gather dust

 The day is long and silly, the son is non communicative and the wife is not talking. The family is distressing in its dysfunctional ways. Perhaps all that means that it is not your standard type of family, but what is a family if not in some way standardised. There is a steady stream of explosions outside as people set off their bangers early, for whatever reason they may have. The sound is muffled by the triple window glazing. On todays walk about town they were piercingly loud. People love making loud noises.

Today in the café there was a man with two cats, both with walking harnesses. They were black Bencoon type cats, very large for house cats and with tufts in their ears much like a lynx. They seem very calm, even-tempered animals, curiously examining the café. They have a most dramatic appearance.

Go home and try to finish working on the pictures. They all apear a bit overworked, it is no longer pleasant to look at them.

This work will continue in the coming year.

Now there was  a phone call at just this moment, now it is time to bring over the glasses to the host of the party. He needs them and they just gather dust here.

enough

 Awoke and noticed that the self was a casualty of the host of the last night's generosity. The head hurt and there were cramps in the legs, waking was pleasant enough but getting up was hell. That is the way the day starts, after a long conversation with yet another artist who wants pictures of his things. This man was worth talking to, the works are incredibly good, a man who lives in a retiring way.

He will give a new years party, that has been marvellous in the last years, and should be great tomorrow. The beginning of yesterday night was spent sweeping his studio.

The end was spent in discussion over the planned pictures, the commission that was hoped for.

Today was a sore awakening, and a small walk about town did not help. The day was spent correcting the exposures on the pictures, preparing them for the printers and tryingu to predict their limitations to attempt to make up files that could be easily and well used in the production of the catalogue of the artists.

It is now half past eleven on this Saturday night, thank God if he's listening that it is the last of this year. A half of beer in the pub and another at the Italians, that is all and it will do.

nothing ever does

 After breakfast, take the father in laws floor sanding machine downstairs. It is incredibly heavy, take the steps carefully, one at a time. Do not put the machine down, for that would mean bending over and risk straining the back two more times. At the foot of the stairs, put tthe machine down carefully. Then take it out to the back yard. Get the compressor, turn it on and wait for the pressure to build up. Then attach the air pistol and blow the loose dust out of all the crevices on the old machine. Open the flaps on the side to remove the wood dust from the spaces underneath. Oil the fastening screw for the belt cover. Then wipe the whole machine down with an oily rag. Go upstairs to collect the hand machine for doing the corners with and clean that too.Find a sturdy box upstairs and put the cables for the machine into it, then later put the small machine into this box as well. That is the first chore of the day.

Then upstairs again print out yesterday' order for prints. This is not a bad idea, this will just get that out of the way.

Take a walk about town. Somehow, it is all as if something was about to happen, but nothing ever does

go for a drink-cheap night out

 The depressions are blocking out any prospect of joy at the thought of the years end. This is both bad and sad, things will have to be changed. But there is no power and no ability to change things constructively. Just running will do no good.

The day started with strange noises emanating from the basement,  Go to the bathroom, and a greeting comes from the bottom of the stairs. It is the son, and he announces that he will now be takeing the train to Bayreuth to collect some things that he had forgotten. It is six in the morning and pitch black night outside. The son does not like the lights being on so leave them off. What that particular madness is good for is unknown.

The son vanishes into the dark, and make some breakfast as the day progresses. It is not light yet, but there is no harm in having an early breakfast. The last batch of unripe avocado pears from the supermarket has ripened meanwhile, so breakfast is three eggs, two slices of toast and and an avocado. Of course, also with a cup of coffee.

The day threatened to be mercilessly awful this morning, and now it has turned out that way. It is not because anything particularly nasty happened, it is just the some of all the small unpleasant things and the woeful depressions.

It is evening, and perhaps a visit to the pub would be in order.

It is now eight minutes to eleven at night, and two half litres of beer have been consumed, one regular and one free of charge. And a small order for ten prints of a show covered some weeks ago. Return home happier after a cheap night out.

rhythmically

 now it is mid afternoon and the circle of the day runs its course. Time was spent ironing, smoothing shirts for the cupboart to let them all be tidy. This takes time, two hours, ten minutes per shirt. There are probably better ways to spend time, but that is one of them.

Last nights concert was a group playing known tunes from the sixties of the last century, just exactly like they were done on the records. Leave before anger sets in.

The pub is crowded, it is full, Speak to a man who claims to be a professional, ask him whether he knows of a printing shop that could proof something. He does not know, and then starts to importantly type things into his mobile 'phone. He shows the message. Realise that he did not understand the question at all, not in the least.

Oh well, finish the drink, and then go back to the italian's and listen to more bad music and watch a crowd of  middle aged women move to the beat.

They are german, there is always the danger that the men will start to clap their hands more or less rhythmically.

mornings end

 Last night projected itself into this morning, after listening to records selected by a friend from his record collection yestedrday. It was a nice Christmas meal at his place, well worth attending. The streets on the way home were icily deserted, sporting only their Christmas illuminations.

The awakening was both early and unpleasant, today on Boxing Day, as it is called in England and Ireland.

But there is no harm done, the cat wants to be stroked, the hair washed, breakfast made, the order of memory is not sequential any more. There is that telephone call at ten, there will be a meeting at one and then there will be a walk in the park for a few hours and then hopefully that will be that, for that relationship will go nowhere.

Lie down again to to gather strength for the coming difficulties, and awake again towards the mornings end with a cautious feeling in the head and a mild tinnitus on the right hand 

The day was spent in comfort of a man with depressions, a man trying to gain strength from easy company, a man who never learnt to grow into a situation. It is hard to refuse attention to one so needy

The evening was spent listening to a dreamer telling his tales in the pub, dreaming of the completion of plans made years ago and celebrating his good education which never helped him, not at all.

There is a concert in the restaurant on the corner of the road and it is rough, it is well played cover versions of rhythmic tunes, the lyrics sung so roughtly that nothing remained but the muscle jerking rhythem of the drums and bass

mess

 A sense of weakness, dizziness, and an insensitivity to the cold in the room now all add up to a almost complete lack of Christmas spirit. Wake up, realising that it is bright and late, and go downstairs. The kitchen has no clear spaces or surfaces left, the wife is fiddling about making coffee. It is late and she is early. 

It is strange being awake and yet not at all present. It is like being both observer and subject at the same time. That what you see is not real, but still the left over coffee in the pot is really burning hot.

Ask the wife whether she still wants the dregs, the pot needs to be cleaned out before fresh coffee is made. She grunts from the sofa, the television is showing morning news. Understand the grunt, bring over the coffee maker, she stretches out her hand with the cup in it for filling. Fill the cup, then wash out the coffee maker under the kitchen tap. Use cold water to cool the hot device down, there is no need to burn the hands.

The water is boiling for the eggs, crack the eggs on the edge of the saucepan and put them into the water that already contains salt and vinegar. Finish filling the coffee pot, and put it on too. Two slices of toast, into the toaster. These things are all not difficult, it is just the fact that all the left overs and unused and used utensils from last nights cooking are all over the place and there is nowhere to place anything. The work surfaces of the kitchen are all occupied.

The butter dish needs to be rinsed in hot water, a fresh package of butter is placed under the glass lid.

Then all is done, the buttered toast and the poached eggs are on the plate, and the coffee is nearly done.

Balance it all on a plate, and take it all upstairs, to enjoy the simple meal in the mornings peace and quiet. Let all the abilities dormant during sleep gradually resurface in their entirety and regain their capabilities to deal with the day.

The bells in all the church steeples around the old town sound, ringing more than they usually do. It is Christmas day, and the faithful and the faithful guilty come into town to pray.

slightly mad

 This was a day of no conversations at all. Not really. A walk about town in the miserable rain and wind this is Christmas eve. It is hard to endure when the situation has left you alone. Back at home, read more about the colour management of proofs. A problem with all the instructions is that they do not clearly describe sources and objectives, they just seem to offer solutions for undefined problems.

Read on, try to explain the confusion. 

Then settle down and listen to Christmas Jazz from ABC radio. They are all wishing good mornings. That is the international nature of the Internet.

The son calls up, he has cooked for Christmas. That is very nice of him, bring down the bottle of Prosecco that has been resting on the shelf upstairs since summer.

A vegetarian Christmas dinner, cooked by the son.

A very nice idea, but that is it for Christmas this year. 

Tomorrow there will be a big party at the slightly mad radio reporters house.

a day of silly conversations.

 The day is strange, the clock showed the wrong time to start with, and there were strange telephone calls asking for peronal experiences of that recent surgery: Well, happy Christmas to you to, this is not a matter of advice to be given just out of hand. Talk about the difficulty of instructing surgeons faced with a problem  whilst anaesthetized. Ridiculous, the whole conversation is not worth thinking about.

Help the son to repair the wheel of his moped, because it is easier with four hands than two.

That is all, then visit the mosaic maker, she is friendly and hands over a copy of the catalogue for which we had made a picture. It is good that it has gone down well after more than three quarters of this year.

And after two glasses of mulled wine, return home and lie down for an hour, she was an exhausting person to talk to.

And then settle back into the personal problems, and the difficulties of understanding color management when something goes wrong. It all seems straight forward from the outside, and then it isn't any more.

The evening is spent trying to make the small Mac computer work, but it is steadfast in its refusal to download and then to install the latest version of its software.

Sad.

No pub today, just early to bed.

Scroogey

 It is strange how tiring driving cars at night can be. It was not much of journey, to regensburg and then back again this morning, but it has left the old body tired now.

