Jan 26 - Oberursel

Happy Sunday friends!

First thing this morning I was at Tegel Airport for my flight to Frankfurt and taxi ride (40 min +/-) north to Oberursel.

I have to admit, the further we drove from Frankfurt the more worried I got...if for no other reason that, as you get outside a city, you are less and less likely to find people speaking English.

So, I get to the hotel in Oberursel and I accept the fact that I will be eating at the hotel restaurant because I am totally out of my element. I get to the room and unpack, and the little Unflat Tony in the back of my head is telling me to AT LEAST go for a walk! Well those that know him know that he can be a pretty persistent bugger, even if he is only in your head. :) So I bundle back up, and off I go!

I have to say that I am really glad I ventured out! Oberursel is much more my speed (I am not a "big town crowds" kind of girl). Town is about a 10-15 min walk from the hotel and very charming town with a number of restaurants. I chose an Irish pub, Mac Gowans. The pub is run by a super young lady (dad owns it) who is half Irish and half German and spoke wonderful English. She told me that besides Rolls-Royce being in town, there is an International School which is 90% english speaking people - I would say the bar (children included) were probably 50/50 on what language they were speaking. It was a great place, and I ate my first hamburger in months - it was worth every fat gram!!

Now I'm back in my comfort zone (the hotel) and definitely won't be needing to eat dinner! I hope this finds you all well, and enjoying your weekend.

God-bless,

from Oberursel, Germany

Jan 21 - A Day in the Life

Okay folks...here I am again to provide your daily dose of amusement (picture me in full Jester gear for this one)! And Flat Tony is not included in any of the photos (although he was present) because I didn't want to get him muddy, salty, or otherwise yucky.

The day started off fine - I was 10 minutes early to my Regional train, which leaves at 7:41a. The announcement comes across that the train is running 20 minutes late (sounds like "swan-zig spaten"). This isn't a big deal - I have my extra cup of coffee to keep me warm, and the little Bieber boys (they are probably 13 years old, with their perfectly coiffed hair, and run around taking pictures of graffiti on trains) are there for my amusement. So, the train shows up at 8:01 and away we go.

Well, it probably doesn't need to be mentioned...but if a train LEAVES late, then it probably ARRIVES late too, right? Well, that thought never crossed my mind until we arrived at the Dahlewitz platform to watch the bus pulling away and noting (on the sign board) that the next one would be by in 22 minutes! I have failed to mention, to this point, that its lightly snowing and in the low 20's.

Most people take off to walk to work, and I leave with one engineer I know, and two others to do the same. Thank God this was a low boots day. Another side note: it is about a 10-15 minute bus ride to work.

So, we start walking. We walk about 1/3 of the way where we hope to grab the bus. WELLLLLLLL, the bus shows up and is so incredibly full that you could not have squeezed a newborn in there - much less 4 adults with briefcases! So, on we go - down the slippery cobblestone walkways all the way to RR, passing schools, neighborhoods and this cemetary on the way. Amazingly, none of us fell...but each of us slipped more than once...I was ready to do the "Superstar" again, after all of that - but it wasn't needed! Shew. I asked my co-walkers about the distance we walked, and they said at least 5k (~3.2 miles). Definitely NOT the way I wanted to start my day!!

Oh to be back in the States with my own car and only being at the mercy of the parking garage. :)

I hope I've given you all a little amusement for the day - and that yours is better (my toes are finally thawing out!).

God-bless,

from Berlin

Jan 15 - A Country Song

Hello friends! I hope this finds you well on "Hump Day"!

Does anyone know the country song about the guy that wants to go out drinking on Friday night and finds out that one of his pals got a new girlfriend, and one quit drinking? I think I'm living that in Derby! :) I had two good pals that you could always count on for a few "ciders" while in town. Well one had to go back to his home tonight (a few hours away) and the other quit the adult bevies! Geez Louise - I love 'em dearly, but a trip to jolly old England with no cider? Almost doesn't seem worth the airfare. But they did have a photo op with Flat Tony - excuse their off-center ties but I wouldn't let them retake the photo since they were both smiling!!

I did behave like a true tourist tonight and have Fish & Chips for dinner. Since I skipped lunch I figured the calories would even out! :)

On a totally random note...a friend of mine, from Indy (who I haven't seen in years) was actually in Derby today too. Sherry, I am pretty sure your visit to Derby was to Derby College? Well, that is what I look at out my hotel window! Probably the closest we have been in years! I hope you've enjoyed your trip.

I hope this finds you all enjoying mid-week and on the downhill slide.

