The roundest sphere

Finally, the roundest sphere in the whole wide world finally comes to Braunschweig, to the PTB tomorrow!
They are so in love with her, they call her "Diva" :-)

The guys from the PTB (national metrology institute providing scientific and technical services) are known for working exact.
Like their atomic clock that won´t go observably wrong even after some 100 000 years.

For some time now they are after the formula for the new kilogramme - with nano-technics around this seems very necessary. The ur-kilogramme in Paris might rub off with time, as well as the duplicate in Braunschweig might.

So, scientists search for a better solution using atoms.

The ball consists of silica and has a defined number of atoms.

It´s way started 2003 in Russia, St. Petersburg! Where they used the atomic institution in the cold war to develop something destructive they now go science. They produce silica in it´s purest form - gas. 1 1/2 years their centrifuges were spinning with it.
The material then in 2005 went to Nischniy Nowgorod for further research, an even more intensive cleaning and finally the crystallization.

In autumn 2006 the sphere came to Germany, Berlin to the institute of crystal growing.
The mass was melted there and the atoms rearranged consistent in the process of solidifying. At that time it´s a cylinder actually.

In Australian Sydney it is divided in two pieces and a German specialist modeled and polished two spheres there - one for Japan, one for Germany (Braunschweig).

The sphere has a weight of exactly one kilogramme and a diameter of 93,7 mm. You might find meanderings of only very few nanometers - millionths of a mm!
They gonna need about another 6 months for the "massage" of the atoms and then...
Then their "Diva" or "Sex Bomb of Physics" shall be ready!

I know I have nothing to do with this. Makes me proud none the less that my town is involved. And please don´t ask me what the material did in Sydney.
I hope I could translate ok - I found no free article in english from this place - here is the German article.



Well. That was what I brought Ingo yesterday - he wasn´t much into talking about it - a sign he is still sick!

The doctors cut all medication today. He was in big pain after having dinner. But just half an hour later, when I was home, he called to tell me he is better - must have been the digestion process.
They want to send him home on Friday. Today I thought, not a good idea. Let´s see how he is tomorrow.

Health-update

Ingo was bad today. His day started at 04:00 am - the (demented?) old bed neighbor got up to get shaved. He is deaf, too, so makes a lot o noise.
He and the other old man were dismissed so it was noisy all morning and Ingo couldn´t sleep. Afternoon two new ones and after that visiting family for the other deaf one. When I arrived, Ingo was all dizzy.

Hope it´s just due to the lack of sleep. He said tomorrow they leave another medication behind and I guess it makes him a bit afraid.
I was there some 45 minutes only. But, well. I have not much to tell.
From hospital I go home, sit at the computer, go to bed, go to work, back to hospital.

In my lunch break I try to find something more interesting to talk about than today. Though I think in better condition Ingo would have loved it - I come to it later.

Well. Guess it was just fatigue today and he´ll be better tomorrow :-)

And - no more apples - was a bad idea.

Fittin`

My glasses fit not only to my keyboard but also to my blog - fun, isn´t it? Hehe :-)
Please note the blue of the binder of the red glasses (you can click to enlarge) copies the blue light to the right of the keyboard!

Oh, yes. I´m wearing my orange-grey glasses at the moment. Old ones my bro didn´t want anymore. Ah. Good to have an optometrist as a bro, huh? :-)

Strange(rs)

Strange - no sore muscles today!

So I went to the gym again, first time on a Sunday, I expected it being quite empty. I was fast - hence too early, they open up at 11 on the weekends. Some 10 other people were already waiting outside.

It was weird.
We all have the same goal - do something for our health. And no one said a thing. We stood there, waiting in silence. Ok, we are strangers. But... I expected a conversation would start somehow - we stood there over five long minutes!
And no I could not make the first move. Not with all strangers around...

More and more people came, the gym was quite full.
I thought only lonely singles go to the gym on Sundays. Was obviously wrong in this one!

On my way home hail was coming from the sky! Boy, that did hurt!
Hello, please... I want spring, seriously!

I was home, had something to eat - and Ingo called! He was awake, a good sign. So I went to the hospital. After five his brother really came to visit. He had a child on his arm. Ingo said, ahhh, hi Leo! And Martin said, this is Aaron....

