ice

3. 1st January 2017
Awake, shower, brush the teeth. return to the bedroom. Listen to the cat calling in the living room, who knows what it wants. put on clothes, go to the living room, take up the cat. Take her back to the bedroom. She is purring and happy, it is almost as if she had been lost during the night
gather the things needed for the day.
Go down the stairs leave for the street, leave for the alley, and the ice-cold cobbles have been rained upon. The whole alley is covered in a sheet of black ice, glistening dangerous,in the lamplight. the ground was frozen, now the rain is frozen.
go back into the house, get the bucket of salt and grit, spread this on the ice. Maybe' it will help.
Carefullx walk past the church. The street's surface, the cobbled parts especially, are extremely slippery.
In front of the stamp shop, there is another man up in the early morning spreading grit front of his premises.
Under the arch of the town gate, out into the Laendtorplatz. The municipal workers have obviously been here, the ice has pieces of girt all over it.
There are five people at the bus stop. the bog cotton man, the teacher man and some others.. All are unsure of foot, treading carefully, The cars are moving fast, more slowly than usual, cornering carefully. The roads have been dressed in salt with priority, to prevent vehicle accidents. Still, the cars are downy too fast, the drivers detached from the situation in their heated vehicles, sitting, listening to music. It is probably so that the layer of ice covering the roads in parts is invisible from inside the vehicles.




Inside the railway station's hall, there is a crowd standing in front of the automatic notice board, informing of current timetable modifications. The train to Munich will be twenty minutes late, at least.
So. Get a coffee, and wait in the waiting room. There are municipal workers on their breaks, all in their orange clothing.. There is a man opposite, a very hard-faced man. He is drinking his early morning beer from a bottle, arms supported by the round cafe table, head supported by his arms, hand under his chin.
Leave the cafe, push through the crowd, now increased in numbers, and head out for the platform, for the small local train. This will take all those who want to, to Freising. It is slower, as it stops at every station on the way. But it is comfortable, and warmer than standing out on the platform.
And it is crowded today. The delayed express train has left many people searching for alternatives, and by the time it reaches Freising it is packed, every seat taken and people standing in the aisles and the spaces in front of the doors. 

black and blue

Monday, the last in January 2017
 Awake out of a good sleep. It is a quarter to five, according to the bedside clock. Take off the mask, go to the bathroom, return, sleep for ten minutes,turn off the alarm sounding from the small block of black plastic beside the bed. shower, brush the teeth get the clothing from the wardrobe. All done, leave the house, walk down the empty alley, pass the church, and buy half way down the Theater street see the first stranger. A tall young man in a black parka, black trousers and boots. The trousers are shorter, they show off his footwear.
stop to take a picture of the house outside the gates of the town, the small house that houses transformers and a public lavatory. It looks strange with it 's one light attached to the corner. Turn the sensitivity of the camera all the way up, never mind the "noise"that will he seen on the picture. Beyer a sharp picture with noise than a shaken picture without.
At the bus stop, repack the camera using the bench in the bus shelter to rest the bag upon. Say good morning to Dolores, then the Teacher man and then the bog cotton man. The bus arrives, all aboard. First the bog cotton man, then a stranger, Then the teacher man, and then board last, pay the one euro and other twenty fare, and find a seat.
When the bus arrives at the station, leave by the middle door, walk past the bus shelter and cross the pavement over to the steps leading up to the main entrance to the large statation' s, building.  Say good morning to the smoking man, in shirt sleeves despite the cold. He is standing in the yellow-bordered square in front of the granite steps. The markings delineate the area reserved for smokers, a sort of petty discrimination, all in the name of general cleanliness in the station building. get a coffee at Yorma's Cafe, the girl with the big eyes is on service today.
and by the time the train comes into the station the coffee has been drunk, and these notes are being written sittiong on the black and blue patterned seating af the Deutsche Bahn.
bl

Transformer hut and public loo at  5.35 am

planless

writing desk on the one side of the room, piano on the other, sit and think as the son plays a game.
Thinking is a no real name for the minimal mental activity taking place, no knowledge of any other way to describe just sitting there doing nothing at all at all at all.

Sunday morning planless, who cares
This is not what one would expect, snap and bark at first light.

But what of it.
There may be a thousand sundays left

just depending

really#

All of the joints in the arms and legs and back are stiff at this sleepy awakening

late night friday, late morning saturday. Quid pro and so forth.

Get up, clothing. It is chilly. Silly chilly, the bed was warm, away from the bed is cold.

cooler.

The bathroom is cold, look forward to the summer now, the cusp of the year is passed, the shortest day is long gone.

No, the filthy cold February and March with it's winds is yet to come and spread despair and misery.