Good-night and God-bless,

from Jolly Old England

Jan 14 - The Joys of International Travel

Good evening friends!

My travel from Berlin to Derby will provide you with your daily bought of amusement, but I don't have pictures - so you will just have to pretend. And I only have 30 minutes to type it because that is the "free" portion of in room internet!

I noticed this morning that the admin at work only left a 45 minute gap between flight one and flight two. I didn't think much of it...until my Berlin flight took off 30 minutes late! I had forgotten how HUGE of an airport Frankfurt was...and I hauled butt through there in order to make flight #2. Thank God there was no person in the middle seat of our 3 seats because I had sweat dripping down my neck and back!

Then I arrive in Birmingham and had a lovely car driver to Derby (really, he was super sweet). I get to the hotel, and to my room, to start unpacking. I realize that I have forgotten my power cord adapter for my tablet and my computer. UGH. Then I realize that I couldn't have used my adaptor anyways because the UK and Germany have different plugs. OMG! THEN I notice that this room DOESN'T HAVE A HAIR DRYER. So, not only can I not use my curling iron because I don't have an adaptor, I can't even dry my hair? Oh, how awesome I was going to look for all my meetings tomorrow! As you can imagine - I was about 2.5 seconds from full breakdown mode and wanting to take the first flight from Birmingham back to the U.S. (I was even willing to go through dreadful Newark at this point!).

BUT...I saved myself from the meltdown and called the desk. Well, they couldn't help me, but they were looking for chargers for me. I decided to go down there and see where the closest store was (but everything closes super early in Derby, just like Berlin). I was telling my story to the two young kids at the reception desk, and when I described what I had intended to bring - the wonderful young man down there had TWO in the drawer...so he gave me one to use during my stay!! And one better than that - they have 3-4 extra hair dryers down there too!!!

So, I will not scare everyone I work with tomorrow, and I won't be booking an immediate multi-thousand dollar flight to get my spoiled butt back to the U.S. Tragedy averted. :)

I hope this finds everyone well.
Good-night and God-bless,
from Derby, England

Jan 13 - Me Thinks I've Been Had

Hello all! I'm running on less than 4 hours sleep between the last two nights so apologies in advance for any blatent misspellings or randomness. Hopefully, tonight the exhaustion will take over and I'll get some zzzzzz's.

I have officially been in Germany for 4 months now (arrived Sept 14) - which will make this story a little more amusing. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a good hot bath, and if I've got wine and a book even better! Well, baths aren't an option here - and the amount of time that hot water comes through the shower is extremely limited. As my mom, niece and husband can attest, any shower over five minutes is luke warm at best! Which makes leg shaving, etc., a real pain in the rear! Flat Tony is covering his ears because he's afraid of where this story is going.

So, since I am working from home tomorrow morning before I head to the UK, I decided to send a note to the apartment complex last night asking if someone could stop by tomorrow and show me what I need to do to have a hot water for longer than 5 minutes. I received a response this morning that told me that someone would stop by tomorrow between 9-11am. Oddly enough, the hot water never ran out during my shower tonight??? Really? I waited 4 months to send that email - not wanting to seem like a greedy American - and mysteriously the situation has righted itself the day after I ask the question? Makes me think of the story on CNN the last few days about the landlord in NYC who only turns on the heat when the inspectors come in!

I hope you all got a chuckle out of my MONTHS of cold showers and that your week has started off on a great note!

Good-night and God-bless,

from Berlin

2014 - Return to Berlin

Hello friends! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas season and start of 2014. My trip home was wonderful - with a lot of family time and relaxation (working from one's couch is MUCH more relaxing than going into an office!). The best part of the trip home was the extremely well timed snow storms in Indianapolis, that got me an extra week at home due to multiple flight cancellations!

We were able to spend time with both Tony's family and mine, as well as lots of time with the kids. I'm attaching a few pictures - one of the whole family from Christmas Eve, and one of Tony and I from Christmas Day. For any parent with teenagers, who thinks that they may not live through those teenage years...I just want to assure you that, it is WELL worth it! I never thought we'd get to this point, but am so thankful that we did. :)

This is going to be a busy 5 weeks until I'm back in Indy, and Flat Tony will have a few adventures! On Tuesday, we (Flat T and I) will be heading to Derby, England for a few days of work with my UK pals; then January 26-27 we will be in Frankfurt giving training; and lastly February 6-9 we will be in Warsaw, Poland with my dad.

I hope this finds you all well, and hope to have many more adventures to keep you amused!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

from Berlin