just john

I finally got tv this week. Turns out, I painfully admit, that it was my fault all along. Why, I still cannot tell you. Mr. Nicklaus Sieber-Gertz who lives closest to the shared satellite and, by default, got to organize its repair after the snow storm was kind enough to let me borrow his old receiver which was already set up. It works. This will not, as someone so eloquently put it, become my VCR clock. I've beaten the Geek Squad on wireless internet protocols dammit. Surely I can set up a satellite box.

Having said that, I spent a big chunk of Saturday packing for my trip home and cleaning the apartment. Can't leave a mess. Best daytime movies:  Krull, Dune, Karate Warrior 4 (The Kid in the Golden Kimono), and something Arthurian. Not what I was hoping for.

Frank and Kara are in the process of settling into their new apartment. We were going to have dinner at the little Thai place near my apartment but it was closed. Imagine having the restaurant closed on a national holiday. Since it was cold and the kids were of indeterminate patience, our only other option was McDonald's. Meine lieblings Restaurant. (That is sarcasm). I don't eat there in the U.S. and hadn't darkened the door of this one since my car broke down 4 months ago. The one saving grace was that I could order a beer. I watched as they carefully opened the glass bottle and poured it into the McDonald's cup. Nice. That was yesterday. I can tell you the hour, minute and second my body was done with that meal.

We have sun again and maybe summer will finally prevail this time around. This 50 degree business is getting to be a little tiresome after 3 weeks of dry and warm.

Finally, some jack-ass, punk kid keyed my car. First time in life for me. I was parked on the street in front of the apartment and someone just decided to scratch several cars about waist high for an elementary schooler as they strolled along. I came out a little better than some of the other guys but it was still enough to leave me with murdurous thoughts for half the afternoon. I'll be over it when it's fixed and be using the garage from now on. On the upside, I did get my Stuttgart city flag for the beach party in Florida next week. See yall there.