favour

Friday, January 31,2020

A tall balding man with reddish hair

enters the office after a robust knock. He is

one of the machinists from the shops downstairs,

he needs something to be printed:

Offer him a seat, he pulls out his mobile

phone, and shows a picture. It is the Fair

Trade logo, he wants a print of it for

his young son. It is a school project, They

have a small cafe in the school, and they

want to use the logo.

No problem, a few clicks later and

the logo is on the screen. Copy the file

into the print queue into the connection

to the machine in the basement, and

that is it.
The redheaded mechanic is

amused by the fact that the logo depicts ahuman figure holding out a hand when it is in black and white.

Later on, at the printer, the picture is scaled to suit the requirements, and is printed. It is pixelled, but the children

want to trace it, so the poor rendition

is not critical.

The whole operation is just a favour.

Not really licit, but no harm.

And a good deed to start the day.

hormonal

Thursday, January 30 2020

Tunnel illumination is grey and green,

little green men and grey walls, red

fire exits. the tunnel in Landshut is

one and a half kilometres long, it

passes under the hill on top of which

the old castle sits. There is a strict watch

over speed in the tunnel, no more than fifty.

At the end of the tunnel, a traffic light.

It remains green today, and the speed that

seemed so low in the tunnel is now frightening,

fast in the sudden right hand bend into

the main road to Moosburg. There is another

traffic light at the end of town, it is red.

Stop. The tiny black car does not accelerate

well, and a fast car overtakes, despite

the ban on such manoevering. The fast

car cuts in ahead with a flourish, and

tears off after the tail lights red vanishing

in the distance on the long country road.

Even though the car does nothing but spray

water from the wet road surface and leave

exhaust fumes, there is a palpable taste of

hormone in the air.

Five minutes later, the car is two

metres away, waiting for the traffic light

at a construction site to change.

lieu

Wednesday, January 9, 2020

Hurry into the bathroom at work, pass The

washhandbasins, turning on the light

on the way. Take the first stall on the left

hand side

, examine the plastic seat for

dirt or dampness, give it a wipe with a

square of toilet paper, and sit down.

sit and think, until the business is done,

Push the body weight over, lean to the right

so as to be in a better position to use the

fresh piece of toilet paper. There is a

loud crack, and a nasty pain of being

pinched in the left buttock. Carefully

extricate the skin from the newly

opened crack in the hard white plastic

seat, and carefully finish what

had been started.

The toilet seat broke, it was too

much use, or inferior quality. The

injurx is not in any way severe, but

it was a fright, a surprise.

It is the first time ever for that to happen

Leave the stall with its broken seat

and go to the wash basin.

Wash the, hands, it was a bad start to the day.

rain

Tuesday, January 27

It is time to leave the office for the midday

break, Crazy bean coffee and a panino from

the same, all in the cafeteria at the institute

for advanced studies.

Upon leaving the physics building realise

that it is raining, raining like it has not

ruined for months, raining big heavy

wind-driven drops. The coat is soaked

in an instant, the trousers are wet, and

the water is running down the neck. It

is horrible weather, wet and stormy.

There are people with umbrellas, there are

people running. It is a heavy rain shower,

the first this year.

The cafeteria is crowded, it must be

late. Stand in line, tell out the money, it

is the same every day. Pay the man, he

makes a comment. He always makes

comments, it is his sense of humour.

Find a space at a small table, take a

seat, and write the comment for today,

the coat hanging over the back of the chair

dripping on the floor.

The rain and the wind outside the winders

increase, a final wild climax.

Then it stops.

prescription

Using the thumbnail, break the tablet into two parts, they are not equal. But it does not matter, it is just a drug to lower blood pressure, the blood pressure that has been slightly high for a long time. They started with 16 milligrams, then they reduced it to eight after several fainting attacks, and then after a few more it was reduced to half an eight, which is four. Three on one day and five on the next probably does not matter. It is still a long way away from a homeopathic dosage, but who cares.
Take the crumb of tablet, swallow.
The other tablets are finished, they have been finished since Friday.
Stay at home, wait. The doctor opens his practice at seven forty five. It will be possible to get a prescription then.