No, "I feel good" -James Brown mid seventies, some time ago now.

start the saturday rolling, the son is on the computer,  AGAIN, minecraft, chatting with friends.

make coffee, it is really late now

really#

Grey sky, snow on the roofs

the day running in circles

Look at the news

"Executive orders, impatient deals, stupid remarks. Incompetence in a position of power, turning the awe and respect before the president into a running joke".

a happy grunt

Jan 27, 2017
: Beep-
        Too late to bed last night, this will be a harder day, a day of earlier tiredness. Get up, wash, shower, as every day. Put the new mobile telephone into the' inside pocket on the jacket, take the bag.
Outside the front door, look at the filled letterbox. filled with advertising, filled with waste paper. Walk along past the church, past the bicycle stands. 'It is colder again, this winter has it's drawbacks. Does it have anything but drawbacks?

        Walking down Theater street see a slight figure ahead, rounding the corner by the cake makers, approaching. A young woman, out on the street, waking to work. As she nears, see that the knot on her head is not the Tassel of some headgear, but her hair tied up to a knot. Blond hair, almost bleached white. She has been at this place and at this time several times during the past weeks. This is put the crossing point of two timetables, two people going to work. Makes for patterns that repeat themselves.

        Dolores at the bus stop, good morning. A man carrying skis turns up there too, he is probably on his way to a weekend excursion.

Bus arrives, there are more people using the service on Friday s than on other days. Pay the bus driver, the exact fare ready, two fifty cent coins and two of ten cents . He gives a happy grunt, no working out what change to give, and a small increase in his collection of charge to give.

at the station, a greeting from the man in the square on the square, the man with the pigtail, the short sleeved shirt and the cigarette.

Inside the railway station a greeting from the bald-shaven man in the cafe," grosser cafe?", a nod, a payment, a stamp on the card, and wait. The girl with the big eyes brings over the coffee, then squeeze through the narrow place between the service counter and the self service area, go into the waiting room.

Say good wooing to Mr. Hedgehog, he says "goo Meng", that is what it sounds like this is a regular work day, there is little time now to think of all the problem of the world. It is just movement

fakes; regular sights, and greetings. Things that happen every day.

The train is three minutes late.

pill

Awake, agape, schocked and surprised.
The wife's alarm clock is so disgustingly loud and unpleasant every emergency reflex in the body is actuated.
When the system has returned to normal, realise that the pain in the back did not go away during the night, but stayed there, biding it's time.
Think. Get up and go to the loo.Bent double, lumbar pains. Aged thirty years overnight.
Yuck.

But then a thought.
That dentist had given anti-pane pills for toothache, as a result of his oral machinations. Strong warnings not to take too many are in place.
They were not necessary, there was hardly any pain. They are unused.
Now:
would these pills prescribed for a toothache know the difference?
High level logic for one so sleep-befuddled and pain stricken!

Take a misapropriated pill, (for the back, not the jaw), and lie down.

Twenty minutes later, awake, the son is up, he has a headache, he cannot go to school after the events of the last few days.
The wife rings up, the school says most of the school is out sick.
Bugs, microbes, viruses, little monsters that can end all planning.

And then get up, the pain is gone.
And laugh about the worries and thoughts that there could be such a thing as pain killers with a specific mission. Little hit men with "jaw pains only, no backs, stomachs or anything else" on their brief.
Super silly sleepyhead sexagenerian.

to write these notes runs dry

Tran 25.2017
At five, wake up in the morning ready for work. In the night, the young son was ill, something that he ate. Finished the cleaning up after him, the food was too fatty, or else he he has a bug. The wife tells me this, she still half asleep. They will need to go to the doctor.
Shower, gather the clothing for the day It is a tiny bit less chilly outside, the streets are damp. There is so much salt on them that the water could not freeze at all. A cyclist, man with crutches. The cyclist speeds on, on his frame at tubes and wire, and the man with the crutches proceeds slowly, supporting his weight with his arms and his tubular steel supports.

Walk down to the bus stop. See the man who looks like a teacher walk ahead. He makes a detour, thirty metres, to read the dials on a weather station set up between the town walls and the river. Say good morning to Dolores. She is sitting there, warmly dressed up as always, wearing her sad serious expression.

The bus arrives, pay the driver. A quiet ride through the empt streets.

The cafe, the usual activity. The girl with the big eyes is serving. her customers, as every day.
Shaven headed man joins the girl serving, leaving his work preparing salami rolls unattended. A large coffee, a minutes wait, take the coffee, good morning to the Mr. Hedgehog at his table under the television.

The coffee tastes strange. It is because of that antiseptic mouthwash that the doctor had prescribed.
And in the train, the ink cartridge of the pen used to write these notes runs dry.

cat

hear the family waken, listen, excused from work today. Listen to the son getting his items for school together.

Listen.

It is dark in the bedroom. Not entirely dark. Dim. Crepuscular Dawn.
Put on some clothing, then some more.
It is cold, icy.

Toothwash, mouthwash. The space where the teeth where yesterday is empty, a bit sore. But nothing that would warrant those really strong painkiller tablets. So that went well, and now there is a package of painkillers for the medicine cupboard.

