Drowsy afternoons

Xmas Food Galore

I was dozing off in front of my laptop again, but you can't blame me since it's a warm afternoon (finally) and I am probably in a lunch related drowsiness. It happens to the best of us. ;-)

Yesterday to get my daily German fix, I visited the websites of ARD & ZDF, Germany's two public television stations. They had a video of President Horst Koehler's Christmas speech on there. He was sitting in behind a simple looking wooden desk with an advent wreath to his right and a Christmas tree in the background. His basic message was that the upcoming year will be challenging, but he's confident that Germany will survive because the country is fundamentally stable. I wonder if Bush also had a similar televised speech? Perhaps people don't even care about him these days since he's a sitting duck president right now. Americans would be more interested in hearing President-elect Obama's words this Christmas.

By the way, I went shopping this morning in anticipation of large discounts. It's a tradition of mine to go shopping the day after Christmas in order to snap up those 50% deals on Christmas ornaments and to purchase gifts for Xmas 2009. I'm done with most of my shopping for next year already believe it or not.

Also, I'm glad that I'm feeling more like my old self again. My cough is nearly gone thank goodness as I'm headed to Hawaii tomorrow and did not want to have a nasty hacking cough drag me down.

Buon Natale

Stash of Presents

Just in time for the holiday season, I've decided to mix it up a bit and change the background of the blog to red. ;-)

Listening to the Nutcracker Suite right now to get into the Christmas mood and typing away in the kitchen, I am contemplating deep thoughts. For example, should I go bargain hunting tomorrow although I'm still coughing? How should I spend my time now that I finally have some leisure time? Should I work on the personal projects I've been putting off? Make a book? Why is it so difficult to discipline yourself when you're working on your own projects?

The countdown to Hawaii begins. Only 1 more day. I'm supposed to be getting on a plane this Saturday to Oahu, but I haven't given it much thought yet as I've been tending to my cough. It's about 78 degrees out there. Crazy! It will be a weird shift in temperature.

I won't be bringing my laptop to the island, so if the posts don't show up regularly, that's why. I started this little blog as an experiment to see if I could do a picture a day and for the most part I think I have. It's difficult to keep up with it if the only thing I'm doing is going to work and back home, I admit. However it's become a part of my day and I think I will carry on with it in 2009. I enjoy the therapeutic aspects of it because it allows me to vent about my day to a certain degree.

I hope my handful of readers continue visiting next year and even decide to leave a comment or two when they get a chance! :-P I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas.

Farewell My Kleenex Box

Dear Mr. Kleenex Box,

You've been a true friend throughout my cold. You've always been there when I needed you. Now it's time to say good-bye because I'm slowly getting better now.

We had some good times together, but it's the right moment to let go. Take care of yourself and please keep in touch!

Warm regards,
frankfurtsanfrancisco

Drink sleep and repeat

Weihnachtsstimmung/Christmasy

Heute morgen bin ich zum Arzt gegangen, um sicherzustellen, dass ich nur eine Erkaeltung habe und nichts Schlimmeres. Zum Glueck wurde dies vom Arzt bestaetigt. Den ganzen Tag habe ich mich ausgeruht und Hustensaft getrunken. Hier oben ein Bild von meinem Weihnachtsbaum.

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This morning I went to the doctor to check out my cough and to reassure myself that it was just a cold and nothing worse. Fortunately this was confirmed by the doctor. The entire day was just spent resting and taking regular doses of cough syrup. In the picture above you see my Christmas tree. The carousel ornament that's front and center was from Germany.

Visitors from Abroad

Family of Smilies

A colleague of mine from the UK was in town yesterday so we met up for dinner at Il Fornaio. A lovely time was had by all. We discussed various topics, among them that Germany's economic slow down has different root causes than the US and the UK's. Germany's consumers did not overindulge in credit card debt nor did they experience a housing bubble. However, the German economy is disproportionately dependent on exports for its growth, so when the world slows down, Germany inevitably must as well.

