Geek vacation!

Where would us dorks choose to go on vacation?

Where we can all be geeks!

LegoLand!!!

A pretty good deal for this time of the year. I think we paid about 511 Euro for 3 nights at a nice hotel, and two day passes to the park for all three of us.

This is why we don't go on many holidays, Sarge has a heart attack whenever we have to shell out for vacations. He's been watching our savings grow, and whenever we make a large purchase, I think it physically hurts him.

The he had a second heart attack when I reminded him that we would probably come home with another 100 Euro in Legos.

I hope they have all the Star Wars figures!

Heh!

Hmmm... this picture is kind of small, but...

One of those things you might only see in Germany.
Tweens on ponys riding down the sidewalk...huh.

I'm Bleeeeeding!!!!

So the blood thinning treatment progresses apace.

I go in to the hospital twice a week to have a Quick Test done, I guess to check my clotting, or lack of.

Yesterday, two funny things happened.

One, I took Her Doktor's secretary some chocolate chunk brownies. She almost fainted, and asked me for my recipe. I told her I would just bring her some boxes of Dunken Hines brownie mix. I've never seen brownie mix in the German stores. I'm hoping that this will grease the wheels a little and cut my wait for asessment down to 45 minutes instead of an hour and fifteen. They have the warmest office waiting area ever. I think I've fallen asleep three times out of five.

The second funny happened with my Phlebotomist. After taking my wee bit of blood, she put the "plaster" on my old insertion site, and not the one she had just made. I didn't notice until I ran up two flights of stairs and my arm inside my jacket felt wet. Holy crap! It was not dripping from my fingertips or anything, this was just a needle prick, but it was still a mess. My friend Mrs. Major said I should have faked a fainting spell. Maybe I should take the Lab some brownies too.

Just in case anyone is wondering what 175 EUROS looks like.

Here ya go



Yeah, woo-FRACKING-hoo, more drugs for me. Maybe this time I will take a picture of the belt of bruises I get from having to inject myself with an anticoagulant twice a day.

Probably not, that's not an image for public consumption.

When discussing my blood thinning treatment Herr Doktor tells me:
"If you have bleeding, you MUST come in."

Well, I'm no medical expert, but DUH!

Paging Dr. House

Ok, so I came in with Pneumonia, they found "some" pulmonary embolisms.

Now it seems I have Legionellosis!

The Pneumonia was more than likely caused by the Legionellosis, but does not cause the pulmonary embolisms.

Differential diagnosis?

The best part was calling the germophobe secretary at the school I substitute at to let them know I had to contact public health.


PS.

Just lucky like that

That's me.
I'm in the hospital this week. No worries, just a touch of Penumonia that led to some tests that led to something else.
So here I am.
For a week.
Yay me.

That is not the bit of luck I'm talking about.

What is it about me that compels people to tell me things???
My roomate right now is a 50 something German local who speaks excellent english. We communicate well.
Too well.
I learned over the course of one evening that she is from the local area all her life, she has two grown children, likes to go out dancing, does not love her husband, has a boyfriend in a city 2 hours away. What?!?
Wait, it does not end there.
Boyfriend is also married (he is a sweetheart from her school days), he has three daughters (she showed me pictures), and the youngest (16) is pregnant!
Hell.
I suppose it gives her some relief to talk about it, since she knows I don't know them, will never meet them, and who would I talk about it to?? Well, other than the whole world on my blog, but who the hell reads this? I don't want to know this stuff, but I'm too polite to tell her to shut up. Plus, she translates for me, and got me apple juice when I had to drink that nasty stuff in preparation for my intestinal examination.
It is all very strange. I have spent my week catching up on my reading (3 books so far), and watching old seasons of CSI and House. She has spent it on the phone, IM-img, and sending notes to her sweetie. It's disconcerning, as she is old enough to be my mom, yet acts like my daughter.

Somewhat entertaining, and distracting, obviously nice, but strange.

