Back in Germany and through my back out. But its slowly getting better. I finally set up my blackberry for the e-mail server, let's see how much this costs at the end of the month :-) YO!
Sent via BlackBerry from E-Plus (whoopee shit huh?)

Here is a small exchange of mails between myself and one of my very bestes friends.

To:  Charlie Subject: Re: Hard times

do you think I should post this on my blog, or do you think I'll get firebombed?

So, speaking of hard times, Michael Jackson has passed on to that great Neverland Ranch in the sky. Have you noticed it in your daily life yet? Has it become harder to breathe? Do you feel like your traipsing along the edge of an unfathomable abyss? I think it is sad for the music. I think it is sad for him and his family as a person. But as for being the public figure, I feel strangely unattached and unmoved.

My very own personal opinion, for which all true MJ fans would hate me more than they hate Billy Jean is; It is unfortunate to loose such a wonderful human being, but it is the best that could have happened to his music. From now on, it will stay unchanged and memorable for all time, not watered down with any more embarrassing public happenings.

 The King of Rock has left the building.

The King of Pop has done his final Moonwalk.

Maybe its time we stop crowning people and elect them instead. Like; The president of Rap, The Prime Minister of Country and Western, The Public Speaker of the House of House. That way when they get too old and embarrassing for themselves, they can be replaced while they are still on top.

May Michael Jackson rest in piece and the memory live on.

That being said, lets take a deep breath and get on with our own lives.

YO!

From: Charlie

To: the.alheath.gmail

Subject: RE: Hard times

Yes… It's our position and no one can take that from you. And regardless of what position you take, pro, con or in the middle, someone will disagree so by all means post it and who gives a shit if they can't take it. This world that we've been building around political correctness is turning us into mealy mouthed over sensitive 5 year olds locked in some freakish Orwellin nightmare! "He hurt my feelings!" Fuck! Grow up world! I have the right to say what I feel is right just as you do but neither of has the right to point fingers and tell each other "you can't say that it's offensive". Confrontation and critical thinking are the most fertile breeding grounds of brilliant solutions and progress. So I say again Al… Post it by all means. I think it's very eloquent, respectful and well thought out.

For what it's worth: I think it's sad that with all his prior wealth he didn't get the psychological help he needed. I don't think he was as much a brilliant artist as he was more an idiot savant or maybe even a mix of both. I don't feel he was a pedophile as much as he was still that 12 year old boy who loved sleepovers and playing hide and seek in the gardens. As such he never grew up enough to understand consequence or even the possibility that what he was doing might be misconstrued as anything but innocent fun and his interviews revealed that quite clearly. This wasn't a willful position on his part; it was a psychological disorder that his wealth allowed go on unchecked and  untreated. Had he been just another human maybe he'd have gotten help or been locked away. Thanks Michael for your music, there are a lot of good memories locked in those songs I hope you've finally found that peace you've been searching for all these years. Happy sleepovers, so long and thanks for all the fish.

Charlie 

Just booked the next flights to China and Taiwan! Cant wait, I have never been to Taiwan before, so that'll be an experience, but like always, fly in - hotel - factory - fly out. No time for sightseeing. We wont even be flying to Taipei, so no "101" Tower this trip :-(

 

Anyways, according to the weather, it'll be about 33°c, and MAN I cant wait for that! this grey and rainy weather gets on my nerves, you could really get autum dpressions from this stuff. And the worst news is, we have already passed the summer solstice, that mean the days are already getting shorter, and we havent really had but a few days to enjoy any summer weather or sitting out on the balcony 'till late in the warm evening breeze, with a fire in the grill and a beer in the hand. Bummer.

 

'nuff c'plained fer now.

 

YO!

Seasteading

http://patrissimo.livejournal.com/1132839.html?thread=10343463#t10343463

Funny thing, every time I went onto my blog, it'd throw me out of my WLAN!?!

I deleted the Flikr badge, and voila, it works no-prob!

I was even able to follow Elizabeths link to that film about Neu-Ulm, really great, and sooOOoo Army!

 

thnx,

YO!

Fw: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Went to a ZZ Top concert in

Yeah, the Hosen are great, but I'm actually more a DÄ fan, or Farin Urlaub!

