I really wanted to be early to work this morning...

I really wanted to be early to work this morning... but then the sky exploded.

Since moving to the city, I've learned to love streetlights.

... and one more from right outside my office on the Kurfürstendamm.

Making me even later, Mimi decided to stop off and visit with some friends. 

Actually Mimi has quite a crush on this big fella.
Truth be told, so do I.
When Mimi gets tired of enjoying the Berlin streets with me,
I think it will be a guy just like this...
or at least a close relative.

I mean, look at that behind... Supergeil!

Oh well, I was only 20 minutes early this morning,
not the hour that I had hoped for. 

As the saying goes, "the journey is the reward".

Random Tuesday - To Infinity and Beyond... and Back.

It's another Random Tuesday, and it's a good thing because my brain is waaaaay tooooo scattered for coherent thought right now.

If you are of a like mind, go check out Keely... she shows us how it's done.

Let me just say that moving sucks and we aren't even really starting yet. The floors have all been sanded down to the beautiful wood and now the staining begins. My gawd it seems to take forever for stuff to dry. One room's walls have required three coats of white to cover up the brightest/ugliest/saddest green you have ever seen!

Tonight we get our new basement cleaned and set up for the big move. Hopefully we can get everything shifted over as well. Let's just say that I'm increasingly surprised exactly how much SCUBA diving CRAP we have. But this cellar space is larger than the last one, so we'll be able to spread out a bit and hopefully have more than an area 6 inches wide to park my bike.

We had a fantastic time in Munich for the Whiney Expat Bloggers Meetup 2009. A great group of friends in a beautiful, clean, if a bit stuffy city. Munich has many claims to fame of course, but the one I found the funniest was the "We built our opera house on the world's first beer tax" to be a bit over the top. I had my first Maß which as far as I can tell is just a HUGE mug of watery beer. Give me a Guinness any day.

The more I travel, the more I realize that cool/sexy/poor Berlin was the right choice for me. But the people are great in Munich and I would go back for a visit any time.

As of this moment I haven't had enough time to read the instruction manual for my new camera. Unfortunately I think that this will be required. I've started twice but the thing is almost incomprehensible. WHY can't someone actually write a manual that is in simple language and actually gives the owner some value?

Today Mimi and I turned over 3,500 KM on her odometer. I'm really loving the sweet little scooter and will really not be happy on the day she needs to be put away for winter. :(

I didn't get the filing gene - no matter what, I always need to go back to find things and am continually surprised by where things end up. If something were to happen to me tomorrow, I pitty the person who has to find things in my work filing system. Let's not even get into what the folder with my photos looks like.

Now that gray hair has finally started to make its appearance on my head I don't seem to be too happy about it. In fact, I caught myself standing at the bathroom mirror this morning pulling individual hairs. Am I crazy trying to fight against something which is going to happen no matter what?

Been reading:
Priorities Are Clear as Mud in Germany - With elections coming up it is interesting to see what Merkel's administration is up to... or not up to.

Deutsche Bahn to Cut 75% of Berlin Train Services - There must be some nasty politicking going on here. WTF? This is the second maintenance "emergency shutdown" this summer! Somebody should hang pay! Where is our Mayor? Partying in Fuerteventura?

Astronauts pack Buzz Lightyear for ride home - OK, so he didn't quite make it to "Infinity and Beyond"... but he was on the SPACE STATION! He's probably my favorite cartoon character of all and knowing that astronauts think he's cool too is a like a rocket boost for me. :)

OK, I'll leave you with the Mean Kitty Song!
Every time I pass a "Sparta Bank" this song starts playing in my head.

On Harry and Hairy German Situations

I'm so excited that I'm a bit afraid I will burst. (well, not literally... come on... stop TAKING ME LITERALLY!)

Harry Potter and his crew of meddling Gryffindors are coming to a big screen near me... and I have tickets! Yeah, yeah I know it is a bit childish to be so excited, especially when this movie is about the book I liked the least out of the series. But I really enjoy Harry's world, and I look forward to stepping back into it this evening.

Tonight will also serve as another milestone. This evening after work as I make my way to the Harry Potter flick, Mimi (the name of my Vespa Scooter... don't you name your vehicles? you don't? silly you, it's more fun) and I will have logged a total of 3,000km (1,184 miles) since we being rescued from Scooter Hell in the fall of 2007. As we rolled to a stop this morning, her odometer read 2,999.06. All of that and my butt isn't even sore!

Speaking of Mimi adventures (and really, there are many although I don't chronicle them here for fear that my Sweet No will read them and forbid me from riding.), this morning I was getting petrol/gas/benzine (yeah, one five liter tank lasts over a week - love it!) I pulled up alongside a sexy-looking Mercedes two-seater. Behind slinky and brown was a 50-ish looking man holding a gas nozzle in that position which I've always thought was slightly suggestive.

As I hopped off and stowed my helmet I realized that he was scrutinizing me. When I reached up for a paper towel to help control drips while filling I stole a glance his way and I caught him unabashedly staring at me. OK, no worries... I just stared right back at him as I returned to the scooter. Mimi got her fill of gasoline and I went inside to pay. Walking out I was shocked to see that he was strolling directly toward me, still staring intently, with his body between me and the scooter.

With a raised eyebrow I asked him (auf Deutsch of course) if I could help him, as he was now in my way. He told me that he had something to discuss with me. I motioned to follow and then walked around him in an attempt to get back to Mimi and a possible weapon if need be - just joking there.

Soon I was listening to a long diatribe about how I had picked the wrong type of gasoline to put into the scooter. It seems that Mimi was getting the store brand which was designed for "special vehicles" with a number rating of 100 (who knows if it is an octane rating or not - Germany doesn't have "must display octane ratings" rules like America) and it simply would not do to put it into my Vespa. I didn't know the word for Octane so my response was probably rather cloudy to him, but my explanation centered around the fact that my scooter gets high octane gas (as recommended by the manufacturer) so that it goes faster and starts more smoothly.

