From the monthly archives:

May 2006

Ancient Documents

27 May 2006

We were digging through ancient artifacts to find this article by MamaMaus from her student newspaper, written as an exchange student in spring 1980. It gives her impression of the American school system. No carbon dating is necessary due to the reference to Ronald Reagan as “likely Republican candidate”. Click to enlarge.

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Ancient History

27 May 2006

MamaMaus dug out some old photos for a presentation she’s giving at her old Gymnasium (high school). Here’s how she looked when I fell in love with her.

I still get that smile sometimes. Also note the original Macintosh computer at the lower left.

A political statement. Both photos must be in our first apartment in 1983.

This [...]

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Harry Potter and the Development of Christopher

19 May 2006

A couple of months ago we started reading Harry Potter to Christopher, evenings before he goes to sleep, usually a chapter or somewhat less per night. We’ve just finished Chamber of Secrets (the 2nd book). He’s very excited about it. Sometimes he puts on a tie and a cape and goes around with a magic [...]

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23 mph

17 May 2006

Orangemedia, our partner firm in Hamburg, recently moved to the Stresemannstrasse. Not only do they have no parking spots, but it is near one of the most famous radar cameras in the city. Of course on my first visit to the new office I got nabbed on the way home, doing 37 km/h in the [...]

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Doc Test

17 May 2006

I just got an Email with some blurb for a conference on IT security. Attached was a Word document with a map to the conference location.

I’m assuming this is some sort of pre-test for admission. If I’m dumb enough to open the document, I’m not eligible to attend, right?

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World Cup

16 May 2006

Seeing how Haddock got tickets for a World Cup match after all reminded me that I haven’t yet mentioned our World Cup plans.

MamaMaus’ employer is a major sponsor so she has to work throughout the tournament. Her company is present in the stadiums, so to supervise that presence she has a service pass (but no [...]

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Why I Blog

14 May 2006

Why Don Park blogs:

I don’t blog to be recognized, get credit for being first of whatever, nor to amuse anyone. I am too much of a bastard for that. This blog is here to satisfy my own needs and no one else’s. I tend to give a shit too much so I am trying hard [...]

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Baseball in Hamburg

13 May 2006

Since MamaMaus is on a cruise ship somewhere between Venice and Dubrovnik this weekend (believe it or not, it’s part of her job), Christopher and I decided to take in a baseball game in Hamburg, HSV Stealers against the Bonn Capitals.

We’ve watched baseball before in Germany, namely The Dohren Wild Farmers, a 2nd Bundesliga team, [...]

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iFit

12 May 2006

This is as cool as anything from Apple: shoes that grow with your kids!

Built right into INCHworm shoes is the iFit technology. The iFit technology allows you to GROW the size of the shoe with a simple push of the button. So eliminate unnecessary trips to the shoe store and provide your children with better [...]

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Waiting For Godot

12 May 2006

Back in the ’80s marrying foreigners was a lot easier. Philadelphia Daily News: How law divided a family:

As soon as Emery and Paola were married (in November 2002), her visitor’s visa was no longer valid. ‘Marriage invalidates a student or visitor’s visa,’ Emery said. ‘So, if your application for permanent residency is delayed, you’re in [...]

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You Learn Something Everyday

10 May 2006

Dixie Peach: Newfound Joy:

Most Americans, unless they have family or friends who live in or travel to Europe or Canada, have never heard of Kinder Surprise Eggs but when they are finally introduced to them they inevitably ask ‘Why don’t they sell them in the US?’. The short answer is because the FDA prohibits the [...]

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Pulled Over

8 May 2006

Girls: Hip hugging jeans, short sweaters (I think the Germans would call these pullovers, although they weren’t pulled over completely)…

Der Auslander explaining how the German word “pullover” isn’t that far off the mark after all, along with the futiliy of trying to drinking Russians under the table, even when they are female and underweight.

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Captain of the Mir

6 May 2006

We took advantage of the sunny afternoon to visit the Hafengeburtstag in Hamburg yesterday. Christopher was mostly interested in the carnival rides and the junk food, but I was able to talk him into going aboard the Russian sailing ship Mir.

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Web 2.1 server-side blink tag

4 May 2006

Now here’s something to make my boss salivate… a standards-compliant Web 2.1 server-side blink tag, done with AJAX! (via dashes.com)

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Northwest pilots agree wage cuts

4 May 2006

BBC NEWS: Northwest pilots agree wage cuts: “Northwest Airlines’ pilots have voted to accept a contract that will cut their pay by 24%, a move the firm said is key to it emerging from bankruptcy.” Which is good, since we’ve got non-refundable tickets to fly Northwest to Minnesota in August (although we actually bought the [...]

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No Denglish

4 May 2006

ChicagoKarl notes the prevelence of English jargon in the German language, especially in IT. I think German would be a lot easier without any English words, because

I don’t which article to use with them I don’t konw how to pronounce them (correct English or phonetic German) They don’t always mean what you think they mean (i.e. “handy” [...]

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Bad Day Fishing

3 May 2006

There’s a saying that a good day at work is never as good as a bad day fishing. But since a sys admin’s favorite task is deleting files, a day when I can reduce a file server from 134 GB to 90 GB is nearly as good as a bad day fishing.

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Political Wisdom

2 May 2006

More political wisdom from Scott Adams:

Personally, I don’t vote. That’s partly because I know there isn’t enough information available for me to make an informed decision, and partly because the rich white guys in power (my peeps) are doing a good job of taking from the poor and giving to me. I don’t have much [...]

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