after the flood

The entrance to the park is blocked by pieces of wood from the forest, washed down by yesterday's downpour and ensueing flood. The barrier thus created is a meter high. The space behind it has been filled with gravel from the paths, there must be twenty tons of gravel there. A whole truckload.

Climb over this and continue on the daily walk through the empty park. There will be no not taking the two thousand daily steps all the way to the top of the hill.

The back lane down the hill has a stripe of fresh hard core running down the one side of the path. The rest of the path is loose gravel, the packed hardcore is nice to walk on because it does not crunch underfoot as the gravel does.

Follow the path around a bend and there are two workers with shovels and a Wacker stamping machine. The path had been flooded in the night, and they had been working since seven in the morning filling the washed-out parts of the path with hard core and stamping it down with the Wacker machine.

Talk to them, they are taking a break whilst waiting for more materials to be delivered. Their humble opinion is that the path should be tarred, that would mean less work for them.

They have been working all morning, and are only half way down the path.

Altogether, four thousand steps. And it becomes more easy to cope every day.

escalators and rain

 The department store is smaller than in the memories of two years ago. The last time in the building was two years ago nearly, and the roofs appear lower, the aisles between the wares are tighter. The shoe department is smaller too.

Stop to look at some pairs of shoes, there are a few that are quite nice upon first sight. A further examination reveals that they are really rather cheap. Find an escalator going upwards, and go up one floor. Look about, but this seems purely clothing. Take the next escalator up, this is pots and pans and washing machines. Finally, the top floor, this is sports. And over there are the tyre repair kits. Buy a small kit in a plastic bag, some rubber cement and a few patches. That is all that was wanted. Go back down the escalators, following signs on the floor guiding the shopper to the cash registers.

Check the one small item out and go down the remaining escalators. Leave the building by the other exit, passing the watch department on the way. It is a whole department full of tacky cheap watches, nothing of quality or interest here.

The  clothing store opposite is always a good source for socks, use their escalator to go up to the mens department. Search for short summery socks in the cheap ten-piece pack. And when paid for, leave the building after a short look at some wildly overpriced jackets and suits.

Go home and take the rear wheel of the bicycle apart. Take out the tube and pump it up. Hold it unter water, searching for the bubbles that would indicate a leak. There are none, after all that the tube appears to be in order. Reassemble the wheel and pump up the tyre. It will be clear tomorrow if it can hold the pressure or not.

Later, it starts to rain. From the balcony watch the rain pound down on the roof of the opposite building. The splashing and splattering of the water appears to drift from side to side of the roof, covering it in white mist. It is very heavy rain indeed.

The son brings a picture of a local area showing extensive flooding in town.

Later on there is the sound of pumps and emergency services, the heavy downpour must have been over a large area.

The sound of the quietened rain is relaxing.

pork roast and Archimedes screw

 Knock on the door at mechanical shop at work, this is where the machinists have all their machines, arranged in a huge hall. Turners and fitters, all the machinists producing technical masterpieces all according to the plans drawn up by the scientists.

Today is the Monday, the day that there is beer and pork roasts and 

lasagne

a mixture liked an recommended by the machinists themselves. It is their goodbye treat from the photographer who has been with them for thirty years. 

And it is a pleasure, a small banquet in a the gardens of the university with schnapps for afters. There are thirty machinists there, they were nearly all able to come.

The talk goes from the strange to the maddening, from stories of odd experiences to strange memories.

and it goes on and on

From eleven in the morning untill four in the afternoon.

There is a present, tokens for a visit to the guest house near home. They are all well and happy.

On the way to the parking lot, meet an old professor. He is still working, and has been working for the last fifty years. He is the last man doing a particular line of study, he knows this, and at over eighty he is still working. He is watching a concrete delivery truck at the building site unloading. He says that that is a thing that he has never seen before and did not know that it worked that way.

barrow for two

 A man arrives at the bakers on a bicycle with a barrow before the handlebars. It is a large and wide barrow sitting on top of a tiny front wheel. He pulls down a heavy two pronged stand, with one metal prong on either side of the barrow. 

His two small children climb out of the barrow, from the distance see that there are seats inside the barrow.