The son is up and is repairing his moped, a project upon which he has been working for a number of years. 

His youth still lets him do things like that, and that is good.

In the morning, sit down and work out what went wrong during the last two days whilst attempting to use the home printer to proof a file in an attempt to produce a preview of a properly printed work. It turns out that the problem was trying to correct something that had already been corrected. The simple logic was that the correction was done by a computer, a machine without intelligence and blind and uncaring. And the real problem is that this was forgotten.

Walk around town for a short shopping spree, there is nothing worth getting, except for cat food, that has been sold out almost everywhere.

Christmas has not been worthwhile yet, today was spent alone, like Dicken's character Scrooge. Tomorrow is a chance to go for a short walk to visit a woman who makes mosaics, make a visit and get some wine. That was an invitation. Then there is the invitation on Christmas Day.

25 2 2

 It is past midnight again. Upon returning in the evening from visiting the phone rang and the son said he was stuck in Regensburg. A severe storm had disrupted the railway services. The result is  a drive to regensburg. a short wait and then the return with a bedraggled son who had to talke the last part of his journey on a bus provided by the rail company as an emergency service.

It was a quarter past midnight upon leaving Regensburg already. The journey back was fast, but still, it is late now. 

It is almost twenty five to two.

and then it was midnight

A long day today just solving the problem of not having a reasonable proof mechanism to deal with the pictures. Well, at least the system shows inconsistencies. But this has taken all day now. What with copying files, converting the same and then renaming and then printing them and Its being menial stupid work, but somebody has to do it and it has all turned into a flurry of nuisance.

And now it is mainly done, after the printer had stopped working once because of a network failure. It is a mistake to use domestic networks for commercial purposes.

But it is like work used to be, just testing for the possible and making preparations and trying to absorb all those future disasters.

mean dream

 The day started with a hallucination, a waking dream. This dream said it was midday, so lay here cursing the weakness that causes sleep to drag on under the warm blankets. Then think that there is only more to be lost by lazing on, throw the blankets aside and step out into the cold room. Look at the watch, it says nine twenty-four. That was a mean dream, causing guilt for nothing. Check the mobile phone. it shows the same time. It was a mean dream.

There is a mail message and then a phone request for some more prints. And an invitiation to dinner, that is nice.

There is a collapse in the afternoon, for no reason, so slow down and take a rest for an hour. Then go shopping, and then drive out on the now well worn path to Geisenhausen.

lost soles

 The afternoon was spent solving a few database problems for the artist couple. The morning, on the other hand, was just spent trying to catch up with the left over nonsense of the past few days.

The afternoon was a success, thearning is to ne forgotten. The highlight was a walk to the shoe repair place with the sons boots, the ones that are losing their soles

Laut

 A stay at home Sunday, for what is there to do in this filthy weather outside. A day of rest after the session at the pub last night. It was that Bavarian Irish pub in the country, and it was badly attended. Perhaps all the customers were out Christmas shopping. The music was nearly all from the last quarter of the twentieth century. 

It was very loud, despite the lack of crowd.

Laut Kraut.

The pictures were easily done today, easily finished, and now they are sent away. Online, and all is well.

The principle of reading the colours for a photograph works, it is just a strange way of working. The colours are read by a small colorimeter, and the picture is adjusted accordingly. The colour of the lighting is effectively neutralised in this way. The only problem is the colour surface, it need to be both flat and evenly coloured.

The son made a meal today, and then refused to eat it, for the wife had interfered with the cooking and he took umbrage. This is a shame. The son has now returned to his university, the train will arrive in Bayreuth at nine in the evening.

The head is aching since yesterday afternoon, it feels like a burn under the scalp, which comes suddenly and then goes away. Hope that it will go away to stay that way tonight.

likely tomorrow!

 Why is there a Friday feeling, the knowlledge of a day lost none gained.  The day starts  late with a telephone call, a meeting at one and a meeting at five but that was the second call, it ia all a confusion. Let Confusion live! It will destroy much.

A meeting at five thirty and now it is five.

No, it is four, fill in some details-More!

The meeting was first at the railway station with the collector, it is good to see him again. Being away from work seems to do him good, the work seems to use him up. It is a strange thing for a man of his intelligence to be doing factory work. Leave him at the dance studio, he has eighty minutes of class there. Then to the shops, there are a few things that are needed, whatever over the weekend and the days that will most likely follow. Staples, boring things like bread and butter, a few eggs and a few pretzels.

At home, speak with the son about his studies, he has progressed so much further in all these technical things at nineteen than his father ever will, even if he lives to be ninety. Speak, he is a bit behind with his studies, especially in maths. It will remain to be seen how and if he catches up. He seems to be taking to the student life rather well, that year at home did him good.

Afterwards, leave the house and meet the collector outside his studio and take a walk around town, explain a few details that may have been missed, and talk and chat. There is an episode with a sudden searing headache and a strong whistle and hiss in the head. Now the day of the week is forgotten, tell freinds met on the street that they will be seen tomorrow, but that is wrong, Saturday is today and tomorrow is Sunday,  the confusion grows, age is taking its toll.

Say goodbye to the collector at the bridge, and then walk home to mind the head and get ready to proceed to the guitar player, for a concert in the Irish pub out in the country.

Now it is sixteen twenty three,  perhaps more will be possible later.

Maybe more later, but most likely tomorrow!

y not

 Now in the noisy local, enjoying the company of all the people around making their social noises. Some are very noisy, others are quiet and earnest. It is the local, the only pleasant pub around.

The day was spent at the artists place, making color measurements and explaining proofs. It is pleasant, as always. In pleasant company. 

And the evening was spent in the cinema, watching a film in the cinema about Anselm Kiefer.The end of the evening brings the offer of a job in Washington, USA. It would be an interesting thing, why not.

go for a drink

Spent the morning sorting things again, and thinking about others. The infra red heater does not entirely live up to expectations, but it warms a bit and it is silent. That is a major advantage.

Things drag on and 

then suddenly the to do list is filled with ticks.

Leave the house and go to the hardware store and buy an ironing board. It is large and sturdy, and it can open up to a comfortable height. Now it its no longer necessary to bend over whilst ironing, this makes the chore more relaxing and also faster. The early evening is therefore spent flattening shirts.

The second part of the evening was spent dismantling an old apple laptop. It was a small thin thing, and it was quite bloated with the decay of the lithium batteries. The final screw flew into the air as the lid flexed and sprang back into shape. The screw was later found on the floor. Apple used Pentalobe screw heads, they may be the only people who do.

And now it is time to go out for a drink.

not much

 It was a strange day, and it is sad that it is no longer possible to get out of bed easily. This seems to be one of the facts of life and of getting older. 

Attempt to fix all the files, and then discover that there is one missing. This is sad. It will be possible to recover it from the raw files on the chips, the ones that do not get thrown away. But this will take time, it is a nuiscance.

It is afternoon before venturing out onto the streets, and proceed straight to the car park, the one that is ridiculously jammed full of christmas shoppers and the like at this time of year. Leave the car  park and then stop at a supermarket to buy eggs.  Spend some time finding the eggs, they are hidden behind the vegetables. 

The woman at the till is slow and friendly.

Take the car through the tunnel, and then through the town. At this time there are free local parking places for residents.

And then return to the house. The heating device for the rooms has arrived. Unpack it, read the instructions, and assemble it. It is no trouble. It is just a simple white radiator. It is supposed to work using infra red radiation, but there are some doubls as to whether this will work. Leave it switched on, and watch the temperature sink to fourteen degrees and stay there. At least, the device makes no noise.

In the evening, go out to the pub.

The pub on a Wednesday night is actually less boring than on a Monday night.

But not much.

nowt

 It was morning and now it is night. The day spent working out which pictures go where and why and what for. 

In the evening, a meal at the local restaurant in the country, It was a fine place.

Upon requesti, told the story of this life, a short account to interested ears.

Perhaps the work of the past months is for nowt now.

After a long search for a place to park the car, arrive at home and collapse ont the bed.

Sleep for an hour.

And now it is now.

steam valve

 It is eight in the evening and the day has been deadly slow for some reason. There was some joy that a new heating device would arrive, but apparently there was some disaster with the delivery service and it will probably only arrive tomorrow. That is a shame. Half the day spent waiting for a package.

There was a midday visit to the Thai food place. They produce a nice meal at a low price. It is a place worth visiting again.

But really, nothing much happened. The artists book is making progress. The photographer is mentioned, but not forced into the limelight which is good. 

But otherwise, not much happened. The kitchen was tidied, for the interaction of the wife and the son had turned it into a complete and utter mess, with all kinds of utensils, appliances, half used food packages and kitchen implements left where they had last been used.

Such a mess, but easy enough to bring to a kind of order.

The second hand coffee maker  has an attachement for making steam. It has now become obvious that there is a concealed valve which automatically turns off the jet of steam when this attachment is pushed aside. This is the only way to close this valve. It is very strange. But we live and learn. The next time a cappuccino drinker is in the house the thing may be used.

miserable tenth

 The receeding cold infection is just not receeding fast enough to make its carrier happy. The lack of energy in this cold weather is just unpleasant.

Let the morning flow away, clean up the rooms a bit and answer a few mails. But the stuffy shivery feeling just will not go away like it should, and there is no mild  comfort at all. Set up the camera to try and learn all of the secrets of the digital back. Learn a few of them, and begin to understand the stunning abilities of the new lens, a lens capable of accomodating the wildest movements of the back. From an artistic point of view, the whole thing was a stunning success. From a financial point of view probably a disaster, but then who cares.

