tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242734022024-03-07T08:52:16.907+00:00Der Auslander<b>Ausländer: m, foreigner, <br>i.e. someone not from Here.</b>Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.comBlogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-84461719273049466222023-11-07T15:32:00.000+00:002023-11-07T15:32:57.942+00:00And Then They Learn to do Cool Night Launch Photos Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-439797292507033052017-03-20T17:54:00.000+00:002017-03-20T17:54:59.172+00:00Have We Reached Peak Tattoo?
OK, it wasn't exactly the first thing I thought about when I saw this in the UK Daily Mail earlier today ... the first thing I thought was, "Gee, Jorgie Porter looks much more realistic here than she does on TV." Maybe it is good airbrushing, but her makeup is more natural here than on TV; when I see her on telly I think she looks like a china-doll with a little too much makeup.
Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-25392514028306943212016-12-19T19:27:00.002+00:002016-12-19T19:27:30.144+00:00Failure ...
A long time ago I posted about how much I hated the job that I had at the time, which funny enough was three and a half weeks into that job. I gave it a few more months and then pulled the rip-cord and landed into a much better job (been doing it nearly ten years later). I like it so much that I haven't even been tempted to look for a new job, which is usually an early-warning sign Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-29199973153935045762016-11-24T22:50:00.000+00:002016-11-24T23:00:26.321+00:00Lennon is Spinning in His Grave ...
Everyone knows the famous shot of Abbey Road, but Beatles fans more in the know will recognise the exterior of what used to be the London HQ of Apple Records ... except that it now appears to be a part of the Abercrombie Fitch family.
I've come late to party, as the controversy is already several years old, but then again, I haven't really wandered this section of London for roughly the same Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-35088237917233704592016-04-20T01:28:00.000+01:002016-04-20T01:28:58.942+01:00Ten Years GoneWow, I remember writing a blog way back in the past, but I didn't realise until now that it all started nearly ten years ago.
Would you believe that that state of the art flight simulator computer system I built way back then choked when I recently tried to install Windows 7 on it? So I had to turn it into a Linux box.
So way back then I went looking for a job, and six months later I found Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-39465146291151944642010-05-28T05:03:00.005+01:002010-05-28T05:13:16.194+01:00Old Rocket Scientists Don't DieThey Go to Florida to Watch Rocket LaunchesThis was a night launch of a Delta-IV with the next generation of GPS satellites. Needless to say, I set the shutter a bit too long, so it looks like day, but if you look closely you will see the exhaust plume in the middle of that bright spot in the sky.We also saw the landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis the day before, but I had left my telephoto lens in Germany, so all I have to show for it Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-86657216653491401342010-04-05T22:41:00.002+01:002010-04-05T22:43:34.825+01:00Heidelberg & The Neckar ValleyIn case you ever wondered what the Schloss looked like from above.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-62020965484862440472009-10-05T22:07:00.005+01:002009-10-05T22:38:47.715+01:00PeenemundeMike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-81744043903718523172009-09-27T23:54:00.002+01:002009-09-28T00:00:24.074+01:00Surreal LifeSometimes the venues are more interesting than the meetings themselves. Recently it was the view. Often it is the sandwiches, which in London are far better than those I get in Germany. I know, hard life.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-54044515974302295272009-07-20T22:45:00.005+01:002009-07-20T23:54:40.355+01:00Magnificent DesolationSource: NASAThe Partnerin and I were watching one of the many tribute segments on the news marking the 40th Anniversary of the first lunar landing, and when Neil Armstrong uttered his famous little speech, she asked, "Did he write that himself?""Well," I replied, " I've heard that it was written by a team, and that he botched the delivery by leaving out 'a', as in 'one small step for a man ...' Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-13506025526523542742009-07-06T23:04:00.002+01:002009-07-06T23:07:41.101+01:00Still Here ... Still DeadJim Morrison's grave at Père Lachaise. I had heard a couple years ago that they were going to kick him out due to all of his unruly visitors (wanna find the grave? just look for the crowd), but he is still there, and still dead.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-15040993094246127662009-07-06T22:56:00.003+01:002009-07-06T23:04:26.754+01:00EnnuiMost Interesting Thing I Saw at the 2009 Paris Air ShowThe most interesting thing I saw at this year's Paris Air Show was the lighted faucet in my hotel room. To be fair to the airshow, it was somewhat rainy the two days I was there, but nonetheless it just wasn't all that jazzing. OMG ... cut to Maverick and Goose singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-87693177766312594602009-03-21T22:39:00.005+00:002009-03-21T22:46:01.095+00:00SyltWe popped up to Sylt (on the North Sea coast, just south of the border with Denmark) last week to visit friends. As usual for Germany pretty much any time between October and April, the weather was crappy, so all we saw most of the way was cloud tops. There were a few layers of clouds, but we were quickly through them on the way down, so I didn't really have to work very hard.It was cold, and Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-294113931202389932009-03-21T22:36:00.002+00:002009-03-21T22:39:18.716+00:00Nature with StructureThings only Germans and Japanese Could LoveThe picture says it all.