tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-320866032024-03-14T01:18:04.748-05:00Trail HackerRandom posts about trail running, computing, family-ing, thinking, and whatever else I choose to say.Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.comBlogger462125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-25776744936228670152014-01-15T08:56:00.003-05:002014-01-15T08:56:48.200-05:00Though Through Tough Thought<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
... I finally realized how weird the English language really is. I couldn't imagine having to learn all the nuances of "ou" and "gh", when is the "th" strong and when is it soft.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-76667533921478157572014-01-12T23:14:00.000-05:002014-01-13T09:02:58.677-05:00CodeMash 2014 (Pre Compiler Workshops)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yet another great conference. CodeMash gets better every year. The first year it hosted 220 people and it has been growing drastically each and every year. I am proud to say that I've been to each one and it almost acts as a reunion for me to see all of the local nerds that I respect so much. I look forward to the event each and every year and I already can't wait until next year's event.<br />
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This year I did the "Double Pre-Compiler Package". This consisted of two days of hands-on training before the actual event. This post is merely an opportunity for me to express my feedback for the workshops. Later this week, I plan to provide feedback on the sessions during the event.<br />
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Fixing the JavaScript Mess (Day 1)</h3>
This session was hosted by Jared Faris and Travis Smith. They showed various techniques on how to consolidate legacy applications into modular js files using jQuery event handlers on initialization routines. Their approach was quite interesting and I can say that I did learn a few things. It was a bit more for beginner / intermediate JavaScript developers and a few of the techniques were more of a "refresher" for me. They did a great job during the session, but there were a few times where a few of us weren't sure what to do along the way since most of the code they wanted us to modify was already in their Git repository. The workshop assumed proper knowledge of Git and I noticed a lot of the people around me were behind for a while. All in all, this was a great workshop!<br />
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Applied Application Security (Day 1)</h3>
I really enjoyed this workshop! It was hosted by Bill Sempf, who is a highly skilled Pentester (Penetration Tester). Bill makes a living by letting companies hire him to find security problems in their applications. Basically he is paid to be a hacker. Cool job title! In this session, Bill had us install a VM for security testing called <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/samurai/" target="_blank">Samurai WTF</a>; it's basically a Linux config configured for Pentesters. In this session, Bill showed us all the various tricks and techniques that hackers use to penetrate servers through SQL Injections, Cross Site Scripts, and various other techniques. Best yet, we all had the opportunity to try some of the techniques ourselves (after all it was a "work shop"). Again, I really enjoyed this workshop and learned a lot. It opened my eyes to some of the things I am (and am not) doing at work.<br />
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Intro to MongoDB Workshop (Day 2)</h3>
This was a workshop that I was looking forward to very much! It was hosted by Sridhar Nanjudeswaran who is on the MongoDB team. My goal was to get my hands dirty with MongoDB once and for all. We started the session by installing it on our machines and getting it up and running. Once we all had it installed, Sridhar began talking about the high-level features and low-level intricacies of the database. About 20 minutes into the "workshop", I was in over my head. I will be honest in saying that I was a bit dissappointed in this workshop (sorry Sridhar). We never got the hands-on training that I thought we would get. I left the workshop with too much information and not enough hands-on time using the technology. A better approach might have been to allow us to try adding, editing, deleting, and querying data. After all, the title said "Intro to" and that was exactly what I was expecting. It turned out to be a 4 hour talk about MongoDb. Sridhar was crazy smart and I highly respect him, it's just that the workshop was not at all what I expected.<br />
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Test Driven Node.js (Day 2)</h3>
This workshop was really cool! It was my first <i>real </i>intro into Node.js. I'd downloaded it a while ago, but merely to serve as a service on my machine for other things (mostly for compiling CoffeeScript). The workshop was put on by Todd Kaufman and 2 of his colleagues at Test Double. The room was full and the presenters were very knowledgeable in the topics. We basically got to build Battleship (the ship sinking game) using Node.js using a TDD approach. Functions included:<br />
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<li>Placing the Battle Ship</li>
<li>Aiming the Cannon</li>
<li>Shooting the Topedos</li>
<li>Check for direct hits</li>
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The best part about it was that I got to actually use the node package manager, use Grunt and Bowerman, and even run Lineman to run my server, run my tests, and many other things that I'd never done before as an ASP.NET MVC developer. I highly enjoyed this workshop and learned a ton.</div>
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The pre-compiler workshops are a great opportunity for us developers to learn new things that we never take time out of our day-to-day lives to figure out. Perhaps it's due to the fact that we don't know where to start, or perhaps it's simply that we don't take the initiative to actually learn new things because we get "comfortable" with the things that we do know. I force myself every year to learn new things at CodeMash, and this year was no different. </div>
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com3Sandusky, OH, USA41.4489396 -82.70796050000001341.3537346 -82.869322000000011 41.5441446 -82.546599000000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-30506586448360336502013-05-07T19:24:00.000-05:002013-06-13T01:07:25.590-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 24<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tuesday started like any other day. I woke around 7 or so, did my jail cell worked out, showered, and headed down for breakfast. I was pretty excited to get back to Bob's since I had learned quite a bit about EmberJS from PeepCode's tutorials. I had gotten the "Aha!" moment late last night and was anxious to apply what I'd learned.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nUpekHAoKl4/UblgzjgEQ4I/AAAAAAAALlg/OsW09AxO7lY/s1600/DSCN4559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nUpekHAoKl4/UblgzjgEQ4I/AAAAAAAALlg/OsW09AxO7lY/s200/DSCN4559.JPG" width="200" /></a>He and I worked together at the table up until lunch and then decided to head out for lunch at a quiet little Italian restaurant near his flat. We both ordered pizza and sat around and shot the breeze for a while afterwards. Bob was trying to "learn me" networking tricks, so we ended up staying longer than usual... Who am I to interrupt IP routing techniques?<br />
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As we were leaving the restaurant, it had began to sprinkle a bit. We made it back to "the office" with damp clothes and geeked out for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5pm I headed down to the hotel and got ready for a nice evening with Bob and Michelle.<br />
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Around 6:30, Bob and Michelle arrived at the hotel and we all walked a few blocks away to a nice restaurant named Zum Hirschchen for dinner. I ordered a genuine German dish of steak w/ mustard sauce, potatoes, and salad. What is a German dinner without beer? That's right... it isn't. I had a few beers to help wash down the deliciousness.<br />
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When in Dusseldorf, drink Alt beer. Kolsch beer can only be consumed in Koln. At least that is the motto. It's very similar to OSU vs. Michigan. At one point, Bob noticed that his Alt beer was in an Kolsch glass. This is wrong on many levels and it deserved a picture. I'm sure the tables around us thought we were nuts. We took about 20 pictures of this glass because it was hard to get the word "Kolsch" into the picture.<br />
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We stuck around the restaurant for quite a while and had great conversation along with a few too many shots of Jagermeister. Thanks for the great night Bob and Michelle!!<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com2Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-31152128136151430742013-05-06T19:10:00.000-05:002013-06-13T00:49:05.694-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 23<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Monday was a great day. It was mostly work related greatness, but great none-the-less. The day started with a hearty breakfast in the hotel. All of the waitresses know me by now and begin preparing my coffee for me before I even sit down. I always thank them with a big smile and a "danka!". The return the smile with a very nice "bitta". I'm convinced they think I live here now.<br />
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When I arrived at Bobs, he and I gathered our thoughts of what needed done for the week and dove right in. It was a very productive morning. Bob and I hacked away across from one another at the table. Around lunch time, we headed to Sevens with Michael and Michelle to get some delicious doner at the restaurant on the lower floor. Matt was still at an exam, so we took the metro without him and hoped that he might meet us there later; he never did arrive so we assume he would find his own lunch, :)<br />
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After lunch, Bob and I headed back to the flat and continued working. He and I worked at the table and time seemed to pass by very quickly. At one point we decided that we needed guidance on problem we were having and found a killer site called PeepCode.com which offers packages for learning various technologies. We got a 5 pack and began watching some nerd TV at the office desk. Before we knew it, Michelle was telling us it was time for dinner. She had prepared a delicious meal of shrimp and noodles with salad. Michelle and the boys enjoyed picking on Bob and I for getting so excited about our taste in good TV. Some people watch action flicks or horror flicks. Bob and I prefer nerd flicks. :)<br />
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After dinner we wrapped up a few last minute things and then I headed back down to the hotel around 8 or so. I was able to talk with Jennifer for a while and watched a bit more of my nerd TV before calling it a night...</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-29688573119890549452013-05-05T18:48:00.000-05:002013-06-13T00:47:24.563-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 22<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I woke up around 9 am because I simply couldn't sleep anymore. I decided to get a few things done and just hang out. Food didn't sound good at all yet, so I skipped breakfast and decided to go outside and get some fresh air instead. I walked all around and snapped a ton of photos in the process. It was an absolutely beautiful day.<br />
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Around noon, I decided it was time to try and eat some food, so I stopped at a waffle place in the Altstadt (yes, I spend a lot of time here) and ordered some banana waffles. Oh. My. Goodness. Yum! After gorging on waffles, I headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the better half of the day. I continued to work on my cool new project and watched soccer on TV... in German. My window was open the entire time and I enjoyed listening to the cars and people outside on the streets. The weather was perfect and I really enjoyed the sounds of downtown Dusseldorf all day from 3 stories up.<br />
