unhappy

Saturday morning, that is today; and it did not start well. There were problems sleeping during the night, and problems waking this morning. Returning last night found the cat in front of the door. The wife had gone doing whatever she does on the weekend, and had left the cat.

The cat comes in and strolls to her plate. This is empty. That was the last thing last night, the last memory; was feeding the cat.

The morning was strange, and it was only possible to get under way at eleven. Breakfast was made then, the cat fed for the third time. Also, a shower was taken and the cat litter cleared. The shop is poorly ventilated, and it is good to empty the cat tray frequently.

At one go out to meet the people at the weekly gallery meeting. This is as interesting as always, listening to the people of various political persuasions.

Afterwards, go to the clothes store visited yesterday to buy a second pair of trousers.

The size that fits so well is out of stock now.

Return home, and find a postcard from the collector. He seems unhappy.

new jeans, black

 At six, get up and make acup of coffee and two slices of toast with plum jelly. Look at the news on the computer, then play today's wordle.

After a short while, feel cold and tired. Lie down and fall asleep. At ten wake up well rested with a loud buzzing in the head. It affects both ears now. Rest a short awhile enjoying the feeling of having really slept.

This ends with a severe one sided headache. When the spasm is over, get up and make breakfast. The cerebral buzzing quietens down, get dressed and leave the house.

Do a small amount of shopping. Return home, then later leave again,  search two shops for a pair of jeans. The first shop has horrible clothes and maddening background music. The next shop is free of background music and has helpful and friendly assistants. It is not cheap, but the clothes fit.

At home go upstairs and empty the clothes drier. The cat wants to come downstairs to the warm shop. Leave her upstairs.

Sort the clothes, pair the socks.

Then take the tripod to the studio. The teacher needs it to make a video of the reading that will take place there.

The reading is taking place now, and these notes are being written.

perhaps more later, ...

 This morning is late, because of the work on Aureleia's wooden thumb last night. The cat complained at eight, and upon being ignored; shut up and remained silent. Awake at ten thirty, wash the dishes in still wearing the night clothes and set up the coffee for breakfast.

Give the cat some food, a short while later she wants some more. Give her a small second helping, she appears satisfied with that.

Read the news, and see that bad things are happening in the world. 

Perhaps there will be more to say later today

After dealing with a few small things with the computer, and attempting to make a phone call to a friend in London, and then one in Ireland, left the building and walked up the Kirchgasse to Neustadt. Neustadt is a street name in this town. Take a left and go to the barbers. He takes one look at my hair and soundlessly reaches for a pen. He makes an appointment for next Tuesday at one.

Go on down the street, then turn left at the Grasgasse  and go all the way down to the Altstadt. True to form, Altstadt is a street name in this town too. Look into the bakers shop, the sight of the produce and the smell of baked cheese toppings is unbearable today. Go to the coffee shop, and realise that the insulated coffee cups have gone up in price. Go to the shop next door and buy a bag of cat litter and a small shovel.

Take the purchases home, and say hello to the cat.

This evening make a dish of spaghetti with a tomato sauce. Feed the cat from the small stock of cat food kept down in the shop which is now functioning as a flat.

Aurelia's thumb

 The cat is making a complaining noise at the other end of the shop. She seems content, and it is almost half past two in the morning. Today was a difficult day, got up early, and did all kind of simple things all day. 

At five in the evening a teacher from a nearby town arrived. She had fifty students artworks that needed to be reproduced, and three that needed to be printed. This is all very well, and it is rather fun. The teacher is friendly and she helps with the reproductions, she keeps on handing over the pictures one after the other. There are a lot of them. But it is all simple enough, we had agreed that they needed to be reproduced.

The three prints were finished in reasonable time, and the teacher left on her bicycle.

After she had gone, the cat complained outside the door. Let her in from the passageway, and give her a small amount of food. Keep on working on the remaining pictures. The teacher says that she can do the work herself, but this is probably not entirely true.

It is now early in the morning, and this is yesterdays post.

At  eleven the artist calls and requests attendance at the studio, He has a small job which needs some help. The thumb on the wooden statue of Aurelia needs to be removed, and neatly replaced with a more suitable piece of wood. The thumb is removed quickly enough with the chain saw, the surface smoothed with  plane, and then a piece of wood fastened with cyanoacrylate glue. This sets quickly, and with a long drill the piece of wood gets a six millimetre wide hole that traverses the length of the piece of wood that is to become Aurelias's new thumb.. The drill is almost thirty centimetres long. A piece of dowel rod of slightly greater length than the drill is covered in white glue and driven into the hole with a hammer. 

