Friday, 9/28

This is gonna be a weird weekend. I don't have anything pressing I need to do.

For the past two months, my weekend schedules have been packed with work duties, packing, unpacking, and presentations. I haven't had too much of a chance since, actually, the weekend BEFORE Art on the Rocks just to sit back & chill, and use a weekend for the way a weekend is supposed to be used.

But now, almost two months later, I get to do just that. It'll be great. Except, you know, for the cold & rainy conditions we get for the next few days. But other than that it'll be great.

I actually do have a lot of things I want to do; there's just nothing that I HAVE to do. That means that I can take care of the things I want to do. That means I can blow off the things I want to do, and do something else. Or do nothing at all. That's the great thing about this weekend. It's open for anything, and I'm not gonna let cold & rain deprive me of that.

Sure, I may complain about the weather a little. Well, okay, I may complain about the weather a lot. But I'm not gonna let it stop me from doing what I want—whatever that is—when I want.

It's the freedom that's the important thing.

So those are my weekend plans...not having any weekend plans at all. I hope that whatever your plans are this weekend—even if you have none yourself—that they turn out spectacularly. I think after a week like this we all deserve it, right?

Enjoy yourself!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/26

Because I have my annual doctor's appointment in a few minutes, and because the album I discuss in the following blog was released 50 years ago this week, I'm going to leave you with a “best of” today.

Hope you won't mark my grade for the whole semester down just because of that.

Back with something new tomorrow—the story of sneezes, No, seriously...sneezes.

So practice your “gezundheits”, if you would.

(jim@wmqt.com)

****

(as originally posted March 21^st, 2016)

It was just one of those discussions.

After Beatles producer George Martin died a couple of weeks ago, Loraine read an interview with him in which he had offered the thought that the group's “The White Album” should have been a single disc instead of a double album. I can't say I disagree; the 1968 album isn't one of my favorites, and it has a lot of filler and experimental work on it that, at least when I listen, gets skipped over.

And that started the discussion between Loraine and me. If you had to follow George Martin's suggestion and cut “The White Album” to a single disc—from 30 songs to 15 songs—which would make the cut? As we found out, no two people would put it together the same way. I'm sure that every single person would have different songs make the cut, based on their tastes and their idea of what would constitute a classic Beatles album. I know Loraine and I couldn't agree, and I'd imagine that if any of you put together your own version of a single disc “White Album”, it would be radically different from mine.

But for what it's worth, here's what I think. First of all, for your reference, the 30 songs that make up the double length “White Album”.

Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
I Will
Julia
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night


Now, here's my thought process in cutting it down to 15. Your thought process, of course, will differ, but I started by keeping the songs that everyone would consider the classics--”USSR”, “Obi-La-Di”, “Guitar”, “Blackbird”, “Julia”, “Birthday”, “Helter Skelter”, “Revolution”, and “Good Night”. You have to have those nine songs, or it wouldn't be the essence of “The White Album”. Admittedly, the list is a little McCartney heavy, so let's add “Dear Prudence” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun” from John Lennon, and George Harrison's “Savoy Truffle”, just because. That's 12 songs.


But what about the final three? That's where it gets tough.”Why Don't We Do It In The Road” is cute but disposable. “Bungalow Bill”'s the same. “Revolution Number 9”, like a bunch of the tracks, is just too weird. However, songs like “Mother Nature's Son” and “Rocky Raccoon” have been remade by a bunch of people, so let's throw those onto the list. That's 14. For the final song? Throw in Ringo's “Don't Pass Me By”.


He could probably use the songwriting royalties.


So here's what MY one-disc version of “The White Album” would look like--


Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By
Julia
Birthday
Mother Nature's Son
Helter Skelter
Revolution 1
Savoy Truffle
Good Night


Nice tight playlist, classic songs, and no filler. It's just what a Beatles album should look like. And yet, I'm guessing, there are many of you out there who find my logic faulty or my tastes lacking. And that's okay. Loraine and I couldn't agree; in fact, I'm guessing very few people on the planet could agree. But that's what makes this such a fascinating mental exercise. So thank you, George Martin, for leaving us one final musical gift, a gift that became a little more than just one of “those” discussions.

Tuesday, 9/25

What makes someone want to become an opera singer?

I mean, is it one of those things where you just wake up one morning and think to yourself, “You know, this would be a good day to learn an aria”? Is it because of a love of music and/or Italian and/or Viking horns?

Or is it because of “Gilligan’s Island”?