Mr. slinky car seemed to accept my not-necessarily coherent explanation and went on his way which relieved me as he was really intense and even though he was nicely dressed, his way of acting was a bit strange to me.

Which begs the question... Why do Germans feel that it is their right - no, duty - to tell me what they think I am doing wrong? Crossing the street against the light, standing on the bus in the wrong area, queuing incorrectly (perceived) for the grocery store, biking on the sidewalk on my way to park, all of them are a reason for telling me what they think I should rather be doing. Ask any Ausländer Mother (from another country) about walking the streets of Berlin and being told that her child needs a hat, doesn't need a hat, should have a coat, shouldn't have a blanket, too much wind will give the child who knows what ailment, or even just that they shouldn't have a child that small on the back of a bicycle regardless of the efficiency of a child chair.

What makes Mr. I drive a piece of German engineering perfection such an expert about my Italian scooter when I'm quite positive that he's never been on such a low-tier vehicle in his adult life?

- Random Tuesday Thoughts

Kinda fun thing this Random Tuesday Thoughts. I found it through Blogging Mama I believe, which took me to The Un Mom who actually hosts the thing.

Since I felt like being totally random today it seemed a great time to try this out.

At lunch yesterday a friend said that she doesn't like blogs with too much personal information. I know blogs like this, where you get to read the absolute minutiae of someone's life. In some ways for me it can be a bit disturbing. In others it makes me feel closer to them. Either way I don't think I've ever done this with the Snooker blog, in fact while reading afterward sometimes it seems a bit impersonal... eh fuck it, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I can be personal, but just don't want to get THAT personal. Maybe I should try this personal thing... eh? As far as I know there has never been a direction with the Snooker blog. So hey, I'm random... get it?

This morning seemed perfect to ride Mimi the Vespa even though the sky looked grey and icky and the hit or miss parade (weather forecasters on the radio) talking about nasty weather for my ride home tonight. Aw heck, ya only live once... and I like living it with fresh air! Who cares if there are little water spots on my face shield... it helps to clean the bike! This morning we (yes, WE... Mimi and I... you got a problem with that?) went up onto the bicycle lane again, passed about 3 km of cars which were at an absolute standstill and giggled the whole way! Nobody tell Sweet No, OK?

Tonight I'll have a blogger dinner with Adam who is coming to Berlin for a quick visit along with Yelli and her Scientist, and never forget the cute and cuddly (he probably wouldn't appreciate this terminology) Baby Bird!

Last weekend was the birthday party of my Mother in Law. They had a big shindig complete with enough Italian snackies to feed twice as many people as attended. YES, I had my fill of antipasti and then some.

I had a lovely time going from couple to couple laying down my shitty German and seeing them try to understand. Nah, actually it wasn't too bad. Somehow or another I manage to have decent conversations with folks even though I must admit to having a lot of trouble understanding accents. One guy is from Freiburg and OMG! WHAT language is that!? It is very much like someone from a northern city in America trying to understand the babble which is the language spoken in New Orleans.

Really it shouldn't be too bad for me, I have an Austrian friend (and we all know THEY don't really speak German) and a Saxon friend (and she even ADMITS that she doesn't speak German). But that Freiburg accent always throws me for a loop.

My boss is out of town again... and I love it. Of course it sounds bad to say this, but when she leaves, I finally have time to do all the back work which never seems to get done when she is within eyeshot. She's a great gal though, and I really like working for her.

On top of regular work duties I also edit all English texts which go out to more than five people. The hard part... we use mostly British English.
Oh yeah, let's have the American speak a different language for work.
How in the world did we get to the point of the Brits and the Amis spelling so many words differently?
Favorite vs. Favourite?
Center vs. Centre?
Meter vs. Metre?
Catalog vs. Catalogue?
How did we get to spelling Medieval differently? Mediaeval
Program vs. Programme
Traveling vs. Travelling
We won't even get into the whole language pattern differences and how this confuses me.

Let me just say this... I NEED a haircut. My bangs are now hanging to the bottom of my glasses. It has gotten so long that there is no longer any shape. One of my colleagues wants me to go all girly, but dammit, I'm a dyke. We have special hair needs!

Cliff wanted to get his traditional (I'm away from home haircut) when he was in Berlin but never got it done while here, I wonder if that has changed since getting home.

Looking onto my Google Calendar I see that Thursday is "Corpus Christi". WTF is Corpus Christi? Some goofy city in Texas gets its own day? I want BERLIN day! Yeah, yeah I get it. I'm sure it has a religious connotation, but it can't be TOO religious or Germans would have the day off!

Speaking of calendars - I am sooo geeky that I have the perfect calendar set up. Sweet No and I share an online calendar through Google Calendar. Totally cool because at a glance I can see her schedule and mine and know if what I'm preparing to schedule will have a conflict with something she already has. Then we take the geekiness up a notch. We link Google Calendar with our Outlook Calendar... but it doesn't stop there. THEN we sync our Blackberrys with our Outlook. Is that geeky or WHAT!?!

Speaking of all things GEEK... I am in love with a camera. You might question that someone could seriously be in love with a camera, well the answer is yes. Ladies and gentlemen I am ready to move away from the simplicity that is the Nikon D40x and get into something really complicated. Nikon D90. BUT before she went to Egypt in April, my Sweet No bought a super duper underwater camera along with kickass light system and funky arm set to hold it all together. Just this past week she added to this kit a huge wide angle lens which cost more than my D40x AND my first two lenses put together. Ahem. This effectively means that our budget for such equipment is shot to shit. Prepare for the unfair angle. She uses this camera ONLY for underwater shots which means that she pulls it out twelve times a year maximum. I on the other hand, take pictures every day, 10,000 in the first year of ownership. Where is the love!?!

