99to1

The things I have to do to save a realtionship!

See here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3064944109/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3065783560/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3064945955/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3064947887/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3065787296/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3065785290/in/photostream/

Ref:
"ROY! Do NOT come home if you have not had the pretzels!. I am so serious. This will put a serious strain on our friendship!!! You will not develop the depth of character I need to engage me, if you do not have this experience.

Piece out.

Best regards,

Colin"

I'll be staying in Lutzerath this evening and doing an early moring ride to Luxemburg tomorrow...

Well...
It's early Thursday evening, and I've got that feeling like the trip is over (even though I fly Saturday morning)... and arrive Saturday evening...

This partly due to the to the rush happening in the class and partly due to the relaxed work ethic our client has for Fridays... can you say Fleischwurst? (which accoring to Alex consists of fat, water and seasoning). Though Marcus does go get it fresh from the butcher... it's still warm when we cut it open...

Since my flight is quite early Saturday, I'm thinking instead of leaving Lutzerath very very early that day, I'll drive to Luxemburg Friday late afternoon and get a hotel near the airport. Perhaps on the way I'll have the opportunity to do the baths at Bad Bertrich...

Much of Germany has been cloaked in dark, or in fog (or both) for the duration of my stay (driving after 16:30 is not so visually captivating) and site-seeing is a little challenged... and this the no camera on site regulation, has translated into very few photos taken during this trip (except for food and drink).

Just enough daylight to take photos of my Renault Megane station wagon for Gilles...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3063907418/

Will I be in a town big enough (and for long enough) to send post cards?? Who can say...

I've got new socks and a new suitcase... see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3063073617/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3063911226/in/photostream/

The suitcase was necessary, as I exceeded the weight limit with my one case on the way in, and I've got a few bottles of Mosel wine returning with me... so... new suitcase!! I've spent about as much as I suspect the overweight charge would have been, rather have a new (free) suitcase then pay a penalty...

This client has sent trainees to Montreal before (2004-ish and earlier in 2008), so this was another opportunity to see people I've met previously. I get that chance once in a while... it's a nice perk.

Even though I miss the smartcar, I've really enjoyed the commute while here... German roads are in a class of their own... and so few speed limits!
The Megane is also quite a confortable ride...

So, it's time to get into travel mind-set... do I pack entirely tonight or leave some for afterwork tomorrow?

2 weeks passes sooo quickly...

Hope you're all well...

northstar has shifted
moons scattered, orbits have slid

where are you my Love...
where am I?

Splendid dream 2 nights ago..
After some time of a magnificent experience in which I was having sex (sort-of), I received a healing treatment... Before the treatment started, I was given a vision... I observed the significance of the sex-like interaction actually take form, as an impregnated field of merging of energies.

At different times during the treatment (not during the sex-like part) it felt like I was with some of the people who have healed me, Karen, Hilary, Jivan, Ray, and Hart... it was very intensive (and true to actual healing not entirely comfortable, or pleasant)... I knew I was being changed... felt like I was being tuned up, perhaps even upgraded.

I woke up clear, and expansive...
And grateful...

As Neo points out in #2 in his conversation with The Architect "...the problem is choice..."

Loren has been asking me, over the phone while I'm here in Germany, how I feel about us...

It's a difficult question to answer. Last night my answer was, that it's hard to say, since we've really been through the ringer with Henri, I mean really. And we've spent very little time together since our wonderful treatment with Karen (Loren travelled to visit her folks). That session was quite restorative, in that it cleared us both of a depressive state. I don't have the impression it brought us closer together, though it feels like it removed obstacles to getting closer.

So it looks like it comes down to choice...
I am ready to choose a life which is healthy and balanced and clear, and I am not sure if that translates into a life in a relationship with Loren... as strange and painful as that is to consider...

Why uncertainty to (re) commit?
I am not really sure, though I do find it inappropriate to discard the observations (knowings) I've had over the past year or so. Also, I have no previous similiar experiences to refer to as references...

I am totally alone with this... Life is practice, but for what?

In a way my situation is wonderful... yet and terrifying and torturous...

(sent today the 23rd)

So it my 2nd (and last for this trip) Sunday in Germany...
The days have been full (though not as full as the production expert who has been up late testing things before he presents them for the first time), and at this site, no internet access... all the emailing I do happen after hours...

As usual I'm spending most of my free time eating (as some of you have noted based on the photos). I wouldn't be surprised if I've been gaining weight at the rate of a-pound-a-day, no joke...