More on that thought in just a second. But I’ve actually been thinking about this again recently, thanks to a couple of things. The first was our trip to Germany; Loraine's BFF King Ludwig II was quite the opera fan. Then when I was waiting for the Graveraet program to start Saturday afternoon, I overheard several people who attended talk about how they once heard selections from “Carmen” performed at Kaufman Auditorium. Because I know some of the music from the opera (actually, you know some of the music, whether you realize it or not), I started thinking, and, as we all know, that can be a dangerous thing.

What is is that causes someone to become an opera singer?

I mean, it obviously takes a certain kind of voice and a certain kind of mentality to get up on stage and blow your lungs out (usually in Italian) for three hours. And opera singers today aren’t what they used to be, or at least they aren’t what they used to be if your only exposure to opera was Elmer Fudd singing “Kill the Wabbitt”. In fact, lots of opera singers now shuttle between opera and pop with no problem whatsoever. So whatever stereotype of opera singers exists in your head, it's different nowadays. But that doesn't necessarily explain why people wanna sing opera.

Although “Gilligan’s Island” might.

Now, the reason I know some of the music for “Carmen” (actually, the reason you know some of the music for “Carmen”) is that it was used in a very famous episode of the show. Remember when Phil Silvers, as Broadway producer Harold Hecuba, landed on the island, and the castaways put on a musical version of “Hamlet”? Well, the music they used was from “Carmen”; when they’re singing “I ask to be, or not to be”, they’re singing along to “Habanera”, while “Les Toreadors”, which opens the opera, served as the basis for “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”.

Isn’t it amazing, isn't it? Americans are familiar with two of the world’s highest pieces of culture, Shakespeare and opera, because of one of the world’s lowest pieces of culture, “Gilligan’s Island”. It’s almost like if the Sistine Chapel had been painted by Hulk Hogan.

It boggles the mind.

One more opera related note to pass along; after hearing what this blog was going to be about, Loraine asked if I was going to tell you guys how I drove her crazy the rest of the weekend by singing the “Gilligan’s Island” version of the music. I could, but me driving her crazy with stupid stuff like that kind of goes without saying, right?

Opera. Who knew it could be so much fun?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/24

I am sometimes stunned by the amount of food I bring to work with me on Mondays.

I'm sitting here looking at the stack right now, and it seems to me that the food I have packed up to take to work with me could feed a small nation. And yet it'll just be my lunch, snacks, and things to nibble on during one typical week. What do I have?

2 bags of salmon

4 apples

An orange

A head of broccoli

A bag of walnuts

A container of honey

3 cups of yogurt

A container of cottage cheese

Sliced turkey

Some leftover lentil beans

Part of a loaf of bread

A can of black beans

2 bottles of protein drink

One bottle of pomegranate juice

A box of green tea

2 chocolate bars.

See? That IS more like enough to feed a small nation, as opposed to one average person for one week. And it's pretty much what I carry with me (swapping out things here and there) each and every week so I can stay fed while working.

The mind boggles.

Now, one of the reasons I carry so much food with me is that most of the food I've listed is somewhat low in calories. I'm sure I could save a lot of time gathering and hauling the food around if I were to just purchase a one gallon tub of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, but I have a feeling I wouldn't get quite the nutritional value from it as I would get from the beans and the turkey and the broccoli. Besides, as much as I LOVE Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (and I do love it a lot) I have a feeling that if I ate it twice a day five days a week that I probably wouldn't like it quite so much.

And my weight would probably reflect that, too.

So if you happen to see me lugging several large bags down the street this morning, don't worry. I'm not carrying anything out of the ordinary. It's just my lunch. Unless, of course, you consider the above list of foods as “out of the ordinary”!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/21

Well, today's the big day.

I know; that's a lot to live up to, isn't it? But there will be something happening at the end of this blog that some of us (well, okay, me) have been waiting for all week, and that's the unveiling of which picture will sit on my computer desktop at work for the next year.

But that's still a few paragraphs away. Before we get to that, I wanna remind everyone (or at least all the everyone reading this who are in the Marquette area) that the celebration of Graveraet's 90^th anniversary is coming up tomorrow. That's the celebration where I'm doing a (short) program on the history of the school beginning at 2 at Kaufman Auditorium. I don't know that the event has gotten a lot of press outside of being an event posted on Facebook, so I figured I'd mention it here just in case anyone is interested.

Just in case.

