To sue or not to sue...
First up, a postman prepares to sue a professor, that he says "sent too many letters" and caused him to pull a muscle in his back. So that's my excuse for not having sent out any christmas cards this year...
On the subject of taking people to court, the National Health Service has decided to take seven drug firms to court for fixing the price of penicillin. Yes, that's right, the service that we most love to hate has actually got our best interests in mind this time.
Now on to marriage. Now I know us men don't like to mention that word, but this needs to be said. According to a recent survey, men's health declines when they marry. Yes, even though for married women their health increases, for us men it's just downhill.
Now we all remember the wartime saying "careless talk costs lives". Well, putting this into the twenty-first century has become easier with this latest example of a cracker being caught by his chats with another cracker. So just remember, they're always watching you...
A new one for the Nigerian 419ers. No, they're not an american football team, but people who offer you large sums of money if you can help them transfer huge funds out of Nigeria for them. Obviously the previsouly need a couple of thousand in order to get all the paperwork done first...
Well, they have relocated to Iraq, judging by this latest article at TheRegister.
And finally, snow fell for the first time this winter in Mainz yesterday. Yes, the cold weather arrived early and froze up the roads, public transport system, and many a body. Let's just hope the airports are okay as I'm off home tomorrow, yippee !!
And with that I'll say a very frozen, Merry Chrsitmas and a Happy New Year.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Another Channel Tunnel, Saddam, and Bad IE
Probably the most important story of the day, is that is has been reported that Saddam Hussein has been caught. I know I'm not a military nor political genious, but I have two points I would like to make about this:
1) Does the photo on this page really look like Saddam? After having heard reports of him having various 'doubles', it's hard to believe that an ex-leader of a country would let himself be seen with a beard like that !!
2) Wasn't the "Where's Wally" search meant to be for Osama Bin Laden? Wasn't it meant to be him and his Al Queda group that were responsible for the attacks on New York, and was the reason for this "War on Terrorism"?? Maybe I got mixed up, perhaps the dangerous man's name was Bush...
Now on to continental divides. We all know how the relation is between Spain and Morocco (need I mention Perejil...) and also between Spain and the UK (hehem, Gibraltar). Well, the spanish government have decided they are going to build a tunnel between Africa and Europe. I just hope that they have investigated the effects this link will have on the influx of illegal immigrants (just look at the anglo-french version).
And now a little bit of info for those of you wandering around cyberspace without a map. I have, on my page of useful sites, a link to the magnificent Firebird/Mozilla browser. However, I know that most of you don't see the reason in changing when you are quite happy with the one you have. I don't want to force you to make the change (okay, I do, but I know you wouldn't listen), but I would like to point out the many security problems which occur when your version is not updated with the latest patches. There are various examples that will remove data from your hard-drive, crash your computer etc, but I'm not going to show you the hard way. Instead I'll just show you a harmless example that takes you to a site that isn't what it seems. Just click on this link to be taken to the test site. Once you click on the button you are taken to another site of theirs. But have you checked the address bar in your browser. Are you really at the MS site? This hiding of addresses only happens on Internet Explorer. I will now leave you to decide...
And here endeth the lesson
Probably the most important story of the day, is that is has been reported that Saddam Hussein has been caught. I know I'm not a military nor political genious, but I have two points I would like to make about this:
1) Does the photo on this page really look like Saddam? After having heard reports of him having various 'doubles', it's hard to believe that an ex-leader of a country would let himself be seen with a beard like that !!
2) Wasn't the "Where's Wally" search meant to be for Osama Bin Laden? Wasn't it meant to be him and his Al Queda group that were responsible for the attacks on New York, and was the reason for this "War on Terrorism"?? Maybe I got mixed up, perhaps the dangerous man's name was Bush...
Now on to continental divides. We all know how the relation is between Spain and Morocco (need I mention Perejil...) and also between Spain and the UK (hehem, Gibraltar). Well, the spanish government have decided they are going to build a tunnel between Africa and Europe. I just hope that they have investigated the effects this link will have on the influx of illegal immigrants (just look at the anglo-french version).
And now a little bit of info for those of you wandering around cyberspace without a map. I have, on my page of useful sites, a link to the magnificent Firebird/Mozilla browser. However, I know that most of you don't see the reason in changing when you are quite happy with the one you have. I don't want to force you to make the change (okay, I do, but I know you wouldn't listen), but I would like to point out the many security problems which occur when your version is not updated with the latest patches. There are various examples that will remove data from your hard-drive, crash your computer etc, but I'm not going to show you the hard way. Instead I'll just show you a harmless example that takes you to a site that isn't what it seems. Just click on this link to be taken to the test site. Once you click on the button you are taken to another site of theirs. But have you checked the address bar in your browser. Are you really at the MS site? This hiding of addresses only happens on Internet Explorer. I will now leave you to decide...
And here endeth the lesson
Friday, December 12, 2003
News, news and more news
Lots to catch up on now, where to begin...
The US has decided to be selfish again, and not let any country who didn't help it in it's war against Iraq be able to bid for reconstruction contracts. Yep, after doing the same for the oil contracts, it seems more and more like the only country who's going to benefit from this war is the US (instead of the Iraqi people).
Keeping on the same subject, an Iraqi secret service is to be formed by, guess what, the US' CIA. What's important here is that it's goal is "to spy on enemies of the US-backed authorities in Iraq". And again, there was I thinking it would be a multinational role, trying to help defend Iraq from it's enemies...
Meanwhile in the UK, whilst on one front trying to secure the release of British hostages by the US in Guantanamo Bay, it seems to be cleverly concealed that it has it's own camp within it's borders, in the form of the new anti-terror laws.
Meanwhile, in Guatemala, something equally as horrifying is happening on this island, with around four women or young girls being killed every week.
On a different note, it has been motioned that nursery rhymes are unrealistic and put kid's at risk.
Some times political correctness just goes too far.
And for those of you wanting to build your own cruise missile from household materials for just five thousand dollars, you will have to search a bit harder for the info, as the site where the info was held (in Australia) has been shut down by, surprise surprise, the US.
Finally, for those of you permanently stuck in front of daytime tv in the UK, and sad after hearing that Zora Suleman will no longer be shown on the box, will hopefully be pleased to learn that she will be returning to the media, in the form of radio. Doesn't quite have the same effect, does it?
Well, after all that, your tea is probably cold, and the food is burnt in the oven. So why not go out to the pub instead. I will, unfortunately, not be able to as tomorrow I will be giving a physics exam to the chemistry students, and then marking it.
Oh, what fun !
Lots to catch up on now, where to begin...
The US has decided to be selfish again, and not let any country who didn't help it in it's war against Iraq be able to bid for reconstruction contracts. Yep, after doing the same for the oil contracts, it seems more and more like the only country who's going to benefit from this war is the US (instead of the Iraqi people).
Keeping on the same subject, an Iraqi secret service is to be formed by, guess what, the US' CIA. What's important here is that it's goal is "to spy on enemies of the US-backed authorities in Iraq". And again, there was I thinking it would be a multinational role, trying to help defend Iraq from it's enemies...
Meanwhile in the UK, whilst on one front trying to secure the release of British hostages by the US in Guantanamo Bay, it seems to be cleverly concealed that it has it's own camp within it's borders, in the form of the new anti-terror laws.
Meanwhile, in Guatemala, something equally as horrifying is happening on this island, with around four women or young girls being killed every week.
On a different note, it has been motioned that nursery rhymes are unrealistic and put kid's at risk.
Some times political correctness just goes too far.
And for those of you wanting to build your own cruise missile from household materials for just five thousand dollars, you will have to search a bit harder for the info, as the site where the info was held (in Australia) has been shut down by, surprise surprise, the US.
Finally, for those of you permanently stuck in front of daytime tv in the UK, and sad after hearing that Zora Suleman will no longer be shown on the box, will hopefully be pleased to learn that she will be returning to the media, in the form of radio. Doesn't quite have the same effect, does it?
Well, after all that, your tea is probably cold, and the food is burnt in the oven. So why not go out to the pub instead. I will, unfortunately, not be able to as tomorrow I will be giving a physics exam to the chemistry students, and then marking it.
Oh, what fun !
Monday, December 08, 2003
More Violent Women, Toilet Art, and Brazil's Power Cut
Following on from the story last monday, another case of violence in women has arisen, and this time takes with it the case for fast food being bad for your health. A woman in Texas decided that the best way to complain that she didn't get any mayonnaise in her burger was to run over the manager of the drive-in and drag her around the car-park. Yes, it really is unbelievable, that for a dollop of sauce someone could harm another person in this way. Of course, some people might draw conclusions from this about the sanity of the average fast food customer...
Vistor's to London's Tate Britain gallery will be seeing an unusual test of courage displayed outside the building. A one-way mirrored glass toilet stands in the middle of the pavement for people to use. Of course, many people become to nervous once they have entered, because although from the outside is seems to be covered in mirrors, when inside you see all the people walking by. Are you man enough?...
And now looking at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry we see...nothing. That's right, the next victim of the forgot-to-put-the-cheque-in-the-post excuse for not paying the electricity bills became a government department. Just goes to show, not even politicians are immune from the wrath of the capitalists...
Other things that have been happening recently, is that Javi has come back from his trip to Stuttgart, and is back off to Bologna tomorrow, and then goes off with Albe to Greece in a ship. Oh, to live the life...
Carlitos gave his presentation today in front of the whole research group. Of course, some of the profs managed to interrupt him every two seconds. Ah well.
Oh, and for those of you who use the Klite file sharing program, it would be wise to read this article from TheRegister which talks about the fact that the sites offering this program are being shut down by the original Kazaa.
That's it for now...
Following on from the story last monday, another case of violence in women has arisen, and this time takes with it the case for fast food being bad for your health. A woman in Texas decided that the best way to complain that she didn't get any mayonnaise in her burger was to run over the manager of the drive-in and drag her around the car-park. Yes, it really is unbelievable, that for a dollop of sauce someone could harm another person in this way. Of course, some people might draw conclusions from this about the sanity of the average fast food customer...
Vistor's to London's Tate Britain gallery will be seeing an unusual test of courage displayed outside the building. A one-way mirrored glass toilet stands in the middle of the pavement for people to use. Of course, many people become to nervous once they have entered, because although from the outside is seems to be covered in mirrors, when inside you see all the people walking by. Are you man enough?...
And now looking at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry we see...nothing. That's right, the next victim of the forgot-to-put-the-cheque-in-the-post excuse for not paying the electricity bills became a government department. Just goes to show, not even politicians are immune from the wrath of the capitalists...
Other things that have been happening recently, is that Javi has come back from his trip to Stuttgart, and is back off to Bologna tomorrow, and then goes off with Albe to Greece in a ship. Oh, to live the life...
Carlitos gave his presentation today in front of the whole research group. Of course, some of the profs managed to interrupt him every two seconds. Ah well.
Oh, and for those of you who use the Klite file sharing program, it would be wise to read this article from TheRegister which talks about the fact that the sites offering this program are being shut down by the original Kazaa.
That's it for now...
Monday, December 01, 2003
Violent Women, Drugs and Baby-Money
Sounds like a new action film, doesn't it?
In Kenya women are taking the fight (literally) back to their husbands, as there has been a recorded rise in domestic violence against men.
The U.S. military has got in a fuss again, this time about the European Galileo Satellite System. They don't see it as necessary that another country has a Global Positioning System in place (that works down to metre accuracy), obviously as this would mean some foreign power would have the same knowledge as the U.S. would. That cannot be tolerated, apparently, and they are trying to incorporate a blocking system, whereby at the touch of a button, they could switch off the European System. Doesn't quite seem fair, does it?
In another political nonsense move, Italy has decided to award families who have at least one child, 1000 Euros if they have another before the end of 2004. Of course, they have so far not mentioned anything about changing sex-education lessons in school (which decrease the birth rate slightly - except if the children attend the lessons in England, of course, where they get to see pornographic films from the age of 6, in which case the birth rate would shoot through the roof, metaphorically speaking). Maybe someone should tell the Italian government that.
On another note, there's obviously no better time for Javi and Albe to be living in pasta country !! So for all those males out there, get down to Italy now. Hint: if you go to a village called Laviano, near Naples, the mayor is offering 10 thousand Euros with no strings attached - that makes 11 thousand per child. It should just about cover the first year at University then. Who said making money wasn't fun?
Some people may have heard the news that Jordi went off to Bologna for the weekend, for the graduation ceremony (or party at least) of Paolo the Sard. Well, I daren't guess what antics those lot got up to over the last couple of days, but suffice it to say that Jordi missed his plane back to Germany this morning. Last I heard, he was begging in the car-park for money to help him buy a new ticket.
Donations will be accepted to help him come back...
Sounds like a new action film, doesn't it?
In Kenya women are taking the fight (literally) back to their husbands, as there has been a recorded rise in domestic violence against men.
The U.S. military has got in a fuss again, this time about the European Galileo Satellite System. They don't see it as necessary that another country has a Global Positioning System in place (that works down to metre accuracy), obviously as this would mean some foreign power would have the same knowledge as the U.S. would. That cannot be tolerated, apparently, and they are trying to incorporate a blocking system, whereby at the touch of a button, they could switch off the European System. Doesn't quite seem fair, does it?
In another political nonsense move, Italy has decided to award families who have at least one child, 1000 Euros if they have another before the end of 2004. Of course, they have so far not mentioned anything about changing sex-education lessons in school (which decrease the birth rate slightly - except if the children attend the lessons in England, of course, where they get to see pornographic films from the age of 6, in which case the birth rate would shoot through the roof, metaphorically speaking). Maybe someone should tell the Italian government that.
On another note, there's obviously no better time for Javi and Albe to be living in pasta country !! So for all those males out there, get down to Italy now. Hint: if you go to a village called Laviano, near Naples, the mayor is offering 10 thousand Euros with no strings attached - that makes 11 thousand per child. It should just about cover the first year at University then. Who said making money wasn't fun?
Some people may have heard the news that Jordi went off to Bologna for the weekend, for the graduation ceremony (or party at least) of Paolo the Sard. Well, I daren't guess what antics those lot got up to over the last couple of days, but suffice it to say that Jordi missed his plane back to Germany this morning. Last I heard, he was begging in the car-park for money to help him buy a new ticket.
Donations will be accepted to help him come back...
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Weekend News
Something to have with your morning coffee, 67 year old Ursula Andress in James Bond - Dr No has been voted TVs most sexiest scene. Just goes to show that age doesn't matter. What is interesting in this article is that at number eight in this list, is Jessica Rabbit. Enough said.
Be careful when you next go shopping, especially around Christmas and New Year's, as one lady in Florida was knocked unconscious when the doors opened for a sale to begin. However, the store in question decided that it's condolences were enough, and they didn't even offer to give her the 30 dollar DVD player for free !
In Italy, plans are afoot for a new 'Mussolini' political party. I thought that was the ruling one at the moment anyway? Sorry, that's Berlusconi. Silly me.
Now some new scientific revelations. Did you know that there is a formular for a perfect family game? Well now you do. It was invented to stop all those post-monopoly fights that always occur at christmas time.
And for those of you wanting to know how to butter toast correctly, there's an equation for that too :)
Well, we're back to the winter weather again here now, and just in time the christmas markets have arrived to Mainz. That means there's going to be some nice warm spicy wine to cool up those evenings spent waiting for the bus.
New week ahead...