In the past two weeks both ZZ Top and The Eagles were in town but I couldn't go to either one because of scheduling conflicts. Sometimes life sux.

OK, I think that is enough for Random Tuesday madness.
Your Disobedient Servant
- Snooker

Manic Monday

Ah... I love it when things just seem to go right for me. Over the years I've noticed there are times that everything just sort of works out and other times it all goes to shit. Of course I know that most of the time how well things go for me is in direct relation to the decisions I make. Monday for instance, was one of those days.

Sweet No woke up at 5.45 in the morning. My first thought was, "Should I go to the gym?". My decision was tempered by the fact that my head was still swimming from not enough sleep over the weekend, made worse by a genuinely lazy heart. "Um... no." Rolling over and catching another hour/hour and a half of sleep certainly seemed like the better course of action, and so it was.

At 7.30 I was faced with my next decision. Should I get up now, or skip the shower (come on, I had one at 9.00 last night) and cuddle up to the cat for another 30 minutes? Yeah, you guessed... the cat was unmercifully squeezed until the alarm went off again.

It's 8.00. I must get my shit rolling. The job starts at 9.00 and it is a 25 minute commute in the best of times... and hitting the city at 8.25 is NOT THE BEST OF TIMES. Out the door at 8.20, this doesn't look good. The ground is wet, it's been raining. Damn. You don't have your umbrella. Double Damn. Well, it isn't raining NOW, that is cool. YEA!

Next decision. IF you take the bus leaving at 8.20, you will get to the office at about 9.00. Um, and that is if things go well. IF you take Mimi (the Vespa scooter - yeah, she has a name.... you got a problem with that?), you will hit city traffic at its worst, but get there about 8.45. Oh... and do I hear it? Yes, that is what I think it is... the bus is now pulling out and away from the bus stop. Right on time wouldn't you know it? And I am two blocks away. Bye bye bus, and the next one would get me there late. Oh well, so much for that decision. Alrighty then, Mimi is looking better and better. Of course it COULD be raining between here and there. Um. F**k it. Take a chance.

Hop on Mimi and within two blocks come across cars standing in line... in an area they NEVER stand in line. They are simply trying to CROSS a major street. Whoops, it looks like it will be a VERY heavy traffic day.

No problem for Mimi and I. We just pop out of line and pass the group (yes, in the oncoming lane... no, there were no cars coming... yes I know this is a bit iffy, but you have to know the neighborhood I am talking about to know that this is no problem). The cross street was crazy and it looked as though the problem was the highway interchange. Maybe it had to be closed for some reason, and folks were confused about that. Either way it was a mess and I was happy to be crossing that street, not driving down it.

About eight blocks later I ran into the next problem. Another long line of cars, backed up way beyond the normal locations and blocking the way for me to even see if the highway at the crux of the problem. I skipped into the bus lane (yes, you are guessing right... this is not something people should be doing) to go around the majority of the stopped traffic but eventually had to merge back into the regular lanes because the bus lane ended.

I was now sitting at the traffic light seeing the winding line of stationary tail lights stretch out for as far as I could see. The last two green lights at my intersection moved our line three car lengths and had me considering what my boss would say if she actually beat me into the office (she's always at least 30 minutes late - one of the perks of being the boss). I was giving myself the "you should know better" speech when I heard a scooter approaching my position from behind. I expected to see him in my side mirror, creeping up between the cars... but NO... he was cruising by me quickly on the bike lane! YES, he had jumped off the street and started down the sidewalk-based bike lane to get away from the traffic. Oh baby THAT's the ticket!

At the next opportunity I was cruising down the lane right behind him, it felt just like Amsterdam where the scooters use the bike paths all the time. We passed at least three miles (almost five km) of bumper to bumper, immobile traffic. There is no way for me to express my happiness while speeding past all of those cars. Elation is probably the only word which really fits.

(Now before you think I'm very bad, remember that the skies looked like it would pour rain any moment, and there simply weren't that many bikes out. Throughout our entire little trip, we didn't pass a single bike.)

When the bike path ran out and there was no bus lane anymore, we were forced to get back into the regular traffic lanes although we were very lucky and slipped right in at the front of the line. Thankfully here is where the worst of the traffic jam ended, sweet! As we sat there with him in front and me to his rear I noticed that he was looking in his mirror at me with the most cute look of "ha ha, we did it" on his face. I must have had the same look because may I say I was really feeling it. Then we gave each other the thumbs up sign and at the next green light we cruised off to our respective destinations.

Oh yeah, I made it to work with 10 minutes to spare... and yeah, the subway would have had me there about the same time. But it wouldn't have been as much fun.

"Blame it on the train, but the bus is already there."

Been reading:

• After 60 years, Germans learn to love themselves - A look at a new-found self-confidence in the average German. This is very interesting to me.
• Electric Bikes Gain Speed and Popularity - I could really go for something like this.
• Current Crisis Shows Uncanny Parallels to Great Depression - 1929... 2009. Do we really have to go through this every so often?
• It’s a new era for same-sex rights - Too bad it doesn't do me a damn bit of good until it goes Federal. But it is nice to see the change coming, nonetheless.
• The official White House photostream - Maybe I'm funny, I mean we've all seen news photos of the "goings on" at the White House. But for some reason this seems different, like an intimate peek into the secret world of the President of the U.S.
  

Seasons Greetings!

I would like to wish you and yours a happy Holiday Season.
May peace, love and joy be yours during this wonderful time and follow you into the New Year.

It has been a quiet season so far around here. I'm in preparations for a trip to see my Mother in Phoenix. It is the second trip back to the States in as many months. I feel like a real jet-setter!

While I'm there my oldest brother and I will pop up to Pasadena, CA to watch the Rose Bowl. It should be an experience!

