Blogging from Bonn.

Well,  the traffic and car parking is just as bad as I remembered from the last few times we’ve been here.  It got to the point that if Travelling Companion had to come to this office when we lived in Delden (The Netherlands,  just in case there’s a memory lapse there) I would drive her down in the morning,  and pick her up later that day.  It’s only about a two hour drive,  so no big deal. 

I think my feet stink.

Oh wait.  It's just that damned cheese!
 For as long as I can remember,  Travelling Companion has had this thing about this particularity very smelly and hard mozzarella cheese that you grate up and put on pasta.  Seems that no matter how well it's wrapped up,  it tends to do a number on the fridge innards.
 Actually,  it can do a bit of a number on a person's innards too,  but thankfully I'm by myself for long stretches of time.
 I've slowly learned to like this cheese,  even though I still haven't really warmed up to the smell.
Hm.  "Cheese" "warm"  and "smell"  all in relatively close proximity.
Kind of paints a picture.



I think it reminds me of the smelly feet of one of my older brothers when I was a kid.

He liked to share.

Such a kind fellow.


.../...


That wasn't really what I was going to talk about today,  it was just one of those wacky thoughts that went through my pea brain.
 I'm sure you wanted to learn all about it.


I actually had more on my mind yesterday,  but it was one of those 4:30 mornings,  and it must be some sort of "old man"  thing,  but once I'm up in the morning,  I can lie down and close my eyes,  but I can't seem to go back to sleep.   It's probably the couple cups of coffee I've had to drink to actually wake up in the first place.
Hence,  I was feeling kind of pooched for most of the day.   That's my excuse anyway.


 The reason for the "Bonn day two" label,  is that that is where Travelling Companion is today.   I do the airport runs and had to get her to the mess they call an airport here for a 7:00 a.m. flight.   Boarding time was something like 6:20.    We made it OK,  in spite of the usual very poorly laid out drop off area for departing passengers.  They've put one of the terminals on the opposite side of the drop off route,  which means that ever Tom Dick and Hans who decides to cross with his luggage has the right of way.
Very trying.

She called much later in the day to tell me among other things that they had to de-ice the plane before take off!   What the hell??  I know I had the winter tires put on the car,  but please!
The little display in the car was showing something like +3 so I guess that's too close to the danger zone.

I mistakenly thought her big presentation was yesterday afternoon,  but it was some other type of pow-wow and she was asked to do an impromptu presentation for one of the groups.  Not sure what that was all about,  but she's done that kind of thing for so many years that it's not much of a challenge.   I think the session today for the big financial cheese is the last round for this particular fall activity.  (the "Profit Plan")   At least that's my hope.   (just trying to keep with the cheese theme here)

 Now,  speaking of cheese.

(you're permitted to roll your eyes at this point)

 We took a jaunt down to Heldenplatz on Tuesday afternoon,  since somebody has been wanting to see a tank ever since we first moved to Europe.  
She also didn't want me to put her picture on the blog.  That presents a bit of a quandry,  but hey,  I dealt with it as best I know how. 
You would think that I would be the one wanting to see such a thing.  I couldn't care less.  Besides,  this one was somewhat of a let down.

Not much of a tank.

What the hell are they going to shoot with that puny little thing?
 In all fairness,  I did see a write up in the paper where they had a photo of some other vehicle that had a much larger barrel on the front,  but it looked like it was way over on the other side,  and there were just too many displays of silliness and people in the way for us to ever have thought about going too far into the exhibit.
This is an annual thing on the Austrian Independence Day,  which celebrates the founding of the modern day Austrian Constitution,  as well as the day on which the last of the Allies left on October 26th,  1955.
At least that's what they like to say.
We're not all about history lessons here,  so you can do your own research.

 I think however,  what we really thought we were going to see was something like this....

That's what I'm talking about!

No doubt there was something like that there,  but if you saw the crowd....oh my.



That's about all I have for today. 

Travelling Companion doesn't come in tonight until something like 9:40,   which will give me time to attend a little meeting at the Cafe downstairs between the tenants of the building and the a representative from the building owners.  Should be fun.

Let's hope it doesn't turn into a lynch mob,  although personally I have no qualms about "shooting the messenger",  since that quite often sends the strongest message. 
Pretty sure I won't have to say much however,  since just about everyone I meet along the way has some gripe or other about the way the place is kept. 
Pitifully.