BTW, I was writing Christmas greetings in today and I think I might have committed a language faux pas by accident in the Christmas cards that I sent out earlier. I wanted to wish people some contemplative time (besinnliche Stunden) to themselves this holiday, but instead I think I wished them an alarming time (bedenkliche Stunden). I really hope I didn't make this mistake, but if I did, I hope they realize it was a slip of the brain and was an unintentional mistake.

For A Laugh

New Toy #2

This is a picture of new toy #2, a Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom telephoto lens. I've always been frustrated when I go some place and can't capture the close up details because my lens is only a wide-angle zoom lens. Now, with this in my toolbox, hopefully this will be it in terms of lens purchases (at least for while).

It's raining outside again and I'm sick, so to pass the time, I have been going back in time by reading old Wall Street Journal newspapers that have been piling up. I'm in August 2008 right now. As I was scanning through the papers, one of the articles included a snippet about watching videos online. One of the featured video series is called "Man in the Box", which can be found at this website called Run Away Box. Search for the phrase "man in the box" for little sketches about office life. People who work in an office environment can relate to the absurdities presented in these sketches. Achtung : The language used can be colorful, but you should view it as a study of American pop culture. For example, I learned a new word from the sketch "Urinal" and the word was "shart."

A visit from the roofers

This morning was rough. I was woken up at 7:45 AM by people who had come to fix our roof that was leaking. It was way too early considering that I had a fitful sleep interrupted by coughing.

I've noticed that every time I lie down, the coughing gets worse, so I need to sit up and try to get some shut-eye.

Anyhow, I finally ordered something that I have wanted for the longest time - Bose noise canceling headphones! See picture above. The sound quality is pretty good, the best I've had thus far in terms of headphones. I look forward to testing them out on a plane.

Thank goodness it's Friday

Basking in the Glow

I'm so glad it's Friday. Today I had to drive once more down to Sunnyvale, but I think that's it because we have no more budget from the client.

Finally today I have some time to relax and focus on ME. I'm still coughing, which is really annoying because it's a dry cough and has been for days. Bring on the phlegm! ;-)

As I was driving home this afternoon (I got to leave early because of good behavior), I was thinking about how my safety as a driver is so dependent on the other cars. I can only drive defensively, but if the driver behind me decides to tailgate, I can't help that.

Also, I like how drivers start slowing down once they see the cops on the highway.
Then there's the carpool lane. Two or more people constitute a carpool in California, so that means you get to drive in the lane with the diamond painted on the ground. It's faster than the other lanes. Sometimes it's very tempting to just slip into the carpool lane for a bit just to get a little ahead and then go back into the normal lanes. I have resisted so far. Recently I even had a dream about the police chasing cars down that didn't have two people in it. That's what happens when you drive too much - it's all you can think of, even in your sleep.

P.S. - Picture above was taken with my new toy

Stress

Lots of work + being sick + having to chase car accident guy = a very tired frankfurtsanfrancisco

:-(

I need a break!

Ugh!

Yuck, I got into a car accident tonight on 101 northbound! Plus, my throat's feeling nasty again!

Terrible!

It was stop and go on the freeway. I put on the brakes. The driver behind me got rear-ended by someone behind him and so he bumped into me. Fortunately no one was hurt because of the slow speeds, but there are scratches and a minor dent in the back.

I hope this ends well, so that I will get reimbursed for the damage that occurred. Wish me luck!

If you ever get into an accident (knock on wood that it doesn't happen) here is a website telling you what info you need to collect from the other driver.

Mi Dispiace

Je suis desolee. No pic today because I've had a very long day that started with an alarm clock ringing at 4:30 AM. By 5:15 AM or so I was already enjoying my cereal and working. Then I had the pleasure (not!) of driving 1 hour and 15 minutes in stop and go traffic to the South Bay in the rain.

Hitchcockian

Silhouette eines Voegelchen

Silhouette of a birdie

I like this picture because it reminds me of Hitchcock films - gloomy and mysterious.

Guest from Germany

Sightseeing/Sehenswuerdigkeiten

Gaeste aus Deutschland waren heute hier. War schoen ueber alte Zeiten zu reden und vom aktuellsten Klatsch zu erfahren. ;-) Das Wetter hat aber nicht mitgespielt, denn es war kalt und regnerisch.

