Things are not great

 Walk by the church and through the alleys to the photo gallery, hoping that they will be open. The gallery is closed, and the Italian restaurant is shut up too. Walk on through town to the general store in the main street. It used to be a drugstore, but now it sells almost anything. Buy a three metre long extension cord for the loudspeaker at home. That will save the speaker from being damaged. Things like that should not be on the floor.

The bakery shop is open, go in and order a cup of coffee and a roll. It is pleasing that the seats at the back are empty. Sit there for a while, thinking of various things. A very fat couple comes in, they are both so overweight that they can hardly walk. She goes to the back and sits down there. It would have been nice to have had no company whatsoever, but that is the way it goes. He waddles to the back as well, carrying the tray with their cakes upon it.

Finish up and leave.

Go home and fit the new extension cable. The second speaker is now on the top of the wardrobe. This is not an ideal position, but it is better than on the floor. Relax and listen to ABC Jazz from Australia. The sound is actually better with the speaker up there.

At a quarter past twelve, go to the gallery to collect the picture. They offer a glass of Prosecco, there is no knowing what they have to celebrate today. The woman who paints over photographs is there, she is nervous. None of those present make a comment on her work, and nobody looks at it. Finally, she draws attention to a detail, and somebody takes polite notice. It is a shame that the picture was not useable for the exhibition.

Leave, before comments are made.

Go home, and realise that the weather has become really hot and humid. This is a horrible summer. At home advise the son that the dishwasher is empty and that he may put his dirty dishes in there . Then go upstairs and put on a pair of very light linen trousers, that helps a bit against the heat.

Study the pictures of the wood carvings. They are in order, but they are not great.

thank you note

 Press the button on the coffee grinder and let the noisy machine run for a minute. Then hold the filter under the grinder and pull the lever three times. The metal filter is now full of ground coffee, place it into its holder on the small aluminium Bialetti machine. Screw the top part of the machine down, and place the finished thing on the gas stove. Fill the pan with water, and put it on to boil as well. 

This is the breakfast routine, this is the way that it happens on most days. 

Upstairs, read the news, the people expected fireworks at the Harris interview and got pretty well ice cold professionalism. At least she will be well capable of being president. 

Read and read. Then take the pills, this is important. Do not forget the cream for the nose, this may stop it going blue-red coloured again.

There is a telephone call from the drugstore. The ordered item is there and has been reserved. It is ready for collection at any time the friendly person says.

Later, take a walk to the drugstore, collect those items and go on to the local discount store to buy things to eat. Buy eggs, butter and avocados.

Now all is well, go home.

There is a hand written note in the post box. It is a thank you note for the post card sent out the other day.

seven forty five

 Every day now seems wasted, the difficulty is to do anything in a home situation that causes disgust at every turn. Breakfast is a good meal to make, for the others in this huge house are all asleep. It can be made, consumed, and cleared away before there is any disturbance. A shower can be taken, but then it is time to recede, to back away from the situation. The angry glances, the mess, and the silence. It is all just ugly, and who wants to exist in perceived ugliness?

It is evening, and the day started with the editing of the pictures taken at the artist who is an art teacher's studio. There are eight pictures of a wooden relief. The attempt is to show the relief the way the artist himself sees it. He is a tall man, the relief is about a meter high. It is necessary to look down upon it from above, and yet not to let diverging verticals distort it. There are simple camera movements which make this possible.

The colours of the wood are difficult to reproduce exactly. Sometimes they are too green, sometimes too magenta.

When the work is done, save the pictures. Send a small copy to the artist, perhaps he will find the time to look at them.

Walk about town, have a cup of coffee and a roll in a small bakers shop. It is too hot to go walking any long distances.It really seems very hot today, the air is standing almost still.

At home, the son starts to work on this computer, the attempt is to make a server that will take over the printing queues and relieve this machine from the tiresome input and output failures that always make printing difficult and wasteful.

Maybe the day was not wasted so badly after all.

It is now quarter to eight in the evening.

cyclists pass under bridges

That was the aim today, to go for a walk early. This did not happen, so the walk started at nine in the morning. The town is still not too hot, pass through the old graveyard of the church and continue through the arcades. Stop there to tie shoe laces, which came loose on their own. Look up and see that there is a young girl in a pink dress sitting at a small blue tin table, sorting some brightly coloured toys. She has fair hair. She looks up, and then continues whatever she is doing. It is rather surrealistic, there under the arcades. She is wearing a frilly dress, a doll would be clothed the same way.