The result is that Aurelia now has a block of wood where her thumb is going to be.

The wooden statue of Aurelia will be displayed at a science fiction conference, she is an alien with distinct hominoid attributes.

Arrive home at two thirty in the morning and feed the complaining cat.

picture

 Deliberately stayed in bed after waking.There is no use in being active early and then collapsing. 

The ploy worked, but there was no need and no wish to leave the house during the day. Yesterdays shopping will last for several days. Spend the day listening to music from the Australian Jazz transmitter on the internet radio. Spend the day solving the problem sorting the many pictures of the little figures into some kind of coherent order. With another days work in the studio it should be possible to produce a printed book with most of the tedious placing of the pictures on the pages done automatically. The books content is essentially driven by a spreadsheet.

There was a telephone call, there is a small job to be done tomorrow.

The cat called in, the wife had left the house and the cat was lonely. She came in from the cold passageway and sat hearing jazz and sitting on a couch. Occasionally she received small amounts of cat food, as the fancy took her. Large amounts are not a good idea, the cat will overeat with disgusting results.

It is now a quarter past six in the evening, and it is dark outside and probably cold too.

The news has still to be read, and then take the short trip over to the studio. There is another picture to be made there.

nothing

 Rising early, feeling good and happy after a good long sleep. Unfortunately, this did not last long.

What is wrong?

Went back to bed as soon as the dizziness started, and stayed there until midday. Then went out and shopped, and had a sandwich,

Perhaps a doctor will need to be consulted, perhaps just a holiday taken.

After the shopping, walk over to the studio, and start to sort the pictures on the computer, comparing the exposures with the originals to make sure that there is no confusion. This takes hours. The landlord brings a cup of coffee.

Eat some sausages from the refrigerator, otherwise just keep on working.

In the end realise that the set of prints made last summer is incomplete. Check the files, find that all of the pictures are there as files. That is a relief. It will be possible to continue the work.

The artist arrives to do some late night work.

There is a friendly elderly couple, the man has had a serious operations and he is in trouble with complications. She is distraught. Listen to her for an hour, then she says she feels better. That is good, it is good to receive praise after having done nothing.

It is now after midnight, for yesterday this post is just too late

colder

 After breakfast read the news. Notice that the band pictures taken yesterday have been posted today. These things work quickly. There are small things to be done in the shop, for example the cat tray has to be emptied and cleaned. Go upstairs and chat with the son for a short while, and then go to the artists studio. The man is sick in bed, and his car was left at the studio. Walk over there and drive the car through town to his flat. The machine seems to be smoking heavily, this is strange. Park his car outside his flat and walk home again. This was no more than a small favour for a friend.

At home set up the data for the automated production of a catalogue of pictures.The son had demonstrated how an editable list of files can be made .

Later on in the day the son calls in to say goodbye, he is on his way back to his studies in Bayreuth

In the evening make a dish of spaghetti with tomato sauce. After a short period dieting this take the key back to the artist's studio. Walk back through the town , all covered in a thin layer of fresh snow. There is a small film crew working in the streets at night.They have the typical self-important attitude that all film crews seem to have.

It is cold, and the weather forecast says that it will get colder

band pictures

 After sleeping deeply woke early, made breakfast, and got dressed.This was all pleasant enough. Finding fresh clothes to wear was more difficult, but it was a solvable problem.

At ten in the morning leave the house, go to the car, and drive to the practice rooms that the big band is using today. They want photos of the band for use by the press. It is a big relief that the car starts without any problems.

Drive slowly through Landshut, the time was  arranged for ten thirty, and since the car started without causing any problem there is plenty of time. Upon arriving at the venue see that the doors have been propped open with a stone. This is useful, even though it may be the cause of a problem as the owners of the venue are concerned about security. But this is a problem for the band leader to solve. Go upstairs, and guided by the big band music arrive and greet the band leader and the others. 

The bandleader show the room. Then he returns to his band. Commence clearing out the chairs and the tables in the room to make space for the big group picture, and wait for the band to finish its practice.

The pictures are all much the same as the last time, a few of the band members have gone, there are a few new faces. The main difference is the fact that this time the pictures are wanted in colour. Care needs to be taken that the band members do not start to turn on the room lights. There is enough light coming in through the large office windows, and it is all of the one colour. The day is overcast, the light is very even.