Poor Mimi the Vespa. Today the sun actually came out for a few moments. Before it could disappear completely I thought I would hop on Mimi for a little ride. BUT, she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't start for me. Poor little girl. Mommy didn't have enough time to get the bottom of the problem so she will just have to wait until I get back.

OK, I'm going to go pack up the rest of my stuff. Maybe I'll set a record and be completely packed within twelve hours of my flight... NAH!

Random Babbling

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas... but watch out for the knives.
One of the clients where I work sent us a two foot tall chocolate Santa. The first day it came he stood at the reception desk in all of his delectable glory. But there were so many other tempting treats around, Santa wasn't even bothered.

Yesterday morning that all changed. As I walked to my office I saw that Santa had been taken out of his plastic and a murder weapon was stuck in his back. Poor guy. Rather sick group of people I work with, eh?

Changing tracks:
The strangest thing has been happening to me of late, and I'm just weird enough to have noticed it. As I come home on the subway in the evenings I realize that as the train I've just exited prepares to leave, the train coming from the other direction is just pulling into the station. After the third time this happened I started paying attention to it, now I am up to seven consecutive occurrences. With trains coming every five minutes or so, and only sitting still about 30 seconds, I would think the odds are really low for this to take place so often.

It is not as though I notice this at the same time every day. My timing is always rather varied. Sometimes I get off work on the hour straight up, sometimes 10 minutes or even an hour late. It even happened to me this last weekend. Surely other people experience such random coincidences. The question is... are they abnormal enough to have actually noticed that it was happening to them? Reminds me of something I did a long time ago about the 20 most amazing coincidences.

I am a personal assistant at my job. This means I do all kinds of things, my job is always changing. No, my boss is nothing like "The Devil Wears Prada", she is a sweetheart who is almost apologetic when she needs to ask me to do something. Just recently she's been horribly busy with the job and with life and was talking about how she needed to buy a Christmas present for her young son. She hinted at it a bit, and then I ran with it... I suggested that I could pick it up for her. The cool thing... I got to go buy a Wii and a game and some other cool gaming stuff. AND I didn't have to PAY for it. But then I don't get to play with it either. Dammit.

Interesting side note:
About four months before I bought my baby-blue Vespa (Mimi) my boss had asked me to prepare an information sheet on a gift she was buying for her boyfriend. It was a special edition baby-blue Vespa very much like the one I ended up buying just a short time later. Maybe history will repeat itself? Maybe Santa will bring me a Wii too? Eh, something makes me doubt it.

Speaking of presents. How well do you have to know each other to not only decide to secretly buy the exact same present for each other... but to figure out that the other person has decided to buy it for you? N. sat me down a few days ago and by process of elimination confirmed her suspicion that my present to her would be tickets to a show starting soon at Theater Des Westens, "Der Schuh des Manitu". After she came to the conclusion, she mentioned that she too had been working on that same plan. Oh man. Coincidence or just cool? I hope that my request for tickets to see the Eagles at the O2 Arena in June will not fall on deaf ears.

The average German's nose turns up at the mere hint of an objectionable smell. The ironic thing is that the average German toilet seems to be purpose-built to hold any solid waste open to the air and thus spread any smell. My office toilets thankfully are the "normal" kind which can be found almost anywhere else in the civilized world. BUT, the whole German nose thing comes into play nonetheless. Why MUST we open the windows in the water closet in the middle of winter?

May I just say that when the temperature outside is hovering in the freezing range that it isn't such a nice thing to walk into a toilet stall with a wide-open window? This allows the super-cooled outside air to proportionately super-cool the marble on the walls in the room. Not to mention the feeling of being close to a sub-zero "Porcelain God".

Another track:
It sucks to be on the eastern edge of a time zone in December. The shortest day of the year is approaching and I can't wait to get beyond it. This crap of sunrise at 8.30 and sunset at 4.00 is bad enough. BUT! Remember that the sky is completely gray most days in this part of the world, which obscures what little sun we might get. This makes it FEEL like sunrise is about 9.45 and sunset 3.15. Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is a SHORT day.

Thanks for letting me bitch babble.
Now on with your regularly scheduled programming...

Been reading:

• Bush brushes off shoe attack - Bush is such a goober. Inauguration Day can't come fast enough for me.
  
  
• Adam Walsh case is closed after 27 years - This is so sad. But the death of his son lead John Walsh to help change the way crimes are solved in America. This is a good thing. His show was in my regular rotation for years. I'm happy for the family that they now have some closure, but sad that the killer is long gone.
  
  
• Joe Paterno's story at Penn State never gets old - Give 'em hell at the Rose Bowl Joe!
  
  
• Berlin Gay Memorial Vandalized - I guess that I don't even know WHAT to say to this. I'm just sad.
  
  
• Drunkenfreude - This article is interesting on many angles. Not the least of which is that the word itself is based off of a German word which is becoming more popular in English circles, Schadenfreude.

EURO 2008 Fan Mile Berlin - Germany vs. Turkey

Last night we along with about 800,000 others we packed our fan items together and headed down to the Brandenburg Gate for a public viewing of the Semi-Final of EURO 2008, the European Football Championship. Tonight's teams, Germany vs. Turkey.

Click the pics to "imbiggen" them.
The full set of pics on Flickr.

Out of 800,000 people, about 300,000 were turned away at the gates almost an hour before the game even started. You Snooze, You Lose I guess. Berlin Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, and his administration restricted the Fan Mile in space and time. Instead of being allowed to broadcast all games, we were only allowed to show the games beginning with the semi-finals. Instead of having the entire distance between the Brandenburg Gate and the Siegessäule, we were only given half the space. This meant that there was no way to have the normal space for a million people, thus many people were sadly turned away.