Finally!!

So.

I have been trying to get a picture of this basically since we moved here.

Backstory: Since our vehicle is registered with the district of Bitburg our license plates all start with BIT. Naturally, since I am immature and inapropriate I laugh every time I see a car that contains the call letters BIT**CH###. I have never been in a position to take a picture, always driving or speeding down the Autobahn, never the passenger. UNTIL TODAY!!!

Awesome.

Happy New Year!

Coming out of my cave today.
Something interesting and post worthy finally happened.
Check out the fireworks we bought in the German grocery store!

This was just small spinning things, and sparklers. So I guess I can understand the name. And, as it turns out our kid is kind of a budding pyro. She set most of these off herself.
You can imagine it was a pretty noisy night.
Next time we're geting some of those rockets that were as big as Piko de Gallo.

Country Living

Usually I hate getting stuck behind a tractor on our winding country road.
But I love getting stuck behind a tractor when there's a doggie bouncing along in the cab with the driver.
And this time I had my camera!

CUTE!!

Right after I took this picture, the tractor started to pull to the side, and I though he was letting me pass. BUT NO!!! Another tractor, just as wide, was coming from the other direction!!! Piko de Gallo and I screamed!!!!!

Tourists

We live in an area that is fairly well known for it's wine. Much of the wine region is along a wide and long river called the Mosel. This past weekend we attended a wine festival in Bernkastle-Keus called “Weinfest der Mittelmosel”(wine festival of the Mosel river). It was lovely, and enjoyable even though Sarge and I are not big wine drinkers. We started out at the midway, where Piko deGallo got to jump on this jumpy...thing. She was having a great time, and the rest of the "jumpy things" were not busy, so the guy let her jump a little while extra, and even slingshotted her high up in the air once.

We then walked along the hand crafters market to the bridge that spans the Mosel, and got a great view of the castle ruins.

We crossed over the river to the opposite bank where all of the wine booths were. The town is beautiful. The streets are cobbled, and the houses and buildings all look like they just had a fresh coat of paint. There were many examples of what I would consider to be German architecture. I don't know the exact term for it, but they are those kind of stucco houses with the wood beam inlays, it might be called "half timbered". I know, I'm a real expert. Winding narrow streets, and the occasional traditional band playing were awesome, we're planning another trip back there just to view the town. Unfortunately it was also filled with hoards of obnoxious drunken Americans.

Since we are lame, and don't drink wine, we got some ice cream and headed back over to the other side of the river. We got there pretty early, and wanted to wait for the fireworks. So we bought some fantastic antipasto from a vendor, and spread out our blanket on the bank directly across from the castle. Piko deGallo of course was only interested in the swans. Really, looking back on it, I suppose I'm not the best person to give advice on the whole Wine portion of the festival. But it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and the fireworks were spectacular!
Gotta love fireworks set to the Star Wars theme.

New neighbors

We have some new neighbors. They're three gals, pretty shy, keep to themselves.

I can't believe I forgot this!

A couple of weekends ago our base held a Flugshau for the base members and surrounding local area residents. I guess it was a big hit. We're not allowed to actually have many planes or jets flying, I think that Germany does not allow this because of several disastrous accidents in the past.

I personally do not get the whole airshow thing. I only go because Piko deGallo likes to look at the stuff, and there is usually a funnel cake booth. Andrews AFB where we lived in Maryland has a huge air show every year. We only went twice in the seven years that we lived there. Too crowded for me.

Anyway, since the flugshau is open to the locals as well as the base members there is some local entertainment provided. Guess who was there!!1

GERMAN ELVIS!

Awesome.

Ok, so maybe one thing...

Summer storms are pretty frequent in our neck of the woods, and apparently in our little valley. Every afternoon last week at about 5:30 or so the thunder and clouds started to roll in, and Piko de Gallo and I would go around the house unplugging everything. The storm usually passes in about an hour or two, and we return to our regular Star Wars/Indiana Jones/Lord of the Rings/Walking With Dinosaurs geek fests.

