Determining the gender of geese

How can you figure out whether a goose is male or female? The male lifts its leg to pee, right? Well, maybe that only works for dogs.


This picture was taken in the city park in Düsseldorf, in case anyone wants to find this particular goose to know for certain its gender.

Fun with family, friends and neighbors

Michelle and I have had a couple of very nice evenings with Christian and Anna and their wonderful neighbors. Great food in large quantities, great beer, and some excellent homemade schnapps. At the start of the evening, I understood perhaps five percent of the German that was spoken around me. After drinking the schnapps, I could understand around twenty percent. Amazing stuff.

The warning label on the back of the homemade schnapps means something like: Please take regularly but in moderation. For risks and side effects, ask your doctor or pharmacist.


We also learned that, in Germany, you're never too young to tend the bar. This young lady knew how to coax the perfect glass of beer from the Biermaschine. She has a real gift.


Everyone has been very kind here and understanding about my woeful lack of skill with the German language. I've had a great time.

Overheard in the airport pub

In a pub in the Frankfurt-Hahn airport at dinner tonight, we sat near a table of Irishmen, mid-twenties to mid-thirties, who were drinking and talking about life. They said several quotable things, but all I can remember now is one. But before you read it, try to imagine the words in an Irish accent:

"That's the true measure of a woman: When she can push out a couple of kids and still look fine."

For the children

On our trip to Berlin, we stopped briefly in Potsdam, where we visited the Schloss Sanssouci, the former summer home of Frederick the Great, and current home of many naked statues. Ever the conscientious fathers, Christian and I do our part to protect the children of Potsdam and its many tourists.


Besides, what need do I have of marble goddesses, when I have my own real life goddess here with me?

Back from Berlin

So we're finally back from Berlin. We had a great time with Anna and Christian there, taking in all the sights. We were in a hotel with only one public terminal (that was very slow), so I didn't post anything while we were there. Also, we were very busy.

Anyway, I won't post much tonight, but here's Michelle and a piece of the Berlin wall near Checkpoint Charlie.


If I get a chance, I'll post more about our trip tomorrow. Maybe our hotel in Frankfurt will have an internet connection. We'll see.

Update: Marburg

Apparently, FC United won the match against the Marburg squad, 3-1. When looking on the bright side of life, some days are easier than others (although the next morning may still be quite painful). Thanks to commenter norman brightside for the update.

Michelle arrives

Well, not much to post today. Michelle got here this morning, and we have a month's worth of catching up to do. Have fun, everyone.

Marburg

So I haven't posted for a while. So here's a couple pictures that I took of my visit to Marburg, a German town with a short name that has no umlauts, which makes it a real jewel. Did some window shopping, spent some time looking at postcards in German, with Anna translating some of the more idiomatic phrases, and Christian wishing that we would just hurry up.

Here's a shot up one of the streets. In the picture, there is a group of drunk Englishmen, FC United fans, who all linked arms and sang "Always look on the bright side of life," which perhaps means that FC United lost.


Below is the Marburg mayor's house at the marketplace. We waited for the hour to elapse so that we could see the clock strike the hour with great fanfare.

Haircuts

Today was summer haircut day in the Siegel house, that time of year that thrills little boys' hearts everywhere. You can see the joy on their faces and in their bright eyes the ecstasy of anticipation swells until it could burst. Then the time for the haircut arrives: Oh the joy!


And then the rinse off with cold water. On the high pressure setting by request.


The new haircut. And can't you tell how pleased he is?

Emily (by request)

Apparently, there have been requests for a picture of Emily, since I didn't have a picture of her in my last post. She was napping when I had my camera out, so I didn't get a picture of her then.

So now, by special request, Emily:

At the Siegel house

Well, I made it to Christian and Anna's house in Kleingladenbach. They have a beautiful house in a beautiful area. It's very nice to be out of the city now for a change, despite all the fun I had there.

I've had a great time so far. I played soccer and read books with Jeremy, held Emily for a bit, went for a walk with Anna and Christian, the kids, and some neighbors, looked at some horses, dropped Jeremy off at a kindergarten event, played with Jason and Jack in the backyard, ate a lovely dinner, cleaned up after dinner, and then had a lovely after dinner chat with Christian and Anna, then Jeremy came home and showed us the 20 gold painted rocks that he had in his pockets, and then shortly after that we wrapped things up.

Some Icelandic breed of horses (with dual citizenship in Germany) that we saw on our walk:


Jeremy out in the grass on our walk.


Jason playing with Jack.


Jason wants to be thrown in the air again, so he's hanging onto my legs here.

Früh Am Dom

Today being my last day of work, my coworkers and I went out to dinner at Früh Am Dom, a brewery down by the cathedral. I wanted to go there because it was recommended by some friends of mine, who had been there once upon a time.