Wait, then to the kitchen, a cup of coffee to pass the time, the son is up and about, checking his papers and filling his schoolbag. The cat is clamouring for attention, she feels hungry, her winter fat needs feeding. In the refrigerato there are two nearly-empty cans of cat food, take them both out and scrape the remains onto the cat's plate, she feeds with some relish. Rinse the two empty tins under the tap, then throw them into the yellow bag reserved for packaging waste. Then, to the coffee, fill the silver sieve and press the button, watch the brown brew flow into the white cup.

With a shouted goodbye the son runs down to the stairs, he is aiming to be ten minutes early in school.

Sip the coffee, read about the Americans unhealthy democracy and the crown virus health problems in China.
Both are news, both are a threat, it is up to the individual to decide which is the greater, it is like comparing a coconut with an orange.

It is time to go, put on the old green jacket and wander down the Neustadt, the new town market street, the wide street with the horrible monument in it's centre, in honour of those that gave their lives in the last century. And at the doctors, stammer the request for a prescription, a simple request suddenly difficult. The young woman at the reception looks at the medical card, raises her eyebrows, presses a button, and the prescription is there.

She says goodbye.

washing

It is Sunday, read the news, it is not worth it. Politics is about power, not justice, and when the people in power talk about justice and those not in power talk about power and it's abuse then the arguments will never meet.
Go into the passageway from the bedroom to the closed verandah in front of the bathroom, pick up a grey washing basket and go up the stairs to the attic. The washing is up there, hanging on it's lines. Down at the far end of the attic there is the washing hanging since last week, the t shirts socks underpants pullovers and trousers from the week before last. Fill up the grey basket, and return to the warmth of the bedroom. Free a space on the end of the bed, and empty the washing basket onto the bed. The predominate color is black. It rests there like a mound of accusations, saying that it needs to be folded and tidied, sorted and checked.
Take the basket to the bathroom, open the washing machine, and take out the wet clothing, the clothing that has been there since last night. Close the door of the damp front loader, and take the square grey plastic basket back upstairs to the attic. And at the end of the attic hang up the clothes, now washed, that had been worn the week before. No shirts, but everything else. The heavy winter trousers, all the socks and Tee shirts, the things that will be clean enough to wear after a few hours in the washing machine.

After the basket has been returned to it's place in the passage, go into the bedroom, start to sort the small heap of clothing there. Fold the Tee shirts, and place the trousers over the back of a chair for ironing later.
And last of all, put the socks together in pairs, disposing of one pair in the waste basket because they are no more than a network of holes.

feline interface

She looks up from below, her face an inverse triangle, then jumps onto the bed.
Turns her head to one side, as if inquiring, then jumps onto the knees clad in corduroy.
She turns in place twice, untill her head points towards the knees.
Scratch her head, she purrs.
Then her back, she rests her head down on the knees.
Purrs more.

Let her lie there, purring softly to herself.

Think about whether or not the cat is a comfort to the human or whether she is gaining comfort from the human.
Think.

Do domesticated cats ever grow up, or do they consider their humans as part of their family, or do they see humans as handicapped cats.
or what

panino

Friday 24 January

There are four people in the cafeteria, it is

early yet for lunch. Eleven fifteen, it will be

another three quarters of an hour before the

place fills up.

The proprietor is at a table speaking to

two artisans, two men that are There on a

regular basis they are all chatting about

old Munich institutions.

Order the usual paninr and coffee.

There is a swarthy man behind the counter,

he pists looks disgusted and turns his

back. Then the proprietor gets up, takes

the order, and tells the swarthy man to

beat up The panino, and to take the Mast.

wrapper off first. It is hard to tell

whether or not it is just banter, or if it

is real abuse of an employee. The swami

man remains stoical, there is no way

to tell whether the proprietors abusive

language is a matter of friendliness, pesi

fun, or whether the swarthy man is

genuinely upset.

