Driving to Darmstadt in stormy weather, fondue with obstacles, really good music, lots of Sekt and one too many Caipirinhas, singing along to Element of Crime songs at 4 am, waking up with a really big hangover and a nice breakfast before driving back home.
Of course it so happens that I try to read one of the most thrilling books of the year at the end of the year when I have other plans every damn day. If I didn’t have to get ready to go to the opera (no, your eyes are fine, I’m actually going to the opera tonight) (no, really, I am) I’d be in bed turning pages of „The Historian“. But I can’t.
And tomorrow we’re driving down to Darmstadt to spend New Year’s Eve with our friends there. So I can’t read again. At least come next year I’ll spend plenty of time on trains, so that’s something to look forward to. I guess.
So, yeah, if anyone of my faithful blog readers expected a Christmas card? It’s not gonna happen.
What with me quitting my job and then getting sick about one day into my Christmas vacation, we sent out like four Christmas cards this years. Three of them went to business partners of the husband’s and one to my parents-in-law. Only we haven’t really sent that one for the parents-in-law yet. We like bought the card and were really, really proud because we remembered to at least to do that. Now it must still be around in the apartment somewhere, since it never even got written.
We prove once again that we really don’t deserve to have friends. We are alright and nice and charming, but when it comes to stuff like Christmas or birthdays or rsvping to parties we suck. I mean we might show up for your party, but you never know for sure until we appear at your door. Though we always bring food and a bottle of wine to make up for some potential mismanaged planning.
I got a great, great Christmas package from Caitlin, and believe me, there will be something crossing the ocean in return, but not in time for Christmas. I suddenly remembered the greatest gift to send you, and then none of the stores I went to carried it. Then came the sore throat and two nights of very little sleep, then came the sniffling and coughing and I only could bring myself to buy gifts for those people I will actually see these next days. Because not having gifts for them would be kind of awkward.
As a special holiday gift for myself I then re-installed Windows on my computer. The damn thing got so slow it was nerve-wrecking and since I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it (translation: didn’t bother trying to figure it out) I just made a cut, formatted the drive and started a-new. This also took away about a day of potential Christmas preparations, but since everything works great now it was most probably worth it.
The camera is back with the repair guys to get fixed, since one of the department managers at the store promised me we’ll get the money we pay for the repair back. If we’re lucky we’ll get it back in time to take it with us for New Year’s Eve to Darmstadt, but I’m not sure if should put to much faith in it.
This is the about the update on my life. Everybody, have a wonderful, marvellous Christmas with your friends, family or whoever you spend it with!
I always thought that those cell phone cameras were some gimmicky bullshit. Who needs a camera in his cell phone? I mean, doesn’t the quality kinda suck? And can’t you just get a cheap digital camera and carry that around?
Now I know who exactly needs a camera in his (or rather her) cell phone. I do.
And today I actually bothered to find out how Bluetooth works. (Hint: You need a Bluetooth-USB-Thingy to make it work. Who’d have thought?) So, finally I can present to you all the fun pictures I took with my cell phone these past weeks. And I won’t ever question the importance of a cell phone camera again. Because, seriously, who in their right mind would buy a cheap digital camera and carry that all around. Nerdy nerds, that’s who. Not me. I have my cell phone.
More will follow, just check out my Flickr photo stream.
Warning: If you don’t like rants, don’t read on. No, really. Don’t.
Because we’re the luckiest people on earth our camera broke about one week after we got it. A pin is bent in the CF slot. Nikon says it’s our fault, I says they better fix it without charging us (damn).
Right now the camera is in Munich at a Nikon Service Point or whatever, but those are some stubborn guys there, so I’ll tell them to send the camera back and try to convince the guys at the Nikon Service Point in Cologne that this was not my fault. I don’t even know how I was supposed to insert the card incorrectly, because I’ve tried it and the card doesn’t get in more than a centimeter and then it’s stuck. In my very humble opinion there’s no way to get the card in wrong without using brutal force. And since I don’t remember getting out my hammer to fit it in, I’d like to say that totally not my fault. Just stop arguing and fix it.