 

Last Hosen concert in Friedrichshafen, almost got into a fight with some guy who thought he needed to keep moshing onto my back long after the pit he was in had stopped. Normaly I dont care, it belongs to the concert, but my wife was in front of me, and the steel barrier in front of her. I asked him to stop, but he kept on. Anyways, my sister-in-law caught the attention of a steward before we really started anything. The funny thing was, later I talked with the guy, and everything was OK, we appoligised to each other, all was forgotten.... Later I saw him a bit farther down the line, and he had his girlfriend in front of him, and was getting mad 'cause guys behind him were moshing, and bumping into them.

 

As they say, what comes round, goes round.

 

sorry though, the u2be link didnt work with copy/paste

 

But if you say ARMY and u2be, maybe I'l find it.

 

Speaking of da tube, I was vurfing around yesterday, watching great things like Devo, Adam Ant, Men with Hats, saw some Dennis Leary, and MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND!! OMFG!! Naturally it is all new, as back then, the video cameras either used super 8, or real professional cameras. But it was so geil to see that they are still doing some of the same things we did back then.

 

i.e. w³.youtube.com <Lely High School / Marching band> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ekDRAofbU

 

YO!

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Elizabeth

To: the.alheath@gmail.com

Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 6:47 PM

Subject: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Went to a ZZ Top concert in <?xml:namespace prefi....

Elizabeth has left a new comment on your post " Went to a ZZ Top concert in ":

my husband and I saw Die Toten Hosen in Stuttgart and Bamberg during their latest tour. They played great! Stuttgart show was better tho. I've been a fan for over 10 years. Great Band! (and they played probably more than 2 hours total).

you mentioned the army in your last post... ever see this youtube vid?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJ_3ECw66I



Posted by Elizabeth to alan heath - private blog at 6:47 PM

Went to a ZZ Top concert in Munich yesterday. My wife won the tickets from Rock Antenne, so why not? They normally cost € 55.- a piece, and we knew they were coming, but they didn't interest us that much, so we didn't buy any. I must say, for a free concert they weren't bad, played a lot of their hits, but I was glad we didn't pay for them. They came out at 20:40, played 'till 21:50, took a 5 minute break, and came back and played 3 songs, and left the stage about 22:10, so about 1 ½ hours, without an opening act, and without really saying goodbye, just in-play-out. The music was good, but everything else was just so basic. For 55.-, it would have seemed expensive.  I can't wait until August when the Toten Hosen come to Neu-Ulm for the first real open air in the Wiley's! If the weather holds, that'll kick ass! We were at the AC/DC concert at the Hockenheimring, man the starting film before the guys came on stage was so crazy-loud, but that was definitely one of the best concerts this year.

 

YO!

Fw: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Oh what wonder, I am posting something!

Hi Elizabeth,

 

I had almost forgotten how much fun riding the bike can be. After I left the Army, I rode the bike here a lot. I had the 10 speed from my wifes father, and it would be nothing to rip off 50-60km within a couple of hours on a Sunday morning between breakfast and lunch or coffee time.

 

I would ride my bike every day to work, from Neu-Ulm to Donautal and back. Then I got a better bike, and was even more underway. I actually stopped because I hated winter, and riding the bike at 4:30 in the morning in the dark. After I left that company and started at a company in Senden, where I didnt have to start work until about 8:00, then I started riding it again, in fact I gave the car to my sister-in-law as her first car, and rode the bike again. Only less for fun, just transport.

 

I didnt get a (second) car again until I started working here in Unter-Elchingen. I said that 15 - 17km is too far for the bike, especially in winter. But now I really want to see how long and often I can ride it to work, and also on the weekend, small trips along the Donau or Iller, maybe towards the Alb and such. Blaubeuren is cool with the bike, and Sonderbuch is extreme.

 

I think it'll take a few weeks more to really get back into shape, for all considering that I am now 42, and weigh a lot more than back then. But we all remember that famous line "Use the gears Luke", or was that something else?

 

YO!

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Elizabeth

To: the.alheath@gmail.com

Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 12:31 PM

Subject: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Oh what wonder, I am posting something! <?xml:nam....

