I had an early start this morning and snuck in a round of golf as the sun came up. It has stopped raining for a change but it is quite windy and feels like autumn. Nice to be up and about though. I woke up just as it was getting lighter and didn’t want to wake Ariane so I left the lights off and got dressed in the dark. I paid particular attention to the socks and felt my way to a pair of summer hiking socks – the fancy sort which are specially shaped for left and right feet. I couldn’t see if I had got them the right way round but they felt good so I had obviously guessed right. I went out, played a decent 9 holes, came back to find everyone still asleep so made myself a coffee and settled myself on the patio for some early blogging. Then I looked at my feet (see picture). Good marketing trick, that left and right feet business. Continue reading →

Everything feels wrong today. I am not sure how I should behave. I can’t remember being in this situation before. So what happened to provoke this strange feeling? First, England won an important football match yesterday – in the last minute of extra time. Then after that Germany failed to win an important football match. This doesn’t usually happen and I am not equipped to deal with the situation. I am used to the exact opposite. All l could think of to say at work this morning was “If I had known I was going to get dull 0:0 draws and two weeks of continuous rain I could have stayed in England.” Continue reading →

A wave of good sense washed over me yesterday evening as I slouched on the sofa, deciding whether I would watch the France game on TV or not. I decided against it and, instead, went to bed at 8:30 – the same time as the kids. This turned out to be a good idea because I had a good 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep which I apparently needed. I was awake sometime after 5 and read a little. When the alarm went off at 6, I volunteered to make breakfast, pack lunches and get the kids off to school. Continue reading →

Lots of work, lots of rain and not much time to write this blog. But after two days break I thought it was about time to set pen to paper (or digit to key) again. Here is where I must confess to being a Game of Thrones fan. I normally don’t like “fantasy” films and have no desire to sit through, say, the Lord of the Rings or other such nonsense. My favourite films are all about real people in believable situations. So I have no idea why I like Game of Thrones – it is just high-quality nonsense.  Continue reading →

Oh dear. Could it be that I’ve been here before? Let me take stock – the England football looked good for a while and then disappointed, the English fans went on a drunken sunburned rampage and had me wincing with shame when I saw the TV reports. There are days when you are proud to be English, and there are days like today. The percentage of people in the EU who are hoping that Britain votes to leave will have shot up in the last 24 hours. Continue reading →

I was on the train to Cologne again yesterday. Half way, in Frankfurt, a group of drunken football supporters got in and sang a few „songs“ for the rest of us. The European Championship starts today and I suppose they were on their way to France to watch one of the early games. They calmed down after a while and were a peaceful bunch, but it did put me off the spread-sheet I was working on. I decided to listen to some music and reflect upon the next four weeks, as the country goes football-crazy. Continue reading →

Bad news. I had been looking forward to a weekend away in the Allgäu. It was supposed to be our annual paragliding club „Grillfliegen“ – Barbecue Fly-In. We meet up, go flying and then have a drink and barbecue in the landing field. After that it’s just a short walk to the campsite. After a few very busy working weeks (and sometimes weekends) it is hard to think of anything better to recharge the batteries. Continue reading →

I’ve been missing cycling to work recently. Too many meetings which means me wearing a suit. Today was no different, which is a shame since the weather was lovely this morning. First mist as the last of the rain from last night’s storms burned off. Then hazy sunshine and later deep blue sky dotted with harmless looking cumulus clouds. It was only a matter of time, though, until those clouds would mutate into hail-carrying thunderstorms. I had a lunch meeting with 2 people who also wished they weren’t wearing suits – I had hoped we would sit outside and enjoy the sun while it lasted.. Continue reading →

We are still in the grip of an immobile low-pressure system which has given the weather a tropical feel. Hot and muggy when the sun is out, but quickly turning to thunderstorms as the day rolls on. The thunderstorms die out during the night and the cycle continues again next day. And so, in these conditions, I set off with some trepidation to a small golf tournament yesterday. Continue reading →

As I wrote in my last post Stuck in the Mud we have had a very busy week. I am relieved to have reached the weekend in a reasonable state of mental and physical health. Ariane and I went to a party yesterday evening and, fortunately for me, I wasn’t the designated driver. “Who’s driving?” I asked with my hand on a cold bottle of “Wulle” beer from the self-service fridge and a pleading puppy expression on my face. So Ariane drove. We had a very pleasant evening, I drank a little more than I should and went to bed thinking of a nice lie in on Saturday morning. Continue reading →