Germany vs. Poland

My grandparents are from Germany so I have every right to ...well, you know, "root" for them. But I live in Poland. I rooted for Poland and I really felt it every time when they were close or weren't (as was more often the case).

Alma

Thank the gods for Alma. It's half Fred Meyers and half Trader Joe's. Not only do they have a pretty good selection of cheeses, teas, chips, etc ...but they deliver and, of course, you can order online. As a result right now I am eating imported Irish Cheddar (odd, isn't that?), Jacobean Sage Derby and some cheese we bought back from Norway, namely ...Norwegian Brunost (brown cheese).

The other day we were having proper tortilla chips and salsa and washing it down with Australian Chardonnay and Tonic. Also a few stout beers. All from Alma.

So, thank you, Alma, for selling stuff to people with money who enjoy spending it on little luxuries.

Oh boy...

I'm starting a big project. While this is a blog meaning that anyone could read it and I secretly hope they do... at the same time I hope no one I know is reading it because I'm embarking, I hope, on a long and honest conversation with myself about Poland and Poles. I'm doing this because, quite frankly, I'm a bit depressed in the "seriously, go see a therapist" sense of the word and Val said this might be a valid way of getting some stuff off my chest. But, it can't be all bitchy because it would get too bitchy. So I will have to think of good things, too. Every other night or at least every other entry.

Tonight... there are so many things that bother me, but I guess I can start off with something bad and good.

Taxi drivers here never, EVER, EVER wear their seat belts. Ever. Except, of course, tonight. Honest to god, a taxi driver put on his seatbelt. I saw him (of course it was a him) do it with my own eyes. First time ever. I don't know why they almost universally refuse to wear their seat belts. How can people who drive all the time be so (willfully?) ignorant or flippant about the laws of physics, particularly the bit about "an object in motion..."? So when they do get into an accident ...and here they are at least four times more likely to do so than Germany (if not more like six times, I can't remember the death statistics, see my earlier post)... they will probably die. If they don't die, it'll cost us taxpayers more. And while it's yet another post, how come the damn cops never stop these guys? Capgemini is literally right next to the police station but I've never once seen them stop drivers coming in or out of our parking lot ...which we share with the cops. It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Ok, that's enough for tonight. Next post will be positive.

Might as well

It's been another five months, so...

Still working at Capgemini. Doing a monthly training thing for other employees and working with Shorewood now. Everything is basically ok. Paula is slowly transitioning to becoming a TL for another GL team and, basically, her boss's right-hand person.

Cats are ok although Saphona was in heat three times in the space of about a month. She's fine right now/at the moment.

We recently visited Prague and we're going to the island of Stord, Norway in about three weeks.

My brother and his wife recently announced they'll have a baby in August.

Paula and I are getting ready to finally put down some money on the new car (and thus officially place our special order) although we'll have to wait until Monday to see if we can and how that all goes. Citroen is in a production blackout right now. Next post might be with the new car, who knows.

Haven't done a lot of geocaching lately but we did a fair bit in Prague. There were some really, really quite good ones there.

Taken a fair amount of photos, they're all up at http://elysion.pl/gallery as usual. I tend to shoot almost 100% between the 28-135 and the 60mm macro. Someday hopefully I'll save up the cash for the 100-400mm lens and do some more wildlife shots.

I'm in the middle of reading The Name of the Rose and re-reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Last film we've seen at the cinema was Juno which was a lot better than I expected.

Last party we were at was at Agata's allotment yesterday's for Dzudza's name day. Poles will use an excuse to get together and drink. I was the designated driver. Somewhat distant friend Basia (not of Basia and Alex) fell down in the tulips before throwing up in a plastic bag I had the good forethought to bring in the car.

Last web site I was at, other than this one: somewhereintheworld.dk ...some nice people we met while in Prague.