Something to have with your morning coffee, 67 year old Ursula Andress in James Bond - Dr No has been voted TVs most sexiest scene. Just goes to show that age doesn't matter. What is interesting in this article is that at number eight in this list, is Jessica Rabbit. Enough said.
Be careful when you next go shopping, especially around Christmas and New Year's, as one lady in Florida was knocked unconscious when the doors opened for a sale to begin. However, the store in question decided that it's condolences were enough, and they didn't even offer to give her the 30 dollar DVD player for free !
In Italy, plans are afoot for a new 'Mussolini' political party. I thought that was the ruling one at the moment anyway? Sorry, that's Berlusconi. Silly me.
Now some new scientific revelations. Did you know that there is a formular for a perfect family game? Well now you do. It was invented to stop all those post-monopoly fights that always occur at christmas time.
And for those of you wanting to know how to butter toast correctly, there's an equation for that too :)
Well, we're back to the winter weather again here now, and just in time the christmas markets have arrived to Mainz. That means there's going to be some nice warm spicy wine to cool up those evenings spent waiting for the bus.
New week ahead...
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Going Too Far
We all know how far political correctness can go in some areas of life, especially in the office, but now it's managed to creep it's way into the IT sector. The standard way of labelling devices in a computer is to have a 'master' and a 'slave', one that takes priority and that doesn't. However, in LA they are declaring this labelling method as politically incorrect. Like it really affects people how you call your hard disks !!
For those ladies out there who are having particular problems, there is a new device that has been invented which gives orgasms at the push of a button. However, in order for trials to go ahead, they need enough volunteers, which so far they haven't found. So anyone interested, give them a call.
Now a piece of news for the non-squeamish amongst you. Animals which have entered people's bodies whilst they have been on holiday in exotic places have been discovered in the most alien-like fashion (lumps moving about on the top of the head, wormheads poking out of noses...). Read this story from the BBC to find out what can happen.
Sweet Dreams...
We all know how far political correctness can go in some areas of life, especially in the office, but now it's managed to creep it's way into the IT sector. The standard way of labelling devices in a computer is to have a 'master' and a 'slave', one that takes priority and that doesn't. However, in LA they are declaring this labelling method as politically incorrect. Like it really affects people how you call your hard disks !!
For those ladies out there who are having particular problems, there is a new device that has been invented which gives orgasms at the push of a button. However, in order for trials to go ahead, they need enough volunteers, which so far they haven't found. So anyone interested, give them a call.
Now a piece of news for the non-squeamish amongst you. Animals which have entered people's bodies whilst they have been on holiday in exotic places have been discovered in the most alien-like fashion (lumps moving about on the top of the head, wormheads poking out of noses...). Read this story from the BBC to find out what can happen.
Sweet Dreams...
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
News, News and more News
Ever had enough of all those offers for body enhancements, prescription drugs, and Nigerian money transfers? Well, so did someone else, but he took it a stage too far and threatened the spammers as well.
After mentioning about German authorities planning to abolish the wearing of headscarves in schools, a French judge sent a woman juror home after she turned up wearing a headscarf. She was muslim, but one has to note in this article that she originally turned up for the selection procedures without one (ie that she did not feel it necessary to wear it all the time).
And finally, doctors have called for a complete ban on smoking in public places, citing definite evidence for passive smoking being the cause of more than a thousand deaths a year in the UK. About time too !!
On a more personal note, this Sunday sees a certain Frenchman celebrate his birthday. Sources have it that he is hoping for a cake wherefrom five scantilly-clad women come out. If anyone is planning to get him this, please give a warning to me so that I can get my camera ready in time :)
back to the drawing board...
Ever had enough of all those offers for body enhancements, prescription drugs, and Nigerian money transfers? Well, so did someone else, but he took it a stage too far and threatened the spammers as well.
After mentioning about German authorities planning to abolish the wearing of headscarves in schools, a French judge sent a woman juror home after she turned up wearing a headscarf. She was muslim, but one has to note in this article that she originally turned up for the selection procedures without one (ie that she did not feel it necessary to wear it all the time).
And finally, doctors have called for a complete ban on smoking in public places, citing definite evidence for passive smoking being the cause of more than a thousand deaths a year in the UK. About time too !!
On a more personal note, this Sunday sees a certain Frenchman celebrate his birthday. Sources have it that he is hoping for a cake wherefrom five scantilly-clad women come out. If anyone is planning to get him this, please give a warning to me so that I can get my camera ready in time :)
back to the drawing board...
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Success and More Photos
The major news story is that yesterday England beat Australia to win the Rugby World Cup. The first time a country from the northern hemisphere has won it.
Talking about winning, an englishman has just won the transatlantic boat race.
There are many jokes about the German sense of humour, but I would like to disprove them with the following news story. In Berlin they are introducing rubbish bins that talk. Yes that's right, they thank you in one of various languages for throwing away your trash. Apparently they wanted them to encourage people in a "nice, funny" way. I think something went wrong in the translation, as to most of us we would call it a "stupid" way. However, maybe I should be careful about what I say, as the following story proves.
A cannibal who ate people he met on the internet in Germany, has said that he's sorry. Well, that makes us all feel better now then, doesn't it? Just goes to show there are all sorts of people out there - be careful who you annoy...
Now for those of you have been on the edges of your seats for ages awaiting the photos from the summer parties to be put up, I can now tell you, the fiesta de la fresa and hechtsheimer sommerfest 2003 photos are now up for viewing. Sorry for the delay.
Just a brief note to say that Friday night I finally got back to my old habit of cooking a load of crepes, this time at Lobelto's place. And Saturday night saw me take my turn at chinese cooking for them (seeing as I have now discovered the Asiamarkt in Mainz).
Well, about dinnertime now..mmm....
The major news story is that yesterday England beat Australia to win the Rugby World Cup. The first time a country from the northern hemisphere has won it.
Talking about winning, an englishman has just won the transatlantic boat race.
There are many jokes about the German sense of humour, but I would like to disprove them with the following news story. In Berlin they are introducing rubbish bins that talk. Yes that's right, they thank you in one of various languages for throwing away your trash. Apparently they wanted them to encourage people in a "nice, funny" way. I think something went wrong in the translation, as to most of us we would call it a "stupid" way. However, maybe I should be careful about what I say, as the following story proves.
A cannibal who ate people he met on the internet in Germany, has said that he's sorry. Well, that makes us all feel better now then, doesn't it? Just goes to show there are all sorts of people out there - be careful who you annoy...
Now for those of you have been on the edges of your seats for ages awaiting the photos from the summer parties to be put up, I can now tell you, the fiesta de la fresa and hechtsheimer sommerfest 2003 photos are now up for viewing. Sorry for the delay.
Just a brief note to say that Friday night I finally got back to my old habit of cooking a load of crepes, this time at Lobelto's place. And Saturday night saw me take my turn at chinese cooking for them (seeing as I have now discovered the Asiamarkt in Mainz).
Well, about dinnertime now..mmm....
Friday, November 14, 2003
News news news
First up, a little bit of natter from Germany. A little village in the north of Hamburg has been living in a tax-haven for the last 300 years, but now it seems the finance ministry wants to end this and change it's status of the most unfashionable tax-haven. I'm sure this really affects lots of you.
The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is making moves to ban the wearing of headscarves by muslims in schools. Six other states are also planning to follow later on in this headwear-discrimination act. However, christian or jewish religious clothing is not to be banned. Furthermore, Hesse, Berlin and Saarland want headscarves banned in all public services. Talk about racism, this is just plain ridiculous !! Next thing we won't be able to wear t-shirts with foreign bands on, nor listen to music that isn't of the German Folkmusic type !!
Due to economic problems in Russia, the inhabitants have had to endure many things, but this last measure just went too far. Due to the extremely dry year they have had, there is a severe shortage of water in the region of Vladivostok, which has meant that people only get 3 hours of water every other day. That makes 10.5 hours of water in a week !! However, ingenious as ever, the people have managed to find a way to access more water by tapping into their radiators. That's right, once the water has finished heating the house, it is taken out for drinking, cooking, washing etc.
Next time you travel through an airport, you never know what they could be looking at as you pass through the screening area. New tests have shown they can scan through clothing to see anything hidden underneath, including your body. Of course they are being told they will have to add little fig-leaves to the image to cover up the delicate parts...
And finally, a new site has started up to inform all your friends (and enemies) when you die. All sorts of possibilities spring to mind...
Now something more personal, Alex (Cortega's big bro) came over from where he's currently working (near Frankfurt) to visit us here in Mainz and we went out for a few drinks to the renowned Eisgrub. Very welcome.
Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles...
First up, a little bit of natter from Germany. A little village in the north of Hamburg has been living in a tax-haven for the last 300 years, but now it seems the finance ministry wants to end this and change it's status of the most unfashionable tax-haven. I'm sure this really affects lots of you.
The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is making moves to ban the wearing of headscarves by muslims in schools. Six other states are also planning to follow later on in this headwear-discrimination act. However, christian or jewish religious clothing is not to be banned. Furthermore, Hesse, Berlin and Saarland want headscarves banned in all public services. Talk about racism, this is just plain ridiculous !! Next thing we won't be able to wear t-shirts with foreign bands on, nor listen to music that isn't of the German Folkmusic type !!
Due to economic problems in Russia, the inhabitants have had to endure many things, but this last measure just went too far. Due to the extremely dry year they have had, there is a severe shortage of water in the region of Vladivostok, which has meant that people only get 3 hours of water every other day. That makes 10.5 hours of water in a week !! However, ingenious as ever, the people have managed to find a way to access more water by tapping into their radiators. That's right, once the water has finished heating the house, it is taken out for drinking, cooking, washing etc.
Next time you travel through an airport, you never know what they could be looking at as you pass through the screening area. New tests have shown they can scan through clothing to see anything hidden underneath, including your body. Of course they are being told they will have to add little fig-leaves to the image to cover up the delicate parts...
And finally, a new site has started up to inform all your friends (and enemies) when you die. All sorts of possibilities spring to mind...
Now something more personal, Alex (Cortega's big bro) came over from where he's currently working (near Frankfurt) to visit us here in Mainz and we went out for a few drinks to the renowned Eisgrub. Very welcome.
Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles...
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Remembering the past and protecting the future
Today at 11:11am will be, like every year since the end of the First World War, two minutes of silence will be held to remember those that lost their lives fighting for us. To find out why we wear poppies on this day, or what the significance of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is, visit the remembrance section of the BBC.
Now most virus warnings go out without much notice being taken, as most people who have an anti-virus program installed, and regularly update the virus definitions do not get affected. However, due to the fact that I have received no less than 7 copies of this virus sent to me within the last few days, at least one person I know is not fully protected. It's very difficult to trace from whom the viruses come, as they use names and addresses stored on the infected computer as the sender of the emails. So if you're not fully updated, do it now. To find out more about this virus, visit this page at the Symantec website.
Now for anyone roaming through london with their laptop, or any workers taking lunch outside (I know it's cold and possibly raining, but there are some mad people in this world :) If you head towards Piccadilly Circus, you will find blanket (ie total) Wi-Fi (wireless internet) coverage, thanks to a company named Broadreach. More info at The Register.
Well, no rest for the wicked...
Today at 11:11am will be, like every year since the end of the First World War, two minutes of silence will be held to remember those that lost their lives fighting for us. To find out why we wear poppies on this day, or what the significance of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is, visit the remembrance section of the BBC.
Now most virus warnings go out without much notice being taken, as most people who have an anti-virus program installed, and regularly update the virus definitions do not get affected. However, due to the fact that I have received no less than 7 copies of this virus sent to me within the last few days, at least one person I know is not fully protected. It's very difficult to trace from whom the viruses come, as they use names and addresses stored on the infected computer as the sender of the emails. So if you're not fully updated, do it now. To find out more about this virus, visit this page at the Symantec website.
Now for anyone roaming through london with their laptop, or any workers taking lunch outside (I know it's cold and possibly raining, but there are some mad people in this world :) If you head towards Piccadilly Circus, you will find blanket (ie total) Wi-Fi (wireless internet) coverage, thanks to a company named Broadreach. More info at The Register.
Well, no rest for the wicked...
Friday, November 07, 2003
Birthdays and a bit of news
This last week has seen a mountain of birthdays go by, so here goes...Ana (31st), Mavi (1st), Patricia (2nd), oh, and mine (1st) (sorry if I've forgotten anyone - tell me and I'll add you in :)
Not as a celebration, rather as a medical checkup I also went back home (ok, parent's home then) for a couple of days. Mostly did my christmas shopping (well, ok, just shopping really, but it sounds like I'm organised if I say I've already done my christmas shopping :)
The flight over was interesting, as we were in the middle of a hailstorm in Hahn, so we skidded all over the runway, and when we took off we were also tilting in all directions. However, this was nothing compared to the shock we got when we saw a bolt of lightning hit the wing of our plane. Seeing an explosion of light hitting the thing that stands between you and about forty thousand feet of air to fall through isn't the most reassuring of things, but after the lights got turned back on and we moved out of the hailstorm we managed to put our hearts back into their normal places.
Apart from classes starting this week, and those of us who have them attending them, nothing else has happened to detract from the coldness of the weather here in Germany (in the UK we had 16 degrees !!)
A couple of news briefs, however, have come to my attention.
A study was carried out in Oxford Street (I went there on tuesday to do my shopping :) to find out how to recognise a geek (ok, physics student). Read this article to find out how.
For those of you who thought that Paris was the centre for high society, take a look again. One of it's main department stores has decided to offer courses in stripping to it's female customers. Of course, it doesn't state if it's offering courses in videoing for it's male customers :)
And now for a truly ingenious idea, is that of anonymous blogging. That's right, those people that don't want other people to find out who it is writing web logs can now type away in safe knowledge that they can't be found out.
Well, got a project to do, and not much time to finish it in.
see ya
This last week has seen a mountain of birthdays go by, so here goes...Ana (31st), Mavi (1st), Patricia (2nd), oh, and mine (1st) (sorry if I've forgotten anyone - tell me and I'll add you in :)
Not as a celebration, rather as a medical checkup I also went back home (ok, parent's home then) for a couple of days. Mostly did my christmas shopping (well, ok, just shopping really, but it sounds like I'm organised if I say I've already done my christmas shopping :)
The flight over was interesting, as we were in the middle of a hailstorm in Hahn, so we skidded all over the runway, and when we took off we were also tilting in all directions. However, this was nothing compared to the shock we got when we saw a bolt of lightning hit the wing of our plane. Seeing an explosion of light hitting the thing that stands between you and about forty thousand feet of air to fall through isn't the most reassuring of things, but after the lights got turned back on and we moved out of the hailstorm we managed to put our hearts back into their normal places.
Apart from classes starting this week, and those of us who have them attending them, nothing else has happened to detract from the coldness of the weather here in Germany (in the UK we had 16 degrees !!)
A couple of news briefs, however, have come to my attention.
A study was carried out in Oxford Street (I went there on tuesday to do my shopping :) to find out how to recognise a geek (ok, physics student). Read this article to find out how.
For those of you who thought that Paris was the centre for high society, take a look again. One of it's main department stores has decided to offer courses in stripping to it's female customers. Of course, it doesn't state if it's offering courses in videoing for it's male customers :)
And now for a truly ingenious idea, is that of anonymous blogging. That's right, those people that don't want other people to find out who it is writing web logs can now type away in safe knowledge that they can't be found out.