Leave the house to go to the café. but this is just crowded and steamy. Go and visit the turk, he makes a kebab, that is nourishing. He is turning ever more friendly, perhaps he is getiing used to serving old men kids food.

The day is turning colder, and there is nobody to talk to. The son is busy dealing with his Landshut friends.

It is a miserable tenth of December.

language is made for making mistakes

 Today is strange after the praise from the crowd at Torretta's yesterday. The quality street of Landshut all loved to see pictures of themselves in black and white. They were effusive in praise and expressed their wish to order copies.

There is no concept there as to what to charge and as to how much the things are worth.

No idea at all as to what the correct price is. Bare material value is not enough and the total of all the real costs is probably too much. Inform them that a concept will be worked out. There is music, there is a good saxophone player, one of the women is celebrating her birthday. The quiet writer turns out to be a good pianist with some musicality.

Awake late, the night's revenge and the price that is to be paid for the consumption of even moderate quantities of alcohol, or hop juice or whatever.

The wife is still silent, she has not commented on having forgotten to visit her parents. Despite her fathers illness, she did not go.

Observe that the supply of cat food is waning, so buy more at the local shop in the Landshut main street. Buy liquid soap too, because that is in shorter supply now as well. The strongly crystallised snow is everywhere, but the roads are just salty wet and no longe slippery. People are everywhere doing Christmas shopping, all with flushed excited faces.

There are prints to be made, and a short resume to be written. It is to be written in German. That causes an instant blockage, the language is made for making mistakes.

And the price reference book needs to be read.

ugly symptoms

 It is no use at all the cold will not go away. Take the day easy then go out to do some shopping. Then rhe cold is back with all of its ugly symptoms. Spend the day sending mail and looking at things. read the book to its dissapointng happy end. The dream man turns out to be the hero of the day, that is boring.

The ugly day turns into an ugly evening, go to the pub, write these notes and resolve to have anorther glass to drown the frustration od the days

cheap thrills and no cure for the common cold

 This was a slow starting day, with a return to dreams of the most remarkable kind. It was a dream of meeting a person and recognising the voice, but this belonged to a different person in the dream. This was strange. The temperature outside is extraordinarily cold, will be  minus seven degrees centigrade this evening. It has not been this cold for a long time.

Stay in bed for a while, try to get rid of the cold by staying warm. In the early afternoon there is an appointment at the garage, perhaps they can say something about the oil consumption in the car.

The friendly mechanics in the official garage were actually not able to say very much, and most of what they suggested would be prohibitively expensive.

Take the car to the other garage, and the mechanic there is friendly, After some thought he removes the O ring from the oil filler cap and replaces it with a heavy duty new O-ring.

Instantly, the motor becomes quiet, it now no longer makes such a noise. The O ring seal on the oil cap had hardened, it no longer sealed the lid properly. This caused the crankcase ventilation system to not work properly. And therefore the car burnt the oil that was forced into the cylinders by the excess pressure. Or something like that.

That repair was free. How nice very nice it is to get something without having to pay extra for it.

Visit a nearby consumer electronics shop and buy a repeater for the home wLan system. And whilst in town again buy a warming drink with zinc and vitamin c . The apothecaries assistant informs that this is probably good at preventing infections. It will, however, not cure the common cold.

pretty bleak

 The point is that this is now an illness. At the dentists a charming young woman carefully filled and repaired the broken tooth. There was no anaesthetic needed, that particular tooth is stone dead on a filled root canal. But upon leaving the dentist's at half past nine the cold is to be felt in the throat and on the left hand sihde of the thorax. If this gets no better, then it will become necessary to go to a doctor, lest there be a heart complaint to worry about.

The wife does not talk to her husband any more, there are no replies to any greetings. She sits in the catastrophically untidy living room and either stares at her computer or into the television set. When she is not at work, that is what she does. And that is all.

It is the end of a relationship, most likely.  The café is desolate today, it is full of idiots, and there is no comfort there at all. 

Shopping after the dentist, eggs and white bread for the next breakfast, and forget to buy lemon drink for the throat. And then go to another café, but their coffee machine has given up the ghost so that is that. Try yet another, and that is in order. There is both coffee and a roll to be had there. 

The misery in the chest has gone away, but there is no need to hang about in the slushy weather, all the snow melting away in preparation for a bleak Christmas.

excess in case of need

 Today, a second road trip, to Munich, in the company of the two artists, the artists working on a catalogue of their work. It is a troubled journey in, with snow and ice on the roads. It was difficult with the cold in the head and the pain in the throat to maintain a cheerful aspect. It was unpleasant to walk over the icy surfaces in Munich, the little café was cold and a bit uncomfortable but very stylish.

There was a two hour conversation with the author who will write the foreword to the artist's catalogue. This was all very nice, said a lot of um and ah and kept quiet. After all, this was just the photographer, and only being there to answer questions about the pictures p recluded conversation in the near total absence of questions.

Then there was the long drive back to Landshut and a pleasant small meal in a Thai place. A place that does fried rice and pork very nicely, and, if you want you can have half a duck.

Then go home and arrange the promised illustrated file. Use the Apple program only to discover that it will not export a file to Microsoft Excel with pictures. This is bad, and sad.

And then lie down after drinking some glasses of water to calm the throat. The cool fizzy water cools the throat and the mind as well. Then spread some gel as per the doctor's instruction onto the nose. It is pleasantly cooling as well, so decide to cover the rest of the face with it, in case of need.

And then carry on working on the files of the jazz concert.

Untill those worth a two star rating have received this qualification.

road trip

 The printer has blocked the internet, so mw the mobile 'phone has to serve instead. This is really slow.

The sun came up to the room and asked to be driven to Bayreuth after all. Start this undertaking by taking the shovel out to the parking place and digging the car out from under the blanket of snow covering it. Then take the icy cold vehicle back to the street and pick up the son's things.

The drive to Bayreuth is long and uneventful, it is no more than a boring stretch of motorway driving. It takes nearly three hours to get there. Rest on his bed in his room for an hour, and then, after he has completed his university business, go back home to Landshut.

In Landshut they appear to have been unable to clear the snow, and the town is in the grip of a huge traffic jam. It takes half an Hour more to get home.

pressure cooker

 It was cold enough to stop the clock, at five in the morning or thereabouts it just stopped. It was evening before it was noticed that it was not ticking any more. The day was spent in disregard of time, waiting for things to happen which did then not occur. Read the book for a while, printed the Christmas cards that had been ordered.

It was just a day of general discontent. The printer refused service at first, but after a while, and a few changed parameters it worked correctly. The snow outside is slowly melting where the sun shines down upon it, but it is not enough to clear this snow from the  roofs of all the buildings.

The day is spent weakly, there is a constant loud hiss in the head today, you can call it tinnitus but it is the sound of a pressure cooker.

Snow day

The light from the window was brighter earlier on account of the layer of snow covering all the roofs outside the windows. See that it must have been snowing for a long time, maybe all of the previous night.

It is later today, there is no need to get up early, there are no errands to be run, not so early, anyway. After breakfast try to fix the pictures taken yesterday. A sculpture lit with a warm spotlight in an otherwise daylit church before a roughly plastered white wall. This ends up as a mass of colouring, all blues and reds that show up on the picture even more than they would have in reality.

Do them one after another, then realise that they are all different.

This is no good. They will need to be finished later.

Empty the dishwasher that had been started whilst making breakfast, and then leave the house. Go shopping, it is all that can be done now. The wife has already triumphantly declared that the son is at her parents place, and that he will not be around later as there is no train service because of the snow.

The town has many pedestrians wandering about now. There has been a warning on the mobile phone that no unnecessary car journeys are to be taken. People are taking this to heart and going Christmas shopping instead of going to work.

Return home, decide to lie down before carrying on with the work of just producing a picture of a colourful sculpture against a white background.

that is how things turn out

 A long day, starting early, wait outside the house for the artists to arrive with their bus. Clear the snow off the path in front of the house so that people do not slip on it. It is a civic duty in the town to do this. The artists arrive, pack the camera case and the tripod into the grey bus, and drive away.

They drive for a long way, to a town in the north east of Bavaria. They have a piece to set up in a church there. They arrive in the town, and the priest is already waiting. After a short discussion over where to place the piece the tall ceramic figure was brought into the church.

Taking the pictures of the piece takes almost as long as setting it up.

Afterwards, there is a meal in a small guest house at the invitation of the priest. After all of this the journey goes on to a renovated building with a café and a museum. There is a statue of a seated person to be errected there.

Help setting it up, but afterwards it is too dark for any serious photography.

That is sad, but that is how things turn out

awful

 A day spent in company, being driven to Regensburg in the morning and helping to set up a small statue in a church, then taking a picture of it, and then being driven back. A pleasant midday meal in a small Thai place ends the morning.

Return home, download the pictures, start to correct them and then feel awful

This is the remains of yesterdays post, the rest of which was lost in a digital disaster

So good night for now

 Spend all morning struggling to complete the collection of pictures that the artists want. It is not entirely easy, there are difficulties with the computers online connection. Finally, in the early afternoon, finish.

Spend the rest of the afternoon in the icy cold taking pictures of statues.

And it is important to be out early tomorrow.

So good night for now

no fun

There is more snowstorm today and it is really rather cold. The thermometer in the room says that it is freezing.

There is snow falling steadily and melting continuously as it lands on the street, not so quickly on the roofs.

