Fun with technology.

This is more like an apology to readers, since I was unhappy with the dates on the entries that I was adding on Sunday, and managed to completely bollocks up the order. Until I fix this, you have to go to the previous week to get to Friday's side trip.
So try not to miss it, because it was a pretty good one.
The fear is that (as quite often is the case) the more I go in and mess around, the worse I make it.

Please be patient.

I'm sorry.



Here, I'll make it simple....

just click here

As it was I had to change the title of one of the entries to "Back to Cologne", since the html that I had used didn't seem to work in the links on the side of the page, so it ended up looking like "k&#246ln" instead of Köln. And since our brains aren't really equipped to instantly translate code into actual words, I had to revert to English.
See? I didn't just switch the name to English on a whim.

Got one step closer to figuring out my new cell phone, so there's a chance that I might actually be able to call Gabe's mobile at some point when I really need to. Could not for the life of me figure out how to switch it to English, and managed to lock myself out of the thing.
What's with the pin code cr*p?
Geez!!
Managed to evaporate some time on the phone trying to get through to an actual person and gave up on that, so I pedalled my arse up to the Bas Baake where I bought the thing and the guy at the counter had no problems.

I mean, of course.

Turns out the pin code was not the problem....

It's kind of like when you've been rooting around in the snow for a couple hours looking for an important little nut or bolt and your significant other comes out and within a couple seconds sez, "is this it?"

A relief, but slightly annoying just the same. And there's nobody to get annoyed at except yerself.

So I guess there was one menu that I didn't find or something, since the word I should have been looking for was "taal"...which they used instead of "spraak", both of which mean "speach".
I have a notion as to what the subtle difference is, but chances are I would have dialed in to "spraak" a whole lot quicker than "taal".

I asked him to switch everything over to English, which has helped considerably. I've at least now put in a couple important phone numbers.
Please understand, it's not like I have some aversion to using the phone in Dutch, but being so technologically challenged means I need all the help I can get.

That's all.

Since I was up at that end of town anyway, stopped into C1000 for the daily shop. Normally wouldn't venture that far in 2° weather, since the wind chill on the bike takes it down into the eye watering range.

It's refreshing, I'll give you that.

So there you have it. That in a nutshell is how I manage to fritter away my time.

Pitiful.

Hitch up the team.

Took the car on Sunday to get it washed and to refuel.
We went 735 km on one tank and it was 55.85 litres to fill up. Haven't done the math on that, but that's not too shabby.
Besides, there were a couple times when I realised I was doing 160 k.p.h. Can't be all that good for fuel economy, not that that would be a real consideration.

We did manage to get out for a brief bike ride, but the temperature was hovering around +2 and it just wasn't a good day for tooling around on two wheels.

The car wash program was pretty much a bust, since it started snowing in the afternoon, and snowed pretty much all night.


This is what we woke up to....
I just better not have to buy a snow shovel is all I'll say.
As it was there was well over two inches of snow on the car this morning. Glad I picked up a corn broom back in August. Just wanted one, didn't think I'd need it for snow removal.

Oh, and that "hitch up the team" thing......well, that's in reference to another blog....since I think we got the tail end of the snow they had in Nova Scotia (well, not really, but you get my point) but since I have neither a team of Percherons nor a set of sleds, we'll be sticking with vehicles with wheels.

Which brings me to this observation:

I used to look in awe at guys who would ride bikes in this kind of weather and think they were insane.

Turns out that's a fairly reasonable prognosis.

It's not so much the cold that's the problem, it's the snow flakes that fly into yer eyeballs that is really annoying....and quite uncomfortable.
Not only that, but I had a bit of a head wind coming home from the store this morning, and that's when I could feel the cold coming in right through the top of my ever balding head.

I have to go back out again to get to the bank for an Amex payment, but at least the sun is trying to poke through at this point.

Keep yer sticks on the ice.

Back from Bonn.

Awfully sorry that I didn't do any entries from the hotel, but there was just no way I was going to pony up the extra dough for the Internet connection. I don't recall exactly what it was, but it was too much is all I'll say. One never quite knows what to expect, since the hotel in Brussels had free Internet....for however long as you wanted..
So I'll try and break this up into a couple posts so as to not be so long winded.