Go through the deserted sitting room, pat the cat on the head, take the computer, read the news.
There is light snow outside, blowing past the window horizontally, slowly.

The cat is sleeping on a chair now. On her back.

Drink water and keep the head up

Monday, alarm at six, it is later than usual, dental surgery day. Shower, wash the teeth, brush the hair. Get the clothes from the wardrobe, dress for the day. Read the mail, there is still time. Nothing of any great import on a world scale.
Unplug the emergency starting aid for the car from it's place on the wall, put on the jacket, and leave the house.
It takes a short while to find the car, it is parked elsewhere than expected. It is in a spot opposite to the police station.
It starts with no further persuasion, no tampering with batteries or anything.
It is cold and it is starting to snow again.
For the first time in days.

Take the car through the mostly still sleeping town, into the awakening traffic. There are children on their way to school. Drive the blue car through the grey town, minding frozen cyclists on wobbly bicycles, minding the cars with the fast young women and men on their way to work.
Make a mistake: Get into the wrong lane and wait untill the traffic has passed before being able to get back again.
Driving is just unpleasant.
Prefer trains.

Find the surgery, a suburban surgery

Later, at home again, returned from the surgery, pat the cat, spit out the bloodied pads on the spaces where those two teeth used to be and settle down to the long wait as the wounds heal.
Drink water and keep the head up

cafe da manha

check the timer on the pneumatic aspirateur a droite a direita of the bed. Eight and a half hours sleep.

incredible
Just relax now,that is fantastic.Two and and a half hours more than usual. And it is to be felt in all of the body. Who cares that it is late, it is nine in the morning.
Let the body have it's way. Get up, say good morning to the son, the sky is a desaturated steely blue colour, there is smoke and steam rising from the nineteenth century chimneys.
Make coffee.
all good.
There is endless work to be done, and so what?
simplify
The clocks are still keeping time, and time is flowing on unhindered.


Read the news.
Protests on the streets in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin.
On account of the popular vote.

Still relax. drink up the mornings coffee.

It is Sunday, dentist tomorrow, relax today

morning in Landshut. Black night now in

rest. The cold of the last week has entered the legsm the lungs, the whole system has slowed down to deal with the icy cold weather in the morning.

Rest in bed, awake now. Listen to the hiss in the right ear, a guest that will not go away.

Memorise, summarise.The son comes in and says good morning. He is stlll in his night clothing, he swivelled straight from his bed to his computer, his mind machine that allows him contact and entertainment with his friends.

And get up, put on day clothes, charge up the Bialetti machine and put it on the heat. A hot cup of coffee with the computer. See the news about Trump's triumph yesterday, Well, the electorate have spoken and now they are speaking. The end of sensitivity, the beginning of crude simplicity.

A sentence from the Bible is not the Bible. A part is not the whole

A simpleton from the people is not the people.

Oh, the whole business is revolting.

The cat has been fed by the son, and the coffee is on the table with the grey apple

A grey day's morning in Landshut.  Black night now in Washington.

entirely insensitive to temperature

Friday 20 Jan 2017
It is really cold again today, the frost has reached the passageway to the bathroom. Let the water run hot the morning shower is pleasant. Return to the bedroom all warmed up. All pleasant.
Put on the light, search for clothing. Today is the last day of the week, there are no jobs in threatening. Leave the house punctually, and walk down Theo cold alley. The snow has receded further, the patches in the gutter have become smaller, and harder. There is no new snow, but, at the church there is a tiny tractor with a large salt hopper spreading salt anyway. Maybe it will snow later on today.

It is cold at the bus stop, colder because of the slight breeze, transporting the warmth out of the bones. Dolores is there, huddling up in her coat of many small animals. A headscarf too, printed leopard pattern. The bus is warm inside, comparitively warm.'

At the railway station the man with the pigtail is just leaving his spot at the ashtray, he walks ahead, he is wearing a short sleeved shirt again. The man does not feel the cold, he must be entirely insensitive to temperature.

The woman working in the cafe today is slow, she has difficulties telling out the change out for one of the customers.Then she asks, a large coffee, a small coffee, then she gets the two customers confused. It is not easy in the morning, it is not easy for her.

Hedgehog says good morning, he is just getting ready to leave. The television is showing some reality soap on hostages and terrorism. It is good that the sound is off, there is no need to start the day with such dramatised horror.

Stand on the platform, waiting,. The train is a little bit late-; it is cold. Standing still, everything starts to freeze up again:-Aah-there it is in the distance, approaching slowly. It stops, people get out, get in, find an empty seat..

There are flashes outside, brightest blue. and green. This is just before the train gets to Moosburg, and the flashes are caused by a train travelling in the opposite direction. Because of the ice on the power lives, this always happens during freezing weather.

As said before, this is Friday, and the warm carnage will arrive in freezing Freising soon. If things go wrong yet again, this will mean standing and waiting out on the unshielded platform, waiting for the local train.