The post office to the left, then the statue to Ludwig der Reiche on its pedestal upon the site of the synagogue. Towards the end of the middle ages, this man persecuted and robbed the Jews in Landshut and used the money to pay for the wedding between a local prince and a Polish princess. It was a very large party, the whole town was drunk for a week. It was all politics, it signified the end of a long and bitter war. This wedding is celebrated every four years, a commercial pageant known as the Landshuter Hochzeit.

The long steep path to the castle, take it slowly and steadily. It is very steep. Walk past the huge building, still gleaming from its recent renovation, and enter the park.

Meet a friend there, an old man of some eighty five years. He is a very fit old man, he is very active and goes on long walks. Chat with him about cameras, the German rangefinder has been his passion for many many years. 

As the path leads on through the mulberry garden there is the sound of an ambulance in a hurry nearby. See later that it is parked in front of the children's hospital with all of its doors open. This reminds of the time years ago when the son broke his arm and was taken to the same hospital.

The path leads on to a café, where a woman serving the coffee shouts at all the customers. She does not appear to realise that she is shouting. Order coffee and a small roll, take it outside. Outside is very hot and people are smoking. The smoke blows into the eyes, instead of rising vertically from the table. Get up and go back inside, it is better to be shouted at than smoked.

Notice that all of the new guests are queuing up at the other end of the counter, a soft-spoken person works there. She yells at them to come over and be served by her. She seems to run the place, but she does not make it more pleasant.

Follow the river home, take a picture of a cyclist passing under a bridge.

It is online now, for the world to look at and see that cyclists pass under bridges in Landshut.

quiet day

Apart from an early call to nature getting out of bed was delayed until just before eight. The light from the sun and the sound of the breeze through those plants on the balcony was just pleasant. It was worth staying in bed for.

But then get up to go down and make something to eat. The cat is on the balcony happily chewing away at its special cat grass. It grows in a pot with a picture of a cat on the outside. The cat seems content to chew at the grass. It is strange that cats are attracted to this type of grass more than others. Downstairs the mess awaits. Turn on the coffee grinder for one minute to grind enough coffee to make a glass of coffee. The eggs and the toast are no problem at all.

And breakfast is enjoyable. Make the bed. Listen to the radio. It is all very nice.

Take the breakfast plate back down.

Upstairs, research the things that need to be done using nothing but the internet. By the time all of that is finished go downstairs again and leave the house. Take the camera, it is a day to take pictures, a day to practice. It is possible to take street pictures today, to satisfy those who are fond of that genre. It is difficult to take pictures without hurting peoples personal rights, without impinging on their sense of privacy in what is actually a public place. The news from Ukraine is not good, but no war is good. And there is a small article about a highly alarming situation in Africa.

At home, finish the photos and put a couple of them online.

It is a quiet day today.

sleep was difficult

Last nights visit to the Italian in the neighbourhood was pleasant. it is an awful extravaganz to buy a meal for oneself in a restaurant, but it is very pleasant. There is nobody to show off to, it is possible to concentrate on the food. But sleep was difficult in the night because of the two glasses of beer.

After the breakfast has been made and the Wordle played - Make two prints of a picture of dancers on the embankment of the Spree in Berlin and post one to the collector and the other to the couple met  on the return from Berlin. The picture is pleasant enough. Buy stamps online and stick them to the back of the prints.

It is a great relief that the printer works again. Yesterdays decision to change the hard disks on the computers was the correct decision. 

Walk through town and have a bowl of Thai soup after having made inquiries at the drug store for an item that they never seem to have in stock. The soup was good, as always.

There are small things to be done all the time, and even now when the depressions have lifted a bit, there is still the inability to really settle down to get things done.

There is no sense in moaning, but things are really rather difficult.

The chilly weather today is pleasant, it is no longer so unpleasantly hot.

It is very difficult to remain on the subject today, it is even worse than on other days.

the stories are nicer than this.

 Arriving at the concert venue yesterday realised that this was an event for old age pensioners. Musicians would play excerpts from the sound track of a music film from Dublin and then show the film. The film was made in the eighties, and all the romantic Hibernophile Germans from that time would be there swinging the aged hips, going all wet-eyed and some clapping in time.

NO. Turn around and leave. They were not going to pay a cent for the work anyway, they would have most likely charged admission just to add insult to injury. They are all pretty good musicians, but the venue in a baking hot beer garden with rows of people queuing up for beer and something roasting on the grill was too much. Turn away with a commencing headache.

Enjoy a glass of beer in a quiet place at the side of the street.

Then go home, go home to forget the difficulties.

This morning is cool, and wake up early. It is a quiet Sunday morning, the neighbours have not started to shout at each other yet. The cat comes up to let herself be stroked, then go down to make breakfast.

The family is asleep, apart from the cat.