And it is just nasty and there is no reason to be nice about it. Go downstairs and have a shower and make breakfast, oh not in that order, but both of these things get done. Add an avocado to the breakfast plate, they are nice and they were sinfully cheap on offer. After a few days storage in the kitchen they are soft and good to eat. Spend the rest of the day dealing with the pictures, and printing, and then going shopping for common groceries.

It is miserable and slushy everywhere.

In the evening, go out and deliver a few of the pictures.

Have a two glasses of beer, and recieve a telephone call, telling me that tomorrows trip is off, because of other problems.

That is sad, but then driving in this weather is no fun either

And then it is nearly midnight, now

Snowstorm

 A day of strangeness, a hard time getting out of bed because of the cold, a nasty feeling in the throat. Get up, go downstairs, make breakfast. Go upstairs again, with the breakfast. Eat and read the news, there is an email from the artists, a writer has written a piece for their catalogue.

That is all fine.

What is not fine is that the clothes smell of restaurant and food and smoke. Put all of yesterday's clothing and any other black things into the washing machine, that will do. Thirty degrees, water, washing powder and movement. That will have to do. Go upstairs and put on fresh clothing.

And then settle down to sort out last nights work. This was to take pictures of an actor reading short stories from a book accompanied by a musician playing short pieces on a saxophone. The author was present, and there was a large crowd there too.

Today the work has to be done to bring the pictures into some form of order and throw out the ones that are no good.

Also, telephone with the repair place about the car. They promise it for the afternoon.

In the afternoon take a train to the repairs place, the car is ready.

Telephone with the artists, and make an appointment for the evening to bring up the new pictures and to discuss the further moves on their new catalogue.

That evening, the roads are covered in snow, drive home carefully in the snowstorm.

amour type reading, for those keen on wishful thinking

 Get up, never mind the cold, turn on the silly small wildly expensive heater and then go downstairs to see about m making the ritual breakfast. The cat looks on, wide eyed and hopeful. She buts her head against all available legs, furniture and human.

Make the breakfast, it is simple enough. Work a way around all of the items left lying about since last night. The son has been making food again, it is good that he can cook and rather sad that he does not think much of cleaning up afterwards. Still, there is enough free space to go ahead, and afterwards take the  plate with the poached eggs on toast and the large mug of coffee upstairs. 

Read the news, the news of those kidnapped by the Palestinian terrorists and now released. Think of those still kidnapped. Remember that there are almost seventeen thousand dead now as a result of political ambition and hubris. There is no cause to justify this, not one at all.

Look at lenses on the second hand market.

Take the medicine, apply the cream.

And then there is tiredness and headache. Take a pill against the headache, and lie down until it works. Read the novel given to me by the young woman. It is a rather passionate description of romantic amourosities. The word does not exist, but the condition probably does. Put the book away again. It has a red cover with roses on it

The sun has come out outside. Perhaps a walk will help.

will not work

There is snow outside, and tiredness inside. The snow is a steady downpour of large flakes, the ground is too warm to accept them. The tiredness is leaden like the sky, and the cold is just a lack of comfort.

Take the medicines and apply the cream, take breakfast. Everything is fine now. And then it is not. The tiredness returns, it will not go away. There will be no walks outside today. Take a blood pressure reading, it is way too high. Therefore, just take things easy.

The day is spent doing office work.

There is a meal done by the son in the late afternoon. He is trying to pull the family together again, which is virtuous and a lovely gesture. His cooking is original, he made a large baked dish with noodles and tomato sauce and spices. It was savoury, and vegan. 

But pulling the family together will not work.

elegance

 In the morning call the repair shop on the phone, the car was running irregularly yesterday. In fact, it runs really roughly when it is cold. Try to explain, but the expert mechanic only hears that which would fit his knowledge easily. It is a hard thing to demonstrate, for it only happens when the car is cold. And how can a car be brought to a mechanic without warming up the engine?

He rings back and says that the parts for the car will be there early afternoon.

Do a few things around the house, and then take the car to the workshop. This repair shop is almost ten kilometres away.

The mechanic is there and he looks at the car, and looks at the delivered parts. He considers that there is a seal missing. This will make it impossible to repair the car before Monday. After thinking, and discussing, and then thinking again decide to leave the car on the premises, they can experience the cold starting difficulties themselves, and not give their customer strange looks any more.

On the way back, stop at the airport restaurant. Watch the aircraft outside, they are small private aircraft and there are a few flying school operations under way, Have a small meal.

Cevapcici are naked sausages, and they are served in the traditional way with rice.

And then walk the ten kilometres back home, through the forests and the meadows beside the river. 

Arrive back at home in the dark, and be delighted that the son has returned home for the weekend. He is becoming rather elegant now, it must be the university company.

simple suspicion

 A day that was just cold and miserable, sitting around and going for walks. There was nobody to talk to all day, went to the café and had a word with the person on service, and went to the Turkish snack bar and chatted with the proprietor whilst he made up a Kebap. Enjoyed this standing on the bridge looking at the river, to the background noise of the small towns traffic.

There are calls to be made and small things that need doing. This is all no harm. Put the clothing that had been washed in the morning into the dryer. It is a black wash, all the black jeans and tee shirts and socks and things that need to be washed. Some black dye had been added to the wash, the jeans are going more and more grey with each wash. 

Much later the things will be taken out of the dryer.

Realise that the depression has walked in again, the dark absence, that just leaves its owner with the feeling of empty bleak nothingness. When even the kindly emails from friends are viewed with simple suspicion.

pictures of their work

 Awake, and then go to check the time, it is too cold and it is not nice at all. Check the time and it is six forty five. Rest for a while longer, then the alarm sounds at seven. Get dressed, put on about half of yesterdays clothes and fresh underwear. Note that the time is flying by, as is the time of day.

Go downstairs and make a cup of coffee. That is a start, go to the bathroom, but that is no problem today.

Thank whoever for the small mercies in the face of bigger adversary.

Clear up the downstairs hall to make it possible to take the trailer out. Then tip the trailer onto its wheels and wheel it out through the front door. Be thankful that it is a small trailer. It will just manage four hundred kilograms when fully loaded.

Take the trailer out and leave it at the side of the alley. Then go and collect the car and hook up the trailer, checking that the lights work by using the emergency flashers.

Then drive to the facility for checking the roadworthiness of vehicles. Upon arrival there a man approaches and informs that there is a problem, when the indicators on the car signal right those on the trailer signal left. Thank the man and put the connection plug in the other way around

After a short wait a friendly man checks the trailer and finds no problems except that there is no air in the left hand tire. Promise to remedy this as soon as possible. After the papers have been signed, drive to a petrol station and pump up the tyres.

In the afternoon, visit the artists farm in the country and take pictures of their work.

traffic

 The dentist's appointment is at eight thirty, that is fine, just getting up in the cold is not at all fine. The bed is comfortably warm, and is inviting a lengthy snooze. Get up and get dressed, lie down again afterwards and get a fright thinking that the appointment has been missed after all. But it was simply bad eyesight and a small watch held at an angle.

Now all is well.

The teeth were cleaned attentively, so now there is a bright clean smile in the mirror.

There is a fresh appointment for the sixth of December.

In the early afternoon take the pictures of the sculptures to the artists, The one artist has fallen ill, he has become infected with the covid virus. Many people are now infected with this virus.

The pictures are well received, and that is nice.

On returning to Landshut realise how heavy the rush hour traffic leaving town is.

a leftover from a lifelong obsession

Slow awakening today, everything was slow and difficult in the morning. But then, as of eight thirty things pick up again, start a small job, make breakfast. The dentist's assistance rings to give a reminder for tomorrow's appointment. Thank her, and then wonder how getting up is going to work tomorrow. It is not going to be easy, but perhaps the knowledge of the appointment will provide the necessary impetus.

The day spent doing small thingsu again, a small amount of shopping, a small walk, and printing the pictures taken yesterday of the two sculptures, the one in Kumhausen, and the other in the Lurchhof. Both are quite in order, only the light of the winter evening was very blue, and the reflections of the blue sky are a bit of a distraction.

Take the car to the repair shop, and they agree that it appears to be using too much oil. They put a litre in, and then they say they will inquire as to the costs for a new cylinder head cover. Well, that will be a thing that will be discovered inside the next few days.

Return home and spend an evening, unsatisfactory, uhappy, locked up in the small room at the top of the house which has turned into that part of the house in which all activity takes place, reading, eating and sleeping. Also, the bit of photographic work that is still done. What a leftover from a lifelong obsession! 

This day was not so bad

 Today started like every other day since the hospital stay-late and slow, despite all attempts to get up early.

But at eleven, leave the house with all the photographic gear packed up and ready to go. Take it to the car, and drive to the social services place near the university. It is too early yet to take pictures of the sculpture there, it is almost completely in the shade. Move on to the other one, the one in the village with the forgettable name. The parking space before it is deserted on this Sunday morning Set up the camera, and spend time waiting for the sun to occlude slightly. There is now so much free space around the wall with the four ceramic plates that it is easily possible to take several different angles. All in all, the work takes an hour.

It is then possible to return to the other piece. It is better now, but the sun will never come around far enough at this time of the year to light it nicely. Do the best that is possible for the moment.

After all of this has been done, decide that a treat is in order. Take the car to the nearby small airport, there is a restaurant there that is run by reasonably good cook, he does Italian and Croatian dishes. He provides simple food at a decent price.

Sit there and listen to a group of private pilots at the next table discussing their relevant technology.