The job is done in an hour, drive back home. The cat gives a happy greeting, the cat wants food, the cat wants its head fondled.

At two in the afternoon, gp to the gallery and chat with the people there. They make a cup of espresso.

Chat for an hour, and then return to editing the pictures

The work is done , send them away, and feed the cat again.

The pictures uploaded, all is done. There will be an opportunity to go out and to listen tor a small concert with a man playing guitar and singing songs by Tom Waits.

robot

 Today is another day to feel guilty about, it was just a waste of time. Had breakfast and left the house relatively early and did some shopping. Tested the car to see if it would start or not, surprisingly it did start. There will be the band to take pictures of tomorrow in the morning. Spend the day telephoning with people and taking a walk outside. It is really very cold out, the temperature indicator in the car said that it was minus six degrees centigrade which is about twenty one degrees Fahrenheit. It is felt as uncomfortably cold.

The head is filled with tinnitus and dizzy feelings. Spent the day up to now alone, meeting with nobody face to face.

Even the till in the supermarket was a robot.

cold

 It is now a quarter to three in the afternoon, and it is really quite cold outside. The work yesterday in the artists studio was finished today and it seems to have been absolutely worth while to make the second attempt. It is always important to record what has been seen, and not to attempt to construct things afterwards. The walk over to the studio with the soft box light in hand attracted a few glances, but the hordes of amateur photographers remained out of sight. It is never good to have a whole crowd of well informed people telling you what you need to do. But that was yesterday, the work on the pictures took place today, and the largest problem was the subtlety of the colours, they are hard to reproduce. 

The results on the screen are but a rough indication of what the things look like when printed. The ease with which spectacular effects can be made in a digital environment simply lead to gaudy and unusable results when the work is printed.

The morning is just bitterly cold. It is unpleasant to go out. And to stay at home is tiring. Now that the work is done, some exercise would be a good idea.

herring

 Last night was late, after returning from the studio applied the measurements to the pictures. This worked well, the result was satisfactory. Working solely on the screen and from memory is not satisfactory. Because of all of this, went to bed at two in the morning.

Breakfast at ten, the wish to go upstairs to use the shower was thwarted by the wife. She is a late riser.

Finish the pictures as started earlier, and then make a few smaller prints from the data. See the results and then throw out the prints from last night. It is a shame on account of the paper, and a lesson that test prints should be small. Read the news for a while, Trump will do the TACO because there is no way he can go forward. But even the New York Times is making small celebratory tones that this will be the largest land acquisition that the US has ever made. 

Find that the wallet has disappeared. Search everywhere, it is in none of the local usual places. Activate the search program on the mobile 'phone and discover that it was in the artist's studio. These small trackers are very useful in dealing with such mishaps. Pack a few things into a bag and walk over to the studio. Town appears to be quiet, apart from very speedily moving cyclists. It is a bit as if they have the law of the speedy on their side. They all seem to have electrical assistance now.

At the studio see that the lights are on, try the door and find that it is locked. Unlock the door and collect the wallet from the table where it had been all morning.

There are people in the pub, the staff are preparing for the evening meal. Have a cup of coffee there and listen to the conversation. The landlord of the pub says that the saxophone player always leaves the lights on.

Wander back home through town, buy a small plastic tub of herrings in cream, and then go home.

At home, have a few of the herrings with a slice of toast and settle down to write these notes.

bad prints

 It seems to be a strange illness that stops the ability to proceed. Awake in bed on this Tuesday morning and think that going back to sleep is the most sensible thing to be done. Awake again at eleven, that is the most sensible thing to be done. Get up at eleven, make a breakfat, and startt to examine the photograpic work from yesterday. In all honesty, it os no good. It demonstrates a direction that may be taken, but in itself it is not presentable.

The new pape arrives, run the necessary tests on the printer. It seems to work well,it has a most pleasant surface.

,Make a few test prints of yesterdays pictures.

They are mot good.

In the evening, go to the pub to attend an election gathering of the green party. 

It is well attended.

approval

The day started early, but it was strange. It was hard to stay awake, impossible to concentrate, and upon lying down impossible to sleep. The cat was complaining the whole time, there was no idea as to what was wrong.

Got up, fed the cat, and lay down again. an hour later the cat started again. Realised that sleep had been there and was now elsewhere. Fed the cat again, just a teaspoonful.