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-65402677102333040352009-03-21T22:25:00.003+00:002009-03-21T22:34:46.733+00:00NachosMy family shrieks in horror when they hear the Partnerin tell them about things like this ... her family too. They wonder what I have done to their little girl.Hey, I tried to show her how to do them properly, with freshly shredded cheddar and jack cheese, but she likes the stuff from the jar. Oh well. Come to think of it, I have never found good mexican food in Germany.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-61695465116370808602009-02-23T23:00:00.003+00:002009-02-23T23:03:20.780+00:00Podcast OverloadIt starts with one or two, then it cascades into many, some lasting for minutes, others for hours. I started watching/listening to podcasts ages ago (Remember the Jenni Show?), but with an hour commute to fill each day, they took on a larger role in my life. Now I have too many podcasts to listen to and an insane need to listen to them, which means I have been going to the gym for two-hours on Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-25512899583995967892009-02-21T23:20:00.003+00:002009-02-21T23:27:42.619+00:00A Night With Der AuslanderThis tag cloud is from a post made back before I took my current job. Sigh ... more and more people dreading the pink slip every day, and I kind of miss being un-employed.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-85024466868285554702009-02-21T22:54:00.003+00:002009-02-21T23:01:03.223+00:00A Typical Day With Der AuslanderThis is a tag-cloud of one of my earlier posts. I would challenge anyone to figure out exactly what was blogged way back then from this collection, but it certainly is intruiging to see the word-salad that circulates in my brain. Hmmm. Makes on wonder.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-91550936680305487532009-02-21T10:24:00.004+00:002009-02-21T10:30:43.211+00:00Dear Deutsche TelekomSee closing comment to Deutsche Post in prior post below"Every time I think I am getting closer to having first-world technology in what used to be a technology-leading country, I am reminded where I am. I can update Twitter with my phone, but for reasons unknown to me Twitter SMS updates cannot be sent to my phone. Probably because I refused to sign up for the outrageously priced data service packages, which, by the way, do not allow for VoIP ... IfMike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-67807081132951904092009-02-19T22:43:00.010+00:002009-02-20T00:32:39.325+00:00Deutsche Post to Germany"You didn't really want to mail that, did you?"I decided to mail a birthday card to someone in the US ... As usual, the Partnerin chose a number of birthday cards the last time we were in the US so that we could have a stock of english-language cards on hand for such occasions. The problem is that American greeting cards are a bit bigger than the standard German cards .... about a centimeter or so. I counted on being charged a bit extra forMike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-40675392663273575322009-02-18T00:26:00.003+00:002009-02-18T00:38:32.825+00:00Ginger or Marianne?If you ask that question of just about any German you will meet, you will be met with a blank stare. Gilligan's Island just didn't make it here. Neither, for that matter, did Seinfeld (it was pulled off the air for, of all things, Hogan's Heros). So, what does register with Germans?Well, setting aside that legend known as David Hasselhof, there's Chuck Norris. My colleagues yesterday were Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-24384874764846694152009-02-17T22:56:00.004+00:002009-02-17T23:59:11.829+00:00Lovin' from the OvenHappy (Belated) Valentines DayOK, not as artistic as most of the cookies, cakes and other delights you've seen on the other blogs, but hey, it's not so easy to make a good-looking, heart-shaped pizza. But the Partnerin said it was de-lish, and it made her smile, so it was worth its weight in gold.Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-82229166235560794042009-02-17T22:44:00.004+00:002009-02-17T22:56:08.873+00:00Who is John Galt?I never thought I would really see the scenario of Atlas Shrugged play out in real life, yet every day another CEO begs for government help, every local government needs help, the "needy" need more help. Where is all this help ($2 trillion and counting) coming from?Rand essentially asks the question, "What if Atlas shrugged ... decided the weight of the world was too much, and simply decided to Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-65824418057408524472009-01-21T23:15:00.002+00:002009-01-21T23:20:09.344+00:00Where the Hell Are the Republicans?I know there are still one or two of them left in the Senate. Can they please reach down deep in their pockets, get a good grip on that Louisville Slugger, and strongly object to the appointment of a Treasury-Secretary-Nominee who appears to have very consciously neglected to pay taxes over several years. This is, after all, the person who will be tasked to enforce the US's tax laws.If you or IMike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24273402.post-19346357840723856022009-01-21T22:52:00.003+00:002009-01-21T23:08:04.558+00:00How Do You Feel TodayAs I walked through the door this morning, one of my German colleagues asked, "So, how do you feel today?"Me: "I'm fine, thanks. Why do you ask?"Her: "You have a new President! Isn't that good?"Me: "Yeah, sure."Her: "You don't like him?"Me: "I don't care."Her: "But he is better than Bush, isn't he?"Me: "They both have good and bad qualities."Her: "But Obama is for fairness."Me: "Not for me. Mike Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461714387879513463noreply@blogger.com2