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For dinner, I headed back down to the... wait for it... Yep, the Altstadt and ordered some doner at a corner cafe. The Altstadt was packed with people by this time who were all out enjoying the weather. I walked around and got a few grocery items and then headed back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the night.<br />
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I posted my pictures to my Google Plus account. <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/112982511935204206028/albums/5888837270829297361?authkey=CPyej6ehvNKeQA" target="_blank">Click here</a> if you'd like to see some beautiful pictures of Dusseldorf on a perfect Sunday.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-21093414703596914092013-05-04T06:47:00.000-05:002013-06-13T00:34:21.491-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 21<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was a great day! I slept in until about 11 am. Since I had already missed breakfast and didn't have enough time to head to the Altstadt for breakfast, I decided to dig through my goody bag from the Marathon and "make due". I feasted on pretzels, salami, apple juice, a bag of peanuts and an apple that I snuck out of the breakfast hall yesterday morning. It wasn't the healthiest of lunches, but it worked. No coffee.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ikb8g68Z5mU/UblXRf2nIBI/AAAAAAAALfM/mYAf3Yd7Cm0/s1600/DSCN4459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ikb8g68Z5mU/UblXRf2nIBI/AAAAAAAALfM/mYAf3Yd7Cm0/s320/DSCN4459.JPG" width="200" /></a>Today, I was going to go see Nick's football team play a game of American Football on the south-side of Dusseldorf. It was about 6 miles away and Michelle generously offered her train pass for me to use. This saved me about 5 euros since I wouldn't have to buy a ticket. Bob was able to explain my route over the phone and I took detailed notes. It was pretty fun riding the UBahn by myself through the main train station and out into the burbs. I arrived in Tipplesburg and a few local bike riders were able to point me to the right direction once I got off the train. I was happy they spoke English and had an iPhone with GPS to help me. :)<br />
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I arrived at Sportspark Neiderheid right at 3pm. The game had just begun and I found a comfortable spot on the sidelines where I got to watch Nick in his element. He is the coach for the Dusseldorf Blades woman's football team. He basically just paced back and forth along the sidelines "coaching". :) The weather was absolutely perfect and everybody ended up with a little bit of sunburn today! Sometime before half time he spotted me in the crowd and came over to say hello. The girls played a good game, but ended up losing to Berlin with a score of 42 - 19. It was a great game and I had a lot of fun; I actually got into it a few times on the big plays. It was a lot of fun!<br />
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After the game, Nick and I headed back to his place so he could change. He had a nice place in a quiet neighborhood. Once he got out of his coach's uniform, we headed to a nearby restaurant called Scotti's and had some burgers and fries with his team. By the time we had finished eating, it had gotten pretty cold. We decided to head back to his place so he could grab his jacket before going out for the night.<br />
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We ended up going to the Altstadt around 11 pm with his friend Vera, from CrossFit. We went from bar to bar, and Nick knew quite a few people at each place we went to. He used to be a bouncer at a few of these places, so we would show up to the door, he'd shake hands and catch up with the bouncers as they rattled off some German. The next thing we knew, we'd all go in the door and have shots or beers delivered to us. Awesome!<br />
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We hung out at the Altstadt until about 2 am and then I stumbled back to my hotel room in the chaos of the crowds. It's amazing how busy the Altstadt is at night. During the day it's a beautiful cobble-stoned oasis filled with restaurants and shopping. At night it turns into a party jungle with bars and lights. I love it!!<br />
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When I got home, I was able to talk with Jennifer for a while and then I was in bed and asleep by 3 am.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033951.2277411 6.7734556000000339 51.2277411 6.7734556000000339tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-63306892197514411632013-05-03T19:10:00.000-05:002013-05-05T06:33:33.819-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 20<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was Friday and was a full on day of progress. Bob and I worked diligently to get a prototype working on this project that we're doing, so we had our hands on the keyboard all morning. Around noon, he and I walked down to the corner and ordered pizza which we ate out on the sidewalk on a busy street. It was really neat to see all the traffic whiz by while we sat and talked.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Busy Corner Restaurant</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alt Eisenbahn</td></tr>
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When we got back to the office, I was able to find my girls on Skype before they got on the bus. Today was "western day" for the kindergarten so Daizi was in her element.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RJs81IXviM/UYZCG5jbENI/AAAAAAAALZo/--gENjA5F6s/s1600/GirlsTime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RJs81IXviM/UYZCG5jbENI/AAAAAAAALZo/--gENjA5F6s/s400/GirlsTime.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jazzy, Daizi, Lizzie, and Me</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSxOBu_JeJ4/UYY_3R0-glI/AAAAAAAALYs/yR3COC7pP_M/s1600/MezzoMix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSxOBu_JeJ4/UYY_3R0-glI/AAAAAAAALYs/yR3COC7pP_M/s200/MezzoMix.jpg" width="120" /></a>Bob and I continued to work through the evening and for dinner we had to man up and cook our own food... Well, actually Michelle cooked it, but we had to heat it up. :) We had sloppy joe sandwiches with french fries and Mezzo Mix (mmm). We almost had too much sloppy joe mix, but we felt obligated to eat it since there were (oddly) two buns left. As it turns out, Michelle had left enough for her too. When she returned from town, she opened the refrigerator and saw nothing... Oops. We are mere men trying to live in a womans world sometimes. Sorry Michelle... If it helps, they were delicious. (?)<br />
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Bob and I continued to work into 11 pm. We were both very excited to have something working before the end of the word day in Chicago (7 hours behind). We got it working pretty well and enjoyed a few glasses of some <i>really good</i> <a href="http://www.laphroaig.com/" target="_blank">Lofroaig Scotch</a> before I headed back to the hotel for the night. When I got home, I tinkered around on a few things (VMWare SNAFU) and then I passed out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A day at the office. :)</td></tr>
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Today was a great geek-out day! I love my job.<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033951.2277411 6.7734556000000339 51.2277411 6.7734556000000339tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-62705114853087468922013-05-02T19:09:00.000-05:002013-05-05T03:50:06.098-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 19<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I arrived at work around 10 am and worked a full day with Bob. He and I are getting a ton of work done. I wish I could talk about it, but I simply can't at this time. Just know that we are buliding some next level web stuff over here. :) For lunch, I enjoyed the second half of my Subway sub from yesterday and we stayed busy here in the flat.<br />
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After work, Me, Bob, and Michelle all headed to Koln to spend the evening with Dariush and Rita. We arrived around 7 pm and I got to see my little friend, Nouchine. She was shy at first, but started to open up after a bit. Jonathan made a cameo appearance at one point when we arrived, but he was pretty sleepy (ie. grumpy) and went to bed. We all sat out on the back patio area and enjoyed the weather. Dariush and Rita prepared a really amazing meal tonight. We had salad, lemon flavored chicken, rice cake, and a delicious Iranian dish with egs, chicken, and eggplant. Nouchine hung out with us for a while and then had to go to sleep eventually as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nouchine ready for dinner. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where's Nouchine? Anybody?...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dessert</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful night to be outside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle, Bob, Me, Dariush, and Rita</td></tr>
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After dinner we sat around and enjoyed coffee, drinks, and conversation. It really was a great visit and I hated to see it end. Thank you, Ghobad's for a wonderful evening!</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Cologne, Germany50.937531 6.960278600000037850.6174775 6.314831600000038 51.2575845 7.6057256000000377tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-8443902756120649402013-05-01T19:06:00.000-05:002013-05-05T03:21:47.283-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 18<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was a good day. After an overtime day at work followed by a scotch-fest with my friend Herbert, then an all-night blogathon, I decided to let Bob know I'd be an hour late. I arrived at his flat at 10 am sharp and we began our day. Today was a pretty beautiful day outside, so we worked with the doors and windows open.<br />
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At one point my old friend, "<a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2012/04/dusseldorf-germany-day-19.html" target="_blank">Nuts</a>" came to visit me on the back deck. This year he had a big acorn and buried it in Bob and Michelle's flower pot. We watched him bury it, and then he left for a few minutes to do something only to return and make sure that Bob and I hadn't stole his buried treasure. When he realized we weren't going to do anything with it, he scurried up a tree branch never to be seen again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making sure we didn't steal his nut.</td></tr>
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For lunch, the family all went to Subway and ordered foot long subs. Matt and Michael are on exam week this week and the next couple of weeks, so their school schedule is very sporadic the entire time I'm here during their exams. After lunch, Me, Bob, Michelle, all came back to the house. Bob and I worked until around 7 or so. The entire time we worked, we had an amazing aroma filling the air... That of a delicious dinner.<br />
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Michelle had made a decadent dinner tender fish with rice and vegetables. The fish had a honey mustard glaze sauce drizzled over it which added some crazy flavor to the meal. I really can't say enough about all of the amazing foods that Michelle has prepared while I've been here visiting. She's quite an amazing cook. I always see her cook books open, and I'll admit that from time to time I peak at the pictures of what she's cooking and get excited. :) Thank you for all the amazing dinners, Michelle!<br />
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Around 9 pm, I came home pretty well spent. I called Jennifer and we talked for over an hour. She caught me up on all the latest news around the farm. I'm pretty anxious to get home and help her around the property.The yard is out of whack, and a lot of spring cleaning needs done. I don't expect her to do all these things by herself, and it is hard being over here knowing they are piling up back there. I think an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_(Enrique_Iglesias_song)" target="_blank">Enrique Iglasias song</a> goes here. :) I fell asleep at 11 pm after one long day...</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-54741534312110996192013-04-30T21:26:00.000-05:002013-04-30T21:36:33.162-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 17<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was a fairly long work day which ended with an amazing conversation with a new friend.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sxjcT_Yw3to/UYB56hs8zZI/AAAAAAAALW0/QvMkkid1K8k/s1600/DSCN4429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sxjcT_Yw3to/UYB56hs8zZI/AAAAAAAALW0/QvMkkid1K8k/s200/DSCN4429.JPG" width="200" /></a>I arrived at Bob's around 9 am and we worked until noon. At that time, he had a lunch meeting with someone, so I came back to my hotel room to work for a few hours. For lunch, I didn't know what else to do, so I walked down to (where else, but) the Altstadt for a pizza and pop.<br />
