The other day a friend asked me if I had posted my last on this blog.
In a way I have. I recorded and shared some of my most memorable moments of the past three years in this blog - and now I am moving on and starting over. I decided to "re-launch" my blog. Now that I am no longer spending most of my time writing my bachelor's thesis I reckon I will be re-focusing my creative energy.
I have created two new blogs. One will be a picture blog of sorts. I have re-discovered my passion for photography and will be posting some of my favorite pictures of the world as I see it. Funny, insparational, different and hopefully some beautiful ones. You're invited to glimpse some of what I see at The Traveler.
In addition I will continue to share some of my experiences as a marine biologist in the making and somebody who tries to find the humor in each and every mishap. I have told Murphy that he should stay in Europe as I go off to "my island" and will by sharing my IslandScribbles here.
I hope to stay in contact with many of you as I move on...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
And so an era ends...
Three years of studying in Konstanz were over before I knew it. Now I am sitting in a pile of boxes that need to be sorted and repacked before I head to the States for the next round of studies.
Farewell City on the Lake, it was good knowing you.
Farewell City on the Lake, it was good knowing you.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Swimming with Swans...
There's something weird going on with the weather here. As summer began the temperatures dropped, every once in a while we have a super hot weekend. Currently, it's so hot and sticky even after a shower you never seem to get properly dry.
The other day I got a phone call from a friend suggesting a quick hop into the Lake. Which we did. Right on the main walking path.
Lake Constance is home to some of the biggest and meanest swans you have every seen. I kid thee not, I have actually seen one attack a paddle boat causeing the four year-old to cry and his granddad to sure wish he could!
I realize that I'm generally known as quite fearless, I'm not squeamish, I've been swimming in jellyfish - but there's something about swimming with swans and them heading straight for me that kinda freak me out.
Ducks on the other hand are a whole different thing. I have this urge to diver underneath one, grabbing it's feet and yanking really hard. Just to see how the durck would react. Seriously, picture it. It makes me laugh everytime.
As most of you know I have a very graphic sense of imagination and as I was paddling in t he water the other day I was once again picturing dunking a duck - when I thought, what if I accidently grab a swan instead?
These birds are huge! And before my inner eye the following picture emerged. Imagine a swan flapping it's wings for take-off and slowly emerge from the water, and there, hanging by it's legs - Me. Whoopeeeee.
And that's all the insight you will get into the inner workings of my brain.
The other day I got a phone call from a friend suggesting a quick hop into the Lake. Which we did. Right on the main walking path.
Lake Constance is home to some of the biggest and meanest swans you have every seen. I kid thee not, I have actually seen one attack a paddle boat causeing the four year-old to cry and his granddad to sure wish he could!
I realize that I'm generally known as quite fearless, I'm not squeamish, I've been swimming in jellyfish - but there's something about swimming with swans and them heading straight for me that kinda freak me out.
Ducks on the other hand are a whole different thing. I have this urge to diver underneath one, grabbing it's feet and yanking really hard. Just to see how the durck would react. Seriously, picture it. It makes me laugh everytime.
As most of you know I have a very graphic sense of imagination and as I was paddling in t he water the other day I was once again picturing dunking a duck - when I thought, what if I accidently grab a swan instead?
These birds are huge! And before my inner eye the following picture emerged. Imagine a swan flapping it's wings for take-off and slowly emerge from the water, and there, hanging by it's legs - Me. Whoopeeeee.
And that's all the insight you will get into the inner workings of my brain.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt?!
While I have officially completed my studies here at the University of Constance – I’m a far cry from actually being finished with the university. There are two big things on my list of things to do before taking off for greener pastures – or in this case bluer waters: For one I need to put in a request to get my diploma and my “report card” and two I need to exmatrikulate myself from my university.
I know, you are probably thinking what most people think when they here this – shouldn’t that happen somewhat automatically once your finished? No, I have come to the conclusion that this is the point where they put you through the final test to see if you are truly worthy carrying the title “Graduate of the University of Constance”.
The process started week when I completed my final presentation, gathering the forms. Yes, in the day and age of internet and digital media one might think that all forms could be obtainable two download and fill out and then drop into some little mailbox of sorts. But really, come on where would be the fun in that? I spent one morning running around campus finding out where I could get what form.and learned three important things:
a) You never get a form where you will later hand it in
b) Everyone acts as if you should know where each form is, what color it is and where you will hand it in (I mean, hey, it’s not like I exmatrikulate myself every other week or so!)
c) You only ever have a limited temporal window: The biology administration is only open for students three times a week – and usually not when you need them most.
When I finally had found all the forms, I took them home for one thing I needed to recuperate and then of course I needed to spend some time studying them and figuring out what I was going to have to do in order to get each one signed and processed.
For some reason, I had to fill out the entire “Diploma” Form, the problem is that my list of exams and grades never seems to get properly updated – and I secretely wondered, why, they don’t simply print it out and sign it as opposed to have me go online, copy everything down onto paper, bring it to the biology admin people have them open my profile on their system, check everything and then sign it.
Getting exmatrikulated turns out to be a regular scavenger hunt. I need to stamps: One from the library and one from the biology admin people. In order to get the biology stamp, I had to get another form from the biology people (which is never easy considering you have to time it so it falls within the three 2 hour periods we can go there). Then I had to take this piece of paper and get two signatures from two different key people (one key which I never even possessed!) in completely different buildings and, obviously, completely different times they are accessible.
By yesterday I had finally collected all the right forms and had timed it perfectly, so I would be able to go to the biology admin people, get my diploma requested (actually they will just check everything, then I have to hand in the form somewhere else, they will process it and send it around to give everyone a chance to put a stamp on it as well) and my final stamp in order to get exmatrikulated.
Did I mention I have a history of my profile getting messed up with courses not being entered, getting locked out of the system and everything? Apparently it has something to do with my name… Anyway, I thought we were passed this. But as I spent more and more time with the biology admin people and finding out that my language course had been kicked back out of the system, that my final course had not yet been entered into the system (though I had been assured by the linology admin people it would be taken care of), I saw my time frame closing.
So while my diploma request remains with the biology people I never got exmatrikulated and I while I managed to solve the case of the missing courses and non-entered classes, I won’t be able to go back until next Wednesday to finally, finally be finished with university.
I know, you are probably thinking what most people think when they here this – shouldn’t that happen somewhat automatically once your finished? No, I have come to the conclusion that this is the point where they put you through the final test to see if you are truly worthy carrying the title “Graduate of the University of Constance”.
The process started week when I completed my final presentation, gathering the forms. Yes, in the day and age of internet and digital media one might think that all forms could be obtainable two download and fill out and then drop into some little mailbox of sorts. But really, come on where would be the fun in that? I spent one morning running around campus finding out where I could get what form.and learned three important things:
a) You never get a form where you will later hand it in
b) Everyone acts as if you should know where each form is, what color it is and where you will hand it in (I mean, hey, it’s not like I exmatrikulate myself every other week or so!)
c) You only ever have a limited temporal window: The biology administration is only open for students three times a week – and usually not when you need them most.
When I finally had found all the forms, I took them home for one thing I needed to recuperate and then of course I needed to spend some time studying them and figuring out what I was going to have to do in order to get each one signed and processed.
For some reason, I had to fill out the entire “Diploma” Form, the problem is that my list of exams and grades never seems to get properly updated – and I secretely wondered, why, they don’t simply print it out and sign it as opposed to have me go online, copy everything down onto paper, bring it to the biology admin people have them open my profile on their system, check everything and then sign it.
Getting exmatrikulated turns out to be a regular scavenger hunt. I need to stamps: One from the library and one from the biology admin people. In order to get the biology stamp, I had to get another form from the biology people (which is never easy considering you have to time it so it falls within the three 2 hour periods we can go there). Then I had to take this piece of paper and get two signatures from two different key people (one key which I never even possessed!) in completely different buildings and, obviously, completely different times they are accessible.
By yesterday I had finally collected all the right forms and had timed it perfectly, so I would be able to go to the biology admin people, get my diploma requested (actually they will just check everything, then I have to hand in the form somewhere else, they will process it and send it around to give everyone a chance to put a stamp on it as well) and my final stamp in order to get exmatrikulated.
Did I mention I have a history of my profile getting messed up with courses not being entered, getting locked out of the system and everything? Apparently it has something to do with my name… Anyway, I thought we were passed this. But as I spent more and more time with the biology admin people and finding out that my language course had been kicked back out of the system, that my final course had not yet been entered into the system (though I had been assured by the linology admin people it would be taken care of), I saw my time frame closing.
So while my diploma request remains with the biology people I never got exmatrikulated and I while I managed to solve the case of the missing courses and non-entered classes, I won’t be able to go back until next Wednesday to finally, finally be finished with university.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
I'm totally hooked on strawberries...
I usually do not get very hungry when the weather is hot and humid. The thought of "real food" such as pasta, potatoes etc simply is not appealing. On the other hand, when the weather is hot and humid I crave fresh cold fruit. Living in one of Germany`s prime fruit and vegetable farming areas certainlys works for my benefit and I have become totally hooked on strawberries. I pick them up on the way to where ever I`m going or coming from and eat them all day long. I simply cannot help myself. I know that most people writing their thesis or studying get hooked on chocolate and junk food so I keep telling myself that this is actually a good habit.
The other day half way through my strawberry basket I pulled out this huuuuuuuuuge one.
It could probably sustain some family in Africa for a week! I took a picture and added my mp3 player as a scale (yes, I have been spending way to much time reading scientific publications!).
The other day half way through my strawberry basket I pulled out this huuuuuuuuuge one.
It could probably sustain some family in Africa for a week! I took a picture and added my mp3 player as a scale (yes, I have been spending way to much time reading scientific publications!).
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
odd things I own and wondering how I would explain them to customs...
Finishing up here in Konstanz require a bit of cleaning and sorting. I realized that while I have stuck to my past decision I have never accumulated a lot of stuff. But I have accumulated a frew odd things. And sorting through them in my mind I imagined having them in my backpack while checking in in the airplane and the baggage check person pulling them out and asking me what I need them for.
For example my little collection of knives, scissors, tweezers etc. that have dissected many a flower and a few worms. Now how would I explain that.
For example my little collection of knives, scissors, tweezers etc. that have dissected many a flower and a few worms. Now how would I explain that.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Hibernation...
Yes, I am still around...
