03/29/2008
Earth Hour
Today from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (in your local time zone) you are invited to participate in the annual Earth Hour event by turning off all lights that you have control over. It might not save a whole lot of energy, but it shows your personal awareness. Plus it's *cool* to sit in the dark, only candlelight on, and talk or not even talk.
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02/21/2008
extreme marketing?
OK, I agree, you need to advertise to make people aware of the products or services you offer - but this new advertising service seems a bit getting carried away.....
On my way home from work today I spotted a strange vehicle in my rear view mirror. A tiny orange Hyundai car, with a huge rotating billboard sticking out from the top. Somebody had drilled a hole thru the car's roof, about five inches in diameter, and stuck a hydraulic pole into the front passenger cabin, right by the driver's seat.
When stopped in traffic, for whatever reason, the driver would manually raise the billboard up to approximately 10 feet above the car and rotate the triangular billboard carrier back and forth. I admit the contraption was rather eye-catching - but I can't remember what it was advertising for. 
I was too fascinated by the peculiar looks of this *object*, and also wondering, if it would just tip over with strong side winds.
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12/09/2007
black ice
All plans we had for today were cancelled due to freezing rain. No baby shower party for Nikki, no ice skating at Headwaters Park, no winter walk with our dog.
Instead we got a beautiful back yard, full of trees made out of glass. And the Christmas decoration along our front porch roof glitters and sparkles even more than usual, every single mini bulb coated with clear ice.
What an amazing show!
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10/17/2007
National Breast-Cancer Awareness Month
October 2007 is breast-cancer awareness month, and I am especially aware of it because my mother-in-law was recently diagnosed. She is undergoing chemo-therapy and lost all of her hair because of that.
I strongly believe in the power of moral support and positive thinking. Which is why I shaved my head today, to show my support for Nancy and all the other women, who are fighting against breast-cancer right now.
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07/31/2007
No TÜV - yeah!
All motorized vehicles in Germany face a tough technical inspection every two years, very old vehicles might even have to undergo the ordeal each year. The almighty organization doing these inspections is called TÜV (Technischer Überwachungs Verein). If your vehicle doesn't pass the test, you must fix it within 30 days - or you are not allowed to drive the old junker anymore.
Indiana, like several other States, doesn't care what shape your car is in - as long as your lights are working and you're not a threat to other motorists.
So, when the last four feet of our Geo Tracker's tail pipe rusted off, Tom just tied the remainder of the exhaust up underneath the car - using an old wire clothes hanger. 
Works like a charm, and the car isn't as loud as it used to be either.
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07/26/2007
PED XING
By now I know, that pedestrians are an endangered species in the USA. Most roads don't have sidewalks along either side. And when they do, these sidewalks are narrow - two people would have a hard time passing each other. Some very nice and promising sidewalks also tend to abruptly end at intersections.
But then there's also a few very funny looking installations, where it seems like somebody thought pedestrians' lifes should be made easier and safer. By providing a pedestrian crossing, for example. One of those very considerate crosswalks is on Union Chapel Road, just across from the Maplecreek Middle School.
The entire length of Union Chapel has no sidewalks anywhere. That particular crosswalk takes you from somebody's back yard, across the road, over a fancy little bridge, to the other side of a ditch - right up to the school's fence. The white lines are shiny. The crosswalk is well maintained, and it is clearly marked with bright yellow PED XING warning signs in both directions.
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07/04/2007
homemade strawberry ice cream
Our July 4th Holiday was a very relaxed one this year. Tom had to work for six hours in the morning, so I decided to work too. Feels different, being a freelance consultant for my former employer in Germany, and picking my own hours.
In the afternoon we had Nancy and Beth over, to enjoy some hamburgers and hot dogs on our new *hybrid* = charcoal and/or gas grill. 
For dessert Tom made delicious strawberry ice cream, from scratch, in a machine he had bought at the auction where we recently got our pool table. This was the most perfect ice cream I've ever had in my life! Smooth, creamy, not too sweet, with little chunks of strawberry melting on your tongue - I don't think I'll be eating any store-bought ice cream anymore, if I can avoid it.
Later in the evening, when it was finally dark enough, Tom and I lit half of our fireworks. We'll keep the other half for Mollie's birthday, since she didn't get to see them. She is staying at her uncle's house for this week.
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05/18/2007
the bulletproof gas station
If you're unfamiliar with an area, and would like to find out if it's *safe* or *rough*, here's a very simple test you can perform. Just visit a gas station in that area - during day-time.
I just went to play the lottery on my way home from work, at a gas station where I usually wouldn't go for gas, because of their prices. 