In the press and around town there was some speculation that the festivities would turn ugly. The American Embassy even warned us about it. A few of my friends suggested that we should not go because of the bad blood running between the Germans and the Turks and the possibility of it coming out in such an environment.

There are more Turks living here in Berlin than in any other city outside of Turkey. They came to Germany in the 50's and 60's as guest workers and the great majority never left. The bad blood is caused by many factors, not the least of which is that the Turks are seen by many Germans as some kind of second-class citizen... and of course the Turks know this. Many of the Turkish families in Berlin still cling to their life in Turkey and raise their children speaking their native tongue with German being taught only in the schools. So of course when it comes to education the kids start out behind the full Germans, thus when the time arrives for the choices for higher education, often the Turkish kids are left behind, making the circle complete. Sad but true.

We sat in the VIP section over the crowd at the Gate. This is a nice place to go to get the feeling of a huge crowd at such an event, without all the jostling about from being down on the ground. As each team was introduced, the respective fans screamed and I must admit that I got goosebumps. That kind of almost electric power from an excited crowd is a feeling which is hard for me to describe, and I love it!

Before the game the captains read prepared statements asking for unity and calling for an end to racism. This action was completely unprecedented and well received by the crowd I was able to observe. In the crowd of people were a group of kids who were decked out in both Turkish and German fan gear. At one point they tied each of the flags together and then held the combined Turk/Germ flag up in the air the rest of the night.

The game itself was a little sad. Truly the Turkish team out-played the German team. They were better at placing the ball, better at "rebounding" so to speak, and simply played with pride, heart, and a depth of character not really seen in this tournament. The team itself was down to the bare depths. Several members had received the red card in a previous game and had to sit out this game, while others went home with injuries.

The German team on the other hand made many mistakes and simply did not play very well at all. Despite scoring more goals and winning the game, they really didn't work together as a team the way I've seen in the past. All in all it was not really a good game, even though it was a cliffhanger so to speak.
Remember that even though the Turks lost, here in Berlin the Turkish fans have a different perspective as they have pride in the Turkish team, but really are Germans as well. Thus it is sad that the team of their lineage didn't win, but their home team is still in the game. I think that this combined with the fact that in general the Turks generally don't drink (they're Muslim, and Allah doesn't allow it... well, as a Turkish friend once told me... sometimes they do... "what Allah doesn't see won't hurt him"), kept the crowd quite peaceful.

During the game the TV station twice lost feed from the source. The sound from the crowd was classic, a HUGE AWWWWW. It was kind of cute. Then people started looking at each other and moving around more whereas seconds before they were firmly planted, even transfixed by the screen. The line at the beer stand was instantly huge, and the riot police put their helmets on. Both times when the game came back on the screen there was a fantastic cheer.

From our vantage point we had an interesting view of a possible problem early on in the game. The Turks were outnumbered about 10 to 1 in the crowd. Of course the only way to gauge this is by looking at the flying flags which were pretty much grouped in one area, but I bet that is about right.

The Turks scored the first goal of the evening, and began a celebration in their little group which was not too far from the stage. We could see the smaller group of people moving within the larger crowd and watched as things such as bottles started being thrown into and out of that group.

The police who had staked out the area in front of us for best vantage point were immediately standing straight up and pointing at the group of people moving around in a circle. I looked over at the formerly lazy-looking riot police and saw them energetically moving toward the stage while donning their helmets and other protection. Very soon the movement stopped and there was no further trouble the rest of the night which we could see.

As for the drive home... well, it could have been better. N. has what can only be described as an extreme dread of fireworks and loud, unexpected noises. Well, perhaps you can imagine that it was very much like a war zone on our way home through part of Kreutzberg (one of the Turkish neighborhoods). Adding to that, we were both on Mimi the scooter with N. driving and the feeling of exposure is about 150% worse. On top of those lovely facts we have the celebrating fans who were jumping about in the streets screaming, waving and blocking traffic. It's not that it is dangerous, or that we fear for our safety or some kind of aggression... it is just that you must be careful that some well-meaning and extremely happy fan does not pop out in front of you, or drive in an unsafe way, causing a wreck.

When we got home she stood in the middle of our bedroom, took a deep breath and firmly declared that she will go to no more games at the Gate with me. Whoops. Tonight is the company party at the enclosed VIP area which I need to attend and then we have the same possibility to sit in the VIP area for the final. Ahem... I wonder how to approach that with her. Tonight I must make an appearance, so I will probably leave at halftime. But maybe we can have a get together at our house and invite a few friends for Sunday. Suggestions for snackables? :)

Been Reading:

• Test your Geography Knowledge - Europe -- my score 91 - no idea where I got it... but it comes from another Blogger I'm sure.
  

What's Been Happening

Last night TQE Adam and I met up for dinner and a show during his short stay here in Berlin. The dinner was the famous Mr. Wok which didn't seem to please Adam very much. The show was the lively Gayle Tufts, (website) American Expat extraordinare. Something tells me that Adam would have enjoyed both a bit more if the poor man had been able to get some real sleep, but of course traveling across the pond does tend to wear one out.

Afterward we opted for a walk through the Tiergarten and a ceremonial stroll through the Brandenburg Gate. The revelry of the German fans celebrating the recent victory over Portugal in the EURO2008 was fun to experience. Much honking, flag waving, screaming, noise-making and general merriment was happening all around us. After we went our separate ways, I skipped off to the subway to make my way home. This is where things got interesting. A few hundred fans making their way on to the next point of celebration in various stages of inebriation... well, let's say that it was loud!

This morning I experienced a little adrenaline rush and acted on it in a way in which I am not so proud. I was on Mimi and almost to the office, riding in the outside lane of a four-lane street. There was a car double-parked in the outside lane ahead of me and I was trying to get my little scooter into the inside lane to get around him. The cars in that lane were bumper to bumper so I decided to use my small size to go between the inside lane and the space left in the outside lane after this idiot decided to park his car partially in a driving lane.