Well, got a project to do, and not much time to finish it in.
see ya
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Back from the Brink
Of Lake Leman, that is :)
The weekend was great, good to see our old friend (old as in more experience than the rest of us put together) Laurent before he sets off for Angola. It will definitely be a change of lifestyle...let's just hope he stays safe there. On this trip we also made some new friends, and Jordi noticed how beautiful some of the swiss women are, for a change (some?? he was noticing them all !!!).
Now for a bit of news.
As always somebody else is to blame, which is why Italy is blaming Switzerland for the electricity blackout they had the other day.
As most of you will know by now, we English are a bit strange. Now you can have some proof, as the cathedral choir of one of our southern cities (Portsmouth) have stripped off for a calendar. Okay, they are raising money for the church after all...
Now for something you really have to read. A man's mechanical lifesize dog which, let's say, has 'wind problems' was stopped and thoroughly searched at an american airport following their sensors going off for high explosives.
Well, that's how the world stands at the moment. Just left for me to say that Ruben (the andaluz) is off tomorrow back to the sunny parts of Spain, so let's bid him a fond farewell.
Ciao for now
Of Lake Leman, that is :)
The weekend was great, good to see our old friend (old as in more experience than the rest of us put together) Laurent before he sets off for Angola. It will definitely be a change of lifestyle...let's just hope he stays safe there. On this trip we also made some new friends, and Jordi noticed how beautiful some of the swiss women are, for a change (some?? he was noticing them all !!!).
Now for a bit of news.
As always somebody else is to blame, which is why Italy is blaming Switzerland for the electricity blackout they had the other day.
As most of you will know by now, we English are a bit strange. Now you can have some proof, as the cathedral choir of one of our southern cities (Portsmouth) have stripped off for a calendar. Okay, they are raising money for the church after all...
Now for something you really have to read. A man's mechanical lifesize dog which, let's say, has 'wind problems' was stopped and thoroughly searched at an american airport following their sensors going off for high explosives.
Well, that's how the world stands at the moment. Just left for me to say that Ruben (the andaluz) is off tomorrow back to the sunny parts of Spain, so let's bid him a fond farewell.
Ciao for now
Friday, October 24, 2003
Farewells
Probably the most international goodbye goes out to Concorde, who's last journey is due to take place this morning. And to think I never even got to ride in it once !
More locally, a brief goodbye goes to Mainz, because Luca, Jordi and myself are off to Switzerland to see our main man Cortega celebrating his graduation before he goes off to, where was it again? Iraq, Israel, never mind, somewhere dangerous, for sure.
And finally, we have said goodbye to the moderate weather of autumn (did it really exist this year?) as the frost has finally arrived and we walk with frozen feet, noses, ears and hands through the streets. Now where did I put my mittens...
that's it for now, got to pack,
Au revoir
Probably the most international goodbye goes out to Concorde, who's last journey is due to take place this morning. And to think I never even got to ride in it once !
More locally, a brief goodbye goes to Mainz, because Luca, Jordi and myself are off to Switzerland to see our main man Cortega celebrating his graduation before he goes off to, where was it again? Iraq, Israel, never mind, somewhere dangerous, for sure.
And finally, we have said goodbye to the moderate weather of autumn (did it really exist this year?) as the frost has finally arrived and we walk with frozen feet, noses, ears and hands through the streets. Now where did I put my mittens...
that's it for now, got to pack,
Au revoir
Monday, October 20, 2003
Breakfast News
What would you say if I told you that a man encased himself in a perspex box and hung it from a tower bridge for 44 days and only drank water? Impossible? No, illusionist David Blaine has just walked out of it (with the aid of a stretcher)
In Buenos Aires an arsy bit of art has been put on display. Images of 600 bottoms are shown in the exhibition by Chilean visual artist Catalina Riutort.
Now we all know that women never like their own bodies (despite the fact that men like women's bodies very much) . But after a survey of forty-five thousand women commissioned by AOL, the figures are staggering. Sixty percent couldn't stand the way they looked, and nearly ten percent said they would change their whole bodies if the cosmetic surgery was free !!! But the most important figure is that of twenty-six percent of women find shopping for clothes makes them more unhappy about their bodies. Well, there's a simple solution to this one, which men have being trying to tell their wives for centuries - that they don't need any more clothes !!!
And finally, another strange story from this land that is Germany. A judge found in favour of the Mainz coucil, that it should not have to pay for a new toilet seat for a person on social welfare, when it broke through normal usage. Very important decision, wouldn't you say so?
Post-note: Olguis plane had electrical difficulties and so she's waiting for a new one. Let's hope she gets back fine, safe, and above all soon !
What would you say if I told you that a man encased himself in a perspex box and hung it from a tower bridge for 44 days and only drank water? Impossible? No, illusionist David Blaine has just walked out of it (with the aid of a stretcher)
In Buenos Aires an arsy bit of art has been put on display. Images of 600 bottoms are shown in the exhibition by Chilean visual artist Catalina Riutort.
Now we all know that women never like their own bodies (despite the fact that men like women's bodies very much) . But after a survey of forty-five thousand women commissioned by AOL, the figures are staggering. Sixty percent couldn't stand the way they looked, and nearly ten percent said they would change their whole bodies if the cosmetic surgery was free !!! But the most important figure is that of twenty-six percent of women find shopping for clothes makes them more unhappy about their bodies. Well, there's a simple solution to this one, which men have being trying to tell their wives for centuries - that they don't need any more clothes !!!
And finally, another strange story from this land that is Germany. A judge found in favour of the Mainz coucil, that it should not have to pay for a new toilet seat for a person on social welfare, when it broke through normal usage. Very important decision, wouldn't you say so?
Post-note: Olguis plane had electrical difficulties and so she's waiting for a new one. Let's hope she gets back fine, safe, and above all soon !
Sunday, October 19, 2003
South American Special
Not really that special, but the only news is of South America, so why not call it that?
Bolivia now has a new president, and the rioting has at last calmed down there. Let's hope he can succeed where the last one failed.
After citing the article on my spanish webpage about the positive effects of coffee on potency in men, it is therefore surprising to find that one of the largest producers (and consumers) of coffee spends so much on other methods of aid.
And to finish off this trans-atlantic posting, Olguis will be coming back tomorrow. Bon voyage !
bye
Not really that special, but the only news is of South America, so why not call it that?
Bolivia now has a new president, and the rioting has at last calmed down there. Let's hope he can succeed where the last one failed.
After citing the article on my spanish webpage about the positive effects of coffee on potency in men, it is therefore surprising to find that one of the largest producers (and consumers) of coffee spends so much on other methods of aid.
And to finish off this trans-atlantic posting, Olguis will be coming back tomorrow. Bon voyage !
bye
Thursday, October 16, 2003
News Titbits
Most importantly, Alberto went home back to Spain yesterday. Let's hope his Seat Ibiza got hime there safe and sound, and that the 3 cases of beer arrived without a bottle being opened...
Now onto some more international news.
One of the main leaders of the rebel group FARC in Colombia has made moves towards a peace talk. What with the hostages still being held near Santa Marta, and the continued attempts on the lives of mayoral candidates before the elections, let's just hope this new move is taken seriously by both sides.
Something a bit closer to home now (ie Germany) in that a man has been arrested on suspicion of teaching his dog to do the Nazi salute. It could only happen here. Oh, and the dog's name is Adolf.
Well that's about it for now, although congratulations are in order to the chinese for being the third nation to put a man up in space. In fact, they were meant to be the first nation to put a man and his dog in space, but when the sweet-and-sour-pork packet burst on take-off there was no other option...
Also, congratulations go out to Olgui who has now been excepted on her course in psychology here. As everyone knows, it's very difficult for foreigners to get on these limited-entrance courses, so well done to her !
Better get back to putting variables into my program (yes, it really is that interesting).
As the new governer of california says:
Hasta la vista, baby :)
Most importantly, Alberto went home back to Spain yesterday. Let's hope his Seat Ibiza got hime there safe and sound, and that the 3 cases of beer arrived without a bottle being opened...
Now onto some more international news.
One of the main leaders of the rebel group FARC in Colombia has made moves towards a peace talk. What with the hostages still being held near Santa Marta, and the continued attempts on the lives of mayoral candidates before the elections, let's just hope this new move is taken seriously by both sides.
Something a bit closer to home now (ie Germany) in that a man has been arrested on suspicion of teaching his dog to do the Nazi salute. It could only happen here. Oh, and the dog's name is Adolf.
Well that's about it for now, although congratulations are in order to the chinese for being the third nation to put a man up in space. In fact, they were meant to be the first nation to put a man and his dog in space, but when the sweet-and-sour-pork packet burst on take-off there was no other option...
Also, congratulations go out to Olgui who has now been excepted on her course in psychology here. As everyone knows, it's very difficult for foreigners to get on these limited-entrance courses, so well done to her !
Better get back to putting variables into my program (yes, it really is that interesting).
As the new governer of california says:
Hasta la vista, baby :)
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Back to School
Well, I managed to do it again. It's been over a month since I last posted, but I'm not even going to explain why ! That's because you'll already have read that I went off to Colombia for 3 weeks. Yes, my final continent has at last been conquered, another place to tick off my list...hold on...that's not true. There is really so much of it to see, and if it wasn't for political reasons (hehem, kidnappings) I would have loved to have seen more. I have at least promised that I will return soon and see as much as possible that I missed.
I will not bore you with notes from my diary there, though I will mention a couple of things that will stay with me for a long time. Firstly, arriving with hurricane Florian was a bit of an experience, although the flight itself had already put me a bit on edge (within an hour of taking off from Frankfurt, the air hostess managed to spill orange-juice over my trousers, shirt, and book that I was reading (Noticia de un Secuestro - Garcia Marquez, very apt). We then had someone smoking in the toilets (very safe...).
What amazed me was the variety of the people, food, climate, and how despite all the problems that this country endures, how relaxed, happy and friendly the people were (in fact, I only got called "Gringo" once, and that was by a schoolkid in the library of Bogota). It really is dificult for me to put into words what I experienced there, but suffice it to say that I enjoyed myself a lot, and will definetely return.
Another thing I will remember, is Olga's driving. I don't mean this in any form of bad way, just that she gets very frightened of the big buses (with good reason, I've seen how they drive, and the consequences! It isn't for nothing they're called "Borradores" - erasors). Also when we hit a big hole (and there are numerous to hit in the roads of Barranquilla, in fact, it's harder to find a bit of road which isn't part of a hole!) and the engine caught fire...that was something I won't forget quickly! (see, it had nothing to do with her driving, just that she was driving at the time these things happened).
So all in all, an amazing time, and can't wait to go back (possibly when the weather gets back to normal - 32 degrees Celsius at midnight with 100% humidity requires about 3 showers a day minimum).
Back in Mainz we have a different problem. It's freezing !!! Snow in the south, snow in the north, but here everything looks the same, except we can feel the cold entering our bones. It really has skipped autumn and gone straight into winter. I feel sorry just looking at the new Spaniards thinking of their homes....
What else is new...many people have finally gone back to their home countries, and many more have arrived to start their Erasmus year here in this village, sorry, should that be town?
And finally, as many of you already know, I'm looking for a place to live. I have until the 20th of this month to move out, so if anyone hears of a place, you can use the form on this website to email me. Thanks.
Okay, that's all for now, better get some shopping in before I starve again.
we'll meet again
Well, I managed to do it again. It's been over a month since I last posted, but I'm not even going to explain why ! That's because you'll already have read that I went off to Colombia for 3 weeks. Yes, my final continent has at last been conquered, another place to tick off my list...hold on...that's not true. There is really so much of it to see, and if it wasn't for political reasons (hehem, kidnappings) I would have loved to have seen more. I have at least promised that I will return soon and see as much as possible that I missed.
I will not bore you with notes from my diary there, though I will mention a couple of things that will stay with me for a long time. Firstly, arriving with hurricane Florian was a bit of an experience, although the flight itself had already put me a bit on edge (within an hour of taking off from Frankfurt, the air hostess managed to spill orange-juice over my trousers, shirt, and book that I was reading (Noticia de un Secuestro - Garcia Marquez, very apt). We then had someone smoking in the toilets (very safe...).
What amazed me was the variety of the people, food, climate, and how despite all the problems that this country endures, how relaxed, happy and friendly the people were (in fact, I only got called "Gringo" once, and that was by a schoolkid in the library of Bogota). It really is dificult for me to put into words what I experienced there, but suffice it to say that I enjoyed myself a lot, and will definetely return.
Another thing I will remember, is Olga's driving. I don't mean this in any form of bad way, just that she gets very frightened of the big buses (with good reason, I've seen how they drive, and the consequences! It isn't for nothing they're called "Borradores" - erasors). Also when we hit a big hole (and there are numerous to hit in the roads of Barranquilla, in fact, it's harder to find a bit of road which isn't part of a hole!) and the engine caught fire...that was something I won't forget quickly! (see, it had nothing to do with her driving, just that she was driving at the time these things happened).
So all in all, an amazing time, and can't wait to go back (possibly when the weather gets back to normal - 32 degrees Celsius at midnight with 100% humidity requires about 3 showers a day minimum).
Back in Mainz we have a different problem. It's freezing !!! Snow in the south, snow in the north, but here everything looks the same, except we can feel the cold entering our bones. It really has skipped autumn and gone straight into winter. I feel sorry just looking at the new Spaniards thinking of their homes....
What else is new...many people have finally gone back to their home countries, and many more have arrived to start their Erasmus year here in this village, sorry, should that be town?
And finally, as many of you already know, I'm looking for a place to live. I have until the 20th of this month to move out, so if anyone hears of a place, you can use the form on this website to email me. Thanks.
Okay, that's all for now, better get some shopping in before I starve again.
we'll meet again
Friday, September 05, 2003
Birthdays and Goodbyes
This week we have a triple. On Wednesday, Carlitos celebrated his, hehem, all the threes (and I'm not talking three hundred and thirty three). Today (Friday) saw Juanfran edge nearer his third decade, and Saturday is that of Albakra, sorry, Alberto
. Many happy returns, hope you all celebrate accordingly, and afterwards show me the photos :)
Today also saw the lovely, sorry, great friend, Javi head off for his homeland. Not one to miss an opportunity, I accompanied him to the airport to take a last beer before he boarded. Of course that wasn't my only reason for going to the airport (although a good enough one). No, I was to take advantage of Lufthansa's great day-before check-in procedures. That should make tomorrow a lot less stressful for me.
After taking and passing her final exam today, Noelia goes off back to Galicia tomorrow, but this time by bus. So here's wishing her a lot of sleep for the 18 hours or however long it takes to get there. Oh, and how did last night go? ;)
Oh, did I forget to mention where I was going? How silly of me. Tomorrow I will be leaving Germany to head off to a far more beautiful, interesting, and unseen-by-me land. Yes, it's off to Colombia. Wish me luck, and wish the colombians a lot of patience in trying to understand me.
Next post will be from the other side of the atlantic (and a bit further south :)
This week we have a triple. On Wednesday, Carlitos celebrated his, hehem, all the threes (and I'm not talking three hundred and thirty three). Today (Friday) saw Juanfran edge nearer his third decade, and Saturday is that of Albakra, sorry, Alberto
. Many happy returns, hope you all celebrate accordingly, and afterwards show me the photos :)
Today also saw the lovely, sorry, great friend, Javi head off for his homeland. Not one to miss an opportunity, I accompanied him to the airport to take a last beer before he boarded. Of course that wasn't my only reason for going to the airport (although a good enough one). No, I was to take advantage of Lufthansa's great day-before check-in procedures. That should make tomorrow a lot less stressful for me.