- And there is the loudspeaker announcement-.

punctual today

The high-pitched beet from the alarm clock beside the bed is beyond the ninds ability to incorporate into a dream.. So-awaken, and turn the sound off.

Leave the bedroom, there is the cat sitting or its favourite chair, purring away to herself, then stretching her head out. Pat the cat's head, feely the hard little skull through the fur.

Shower, it its cold in the bathroom today,it feels much colder than yesterday. Wash the gray hair, make sure everything is clean, all of the night washed away. Return to the bedroom and find that the cat has relocated to a chair in the comer of the bedroom. The same chair over which the clothing for the day has been draped, Scratch her head; listen to the happy purr. Is purring a sign of happiness in cats? or something else? Not sure.

Down the stairs into the bleak cold passage way and leave the house for the cold alley, colder than yesterday. There has been no fresh snow, and the old snow has condensed to a white mass of hard crystals.

The big delivery truck from Innstolz is unloading opposite the church, bringing its wares to the back entrance of the cafes. It's. driver is on the lift at the back of the truck, slowly rising with this lift to return the empty pallets into the loading bay of the vehicle....

Hurry huddled down the street to the bas stop at the river, beyond the old town gate. Dolores is there, waiting for the bus. And Teaeheruann passes by, he is on foot today. Perhaps he has realised that it is not worth waiting for a bus to only travel eight hundred yards, half a mile, one kilometre. He is on foot today, anyhow.

At the station, there is another big delivery truck, very similar to the one at the church. The pigtailed man and the well-padded woman are there too, standing beside the truck, smoking. The man with the pigtail is wearing. a long sleeved shirt today.

The little discount card is fall today; ten stamps, ten cups, one free cup Today. This is satisfying, it is like a treat. Next time in ten days time.
The Hedgehog is intent upon his newsper in the cafe, he does not look up today, his face looks serious.
And so the day is ready to start.
The train is so punctual today, then is no time to finish this account.
The last words are written on the bus, on the last leg of the journey to work.

cold

Friday 18.1.17

get up, turn off the beep on the dock, Tak.! the mask, go to the bathroom, shower,shave, brush the teeth.

-go to the bedroom, put on the day clothing put out last night. Extra warm underwear, the ice cold weather is to be respected. Pat the bony head of the purring cat, fawning against any available legs, looking for attention. Scratch her behind her ears, now that is a good cat.

Pocket the wallet and go down the steps into the street, the bag over the shoulder. The alley is dry, the snow in the gutter has turned to ice.

E FRIO

Cross the market street in the old town and descend the Theater street, to the river. A man approaches, hoodie hat up, huddled. A small man, all wrapped up, sipping-from a yellow paper up. A Yormer cup, probably bought at the station.

The bus stop is deserted, there are no people there at all. Turn, and see that Dolores is approaching; she is near the town´s gate. She is later than usual, but then- as she arrives she gives her morning greeting, and sits down on the wooden back in the shelter. Then Teaehermam arrives. He looks like a teacher, hence the nickname.

The view over the river is different today, the water's surface is rough; covered in small waves. It does not have the icy smooth surface of the last few days. The lights from the hotel, and the street lanterns reflections are woken in this rough surface.

Bus driver gives the wrong change, point this out to him. He is suspicious, a bit confused. It is only a matter of ten cents, but still. Later on, as Dolores is getting ready to leave the bus again, one stop before the railway station. see that she is wearing a fur coat today. A fur coat with a fur hood. An elegant fur coat, Probably very, very expensive then, when such things were fashionable..

At the railway station, say good morning. to the bald man with the heard. He has his beard tied to a small plait, or pony tail.

- He gets the coffee, stamps the discount card. good Morning Mr Hedgehog. This man is dressed in warm clothes today, and he is getting ready to leave.
        There are two men standing at the next table, talking loudly with their mouths fall, spraying crumbs.
Eat, do not talk. Talk, do not eat.
You cannot drink and talk at the same time.

all the trucks in line, all the floodlights ablaze.

Why are some nights cursed with bad sleep.. The last night was one of these, just lying a dozing most of the time. Doze. alarm. Alarm off. That is it.

Shower and brush the teeth, find fresh underwear in the wardrobe, pet the eat. Put on the clothes, check the camera, pack the bag.. Pack in the little camera today, let us see who it can do, let us see what is to be done. Leave The house, see that there is dirt in the stairwell A job that needs to be done.

The rubbish bin is outside the house, there are rubbish bins in the street in front of every house today.
Tuesday = bin day

At the bus stop, slow down. Do not walk as quickly. It is early, Dolores is ahead, she has just arrived. Look at the buildings in the dark, lit by the street lamps * Take a picture, modern technology permits where older methods would have failed.

The cyclist passes, white flickering light in the front, red tight on his rucksack. The same route as yesterday

It is cold. Teaohermarm arrives, and the bus rounds the distant corner. Check the wallet for the fare.