I'll be sure and report back on my findings.   I'm sure you care.





.

A woodworker's dream

Got jolted out of bed by the six a.m. wake up call on Friday morning, had a cup of coffee at the restaurant in the lower level of the hotel and set off for Moeller.
After dropping off Gabe and one passenger, I was off to pursue my mission for the day.
You see, a few months back, I decided to look into the exact location of a company that makes a particular wooden hand plane (amoung other things) called E.C. Emmerich.
I currently own a couple examples of these really fabulous hand planes, one of which I bought from Lee Valley Tools, while the other one was a gift from my sister that she purchased from Garrett-Wade.
Suffice to say, I'm certainly willing and interested in adding to the collection, even though I wasn't all that sure that the "factory" would also have a retail site.
Just the same, I left Bonn for the 50 or so km trip up to Remsheid.
Got there probably around nine or so....raining like crazy the whole time.
Stupid GPS couldn't actually find the address, and the nearest I could come was a Post Code, so I asked a postal employee where the street was, and did manage to get a little closer, but ended up getting directions from a customer at a gas station who looked to be right around my age.

In other words, an older gentleman.

It was still a few kilometers away, but he gave good directions....

...and found it with no trouble.

Now, the reason I say "factory", is because there's really not that much to the place. On the left is the original house in which Herr Emmerich started making hand planes 150 years ago.


That's Hans-Jörg Emmerich there on the right. He's the fifth generation of Emmerich's, and the current owner.
Let me just say....a very nice fellow who, even though he didn't know me from a hole in the wall, gave me the complete tour, which he suggested after first inviting me in to his office.
(I mean, I was prepared to be on my way and really didn't have the gall to ask to be shown around.)


If you look up above his head, there's a picture of his Dad, who is now gone.
Oh, and I met his Mom, although I didn't get a pic of her. She had brought in the mail, and we struck up a brief conversation.
I was left to sit in his office for a few minutes in awe of the tools that were out on display...




You don't have to be a woodworker to appreciate the beauty of these things.


I can't quite make out the inscription on this trophy, but it looks like a commemoration of their 150 years in business.



Here we are in the main area of production. Hans is holding a blank from which the "gent's plane" (I think) is made.


Cool huh?

The soles of these things are made of lignum vitae, which is the hardest wood you can find. They have stacks of it.
This was actually up in the drying room....




They also stack the blanks of pearwood, rosewood ("very expensive" sez Hans...."no sh*t", sez I )


That's the dark stuff in the middle there.


He also took me up to the aforementioned drying room, which is not a true kiln in the "let's get this stuff dry as quickly as possible" sense, but just felt comfortable. They leave this stuff in there for as long as it takes.
Often over a year.
Which explains why these wooden products never crack or check....

Pretty sure he said the lighter stuff was ash, which they use for a mallet that they make. Not all that exotic I realise....but pretty neat just the same.


In hindsight perhaps I should have taken more pictures of the machinery, but then there would no longer be a mystery about these tools anymore, now would there? Plus, now that I think on it, I'm sure there are some proprietary reasons for not being too intrusive.

All in all, not a very large operation, with only a couple office staff, his wife was sorting out a couple issues in shipping, and I only saw one other employee the whole time I was there.

So I left over an hour later a very happy fellow, complete with a new catalogue (which you can see online anyway, but still) along with the name of a supplier up in Nordhorn, just inside the German border, which is only about a twenty minute drive from here in Delden.

My heart rate did get back to normal after a little while.

The rest of the day was pretty much a let down by comparison.
The temperature dropped substantially, and we did get a few snow squalls...

yuck...
I tried to capture the sense of dread that I tend to get when the snow comes down in big gobs like that....but with mixed results.

Went off to fetch Gabe at around five I guess it was, to be met by complete gridlock. Since the cab hadn't arrived yet to take some folks to the airport, I was pressed into service. Hey, I don't mind except that stupid GPS took me back through Bonn to avoid some aparent traffic problem.

Honestly!

Of course I don't know the area well enough to second guess the wretched thing, so we didn't make it there until after the cab got there. That's the same cab that had been stuck in traffic earlier.
In the car ride everyone had called and made alternate flight arangements, so they were all able to get back to the UK with little problem.
I think there was a bit of a learning experience involved there, and the "friday afternoon" program might be taken into consideration for future visits to Bonn, or certainly any time there are flights involved.

Next day.....Köln.