After taking and passing her final exam today, Noelia goes off back to Galicia tomorrow, but this time by bus. So here's wishing her a lot of sleep for the 18 hours or however long it takes to get there. Oh, and how did last night go? ;)
Oh, did I forget to mention where I was going? How silly of me. Tomorrow I will be leaving Germany to head off to a far more beautiful, interesting, and unseen-by-me land. Yes, it's off to Colombia. Wish me luck, and wish the colombians a lot of patience in trying to understand me.
Next post will be from the other side of the atlantic (and a bit further south :)
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Cheaper Calls and Dumbest Criminal of the Year Contender
First up, for those of you with landlines in Germany, the page www.billigertelefonieren.de advises which prefix to use to get cheaper calls. Also on this site is announced that the D2 Call-Ya prepaid tariff has an offer on in September and October, whereby if you spend 10 euros in calls, they will give you 5 euros to call free. Check the offer out here.
And for those that thought that criminals were getting cleverer, have a look at this article about a man who stole a GPS tracking device !
Okay, back to the office
First up, for those of you with landlines in Germany, the page www.billigertelefonieren.de advises which prefix to use to get cheaper calls. Also on this site is announced that the D2 Call-Ya prepaid tariff has an offer on in September and October, whereby if you spend 10 euros in calls, they will give you 5 euros to call free. Check the offer out here.
And for those that thought that criminals were getting cleverer, have a look at this article about a man who stole a GPS tracking device !
Okay, back to the office
Monday, September 01, 2003
A day like no other
Where to start, that is the problem. I woke up on August 30th due to the alarm on my phone. Upon viewing the screen, I noticed it had the words "security failure" written across it. Not good news. Investigating further, I came to the conclusion that the service provider (o2) had cut me off. Admittedly, I had cancelled my contract for the end of the month, but by my calendar, that's midnight on the 31st, not the 29th. Moving on to today, we had to get up extremely early in order to get Olga on her plane to Colombia.
So, with the freezing weather settling in, and therefore having to shut the window at night, we got up at 3.30 this morning. After the usual showering, coffee etc, we needed to get to the Hauptbahnhof (where we had left the luggage the night before) to catch the train to Frankfurt Airport. As the first tram arrives at the station at 5am, and we needed to catch the train at 5.02am, after collecting the luggage, a taxi was required. Due to the reason mentioned above, I no longer had use of my phone. Olga's had run out of credit, so I went to the callbox in the halls of residence. Only takes phonecards, and I only had change. Okay then, over to the military base where there are three phoneboxes, one of which accepts coins. Enter it. Look for number of taxi company. No phonebook. Go into cabin next door. Flick through phonebook, only to discover that the page with taxis in has been ripped out of the book. Great ! Move onto third cabin, find full book, remember taxi number and go back to booth one. Whilst picking up the receiver to dial, my brain starts sending me bad signals which force me to look at the front of the machine, where I see pictures of the coins that are accepted. As the receiver is reaching my ear and I am not hearing a tone, I realise that the pictures of coins I am looking at are of the good old Deutsche Mark. Yes, the only coin-phone in the vicinity is stuck in the pre-euro times.
Back I go, collect our stuff (lucky we had dropped the big bags off at the station the night before) and we start walking towards Berliner Strasse. We stop to look at the bus timetable, on the offchance that one would pass before the first tram. Someone had kindly ripped the timetable off of it's holder. We carry on, only to find that there are no taxis at the next stop. By now it was 4.45am and within seven minutes the tram would be passing us by, but determined to get a taxi and arrive at the station in enough time to get this train, we continue. Pariser Tor. Here we see two taxis (they always come in twos, haven't you noticed?) arriving at the petrol station on the other side of the road. We dare the traffic, and run across the roads to get there. Finally, a ride ! Of course, we forgot that it's a perilous one way system over here, so we had to drive back to Berliner Strasse in order to turn around.
Arriving at the station at 4.53, and therefore 9 minutes to spare, I rushed in to get the luggage out whilst Olga tried to sort out paying a taxi fare of eight euros with a fifty euro note. We had made the train ! All the check-in etc went fine, and so after saying our goodbyes, I went on my way back to Mainz. Arriving at 8am I got the tram straight back home, as I had plenty of things to do today. First thing, speak to the caretaker. Arriving at his office I see a little hand-written sign saying he's just popped out - be right back. Go back to my room to sort a few things out before returning to see him. Okay. Go back to sleep as two and a half hours is not enough for me. At eleven o'clock I wake up. Feeling better, I wonder how it feels to be starting your first school day in Germany. How do I know this was their first school day here? Because I was awoken at eleven o'clock by the familiar sound of children screaming through the windows of the halls of residence, which signals that it's term-time again. Oh, what joy.
Anyway, I get up, and have a little chat with Ruben and Almudena. Whilst I am speaking to them we here a little 'ping' sound. At this point I notice that my glasses are falling off my face. Yes, the screw that holds my glasses together, decided that today was the day it was going to fall out. More than that, because after ten minutes looking for it all over the floor, and still not finding it, we decided it had gone to a better place (or the goblins had got it).
So, what I actually ended up doing was going to the opticions to get a new screw fitted. Before catching the bus to the Mensa to eat lunch, I stopped at our old friend, the turkish call shop, and bought myself a new simcard for my mobile. Which is why I am no longer available on my old number. If I haven't informed you of the new number, please send me an email, and I'll send it to you. Oh, whilst I'm on the subject. As I can no longer access the old simcard, I have also lost a lot of telephone numbers. So if you think I haven't got it (eg if I haven't phoned you in a while) let me know.
What a day !
Where to start, that is the problem. I woke up on August 30th due to the alarm on my phone. Upon viewing the screen, I noticed it had the words "security failure" written across it. Not good news. Investigating further, I came to the conclusion that the service provider (o2) had cut me off. Admittedly, I had cancelled my contract for the end of the month, but by my calendar, that's midnight on the 31st, not the 29th. Moving on to today, we had to get up extremely early in order to get Olga on her plane to Colombia.
So, with the freezing weather settling in, and therefore having to shut the window at night, we got up at 3.30 this morning. After the usual showering, coffee etc, we needed to get to the Hauptbahnhof (where we had left the luggage the night before) to catch the train to Frankfurt Airport. As the first tram arrives at the station at 5am, and we needed to catch the train at 5.02am, after collecting the luggage, a taxi was required. Due to the reason mentioned above, I no longer had use of my phone. Olga's had run out of credit, so I went to the callbox in the halls of residence. Only takes phonecards, and I only had change. Okay then, over to the military base where there are three phoneboxes, one of which accepts coins. Enter it. Look for number of taxi company. No phonebook. Go into cabin next door. Flick through phonebook, only to discover that the page with taxis in has been ripped out of the book. Great ! Move onto third cabin, find full book, remember taxi number and go back to booth one. Whilst picking up the receiver to dial, my brain starts sending me bad signals which force me to look at the front of the machine, where I see pictures of the coins that are accepted. As the receiver is reaching my ear and I am not hearing a tone, I realise that the pictures of coins I am looking at are of the good old Deutsche Mark. Yes, the only coin-phone in the vicinity is stuck in the pre-euro times.
Back I go, collect our stuff (lucky we had dropped the big bags off at the station the night before) and we start walking towards Berliner Strasse. We stop to look at the bus timetable, on the offchance that one would pass before the first tram. Someone had kindly ripped the timetable off of it's holder. We carry on, only to find that there are no taxis at the next stop. By now it was 4.45am and within seven minutes the tram would be passing us by, but determined to get a taxi and arrive at the station in enough time to get this train, we continue. Pariser Tor. Here we see two taxis (they always come in twos, haven't you noticed?) arriving at the petrol station on the other side of the road. We dare the traffic, and run across the roads to get there. Finally, a ride ! Of course, we forgot that it's a perilous one way system over here, so we had to drive back to Berliner Strasse in order to turn around.
Arriving at the station at 4.53, and therefore 9 minutes to spare, I rushed in to get the luggage out whilst Olga tried to sort out paying a taxi fare of eight euros with a fifty euro note. We had made the train ! All the check-in etc went fine, and so after saying our goodbyes, I went on my way back to Mainz. Arriving at 8am I got the tram straight back home, as I had plenty of things to do today. First thing, speak to the caretaker. Arriving at his office I see a little hand-written sign saying he's just popped out - be right back. Go back to my room to sort a few things out before returning to see him. Okay. Go back to sleep as two and a half hours is not enough for me. At eleven o'clock I wake up. Feeling better, I wonder how it feels to be starting your first school day in Germany. How do I know this was their first school day here? Because I was awoken at eleven o'clock by the familiar sound of children screaming through the windows of the halls of residence, which signals that it's term-time again. Oh, what joy.
Anyway, I get up, and have a little chat with Ruben and Almudena. Whilst I am speaking to them we here a little 'ping' sound. At this point I notice that my glasses are falling off my face. Yes, the screw that holds my glasses together, decided that today was the day it was going to fall out. More than that, because after ten minutes looking for it all over the floor, and still not finding it, we decided it had gone to a better place (or the goblins had got it).
So, what I actually ended up doing was going to the opticions to get a new screw fitted. Before catching the bus to the Mensa to eat lunch, I stopped at our old friend, the turkish call shop, and bought myself a new simcard for my mobile. Which is why I am no longer available on my old number. If I haven't informed you of the new number, please send me an email, and I'll send it to you. Oh, whilst I'm on the subject. As I can no longer access the old simcard, I have also lost a lot of telephone numbers. So if you think I haven't got it (eg if I haven't phoned you in a while) let me know.
What a day !
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Goodbye Lou and hello Sobig Virus
Tuesday saw Lou, Lourdes, "paso de vosotros" leave for her home, Madrid. We will all miss her a lot, but let's hope that we can meet up again soon.
Whilst some of us are now leaving, we also have a few arrivals, namely the families of Alberto and Jordi are visiting for a few days before returning to Valencia with their sons later on.
After the chaos caused by the "msblast" virus, you would assume people would be protected from another outbreak. Oh no, now the "Sobig" virus has been doing it's rounds and in the space of a week has become the most virulent virus ever. So protect yourselves now (download latest virus definitions from your AV vendor).
Nothing else very urgent at the moment...
Tuesday saw Lou, Lourdes, "paso de vosotros" leave for her home, Madrid. We will all miss her a lot, but let's hope that we can meet up again soon.
Whilst some of us are now leaving, we also have a few arrivals, namely the families of Alberto and Jordi are visiting for a few days before returning to Valencia with their sons later on.
After the chaos caused by the "msblast" virus, you would assume people would be protected from another outbreak. Oh no, now the "Sobig" virus has been doing it's rounds and in the space of a week has become the most virulent virus ever. So protect yourselves now (download latest virus definitions from your AV vendor).
Nothing else very urgent at the moment...
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Quickie
The attack on the microsoft update servers, due to start today, did not go quite as planned. The website targeted (an old address) was taken down beforehand. However, the increased network activity effects were seen, as I can verify at 00:45 this morning the Uni Mainz/Hechtsheim connection to the internet no longer worked (which is why I had to finish updating my site this morning). Of course, when America finally wakes up it will probably get worse...
Talking about updating, the useful sites and friend's sites pages have been updated, so give them a look.
Hey-ho and off to work I go...
The attack on the microsoft update servers, due to start today, did not go quite as planned. The website targeted (an old address) was taken down beforehand. However, the increased network activity effects were seen, as I can verify at 00:45 this morning the Uni Mainz/Hechtsheim connection to the internet no longer worked (which is why I had to finish updating my site this morning). Of course, when America finally wakes up it will probably get worse...
Talking about updating, the useful sites and friend's sites pages have been updated, so give them a look.
Hey-ho and off to work I go...
Friday, August 15, 2003
Doing Nothing, Best Buys and Virus Alert
A new craze has hit Europe after making it's way through America, called "flash mobbing". This is when groups, organised through the internet receive an email telling them to do a particularly pointless thing at a certain time soon afterwards. This information is then disseminated by mobiles and text messages so that, for example, groups of about 200 people went to a bookstore in Rome asking about "Pinnochio 2 - The Vendetta" (doesn't exist) and to Macy's in New York asking for a "love rug" for a "suburban commune". Check out the following websites for more info: cheesebikini, flashmob.com, and an article by the telegraph.
Ever wanted to be mister handyman? Well, with the help of the German supermarket chain Plus and their special offers for screwdriver sets, you can :)
Now time for an important virus warning. The msblast virus seems to be affecting a large amount of home, as well as business users, and since it isn't distributed by email, rather anonomously though the computers network ports, it is a lot more difficult to stop. So here's what you have to do to prevent/get rid of it (for a full explanation, read this page at symantec.com) :
1) Firstly, you should install the latest microsoft patch (Windows 2000, or Windows XP, if your windows is not the english version, remember to select the correct language, or the update won't work) which prevents this virus from entering your system any more.
2) Reboot the computer.
3) Download the symantec fixblast tool (to desktop is a good place).
4) Close all running programs (like messenger clients, Word etc.).
5) If you have Windows XP, right-click on the "My Computer" desktop icon, and select "properties". Now click on the tab labelled "System Restore". Tick the box that says "Turn off System Restore" and then on the "Apply" button. When asked if that is really what you want to do, say "Yes".
6) Run the Fixblast.exe program (double click on the desktop icon if that's where you downloaded it to) and select "Start" for it to start checking your computer.
7) When this has finished, restart the computer.
8) Run Fixblast again (as in step 6) to check that the virus is fully removed.
9) If you have WinXP, turn on System Restore, following the same method as in Step 5.
After completing all this, update your virus signatures and install a firewall to help prevent other viruses of this nature entering again.
Remember to practice Safe Surfing.
A new craze has hit Europe after making it's way through America, called "flash mobbing". This is when groups, organised through the internet receive an email telling them to do a particularly pointless thing at a certain time soon afterwards. This information is then disseminated by mobiles and text messages so that, for example, groups of about 200 people went to a bookstore in Rome asking about "Pinnochio 2 - The Vendetta" (doesn't exist) and to Macy's in New York asking for a "love rug" for a "suburban commune". Check out the following websites for more info: cheesebikini, flashmob.com, and an article by the telegraph.
Ever wanted to be mister handyman? Well, with the help of the German supermarket chain Plus and their special offers for screwdriver sets, you can :)
Now time for an important virus warning. The msblast virus seems to be affecting a large amount of home, as well as business users, and since it isn't distributed by email, rather anonomously though the computers network ports, it is a lot more difficult to stop. So here's what you have to do to prevent/get rid of it (for a full explanation, read this page at symantec.com) :
1) Firstly, you should install the latest microsoft patch (Windows 2000, or Windows XP, if your windows is not the english version, remember to select the correct language, or the update won't work) which prevents this virus from entering your system any more.
2) Reboot the computer.
3) Download the symantec fixblast tool (to desktop is a good place).
4) Close all running programs (like messenger clients, Word etc.).
5) If you have Windows XP, right-click on the "My Computer" desktop icon, and select "properties". Now click on the tab labelled "System Restore". Tick the box that says "Turn off System Restore" and then on the "Apply" button. When asked if that is really what you want to do, say "Yes".
6) Run the Fixblast.exe program (double click on the desktop icon if that's where you downloaded it to) and select "Start" for it to start checking your computer.
7) When this has finished, restart the computer.
8) Run Fixblast again (as in step 6) to check that the virus is fully removed.
9) If you have WinXP, turn on System Restore, following the same method as in Step 5.
After completing all this, update your virus signatures and install a firewall to help prevent other viruses of this nature entering again.