- at the station cafe the service girls are trying out a new method. The one takes the order, the other takes the money and stamps the
little discount card. The method is no faster. On the way to the table in the cafe waiting rooms, say Guten Morgen to Mr. Hedgehog. Clubby red face, topped by a workman hat. He seems to feel better today. He is joined by a loquacious young man in a suit, a man
- Whines all the time, complaining...

Leave for The Train, see that the Passau - train is not in yet, nor the Rosenheim train. There is an announcement that the train from Passau to Munich has been delayed for at least twenty minutes. So-go to the next platform and board the local train, the slow train, the train that stops everywhere. It will leave earlier, and it is warm. There will be more time to scribble these notes into the new black notebook. The orange one was filled on Friday, and joined the others in the attic back home. The small train has no tables, this is a drawback, a slight lack of comfort.

- After a while, the train moves out. Pass the unreal-looking storage warehouses beside the tracks, all ordered, nothing out of place, all the trucks in line, all the floodlights ablaze.

cigarettes, beer in bottles, also rolls

Jan 16, 2016

The alarm, the old beeping alarm. Get up,

turn on the desiccator... to dry the bathroom. It is very cold, this is the coldest time of a year.

Shower and wash.

Pack the bag for the day, leave the house. Through the streets and the desolate dark places, pass through the town gate, step aside for an early morning cyclist with a flickering xenon headlamp on his bicycle. A man on his way to work. He has a red lamp attached to his rucksack.

Dolores, a friendly smile, a good morning. Dolores is an old woman, she is at the his stop every day at this hour. Who knows, what her occupation may be, work in a shop, maybe facility management.

The bus arrives, pay the driver his money for the fare.

at the railway station, the man with. pigtail is standing in that yellow bordered square reserved for smokers, together with a very warmly dressed, well-padded fellow smoker. The pig-tailed man, (referring to his hair, of course) is wearing a short sleeved open necked shirt. The air temperature :::::::

- must be minus five degrees Celsius, but that does not appear to bother him at all.

The sliding doors to the railway station hall have - been repaired, all three are working. again. The cafe is crowded, many in working clothes waiting up for their tea, coffee, cigarettes, beer in bottles, also rolls,. Every item in the shelves behind the counter and under the counter seems to have its customer.

with a large coffee in hand, go to the small table where the dispensers for
- sugar, syrup and milk are kept, take a plastic lid for the coffee cup and go on to the waiting room with its silent television... The man who was like a hedgehog once, with freshly washed hair all spiky around a - chubby rosy face is an old and tired town employee today, with hair all grey and a soiled blue overall.

The ticker on the television tells of an aircraft crash in Kirghistan, Thirty villagers dead. Think of Oliver Goldsmith, and his deserted village.

The small train from Rosenheim is in now, it is high time to leave.

ssssss

it is afternoon now,13:37.
and the long rest was good, and the cake for sunday breakfast too.
the whistle to the right is still there a hiss like a steam kettle. it cannot be made to go away, so the doctor says, there is nobody that may help, no cure.
to go out and take a sundsay walk, the clear fresh cold air, the exertion, may make things better.
It is a day of slow depression and little future, not much to do and yet so much undone.


yes, a sunday walk alone, down through the town, up the back lane, past the zoo with the goats the deer and the ducks and on over the hill to the castle.

Back down into the town and home.

That will be the walk alone

three-dimensional messed up

Saturday morning, icy cold again. Winter weather, wearing, weary. What of it anyhow. Stay in bed untill the window goes dawn grey, then the bathroom. Pat the cat sitting on the chair by the door. Go over the glassed in balcony to the bathroom door. It is cold.
The bathroom is warmer, the orchid on the window ledge is still alive.

Return, meet the son, he is staring at a mess on the floor.
the mess was there earlier too, just overlooked.
The cat had been sick in the night.
The son goes to the bathroom.

Go to the kitchen, kitchen wipes and a damp rag.

Wipe it up.
The cat watches with interest.
Never get that animal to clean up it's own mess.
One of the drawbacks of cats in the house.
They do that.
and they cannot be made to clean up after themselves.

What a start to the day, what a start for the weekend.

Put clothes on.

Tell the son to  :
wash
get day clothes on
tidy his desktop
NO!!!
not the computer
the real down to earth three-dimensional messed up desktop!!
Double exclamation marks!
Life does not take place on the computer alone.
Life is possible without computers.

Oh no, what an unearthly confusion.

Get the small grey apple
to make these notes.
Find that the power cord will not plug in.
not the usual magnetic snap.
Look at the tiny socket
A tiny metal screw, lost the day before yesterday,
is magnetically stuck there.

So the screw lost while replacing the battery on the iphone is found.
Replace the tiny screw in the Iphone
happy

now write these notes

giraffe

stifle that tune from the mobile telephone, sleep on.
Dentist appointment today, a new dentist a short walk away from home.
Sleep on untill the buzzing noise of the radio alarm sounds, it is seven.
The time the family usually starts to waken

shower, put on fresh clothes, the son is up now,
orange hair yellow jacket yellow trousers
breakfast and off to school.

look for a while longer, then out onto the street in the early light of the day.