Boy, time runs!
What a cute little face! Kinda shy and kinda not - he said nothing but looked into our faces straight. He sat still - all the time, and, as mentioned before - Martin really does take his time!
He had changed so much! First he asked Ingo how he´s doin´ and then a concerned look over to me, asking the same.
Caring!
Later on he went to fetch the rest of the family. Implied Leo - guess he goes to school soon! A "big boy" who went to shake hands with Ingo. He was so excited to meet his only uncle again, he forgot all about me ;-)
And the baby girl. Alert and friendly. As if she tried to understand what we´re talking about. Sweet.

And they took their time. I´m a bit jealous. Ingo brings so much hectic into life. They seem to enjoy more. They don´t care they will be home earliest 11. It´s a long way and they wanted to stop over at Mc Donald´s.

Well. Maybe despite the distance they get in contact more again and we won´t be strangers anymore...

Finally

Ingo felt a little better today! Yay! Time didn´t crawl endlessly and we chatted! We did!

Yesterday one of his bed neighbors needed some privacy so we went out. I would have walked out alone but Ingo wanted to join me.
It´s just a few meters to the lounge. But Ingo was breathless. Didn´t look at me. Today he told me he got tunnel vision from getting up.

But today was better, really, I am so glad.

His brother, Martin, e-mailed. He had talked to the doctor yet again. The pancreas still functions, will produce hormones and enzymes in the future, too. I am so glad.

He wants to come for a visit, I guess tomorrow. Maybe we meet in hospital. Will be odd somehow. I really thought he was very selfish (well, he WAS!!!). It is clear to me he does not like to write. He didn´t have my phone number so he e-mailed me nonetheless to keep me up to date with the news from the doc here - not selfish at all! - And he has my phone number now since he asked for it.

Bad news he got as well. Last time I talked to the Grandmother she had a cold. She is in hospital now - pneumonia. Martin took care.

Bad news II: Ingo´s car´s electronic was dead when I had a look at it. I can see the car from the bedroom window but it´s always better to have a closer look. It was in inspection last month only! But the guy from the garage told me it might be the cold temperatures.
Luckily my new colleague has a jumper cable and I hope we gonna manage to get the car running again without further help. Boy. If it comes it comes all at once!

I am used to being alone again. Just like all the years we saw each other only on the weekends.



Went to the gym today... ahhh, so few people, it was great!
I don´t go inbetween the week at the moment. When I come back from hospital, it´s too late. It´s so darn full of people, it´s no fun.
Hopefully my muscles aren´t too sore tomorrow - I bet on Sundays it´s even emptier!

Nothing on TV tonight. Well. Despite the awful voice, I´ll watch Jag, I guess. I could go in German. But. It´s a challenge, really! Not too easy to understand for me in the original. And well. He looks cute.

So, just to keep you updated - I guess we´re on the way back to normal. Slowly, but we go!

And on Thursday, if everything stays as planned, I will see my brother, yay. More yay, I´ll get my last birthday-present! Na. Not "more" yay, also yay! :-)

DARN IT. Fergie - "Finally". I have it in my ear now. Argh! Do native people have the same problem or are those just normal words for ya? HMPHGH...
And no... I didn´t chose the piano-pic due to music. I put "happy" in the search engine of stock.xchng!

Helping hands

The big #### Ingo´s „ex-boss“ is, I suppose nonetheless he´ll let Ingo write his job reference/testimonial himself and just sign it – lazy as he is... good for us this time.

I have a friend who is a miracle worker with words and who has written job references in a trainee job before – and she offered us her help – am I glad!

Her sister is working in an employment centre. Not our town, but she can give some tipps as well.
I have made contact to the employment centre in town and it seems I bumped into someone who is really competent. At least I got two answers from the same person!!!!

Ingo had more or less worked for that darn company that threw him out now all his working life. He started right after school with his apprenticeship, then worked, then went to city college and then to the college of higher education to become a graduated engineer in electro-technics and went back to this darn company. He believed in the freedom he had in doing his job. He believed in friendship as well and helped them financially through bad times.

Long story short – he has NO practice whatsoever in how to go through a job interview successfully (not that I have, really). What traps can you stumble in, how to react to certain test-questions and stuff. It´s a hard market. Plus he is a very hectic man, which does not help.