I think I went into hibernation or something similar over the winter months. All I did was sleep, crawl out of bed, sleep, go to classes, sleep, spend lots of time in the lab doing interesting experiments and sleep. Not necessarily in that sequence and frequently more or less at the same time.
I came out of hibernation for a bit during spring. Mostly to hop around in and around the Lake for my bachelor's thesis. Now that summer finally seems to have arrived, sunshine has upped my energy level big time... and yet my poor blog has been neglegted big time. I guess, in between writing my bachelor's thesis and various presentations I didn't feel much like writing.
Perhaps I shall get around to it again soon - possibly I will relaunch my blog later this summer when I leave the Lake behind and make a run for New York to get a phD in Marine Biology.
But do keep checking back.
I think I went into hibernation or something similar over the winter months. All I did was sleep, crawl out of bed, sleep, go to classes, sleep, spend lots of time in the lab doing interesting experiments and sleep. Not necessarily in that sequence and frequently more or less at the same time.
I came out of hibernation for a bit during spring. Mostly to hop around in and around the Lake for my bachelor's thesis. Now that summer finally seems to have arrived, sunshine has upped my energy level big time... and yet my poor blog has been neglegted big time. I guess, in between writing my bachelor's thesis and various presentations I didn't feel much like writing.
Perhaps I shall get around to it again soon - possibly I will relaunch my blog later this summer when I leave the Lake behind and make a run for New York to get a phD in Marine Biology.
But do keep checking back.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
THAT cold...
It's not like I haven't been anywhere cold before. And I hate to say that back in the day when I was a young'un it was colder - but it's true.
Last year ended quite cold, with lots of snow resulting in my having to dig my bicycle out of the snow in the mornings. The new year started with a cold snap and since then it has just gotten colder.
It's the-brakes-on-my-bike-froze cold, the when-I-arrive-I-check-if-my-ears-are-still-attached kind of cold, in other words: wear-all-your-clothes-at-once cold. Cold-enough-to-worry-about-loosing-fingers, so to say.
So cold that when you breath, the added humidity to the air turns directly to ice and falls to the ground. So cold that part of the Lake froze over and people are ice-skating on it. So cold I have come to the decision that should I ever make it to Arctic or Antarctic I will exchange my bike for a dog sled.
Dog sleds don't have gears and so it can't get THAT cold that I can't switch gears when going uphill.
But that's another story...
Last year ended quite cold, with lots of snow resulting in my having to dig my bicycle out of the snow in the mornings. The new year started with a cold snap and since then it has just gotten colder.
It's the-brakes-on-my-bike-froze cold, the when-I-arrive-I-check-if-my-ears-are-still-attached kind of cold, in other words: wear-all-your-clothes-at-once cold. Cold-enough-to-worry-about-loosing-fingers, so to say.
So cold that when you breath, the added humidity to the air turns directly to ice and falls to the ground. So cold that part of the Lake froze over and people are ice-skating on it. So cold I have come to the decision that should I ever make it to Arctic or Antarctic I will exchange my bike for a dog sled.
Dog sleds don't have gears and so it can't get THAT cold that I can't switch gears when going uphill.
But that's another story...
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Traveling home for Christmas...
Taking trains has become more interesting once again. I took to longer trips twice this month and both times as I compared the train schedule I downloaded off the internet, with the information I printed off the machine while buying my ticket I got conflicting information regarding my arrival times and departure times after my layovers.
The ultimate authority on train times is the yellow schedule hanging up on every track, entrance, tunnel and stairway (and any other place one might be looking. Traveling home from Basel, I got out of the train at the exact time noted on my print out. While searching for my train to Konstanz I discovered that it didn't exist.
Simple explanation: I wasn't in Radolfzell, I was in Singen. Wrong train station.
I figured out the next train home and was trying to figure out where I had gone wrong getting out at the wrong train station. I discovered that the train I had arrived on, didn't exist.
Simple explanation?
Nope. At least I didn't have any instructions getting onto track 5 1/2 or anything like that.
I took the train to my parents place and had a brief layover in Karlsruhe. Again I discovered that the time I was supposed to arrive was different on the internet, the machine and the yellow paper. And the train I was supposed to take out of Karlruhe didn't exist.
I tried to find the next train to Heidelberg on the yellow paper. Sprinted up one stairway to discover that it was the wrong kind of train.
I discovered the right kind of train would be leaving in a minute - ran up another set of stairs looked at the digital board thingy and discovered it wasn't leaving in 1 minute - it was leaving in 7 - the exact time it was noted on my print out from the machine.
But at least this time I wasn't traveling alone. I had a little companion with me, that had been given to me at my Birthday pancake all-you-can-eat breakfast that morning:
The ultimate authority on train times is the yellow schedule hanging up on every track, entrance, tunnel and stairway (and any other place one might be looking. Traveling home from Basel, I got out of the train at the exact time noted on my print out. While searching for my train to Konstanz I discovered that it didn't exist.
Simple explanation: I wasn't in Radolfzell, I was in Singen. Wrong train station.
I figured out the next train home and was trying to figure out where I had gone wrong getting out at the wrong train station. I discovered that the train I had arrived on, didn't exist.
Simple explanation?
Nope. At least I didn't have any instructions getting onto track 5 1/2 or anything like that.
I took the train to my parents place and had a brief layover in Karlsruhe. Again I discovered that the time I was supposed to arrive was different on the internet, the machine and the yellow paper. And the train I was supposed to take out of Karlruhe didn't exist.
I tried to find the next train to Heidelberg on the yellow paper. Sprinted up one stairway to discover that it was the wrong kind of train.
I discovered the right kind of train would be leaving in a minute - ran up another set of stairs looked at the digital board thingy and discovered it wasn't leaving in 1 minute - it was leaving in 7 - the exact time it was noted on my print out from the machine.
But at least this time I wasn't traveling alone. I had a little companion with me, that had been given to me at my Birthday pancake all-you-can-eat breakfast that morning:
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The March of the Penguins...
The other day, I went for a walk with penguins. They're kinda cool (funny, yes I know...)
On a side note, I discovered what the reindeers are up to during the last weeks before D-Day (C-Day would probably be more fitting). You'd think they'd be in some major last minute training camp, but no...
Friday, December 19, 2008
in case you were wondering...
In previous years around this time I blogged about one of my favorite Christmas memories in Constance (not) - The singing, dancing, blaring Christmas tree that the Chemists put up. You might remember: if you unplug it, it actually gets louder, demanding to be plugged back in and claiming that it has a battery that lasts 100 hours. It actually might.
I had almost managed to suppress those memories as I generally don't walk through the Chemistry building anymore. Almost.
But now, thanks to my friends in the physics department, I have one very, very happy memory attached to the tree.
Every year the 3rd semester physics students put on a "Bunter Abend": this literally translates to "Colorful Evening" - they invite all students to participate and come up with fun presentations, skits, games etc. Some of the students from the 5th semester (this is the project I got roped into) decided to ask Professors, Post-Docs and other "academic personal" to do crazy things, film their response and if they decide to do it, capture that on film as well. Then that evening they'll have the audience guess wether or not they'll actually do it.
Obviously, you are sworn to secrecy - the whole game would be kinda boring, if everyone already knows what's gonna happen!
Between getting a Professor to hold a lecture in his pyjama, collaborating on filling an elevator with balloons, having a TA walk out on his class we got someboday to steal the Christmas tree.
In the middle of the morning. Right in front of the nose of all the Chemistry students.
We "positioned" a coupla guys near the tree, "our guy" walked up with a little wagon, had them lend a hand, they lifted the tree on the wagon and wheeled it off - into the Chemist's elevator. The tree is squacking and squealing and singing as he went up to floors and the wheeled it out and past various research groups in the Chemistry building. I was stealthily following the whole procedure with the camera.
Finally three students showed some civil courage. One guy walked up and said: "Hey, that's our tree" - but we kept on into the biology building, now with an entourage consisting of my friend holding the elevators etc., the man with the tree, me and the camera and three chemistry students who had no idea what was going on but certainly weren't going to let us get away with anything -
especially their tree!
Finally we were back in the Physics building - the tree was pretty loud yelling: "Plug me back in, beeep! beeep! Feeeeeeeeeeeliz navidad - feliiiiiiiiiz navidaaaaaaaad ...." and went back into the elevator - actually I took the stairs, but the Chemistry people got into the elevator and apparently just stood silently glaring in the back.
We wheeled the tree up to the Physics student hang out, plugged it in, posed for a picture - and the brough it back. No harm done. None at all.
And it sings, happily ever after -
I had almost managed to suppress those memories as I generally don't walk through the Chemistry building anymore. Almost.
But now, thanks to my friends in the physics department, I have one very, very happy memory attached to the tree.
Every year the 3rd semester physics students put on a "Bunter Abend": this literally translates to "Colorful Evening" - they invite all students to participate and come up with fun presentations, skits, games etc. Some of the students from the 5th semester (this is the project I got roped into) decided to ask Professors, Post-Docs and other "academic personal" to do crazy things, film their response and if they decide to do it, capture that on film as well. Then that evening they'll have the audience guess wether or not they'll actually do it.
Obviously, you are sworn to secrecy - the whole game would be kinda boring, if everyone already knows what's gonna happen!
Between getting a Professor to hold a lecture in his pyjama, collaborating on filling an elevator with balloons, having a TA walk out on his class we got someboday to steal the Christmas tree.
In the middle of the morning. Right in front of the nose of all the Chemistry students.
We "positioned" a coupla guys near the tree, "our guy" walked up with a little wagon, had them lend a hand, they lifted the tree on the wagon and wheeled it off - into the Chemist's elevator. The tree is squacking and squealing and singing as he went up to floors and the wheeled it out and past various research groups in the Chemistry building. I was stealthily following the whole procedure with the camera.
Finally three students showed some civil courage. One guy walked up and said: "Hey, that's our tree" - but we kept on into the biology building, now with an entourage consisting of my friend holding the elevators etc., the man with the tree, me and the camera and three chemistry students who had no idea what was going on but certainly weren't going to let us get away with anything -
especially their tree!
Finally we were back in the Physics building - the tree was pretty loud yelling: "Plug me back in, beeep! beeep! Feeeeeeeeeeeliz navidad - feliiiiiiiiiz navidaaaaaaaad ...." and went back into the elevator - actually I took the stairs, but the Chemistry people got into the elevator and apparently just stood silently glaring in the back.