The alley has people hurrying along it, late to school, quick to work, all in a hurry. All in winter clothing. Remains of snow on the ground, wet and nasty.
Walk through the graveyard and out past the café, cross the street and enter the portal of the old cinema, now another café.
Up the winding stairs, there is a foot doctor in the first floor and the dentist is in the second.

Enter.
A brightly lit modern practice.
Say hello
Show the health care card.
and go to the waiting room , fill out a form.
Wait, and look at the pictures of the giraffes on the wall.

, but not by name.

Shower, it is a spray of warm water, pleasant, awakens. The dehumidifier starts to work, starts to dry the air. Electrical machine, it works well.
Put on yesterday's clothing again, the same shirt and the same trousers. The cat on the bed yawns, stretches
Gather the small items needed for the day, the glasses; the bag, wallet. A button on the jacket will need replacing.. The streets are wet today, because of all the salt. They are wet and the cobblestones are icy, slippery, dangerous. There are police and municipial vehicles in the streets, spreading salt on the roads. flashing orange lights on orange trucks. Follow one man who is wheeling a wheelbarrow down the street, carefully spreading salt on the visibly frozen areas of pavement with a small trowel. At the bus stop say good morning to Dolores and wait. All of the cars that normally speed past are driving very slowly today, a snowplough with a salt spreader in their midst.
The bus arrives, pay the driver. The bus is full, find a seat beside the door, sit, wait. Keep the eyes down to avoid eye contact with the other passengers.
-
the cafe is deserted today, the friendly, baldheaded has a large coffee ready almost before it is paid for. He stamps the discount card. & here is a group of orange clad street sweepers, or salt spreaders, in the station waiting room on a break. They have all been called an emergency service because of the street icing. And the television a man is showing pictures of volcanoes. Just before leaving the cafe, see that a picture of Trump is on the screen. Apparently the headline says that he has been involved in sexual misconduct. Well now. why should he have an easier time than other, more capable men? the
Leave for the tracks, use the subterranean passage, the granite stairs. The train is ahead in, find a seat. The floor in the passenger carriage is sodden with melted ice and grit from all of the previous passengers shoes. The seat has a small table, covered in imitation wood laminate.
a Space for the coffee and a space for the orange notebook, a jotter.
So scribble these notes, recording the events of early day, events that memory would make a grey mass of, if the things were not noted. The carriage is full of people that are known by sight, but not by name.

turquoise and yellow

eleven Jan 2017

Get up, fumble with the melody-making mobile, turn off the sound, and get up, groaning. Take a shower -tomo bagno-and shave Slowly more Portuguese words-learning a language is not easy. On with the clothes, pet the cat, the day can begin, even though the night has not really ended.

The yellow bags are outside the front door, in the street where they had been left last tight. Frozen. It is really cold now, take the knitted hat out of the hag and cover the head and the ears. The alley is dry between the edge of the footpath and the crystallised snow in the gutter. Pass the church, The stamp shop, the cutlery store, cross the market space and pass the little golden stones let into the pavement. The ones with the names on them, the names of those discriminated, imprisoned and murdered seventy years ago.

The discount bakery has closed, it had closed before Christmas. It's closedness adds to the bleakness of this cold morning.

The bog cotton man and Dolores are at the bus stop, the bog cotton man has just arrived and is having a quick cigarette. Dolores is there, wrapped in her coat with the fur trimming on the lapels. Both wish a good morning. bother the cold.

The bus driver takes his money, and the bus rashes on over the cold streets to the railway station. Get a large coffee after allowing the rasta-locks-haired girl to place her order first, she is always in a hurry. She has a very soft, but very dear voice. She is wearing an amulet around her throat, coloured turquoise and yellow, woven of fine wires, She also has jewellery pierced into her lips. Oh well.

Wait for the coffee, the bald man forgets to bring it, and then it is there with apologies. There is a lot to do today
       -
        Television is showing some inane film about jet fighter pilots today. The news afterwards has all the themes, nothing has changed since yesterday. All the politicians are trying to find ways and means for the prevention of further acts of terrorism. "A loss of civil liberties for a minimal gain in security...

        The train is in-And the journey begins. Work will be in forty five minutes-

tracks

10 Jan 2017

Wake, the alarm on the mobile 'phone, pet the cat which is purring loudly now, maybe happy to receive the attention... After the shower, cannot find the keys. Search high and low, in the end feel that they are in pocket of the trousers. That was silly.

The alley has piles of snow in the gutter, about knee high. This is the snow cleared from the pavement, by all of those law abiding citizens of the small town.

At the bus stop there are

: The bog cotton man
: Dolores.
: Teachermann
A muffled" good morning". Check the fare money and look out after the still water of the river to the brightly lit hotel breakfast rooms on the other side. There are heaps of icy snow everywhere, the national passion for the clearing of footpaths being the cause for this..