In the early afternoon went shopping, bought food and a roll with leberkäs, the local meat loaf.

Return home, eat a sandwich.

In the early evening go to the artist's studio. Set up to take a picture using the lighting that had been in mind for the last few weeks.

It will depend on the approval by the artist, his approval of the final pictures is required.

cold

 It is Sunday the day of rest. Get up early, feed the cat, empty the cat tray. Make coffee, there are no eggs left for breakfast. That is too bad.

Go to the car. The car starts without any difficulties, but it gives an insecure feeling. The weather is icy and the pavements are slippery. Drive slowly to the meeting place in front of an old electronics factory, now an enterprise that provides analytical and laboratory services for agricultural requirements. Arrive ten minutes early, walk up and down and watch the crows flap about and search a recently mown field for edible things.

The bandleader shows up at ten and we go upstairs. It is a building built in the nineties, and has changed hands many times. There is a room that the big band may use to practise and to rehearse in, and they want pictures of themselves with their instruments. This will all take place in a weeks time, and will be in a big hurry. Not a great job, but its part of the job.

On the way back go to the artists studio. There must have been a party last night, the place is in disorder.

Take a rest and take a cup of coffee.

Then return home to the greedy cat. 

Play jazz on the radio, watch the cat appear to listen to the music

It is all so tiring and it is unpleasantly cold outside.

noisy

 Slept well again, and wonder what the reason could be. The cat is down in the shop, and seems content. The reason for this is that the wife is away for the weekend, it does not matter were. But the pressure in the house is just not as great. It is pleasant to feel alone. This is true, but being able to sleep better because of this does not make sense.

The cat will have to go upstairs tonight. There are no cat doors in the shop, and a cat litter in the shop is just not doable. It is a shame that cats cannot use flush toilets.

Spent more time in the hardware store, bought a few small items for the work in the artist's studio. Wandered around the supermarket in that neighbourhood, but indeed up buying no more than two bags of Swedish type crisp bread. The atmosphere in the shop was unpleasant.

Earlier in the afternoon met up with the arty group at the gallery. It was the usual meeting, old people talking about health and politics.

The early and the late evening can be spent at home. There is no great wish to go to the pub any more, it is just too noisy.

Listen to the radio instead.

no change

 Aworke after a deep sleep, not understanding what had happened. Till now, surely awakening had been difficult, unpleasant, awakening to a tired feeling that sleep had not taken place, It is different today.

Make breakfast in the silent house. It is late, it is nine in the morning. Check the messages, there is the promised one from the son. It contains a scan of his written permission for the post office to hand out his parcel. First, have breakfast and read the news. American law officials may now shoot people with impunity. That is what their president says, and he presumes a divine right to do as he pleases.

Well, if that is what the faithful wanted, they should now be happy.

Make a print of the sons permit and go to the post office. They take one look at the items and demand identification and then hand over the parcel. That is all.

Return home, prepare the items for the photographic experiments due to take place over the weekend and for the coming weuek. There are worries over the security in the artist's studio, but it will become necessary to take the risk.

Read the news again, it seems as if humanity has not changed much in the last few thousand years. Drink another espresso. The machine is now working properly again.

feeling bad

Something will need to be done about this business of collapsing after waking up.

It was easy enough to get out of bed this morning, but then everything went strange later on in the day, just before noon. It became impossible to stay awake, and suddenly felt very cold. Checking the thermometers showed that it was not that cold. Lay down and covered up with a blanket.

Things got better and then got worse again

The postman knocked on the window. The package with the device for the car arrived today.

The cat made noises from the passageway. Opemed the door and let her in. She allowed herself to be fed.

But the day was very unsatisfactory, spent a lot of time just feeling ill. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

In the evening the wife came down and requested that the cat be fed. That is not a problem. The son needs to have somebody collect a parcel from the post. That is not a problem either. The wife feels that she does not need to pay her taxes. That is a problem.

wait for help

 A strange day, after a night in which it was very hard to get any sleep. Finally slept in the morning. After breakfast, lay down for a short rest and fell back to sleep. In the early afternoon realised that the starting aid for the car was not going to arrive today, and so went to the car and called the automobile club. It was three in the afternoon before a man driving a yellow car turned up. He attached a device to the car battery and after a few seconds it was possible to start the car. He explains that there are most likely two cells in the battery dysfunctional, and that a new one would be required. He had a few for one hundred and thirty euros apiece, this is more than expected. Stay with the older one, that is probably the safest. It will be possible to buy a cheap one at some discount store.

