What Time Is It?!

We're back from Florida, the house is still standing, the garden desperately needs weeding and the 'grass' cutting, the kitties are all hale and hearty.

We had great luck on the flights out, with both of us on different days having a window seat with the aisle seat free. No such luck yesterday, the plane was absolutely packed to the rafters in coach, and we haven't the funds to fly business class. We had aisle seats across from each other at least, so we could wave and check in on each other from time to time.

It was a night flight, and I know from listening to other well-travelled folk that it is a good idea to set your watch to local time at your destination, so when we were due to take off at 4.25 pm in Florida it was 10.25 in Frankfurt. Dinner was due to be served around 6 pm/midnight, so I was looking forward to settling down to sleep after that.

Unfortunately, a poor man on the row in front on the left hand side of the seating collapsed while we were still on the tarmac. There was a paramedic on the flight, so he checked on him, and the emergency services were called. The cabin crew did a very good job indeed of co-ordinating things and keeping the gawkers at bay. All I heard was a big bang as he hit the floor, and I'm not the sort to start rubbernecking. They had no need of my rusty first aid skills so I kept in my seat, but my understanding was he had a history of heart problems and had got up from his seat to go back to the bathroom before we left the gate and collapsed on his way back.

It took a little over an hour to get him off to hospital, take details of witnesses, find his baggage and remove it from the hold. Then we had to wait for a new take-off slot, and as we queued up an airplane ahead of us blew a tyre on take-off and so they had to close the runway to clean it up. That meant waiting for another slot.

In the end, I think it was about 6.30 by the time we took off. Whatever, by the time we'd eaten dinner and had the last round of beverage service after it, it was about 3 am German time, so I settled down to sleep. That was when I realised the guy on the other side of the aisle row was blasting out heavy metal on his iPod, which I could hear over the engine noise even with earplugs in.

The cabin lights stayed on for another couple of hours, so even with the eyeshades they provide you, it was too bright to sleep. Every twenty minutes or so the cabin crew came round with water, which was nice, but rather loud.

And then, after the cabin lights went out and some of us finally managed to drift off, first of all the guy on the left of me refused to let the guy in the middle back into his seat, so he had to wake me up, followed a few minutes later by the duty free trolley coming round and making enough noise to wake even D, who will sleep through earthquakes.

So, I think all told I might have snatched maybe an hour on the flight. I'd started to feel headachey in the airport and took some painkillers on the plane, but had to wait so long to get a drink (forgot to buy water) my migraine had really taken hold, so I was in a pretty miserable state.

The crowning glory of the day had to be the wrangling of the baggage - three suitcases, one of which has wheels but is the old-fashioned kind that has the wheels on the long axis so I was bent double trying to pull it along. It was easier just to carry it. Out the terminal, onto the bus to the railway station at the other terminal, the long walk to the station itself and the escalators down to the platform...by the time we got down there, I was almost fainting and had to lean on the luggage trolley for support.

I was semi-conscious on the twenty minute train ride to Mannheim, but then had to drag the older suitcase through the station and out to the taxi rank. That meant wrangling it the length of the platform as I had to get to the escalator because the funky conveyor belt by the stairs is still out of order and has been for months, then dragging it back the length of the station building and up a hill to the taxi rank. I think taxi drivers in every city in the world are equally deranged...

I was so pleased to see Monty when we got to our friends' flat, but not pleased to note that someone had keyed the panel between the door and the bonnet...

Got home, checked the gardens - I have a green pepper growing, and all the tomato plants and peppers are in full bloom, my gladioli bulbs have all sprouted, the peas and beans are growing well, clematis, poppies, peonies are all blooming, and the weeds are taking over!

Then I staggered upstairs and crashed out for a few hours, and now I need to think about packing a few things to take to Scotland with me tomorrow. Change at Manchester and Edinburgh...argh!!!!

Excitement Abounds!