Wir haben uns zuerst zum Dim Sum Mittagessen in Chinatown getroffen. Danach sind wir ein wenig durch die Gegend geschlendert, um nach Souvenirs zu schauen. Wenn man schon in Chinatown ist, darf ein Foto vor dem Chinatown Tor nicht fehlen. (Siehe obiges Bild) Wir haben uns im Ferry Building verabschiedet wo wir ein warmes Getraenk von Peet's genossen haben.
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I had some guests from good ol' Germany in town today. We met for a dim sum lunch at New Asia and then strolled around Chinatown for a bit of souvenir shopping. Then I tagged along when they went to buy tickets for the Christmas Carol musical. I learned something new from them because I didn't know you could buy tickets on the day of the show for half off. That's a good deal. Also, I took a ride in the Westin hotel's glass elevators, which afforded me a great overview of downtown. Since it was raining, we headed towards the Ferry Building in search of a Peet's, which I raved about in my little travel guide. Unfortunately it was raining the whole time so this was not exactly conducive to much sightseeing.

It was nice catching up with an old colleague as to the latest developments in Germany. Overall a good time was had by all. ;-)

Green Tea/Gruener Tee

Tasse/Cup

Juhu, ich habe meinen Fotografiekurs heute erfolgreich abgeschlossen und sogar eine Eins gekriegt! Ich freue mich sehr natuerlich. Es war schon schwierig die Hausaufgaben mit den Anforderungen meines Jobs zu jonglieren. Ich bin mir nicht ganz sicher wie ich mein Interesse weiter entwickeln werde, aber Ideen habe ich schon. Vielleicht besuche ich Workshops ab und zu.

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Yahoo! I not only survived Photo 51, I got an A. It was hard balancing the homework assignments with the demands of my job. I'm not sure how I'm going to continue pursuing my interest, but I have some ideas. Maybe I'll go to some workshops.

We also had a little end of the semester party. The folks were pretty generous with the food they brought. There were a lot of meat items like fried chicken, diced beef, BBQ chicken, etc. I brought fried noodles cooked by my mom. I really should learn how to make a dish that I can bring to potluck parties.

About the photo: I shot a picture of the green cup this afternoon. It holds Japanese green tea, which is supposed to have many health benefits.

The Episode at the Post Office

Twinkle

Sorry for the shaky photo. It's hard to tell from those tiny LCD previews!

I was at the post office this evening trying to mail a Christmas card at 4:30 PM. There was a long line of office workers trying to mail their packages and letters. The postal workers were spending quite a while with each customer. One female customer was especially annoying. She was on the older side, but tried to be young and hip in her clothing. Anyway, she was kind of showing a 'tude when the postal worker told her that she would need to put additional postage on her cards since they weren't machinable (maybe due to irregular sized cards?). She had a huge stack of cards numbering 30-50, so she stood there in front of the counter and proceeded to place 2 additional stamps on each card. You could see that the customers waiting in line were thinking that she was insane. Couldn't she have done that elsewhere? Did she need to hold up everyone else? Some people are just very inconsiderate.

*Husten/Cough cough*

Sitzplaetze am Embarcadero/Seats on the Embarcadero

I've been using Zicam nose swabs to help me overcome my cold symptoms. It's supposed to speed up your cold and weaken the effect of the symptoms. I think it's working based on my experience with my cold so far. I'm in the coughing phase right now. It can be pretty tough on your lungs when the cough is dry, which it is right now.

Generally, I like to snack after dinner, but having this cough really limits my snack options. No chips, nuts or fried foods because they would exacerbate my cough. I'm really craving German gummi bears at the moment because they're kind of sweet and chewy without being excessively sweet like chocolate can be. Unfortunately there aren't any Baerentreff shops in the US! Well, I guess it's an excuse to make a gummi bear shopping trip to Germany. ;-)

Erkaeltet / Cold

Arsenal

Es faengt mit einem Halsweh an und entwickelt sich in eine schreckliche Erkaeltung. Aber ich hoffe mit Hilfe von Airborne und Zicam die Erkaeltung im Keim zu ersticken. Airborne ist der letzte Schrei in Vitamine/Health Supplements gegen Erkaeltungen.