Take a drive for half an hour so that the battery may receive sufficient charge to start again. On the way back stop at the hardware store and buy two rods of dowelling. Return home and have to make do with an alternative parking spot, as all of the better places have been filled.

At home, am welcomed by the cat, the cat who is still hungry.

The business with the car is a nuisance.

time machine

Start the day by going out on the street and spreading thawing salt on the sheet of  transparent ice on the footpath outside the door. The footpath appears glazed, it is all shiny with the fresh ice. After a few minutes return to remove the remains of the ice with a scraper and a brush. The pavement is now safe to walk on.

Return inside and make breakfast.

Walking down the old street market in Landshut saw a familiar face, a face to be recognised at once. Stopped and nearly called a name. Then stopped again and looked away.

It was completely impossible. This young nineteen year old was last seen thirty years ago. Look again, the face, the hair colour, the visible mannerisms are identical.

Just walk on down the road. What cannot be is not.

Walk to the studio and look at the pedestal. It is slowly getting paler in colour, but it seems unlikely that it will ever have the same brightness as the concrete wall. It is the same hue, just darker. It will become necessary to take a picture to check on this. There is no way that a difference in hue can be identified by sight alone.

The owner of the local german pub makes a present of a cup of coffee. It is a coffee to go, in a cardboard cup. The pub is being cleaned for regular customers as of tomorrow. The man is only open on Wednesdays to Fridays. Chat with the people for a short while, and then move on.

On the way home nearly get knocked down by a wide-eyed young woman who seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere.

Return home and unpack the tiny bit of shopping. Now all is done.

The cat makes noises outside the door. Let her in. She wants food. Whenever she is in the shop she purrs, and hardly stops.

ice

 At eleven in the morning, finally left the bed. The evening had been late the night before.

It was snowing outside, and the footpath in front of the house was covered. It is only four metres of footpath, so go outside and clear the snow and spread a bit of salt.

Have breakfast, note that there are hardly any eggs left. Read the news, read that there are hundreds of Iranians being killed by their own security forces. At least, those belonging to their own government. The authoritarians are threatening with more of their own security forces in the United States unless the protests stop.

There are presumably more guns per capita in the United States than there are in Iran.

It is all very worrying. The United Kingdom wants to send its troops to Greenland for some NATO exercise. It is hard to follow exactly what is going on in the world.

Leave the house, in the meantime it has started to rain. The pavements are covered in a sheet of ice. The pavement in front of the house is covered in ice, regardless of the salt that is spread there. This phenomenon had been mentioned in the weather forecast the night before. Ice rain is what the German meteorologists called it.

Walk to the mall to get eggs. There are people slipping on the surfaces everywhere, it is alarming. It is strange that the cyclists seem immune to these conditions. But they are driving their vehicles more slowly than usual.

Buy the eggs in the shop, and walk back home taking the path by the river. This is not as badly iced as the others. Once at home take the snow rake and push the ice aside.

Two hours later a man knocks angrily on the door and says that salt is to be spread on the path, it is covered in ice again. 

The drizzle has caused a completely clear and almost invisible sheet of ice to form over the paving stones, it is like an ice rink. 

unhappy

 It is a cold winter's day today, walk through the town on the icy roads, all icy with the remnants of snow. Walk to the studio, the studio all deserted today. There are guests in the pub, they are all sitting around the tables playing cards.

Check the condition of the grey box, now steadily turning a lighter shade of grey as the concrete cures. It is not definite that the idea to use this as a base for the sculptures, but at least it will be a first attempt. This work has now been dragging on long enough.

Lie down on the couch, and rest awhile. Then return home by another route, walking across the big bridge and then going up the main street. Stop at a café and have a cup of coffee and a roll. Nearly forget the scarf at the table. The cold finds its way past the collar of the coat,  the scarf is missed at once. 

At home, listen to the radio, and read the news. There seem to be a great many people in the USA who are unhappy with their president. There also seem to be a great many Iranians unhappy with their leaders.

Return home, unhappy with the loneliness.

For example, none today

 Today was a lay saturday, a day of loneliness and depression. Went to the meeting at the gallery, and listened to the others talking primarily about themselves., a constant stream of praise. Praise for themselves, seeming not to care much whether the hearer was interested.

Slept long, being tired.

There is no point in seeing people in this frame of mind. Go to the shops and buy a bag of Elstar apples. This variety keeps well.