Upstairs, later on, hear that the wife or the son are moving about, slamming doors, clattering in the kitchen, but it is not possible to hear what they are doing. Not a word is spoken. Various stories tell other things about family life, and the stories are nicer than this.

Unecessary, an extravagance, but it is pleasant

 Saturday morning again, and awake too early again. Hear the sounds of others getting up in the house, the house is not insulated against sound. Also, doors and windows are open to keep the air moving during the heat of this most warm summer. But it is still dark and pleasantly cool. Go downstairs, the kitchen is a disaster, but clear a bit of a space and make the regular breakfast. Take it all upstairs to read the news and to see what is happening in the world apart from the local news. Have a shower and put on the day clothes, make the bed.

The son knocks on the door, he needs the keys for the car. He has some message or other to take care of in Munich. Hopefully he will drive with care.

Then take a disposable bag and go out to the shops, it is now nine in the morning. Buy a few things, things like vegetables to vary the diet a bit. Do not buy ice cream, that is bad for the stomach.

The bag is quite heavy, there are extra things to buy like oil vinegar and salt. These extras are heavy. Clear a few things away in the kitchen, but really, why. Nobody cares. There is a loaf of bread in a plastic bag that is green with mould. Throw this away, it should not be there in the first place.

Make up a buttered pretzel, this is part of today's purchases.

Later on, the doorbell rings, it is the postman delivering a second hand speaker that plays music from the internet if it is set up to do this. The item is in very good condition, wrapped in an old  purple blanket.

Set the little box up to work as a stereo pair with the speaker already in the bedroom. This works, now it is possible to listen to radio in stereo. This is pleasant. Unecessary, an extravagance, but it is pleasant. It is like having a set of small musicians in the room.

This evening there will be a soul and swing concert to take pictures of. That will be live, they want pictures of the musicians playing. Oh well.

Now the speaker starts to play a version of "Summertime".

Turn it off. It is an Australian transmitter, they are in winter now. Maybe they are longing for summer. 

No, it is an artefact

 Start the day early, hear the doors slamming downstairs. The wife has left early. Try to rest a little more, the alarm will sound at six thirty. Then there are sounds from downstairs again, they are typical of the son. 

The alarm sounds on the mobile 'phone. Go downstairs, make breakfast. Take it back upstairs, enjoy it, and read the news. It is nice to see a candidate that can laugh.

Go downstairs, check everything, and leave the house. There is a message on the 'phone, the Argentine is waiting at the post office bank. Take the car to collect him, ignoring a closed street in the process.

The journey down to the small village elapses without anything going wrong, the journey takes about an hour.

The man with the cancer is looking better now, even though he is undergoing chemotherapy. He still needs his oxygen mask, he may never be able to rid himself of it.

Spend time in a local café, and then take a drive through the beautiful countryside to an Indian restaurant. The food there is very good.

Then there are further trips, and further visits. The end of the afternoon is spent in a museum holding old farmhouses, an example of the traditional building in the area. There, the second cup of overpriced coffee is drunk and a long discussion is held about robotics.

If something looks smells and behaves as a human it becomes difficult to tell that it is not human, even though it is definitely not human. But if it satisfies every need that an individual wishes for, is it not then human? 

No, it is an artefact

Drive home with the Argentine, he is not too happy about his friend and these strange ideas.

madness, and feed the birds

The morning worked well today, after yesterdays very quiet night. The kitchen was a mess, the son has not learned how to clear things up after himself. But using a small clearing in between all of the dirty pots and pans and the used crockery it was possible to make an acceptable breakfast. Reading the news and eating is the one regular pleasure of the day.

The news is of the democratic congress in America. Trump has vanished from sight, this is unusual. But then, there are novelties and the news media are fickle.

It was possible to take the first walk today after a long period of depression. Walked up to those Rhea birds, they were attentive. The big male birds have gone, maybe they had become too aggressive.

At the café at the end of the walk there was a young woman serving who was in training. There was an officious woman taking care that she did everything correctly on this her first day. This woman had eyelashes that had been artificially lengthened, they were long sooty and black. They did not look particularly good, but she must have paid a lot of money to have them made up in that way. 

The café had a verandah, and there were two fat men talking to each other in broken German. The one was Italian and the other Moroccan. They both smoked profusely. The stay at that cafe was not pleasant.

During the rest of the walk by the river think about those two. The one was a cook and the other a gangster. The gangster part became obvious during a long telephone conversation that he had in English, assuming that nobody could understand him. He was wrong, and his behaviour on the phone does not bear repeating.

At home, realise that the dishwasher has not been filled as promised. The son had said that he wanted to do this, but he did not. Leave the mess be, there is no help for it, it is all madness

again!