I have however stumbled on to something quite fascinating... I've discovered how to turn a yoga practice into a weight/resistance training regime... maybe I could market this a fitness method and make millions... lookout Bikram!!! It's Sunday morning and I actually did get around to some time on the yoga mat... man is it ever apparent how a little extra weight translates into a lot more work doing the postures...

The Wine tasting on Friday was a real treat!! One of my German colleagues brought us to his cousin's familly's vinyard for tasting and a cave visit. It was in a small village (where my colleague currently lives and grew up) and also real pretty... The village is called Ediger-Eller, and he droves us out of there by the small roads... I think he was surprised by the weight of 2 Canadians in his car... I think he couldn't drive as fast as he'd been hoping... http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3049903427/in/set-72157609067088990/

Despite Gilles urging I did not get out to Köln... it is too far for a day trip for me...

I did get to Koblentz Saturday though. Drove up with Seb and he and I wandered around the city where my Grandfather was born... got some pictures to show him of his birthplace when I get home... including the Koblentz-cobblestones... http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3049835913/in/set-72157609067088990/

It snowed Friday... the rental car doesn't have winter tires, or a scraper/snowbrush... Saturday morning I borrowed a small scraper from the Grand-Dame of the Hotel Mass this morning... she walked me to her car out back to fetch it, and her very old (and quite posessive) dog was very concerned about me being in his territory with his owner... he was barking and even mock-biting me as I waited for her to emerge from digging around in her car... I was tempted to pull a Caesar Milan open finger poke on him...

Got some sweet treats and headed off to Ulmen to pick up Seb... I shared them with the hotel staff (all family). They were very appreciative... (big doughy balls just like sugar donuts) It was a real treat for me too... the Grandmother at that hotel really reminds me of my own Grandmother. And my Grandmother was a really special person, and I loved her dearly. Speaking of bakeries...

I'm very sorry to say Colin, that it is proving very difficult to arrange a Warm Pretzel Breakfast... turns out in Bavaria it would be quite simple... round here though no so... the little bakery near the hotel does pretzels, though not with salt...

I did the driving (to Koblenz) the car was fine on the expressways (no snow)... and we did listen to 2 different SAT/NAV systems guide us right to the city center parking... Quite a few Thai-Massage places there (and jewelry shops and optic shops and Apotechs-pharmacies)... and a really well-stocked shop selling Tibetan and Asian imports... the largest collection of singing bowls I've ever seen (and in fact some of the largest bowls I've ever seen too)... and some really nice gongs... was playing one, which had a wonderful low tone when you got up close to it... wish I had a spare 1800$ cdn to scoop it up... and how exactly would I ship a heavy brass disc 1M in radius??

So for those of you who had a hard time reading Gilles drawing of room A1...
Ref: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3052576184/

First of all in his defence, Gilles started to draw a cross-section scetch starting with the roof... then he switched to top-view for the floorplan... it's almost impossible to read if you didn't know that (so ignore the roof)...

In the travels set on flickr I've uploaded some photos of the room... including the hotel's own floor plan of the top floor/Room A1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/3050601060/in/set-72157609067088990/

Actually Gilles was quite accurate... I wonder if he remembered that the entire hotel was not exactly square?? There's also more food updates... no shots of Glhüwein, or saussage treats at the Christmas fair in Koblenz... and more shots of my goofy mug enjoying myself in Germany...

While wandering around Koblenz drinking Glhüwein (hot mulled wine) and fresh-grilled saussage treats (Christmas-themed fairs go up in towns all accross Germany), I realized that I'm away from home at a strange time of year... This is when people start shifting to the holiday season mode, the end of year mode. I'm not sure I've ever been away from home at this time... it's kind of strange not being in my usual home-routine this time of year...

I won't have a lot of time to experience my year winding down, and mind mind and spirit looking forward to the next one... it'll be an excellerated year-end for me this year...

Seems I can't tune into a radio station with out hearing this song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id4NrISYNwA (video with audio, a live performance)
Quite catchy, she's got a wonderful voice... if it's not that song, it's Ah-Ha, or Tears For Fears, or Rick Ashley, or some other 80's tune. Seems Germany is fixed on the 80's... and not on any traditional Christmas-type music...

For all the shots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/

I hope you're all well and are keeping out of trouble!!

roy


P.S.
Thanks kindly for sending along some of your own comments and updates and photos!!

(sent on the 17th)

Hiya yous-all!!