One of the older men at one of the tables starts to ask intelligent questions about the stability of the whole construction. Listen to an exchange, a discussion of vehicular length contra cornering ability and, of course, general stability. The two children happily join the queue, leaving their father to chat. It is a strange thing, there have been several bicycles of this type to be seen in Landshut lately. It may be a fashion. Wonder about the width of cycling paths  and the difficulty of two way traffic.

Stand in the queue, the person in front has made his decisions and his choices, and the man in front of the man in front has paid and the woman serving him is free.

Ask for three croissants and three bread rolls.

Pay.

Go home.

Unpack the paper bag.

Three croissants and two bread rolls. The woman misunderstood.

Oh well, just one croissant for breakfast, no bread roll, but have an extra cup of coffee.  

Think of the small children being driven about the place in a barrow.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

grey face

 He pedals on gaily up the hill, the photographer does. He is an overweight man in his early seventies, why is he showing off? Because he can. He has been fitted with new heart parts.  Get up on the bicycle to follow this friendly visitor from Munich, and catch up on him as he stops at the foot of a stairway to catch his breath.

Lock up the bicycles and start to climb the stairs. This is his idea. They are granite steps let into the hillside, and they are steep and uneven. Climb on, and look back. The friend's face is grey and his hands are shaking. Help him to sit down, and wait until he can talk sensibly again, until his dizziness has gone.

He still looks unwell.

Tell him so.

Ask him whether it would be a good idea to call the emergency services.

He says no, vehemently. After half an hour walk back down the stairs to the bicycles. At the bottom of the hill there is a beer garden, stop there and order a large bottle of cold and fizzy water. His normal colours return.

Agree that this could have been nasty.

Climbing stairs up hillsides is no business for old men with heart problems.

grind

For the first time in quite a few years, take out the old bicycle. It is dusty, really quite dirty. There is still air in the tyres, unsurprising after the business a few weeks ago when all the bicycle tyres got pumped up hard to demonstrate the use of the universal pump. This pump had been placed in the hallway for the use of everybody by the tenant. The wife said that it did not fit her tyres, but it did, and the demonstration went on to show that the pump was truly universal. It fitted all the valves.

The bicycle is so dirty and dusty that you may be sure that nobody will steal it. The bicycle lock was lost a long time ago, but take the risk and head of on the road to the building suppliers. There are three four millimetre washers needed for the coffee machine. 

It is nice to ride a bicycle again, despite all the traffic. It is slow, but it is always possible to move up to the head of the traffic queue, which saves time. Also, there are short cuts which only cyclists may use.

At the building suppliers leave the bicycle beside some expensive-looking E-bikes. Perhaps people will be more tempted to steal them.

In the building suppliers hardware department find the tiny washers, put six of them into a paper bag and put the whole lot onto a scales. Type in a code and a label with a price tag pops out.

Six cents. That is not a lot of money. Buy a cheap set of screwdrivers to replace the worn out ones at home, and a lock for the bicycle. Scan all the items at the self-service till, then scan the credit card. A bill pops out and gather the whole lot into a plastic bag.

The bicycle is still outside, nobody has stolen it . Drive back home, and be caught in a rain shower just before getting home.

That seems to be the way of things.

But after the installation of the washers the coffee grinder grinds the coffee beans to the required degree of fineness.

braces

On the way down the Bernlochner Schluchtweg a man approaches wheeling his bicycle up the steep gravel path. He is friendly and keen to talk, all the pushing is tiring. He boasts about his daily thirty kilometres to some place outside town, compliment him that he must be very fit.

That was a mistake, because now there is an unwanted lecture on alternative medicine being held by this enthusiast. It is all very well, all these cures and ancient medicine.

But it is not for everyone to believe in, and so little has been proven.

Later, in the shopping mall, go to collect the trousers, the ones that have had the buttons added.

The buttons are on wrong, there has been a misunderstanding.

Explain that these buttons are for braces, braces with six endings, two at the back and two each at front right and left.

Customers are coming and going all the time, step back to let the others in, he says he will be finished shortly.

Now there are four buttons at the back.

Explain that this is not what had been expected at all.

Four at the front and two at the back, that would be ideal, and necessary for the braces to function properly.

More customers come and go, it is a bit stressful, he is alone in his shop.