 Things are better today, the weather is not blistering and there is no icy feeling in the body as there was yesterday.

It was seven, get up and go make breakfast.

There is a pot of cat grass upstairs, and for whatever reason that cats have, the cat likes to nibble and bite. On the was to the bathroom, see that it has made her vomit. This is nasty, take care where the feet are placed.

Make breakfast, eat  it and then examine the mail, the news and whatever else that the computer may have to offer. That is not much today. The democrats in the USA seem to be more optimistic, even though the system itself seems loaded against them.

Then downstairs, get the bucket and mop. Clear up the cats mess, and then wipe the stairs. They have been getting dusty rapidly now for a few weeks, it is time that they were wiped down. This is satisfying, it is one of the many things that needed to be done.

Upstairs, the sound of the neighbour bellowing into his 'phone comes over from the balcony opposite. Turn on the radio so that his chatter will be drowned in the jazz coming from the Australian station.

The bed is made, the used clothes have been packed away. These things are done daily anyway. Check the bank accounts, there are so many things that can be done online now. The computer that had received the coffee splash last week has died, it will need dismantling, perhaps the defective part can be identified and replaced. The purchase of the second identical model was sensible after all. This blog would be difficult without it. And old Apples are not bad and they are cheap in comparison to the new models.

Now is the time to go out and to start walking about town.

again!

things that will have to be done sometime

 Today was a bad day, all of it was spent feeling ill and without any strength. From the time in then morning making breakfast, a breakfast that tasted of nothing until bedtime, it was just a day of moping. It was strange to feel so ill.

Exactly what the problem was is unclear. But the situation at home did not help at all. Neither did walking around town, it was just depressing. The situation is generally unpleasant. And then, in the early evening the stomach starts to ache.

Lie down for a few minutes, wake a few hours later. The day has gone, it is night outside. It is slightly chilly, cover up with a blanket.

Walking around town today was entirely unproductive. The most pleasant experience was talking to a woman selling rolls with that Bavarian meatloaf. The meatloaf was not especially delicious either. Bought vegetables in the supermarket, but the kitchen was in such a mess that it just did not feel worthwhile preparing them. This is something that will have to be done tomorrow. There are so many things that will need to be done tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. These are all things that will have to be done sometime.

First it will be necessary to deal with the personal feelings and the personal state. It is just not possible to survive any more in this manner.

The Artist wants to have pictures of his wooden sculptures. There is no sure knowledge as to how these are to be done.

The niece wants pictures of her wedding. This is not simple, it is really difficult.

And there is an especially large and full moon on the horizon today, just over the hills

not for now

 At five in the morning there was the sound of a church bell clanging continuously. This was not the usual beating of the time, but a continuous noise. It had hardly finished when there was the sound of sirens and police horns, the sound doppler-shifting as they sped on their assignments. Finally after some time, the mobile 'phone made a loud and especially unpleasant noise. Look at the offending instrument and see that there is a public health warning. A chocolate factory near Landshut is burning down, there is a large cloud of smoke and nearby residents are to keep their windows closed. People are supposed to keep away from the area near Altdorf.

Sniff the air, it is not smoky. Leave the window open, the smoke is not drifting to this part of Landshut.

The night was occupied with nightmares of death and destruction. There is no inkling where these thoughts might come from. There are memories of a face covered in a black mass of something, illogical thoughts of hanging, of wandering through despairing dead vegetation.

No idea. It is not nice.

Breakfast is in order, the kitchen has been cleaned up somewhat. There is no sign of the cat, she has probably been fed already, and has no interest in further communication for now.

rain

The rain has settled down to a steady moderate downpour, the water is trickling from the roofs. It is not spectacular heavy rain, but it is steady.

It being Sunday there is nothing much to do today. There is no wish to plan anything and there is no real wish to go anywhere. A short visit to the son in his bedroom finds him happily working away at his computer doing something which is of no real import. Perhaps it is important to him.

The kitchen and the living room are a disaster area. Just messy and untidy with all kinds of stuff resting where it had last been used. 

There is long drawn out thunder outside, and the steady hiss of the rain. There is no lightning to be seen anywhere, it is probably far off.

Misery is settling in again, but this is just due to a lack of  planning. Definitely, if more things were undertaken, there would be less time for misery.

The single glass of beer in the place on the street yesterday was pleasant. There were people there, but they were all quiet-spoken, and it was possible to look at the cars go by.

The glass itself was avvery expensive drink, perhaps the publicans are overpricing.

What disappointments will it bring today?

 Eight thirty in the morning and the summer storm outside is strengthening. There is the sound of heavy raindrops on the tin and the tiles of the roofs above and beyond the balcony. It is not cold but the temperature is pleasantly cooler. The sky is grey and the light is dim.