Remember to practice Safe Surfing.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
News, news and more news
First up, safety in airports. You would think that we are now over-cautious with the safety controls that are in place, but as this article from the BBC shows, knives are still able to be smuggled through airport security. Makes you feel really safe, doesn't it.
France, always one for flouting the rules when it feels like it, has decided to allow excess water from it's nuclear plants to leak into the rivers at higher temperatures, ignoring any possible impacts it may have on the environment. Of course, they could have done like the swiss and just cut output during this hard time, but they had to do it their way. Ok, it's not fair always picking on the french, I know, so I would also like to point out that Germany too has taken to using the same method.
For those of you that like to stay up late (or those that can't get to sleep because of this ridiculous heatwave we're having) tonight at about 2-3am you should be able to see the meteor shower of Perseids.
Amongst the latest lot to leave for their home countries, are Pau, Nuria, Giulia, Carmen, David, and Juanfran. Best wishes go out for whatever they go on to do with their lives.
That's it for now
First up, safety in airports. You would think that we are now over-cautious with the safety controls that are in place, but as this article from the BBC shows, knives are still able to be smuggled through airport security. Makes you feel really safe, doesn't it.
France, always one for flouting the rules when it feels like it, has decided to allow excess water from it's nuclear plants to leak into the rivers at higher temperatures, ignoring any possible impacts it may have on the environment. Of course, they could have done like the swiss and just cut output during this hard time, but they had to do it their way. Ok, it's not fair always picking on the french, I know, so I would also like to point out that Germany too has taken to using the same method.
For those of you that like to stay up late (or those that can't get to sleep because of this ridiculous heatwave we're having) tonight at about 2-3am you should be able to see the meteor shower of Perseids.
Amongst the latest lot to leave for their home countries, are Pau, Nuria, Giulia, Carmen, David, and Juanfran. Best wishes go out for whatever they go on to do with their lives.
That's it for now
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Heatwave, Monkeys and Virus Warning
As most of Europe suffers under the effects of the sun, the UK seems to be looking more like the med. It's not all good news, however, apart from Germany sweating without the help of air conditioning, the UK has used the hot weather as an excuse for slowing down the trains. We can never win.
Next up in the news, is a virus warning, although it doesn't seem to be so advanced, it hasn't stopped people from contracting it (not literally people, their computers...) As ever, the advice is to keep your virus program up to date, and to patch this critical vulnerability in Windows.
As more and more firms are moving abroad in order to reduce costs of labour, an Iowian firm has found a different method. They hire monkeys. Yes (this goes out especially to Griff) whilst we have all thought that the guy at the other end of the helpline was some form of primate, now we have the proof. This shows us two things; labour is very cheap indeed hiring chimps instead of humans, and that Visual Basic is in fact just a language written for apes.
bysie bye
As most of Europe suffers under the effects of the sun, the UK seems to be looking more like the med. It's not all good news, however, apart from Germany sweating without the help of air conditioning, the UK has used the hot weather as an excuse for slowing down the trains. We can never win.
Next up in the news, is a virus warning, although it doesn't seem to be so advanced, it hasn't stopped people from contracting it (not literally people, their computers...) As ever, the advice is to keep your virus program up to date, and to patch this critical vulnerability in Windows.
As more and more firms are moving abroad in order to reduce costs of labour, an Iowian firm has found a different method. They hire monkeys. Yes (this goes out especially to Griff) whilst we have all thought that the guy at the other end of the helpline was some form of primate, now we have the proof. This shows us two things; labour is very cheap indeed hiring chimps instead of humans, and that Visual Basic is in fact just a language written for apes.
bysie bye
Monday, August 04, 2003
BBQs, leaving, and photos
Well, the semester has ended, the temperatures have reached record levels and most of the Erasmus students are slowly making their ways home. Which means there ar elaving parties nearly every night, and what better way to celebrate than to have a barbie :) Unfortunately, it does become a bit repetitive after a while, up to the point where I can't see another sausage nor burger for a month !!!
Finally found time to put up the photos from Argentina that Fernand and Joan sent a while back, which can be found under Photos->Others->Fernando and Joan. Also, Alberto's photos from the meal at Olga's are now available to see, Photos->Meals->Olga Cena.
Well, that's it for now, more news later on.
Well, the semester has ended, the temperatures have reached record levels and most of the Erasmus students are slowly making their ways home. Which means there ar elaving parties nearly every night, and what better way to celebrate than to have a barbie :) Unfortunately, it does become a bit repetitive after a while, up to the point where I can't see another sausage nor burger for a month !!!
Finally found time to put up the photos from Argentina that Fernand and Joan sent a while back, which can be found under Photos->Others->Fernando and Joan. Also, Alberto's photos from the meal at Olga's are now available to see, Photos->Meals->Olga Cena.
Well, that's it for now, more news later on.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Bits and Bobs
Before anything else, it has to be mentioned that Kutre Concierto 3 will go ahead in the Vegis tonight at 9.30pm. Be there or be square.
On to the news. For all those culinary enthusiasts out there, it is now being claimed that Lasagne is in fact British. The recipe was found in the first ever cookbook, found in the British Museum. Of course, there is the small matter of defining what is lasagne first.
A spurge of online search-engine games has manifested itself, meaning that when you get bored at work or at uni you can have a go at typing in various word combinations to the Google site, and hitting the button "I'm feeling lucky". Some of the current favourites are "weapons of mass destruction", and "french military victories".
Enough fun for today
Before anything else, it has to be mentioned that Kutre Concierto 3 will go ahead in the Vegis tonight at 9.30pm. Be there or be square.
On to the news. For all those culinary enthusiasts out there, it is now being claimed that Lasagne is in fact British. The recipe was found in the first ever cookbook, found in the British Museum. Of course, there is the small matter of defining what is lasagne first.
A spurge of online search-engine games has manifested itself, meaning that when you get bored at work or at uni you can have a go at typing in various word combinations to the Google site, and hitting the button "I'm feeling lucky". Some of the current favourites are "weapons of mass destruction", and "french military victories".
Enough fun for today
Sunday, July 13, 2003
Scam update
First warning goes out to AOL users who are particularly being targeted by a porn trojan.
Next up is an interesting story about the methods of credit card thieves.
And finally, for those london folk, a telephone scam has been discovered that involves paying lots of money to listen to cheesy elevator-music. Great.
Be Aware
First warning goes out to AOL users who are particularly being targeted by a porn trojan.
Next up is an interesting story about the methods of credit card thieves.
And finally, for those london folk, a telephone scam has been discovered that involves paying lots of money to listen to cheesy elevator-music. Great.
Be Aware
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Newsnight
First up, we welcome Roberto the Italian back to Mainz. After completing his degree in Italy he has now returned to rub it in for those who have yet to complete theirs :)
No doubt everyone has become aware of the comradeship going on between the Italian and German members of the European Parliament. Well, the latest shot was fired by the Germans, and is detailed here.
A new way to stop that unstoppable menace that is SPAM, or unsolicitated emails, has been found by the Internet Research Task Force. It has to be read.
Now for the serious stuff:
Bad news for Bangladesh, as a ferry carrying over 750 people sank, with about 400 currently missing.
Good news for a man from Arkansas who awoke after a lengthy 19-year coma. Apparently, he is now trying to catch up on what has happened.
As it becomes apparent that various mis-truths (not going to be sued here, thank you very much) were fed to the public as regards the reasons for war in Iraq, Tony Blair stands defiant (alone) that the proof will materialise as quickly as you can say "rehash me a ten-year-old thesis and pretend it's from a reliable source".
Also, that tear-jerking story of the female US soldier shot and stabbed in Iraq, and then heroically rescued (Saving Private Ryan, anyone?) by the american military turns out to be as far from the truth as The White House is from finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
A couple of IT bites now; consumers up to their eyebrows (for want of a more explicit expression) with paying too much to the music industry monoloths, are getting together and organising a revolt. Join in the fun.
Information about a replacment for the humble barcode has been released (inadvertantly) showing that it is yet another method to control the population. Read about this new invasion of privacy here.
That about it for now, tomorrow is the summer party of the nuclear physics institute, and seeing as we're in Germany, the beer starts flowing from 11am !!!
Friday also sees Carlitos, Lobelto, Makek (el croata), Alberto, Pepe, Eme, Pau, David, Bruno, Natalia, Consuelo, Mirian, Helene (la francesa), Ana, Maria, Pili, Tere and Susi head off to Berlin for the much-acclaimed Love Parade.
Can't wait for the photos :)
First up, we welcome Roberto the Italian back to Mainz. After completing his degree in Italy he has now returned to rub it in for those who have yet to complete theirs :)
No doubt everyone has become aware of the comradeship going on between the Italian and German members of the European Parliament. Well, the latest shot was fired by the Germans, and is detailed here.
A new way to stop that unstoppable menace that is SPAM, or unsolicitated emails, has been found by the Internet Research Task Force. It has to be read.
Now for the serious stuff:
Bad news for Bangladesh, as a ferry carrying over 750 people sank, with about 400 currently missing.
Good news for a man from Arkansas who awoke after a lengthy 19-year coma. Apparently, he is now trying to catch up on what has happened.
As it becomes apparent that various mis-truths (not going to be sued here, thank you very much) were fed to the public as regards the reasons for war in Iraq, Tony Blair stands defiant (alone) that the proof will materialise as quickly as you can say "rehash me a ten-year-old thesis and pretend it's from a reliable source".
Also, that tear-jerking story of the female US soldier shot and stabbed in Iraq, and then heroically rescued (Saving Private Ryan, anyone?) by the american military turns out to be as far from the truth as The White House is from finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
A couple of IT bites now; consumers up to their eyebrows (for want of a more explicit expression) with paying too much to the music industry monoloths, are getting together and organising a revolt. Join in the fun.
Information about a replacment for the humble barcode has been released (inadvertantly) showing that it is yet another method to control the population. Read about this new invasion of privacy here.
That about it for now, tomorrow is the summer party of the nuclear physics institute, and seeing as we're in Germany, the beer starts flowing from 11am !!!
Friday also sees Carlitos, Lobelto, Makek (el croata), Alberto, Pepe, Eme, Pau, David, Bruno, Natalia, Consuelo, Mirian, Helene (la francesa), Ana, Maria, Pili, Tere and Susi head off to Berlin for the much-acclaimed Love Parade.
Can't wait for the photos :)
Sunday, July 06, 2003
Graduation, Breadmaking and Parties
Another trip to the UK, this time it was for the graduation of Douglas, my lesser half, sorry, my brother :)
This was attended after a six hour journey from London up to Durham (near the border with Scotland). The kindest way to talk about the weather up north is to say that it didn't snow...although I'm sure it tried. I admit, maybe I should have warned Olga of the temperatures up there so that she would have been able to bring something more than summer clothes, but it was amusing :) So, a big posh meal at a hotel that night, followed by the ceremony in the morning in Durham Cathedral, and then packing up all Dug's belongings into the trailer to bring home with us (along with five of us in the car). Getting home at half past one in the morning, my parents then had to leave for france the next morning, and Olga and I set off for London (I assume Douglas has now woken up).
In the Canary Wharf area of the capital we met up with Nick, who managed to take an extra long lunch-break in order to eat with us. We met up with Joe (Colombian from Mainz) and went shopping along Oxford Street. Rushing for the plane, we arrived at City Airport half an hour before take-off, and within ten minutes we were in the plane for Frankfurt, exceptionally efficient in my opinion, especially considering the palava in Frankfurt airport on the way out (after the usual bag scan and walking through the beep machine, they then scan the bag again and do a very intimate body search. If it wasn't for their authority in the airport, I would seriously consider reporting them to the police for sexual assualt, and Olga would back me up one hundred percent, as hers was even more explicit).
On Saturday, after shopping to fill up the fridge (after four days away there was no food left), I went off to work, not without first setting my bread-machine for a loaf of oregano bread (doesn't have a recipe, I made it up as I went along). It's not just me who liked the result, Olga thought it had just the right amount of salt, Alberto managed to chew it, despite having his four molars taken out, Andres also approved, and even Magda put aside her impressions of english men to say that she was impressed.
This same night there was a big selection of parties to going on around here. In Hechtsheim Lucia and Christina had their leaving party (which I could observe from my room :) there was a street party in Frankfurt which was attended by Ramsey etc. also, in Muenchfeld there was a party at the house of Mauri, and near to Wiesbaden there was a latin-american party. Which was great, and many people enjoyed themselves. Which one did I visit? None. I was too tired after work (does my age show?).
Tonight Fatma is coming over for dinner (let's hope the tomato-bread is ready by then) and then we'll be meeting up with Nick (yes, the one from London) and his brother in town for a couple of drinks.
On a less personal note, theregister reports that printer ink is now seven times more expensive than vintage champagne. I don't know who did this study, but speaking for my self, I don't usually drink the ink from my printer.
And relax...
Another trip to the UK, this time it was for the graduation of Douglas, my lesser half, sorry, my brother :)
This was attended after a six hour journey from London up to Durham (near the border with Scotland). The kindest way to talk about the weather up north is to say that it didn't snow...although I'm sure it tried. I admit, maybe I should have warned Olga of the temperatures up there so that she would have been able to bring something more than summer clothes, but it was amusing :) So, a big posh meal at a hotel that night, followed by the ceremony in the morning in Durham Cathedral, and then packing up all Dug's belongings into the trailer to bring home with us (along with five of us in the car). Getting home at half past one in the morning, my parents then had to leave for france the next morning, and Olga and I set off for London (I assume Douglas has now woken up).
In the Canary Wharf area of the capital we met up with Nick, who managed to take an extra long lunch-break in order to eat with us. We met up with Joe (Colombian from Mainz) and went shopping along Oxford Street. Rushing for the plane, we arrived at City Airport half an hour before take-off, and within ten minutes we were in the plane for Frankfurt, exceptionally efficient in my opinion, especially considering the palava in Frankfurt airport on the way out (after the usual bag scan and walking through the beep machine, they then scan the bag again and do a very intimate body search. If it wasn't for their authority in the airport, I would seriously consider reporting them to the police for sexual assualt, and Olga would back me up one hundred percent, as hers was even more explicit).
On Saturday, after shopping to fill up the fridge (after four days away there was no food left), I went off to work, not without first setting my bread-machine for a loaf of oregano bread (doesn't have a recipe, I made it up as I went along). It's not just me who liked the result, Olga thought it had just the right amount of salt, Alberto managed to chew it, despite having his four molars taken out, Andres also approved, and even Magda put aside her impressions of english men to say that she was impressed.
This same night there was a big selection of parties to going on around here. In Hechtsheim Lucia and Christina had their leaving party (which I could observe from my room :) there was a street party in Frankfurt which was attended by Ramsey etc. also, in Muenchfeld there was a party at the house of Mauri, and near to Wiesbaden there was a latin-american party. Which was great, and many people enjoyed themselves. Which one did I visit? None. I was too tired after work (does my age show?).
Tonight Fatma is coming over for dinner (let's hope the tomato-bread is ready by then) and then we'll be meeting up with Nick (yes, the one from London) and his brother in town for a couple of drinks.
On a less personal note, theregister reports that printer ink is now seven times more expensive than vintage champagne. I don't know who did this study, but speaking for my self, I don't usually drink the ink from my printer.
And relax...
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Writer's Block
Okay, biggest apologies go out to every one of you, I will not attempt to explain my lack of communication, albeit to say that I was just a little stressed.