We wheeled the tree up to the Physics student hang out, plugged it in, posed for a picture - and the brough it back. No harm done. None at all.
And it sings, happily ever after -
Monday, December 15, 2008
regarding a white Christmas...
Well, I'm not sure about White Christmas. Dream or Reality. I can't even tell you when the last time was that I had an actual White Christmas. Nor if this Christmas really will be white.
But I can tell you, that this year I have seen more snow than in a really, really long time. It has been snowing on and off for the past weeks. I know that might not sound so surprising considering that can see the Swiss Alps from my room (that is if my window were on the other side of the building). But we must remember that there is a pretty large Lake between my window and the Alps that conserve quite a bit of heat and usually we don't get much snow.
But this year it has been snowing like mad (we remember the tree hurdle incident...). So much for global warming.
I actually opted for living with my bike (i.e. letting it stay in my room while I was gone) after I started spending my mornings digging my bike out of the snow.
Not okay.
But I can tell you, that this year I have seen more snow than in a really, really long time. It has been snowing on and off for the past weeks. I know that might not sound so surprising considering that can see the Swiss Alps from my room (that is if my window were on the other side of the building). But we must remember that there is a pretty large Lake between my window and the Alps that conserve quite a bit of heat and usually we don't get much snow.
But this year it has been snowing like mad (we remember the tree hurdle incident...). So much for global warming.
I actually opted for living with my bike (i.e. letting it stay in my room while I was gone) after I started spending my mornings digging my bike out of the snow.
Not okay.
regarding my superpowers...
You know how I have a theory about most things?
And how usually after I communicate, my theory people smile, laugh and move on, assuming it's something I made up.
I admit, generally, that's probably true regarding my most abstract and absurd theories. But every once in a while even my most absurd theories play out. Well, my superpower theory seems to be confirming itself.
I assume most of you have seen one or two superhero movies. If you take a closer look developing superpowers seems to have a somewhat regular pattern.
Step One: Weird things start happening. Developing powers still difficult to contain and put to use (that would be all electronic appliances around me going nuts)
Step Two: Powers begin to manifest. Usually the scene were the futur superhero wakes up on the floor somewhere after the full effect of his powers hit him and can't remember how he got there.
Step Three: The superhero learns how to use his powers to save the world (or at least the girl).
Well, last Sunday I experienced Step Two. I woke up on the floor at quarter to ten and couldn't quite figure out how I got there. I slowly pieced it together, remembering having woken up to turn off my alarm at eight, and feeling kinda shaky and my heart pounding.
The only problem: Not only does the church service start at 10am, I was supposed to be leading through the service.
Part of my superpowers seem to by incredible speed on bikes.
But that's another story.
And how usually after I communicate, my theory people smile, laugh and move on, assuming it's something I made up.
I admit, generally, that's probably true regarding my most abstract and absurd theories. But every once in a while even my most absurd theories play out. Well, my superpower theory seems to be confirming itself.
I assume most of you have seen one or two superhero movies. If you take a closer look developing superpowers seems to have a somewhat regular pattern.
Step One: Weird things start happening. Developing powers still difficult to contain and put to use (that would be all electronic appliances around me going nuts)
Step Two: Powers begin to manifest. Usually the scene were the futur superhero wakes up on the floor somewhere after the full effect of his powers hit him and can't remember how he got there.
Step Three: The superhero learns how to use his powers to save the world (or at least the girl).
Well, last Sunday I experienced Step Two. I woke up on the floor at quarter to ten and couldn't quite figure out how I got there. I slowly pieced it together, remembering having woken up to turn off my alarm at eight, and feeling kinda shaky and my heart pounding.
The only problem: Not only does the church service start at 10am, I was supposed to be leading through the service.
Part of my superpowers seem to by incredible speed on bikes.
But that's another story.
Friday, November 28, 2008
so I was thinking...
Yes, I am still around. Basically I have been doing too much thinking. My brain is fried from analyzing bacterial growth, mutating unsuspecting yeast (oh yeah, double knockout), inokulating bean plants with parasites, and other fun and exciting microbiology stuff.
People have asked me were I (and my up-beat comments on life) have been lately. Well, here's what's been going wrong - uh, going ON.
Though the class is technically over, I still bear the consequences of 5 weeks in the lab in the form of lab reports.
Lab reports are no fun.
Now I am writing college applications.
College applications are no fun.
You have to write all these motivational essays. Nobody actually gives specifics on what they want, I suspect that actually getting through the process, shows motivation enough, and they don't even read the essays. Every school has a different system for recieving transcripts, letters of recommendations and statements. Some want everything uploaded on some website, others wat half of it sent by mail. You don't want to hear the story of a month-long quest for my transcripts, mainly focused on trying to find my grades. It's more difficult than it sounds, when a third is online, another third on pieces of paper and the remaining lost in translation.
On top of this I am beginning to think that I have started emitting some sort of electromagnetic waves. This might be the beginning of superpowers. Unfortunately I have yet to control them. I am still at the point where all electronic appliances around me stop working. Seriously.
My beloved camera, may it rest in peace, died unexpectedly. One moment it was happily taking pictures of bacterial colonies, the next it would no longer turn on. And yes, I checked the batteries. More than once. Several times. TOO MANY times.
I went on a spontaneous trip to meet up with a friend, watch my brother's band play and play at a rugby tournament. Despite being there early to buy a ticket, I was messing with the machine when the train left a minute or two early. I think I scared several people when I started punching the machine and swearing in several languages. I am surprisingly fluent in many languages when I am upset.
Then I tried to call my mother to let her know that I'd be spending almost as much time waiting at train stations as I would in the trains I'd eventually make it to Heidelberg. She works at a shop called the Regenbogen. I got out my cell phone and scrolled down the contact list. N.... O.... P... - and my cell phone crashed. I pushed a coupla buttons and the screen came back on and I started scrolling again N... O... P... - and it crashed again. I ended up calling my brother, whose name comes before P in the alphabet to get her number. I wanted to eat a candy bar while I was awaiting. The first machine didn't have my favorite one any more, the second one ate my money once before handing over my chocolate on the second try...
I steered clear of electronic things over the weekend until I was supposed to fix something on a flyer I had designed (this was Sunday night). My laptop booted and was working fine for about 10 minutes until it suddenly crashed and would no longer start up anymore. I spent about 2 hours before I gave up resurecting it. The next morning I messed with it again before calling my Dad. In the middle of our conversation it suddenly started up again. And it's been fine ever since, except for the minor detail that some of the lab reports I had been working on where no longer to be found.
Seriously, there is no real explanation for any of this. I am the only common denominator. And as usual I have a theory. The above mentioned beginning of superpowers.
I was going to put a tripod on my Christmas/Birthday-wishlist. Unfortunately I no longer have a camera to go with it. I joked about wanting a navigation system for my bike to avoid getting as lost as I was in Scotland once or twice, but I no longer think it's a good idea. It might direct me to ride straight off a cliff.
Maybe a cape. Yes, eventually I will learn to control my superpowers and become a superhero. And then, I will need a cape.
And that'll be another story.
People have asked me were I (and my up-beat comments on life) have been lately. Well, here's what's been going wrong - uh, going ON.
Though the class is technically over, I still bear the consequences of 5 weeks in the lab in the form of lab reports.
Lab reports are no fun.
Now I am writing college applications.
College applications are no fun.
You have to write all these motivational essays. Nobody actually gives specifics on what they want, I suspect that actually getting through the process, shows motivation enough, and they don't even read the essays. Every school has a different system for recieving transcripts, letters of recommendations and statements. Some want everything uploaded on some website, others wat half of it sent by mail. You don't want to hear the story of a month-long quest for my transcripts, mainly focused on trying to find my grades. It's more difficult than it sounds, when a third is online, another third on pieces of paper and the remaining lost in translation.
On top of this I am beginning to think that I have started emitting some sort of electromagnetic waves. This might be the beginning of superpowers. Unfortunately I have yet to control them. I am still at the point where all electronic appliances around me stop working. Seriously.
My beloved camera, may it rest in peace, died unexpectedly. One moment it was happily taking pictures of bacterial colonies, the next it would no longer turn on. And yes, I checked the batteries. More than once. Several times. TOO MANY times.
I went on a spontaneous trip to meet up with a friend, watch my brother's band play and play at a rugby tournament. Despite being there early to buy a ticket, I was messing with the machine when the train left a minute or two early. I think I scared several people when I started punching the machine and swearing in several languages. I am surprisingly fluent in many languages when I am upset.
Then I tried to call my mother to let her know that I'd be spending almost as much time waiting at train stations as I would in the trains I'd eventually make it to Heidelberg. She works at a shop called the Regenbogen. I got out my cell phone and scrolled down the contact list. N.... O.... P... - and my cell phone crashed. I pushed a coupla buttons and the screen came back on and I started scrolling again N... O... P... - and it crashed again. I ended up calling my brother, whose name comes before P in the alphabet to get her number. I wanted to eat a candy bar while I was awaiting. The first machine didn't have my favorite one any more, the second one ate my money once before handing over my chocolate on the second try...
I steered clear of electronic things over the weekend until I was supposed to fix something on a flyer I had designed (this was Sunday night). My laptop booted and was working fine for about 10 minutes until it suddenly crashed and would no longer start up anymore. I spent about 2 hours before I gave up resurecting it. The next morning I messed with it again before calling my Dad. In the middle of our conversation it suddenly started up again. And it's been fine ever since, except for the minor detail that some of the lab reports I had been working on where no longer to be found.
Seriously, there is no real explanation for any of this. I am the only common denominator. And as usual I have a theory. The above mentioned beginning of superpowers.
I was going to put a tripod on my Christmas/Birthday-wishlist. Unfortunately I no longer have a camera to go with it. I joked about wanting a navigation system for my bike to avoid getting as lost as I was in Scotland once or twice, but I no longer think it's a good idea. It might direct me to ride straight off a cliff.
Maybe a cape. Yes, eventually I will learn to control my superpowers and become a superhero. And then, I will need a cape.
And that'll be another story.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
on why I should get some credit for extra effort...
At German universities attendance isn't actually required for most classes. And yet there I am on-time at every class. And nobody gives me any credit for it. I even try to listen to whatever whoever has to say.
But like the US Postal Service come rain, sun, storm or even snow around quarter to eight I get on my bike and hit the road - uphill all the way. There's a little slopey thingy once, just before the final ascent.