On the bus, the usual people.The girl with the Rasta- farian 'hair, she is There, huddled in a jacket.

At the station, get a large coffee and take the usual place in the waiting room. Look at the coffee, there is a tightness around the chest, a shortness of breath. Maybe the remains of last weeks chest infection. The Televisa is showing film of tornado-like weather formations, a storm in a teacup, waterspout, something with flames. The sound is off, that is good. This means that ah the experts spouting their explanations with much hand waving are not to be heard either.

There is a commotion outside in the station hall, a crowd staring at the huge Timetable on the wall over the passageway to the tracks ->

Take a look, and see that the train is delayed.
Twenty minutes, who knows why. Return to the writing room, and then, after a moments Thought, proceed to platform number eight. There is a small train there,
- a local train, a slow train. It will leave in four minutes, and even if it it takes ten minutes longer for the joumey, it will arrive in Freising earlier than
- the delayed trains.

Later, watch all the brightly lit industrial buildings on the way. Warehouses, short term storage. Carefully placed industrial lighting, all in perfect straight lines, each light source illuminating the corrugated warehouse wall behind it, creating a triangular pattern on the wall. As it is dark, only the light source and the triangle are to be seen with the illuminated forecourt and it's the mesh wire fencing.. All with German regularity and precision, in the snow.

- One warehouse after the next, maybe four or five, BMW, a fan maker for computer cooling, warehouses everywhere. Beside the tracks.

And now, after a slightly longer journey, The little train arrives in Freising.

missed bus

9 Jan 2017

Take the second last antibiotic pill, wait for the other tablet to dissolve. Wait.

- Then hurry through the streets, soggy and slippery with melting snow, all pushed to the side of the road... 'Hurry down those streets, it is no use - the bus leaves just seconds before it can be boarded.

The river is smooth and icy, the water not frozen, but the surface oily smooth without the usual turbulence. Lights reflect, a tiny tractor with an orange light on top is clearing the snow from the footpath and spreading salt so that the remaining snow will melt. This reamaining snow will turn to slush, which in turn will destroy the leather work on shoes,. and cause cars to rust.

Waiting for the bus to arrive, watch the other persons hurry to work, dressed in their winter clothing. It looks as if they had expected lower temperatures..

The next bus arrives, at this point now realise-that The fares have been raised. Oh well. They never go down, do they now?

Hurry through the railway station, the train is still there. In fact, it has been delayed for four minutes, it needs to wait for the small train from Rosenheim, this was delayed.

So sit in the train and wait, the hurry earlier on was not necessary, Who was to know.?.

This is the first day of work this year, let us see what things it brings

in the interest of safety

Dark.
In the light of the bathroom lamp hung above the mirror see that it is seven in the morning. It is pitch black on this Sunday, at this hour. Still, dawn is to be at twenty six past, today.

So put on the day clothes in the dark, take the computer and go to the living room. Hear noises from outside, it is the neighbour, He has put on his hat his coat, his scarf and his boots and is already pushing the snow from the footpath with a large plastic snow shovel. He is the first in the otherwise pristine street, up at daybreak, doing his civic duty.

And now it is getting lighter outside, it is snowing steadily, lightly, small flakes drifting diagonally across the frame of the window. The clock is ticking it's irregular tick to itself, the little pawl falling over the teeth on the wheel. A ratchet, every movement of the pendulum pushes the wheel on for another increment, a half-second pendulum that regains the energy lost to the work of driving the clock from an impulse given by an electromagnet. A half - second pendulum, short and heavy.

And now the other neighbours have joined in, and are all busy clearing the pavements.
The pristine smooth covering of snow is gone, destroyed.
In the interest of safety.

jump

no, it is late again
last night the son decided on an experiment
he wanted to defy sleep, and to stay up all night.

He did, and his parent stayed awake too.
in case of need.

And at six in the morning, the parent took to bed.
At eleven the parent woke
and the son was in bed.

on a grey skied winters saturday.
The experiment is over

The  cat is exploring.
From the ground, jump to the writing bureaus fold out table.
Jump to the top of the bureau.
Then a long jump to the top of the wardrobe.
Nothing there
return to the bureau
and back to the ground, then to the bed.

A series of long jumps for such a small animal

3 holy Kings

Eyes open, strangely awake today, though the night in front of the television was long and late last night. The hiss on the right is still there with it's silly noise, a hiss that will not go.
Oh, get up, wash, clothes on.
It is another holiday day today, the Germans have so many. It does not matter, being home on doctors orders anyhow.
The cat is attentive, giving attention, it wants to be fed.
Get a tin.
Great Feline Excitement.
Replace the tin in the shelf.
Feline Anguish.
Open the refrigerator, search for opened tins.
There is one, take it out.
Feline Expression of Doubt, the cat food is cold.
Put it on her plate, and after a short inspection
Feline disgust.