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On my way back to the hotel, I stopped and bought a 1.5 liter of water and worked at my desk for 2 more hours before heading back to the Bob's flat to work with him at the table. He and I worked diligently til about 7 pm, when it was time for dinner.<br />
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I screwed up today and embarrassed myself at the dinner table beyond belief. Michelle announced that it was time to eat, and at our house that means "Drop what you're doing. Come-and-get-it!". Doh! Everybody seemed slow to the table, so I hobbled up to the bar (still sore from the run) and was the first to arrive. I don't think I rushed to fill my plate, but once I filled it up, I began tasting the food that she had prepared and telling her how good it was... Shortly thereafter, Matt came to the table with his plate full of food, but didn't begin eating yet... I quickly realized that I had jumped the gun! Eventually Bob came and prepared his plate, then Michelle prepared hers. Once everybody had their plates ready we said "Grace" and then everybody began eating.<br />
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Wow, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I was extremely embarr<b><u>ass</u></b>ed and was pretty quiet the rest of the meal... I still am embarrassed by it, but learned my lesson good and well tonight. :( My parents raised me better than this...<br />
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After dinner, Bob and I went back to the work for another hour or so, and then I headed back down to the hotel room to catch up on somethings that I've been putting off. I had to catch up on my blog, email some people that had been waiting on me and tie a few more loose ends. At one point, I went down to the bar to but a bottle of water at the bar. There I met a very nice man by the name of Herbert who was in charge of the hotel.<br />
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Herbert is 75 years young and was an absolute joy to talk to and get to know! Our introduction started by him asking me what country I was from. He then told me to pick a drink and sit and talk with him for a while. I told him I'd take a scotch on the rocks, so he poured it for me and we sat. He and I sat at the bar and talked for over 2 hours!! We could have easily talked for 2 more hours, but he was starting to drink me under the table. After my first glass, we were so deep in great conversation, that I bought myself a second glass of scotch and we continued with our conversation. As I finished that glass, we found ourselves even deeper into our conversation that he interrupted it by offering me yet <i>another </i>glass of scotch "on the house".<br />
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Needless-to-say, Herbert and I became pretty good friends in a very short period of time. As people would come in the front door, he'd pause our conversation, tend to their needs, and then come right back to the bar and pick up right where we left off. I can't explain how much I enjoyed this night with my new friend!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herbert and Me @ 2 AM after a few (or more) drinks</td></tr>
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We talked about politics, women, sports, history, family, religion, you name it... I will never forget my 2 short hours with Herbert at the Hotel Berial! He (personally) made my stay here at this hotel so very memorable. Thanks for a great night Herbert! I look forward to seeing you next year at the bar around 11 pm! :)</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com1Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033951.2277411 6.7734556000000339 51.2277411 6.7734556000000339tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-69739626345129801152013-04-29T20:42:00.000-05:002013-04-30T20:53:21.611-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 16<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was painful. Walking became a challenge, sitting was relief, and steps were "the devil". I crawled out of bed and had to laugh at how bad my legs hurt. It was mostly my calves. Quads were OK. Hips were fine. Pride was through the roof. But the calves...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VoLAInqvWKU/UYBz4AkvgDI/AAAAAAAALWU/6GlQ_0tWS_I/s1600/FromDusseldorfToDortmund.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VoLAInqvWKU/UYBz4AkvgDI/AAAAAAAALWU/6GlQ_0tWS_I/s400/FromDusseldorfToDortmund.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our commute from Dusseldorf to Dortumd, Germany</td></tr>
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Bob and I were scheduled to be on site all day at one of our partner companies in Dortmund, Germany. I arrived at Bob's house a bit early so that we could get a head start on the traffic. The drive was just under 100K from Dusseldorf, so it would take us about 1 hour to get there.<br />
<br />We arrived and had a full day of meetings. Around noon we went to nice restaurant and I ordered some delicious chicken and rice dish. I took a photo with Bob's iPhone, but don't have it handy to share the visual of this delicacy with the world yet... When I get it, I'll update this post and remove all these filler words. :P<br />
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The work day ended around 7 pm and we made our way back home to Dusseldorf where Michelle had a delicious meal waiting for us at the dinner table. She had made chicken with a variety of potatoes and steamed broccoli. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this either, so you'll have to take my word for it that it looked as well as it tasted.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lizzie, Daizi, and Jazzy (ie. My Bay-bays)</td></tr>
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I came back to my hotel room around 9 pm and talked with Jennifer for about 1.5 hours on Skype. We had a lot to catch up on. She told me about the latest "farming news" and I told her all about my weekend with Nick and the Marathon. It was great to catch up with one another and just talk about everything that's been going on. I hadn't really talked to her since Thursday evening, so we had quite a bit to talk about. Of course, we injected a few "nothing" conversations as well. :)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGIT0v6kJ3Y/UYB0nWTmEmI/AAAAAAAALWc/s-Rocd3u9qQ/s1600/20130426_190937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGIT0v6kJ3Y/UYB0nWTmEmI/AAAAAAAALWc/s-Rocd3u9qQ/s200/20130426_190937.jpg" width="200" /></a>Of course, I got to see the girls as well and they told me all about their new goats and pigs. We got new goats for the farm: Pete, Meech, and Oreo (?) are the goat's names. The pigs names are still yet to be determined. I think Lizzie named hers "Haas", but that is all I know at this time...<br />
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I eventually fell asleep around 1 am.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Dortmund, Germany51.5135872 7.465298100000040951.1973192 6.819851100000041 51.829855200000004 8.1107451000000417tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-9485071373577853742013-04-28T20:30:00.000-05:002013-04-30T20:30:47.131-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 15 (The 2013 Dusseldorf Marathon)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vZb2ZYRudBw/UYBtEJtzjGI/AAAAAAAALU8/WAIUpvZt1b0/s1600/DSCN4425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vZb2ZYRudBw/UYBtEJtzjGI/AAAAAAAALU8/WAIUpvZt1b0/s200/DSCN4425.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
OK, it's time to spill the beans... I was not trained for this race by any stretch. I know I've probably said thsi before, but this time I meant it. I was genuinely nervous about how this run would go; I didn't know if I would pull a muscle at mile 10, damage my feet from pounding the concrete with my minimalist shoes, or blow a knee from all the cool new weight I have gained over the last few months. See my Facebook page for details of when (and why) my training came to a screeching halt on Feb. 2nd. :) Regardless, I was quite pleased with the end result. I finished in 4 hours and 46 minutes.<br />
<br />
I woke up at 7:30 am and awoke to my obnoxious iPad "alarm" alarm. I taped my nips, charged my iPod, laced my shoes, and headed down to the dining area for a hearty breakfast. The breakfast hall was packed full of Germans in spandex and sweat-wicking clothes. Carbo craving runners filled the dining area and German speaking excitement filled the room between the clanking of dishes and silver wear sounds. Everybody was preparing for a day of running. All of the eggs had been consumed by the time I arrived, so I defaulted to rations of bread and cucumbers. Blah. I was able to grab an apple on my way out, but that was it...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zkIPReOHyWw/UYBtL0Q0csI/AAAAAAAALVE/3Wz-2sB2kk8/s1600/DSCN4379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zkIPReOHyWw/UYBtL0Q0csI/AAAAAAAALVE/3Wz-2sB2kk8/s400/DSCN4379.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob, Michelle, and Me (aka. Luc)</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KFC1r5A8UeY/UYBta4TnICI/AAAAAAAALVM/5-D0mYbeISA/s1600/DSCN4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KFC1r5A8UeY/UYBta4TnICI/AAAAAAAALVM/5-D0mYbeISA/s200/DSCN4381.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Around 8:30 am, I met Michelle and Bob near their flat and we all walked down to the starting line. The sun was warm but the shade was freezing; it was one of those mornings. I wore my Columbia jacket all the way up to sound of the starting gun. The race started at 9 am sharp.<br />
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The first 5 miles were effortless. I ran steady and strong. After a while I came upon a crowd of runners who were gathered near a woman wearing balloons strapped to her waist. The balloons read "4:00"... This meant that I had been keeping an 4 hour marathon pace up to this point. I though "Hell, this is easy". I figured as long as I could keep this balloon lady in my sights for the next 3.5 hours, I'd have a new PR under my belt. A few meters back ran a dude holding a flag which read "3:59:59". Apparently, they didn't coordinate with one another before the race. Shouldn't he be in front of her?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Day for a Marathon</td></tr>
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The next 5 miles were just as easy. I was keeping up with the 4 hour balloon lady, and the 3:59:59 flag dude was hot on my trail. He and I played hop scotch for the next few miles, but we never passed the 4:00 balloon lady. Go figure. Regardless, I was still feeling strong and my breath was in tact. I wasn't exerting myself too much (which was surprising). Who said marathons were hard...?<br />
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Around mile 6, I found Bob and Michelle off to the side and they were cheering me on to keep running strong. This helped immensely. I had been in the zone for so long with my only friend (my iPod nano) that I hadn't really realized there were other people here. I was "in the zone". My music helped me to stay focused on my form and my breathing; everything else was German.<br />
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As I approached the 10 mile marker, I was still keeping up with the balloon lady, and the flag dude was creeping up on me. Eventually he passed me around mile 11 or 12. I still felt strong, but my calves were starting to tighten up a bit. They weren't screaming expletives yet, so I continued to push forward with diligence.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rGHjAgRIcO8/UYBuuqYCtOI/AAAAAAAALVc/oyPZwI48qAo/s1600/DSCN4392-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rGHjAgRIcO8/UYBuuqYCtOI/AAAAAAAALVc/oyPZwI48qAo/s400/DSCN4392-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On pace for a sub 4 hour marathon!!</td></tr>