One night we had a particularly lingering storm that would come and go all afternoon and evening. At about 2:30AM Sarge bolts upright in bed and says "Unplug the TV!!", then runs down to the living room to do just that. Shortly after we are rocked by some serious lightning and thunder.

A side note about Sarge and his TV. When we first met, he had a rather large TV that he was in love with. Mostly because he bought it for about $200.00, it was about 36". Whenever we moved it was always the last thing packed, and the first thing unpacked. This was our only TV for 8 years. He finally sold it at our last yard sale since we were moving overseas and didn't want to have a TV on a power converter for 4-6 years. I should have taken a picture of him hugging it goodbye. When we got here and we looked at new TVs he was outrageously apalled, or outraged and apalled by the cost of a TV these days. He ended shelling out "a ridiculous ammount", but in the end I think that he loves his new one just as much as he loved his old one, which kind of explains his lightning premonition at 2AM.

Anyway, I thought that was pretty much the end of it, but we discovered that some areas just up the street were actually hit!

SHAZAM!

I asked Sarge if I should send these pictures to his mom. She hates thunderstorms. Hates them as in yelling in panic whenever one rolls over their house. He thinks no.

Day Trip to Trier

Sunday we drove down to Trier, which is the largest city near us. It is apparently the oldest city in Germany, and is known for it's Christian reliquary collection, wine, and original Roman architecture.

We of course went for the shopping. Though, it was Sunday, so none of the reguar shops were open, but there was a handcraft fair at the Porta Negra.

There were some very beautiful things, and a booth with great Regency/modern style hats, but at 60+ Euro, nothing I could aford.

There were some blacksmithing demos, which was fascinating to Piko de Gallo.

What was truly fascinating to me however was the abundance of "manpris".

This picture, also an example of a German line-up. If you're wondering where the actual line is...that's right!! There is none.
Daddy manpris.
Even the older guys were getting into it. Egads!
I swear I even saw a guy at the bus stop wearing a pair of pris, and Teva style sandals with socks. How do you say "NO!" in German? Nein!!!Nein!!! Nein und abermals nein!!!

Sarge had told me about this "style" when he was deployed. He said that it was very popular among the UK and Australian soldiers. I didn't believe it until I saw it myself. Yikes!

So, Sarge had a hard time getting served at the waffel booth, because he didn't know where the line was. Well, duh, there is not line, hello, German style. I told him that he should buy himself a pair of pris, and the next time his wait will probably be shorter. No f-ing way, he tells me. And actually, I can't imagine it either, gives me chills.

Trouble on Am Schmeideberg

We got trouble, with a capital T that rhymes with P and that stands for

POWER SURGE!!!!

Yes, we've been watching The Music Man, and yes, MdG, make big bang...AGAIN!!!

There was a thunder storm here the other week, and the only thing I forgot to unplug was the telephone. Well, apparently the telephone pole outside is taller than our roof.

SHAZAM!!!

It actually blew the DSL splitter apart, and off the wall!! Fried the modem, and possibly my old computer, which will not turn on now. Old houses, gotta love them.

In other Germany news...

Ikea, why do you not take Visa or Master Card?!?!?
Seriously! We got up to the checkout, and oops, I had to run to the ATM. I suppose it really was my fault since I didn't look for the Visa/Master Card sticker on the entrance. So I was a sucky American, since I was not prepared.

However, Germany, you have the most awesome bicycle stores EVER!! We went to one today that had a little track around the display area where you could try out any bike or other ride on they had in the store.

I of course rode a scooter, but Sarge was too busy looking at padded pants to take our pictures.

Tomorrow is Piko deGallo's 6th birthday!!! And she has her first loose tooth!!

Alive and Doing Fine

Sarge comes home from the hospital tomorrow. Hoo-ray! The reason that they were keeping him there for so long was that his white blood cell count was very low due to the bacterial infection. So they were waiting for it to go back to normal, just to avoid a relapse or something like that. He's itching to come home in the worst way.