He never says a word.

Until the paving is ready.

Then he shouts lpanino', and places

it on a plate, leaves it on the table

plug

Thursday 23rd of January

Set the camera up the tripod,

flush. Everything works, meter the flash,

check the connections. Set up the target,

focus the camera, set the aperture, and

moth press the button. Nothing works.

Check the menus, everything is set up perfect,

Except that it does not work properly.

It does not work at all.

Later on, after having had the cables

checked by an electronics technician,

after having speculated on all kinds of

things, sit in the office in frustration

Push the connector in half way and press the button again, just for the amusements sake. The system clicks and beeps just as it should. Try again. It works again. Push in the connector all the way, nothing works.
Pull it out again.
Everything works.

Realise that the problem was the checking of the connectors.
The connector is not quite standard, even though it fits. What a waste of time.

red light

Wednesday, 22nd January

And Then leave the car in front of The

tyre fitting workshop. Enter by the main

door, the reception area is overheated. There

are already two people there, one watching

the man behind the counter slowly entering

the details of his invoice into the computer,

the other just standing in line, waiting. He

is watching too, trying not to show his

impatience. Wait, seperate the key from

the other keys on the hey chain, ready to

give it to the repairman. And at long

last, the man is finished with the second

customer. Hand over the key, the registration

papers and describe the things that need

to be done. The man nods, and is finished

in a short while.

The tire fitting place is in an industrial

area outside the town. Walk down

the road a short while, there is a house

with illuminated red hearts in the window

and a sign saying that it is open for

business.

Farther down the street there is a bakery

Go in and order Two pretzels and a

cup of coffee. There is an hour to wait until

the tyres on the car have been changed.

Take a few pictures of the road, this

will pass the time.

no gaudiness

Tuesday, January 21 2020

think of yesterday going down the stairs

to the room in the basement

. The setup

there, the lights and the target. in

Make a measuremnt

, the little flash control

in hand. Use the remote control to increase the flash energy. Try again

And then just attach the trigger to the camera

make three exposures, put the camera down,

turn the target and make three more.

Take the chip out of the camera, put the camera into it' s case, turn off the flashes, and

leave the room, locking the door afterwards.

Walk through the corridors of the building,

occasional greetings in passing,

and

return to the office.

Copy the files from the chip, and apply

the software to them. Make the adjustments

as read the night before.

and it works. The colour profile now removes the gaudiness

from yesterdays pictures.

They now have colour, but

no gaudiness.

third monday

Monday, 20th of January, two thousand and twenty

The cafeteria at work is elevated, there is

a view over the park in the centre of the campus.

There are two long roads; two avenues that

converge at right angles in front of the

windows.

Every time the underground railway armies

at the station in the centre of the park, there

is an eruption of people, groups of students

heading to Their neat lecture. Because it is

cold, they are all in their dark winter

clothing. even though the grass is still green

There is a bite in the air hinting at the

whiteness of winter.

But there is no snow

In the distance, another group of students

has left the underground station, and is using

the zebra crossing to cross the tree-lined

avenue there. There are others on bicycles,

and some in cars using that road. They

have to stop and wait until the group has

crossed the road.

And it is a miserable cold grey day.

Listen to the cafe's
proprietor complain over

the lack of custom, a lack of custom that

has held from The first to this third Monday of

the year

sunday work.

There is the old car belonging to the son in the corridor, it had decayed for a long time, the body is rusty. The son wishes to restore it, but there will be work to do just to strip it down so that the metal structure can be brushed free of rust, a dirty and dusty job.
To prevent the dirt spreading all over the house, there is a plastic curtain to be put up across the passage, a wire to be stretched across the cieling.

The son helps, though he has few ideas as to how it is to be done, he has few ideas about helping. He gathers the scattered tools from his last attempts to take off one of the front mud guards. Tell him to put the tools away neatly. The curtain is soon up, and it blocks off the end of the corridor. Clear away the ladder, clear away the tools.

