Tired but proud

I started the day with 52 metres of stairs, climbing halfway up the Hasenbergsteige, then crossed the ridge and walked downhill through Heslach, where I found an odd village-like remnant of the pre-war city, with two- and even single-storey houses and narrow twisty streets, then walked on downtown to the Espresso-Laden for my morning cappuccino and croissant.

Man, I am really out of shape. There's no way that I could manage the Camino Way if I had to walk it this week. Needs must: I shall exercise. An hour of hillclimbing every morning is the least I can, must and will do; but it won't be enough by itself.

I discovered that the new sports megastore downtown offers shoe-fitting consultancy with a foot orthopedics specialist, so I shall go there this evening to be videoed running barefoot and shod on the treadmill thingy; having done that I shall purchase and start wearing proper Walking Shoes (as opposed to the shoes that I walk in).

And now, to work (at home, on the database).

By the way I forgot to mention that I had my first ice cream cone of 2007 while walking in the Hohenpark on Tuesday. Hooray for Spring! But it won't last, the forecast for Sunday is for 7°C and rain.

Calm

whiteTulip1
Originally uploaded by udge.

Had a pleasant day walking around downtown successfully doing Stuff while avoiding doing some other Stuff.

My cellphone has had an irritating buzz since I dropped it some weeks back, which finally overcame my "it's just a tool" reluctance to spend money on telecommunications. I went to the Vodaphone shop and said "I'm a Vodaphone customer, I want to get a new phone but keep my current number and contract." He said "No, that's impossible, you have to get a new contract." I said words to the effect of "goodbye" and left.

I went to the Telekomm shop next door and said "I'm a Vodaphone customer, I want to get a new phone but keep my current number." He said "ooh, tricky. You have to break the contract with them, transfer the number to us, and get a new contract with a 24-month this and a thirty-euro that..." at which point I said words to the effect of "goodbye" and left.

I went to the Mobilcom shop across the street and said "I'm a Vodaphone customer, I want to get a new phone but keep my current number and contract." She said, "Sure, how about this one?" She broke open the shrinkwrapped box (oh my God! fire her at once!) unwrapped the battery (sacrilege!) and loaded my card into the phone. It said "Hi Udge, wanna call somebody?" I said "Sold!"

She then got all worried and pointed out that it's "just" a phone: no camera, no MP3 player, no Interwebs, no videos, no games. Perfect! Just what I wanted. Fifty Euros and worth every penny.

I strongly encourage any German readers in need of a new phone to visit Mobilcom, for instance the branch in the Schulstrasse 13 in Stuttgart.

In other news G phoned half an hour ago, sounding quite subdued; about as close to meek as an architect can ever get (we are a notoriously proud bunch). They were surprised and shocked and saddened by my letter, and would like to discuss it tomorrow over coffee. Okay.

Fringe

tulip_3
Originally uploaded by udge.

This week's flowers are fringed yellow-red tulips, very unusual (well, new to me anyway).

It's been a slow Sunday, I did some cleaning and clothes-washing and a bit of work, then went for a walk just before sunset. It had rained for most of the morning so the air was clear and visibility was good. I find myself getting impatient for Nature to get going once Spring has started. "The magnolias aren't even out yet, fer chrissake!" Wishing the time away, one might say.

Family news. My father's stroke seems to have been very mild indeed, if there is such a thing: no apparent lasting damage. I have spoken to him a few times and he sounds normal, meaning that his voice is clear and steady and the few times he stumbles for words might equally well be due to his fading memory as to the stroke. My mother's recovery is going so well—how well is it going, you ask?—that she forgot her cane in the supermarket!

They have booked themselves onto a walking tour for three weeks in May: the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. I was invited to accompany them, and will do so. On the one hand, I can hardly refuse, and on the other I've always wanted to do this. The tour is designed for the "active elderly" as the expression goes: one is encouraged to walk, but there is a bus that follows along so one may at any point give up and ride for a while, and luggage is of course transported on the bus. I shall buy some proper walking shoes and get in a few miles of practice before then.

I'm listening to Respighi's Fontane di Roma while writing, another habit that has lapsed since Christmas. I used to listen to this CD most weekends along with Gershwin's An American in Paris, in memory of Sunday afternoons as a child. I'm not sure which of my parents was so fond of this album, perhaps my father; I shall have to ask. It'll be something to talk about during the long hours afoot.

