Karin's Adventures

One of the more noticeable differences in culture between Germany and the USA is the handshake, or lack thereof. At work in Germany I would shake hands with people a lot more often. Haven't seen each other in a week? Well, that calls for a handshake! Going to not see each other for a week or longer? Time to shake hands for a farewell! Going into a meeting with colleagues from a different department? Shaking hands with everybody demonstrates good manners!

Americans shake hands less frequently. Actually, you will shake most people's hand no more than twice: once when you are introduced, and once when you say good-bye forever. While I admit that I had a hard time adjusting to this at first - feeling rejected, because people didn't want to shake hands with me - I was recently made painfully aware of the advantages of not exchanging a handshake with people. Especially if they haven't been educated on how to do this right.

I had an encounter with a knuckle cruncher, an occasion where my self-control was challenged to the point that I almost let out a high-pitched shriek of pure agony. Two days later my right hand is still very tender to the touch. Good thing I won't have to shake hands with that person again for a long time.

The ongoing recession left Fort Wayne with lots of unoccupied retail space, which is now temporarily put to some use by dozens of fireworks sales in preparation of the 4th of July. We will save our money, though. The best place to watch Independence Day fireworks is on top of IPFW's parking garage. Pay $5 and enjoy! 

On March 19th, 2010, my wallet was stolen out of my purse out of my desk drawer at work: http://karin-sadventures.blogspirit.com/archive/2010/03/i...

The banks reversed all unauthorized charges, and I didn't really miss those $20 and change that I carried, but the loss of that wallet hurt. It was a souvenir from Munich, bought only half a year before the incident. Real leather, made in Germany, very expensive and unusual colors. I tried to find one like it the last time we traveled to Munich - no such luck. 

Today, almost 15 months later, I got that wallet back!

Somebody had to go check on some data cables above the ceiling tiles in the men's restroom. And there it was - my wallet had been hidden less than 50 feet away from where I sit.

Call it coincidence, call it luck, call it a miracle,
I call it:
'automatic justice'.

Let me think. The last time a barrel of crude cost just below $100 gas was running at around $3.80 per gallon. So why are they charging $4.14 now? Of course the big oil companies will have no shortage of explanations for the current situation:

First it was the switch to 'summer mix', then there was the civil war in Libya, and don't forget the weakening US-Dollar, and right after that the Mississippi river flooded, currently it's some pipeline problem in Canada...... Whatever it is, us little people can't do much about the price of gasoline. But we can still attempt to lower our personal cost of transportation, even whithout much of public transportation available.

We can scrap unnecessary driving, consolidate trips, look for options closer to home or on our way. We can also ride our motorcycles to work whenever we get the chance. The latest trick we learned is getting a new fuel-efficient car, like our Hyundai Elantra which hit the 40.0 m.p.g. mark recently.

Ha!

This year's extended Memorial Day weekend was packed full with fun and excitement; some of it carefully planned, some completely unexpected. We didn't expect Central Beach at Lake Michigan to be infested with myriads of nasty, blood-sucking horse flies. Which is why, after just a short dip into the refreshingly cold water, we escaped to the more pleasant environment of the Lighthouse Mall in Michigan City.

The tiny Pepperidge Farm outlet store there carries a variety of different cookies and crackers, but today their most prominently displayed item was fish. Goldfish crackers, to be precise. Over a dozen different flavors of it.