Elizabeth has left a new comment on your post " Oh what wonder, I am posting something! ":

re your bike ride: gut gemacht!

Biking in southern Germany is really cool: you have all the ups and downs of the Schwäbsiche Alb, the Schwarzwald, the Allgäu Alps, usw.

Just be sure to use the right gear when going up hill and give yourself time to build up your stamina.

And don't forget to have fun!



Posted by Elizabeth to alan heath - private blog at 12:31 PM

Oh what wonder, I am posting something!

 

I talked with my Dad on the WE. He said that my mom actually reads my blogs, which honoured me as much as it surprised me. Guess I should watch my d*mned language and stop using the "F" word so much. That may be hard, as I write on a spur of the moment exactly what I feel, and sometimes you cant get around saying the "F" word.

 

As I told my Dad, I bought a new bike, and am riding back and forth to work as often as I can. It is about 15km one way, so I get in 30km per day that I ride, which saves me !! 2.50 EURO a day in gas !!, helps me loose a bit of weight, my goal is to loose 15kg. Gets my condition conditioned and saves me a lot of anger with all those F*CKING German drivers. Not all of the anger, because now I REALLY have to keep my eyes open on the corners and intersections, but I would say that because I can take roads and bike trails where no cars are, it saves me about 80% problems and anger. If I could only put that in a piggy bank. Maybe a "bad bank"

 

I already drop 2.50 to 3.00 EURO into a bank for every day that I take the bike to work. I will use that money to buy rewards for myself and the family, such as, 5kg lost, we go eat ice cream, 10kg lost, we go eat steaks. My goal is to loose 15kg, and be fit enough to ride the bike from Ulm to the Bodensee (Lake Konstanz) in the fall. It is about 170km, and should take the better part of the day to get down there. Depending how fit I am, either ride the bike back, or take the car/train. I already did a test ride with my son last Sunday, 67km from Biberach to Ulm, took 3 hours as planned and was OK. But I was really pooped as we got home. I only really started riding the bike back and forth to work a week earlier. The hills at the start were hard, I had to go up really slow, but what goes up goes back down on the other side. What really cost me a lot of strength was the wind. There were stretches of 10-15km where we had steady front wind, and that just wore me down. I was really aching the last 12km, and was so glad to get home. Maybe next weekend we will do it again!

 

YO!

fun with fonts

never done this, but it thinks like fun, so I'll try and see if it works, who knows, maybe if it works, I'll do it more often.

Fw: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Re: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on We....

----- Original Message -----

From: Elizabeth

To: the.alheath@gmail.com

Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 2:41 PM

Subject: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Re: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on We....

Elizabeth has left a new comment on your post "Re: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on We...":

skikes reminds me of cross country skiing- which also takes a lot of co-ordination.

my observations of German drivers are purely from a biker's perspective- and while I can't complain about signalling, I surely can complain about being honked at by drivers not too keen on sharing the road!

"Lichthupe"- hey, I learned a new german word today! cool!

gosh- 1988- long time to be in Deutschland...

"traingst"- that is the word verification I had to type in to comment...sounds like it should be a word to describe what you feel when your train is late and thus you miss your connecting train or bus...
_______________

Howdy,

 

"Traingst" - Also sounds like Train + Angst, like being scared of trains, Bahnophobia, in Germany that can sometimes be fitting.

YO!

Re: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Well, my back has pretty much gotten better, and ....

----- Original Message -----

From: Elizabeth

To: the.alheath@gmail.com

Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 10:40 AM

Subject: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on Well, my back has pretty much gotten better, and ....

Elizabeth has left a new comment on your post " Well, my back has pretty much gotten better, and ...":

so, did you ever try out the skikes?

and, since I've never driven here, what are the driving habits of Germans in the springtime? my only impressions of German drivers are that they drive fast- but are excellent in signalling...



Posted by Elizabeth to alan heath - private blog at 10:40 AM

 

Wello Hello Elizabeth,

 

Skikes

 

Why yes! I did try the Skikes, and failed miserably! I am not coordinated enough for using sticks and skates at the same time, all I got for my efforts were a bruised ego, a cut on the elbow (my own fault for not using proper protection) and the realisation that I saved about 350 EURO by not having to buy the Skikes and poles.