The son is starting to feel the cold, but ask him for his help with one more thing. There is metal shelving, still in it's plastic packaging, waiting to be assembled. When the plastic has been removed from the shelving, there is a large heap of sharp cornered steel sheeting pressed into struts and shelves on the floor. There is also a skimpy instruction leaflet with ambiguous drawings.
The shelves require no fasteners, they are just assembled by pushing the parts into each other.
The shelves are assembled quickly, and the son sweeps the floor.
He is complaining clearly of the cold now.
So that is that.
Stop the sunday work.

Saturday alone

There is the car, filthy and black. It is covered in grey dried salt, it's normal sleek blackness is gone. Press the button on the key, the lights flash, even they are covered in salt.

They put salt on the roads to prevent them from freezing over, it covers the cars and causes their metal to rust.

Place the little green document, the registration certificate, into it's place in the car. See that the area before the drivers seat and around the pedals is covered in pebbles from the parking place at work. They had stuck to the shoes and probably scraped off on the pedals.

Leave the little car, that errand done.

Walk through the town, taking all the back ways, to the supermarket under the shopping centre. 

Once there in the bright aisles filled with packed food, find the bread dispenser. Press the button twice, get two baguettes of the German ready-bake variety. And in a parallel aisle, pick up a package of six bottles of water, and in the next aisle a single wedge of Brie cheese.

Take all the stuff down to the checkout, put the few items on the conveyor belt. Turn, look back, straight into a pair of brown eyes  surrounded by thick black hair and a regular charming face. Look down as the breath comes back, the woman had gone unnoticed, now suddenly a most beautiful face.

Hide the surprise, look away, let the checkout person tell the pricese of the goods into the till.

Pay. 

Put the items into the cloth bag with the four dirty shirts taken from home and bring the whole lot to the laundry around the corner, the place run by Syrians. Leave the four shirts there and pick up four others on hangers, in their plastic covers.

And turn to go back home

ice

Friday, 17th of January, 2020

The coating of frost on the little car is thick today, the windows a mass of floral patterns

done in ice.

Open the door and take out the

scraper, a plastic rhomboid with a rubber

lip on one side, plastic teeth on The other,

a plastic blade and fine plastic teeth.

The ide b only fbrost, it has not hardened

to be a thick ice coating. Scratch it down

with the plastic blade. The windshield,

the side window, and the back window.

get into the car, put the key into the ignition

and-oh look-the outside temperature

warning light goes on, It is minus two

degrees centigrade. No wonder that the

ice was thick.

start the engine, and start to worry

that the road may be icy. It is glistening

wet in the street light illumination, it

may be frozen.

The tyres on the car are summer types. An

added worry, if the police check, then they

will explain that it is winter.

security

At nine in the morning take the tag with the identity tag, and the roller suitcase with the camera gear in it, and, after locking the office door head down the corridor with the two suitcases on the trolley. This is all camera gear, for a simple press photo in the reactor. The photo is due at ten, it is only a short walk, but all of the procedures take time.

After having left the building walk on under the library. The library is built on stilts, this was the fancy of the architect. Perhaps they thought that the river might flood or something.

There is a turnstile in the fence around the reactor. It makes a beeping sound when the identification card is passed through the  slit in the card reader, and the locking mechanism makes a click as the turnstile is released.

It is awkward going through the security turnstile with two cases, but practice over the years has made it possible to get through with a little grace and speed.

Drag the trolley suitcase across the paths over the landscaped areas around the big grey reactor building. There is a revolving door there, it is bigger than the security turnstile.

Once inside the building leave the cases off to one side and go to the cloakroom. Pick a white coat and a pair of washable white safety shoes. Don this clothing, leaving the street shoe on the top of the metal wardrobe, to be picked up on return. Then, at a rack in the hallway go and pick up a named dosimeter, and then to a wall rack and choose one of the electronic dosimeters. Put the dosimeter into the reading machine to turn it on, pass the identity card through the slit on the device so that this may know who is taking a dosimeter.

