2009

Archive for the year 2009

Saturday, March 14, is Pi Day

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Ching under Web.

Pi Symbol Ice Cubes Pi Day has a special significance for me this year because it is the day that Brian arrives back in Wichita. I miss him so much and am counting the hours.

Anyway, these Pi symbol ice cubes are a great way to celebrate Pi Day. The ice trays are available through Think Geek. Other products to help you celebrate Pi Day include a math mug and a Pi symbol shirt.

I don’t know about you guys, but I will be celebrating on Pi Day for sure!

Pi-Tini

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Germany yet another Day

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Brian under Food and Drink, Travel.

Today was a rainy day and on top of that its Sunday. The town pretty much shuts down. There are a few places that are open, the Turkish place on the corner, the Museum and a few pubs. I decided that I was going to try something new from the Turkish place. I have been eating cheese pizzas since I got here. I figured I needed to branch out. Even if my stomach didn’t like what I put into it. I decided to have a traditional Turkish sandwich.

Donertasche

After that I went to the Museum and looked at the history of Attendorn. I really didn’t understand anything because it was all in German, but I could look at the artifacts and admire the history visually. I would like to have shared some pictures with you all but I got in trouble after three pictures and was told that they do not allow photographs. Well not in so many words, the lady that was at the entry came over to me, pointed at the camera and said “NO” with that ever so popular German authority. One of the few pictures I did get was pretty good.

Archway

This was one of my favorite things that I saw. Hand crafted from marble and absolutely beautiful. One of the other things that I was going to take a picture of was some beautifully ornate guns from the 18th century. They were inlaid with ivory and gold and were outstanding in there quality. I was about to take a picture when I noticed a camera pointed at me and two seconds later the other attendant from downstairs came walking in. From this point on I was followed every where I went on every floor in every room. I have not had to be followed since I was a teen. It was kind of funny, the girl was really trying hard to make to look like she was not following me but it was really obvious that she was. Especially since she was still wearing her badge and was carrying a portable phone ( I assume to call the police if I continued to photograph things).

I looked at everything the Museum had to offer and was taken away by the religious section. They had some breath taking statues of Christ and Mary and stained glass crosses that were lit from the inside. It was beautiful. The church across the street and the building that the museum resided in are 2 of the oldest in the town. There are two towers left from the wall that surrounded the city that are still standing as well. But they are a little off the path and kind of hard to get to.

I met some other Viega folks from America on the way back to the hotel. I stopped at a confection store and picked up some German chocolate for Ching. Three of the folks from logistics and Quality came walking in. We talked for a little while. It was nice to speak to people that spoke English. I had told them about the things I had learned about food and what not. They had already run into the receipt problem and were a little concerned. i advised them to just keep track of the stuff they spend and talk it over with there supervisors.

Tomorrow I get a tour of one of the manufacturing facilities. It should be an adventure. We will see if I get to take pictures there. Germans seem to be very against photographs for some reason. I got stairs from people every time I was taking a picture. I don’t understand what is so wrong with a few photos. Its not like the camera steels your soul. Maybe tomorrow when i blog I will have some cool things to share.

I will have my wife post a link to all of the pictures that i have taken on my journey. till next time.

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Germany Day……I dont know.

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Brian under Travel.

Today was my weekend. It was pretty good too. Nice and relaxing and full of wonders. I woke up at about 7 in the morning. Laid in bed for a bit then decided to go to breakfast. I didn’t even get out of my PJ’s I just walked down stairs and got food. Before any of you that know me start to freak out and so those of you that don’t know me know what I am talking about, Yes, I was actually wearing PJ’s and no I did not go down in the nude. Normally I wear nothing to bed. I got my usual, OJ and 2 bananas, I opted to skip the eggs this morning. I just wasn’t feeling it. I went back up stairs and ate my banana (still have one for later) and decided to play online for a bit. I chatted with the wife as she was getting ready for bed and finally when she was too tired to chat any more I told her good night and signed off.