 

I am still totally convinced that the Skikes are a absolutely great concept, but had to realise that I should start small, and become sure about skating, for example with inlines, then get some inexpensive poles, and work my way up to "cross-skating", then when I can move my arms and legs without looking like Joe Cocker on wheels, then I can consider getting the Skikes, and then they are possibly cheaper as well.

 

The day after trying the Skikes, my daughter went to an inline safety course, and I joined her for the hell of it. I can skate with inlines somewhat OK, but I really did learn a lot, and it did help me to rediscover the fun of inlining. The next weekend I refurbished my K2s and went out for a bit with my son. Now I am waiting for the weather to get a bit better so that I can go out more often in the evenings.

 

German drivers.

 

Gawd Woman, don't get me started!!

 

I have been driving here unofficially since 1988, officially since 1991. I have seen a steady decrease in politeness, fairness, intelligence, and scruples since then. You are right; the Germans (saying this for people of all nationalities with German tags regardless of the actual nationality of the owner or driver) do drive fast. But as far as signalling, I cannot share your opinion. Maybe if you have followed this blog awhile, then you know 2 of my German driver's pet peeves. 1. Bad parking, 2. No blinking, naturally there are other things; maybe I should make a list, but not at this point. All I can say is: Only get a car in Germany, if you REALLY, REALLY need one!! Honestly, if the public transportation was good enough in my case, or I lived a lot closer to my job, then I would truly consider getting rid of one of our cars. Keep one for the family, and use the bus or bike the rest of the time.

 

The only real excellence in signalling I have seen from the German drivers is the "Lichthupe" and the middle finger.

 

Thanks for the comments though and please send more.

 

YO!

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!

Well they snatched an hour from us on Sunday, but I am sure we will get it back in the fall, unless the world ends, in which case it won't matter anyways. It is still pretty cool, but the sun is trying to come out… no, not out of the closet, just from behind the clouds. In fact I see bits of blue here and there between the clouds.

 

It was till really cold and wet yesterday, but I still went walking, was underway about two hours. Walked into town, drank coffee, and walked home again. Nothing really interesting along the way, except the small "man-formed" twig I saw on the ground. Just had to take a picture. Amazing what a bit of black and white and sepia colouring can do to an otherwise boring little snapshot.

 

I am basically just writing this to write it.

 

Guess I'll stop while I'm ahead.

YO!

Fw: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on 8:49.

dear anonymous,

thnx for the link. but thats sure is a lots of words on that there page, and very few pictures. but i gots it in me booksmarks ;-)

 

;-))

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Anonymous

To: the.alheath@gmail.com

Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 3:44 PM

Subject: [alan heath - private blog] New comment on 8:49.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "8:49": eggs, cholesterol, meat, and cheese are all GOOD for you. the only unhealthy thing your breakfast contained was the chemical/fake cheese. want to learn more? start here: http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/oiling.html Posted by Anonymous to alan heath - private blog at 3:44 PM

8:49

It is Saturday morning 8:49, and I have just eaten an omelette made with 3 eggs for the cholesterol, some leftover Kebap meat for the fat, some real German cheese and this chemical fake cheddar cheese for the chemicals and fat. But I almost ruined it by putting a bit of olive oil in the pan. But I don't think that my body will notice that tiny bit of oily health.

 

Anyways, the reason I am awake so early on a Saturday morning is;

1. My wife went to a book flea-market, so I got up drank some tea with her, and helped her load the car.
2. A Chinese dude wants to visit me in my office today. He isn't sure when he is coming or exactly how he is getting here, just that we should meet "this afternoon"………

 

Hot damn!

 

I mean, it is OK because they go to great lengths to meet us in China, and I will naturally show him the same respect. That is not only obvious, but I also enjoy meeting with him.

 

But being an American living in Germany so long, I guess the anal fixation of being punctual has coloured off on me, and making out fixed meeting times, and being there, maybe 1-2 minutes early, etc.

 

Anyways, seeing as how my wife is busy most of the day, and the weather sucks, then I will probably wake the kids soon just to piss 'em off, and have them do their chores. Oh but I see the first one just zombied on down. That saves me work, and that's what kids are for anyways aren't they?

 

YO!