There is no dose registered, that is good. No contamination.

And then over to the security gaurd, ask to have the gear checked in to the experimental hall of the reactor.

And then wait.

The security man comes over and passes through the tight security doors, glass doors on either side and a security check with facial recognition in the centre. See him walk through without any problems. Then he opens the doors from the inside.

Carry the equipment in, place it in the holding area  and leave again. The security man closes the doors. Go over to the security doors. Pass the card through the slit. Go in, stand on the square marked on the floor. Look at the camera. Wait. Three beeps sound, the light flashes red, the doors open again.

Rejected.

Swipe the card through the slit again. Go in through the first door, hear it close. Look at the camera.

Three beeps, red flashing light, rejected. The doors open again.

Swipe the card through the slit again. Go in through the first door, hear it close. Look at the camera.

Three beeps, red flashing light, rejected. The doors open again.

Swipe the card through the slit again. Go in through the first door, hear it close. Look at the floor, make sure that the toes are well over the line. The big feet, size forty six, should not have their toes at the line, but be well over the line.

Look at the camera, a single beep, now the system has recognised the intruder and has registered him.

Accepted!

Third time lucky!

 Go over to the security man, who is waiting at the camera. Open the case, show the contents, and show the work permit.

All done 

The security man leaves.

Press the green button beside the heavy lead door. There is the sound of electrical bolts withdrawing. Pull the door open, jam it with the one suitcase whilst rolling in the other. Lock the door again. Around the corner, another huge lead door. Swipe the identity card yet again.

There is a small illuminated sign saying pleae wait.

Wait.

Five minutes later the enormous lead door opens.

Enter.

There is a turnstile, and a space beside it for equipment.

Push the bags through, then take the turnstile, swipe yet another card reader, press a green button, pull back the bolts, heave on the last heavy door.

Push the equipment into the noisy hall, everywhere the sound of vacuum pumps and ventilation systems. Close the door, fasten the bolts. 

Now to find the instrument that needs to have it's picture taken with a scientist.

Taking the picture will not take as long as getting in and out of this place.

weather and found scarf

Late night television, wonder at the skill of actors that show other people a mirror ot society, a recreation that seems more real than any reality. And a plot stretched over hours, no sense of real time, travel times cut, all things separated from reality, until they form an extended picture, a distorted reality.
A show.

Awake to the sound of the son making coffee in the morning, same story as yesterday. And then the charming young man brings the cup to the bed.
Get up and drink, cannot drink from a cup whilst lying down without making a mess.
Go to the bathroom.
Return to the kitchen,
go to bed.

Get up a little later, put on day clothes and resolve to take a walk about town.
Walk all the way down the main street, and deliver a note to the health insurance office. The weather has become colder. there is frost riming all the car rooves. People are wrapped in coats and scarves.
But it is not as cold as it should be, the warm air from Spain and Portugal has slipped up past the Alps, and has prevented snow this year that was here last year.

Go to the café, and find that they have kept the scarf, the one that had been thought of as lost.
A man forgets his purchase, take it out after him, he says the bother was not necessary, he would have collected the things tomorrow anyhow.

Go to look at the photography gallery
They are closed.

Go home again, the dizziness is returning.

telephone doctor

Staying at home for three days,  cough is horrible wake in the morning the son is up again, before dawn. He makes the morning drink, it is already finished by the bedside growing cold.

Get the second cup, this is warm now, and the head is spinning and it is cold, even though the room is warm.

This is no good, it must be the continued activity of some virus.

It does not affect the son.

That is good, it is good that he is immune to other things other than criticism.

The wife is still in bed, but she is not coughing either.

Take the coffee back to bed.

shake and shiver

Wait for the sound of slamming doors to announce that the son has gone.

Gone to school.

Get up, go to the bathroom, have a shower, hot, drive away the bone's cold.

Then, it is eight, call the doctor for the results.