It is the perfect day for writing and reading at the open balcony window, looking out onto the long balcony that was probably first built some hundreds of years ago. Perhaps the pepper and tomato plants are looking askance at the lack of sunlight, but sure it will be back. 

The sound of the rain is producing a steady background noise which forces any other sound to mute. It is like the silence enjoyable at the alpine strand.

Turn on the table light, so that the eyes not let the fingers get lost on the flat keyboard of the notebook on the old table. The bed is not made yet, the start of the downpour outside has interrupted the usual routine. During the preparation of breakfast downstairs in the kitchen the downpour was heralded by the sound of the heavy raindrops on the skylight, and the gurgling from the gutters immediately afterwards.

Now the rain is dying down, the show will be over, and the bed will be made and the day will go on.

What disappointments will it bring today?

At some stage it will be necessary to make a call

 After the morning's carry-on with breakfast, washing and reading the news, after getting dressed and making the bed, ask the mobile phone to set a timer for half an hour and lie down to rest.

At just past nine in the morning the unpleasant jangly alarm sounds, switch it off, and get up ready to go. Walk through the market, and see all those stalls. People who like the Friday market insist that is is all local produce, grown without chemicals by local farmers. Observe the fish stand, there are mackerel and plaice on sale there. The sea is a long way from Landshut. The experience of local farmers is that they will take their protests to the street if you so much as suggest that the use of glyphosate is to be prohibited, and cutting their fuel subsidy would cause outright war. These people are as parasitic as the next businessman. But for those who believe it is worth paying extra in the farmers market.

After nearly forgetting to buy cat food, return home and stow the shopping. Today will be another of those very hot days, this will have to be endured until late summer. Sunday is predicted to be cooler. Let us hope that the prediction is good. Today may be difficult to bear.

The serious depressions yesterday have gone back into their burrow today, who knows when they will creep out again. Reading the instructions on the use of the suicide hotline yesterday was a help.

At some stage it will be necessary to make a call.

to drown this background

 It is five to nine and the cat walks in from the sunlit balcony, favouring the human prescence with a short glance, to then move over to the open window to observe the sparrows nesting under the eaves two metres away. Those two metres are insurmountable for the unfortunate cat. The window is in the third floor and the eaves are belonging to the house opposite. She may only watch and drool.

Last night in the pub give the Argentine a loan. It is not much, but it will tide him over for the next few days. It must be a strange sight for the other guests in the pub, they are all noisy boisterous Germans, to have two older men talking to each other in quiet voices in the corner. They can hear that English is being spoken, but it is doubtful whether they can distinguish much. A very beautiful young woman constantly glances over, the situation makes her curious, this is all delightful; but understand well that the interest is not to be misunderstood. It is all pleasant, nonetheless. 

Leave, after two glasses of beer. The friend drinks a rhubarb drink, he is worried about body weight gain from the beer. Having paid for the drinks think about the personal body weight gain. Leave the guesthouse with the friend and the unattainable beauties inside and walk home in the summer storm that is pelting rain down on the cobbled streets.

Meet an artist on the way home, he is securing his bicycle. He is going to meet some friends, they are having a musical evening. He hopes to have missed the sentimental Italian part of the evening and hopes to be there just for the jazz and the food. 

Decide to go home, rather than to accompany him, at home the usual misery everywhere, but this is reality, not dreams.

The cat has stopped watching the birds opposite, and is going about some other cat business. The balcony flowers have been watered, because of the rain yesterday the flowers in the yard will need watering at the earliest tomorrow.

Downstairs again, the water heating does not appear to be working. The tap supplies nothing but cold water. Upstairs, where the water heater is the switches and the lamps say all is in order. Downstairs again, in the kitchen, there is now hot water available.

Make another cup of coffee and go upstairs and resolve to write these notes. In the background there is the sound of the neighbours hens, and the man with the loud voice is bellowing around again. It will be necessary to turn the radio on to drown this background.

cooler in the evening

 It is deadly hot, this started in the humid morning and has not let up until now. It is a thing that will now happen every summer according to the current climate predictions. Human beings are at fault according to the scientists.

Too bad for the world, and it is worse in other places.

The wife left the house for work on her early shift today, the son was up early. It was no problem talking to him today about things, it is noteworthy that he does not like talking to both of his parents at the same time.

After the rapid reset of the "new" computer last night, everything has now proceeded quickly, and it is now very much like the older one. The extra memory is not really noticeable, but that does not matter. The son was an enormous help resetting the computer. The keyboard on the newer computer has seen little use, and it has a good "feel" to it.

