Double-Half or One Ten without ham: History-lessons

Showing posts with label History-lessons. Show all posts

Sunday, October 12, 2025

I´m Half A Potato!

My Einstein-Calendar let me know about the order of King Friedrich the 2nd from Prussia to his soldiers:

"If a farmer steals potatoes - don't intervene, look away!"

They called him lovingly "old Fritz" - he had no idea of "Pommes (Fritz)" - that´s how we call potato-fries in German/Prussian, according to the French word "pommes frittes" for "fried potato".

Fritz was a clever man, he lived 1712-1786, was King from 1740-1773.

He brought the "undemanding" potato-plant from South America to Prussia to fight famine.

But it was no success as the farmers refused to eat what they did not know.

To make the people interested he had potato-fields guarded by soldiers, making potatoes seem very valuable - his trick worked, potatoes are among the most eaten veg here!

On his grave you often find besides flowers hence potatoes!

My maternal family came from Prussia, so, reckon I am half a potato myself.

As it is Sunday... how about some classic music?

WOW on that kiddo, huh.

Kinda bet we´ll hear him again. Did you notice how some focus on filming and some focus on enjoying - whom would you be enjoyer or filmer? And some even manage both!!! I´m thankful we have both here but reckon I´d just gotten lost in amazement!

I used to play, too. Dad made me and complained I am too fast - not that he could play himself! He bought a metronome - and that ended my "career" at age 14. I was nearly through with "The Young Pianist II". Sad, huh. The old Steinweg rots away in my old parent´s now empty house.

I remember how you rest the hand you don´t need in your lap. Now I cannot read notes anymore (reckon neighbors are thankful).

A new internet series:

"Legends, myths and curiosities about witches

The Witch of En-Dor

The origins of witches and witchcraft can be traced back to ancient times, more specifically to the Bible, where it is said that Saul sought the services of a witch in the city of En-Dor in order to speak to the deceased Samuel."

Sadly msn took the series off so Monday I start with another series, "Highway to Hell: Spooky Stories from Route 66".

The countdown to Creep:

... let´s not travel like with DB - we need another train! More creeps will join, I am sure!"

Henry 🦁

Happy Sunday! What´ll you have today, potatoes? I´ll make savoy, Granma´s style.

Thursday, October 09, 2025

You HAVE To Love Him - His Pizza Is On Fire

Today I join Rain´s Thursday Art and Dinner Date with "fire" - yippee for being back! And thank you Cathy for filling in, too!

I am horribly afraid of fire and it didn´t help to have a firefighter´s uniform hanging right by my bedside for years....

Luckily Ingo is too old now.

I try to focus on the "good fire"! In Australia - we traveled through twice for long stretches - we used to make fire, toss in potatoes and and enjoy them with salt and butter straight out of their black skin...soooo yummy!

Not into such a "mess"? How about "my teacher´s"?

I will not buy that scary oven but I will try out that pizza!

The internet series

"The Dangers of Fashion in the Victorian Era

Poisonous animal taxidermy

Dead birds, such as songbirds, were popular as decorations on women's hats at this time. The birds themselves were not harmful, but the arsenic used to prepare them was.

As a man of upper class, you had to wear a hat in Victorian times. The problem was that many of these hats were made with mercury. The mercury was used to process the stiff fur of animals such as rabbits and hares into more flexible felt. The mercury caused a variety of harmful effects, including muscle and abdominal cramps, tremors, paralysis, and fertility problems. It is said that the Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland" shows some signs of mercury poisoning."

The countdown to Creep:

Henry 🦁

... with salt and butter, Henry!

Tuesday, October 07, 2025

T STands For Up And Down

I think this was the last beer at Jürgens Brewery for this year.

They have an indoor seating place, very small and LOUD.

Most seatings are in the garage and it´s getting just too cold.

Since 10 whopping years the guys successfully serve "beer made by hand" in a garage, both ends open - Thursdays and Fridays only.

In case you wonder it stands for CRAft Beer BraunSchweig (they have other sorts, too).

Makes sense as all our number plates start with BS for Braunschweig.

Dear Elizabeth, I was getting colder and colder, just to join you at your T-Party! KIDDING!

The journal:

Monday: I panicked. Like totally. My customer is nice but he.can.not.explain. He isn´t organized. I get documents by luck.

But I have yet another contact, mCA (A for Alstom). I shortly introduced myself and he LOVED it! Said most don´t care anymore doing this. Great start! Oh, these up and downs...

Tuesday: Weeee, mCA let me join his group and now I have films of my "new baby".

He greeted me with "Servus" - now THAT is Austrian for sure!

At least you can´t get it wrong! On Emden´s greeting "Moin" I answered "Guten Morgen" - in the afternoon, LOL...

He also revealed... mDA1 had no idea we are not allowed to use graphics from the instruction-documents, only technical drawings - what a waste of time (I´m nearly done with the light-changing documents).

Wednesday: Met two more supernice customers! One engineer, mSA - he has the same problems with the nice but never explaining mDA1 - it was never me!

When I told him I need pictures of the Flexity-Tram, he said at once, "no problem, come down, we visit her!"

"Ummmm... I´m in Braunschweig, Germany...". - "Oh." I got the needed pics an hour later. And by now I know where to find documents, too.

The other is admin mPA. I understand OneDrive now. "You can contact me any time", he said.

I just wonder why so far all Austrians speak so darn fast, it´s tough to understand in that accent-speed-combi. Sure still lucky I´m not with some Bavarians - in that case I´d be lost!

Thursday: Unproductive workday, frustrating. fCA (also external, from Vienna, Austria) tried to help me but drifted up to history as tomorrow we in Germany celebrate 35 years one united Germany.

Fun fact: They have a public holiday where they rise the Austrian flag.

