The End is Near

Well, some of you have heard... others haven't... I have accepted a job in Norman, OK at the Storm Prediction Center. The job starts April 6th so it is cutting my time here in Germany by a month and a half. With that being said, I won't be having any time to travel since I now have to fit 2 and a half months of work into one, while at the same time preparing for the move. I also have to focus on work a lot more and therefore probably won't be having any fun experiences to write about. I don't know how often I can update this thing then, so there's no point in promising updates when there might not be anymore. So, this will probably be my last entry. Thanks for reading!

I Have a Bike!

Well yesterday was an interesting day... Went about my morning routine and got out to the train station by 9am to wait for one of the every 7 minute regularly running trams to Darmstadt. The people standing there with me were familiar, I have seen them before, but never for so long. We stood there looking up and down the tracks waiting for a train to come. 30 minutes... no tram, either direction. People started giving up and eventually so did I. Unfortunately where I live is about 10 km away from work, and I don't have a car and there are no taxis nearby. So... I had to walk. Ironically my backpack weighed about 25 pounds with all my excercise gear, in addition to my typical heavy latop equipment. So 10 km walk with a 25 pound pack to get to work... that's dedication.

A little over an hour later I arrive to work, late of course, wondering what happened. I went around asking and it turns out that the public transportation workers decided early this morning to go on a "warning strike" to make everyone see what it is like without them. I'm not sure if they were demanding anything, but I think it was more of a whiney "we're important" message. Shortly after I set up my equipment in my office and got to my emails, the fire alarm in the building goes off... a side effect of kitchen excitement I'm sure. Once outside I met up with one of my coworkers who had offered me a bike a while back and I told him I should probably take up on his offer since I didn't really feel like walking an hour home.

The bike is a ittle old and rusty, but it works... kinda. The gear cable is broken and it permenantly stuck in 3rd gear, but we tried to rig it up with a paper clip to keep it stuck in 2nd instead...


The trip home was an adventure... I haven't ridden a bike in YEARS, and I especially hadn't ridden one in Europe ever. Luckily the trail back to Griesheim is fairly flat and uneventful. The bike goes pretty good, squeaks a little, but once I hit my first hill I think the gear cable slipped a little and put it back in 3rd, which almost killed me. I made it back eventually... cut the travel time in half and got a good workout... if only I had 1st gear... hopefully I won't ever have to do that again.

Let the Fasting Begin

Well here I am... sorry it has been a while but I haven't had internet at home for some time (big surprise!) Also, my life hasn't been that exciting so there hasn't been much to write about. Spent the end of last week basically in meetings and collaborating and such... so much fun. Right now I am writing this in the lobby at work as my office is undergoing some "rennovation"... they like to do this during people's work time, especially mine because I'm just a visiting scientist and it's not like I have anything to do. But anyways, I am back and it's Karneval time!!!

That's right, Germany celebrates this weekend too, much like we do in the US with Mardi Gras, but with more 18th century flair. Yesterday was the culmination of the event with "Rosenmontag", known in English as "running Monday." It is a national holiday so I got the day off from work (with no internet mind you) and basically spent the day watching the parades on TV. The whole event was a mystery to me until someone shared with me the Wikipedia explanation of it here. Turns out the event is based on people wearing "fancy costumes" and drinking heavily... typical of most German celebrations. The whole theme behind it is basically to make fun of political events of the past year with some very outspoken (and sometimes very graphic) floats. I would share some pictures, but I don't want to get yelled at by those who took them (or didn't take them but are using them on their blogs anyways)... so if you want to see some examples, just type in "Rosenmontag floats" into Google images.

Being as I have been to Mardi Gras I wasn't terribly impressed by it all, but it does look like quite the event.

Buffalo Wings

That's right... today they had buffalo wings for lunch, so I decided that I would forgo the guarantee of satisfaction with a 'safe' meal for the experience simply so that I could write about it to all of you...

In the pan under the heat lamp they looked pretty good... just the right color red with some chives and onions and peppers mixed in to suggest that they would be not too spicy, but still have enough flavor and kick to satisfy. He gave me six and then asked me if I wanted sauce with it (in German of course) and I said yes... thinking he would pour more hot sauce on them, but he didn't. Instead I got the same sauce that they used for the pork cordon bleu yesterday... apparently they had some left over and though it would work well with hot wings.