But then the customers go, and chat about his home in Syria. He is a Kurd, and he talks a lot about the politics in Syria.

Now he is running his small enterprise in the basement of a shopping mall.

In Germany.

30 30

 A day visiting the old workplace, a talk with the person told to do my job. She has problems with the machines, there will be a tuition necessary sometime in the future. Perhaps another visit will be in order, why not and for old times sake. Take a walk through the corridors, visit people doing the work that they were doing two months ago.

There are no regrets.

Speak to the mechanics and the machinists, and arrange for a small farewell party.

On the coming Monday the party will start at eleven, and there will be around thirty people there. Free food and drink for all.

Thirty people for thirty years.

return on Friday

 A camera salesman in a shop commits one howler after the next. The small German rangefinder cameras are only for older people because they are expensive.

Don't follow, but let it go.

The manufacturer has a built in factor of minus one diopter. Tell him that this is untrue, not so. It is in fact half a diopter. But the man agrees to demostrate all of these lenses on the viewfinder of the customer camera, so it is possible to have an idea of what is going on without being disturbed by incorrect theories. Try out all three lenses that are in stock.

There is one that is better than any of the others and also better than the camera with no corrective lens.

Agree to come back on Friday.

103 68

 Climb the stairs to the doctors practice, these FFP2 masks hold back the free exchange of air between the lungs and the atmosphere. The stairs cause heavy breathing, almost gasping.

The doctor is satisfied, she does not see a problem with the blood pressure chart of the last weeks and months. The pressure has been going down, at times so low as to send this patient to sleep. Get a prescription for some antibiotics for the infection on the nose.

Make the order at the apothecary in the main street, and then go up the hill on the daily exercise walk. Arrive at the top and feed the rhea birds their favourite maple leaves. The leaves are getting tougher now as the year proceeds, the early leaves seem to have been nicer and, judging by the enthusiasm of the birds, tastier.

Oh well, all things come to an end.

Remain sitting in the sun for half an hour, then walk down into town. Buy a new attachment for the shower, and a baguette and a piece of cheese. Buy them all in the one supermarket.

And then go home, and collapse.

Later on, measure the blood pressure again. It was so low, that the body had just no longer functioned.

dawdle

 The walk up the hill in the sun this morning was a pleasure, and quite an achievement. From the door to the house all the way up to the animal enclosure without stopping, without a break. That was impossible not so long ago.

Perhaps things are improving.

Feed the rheas some of their favourite maple leaves, picked in passing on the final stretch to the top of the valley. They are lively and greedy as always, and they have learnt not to snap at fingers. The birds are probably not at all stupid.

Sit and watch the ducks and the peacocks. They are all being fed, the peacocks are aggressively securing the pile of bread for themselves, chasing of crows, ducks and hens. They are just being greedy. And with their tail feather display they get all the attention.

There is a group of older people looking out over the town at the viewpoint by the back gate to the castle.

Take a picture of them, and wonder about the diopter setting on the viewfinder of the small rangefinder camera.

And upon returning home, first dispose of the two buckets of biological waste by taking them up the street and emptying them into the communal containers. All those coffee grounds and potato peels, cucumber skins and those of onions. Return with the two buckets, wash them out, and replace them in their place at the end of the long balcony.

And then start to sort all the clothing, washing some, and ironing, and folding, and filling the new drawers in the wardrobe.

alone

 Awake early and be silent, there is no need to wake up everybody else. The cat does not need awakening, she is up and about early as usual. 

Make cups of coffee, that cheap grinder is unable to grind the coffee down to the required fine quality, and a slice of toast. Read news, but there is so little that is really newsworthy.

The son was out late last night, partying with friends. It is good for him to do these things, but in the morning he looks a fright. Hope that he had a good time, but that is only his business now.

And after all that reading and coffee drinking take the daily walk up the side of the valley. It is a regular walk, and it helps the body keep in order.

There are no wild stories today, nobody cleaned up the flat.

The mess is depressing, but it is now more than one can do alone.

glass and glasses

 The shop that repairs the glass on mobile telephones is open, there are people inside. Wait outside until they are outside, then go in.

The bald man is there, he knows the name and he has the spare parts. And he also has a little plastic basket for the 'phone itself. Put the 'phone into the basket, he say that his work will take an hour, to be back then.