Ich bin heute nicht zur Arbeit gegangen, denn zum einen gibt es nicht viel zu tun und zum anderen moechte ich meine Energie fuer den Kampf gegen das Halsweh sparen.

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It starts with a sore throat and usually develops into a nasty cold. However, I hope to nip the cold in the bud with the help of Airborne and Zicam. Airborne is the health supplement that everyone is using to fight colds these days.

Curve

Peek-a-boo

This is a picture of the Bay Bridge from underneath the Cupid's Span sculpture. I've always wanted to try out this angle. The arch turned out too dark though. If I try to bring in detail, the noise starts being apparent.

It's been very slow at work lately. It's either a feast or a famine. Either you have too much to do or you're sitting there twiddling your thumbs.

Self portrait / Selbstbildnis

Me, myself & I

Das obige Selbstportraet ist mein letztes Projekt fuer den Fotografiekurs. Ich habe mich dargestellt, wie andere mich wahrnehmen, naemlich als langweilige Buchhalterin/Bohnenzaehlerin. Das erklaert auch das Anti-Smilie Gesicht.

Apropos Laecheln, was mich jetzt zum Laecheln bringen wuerde waere Weihnachstmaerkte! Ich habe diesen Artikel ueber die schoensten Weihnachtsmaerkte in Deutschland gesehen und sehnte mich sofort nach den guten alten Zeiten.

Apropos Deutschland, das Finanzamt schuldet mir eine Erstattung, aber sie haben wohl den Betrag auf einem deutschen Bankkonto ueberwiesen, das nicht vorliegt. Jetzt muss ich das Geld finden. Was fuer ein Spass!
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The picture above is my last assignment for my photography course. It's a picture of how others see me (i.e. - as a bean counter, hence the anti-smilie face).

Regarding smiles, I would be smiling if I could be at the Christmas markets in Germany right now. I came across an article showing the most beautiful markets. It made me long for the good old days.

Regarding Germany, I'm expecting a tax refund from the tax authorities, but apparently they have transferred the money over to my non-existent German bank account. What fun! Now I need to find my money.

Lovely Lyrics

My Xmas Tree

So I was listening to the radio when I heard the song "When I Fall in Love" sung by Nat King Cole & his daughter Natalie. He has such a soothing voice and the lyrics were lovely. I couldn't help but compare it to my post yesterday regarding Beyonce's song "Single Ladies".

Basically, if you read the lyrics to the Nat King Cole song, the message is that these days, people's emotions change so quickly, that I would rather fall in love when it's safe to do so and I'm sure of the other person's emotions. My favorite part of the song is
"In a restless world like this is
Love is ended before its begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun".

As a real life example of the fickleness of people's emotions these days, I heard from a coworker about a friend of hers who got married 9 months ago and is now already filing for divorce. Better sooner rather than later I guess. Apparently they had problems going into the marriage that they thought could be solved by the marriage. How naive!

Anyway, I find that the lyrics of songs of yesteryear are so much more intelligent sounding that the lyrics of today. The only thing that Beyonce keeps repeating in her song is put a ring on it. Okay, I promise to blogging about songs. :-)


Lyrics | Cole, Nat King - When I Fall in Love lyrics

Tis the Season

to be jolly

Heute hat die Fotografie Lehrerin mein Foto gelobt. Es war das Bild wo es mehrere Klone von mir gibt. Wenn ich mich nicht taeusche, hat mein Bild ihr sogar besser gefallen als das von ihrem Lieblingsstudent.

Kennt ihr das neue Lied von Beyonce? Es heisst "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Ich finde das Lied ein wenig dumm und wiederholend. Der Text vom Lied findet man hier.
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So I went to photography class today and the instructor actually liked the photo I turned it. This was the picture with multiple images of me in a meeting room. I think she even liked it better than the one her favorite student turned it.

Have you guys heard Beyonce's new song called "Put a Ring on It"? I first heard in in Atlanta. It's not a very complex song, basically she keeps on repeating, "If you like it put on ring on it" over and over. You can watch it on Youtube if you click this link .