Spent time in the kitchen with the son, and started to clear up the mess there. He watched with interest. Perhaps not all his lost, and the twenty year old young man will learn a few new tricks.

Together we enjoyed lunch in an Indian restaurant around the corner, some of the Indians there were very friendly and others more inclined to be dour.

The afternoon is spent setting up the computer, and it is so hot that it was only possible to sleep, constructive work was not really possible at all. Wait for it to be cooler in the evening.

not worth waiting for

 It feels insufferably hot today.At half past nine take the car to visit the dental surgeon to fulfil the apointment.

The man spends ten minutes looking at an the x-ray, and then tries to sell something which is, of course, not covered by insurance. Then he is finished. Take the paper offer and leave. That is all so unimportant. 

The surgeons practice is in the middle of nowhere, out in the country. On the ground floor there is a baker shop, have a cup of coffee and a roll.

A man arrives with a very large truck, one of those for transporting gravel and earth. He gets out, and leaves the engine running whilst he goes into the baker shop to buy something. This is selfish behaviour, the noise of the engine disturbs the peace and quiet out in the country.

Return home, and stay inside as the heat of the day increases.

Remember to water all the plants and the trees.

The carrier does not deliver the new computer at his projected time, but constantly delays the promised delivery time. This is not worth waiting for.

Decide to go out for a walk and let that delivery service do whatever it needs to do.

miracle

The wife has her early shift at work today, the noises in the house waken when otherwise there would be sleep. Go downstairs, and then go upstairs again.

An hour later go downstairs, and make breakfast. It is six in the morning.

Bring the breakfast upstairs, taking care not to spill the coffee today. One handedly, throw the laptop onto the bed.

Then enjoy breakfast. The room smells of spilt coffee, this is not really pleasant. In time it will dissipate.

Press the button on the supposedly dead computer.

An Apple appears on the screen.

It continues until there is a request for a password.

The machine seems to work. It has ceased to be a brick..

A miracle.

Now it is possible to type properly and after taking a walk around town and a cup of coffee in a café, and after the clothes left over from Berlin have been washed and dried, write this blog.

Using the keypboard, as has become normal in the meantime.

The weather is still really hot and unpleasant.

coffee spill

 The day started off badly when the breakfast cossee mug fell over and splashed the laptop computer. Not much happened, bit it was enough to stop the machine.That was just bad luck.

Breakfast itself was oK.

This message is being written using the 'phone, and typing with the thumbs is exhausting.

The day has been quiet up to now, and another computer was ordered second hand from a dealer. Perhaps the hard disk may be changed, then everything will be in order.

this is all not funny anymore.

 The morning's breakfast is consumed, now it is time to get on with the day. Go shopping and return to clean up the kitchen. Speak with the son about things, and the answer is that he will do it sometime.

That means never. Not now iand not tomorrow. Just never.

Contain the annoyance, what is the purpose of getting annoyed? There is really no purpose in causing a fuss now, it will not adequately change things.

Upstairs it is getting hot again. The pills are taken, and tiredness sets in. Perhaps it would be an idea to simply not take the pills for a week and to see what happens then. 

In the course of the day go outside and take pictures to test the focus on the colour camera. The niece wants her wedding photographed in colour. It was not the original plan but so what. She also wants the pictures that a practised wedding photographer would take. That was not the plan either.

Well, I suppose they all want to save money.

In the later afternoon the temperatures in the house climb up to twenty five degrees centigrade with a high air humidity.

This is all not funny anymore.

Exhausting

 The high speed train from Berlin lived up to its name, it arrived in Munich inside a few hours. It was comfortable, despite the seat facing the wrong way. The arrival in munich at half past ten was no problem either. 

Decided to go for a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop in the station.

The young woman behind the counter returned too much money, there would have been a profit made on buying coffee there. Point this out to her and return the ten Euros . A man standing there comments on this honesty, he does not realise that he is commenting on his own innate dishonesty too. 

Then go to the platform to see if the train has arrived yet. Upon arriving there see that it has been cancelled. First of all, there is confusion. Then consult the telephone and see that there is an alternative route. This requires a journey on a local train to Munich airport. The train takes a long time to get there. 

Crossing the bridge at the visitors centre at the airport see that there is a bus leaving already. The bus leaves, although people are waving for it to stop.

Another bus arrives a few minutes later. This is the bus that has been reserved by the railway company to offer an emergency service to replace the cancelled train

This bus takes the back roads to every railway station on the route. It arrives at Landshut railway station at a quarter past one this morning.

Awake today at seven, and make the meanwhile classical breakfast. The day is spent being tired, for for whatever reason the train journey yesterday was exhausting.

catch the train

 A day that commenced with the sound of pneumatic hammers and the sound of asphalt cutting machines on the road outside. It is hot and rather damp, the window is open. It must be seven in the morning, germanic punctuality will only allow the start of road works at seven in the morning.