Return one and a half hours later, there are people inside the shop. Wait outside until they are outside, then go in. The little 'phone is ready, it has a new glass.

Pay the bill and leave.

Walk through the town to see if it is possible to get a new pair of glasses. These would just be reading glasses, for the eyes have grown older and distant things have come back into focus. In the optical shop look at the readymade reading glasses in their ugly frames. An assistant comes over and asks whether she could help, and succeeds in convincing her new customer that an eye test would be a good idea. Do an eye test at the back of the shop, a different assistant, higher qualifications. She talks of all the difficulties with the masks, with the misdirected exhalations fogging over the optical gear.

When all is said and done, the young lady acts as a guide to another table, and yet another assistant. There is a tray of  four pairs of frames to choose from,  and ask for a pair, but not in black. She scurries away and gets two pairs. Ask her which she would prefer, and she says that the paler pair would go well with the grey hair.

And just a few measurements later, she says that an email will be sent next week when the new glasses are ready.

There is no bill to pay yet.

shot

This day is a day spent reading.  Reading a simple novel, an adventure story, probably not really worthwhile, but fun and full of suspense, from beginning to end.

And in the middle of the book, take the mobile 'phone with the book on it's screen to the doctors. This will be the appointment for the second covid injection, an exciting non event. Wait, go in to the doctors room, bare the right shoulder, and done. It is over, but for a fifteen minute wait in the waiting room afterwards.

The wait is in case complications occur, the doctors are taking no chances,

And then back home, and collapse into bed, the combination of anti blood pressure pills and the inoculation taking their toll. 

Feel guilty for the lazy day and not having anything at all really to write to you about.

pecking order

 Bend down to pick up a leaf and the mobile 'phone falls out of the breast pocket and lands on the gravel with a nasty cracking sound. Pick it up, do not see any cracks, and put it back into the pocket. Take the leaves along the fence to the rheas, they are ready to get their leaf treat. Why they are so fond of maple leaves is not clear, but all of the maple leaves inside their compound have had their leaves nibbled away as high as the birds can reach. 

One bird is sitting down, so offer it a leaf first. Giving what might go for an amazed look, the bird gets up and reaches for the leaf. The other two appear to be higher up on the local pecking order and push that one aside. Take back the leaves and feed the quiet one again. It seems puzzled, but eats the leaves anyway. It is smaller than the other two.

Later, at the bench by the fountain, take out the mobile 'phone. It has a crack after all. It still works, but the crack is not going to fix itself.

office workers

 The accountant in her office waves, and comes over to the open door. This is a door facing out onto the street, the office used to be a shop. She is also the tenant, almost part of the family. It is the same every day, a greeting in the morning before the walk up the hill through the park. It is a regular habit.

She tells a story of fired Japanese office workers that keep up their routine every day, going into town and hanging around, even if their offices are closed. Perhaps this is true, but why tell this story to a person who is retiring from work and going for a walk?

Say the goodbyes and walk on. Later, at the top of the hill, see the rhea birds in the distance. They have probably just been feed, they have no interest in offerings of fresh leaves.

Walk on down the back path, meet the beekeeper. Have a long discussion about cameras, he is the collector of Leica cameras and lenses.

suit

 Put on a suit today, just for fun.

Leave for work early, there is a discussion to be held about the photographic exhibition. One of the directors will be there, who knows what is going on. It is all a little bit difficult.

On the road to work the traffic moves slowly. There is a havy goods vehicle ahead, and it has to stop every now and again, and it cannot be overtaken. So move at a slow crawl all the way to the ramp for the Autobahn. Just before the ramp there is a bridge over this four lane highway, and see that the traffic is backed up as far as can be seen in both directions. It would be a poor idea to use this highway. Carry on down the road to Moosburg, and take the next possible side road. Leave the traffic behind, turn on the navigation system. At the turn recommended by the helpful device there is another traffic stoppage. This time they are felling trees and have closed one land of the road.

At the next ramp return to the motorway, this is deserted. Hurry on to work, try to make up for the lost time. 

Then realise that the journey had been started to early anyway and that there was no need to hurry.