Other than that, I don't have a lot more to say today, if only because I have to scoot over to NMU for a meeting. What kind of meeting, you ask? Well, I answer, a production meeting for the 41^st season of “High School Bowl”! That's right...we start production on another season of the show (my 5^th year) in the next week or week and a half, and the meeting will get everyone on the same page. We're thinking of making one or two small changes to the show this year, mostly in the way it looks (thanks to a new lighting system), and want to make sure everything's set to go for the first show.

So with that being said, I should get going. However, I do need to reveal the winner of YOUR vote to figure out which picture appears on my computer desktop for the next year. Tuesday I gave you five choices, and I've been collecting those votes since then. So without further ago (but with a little space added in for dramatic effect) here's what I'll be looking at every morning when I come into work.

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Moo.

Thanks for your votes, and have a great weekend. Stay warm & dry!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/20

Okay. The dreams can stop any time now.

As most of you know I drove over 1,100 kilometers (about 600 miles or so) during our German getaway. As I mentioned last week for me, that's somewhere between 85 and 90 percent of the total mileage I drive all year, compacted into a 12 or so day span. And I'm guessing that's the reason why, almost every night since we've gotten back, I've had dreams about driving.

Some dreams I'm just driving around like a normal person does. Some dreams, I'm driving around in circles, not knowing where I'm going (much like several days I've experienced in Europe, especially before GPS). And in some dreams I think I'm driving but, as it turns out, I'm actually doing something else (like running) when I'm supposed to be driving.

The human brain is weird, isn't it?

This is the first time I've had dreams about driving after returning from a trip. Normally, at least as far as I've noticed, I've NEVER had dreams about driving, especially for almost 10 days in a row. I don't know what caused it; sure, all the construction and detours that we ran into this time were a hassle, but nothing that (I thought) would've scarred my psyche to the extent that I'd have dreams about driving for a week and a half straight. And if that were the case, wouldn't you think that all of my dreams would tend toward the bizarre and/or nightmarish? Nope; a large chunk of the dreams just involve me driving without getting lost or me driving with all my clothes on.

I don't get it.

But then, that's kind of the point of dreams, right? It's your subconscious trying to work out whatever issues it's dealing with at the moment. You're not supposed to entirely understand them. You're just supposed to wake from them feeling refreshed. Or, in this case, with a weird feeling that your brain's not doing what it's supposed to do.

Maybe, deep down, my brain is telling me that it misses driving. After all, I never had dreams like this when I drove to work all the time. And I didn't have any dreams about driving while I was actually driving every day in Europe. The dreams didn't start until I came back and stopped driving. So maybe that does have something to do with it. The only thing is...how come I didn't have these dreams after coming back from Europe other years during trips where I also drove everywhere?

I don't get it.

Hopefully, one night soon I'll have normal dreams, dreams of Loraine or of chocolate or of flying on a dragon while wearing a kilt (what...you don't have dreams like that?). Either that, or pretty soon I'll start having dreams about entering an around the world driving rally, or something like that.

With my brain, you never know.

(jim@wmqt.com)

(ps—one day left for you to vote on the picture that sits on my computer desktop for the next year. If you haven't cast your ballot yet, do so before midnight tonight!)

Wednesday, 9/19

Without even realizing it, I’ve been doing something I haven’t needed to do since I was a kid. And after thinking about, I’m guessing I’ll probably never stop.

Here’s the deal--a couple of nights ago I walked into my kitchen and noticed there was a large collection of twist ties sitting on the table. You know twist ties, right? The little strips that hold bread bags (among other things) closed? I scooped them up and stuck them into a bag where I keep all my extra twist ties, a bag that was overflowing to bursting, and THAT’S when I realized what I’ve been doing all these years.

I’ve been saving twist ties, just like my mom once told me to.

Don’t worry; my mom’s not strange or anything, although given the way I turned out I can’t blame you for wondering. Nope; when I was a kid, she would pack everyone’s lunches for school and work every day. And since that was back in the 1870s and they didn’t have sandwich bags with resealable closures on them, she would use twist ties to seal up whatever little plastic bags she needed to seal up. Since there were several of us who needed various bags closed, she would go through twist ties quite rapidly. Because of that, they were a precious commodity in our household, and we were instructed to save them and bring them back home with us.

And that's something I’ve apparently been doing ever since, without even thinking about it.