Oh, and then there was Thursday. I looked out the window - generally at this time of the year you can't actually see anything because of all the fog - there was snow. Wet ugly snow, as opposed to the pretty powdery stuff you generally see in the movies and on TV.
And so I set out. I'm a bit slower on Thursdays because I have Rugby practice Wednesdays evenings and so there I was whizzing up and down and around, when I came to the slopey place just before the final ascent, I came to a sudden, surprising stop behind the bus. The bus that was stopped in the middle of the road, because there was another bus at the actual bus stop and several cars between the buses. Not to mention the 100-200 students that had suddenly started a pilgrimage up the hill.
When I realized the buses and cars weren't going anywhere I left the road, bypasses on the sidewalk for a moment and then left the bike path as it was over run with evil pedestrians to continue up the mountain.
Up, up, up -
Until suddenly there was a tree covering half the road. I figured that was the reason no buses were continueing up towards school, which I thought was a bit little to actually stop them. I swerved and continued.
And came to a sudden stop when there were TWO trees one from each side blocking the road. I actually had to get OFF my bike to carry it through a whirl of branches, leaves, muck and snow. And that's how it continued. After that all of us cyclers were pushing our bikes and carrying, pushing and pulling it through trees in the road. Eventually we had to move over to the sidewalk and then there was no more getting through and we decided the only way was to continue on a small forrest path.
Which wasn't too easy. Because we had to climb up this little enbankment, which actually wasn't that small and consisted of leaves, mud and snow. One of the guys climbed, uh slid up, and we (me) lifted your bikes up to him and continued on the slimey, muddy path.
By now I was starting to get hot and sweaty and just as we were about to leave the woods and make it to the little uni-path I unzipped the collar of my coat, sweatshirt and popped the collar of my poloshirt and (believe this part or not) just at that moment a branch decided to onlaod it's snow on me. I had basically created a funnel for the snow to slid right down my shirt basically righinto my pants.
And everyone laughed, including me. Because literally I went zip and it went dump.
Only about a quarter of the students made it to our first class... seriously, somebody should give me some extra credit for effort.
But like the US Postal Service come rain, sun, storm or even snow around quarter to eight I get on my bike and hit the road - uphill all the way. There's a little slopey thingy once, just before the final ascent.
Oh, and then there was Thursday. I looked out the window - generally at this time of the year you can't actually see anything because of all the fog - there was snow. Wet ugly snow, as opposed to the pretty powdery stuff you generally see in the movies and on TV.
And so I set out. I'm a bit slower on Thursdays because I have Rugby practice Wednesdays evenings and so there I was whizzing up and down and around, when I came to the slopey place just before the final ascent, I came to a sudden, surprising stop behind the bus. The bus that was stopped in the middle of the road, because there was another bus at the actual bus stop and several cars between the buses. Not to mention the 100-200 students that had suddenly started a pilgrimage up the hill.
When I realized the buses and cars weren't going anywhere I left the road, bypasses on the sidewalk for a moment and then left the bike path as it was over run with evil pedestrians to continue up the mountain.
Up, up, up -
Until suddenly there was a tree covering half the road. I figured that was the reason no buses were continueing up towards school, which I thought was a bit little to actually stop them. I swerved and continued.
And came to a sudden stop when there were TWO trees one from each side blocking the road. I actually had to get OFF my bike to carry it through a whirl of branches, leaves, muck and snow. And that's how it continued. After that all of us cyclers were pushing our bikes and carrying, pushing and pulling it through trees in the road. Eventually we had to move over to the sidewalk and then there was no more getting through and we decided the only way was to continue on a small forrest path.
Which wasn't too easy. Because we had to climb up this little enbankment, which actually wasn't that small and consisted of leaves, mud and snow. One of the guys climbed, uh slid up, and we (me) lifted your bikes up to him and continued on the slimey, muddy path.
By now I was starting to get hot and sweaty and just as we were about to leave the woods and make it to the little uni-path I unzipped the collar of my coat, sweatshirt and popped the collar of my poloshirt and (believe this part or not) just at that moment a branch decided to onlaod it's snow on me. I had basically created a funnel for the snow to slid right down my shirt basically righinto my pants.
And everyone laughed, including me. Because literally I went zip and it went dump.
Only about a quarter of the students made it to our first class... seriously, somebody should give me some extra credit for effort.
on why life isn't fair...
I'm getting all the pre-election buzz without having to watch all the infomercials on TV and being able to ignore the whole tabloid-guess-what-skeleton-so-and-so-has-in-their-closet mess. Almost everytime I'm in the kitchen the TV is running and there's something about the election, the financial crisis and all the other mess going on, and every so often somebody says: "Hey, how would you vote?" And then I say: "I already HAVE!". Yes, I did my part to save the world, and no I'm not telling how I voted. That's the fun part of voting. It's a SECRET. And of course, considering all the effort I put into being able to vote, I want to have some pleasure out of it...
Yes, voting is difficult. And I'm not talking about the minor detail of potentially changing a country, nay, the WORLD depending in which oval I fill out. I'm talking about alle the effort I had to put into getting that piece of paper and all those envelopes I had to put it into, seal and sign.
In Germany when you turn 18, come the next election you get a letter saying, hey, we like you, we're gonna let you vote, we want you to be able to do your civic duty. WELCOME.
Me?? I spent hours forresting through the internet, trying to find a registration form, contacting various people who are supposed to know what I'm supposed to do, I had to find an adress to register under, ... and the of course the minor detail of waiting for months wondering if it was actually going to work THIS time around and I would finally be ABLE to VOTE!
And then I found out today that Texas has a special law for astronauts to exercise their "constitutional right and priviledge" to vote over a special secure electronic connection. Some of the election people will then recieve their vote and make sure they are counted.
I seem to remember a big scandal regarding several bags of overseas absentee ballots not being counted the last time around.
This confirms it. Life just isn't fair!
Yes, voting is difficult. And I'm not talking about the minor detail of potentially changing a country, nay, the WORLD depending in which oval I fill out. I'm talking about alle the effort I had to put into getting that piece of paper and all those envelopes I had to put it into, seal and sign.
In Germany when you turn 18, come the next election you get a letter saying, hey, we like you, we're gonna let you vote, we want you to be able to do your civic duty. WELCOME.
Me?? I spent hours forresting through the internet, trying to find a registration form, contacting various people who are supposed to know what I'm supposed to do, I had to find an adress to register under, ... and the of course the minor detail of waiting for months wondering if it was actually going to work THIS time around and I would finally be ABLE to VOTE!
And then I found out today that Texas has a special law for astronauts to exercise their "constitutional right and priviledge" to vote over a special secure electronic connection. Some of the election people will then recieve their vote and make sure they are counted.
I seem to remember a big scandal regarding several bags of overseas absentee ballots not being counted the last time around.
This confirms it. Life just isn't fair!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Today was a terrible day
There used to be a thin book in the O'Leary bathroom entitled "Today was a terrible day" - a story of a day gone wrong narrated by a boy in 1st grade. It has just the right length for one seating, which is why I used to know the whole thing by heart. "Today was a terrible day. It started when I dropped my pencil. And all the kids started calling me snakey..." and the story of mishaps and accidents and his struggle with reading continue from there.
Well,
today was a terrible day. It started when I fell out of bed. I should have known better and just gotten right back in. Technically I didn't fall out of my bed - I fell ON my bed. I was trying to get up to turn off my alarm clock and had somehow gotten my feet entangled in my quilt. I fell backwards out of bed and as I franctically tried to regain balance (I would have fallen smack on my head) I managed to avoid a head injury but fell right on the boardy thingy hitting the bone in the small of my back (I kid thee not - there actually was an audible thump!).
I managed to make it to my first day of class despite all the birdbrains who don't get the concept of dense fog = cannot see very far = need to pay better attention. I spent last night labouriously filling out my absentee voting ballot (yes, I actually managed to register this time around) and sticking it in the inner and then the outer envelope. All that was still needed in order to do my bit for saving the world was toss it in the mail box.
I pulled it out of my backpack to discover that it had gotten wet. For the first time in the 3 or 4 odd years I have had my indestructuble blue tin water bottle it had leaked. Awesome.
I returned to my room to do some studying. I have an important test I need to take on Saturday. Basically I am trying to recram the details of the equivalent of knowledge a biology major should have aquired during their four years of studies into my head.
I had agreed to pick up a stack of flyers listing this semesters activities with the Christian Student group I'm involved in. It was supposed to be my afternoon 30 minute break or fresh air.
It ended in a 2 hour plus- over 15 cycled kilometers (mostly back and forth) nerve-racking event. Long story. But it was topped as after I had waited 15 minutes for the printing-person to cut the flyers I discovered the last shop in Germany that does not tack plastic. I am so glad that I discovered an ATM 10 minutes away (as opposed to the 20 minute away ATM I have been using for the past years) this summer. Did I mention I accidently rammed a pedal into my ankle trying to dissolve into thing air as three people insisted to walk next to each other past the ATM?
In the book, the terrible day has a positive, upbeat - things will get (and already are better than they look) better-ending.
I wish I could stay the same. I wanted to take my bike to rugby practice but unfortunately from one moment to the next my bicycle lock died. Rather than crack the key trying to force it, I decided to walk over to the pitch and take care of it when I got back. Because I really didn't want tomorrow to start with "Today was a terrible day. It started when I broke my key in my bicycle lock and had to hike to class because the bus was overfilled with students" I was determined to fix it tonight.
I ended up fixing it with a metal saw I borrowed from one of the guys on my floor. It is not easy to saw open a look. I would not advise it as a bicycle stealing technique. Interstingly enough it didn't seame to bother any of the people who passed my during the half hour or so I stood outside. One of the girls caught my eyes and actually started grinning - and then laughing when I declared this was my evening entertainment and really good stress reduction. It's alway good to know that civil courage is alive and kicking.
I kind of planned on ending my day with a relaxing hot shower before settling into bed for a little bedtime reading on each and every creature and plant crawling on this earth.
Showers that spontaneously turn scolding hot are not very relaxing.
I would say that from this point things can only get better. And yet I choose to remain sitting on my bed and refusing to buge for fear of what could still come.
But that would be another story...
