Karin's Adventures

being scary

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:25:00 -0500

This year Halloween was on a Saturday, so no reason to spend an entire day in the office dressed up with a scary costume.

I got lucky though!
The invitation to Indiana Tech's 2010 Fund Drive kick-off party said 'feel free to come dressed in your favorite costume'. So I dressed in plain black for the day, and just threw on a cape and painted my face in time for the party.

can you overdo Halloween?

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:35:00 -0500

Fall is well under way, Halloween is quickly approaching. Some people like to decorate their houses with traditional arrangements, like straw and real pumpkins, while others turn to contemporary ornaments, like this one on my way to work.

This small two-story house on North Anthony Boulevard has a twelve feet high blow-up object sitting in the front yard. It is a tasteful (?) work of art, featuring two pumpkins stacked on top of each other, a black cat balancing above, and two friendly ghosts attached sideways.

Going past that always puts a smile on my face. I wonder what kind of people live in the house.

I'm riding again

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:55:00 -0500

It's been over 22 years since I last owned a motorcycle. I enjoyed riding very much, but my life just didn't have any room for a bike in it for a long time. Now things have changed to my favor, and I'll be riding again. Last week we drove to Hayden Honda in Kendallville and bought a blue-silver Honda Shadow Aero.
Today we picked her up.

I was a little nervous at first, because it's been a long time since I last rode. After the first few miles it felt like I'd been riding every day. The weather was favorable too. No rain for the first time in a week, and around 45°F to go with it.

the End of the World

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:22:00 -0500

I watched the 200th episode of my favorite TV show *Alarm für Cobra 11* on RTL's website today. The title was *Das Ende der Welt* (the end of the world).
It was a double-length, action packed, suspenseful story about Semir and Ben saving the world (and themselves) from a deadly virus.

The episode aired last Thursday, and today was the last day that it was available to watch for free on the web.
Tomorrow the next episode will be showing on TV, and then I would have to pay .99 € to watch this one.

I know, I'm cheap.

doing Nothing can be the Best

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:11:00 -0500

For over half a century I have been taught to actively solve problems whenever I am confronted with them. I learned, that it is *good* to act immediately, instead of waiting things out and letting a situation become unbearable for everyone involved. When I see something that isn't *right*, I feel an urge to jump in and help to *fix* things.

During the past ten months, however, I had to learn how to passively watch ugly circumstances turn almost hopeless. All my help, advice, and ideas, which I volunteered in an effort to reduce the damage, were vigorously rejected. Matters had to hit rock bottom before the person in charge finally decided to act responsibly.

While I consider this ordeal a valuable, character building, experience, I am still greatly relieved that it is over. Life seems to be heading in the right direction again, without me doing a thing - other than holding still and staying calm.

Vote for Angela

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:26:00 -0500

Elections for the next Bundestag will be held in Germany on Sunday, September 27th, 2009. I made sure that I was registered to participate and received my ballot today.

If I want Angela Merkel to be Bundeskanzlerin for another four years, I have to be smart enough to know where to place my two votes on this two feet long paper.

Her name is nowhere to be found on any of the roughly 20 parties' lists available to voters in Bavaria; neither is the name of her party, CDU.

I think I got it figured out though; this is the ninth time I'm doing it.

Indiana State Fair

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:37:00 -0500

Did I tell you that I think pigs are cute? Well, to be honest, I'm not so sure about this one. He is four years old and weighs 1175 lbs., or 532 kg for the metric people. He is one of the attractions at the Indiana State Fair, where Tom and I spent roughly four hours walking around in 90°F heat today. Good thing that there are many airconditioned buildings with indoor exhibits to enjoy, otherwise I would have passed out.

We combined a shopping trip to COSTCO in Indianapolis with a visit to the fairgrounds. While the focus is clearly on agriculture, you can see lots of other very interesting inventions. Would you like shoes with big springs under the heels, or an extremely comfortable hanging chair? We signed up to win a Harley, and we calculated our 'health footprints'. I held a two inches long Brazilian cockroach on my hand. Other people where petting centipedes, five inches long, as thick as my thumb.