The results are not ready yet, the nurse says the doctor will call back.

Lie down on the couch in the living room.

Fall asleep.

Until the telephone sounds.

It is the doctor.

She says that there is are not as many red blood cells as there could be.

The cholesterin is problematic but improved.

The results for the whooping cough are not in.

Stay in bed.

Call back on friday.

Wait for criticism from the wife.

Wait to hear about male laziness.

But this does not happen, a small mercy.

haters

There it is: dark in the morning and there is the sound of the cat outside the door, a regular me ow wants in. Get up, let the cat in, and go on out to the bathroom.
Remember the resolution to go to the doctor today, in anticipation of the sick feeling and tiredness that will come later in the day.
Back to the bedroom, then straight out to the kitchen, a cup of coffee to wake up to, turn on the machine grind the coffee, fill the sieve, clamp it under the machine, wait for the signal lamp to turn off. Put a cup underneath, press the button.
The son comes out of his bedroom, he gives a a quick hug, then he proceeds, into the sitting room searching for his school things.
Let him search, he is the one who scattered the things the night before, maybe it will help him learn not to scatter things indescriminately.
Wait until the son has left for school, a shouted goodbye and a hurried slam of the doors.
Take a shower.
Make another cup of coffee.
Look up the doctors telephone number on the internet, fill out a form reviewing the doctors performance. See that there are haters who give the doctors a lousy grade.
Go to the hallway.
Telephone the doctor's practice.
Get an appointment, right away.
And walk through the waking town, past the church.
It is handy to have a doctor nearby.

illness and chores

The cough in the morning, with neither alcohol nor cigarettes to blame for it. Were either of them taken, it would be easy. Now it is just the cold that has been gripping the body since before the year started. Since before Christmas.
Resolve to see the doctor on Monday.
Tomorrow.
Realise that there is no one to speak the truth too.
Unhappy, go to the kitchen, look out through the window of the glass door into the sitting room, there is the son reclining on the couch looking at something on television, a slight murmur in the background is the sound over the headphone he is wearing.
Continue with the morning things a cup of coffee, return to the bedroom, the wife asleep the cat standing at the door wanting to go out.
Nothing to be happy about.
Nothing
A Sunday wasted on illness and chores, that is what it will be.

laundry

leave the kingdom of Somnus and the attentions of Morpheus, the one who has nine hundred and ninety nine brothers, leave them and see the son's face looking concerned, then relieved. He is not used to seeing his father asleep. He grins and says "cafe?", right, it is Saturday, and there is no problem now going to the cafe.

Ask him to make a cup of coffee for the morning, it is nine, and it was a long sleep

Sort the shirts from the other washing, and put them into a bag. They should be brought to the laundry, to be washed and ironed.

Go to the café, drink coffee there and then go to the laundry run by a Syrian family in the basement of the nearby shopping centre.

Collect the four shirts brought last week, and leave the four shirts to be washed.

In time, all the shirts will have been washed by the Syrians.

And all the time saved that used to be spent at the ironing board.

mirror

Low pressure over the England and Ireland, an anticyclone and the weather in southern Germany is warm and sunny. At this time of year it used to be cold wet and snowy and now it is warm dry and sunny. The weather is being sucked up from northern Africa, and the phenomenon will have a name next year. The clouds over the campus at midday are wispy cumulus things, not even half covering the sky.
The coffee bar at work is
The usual
Be alone there
as usual
There are two woman at the next table talking intensely and holding hands, one listens the other talks then they swap and
one listens and the other talks
They are speaking in English, very subdued. Only the odd word wafts over.

At the next table a two young woman and a male friend  talk earnestly. The one young woman is constantly changing her expression, expressing her emotions, each different expression an icon, for example eyes rolled left head tilted right,  that is surprised disbelief, eyes rolled upward mouth open, palms of the hand displayed, that shows uncaring lack of knowledge and so it goes on.

