Update

It's near two weeks since I last posted. I need to post more often.

I now have a 'praktikant' at work (whatever that is in English). He's not been able to really help yet, but he's been learning what I've been teaching him very quickly.

Our Friday night event is still going strong. I'm still going to Jiu Jitsu. Ruhi course, book 1, started up again this past Tuesday - DW and I are the tutors.

My participation at allbeliefs.com has been suffering a bit, as full time job, practicing guitar and studying the Writings have been filling my free time.

I'm generally feeling pretty good about life, though I think I need to slow down a bit somehow.

Watchmen & Stuff

Well, DW did want to go to Watchmen after all. It was in German, of course. I think they did a good job of it. They changed the story a bit, but not in any way that I felt detracted from it. Warning: it is rather gory in parts. In general, I enjoyed it and DW thought it was an "OK" movie. :-)

I've been getting on a late night schedule, which is not really good, considering my praktikant starts tomorrow at 9:00 am sharp. I think this may be related to my difficulties with hay fever, which are ongoing - generally there seems to be less pollen at night, and I don't feel so great in the morning.

I've been continuing to practice guitar a lot - I've decided to at least get the basics down of every song in my basic German guitar book. A fairly big project.

Friday Event and Grilling

Busy, busy, busy! We've been "this close" to a release of the new software for weeks now. I made a final fix and checked it in late last night (Friday evening / Saturday morning), even though Friday and Monday are official holidays here in Germany.

Thursday was Jiu Jitsu as usual - very few people. Most of the regulars seem to be on vacation. Our Sensei asked me to show a technique from our retreat that we don't normally do - kind of embarrassing, because I didn't remember the new stuff very well - there was a *lot* of new stuff.

Our Friday evening event was very successful, with 7 people, lots of singing and guitar playing and interesting discussion, even though our daughter K. is off in Austria skiing with friends (Thursday through Sunday). I'm really happy that DW started this! :-)

Today we went to A.'s and grilled with her and her kids and R. It was lots of fun, and I played some guitar, too. We spent from about 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm there.

Now that the weather is so nice, my hay fever is beginning to kick in. I noticed it some last night, but after grilling it seems to have really kicked in. Perhaps somewhat provoked by my having an espresso - caffeine and sugar seem to provoke the hay fever.

I kind of want to go to the movie theater, but the only thing interesting is "The Watchmen", and it's only 10:45 pm, in German, and nobody seems to want to go with me. So, I guess I'll hope it's still being shown somewhere in the U.S. this Summer when I go - this is one I do want to see on the big screen, preferably in English.

Jiu Jitsu Training & Friends in Kassel

The Jiu Jitsu training went well. There were more about 50 people there, and about 20 black belts. There were nearly a dozen trainers. I felt seriously low-level with my mere white-yellow belt, although there were 4 white-belts there. I think I learned a good bit - though there really was too much for me to absorb half of it.
Afterward there was a grill party with meat and bread. No salad, not even potato salad, no fries, no veggies. About a pound of meat per person. Oh, and six cases of beer - although there was water and cola for those who didn't want alcohol for whatever reason.
Today I spent the day visiting friends who live near Kassel. DW and K. and I all went. We spent a lot of time playing guitar and singing, and all had a good time.

Miscellany

I haven't got any one special thing to report today. Life is going pretty well. :-)

I've been waking up early and doing dishes and other useful stuff in the morning, before DW is awake. It feels good. I get tired earlier in the evening, of course.

Jiu Jitsu went well yesterday. Today's Friday Evening Event went well, although only three people showed, and K. was off at a house-warming party for her best friend. We sang a lot, heard a story, said a few prayers.

Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm going to a short Jiu Jitsu retreat, with a grill-party afterward. Sunday we're off to visit a friend and his family in Kassel that we haven't seen in ages.

That's all for now.

Postage

I really have to post more - it won't help my writing much if I only write once every few weeks.

My DW has instigated a regular Friday evening event (with my and K.'s support), and I'm very happy with it! It is a prayer/sing-a-long/story-telling meeting. Our first event was last Friday, and it was great fun! :-)

Since last time:
- I went to Stuttgart Wednesday last week
- I've been to Jiu Jitsu regularly, though I missed once - I was overtired the day after Stuttgart.
- I've been mostly staying to a semi-normal schedule, getting up most mornings before 9:00.
- Last time at Jiu Jitsu, I seem to have irritated my previously hurt toe - it swelled up and turned red, but it seems to have recovered quickly and I will be going to Jiu Jitsu again today.
- I am restarting my Farsi lessons.