Mission Accomplished!

View from the Top

I'm back from "the ATL" (Atlanta, Georgia for the uninitiated). Actually I just learned recently that Atlanta is known colloquially as "the ATL", which is also Atlanta's airport code like SFO stands for San Francisco International Airport. Our secret mission has been accomplished in record time, much faster than they had anticipated, which is good. It means I get to spend a weekend at home rather than working a night shift.

Funniest moment during the night shift this morning around 2 AM was when a guy just finished having his snack of cereal and milk and then announced that he was lactose intolerant. Bear in mind that we were 9 people sitting in a conference room with the door closed. This was the last thing we wanted to hear! However, it turns out that he doesn't have a problem when he drinks milk with cereal. It's only when he drinks milk alone that he experiences the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

I think we bonded as a group. The folks from Philly and NY were nice enough to buy food to share with the group. They got fresh fruit, water, Gatorade, bags of chips, mints, cereal, milk, etc. You can't imagine how much food is a pick-me-upper when you're working through the morning and everything is closed.

So we were told early this morning that we could go back home earlier than planned so I booked a flight on Delta. I took the last seat, which was a middle seat. All I can say is that it was tortuous sitting for 5 hours in that middle seat. First of all, I had limited access to the restroom because I would have to bug the person in the aisle to get up for me. Secondly, the people next to me were such arm rest hogs! In addition, their knees kept encroaching into my already very limited space in the middle. On top of that, a baby cried throughout most of the flight. Oh how painful those couple hours were. The only thing that kept me going during that flight was my playlist, which I blasted from my MP3 player because I was trying to mask the cries of the baby.

In other news, I'm happy to report that I can now officially call myself a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Yay! Another set of letters to put on my resume.

Arrival

C'est une chaise.

So I've arrived in Atlanta, Georgia for my assignment. It was kind of similar to one of those Ocean's Eleven movies or spy movies where people who don't know each other come from all corners of the country and converge at one location for a common mission.

I'm working with 3 of my colleagues from the San Francisco office. In addition, the team consists of 2 people from the NYC office, 2 from the Philadelphia office, 1 from Boston and 2 from the DC office and apparently some more from NY today, I think.

We're working the graveyard shift from 9 PM in the evening to 9 AM in the morning. Picture this: bleary eyed consultants crammed in one conference room struggling to work with only 1 tiny fan that does not provide enough ventilation. Strewn across the table are cans of coke, gum and food wrappers. It's not a very appetizing image. I've never pulled an all nighter, so staying up all night was a new experience for me, not one that I would like to continue past this 1 week phase of the project though.

Getting into the rhythm of working nights and sleeping days is tough. I was woken up by sounds of housekeeping slamming doors around 1 PM this afternoon when I actually wanted to continue sleeping until 4 PM. I'm actually considering trying to take a catnap before we need to report back to work.

Streng geheim/Top secret

Ich bin ab morgen auf einem Geheimeinsatz. Mehr darf ich nicht verraten. Wenn ich mich in den naechsten Tagen nicht melde, wisst ihr Bescheid. Koffer muss noch gepackt werden.

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I've been summoned on a secret mission. Okay, it's for work and very short notice so I still need to pack my bags. If I don't post in the next days, you'll know why.

Place of worship

I like this picture if I do say so myself. The arch is nice. Reminds me of a church or another place of worship. The coins also add to that theme. Generally people throw coins into wishing wells and fountains, but I guess Coit Tower windows are the exception. The ride up to the top of Coit Tower cost me $5 so I had to milk the experience by shooting as many pictures as possible.

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Dieses Bild gefaellt mir. Der Bogen ist schoen. Er erinnert mich an eine Kirche. Die schimmernden Muenzen tragen auch zum Effekt bei. Normalerweise werden Muenze in Brunnen geworfen, aber Coit Tower ist vielleicht eine Ausnahme. Um mit einem Aufzug nach oben zu fahren muessen Erwachsene $5 zahlen. Ich habe die Kosten wettgemacht, indem ich so viele Bilder wie moeglich aufgenommen habe.