I paid and went to the table and sat down with everyone, with a big grin on my face. I immediately notified them of my intentions to post this on my blog... after all, that is the only reason I was risking my only real meal of the day on buffalo wings in Germany. I wasn't the only person that got them at the table, but I was the only one eating them the correct way... with your hands. Everyone else were using forks and knives to pry the meat off the bones... looked like a lot of work. So I picked up my first piece... got a few funny looks, and went to town...

Surprisingly, they weren't horrible. Good level of spiciness, but not enough flavor... they tasted kind of like boiled chicken with a little salt and paprika on them... which is probably what they were. I managed to finish all six, with no ill effects. I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised for once, but I'm not saying I will ever get them again... unless I have no choice.

My First Snow!

Finally! My first real snow in Germany. Granted, when I first got here back in January there was a good amount of snow on the ground, but that had happened before I got there. A few times in the past month and a half it has teased me, but never had any substance. Last night I went to bed to clear skies, a bit cold, but no snow. I woke up this morning and... surprise! 3 inches. So I took the long way through the forest to work and took some pictures... enjoy!

German Cuisine: Roulade

Well we all know already that German culinary skills are somewhat lacking. You don't often hear someone tell their significant other, "Hey, let's get German tonight." Today I would like to introduce you to one of my least favorite dishes in the German arsenal... Roulade.

Roulade, or also known as "Rouladen" in German, is a dish made up of 5 basic parts... thinly sliced beef, bacon, mustard sauce and a pickle. You take the beef slices and cover them in mustard and lay the pieces of bacon on top. At this point you're thinking... oh that might not be too bad, but wait... To top off the whole shebang you take a intact pickle and roll the meat/mustard around it and put a stick through it to hold it all together as such...

Once it is cooked, top it off with some sort of dark red sauce and pair it up with some boiled potatoes and cabbage... bon apetit!

The thing that makes it horrible is the soft, mushy pickle in the middle that has been thoughly milked of its juices into the meat, which is a flavor combination I had never thought any sane person would have ever thought up. Sometimes you can also use turkey or even fish (as is for today's lunch menu at work) to do this! I don't know how this ever happened, but for some reason this is a very popular dish... especially for at home "cook for your date" events... thoroughly confused.

New "Weather Cam"

Well I got bored and decided that whenever I am at work I will take a picture of what the weather is like and post it on the blog (to your right) for anyone who cares. It may also be updated on the weekend from my apartment if I remember. Enjoy!

New post tomorrow!

"Quinten" - The Great 2009 Wind Storm of Destruction and Carnage

Well recently I discovered that the German Wetterdienst (Weather Service) names every single high and low pressure system that comes their way, much like we name our hurricanes. I guess the Germans felt left out since they don't ever get any hurricanes so they had to be special. They are the only weather service in the world to do this... they say it makes the weather more personal for the general public... frankly I would find it a pain because I would run out of names very quickly... but in 2002 they created the "adopt a vortex" program where, for a fee of course, you can add your own suggestion for a name to their database. You can find out more about the history of it here and check out the current system names here.

Anyways, enough on the background... yesterday vortex "Quinten" came ripping through central Europe, closing the Paris airport and causing mass panic. Frankly "Quinten" was not an intimidating enough name for me so I paid no attention. At the beginning of my work day however the wind was slamming into my side of the building making all kinds of funny banging sounds and what not, so I put in my headphones and paid no attention. A little later I heard this loud crash... soon after a man with extremely yellow teeth (it looked like he had corn for teeth) came in and asked if I noticed one of the antennas fall off... apparently that's now part of my job description. I had no idea there were even antennas on the roof right above me until I went out and took a look:

Turns out there used to be 4 up there... not anymore. Well being as I am on the 4th floor, which is technically the 5th floor since there is a "Gallery" floor, the antenna took a dive off the edge and fell down to the brick walkway next to lake Africa (which has now completely thawed, so no more treks across it anymore) and was completely destroyed:

Gunther the fake plastic bird saw the whole thing go down but told no one... I am very disappointed in him. I mentioned it to co-workers at lunch and apparently it became a big fiasco because shortly after lunch was over and I was settling back into my "work" mode 5 people came in wanting to see the carnage. By then the maintenance people had cleaned the crime scene up and there was no excitement to be had... but apparently this was big news in the office yesterday.