Well,
today was a terrible day. It started when I fell out of bed. I should have known better and just gotten right back in. Technically I didn't fall out of my bed - I fell ON my bed. I was trying to get up to turn off my alarm clock and had somehow gotten my feet entangled in my quilt. I fell backwards out of bed and as I franctically tried to regain balance (I would have fallen smack on my head) I managed to avoid a head injury but fell right on the boardy thingy hitting the bone in the small of my back (I kid thee not - there actually was an audible thump!).
I managed to make it to my first day of class despite all the birdbrains who don't get the concept of dense fog = cannot see very far = need to pay better attention. I spent last night labouriously filling out my absentee voting ballot (yes, I actually managed to register this time around) and sticking it in the inner and then the outer envelope. All that was still needed in order to do my bit for saving the world was toss it in the mail box.
I pulled it out of my backpack to discover that it had gotten wet. For the first time in the 3 or 4 odd years I have had my indestructuble blue tin water bottle it had leaked. Awesome.
I returned to my room to do some studying. I have an important test I need to take on Saturday. Basically I am trying to recram the details of the equivalent of knowledge a biology major should have aquired during their four years of studies into my head.
I had agreed to pick up a stack of flyers listing this semesters activities with the Christian Student group I'm involved in. It was supposed to be my afternoon 30 minute break or fresh air.
It ended in a 2 hour plus- over 15 cycled kilometers (mostly back and forth) nerve-racking event. Long story. But it was topped as after I had waited 15 minutes for the printing-person to cut the flyers I discovered the last shop in Germany that does not tack plastic. I am so glad that I discovered an ATM 10 minutes away (as opposed to the 20 minute away ATM I have been using for the past years) this summer. Did I mention I accidently rammed a pedal into my ankle trying to dissolve into thing air as three people insisted to walk next to each other past the ATM?
In the book, the terrible day has a positive, upbeat - things will get (and already are better than they look) better-ending.
I wish I could stay the same. I wanted to take my bike to rugby practice but unfortunately from one moment to the next my bicycle lock died. Rather than crack the key trying to force it, I decided to walk over to the pitch and take care of it when I got back. Because I really didn't want tomorrow to start with "Today was a terrible day. It started when I broke my key in my bicycle lock and had to hike to class because the bus was overfilled with students" I was determined to fix it tonight.
I ended up fixing it with a metal saw I borrowed from one of the guys on my floor. It is not easy to saw open a look. I would not advise it as a bicycle stealing technique. Interstingly enough it didn't seame to bother any of the people who passed my during the half hour or so I stood outside. One of the girls caught my eyes and actually started grinning - and then laughing when I declared this was my evening entertainment and really good stress reduction. It's alway good to know that civil courage is alive and kicking.
I kind of planned on ending my day with a relaxing hot shower before settling into bed for a little bedtime reading on each and every creature and plant crawling on this earth.
Showers that spontaneously turn scolding hot are not very relaxing.
I would say that from this point things can only get better. And yet I choose to remain sitting on my bed and refusing to buge for fear of what could still come.
But that would be another story...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
dig a hole... BIG hole!
Ever tried to dig a hole in a dune?
If you have, you'll understand, that it is not an easy project. As soon as you take away a little bit of sand, more sand than you removed trickles (more like flows) back from each and every side. There seemingly is no end.
Ever been sandblasted while walking out on the beach in winds so strong that your can lean into them without falling over?
If you have, then you know that it's not exactly the most pleasant of all experiences - especially since even after you're out of t he wind, there still is sand in your clothes, shoes, ears, hair and a couple of other places I don't feel the need to mention here.
The past few days the winds here on the Outer Banks have certainly picked up. And so when we went out to excavate a nest the other evening and found ourselves hit by a minor sandstorm, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy feat.
And it wasn't - we dug a hole and found about 70 hatchlings, trying to get out, but hindered by the couple extra feet of sand on top of their nest. The word "hole" is probably a bit of an overstatement. Basically what happened is that the "main digger" dug a bit, touched a hatchling or to, the sand came pouring in, burying them up to their ellbows. It almost looked like somebody trying to birth a calf or something.
We came to the point were we really weren't getting anywhere anymore and decided to come back the next morning, when things had calmed down.
It was worse the next morning, but we had arrived in force. And yet we dug for about an hour with no avail whatsoever. We tried several strategies: digging above to stop what was flowing in, digging on the sides to try to make room for all the sand that we were digging out, shifting the sand, putting in poles, carsonite, signs and all kinds of things to keep the sand from coming in. The fact that the dune we were standing upon seemed to be getting larger as we worked from all the sand that was being blown around.
THEN somebody went off to get a bunch of very BIG signs that we rammed into the sand and suddenly, suddenly we were actually making progress. And suddenly there were three of us in that hole - one person digging and the other two removing the sand she was pulling out.
Then suddenly that hole was big enough one person to go inside and dig from there.
And THEN suddenly there were hatchlings. Lots of them...
And after 3 hours we were finished. That night we released another 70 hatchlings.
And the next morning the dune was bigger and the hole was gone.
A fleeting moment -
but worth it!
If you have, you'll understand, that it is not an easy project. As soon as you take away a little bit of sand, more sand than you removed trickles (more like flows) back from each and every side. There seemingly is no end.
Ever been sandblasted while walking out on the beach in winds so strong that your can lean into them without falling over?
If you have, then you know that it's not exactly the most pleasant of all experiences - especially since even after you're out of t he wind, there still is sand in your clothes, shoes, ears, hair and a couple of other places I don't feel the need to mention here.
The past few days the winds here on the Outer Banks have certainly picked up. And so when we went out to excavate a nest the other evening and found ourselves hit by a minor sandstorm, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy feat.
And it wasn't - we dug a hole and found about 70 hatchlings, trying to get out, but hindered by the couple extra feet of sand on top of their nest. The word "hole" is probably a bit of an overstatement. Basically what happened is that the "main digger" dug a bit, touched a hatchling or to, the sand came pouring in, burying them up to their ellbows. It almost looked like somebody trying to birth a calf or something.
We came to the point were we really weren't getting anywhere anymore and decided to come back the next morning, when things had calmed down.
It was worse the next morning, but we had arrived in force. And yet we dug for about an hour with no avail whatsoever. We tried several strategies: digging above to stop what was flowing in, digging on the sides to try to make room for all the sand that we were digging out, shifting the sand, putting in poles, carsonite, signs and all kinds of things to keep the sand from coming in. The fact that the dune we were standing upon seemed to be getting larger as we worked from all the sand that was being blown around.
THEN somebody went off to get a bunch of very BIG signs that we rammed into the sand and suddenly, suddenly we were actually making progress. And suddenly there were three of us in that hole - one person digging and the other two removing the sand she was pulling out.
Then suddenly that hole was big enough one person to go inside and dig from there.
And THEN suddenly there were hatchlings. Lots of them...
And after 3 hours we were finished. That night we released another 70 hatchlings.
And the next morning the dune was bigger and the hole was gone.
A fleeting moment -
but worth it!
releasing hatchlings...
For those who were wondering: this is what it looks like when we release hatchlings. It's a bit difficult to take a picture because we release the hatchlings at night.Sometimes a nest needs to be dug up, because it's getting overwashed or because there's too much sand being blown on top of it or... and we end up with some live hatchlings that still need to get into the water somehow.
Usually turtles hatch at night, just after it gets dark or just before it gets light. So when we give them a leg up (a flipper up), we hop in a 4x4 with the hatchlings in a cooler and drive them out to the beach and then put them out on the sand and let them crawl into the water keeping a watchful eye for ghost crabs wait for them to flipper their way into the water and then out to sea.
But that's another story...
Saturday, September 20, 2008
the Turtle vs. the Whale a.k.a Schnippelkurs extended
Apparently there is an on-going debate between people involved in the Stranding Network here in North Carolina (i.e. the people who respond to marine mammal and/or turtle strandings along the coast) as to which smells worse when performing a necropsy (that is an autopsy, substituting and animal for the human corpse) - a turtle, or a whale.
I can now join this debate as the other day I was the note taker for a turtle necropsy and then later helped out and observed a Bainesville Beacked Whale being "schnippeled".
Up to this point I had only worked with turtle hatchlings - maintenancing the nests, putting up signs, digging them up after they hatched to see how many had successfully made it out into the open, digging them up before they hatched (soI guess I've worked with a lot of turtle eggs as well) and making sure as many as possible make it out into the open, as well as releasing the little guys that we found alreadz hatched in then nests. They are wee little things. The eggs are only ever so slightly bigger than ping pong balls, so you can imagine that what comes out of them isn't very big either.
A full grown loggerhead on the other hand is another matter. They're carapace (the upper part of the shell) are about 3 feet across. As we drove up, it was not to be overseen. It was huge - you wonder how they ever make it to be that big, and the end was enormous. That's why they're called loggerheads by the way, because their heads are unproportionally large.
We flipped it on it back and to take a peak inside - to find out if it's male or female and also what exactly killed it you cut it open along an invisible seam between the upper and lower part of the carapace.
I'll spare you the details - it suffices to say that it had been dead for quite some time before washing up, and that a lot of it's interior had turned to mush and none of us was too upset that it was fairly windy. The whole procedure was quite rushed as we had a date with the stranded whale.
A note on beaked whales - not much is known about them, other than that they are and endangered species and spend most of their time in the open ocean diving, and even when you do see them, the individual species are fairly difficult to distinguish so it isn't easy to comply data because in general the observer isn't too sure which species he has seen.
There have only been about four or five recorded strandings in the entire US, and this was the second one in North Carolina. In other words if one of them has to die and get washed up, it's a special "goodie" for whatever scientific team gets to do the necropsy.
In this case, a team came up from Wilmington and between them, us and some other people from an aquarium up North, there was quite a crew of people out there intent on what would be found inside.
The whale about 18 feet so flipping it over and positioning it wasn't an easy task and took all of us to accomplish. We used big hooks to nab it in the blubber (sorry, if I'm sounding calous, but it was very dead by the time we found it) and then wobbled and pulled and pushed and shoved. I got my hooked, hooked to well and as I was trying to unhook it, the whale-professor-dude leaned over grinned and said: "So, I gather you're not a very good hooker"
Hehehe. Nice try, nice punch line, but I had the adequate response: "Naw, which is why I generally play prop in a rugby match".
Later at lunch we talked a bit more about my rugby experience and my past days as a judoka and he decided it would be good for me to stick around for the seal stranding seasons. Seals are cute - but only to look at, they bite and are a pain in the neck to deal with. His theory was I could get some tackle training in taking down seals as well as people who won't listen and try to get close to take pictures of the seal, with their dog, children, etc.