Us Germans never do - other soccer fans when the world-soccer-championship is on and Germany is playing.

Hit#er was Austrian and gained German citizenship in... yes... Braunschweig. On the latter she was "WHAT?!"

Please note: Yes, I am via ESE at ALSTOM again.

As a trainee!!!! I have the job not safe! At neither. If I fail it´s all gone...

I worked as documentation and translation manager and now switch to technical editor.

I start at zero again. There is A LOT at stake. I sleep bad, I am a nervous wreck.

Ingo invited me to Jürgens Brewery - after he really started decluttering -yippeeee!

Brrr cold in the garage, Stripey Tiger had to get back to work!

Friday: Slept in and then Ingo informed me Lost places is on TV - 4 hours!!! After I decluttered a bit, too.

How come the chaos always comes back?!

Ingo finds the most great stuff like another set of the melting snowman we had in 2016 in Madeley/Perth, see here!!! It certainly moved not to the bin but from Ingo´s work-room to the living room...

Weekend: Saturday:Rather uneventful. I went to REWE twice - my sweet tooth woke up when my eyes found OH!CRAVIES CINNAMON TOFFEE sunflower seeds. Went back to get more as they make great pressies, see next Thursday. Went to the human checkout as Bea was there, nice lille chat. Also met W - he stated I look too young. Some way of making a compliment! ;-) Says he´s doing sport every day. And meets up with the women-group, goes by bike to visit his wife on the graveyard every day. His kids, who live nearby, do not visit him - a SHAME!

Sunday: Called "little" Niece. Turned 11. Sadly we have not much to say to one another, I barely know her. Re-watched "Grand Budapest Hotel".

In English and then... "left me 'gespannte wie ein Flitzebogen' ..." haha, totally forgot about that! "Abfahren!!!" And ... "She was shaking like a shitting dog." What a movie. I didn´t even had to read the French part.

Do you get lost in languages, too? I sometimes ... am on automatic.

Munchy:

The internet series:

"The Dangers of Fashion in the Victorian Era

Crinolines

These may look great in historical dramas, but they were not particularly well suited to the machines of the time.
Accidents were reported from factories, so that the clothing was subsequently banned completely in some.
These were also a problem for traveling in carriages or riding horses."

The countdown to Creep (I fell for a Halloween-calendar and they all want to ride the tram!):

Henry 🦁

Have a happy T-Day!

Monday, October 06, 2025

Cat(s) And A Bee?

These fellas are to be found on a utility box around the corner, the artist might be TYR, but I found nothing further.

The Hello Kitty might´ve likely been added by someone else.

It is simple. But I like it. Makes me smile every time, though the bee or alien looks a bit stressed - but aren´t we all sometimes?

This is for Sami´s COLOURFULWORLD Monday Murals.

The internet series:

"The Dangers of Fashion in the Victorian Era

Deadly clothing

The daughter of Victorian Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel died after her riding dress was completed in the home of a seamstress who had used it to cover her husband, who was suffering from typhus.

Women dragged their long skirts through the dirty streets of the city, where disease flourished."

The countdown to Creep:

(Hups. Ignore the time-stamp on the work-PC... I put it on for better light only. I start at 06:00 a.m.... of course...)..

Limpy, the Tram-driver, can see the queue will get longer and soon "BOMBARDIER" will not be visible anymore - which is no problem as "we" are long "ALSTOM" anyways.

Henry 🦁

To a good new week!

Sunday, October 05, 2025

Movie-Time?

I love this movie, so on this lazy Sunday.... do you re-watch movies sometimes, too?

The Grand Budapest Hotel... After the fairy tale I´ll watch this again!

As yesterday Lost Places was on TV again - 4 hours!

"Lost Places (original title: Abandoned Engineering) is a British docutainment format broadcast in Germany by Welt and N24 Doku."

Of course we get it in the format: Original language, after first sentence the German speaker sets in, annoying as it is it´s the German voice of Tom Selleck, Norbert Langer - very soothing!

And hence I must re-watch this movie - do you know and like it, too?

Meet M. Gustave and Zero:

It´s about trust and strong will, a comedy drama film. Or... movie? I cannot decide.

AI says, "You use 'film' to refer to the art form or a serious, high-cultural work, often in academic or formal contexts, and it's more common in British English. You use 'movie' for a less formal, entertaining motion picture, especially in American English, and it can also refer to the act of going to the cinema." > film? Either way, I love it.

The new internet series:

"The Dangers of Fashion in the Victorian Era

Infectious, contagious clothing

Diseases spread through clothing in the Victorian era. Soldiers and others contracted diseases through clothing made or cleaned by sick people.
From lice to typhus, fabrics often carried and spread disease.
Poor people often wore secondhand clothing without proper disinfection. Diseases like smallpox were transmitted through the fabric."

The countdown to Creep:

Henry 🦁´s Cousin

Have a great Sunday.

Saturday, October 04, 2025

Past And Present

Let me invite you again to the "dino-expo" from the beginning of the year.

Maybe you dress up, too, and go to a party? After all it´s Saturday!

Now for some real one, I love these birds!

This is of course for...

Eileen.

The new internet series fitting for the month, kinda, as it is creepy:

"The Dangers of Fashion in the Victorian Era

Found everywhere with Severe side effects

The new green pigment was used for a variety of things, from wallpaper to candles to toys and, of course, fabrics.
Arsenic-containing dyes became very popular, but seemed to have some side effects such as ulcers, scabs, nausea, colic, diarrhea, and headaches.
There is speculation that Napoleon was poisoned by contact with arsenic-containing wallpaper that he had at home."

The countdown to Creep (I fell for a Halloween-calendar):

Welcome, #4... and mini-4?

Noooo....

Is that a mini-you, will it get color over time or is this... somebody´s brain???

Henry 🦁