Wonder if wearing a suit made sense today

jobs

 The park was deserted this morning, not even the rheas were out. It was eight in the morning and they were probably being fed. Leave the leaves picked for them, the maple leaves, in the fence for them to find later upon their rounds. The flower beds that had been filled with daffodils a few weeks ago had red flowers in them today. The gardeners had been busy.

Upon returning home commence tidying up, The son makes two cups of  coffee, he is the only one who knows how to do this with the special fine ground coffee bought yesterday. The coffee is very good, it just has to be tamped down very hard. Exactly the opposite to what was expected.

Spend all of Sunday clearing the junk out of an old storage room, one of the rooms in the house with neither lighting nor heating. It had been left to it's own devices for years now. The final straw came with the discovery that the cat had been using it when it's cat tray was full.

This was not a pleasurable Sunday, but this was one of those jobs that needed doing.

crowd

 Persuade the son to leave the house and go for a cup of coffee in one of the local cafés. He has been depressed for some days, and it may be nice for him to have a chat as he always dis last year. Well, last year he was sixteen and now he is seventeen, and things change.

He walks ahead, head sunken, typical teenager pose. He is wearing a green parka despite the warmth of the day today.

Upon arriving at the bakery, the woman there says that there is no coffee today, the café is closed as a matter of covid, and because she is alone.

Leave the cafe, cross the street and head on to the main market. He sees the crowds of people there and turns in apparent discomfort. He has become agoraphobiac, and it will take time to show whether or not this is an act or whether it is for real. 

Turn around and follow him back home. There is nothing to be done.

At home, he examines the new air compressor that came in the post this morning. He checks all the contacts and corners and plastic bags full of accessories and then he plugged the power cord into a wall socket. The machine was noisy, and it slowly filled it's tank up to eight atmospheres of pressure. He attached one of his spray guns and filled it with water. He then was able to produce a steady mist of water, thus showing that all his things worked.

He was perfectly happy when not in a crowd, and doing something technical

cleaners

Go downstairs to the supermarket in the mall. Because the coffee grinder at home broke down fatally today, it will be necessary to buy ground coffee. Examine the shelving. There is fair trade coffee, coffee without caffeine, coffee in pads, coffee in capsules, coffee that is especially mild, it is all there. But no ground coffee for an espresso machine

Be disgruntled, buy a loaf of bread instead.

Then go to the tailor shop and cleaning service around the corner. Ask them if the shirts have been done. They have not. The man rings up in the laundry, and inquires. They will be ready on Tuesday. That is disgruntling.

In the main street, quite some distance from the mall, go to the coffee shop, and ask for a quarter pound of ground coffee, The woman asks for what kind of a machine, and explain that is is for an small expresso machine. She puts the coffee through her grinder so that it is pulverised almost utterly. The small bag costs three Euros. Almost as much is made on coffee as on oil.

And then home, and try out this new coffee experience.

It is quite Ok.

Then there is a telephone call from the laundry asking what on earth needs to be done to the shirts. Explain to the man on the line that the collars are yellow when they should be white. He explains that this is extra, this is special stain removal, this is not part of the price. Tell him that this is understood, would he mind returning the shirts?

They will be back on tuesday, and after a short time rubbing the collars and washing them yet again they will be clean.

The man is an idiot, he should think about offering a cleaning service and not a wetting business.

No mask, so trivial.

 Up, at the top of the park, sit down and learn some French from the mobile 'phone. It is one way to improve the vocabulary, just use an app.

A young boy comes over, he is wearing a straw trilby as a sun hat. Ask him if he had wanted to sit down here, he had such a demanding stare. His mother comes over and says that it is allright, he just wanted to watch the high speed mower that the gardener is operating. Compliment him on his hat. He gives a big smile. He seems rather proud of it.

Walk down the back way, the way that leads dirctly to town.

A man and his two young daughters come up the path. It is a sunken path, on the bottom of a small gorge leading down to town. See him stop and pick a couple of fern leaves for them. They hold them up behind their heads, they are now ceremonial green headress.

Laugh with pleasure at the sight. The girls laugh, show off, and pose. 

Wish them a good day. Later on plan to go to the mall and to go downstairs to the supermarket to buy a loaf of bread. In front of the mall feel in the pockets for the mask. 

Realise that it is not there. There is no way to go into the mall without a mask.