So now's the bit where I try to recount everything that's been happening over the last (gosh!) eight weeks. With the help of Lou's diary pages (no, I didn't steal them, she gave them to me) and what's left of my decrepid memory, I will now go back to the beginning and reveal all (no, not in that way. no need to hide the kids).
So, April 26th saw Roberto (the italian) have his leaving party. Highlights of the evening were Alicia's tortilla, and the amount of wine drunk. Also on this same night saw a repeat Kalimocho party in Alberto's flat, which ended up with not many people remembering much of the night, including me, although there are vague recollections of some people close-dancing...
On May 22nd Don Albe (jose alberto to you and me) came over to visit us. Time was spent drinking, chatting, drinking...
Dinner was provided by Olga on May 23rd, so Lou and I went over to Bretzenheim to eat our plate's worth. Very nice. Afterwards, fiesta brava in the Mainzer Kolleg, where it was also the last day behind the bar for Antonio, before he left to go back to Seville. Very good night had by all, Albe certainly enjoyed himself, as did the rest of us dance-a-holics. At about 6am most people made their way home. Apparently Carlitos and Roberto stayed on a bit longer, whilst the latter painted the steps to the bar a nice shade of pink-with-carrots.
After his brief visit, Albe went back to Valencia on May 27th, promising to return soon. So the night of the 26th we had a leaving get-together for him in Hechtsheim Bar, where I got out a couple of special beers that I had brought back from England (one from chocolate, the other made with honey).
June 4th saw a strawberry-party organised by the Hechtsheim halls. So naturally we all went to Carlitos' place (about 3 metres away from said bar) and had our own super party (despite certain people trying to stop the fun).
Lobelto, sorry, Roberto the frog, um, frenchman laid on a Paella on June 6th for his housemates (including Olga) so Lou and I went along to give our opinions.
June 9th-12th I spent in my humble village in England, getting together my books, beer and sauces to bring back to Germany, whilst showing Olga around London on her first trip to the UK (crossing roads was a particular difficulty she had...). During this time Alberto (aka Albakra) and Jordi went back to Valencia for a week (it was uni holidays, honest).
The birth of Marcus the baker happened on June 14th, when, with my newly bought bread-baking machine, I baked my first loaf. Not wanting to die alone, I invited Lou to come along and try the bread first :)
June 15th saw me back in the experiment room in the physics building, where all sorts of computer problems occured. At 8pm I quickly ran away back home.
The preparations started well in advance, for on June 18th the halls of residence in Hechtsheim filled with about 3000 people for the annual summer party. Not before I cooked my Indian meal (a korma, for those in the know) for Andres, Carolina and Olga, and served it along with a freshly baked loaf of bread.
So, as expected of us, we had our own private party in Carlitos' flat. Again, some people not understanding the idea of a private party, nor that a person's toilet is not for communal use for a population of 3000, and that somebody saw fit to steal Lou's camera and also to push over the kitchen shelves. But apart from those little mishaps, it was a very good party, and Carlitos is to be commended once again for his organisational skills.
This Saturday just gone (June 21st) I went on a little shopping trip with Olga, to buy food. Why is this worth writing on this website you may ask? Because when it came through the checkout at 120 euros, and filled two boxes and five carrier bags, and had to be transported back home by bus, I would consider it something out of the ordinary. Highlights of the shopping trip: Colombian fruit (can't remeber what they were called), flour of type 1050 (no, I have no idea what that means either, but it's the one required for some of my bread recipes) and a Tigger toy.
After a meal of chicken with rice (attended by Sylvia), and sleeping the siesta (Olga has a problem with quantities when cooking, so yes, after eating it all up everyone needs a siesta) we had a pasta dish prepared by Nuria, wish was also very nice.
Now that I think I've done the majority of the news of late, I will let you get back to your cups of tea and coffee, that will definitely be cold by now.
Sorry.
Okay, biggest apologies go out to every one of you, I will not attempt to explain my lack of communication, albeit to say that I was just a little stressed.
So now's the bit where I try to recount everything that's been happening over the last (gosh!) eight weeks. With the help of Lou's diary pages (no, I didn't steal them, she gave them to me) and what's left of my decrepid memory, I will now go back to the beginning and reveal all (no, not in that way. no need to hide the kids).
So, April 26th saw Roberto (the italian) have his leaving party. Highlights of the evening were Alicia's tortilla, and the amount of wine drunk. Also on this same night saw a repeat Kalimocho party in Alberto's flat, which ended up with not many people remembering much of the night, including me, although there are vague recollections of some people close-dancing...
On May 22nd Don Albe (jose alberto to you and me) came over to visit us. Time was spent drinking, chatting, drinking...
Dinner was provided by Olga on May 23rd, so Lou and I went over to Bretzenheim to eat our plate's worth. Very nice. Afterwards, fiesta brava in the Mainzer Kolleg, where it was also the last day behind the bar for Antonio, before he left to go back to Seville. Very good night had by all, Albe certainly enjoyed himself, as did the rest of us dance-a-holics. At about 6am most people made their way home. Apparently Carlitos and Roberto stayed on a bit longer, whilst the latter painted the steps to the bar a nice shade of pink-with-carrots.
After his brief visit, Albe went back to Valencia on May 27th, promising to return soon. So the night of the 26th we had a leaving get-together for him in Hechtsheim Bar, where I got out a couple of special beers that I had brought back from England (one from chocolate, the other made with honey).
June 4th saw a strawberry-party organised by the Hechtsheim halls. So naturally we all went to Carlitos' place (about 3 metres away from said bar) and had our own super party (despite certain people trying to stop the fun).
Lobelto, sorry, Roberto the frog, um, frenchman laid on a Paella on June 6th for his housemates (including Olga) so Lou and I went along to give our opinions.
June 9th-12th I spent in my humble village in England, getting together my books, beer and sauces to bring back to Germany, whilst showing Olga around London on her first trip to the UK (crossing roads was a particular difficulty she had...). During this time Alberto (aka Albakra) and Jordi went back to Valencia for a week (it was uni holidays, honest).
The birth of Marcus the baker happened on June 14th, when, with my newly bought bread-baking machine, I baked my first loaf. Not wanting to die alone, I invited Lou to come along and try the bread first :)
June 15th saw me back in the experiment room in the physics building, where all sorts of computer problems occured. At 8pm I quickly ran away back home.
The preparations started well in advance, for on June 18th the halls of residence in Hechtsheim filled with about 3000 people for the annual summer party. Not before I cooked my Indian meal (a korma, for those in the know) for Andres, Carolina and Olga, and served it along with a freshly baked loaf of bread.
So, as expected of us, we had our own private party in Carlitos' flat. Again, some people not understanding the idea of a private party, nor that a person's toilet is not for communal use for a population of 3000, and that somebody saw fit to steal Lou's camera and also to push over the kitchen shelves. But apart from those little mishaps, it was a very good party, and Carlitos is to be commended once again for his organisational skills.
This Saturday just gone (June 21st) I went on a little shopping trip with Olga, to buy food. Why is this worth writing on this website you may ask? Because when it came through the checkout at 120 euros, and filled two boxes and five carrier bags, and had to be transported back home by bus, I would consider it something out of the ordinary. Highlights of the shopping trip: Colombian fruit (can't remeber what they were called), flour of type 1050 (no, I have no idea what that means either, but it's the one required for some of my bread recipes) and a Tigger toy.
After a meal of chicken with rice (attended by Sylvia), and sleeping the siesta (Olga has a problem with quantities when cooking, so yes, after eating it all up everyone needs a siesta) we had a pasta dish prepared by Nuria, wish was also very nice.
Now that I think I've done the majority of the news of late, I will let you get back to your cups of tea and coffee, that will definitely be cold by now.
Sorry.
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Coming and going
So what's been happening lately? Well, in no particular order (okay, in the order that I am remembering them) I went to see the film 'Goodbye, Lenin' with Andres last Tuesday, and would definitely recommend it to all and sundry. A well produced look into divided Germany, both funny and sad.
Many people have been going off on day-trips throughout this country, and some for longer. My own break went through Luxemburg, Aachen, Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz with Martin (long-time friend from Stuttgart), his girlfriend, and his car. Despite a cold Saturday, the trip was great.
As mentioned on Jordi's updated website, Javi went off to Prague, Lou has now gone off to Berlin, Carolina has come back from Colombia, and Dani (el putogues) is off to Italy (don't expect many photos of the sights...). In the meantime I've been doing nothing unusual in working as much as possible, although I did clean and completely rearrange my room on Monday (inspections welcome), and worked up an appetite by running to Jordi and Javi's for dinner, and then running back afterwards (spring makes funny things happen to people).
Another thing of importance, is that Fernando and Joan have now boarded their plane to Argentina, and so wishes of all the best go out to them, and let's see if I get to visit them this summer...
As we have just had a huge thunderstorm, and lots of rain, the weather can described as unstable, so anyone planning a trip to visit me (us) here (hints to any of my friends back in the UK), bring your umbrellas !
now, where did I put my wellies?
So what's been happening lately? Well, in no particular order (okay, in the order that I am remembering them) I went to see the film 'Goodbye, Lenin' with Andres last Tuesday, and would definitely recommend it to all and sundry. A well produced look into divided Germany, both funny and sad.
Many people have been going off on day-trips throughout this country, and some for longer. My own break went through Luxemburg, Aachen, Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz with Martin (long-time friend from Stuttgart), his girlfriend, and his car. Despite a cold Saturday, the trip was great.
As mentioned on Jordi's updated website, Javi went off to Prague, Lou has now gone off to Berlin, Carolina has come back from Colombia, and Dani (el putogues) is off to Italy (don't expect many photos of the sights...). In the meantime I've been doing nothing unusual in working as much as possible, although I did clean and completely rearrange my room on Monday (inspections welcome), and worked up an appetite by running to Jordi and Javi's for dinner, and then running back afterwards (spring makes funny things happen to people).
Another thing of importance, is that Fernando and Joan have now boarded their plane to Argentina, and so wishes of all the best go out to them, and let's see if I get to visit them this summer...
As we have just had a huge thunderstorm, and lots of rain, the weather can described as unstable, so anyone planning a trip to visit me (us) here (hints to any of my friends back in the UK), bring your umbrellas !
now, where did I put my wellies?
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Weather and News
Germany, are we are in Germany?? You wouldn't have thought so, what with the weather actually being hot (not just the sun being out and a freezing wind). So what do we do when we've got weather unseen here for the last 8 months? We stay inside and work. Yes, bosses seem to think that good weather means people will work faster, so they give us even more to do. Never mind, I can dream of the sea...
Couple of short news stories. First one following on about alternative uses for mobiles, some people just take it too far. And then an amusing story about internet pornography, and how the US government is aiming to succeed in paying off it's national debt, maybe.
smoke me a kipper.
Germany, are we are in Germany?? You wouldn't have thought so, what with the weather actually being hot (not just the sun being out and a freezing wind). So what do we do when we've got weather unseen here for the last 8 months? We stay inside and work. Yes, bosses seem to think that good weather means people will work faster, so they give us even more to do. Never mind, I can dream of the sea...
Couple of short news stories. First one following on about alternative uses for mobiles, some people just take it too far. And then an amusing story about internet pornography, and how the US government is aiming to succeed in paying off it's national debt, maybe.
smoke me a kipper.
Friday, April 11, 2003
Fun for the girls, and windows security update
After the article about the taiwanese women who 'accidently' got her mobile stuck in her rear quarters, comes the news of a new phone luxury called The Purring Kitty that owners of certain nokia handsets can download which makes use of the vibrate function...the rest I'll let this article explain.
And now something serious for users of the windows operating system. A new bug has been found that will allow specially-designed websites to format your hard-disks. More info and links to the patches can be found here.
That's it, nothing more nothing less.
After the article about the taiwanese women who 'accidently' got her mobile stuck in her rear quarters, comes the news of a new phone luxury called The Purring Kitty that owners of certain nokia handsets can download which makes use of the vibrate function...the rest I'll let this article explain.
And now something serious for users of the windows operating system. A new bug has been found that will allow specially-designed websites to format your hard-disks. More info and links to the patches can be found here.
That's it, nothing more nothing less.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
News Roundup
Some brief news links.
Naturists are battling the government's plans to outlaw people taking off their clothes in public. They can count on my support :)
Police are searching for 118 missing piglets. The motive is yet unknown, but when a robbery of 100 lettuces and tomatoes follows, my bet's the bakery is next.
Just to prove that Birmingham really is a safe place to live, in a police amnesty on arms (hand in any weapon, and no prosecution will follow) in the west midlands, a slightly unusual piece was handed in. A grenade launcher goes to show that schoolkids are getting slightly out of control...
Finally, a well written article about net censorship and the war that is definitely worth reading.
Back to Mainz, and the Hague carload came back last night, Noelia is nursing an oil-burnt hand, had a great meal (provided by Olga, Bivi, Roberto) and film (la flor de mi secreto) experience in Bretzenheim on Sunday.
No rest for the wicked...
Some brief news links.
Naturists are battling the government's plans to outlaw people taking off their clothes in public. They can count on my support :)
Police are searching for 118 missing piglets. The motive is yet unknown, but when a robbery of 100 lettuces and tomatoes follows, my bet's the bakery is next.
Just to prove that Birmingham really is a safe place to live, in a police amnesty on arms (hand in any weapon, and no prosecution will follow) in the west midlands, a slightly unusual piece was handed in. A grenade launcher goes to show that schoolkids are getting slightly out of control...
Finally, a well written article about net censorship and the war that is definitely worth reading.
Back to Mainz, and the Hague carload came back last night, Noelia is nursing an oil-burnt hand, had a great meal (provided by Olga, Bivi, Roberto) and film (la flor de mi secreto) experience in Bretzenheim on Sunday.
No rest for the wicked...
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Student Cones
Funny title, but it has it's reasons. Not sufficient in taking away our civil liberties, our privacy, instilling fear in the population, now the government wants to take away the life and blood of its students. Yes, they want all traffic cones returned to government departments, and as such, have set up an amnesty so no questions will be asked. So what are we supposed to do now when we come home drunk from the pubs and clubs at 4am ??? At least we can keep the signposts, traffic lights and shopping trolleys... :)
Something a bit more personal now. Don't sit up in your chairs just yet though, I didn't mean that personal !!. Last night saw the Hechtsheim Bar open its doors for the new Erasmus students. After all the newbies went off to bed, we arrived, and had a great time dancing away to hits of the eighties (up-to-date, Germany :)
Well, that's all for now, pictures of Bologna are in progress, and you might just notice a change in me tomorrow.
Wait and see.
Funny title, but it has it's reasons. Not sufficient in taking away our civil liberties, our privacy, instilling fear in the population, now the government wants to take away the life and blood of its students. Yes, they want all traffic cones returned to government departments, and as such, have set up an amnesty so no questions will be asked. So what are we supposed to do now when we come home drunk from the pubs and clubs at 4am ??? At least we can keep the signposts, traffic lights and shopping trolleys... :)
Something a bit more personal now. Don't sit up in your chairs just yet though, I didn't mean that personal !!. Last night saw the Hechtsheim Bar open its doors for the new Erasmus students. After all the newbies went off to bed, we arrived, and had a great time dancing away to hits of the eighties (up-to-date, Germany :)
Well, that's all for now, pictures of Bologna are in progress, and you might just notice a change in me tomorrow.
Wait and see.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
What a life
Well, for those of you who don't understand spanish, I think I'd better let you into what I've been upto over the last...month ?!!!