And when the pleasant little meal is over, return home.

Check the pictures on the computer, they are all in order,

This day was not so bad

as of next week

That last night was late is clear and today is wet. The alarm sounds early, than you Siri, but it is no use. The day remains damp and nasty. 

Spend some time in the morning trying to solder the connection on the record player, but the connections to the two cinch plugs have been so mishandled that no correction is possible any more. Also, the soldering iron the workshop does not work any more. Go up to the sons room and notice that his fancy soldering workstation has been smashed, he must have dropped it. Spend over an hour sticking the pieces back together with a mixture of cyanoacrylate and some powder. Together this makes a very fast-drying seam between the plastic pieces. It sticks to the fingers as well, making it difficult to remove them from whatever they have got stuck to.

The result is functional, but not beautiful. There is less risk of an electrical shock from the device now, now that its housing is in one piece again.

Talk to the tenant for a while, she seems entirely happy to have sold her shop, and is perfectly happy to stop being the boss and turning into somebody else's employee, still doing the same job.

Carry on clearing things and doing bits and pieces. Try to remain restful today.

The whole business is not worth it, really.  The pieces of plexiglass should be available as of next week.

the sensation of there being something wrong

 The sound of the rain in the morning served as a welcome excuse not to leave the house, an excuse not to do the work out of doors that had been planned as planned. Instead, spend time adjusting the camera. Work out a simple solution to the problem that had involved the use of a wide angle lens in combination with the electronic back.

There is time for a short visit to the café, listen to a woman talk to her partner on the other side of their table in an incredibly loud voice. It has a sound a bit like a circular saw that has become blunt. Try to shut out the noise so that the coffee can be drunk with enjoyment. 

Leave the place behind, and walk home in the steadily worsening rain. 

In the afternoon there is a visit to be made to the tenant, she is introducing the person who has taken over her business and wishes to take over the tenancy.

Remain noncommital, and having met the two gents, there is the sensation of there being something wrong.

The tenants business is her business.

gone dead at much the same time

The morning went badly, it was not possible to get out of bed at the time that hd been planned for. That was six and it just did not work. It was not possible to become functional until eight.

Do chores, and then go out and shop for things, things like washing powder and rolls of kitchen paper.

In the early afternoon take out the car and drive down to the social services place at the local university. There is a sculpture in front of it, and the artists would like a photo. Realise that the light is wrong, and then discover that the compass on the smart phone believes that the sun is in the North. That is rubbish, and after a while the stupid device changes its mind.

It will be necessary to come back tomorrow.

Then take the car to the social welfare place belonging to the Rathaus in Kumhausen. There is a large and very impressive ceramic sculpture on the wall there, that is to be photographed too.

Try to use the shift on the camera, but that will not work properly in combination with the old wide angle lens.

Go home disgruntled.

In the evening, meet one of the artists, and take a walk up through the park with her. That is good exercise and it is pleasant company.

Much later, realise that the phone is still in the car.

And that all the batteries on the location devices appear to have gone dead at much the same time.

end of the day

 an interesting day, and now back in the german equivalent of a pub. The day started with a visit to the ebullient urologist, he rejoicing the successful enucleation of a gland that was not actually doing anybody any harm. Go home after a short visit to a bakers shop. There were two young women at another table, obne German and one a Indian, both speaking English as a sort of lingua franca. Shortly after at home,

gather the things needed for the upcoming publication and visit

the artists to talk about same.

Much later, like now, listen to a german and an english person in the pub, both speaking English.

Order another beer, this is the end of the day.9

who knows?

 The fourteenth of November just slipped away, and is now remembered on the morning of the fifteenth, there was no cause for it but that there was a day that went nowhere. The little jobs were done, The coffee was taken in the café, and the misery of the cold weather was endured.

And the blog was forgotten about.

Perhaps this is unimportant, who knows?

stomach upset

 Apart from a short walk in the early afternoon the day is spent editing and feeling ill. Those pills that the doctor prescribed have all the listed side effects, including a nasty bowel disorders. These are all described and they are just not pleasant.

The woman in the cafe was unfriendly today, at first, and then she got more pleasant once the matter was dealt with and the money paid. She had not forgotten the returned croissant. Yesterday, received a croissant that was entirely flattened, it was returned with a request for more three dimensionality.

But everything is fine today.

Go home and rest until the stomach aches go away.

And then get back to editing the pictures of the band from yesterday.

retired from trying

 It is a dead quiet Sunday today there is no urge to do anything but to lie on the bed and listen to music, or tho look at things on the computer. It is just a day to take it easy.

Remember to apply the dermatologist's cream in the morning after nearly forgetting to do so last night. They are two different types of cream against two different types of complaint which cause the same symtoms. Something is going to work. That is optimism anyway.

The small electric heater does a reasonable job of warming the small room. It is noisy and probably inefficient, but it is better than freezing and it is better than hanging around downstairs in the horrible mess that is everywhere there.

This is up to the perpetrators of same to clear away. 

This person has retired from trying to organise a pleasant living environment for all.

Pizza

 The young woman from yesterday will not leave this ancient mind, a young woman not especially beautiful, not anything wild but with the ability to hold her opposite with her eyes and to engage him in conversation, never letting go. Not ever, not for the whole evening will she let it be. This is not flirting, it is almost a direct proposition.

Without mentioning a single word that could be alluding to anything personal or intimate at all.

Without any overt display of clothing, not batting an eye.

It was time to leave and she asked whether she could give a goodbye hug.

A strange encounter during the late evening yesterday that stays in the mind.

Attend the opening of the ceramic photo exhibition by Peter Litvai. Interesting, but a completely different angle to that which was seen personally at said school last year.

Leave after the speeches.

Collect the pills and creams predcribed by the doctor yesterday from the apothecary. There is a different person on service today, and it becomes necessary to forcibly explain that there should be three packages and not just one. A confusion in communication betweeen the staff of the shop is the cause of this.

And then return home, and ask the son out for an afternoon meal. He goes for pizza.

rush

The morning is nice and calm, but it is cold and bright. Go downstairs, have a shower  and make breakfast to take back upstairs again and sit at the small table in the small bedroom and eat poached eggs on toast and drink a large glass of coffee. The glass is a double walled insulating glass, it does not get hot and the coffee does not cool down so quickly. Sort things out on the table, pack away the camera lenses which are now all clean.

Change into day clothes and make up the bed.

Then start making the final prints for the two artists. Work at this until it is time to go to the doctor.

The doctor's practice is busy, but they manage to stay friendly. In the waiting room there are all these people with skin complaints, it is after all, a dermatological practice. There are things to read on the table, women's magazines and political magazines. Take one of the latter and read a strange editorial.

The young doctor is friendly and efficient. She ends her work with a quick examination searching for skin tumours, but she finds none. There are none.

After this go home, then go to the cat food shop and buy cat food. Make an appointment with the artists for the late afternoon to hand over the prints. Then to the apothecary and hand in the doctor's prescription, it will be available tomorrow. Bring the cat food home and then go to the café, and have a cup of coffee and look at the other clients of that establishment.

Just another day spent chasing from one appointment to the next.

And tonight there is a music session to attend to at the Italian's place.

seven of nine, Seven of Nine

 On the way to the kitchen, notice the cat lying curled up cat-like on the top of a sideboard on a jacket that the wife has left there. The cat is quiet and lethargic, this is unusual. Go over to her and stroke her head, and she moves and purrs quietly. The cat is not her usual self, she may actually be unwell. Hope that this is nothing serious.

Make breakfast, and upon leaving the kitchen pass by the sidebourd again, and stroke the cats head in an attempt to cheer the animal up a bit.

Upstairs again, drink the coffee and see to the morning things that need doing, such as making the bed and reading the news. There is a telephone call from the glasier, the woman tells me that the ordered sheets of glass are ready for collection. Mosey around the place a while longer, have a shower, and then go to find the car. It is in an awkward spot, there is a car parked diagonally in front of it, and reversing is difficult because of a lack of vision to the rear. The vehicle is an awkward construction, with a very high rear window which makes reversing awkward. It will probably get better with practice.

Collect the glass at the glacier, see that all of the edges have been ground and pay. Then go shopping, it is handy to be able to park the car in the basement of the mall. The first two hours are free, that is handy too.

Go upstairs in the mall, all the way through utilitarian concrete-walled passageways. There is no need to take the lift. Upstairs, visit the public lavatory and then go and have a snack at the butchers. Then go downstairs and buy the few groceries and things needed later during the day. Drive home, unload the stuff, and then go to a free parking spot opposite to the police station. There are always free spaces during the day, just in the evening all the neighbours return and it always becomes necessary to drive further afield.

And at home again, see that the cat has perked up, she is now sitting in front of the wife's computer next to the heater. She purrs readily now, and she seems better than this morning. A little later, encounter the cat again, she is checking on her food bowl. Feed her, and think of the character in Star Trek called Seven of Nine. A cat is supposed to have nine lives, maybe that is what the screen writer or author was thinking of.

The rest of the day is spent printing the pictures taken yesterday, and practicing the use of the camera.

definitely worth while

Busily check the equipment after breakfast and then carry it down to the hall. That is the name given to the passage between the street and the back yard. Then get the car and load the equipment. Drive off to visit the ceramicists, as planned.

Stop at the petrol station in Geisenhausen and fill the tank. Then clean the windshield using the bucket and wiper made available by the fling station.