German Hairstyles: The "Gullet"

The "Gullet", as I have so fondly named it, can best be described as the "German Mullet". A hairstyle exclusively worn by teenage punks and guys who touch themselves in the weight room, it embodies the individual's lifestyle of 'business on the side, party all over'. It can only be theorized that the Gullet's popularity originated from soccer players in the mid-90's and has since flourished among those whose aim is to win over the opposite sex with their extreme masculinity.

Satellite Launch

Every so often a new weather satellite gets launched. Most people don't realize this and only ever hear about it when something goes wrong. Luckily, most of the time things go right, which saves us taxpayers millions to billions of dollars from having to build another one. One nice thing about working where I do is that whenever a new satellite goes up with some instrument on it designed, built or run by the organization we get to watch the launch live.

Two days ago the NOAA-N Prime (NOAA-19) satellite was supposed to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Unfortunately there was a problem with the launch vehicle and it had to be delayed until today... good thing too because I totally forgot about it on Wednesday. So I went down right before launch to check it out. Being as this was my second launch I wasn't as excited as before. Last time there was a camera on the actual spacecraft that showed us the actual separation and extension of the solar panels out in space... this time we only got a stupid artist's rendition.


The launch went off without a hitch right before lunch. So while we waited for the satellite to get to it's proper position, which took about an hour or so, we went to lunch and then came back to make sure we didn't miss out on the champagne (as is the tradition). Long story short, all went well and now we have successfully added to the clutter out there orbiting our planet... now the rest of the work day is ruined because everyone is tipsy and I have a headache.

"Everyone, say hello to Germany... Germany, say hello to everyone."

That's right everyone, it's winter in Germany! Where'd the sun go? It'll come back in a few 5 or 6 months.

The Frankfurt 'Bier Bike'

OK... so while visiting in Frankfurt a while back we heard this big commotion and saw this giant bike with about 13 people pedaling it down the road. At first I thought it was just some stupid tour thing, but no... it is something much grander. Turns out that in the center of this giant bike is a bar with a couple kegs of beer on tap. I say we get a big group and sign up.

More Fun Advertisements

Here's another installment of blatant German advertising... The message is good, but I think they went a little too far on this one... see for yourself:

A Weekend at Home...

Well I suppose this is the first real post I've made in a while that has anything to do with what is going on in my life right now... I've been adjusting to life back in Darmstadt for the past 2 and a half weeks just trying to get back into the swing of things. I haven't really managed to get out and sight see or anything yet, but maybe if I get bored enough this week I might plan a trip somewhere. This weekend I basically spent the whole time in my apartment just watching TV and getting some serious sleep. Although, there were a few moments of pure excitement... I suppose...

I came home Friday after work and working out at about 5:30pm (work gets off at 4:30pm on Fridays in Germany in case you were wondering). The cleaning lady usually cleans my room on Fridays so I expected to come home to a nice sterile smelling apartment with plenty of fresh towels. Well, when I got there I found all of my stuff left in the sink or scattered on the floor and nothing was cleaned... and no towels. Apparently she hadn't started cleaning yet but it was 5:30pm and I just got home from work and wanted to make some dinner. So I put all my stuff back where it was supposed to be and she showed up 30 minutes later and was (amazingly) surprised that I was there... it's 6pm on a Friday, where else would I be? So she said she would come by the next day, I asked what time but she couldn't tell me.

Saturday I woke up around noon and got dressed to go workout since I figured when she came I would just go to the gym and let her do her thing... Well I waited around until 6pm and said screw it, took a shower and made some dinner (traditional German food too, I'm very proud of myself), started some laundry and set in for the night... she shows up at 8pm. Completely surprised, I told her wait until next Friday because at this point the gym is closed... I'm not ready for it anyways, so I am not going to wander around the town for an hour in the dark... besides I still had laundry to do. I remain thoroughly confused about the whole situation.

EUMETSAT Tour

Well I felt like it was about time that I give you all a tour of my workplace. All of these photos except the last one were taken by one of my friends from Alabama when he was visiting for a conference. Normally the security guards severely punish those who use cameras on the premises, but since it was during a conference I suppose they let it slide... I, however, have not wanted to test their mettle so I left my camera in my bag most of the time.