Look at the work on the computer before getting dressed. Then try the wordle puzzle, leave it on the screen and wash and dress. Upon returning to the computer solve the puzzle. Then make the bed and go out to the kitchen. The friend and her dog are making a breakfast, she sits down, and then gets up again. She has to take the dog to a dog walker. Finish the breakfast and put on shoes in readiness for leaving.

Upon the friends return the time is short. The tickets for the museum are timed, she is worried that they will expire. Using her bicycle follow her to the Museumsinsel in Berlin. It is no problem at the museum. There are not many visitors today.

Admire the ancient Egyptian artefacts on display there, then admire the famous bust of Nofretete. The large amount of papyrus scrolls on display are interesting, imagine all of the years of work involved in trying to translate them. There are many reliefs carved into stones, it is all very beautifully presented. The building itself had to be rebuilt after the second world war, the traces of the war were left in place. The building shows its terrible history.

Return to the flat and meet the cleaning lady. She speaks a very condensed version of German. She is Polish and has difficulties learning the language. But it does not matter, she is friendly and can make herself understood.

Then sit and chat with the friend, let the time elapse until it is necessary to get up and go to catch the train to Munich.

stelae

 Tempelhof airport is within the Berlin city borders, and it is no longer functional as an airport. The space is now being used as a nature preserve and the vast concrete runways for all and every purpose that you may think of. There are bicycle racers and sunbathers, also skateboarders and families grilling their food and people flying kites. The airfield is so large that all of these activities may happen side by side.

The sculpture as a memorial for the murdered jews is madly impressive, it is a large field with many hundreds  of concrete stelae, they are all smooth concrete, and each has its own individual measurements. Not all are simply straight. It is a most impressive sculpture. It is hard to convey the impression of size on a photograph.It conveys a magnificent sense of great mass and desolation. People who wander into this field of stelae are instantly reduced to insignificance.

There is so much offered in a big city, a city where the market never stops.

Electric bicycles are strange, the ones on rent are more electric than pedal powered. They are fast, and require no effort to keep them moving. The first bicycle had flat tyres, the second ran out of power at the disused airport, the third one was missing a pedal, and the fourth one appeared to be in order.

Technology is difficult.

the light of the sun over Berlin

 Yesterday, there was the tower, and then in the evening a visit to two Berlin localities. Both were very pleasant.

And then to home and to bed early.

This morning settle the news reading and the coffee drinking and the wordle early. The Wordle streak is now over forty games long, it must run out some time.

Sort clothes and make the bed in the luxury flat in Berlin.

Then work through the picturess taken yesterday, There are no brilliant ones, but there are a few quite usable ones. A dog in front of a pub, tor example. Or the tower seen at the end of a street with cyclists in the foreground is one of the pictures.  The pctures are all in black and white, that is on account of the camera that is being used. It is refreshing to try and switch of the colours in the mind before taking the picture.

The pictures are not very interesting, but at least they are something.

Today the large monument for the jews murdered during the holocaust is due to be looked at.

Perhaps there will be some pictures of that later.

Prepare to leave now that midday has past, prepare to venture out into the light of the August sun over Berlin

tower

The size and beauty of Berlin is easily appreciated from the platform of the broadcast tower. The tower looks like a huge metal golfball impaled on a pin, there is a lift inside which will take you the two hundred metres up to the top inside seconds. It is then possible to view the city as in a diorama behind the large inclined windows. Looking straight down the busses and trams, trains and people all look like models in a toy landscape.

The tower is crowded every day.

In the Alexanderplatz at the foot of the tower a drunk woman is sitting on a bench screaming raucously. She is shouting obscenities. Her age is hard to determine, she is not young but she might be younger than she looks.

It is possible to hire bicycles everywhere in Berlin and to leave them lying about almost anywhere. It is part of the rental services obligations to collect them again.

Sleep in the middle of Berllin was easy last night, and the first wakening was only at four because of forgetting to turn off the alarm set on the mobile 'phone. It is strange how peaceful it can be in the centre of a big city.

There is very little motor traffic, it seems almost out of fashion. There is less traffic than in Landshut.

It is very tiring, seeing sights, and there are so many sights to see.

298 kilometres an hour.

 The alarm so kindly set by the voice on the smartphone last night played a melody punctually at four in the morning. Remembering to take the lead connecting the smartphone and to put it in the bag finish all the packing done the night before. Go to the toilet, dress, and make the bed.

Locking the door upon leaving go downstairs. At half past four in the morning the streets of Landshut are still noisy from the Saturday night fever.