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Approaching the "half marathon" checkpoint, I realized I was rocking a 4 hour marathon pace. I crossed the 1/2 marathon checkpoint at 2 hours exactly! At this point, I thought I might be able to keep this up and set a new record for myself. My goal was to keep the balloon lady in my sights at all time, and then as we approached the finish, I'd scream past her and finish with the flag dude (assuming he'd eventually pass her).<br />
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As it turns out, my calves and my will had taken a beating from this crazy-for-a-chubby-dude pace and I found myself slowing down with each passing "K". Keep in mind that this was a European race and all of the checkpoints were in kilometers. By the time I'd reached the 25K mark, I'd lost sight of the balloons and my will to pass her...<br />
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I thought to myself, I still might beat the flag dude... Needless to say, he passed me shortly thereafter and I never saw them again. I was approaching the 30K mark now and my pace had slipped even further. I was hitting the wall.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70eYNx9MOEk/UYBu8f4mO4I/AAAAAAAALVk/7PyKARbp2gY/s1600/DSCN4407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70eYNx9MOEk/UYBu8f4mO4I/AAAAAAAALVk/7PyKARbp2gY/s320/DSCN4407.JPG" width="320" /></a>By the time I reached the 20 mile marker I found myself doing a walk / jog regiment. I'd walk for 50 meters and then jog for 200-300 meters. Running was a thing of the past at this point. My quads and calves just weren't in it anymore. Around mile 22 I started looking around each corner for the finish line. It was nowhere to be found. The 4:15 balloon dude passed me, then the 4:30 balloon dude...<br />
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The ailments of this distance run tacked on more and more pain to my calves; I continued looking for that finish line for the next 5-6 miles. Kilometers just didn't make sense to me anymore. My legs were pissed.<br />
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Eventually I came to a point in the race where the finish line was in sight, but there was still another 2 miles to go before I could cross it. Talk about gluttony. The race directors did this on purpose! I just knew it! I wanted their names and their addresses. They were clearly distance runners who found joy in this "false hope" game. I see the humor now, but didn't see it then.<br />
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Around mile 24 I was able to see the 4:15 balloon dude pass me, but he was passing me on the other side of the road; heading for the finish. I looked at my watch and realized that I was still on a sub 5 hour pace, but my dreams of crushing my PR were just that; a dream. My goal now was to "not die" and just finish. I continued with my jog / walk regiment, but by this point, it was almost easier to jog. Walking took more effort. Ironically, it's more difficult to walk on sore legs than it is to jog. Ask any runner and I'm sure they'd tell you the same. Once you get to a certain point, the mechanics of running are less painful than the mechanics of walking. Weird, I know.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22NBqNdEPiA/UYBvI7AI_fI/AAAAAAAALVs/z2kOX4EOsEs/s1600/DSCN4409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22NBqNdEPiA/UYBvI7AI_fI/AAAAAAAALVs/z2kOX4EOsEs/s400/DSCN4409.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Less than 1 mile to go!!</td></tr>
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I eventually made it to "the other side of the road" where I saw the 4:15 balloon dude 30 minute ago. I was on the home stretch. I only had about 1/2 a kilometer to go... That's about 1/3 a mile for all my American friends. Oddly, this tends to be the longest part of a marathon. The last 0.25 miles of a marathon are sometimes the most difficult. Your brain says your "almost there", but your eyes say "holy crap, that's far as hell".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fiq3fgL4iJs/UYBvTGuCjkI/AAAAAAAALV0/QCe01AKHGyk/s1600/DSCN4413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fiq3fgL4iJs/UYBvTGuCjkI/AAAAAAAALV0/QCe01AKHGyk/s400/DSCN4413.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013 Dusseldorf Marathon</td></tr>
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I crossed the finish line and the clock read 4:46 with some odd change. The wall is a bitch. If my legs could have just kept up with my ego, I may have qualified for Boston! Maybe next year... (?)<br />
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After the race I hobbled around the Altstadt looking for Bob and Michelle. I never saw Michelle on the "other side of the road" as I approached the finish, so I wasn't sure if she had already finished or not. The crowd was pretty compact, so my eyes were scanning every German face to see if they resembled an Andreini. Bob, or Michael, or Matt should be somewhere in this crowd waiting for Michelle to exit the runners area.<br />
<br />
Eventually I found Michael and then I saw Bob. Luckily Bob had my coat and that was a good thing. The shade was still cold and I was drenched with man-sweat. I immediately put my coat on and we all enjoyed a tall beer with Michelle's relay team near the finish line.<br />
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After the race, I went back to my room, showered, and fell on my bed. I tried to catch a few Z's, but I'm not sure if I ever did... I laid there for a while and eventually I got up. Again, I'm not sure if I ever actually saw the sand man though...? Let's assume I did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TwkJheLqHmo/UYBvtL3DSQI/AAAAAAAALWE/Y6idF7RebSs/s1600/DSCN4428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TwkJheLqHmo/UYBvtL3DSQI/AAAAAAAALWE/Y6idF7RebSs/s320/DSCN4428.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Bob, Michelle, Becky, Erin, and Barry</td></tr>
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We had dinner plans for 6 pm, so I arrived at Bob and Michelle's around 5:45 and we headed to a very nice restaurant named Meyer & Freeman (ie. Morgan Freeman) to eat dinner with Barry, his wife Becky (?), and their daughter Erin. I had the shnitzel, and it was THE SHNITZEL! :) I ate it all.<br />
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<br />
After dinner, Bob and Michelle dropped me off at my front door. I hobbled up the steps and fell on my bed again... I definitely saw the sand man this time.<br />
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This was a great experience. I'm proud of the way I ran the race. I pushed hard in the beginning and pushed even harder near the end when all of my energy was gone; I left everything on the course. Once the 4:30 balloon dude passed me, I knew it was time to just enjoy the run since all hopes of a new PR were gone. I will remember this run forever. It's the run that I didn't (ok, couldn't) train for, but still kicked ass on. :)<br />
<br />Thank you, Bob, for allowing me to run this race again! Maybe I'll set a new PR here next year??? :)<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096221 6.128008600000034 51.545860100000006 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-30455294689383064762013-04-27T15:36:00.000-05:002013-04-30T15:47:01.024-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moose Sighting!</td></tr>
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Today I got to sleep in a bit. I woke up at 11 am and started my day very slowly. I had the curtains closed and the window was closed, so no noise and no light was entering the room. It felt like it was still night time... Even when I woke up at 11, I felt like I could have slept for a few more hours. I quickly realized I was being ridiculous and needed to get moving. :)<br />
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Today was scheduled to be a pretty relaxing day though... I only had two real "appointments":<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pick up my race packet before 6 pm</li>
<li>Carbo load before going to sleep</li>
</ol>
The plan was to meet Bob and Michelle at their flat sometime around noon and head down to the race expo to pick up our race packets. Michelle was running in the race tomorrow as well, she is on a relay team of 4 people and she was signed up to run the last leg of the relay. It was almost a 10K leg and she was pretty excited about it. Last year she ran the first leg so she got to be a part of the starting line. This year she gets to experience the finish line, so she got the best of both ends from the two separate events.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8MYZhk-YhrM/UYArv6d3NnI/AAAAAAAALUM/vnd-7SJkxz8/s1600/DSCN4368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8MYZhk-YhrM/UYArv6d3NnI/AAAAAAAALUM/vnd-7SJkxz8/s320/DSCN4368.JPG" width="320" /></a>I arrived at Bob and Michelle's flat around noon and Michelle wasn't there, she had plans until around 2 or so. This meant that Bob and I would be picking up my race packet, and then he would go back down to the expo with her to get her race packet later. He and I enjoyed some coffee from his <a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2013/04/germany-2013-day-11.html" target="_blank">amazing coffee maker</a> before heading down to the expo. As it turns out, we got lost in conversation on our way and ended up taking the long way. :) Doh! It was windy and chilly, but all in all a beautiful day, so it worked out!<br />
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The expo was pretty crowded and there were a lot of vendors setup selling their goods and services. I got my race number and my t-shirt and looked around at a few booths before we headed back. Bob went back to his flat and I headed back down to my room. I was able to post a few blog entries and catch up in the "social networking area" for a few hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vB-EUAhB3IY/UYArv1XbGAI/AAAAAAAALUQ/E2G4wrbScho/s1600/DSCN4371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vB-EUAhB3IY/UYArv1XbGAI/AAAAAAAALUQ/E2G4wrbScho/s400/DSCN4371.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013 Dusseldorf Marathon Expo</td></tr>
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Around 6 pm, I headed back down to The Andreini's where Michelle had cooked an amazing dinner of bow-tie pasta with salad and garlic bread. It was de-li-shus! I had a heaping helping of seconds and we sat around for a while afterwards talking and enjoying the evening. They invited me to stay for a movie, but I was looking forward to getting my things ready for the race and relaxing before the "big day".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYv_wZhmXIA/UYArwCj8oUI/AAAAAAAALUU/Cd-gXHR2pXI/s1600/DSCN4377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYv_wZhmXIA/UYArwCj8oUI/AAAAAAAALUU/Cd-gXHR2pXI/s400/DSCN4377.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob and I</td></tr>
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I was in bed and reading by 10:30 pm.<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-52274450214202217152013-04-26T16:00:00.000-05:002013-04-30T15:21:20.798-05:00Germay 2013 - Day 13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_TqWJ8cY_Vg/UYAhb3ZIWCI/AAAAAAAALTw/NoK10UHDbMU/s1600/DSCN4352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_TqWJ8cY_Vg/UYAhb3ZIWCI/AAAAAAAALTw/NoK10UHDbMU/s200/DSCN4352.JPG" width="150" /></a>Today was a great day. I did my daily routine of waking up, working out, eating like a king, and getting to work on time at 9 am sharp. Bob and I worked at the table until around noon, and then we decided it was time for lunch. Michael joined us as we headed toward the train station to take the metro down to the "Sevens", which is a multi-level multi-media mega center. Think "Best Buy" on steroids. The ground floor was scattered with various restaurants, and the other 6 floors were nothing but electronics and computer equipment. This is how I picture heaven.<br />
<br />
