No Kids On The Block

Pic from last Sat when we went to Hornbach to get a bird feeder.

That we didn´t get cause it was not only too expensive but also way too ugly.
Anyhows...

Following their slogan they had pumpkin-carving for kids on offer - nice. no?

We had our own lille preps yesterday:

Since it lasts for two days we have some more spiders today:

The last years we had sweets for trick or treat but there was no more thann one kid/party, so this year the bell stays turned off - no kids on the block!

In case you celebrate Halloween I´m wishing you a fun party and hope to see cool pics!

Oh, shoot, this could´ve been such a great, long weekend.
Loosing this job destroyed it all.
Last time money was tight we all agreed to earn less money and no one got fired.
New boss, new rules :-(

Thanks, Man

As you maybe know I´m not into church, I´m more the believer in science, so to say.
Yet I think Martin Luther did a good job putting some things right"er" and giving people an easier access by translating the bible to German.
Wiki says "Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517."

Now, 500 years later, he´s honored.
And we all have October 31th off and hence to most of us another long weekend.

Thanks, man, especially since the last long weekend I spent coughing through.

A Lille Crazy

Ingo claims this bench has been there forever - even if so (that would be a lille crazy) I only saw it yesterday.
And mind you - don´t those sitting guys look like chicken in a barn?

At dm I saw this, by golly...

This is somehow to help your skin if you wanna party heavy duty and be fit in the morning.
Do people really fall for this, do they pay for this?

Hawaii is such a sad example, but they are right. Obviously you have to fine people being glued to their "smart phone" while crossing the street.

I´m kinda glad I´m old.
That I grew up exploring the real world, using my mind, not falling for such nonesense.
Old (wo)man yelling at cloud again ;-)

It´s A Kind Of... I Need Some

When I got the bad job-news and Ingo had to get himself something for dinner he brought me a Kinder-Surpise as a lille treat.
Yes, he knows I´m not into sweets, but I love surprises.

Sometimes it´s rather creepy.
I kinda need a miracle, what do you think?

I so badly wanna work in Braunschweig, hours 06:00 - 02:00 are more.than.perfect, colleagues are fantastic and I have to leave???
And there IS.SO.MUCH.WORK.TO.DO.

Guess what?

Just what I need, right???

Now all I need also is something we luckily get everywhere in this part of the world:

Because with that I can paint my future, what do you think, am I right?

Sometimes, life is like that - creepy, no.
NameSis and I went to lunch together again yesterday, the two doomed Iris K.´s.
I told her about the freaky dates concerning my entrance and probably exit of this company.

Just a couple of weeks ago she went to Sri Lanka with a girlfriend (her boyfriend is a teacher, so couldn´t join).
They went to where she spent the first holiday with her then-husband.
She´d managed to forgive him a lot and was positive about all the ohh, here we did this, here we ate that, so much fun-stuff.

When she turned on her cell in Germany there was a message from her youngest son.
The ex-husband the day before had passed. Cancer in last stage.

Creepy, no?
Just coincidences, but kinda creepy none-the-less.

Will the magician work for my future at CGS???

NameSis talked to another colleague and somehow mentioned my bad luck.
She said that colleague was shocked, had no idea, nor understanding, saying they need me.

I need a kind of magic.

Ka-Boom

Yesterday morning we gathered together and listened to the new health-care the new boss organised for us, you can get your partner in it, too, and I thought, what a great company I´m working for.

Back at the PC I got an invitation from the boss - at our actual lunch-time.
Not yet teamleader L, who´d told me how desperate he needs a tester, was there, too.

To cut things short... it wasn´t about the useless company-car that eats up € 400 each month.
No.
I signed my notice of termination.

After 16 years it takes the new boss 30 minutes to get rid of me.
He´s very sorry, but since they cannot sell me to work external...
Yes, so sorry, if things get better and he can keep me, he will.

Well, what can I say. Reckon I jinxed it just yesterday.

There is SO.Much.Work to do, too!
But when money is thight, quality isn´t important anymore.
If that´s the right way to go?

L asked me into his office afterwards.
He was not happy, said he only heard the bad news a few days ago.
That he´ll help me and that after 3-4 months, if things go up, I just apply again.

My very first termination.
Now I know how Ingo´d felt.
"Funny" btw. April 30th 2001 I had a job interview at this company and signed a minute later.
May 1st is a public holiday, so on Thursday 2nd I started.

My last day will be April 30th 2018.
I call that irony.

NameSis had waited and she had a pretty good idea what this was all about.
She had the very same talk with the new boss the day before.

So there we sat at Brodocz and couldn´t really believe it.
The kale-lasagna was ok, btw.

She hugged me and said, better go home and have a good cry there.

I know things could be worse, I could be sick or something, but still.
I find it unfair.
16 darn years external and yes, I know it wasn´t a pleasant job for the new boss, either.
He also offered to ask around for me.

And what would´ve been the alternative.
Sitting with that darn colleague F at VW again?! I would´ve declined that anyways as that dude made me sick before (like in physically sick).