One good thing:
We have discovered the best walk to take Dog on. It's a loop that goes around the back of our house into the fields, and back down our road. It's easy enough that we can all do it and not be exhausted. This included Dog, because she is way out of shape. It is quick enough that we can complete it in 30 minutes, with one short rest half way through.
And we can lengthen it or shorten it, depending on our stamina and time limitations. We walked it twice the first day, but Dog was not so happy about the second outing. Sarge says she's a "one walk a day dog". She would much rather be upstairs sleeping on my bed.

One bad thing:
"Mysterious blue smoke" Yes, it was released from my less than one year old computer, when I plugged it into the 220V socket. And yet, my older than Piko de Gallo computer seems to be working just fine.

Now to find a computer repair shop where English is spoken.

Getting around Germany

Well, we now know where the hospital is.

Sarge has come down with a bacterial infection that has kept him laid up for about a week.

He has the laptop too, so there is very little internets for me.

Other than that, things are pretty great.

There's a fabulous bakery right across the street from the hospital. Yummy seasonal fruit tarts to sooth my worries with.

Life Without the Internets

Well, say what you like about Germany (that's for you Mrs. S. You can start ragging now), there may be no internets, and phone service is slow to be hooked up. But oh, we have ice cream!

Delicious ice cream. I'm so glad that this shop is not in our town or we would be huge and fat at the end of the summer.

So what does one do without internet service? Well, normally I would be a couch potato, or work on one of my many sewing projects. Unfortunately we have no TV, no service, and no actual TV to hook up. And my BFF is still in route (delivery is scheduled for the 12th!!). So we've been tackling the garden, unfortunately I have no pictures, but imagine 20 years of free growth. And I don't know what's a weed and what's a plant, so I've just been pulling everything that does not look familiar. I have dirt impregnated into the palms of my hands, and that's the way I like it. Hopefully we'll be able to wrestle it into submission soon enough.

Wildlife spotting so far:
A hedgehog, a jackrabbit, and a huge ass buck.

Some things

I've noticed that the Germans are obsessed with their plants!! Not just their gardens, which are very wonderful as well, but house plants.


I remarked to Sarge the other day that when you drive past the oldest, ex-barn, tin roofed, run down house, there are always tons of plants in the windows. It's like they see an empty windowsill, and feel the need to fill it. Fill it with plants.

I have not taken any photos as examples, because I think it's kind of weird to take pictures of peoples front windows.

As a comparison, there is the front window of out American friend's house.

Only a few plants, and quite afew of those are dying. I laughed at her, but she said she warned her landlord when she moved in, and told him that she was death to plants, but he still left them.

Another funny/geeky thing.

These are the trash cans in the laundry room at the hotel we are staying at.
EXTERMINATE!!!!EXTERMINATE!!!!EXTERMINATE!!!!

I'm such a dork. Though in the photo they don't look quite as Dalek-y as they did when I initially saw them.

Target. WhatTheWhat??!

Oh Target how I love thee. I really will miss walking the halls of the bullseye on a regular basis. However your on-line site is made of win too, so there is some slight relief there.

But what's up with this??

I bought some rain boots for myself, some school shoes for Piko deGallo, a t-shirt, and a solar system mobile. I was taking advantage of their free shipping offer.

I got 4 different "Your order has shipped" confirmation e-mails!!

No, not that they e-mailed me 4 times to tell me that my order has shipped. 4 separate shipments!!

Is that normal? I suppose it could be that each item is coming from a different fufillment warehouse, but still. I guess I should just smile and be happy that I got free shipping on all of the items.

Come on, it's not just me, that's weird.

P.S. Mrs. S. I looked up the word for composting bin. BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA!!
it's Kompostierungssortierfach. Like I'm even going to to be able to say that to my landlord!! 25 letters man!!