It’s funny how things we do when we’re kids stick with us when we’re adults, even when we don’t need to do them any more. I mean, with the exception of using them to close kitchen trash bags, I really don’t have a need for twist ties any more. Yet here I am, thirty-some years removed from actually having to save them, and what do I do? Every time I have an extra one, I hang on to it and throw it on to the pile. No, I’m not a hoarder and no, I don’t play one on TV.

I’ve just seem to act like one, at least as far as twist ties go.

I wonder how many other little habits and tics, habits and tics to which I don’t even give a second thought, I picked up as a kid? Since they seem like they’re a part of my every day lifestyle, I probably wouldn’t even notice them. But I have to wonder if there was something in my childhood that caused me to pick up strange habits I continue to this day, everything from making up my own (stupid) lyrics to current songs to always handwriting a capital “R” even when it’s in the middle of a word.

After all, if I do it with twist ties, who’s to say I don’t do it with a lot of other things. Now that I think about it, that would actually explain a lot. So if you ever see me walking the street doing something that’s uniquely “me”, remember that it’s not my fault.

I picked it up while growing up.

****

And speaking of the people who raised me to become the person I am today (you know, the person who still saves his twist ties), it’s their anniversary today. That’s right; Chicky-Poo and Dar are celebrating another year together. So Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad; I’ll see you for lunch in just a little bit!

(jim@wmqt.com)

(ps—don't forget to get your votes in for which picture I'm gonna have on my computer desktop for the next year. The qualifiers and the details are in yesterday's blog, so go ahead and check it out!)

Tuesday, 9/18

Okay. Now I'm ready. And now it's time for you to decide.

As I mentioned yesterday every year when I get back from Europe I let you guys decide which picture I took there over there gets to be my work computer desktop photo for the year. I always pick out a couple of semi-finalists from which you get to choose, and I base the choice on this criteria--that I like it enough to be able to stare at it every day for the next year. After all, it would make no sense for me to, say, have to look at a picture of snow or something grungy for an entire year, which is the reason why you may notice all the pictures have a little sun or something cheery about them. Oh, and there should be enough room for a dozen or so icons to appear without disrupting the flow of the picture.

Okay, with that out of the way, here are your choices for this year, presented in the order in which I shot them--

First, one of the cows we came across. You know me & cows. I can't explain it, but you know me and cows--

Next, this shot I took in the Reber store in Bad Reichenhall. I like it for two reasons, the first being that I didn't even look when I took the picture. It was in the middle of a busy store, so I stuck my camera down and snapped the shutter. I think the end result turned out pretty well.

And the other reason? Well, duh—it's chocolate.

For whatever reason I took a lot of flower shots this time around (perhaps because for six days we had rain and flowers provided the only color). Out of all of them, I chose this show from the sleepy little town of Bernau-am-Chiemsee--

Next, the iconic peaks of the Watzmann in Berchtesgaden, taken on the first day of sun AFTER the six days of rain & gloom--

Finally, I took (and I'm not kidding here) over 100 shots of the fountains at Schloss Herrenchiemsee. I just picked this one out of the bunch.

Take a look at the pictures, think it over, and by this Friday morning please let me know which you think should be on my computer desktop. I’ll announce the winner then, and for the next year, that’ll be the picture that greets me every morning when I come into work. You guys have shown great taste in the past; I look forward to seeing what you choose this year!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/17

I have not gotten to it yet. That's how far behind I am.

Greetings to another new week. Hope you enjoyed your “Summer in September” this past weekend. I know I did, and that may be one of the reasons why I haven't even yet thought about something I do almost every week this time of the year, and that's ask for your vote on what picture I should have on my computer desktop for the next year.

For those of you not familiar with this practice, I usually take four or five of the best pictures I took while over in Europe, and share them with you. Your task is to then decide which one then is my work computer desktop for the next year. Over the years, you've picked flowers, forests shrouded with fog, and some pretty nifty city-scapes. In fact, this is what I've been looking at the past year--

That's the Stadt Garten in Freiburg, one of the great discoveries we made in 2017. I always abide by your decisions, because, I think, you guys have some pretty good taste. Anyway, by this time I've usually picked out the semi-finalists and put them up for your vote. But because I seem to be so far behind in everything this year, I haven't even gone through the pictures I've taken yet. They're not organized, I haven't culled out the out-of-focus or duplicate shots, and I have NO idea which should be the semi-finalists.

So that's a bad on my part.

