Well, my back has pretty much gotten better, and my col dis tapering off, so I think that I will rent a pair of „skikes" on Friday afternoon, and see if I like using them. They look like fun, I will report. The only thing is the price. They cost about EURO 250.- a pair and another 160.- for the poles. That's a lot of dough for just a bit of cross country skating!

 

The weather was bombastic the past few days, but apparently a rainy cold front is moving in for the weekend, lets hope it's good enough to test the skikes a couple of hours.

 

Otherwise, not much goes on. I just won't start about the driving habits of Germans in the springtime!

 

YO!

All I can say is, what a beautiful weekend. Rain was forecast for Sunday, and it did rain early in the morning, but since I was still in bed, all I did was turn over with a smug grin and fall back asleep. In fact Sunday was supposed to be rainy, and Saturday sunny, but Saturday was more overcast.

 

And today, it was still a bit foggy, but the sun has been shining since about 10:00, so I was able to sit in my car with the top down and enjoy the warm rays while I napped. I didn't want to go back to work, I could have easily stayed there and slept awhile, but that wouldn't have been very productive.

 

YO!

Yesterday was XL day in Ulm, that means that all the shops in the main shopping zone stayed open ´till 22:00…………, now some of you out there in non-German areas may say "Yippity-zippity so f*cking what?" And you are right, but those here in Germany know what I am saying, right? Now it is a big discussion point if the shops are open longer, because the German retailers never understood the point behind it.

1.)    More people have time in the evenings, after they get off work

2.)    Theoretically, more people could be hired to work more shifts, to accommodate the folks from point 1.

3.)    Sometimes it is just fun to go shopping later, if there isn't anything on TV

 

But the counter arguments of the retail are:

1.)    Nobody goes shopping after 20:00 (mainly ´cause that is the way it has been the past 15-20 years. Before that, I still remember when EVERYONE closed at 18:00, but after they went to 20:00, allot of people used the chance, and still do. The closing times have been deregulated since 2008, but since only 1-2 shops stay open longer 1-2 nights a week, hardly anybody goes, hence the retail thinks it is right with its argument)

2.)    It isn't fair to make those (mostly) Women work longer hours. (Duh, that is why more people should be given jobs, instead of firing people, and stretching the remaining few out longer)

3.)    It isn't fair to make the (mostly) women work longer, they have families too (I agree, but I just say, doctors, waitresses, police, nurses. Besides, in all of those countries all over the world, where they have been doing things like staying open longer, even 24hours, there are usually rotating shifts, so that it doesn't always hit the same person, unless they like it. There are some people who simply prefer night jobs, better pay, and less stress.)

 

But anyways, what I really wanted to get at was the big-ass beautiful show at the Münsterplatz! Lights, music, gospel singing, holy-hair water, was that boring! I know, a lot of people may have liked it, so I can only speak for myself and my family, how utterly disappointed we were. We stayed in town, although our feet and backs were killing us, looking up into the sky, getting a stiff neck, listening to music, that we really wernt crazy about. And then it ended! That was great, but it ended so anti-climatic and still, that we didn't realise that it was over, until all the people started dispersing with sighs of relief. I do not want to be unfair, the gospel singer was really good in doing her thing, but her thing definitely isn't my thing, neither was this thing with the hunting horns, or F*CKING LED ZEPPLIN'S STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN FROM FRIGGIN MONKS!!!!!!

 

YO!

TGIF, or FYIF, or HSHYTFGIF, and the sun is shining. It is supposed to stay really nice this weekend. My wife is working tomorrow (aaaaahhhhhh) so I will probably get hookin on the cellar and garden. Clean up the garden, mow, then move a bunch of shit from the cellar to the garden, sort it out, and put the good shit back in. The bad shit will have to be disposed of, and that's the big shit, I know now I won't feel like doing it. Next two weeks are short weeks, but next week I've got to leave the house earlier to take my daughter to a practical work week. She has to start at 7:00 in the morning (heehee), but sucks being me, cause I've gotta drive her there.

 

I also want to get back on the bike, or what would really be rad, is those new cross country inlines, "skikes" or the same thing from power slide. Those things are That cool! I would really like to try them, but I need to find a course, where they are explained, and if I see they are OK, then I can consider buying a pair, but these things, they are expensive, these things, they are costing about € 250 a pair, and you need the cross country ski sticks as well!

 

Lets see what the summer brings.

YO!

So, football is on TV, or as we Americans say, soccer, or the Germans say Fussball. Anyways, it's not like I care for it that much, but usually beer goes with Fussball, so I sit here and type this, and drink some good dark German beer while my wife watches. Anyways, the weather is trying to get better, (I would like to have some chips to this good beer, but that would go against my present dietary plans, and my wife refuses to get up and get them), the sun came out a couple of hours (now there was supposed to be a penalty for Wales, but the ref was blind) where was I? Oh yeah the sun, it came out, and the degrees just shot up about 5° or so, and it actually pretended that it was warm outside. Of course, by the time I got off, it had cooled down and clouded over. But it is trying.

 

I could get upset about the German government at this point, but that would just upset me, so I'll let it be.

 

YO!