I slowed down and tried to see through the back window of the offending car to get the status of the possible driver to get a clue of their intentions, or just see if there was anyone IN the car. Unfortunately the combination of a dark back window and sunlight reflecting back at me was not allowing clear vision. As I got to within one car length behind and alongside the rear of the car, the driver's side door popped open, directly into my path. He had one foot out immediately and even though I honked, he did not close the door, just looked at me uncomprehendingly. Mimi and I managed to squeeze between his open door and the moving traffic in the inside lane... just barely.

Immediately I pulled Mimi in and parked several car lengths in front of the idiot. Before I could even get my helmet off I was screaming obscenities in English. I proceeded to tell him what an bonehead he was for parking illegally and then not even looking into his mirror before opening the door. At this time I realized that I was screaming at what appeared to be a Turkish man in English and I KNOW he has no idea WHAT I am saying... so I switch to my shitty German - maybe there is a chance he will understand that language. Yes, that language in which I can barely function... BUT when put under pressure I came up with some very interesting and colorful ways of letting him know that I thought he was an absolute Dummkopf. He just stood behind his still open car door with his mouth wide open, never uttering a word. When I'd said my peace I hopped on Mimi and took off. YEAH!

Several things I'm thankful for:
* He didn't start exiting the car a second earlier which would have resulted in his door being open the entire way and his body the whole way out of the car... this would have taken up too much room and Mimi and I would have lost that battle.
* He didn't fight back at all. Male Turks here in Berlin are famous for their masculine bravado, and it could have easily escalated into a shouting match on the street, neither of us understanding what the other said.
* No one reading this thinks I'm racist for pointing out the guy's probable ancestry without questioning how I could know this... (he was proudly displaying two Turkish flags on his car, ostensibly to support the Turkish football team in their run for EURO2008).
* That no one reading this is going to tell N. She's already nervous enough that I'm even riding Mimi... We don't need to add to her fears, do we?

Finally I was able to speak my Pop after almost really messing up Father's Day. It was a great conversation. We talked about our lives, other family members, and current events. Recently he was given a special honor by the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame, and we finally had a chance to talk about it. He was all alone during our call whereas normally I catch him on his way to do something or driving, or with a bunch of people around him.

As he answered the phone he was on his way from the house to his workshop which for him is the most comfortable place in the world. We talked until his mobile phone ran out of battery... 2.25 hours. I just love the guy, and miss him horribly. In my rather F'd up teenage years, my old man took me in and gave me stability, love, and trust. It was invaluable and probably kept me sane.

Music from Tim Russert's IPod was used at his funeral service to send him into the great beyond. Now I'm a little scared. Does this mean that participants at my funeral will be hearing Haddaway's "What is Love"?

Been reading:

• Maureen Dowd - W. Regrets Almost Nothing
• Four Reasons Not to Get Married in California
• Return of the Rule of Law?
• Bad guys really do get the most girls
• Obama’s Decision Threatens Public Financing System
  

Update on Mimi's Health

Well Mimi is back from the doctor (past post) but she'll go back soon I'm afraid.

Since the first day we've had the scooter there has been an annoying squeak that has just gotten worse with time. I assumed that it was a body panel rubbing underneath, but was never able to isolate it. This was one of the problems I reported when I took her in to the nasty man with mechanic grimy hands. The other was a problem with the seat which doubles as a storage facility. Unfortunately the spring mechanism that opens the seat hasn't been working so well and I wanted them to look at it.

After work that day I took off on my journey to the Piaggio shop to pick up my poor mistreated Mimi. It took me one U-Bahn, one S-Bahn, and one bus to get there and let me tell you that by the time I was stepping off of the bus I had remembered exactly why the ride to and from work on Mimi is so great... there is something to be said for that kind of freedom.

As I walked through the door of the shop I caught sight of a new (to me) person behind the counter. All of these shops have one of these... the "chick" that keeps track of everything. She is the one that maintains some sense of order in the chaos which would normally be allowed to flourish in this masculine world. This model of the token woman was about 25 and channeling Starbuck - attitude, smart-assedness, intense eyes, down to the haircut from the first season.

We'll just call her Starbuck, shall we? Starbuck was working with a few other customers when I came in the door. Let's just say that I was a little anxious as I waited for her to get the "moron family" paid up and on their way. Mom and Dad were paying for repairs to their son's bike. As they were waiting for paperwork etc., Mom was giving the kid (all of 28 or so) the lecture of his life. She was telling him that he needs to be more careful, that the next time he might not be so lucky, blah blah blah.. He was busy looking at the ground avoiding eye contact with her, kicking his left shoe with his right shoe. I was busy looking at the helmet crooked under his arm. There were so many scratches on the surface that it was hard to see what kind of graphic had been painted on it. Yeah Mom... you may be right.

Finally they took off and it was my turn. Quickly I pushed my paperwork over the counter... no small feat as the counter was eye-high to me (I'm a shorty, 5'1" - 154cm). She was rather height challenged too, and we were barely able to meet eyes as the paper was snatched from my hand. "Frau Snooker," she said. "Your seat is working just fine now, the spring was made tighter. The computer also shows that your noise problem was a motor mount that we don't keep in stock. They oiled the area up and hope that makes it better for now, but you must come back in to get the part changed out pretty soon because the oiling won't last forever. All of it is covered in the guarantee, so you have no reason to worry."

At this time she turned on one heel (my imagination, but it looked like that from the way her head twisted, you know?) and took off to the back part of the room, eventually coming back with the keys and the rest of the paperwork. She gave me the bad news, 77.00 EUR (120.00 USD). This price had been quoted when we made the appointment, so I was happy.