Valencia in the Fallas was great, had a superb time with Jordi, Dani, Paolo, and all the others we met there (way to many to list here - sorry!). Some of the most memorable moments were in the street parties, returning home at about 6am, having drunk a little bit :) A certain moment when we circled a tree singing "que nadie mea aqui" (you'll have to ask us for an explanation...) and in the final cremation of the Falla in the square of the city hall, when everybody turned to face the building of the PP (the ruling political party in Spain) and shouted "Stop the war". Very emotional, especially considering that the war then started 3 hours later...
By the way, the photos from the Fallas of 2003 are up, so go have a ganders.
Whilst on the subject of photos, the birthday dinner and party of Jordi, Javi and Lou are also up, as are those of the leaving party of Fernando and Joan.
What else has happened...well, the official changeover of houses has happened, and so Hechtsheim has said goodbye to Jordi, Javi, Juanfran, Carmen and Luca, and hello to Carlitos.
Whilst Dani and Paolo were here in Mainz (yes, they came over here after having been in the fallas) and after having had much fun at the Eisgrub, Javi and I were persuaded (ok, it didn't take much effort at all) to go and visit them in Bologna. Which is where we have been since Sunday until this morning at 2am when we arrived in Mainz.
We had such an amazing time there, it was unbelievable. We ate like kings, had fun at the parties with the friends, family and housemates of our two bologneses, and left with much will to return someday soon (what are you doing this weekend, Javi? :) There definitely are a thousand reasons to come back to this incredible city. The photos will be put up as soon as possible.
Now to a bit of general news. Although we have only just found out, a bomb was left outside the IBM building in Bologna on the 31st, whilst we were there. Luckily it didn't explode.
Best get back to work, catchup time...
Well, for those of you who don't understand spanish, I think I'd better let you into what I've been upto over the last...month ?!!!
Valencia in the Fallas was great, had a superb time with Jordi, Dani, Paolo, and all the others we met there (way to many to list here - sorry!). Some of the most memorable moments were in the street parties, returning home at about 6am, having drunk a little bit :) A certain moment when we circled a tree singing "que nadie mea aqui" (you'll have to ask us for an explanation...) and in the final cremation of the Falla in the square of the city hall, when everybody turned to face the building of the PP (the ruling political party in Spain) and shouted "Stop the war". Very emotional, especially considering that the war then started 3 hours later...
By the way, the photos from the Fallas of 2003 are up, so go have a ganders.
Whilst on the subject of photos, the birthday dinner and party of Jordi, Javi and Lou are also up, as are those of the leaving party of Fernando and Joan.
What else has happened...well, the official changeover of houses has happened, and so Hechtsheim has said goodbye to Jordi, Javi, Juanfran, Carmen and Luca, and hello to Carlitos.
Whilst Dani and Paolo were here in Mainz (yes, they came over here after having been in the fallas) and after having had much fun at the Eisgrub, Javi and I were persuaded (ok, it didn't take much effort at all) to go and visit them in Bologna. Which is where we have been since Sunday until this morning at 2am when we arrived in Mainz.
We had such an amazing time there, it was unbelievable. We ate like kings, had fun at the parties with the friends, family and housemates of our two bologneses, and left with much will to return someday soon (what are you doing this weekend, Javi? :) There definitely are a thousand reasons to come back to this incredible city. The photos will be put up as soon as possible.
Now to a bit of general news. Although we have only just found out, a bomb was left outside the IBM building in Bologna on the 31st, whilst we were there. Luckily it didn't explode.
Best get back to work, catchup time...
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Excuses, excuses...
Probably due to the previously mentioned workload I had, the last five days have seen me sick. Not in the head, nor literally, rather ill with a fever, high temperature, dry throat, trouble breathing, no strength...and all that without touching a drop of alcohol !!!!
So now you've heard my excuses for not having the time to put up the photos of the party before I go off to Valencia (tomorrow at 7.15 I catch a tram...). Of course, I am not alone, Carlitos will be accompanying me on this journey, so prepare yourselves for what we will bring :)
Recompenses will be granted once (if) I return...
Probably due to the previously mentioned workload I had, the last five days have seen me sick. Not in the head, nor literally, rather ill with a fever, high temperature, dry throat, trouble breathing, no strength...and all that without touching a drop of alcohol !!!!
So now you've heard my excuses for not having the time to put up the photos of the party before I go off to Valencia (tomorrow at 7.15 I catch a tram...). Of course, I am not alone, Carlitos will be accompanying me on this journey, so prepare yourselves for what we will bring :)
Recompenses will be granted once (if) I return...
Friday, March 07, 2003
Another week passes...
So much work, so little time. Briefly though, Last friday the bar was hired out and we had an amazing party for the birthdays of Jordi, Lou, and Javi. The photos of which, will be put up as soon as possible, but due to the fact i am working all hours of the day at the moment, I can't promise when I will have the time (although I hope to do it before I go off to Valencia).
Oh, yeah, that was the other point. Next wednesday I will be flying off to sunny Spain, to visit the Fallas once again. Of course, this means I need to catch up with all the work that I won't be able to do in this time, which is why I have little time :(
One person that has already gone back to his country, is Javi. Before he left, however, he invited us to dine at the Eisgrub on wednesday night. Fifteen spaniards (or south-americans or english...) sat down at a huge table and ate their way through mounds of meat and salads. We also drank a tube of 5 litres of beer, and a couple of 3-litre tubes on top. Coming back home we stayed in the bar for a couple of drinks, where the atmosphere was still flowing.
All in all, a great time.
Anyway, Jordi is moving house tonight, and something else is bound to be planned.
Until the next
So much work, so little time. Briefly though, Last friday the bar was hired out and we had an amazing party for the birthdays of Jordi, Lou, and Javi. The photos of which, will be put up as soon as possible, but due to the fact i am working all hours of the day at the moment, I can't promise when I will have the time (although I hope to do it before I go off to Valencia).
Oh, yeah, that was the other point. Next wednesday I will be flying off to sunny Spain, to visit the Fallas once again. Of course, this means I need to catch up with all the work that I won't be able to do in this time, which is why I have little time :(
One person that has already gone back to his country, is Javi. Before he left, however, he invited us to dine at the Eisgrub on wednesday night. Fifteen spaniards (or south-americans or english...) sat down at a huge table and ate their way through mounds of meat and salads. We also drank a tube of 5 litres of beer, and a couple of 3-litre tubes on top. Coming back home we stayed in the bar for a couple of drinks, where the atmosphere was still flowing.
All in all, a great time.
Anyway, Jordi is moving house tonight, and something else is bound to be planned.
Until the next
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Birthday Week
This week has to be the week of celebrations. Firstly was the birthday of Laura on Saturday, then came that of Jordi on Tuesday, Lou celebrates on Friday, and Luca on the coming Sunday. Phew! Talk about being busy !!!
So last weekend was celebrated in the usual italian style, with pasta, wine and cakes. Very nice.
Monday night we descended on the bar where Maria and company were working. After quite a few drinks we retired to the TV room where I was verbally attacked by nearly every spaniard (thanks go to Lou who tried to defend me). Of course it was the subject of always, Gibraltar, but it all took place in fun, nothing serious :)
After waking up a bit late the next morning, and spending a day at work and uni, the evening started off with a lovely dinner at Jordi's place, where some great puddings were also brought by. The wine flowed, as did the music, as we set off to the bar of the WGs. Except it was closed (holidays) so instead we invaded Fernando's place :) The atmosphere was perfect, and we all enjoyed a good time.
Of course, this morning not everyone woke up as early(ish) as me...
Until the next birthday
This week has to be the week of celebrations. Firstly was the birthday of Laura on Saturday, then came that of Jordi on Tuesday, Lou celebrates on Friday, and Luca on the coming Sunday. Phew! Talk about being busy !!!
So last weekend was celebrated in the usual italian style, with pasta, wine and cakes. Very nice.
Monday night we descended on the bar where Maria and company were working. After quite a few drinks we retired to the TV room where I was verbally attacked by nearly every spaniard (thanks go to Lou who tried to defend me). Of course it was the subject of always, Gibraltar, but it all took place in fun, nothing serious :)
After waking up a bit late the next morning, and spending a day at work and uni, the evening started off with a lovely dinner at Jordi's place, where some great puddings were also brought by. The wine flowed, as did the music, as we set off to the bar of the WGs. Except it was closed (holidays) so instead we invaded Fernando's place :) The atmosphere was perfect, and we all enjoyed a good time.
Of course, this morning not everyone woke up as early(ish) as me...
Until the next birthday
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Long time, no see, lots done
As seems to be the habit of late, I haven't written anything here for a while. Instead of giving you excuses (like the night shifts I've been working, the extra workload I have this week) I would like to mention the fact that a load more photos have been put up. Get ready, hold on tight, and I'll take you for a ride. First up, visits to Trier and Venice: Photos-Places-Trier : Girl's Day Out,
Photos-Places-Venice and of course, the amazing party that was in the house of Pau: Photos-Parties-Casa Pau.
And that about raps it all up for now, I will return.
As seems to be the habit of late, I haven't written anything here for a while. Instead of giving you excuses (like the night shifts I've been working, the extra workload I have this week) I would like to mention the fact that a load more photos have been put up. Get ready, hold on tight, and I'll take you for a ride. First up, visits to Trier and Venice: Photos-Places-Trier : Girl's Day Out,
Photos-Places-Venice and of course, the amazing party that was in the house of Pau: Photos-Parties-Casa Pau.
And that about raps it all up for now, I will return.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Newsflashes
First up, another four arrests have been made near to London airports, and a Hand Grenade found in the luggage at London Gatwick. The police and soldiers are still on high alert all over the country, so I'm quite pleased I'm away from it all at the moment :)
Now, seeing as it's a certain saint's day, best wishes go out to Valentina. On the same theme, a study into how we fall in love reports that the first 90 seconds to 4 minutes are essential in finding out if we love someone. Well, that's my chances down the drain then, cos it takes that long for someone to understand what I'm trying to say (fault of me not being able to roll my 'r's...).
In Malaysia a slightly unusual request from the government has been issued, that women check the pants of their husbands and take them into a government office to be used as evidence...
Other breaking news, is that along with Luca and Carmen, the Studentenwerk of Mainz is kicking out Jordi and Javi from Hechtsheim !! Could this be the first step in their new apartheid regime? The other tell-tale signs have been the cancelling of Erasmus/Spanish parties in the bar, the non-payment to foreign students who have worked in the bar, and the proposed segregation of foreign students from the Germans in the halls of residence in Mainz.
What next? Seperate buses, trams, toilets, eating areas in the Mensa???
This is not the end...
First up, another four arrests have been made near to London airports, and a Hand Grenade found in the luggage at London Gatwick. The police and soldiers are still on high alert all over the country, so I'm quite pleased I'm away from it all at the moment :)
Now, seeing as it's a certain saint's day, best wishes go out to Valentina. On the same theme, a study into how we fall in love reports that the first 90 seconds to 4 minutes are essential in finding out if we love someone. Well, that's my chances down the drain then, cos it takes that long for someone to understand what I'm trying to say (fault of me not being able to roll my 'r's...).
In Malaysia a slightly unusual request from the government has been issued, that women check the pants of their husbands and take them into a government office to be used as evidence...
Other breaking news, is that along with Luca and Carmen, the Studentenwerk of Mainz is kicking out Jordi and Javi from Hechtsheim !! Could this be the first step in their new apartheid regime? The other tell-tale signs have been the cancelling of Erasmus/Spanish parties in the bar, the non-payment to foreign students who have worked in the bar, and the proposed segregation of foreign students from the Germans in the halls of residence in Mainz.
What next? Seperate buses, trams, toilets, eating areas in the Mensa???
This is not the end...
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Gulf Wars and The Force
With all the news at the moment surrounding Iraq and the impending war, a quick insight in how it's likely to end can be found on the Gulf Wars 2 webpage. It's quite long, but it's also quite amusing.
A recent Census reports that there are 390,000 people across England and Wales who belong to the Jedi faith. How they practice it is not stated, however.
Yesterday saw me cook for Alberto, Susi, Tere, Pilar and Maria and I'm told it tasted quite good. We then went down to the TV room to see Spain beat Germany in a 'friendly' football match.
Tomorrow sees the party in Paul's house which should be very good indeed, Longino (Erasmus in Paris) is coming down to visit us for the weekend (update: he will be returning to Valencia next week, and so will not be coming to see us), and on Saturday there are anti-war protests organised all over europe. Oh, and in Mainz the police from the region were out on strike today.
That's it for now
With all the news at the moment surrounding Iraq and the impending war, a quick insight in how it's likely to end can be found on the Gulf Wars 2 webpage. It's quite long, but it's also quite amusing.
A recent Census reports that there are 390,000 people across England and Wales who belong to the Jedi faith. How they practice it is not stated, however.
Yesterday saw me cook for Alberto, Susi, Tere, Pilar and Maria and I'm told it tasted quite good. We then went down to the TV room to see Spain beat Germany in a 'friendly' football match.
Tomorrow sees the party in Paul's house which should be very good indeed, Longino (Erasmus in Paris) is coming down to visit us for the weekend (update: he will be returning to Valencia next week, and so will not be coming to see us), and on Saturday there are anti-war protests organised all over europe. Oh, and in Mainz the police from the region were out on strike today.
That's it for now
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Le Weekend
Where to begin...
Last weekend was planned thus:
Thursday night fly from Frankfurt Hahn to London Stansted, parents pick me up in car. Spend the Friday sorting out the things I wanted to take back to Germany with me. Saturday morning go to London and catch the plane to Venice. Sunday night return from Venice, collect my bag from home and then catch a plane to Germany on Monday morning.
What actually happened varied slightly from the aforementioned plan.
Thursday night awaiting the flight from Hahn, it was announced that, due to heavy snow storms in London, Stansted Airport was closed, and my flight was cancelled. Great!
The following flight was at 6.45am, so I decided to return to Mainz and spend a few hours there in the company of Jordi, Alberto and Lourdes. Of course, by this time there were no trams any more, so I had to get a taxi back to Hechtsheim. Met up with said people, saw the film of the Kutre Concierto II (which I had missed by being at the airport) and then at 4am left (by taxi again) to catch the bus to Hahn.
Checked-in for this first flight, and waited until they announced that this too was cancelled, as the weather had not improved over london. As the next flight was at 11-ish, I decided it would not be worth returning, so I waited in the airport foyer.
Came and went 3 more flights, until finally, at 6.45pm on the Friday a plane left Germany for England with me on it.
Of course, getting to the UK is one thing, but getting out of Stansted is another. The motorways were blocked, the trains were not running, and there was a 2-hour wait before a taxi would be available (and then a 3km queue for it as well). Of the 10,000 people stranded at the airport, I did not want to be included. So instead, once Kathy had managed to arrive, we went off to the Hilton (the only hotel in Stansted).
As it was Chinese New Year, we sat down for a meal of some oriental dishes before going to bed. Not much time to sleep, however, as at 4am we had to get the bus back to Stansted to go off to Venice. At this time the airport was still closed due to snow, and so in the end we had another 4 hours delay.
Arriving in Venice, we were definitely taken aback by how amazing the city is. It really is a lovely place, with the canals running all through the centre, with gondolas passing by. It was, however, very cold at this time, and so travelling through the city on the vaporettas required scarf, gloves and a lot of shivering.
The youth hostel is very well situated, pretty well equipped, and best of all (unlike the rest of Venice) cheap !!
The Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent visiting the Basilica, Palace, and all the other tourist attractions, as well as getting lost in the side streets and wondering about aimlessly taking in the views.