Sit and wonder whether or not she practises in front of a mirror

ice band

sit in the café
Students rushing around in groups
from lecture hall to lecture hall
Scientists drinking coffee
male scientists trying to impress younger female students
female scientists talking about work
the man in the coffee bar being amusing

There is a safety band up outside blocking the exterior staircase
In case of ice, they put one up every winter.

salt fog

Wednesday 8th of January, 2020
It is raining and it is dark, and the water for the wind screen washing apparatus has been used up.
The spray from the salted roads
is drying on the windscreen, turning grey in the process.
The windscreen wipers
just smear the grey mass from side to side, there is not enough water to wash the salt away. Stop the wipers, and the car ahead becomes hard to see.
The car ahead has it's dazzling red fog lights on, even though there is no fog.
This is uncomfortable, it is stressful.
Wait for a lull in the traffic, then overtake
overtake a truck, and then back into the right hand lane, reduce speed, and continue.
A glance to the right whilst passing the fog light car showed the driver peering out of his windscreen, his car is steamed up.
He believes that it is foggy, that is why he
has his fog lights on.
He believes that he is in a fog, and because
he cannot see well he is sure that he cannot be seen.

the first

it is dark, hear the sounds from the kitchen as the son rises, think about this for a few seconds. There is not a lot to think about, it is just unusual to not be the first to awaken.
There is no alarm, it is only set for eight.
Still, today will be the first day of work.
Get up, go to the bathroom and wash the teeth, and then the face, before returning to the bedroom for the clothes laid out the night before. Put them on, and the son brings a cup full of coffee. He knows that it is late, he knows that his father failed to set the alarm clock.

Leave the house, there is a big blue rubbish bin for waste paper bin outside the door. It will be collected later, the contents will go for recycling to be turned to pulp for low quality cardboard.
The car is parked in a nearby street, remove the ice and frost from the window, and leave the parking space. There is already a small white car waiting to take over the space. Somebody's day started well, parking spaces in Landshut are rare.
Especially during the day.
The first day at work today, and consider that there will be nothing to do.

Follow a truck down the motorway, it has a large luminous circle picking out the shape of the tank that comprises it's load.
Follow close to save fuel. Drive in the truck's draft, in the slipstream.

Park the car beside the tree on the pebble parking place.

Epiphanius

Outside the front door of the house that is home now observe that the church spire is caught in the sun despite the frozen haze today. For those who believe, it is the feast of the Epiphany, a holiday here in Bavaria. The day of Melchior, Kaspar, and Balthasar, the one time three kings of Orient, the last holiday of the Christmas and New Year cycle.
There is an illuminated star hung from the end of a flagpole over the corner of the street. It was put there by one of the neighbours, and is a simple object of beauty. It glows red in the shadows of the alley.
This is the morning walk, a short stroll around the old town, an attempt to avoid the warm comfort of home, and to enjoy the frost ot this chilly morning.
There is the pedestrian bridge over the Isar, the bridge of the lovers padlocks. Be careful there, the wooden planks are slippery with the frost.

And in the corner of the park, an evergreen shrub with its leaves gone frozen deep green with the ice riming the edges of each leaf.
It is a pretty day, but a day that is not going to go anywhere.

chore

Return from the visit to the bakery café with the son, enter the dusty old red door of the house. Look at the stairs on the way up to the flat, see that they are in a bad state. They are dusty and dirty, so resolve to do something about it. The son has homework to do and exams to prepare for. And he has no sense for the fact that things need to be cleaned occasionally.
The wife gives a lecture on how she is the only one to care about the son's progress, the only one to ensure that he has success in school.
Listen to the tirade with interest, do not contradict. Contradictions always lead to escalation. And what good would that do?
Pick up the small cordless vacuum cleaner, and try to vacuum the dirt off the stairs.
This does not work at all, the device is too weak.

Find a handbrush, one bought recently, one with robust plastic bristles.  There is a dustpan in the same design there too, use these instruments to sweep the steps from the top of the house to the bottom. There are so many edges and corners in the steps and the bannister supports, it is hard work sweeping the loose dirt into the dustpan.
All the way from the top of the house to the bottom.
Forty steps and a landing all together.

