Too Much Pressure

I missed posting a blog entry yesterday and today I got reminded of it. I very rarely have nothing to say and I’m not even sure how yesterday slipped by without me writing. Oh wait, I remember. I spent half the day cleaning my office because I was sick of feeling like I’m going to keel over and die every afternoon. I didn’t think anybody wanted to hear about how dirty my office was or how I didn’t feel good.

Today I was all set to write about our big exciting night last night. I even took pictures. Don’t get too excited. Our excitement is sure to put all my readers to sleep. But now I can’t even tell you about it. Seems Lisa has different ideas for what I should blog about today. So much pressure . . .

Not sure if anybody reads Lisa’s blog but she suggested that her blogging friends make a list of their 10 favorite web sites. I didn’t actually visit any of her links (I will some day . . . maybe) and I’m sure nobody will believe this, but I can’t even come close to picking 10 favorite sites.

Off the top of my head I came up with . . . exactly nothing. I had to go and visit my own bookmarks to see if maybe I bookmarked a site that I liked (at one time) and intended to revisit (and never did). Lisa made me realize today that, although I’m online all the time, I almost never aimlessly wander. I only regularly read blogs of people I know (sadly, that includes two) and 90% of the time I’m online I’m checking emails, updating my own blogs, processing orders, buying something, or researching something. I visit no sites on a regular basis and the only blog in my Google reader other than Lisa’s blog and my cousin Jamie’s blog is one that only a graphic designer would enjoy. It’s called Smashing Magazine. Here, see for yourself: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

The only place I visit to waste time is Facebook and this has become a new thing for me. I used to visit once every other month to check-in on my step-daughter Jessica. I like dropping in on her life and seeing her pictures. I recently got into the habit of checking every day and trying to keep in touch with some friends that I wouldn’t otherwise ever talk to.

I never Twittered (is that the proper term?) and don’t see me getting there any time soon. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I lead an incredibly boring cyber life. Just keeping up with my 3 email accounts, my own 4 blogs, Karlo’s blog, and two web sites is almost more than I can handle. But one of these days I’m gonna check out Lisa’s links.

A Dangerous Weekend

The first thing that caused potential danger was my new kitchen gadget. I’m still not sure what came over me when I decided that I must have a Belgian waffle-maker. Anybody want to place a wager whether or not I ever actually use it? I had all good intentions of making some waffles on Sunday, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. Oh well. I tried. Just washing it caused enough grief – a flood on the counter and soaking wet pajamas. No doubt this kitchen danger will leave me frustrated, stressed, and disappointed. Perhaps someday we’ll have waffles for dinner so I can sip a martini during the cooking process.

The other dangers of the day happened outside. Karlo spent all of Sunday breaking ledge with a sledgehammer, digging holes, cutting wood, and mixing and pouring concrete. Gee, I’m sorry I missed out on all that fun. Luckily he didn’t get hurt. He’s sore, mind you, but at least he still has all his limbs. There is still a question of the real cause of his soreness: moving the woodstove all by himself, digging through 12 inches of solid rock ledge, or simply his old age. I guess we’ll never know.

And what is it exactly that Karlo is working on? Stay tuned for more info on that in the future.

And Speaking of Fine German Engineering . . .

Karlo has gone to heaven without the ill side-effect of actually dying. He scored himself a bike-sitting gig with his dream BMW GS 1200 Adventure. The bike belongs to our boss. This is the bike that he bought and drove across Alaska on his big 'Bucket List' adventure. The bike has been sitting dormant in his garage ever since the beginning of July. Karlo is claiming "BMW abuse" and managed to transfer it from his garage to ours.

Today I went for my first ride and to my dismay, I didn't like it. Now I have nothing bad to say about the German engineering. The bike looks fabulous and has got to be the best in the world for what it was made for - serious off-road and long-distance adventures. I'm sure being in the drivers seat was a dream. But this bike was NOT made with the passenger in mind. I endured it, but I have to say, I will be very very sad if Karlo trades in his VStrom for this seriously expensive and uncomfortable bike. I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed. If he wants to take a GS for a wild adventure, I'm all for it - as long as we are in a land far away and I'm on my own GS800 (preferably a yellow one).