The ceramicists are welcoming, as always. spend time chatting, they have prepared a nice breakfast. The rest of the day is spent taking pictures of the many sculptures in the garden. It is great, they prepare an evening meal too.

Chat, return home,  Check the pictures.

The purchase of the small view camera was definitely worth while.

a waste of time

 The seventh today, the seventh of November and things just do not work well. In the morning everything is all right, but then in the early afternoon the mail arrives. the tripod is a very good buy. it works well. It is the same model as the one that had to be left in work. 

But somehow the day drags and seems almost to smear away. There is much work trying to sort out the gear for tomorrow, there is work sorting the washing, there is work doing all of these things.

Take the empty bottles out to the bottle bank. Tidy the room upstairs.

The crashing noise as the bottles land in the container is satisfying enough.

There is a sad feeling of depression, and the feeling that nothing worthwhile is being done, and that all the silly things that are being done are just a waste of time

junk food

Wake, and all is well, and that is unusual. It is early, and happily go about all the usual things and then start to sort and to separate the equipment, tidying all the loose wires with the same names but different connectors to their relative devices. There is pleasure in tidying things, and there is pleasure in finding things that had become mislaid over time and returning them to their place. Place the old digital back in its original case with all of its wiring and bits and pieces.

Continue working like this, then find the empty window frame for the front door. It is empty because it fell out of the door a year ago which led to the glass breaking. Measure the frame, then ring up the glazier and ask for sheet of glas in that size.

Wash the plastic cases that have become dusty with time. Wash out the grime in bath tub, and then wash the other window belonging to the front door. The glass has become filthy in storage. Use some window cleaner spray and clean it, and dry it with a rubber blade. For good measure, clean the glass verandah door too, it has become dirty of late.

Then there is a telephone call from the glazier, the glass sheet is ready for pickup. 

For the first time since returning from France take the car and drive to the glazier. Take a wrong turning on the way, this makes the drive a bit longer, but this does not matter. Pick up the sheet of glass and pay for it, and then drive to the hardware store to buy some putty and some small pieces of hardware to secure the windows properly this time. Return home, and discover that the person at the glazier's place had assumed that the given measure was the actual size of the frame, and had reduced the whole by five millimetres. But the problem was, that this amount had already been allowed for. So therefore the pane of glass was almost too small. With much care and fiddling about and the careful use of small nails, it was possible to glaze the window. It was not perfect, but functional.

By the time all of this was done the day was done too.

Make an evening meal of sauerkraut and wiener sausages, as they are called here.

The meal does good, even if it is very much the local equivalent of junk food.

good that he is getting on with his life

After breakfast, the first short walk through the park, the first walk in a long time. Everything is damp from the rain, and the colours of the leaves are brilliant, every shade there from brown to green, yellows and reds to be mentioned too. Walk up to the castle, look at the splendid sky that is indicating a change of weather. See clouds in the distance that are depositing rain on the distant landscape underneath them. They look like misshapen jellyfish, the rain being the tendrils.

At the café it is too late to get a nice seat inside, so stay outside and enjoy a cup of coffee with a buttered pretzel, the same as used to be the standard years ago on the train journeys to work.

The day is spent doing one thing or another, there is a demonstration in the evening by Palestinians demonstrating for a free Palestine.

Take a few pictures.

In the evening, the son leaves to go to the train to return to his place of studies. It is a sad business to see him go, and it is good that he is getting on with his life.

still early

 Empty the last of the coffee into the grinder and press the button. There is the unbearably loud sound of grinding beans, but only for a few seconds. That is enough for this mornings dose . Dismantle the small expresso boiler and fill it with the grounds from the machine. Put the whole lot onto the cooker. Feed the cat.from a tin on the counter, the overfed animal takes one loo at the food and backs off. The animal is probably spoil, not the food. After putting on a pan full of water to heat go upstairs to get the coffee glass.

Carry on making breakfast. 

Outside is a clear and cold day, indoors is simply cold.

Later, leave the house and go shopping for more coffee and a few other food items. It is still early on this saturday, there are not many people about.

The white hoodies are clean now too

 A strange awakening this morning after a night of interrupted sleep. There was the natural urge to go downstairs to visit the bathroom, which was duly followed.

Once downstairs it was established that it was a quarter to six, this would be a time for breakfast. Go to the silver coffee maker on the stove and feel that it is hot, as if there had been coffee made insde the last half an hour. That would explain the smell of coffee in the corridor, of course. The house is empty, but for this one person and the cat.

Make breakfast and then, when done, check the computer for any further news. The part for the camera has been updated, it will arrive today. This is good news.

Go downstairs again and scrub the bathroom floor. it is one of those things that just needs to be done noe and again. The detergent has a nasty sort of clean smell.

Then fill the washing machine with all the dirty towels and a sheet and the white hoodies that never seem to go clean anyway. Run the the machine at sixty degrees, perhaps the stains will come out with the higher temperature. 

Then go upstairs, and put the camera on the tripod in anticipation of the arrival of the mounting plate for the digital back. Then start to sort things out with the lenses, and arrange a small picture for later. The computer informs that the package is under way, and is not far off.

The cat wants attention too, and insists upon jumping up on those warm human legs and she also allows her back to be stroked.

When the washing is done, put the whole lot into the dryer, but for one shirt which goes onto a hanger wet so that some of the creases may fall out of it.

The piece of equipment arrives, just a very small casual package. Bring it upstairs, one can tell that iit is an origingal part by the way it fits and the snappers close with no bother. Attach the back, and turn it on.

The picture appears on the screen after the correct buttons have been pressed. So far so good, and then the exposure is measured and an exposure is made. A second picture with a different exposure, and then the card is removed from the camera and put into the computer.

The result is most pleasant, it is far better than expected.

The white hoodies are clean now too.

level

 The morning is so quiet, and it is cold and the bed is warm. There was some disturbance at four in the morning, and ths led to stumbling in the dark, downstairs, past the lights that do not work. The cat is awake, but that is all.

Upstairs again, tuck into the bed.

The next thing is , it is quiet and warm, and there is light outside It is eight in the morning, all is well. But there is this lazy impulse just to stay in bed. Ignore the impulse, and get up and make coffee and breakfast, this is something to get on with. Answer the email letter to a friend, have a shower, check certain items with the photographic equipment. There is considerable excitement now at the prospect of being able to take this work up to a new level.

Walk and work for the rest of the day, feed the cat, prepare the post.

The day is doleful, the weather is damp. It is the edge of the storm over France, it has died down by the time it is here to a sad drizzle.

profit

 And now it is a quarter past six in the evening, and the day was spent quietly studying the instructions for the new device bought so recently. The day was also spent feeling ill, last night was too late and just it is all too cold now. The air temperature has fallen quite considerably,

The son has spent time at home, and it has been decided to send him an amount to cover his rent in the place in which he is doing his studies. He seems happy enough with the way things are going for him.

It is the evening of All saints day, and next week is full of appointments and meetings and tests of equipment. 

Will all of this ever be profitable?

That was yesterday and last night.

 yesterday was a day that started silently and ended in a tremendous noise,  a start as boring as you can imagine, learning to deal with new tools, learning all the time, Later thinking of things that would solve problems that had not yet occurred but were bound to occur in the near future.

And then in the early evening the discovery that the son had arrived in the house. The discovery was just by chance, there was no attempt to inform the father of filius ante portas. 

Sad.

Glad to have met him anyway and to have had a humorous conversation with him anyway, finally turning to the nitty gritty of the daily finances, the argument being that there could not be enough money available and please may there be a certain amount of, albeit immoral, paternal support. After ten minutes of not convincing argument the case was won.

ok

The evening in the pup, thinking. Suddenly, the face of a young beauty, tongue tied, looking into these ancient eyes. It  is unbelievable, try not to be rude. This younTg woman is now studying in Vienna, and her sudden appearance and her sudden careful touching of the hand is 

a shock: A shock that does not accept what cannot be true.

So spend the rest of the night wandering about what could have happened had she not left in confusion, what else should have been done.

That was yesterday and last night.

There will be another entry later today

why go every day

 A day spent at home, today, never left the house. The house is big enough, and there would be work to do there, but that was not the only reason. Certainly, the steps were swept and washed from top to botom, but that was not the problem really.

A parcel was received which contained the photographic equipment which had been ordered. It took a while to realise that it would not, could not fit. This was because it had some abstruse Hasselblad fitment. This a major nuisance, but a search revealed that fitting adapters would work in place of the Chinese adapter. The cost might be recuperable in part by the sale of the Chinese thing. The other adapter would fit, and was made by the same French firm who built the camera itself. Strangely enough, the item is on sale in Copenhagen,  and is going for half the price for which it would have been sold for in France.

This is strange.

Pack the films and make up a post paid label for the package. It will be sent tomorrow and will take a week.

The day was spent quietly, and there is a resolution not to go to the pub today, why go every day?

such is fame.

 The walk outside today, the camera with the bellows and the standards and the monorail beneath. Ease through the routines to take the pictures of the gazebo and the chruch tower and the crooked house. Set the camera up straight, cock the shutter,, opent the shutter, focus, check the movements, close the aperture, close the shutter, remove the focussing screen, fit the film back, remove the darkslicde, take the picture, foreward the film, replace the darkslide and take down the back and replace the screen. A simple sequence, it will be two weeks before the result is known. For the film has to be developed and scanned.

In the eveneing, chance upon accquaintances, and visit a musicians house.

Be confronted with pictures taken some time ago.