There is very little to be happy about at the moment, very little personal intercourse.

For example, none today

maybe something has changed.

Outside, in the first light of morning, the neighbour was to be heard breaking and scraping the ice and the snow from his piece of sidewalk in front of his house. Because of the variations in temperature the snow had melted and then the water had frozen.

Put on the coffee and go into the passageway to see if the scraper and the salt to deal with this were there. Both the bucket of salt for the street and the metal scraper were there. The scraper dated from the forties of the last century, but strong hand tools like that last a long time. The wooden handle had had to be replaced, the old one had been eaten by the woodworm. Otherwise all was in order. The coffee machine burbled, went indoors to turn the heat off. Scraped the snow, the slush and the ice off the piece of footpath in front of the house. Spread some salt. 

Then go indoors to have breakfast. After breakfast, read the news. It seems impossible that America is making the same mistake as Germany and Italy did in the thirties of the last century, but it looks like that. Perhaps it will be a lesson for those here who favour the AFD party, perhaps they will moderate their voting habits. Or perhaps they will not.

At nine, or a bit later, the son comes down all ready to go out. Father and son, or maybe in the meantime daughter; it is really up to him; go to the neighbourhood café. After some time there go on to the mall and do a small amount of shopping. And then take the long way round past the general store and buy some razor heads for the small electric razors. The son has lost his, and it seems to be a good idea to have a few for spare. The small electric razors are very practical.

And then return home and stay there. There is not much to do, and spend the time relaxing. Having risen early seems to have not had the usual repercussions of collapsing after an hour today. 

Maybe, there is slim hope, maybe something has changed.

frosty

 The evening session with the artist was not a great success, the landlord from next door visited the studio and considerably overrated his skill using a circular saw. The studio is now a mess of wood shavings produced by said instrument. But the plinth painted with Portland cement now looks like a large block of concrete. That was successful.

Returned home early this morning quite exhausted.

Woke late in the morning,  and felt miserable. 

In the later afternoon walked through town and visited the Thai place and had a dish of chicken with rice. It was all very tasty, that was a pleasant highlight for the day.

It is very cold now, cold and grey. There are not so many people on the street, as Christmas has passed. Go back home, 

Stay at home, listen to the radio and read for most of the afternoon. There is  a short piece of action installing a cable with the son, the cable goes all the way up to the attic and back down again to avoid having to take up floors or to make slits in walls. This cable is to service his online activities from the comfort of his bedroom.

A large truck passes by outside with orange lights flashing. It is spreading salt in anticipation of snow and frost.

plane

 The weather has become so cold that the car will not start. This does not matter much, other than that it has become impossible to move it to another parking spot for the short period during which the parking permit has to taken away to be removed.

The renewal is a strange process. Stand in front of the official building with twenty five Euros ready. Announce ones prescence using a mobile telephone. A clerk comes downstairs with the new parking permit and a reciept for the money. Return to the car and place the new parking permit in its place on the dashboard. The short lapse had gone unnoticed, there was no parking ticket tucked under the windscreen wiper.

Spend the afternoon in the studio, painting a white box with grey concrete and sharpening the blade on a new miniature plane.

epiphany again, crow caws

 Heilige Drei Könige is the German name for the festival of the epiphany, and that is today. Today is yet another holiday in Bavaria. The small town is silent this morning, no shops are open for people to go to, and there do not appear to be many going to church at this early hour.

Read the news. It is becoming obvious now that the greed of large countries will not leave any peace in the world. The savage killing of eighty Venezuelan soldiers, now hardly mentioned, shows the ruthlessness of these countries manner of proceeding. It is strange how suddenly those that used to be an example to civilisation turn into vicious bullies with casual disregard for human life. 

The silence out of doors, outside the shop, is almost oppressive. It is just a Bavarian holiday.

Last evening in the studio proceeded well. The white box is now painted with concrete, it now looks massive, heavy and grey. It was also possible to help the artist in repositioning the statue to enable the attachment of the right arm. The figure is from some science fiction story, it is a commission from a local enterprise.

Now it is twenty to nine, the day is beginning slowly and steadily. There is time to take a short walk. A crow is cawing  over the roofs outside.

water and cement powder

 Now it is two minutes to two, in the early afternoon. The matter with the health insurance has been cleared, the annual values of the utility meters have been forwarded to the utility providers, everything appears to be complete. The next thing was to make a small cup of espresso with the espresso machine. This still tastes strange, perhaps there is a lingering aftertaste from the chemical used to descale the machine. Still, it is a presentable cup of espresso.