So I asked if they have skill enhancement/trainings on the topic. Certainly I said that Ingo himself cannot do this at the moment due to being under medication and in hospital. I don´t want to make them think, gosh, can´t he do that alone?!

I hope I can cheer him up with results soon. I do have the feeling I am surrounded by helpful hands, and this is good.

Good, because.
When I came to the hospital, Ingo´s room was full again, all elderlies.

One was especially weak. When the nurse came with supper, she made him sit up at the side of the bed and Ingo said, so she can hear, „if this goes well?!“.

It did. Later on he read the hospital´s brochure and part of the stuff fell down. I got up and gave it back to him – to look into a very, very friendly, bit thankful , whimsical old face. He said , thank you!

Ingo whispered, „you don´t wanna know what he is suffering of. It went beyond my imagination, so bad it is!“

Boy.
Made me so sad. So... I admire that he can give me such a whimsical look nonetheless.

Sometimes it seems, life is just so unfair.
I do not know what he is suffering of. Ingo cannot get out of bed and I didn´t want the others to hear him telling me.

And... Do I want to know?

I know I admire this man already. For giving a friendly face no matter of how being sick, weak and what else.
A hero to me.
Hope he is still there tomorrow.

Genes

I called Ingo´s brother last night.
They are sure now, the pancreas is inflamed, they have not found any gallstones yet, but, good thing, the inflammation is already declining.

There are three different sorts of pancreatitis and the doctor had told Ingo´s brother, Ingo has the necrotic one, but Martin said actually they need more tests to clarify it. They will control the progress and may need to puncture, maybe even lay a drainage channel.

The good thing is Ingo has no diabetic sugar; that would have been dangerous.

Since the doctors now know Ingo has a doctor in the family, they will be more careful and he told me not to worry if I come to visit and find him in intensive care. That is a good thing and usually not really anything to worry now.

Maybe at Martin´s hospital there will be a strike - in that case he probably will come here. Otherwise maybe the weekend.
Now... does that mean it is that serious after all?

Boy are those two guys different, you would never believe they are brothers!
For thirteen years we said no more than Hi and Bye to each other and now I was sitting there talking to him like to a friend.

Whilst Ingo is the pass-information-and-end-phone-call-type of guy, his brother takes his time.

He did care to make sure I understand what it´s all about being really sick. That it´s normal that the skin is so white. That you´re interested in nothing, not even in the details of your status.

I could tell myself when Ingo replied to my "I miss you" with "I do not miss you. I don´t even miss myself".

We talked about how difficult it will be for Ingo to find a new job. He worked for that darn company more or less his whole working life.
They know Ingo is good in his job and took all the "bad behaviour" like being loud, falling into your word, being hectic, commanding around. In a new job he has to learn to oppress that.
Martin said Ingo cannot stand criticism. Well, I had a slight idea of this one!

Next moment he came up with all the positive things like being very imaginative, talented, disciplined, can bring his job to a successful end nearly always and that quick.

I was astonished. They have nearly no contact at all for all the last years. Actually he cannot know much about Ingo in his working life.

We talked about the years Ingo broke contact to his family due to the mother and Martin said "we" have to talk about that in detail sometime.

Weird.
Guess having three kids changed him a lot.
He criticized Ingo didn´t get to him - with his back and now with this. I said, well, guess Ingo didn´t want to go on your nerves. He exclaimed, "he is my BROTHER! What I am there for if not for him?!"
Well I wonder why he never calls or e-mails then.
He also said if I ever have to go to hospital I should make sure to let him know so he can call them and introduce himself.
Must be a world of it´s own, that "doctor-country"!

That ever loud bed-neighbour is gone, finally! Ingo said he could sleep all night and even dreamed. Was too complicated to tell, though.

He called me via mobile today - if I had not seen it´s him - I could not recognize his voice! It was frightening! Weak. Like Kermit, the Frog.

Martin thinks it will be at least 1-2 weeks in hospital. Great - time Ingo can do nothing to find a new job!

But most important is he gets better soon. Thank you for your e-mails and comments!

I´m working overtime at the moment but try my best to stay in contact.

My job was great today! Amongst other I am a consulter. And my customer makes it so easy to convince her that my point of view is the right/better one.
I am thankful that I have all that freedom at work most of the time!