We start on the outside... The building was originally designed to look like one of their geostationary satellites... basically a big garbage can. Also outside of the building there are 3 full size replicas of a few of the satellites run by the organization, as well as a pond that is shaped like Africa (which froze over recently and was used as a shortcut for some people who I may or may not know... much to the chagrin of the safety conscious staff).


The interior is hollow since it is required by law for every office to have a window... pretty, but somewhat of a waste of space if you ask me. There are 5 floors, but only 4 are numbered... one is called 'G' for 'Gallery Floor'. I work on the 4th floor of course in the visiting scientist's office. The bottom floor is where the lunch room and pond full of giant koi fish is.


This last picture was taken out of my window. It is a fake blackbird meant to scare of other real birds from lounging around on the building. It's kind of creepy because it never moves and is always staring at me. To try and comfort myself with its presence I gave it a name... Gunther. Now we're friends.


That's about it... there's where I work... enjoy!

European Small Cars

One of the coolest things about Europe to most guys are the cars. In general they're faster and made with better quality than their American or Japanese counterparts. But what European cars are really known for are their size. After all, since there are so many people here, you had better fit more cars on the road somehow, so why not just make them shorter. Here are a few inspirational photographs for you big SUV lovers out there... small cars can be cool too!

My Hero!

OK... so this picture is so awesome that it warrants its very own post...

Coming Out of the Closet

Das ist eine komische Anzeige aus den Niederlanden... just watch.

Ode to a German Waschmaschine

Here's to you German Waschmaschine... oh how we Auslanders envy your superior environmentally friendly-ness. We don't mind if it takes 2 and half hours to make our clothes wet and not remove any stains... it's the trees and little furry animals of the forest that are our first priority.

But please German Waschmaschine, don't lock my clothes in soapy water inside your magnificent frontloaded belly when you feel like shutting down.

Also, dearest German Waschmaschine, would it be possible to include a written path to follow, such that I may learn to navigate your 12 glorious cycles? With words like 'Pflegeleicht' and 'Schleudern' and 'Wishchwaesche' you make my head go through a spin cycle.

Oh sweet German Waschmaschine, can you be a little less greedy? Are 3 trays for detergent really necessary to be fed? When my clothes return to me soaked in detergent because I angered you by placing detergent in the wrong tray, I feel forsaken.

Most enlightened German Waschmaschine, I feel unworthy every time you break down and I am forced to clean my laundry in my sink or my shower... do you not love me German Waschmaschine? Am I not good enough for you?

Oh German Waschmaschine, how complicated our relationship is... but whatever I do, I just can't quit you!

...inspired by actual events

The NEW Apartment Tour

Alright y'all... it's time to check out my new crib. This here apartment is located almost 10 km outside of Darmstadt, which mean it's about a 45 minute commute to work everyday since I have to walk about half of it. It's in a very quite area kind of tucked away back in a little 'forest'. Here is the Google Maps link to it so you can check out the satellite view yourself... check it out. The building is 2 stories and recently renovated. There is a 'laundry room' in the basement with a washer and dryer... those will be discussed in an upcoming post entitled "Ode to a German Waschmaschine". I have my own mail box, which is currently being tested for ability to receive US mail (I hope). I live on the top floor but there is an elevator (awesome), so no more climbing up 4 stories like I had to in my old place.


(Video tour at the bottom of the post) The apartment is made of two large rooms and a bathroom... all separated by doors, so no more olive green curtains. The 'kitchen' is part of the living room and includes a dishwasher and microwave, as well as the standard hotplates and mini fridge. They included pretty much a full set of dishes, cookware and utensils... so I have everything I need. The bedroom has two separate beds and each bed has a unique style... one is a super soft spring mattress while the other is a firm memory foam mattress... so whatever mood I'm in I have a bed for the occasion. The only problem is that the beds cannot be pushed together, so I am stuck sleeping on what feels like a rather narrow twin sized mattress. Satellite TV (consisting of 34 German stations... no English) and Internet is free, but I have to pay for 'cleaning'. I am responsible for providing and cleaning my own towels, as well as cleaning the dishes. I also have to keep the kitchen area and bathroom clean as well. I also have to dispose of my own garbage. Also, the bedsheets only get changed once every 2 weeks... so I'm wondering... what am I paying them to do? It sounds like the only thing they do is vacuum. Shoot, give me my money back and I'll vacuum my own place.