Apart from the personal visit to the insurance company, there was a short visit to the shops to get vinegar and bread. A small amount of cat food was bought too, along with a bag of good-value cheap apples. These are all things that are needed. The ready made meals in the shelves have lost their attraction. A plastic bucket was bought to mix a thin paste of concrete to cover a box in the studio. The plan is to use it in a way similar to paint.

Now all of these things are done, it will be possible to take the new plastic bucket to the studio and to see whether or not it is possible to paint with a mixture of water and cement powder.

swift and deep.

 it is now two minutes to two in the morning and the day went like a strange dream. Most to the time was spent editing the many pictures taken at the jazz concert yesterday evening. There are many, and they want them in a hurry and the situation there was difficult because of the lighting.

In the afternoon there was a visit from the son, and in the evening went to the artists studio. It is pleasant there and it is possible to talk about things without too much bother.. Spent some time trying to work out why a spokeshave would no longer work. The problem was that one of the threaded bars for adjusting the device had come loose, and the small tool readjusted itself constantly.

But the day was rough, with feelings of tiredness and diffuse pain in the chest.

And this blog, these notes, were entiirely forgotten.

Now it is time for bed, let us hope sleep comes swiftly and is deep.

pay and go

At three in the morning feel wide awake. This is nonsense. Why is sleep being interrupted like this? Get up, look at the machine, try to play the day's wordle puzzle. It does not work out, leave if after the third line. Return to the bed and fall asleep.The story repeats itself at six. But this time there is the story of the kidnapping spree in Venezuela on the news. At that time there were just reports of bombings in Caracas. Make coffee and read the papers on the computer. Slowly a lack of concentration and dizziness sets in. Take another rest.

Then go out and walk to a grocery store to buy some Italian coffee. The store is open, it is strange. Both the staff and the shoppers seem older, lined grey faces and slow gaits. It is strange. The coffee is way down at the back end of the store. Spend some time selecting the typ,  bearing in mind the description and the price. There is no need to waste money now, is there?

Then return home and make breakfast.

This time the collapse is vicious, sleep until ten. There is a message from the photographers arty circle saying that they will meet in the gallery.

At one in the afternoon, arriving for a cup of espresso in the gallery, took another look at the pictures. The man is showing his own pictures. They are colour pictures which have had most of the colours taken out of them, just pale remnants letft. They are neither black and white nor colour, and there is little personal contact with the viewer.

There is a meeting in a loud Italian restaurant afterwards. That is exhausting. Drink another cup of coffee, pay and go.

others live in Bayreuth

 Sleep ended at three in the morning, and did not return until six. Just refuse to get out of bed, there is nothing to be done. Really, nothing at all to do.

Make a slice of toast and a cup of coffee. Make up the bed, then listen to the radio. Read a bit, and have a shower. 

Clear the snow away from the pathway outside the house. and put down a trowel full of salt to prevent any icing. There is no need for any liability for strangers slipping on an icy surface on the second day of the year.

Let in the cat, she is making noises outside the door. She gives a short growl upon admission, perhaps this is her way of saying thank you. She then wanders over to the corner where her plate is resting upon a plastic tray. Oblige the animal by placing a spoonful of cat food on the plate.

The cat eats the cat food.

There is a knock on the door, the son comes in he talks and asks if he may invite his father out for a coffee. The snow outside has stopped. Walk to the café and have a talk with him. Leave as a young mother with three children enters, for they need all of the spaces in the tiny café. They are three little girls.

Walk to the supermarket with the son, buy things that are unnecessary and forget those that are needed. Return home, and listen to the son give more account of his studies and his life in Bayreuth.

bad start

 The day, and supposedly the year too, started with a lot of bangs in the night and a whimper in the morning.

It was just strange to feel so unpleasant. It was not that too much had been drunk, it is just the whole social intercourse left a gap in the morning in which nothing happened, there was not even an egg for breakfast.

The day, the whole time is just depressing. There is no wish to talk to anybody.

Read the book.

At five, walk to the studio, help with the washing up.

The studio fills, then a feared drummer arrives. There is more conversation, and then they play. The drummer dominates the scene and the sound, and the whole mood changes from relaxing to jarring.

Apologise to the artist and go home.

The whole thing is just too difficult now

The year is not off to a good start.