It's a maze of rooms and levels, and we sat in the Brauhauskeller at the lower level. It seems to be a bit of a tourist attraction, but there were a lot of locals there also. By which I mean, you have drunk American men hitting on drunk German girls. (No, not me!). Very warm down there in the cellar, and a bit smoky, but I'm quite used to that these days, and hardly notice anymore.

I had the meat and potatoes with sauce. That's a bit of an in-joke for us here working at DRUPA, because every meal consists of at least those three things. The meat was steak tonight, the potatoes were pan-fried, and the sauce was mushroom. The vast majority of the meals I've had here could be summarized in a spreadsheet with four columns: Meat, Potatoes, Sauce, and Comments. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I like all of those things. Oh, and tonight the Comments field would contain the word Spargel.


Note the barely visible sign that mentions Spargel. It's Spargel season, and don't you forget it. And if you do, don't worry. You will be reminded. June is Spargel History Month, when we learn about all the influential Spargels of history.

P.S. One of my coworkers (knowingly) told another coworker to order an Altbier, which are brewed in Düsseldorf, rather than a Kölsch, which are brewed in Köln. Apparently, Köln and Düsseldorf are fierce rivals, particularly when it comes to their beers, and ordering Alt was not looked on lightly by the waiter. The coworker who ordered the Alt came close to being thrown out the restaurant. Quite entertaining.

P.P.S. Dumb post, I know. But better than a doodle, eh?

Doodle of the Week

Part one of the Master's Series: The Thinker.


I have been asked what inspired me to turn my prodigious talents to aping the masters, and why I started with this particular subject as a first installment: The answers are clearly boredom, and that this was easy to draw.

Update: Groß Sankt Martin

Got a better picture of the church today from my table at lunch. It was a nice day.

Survival techniques

Found a book today called Das Große Buch Der Überlebenstechniken (the big book of survival techniques), which describes in detail with pictures desperate situations and how to appropriately respond to said situations. One of the situations described is what to do if your rifle runs out of bullets while in a combat situation.

Using pictures almost as good as I can draw them, the author explains the subtleties and nuances of fighting without bullets. No buwwets weft? Handle the situation thusly:


There's no need to translate into English.

Kölner Dom

I got a day off today, so I went down to the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), and took a few pictures.

This is part of the entrance.

This is just inside.


Another part inside, looking up.


I climbed to the top of the tower and took a couple pictures from the top. This is one of the smaller towers on the Dom with the Rhein in the background.


Looking another direction.


Another note: Up on the one of the towers, there is a bas-relief of an angel holding a chicken. Because everyone's heard of Michael the Archangel and his pet chicken. I couldn't get a good enough angle on it to get a picture, but I thought it was pretty funny.

What I did today

Got up, went to work on the bus, worked all day, skipped lunch, came home on the bus, skipped dinner.

Wandered about Köln for a good long while this evening, walking approximately 8.04672 kilometers. While I was out, I ran into Freitag coming out of a head shop/tattoo parlor. That explains the smell in my room and his new "Liebe deine Käse" tattoo.

Now he insists that I refer to him as the Dude.

Finished out the evening (well, except for this post) talking to Michelle on the webcam. Of course, the internet access in this hotel is so slow that it was like talking over a very bad connection whilst simultaneously watching a slideshow of very low resolution images. But it worked, and it's better than nothing.

Here's what I see each night before I head off to bed. Well, she doesn't wear the same clothes every day, although she does remain a Packers fan. At this moment, frozen here in time, she is pondering my very poignant comment with respect to certain properties of Weißspargel, and is trying to think of an appropriate and witty rejoinder.

Getting right to the point

Here's a sign that makes very clear what action is being discouraged. No prevaricating about the bush here.


I imagine even a dog could understand this sign, and hurry on to a Grundstück that is less Privat to do his business. I need this sign for our house.

Groß Sankt Martin

I took this picture while we were at dinner. This is Groß Sankt Martin Kirche, from which I gather there is a smaller one somewhere. It was founded in 960, built into its current form in the twelfth century, was bombed in WWII, and is now restored.

The boss took us all out to dinner at the Haxenhaus (specializes in pig knuckles, very good). I had the Augustus, which was a Schweinshaxe (pig knuckle) with a slab of Leberkäse (literally, liver-cheese, but really it's a meatloaf made of corned beef, bacon and onions, no liver or cheese in it, apparently), some potatoes and a sausage.

I've been trying to get out and run in the mornings, to work off all the pounds that the meat, potatoes and beer have surely been adding on, but I haven't figured out how to fit it into my schedule. So I have focused my attention on the more pressing concern of how to fit into my pants.

View from my window

I have moved from Düsseldorf to Köln, as I mentioned before. This is the view from my window, which unfortunately faces away from the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), which is quite impressive. I'll probably add a picture of that later.


By the way, my hotel has internet access for the moment. Freitag surfs the web while I'm at work, so he's not as crabby when I get back to the hotel, which is a big plus.