Sunday night returned to London, were my parents were ready to collect us, went back to my place, had some dinner (at midnight) and then proceeded to pack my bag for Germany.
Finishing the packing at 2.30am, I decided half an hour was enough for me to rest before getting up, showering and then catching the bus at 4am.
This time it was my fault, but I overslept and finally woke up at 5.30am. Seeing as the flight was at 7.45, and Stansted is about one and a half hours away from my house, this was not good. Due to very good driving on the part of my mum, we arrived there with 10 mins to spare, caught the plane and got back to Mainz ok.
So, all in all, a great holiday. The photos of which will be put up once I get chance to connect from home.
Of other news, I don't really have much to say, seeing as I was not able to read a paper or see the TV during this time.
Tomorrow my class in Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics has their exam, so I will be there to hold their hands, so to speak. Afterwards we have to mark all the papers, so our Saturday is going to be pretty busy.
Best get back to work
Where to begin...
Last weekend was planned thus:
Thursday night fly from Frankfurt Hahn to London Stansted, parents pick me up in car. Spend the Friday sorting out the things I wanted to take back to Germany with me. Saturday morning go to London and catch the plane to Venice. Sunday night return from Venice, collect my bag from home and then catch a plane to Germany on Monday morning.
What actually happened varied slightly from the aforementioned plan.
Thursday night awaiting the flight from Hahn, it was announced that, due to heavy snow storms in London, Stansted Airport was closed, and my flight was cancelled. Great!
The following flight was at 6.45am, so I decided to return to Mainz and spend a few hours there in the company of Jordi, Alberto and Lourdes. Of course, by this time there were no trams any more, so I had to get a taxi back to Hechtsheim. Met up with said people, saw the film of the Kutre Concierto II (which I had missed by being at the airport) and then at 4am left (by taxi again) to catch the bus to Hahn.
Checked-in for this first flight, and waited until they announced that this too was cancelled, as the weather had not improved over london. As the next flight was at 11-ish, I decided it would not be worth returning, so I waited in the airport foyer.
Came and went 3 more flights, until finally, at 6.45pm on the Friday a plane left Germany for England with me on it.
Of course, getting to the UK is one thing, but getting out of Stansted is another. The motorways were blocked, the trains were not running, and there was a 2-hour wait before a taxi would be available (and then a 3km queue for it as well). Of the 10,000 people stranded at the airport, I did not want to be included. So instead, once Kathy had managed to arrive, we went off to the Hilton (the only hotel in Stansted).
As it was Chinese New Year, we sat down for a meal of some oriental dishes before going to bed. Not much time to sleep, however, as at 4am we had to get the bus back to Stansted to go off to Venice. At this time the airport was still closed due to snow, and so in the end we had another 4 hours delay.
Arriving in Venice, we were definitely taken aback by how amazing the city is. It really is a lovely place, with the canals running all through the centre, with gondolas passing by. It was, however, very cold at this time, and so travelling through the city on the vaporettas required scarf, gloves and a lot of shivering.
The youth hostel is very well situated, pretty well equipped, and best of all (unlike the rest of Venice) cheap !!
The Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent visiting the Basilica, Palace, and all the other tourist attractions, as well as getting lost in the side streets and wondering about aimlessly taking in the views.
Sunday night returned to London, were my parents were ready to collect us, went back to my place, had some dinner (at midnight) and then proceeded to pack my bag for Germany.
Finishing the packing at 2.30am, I decided half an hour was enough for me to rest before getting up, showering and then catching the bus at 4am.
This time it was my fault, but I overslept and finally woke up at 5.30am. Seeing as the flight was at 7.45, and Stansted is about one and a half hours away from my house, this was not good. Due to very good driving on the part of my mum, we arrived there with 10 mins to spare, caught the plane and got back to Mainz ok.
So, all in all, a great holiday. The photos of which will be put up once I get chance to connect from home.
Of other news, I don't really have much to say, seeing as I was not able to read a paper or see the TV during this time.
Tomorrow my class in Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics has their exam, so I will be there to hold their hands, so to speak. Afterwards we have to mark all the papers, so our Saturday is going to be pretty busy.
Best get back to work
Monday, January 27, 2003
News Briefs
OK, a quick round-up of what's been going on in the world of late.
Firstly, and most importantly, the EU is redefining the definition of an island !!! According to the new proposals, an island is no longer an island
1) When there are less than 50 permanent residents
2) If it is less than a kilometre from the mainland
3) If it is attached the mainland by a bridge
4) If it contains the capital of an EU state
So, following these new regulations, hundreds of Scottish islands would cease to exist, Lundy (where I went on holiday in September) would become an inhabited rock and the United Kingdom would also lose it's island status !!!
I would just add that this reaffirms my opinion of Europe...
A interesting twist on the old Nigerian email scam, if you receive an email from George Bush asking if you can help him out financially with an oil venture, have a good laugh at the information it contains, as you (if you live in the USA) are already paying the sums requested.
Another IT related newsbite is that a new strain of an SQL-worm has been slowing down the internet over the weekend (so that's why the connection in Hechtsheim is so bad...). The way around it? - update your SQL Server software.
Ever wanted a US Department of Defence military website? Well, now you can, in addition to being able to create any account or domain name you like, you can also alter those of other people as well. Visit The Register for the full story.
On Saturday a tube train came off it's rails in London, injuring 30 people (there were 800 people on board at the time). Reading the accounts, it sounds quite scary.
Okay, now that you're aware of what's happening in the outside world, you can return to your cosy bed...
Bye
OK, a quick round-up of what's been going on in the world of late.
Firstly, and most importantly, the EU is redefining the definition of an island !!! According to the new proposals, an island is no longer an island
1) When there are less than 50 permanent residents
2) If it is less than a kilometre from the mainland
3) If it is attached the mainland by a bridge
4) If it contains the capital of an EU state
So, following these new regulations, hundreds of Scottish islands would cease to exist, Lundy (where I went on holiday in September) would become an inhabited rock and the United Kingdom would also lose it's island status !!!
I would just add that this reaffirms my opinion of Europe...
A interesting twist on the old Nigerian email scam, if you receive an email from George Bush asking if you can help him out financially with an oil venture, have a good laugh at the information it contains, as you (if you live in the USA) are already paying the sums requested.
Another IT related newsbite is that a new strain of an SQL-worm has been slowing down the internet over the weekend (so that's why the connection in Hechtsheim is so bad...). The way around it? - update your SQL Server software.
Ever wanted a US Department of Defence military website? Well, now you can, in addition to being able to create any account or domain name you like, you can also alter those of other people as well. Visit The Register for the full story.
On Saturday a tube train came off it's rails in London, injuring 30 people (there were 800 people on board at the time). Reading the accounts, it sounds quite scary.
Okay, now that you're aware of what's happening in the outside world, you can return to your cosy bed...
Bye
Monday, January 20, 2003
Time flies when you're having fun
I can't believe the date of my last posting. Is it really that long ago??? Well, I suppose I have the excuse that in my previous update I put up a huge number of photos...
So what has happened since then? Let's see what I can remember. Jordi is now in his experimental week, but his bosses still ignore him. I am slowly getting some way with my project, despite my boss never being around. Friday night saw the bar taken over by the spanish again, with a great selection of music, most of us managed to drink a bit as well. Finishing at about two thirty in the morning, those of us still awake (Pepe and Lourdes) went back to my place and watched "Fallen" on my DVD with surround sound. Mmmmm. You wouldn't have guessed that Lourdes doesn't like horror films, except if you lived within three blocks, because when she screams...she screams !!
The other night I managed to cook up a little dinner for a few of us, based on a dish from the southern states of America. I presume it went down quite well...
Having brought over some typical English Christmas food, I managed to serve up an amazing burning Christmas Pudding with Custard, followed another day by Mince Pies. All those that like sultanas enjoyed it (not pointing the finger at Jordi at all :)
Saturday night saw the Mojito Party in the flat of Ramsy and Jorge. Amongst the five-litre barrel of beer I brought along, we drank some nice red wine, and of course the amazing Mojitos. Another cocktail to put on my list of favourites. Of course, there wasn't any Kalimocho, but we enjoyed it none the less :)
Tonight (Sunday) a few of us went down to the TV room of Hechtsheim and watched "Y tu mama tambien". I don't know if it was because the radiator was on so high, or because of the content of the film, but myself and the people around me were definitely feeling quite hot...
Apart from that, nothing else I can remember has happened over the last week (I reserve the right to add anything I forgot later on once someone has reminded me :)
Off to get some shut-eye, goodnight
I can't believe the date of my last posting. Is it really that long ago??? Well, I suppose I have the excuse that in my previous update I put up a huge number of photos...
So what has happened since then? Let's see what I can remember. Jordi is now in his experimental week, but his bosses still ignore him. I am slowly getting some way with my project, despite my boss never being around. Friday night saw the bar taken over by the spanish again, with a great selection of music, most of us managed to drink a bit as well. Finishing at about two thirty in the morning, those of us still awake (Pepe and Lourdes) went back to my place and watched "Fallen" on my DVD with surround sound. Mmmmm. You wouldn't have guessed that Lourdes doesn't like horror films, except if you lived within three blocks, because when she screams...she screams !!
The other night I managed to cook up a little dinner for a few of us, based on a dish from the southern states of America. I presume it went down quite well...
Having brought over some typical English Christmas food, I managed to serve up an amazing burning Christmas Pudding with Custard, followed another day by Mince Pies. All those that like sultanas enjoyed it (not pointing the finger at Jordi at all :)
Saturday night saw the Mojito Party in the flat of Ramsy and Jorge. Amongst the five-litre barrel of beer I brought along, we drank some nice red wine, and of course the amazing Mojitos. Another cocktail to put on my list of favourites. Of course, there wasn't any Kalimocho, but we enjoyed it none the less :)
Tonight (Sunday) a few of us went down to the TV room of Hechtsheim and watched "Y tu mama tambien". I don't know if it was because the radiator was on so high, or because of the content of the film, but myself and the people around me were definitely feeling quite hot...
Apart from that, nothing else I can remember has happened over the last week (I reserve the right to add anything I forgot later on once someone has reminded me :)
Off to get some shut-eye, goodnight
Monday, January 06, 2003
Snow, Photos and News
No sooner than I mention the snow falling in England, and it begins to snow here in Mainz. Yes, this morning saw a cover of white of this city, but not yet deep enough to stay for long. At least it will be a novelty for the spanish looking out of their plane windows.
Finally, and with many apologies for their lateness, new photos are up. Clicking through the links on the left you will find new ones of Nurenberg, more of the Roadtrip, Fernando's Birthday, the Pizzeria, Eisgrub, Halloween, Tortillas de Jorge, Italian Haircut and Random Hechtsheim 2. Phew !
Now that's over with, onto the news. England won the final Ashes test (cricket) against Australia, ending a running streak of victories by the side down-under.
Be careful where you next click, as there are plans to redesign the function of the 'back' button in browsers. If it now goes to the windows site, you know who's been financing this research.
The chief-in-waiting to the European Central Bank (a frenchman) is standing trial for account fraud, in that he allegedly (phew, saved that libel trial) published inexact accounts and released false information. This is the guy that will take over the job of adjusting interest rates in all euro-currency states. Where's your money now? Are you sure?
Well, got my work to get on with, and I expect you want to see all those photos now.
Tara
No sooner than I mention the snow falling in England, and it begins to snow here in Mainz. Yes, this morning saw a cover of white of this city, but not yet deep enough to stay for long. At least it will be a novelty for the spanish looking out of their plane windows.
Finally, and with many apologies for their lateness, new photos are up. Clicking through the links on the left you will find new ones of Nurenberg, more of the Roadtrip, Fernando's Birthday, the Pizzeria, Eisgrub, Halloween, Tortillas de Jorge, Italian Haircut and Random Hechtsheim 2. Phew !
Now that's over with, onto the news. England won the final Ashes test (cricket) against Australia, ending a running streak of victories by the side down-under.
Be careful where you next click, as there are plans to redesign the function of the 'back' button in browsers. If it now goes to the windows site, you know who's been financing this research.
The chief-in-waiting to the European Central Bank (a frenchman) is standing trial for account fraud, in that he allegedly (phew, saved that libel trial) published inexact accounts and released false information. This is the guy that will take over the job of adjusting interest rates in all euro-currency states. Where's your money now? Are you sure?
Well, got my work to get on with, and I expect you want to see all those photos now.
Tara
Sunday, January 05, 2003
News Updates
There was I thinking I could get off early to bed the night before term starts, and I find a load of news that interests me, so in no particular order, here they are:
Good job I didn't arrive on Sunday in Germany, as some maniac hijacked a light aircraft and flew it for two hours around the city of Frankfurt, threatening to crash it into the European Central Bank.
In a BBC documentary, Paul Kenyon investigates how easy it is to steal somebody's identity in Britain by doing it for the Home Secretary (yes, the one in charge of MI5, the secret service) and the author Frederick Forsyth (Day of the Jackel, anyone?). Feel safe now, don't you.
And for those of you yearning for some clips of yesteryear, thanks to the website www.britishpathe.com, you can now view a huge selection of video footage that otherwise would have gone unseen in the vaults of the TV companies.
That's it, ciao for now
There was I thinking I could get off early to bed the night before term starts, and I find a load of news that interests me, so in no particular order, here they are:
Good job I didn't arrive on Sunday in Germany, as some maniac hijacked a light aircraft and flew it for two hours around the city of Frankfurt, threatening to crash it into the European Central Bank.
In a BBC documentary, Paul Kenyon investigates how easy it is to steal somebody's identity in Britain by doing it for the Home Secretary (yes, the one in charge of MI5, the secret service) and the author Frederick Forsyth (Day of the Jackel, anyone?). Feel safe now, don't you.
And for those of you yearning for some clips of yesteryear, thanks to the website www.britishpathe.com, you can now view a huge selection of video footage that otherwise would have gone unseen in the vaults of the TV companies.
That's it, ciao for now
Saturday, January 04, 2003
New Year's Wishes
Well, having not heard from anyone about how their New Year went, I will just wish all the best for 2003, and hope that we will all be able to meet again soon.
Leaving England at eight this morning, and seeing all the fields covered with frost, I realised that we were coming into the coldest time of the year there. Arriving in Germany however, I had to amend that slightly, as over here it's still far far colder. I can't say that I'm not pleased to have a lovely warm radiator next to my bed :)
So I am now stuck here in Mainz, bored moreso than I was in my village, as no-one is back yet (well, okay, some locals are, but none of my friends) and so I am occupying myself with the new DVDs that I bought over Christmas, and with sorting out all the work that I brought back with me and didn't have time to do.
Please somebody rescue me from this fate (I am on my German mobile now if you feel like phoning...)
Well, having not heard from anyone about how their New Year went, I will just wish all the best for 2003, and hope that we will all be able to meet again soon.
Leaving England at eight this morning, and seeing all the fields covered with frost, I realised that we were coming into the coldest time of the year there. Arriving in Germany however, I had to amend that slightly, as over here it's still far far colder. I can't say that I'm not pleased to have a lovely warm radiator next to my bed :)
So I am now stuck here in Mainz, bored moreso than I was in my village, as no-one is back yet (well, okay, some locals are, but none of my friends) and so I am occupying myself with the new DVDs that I bought over Christmas, and with sorting out all the work that I brought back with me and didn't have time to do.
Please somebody rescue me from this fate (I am on my German mobile now if you feel like phoning...)
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