Back to the whale - I'll spare you the exact details of the guys whipping out their big knives and slicing it open, knife in one had, knife sharpener in the other, peeling back the blubber (I got some more "hooker-experience" on that), taking out and checking out all the organs, taking specimens of this and that an plopping them in formaldehyde, poking and proding stuff, oh and my favorite - taking a probe of the inside of the guts, which entailed me holding open a plastic zip-lock bag and the whale-professor-dude cutting of an arms length of guts and squeezing out the insides into the bag (and me... not intentionally but it was pretty windy) for a toxicology analyzes.
After several hours we had found out all there was to know, the guys had cleaned the entire spine and thrown it into a big cattle trough along with the shoulder blade and other bigger bits of interesting bones and muscle, we loaded everything back into the 4x4s and headed out. For lunch.
I sorta wonder about the person who parked next to them and had a peak into the back of that truck. During lunch the whale-professor-dude dared us to get the BBQ, but we all stuck to burgers (quite a few veggie-burgers were ordered, go figure) and sandwiches. He also told us about the time they pulled into a parking lot and came back to find a puddle of blood (this was before the cattle trough) and a crowd of people surrounding the back of his truck.
I sorta like the idea of going through a drive in and saying: "I'll take fries with that, and could you make it quick? I have a whale in the back of my truck that needs to get into a freezer soon!".
The waitress wanted to know if we were all biologists (I guess from the topics we were discussing) and we said, yeah, we just necropsied a whale. As we got the check, we said whop, better get going to get that whale in a freezer - and she said: "Oh my! You weren't kidding about that whale!"
No, we weren't. And as to which one smells worse. I honestly couldn't tell. I had expected worse from all the jokes everyone made beforehand, but on the other hand it was pretty windy that day. Apparently whale smells worse, but turtle stays with you longer.
Don't worry - a shower took care of most of it!
I can now join this debate as the other day I was the note taker for a turtle necropsy and then later helped out and observed a Bainesville Beacked Whale being "schnippeled".
Up to this point I had only worked with turtle hatchlings - maintenancing the nests, putting up signs, digging them up after they hatched to see how many had successfully made it out into the open, digging them up before they hatched (soI guess I've worked with a lot of turtle eggs as well) and making sure as many as possible make it out into the open, as well as releasing the little guys that we found alreadz hatched in then nests. They are wee little things. The eggs are only ever so slightly bigger than ping pong balls, so you can imagine that what comes out of them isn't very big either.
A full grown loggerhead on the other hand is another matter. They're carapace (the upper part of the shell) are about 3 feet across. As we drove up, it was not to be overseen. It was huge - you wonder how they ever make it to be that big, and the end was enormous. That's why they're called loggerheads by the way, because their heads are unproportionally large.
We flipped it on it back and to take a peak inside - to find out if it's male or female and also what exactly killed it you cut it open along an invisible seam between the upper and lower part of the carapace.
I'll spare you the details - it suffices to say that it had been dead for quite some time before washing up, and that a lot of it's interior had turned to mush and none of us was too upset that it was fairly windy. The whole procedure was quite rushed as we had a date with the stranded whale.
A note on beaked whales - not much is known about them, other than that they are and endangered species and spend most of their time in the open ocean diving, and even when you do see them, the individual species are fairly difficult to distinguish so it isn't easy to comply data because in general the observer isn't too sure which species he has seen.
There have only been about four or five recorded strandings in the entire US, and this was the second one in North Carolina. In other words if one of them has to die and get washed up, it's a special "goodie" for whatever scientific team gets to do the necropsy.
In this case, a team came up from Wilmington and between them, us and some other people from an aquarium up North, there was quite a crew of people out there intent on what would be found inside.
The whale about 18 feet so flipping it over and positioning it wasn't an easy task and took all of us to accomplish. We used big hooks to nab it in the blubber (sorry, if I'm sounding calous, but it was very dead by the time we found it) and then wobbled and pulled and pushed and shoved. I got my hooked, hooked to well and as I was trying to unhook it, the whale-professor-dude leaned over grinned and said: "So, I gather you're not a very good hooker"
Hehehe. Nice try, nice punch line, but I had the adequate response: "Naw, which is why I generally play prop in a rugby match".
Later at lunch we talked a bit more about my rugby experience and my past days as a judoka and he decided it would be good for me to stick around for the seal stranding seasons. Seals are cute - but only to look at, they bite and are a pain in the neck to deal with. His theory was I could get some tackle training in taking down seals as well as people who won't listen and try to get close to take pictures of the seal, with their dog, children, etc.
Back to the whale - I'll spare you the exact details of the guys whipping out their big knives and slicing it open, knife in one had, knife sharpener in the other, peeling back the blubber (I got some more "hooker-experience" on that), taking out and checking out all the organs, taking specimens of this and that an plopping them in formaldehyde, poking and proding stuff, oh and my favorite - taking a probe of the inside of the guts, which entailed me holding open a plastic zip-lock bag and the whale-professor-dude cutting of an arms length of guts and squeezing out the insides into the bag (and me... not intentionally but it was pretty windy) for a toxicology analyzes.
After several hours we had found out all there was to know, the guys had cleaned the entire spine and thrown it into a big cattle trough along with the shoulder blade and other bigger bits of interesting bones and muscle, we loaded everything back into the 4x4s and headed out. For lunch.
I sorta wonder about the person who parked next to them and had a peak into the back of that truck. During lunch the whale-professor-dude dared us to get the BBQ, but we all stuck to burgers (quite a few veggie-burgers were ordered, go figure) and sandwiches. He also told us about the time they pulled into a parking lot and came back to find a puddle of blood (this was before the cattle trough) and a crowd of people surrounding the back of his truck.
I sorta like the idea of going through a drive in and saying: "I'll take fries with that, and could you make it quick? I have a whale in the back of my truck that needs to get into a freezer soon!".
The waitress wanted to know if we were all biologists (I guess from the topics we were discussing) and we said, yeah, we just necropsied a whale. As we got the check, we said whop, better get going to get that whale in a freezer - and she said: "Oh my! You weren't kidding about that whale!"
No, we weren't. And as to which one smells worse. I honestly couldn't tell. I had expected worse from all the jokes everyone made beforehand, but on the other hand it was pretty windy that day. Apparently whale smells worse, but turtle stays with you longer.
Don't worry - a shower took care of most of it!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
How to tackle and bait down at the local fish shop
usually I come up with my own stuff to blog about - but here's an email from my Dad summarizing my life these past weeks -
"So your main hangout is drinking beer, eating fish, and shooting the shit with the locals down at the fish and chips shop? Will Konstanz Uni give you credit for this? You will have to properly package:
Scientific study of local species habits on outer banks of an isolated sand bank of
I'm doing an internship with the National Park Service at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. I'm helping out the Wildlife Techs and the Seaturtle Biologist who are working for the wildlife/ressource management part of the Park. What I really am doing is dodging hurricans and saving the world one turtle hatchling at a time.
All species of sea turtles are either endangered or threatened and where I am now happens to be nesting beaches for loggerhead turtles (as well as some leatherback and Greens - but we don't get too many of those!). So what happens is this - every morning the beach is patrolled for turtles tracks - these turtles can have a "shell" that's about 3 feet in diameter, so we are talking about serious tracks! When they find tracks they determine wether it was a false crawl (like a dry run) or they find the nest - which average about 110 eggs. They mark it and put up a little expansion and for quite some time it just sits there.
The nesting season is pretty much over - but hatching is in full bloom. When a nest reaches it's 50th day the closure around it gets expanded and filterfencing is put up to protect the turtle hatchlings from outside light that would lead them in the wrong direction. They usually hatch at night and then in the morning you can see their tracks and estimate how many have hatched.
I found this little hatchling during Hanna (the tropical storm that missed us but messed up the turtles a bit). They are pretty tiny.
After a nest is hatched it's dug up and the empty shells, undeveloped eggs and (hopefully non) dead hatchlings counted.
So that's what I'm doing - cruising the beaches in a 4x4 looking important, putting up signs and fencing and releasing hatchlings.
Since only about 1 in a thousand hatchlings makes it to maturity (aprox. 20-30 years) everyone, i.e. everyturtle counts.
This little guy is making a quick get away for the ocean. 
I chased away plenty of ghost crabs to ensure a safe journey at least into the water.The odds are against him, but who knows... actually my Dad has a theory:
"Maybe one day in the distant future you will fall overboard in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean and then be saved by this turtle who remembers you taking him safely over the beach to the water."
But that's another story...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Obama Craziness...
Yes, I happened to be in the Denver area during the Democratic National Convention and no it wasn't planned but yes, when my cousin mentioned he and his Mom where going to check out the downtown area and invited me to come along there was no way I was gonna miss the opportunity to check out Obamamania live and in action.
We took the lightrail to the Convention Center and already then there was no escaping the realization that something big was happening: History - or so they say. Delegates from every walk of life were getting on sitting down, mixing with the natives everyone buzzing with excitment.
We got out of train and stepped right into Obama-world. On every street corner (and in between the corners) there were people selling Obama T-Shirts, Obama buttons, Obama hats - Obama everything, my favorite probably being the woman selling Obama water (Obama apparently puts the "O" in H2O)...
Uncle Sam was there, as well as other random people including Abraham Lincoln and several other famous people, for example one of the Colorado Senators. Oh, and the security on foot, on bikes (none of them looked like they rode a bike much, or, matter of fact, as if the bike would really support them), horses, motorcycles, cars.
Every organization (and their brother) was out there passing out flyers on pretty much any issue you can think of, trying to get everyone to register o vote (I have adapted an interesting behavioural habit. Whenever anyone aproaches me holding a clipboard in their hand I say: I'm already registered.). 
Oh, and there even was a demonstration. Not much of a protest, there probably was more media than people protesting, but it was the first day of the convention so maybe they were still practicing. After they had marched passed us we found a few stragglers in the park who seemed to have lost their way.
But that's why we have Obama... apparently, he's the guy that has it all figured out.
We took the lightrail to the Convention Center and already then there was no escaping the realization that something big was happening: History - or so they say. Delegates from every walk of life were getting on sitting down, mixing with the natives everyone buzzing with excitment.