So go home.

storm

 Leave the built up part of down and go down the slope into the flood canal. This is flooded twice a year, but now it is a long wide park with a small meandering river in it. There are two cycle paths the length of it,  a welcome stretch for cycling commuters and for people on very sporty bikes rushing along at high speeds. There is  a road crossing, with gates on either side, gates waiting to be closed by the authorities when the canal is flooded.

On the other side of the canal there is the main road. It follows the canal here. Off the main road there is a huge store selling electrical consumer goods. This is the objective of the walk,  a hard disc is needed to store all the work done for the exhibition, there is no point in trusting anybody else to do it.

Go into the store, it is a huge hall with enormous televisions, loud hifi, washing machines, cameras, coffee machines, computers, and electronic do-das of every description.

Find a compact hard disc that might work, and leave the store after paying an inordinate amount of money for not very much equipment.

The sky is darkening outside, and there is a downpour. Wait in front of the store watching the rain and the lightning and hearing the rain and the thunder.

It takes half an hour and then it is over.

This is time to do some office work on the 'phone.

cat and coffee

 The cat sounds disgruntled, it is six in the morning, and it is mewing. It wants attention. Sit up on the edge of the bed, the small animal comes over and rubs it's head on the linen encased legs. Get up, see that the doors are opened. That is the lovely thing about summer, all the windows and the doors open, the air moving about the house freely.

What does the cat want? Go out to the kitchen, there is food in the cat's dish, that is in order. The cat only wants attention, bend down and scratch its head. Then make a cup of coffee, the first of what probably will be several cups this morning. Then read the news.

The cat walks by, goes to the bedroom door, reaches out with a paw to hook around the door and pull it open wide enough for it to pass.

Then it leaves, the tail standing erect, she seems in a huff. She disappears into the house somewhere, probably to some corner where she can sleep in peace. 

There is no news worth reading today, on this Tuesday morning.

monday morning

 It is early and there is the immediate future

there are the towels in the bathroom, wet and thrown into a corner

this is messy, there is the washing machine filled on friday, people to lazy to empty it and now it is Monday this is messy too. All of this is not going anywhere. In the kitchen vegetables have been left lying about, there is no plan for doing anything. The butter has vanished in the depths of the refrigerator for days now, nothing there for breakfast.

And there is a slow rage growing in the back of the mind, this will not do. it will not do at all. 

At long last there is an angry reminder from the deliverer of office supplies, a reminder of a non existent bill. Pay it at once, the firm has delivered and their money is due. Two cartridges for the printer, speedily delivered, no delivery note, no bill.

In three hours a dentist's appointment, and the cat is complaining for attention, she is bored because the wife and the son are asleep. And the church bells are being beaten in a nearby church, it is seven past six

Yesterdays blame

 A Sunday spent cleaning in the house

then preparing a list for the exhibition

then walking up the hill to look at the people and the animals up there

People on the paths say hello, strangers recognise each other, never introduced

It is a small town, and quite sleepy, waking up out of the forced quiet of the pandemics shadow

and then drift back to a discussion full of recrimination, it is true that everyone should do much more

white

 The barber's shop is one hundred metres away from the front door, it is just around the corner so as to speak. The appointment at seven thirty in the morning is not a problem, after a short shower make the tiny journey, barely long enough to warm up the leg muscles. Enter the shop, and the owner waves to the chair in the next room. The barber comes in, and after a short greeting she starts to wash the hair in the small sink. She has to wash the hair anyhow, this is part of the covid regulations.

Then she wraps a paper collar around the old customer's neck and agrees to cut the side shorter than usual, to allow for the summer heat. She cuts and snips with great speed and proficiency, talking about her cat, which hat to be put down because it had cancer, and could no longer eat, and was a hopeless case. She was very sad about that, but it was the best and only choice.

She snips away speedily, and soon there is only short hair left, 

Then she puts some cotton wool onto a comb and pulls it through the hair to remove the fine cuttings that are still caught .

And finally she trims both eyebrows,  that makes for a very much more youthful appearance.

But the hair remains white, there is no way that it is to be coloured. Pink might be fun, but ridiculous. Blue would be silly. And black would just not be right. 