We ate a great lunch at a fancy restaurant on the ground floor. I had the "Doner" which consisted of a small salad on one plate and another larger plate full of french fries and chicken schnitzel (shaved meat). After we ate, we headed up to the top floor where the computers were located and we looked around at all all latest and greatest nerd toys. Needless to say, we had to drag ourselves out of this place in order to get back to work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWf2XeBSa3g/UYAhbje4BWI/AAAAAAAALTo/VuHAOjEqjrI/s1600/DSCN4351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWf2XeBSa3g/UYAhbje4BWI/AAAAAAAALTo/VuHAOjEqjrI/s640/DSCN4351.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multiple levels of geekiness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t1Tt-1wby6s/UYAhYvhEo9I/AAAAAAAALS8/_Y5uCehdmLc/s1600/DSCN4336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t1Tt-1wby6s/UYAhYvhEo9I/AAAAAAAALS8/_Y5uCehdmLc/s200/DSCN4336.JPG" width="200" /></a>Bob and I worked together until about 6 pm, when I was scheduled to meet up with Nick Mockus at the Altstadt for beer. I knew Nick back in high school where we were both in the French Exchange program. He and I got to travel to France with the exchange program in 1996 and I got to know him a little bit back then. We were merely acquaintances at that time who basically knew each other through the French program. He played football for Newark High School and I was a drummer in the marching band (BDDLITS baby).<br />
<br />
Fast forward 16 years, to last year, and he saw on Facebook where I was travelling to Dusseldorf for work. He pinged me and informed me that he was living in Dusseldorf and suggested that we hook up for some beers. Needless to say, <a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2012/04/dusseldorf-germany-day-17.html" target="_blank">we got together last year and hung out a bit</a>. When I learned that I was coming back this year, I reached out to him and let him know I was coming back to his home town, and that we should do it again... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nv0t1Jvua6E/UYAhYzQ6WOI/AAAAAAAALTA/GYr0mKEVkjU/s1600/DSCN4339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nv0t1Jvua6E/UYAhYzQ6WOI/AAAAAAAALTA/GYr0mKEVkjU/s400/DSCN4339.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A ship in the middle of the old town (ie. Altstadt).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l3MqMNA4nxY/UYAhabl0jpI/AAAAAAAALTU/CPdDjoGvW2E/s1600/DSCN4341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l3MqMNA4nxY/UYAhabl0jpI/AAAAAAAALTU/CPdDjoGvW2E/s400/DSCN4341.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curb-side Kilipitch!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3FUWb1p56zI/UYAhaqI86uI/AAAAAAAALTY/Qv2sY1X4OXU/s1600/DSCN4346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3FUWb1p56zI/UYAhaqI86uI/AAAAAAAALTY/Qv2sY1X4OXU/s400/DSCN4346.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking through Dusseldorf with open containers... <br />Yes it's legal, Mom. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qKpKJQDgDA/UYAhaSBPyJI/AAAAAAAALTc/Si5A-tEe3xc/s1600/DSCN4345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qKpKJQDgDA/UYAhaSBPyJI/AAAAAAAALTc/Si5A-tEe3xc/s320/DSCN4345.JPG" width="320" /></a>Nick and I started at the Altstadt around 6:30 pm and had a few beers at the Fucschen before making our way towards the Rhine for more beers and pizza. He took me to various local places that he knew of and introduced me to a few of his friends along the way. It's amazing hearing him talk German so effortlessly with his friends. I guess this happens when you live in a country for so many years, but it was still neat to see. We had to stop for some shots of Kilipitch at my favorite "walk up window" where you hand over some Euros and are given a shot of hard liquor through a small window. :) At one point, we even made our way back to the Sevens near the fashion district. Jazzy would love this place, it's "All fashion, all the time". Nick and I had a great time hanging out, despite the rain and overcast weather.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CXYaUS0h1z0/UYAhZYRbg_I/AAAAAAAALTE/VBIC0tVozPA/s1600/DSCN4340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CXYaUS0h1z0/UYAhZYRbg_I/AAAAAAAALTE/VBIC0tVozPA/s400/DSCN4340.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bars, bars, bars...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Around 9 pm, we went our separate ways. Nick headed off to a "work thing" and I headed back to the hotel to relax for the evening. I hadn't had much sleep the entire week, so I literally laid on my bed and read until my eyes got heavy enough to close for the night. I felt old knowing that the night was still young on a Friday in downtown Dusseldorf, and here I was in bed by 9:30 pm.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uJ4eY5eeAc/UYAhb_GiHoI/AAAAAAAALT0/uBuX7jtK1J0/s1600/DSCN4360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uJ4eY5eeAc/UYAhb_GiHoI/AAAAAAAALT0/uBuX7jtK1J0/s400/DSCN4360.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strolling through the park on my way back to the hotel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today was a great day!<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096101 6.128008600000034 51.545872100000004 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-28773385958362763232013-04-25T15:50:00.000-05:002013-04-27T15:58:35.971-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 12<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today (Thursday) was another work day. Calls were made and code was written...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KT7IpF3_aA8/UXw70VQycpI/AAAAAAAALSs/hPWtouSQaFk/s1600/DSCN4361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KT7IpF3_aA8/UXw70VQycpI/AAAAAAAALSs/hPWtouSQaFk/s200/DSCN4361.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
As it turned out, I never actually "left the office" after work. Bob and I worked at the table up until dinner time. Michelle made burritos for dinner tonight and they were <i>delicious</i>! It's been great hanging out with The Andreini's this week. They are great hosts and have really welcomed me as a member of their family here in Dusseldorf. They invite me to every meal, and I really appreciate it. Michelle is "da bomb" cook; one night she made asian cuisine, the next night she made a delicious salmon and veggies dish, and tonight she made healthy burritos. Yum! Michael and Matt are very open to me this year. Last year, there was a bit of shyness I think, but this year we talk and joke with one another. I enjoy the stories of their travels and school friends.<br />
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There are some evenings when I simply do my own thing and give them their family time. This night, we all sat around and enjoyed each others' company even after dinner. Around 8 or so, I headed back down the hotel to relax and unwind for the evening. I worked a bit more at my desk in the room and talked to Jennifer on Skype for a bit.<br />
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All in all it was a very chill day here in Dusseldorf.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJGoXanMNUk/UXwzxO3TXvI/AAAAAAAALSc/LtXI8FKFoFQ/s1600/DaddysGirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJGoXanMNUk/UXwzxO3TXvI/AAAAAAAALSc/LtXI8FKFoFQ/s400/DaddysGirls.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daizi, Lizzie, and Jazzy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is the same picture of the girls that I posted earlier this week. I'm re-posting it because I was really missing them tonight when I got back. This picture kind of summarizes our life on the farm; simple and happy. I can't wait to get home to see them again. Skype helps, but it's nothing like relaxing with them in the same room and being goofy with each other as we walk through the house. I've missed a few of their sporting and school events and I hate that. Lizzie had a volleyball game where their team did really good last weekend. Daizi actually got to read a few lines of a story up on stage at her school program the other night. Jazzy hasn't had any programs or events, but she keeps showing me her art work over Skype that she's been doing at home... WOW is she getting good!! It goes without saying that I'm really anxious to get home and just chill out with them again.<br />
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I'm approaching the half way point on my travels, so that's good. :)</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033951.2277411 6.7734556000000339 51.2277411 6.7734556000000339tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-47376939767009633112013-04-24T10:50:00.000-05:002013-04-27T10:55:25.986-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was a work day. Period. Honestly, not much happened outside of work. I didn't go out and see the city and I have nothing cool to say about today's events.<br />
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Anybody that knows me, knows that I love coffee. Well, I can say that Bob has the coolest coffee maker I've ever seen. He has a <a href="http://www.krupsusa.com/" target="_blank">Krups</a> coffee maker which makes amazing coffee. Everytime. It has all these programmable settings which allows you to make various types of coffees too. For example, he has a 'Favorites' category which allows him to configure different types of brews for weak, medium, strong. It also has the capability of frothing milk for latte's and cappuccino's built right in. Best yet, this thing actually grinds the beans on command. You basically fill it full of your favorite beans, and just make sure to keep the water level filled up. From there you just push buttons. It even cleans itself. I want one!<br />
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Here is a timed set of pictures that I took of me brewing myself a cappuccino. The only thing I had to do was add some milk and push a button...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn1Zx9QUKR8/UXvx_TNJJtI/AAAAAAAALRc/ERGUrcJoF0Y/s1600/DSCN4328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn1Zx9QUKR8/UXvx_TNJJtI/AAAAAAAALRc/ERGUrcJoF0Y/s400/DSCN4328.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the metal stem inside the <br />cup which is boiling my milk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4bv5aon2zI/UXvx_8zuZ7I/AAAAAAAALRk/vlkD2VT_LOc/s1600/DSCN4329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4bv5aon2zI/UXvx_8zuZ7I/AAAAAAAALRk/vlkD2VT_LOc/s400/DSCN4329.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let the froth begin!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwFpN6fpDFc/UXvx_9sRYhI/AAAAAAAALRg/POEu-2A-qzs/s1600/DSCN4330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwFpN6fpDFc/UXvx_9sRYhI/AAAAAAAALRg/POEu-2A-qzs/s400/DSCN4330.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Espresso (strong coffee) is being added now.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6AhNliqvfik/UXvyAc3TPyI/AAAAAAAALRs/Y7okabzheHY/s1600/DSCN4331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6AhNliqvfik/UXvyAc3TPyI/AAAAAAAALRs/Y7okabzheHY/s320/DSCN4331.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost done!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMzEzaC3a0g/UXvyBVQnQmI/AAAAAAAALR8/v90F9GBwpt4/s1600/DSCN4332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMzEzaC3a0g/UXvyBVQnQmI/AAAAAAAALR8/v90F9GBwpt4/s400/DSCN4332.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to enjoy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yay technology!<br />
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OK, so after a long day "at the office", I came back to my hotel and talked with Jennifer for a while, then went to sleep. Since I was in charge of my own dinner tonight, I chose the healthy route and got a big bottle of German Beer to wash down my box of European Cookies (ie. German Crack Cakes).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CLLf7Uw6XnM/UXvzii9w1zI/AAAAAAAALSI/Ptpx4vwPWJU/s1600/DSCN4317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CLLf7Uw6XnM/UXvzii9w1zI/AAAAAAAALSI/Ptpx4vwPWJU/s400/DSCN4317.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wednesday was a pretty relaxing day.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096221 6.128008600000034 51.545860100000006 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-78051731645071464202013-04-23T09:02:00.000-05:002013-04-27T10:36:07.432-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 10<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today began much like yesterday, I woke up early, did a mini worked out, showered, had an amazing breakfast, and headed down to Bob's flat to start the work day. Not a whole lot to talk about during the work day... We basically sat around and geeked out all day; Bob on his laptop, me on mine. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5oESEkH_pss/UXvvz5Rd6AI/AAAAAAAALRE/-9RsleisMhc/s1600/DSCN4324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5oESEkH_pss/UXvvz5Rd6AI/AAAAAAAALRE/-9RsleisMhc/s200/DSCN4324.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Around 5 pm, I packed up my things and headed down to my flat. Today, I really wanted to have some solitary "Luc Time" so I decided to walk around the Altstadt. I put my bags down, grabbed my wallet and camera and headed down to the Altstadt for a pizza and a beer. It was a lot of fun to just walk around and hear all the sounds of Europe (ie. scooters, cars, people, etc..).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KkaIY5cq-Ig/UXvvyQM9hII/AAAAAAAALQ4/3TaVrrubl_k/s1600/DSCN4321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KkaIY5cq-Ig/UXvvyQM9hII/AAAAAAAALQ4/3TaVrrubl_k/s400/DSCN4321.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Construction of the new shopping center.</td></tr>