We got out of train and stepped right into Obama-world. On every street corner (and in between the corners) there were people selling Obama T-Shirts, Obama buttons, Obama hats - Obama everything, my favorite probably being the woman selling Obama water (Obama apparently puts the "O" in H2O)...
Uncle Sam was there, as well as other random people including Abraham Lincoln and several other famous people, for example one of the Colorado Senators. Oh, and the security on foot, on bikes (none of them looked like they rode a bike much, or, matter of fact, as if the bike would really support them), horses, motorcycles, cars.
Every organization (and their brother) was out there passing out flyers on pretty much any issue you can think of, trying to get everyone to register o vote (I have adapted an interesting behavioural habit. Whenever anyone aproaches me holding a clipboard in their hand I say: I'm already registered.). 
Oh, and there even was a demonstration. Not much of a protest, there probably was more media than people protesting, but it was the first day of the convention so maybe they were still practicing. After they had marched passed us we found a few stragglers in the park who seemed to have lost their way.But that's why we have Obama... apparently, he's the guy that has it all figured out.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I love the Rockies...
I always knew that but I have just rediscovered that fact.
The rediscovering part is largely due to the fact that I'm in the Denver area for the first time in 10 years. And everyone is taking me hiking. And because I go hiking with somebody else every time, I get to see everyone's favorite trails - and discover some new ones.
Here are some pictures from my adventures thus far mainly from the 1.2 mile-straight up the mountain amazing Hanging Lake Trail.
The rediscovering part is largely due to the fact that I'm in the Denver area for the first time in 10 years. And everyone is taking me hiking. And because I go hiking with somebody else every time, I get to see everyone's favorite trails - and discover some new ones.
Here are some pictures from my adventures thus far mainly from the 1.2 mile-straight up the mountain amazing Hanging Lake Trail.
Friday, August 22, 2008
read below for....
... some stories of my summer thus far.I'm in the States right now rediscovering my inner American. 
In the past few weeks I've visited family, met some "new additions" to the family (it's been about 10 years since I last came here to visit family...), learned how to shoot zombies and discovered that I'm horrible at that dance thingy (I'd never been to an arcade before), went to a baseball game that will go down in history as one of five games that has had four back to back homeruns (Go White Sox!), almost went off the grid looking for a hiking trail, ... basically I'm on vacation. It takes some getting used to - but I've realized that vacation is quite fun.
In the past few weeks I've visited family, met some "new additions" to the family (it's been about 10 years since I last came here to visit family...), learned how to shoot zombies and discovered that I'm horrible at that dance thingy (I'd never been to an arcade before), went to a baseball game that will go down in history as one of five games that has had four back to back homeruns (Go White Sox!), almost went off the grid looking for a hiking trail, ... basically I'm on vacation. It takes some getting used to - but I've realized that vacation is quite fun.
the calm after the storm
There is a metereological (I'm sure I just mis-spelled that!) phenomena that I like to call the "SoLa Schneise".SoLa (Sommerlager) is the summer camp that my siblings and I have been involved in for about six years now. A Schneise is like a forest aisle.
The camp is organised by a church in Mannheim, but the people involved are from all over Southern Germany (and a couple of other places as well) from all kinds of denominations. A lot of the kids are from inner-city Mannheim and have a difficult background. A lot of them come and leave knowing in their hearts for the first time that they are loved, that they are special and truely unique.
Every year there are plenty of stories and adventures to tell - many of them telling the story of how everything looked as if there was now way out and things wouldn't end well.
We started the camp by sleeping out in an open field and the walking back - usually a fun experience and all the little "sub-groups" have a chance to bond. This year we got caught in a huge rain storm. It wasn't easy to keep a brave face and keep going (and keep the kids going...) but eventually the people who had stayed at the camp jumped into the cars and started coming the fields and vineyards collecting all the kids (200 of them!) and taking the sopping wet, dripping and shivering kids back to camp. The community reached out to us as well as they started seeing the groups and calling them into barns etc. bringing us tea and towels.
In the middle of the week we had another storm warning. The storm was scheduled to tear right through our camp. We spent the day securing the tents, our towers and other constructions. The camp leadership told us to expect the worst, and how to handle the worst.
Just before I went to bed I stood outside and looked up into the sky - I could see the storm on all sides, but not right above us. It was as if there was a huge bell above us keeping out the storm.
We packed the kids into their sleeping bags and into the tents. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was our tent being illuminated by flashes of lightning.
I got up the next morning, expecting everything to be wet and dripping and strewn across the field.
But it wasn't. The storm had passed by us on both sides of the camp. This isn't the first time I've experienced a storm scheduled for a direct hit, passed by our camp. I also know people involved in SoLas around Germany who tell the same story.
I think when metereolegist look at satellite fotos from the months of July and August, they find weird patterns - little patches that seem to repell storms. They don't know that they are fields that are "housing" a SoLa. I call it a SoLa Schneise, but they have no clue.
By the way, that morning when I got up at quarter to seven, slipped on my shoes and meandered over to our home made washing facilities I looked up to the sky - and there it was, a sign of God's faithfulness.
A rainbow.
catching up...
yes, I haven't blogged in a while - but I have good a whole list of good excuses.
Stay tuned for insights on my little adventures...
- Studying
- finishing exams
- Celebrating the end of the semester by watching Indiana Jones with my biology clan
- jumping on the first train out of Konstanz
- taking care of a looooooooong list of to-do's I've been putting off
- driving (yes, I did, after two years of not touching clutch, break and gas pedals) to camp
- camp
- a day to shower, pack, and take care of more last minute to-do's I've been putting off
- jumping on the first plane out of Schriesheim, uh, Frankfurt
Stay tuned for insights on my little adventures...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Flood ... now, live and in your kitchen!
I live with 27 other people on the same floor.
At least 20 of them are guys.
90% of them are studying towards some type of engineering degree.
Whenever there is a discussion about anything technical - they know everything, regardless of whether it actually is their field of study or not.
When it comes to actually DOING anything that has to do with something technical. They talk a lot, too, though unfortunately the actual DOING tends to either not happen at all or at least not as planned.
Proof: Monday afternoon. Actually I was supposed to spend Monday afternoon studying for my final final exam the next day. Have I mentioned lately that things seemingly never go to plan?
Our fridge desperately needed defrosting - the maintenance guy had been knocking on doors a couple of days beforehand trying to figure out who was still there and hadn't left yet for the summer. There were only two or three of us left and I mentioned the fact that we were gonna have to do it two one of the guys during dinner later on.
Monday morning he spontanously decided this was the day to do it and when I walked in around lunchtime he had just cleared the fridge and unplugged it and said he'd be back in an hour or two to check on things.
About an hour later I walked into the kitchen again and nearly drowned in the small lake that was coming into being on the kitchen floor. You see, I had assumed that he not only cleared the fridged and unplugged it but had also figure out where it would drain an put a bucket or something underneath -
Apparently he hadn't made the connection that the huge block of ice covering the back of the fridge would actually turn to liquid water...
I spent an hour mopping the floor and then another hour getting that block of ice out of the fridge. I was so big I could barely lift it!
Good thing I've been going to rugby practices regularly. I finally got that thing out and into the sink - the last remains were still there the next morning when I was on my way to write that exam.
Most people who hear the story want to know what I did to the guy when he returned that night... Several have assumed that he now has developed an irrational fear in connection with refridgerators and/or ice. Others have developed a hypotheses connecting that block of ice and how I broke it into pieces small enough to fit in the sink...
Truth be told, I walked past the kitchen that evening to see him packing up the fridge again (I really didn't feel like putting everything back after I'd spent a couple of hours in there - I even cleaned it), he was really apologetic and felt bad enough - apparently somebody had told him that during that afternoon we not only had lake behind the dorm but also inside our kitchen!
I made a couple of sarcastic remarks and gave him the short version explaning chemical bonds, hydrogen bonds and the anomay of water.
At least 20 of them are guys.
90% of them are studying towards some type of engineering degree.
Whenever there is a discussion about anything technical - they know everything, regardless of whether it actually is their field of study or not.
When it comes to actually DOING anything that has to do with something technical. They talk a lot, too, though unfortunately the actual DOING tends to either not happen at all or at least not as planned.
Proof: Monday afternoon. Actually I was supposed to spend Monday afternoon studying for my final final exam the next day. Have I mentioned lately that things seemingly never go to plan?
Our fridge desperately needed defrosting - the maintenance guy had been knocking on doors a couple of days beforehand trying to figure out who was still there and hadn't left yet for the summer. There were only two or three of us left and I mentioned the fact that we were gonna have to do it two one of the guys during dinner later on.
Monday morning he spontanously decided this was the day to do it and when I walked in around lunchtime he had just cleared the fridge and unplugged it and said he'd be back in an hour or two to check on things.
About an hour later I walked into the kitchen again and nearly drowned in the small lake that was coming into being on the kitchen floor. You see, I had assumed that he not only cleared the fridged and unplugged it but had also figure out where it would drain an put a bucket or something underneath -
Apparently he hadn't made the connection that the huge block of ice covering the back of the fridge would actually turn to liquid water...
I spent an hour mopping the floor and then another hour getting that block of ice out of the fridge. I was so big I could barely lift it!
Good thing I've been going to rugby practices regularly. I finally got that thing out and into the sink - the last remains were still there the next morning when I was on my way to write that exam.
Most people who hear the story want to know what I did to the guy when he returned that night... Several have assumed that he now has developed an irrational fear in connection with refridgerators and/or ice. Others have developed a hypotheses connecting that block of ice and how I broke it into pieces small enough to fit in the sink...
Truth be told, I walked past the kitchen that evening to see him packing up the fridge again (I really didn't feel like putting everything back after I'd spent a couple of hours in there - I even cleaned it), he was really apologetic and felt bad enough - apparently somebody had told him that during that afternoon we not only had lake behind the dorm but also inside our kitchen!
I made a couple of sarcastic remarks and gave him the short version explaning chemical bonds, hydrogen bonds and the anomay of water.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
extrem world wide web wide shopping...
You wanna hear a funny story? This is one of those stories that'll be especially funny if you find it easy to picture scenes described to you.
A few days before my first rugby match I was shopping online for rugby shorts. For those of you sho have never seen rugby shorts: They're quite short (short enough that everyone can see that I not only have a farmer's tan on my arms...), and made from really sturdy material. I guess they're short because if they were really baggy everyone would just be able to latch one and tackle you and they're so thick and douple stitched and everything because despite them being short people do manage to latch on to them and because rugby players like to "lift" somebody during a line-out. In most other anglophone countries this is called a wedgy.