Around 11 am I decided I needed to go out and see the town. I was really wanting to see these caves that the town is know for. I looked at the map to see where they were then I went ahead and took off. It was a not so short (but not very long) walk to the caves from my hotel. After looking at the spectacular view over the town I bought a ticket and waited for the tour. I was given a sheet of the tour speech translated in English because the tour is only done in German in the winter time. During the travel seasons the will actually have an English tour for the English speaking visitors. One of the very first things that I saw on the page was “Please No Photography”. I was thinking to myself “Are they freaking kidding”. You are in these beautiful caves and they don’t want anyone to take pictures. I figured I would play the whole language card if I got caught. It works in America why not here in Germany.

We all lined up then headed down this very long tunnel. At the bottom you could see all the wonders of the caves open up. Here I got the speech that i had just read but in German, and with more authority. From the tone of the tour guide, they really meant “No Photography”. I just knew that this would not work. I have friends and family that know that I am going to go to these caves and they are expecting pictures of my adventure. Being a Brubaker, we really don’t like to follow instructions any way and we have mastered the art of devious behavior. So I did what any good Brubaker would have done. I palmed my camera and snuck every photo that I could.

I had started out at the beginning of the line and quickly realized that this was not going to work. I decided that the first opportunity I had to linger I would and wouldn’t you know it. Right after the first section I found a spot to stay behind and stare at the rocks. From this point on I took every opportunity to take pictures. I had turned the flash off and muted the sound so that it was not obvious that i was taking a picture. I used the red light that came off of the camera as my sight guide and felt the whir of the motors that auto focused to gauge if the image was in focus or not. If my wife had been there then I would have run interference and watched out while she stole as many shots as she could. Or we would have acted like we were not together and she really could have pulled the language card. Since she speaks another language other than English, I doubt they have a translation in Tagalog, lol. All-in-all I got some decent pictures being sneaky.

After that i went to the local store (which is nothing like what we have here. In Germany they have individual shops for everything) and picked up some chocolate for the Grandparents. I want to get something for Ching but I don’t know what to get. Chocolate seems kind of cheesy and clothes are actually expensive over here. The US dollar is so bad that it actually cost more for crap here than it does in the states. After shopping I ran the stuff I got back to the Hotel and decided that it was time for some grub.

The other day one of the CRM developers showed me a Hamburger place near my hotel. I decided that it was time to try that out and see if the burgers here matched up to the ones at home. Luckily the waitress spoke enough English to get me seated and get my order. The burger came out and looked so yummy. After a week of eating things that did not look that good or things that I just could not eat at all, this burger was like a slice of heaven on a plate. I did have to defunk the burger because Germans like to put sauces on everything. This burger had some kind of celery and onion mayo on the bottom. It wasn’t bad and a little refreshing but I just didn’t feel like being that adventurous. I slathered it in Mayo and Ketchup and dug in. It was a frozen patty that was not too bad, it came with country fries and I got a coke. It was $8.40 Euro which is around 10 buck us. So it was a little on the pricey side for a burger. But it was pretty good and I am defiantly going to go back there again.

On the food front I also found a place that makes really good fried chicken. Its not the traditional fried chicken like you get in the states but its pretty freaking good and cheaper than the burger. For $4.50 Euros I get a half of a chicken and fries. I have eaten there twice now and will probably eat there a few more times. The only draw back to the whole thing is that this place does not give receipts for anything. I have had a hell pf a time getting receipts out of people. I even learned the word for receipt and it still does not work. Several of the places that I have visited don’t even have machines that print receipts, and when I ask for one they look at me real strange then tell me no or that they don’t print receipts. My co-workers told me that it was pretty common for a town this size to not print receipts out for anything. I have just been keeping track of everything and hoping that I can get credit for it when i get home.

I think today was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I am going to go visit a museum that is across the street. It is a museum that covers the history of Attendorn. I was told that it was very cool and had some great information about the town and its surroundings.

Till next time.

(P.S. I will have the wife post a link to the pictures i took later.)

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April’s Premiere Designs Charm Bracelet

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Ching under Projects.

April actually gave me an idea and inspiration for my second necklace project. When I was hanging out at their house last night, I had mentioned how much I liked charm necklaces and bracelets. I like the the novelty of them and how dangly they are.

Anyway, she brings out this charm bracelet with photo frame charms. She said she couldn’t wear it because it kept getting in the way so she was giving it to me. I felt bad because it had all of these photos of her family so I came up with the idea of turning the charm bracelet into a necklace for her. She said she wouldn’t mind wearing it as a necklace. I really hope she likes it.