White is in order

ironing

 Steam irons are a great invention, but they are probably only really ideal in areas with soft water, water that has no lime in it. To save money the wife never uses distilled water in the iron, alway water from the tap.

Fill up the small tranparent plastic tank on the top of the iron. Insert the plug into the socket, put the iron down on the window ledge. It starts to make noises, gurgling and hissing. Lay out the shirt on the ironing board and pick the iron up. It violently produces a gout of steam and starts to spray scalding hot water.

This is not the way things should be. Attempt to adjust the machine, but this does not improve matters. Instead of steaming the clothing it soaks it. Clearly, the iron needs to be descaled.

Make up a solution of sulphamic acid, and pour it into the iron. Use the clearing tab on the side of the iron to let the acidic solution percolate through the iron. Then leave it for half an hour. Then plug it in again, holding it over the sink. The iron hisses like fury and blows out large clouds of steam. The whole working surface of the iron is covered in yellowish lime depostts, which dry into the metal surface immediately. Use a cleaning agent to scour these away, and wait until the remainder of the sulphonic acid has passed through the iron.

Take the water container from the air dryer and use this to fill the iron. There should be no lime in it, it originates condensate of water vapour in the bathroom.

Let some through the iron to rinse the remainder of the acid out of the iron's insides, and then go back to ironing the shirts. The iron works now, and the erratic behaviour has quietened down considerably.

Reach for another shirt, and allow the elbow to touch the iron which is resting on its end on the ironing board.

Now there is a burn on the skin on the side of the elbow, a painful burn.

This is the revenge of the clothes iron.

they have it good

Leave the traffic jam of holiday-bound drivers behind, leave them to their troubles. All moving as fast as a horse and cart on the motorway. Follow the directions given by the navigation system on the mobile telephone, turn right and then left and simply proceed, through the villages and suburban housing. Drive slowly and yet proceed more quickly than on the choked faster roads.

Today is the day to  visit the parents of the wife, both in their house with the well kept garden in a german suburb. Enter the house, it is good to see them, two older people happy to be alive and to be getting on with their lives, without an existential concern in the world. A working family who survived work to live to a long retirement.

They have built a glass pavillion in their garden, unclear what for, but they enjoy doing things and making things and having things, and seeing their children and grandchildren and watching their success.

There is a grill in the garden, the father grills meat and vegetables, the son has brought mock meat to grill so that he can join in the fun.  A steak made of soya for vegans.

The whole day spent in the suburbs, and listen as the accounts are given of other days spent in the suburbs or in the car or in Italy where they have baught a small flat in the country.

They have it good, and they worked hard for it.

today, the second of june

 Awake too early, it is five in the morning. The cat is happy, she follows, from bathroom to kitchen, rubs her back and head on all available legs and furniture corners, indicating her wishes that the refrigerator be opened. Feed the cat, make coffee.

Make a slice of toast with butter on the top, then a slice of lettuce from the fridge, that is all, that is fine.

A cup of coffee from the meanwhile warmed-up machine
and back to the computer, to see that yesterday is gone

unsaved, lost in the grey streams of imaginary data like an uncaught fish.

yesterday, the first of june

 yesterday, the day was left out, movement from morning till night 

Met an old friend, a mnemonic man who will recall dates and times like no other, a man who makes jelly as a hobby when he is not making pictures. Arrived an hour early, and listened to him talk about himself.

Started the day at work, at the old workplace and organised the pictures yet again. A simple visual thing, place the pictures on the floor before the wall and see if they will fit on the wall. Listen to the graphic artist and the curator lost in discussions. Make a suggestion or too. And then the whole lot will be presented to the directors, possibly with a slight slant one way or another. What comes out will be strange, yet again. And after all is done, tidy up the mess after all the others have gone back to their offices.

A visit to the cafe in the Institute for advanced studies building. The crazy bean man is there, and there are small crowds of customers. For now, on this sunny day, they are making money. The terrace outside  the cafe is filled with people eating their midday pizza. Some of them raise their hands and wave, a token of recognition.

Take to the road to early, drive the car around Munich, avoid the town centre. The car does not have the sticker on the windshield qualifying it to enter the city, the modern day emission laws require such a sticker. So avoid town.

Arrived an hour early, still be welcomed.

Two older men spend the afternoon recalling the past over coffee and cake.