Well. No, not really. But I have managed to finally get around to gutting the living room and re-arranging the furniture, and tomorrow we will be replacing the unit that the TV and electrical stuff stands upon. We've been looking for the perfect replacement for a couple of years now. Not too wide and not too tall. The present incumbent is about a metre and a half high by about 160 centimetres wide. The replacement is maybe five centimetres wider and about the same height, with drawers and cupboards where DVDs and CDs can be squirreled away. This is great, because at the moment thetop of the piano and of a small cupboard are covered with CD holders and piled-up CDs, and we ran out of room on the DVD unit (nigh on 2 metres tall, big enough to have two rows of DVDs on each shelf) years ago. 

D also bought me a new bookcase, as my existing one (which will hopefully be rebuilt either later today or tomorrow) is overloaded. Or would have been overloaded when rebuilt! I am quite looking forward to getting some of my books unpacked...I may and go do that in a little while.

I've also found out that German courses start at the local college next month, and I have to go along next Tuesday evening to find out which level of course I need to go on. Apparently they will administer a test and that will sort out which class I need to take. Probably a series of classes, in all honesty, as I'd like to get my German up to as near fluent as I can. Hopefully though I can start looking for work by about Easter - if not before! I've had a look at some job sites, but most office work round here requires a decent level of German, and I can get by when I go shopping and that's really about it at the moment. Not really good enough!

We've had some snow of late, too, much to the delight of the resident felines. Loki  - being a Norwegian Forest cat - is supposed to be built for snowy weather. He was Not Amused, as this photo should illustrate!

So What Have I Been Doing?

Obviously I didn't do nothing between the end of September last year and the second of January this.

Well, there was finishing work. Then there was packing (I'd made a start, but not as much of a start as I'd thought). Then I flew out to Germany for a week or so and we drove back over in a hired van and spent a further ten days packing up my flat and cleaning it up as best we could. D hurt his back and I came down with a filthy cold, so we didn't actually finish till we were all but driving to Hull to catch the ferry. I had to leave a few things behind, but hopefully they will still be there later when I go to pick them up, which will probably be this summer some time.

We got back to Germany on 28 October, and most of my stuff is now either in the dining area or in the second spare bedroom. We've managed to just about finish decorating that room now, although there are still some bits of trim still to finish off and I have to paint the woodwork. The bookcase is going to be sanded, stained and reconstructed, with some added strengthening bits and new castors. 

I had the opportunity in November to spend a couple of weeks in Ullapool at my brother's. We only had a couple of days together though, as the purpose of my visit was to cover for him and his wife while they were in Norway. So, I had almost two weeks of working in the shop every day, something I haven't actually done in years. Not sure I've ever worked the whole day from opening to closing, or at least I hadn't before this last trip. It was actually quite good fun!

I also got to spend time with H's kids, who are now 17 and 16. I remember when they were babies - hard to believe they're both about to finish school and one is off to University to become a primary school teacher. 

The most difficult part was keeping quiet as to why they were off to Norway. It did cause quite a lot of gossip, mainly because Norway in November isn't exactly the sort of warm, exotic place you imagine jetting off to for your first holiday together in a good three years. 

Fortunately I had the presence of mind to ask whether H's kids knew why they were going. No, they had no idea. They still have no idea, and won't till probably the beginning of February. 

Apart from that, I've just been decorating and cleaning and tidying, and enjoying a quiet Christmas and New Year!

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are - year, what, three of this blog? I think it is, anyway. Or possibly four. Yes, it is - year four! Who'd a thunk it, eh?

This time last year, I was metaphorically shitting bricks about the reception I would get when I returned to work (quite rightly too, as I discovered). Now? Now the future is stretching ahead of me into some degree of uncertainty. I need to register myself here in Germany, register my car, get myself on a German language course and look at getting a job of some kind. Even a 'Wollen Sie pommes mitzu?' sort of a job would do...

There is much decorating and cleaning of the house yet to be done. That will occupy a lot of my time. At some point this year, I will hopefully become an Aunt. Whether to one baby or two is yet to be ascertained. The next scan date is January 13, so let's just cross everything and hope for the weaker of the two blobs.

Insomnia has not helped me settle life down into some sort of rhythm, but I am going to try and sort that out now that things are moving in terms of getting upstairs sorted out. Tidy up, de-clutter, create space. Space is important. 

Anyway, I only came here to see if I could find an answer for Fimb regarding archiving an old blog and starting again using the same blog!