There is a request to sign them 

such is fame.

elsewhere

 The sun is shinning theough the verandah door

it is still warm enough ourside for the flies and other insects to be active

Fix up the cameras, pack the equipment as perhaps needed

Then walk about town, just enjoy this sun at the end of October

Go to the bank, discover that the secret pin has fallen into a hole in the memory, gone. Step back and think of the sequence of actions leading to past withdrawals. The number climbs back out of the hole in the mind. now it is possible to go about the business and to make the withdrawal.

Walk along by the river, and then find a pleasant café.

meet a man, cannot recognise him, he is known and then again he is not. Walk on down the street hear a call. It is the driving instructor, he looks so unwell that he is unrecognisable. Almost.

He explains that his wife has died.

Suddenly, last week. He gives an invitation to go to a meeting later on, in a local guest house.

Later, at the meeting, everyone carries on as before

Just the instructors wife, she is elsewhere.

leave things for tomorrow

 The rain stopped play today. And anyway, there are small things to do in the house and the pictures to sort and to edit. All the pictures from France, there are not many, but they are to be treated with care. There is a constant headache now, it will not let go. Perhaps an ibuprofen pill would help. Take one now, and see if it works.

The day is spent indoors, reading.

And at five in the evening go out to the café and listen to people argue about politics. This all takes place at a distance, only snatches of conversation are to be heard. See the neighbours family go somewhere together as a happy group. That is a nice thing to see.

And then go home, it is now misery. The wife is on her way to recovery, she is walking about cooking things in the kitchen. Imagine that there will be a mess to clear up in the morning.

Go back upstairs, and edit a few more pictures. But the heart is no longer in it, it is probably better to leave things for tomorrow.

slim chance

 Recovery from things is slow, but today starts well just trying to organise the remains of the journey to France. The washing machine is empty, and filled again, the clothes from the dryer sorted and ready for further treatment. 

The plan to try out the camera equipment today has not worked because it is raining all day with nothing but short intermissions. Work on the pictures taken in France. There are not many, but still it all takes time.

The wife says that she has been infected with covid. This is a serious thing, she caught it from her father who is in hospital for the same reason. She is snuffling and sniffing and has a hoarse voice. Go shopping and bring back a few things that she asks for. Try to keep a safe distance, but who knows what a safe distance is.

There is a special offer on the web for an important piece of camera equipment. There is no point in refusing the chance, the dreams have been turned down often enough. The offer is an improvement, but still the sum is large.

Make the decision to go ahead, though the chances of ever earning enough money to pay for the thing are slim.

not that many of those

 Recovery at seven in the morning, go downstairs to make the old normal breakfast. Things are the way they used to be, sort of very nearly.

Start by examining the parts and the bills that had come in the mail during the holiday in France. There is not much there, there is nothing serious yet. There is a bill from the medical insurance people, and there is a bill from the tax people. The customs bill for the import from China was paid yesterday. Therefore, all is done.

The tax bill is only due next month, that is not a problem.

Start to sort the clothes and to tidy away the things that had gone to France.  Soon, that is all done, and the clothes are sorted by color ready for the washing machine. Then all will be done when the wasching machine is done.

Set up the camera on the tripod for the next project using roll film on the technical camera. See that all the parts work, check that the light meter is working. Set it all up, then pack it away into the tan coloured bag. That will be a project for tomorrow. Then check the batteries for the camera for the repro machine. They are all very flat, and one has swollen, that is what comes from not using the batteries for years. Put the swollen one into the box holding the old batteries, then put the other ones on load.

Go outside for a walk about town. Things are fine today, and the weather is good.

Say hello to the wife and she says hello back.

There is little else to be done, really, except to edit all the pictures taken in France. There are not that many of those either.

left on the road.

 The journey from Nancy to Landshut was long and nasty. The French side of the trip was fine, but it rained in Germany constantly and heavily, and the traffic was pure chaos.

It was only possible to sleep upon returning, a short visit to the shops to buy something to eat, a visit to the post office to collect mail, and then a short lie-down that turned into a long sleep.

Until now.

And now it is almost midnight.

Goodbye today, left on the road.

systematised sleeping facility.

 The day started with its being the last day in the cave. Spend some time admiring the red and white matt tiling and the faded carpet on the floor. Take a little time to take a shower, then pack the clothing up into the burag and 

Take the whole lot up to the car by the church.

Return to wish the owner of the cave good morning, she is in her cave which is next door.

It is a sad situation, these two persons may never see each other again. Talk, then retire back into the big cave to let her get on with her dressing for the day.

Later, she calls, she is ready. Got to the other cave and make a cup of coffee,  and we are drinking it when the French cleaning woman arrives. She is surprised to see another person in the cave. Her comment is that the sink is clean, as if this was unusual. She is friendly to this stranger. The cleaning woman is a constant foil to the host, the woman represents the personification of a French order imposed on free thinkers. The comment on the clean sink is seen as a compliment to this stranger.

Then the owner of the cave wishes to leave to let the cleaner get on with her work.

In Montoire, there is only one café open on a Monday. It serves a poor coffee, but plays interesting music.

There is a long walk to the  newsagent, and then to the baker, where a misunderstanding leads to the baguettes being left on the counter. 

Return to the car, and drive to one of those revolting filling stations which are just paid by credit card and there is no person there t all.

Return to the shop at the wish of the cave owner, she makes her purchases.

Return home, and leave the car parked at the head of the road for a change, thereby blocking the parking for the local dwellers. This is for the last time, it will not occur again.

The cleaninig woman had disconnected the telephone and the radio to properly clean around these fixtures without the cables getting in the way. In replacing the telephone and internet cable she bent one of the connecting pins.

Nothing worked, and it took an hour to find the fault and to restart the system and the devices.

And then the farewells, and the hours long drive down the French motorways to that hotel booked in Nancy.

On arrival there, see that it is a one hundred percen automatic hotel, there are number pads on every door and on the entrance to the hotel itself. It is almost an automaton, a systematised sleeping facility.

a young woman with a man's haircut

 A long day was spent in the car today, a pointless day in terms of the  original target of the journey. The target was a brocante sale, a typical French outdoor event, and upon arrival at an empty field after fifty kilometres of driving further checks were necessary. It turned out that the address mentioned in the app was not the same as the one the navigation system used. After changing the address it was a short journey to a French parochial hall and a silly bazaar with a few local people. The most attractive thing was a toy unicorn being sold by a young girl. The coffee served at this Brocante was bad and overpriced.

On the long return journey stop at an Italian restaurant and have two Espresso coffees. They are good.

On the return journey pass by La Chartre sur Loir, and have another cup of coffee in the Hotel de France, a place of British racing fame. The coffee is served by a young woman with a man's haircut. This suits her very well. It gives her a most boyish appearance. And she does her job well in that typical aloof French fashion.

The host from the cave buys a pair of warm slippers in a tourist shop, the only other business open in La Chartre.

Return home to the cave, tired.

town again

Down to town again, it is market day and there are some spring rolls and a meeting in the cafe, the one known as the Golden Gerbil by the British and the Gerbe d'Or by the French.

A lovely morning on the market with strong wind and light rain. 

And the afternoon spent struggling with the machine.

And a lovely meal in the evening in a local restaurant, and all is well. There is an endless difference between a French evening meal and what they offer in Landshut.

In the early hours of the twenty first

of October 2023 sleep was interrupted and there was the sudden realisation that the blog had not been done. The twentieth was a sad and strange day that started of with the collection of a spare part for the washing machine in the cave. This part could be installed without any problems, but the driving was a pain in the neck. 

The coffee at the cafe in Montoire was Ok.

Then the rest of the day just went away, with a trip to town.

Hopefully nobody noticed.

 It was a late start today, and a long wait before the doors to the hosts cave were opened. The journey the day before had been tiring, and she was taking a longer rest.

It was midday before the day started.

Todays plan was to visit a wine merchant. It was not a very long drive through the French countryside, but the roads were in poor repair, and there were many roundabouts and speed regulations to keep an eye on. 

There was a strange junction and a traffic island was negotiated the wrong way. But nothing happened.

The decision to buy the wine was speedily made, and the wine dealer left behind.

In town, another coffee and three baguettes bought at the bakers. The bakery staff were all friendly, and seemed entertained by the inability to speak proper French. A departure from the usual kind of humourlessness.

Finally, a visit to the supermarket, and a sudden burst of rage at everything, at the French, and the gypsy woman wheeling a shoping cart, just a simple unjustifiable rage. There was complete unclarity as to what this rage might be caused by. Just a feeling of rage.

Buy apples and a few bits of sausage in the supermarket.

The rage goes away in the course of the evening.

Hopefully nobody noticed.

A strange sport.

It was seven and then it was nine. The morning disappeared in attempts to pay for some Ebay deal online, which failed because the things have changed. Rush up to the church to fetch the car, and drive down the the Cheemin du Rome to the corner of the Rue Gouffier to wait and to pick up the lady of the house.or the cave.

It was a short drive to  Montoire to meet the man called Mick. Leave the car in the car park by the communal music centre.Return to the Gerb d'Or for the first of four cups of coffee. Have conversation and a few more cups of coffe. Then pay for them, after having gained some knowlledge of electric scoooters.

When collecting the car observe  the girls from the local school running aroung the park in the rain. The runners are always paired with a cyclist. Both the cyclist and the runner are very wet. Then they stop and change places. The cyclist continues  running and the runner cycles along beside her.

A strange sport.

This is all followed by a meal at a Morrocan place, couscous and lamb, very nice. The vegetables are boiled watery.

