Peaceful

There was a tsunami warning issued following an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

Staying up high on the mountain in Phuket in safety, glued to the tv. Just heard reports that the water has receded... We will see.

Lost in the Snow {#Project 365–Day 49}

This is a picture of my trusty Samsung smart phone. It contains pretty much all the things I need on the road. Phone numbers and addresses of family and friends, photographs, emails, the Social Network stuff. It’s always by my side from the moment I go to bed at night to the moment it wakes me up in the mornings and provides me with the first news. On a side note, in the mornings I gather news as if I was a contender in the Presidential Election.

I read Twitter, then check N24’s, The Guardian’s, the Washington Post’s, Spiegel Online’s, Stern’s and the Irish “Independent’s” apps for the latest news. (Is it any wonder I have to get up about 45 minutes before my husband?) Then I head into the kitchen to make breakfast, on the way there I turn on the TV, where I watch not one but two News magazines back to back while sipping my coffee. Luckily for my sleeping rhythm I currently don’t have a daily paper but I will again very soon. This should be interesting but I digress.

What I was trying to say is that I have come to heavily depend on my smartphone and being without it makes me feel almost naked. Not that I’d have a problem being naked – after all, I am East German :)

Where was I? Oh yes, the phone. Listen to this. Last Saturday we went to a friend’s house and as this was a spontaneous visit, the four of us decided to order Pizza. When we called the Pizza place though, they told us it would take at least an hour to have it delivered. So the four of us agreed that we might as well go and pick it up. So we did. I grabbed my phone from the table and put it into my coat pocket and we were out the door. It was freeeeeeeezing cold that night. 15°F to be exact. So the guys decide to head into the Pizza joint to pick up our dinner while the girls were to remain in the cozy car. We were sitting there for about two minutes when a car wanted to drive past us, out of a driveway but couldn’t because a gigantic pile of snow was in its way. So I got out, ran around the car and moved it so the other car could pass. It was then that I reached into my coat’s pocket and said out loud to my friend, hmm I wonder, did I leave my phone at home? Then the men got into the car and we drive home. When we settle at the table I notice that my phone isn’t there.

Naturally I am freaking out but the hubby, who at this point is beyond hungry, calms me down by saying that it probably fell out of my pocket and into the car seat. He goes to check but it isn’t there. By now I no longer care about the food. I have hot and cold flashes. This is my private phone. All my data, all my photos (okay I have backups but you don’t want a stranger finding photos of you and the hubby hugging a scared looking cat in bed – it’s a long story...) and it didn’t come for free either.

I don’t use a screensaver on my private phone because I always thought, what the heck, I have it with me all the time. Who will get their hands on it? To top it all off it seems that I am too lazy to enter a four digit pin or draw a simple pattern to unlock a screen. Serves me well. I’m in panic mode now and the hubby still sits there calmly chewing down his Pizza. When he sees how pissed I am though, he jumps up and we drive back to the Pizza joint and when we get near to where we were parked in the first place I scream for him to hit the breaks because there, in the very busy driveway, I see my phone, lying screen down in the snow. By now 90 minutes have passed and I jump out of the car and go running towards it. All the while hoping against hope that nobody drove over it and/or it did not die lying facedown in the snow in 5°F... I scoop it up and it looks intact. Not a scratch. It responds a bit slow to my touch but it seems all is good. I turn it off and keep it in my hand like a bird with a broken wing until we return to our home that night. I am too scared to turn it on so I wait till the next morning and there, it works. It WORKS. What a relief. I immediately secure my phone with a screen lock and hope that I will not ever have to go through that scare again.

Coffee table–Part II {#Project 365–Day 48}

This grainy shot is a photo of my long awaited coffee table and it doesn’t do the table any justice. However a certain someone has been bugging me to upload it and just couldn’t wait for a better shot.

The year long search for the perfect coffee table ended last night when returned from work and found the table we had ordered waiting in our home. I especially like the way the wood looks old and used and the size is just perfect.

(shot with my Samsung SG II)

If I can be bothered to get a decent shot with my Nikon, I will update the blog. I wouldn’t hold my breath though.

