Dog-Sitters

We’re dog-sitting my sister’s dog. She’s an absolutely beautiful gun dog, six years old, and apparently trained for hunting. Which means whenever she sees a bird – no, let me rephrase that – whenever she hears… thinks she hears a bird she freezes and stares straight ahead. My sister’s family got her because she was [...]

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Air!

26 degrees and a breeze! The shower is no longer a death-trap. The breeze is making the windows in the stairways slam and nobody can be bothered to secure them. I keep waiting for one to break and though I could make the trip across to the other side to shut them I also feel [...]

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…the temperature’s risin’, it isn’t surprising that we can — cancan…

They promised cooler weather. They lied.I’m off to conduct my bathroom routine.I miss long showers.Life still stinks.

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Das Geruch-Monster

I’ve decided to let this be a continued warning. I suspected that if the fumes from the boiler couldn’t get aired out through the usual channels, then opening a window to still, hot hof-air would make little difference. So I have not used hot water since the disconnection of the trip switch. Last night there [...]

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Carbon Monoxide poisoning, here I come

So it turned out that because of this darn heat we’re having, the emissions from the boiler had nowhere to go and so the trip-switch kicked in and disabled the whole system. It’s easy enough to reset, just press the missing button (don’t ask) and start again. It’s just that the heat is still causing [...]

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When knowing German will make little or no difference

Kevin is in Aberdeen and I have nothing better to do than to rant and rave at all the digitised amateur photographers of the world. Well, that’s not strictly speaking true; there are still things I have to get done in preparation for Cleo’s coming such as buying parking stickers and a vignette-thingy allowing me [...]

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Oh, crap.

It’s 40 degrees outside and the boiler’s broken down so I can’t even have a shower. Life stinks.

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There is photography, and then there is Photography

The most boring thing in the world are people who insist on loading their every last photo onto Flickr. Or Facebook. Or Deviantart. Or such. And, believe me, it is not true that digital photography is about to erase the line between professionals and amateurs.
Here is a minimal list of misconceptions:PhotoShop can make any picture [...]

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Not a Natural Tree Hugger

The other day I was handed a leaflet outlining a fabulous introductory workshop to dynamic meditation, dance, breathing, Asanas, energy rejuvenation and a few other life-enhancing activities.
I should of course have read the second part more closely and let it be a warning. It said:
“In the form of a cosy party we will restore our [...]

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TV the German/Austrian Way

‘Come here!’
‘Uh…’
‘Yes, this is scary.’
‘They’re not real.’
‘Even if they’re not real, this is scary. — You’re right – they don’t move much.’
‘They’re made from concrete. She’s made from concrete. —– So — you don’t find that a turn-on , then?’
‘No dear, I don’t think anyone could find that a turn-on.’
‘Glad to hear it.’

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