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The city has changed quite a bit since last year. They are putting a lot of money into the various projects around the city. I learned that the big project which is right in the middle of the Altstadt is going to be a huge shopping center when they are done. As cool as this sounds, it's almost heart breaking because it is really going to take away from the "old" feel that this area exudes with it's cobble stone streets and old restaurant fronts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TeGUL_taNxE/UXvvy2auh-I/AAAAAAAALQ8/NMceu7O3T3I/s1600/DSCN4323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TeGUL_taNxE/UXvvy2auh-I/AAAAAAAALQ8/NMceu7O3T3I/s400/DSCN4323.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Dusseldorf on the Rhine.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QriKhfgqDc8/UXvtdJYq4uI/AAAAAAAALQk/3nNq9bAagyY/s1600/MommyTime.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QriKhfgqDc8/UXvtdJYq4uI/AAAAAAAALQk/3nNq9bAagyY/s200/MommyTime.png" width="200" /></a></div>
After my little mini tour of the Altstadt by the Rhine River, I came back to my hotel and worked the rest of the night. A few times I was able to talk with Jennifer and the girls. Mostly Jennifer, since the girls were outside playing in the nice Ohio weather. From time to time, they would pop in and say hi to me, but for the most part it was Jennifer and I just talking.<br />
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In between minor stints of talking with Jennifer, I really stayed focus on researching this new technology; I was finally beginning to wrap my head around it. One of my weaknesses when it comes to learning new things (maybe it's a strength??) is that I typically engulf myself into something too much until I fully figure it out. I can't just know parts of it, I really need to figure it all out from front to back as quickly as possible. This means sleepless nights, constant brain spinning, stupid questions, etc... up front. Therefore, I stayed up until 3 am learning and researching and piecing it all together with trial and error. Eventually, I told myself that I might figure it out in my sleep, and that was the <i>only</i> reason I went to sleep. :)<br />
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It was going to be short nap with an early alarm clock...</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096221 6.128008600000034 51.545860100000006 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-39144258708741629402013-04-22T14:49:00.000-05:002013-04-24T14:50:23.224-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, vacation is officially over and work must now begin. In my profession though, it feels more like play some days. Today was one of those days. I got to learn a new technology today and that is one of my favorite things about being a geek; staying on the bleeding edge.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a9rWuFhzC4c/T5xNyinGDII/AAAAAAAAKq4/pafj8rkcwWM/s1600/DSCN3497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a9rWuFhzC4c/T5xNyinGDII/AAAAAAAAKq4/pafj8rkcwWM/s200/DSCN3497.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I woke at 7:15 am, and got ready for the day. I'm actually staying at the same hotel I stayed at last year (The Hotel Berial) in downtown Dusseldorf. It's a really nice place and they have an AMAZING free breakfast buffet with a huge spread of meats, cheeses, eggs, sausages, juices, hot coffee, and fresh fruits and vegetables. It's leaps and bounds above any place else I've stayed on my travels. Major bonus!<br />
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Bob and I worked at his flat all day. I'd love to explain the details of what I worked on, but it really would bore most people. It's pretty geeky stuff... I'm sure I'll be blogging about it soon outside of my travel journals. Blah blah blah, we finished working around 5 pm.<br />
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After work, I took my stuff back down to the hotel -- which is 2 blocks from Bob and Michelle's flat -- and talked to Jennifer for a bit over Skype. Bob and Michelle invited me back to their place for a delicious Asian-style chicken dinner and wine. We sat around and had great conversation until about 9 pm and then I came back to my room to work on a prototype for a new project.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qxRz1dzB80/UXg20czGdMI/AAAAAAAALQU/tQ1ZA6-iqYg/s1600/Ember.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="EmberJS Logo" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qxRz1dzB80/UXg20czGdMI/AAAAAAAALQU/tQ1ZA6-iqYg/s1600/Ember.png" title="Emberjs Logo" /></a>Most of my work day consisted of reading documentation and going through various tutorials... basically it was a "day of learning". So I guess it's safe to say that the first day back was a good one!</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096221 6.128008600000034 51.545860100000006 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-10994514964021757242013-04-21T13:53:00.000-05:002013-04-24T14:27:58.061-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was yet another extremely fun day in Germany! I woke up around 9:15 am and had breakfast with Dariush, Rita, Nouchine, and Jonathan. After breakfast, Rita was participating in a community yard sale at the kindergarten. Dariush and I helped pack up the car, and then realized that they were going to need to take both cars. I anxiously offered to watch the kids and told them to take their time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lUnQTiKeMwA/UXgvOXhgzjI/AAAAAAAALPU/2udYZESLXe4/s1600/DSCN4285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lUnQTiKeMwA/UXgvOXhgzjI/AAAAAAAALPU/2udYZESLXe4/s400/DSCN4285.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yumm</td></tr>
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Babysitting the little Ghobad's was so much fun! No English was spoken and there was a severe communication barrier between the little ones and myself. They brought me German books and wanted me to read them. I did the best I could, and they listened very attentively the entire time. However, I'm positive that I was mispronouncing 9/10ths of the words in these kids books. :) They didn't seem to care, so I kept mutilating the words.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danger is Jonathan's middle name!</td></tr>
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At one point, Dariush came home and I'll be honest I felt a bit releived because I couln't understand them and they couldn't understand me, so it was like herding cats. :) I knew a few words that worked pretty effectively, like "nein" (ie. no) when they would start to destroy things, and "yah!?" (ie. yeah!?) when they would tell me big stories or ask for something that they wanted. That was about the extent of my German, and we had officially run out of things to talk about. :)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CQyTvbLIxaI/UXgw8fzWC-I/AAAAAAAALP0/e1bfOTXmn0U/s1600/DSCN4310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CQyTvbLIxaI/UXgw8fzWC-I/AAAAAAAALP0/e1bfOTXmn0U/s200/DSCN4310.JPG" width="200" /></a> Shortly after Dariush arrived back home, I packed my things and we made the drive to Dusseldorf to drop me off at my hotel, where I would be spending the remainder of my stay here in Germany. When we arrived in Dusseldorf, we all went to the local McDonalds and had a short lunch. We had a great final meal together and then said our goodbyes. I won't see them again for 2 more weeks when Dariush has offered to take me back to the Dusseldorf Airport for my departure.<br />
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I spent about an hour or so in the hotel getting everything organized and unpacked all of my things since I'll be living here for the next two weeks. Once everything was in order, I contacted Bob on Skype and asked if he wanted to go get a beer down by the Rhein, near the Altstadt. As it turns out, he was in the lobby already so we made our way down for some spanish cuisines, beer, and good conversation. We talked about some amazing new opportunities with InfoPlanIT and as crazy as it may sound, I'm very excited to start coding again!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob and I in Dusseldorf</td></tr>
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I came back to the hotel with a high level of excitement... and alcohol content. :) Once I got settled back in, I was able to contact Jennifer on Skype and we talked for quite a while with on video chat. We were really missing each other and had a lot of fun talking to one another... I already can't wait to get back home to her and the girls.<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Düsseldorf, Germany51.2277411 6.773455600000033950.9096221 6.128008600000034 51.545860100000006 7.4189026000000338tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-85397617109155045342013-04-20T16:25:00.000-05:002013-04-20T17:19:40.038-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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... Dariush and I began our drive from Berlin to Koln around midnight on Friday night. We essentially drove from the east side of Germany to the west side of Germany in one night. Our legs were cramped, our eye lids were heavy, and we arrived completely exhausted. During the trip, I was able to nod in and out of sleep, but really tried to stay awake to help Dariush along the way. We stopped a few times during the night so that Dariush could take 30 minute power naps at various rest areas. We realized upon arriving in Koln that it might have been best for me to have simply taken a train or a bus instead. Regardless, it was another adventure that Dariush and I get to add to our never ending list of adventures together. :)<br />
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We arrived safely at 7:30 am and went our separate ways to crash for a few hours before we were on "kid duty" today...<br />
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When I woke up 10:30 am, I walked out of my door was presented with a huge hug from my good friend, Nouchine. She saw me open the door and ran from across the room to wrapped her arms around my leg. My heart absolultely melted in the moment... She immediately looked up at me and counted to 5 in English: "ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE!". I counted to 5 right back at her in German: "EIN ZWEI DREI VIER FUMF!" :) This was the only thing that her and I were able to communicate with each other the last time we saw one another. What a way to begin my day here at Dariush and Rita's house... It truly made my day!<br />
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The Ghobad's then presented me with my birthday party since I wasn't able to be here on my <i>actual</i> birthday, last weekend like we'd planed (remember: <a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2013/04/germany-2013-day-1.html" target="_blank">flight problems</a>). It was a very small party, but absolutely perfect! Rita made me coffee and eggs, and I had a large variety of hams, brochen, and my favorite: the chocolate croissant (ie. "pain au chocolat"). Mmm mmm mmm... All of this thrown together with some of my favorite people made for an amazing birthday breakfast. Thanks guys, this really meant a lot to me!!<br />
