Month: August 2008

I’m just dropping a few lines to say I’m very busy. You know, the same lame excuse everybody uses when they don’t blog 😉

I’m leaving for field work to Thuringia next week and a lot of things have to be planned and they just take time. I need to organize PDAs, GPS equipment, I need to get all the software running on the laptop and the PDAs, this weekend I will do some testing and run around with GPS and survey around Munich.

In Thuringia I need to survey forest areas, subdivided in deciduous and coniferous forest. It’s for my thesis, to get ground truth.

That’s what I have been doing the last few weeks – preparing for my field trip. The thesis isn’t going too well at the moment, I have major software problems. The satellite I’m working with is so new and that data hasn’t been tested that intensive with the software I’m working with so… I’m stuck. A little frustrating.

Reading about first school days makes me sad, seeing I’ll never have one again. Well, unless I continue with educating myself. I think it still didn’t hit me yet though, that I won’t be a student anymore soon. Aw 🙁

20 years from today was the Ramstein Airshow Disaster. I read through some very sad stories the last hour. And now I’m going to bed.

Take care!

A few weeks ago, while studying “business start-up” in the library, I started thinking about the States.

A lot of Germans I know, complain about that country, which has mostly to do with it’s governance though. I started thinking about the time when I lived in the States and then made a list, a list of things I miss and things I don’t miss.

The list is based on Austin, Texas, where I lived in for a year, in Sunshine Drive 🙂

Things I miss:

• Taco Bell
  Oh yeah, Taco Bell popped into my head first. I love that place. When I was hungry, let’s say, at 11.30 pm, I’d grab my keys, get into the car and pick up a Burrito Supreme menu with soft and crunchy tacos as well. Did I mention I gained 20 pounds while living there??
• JCrew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Old Navy, Express
  I still wear my JCrew Flip Flops, which are almost 10 years old now :). JCrew Flip Flops are my favorite and if someone of my family flies to the States I’ll order some items of JCrew online, get them shipped to the place my family members stay and have them bring me the items :D. A&F had great clothes, Old Navy had cute stuff, Express had lovely elegant clothes and accessories. I miss those shops.
• The warm/hot weather every day
  It’s 91 degree Fahrenheit in Austin right now. Need I say more?
• The malls with the food courts
  Malls <3 I love shopping under one roof. And the food courts were so yummy and great. I enjoyed eating there or just getting food for at home.
• The friendly people
  That’s something us Germans don’t know at all (at least I don’t know it from Germany). I did think that the people were a little too superficial at times, but that’s better than hafting to deal with grumpy people here in Munich.
• The Mexican Food
  Tacos, filled with eggs, for BREAKFAST???? That was my first thought. Now I love them. I make Mexican food every now and again, it’s just so yum and nowhere here you can get it so good like in Austin.
• The opening hours of the stores
  Going to HEB at 11pm? What a dream.
• The Cheese Cakes
  Need I say more? Such a yummy cake you’ll find nowhere here, only if you make it yourself. I tried to make it once, it was ok, but not as good as in the States.
• Mangia & Kitchen Door
  YumyumyumyumyumYumyumyumyumyum!! I used to work at Mangia @ Mesa Drive – gained about 20 pounds because I got all the food half price 😀
• Smoothies
  50 different types of Smoothies to chose from. What luxury.
• Amy’s ice cream
  Best ice-cream and “ice-cream-putting-in-a-cup” EVER!
• Bagels everywhere
  Blueberry Bagels are my favorite. Toasted and with Philadelphia – Wonderful!

Things I don’t miss will follow – I need to go to work now.

Some of the premade themes are really amazing. Look here