And then return home in the rain, and start to edit the pictures rrom the last few days.

small view of a big planet

 It is now seven minutes past four on Tuesday morning, This has been the situation for the past few days, an awakening at this hour and then a long period of not going back to sleep. This is all inside the deep silence of a limestone cave in the department Loir et Cher in the French province of Centre.

This time decide to continue this daily blog at this time.

The cave is cold and beautiful, there is a steady draught of cold air coming from a second cave that is keeping the air cool and dry. There is no sound to cause this awakening, maybe it is the deep silence itself that is the cause. The heavy leaden tiredness six hours ago that made going to bed a necessity has now gone, leaving the body and the brain awake in the dark.

Use this computer to first check on the electronic mail and then to check on the progress of the current wars in the world. There is no war in the New World yet, but that cannot be far away now.

Old world charm has gone sour.

The cave is pitch black dark outside this pool of light from the computer screen, the computer screen itself a window presenting a narrow view of the world.

bell

The morning sunlight in the cave is a joy, again todaay, at nine in the morning. Get up, take a shower. The shower is a fiddly one, it is hard to adjust, but it works, and the warm water is pleasant in the air now grown chilly with Autumn. The hottest summer on record is coming to its end, probably the warmest winter ever will follow.

The light in the cave is beautiful despite all of this.

At midday go on a visit to an artist who keeps two dogs. The one is a bug eyed American terrier and the other a Staffordshire one. Botth are effusively friendly and never stop licking ones hands. If one lets them do this.

Offer to attach a bell to the back door of the artist's house. The bell is lying there ready, there is a drilling machine available, and the screws are there too. Only a masonry drill bit is missing.

In the afternoon go to the hardware store and look for a drill bit and ask for a drive belt for the washing machine in the cave. The drive belt is on order only.

Return, and install the artists bell. She is well satisfied and offers a soiree with whisky.

That is a good end to the day, and would have been the end of the day had there not been two exquisite sausages and a salad for an evening meal

brocante

 The light in the cave in the early morning is spectacular, the sunbeams shine straight into the cave mouth through the many paned windows and the glass door blocking it from the outside world. Get up, it is late. Leave the shower for some other day, then brush the teeth and go next door.

The weather is getting cooler, and the coffee pot is waiting. Talk to the owner of the caves, sitting on her couch bed, we will go to a brocante market, a vide grenier market some twenty miles away, to look at the things people have cleared out of their attics and are offering for small money.

It is a long and beautiful drive to the market. The route leads over side roads through the flat landscape of this portion of northern France, finally passing through the regal forests near Blois.

The market is a success, only the queue at the food stall is trying. It is a static line of people, and those behind the counter are just flapping their arms and raising their eyebrows. Something has broken down, it is necessary to wait nearly three quarters of an hour untill some piece of cooking machinery functions as desired. A local dish of tripe in rolls is served, the taste takes some getting used to. As a side dish les pommes frites. 

Bien

The journey home is much faster, despite the many roundabouts on French roads.

yellow jug

 This morning get up, sleep to long and hurry in to Montoire to meet the British motorcyclist, and have coffee with him. The French drink a lot of coffee, so do we all.

An hour spent in the market, buy some Antillean chicken

Then to the store, and fill up the petrol tank and do some shopping. Buy a bottle of wine.

Test the internet radio again, and discover that it works, a miracle.

Then return to the cave, and eat some bread and sausage, more coffee.

The shop that is running as a Brocante, selling bits and pieces. Buy a small yellow jug for two Euros.

And then go back to the cave to eat.

Friday 13

13th of October 2023

A day spent wandering and wondering, a long sleep and deep rest. Wake in the cave, sunlight pouring in through its mouth. Dress and shower.

Then go next door to the other cave, and there are good mornings and coffee.

Take the car to Montoire, and have a coffee in the Gerbe D'Or, or the Golden Gerbil as the British like to call it.

And then home, to the cave, and an hour trying to make a Bose speaker work, and then to bed.

deep. 12 Octoper 2023

 for 12 October 2023

The private flat was left behind in reasonable condition, no comment on the loose toilet seat or the curtains that fell off the walls. There was no comment either on the dirty rug in front of the unused sofa.

Leave the flat and drive to Arca Swiss in Ecole Valentin, a suburb of the town. The friendliness in that firm is incredible, even as a poor customer there was a greeting with a cup of coffee. The broken part of the instrument was repaired, and the bill paid.

Then the long journey from Besançon to Trôo was started , Steadily motoring at one hundred and thirty kilometres an hour. Near Orleans a collapse and nearly falling asleep at the wheel necessitated an hours break and a short snooze in one of those French Aires. The weather was warm and pleasant.

In Trôo there was a great welcome and a long conversation and then to bed and a deep sleeep

walkabout

A long walk through the old town of Besançon today showed the beauty and the liveliness of the town. There is life on the streets everywhere, schoolchildren, old people, all sorts of people. There are an alarming number of beggars about as well. In the morning, the streets are all wet and washed. They are paved with a pale stone, which has a smooth surface.

In the morning, inspect the Time Museum. It is well done, with pleasant displays everywhere, and paintings and tapestry on the walls. Some have more others have less connection with time and the measurement thereof. There are numerous watches made in Augsburg on display. There are only two electromagnetic clocks.

The midday meal in the same place as yesterday is splendid. It is just the Plat du Jour, but everything is perfect. Today there is a Creme Brulee for desert, and this is splendid too. And it is not expensive either. The restaurant is full of French office workers. They all seem to have some vouchers with which to pay for part of their meal.

In the afternoon take pictures in the park, and then walk to the other end of the town to admire the clock in the church that shows all kinds of data relevant to time, it even has an astrological orrery. The cathedral has a barrel shaped cieling, this would  probably be called a roman arched roof or something like that. It is quite unlike the Gothic cathedrals 

After a cup of coffee in a cafè in an arts centre, all full of parents with their children, walk around the town following the river and arrive at the Art and Archaeology Museum. The content is pleasant and relaxing, there are few very modern pieces but it is well curated. It is parly a show of historic artefacts. partly a collection of paintings and partly a show of graphics and historical papers.

After a beer in a cafe go home.

Take a few pictures on the way, one passerby objects, he says that pictures are being taken of him and he does not want that.

good french food and turkish fast food. October 10, 2023

 At four this morning started to get up, make breakfast and to pack up the last things needed on the journey to France. There will be a stop in Besançon to get the camera piece repaired and to visit the clock museum.

At daybreak the journey is already past Stuttgart, go south almost to the Swiss border and cross the Rhine.

All of a sudden, everything is different, even the light is different. The country is warmer and drier, even the electricity pylons look different.

Arrive at the headquarters of Arca Swiss, and meet the boss in person,  a Swiss woman who has taken over her husbands work after his death. It is a joy to see the enthusiasm for the very beautiful equipment which they produce,

And then take a walk around town, around the old town of Besancon. Eat a firstrate plat du jour in a small corner restaurant. and then collect some paper at the tourist information office.

At four thirty arrive at the lodgings, they are in a hovel in the poorer quarter of the town. There is no one there, Eventually a neighbour helps in the understanding of the cryptic messages on the 'phone. They are all in French, which does not make things easier.

Take a shower, and then lie down.

Then walk back down to town and wander abour for a while.

Upon returning home eat a lousy meal at a french turks place. This meal was really rough.

costly

Tomorrow the journey to France will start, and realise that there is no logic to packing any more. What clothes should go on the journey? Pairs of trousers, underwear, all these things have become more important now. It will be a lonely journey, the first like it in a long time. There is the plan to go to Besançon to visit the camera manufacturer and the clock museum. It will be necessary to start early in the morning.

The silence in the town has grown, it is strange. The man elected locally was a Nazi sympathiser as a schoolboy, and the question is really how much can people change in time? He never apologised or explained his behaviour.

Look forward to fleeing the country and to being alone for a considerable time.

It will be costly, but the holiday will be worth it.

clocks in the museum

 A deadly day,  spent editing pictures, sorting things, even spent some time vacuum cleaning the carpet.

Organising washing, trying to think straight. 

In the evening, the son nearly missed his train, that would have been another car journey to Bayreuth. As things are, he caught his train, complete with the bicycle. It is a shame to see the bicycle go, it was quite a good one. There will be another bicycle, after the three month healing period for the operation is over. And the son needs a bicycle to be able to travel around the place in Bayreuth.

The evening in the pub was awful, groups of men talking loudly about things of no importance at all. It is good to leave the place.

Tuesday morning, at long last, go to France. To Besançon, to admire the clocks in the museum.

enough right wing

 At ten in the morning take the car to go to Dorfen to collect the glasses that had been found yesterday. This journey will also serve to deliver some office materials. It is a forty five minute drive, there is much traffic on the roads. Just beyond Vilsofen there is a police speed check. It makes no difference, there is no intention of breaking the speed limit.

The glasses are the ones that were lost, and after a short conversation put the bag full of used file holders into the back  of the ladies car,, she will take them back to her place when she leaves Dorfen.

Then, get back into the car and take a slow journey back home. The police are still manning their checkpoint, drive past them slowly. And on the return to Landshut stop at a large supermarket to buy a bag of apples and a loaf of bread.

There is a strange feeling of boredom and tiredness, It is all a bit like the depressions, but it is not the same. 

Take a rest, there is no wish to go to the weekly gathering today, there is enough right wing evil happening in the world these days.

Look forward to the journey to Besançon on Tuesday.