:She wants:
Fresh Warm
:and gets:
Old Cold.


Make the coffee, fresh and warm,
the sun is up, the wife is up, the son is up, all things in their usual chaos.

The sitting room is clean, yesterdays labours, the tables have been tidied, dusted, polished were needed.
Nice.

And now for Doxy and NAC, the doctor's orders, care for the body even though the soul is sore

It is the day of the Holy Kings for the Germans
Epiphany to you
+++

laziness

Blue sky and white roofing over all the houses in the town. A weather situation that the meteorologists have named Axel. It is  cold.
And it is ten in the morning. Taking it easy is all very well, but it just opens the door to laziness.

Let the cat in, she has been on the stairwell during the night. The bony little head is rubbed against the furniture, against the legs. Cats seem to need that, don't know why.

Get up
doxy, NAC, like the doctor ordered.
Coffee and a biscuit.
Good Morning.

The sound of the coffee grinder has woken up up the remainder of the family.

Apart from the cat.
That was awake, and has now found a place to sleep.

Typical of a predator.
And the christmas tree is dropping leaves, or spines, or needles-
all over the floor.

two thousand and seventeen is getting under way.

Neve

Unconscious, then look up and see the snow falling out of the patch of light grey sky visible between the houses.
Neve!
Late for Christmas, did not even make it for New Year.
Take off the mask, realise that sleep was deep. Maybe it is all of the oxygen in the ice cold air.

The son is in the kitchen baking a cake and making an awful mess. It is to be recognised that much of the mess is just left over from yesterday, but that does not worry him. He simply starts to work in the middle of the disorder, clearing a small place for himself to work in. Other people's disorder is not his problem.

Tidy up the kitchen, refill the dish washing machine. The cat is furry friendly, tail twitching, purring, rubbing the crown of her head on furniture corners and legs, then on humans legs.
She wants food.
Ignore.

Make a pot of coffee, vital for the early morning.
Go into the sitting room, close the door, sit down, write notes.
The voice of the son's tutorials on the computers sounds through the closed door.
The cat is complaining in the kitchen.

Let her in.
She makes a noise  – "PRRUP" – as she enters the room.

Go to the section of the large window in the sitting room.
Look out into the cold street with the mushed snow on the pavement.

Go to the cabinet beside the flat's door, take out one pill NAC (effervescent) and one pill doxycyclin, the day's dose. And whilst the one tablet is dissolving, finish these notes.
Next week, early rising, trains, and back to work.
For another three years.
anyway.

plom

Wake up to a clear blue sky with fluffy clouds all over it. There are patches of snow on the ground and on all the insulated roof tiles. It is cold outside, the cold can almost be seen through the windows. Get up, marvel at the efficacy of modern drugs, bathroom and back into the warm cushy bed.
Wake up againi, one hour later, same sky with more clouds.
Listen, traffic is picking up around the town, now in the time between New Year and Epiphany. Get up, put on the coffee grinder, clear the worktop of the mess left from yesterday, empty the coffee maker fill the aluminium device, put it on the gas. Continue tidying up the stuff left carelessly lying about, packaging, containers for spices left on the table were they had been used last.

The noise from the grinder has woken up the rest of the family, both of them. Now it is late in the day, eight minutes to eleven. The day wasted in indolence. The shouting and screaming, the impatience, the accusations and the recriminations will start again soon. A daily horror.

–Think about why it is that so many men do not survive their pensions well–.

Remember that it is time to take the pills that the doctor ordered.
Antibiotics in strong doses, regularly. To prevent the microbes from getting gaining immunity.
To be ready for work when the cold is done.

When the contents of the head stop feeling like a cloud of lead.

cold new year.

WAKE UP DRINK KOFFEE
BLACK BITTER MORNING
HAPPY NEW YEAR, GO TO
DOCTOR, GET ADVISED, A
PRESCRIPTION, A VISIT TO
THE PHARMACY. DARKEST
HUMOUR.

It was all not so bad, but this
year is starting rough, rude
and nasty.

just stay in bed and relax, the doctor has taken you off work for the week rest and sleep and get rid of the old cold with a little bit of help from the antibiotics now living beside the little helpers in the medicine cabinet.

um

day one of another calendar year.
The minute hand on the clock broke off last night whilst setting it.
Sad.
Portentous?
no.
Will fix it today, so that the year will have it's minutes.

The midnight blasting took it's toll on the cat's self assurance,
A destabilised animal, panic strcken withdrawal from the hand that is reached in friendly intent.

Humans! Pagan rituals! Driving out ghosts and devils nobody believes in anyhow. Bangs and sparks.
Terrifying for the poor cat.

Sit alone in the sitting room
it is sunday.
The coffee ritual done, the coffee black and bitter.
People passing in the street outside on the way to church.
very few.
Very few indeed.

But the bells call them.
And the clock now has it's minutes back,
a hand borrowed from another.