Half way to the railway station there is a bar still open, and there are customers outside. One man is standing with a fixed stare in the middle of the footpath. Wish him a good morning and walk around him. He is unconscious. 

At the railway station there are several people who are on their way home after a night out. They are tired looking, the women are heavily made up, they are lightly dressed.

The train is punctual, it is the same train that used to go to work in the University. Some things never change.

After one hour arrive at Munich and change for the Berlin express. The reserved seat is in a dingy corner with no window. Wait until the train is under way, and then change for one of those seats which has not been taken despite having a reserved notice upon it. This seat is much better, with a window to watch the landscape fly by. As the train is travelling at two hundred and ninety eight kilometres per hour start to write this blog. Imagine the long space that the train has travelled at each impact upon the keyboard. This post would be many kilometres long and very difficult to read.

That was a bad August 3rd in 1975

 The day started lax, and then alarmingly sleep came again after having been absent for parts of  the night. It was strange to be wide awake at four listening to the bells sound four times for the hour and the four times to tell you which hour. It was a repeat, the second bells tolling an interval lower in pitch than the first.

And then counted seven, and it was bright.

Get up, make breakfast and then try to read the news. The Internet is not working properly, there are probably too many people watching Olympic sports from Paris.

Clear the room and sweep the floor. The cat comes in for a look, and maybe to remind her human that it is time to feed her. Take the used plates and things downstairs, feed the cat, take the wife's washing out of the machine and fill it with socks and underwear and shirts and trousers. Press the buttons and let the machine do its work.

Upstairs, decide that a few things are missing, A toothbrush will be needed in Berlin, and a few new underpants would be pleasant. 

At the drugstore, buy the toothbrush. Then walk up to the large clothing store and buy underpants, a package of three, medium fit. On the way out of the store see a pair of linen trousers. They are reduced in price, and appear to be quite nice. So buy them, surprised that they are really cheap

Walking home meet a really good looking woman from Brazil, a painter. She says that she is painting again, and needs brush cleaner and is going to go to the drug store to see if they have such a thing. She also breaks the news that a neighbour has died, an elderly woman. She had been sick for a very long time.

At one o'clock, meet up with the arty people for a cup of coffee. There is one person controlling the conversation, incredibly loud. She is a graphic artist who is working on becoming a fine artist and talks about herself without ending.

This is pain.

After a while, say goodbye and pay.

On the way back home meet the son of the woman who died of leukaemia. Offer him condolences.

At home, make a small online post for the mother. an artist who died forty nine years ago today. There is a small self portrait of her done in pencil and signed.

That was a bad August 3rd in 1975

drunk wasp

There is no great wish to proceed with things and much time is spent just resting. There is a sense of dissatisfaction with everything. And remember the computer that said " its not my fault". Well, it is not.

The day is spent being quiet, being furtive. Going for a quiet coffee in an old persons cafe. And then return home tired. There is nobody to talk to and nothing that would be a pleasure doing.

Things have gone bad again. Add to this the depressions that come with increasing age  and the whole situation is difficult.

Brought a picture to an amateur show today, they will probably throw it out. Amateur jurys judging will probably want to see what is expected.

Afterwards, went to the pub for a drink, what else. Sat outside, watching a wasp on its business. The stupid insect fell into the glass, and was swimming yellow and black striped in the yellow liquid. Fish the insect out with a strip torn off the beermat and watch it crawl about. It appears to be tipsy. It crawls across the table and onto an ashtray. It makes two circuits of the ashtrays rim. Then it stops to preen itself.

The insect is pissed.

Watch it a while longer, until it flies away, quite unsteadily.

That was the good turn for the day.

sore legs

 Now it is the first of August, and the day was hot to start with and has become distinctly uncomfortable today. The day was spent attempting to clear things that were murky,

They are still murky.

There is no knowing what sort of problems are over the horizon, they are invisible. It is too late to solve past problems. There is no path to follow, things are just very unpleasant.

Walk around town, buy bread and some food for the cat.

Later, give the town a second chance, visit the café for a short visit. But this is no joy either.

Upon returning, realise that the legs have swollen, something is wrong with the circulation. Lie down and make two telephone calls, one to an old friend in France who lives in a cave and one to the son. They are both friendly, listening to them does good. The son has got over many of his difficulties, if his attitude and his way of speaking is anything to go by. The eyesight of the friend in France is returning bit by bit. It will never return completely, but it is better than worse and worse. 

The son will be in Landshut in about two weeks and a meeting will be possible then.

The cat is upstairs now, stalking about the room looking at things, She then lies on her back and looks over. Maybe she is being a copy cat, maybe her legs are sore too.