aftermath.. that rainy Sunday, I was actually pretty lucky :-)

Lucky, we can choose the direction we want to look at things.

Now I only need to find a good place to bring on those stickers to always remind me.

In that sense: Have a great day. Full of luck, joy, happiness, whatever you wish for, just keep your eyes open.

Wee, I was with some family (mine?) in a store, getting some DVDs and there were problems at the cash-out.

RRRINNNG.
OK, rather Beep - Beep – Beep – Beep, an unusual four times before I managed turning the noisy thing off.

Felt like I just couldn´t get up, I was so groggy for a sec.

Not even halfway through brushing my teeth I was all good to start the new day.
Thankfully, too, my body is always warm in the morning, even though the bathroom (and the condo) is rather cold with the heating being off over night.

I am so thankful I got my Dad´s genes here, not my Mum´s!

Just imagine you wanna go to an event you looked forward to for weeks and weeks.
It´s a warm summer-morning, too, the sun is shining already.

And your big Sis comes nagging over and over again, trying to make you get up.
Telling you, you´re going to be late. You won´t have time for a brekkie. Getting pushed even!
Getting shouted at.
And you just can´t make it!

That must be awful, no?
Big Sis certainly was me.

And, hard as it was, I managed to get Bro ready to go just in time to drive to Nürnburgring with his Ninja where we met his former boss and the two were racing like crazy.
I was racing, too. Or, rather, my heart.

First just by watching, later being on that darn thing again, being “forgotten” by Bro who kept driving in that style at 200 km/h over public, curvy roads to the next gas-station (remember? I´m a Harley-co-driver!). It was horror.



I really wonder how hard it is for him to get up on a cold winter´s day when work is waiting?

As said, I´m really thankful here :-)

The dream? I was watching a DVD yesterday night, Bonneville, maybe that´s why.
Good movie, btw, I think.
Not very realistic, but fun in all the misery.

Have I ever mentioned *cough* what great colleagues I have?

When R asked about my weekend and I told him how I got soaked by my old rain-clothes, E suddenly stood by my side and told me where she got hers from - a tiny "farmer"-shop in a suburb of Wolfsburg - she also told me how to get there, nice.

Off after work I went, just to find neighbour A in front of me, waving hello.

Guess he was a tad confused that suddenly I was gone ;-)

Thanks to all the little men outside who did not buy rain-clothes!
I got the last jacket in S and the last trousers in XS - for a cheapy price, too.
The hood even has a brim, perfect for peeps who wear glasses!

OK, it´s not high-tech, but for the price ok.

My thanks, also for all the coffee I still get, together with nice chats:



No idea if there is anything not made/sold by Tiger!



They said it´s yummy and accept that I´m doing no-carb atm.

OK, rain - where are you?

Lucky thing btw the red rain-boots weren´t available in my size - I would´ve bought 'em!

I started physio last week, they gave me one app, then said they´re full but take me in on short notice if someone cancels.

Not surprisingly I didn´t get a call.

Lucky for me the rooms are right beside ALDI, 5 minutes from my workplace, so in my break I went over and said, so, seems it didn´t work this week, what can we do about next week?

After a bit of nahhhhh I got three appointments.

I really do wonder: If I just called via phone, would they made it possible to get some dates?
Quite frankly I don´t think so, likely they´d just said, sorry, we´re overbooked.

That´s at least how it happened all the years before in similar situations.

Does it make such a huge difference for people to try to help you when they actually see you? When they have to look at your face to say, “sorry, I can do nothing about it”, though actually they – as proven – could, with a bit of effort?
Or was it saying, what can we do about it?

What do you think, do you have any experience with this?

Anyhows, happy-lucky me: I got three more apps and hopefully all is back to normal with my stiff neck soon :-)

Pic: Ingo in Alte Waage - but matches the title, no?

The other Thursday neighbour A showed me how he cooks, or rather bakes, a yummy dish.
One that you can put in the cold oven and let cool down before taking it out - screams for a try on my side, no?

So, last Thursday, when I had a doc-day off again, I gave it a go.
I estimated it´ll take me bout an hour to chop down two onions and 350g chicken breast.
Especially the chicken wasn´t easy - it took me nearly two hours! So much for having the stuff for lunch ;-)



With this instruction I managed to make the grid:



OK, I had to cheat a little, but, hey, for a first it looks kinda ok, no?



I know... the name is not appropriate right now, with the terror flaming up again.
But that is the official name.
I go with my Muslim colleague here - the terror should not stop us from having fun, from naming things what they are. It just makes terror win.

I followed A´s instructions, wasn´t easy to flip the thing in one piece!



Into the oven the bacon went.
After the oven reached 160° I counted 60 minutes.
Bummer.
Looked all pale and icky!
I added 15 minutes, then another... wrote another help-me-card and put the oven on 0.

Shortly after A came home, rang the bell, smiled big and said, he expected another card ;-)

Weeee, glad thing I put the oven on 0 - it was just the foil and the pale oven-light, the bacon was actually perfect, as was revealed after A got the good ole ... bacon out!



We both tasted and, mind you, to my surprise: It was yummy!
A was kinda proud of me, he said :-)
Once for me trying at all and second... it was tasty!

Sadly Ingo is not allowed to have a go since it comes with onions.
More for me, huh?
Perfect as cold dish, too.

Will I repeat this?

Dunno.
It was a lot of work and sure as hell. It.has.heaps.of.calories!

Ha! I cooked! Successfully! And nearly without help ;-)