Who needs Valentine’s Day {#Project 365–Day 46}

when you have a husband that gives you flowers on any given day throughout the year…

We both don’t really care about Valentine’s Day because we feel that we do not need a special day to express our love (isn’t that what anniversaries are for? Mwahaha) Seriously though, we do celebrate our love with little surprises for each other throughout the year. The hubby for example, knows that I just LOVE tulips so when he came home from doing the grocery shopping today (that in itself is THE most awesome gift he can give me- doing the grocery shopping) he brought home not one but three bouquets of tulips. Two of those I bundled into one and they now decorate our coffee table.

I cannot stop staring at them. With all that snow and the icy temperatures they are a beautiful and much needed speck of color.

That yellow ball in the sky {#Project 365 - Day 43}

This weekend we had a little photo shoot with our former neighbor. As the sun was out and there was snow on the ground, we thought we might as well shoot some of the photos outside.

Sure enough the cat thought she would throw in a few moves. Here she is sulking at the big yellow ball in the sky. Drama, Baby!

Ich bin ein Berliner {#Project 365 - Day 41}

(snapped with my Samsung Galaxy SII, uploaded via Blogger)

I thought I am going to be nice to my co-workers and decided to bring a box with a variety of "Krapfen" into work from our fantastic local bakery. Needless to say that the team was pleased and it was not long before a lengthy discussion about the word "Krapfen" ensued.

The original is called a Berliner Pfannkuchen and is a jam filled, sugar coated doughnut but there are as many variations (filled with cream, custard, baileys...) as there are names for it. Since we're such an international team, I wrote about it here, the discussion was hefty but in the end we agreed to disagree and everyone is going to call it what they like as long as they are tasty and available. Nom, nom, nom.

In Pieces {#Project 365 - Day 38}

Some days I feel like I am falling into pieces but I keep on smiling.


(Snapped with my Samsung Galaxy SII, “puzzled” with Picnik, uploaded via Windows Live Writer)

Just wanted to add that today isn’t such a day. I have just been fooling around with Picnik.

Almost Siberian Temperatures {#Project 365 - Day 37}

Holy cow. Remember when I posted that photo of  that rose that grew in our backyard in the middle of January? Up until then the winter was way too mild and I was confident that that is all we were going to see this winter. Boy was I wrong.

It has been freezing the last couple of days. Took this photo of this morning's weather forecast on television with my cell phone. That's -15°F where we live and -18°F where my parents live.

On the upside, it is so cold that it's too cold for snow and we're luckily not buried under a 7 foot snow blanket as they are in Austria or Serbia. Just in case, our pantry is well stocked and just in case, I forced the hubs to buy more wood, in case of a powerloss. Besides, even if that doesn't happen, there's nothing like sitting by the fireplace when it's this cold out.

 

               (snapped with my Samsung Galaxy SII, uploaded via Blogger)

The cats are majorly confused. The sun is shining as if there's no tomorrow and so they sit there in front of the window, wanting out. However, the moment you open the door and the cold air hits their noses? They slowly retreat backwards.

It's funny to watch and a little mean because they would love to be outside. Please keep your fingers crossed that some warmer weather is headed our way soon.

Crystal Clear {#Project 365 - Day 32}

These seemingly endless chains of Swarowski crystals  are hanging above the entrance of the two storey Swarowski store in Prague, Czech Republic.

I find them fascinating. Like drops of water or looking up in the shower. Simply beautiful.

Odd {#Project 365 - Day 31}

I have had a tough day in work today and there wasn’t really any photo opportunity. That means I was sifting through my vast photo archive and thought to myself that I would share this photo with you, which I took in the ladies room in Dublin Airport’s arrival hall.

Just how this is hygienic & sterile is beyond me but it sure is quick & easy because you know – stepping off a plane looking like a million dollars now just costs € 2 and fifteen minutes of your time.

I’ve never seen a “hair styler” in a ladies room in Germany but then again I’m trying to avoid public restrooms.

The reason why the picture is a bit blurry is that I had to concentrate hard not to shake too much as I was chuckling like a nutcase.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve come across or didn’t expect in the ladies room?