just john

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I stumbled across this site looking for details of Bush's "secret" treaty with Iran (actually a de facto agreement he made without approval of Congress, the fucker):  http://www.thewatcherfiles.com/

Since it's Sunday, there's no way I can by the stuff I need to create orgone generators. I'll have to wait until next week.

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I decided to buy the stuff to make chilli today, Saturday. Chilli includes a few canned goods; tomato sauce, beans, tomatoes.

It is midnight and German stores, all of them, are closed on Sunday.

I did not bring a can opener to Germany.

I'll let you know how that goes.

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I've accepted a few of lifes inequities but there's one that's been bugging me lately. I've switched over to whole grain rice and discovered I like it better. Kind of blows the doors off that white crap I've been eating all these years. What I can't help wondering is why I need to pay twice as much for food that requires less labor and processing to produce? I guess that goes for most of them though.

I've been doing dead lifts at the gym recently. It's one of those exercises. Basically means it is difficult to do it correctly and a lot of people end up doing something they shouldn't. The "something you shouldn't" could be anywhere from a strained lower back to a hernia. Don't do those things. My conundrum is what to do when you're half way through a weighted, compound motion and in a semi-squat position? I should also mention I had 100kg hanging from my arms and gas in a gym full of people. Doing "something you shouldn't" can sometimes be a choice between the lesser of two evils. I do not currently have back pain or a hernia.

Sorry to not be ranting on about politics. I feel like I've said my piece for the moment. Huckabee is the anti-christ, Romney would be if he thought it'd help him be President, McCain will spontaneously oxidize and return to dust on the third Tuesday of the fourth month in the first year he is elected, Guliani has really bad camp-drag issues, and Paul is just weird - Ross Perot, big ears weird. All of the Democrats are flawed and poll-driven but, at least, the lesser of two evils. Too bad we can't have Al Gore but it looks like he's got too much integrity to try politics again. 

I did find out we have around 28 or so Democratic delegates that represent out-of-country voters. That means I get a shot at the primaries with real time representatation.

cool.

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I've been hoarding a small problem for the last week and a half or so waiting to figure out what to do:  My robot vacuum cleaner was malfunctioning. It would start and then just start turning circles endlessly. I was beginning to fear for its health. Even worse, I was beginning to fear for the person who would end up having to sweep the floor.

After a couple of days of very minor prodding and turning the Roomba upside down, I decided to see if the company had a tech help section on their web site. They did, in fact. It was complete with a movie of my robot's behavior to help diagnose. I had a dirty bump sensor.

The solution to the dirty bump sensor was simple. I was to lift the robot and beat it on its bumper until it starting cleaning properly again. I did and it worked. I then took the trouble to do a complete service and wipe down just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Hopefully the little guy just finished vacuuming the apartment a little while ago.

Now I have an ethical dilemma. Though I am guilty of just a tiny bit of anthropomorphism on the part of my robot, the first thing the manufacturer told me to do when it stopped working was to beat it. So I have a dumb robot now, what about ten years from now?

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I just heard about the snow at home although no reports yet on the quantity and devastation caused by it. Those should start to come in around 2:00pm my time. One thing for certain is that the grocery stores are getting a run on their bread and milk stock. Why is that?

I usually buy about one loaf of bread every six months in the States, less if I miss a trip to the beach. Milk I don't buy at all but usually keep a week's worth of soy milk, which is what I drink instead. Do people actually forego their regular menu planning to live on sandwiches and toast when it snows? I would attribute it to the overall condition of our (crumbling and poorly maintained) power transmission infrastructure, except that people have been hoarding bread and milk during snowfalls my entire life. A three inch snowfall didn't mean a week without electricity, just a week without school.

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No, not this work assignment, though I am a little down on it this week. If SC had been just a little bit warmer or a little bit drier then maybe the return wouldn't have been such a shock. I know theres a drought and all but why the generous rainfall the two weeks I'm there? Very poor planning on America's part.

Returning to last Saturday, it made me realize I've had something missing in my life. Sort of a void that I didn't quite know was there, but needed to be filled. Last night I decided it was time to rectify that deep inequity. I ordered a Play Station and Guitar Hero - with two guitars.

God help us all.

Posted by justjohn at 10:25 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Not even sure where to start in on this anymore.

Back into my first week here of the new year and still no snow. I think Germany is also succumbing to global climate change. I guess that'd be the "global" part of it.

Had a bit of an up and down week. I was at a meeting in Feuerbach that required climbing three flights of stairs. At the top I was winded. I never get winded after three flights of stairs unless I've spent two solid weeks of not moving and eating. Decide maybe it was time to reincorporate the "cardio day" into the work out. Since the inaugural 2008 session on Saturday, I've had the odd metallic taste at the back of my throat and couldn't quite place it. Then I realized it was opened up airways and burst lung capillaries. I hope to do better next week.

Meesa's, from German class, birthday was Saturday, officially Wednesday, so a small group of us went out for Thai and then to a bar and so on. Ended the night playing guitar hero on PS2. The night bus deposited me at my apartment at 4am Berlin time. Nice to be able to call Bill at 10pm his time for a change but pretty hard on me in the long term. 

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How come this guy always wears the same pair of socks?

Happily, my suitcases were indeed waiting on me at the apartment. All intact and only one searched at random per federal regulatory requirements. They found the scented candles I smuggled back for Klaus and Olga. Turns out I packed every pair of dark socks I had for the trip home except for one, which I wore this morning hoping that new ones would come in.

Four mugs of coffee later, I'm sitting here towards the end of the day, having survived the urge to sleep at an inappropriate hour.

I was also able to assess the holiday damage  at the gym; eight pounds. Somehow I picked up the weight of a newborn in two weeks. How come they take so long?

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I made it back to Germany Monday morning only to learn that my luggage did not. No matter, what possible value could two weeks worth of non-work clothing, most of the things I got for Christmas, all my toiletries, and a 30 day supply of the prescription that will cost me $150 once my new "benefits" kick in possibly be worth to me? $400 according to Delta. For some reason it is presumed that I will carry up to $3000 worth of possessions from GSP to ATL but only $400 to Europe. Since their estimate is per pound of luggage, I have to wonder if they have actually weighed and priced a pair of pants since the heavy polyester boom of the seventies. Fortunately, I received a call this morning alleging that said suitcases would be waiting for me at my apartment when I get there.

Riding the train and walking back to my apartment without the tokens of travel was a bit of surreality that I was not prepared for. I spent over two weeks back in my normal life, seeing my friends, sleeping in my bed at home, watching remnants of our once productive task force of writers off tivo with Bill. It wasn't so much a vacation as it was an escape of settling comfortably back into something you really missed but didn't have any more. During my last day in the US, the idea that I had an apartment and a job over here was a little hazy to me. Putting the key in the door and walking in felt kind of strange but everything was where I left it except the Roomba. He'd somehow gotten into the bathroom and drained his batteries before he could get out and the basil was still alive. Fortunately, I have a separate toothbrush and tooth paste for travel and had everything I needed to not go back out again. I took a short nap and spent the rest of my jet lag reading the last of the book I had for the plane. Managed to sleep all the way to 4:00am before sitting up and turning on the computer. Was pleasantly surprised to find that, in spite of losing my bags and coming up about 150 miles short, Delta awarded me gold medallion status. That means I get an extra wet-nap on every other flight.

I found my car this morning. It was also where I left it - sometimes I forget and leave it parked on the street over night. This time it was in the garage and managed to get me to this job I'd forgotten I had for two weeks.

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