Double-Half
or One Ten without ham

This pic was taken on my last day at work.
I was cleaning my table, opened the left cupboard-door to get paper - just... this is the new place, the paper is in the cupboard to the right!

Weird what I saw!!!

My Dad no matter what (aka friends or family visiting, celebrating) made sure to watch "Dinner for one" which you maaaaybe know as The 90th Birthday on New Year´s Eve.

It´s an "18-minute single-take black-and-white 1963 TV recording" that "went on to become the most frequently repeated TV programme ever" (see link).

Oh, Dad would so´ve loved this cuppa!!!

I have to add... it´s not translated to German, Dad spoke no English.

Did I never open that cupboard up before (unlikely) or is the cup a new addition, I have no idea.

A secret greeting from Dad (again, unlikely)?

I leave you for this year hence with this, while watching it (a first in decades):

"James: The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?
Miss Sophie: The same procedure as every year, James! "

To another great year, or a better one, whatever suits you :-)

Yupp. We went to the city today.
Actually I only needed a greeting-card.

But I just could not resist this and you have to admit, my old purse looks really shabby, no? It was flaming red once!

I couldn´t resist this, either:



Now I can take one bag to work, or another:



And for the run to the grocery-store for small stuff...



Or certainly if I ever am forced to go to Hanover ;-)
(Braunschweig ist schöner als Hannover / Brunswick is nicer than Hanover)

In case it gets a tad boring here...



You think I went over the top here?
Ha! It´s... ummmm...



Ok. It was Christmas....
But!
Consider I had to see all this!



I did not buy everything, right?
And the old purse did look shabby.
And in general... pfffft, right? :-)

Love this city!

I ordered a newgen medicals-training unit with which I can hang upside down and hopefully never have back-ache again.

Dunno. Naive-me thought it´s just a click here and there and that´s it, but, noooo.

I was so scared, actually, I didn´t take a pic of all those parts I had to assemble!

And I reckon without Ingo´s proper tools I wouldn´t have made it at all! Those cheapies were of no use and I admit I was wondering why there were two same-looking tools, too (yes, go on, shake your head in disbelief - but, really, I´d never done this before!).

I´m kinda proud I can report I had to ask Ingo for help only three times.

It´s rather a cheapy (€99), but once I´ll get used to trust my own work in assembling (....) it will hopefully do a good job on my back.
If you don´t read me again... fail, biiiig fail. On my side! ;-)



Funny, I ordered this over a month ago and they could not deliver.
Funny we got it home now.
Meets ends with the title by accident (true, too).

Dunno. We´re off to the "Abgrillen"/last BBQ at my ex-colleague today (brrr 5C here, colder in the village). At 01:00 they start.
That was when I got the phone call from my Bro this date in 2011.
Mum was finally gone.
Four years have gone by, yet it hurts.
Dad´s gone over 13 years now.
Cancer, I hate you.
Shoot. I really hope I can "forget" about it and don´t make anyone else sad, also.
Bro called and told me to have fun.

Upside down, after all...

That is the number you call in emergency.
The sign in the window asks you to call.
The sign to the left shows where I took the pic: Fire department Braunschweig.
I was thinking about "calling" 112 to see if they come out, but then... I didn´t.
Really, does this make sense?!

Right opposite you find this:



Luckily further down the road it´s getting much better!



Our quarter again:



Much better, no?



"Call me 112" - I just don´t get it, every kid knows that number (hopefully)...

Ha-ha, see last graffiti-pic-post... Didn´t see the rubbish lying right by the puddle and had to crop the pic... Will I ever learn?

If you ever find such a stupid thing in your car-window:



Not us!

I wouldn´t want our faces at the bridge, but great what possibilities there are these days, no?

It´s so warm people easily have a BBQ in the park:



Locked, btw... Sad you have to do that, no?



If you don´t, this may happen:



Because...



Really, I mean...



But who knows, maybe Granma wanted to sit in the shadow and can´t get down on a blanket in the grass no more? Though, actually, I doubt that.
This is Germany, actually you´re happy when the sun´s out, this is not Australia, where you get sunburned that fast...

We got another fail, foodwise, sadly.
Sounded so yummy, koawach - cocoa with guarana, cinnamon and cardamom, "doppeltwach", double awake.

Not. Crunchy, rather, when milk is heated in the microwave.
So today Ingo tried "Grampa S´s way" (not this one):



Even with love!



And in the "magical" cuppa:



Still crunchy in the end. And by the time it was cold...



... we were both tired.
Fail, right?

So... after a short walk it´s on to the swing and watch the traditional xmas-movie, It’s a Wonderful Life :-)
Angel, btw.... Niece told me she was an angel at the play yesterday. "Did you have wings?" - "no." (stupid question, obviously!

When I bought these xmas-ornaments I had both hands full and asked the sales woman to check if they´re both undamaged.

Aw, wait, I said "unbroken". Because... I tend to get stuff that has some... failures.

I should´ve been more precise...



What can I say.
Someone has to take them, right?

So. That was it today with work for 2015.
What a year - also work-wise.

Pic: VW-plant - each Advent they illuminate another "chimney" - four up, year done, so to say.
Despite here I did not dare to fully stop the car - after all we have some aggressive drivers on the bridge which has three lanes per direction...

Year done. Weee.
I finally after what, 3 years, left the office I had to share with that arrogant dude.
Now with T and M, much, much better, also in private life. It really messed that up, too.

A sad "highlight", but that´s the truth.
The truth is also: I´ve learned a lot from this for the future - there is nearly always something good in the bad, right?

Let´s see what the next working-year brings on.
I´m a bit afraid they might say, do we need that portal anymore? - after all they change a lot and look for bits and pieces to "safe money".
Glad we cannot look into the future, right?

So: Bye-bye work-year!

Ingo got this cutie at work together with some xmas-stuff and gave her to me.
As all the other xmas-stuff she´ll live here all year round.

The white dots (and the red one) that´s not snow or deco, btw.
That´s from spray-painting.
And yes. We did the painting in 2010!

If the next owner doesn´t like it he can get rid of it, right? ;-)

Do you know the Simpson´s episode where Homer tries to build a BBQ-place?
Thanks to ALDI again, I have another handicraft project - just... this time hot glue is involved - which I only was able to read after opening the whole thing up.

Me - hot -> not good.

I started with the cold part:



It was kinda meditative to create all this - with one eye again.



No idea if I find the courage to finish these xmas-trees.
I managed to fight my fear of height a bit and went up - and down - four floors on the escalator, by myself, too. And the other day Ingo told me at Peek and Cloppenburg a man fell off the escalator and died.
(How???? Just how???)
Is that a sign?

I don´t know if I find the courage to go the hot-glue-way.
After all: Signs....

Last time a had a major eye-problem I found a real christmas-tree!

Keep your fingers crossed, as unlikely as it might be for another cute George coming over...

Thanks to ALDI I had some more handicraft to do when I was signed sick.



Wasn´t easy for me to follow the instructions, but I managed without help - and with one eye!

Kinda weird that from such a mass of paper such tiny objects are left!



Happy fourth advent :-)