Luckily that is my only complaint with the place, so I am very fortunate compared to the old place, which cost 50 euro more than what I am paying now. Also, it seems like the manager actually cares about her property, so that is a big plus in case anything breaks. I have already set off the smoke alarm while cooking, so every time I cook I unplug the battery now. Luckily it was just to localized room smoke alarm and didn't set off the entire building... which would have been incredibly embarrassing since it was only 2 days into my stay. Nothing like making everyone evacuate in the freezing cold to introduce myself.

I have already met one person there... a guy from England whom I met while doing laundry. Supposedly there are some people from California there too, so I guess I'll have to make my obnoxious American-ness known and maybe they will seek me out.

Return to Germany 2009

Well, it's been a while... Went home to Oregon for 3 weeks for the holidays. For the most part it was a fun time, except for the 18 inches of snow and ice that came in the span of 2 days (see photo). I had tickets to the Jets/Seahawks game up in Seattle right after the storm hit. Luckily I have a truck with 4WD so we managed to make it up there, but very slowly since the road was just a sheet of ice. A trip that normally takes 3 hours took us 6 and a half. We decided to go up early to make sure we got the on time and crashed at my sister's for the night. The game was great... Got to see Brett Favre and also Mike Holmgren's last home game before he retired. They did a big tribute to him at the end which was neat. What was really fun was that the stadium was covered in snow, so everyone was throwing snowballs everywhere. Security tried to kick people out, but that just encouraged people to do it more. At the end of the game some of the Jets players were getting sick of it all and decided to retaliate at the fans... check it out.

I had a good Christmas... Got some gift certificates for some new clothing so went on a shopping spree. The cashier lady was surprised by how much stuff I had, but I told her that I had to stock up on good fashion before I headed back to the land of neon jumpsuits and mullets. Once Christmas was over my mom and I made a surprise visit to Madison to visit the family. We though it would be smart to leave on the day after Christmas during all the crappy weather (sarcasm). We made it to Minnesota alright, but got stuck there for a good 7 hours before they loaded us on buses and shipped us down to Madison. The trip took about 6 hours, so we didn't get in until almost 3am. We were supposed ot get in at 7pm the day before so we had to get a taxi to a hotel for the the night. Had a good time meeting up with the family, especially since I haven't been there for like 5 years. The trip back to Oregon wasn't much better. In Madison we got stuck for 5 hours for some 'maintenance' issue, so we missed our connection to Portland. We got on the next one, but we had to wait 2 hours in Minnesota before it arrived... and of course it arrived late. Let's just say I spent a good amount of time that day in a bar watching football.

The flight back to Germany was alright. They moved my seat without asking me but put me in an exit row so I had tons of leg room. The only problem was that it was right next to the bathrooms so everyone congregated around us, which got a little annoying. Also, there was a family in the middle row with 3 young children who kept running around and crying and pooping themselves. At one point one of the youngest ones came over and blatantly knocked the cup of orange juice off the tray of the guy that was sitting next to me... no punishment. Kids get off too easy these days for stuff I would get smacked for.

Anyways, when I arrived in Germany we got in 45 minutes early, so they had to unload us on the tarmac onto buses to take us to the terminal. Kinda sucked, but what made it miserable was the fact that it was -20 C out (~0 F) and it was windy. I think my lungs actually froze about 10 seconds after being out there. But I managed to survive and made it to my bus to Darmstadt and then got a taxi to my new apartment. Luckily the manager spoke a little English, so with my little German we were able to figure everything out. She was really nice. She showed me around the apartment and told me how to work everything and what not, so the transition was smooth. Once I was settled I headed to work to pick up the stuff I left behind in my office. I arrived right at lunch time so I got lunch with the people I usually eat with and then I headed out. Once I deposited everything I had to make 2 trips to the grocery store (about a mile away) to get some food. Since I can only buy what I can carry I have had to make 4 trips there and back in the past 3 days, and I will probably be making another one today after my workout. Kind of obnoxious, but hopefully I will be able to cut it back to once a week after I have all the basics that I need.

Anyways, this is getting too long so I should probably cut it. Coming up... apartment tour... get excited.