Oh, bummer.
And he certainly picked a date for this, too.

He picked the day my "lille" Bro turned 40.
Try to be cheery on the phone...

He picked two days before a long weekend, too.
But I will have to try to enjoy it anyways.

Ka-boom, like a bomb, that was.
Or was it but a movie and I wake up and nothing had happened?

Never feel too secure...

Addendum. I really had no clue at all. It was on very short notice and without a hint.
I do believe with preparation I could´ve maybe saved myself with arguments.
One statement was he thinks I cannot sell myself.
He thinks so.
I said I have no idea. I had one half-hearted chance.
It´s hard for me to understand, esp with all the work waiting there.

Braunschweig Wimmelt

A couple of weeks ago Ingo found a note that there will be a Braunschweig-Wimmelbilderbuch, limited edition, too!

So I went to Graff and pre-ordered one.
And kinda forgot about it.

Yesterday Name-Sis talked me into going to Brodocz for lunch to which I agreed on the compromise to go today...

They have kale-lasagna as the daily dish - have you ever heard of that???
Let´s see if bummer or looser.

Anyhows, afterwards we strolled through the city a bit...
I still cannot believe this luxury-life that had been "promised" to me 16 years ago has finally come true (for now), a life so many in our company have guaranteed since forever...
Well, we strolled into Graff and there it was, the limited edition!

Their mail ended up in my spam - unprofessional, I let them know (minus the "unprofessional").
On each page you find funny mice, aliens and one fairy-tale character - on this page The Golden Goose, here also Santa Clause and hence reindeers all over - and certainly many a Henry, like here, sneaked in on the "cat-tower" at Kattreppeln.

I didn´t even have to pay for the book!
Thanks to Graff´s very own "payback-system" - HA!

So many cute scenes...

There is a bunch of mice - look, they have their own entrance at the ICE:

And what is this?!

A huge article on screen at Braunschweiger Newspaper-building that aliens have landed and opposite, at cinema C1 in Lange Strasse you see their space-ship, police and peeps taking pics.

See the Star Money?

Such a very cute, well-made book!

I cannot remember such books existing in my childhood - do you?
The English counterpart, Where's Wally?, came up in 1986, so... a rather "new" genre?

Please... if there is/will be a Perth-edition: Get one for me on credit, ok?

Hello, Thumb

(Quite a) Couple of weeks ago I jerked 2 toothpicks in an avocado-pit and put it in water, about 3 weeks later I did so to a second one.

And nothing happened.
My black thumb, right?

But then something green happened and now here you go!

Mayyyybe, just maybe I´m a tad green here around my thumb lately, I mean...

The big one might be ready to go halfway into earth now, any guess?

I am certainly aware that neither will ever carry any fruit in German climate, but it´d be fun to grow a tree, no?

Wish me luck, advise always welcome!

Weeee

On the way home from the bakery yesterday I saw this very cool bike - with just a tiny lock!

The owner must´ve been in the lille photo-studio, I reckon.
Let´s hope the bike was still there after his session, what a trusty (or stupid) person.

And despite I think that´s really a very cool bike I certainly don´t see myself on that (anymore).

Warm Me Up

Brrr. Autumn is here for real.
So, what are we supposed to do?

Very sad Jamie has nothing on offer here, but Ingo sure can do without!

Hello, comford-food!

Savoy cabbage, our first winter-veggie (with meat, certainly).
Yum-yum-yum, 3 days in a row for me!

What´ll be next?
I don´t know - but such food is the only good thing about this time of the year (and the NFL on TV).

A new week rollin`...

Nature´s Joke?

Pic from our botanical garden, I found no hint on what this is.

A plant, a flower, can you eat it (reckon not).

Isn´t it funny what nature produces at times, how there are seemingly similarities in things likely not even in the widest similar?

Do you have clue?

Reminds me of the "broccoli-trees" we saw in WA...

They look very different but still reminded us of broccoli in the big view.

Hmmm. Yum, broccoli!...

Back In Dongara

Some longer time ago I got a voucher from my old boss - having a dinner for two for €150.

Hahaha...

Well, yesterday we went a third time to Block House from the money (never El Gaucho again...) - it was culinary heaven (again).

On the way back was the Craft Bier Bar (the title hurts, no???) and we finally gave it a go.

BOOOM.

We found Straya without Broome! Or Freo!! A very "old" map.

And Dongara - aww, by all means... my debris forever... not on the map, but...

Just have a look at those loo-doors!
Dongara came to Braunschweig! In Dongara the public toilet - actually for Road Train drivers - had wallpaper with flowers all over, it was hilarious!

Now I want my Road-Train-Drive, hear me, Irish fella?!

That is not all, btw, more magic was to come!
Ingo suddenly was grabbing madly at his jacket and finally asked me to help and... tadaaa:

There was the lost pin!
The one that was on this jacket when we married in Perth 2013!

What a great end to a loooong week-work! (I got 24 hours on the plus side, yay!)!