The transaction was almost complete when the mechanic dude from that morning came strolling into the room. Starbuck let him know that I had the LX 50, he nodded to her, then came around the counter and moved toward me in an almost conspiratorial way pulling me to the side, out of earshot of the young woman. He leaned into me, looked at the floor and told me that there was a minor problem with that noise in my bike. "But," he interjected looking up for just a short moment, "it isn't too bad. I just put some grease on it and it should be just fine." When I asked about the warantee work he shrugged his shoulders. "No problem, it just needed a little grease. You probably don't need the new motor mounts. Keine Panik." (you guessed it, he told me not to panic). At which time he turned on his heel (yup, I could see it this time - this movement must be used a lot around here) and walked away. My head was spinning, she had told me to get it fixed soon... what is the deal?

After he had cleared the room I gave her an inquisitive look and asked again about the motor mounts, trying to confirm that I needed to get them fixed and needed an appointment. She had read the writing on the wall now, and was backing off from her position. "Well, if you WANT to... but you don't HAVE to."

At this I simply put together my paperwork and the all-important signed and stamped maintenance schedule and walked out of the place headed for Mimi. On my way I passed the moron family as they quizzed another mechanic on why the bike still didn't "sound right". I don't really think they are complete morons, but I was able to see the damage done to his little scooter. It had been in an accident with no question. Not only had that bike hit the ground, but I would almost bet that it had rolled over a few times.

The mechanic had worked miracles on the thing. There wasn't a plastic piece on it which wasn't fractured in some way, (this bike is one of the many cheap scooters available, made mostly of plastic while Mimi has primarily metal panels) and the front end was still a bit crooked although the handlebars had been realigned so that it would work. In my book they are morons because they didn't just get the bike fixed for real... and because they are still paying for the kid's stuff... and because she reamed him in public... and because he's still using a helmet that went through a crash (you're supposed to replace them, especially if there is visible damage).

I just put on my helmet to drown out Mom's voice as she was reaming the mechanic, and rode off into the setting sun thinking about the past half hour. Yes it had happened again. The girl said to begin with that I "must" get it fixed. Then she backtracks after she figures out that bossman told me that it didn't "have" to be fixed. Geeze. "Da Man" did it again. Damn mechanics!

That's OK, I'll get N. in there after them... she'll latch onto him like a bulldog and not let go until the work is done, and done for free! You Go Girl!

To Be Continued...

Mimi Goes To the Doctor

Today I gave my cute little Vespa to a man with grimy hands... and I'm horribly sad for her.

You must understand, she is a sensitive little thing. I mean come on, we are talking about the lightest blue, cutest Vespa out there!

So when we started thinking that she needed to go into the Vespa doctor for her check-up you can understand my apprehension. Add to that the problem that most certainly no one at that shop speaks English, and I've always disliked and many times distrusted auto mechanics.

I can't tell you how often I've been given the shuck and jive by some jerk that didn't think I knew the difference between an alternator and a solenoid, or had only 5 out of 6 spark plugs (the last one was hard to get to, the distributor would need to be moved) changed out on a full tune-up job. There is a woman customer in front of them and they see dollar signs. Which is irritating for me because I possibly know more about these things than a great majority of men. Trust me ladies, send a man with your car... he doesn't even really have to know anything, but the mechanic will ASSUME if the customer has a weenie he might actually know a little bit about cars.

But since getting to Germany I am at a loss for the language... everything has a different name, and it is hard stand up for yourself when you can barely get out the basics. Thus I feel that I am at the mercy of these guys with Mimi. In the interest of German bureaucracy it is expected when you are getting ready to buy a used car/motorcycle, you always ask to see the maintenance information, so of course you MUST get these checks done or risk the resale value being low. It is religiously filled out by Mr. Mechanic and you hope that everything which was suggested by the manufacturer was actually completed. But of course to my skeptical eye I know that these "checks" are mostly visual and rarely do they need to "do" anything except fill out the cute little book and then the invoice for an insane amount of money.

Earlier this week our Nissan Micra was subjected to the same type of treatment. It was "her time" for a two year check-up. The manufacturer's list of things to do mostly included visual checks on parts, verifying that the air conditioner was not leaking its bad stuff, and an oil change with synthetic oil. Five hours after drop-off it was picked back up... the damage... 340 EUR ($533) What for? They didn't touch the suspension, exhaust, or the electrical system. There were no parts exchanged save the synthetic oil, although I must admit that is expensive... I see it at 15 EUR per liter in the stores, and I assume the shysters are charging 20 EUR. OK, so 6 liters of oil at 20 EUR = 120 EUR... and that is a conservative estimate. Add to that an oil filter and probably an air filter, the total price still just sucks.

To top all of that off... when my Sweet N. got into the car after paying the insane amount of money, she grabbed hold of the gearshift lever and felt her hand slide on the layer of black grease lovingly left for her by what we can only assume to be the one that worked on the car. Wonderful, eh?

In my dreamworld I would have the time, energy, and knowledge to be able to putter around my own vehicles. Perhaps in another life I would have paid even more attention as my father and brother worked on the machines in our lives... maybe even following up by using my mechanical ability for the better. Possibly even running a garage in a different way... in an honest way... so that the customer could trust what we would do. The question is... would anyone come to a garage owned and operated by a woman?
Later today I will go to pick up my little cutie... put on my blue helmet with the pretty flowers and sail off into the sunset... away from the evil men with the dirty hands.

Ver.di and the BVG Strike

Thursday night the Ver.di union decided to call a strike on the BVG (public transport in Berlin) and of course it wasn't a good thing. The strike started at midnight on Friday morning and will last until 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

I am one of about two million Berlin commuters using the BVG everyday. If we must resign ourselves to driving, or biking, or even just walking, the streets become a bit clogged. But really it wasn't too bad this time.