I have some ready-made excuses, if you'd like to hear them. It was a gorgeous, summer-like weekend (especially yesterday), and I was out making the most of it. I've also been really busy helping replace a co-worker. I also have that Graveraet program coming up at the end of this week, and I've been working on that. I know none of those are real excuses, but perhaps they explain, just a little, why I haven't even gone through my pictures yet.

Although, in my defense, I DID at least finish unpacking over the weekend, so I have accomplished one thing I needed to. I know it's not much, but at least give me something, okay?

8-)

So here's the plan. Either today or tonight I'll do my best to go through all 1,100 or so shots, and pick out the ones I think are the best. Then hopefully, by tomorrow, you'll be able to check them out, and by Friday have picked out the picture I look at for the next year. At least, that's the plan.

We'll see how it all works out. Keep your fingers crossed!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/14

And here, I was looking forward to not writing at all this weekend.

Welcome to Friday, the 19^th day in a row I have written a blog. While I don't think it's quite a personal record, this is one of the longest consecutive stretches where I've written something. I'm not complaining; after all, I love writing, and it seems that the blogs I produce while in Europe are anticipated by a big group of people. So I don't in any way mind that I've written blogs 19 days in a row.

However, I was kind of looking forward to taking a short break this weekend, when I could devote my (limited) brain power to something else, like finally putting away everything from the trip still sitting on our living room floor (pretty much most everything we brought over AND brought back, if you're curious). It does not, though, seem that my wish will come true, as I was reminded yesterday that one week from tomorrow I have a history program to put on.

Oops.

Don't worry; all the research work for the history of Graveraet program I'm putting on for the Marquette Area Public Schools Educational Foundation is done. All the pictures are ready, too. I made sure all that was done before we left. But it hasn't been organized into any coherent form (not that any of my history programs have a coherent form, but that's neither here nor there), and I should probably have at least a rough outline put together. If nothing else, that may help me not digress, Fred Rydholm-style, into a topic that has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

And that's while I have to write a little this weekend.

One of the things about which I have to chuckle is that I'm probably one of the least qualified people to put on this program. Aside form attending shows at Kaufman Auditorium, up until a few years ago I had never set foot into the school. Nope; being a Bothwell kid I never had a reason to, and for some bizarre reason even all the stuff I've been doing for the History Center the past 15 years never gave me a cause to step inside the building. So those heady qualifications are probably another reason why I might want to attempt a little writing this weekend.

So I can at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Fortunately, I still have a week left to tie up all the loose ends, and I'm supremely confident I'll get it all done. Heck, if the weather is as nice as it's supposed to be this weekend, maybe I can even getting away with skipping writing altogether, at least for a day or so. And if nothing else, I could always take my laptop down and sit in Graveraet's courtyard, writing and enjoying the weather.

That would apt, wouldn't it?

So that's (part) of what I'm doing this weekend. Hope your weekend is just as enjoyable or productive... or if you're multitasking like some of us, both!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/13

Well, I guess I have an answer to my question.

You may recall that I was wondering last month about whether or not my two week jaunt to Europe would do anything to my overall fitness level. Aside from a day-long hike (which was canceled by day four of six straight days of rain) I wasn't planning on doing anything strenuous, and I wondered if that would allow all the various aches & pains I've been carrying around to heal while, at the same, not cutting down what I'd built up over a summer of working out more than I usually do.

I'm happy to say the answer appears to be “yes”.

When I went running Monday morning I wasn't quite sure what to expect; after all, I was dead tired from landing back in Marquette the night before, and I hadn't run at all for two weeks. But I had no trouble at all; in fact, both Monday and yesterday I tackled some pretty hilly courses and flew right up & down them. And my Tuesday morning workout proved no problem, either. So I guess I've figured out the perfect formula for letting your body recover from a summer of doing everything under the sun.

Go on vacation.

Of course, I should mention that it's not totally correct to say we didn't do “anything” while in Germany. Even though the day-long hike was canceled we did a massive amount of walking, and did try to hike up two fair-sized (& wet) hills. Plus, unless we had luggage, we always took the stairs at our hotels, and we spent quite a few nights in hotels where our rooms were on the fourth or fifth floors. So we did get some exercise while over there, just not the “usual” workouts we attempt.

Now that I seem to be at a good strength level without the usual aches & pains, I'll curious to see what comes next. Will I continue this week's trend (at least so far) of cruising through runs & workouts, or will our usual weekend routines of long runs followed by long bike rides & long sessions of playing soccer cause those aches & pains I've built up over the summer to slowly creep back? I don't know, and I guess in the end it really doesn't matter. Except, perhaps, for those mornings when I'm lying in bed and one or more of my extremities refuses to follow the rest of my body when I try to get up. If nothing else, it just shows that I'm working hard.