Then, a large black bucket of warm water, some detergent.
Wash the dust out of the cracks, on all of the steps and the landing.
Two hours, it is work, but the stairs look the better for it.

Take the bucket out into the alley, and wipe the dust off the trimmings of the red door.
It does not look as filthy as it did now any more.

Chores

emotion

awake in the late dark of the early morning, the virus or the bacterium or the viris or the bacteria or watever have receeded, they have reduced their activity, get up and feel the better for it. Read the news, news of assassins and their commanders, the assassinated executing their assignments, the assassin not giving a good reason other than that it was the easiest thing to do. Now no head of state may feel really safe from the eyes in the skies.
When awake, read it again, there are different views of the same story.

Go for a shower, put on fresh clothing, and fill the washing machine with the contents of the used clothing box.
Tell the son to dress completely, it is cold outside, too cold for bare feet.
If he wants to go to his favourite café.
Put the used shirts into a bag, for transport to the cleaners. They clean them and iron them well, and they are cheap, and it saves time.

Leave the house with the son, it is a warm sort of wet day for winter, go to the café, and feel well all the way there.

It would be a miracle, if it had been a more serious ailment. Yesterday's despondence replaced by today's elation, the picture of the real emotion yesterday looks weak and ridiculous in the light of today's emotion.

wrong

The misery of a cold that will not go away,
just enough to feel miserable and incapable,
to have a sore throat,
an aching back and misery.

After returning from a short walk this morning lie on the sofa, cover up, and think whether this is what dying is like.
Everything is not working correctly.

trainee

After the self indulgent night in front of the television, watching a sequence of serials, and going to bed far too late; awaken late and shower and then the son is there it is ten o'cklock and he wants to go to the cafe. His hair is flat to his head, greasy. Tell him he looks like a tramp, he is to take a shower.
It takes time, for he has to dry his long red hair first, he may not go out into the cold with a wet head, says the wife. She is probably right, and so there you are.

It is cold outside, there are people walking about, still seeming unsteady with the year so new and all. The son goes in to the café first, then follow. There is a young girl behind the counter, she is in training, and the propreitor is looking at everything that she does very closely. With all this scrutiny, she makes more and more mistakes, she finally undercharges. Point this out to her, pay the correct sum.

Beginnings are difficult, the people in the street have their problems, the trainee has hers.

unspectacular end

Along the river Isar in the centre of Landshut there is a muddy gravelled footpath, close to the edge of the water. It is muddy because the water fowl always land there, maybe to dry their feet, maybe to be fed. A flock of pigeons is there too, dark blue-grey birds, pecking between the gravel stones, for whatever reason.
Take the camera from it's bag, a photo of the pigeons at their pecking from above would be nice. There is a rush of wings, Hitchcock fashion the ground is covered in birds, pigeons and gulls. They believe that they are going to be fed, well now is that not too bad. Check the adjustments to the little camera, then suddenly all the birds seem to lose interest. There is another man there, and he is really scattering edibles for the birds. He is surrounded, others appear in flocks. Perhaps this makes him feel popular,birds landing on his shoulders, seeming almost unafraid. Take pictures of him with the birds, surrounded by them, mobbed by them.
There are others there, using their mobile phones to hold the moment, to make films, to share on the web, who knows, something might happen that would let their video go viral.
Whatever that means. The man, now joined by a woman, coninues to entertain the birds.
Walk up the footpath , then go under the bridge. A wide gravel path here, the sun is low and the light dazzling.
It is the first of January, and people are out walking off their hangovers.
There is a child in the middle of the pedestrian street. It is tired and wants to be carried, the father of the child is fifteen metres on, standing there, stamping his foot, to encourage the child to move. The child is tired, it is screaming and it will not go anywhere.

Walk on, why not? No point in looking for the unspectacular end to to that story.