Author Archives: Lorne Anderson
Succumbing To Click Bait
Sometimes technology scares me. Not so much the machines themselves, but what can be done with them. For my first couple of months in Germany I didn’t bother to change the time on my computer. It seemed unnecessary. Maybe it was a coping mechanism as I adjusted to this new reality. Eventually though I set […]
The Slow Boat Arrives
I wrote last week about some mild frustrations I was experiencing with a couple of packages I had ordered online. Living where I do, online shopping is usually the only option. In the first week of November I ordered knives, measuring spoons, measuring cups, a couple of compact discs, a new BlackBerry and I don’t […]
Public Transit Quirk
Coming from a North American city and settling in rural Germany, you know some things are going to be different. One of those things cropped up yesterday. We were taking the bus between Sulzburg and Mullheim. Depending on the time of day, the bus takes either 20 or 40 minutes to make the trip. It […]
What I Wanted To Say Was…
Sometimes I just don’t know where my mind is going. Today I will be disciplined, I promise. I knew what I wanted to say when I sat down to write a post for January 1, New Year’s Day. However, what I typed was completely different. Given that it is a new year, I wanted to […]
Chaos In The Streets (Cultural Differences VIII)
I had been told that Germans celebrate the New Year with fireworks. Experiencing that was far more intense than the description. In Canada fireworks are a controlled affair for the most part. If a holiday is deemed important enough to warrant such pyrotechnics, it is usually the municipality that stages the show. Safety concerns […]
Which Direction Will You Choose?
It’s a new year. I could wax philosophical, but I’ll save that for another day perhaps. But I have been thinking about choices. We make them all the time, usually without thinking about it. For example, each morning I choose to put on a pair of socks. There are other options – I could go […]
Random Thoughts To End The Year
So here we are again. The last day of the last month. A new year begins tomorrow. It is all arbitrary of course. Monday probably won’t feel any different, except perhaps for those who overindulge tonight. Apparently, getting drunk on December 31is one of those things that crosses cultural and national boundaries. For many people […]
Stuck in a Catch-22
I was following up on an online order and got caught up in a classic catch-22. I’ve always been a fan of Joseph Heller’s novel of that name; I’m not thrilled to have to experience the situation. There are no stores in the town we live in. I suppose, strictly speaking that isn’t true. There […]
Downtown Staufen
Sunday afternoon nothing is open in Germany, at least not where we live. And December 24 not many people were out window shopping – everyone was already home with family. We took the opportunity to visit Staufen, which is about five kilometres from home. I had been through the castle on my first visit to […]
Recent Comments