Mom's new toy

This is what we went to Germany for last weekend. It was hard to decide between the many models but I had an idea of what size I wanted and that I wanted lots of color. So the very helpful salesman demonstrated several clocks for us, and since we both liked this one, this is the one that came home with us. It cuckoos out the hour and once on the half hour and is supposed to play two tunes. We haven't figured that last part out yet, so we'll check back with the store to see what we need to fiddle with.

Below is a little better view close up.



In case anyone needs a recommendation for a cuckoo clock store, this one is from the House of 1000 Clocks in Triberg (check out their website at www.houseof1000clocks.com). The staff is used to dealing with English speakers, and they have a repair center in the US. Much to our surprise, the Belgian repair center is in Ath, just up the road from where the US commissary and PX are located. That's because they sell to so many Shapians.

"Oh, that's a feature."

This is what our sysads say whenever we complain that something we used to be able to do on our computers is no longer doable. Politicians could learn a lot about spin from these guys.

Today, however, I have conquered feature creep on at least one site. Viamichelin is the Michelin travel folks mapping and trip planning site. (I hear they make tires too.) It's a good tool, partly because it offers pedestrian and bicycle options. But they recently updated it (run away! run away!), and it started to stink. The new version will let you ask for a bicycle route but never quite gets around to displaying it for you. ("Well, sir, that's a feature of our new and improved tool.")

But just now I discovered, waaaay down at the bottom in a big long list, a link to the old site, which still works great and is fast as greased lightning. Unlike me on a bicycle. The link above is to the old, useful site. It's a little Eurocentric in presentation, but the maps of the US work just fine.

One small step for man, one giant leap for computer-using mankind.

Speaking of the Dutch

Okay, so technically you and I weren't really speaking about the Dutch, but I've been thinking about them a lot since our weekend trip to the Black Forest because just about every other vehicle on the road out there this time of year is a Dutch family either in a smallish RV or in the car towing a largish camper. It's because they're tightwads and conservative and don't want to 1) spend money on lodging, food, or drink or 2) risk not being able to find beer in one of those funny wine-drinking countries.

So now that we're both thinking about the Dutch, let's try something completely different. Allow me to direct you to a web site where we have posted (finally!) pictures of our April trip to Keukenhof. You might want to try the slide show feature at the top.

A Multicutural Moment

On our way to Germany this weekend (more later), we were listening to a German radio station while driving through France, and they played a French country and western song entitled Sur la route de Memphis -- On the road to Memphis. It was a trucker song. It made me think of the first French trucker song I ever heard in 1978. I still remember the chorus: Roule, roule et bouffe du goudron -- Keep on drivin' and gobblin' up asphalt. Holy cow! I remember the tune too!

Also seen along the way: hops fields. They grow really tall! I knew that on an intellectual level, but to actually see a 25-foot-tall crop is impressive.

And one tobacco field. I have no idea what it was doing amongst all the corn and wheat and barley and grapes and hops and orchards and cherry trees, but looking across a little vale, I saw a piece of equipment that looked familiar. It was that platform thing with the awning (sorry to get so technical). Then I noticed the crop itself. I think they were topping. If they weren't, they needed to.

Experienced travelers will recognize the two-level euro flusher on our master bath toilet. There's a little flush for "number one" and a bigger flush for "number two." You can't really see them, but these two buttons even have one bump and two bumps for the "one" and "two" functions. All Europeans worry about saving water, even though Belgium is basically one big flood plain.

Now, you'll notice that I said it's on our master bath toilet. The other two toilets have different models. We also have eight (I counted) different brands and styles of heater or radiator and about a gazillion different kinds of light bulbs. Every danged room has a different kind of bulb, sometimes two. This is all because of the way houses are built here: with lots of sweat equity. We have yet to see a house built entirely by a builder that somebody just moves in to. They all seem to be built to one stage of incompleteness or another, then the new owners take over and work on it as they have time until it's done enough to occupy, which is often before it's actually what we would call "done." Part of this has to do with money, but I think somehow it has to do with taxes, which are complex and high here. And nobody loves getting away with a scam like an overtaxed European.

Overheard

Two guys discussing their Afghanistan deployments:  "Oh, I loved Khost. Except for the rocket attacks."

Scenes from Paris

I can think of worse places to spend one's birthday than looking across the Seine at night.




From the wheel in the Tuileries we could see the Rue de Rivoli, where the Tour was going to come through. (We didn't actually get on the ferris wheel until Sunday but the night view sure makes a better picture!) And of course the batteries had died in the camera by the time we got up to the top and had magnificent views of Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel Tower, and the Invalides - not to mention the Tour de France publicity caravan that came by as we were moving back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the train station, before the riders came through.


So where were we again? I thought we went to Paris. Sure looks German to me!

This is a section of street in the Butte aux Cailles neighborhood, not far from the Place d'Italie (where we strolled through an excellent open air market).



Me when I get hungry...actually finding restaurants willing to serve before 8:00PM wasn't so difficult this time. We had a couple really good meals (ask David for the details) and a couple really good lunches.

The one thing that didn't work out as well as it could have was the hotel. Although it was cute and ideally located, it wasn't air-conditioned. And the weather was hot. Being Belgians, anything over 80F feels really hot to us. And it was over 80. Had to be.