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After breakfast, Dariush and I took Jonathan and Nouchine to the park to play for a bit, and then made our way to the ice cream shop for ice cream in the sun. Dariush had to go to the bank for a few minutes, so I was in charge of taking the kids to the ice cream place and ordering for them. Of course, I don't speak German, and they don't speak English, so I ordered a vanilla on a cone for Nouchine, and a vanilla in a cup for Jonathan... I could not understand why Jonathan was so mad. He wouldn't eat his ice cream and kept mumbling something in German with a horrible pouty face. Finally, Dariush arrived and I explained to him what was going on. Jonathan talked to Dariush and it turns out that he wanted "red ice cream". So Dariush ate his vanilla in a dish and ordered Jonathan some strawberry ice cream; all was right with the world again. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonathan enjoying his red ice cream.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dariush cooking a sausage <br />
the German way.</td></tr>
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Upon returning back to the house, we all laid down for a short nap. Dariush and I were still completely exhausted from our travels all night. We only slept for about an hour and a half and then we woke up to prepare for a dinner date with some friends here at the house. Rita prepared food in the kitchen, while I hung out with Jonathan and Nouchine. Dariush was in charge of the grill and it was a very relaxing evening with friends.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3vw5zPK_KVY/UXMMSGuSYxI/AAAAAAAALOs/ueKOB5oGN2k/s1600/DSCN4263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3vw5zPK_KVY/UXMMSGuSYxI/AAAAAAAALOs/ueKOB5oGN2k/s200/DSCN4263.JPG" width="200" /></a>The night ended with Nouchine and I playing with her trains in the entry foyer. Jonathan had already went to bed, and Rita and Dariush were picking up the house from the evenings party. The entire time, Nouchine was speaking German to me as though I could understand her... This was the perfect ending to a perfect day.</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Cologne, Germany50.937531 6.960278600000037850.617466 6.314831600000038 51.257596 7.6057256000000377tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-17843341218930287622013-04-19T15:05:00.000-05:002013-04-20T15:56:44.347-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was a pretty relaxing day for the most part. It started off by me sleeping in again; I woke up around 10:15 am to a quiet flat. Volli was in his office working on his computer so I just leisurely ate some banana's for breakfast and drank some coffee. Here is a picture of my girls that Jennifer took and sent to me which made my day. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grill cheese and tomato soup... Mmm</td></tr>
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Around 11, Volli and Stefanie's friend, Eva, showed up to try and borrow a router from them since her's broke. As it turned out, her and I ended up sitting around talking for a while while Volli finished up a few things for work. She was very nice and we had a great conversation about everything from music to travel to you [name it]... She gave me a few tips on things to do in Dusseldorf and we agreed to try and get together for a beer sometime next week.<br />
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After Eva left, Volli and I decided we were going on a journey to tour south-west Berlin on bicycles! It was the coolest thing ever! We got to cross the chaotic streets of Berlin, dodge pedestrians, ride down the peaceful bike paths along the metro line, and weave our way through the public parks. My bike looked like Ms. Gulch's bike on Wizard of Oz.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll get you, my pretty... and you're little dog too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volli and I enjoying some beers.</td></tr>
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At the half way point, Volli and I stopped for some beers in a very tranquil "Bier Garten". We sat around for about 30 - 45 minutes just shooting the breeze and enjoying the day. After our beers, we hopped on our bikes and headed back towards the house. We took a different route and it allowed me to see a few different aspects of Berlin.<br />
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I really enjoyed the city bike ride today. It'll be something that I'll never forget. I felt like a true European as I dodged pedestrians and weaved through moving cars on the busy streets. :) Thanks for a great time, Volli!<br />
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When we arrived back at the house, we waited on Stefanie to come home before getting ready for dinner. Eventually we got a phone call and it was Stefanie outside of the apartment and we all ran to the window in a lot of excitement, she had purchased a new bike trailer for the kids and the kids seemed very excited about it... However, I think they might have been more excited to see Mama out of the window. :) Regardless, it was cute and I snapped a picture of Stefanie which needed a small blurb, so there! Shortly thereafter, Volli and Stefanie prepared dinner, while I got to hang out with my new little friend, Margarethe. We took turns making each other laugh and it was so much fun. She is a perfect mix of Volli and Stefanie and her dimples are too cute.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cute little friend, Margarethe.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQLfGFw8jzA/UXL4KLDwkCI/AAAAAAAALNM/Rvyz_qbft-Q/s1600/DSCN4222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQLfGFw8jzA/UXL4KLDwkCI/AAAAAAAALNM/Rvyz_qbft-Q/s200/DSCN4222.JPG" width="150" /></a>Eva joined us for dinner and we sat around telling stories the whole time. Towards the end of dinner, we got a call from Dariush and he was only 30 minutes away. He would be hanging out with us this evening and then we'd be driving home through the night, back to Koln. While killing time, Volli and I were on a mission to finish our bottle of Johnnie Walker, so we did just that. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but we roughed it. We proved to all the kids that if you really put your minds (and livers) to it, you can accomplish your goals. :)<br />
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Mission accomplished!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to Right: Stefanie, Volli, Eva, Dariush</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hk8G6T8cbu8/UXL4KiKto0I/AAAAAAAALNU/BAQAz7bzUak/s1600/DSCN4220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hk8G6T8cbu8/UXL4KiKto0I/AAAAAAAALNU/BAQAz7bzUak/s200/DSCN4220.JPG" width="200" /></a>Since Dariush, Volli, and I were all together, we decided to call my Mom and talk with her. We tried to get Yiorgos and Jennifer on the phone as well, but I wasn't able to do a group Skype video chat with my iPad for some reason. We didn't try to hard because my Mom was having technical difficulties as well, but we were able to talk with her for about 20 minutes before our call was eventually dropped.<br />
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After talking with my Mom, we called Jennifer and the girls and were able to talk with them for a while as well. Around 11:30, Dariush and I gathered our things and made our way back to Koln by car. This was going to be a 6 hour car ride through the night...<br />
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<b>Thank you so much Volli and Stefanie for a wonderful stay at your place! I can't wait to repay you when you visit Ohio!</b></div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.519171 13.40609119999999252.209891 12.760644199999991 52.828451 14.051538199999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-15504229863478510442013-04-18T04:32:00.000-05:002013-04-19T05:25:09.392-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was a little hazy. I woke up around 10:30 am and had a relaxing breakfast of bread, cheese, and ham. I washed it down with some coffee and apple juice. Stefanie had already left for work and the kids were in kindergarten. Volli had a few calls to make, so I worked in his living room writing my blog and catching up on the days events through social media and news sites.<br />
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At noon, Volli and I laced up and went out for a quick run around the block. He took me through an old rail yard that has been transformed into a park. It was very cool, and there were a lot of people out riding their bikes and just enjoying the weather. It was rather hot at times as the sun was directly above us and there wasn't much shade along our route. Loved it!<br />
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We arrived back at Volli's flat and began our day with some Johnnie Walker. Around 1:15 pm, I realized that the girls would be getting ready for school, so I called them via Skype and had them turn on the computer so we could do some video chat. It was exactly what I needed!<br />
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Jazzy was getting her hair straitened by Jennifer, Daizi was eating cereal, and Lizzie was simply awake for moral support since she had and orthodontist appointment at 9 am and wasn't going to be getting on the bus with her sister. Volli and I talked to them for about 5 - 10 minutes and then we let them finish getting ready for school.<br />
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The plan for today was to pick up Henry at kindergarten and meet with Johannes (Volli's childhood friend) and his son, Emil, at the Berlin Zoo. We spent 3 hours at the zoo simply walking around and killing time. The zoo was right in the middle of the city, but it felt very "green".<br />
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We went from attraction to attraction and I snapped a lot of pictures so that I could share them with my girls when I get back home.<br />
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Like father, like son.</div>
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Nine beers later...</div>
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One of the more memorable attractions was the Elephant area, because there was a very cute baby elephant that was playing in the water. He attracted quite an audience and I was able to take a small video of him just being a kid. :)<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">From the zoo, we came back to the house to help Stefanie get the kids to bed. Around 7:30 pm Volli, Stefanie, and I all headed out for the evening to meet with another one of Volli and Stefanie's childhood friends for dinner. We met up with Martin at a local restaurant and enjoyed an evening of more beers and conversation. I was able to taste many of southern Germany's dishes. They were delicious and I really enjoyed my time with them. Martin was a CTO of a local software company, so we were able to talk about a lot of things that we had in common relating to software. It was great!</span></div>
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Hacker beer. :)</div>
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Noodles and Meat in Mustard Sauce (yum)</div>
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We arrived back home around 11 or 11:30 pm and Volli and I made our way out to the terrace for more Johnnie Walker. :) Volli went to bed and I spent the evening configuring my computer with the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop until I passed out. Today was a great day!</div>
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.519171 13.40609119999999252.209891 12.760644199999991 52.828451 14.051538199999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-7849937374257784012013-04-17T03:56:00.000-05:002013-04-18T04:20:27.720-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was yet another perfect day. I woke up at 8 am and we headed out the door to take Henry and Margaret to Kindergarten. From there, Volli and I took a 6+ mile run around the city. At one point we found ourselves running on an old air strip in Berlin. It was one of the coolest places I've ever ran. The airstrip was an old airport which used to be used by Americans to deliver food and supplies to locals back during the war. Since then, it became an airport, but was shut down and then turned into a public park for locals to use for barbeques and gatherings. We ran down the runway and then back up along the side and it really was one of the coolest things I'd ever done to run down an airplane runway.<br />
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After the run, we came back to the house and Volli had a few Skype meetings, which allowed me to update my blog and just chill out for a few hours before we began our day. When Volli was finished, we headed out for a tour of the old west Germany. Volli took me by many sites and I can't even recall what they were all called, but I can tell you that the architecture of these places were very cool. At one point we found ourselves in a maze of courtyards where people live and tourist shops are setup.<br />