Left Delden Thursday morning at around 10:30 I think it was and got to the Moeller location in Bonn at around one or so. I know it took us longer than is should have since the stupid GPS (sorry, but this is going to be the new name for this thing) took us right through Essen to avoid some supposed traffic problem. Mind you, we might not have been that much further ahead, but I know it was a useless detour, since we passed the same motorhome once again when we got back on the Autobahn. It's a weakness of mine, but I tend to notice these things, and had even said to Gabe when we passed that particular "caravan" that it looked like he hadn't completely lowered his tv antenna...so I know it was the same one.

Whatever.

Found Moeller with no problem, since they do have a bit of a presence in Bonn, even though this particular picture has little to do with them, and nobody could tell me why they had a sign on that building.

I could see this place from our hotel room, which I checked into after dropping off Gabe. Again, stupid GPS couldn't find that address either, but I managed.
We were at the Hilton, which is right on Oxfordstrasse next to the Kennedy Bridge, which goes over the Rhine...
Here's another view..
As neat as it was to be able to look out to the Rhine, it was a bit of a mixed blessing, since the room did get rather stuffy at night and there was no way around it but to open the window, which also let in a certain amount of traffic noise.
I did take a picture from the bridge looking upstream....the tour boats are idle.

Very nice room I must say, and you could indeed open the windows....

So as to make sure that I wasn't too forgetful about some details, I did write out a few things in a word document which I'll paste here....



Notes for the next entry.

Nov. 20/08

It would seem that I must have some sort of friendly face, since I was approached on the street by some students looking for particular landmarks. Looked to be some sort of class project, since they all had clipboards...there were at least a half dozen in the group.
I explained that I was from Canada and that I'd only been in Bonn a few hours, so I had no idea where to direct them.

Had a sub at Subway. I guess it was similar. It was tasty enough at least, and everything was fresh. I don't really eat all that much at Subway back home, so it's hard to compare.

I was tempted by the smell of coffee from the local McDonalds, but was able to resist that temptation. Had to take a picture though, since there always seems to be one of those places. Handy if you have to go for a McSh*t or a McP*ss, as I had to on the way in. (ok...it was a Burger King, but the concept is the same....)
In a way it's kind of like domestic animals, they don't eat where they crap either.

Just got the first call on the new phone. Good thing the little buttons are colour coded, since I can't see a blessed thing without the glasses to help.

Seems I'll be going to dinner tonight after all. Wouldn't have mattered too much, that's why I had the snack earlier. At least I won't be ravenously hungry like I usually am by supper time.
Good thing I brought along some decent clothes. The jeans and "Cutler-Hammer Canada" shirt wouldn't have cut it I don't think. Same goes for the running shoes.

......../.......

(I have to add at this point that I've just wasted a load of time just now trying to figure out why Blogger doesn't like my Word document. Never did figure it out, and had to save it as plain text, and then recopy it....
Going online didn't help either...)




Here's the McDonalds.....(they're sort of like a virus)


I find the contrast somewhat noteworthy.
(the theme of the buildings I mean)

A farewell dinner was in the works for the outgoing Director of Operations, since he's taken over the Moeller deal after Eaton acquired them. We went to the Bonner Brauhaus which at first wasn't all that easy to find, but we did manage. The brew that they serve is their own of course, which they serve in those goofy little glasses. Seems we had over fifty of them...(egad!)
(Ya gotta click on the link!)

The problem is usually one of parking, and the initial plan was to walk, but it had started to rain, so I offered to get the car. Well, there was still some walking involved, and I just ended up parking the car half way back to the hotel in an underground lot. Mind you, it was only one Euro for the whole time I was there, but I always have that nagging feeling that I'm going to completely forget where I've parked.
Haven't done it yet. Probably because I'm really vigilant.

Ended up getting back at the Hilton pretty darned close to midnight, and the wake up call was going to be for six, so it was unfortunate that neither of us really slept all that well.