I was lifted once - the guys said: He's gonna through the ball in, you run and jump and we'll lift you. I sorta expected something like in gymnastics were you jump to reach the bar and somebody kind of supports you by holding you arround the waist while you jump.
Imagine my surprise when two guys grapped my shorts and literally lifted me above their heads.
I was too shocked to really react and caught the ball and then started yelling at the guys: "What do you thikn you're doing?" They thought it was pretty funny... "What did you expect? We're lifting you?!"
So much on rugby pants - back to me aquiring my first pair.
Okay so there I was checking my alternatives when a friend from Dublin skyped me... Ha, I thought, excellent: He's Irish, he knows about rugby - he'll help me figure out the right pair. We were chatting about all kinds of other stuff and then I said: Okay, look, help me out...
We had figured out the right pair and I said, so what do you recon, what size am I?
Usually I have my mother to tell me what size I am (and surprisingly she's always right!) but in this case, my buddy was gonna have to help me out.
His solution was: If they have the sizes in inches, go find a measuring tape and measure your waist... that should have a pretty good estimate.
In theory an excellent idea - in practice it worked out (I am quite happy with my almost-obscenly-short-formerly-white-rugby-shorts) but a bit more complicated than originally assumed.
You see my room isn't hat big, but finding a measuring tape. while carrying around my laptop in one hand (don't worry Daddy I was being careful and making sure it couldn't fall) while wearing earphones and a mic and thus attached to the laptop with another cable... well that would have been one for a hidden camera or a slap stick scene in an absurd movie starring Adam Sandler.
Because were else would the measuring tape be that in the top cupboard just below the ceiling.
I shall leave the rust up to your imagination!
A few days before my first rugby match I was shopping online for rugby shorts. For those of you sho have never seen rugby shorts: They're quite short (short enough that everyone can see that I not only have a farmer's tan on my arms...), and made from really sturdy material. I guess they're short because if they were really baggy everyone would just be able to latch one and tackle you and they're so thick and douple stitched and everything because despite them being short people do manage to latch on to them and because rugby players like to "lift" somebody during a line-out. In most other anglophone countries this is called a wedgy.
I was lifted once - the guys said: He's gonna through the ball in, you run and jump and we'll lift you. I sorta expected something like in gymnastics were you jump to reach the bar and somebody kind of supports you by holding you arround the waist while you jump.Imagine my surprise when two guys grapped my shorts and literally lifted me above their heads.
I was too shocked to really react and caught the ball and then started yelling at the guys: "What do you thikn you're doing?" They thought it was pretty funny... "What did you expect? We're lifting you?!"
So much on rugby pants - back to me aquiring my first pair.
Okay so there I was checking my alternatives when a friend from Dublin skyped me... Ha, I thought, excellent: He's Irish, he knows about rugby - he'll help me figure out the right pair. We were chatting about all kinds of other stuff and then I said: Okay, look, help me out...
We had figured out the right pair and I said, so what do you recon, what size am I?
Usually I have my mother to tell me what size I am (and surprisingly she's always right!) but in this case, my buddy was gonna have to help me out.
His solution was: If they have the sizes in inches, go find a measuring tape and measure your waist... that should have a pretty good estimate.
In theory an excellent idea - in practice it worked out (I am quite happy with my almost-obscenly-short-formerly-white-rugby-shorts) but a bit more complicated than originally assumed.
You see my room isn't hat big, but finding a measuring tape. while carrying around my laptop in one hand (don't worry Daddy I was being careful and making sure it couldn't fall) while wearing earphones and a mic and thus attached to the laptop with another cable... well that would have been one for a hidden camera or a slap stick scene in an absurd movie starring Adam Sandler.
Because were else would the measuring tape be that in the top cupboard just below the ceiling.
I shall leave the rust up to your imagination!
just to set the record straight....
People have been telling me that I should get back to using baking and rugby as stress relief. They told me that plowing into cars on my bike is not a solution.
So just to make it clear: I'm not in the habit of riding into cars. HE started it. I only drove into that car because it was going to drive into me.
A classic offensive defense.
I told this to a friend, who then replied: Ah, typical. Shannon sometimes you are so American! When are you going to learn, that preemptive strikes are not the solution.
So just to set things straight: I'm not in the habit of making preemptive strikes either. HE really did start it - I not only knew that a car technically has the possibility of hitting me and I didn't assume that he would, just because he could. The car was in the middle of the process.
A preemptive strike would be me taking my bike to a parking lot and taking out the cars one by one because they might one day try to take me some other day.
Even though, now that I think of it - people have been driving pretty crazy these past days...
I think I'll just go grab my helmet...
So just to make it clear: I'm not in the habit of riding into cars. HE started it. I only drove into that car because it was going to drive into me.
A classic offensive defense.
I told this to a friend, who then replied: Ah, typical. Shannon sometimes you are so American! When are you going to learn, that preemptive strikes are not the solution.
So just to set things straight: I'm not in the habit of making preemptive strikes either. HE really did start it - I not only knew that a car technically has the possibility of hitting me and I didn't assume that he would, just because he could. The car was in the middle of the process.
A preemptive strike would be me taking my bike to a parking lot and taking out the cars one by one because they might one day try to take me some other day.
Even though, now that I think of it - people have been driving pretty crazy these past days...
I think I'll just go grab my helmet...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
on the upside...
How many of you have had the opportunity to see a marionette (yes, the realy kind with strings and all) perform an interesting dance in the rain on an almost thousand year old castle?
Meet Josephine:
and then to the surprise of all she whipped off her little dress and...
see for yourself!
Meet Josephine:
and then to the surprise of all she whipped off her little dress and...see for yourself!
which was almost as cool as the body-builder-marionette!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Yes I am still alive. And kicking - if only feebly.
Things haven't been going exactly as planned... actually I have been spending a lot of time revising plans and trying to figure things out - except my brain is filled with way too much information on all these exams that are coming up way too soon.
I thought I had hit the low point while I was making the most amazing pizza (which I was going to take to my room to devour while I studiously made my way through the enormous stack of incredibly important looking books).
I know for that for those of you remember the 19 or so non-pizza years of my life this might sound kind of odd, but honestly (and w/out trying to brag) my pizza is pretty good. I know this because at the point when I pre-bake my pizza-dough (no toppings, no nothing...) the guys I live already come into the kitchen sniffing the air...
So there I was making my pizza and as I layered on the toppings I had the nagging feeling that there was something missing. Something that I just couldn't lay my finger on.
Literally.
No cheese.
There it was - no cheese.
I nearly cried.
As I sat in my room trying to gain enough strength to lift the next book, eating cheese-less pizza I thought I had hit my low point. And I really couldn't think of anyway things could get any worse.
And I've been told I have a pretty powerful imagination. One would have thought that if I couldn't think of anything - there wouldn't be anything.
And then I rod my bike into a car.
I can picture your shocked facial expression (trust me, I've seen it plenty of times in the last days).
a) I'm not in the habit of crashing into cars - I only did it because he started it! He was going to crash into me,... it was sort of a offensive defense: I crashed into it before it could crash into me!
b) Don't worry - I'm fine.
Seriously, this wasn't my fault, at all! He cut me off - apparently everyone witnessing the little episode already were picturing me splattered across the street - all I could do was break really hard and when I realized that wasn't going to work, I turned and hit the back of the minivan parralel - turns out that breaks your fall pretty good. Except the guy didn't break so as soon as the car was gone I did fall after all. When the guy had finished parking his car and came back to see what or who had made contact with the back of his car - I was just collecting my backpack and my bike which (together with me) had become distributed across the sidewalk.
I nearly cried.
Then I nearly lost my temper and considered swearing out loud in all languages I know and several that I actually don't.
Then I realized that now I had almost definitely hit the low point. And then I realized that even though I was fine, I was going to be really, really, really sore the next day.
Apparently I dented the back of the guys car.
I'm not sure, but I think it makes me feel a teeny-tiny bit better (I know this sounds bad).
Just a bit.
Things haven't been going exactly as planned... actually I have been spending a lot of time revising plans and trying to figure things out - except my brain is filled with way too much information on all these exams that are coming up way too soon.
I thought I had hit the low point while I was making the most amazing pizza (which I was going to take to my room to devour while I studiously made my way through the enormous stack of incredibly important looking books).
I know for that for those of you remember the 19 or so non-pizza years of my life this might sound kind of odd, but honestly (and w/out trying to brag) my pizza is pretty good. I know this because at the point when I pre-bake my pizza-dough (no toppings, no nothing...) the guys I live already come into the kitchen sniffing the air...
So there I was making my pizza and as I layered on the toppings I had the nagging feeling that there was something missing. Something that I just couldn't lay my finger on.
Literally.
No cheese.
There it was - no cheese.
I nearly cried.
As I sat in my room trying to gain enough strength to lift the next book, eating cheese-less pizza I thought I had hit my low point. And I really couldn't think of anyway things could get any worse.
And I've been told I have a pretty powerful imagination. One would have thought that if I couldn't think of anything - there wouldn't be anything.
And then I rod my bike into a car.
I can picture your shocked facial expression (trust me, I've seen it plenty of times in the last days).
a) I'm not in the habit of crashing into cars - I only did it because he started it! He was going to crash into me,... it was sort of a offensive defense: I crashed into it before it could crash into me!
b) Don't worry - I'm fine.
Seriously, this wasn't my fault, at all! He cut me off - apparently everyone witnessing the little episode already were picturing me splattered across the street - all I could do was break really hard and when I realized that wasn't going to work, I turned and hit the back of the minivan parralel - turns out that breaks your fall pretty good. Except the guy didn't break so as soon as the car was gone I did fall after all. When the guy had finished parking his car and came back to see what or who had made contact with the back of his car - I was just collecting my backpack and my bike which (together with me) had become distributed across the sidewalk.
I nearly cried.
Then I nearly lost my temper and considered swearing out loud in all languages I know and several that I actually don't.
Then I realized that now I had almost definitely hit the low point. And then I realized that even though I was fine, I was going to be really, really, really sore the next day.
Apparently I dented the back of the guys car.
I'm not sure, but I think it makes me feel a teeny-tiny bit better (I know this sounds bad).
Just a bit.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
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