My on-the-ball FIL saved my ass on Thursday night. He called asking if I was going to want a chauffeur for Friday. N thought it was a joke... she kept looking at me like he was crazy. Eventually he managed to explain it to her... that there was advance warning of a strike and that Snooker would be left without transportation to get to work. This sweet man offered to pick me up and take me to work early on Friday morning, then also arranged an after-work pickup. What a guy, eh?

As we made our way across the city - Tempelhof to Charlottenburg - we saw some of the streets were crowded and slow, but thankfully we didn't experience this at all. He doesn't like to get onto the highways in the mornings because if there is a traffic jam very often there is no way to get off of the highway for a long time, sometimes making you late to work... so he likes the city driving. In the evening we took the highway which was also rather crowded, but it was moving along nicely nonetheless.

I can't even imagine what would have happened to me if he hadn't called. Imagine Snooker early Friday morning, all dressed up for work, standing at the bus stop with a confused look on her face when no lumbering bus shows up to magically transport her to work. Surely I would have figured it out eventually, most likely I would have just gotten onto Mimi but that would have taken another 30 minutes to arrange (heavy winter clothing, packing work clothes, etc). Of course this could mean that I would be late for work like so many of my colleagues ... not a good thing either.

But thankfully the BVG has had yet another strike and it has barely affected me. It has even worked out to end at the PERFECT time. Saturday is the final party to celebrate my 40th birthday, N's 28th birthday, and our anniversary (all on the same day - the 24th). We had a dinner party on the day, but had planned this dance event to invite even more of our friends for some drinking, dancing and just having fun. All of this merriment starts at 5pm!!! When we had first heard of a possible strike, we had understood that it would be on Saturday --- the day of the party!!! Many of our friends would be using public transport, and things didn't look good for the party. BUT, since they started the strike early and had it on Friday as well, they cut the Saturday short.... YEA!! The strike ends at 3pm, our party starts at 5pm!! The timing is perfect!!!

So now I'm just left with figuring out what to do to thank my FIL... any ideas?

The New Vespa

Well we did it ! We picked up our new Vespa and finally had some time to ride it. Got it Thursday night and immediately needed some handling exercise. N. hopped on and used her legs to walk it, and I pushed it back behind the Roller-Scholz building to the Lidl parking lot.

I was the first to try it out, and what a jump that was! I donned my new flower helmet and N’s Father’s old motorcycle jacket started ‘er up and took off in a whoosh! It is quite new so the engine needs to be run-in, which makes it kinda stink. Also the idling wasn’t quite adjusted yet, so it kept stalling out. That’s ok, lots of chances to enjoy that electronic start! It also has a kick start, but I haven’t been that brave yet.

N. drove it home and just about froze in the process. We’d had the forethought of the thick jacket, but not enough for gloves… her hands were like ice. When we got closer to home it was my turn to try it out again so we headed toward another Lidl… what would we do without Lidl? I got my first chance to take it above 25KPH and enjoyed it a LOT. It made sense to practice the stopping and starting, so I did a lot of that as the sun completely disappeared and my hands became more and more frozen.

Soon we decided it was time to call it a day and called N’s parents who were waiting outside of our building when we arrived. They congratulated us and I could see a little jealousy in N’s Mom’s eyes… I think she would really enjoy something like this. N’s Dad had also been getting into the spirit of buying a bike and told me all about his latest test drive on a monster motorcycle. Sorry, don’t know the make/model or I would include it here. By the way, he ended up buying thatmotorcycle this past weekend… next weekend we will go pick it up in Wittenberg.

We really look at each other every once in a while and wonder how we could come to this decision so quickly… we take longer to decide on a shirt. But it seemed so quick from the time we first talked about it to the time we were driving it. Along the way we had to buy helmets and gloves and a jacket for me. All in all it has come close to the cost of a decent used small car… but I must say that it is MUCH COOLER!!!

Get Your Motor Runnin'...

I am SO pumped!
Today we will go pick up our NEW VESPA!! It was really a quick decision when you consider how much money we are talking about (well over €2,000), but it is going to be really cool!

Pictures to come... BUT, a minor problem... my really cool camera finally succumbed to the dust and crap from me carrying it in my pocket.

N. has been warning me for months, but over this weekend while traveling for business the lens met resistance while trying to pop out in readiness for a new pic... UGH. Too bad, because the place was beautiful.

But it is good that I still have the last version of my camera, and can revert to it... but it is HUGE in comparison, and I'm afraid that it will be a pain to carry everywhere like the other one. Media Markt... do you have anything cool for me?

A Possible Addition to the Family

Well, we're really considering it very hard... yep, getting a baby blue Vespa. Right now we're going over the whole "well, it is kind of a luxury item", and deciding if it is really something we will use. BUT IT IS SOOOO COOL! Very stylish and modernized while still looking and feeling like the originals. I can imagine myself tooling around the streets of this wonderful city looking SO cool!

They are quite common here in Berlin, and Europe in general. After spending 15 minutes driving around looking for a parking space I always feel jealous when I watch a scooter driver pop up on the sidewalk and park with no stress. The rules for parking are pretty much "where ever you want to"... I'm all for that!

We've been talking about it for some time. Officially we share a car with N.'s parents, and this works out very well. This one would really be mine, N. and I will ride it together when we want to visit one of those locations that parking is almost impossible. It will also help with N.'s pursuit of insurance. Since she's never insured a car, the first car's insurance will be outrageous. This way she can get a history of insurance without paying the outlandish fees.

It is just 50cc which means that we need no special license to drive it, although I will feel a bit safer on the strange Berlin streets with some serious driving brush-up and some explanations of signage... "exactly when do I yield to someone coming from the right"? Then of course we must consider the fact that 50cc may not be enough power to carry my... ahem... voluptuous frame... ahem complete with N.'s much slimmer, but certainly longer physique.

I'll keep you updated on the pursuit... tomorrow we borrow helmets and take a test drive... weather permitting.