But I do have to admit. It IS nice running with everything working at 100%. I don't think many people get to do that very often in their athletic life, and I don't expect that I'll have many chances to do it myself. So I'll take advantage of it while I can.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/12

Three final thoughts about this year's jaunt to Germany, if you'll indulge me.

Firstly, I came away from the trip with the impression that I should be a LOT more confident with my ability to speak French than I was before. How, you ask? Well, I answer, I just spent 12 days in a country where I don't speak the language. Aside from a few simple phrases, I had no idea how to ask questions or converse with people, instead relying on the fact that most Germans speak at least passable English (which is really not the way to do it). Yet if you were stick me in the same situation in France (or Belgium), I would have no difficulty in at least getting my point across.

It's weird. It took a visit to a country where I don't speak the language to show me that my ability in a language I do (kind of) speak isn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it was.

Weird.

Secondly, Germany (like us) is going through an election season right now. They're electing representatives for the parliament of their local Lander, or state. So all around Bavaria you see signs like these--

But that's all you see. Because of German election laws you don't see negative TV commercials, stealth campaign ads paid for by dark money, or any of the things that often turn the American electorate off. You see these signs everywhere, telling you the candidate's name & their party, or just the party itself (in the picture above The Green Party), and a short little message. And they can only go up a few weeks before the vote. That's it. No never-ending campaign, no months-long primaries, no nothing.

Wouldn't that be nice? I mean, I know it'll never happen here, but a boy can dream, right?

Finally, I brought a book or two while over there, but I never got around to reading them. One reason was that I was just too busy. The other is that Loraine had me read a book she herself brought, a book that broke my heart not once but twice. It's an eighty year old book by Willa Cather called “Lucy Gayheart”. Loraine brought it because it tangentially involves Germany and opera, and she pretty much finished it during our four hour wait at Sawyer the first day while O'Hare was dealing with thunderstorms.

I'm usually not in the business of eighty year old books, but I'm glad Loraine told me to read it. Some of you may be familiar with it, but if you're not. there are two moments in the book that just make you (or at least me) shout out in a strange combination of pain and amazement. The ending of the book, as well, leaves you kind of haunted.

I know; doesn't sound like light reading for a vacation, does it? But like I said, I read it because it was kind of related to what we were doing, and I'm glad I did. I recommend it, if you ever come across it.

Just be prepared to have your heart broken at least twice during the read.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/11

TUESDAY, 9/11:

I think it’s just the speed of the turnaround that gets you the most.

I mean, one day you're waking up in Munich, and then the next you’re staring at your office computer, wondering what you need to get done. It’s like there’s no transition, no time for a de-acceleration.

I guess you might call it cultural whiplash, if nothing else.

Anyway, that’s how I felt for a while Monday morning upon returning to work. It was kind of surreal for a while; like I wasn’t supposed to be back here, or something. I forgot several things at home, several things I routinely bring with me without even thinking about it. I keep seeing big honking pickup trucks & SUVs instead of tiny Scodas and Smart Cars. And a couple of times when my coworkers gave me a piece of paper or something I needed, I thanked them in German without even thinking.

Needless to say, THAT got quite the reaction.

Some people have always expressed amazement that I go right back to work right after spending a week and a half on one of these European adventures, and I’ve always wondered why they were amazed. But after this sudden turnaround (I mean, we get into Marquette at 9 Sunday night, and 12 hours later, I’m at work) I guess I can kind of see where they’re coming from. But, unfortunately, time (and radio) waits for no one.

So despite the cultural whiplash, onward we move!

*****

By the way, I did a little math in my head (and we all know how dangerous THAT can be). I ended up driving a mere 1,150 kilometers in Germany; that’s approximately 700 miles, which is a lot less than usual. And you know what that might mean? That for the first time in a LONG time my week and a half of driving in Europe may not exceed my yearly total here in the U.S. I probably average close to 100 miles a month on the roads here, so when you compare that to the 700 in Germany, I'm actually a little short.

And that may be the first time that ever happened. But I guess that's what we get for traveling in what for us was a smaller area than usual. Instead of 3 or 4 different countries, we were just in Bavaria. And there were a couple of days when I drove, I think, less than 10 kilometers total. So if nothing else, both our bank account and the environment will thank us.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

(jim@wmqt.com)