New Appreciation for Germany and German Things

I have to admit, on my first trip to Germany I was not impressed. I first visited in April and it was cold, gray, and dreary. I visited Northern Germany and felt that it lacked charm and character. Now in its defense, I did visit the part of Northern Germany that was mostly destroyed in war so instead of the typical old European architecture, I saw a lot of big grey concrete boxes. Not pretty at all. And my only exposure to Germans was our cranky distributors that are never happy. Nothing ever seems to be good enough for a German.

When I returned to Germany a few years ago, I did not look forward to it. I only went because biking was involved. There is a lot to be said for not having expectations. I expected to dislike the country and instead I adored it. Southern Germany is like a completely different country. I loved everything about it – the scenery, the people, the food (OK, I am referring to the bread, pretzels and gummy bears). The place was beautiful and the biking was spectacular.

Today I’ve made new German friends (that still own a house in Munich) and they are delightfully friendly people. I would love to return to Southern Germany for another visit. I have also come to the realization that the reason our German distributors are often cranky is because they are accustomed to excellence – and apparently it’s hard for us Americans to measure up. Nothing made this more apparent than driving my Mini to work today after spending two days behind the wheel of the company Prius. Night and day difference. Nobody can build a car like the Germans!

I Still Don't Believe This

See our pretty new wood stove. We ordered this baby back in August and have been waiting for a phone call ever since to tell us that it was in. We waited and waited and got more and more impatient as the temperatures outside started to drop. We spent the last 3 weeks hounding the dealer for a delivery date and we never got a call back. Today I contacted the corporate office with a tiny rant and amazingly, Karlo got a phone call this afternoon to tell him the stove was in. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I was in Hartford all afternoon and had no idea that Karlo left work early to go and pick up the stove - all by himself. Not like I could really lend a hand in moving a 500 pound stove, but I would have liked to witness the big event.

Imagine my surprise when I got home tonight and found the old stove already gone and the new stove sitting in its place. I have no idea how on earth Karlo did this all by himself. The last time I saw a stove moved was when our friend Luke asked Karlo, and one other guy, to help move his. I was stressed watching three guys move a stove. I guess it's a good thing that I wasn't around for this ordeal. The man is simply amazing - and slightly insane.

And the sad part is that I will probably be more sore from my weightlifting session yesterday than he will be from his stove workout tonight.

Fresh Lemony Eggs

I had a slow day yesterday and nothing out of the ordinary happened to write about. It’s a good thing that my neighbor Robin came over last night for tea and snacks (yes, more snacks – not good). She told me a rather amusing story that I just have to share . . .

Robin spent a good part of one of the weekend days cleaning her house. She was busy dusting and polishing the furniture when her very thoughtful husband offered to cook her lunch. How nice. He made her some tasty lemony eggs that she really enjoyed. When they were done with lunch she headed back to her chores of polishing the furniture. She grabbed her rag, but couldn’t find the Pledge. She knew exactly where she left it (next to the rag, no doubt) but it wasn’t there. Suddenly she got a sinking feeling in her stomach, ran to the grill (where her husband cooked the eggs) and found her bottle of Pledge sitting there. Apparently the Pledge looks an awful lot like the PAM! The good news is that she survived without evening getting a stomach ache.

So here’s your cooking tip of the day: If you ever run out of PAM and need to grease your pan, why not choose a fresh lemony bottle of Pledge.

Please Welcome . . .

Daniel Joseph Zawisa. Tammy's newest little addition. He was born on October 5th (3 weeks early) at 6:05 PM and weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. Congratulations Tammy! Can't wait to see more pics of the little guy. You are really going to have your hands full now.