Nikon though says that you can insert the card in wrong so we’re basically going in circles. I’m also very bad at complaining, so this is definitely not my week. I hate complaining. I’m a nice girl. If we were not talking about 100 Euro, I’d just give in and let them have their way. But this is 100 Euro we’re talking about and I’m kind of not ready to pay so much to fix a camera we barely had for one week, just based on the assumption that I screwed up when I’m pretty sure I didn’t.
The only thing I learned so far is that Nikon doesn’t seem to care too much for happy customers. Because I’m not that happy right now. Ya hear me, Nikon? Me. Customer. Not Happy. I just thought you’d like to know.
I think it would be nice if I kept you updated on the fun stuff that’s occasionally happening here.
Just about two weeks ago they expanded the opening hours in the federal state of Germany I live in. Now all shops and stores are allowed to open around the clock from Monday to Saturday. They still don’t dare to touch the Sunday, but it’s a big improvement nevertheless.
To understand the importance of this, you’ll have to know that until then we had pretty strict rules for opening hours. I don’t exactly know when shops were allowed to open (6 am, I guess), but all shops had to close at 8 pm. There were exceptions for kiosks, gas stations, shops at train stations and airports.
So, this is progress, guys! I must admit that I have yet to see a store extend its opening hours – although I’ve heard some rumours. But just knowing that they cound makes me insanely happy. Good gracious, Germany. One of these days we might actually become one of those modern countries I keep hearing about.
Wasn’t it spring only recently?
Anyway, somehow stuff piles up at the end of the year and I’m barely able to catch my breath. In between I get sick (last weekend for the third and hopefully last time).
Now there’s dinner with my aunt today, at a great Korean/Japanese restaurant we discovered some weeks ago. There’s a birthday party on Saturday, plans to stay a weekend with a friend in Eastern Germany in two weeks and then it’s already my last day at work. Then comes Christmas and of course New Year’s Eve, which we will spend in Darmstadt with friends.
So, yes, my calendar is more or less packed with stuff to do and places to go. It will be fun, but I also can’t remember ever having so many things planned before. If I weren’t so excited I’d be overwhelmed. As it is, I’m a little bit of both.
Our dear Knipsi broke a pin and had to be returned to the store to be repaired. Don’t be worried, I’m sure everything will be alright soon. I just hope, she’ll be back by the time for our trip to Mittweida, so we can take lots of pictures of our adventures in the Wild East.
In other news I won the limerick contest at my company’s Christmas party last Friday. Or, my team won, but since I wrote the limerick, I think it’s fair to say that I won. I’m very proud. Unfortunately the limerick is in German, so I don’t know if it makes any sense to include it here. You can still be proud of me, though. Wouldn’t mind that.
Last Saturday the husband and I decided to go moderately crazy and buy ourselves a shiny new camera. We wanted the Nikon D50, which is out of production but still available at some stores, though not at the one we went, so we settled for the D70s instead.
Now all we need to do is to learn what all those little buttons and switches do, but we were able to make a few good pictures already and soon I’ll be able to make kick-ass food photos to publish on my other blog.
And yes, this is about the same camera Heather and Clotilde have, and not accidentally, since they were the two first blogs I checked out to see what cameras they’re using.
This post reminded me of the fact that I, too, can only wink with one eye. I was surprised to learn that there are people who actually cannot wink at all. Apparently my family has strong winking genes. I am the mutant who can only wink with her left eye. I can curl my tongue though.
I somehow believe this might has to do with the fact that my right eye is my weak eye. When I got contacts a while ago, I only had to get one for my right eye, because my left eye is good enough to see on its own.
I also noticed that there are people who somehow cannot grasp the concept of „can’t“. See, when I say that I can’t wink with my right eye, I mean it. I can’t. Repeatedly I’ve been asked to „Just try“, followed by some excited, but quickly disappointed, staring at my face. Nothing happens with my face when I try to wink with my right eye. Because I can’t. There’s no twitch, no strange face, no fluttering eyelid or whatever you might expect to see when someone who cannot wink with their right eye tries to. There’s just nothing. Because I CAN’T wink with my right eye. I suppose my brain does something, but there’s no visible action. AT ALL.
Stop asking me to try when I’m trying. Hard. And the fact that there’s nothing happening should be proof enough that I really can’t. Mutant freak, me.