The cashier was behind a bulletproof window, with a speaker/microphone in it, and a secure transaction tray - something I haven't seen in most banks, much less a gas station.
It felt a bit weird, and I caught myself uneasily looking back over my shoulder, trying to figure out if the guy waiting in line behind me carried a gun. I wouldn't have been surprised, if he wore a ski-mask.
Of course, nothing happened - but that area of Fort Wayne is considered *dangerous*, at least after dark. Even with the bulletproof glass, you might want to step backwards a little, if you're working in one of these gas stations.
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03/24/2007
US tax returns 2006
We still had time, until April 15th, to do our first tax return in the USA. 
But with the extra complication of international income, big moving expenses involved, and Tom being self-employed, we figured it'd be better to have some extra time and do it early.
We got professional help from a very nice lady at H&R Block. Our paperwork fills 17 pages now, and - like we expected - we still have to come up with a lot of money for Tom's federal tax. For 2007 he'll have to pay estimated tax every three months, for being self-employed.
Taxes in the USA are definitely more complicated than in Germany, but you end up paying less, even with federal and state and county taxes added up.
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03/16/2007
call it home?
The first question people ask, after they find out where I moved from, is *don't you miss your hometown a lot?*. And then I start thinking, comparing, wondering.
You can't compare Munich to Fort Wayne. But I can compare my life in Munich to my life in Fort Wayne. Doing that, the answer is a very easy one: there are a few things I miss doing, and a few people I miss seing - but looking at the big picture, my life in Fort Wayne is way better than my life in Munich.
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02/13/2007
get the day off
Finally some real winter! A foot of fresh snow, 40 mph wind, traffic is a mess.
I got up with the intention to go to work anyways. They had a long list of schools being closed on TV, plus a blizzard warning in effect.
Indiana Tech wasn't listed by the time I had to leave, but when I got there, I noticed hardly any cars on the parking lot. The security guard told me to go back home, they didn't want anybody to get stuck there.
So I get an unexpected day off work, some time to relax and cuddle up at home by the fireplace. How romantic! I really hope we'll get snowed in badly.
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02/05/2007
Indianapolis Colts win Superbowl XLI
Wether you like it or not, you can't escape super-bowl Sunday. Especially when the Colts make it to the final round for the first time in 36 years.
Since they won, despite pouring rain in Miami, a lot of people called in sick Monday morning. Which was probably even true, after going way overboard with emotions and alcohol consumption.
To me this sport is about as exciting as soccer in Germany - I don't break a sweat either way.
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12/07/2006
'tis the season
Now we're definitely getting ready for Christmas. It had been very cold, around 25°F for a high, these past few days. And today we finally got our first *real* snowfall for the season (because October 12th didn't really count).
We have a string of 420 little LED lights draped alongside our front porch, to make the house look more festive. Of course we can't compete with our neighbours here in Pine Valley - but it is a start. We'll go on adding to the decoration in the following years.
And I personally built a German *Adventskranz* to light 1, 2, 3, and 4 dark-red cinnamon-scented candles on over the coming weekends. Now all we need to get is our Christmas tree. Of course it will have to be a real tree - no plastic. But, because of our dog, we won't put real candles on the tree this year. That would be too dangerous.
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11/11/2006
Freeze! - so that I can take your picture.
It's getting pretty chilly out, today the high was only 40°F. Too cold for the salamander on our front porch to be able to run away.
So I could take my time, get the camera out, and take a close-up picture of a really pretty black salamander.
When Mollie came home she wanted to take the salamander in, to see if it would move once it thawed out. Of course it did - and now it sits in the bathtub. Armani wants to eat it.
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11/07/2006
still have my (temporary) job
After our vacation trip to Munich Lincoln moved me from the factory location back upstairs. The customer service department needs help with sanning and filing their huge backlog of unfiled purchase orders. So I built myself another tool to speed up the process of renaming and moving those documents once they are scanned.
And in between I am entering tax exempt certificates into the new database.... there's over 2,000 of those - and only three people to do it. With these two tasks on hand my job is guaranteed thru the end of this year, even though it's still a *temporary* job, and I am still not a Lincoln employee.
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10/12/2006
Is it "global warming" or "new ice-age"?
For me this is a new record - first snowfall on October 12th. It lasted only 15 minutes, and it didn't stick either, but it was definitely real snow.
Just the other day we heard the weather forecast, and didn't really believe it was actually going to snow. Snow in October was last recorded in Fort Wayne in 1942. So, is that good or bad? Like always, it's good for some people, and bad for others.
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