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Eventually we stopped at one of Volli's friends cafes and had a few beers and just talked for a couple of hours about nothing. I loved it! It was very relaxing and the weather was absolutely perfect. The place where we were at was to be compared to a Berlin style "Silicon Valley". By this I mean that there were many young start ups in this area and it had a lot of money. It seemed like everyone around us spoke English and they were all pretty young. At the table next to us it appeared to be an informal interview for a programming job. :) There was a girl who was showing off her Ruby on Rails site to some guy who was clearly asking her lots of questions about how she did things and why she did them this way. I couldn't help but eaves drop from time to time and hear their conversation. I felt right at home outside on the sidewalk at this street side cafe.<br />
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Once we finished our beers, Volli and I continued walking through the streets and we came to a memorial of the old Berlin wall. It was fascinating to see the wall up close. I'd only heard about the wall from my school years and from various news programs from back in the late 80's. We walked up and down the street and saw where the wall once stood. There were some spots along the way where they actually kept the wall up, whereas the rest of it was just placeholders of lined (very thick) rebar. <br />
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Volli and I made our way to the grocery after visiting the wall and got some food for dinner. On our back home we ran into Stefani and her sister at a local playground where they were hanging out with Henry and Margaret. We stayed at the playground for a while and then headed back to the house for dinner. We ate salad and had various meats and breads. It was a great experience to spend time with them as a family in their dining room. I also appreciated the fact that they spoke English from time to time to keep me involved in their conversations (even when they weren't talking with me).<br />
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I got to sit next to Margaret :)</div>
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After dinner, they put the kids to bed and Volli and I found Yiorgos on Skype. We cracked open the Johnnie Walker and talked with our Greek brother for about 20 minutes. It was great to talk with him about what's been happening the last year. We sure missed him here in Berlin, but I was able to drink his share of the Johnnie Walker. :) Anytime, brotha!! Til next year!...<br />
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Shortly after the conversation with Yiorgos, I was able to find Jennifer online and we talked on Facebook for about an hour or so. This was the first time I'd been able to connect with her since I left on Saturday, so we had quite a bit to talk about, while at the same time we had <i>nothing</i> to talk about... which was exactly what I <i>wanted</i> to talk about. Actually, this is typically <i>what</i> we talk about... nothing. :)</div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.519171 13.40609119999999252.209891 12.760644199999991 52.828451 14.051538199999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-18023149545402094122013-04-16T06:14:00.000-05:002013-04-17T06:22:53.275-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was a great day! We woke up around 10 am and had a quick breakfast before heading out the door for a tour around Lubeck on foot. It was amazing to learn so much history about Lubeck. Dariush is a great tour guide, and he was an even more so in his home town. He took me to top of large church tower and we were able to see the four gates that used to protect Lubeck back in medieval times.<br />
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Lubeck is actually located on an island in northern Germany. The only way to get into the city is by crossing a river or the canal. In the old days the bridges that crossed these water ways were then met with a large gate which would protect the city from intruders. All of these gates are still in place and have been well preserved in time.<br />
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Something amazing is that the house that Dariush grew up in is actually older than the United States of America. We (Americans) think that houses from the 1800's are pretty fantastic and old, here these are considered "newer" houses. :) It was very eye-opening for me to learn this little fact.<br />
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During our tour, Dariush showed me where he went to high school, he showed me where he and Rita lived for a short time, and I got to see all of his old "stomping grounds". He had stories for me around every corner and I simply loved every step of the walk. It goes without saying that Lubeck is very different from Ohio or anywhere in the US for that matter. :)<br />
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We arrived back at his parents house for a lunch prepared by his father, Kian. It was another amazing Iranian dish consisting of rice, chicken, and little red berries. It tasted like dessert, and was very filling. I was only able to eat half of the plate that his mother gave me. After dinner, we enjoyed some beers and Kian introduced me to a delicious apple whiskey. Ursula insisted that I add a cube of sugar to it, so I obliged and I must say that it really was delicious. :)<br />
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It was great to finally meet Dariush's parents after all of these years. We did the math, and Dariush and I have been "brothers" for 19 years now!! It's amazing that I'd never met Ursula and Kian until now. They insisted that I bring Jennifer and the girls over in the future to stay with them and spend more time. I truly hope to do this in the near future!<br />
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Shortly after lunch, Dariush and I hopped in his car and headed up to northern Lubeck to see the ocean. It was amazing!! The weather was a bit overcast, but as I stated in a <a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2012/04/cologne-germany-day-11.html">previous post</a>, this is the best weather for being a tourist.<br />
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<i>... I simply love cold / rainy weather when I visit foreign cities. When I was an exchange student with NHS, we always travelled to France in February. Therefore, it was typically windy, rainy, and cold everywhere we went. The same was true for my last visit to Europe as well. Also, I think it's safe to say that "cold / windy" is an adequate description for my time in Siberia as well. After all these experiences what some might call gross weather, I've learned to associate it with tourism. I honestly love wet and windy weather when visiting foreign places...</i></blockquote>
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The ocean was beautiful and the birds added a nice nautical aspect to it, they were everywhere. :) There were very few people out due to the weather, but I understand that it is a major tourist attraction in the summer. Dariush and I spent a few hours here walking up and down the boardwalk and snapping pictures. Around 5:30 pm Dariush dropped me off at the train station, so I could begin my next journey to Berlin to visit with Volli and Stefani.<br />
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Berlin</h2>
The train ride was pretty cool! I got to see a lot of the German countryside. It was beautiful and I found myself getting lost in all of the history that took place here. The train ride was about 2.5 hours long and I arrived in the main train station in Berlin around 8:45 pm. This is one of the largest train stations I've ever seen, I think it's even larger than the Gare Du Nord in Paris. It had multiple levels that were inner joined by various escalators and elevators. In hind-sight, I can't believe I didn't take any pictures!<br />
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Volli met me outside the doors of the train station and we proceeded to the nearest beer stand to enjoy a beer and catch up for a few minutes before taking the bus back to his house. The evening was absolutely gorgeous with all the bright lights and the mild weather. On our trip back to his house we sat at the front of the upper level on the bus and Volli pointed out various land marks to me. I only remember a few of them, but he assured me that we will be visiting them in the day time tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to that!<br />
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When we arrived back at the house, Stefani was there and we all sat around for about an hour or more just chatting with one another. The kids were asleep, but I'm very excited to see them tomorrow. The last time I saw Henry was when I visited them in <a href="http://blog.hardbarger.com/2009/09/bucharest-romania-day-10.html">Romania back in 2009</a>. He was only 2 years old at that time and that is how I remember him. He's now 5 and judging from the pictures on the walls here at their house, he is a full-grown kid now. :) </div>
Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com0Lübeck, Germany53.865885600000013 10.68709590000003153.56637760000001 10.04164890000003 54.165393600000016 11.332542900000032tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086603.post-77499636049008637672013-04-15T05:27:00.000-05:002013-04-17T05:28:02.466-05:00Germany 2013 - Day 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I arrived in Dusseldorf, I found that my baggage didn't make it on this flight. Oddly enough, I tried everything I knew to try in Newark, NJ to ensure that my baggage made it on the flight; especially knowing that there was a snafu with my connecting flights. United Airlines assured me that it would be here and even confirmed it on their computer, but I had my doubts... I was right. :)<br />
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This meant that I will be spending the next week living off of the clothes and toiletries that I had in my carry on luggage. Jennifer saved me on this one because she made sure that I packed a variety of clothes "just in case" this happened. Thanks babe!<br />
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Dariush picked me up around 9 am and we began our journey to Lubeck to see his family. The drive was about 4.5 hours from Dusseldorf and we had a great time together. It was unfortunate that I didn't get to see Rita, Nouchine, and Jonathan, but the plan is for me to spend the day with them on Saturday. They had a small birthday party planned for me yesterday (ie. Sunday), but due to my flight problems I wasn't able to attend. Knowing the Ghobads, I'm sure they still had the party without me. :) Thank you so much for the thought guys! It means a lot to me!<br />
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For the first 3 hours of the drive up to Lubeck, I was able to keep conversation with Dariush, but after we stopped for pancakes, I found myself slipping in and out of sleep while he drove. We arrived in Lubeck around 2:30 pm and I went directly upstairs for a long over due "power nap".<br />
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Dariush woke me around 4:15 and we walked around Lubeck for a "pre tour" of his hometown. It is a very old city with lots of natural beauty built into it's historical structures. After our walk, we arrived back at his house for a wonderful dinner prepared by his mother. It was an Iranian dish with eggs, tomato sauce, rice, chicken, and egg plant. It was absolutely delicious; I had a large second helping.<br />
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After dinner, we all sat around and enjoyed each others company for a few hours. I shared pictures of the girls with Ursula (Dariush's mother) and Christina (close family friend). They told me many stories and I learned a lot about Dariush's past and up-bringing that I'd never knew before. I had a great time today, and I'll remember the details of my short evening here for many years.<br />
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Luchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03128710170077723273noreply@blogger.com2Lübeck, Germany53.865885600000013 10.68709590000003153.56637760000001 10.04164890000003 54.165393600000016 11.332542900000032