Spring on a Wednesday

yellows
Originally uploaded by udge.

G and U are in Bavaria again to wrestle in mud with the builders, so I have today and tomorrow off. I may very well take Friday too just for the hell of it, or as recompense for the anger and frustration and long hours of the last week.

Today is a wonderful day, sunny and blue-skied and warm (10°C). It's been a half-playday so far, I have been downtown for a cappuccino, photographed some flowers on the way there, and now I'm home again in that which we laughingly refer to as the "real world," meaning that grey and dusty place where work occurs.

I am installing Windows on a freshly formatted C: drive; after that finishes, I shall install the database and installermaker software and copy over my files. And if after all that I still cannot create a database application that runs under Windows, I shall throw the computer out the window and run off to the Outer Hebrides and become a beekeeper.

(Interesting that it didn't occur to me to say that I would run off to the South Pacific; when I think of paradise-on-earth I don't see visions of warm, sunny jungle vegetation. I am definitely a northerner.)

But first, it's time for lunch.

In other news I've discovered where the moths are breeding: inside my vacuum cleaner! Yeuccch. It's like a tiny, low-budget horror movie.

In other, other news yesterday's Wondermark is food for thought.

Why did you throw the Jack of Hearts away?

this week's flowers
Originally uploaded by udge.

Flowers for the weekend; the smell is intoxicating.

The meaning and source of this post's title is a (very simple) weekend challenge; I'll give you one clue.

Je vais a la plage

Getting ready (spiritually and physically) for a semi-impromptu short holiday in Menton, to meet my parents for a weekend of haute cuisine and (hopefully) good weather. This will be the second time we have met there, two years ago at this time it was warm enough to wear just a T-shirt under a windbreaker, and the lemons hung as big as your fist in the trees of the Jardins Biovès. (Just looked at the weather page: currently 18°C and sunny. Perfect.)

I will possibly take my iBook with me, there is so much I still have to do on the Hobbyist project and I have two fourteen-hour train journeys (!) which I could put to use; on the other hand I do find that I work hard and often enough, so I might just leave everything behind except the camera, my iPod and a buttload of money (© Roseanne). The more I think about it, the better that sounds.

There are cybercafes, so there might be posting, but don't count on it. Have a nice weekend, everybody.

In other news I saw the first (yellow) crocuses of the season this morning on my way to the train station to buy the tickets, but didn't have my camera along so they will go undocumented. You'll just have to trust me that they were there.

In other other news, after wavering for two days I screwed my courage to the sticking place and sat down with G and U after work on Tuesday prepared to quit; but the conversation turned to problem-solving, brainstorming a brown-and-sticky situation that we have all been ignoring for months, and this was so interesting that I backed down from my resolve. I started to walk home, then gave myself a kick in the butt and turned back.

I told them that I had wanted to quit, but had been sidetracked by my enjoyment of the discussion; that it had been the first time in weeks that I had had any kind of enjoyment from working there; that I walk to work each afternoon dreading the shouting and insults to come; that I find their behaviour unprofessional, and also among supposed friends simply unacceptable.

We then talked for nearly an hour about their fears and the pressure that they find themselves under, and how it leaks out uncontrollably. Which I knew, it is clear to what extent they are being driven on by events outside their control. G likened it to being in a car with the throttle stuck wide open, racing down a mountain road: one can only try to steer and hope that nothing gets in the way, but the process is basically uncontrollable. We have re-planned it three times, twice for cost-cutting and a third time when the roofs in eastern Germany started collapsing under the weight of snow and a change in the building regulations was rushed through (more than doubling the to-be-calculated-for snow load, and therefore changing all structural members in the roof). Nonetheless, the project must still open on the same day in Spring 2007.

So I am still there, and G and U may sleep a tiny bit better having admitted and addressed their fears.

This week's flowers

kw8_tulips3
Originally uploaded by udge.

Spring is nearly here, it's tulip time - even if these came from a hothouse in Holland or Egypt. I haven't had flowers on my desk at home for quite a while, it hasn't seemed worthwhile with the amount of time I've spent working elsewhere, but today I decided to give myself a little present, to cheer myself up a bit.

I do need some cheering up today.

As I said elsewhere: Sometimes (like today) I read your comments and feel like a warthog among butterflies: you're all so pretty, and the flying looks so effortless, but however high I jump, I always land back in the mud.