I've got company on this trip... not usually the case when I travel, typically I go solo. Currently I've got 3 colleagues here, and a fourth is arriving Tuesday. Once the fourth arrives, I may get around to more serious wine sampling, as he a bit of an oenophile... hope there's time. These colleagues are top engineers and they are very busy supporting this project, so sacrifices may have to be made... we'll see...
The others are staying in Ulmen, different village...

Saturday and Sunday spent most of the day working, and am now quite tired.
Saturday late lunch in the form of Donner, very popular here as in the UK... sorry no pictures...
Sunday we got out to Cochem for lunch which I did get photos for, and dinner and a couple of beers as well at my colleague's hotel, also with photos...

Picked up a few affordable bottles of white Mosel wine in Cochem (apparently not know for it's wine)... I know this because the guys alughed at me when I told them... some tasting will likely happen tonight. Oh... those soft-boiled eggs served at breakfast are really delicious!!

Eyes are sore and throat as well, and still have a cough... what would it take to clear this up?
Me and TomTom (GPS/SATNAV) are getting on pretty well... she's speaking English and can get me where I need to go with surprising ease most of the time (just taking liberties Gilles!!).

Day one of the training session is over... Sebastian is doing fine...

Have got to find a bank which handles either my debit card or my company's corporate credit card, to get cash...
3 different ATM's so far, no luck. By far of the countries I've been to, I've had the easiest time using my debit card in India. More success there than USA even... did I not learn my lesson in Tokyo??

The good news is that we're respecting the client's schedule and we should be finished early enough in the day, so that some sight-seeing, or maybe even some rest will be possible. Weather here is much like Montreal right now, gray perhaps a little colder in the morning. This morning the dew was frozen on the pavement... the landscape at 07:30 was dew and frost laden do to the fog which hangs around. Maybe pictures tomorrow...

Pictures of lunch will likely not happen, as cameras are not allowed on site...
That's a shame because it's a really interesting lunch environment.

I am loving my commute... about 7 minutes accross beatiful countryside... if there happens to be congestion at the site gate the time may double (though theoretically the commute is over by that point).

I am certainly eating my fair share of pork (no doubt Lutzerath's literal life-blood).

I like Germany.

Photostream updated:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbyroy/
Hope you're all well...

roy

Hey amigos...

So yeah, this time I had a map (thanks again Gilles), but did I look at it enough before leaving???
No... not at all...

On the suggestion of our project manager I rented a GPS/SATNAV for the car...
With less than 90 seconds to familiarize myself with it, (and with less time than that route planning with the actual map) I started off!!

To where?? Trier of course (thanks again Gilles)... I had flown from Montreal to Luxembourg through Zurich...
And now from Luxembourg to Lutzerath, through Trier... I had no idea how to even exit the airport...

Well I had figured that I'd be able to change the language on the GPS/SATNAV ( I am after all a systems engineer)... but the sub 90 second prep-time yeiled no resutlts... So I accepted the active default language, Itallian (go figure)... Sinistra, is left, I think... adretta, right... maybe, oy is and (perhaps??) and other words which I'm sure meant "you went the wrong way again idiot"

Well before I realized that by mistake I had it set to give directions to return me to the airport, it made getting out of the airport very difficult, and kinda frustrating in sort of a loop-di-loop fashon... especially when simply reading the highway signs would have easily gotten me to Trier...

Then, once i figured how to activate a programmed destination, it defaulted to the fastest route (not the prettiest). This didn't suite me, as I had intended to drive to Lutzerath via the Mosel Valley... Following in Itallion I got myselfe to Trier...

After Trier... my solution was to set the destination to very close villages along the Mosel, and either reprogram it as I arrive, or continue along the valley...

In the latter case listening to the the system find new ways to get me back to the old (surpassed) destination, and continue to insult my driving/orientation competancies...

Well not 20 minutes folowing the Mosel north (I thought) it dribbled to a small stream, then creek, then kinda a broad marsh... All the while on really spectacular roads... This was decidedly not the way it looked though when I pre-visualized the trip on GoogleEarth... Not travelling the the right direction for sure...

Imagine my surprise, when I finally got it speaking english, programmed it for Lutzerath, and relaxed my exigence on the pretty route, when I got on the major highway and I saw signs to Trier, and Luxemberg... I had been heading south-ish???!!! WTF???

Any how...
Got myself to Lutzerath (which is apparently very near the Nuremberg Ring Course, see (for historical reference), booked into A1 at Hotel Maas, and had a wonderful meal (including some really nice glasses of Mosel white wine)... well on my way to gaining 10 pounds in 2 weeks for sure... I even said hi to Steffie for Gilles...

I've decided instead of swamping your inboxes with attachments, you all can visit my flickr page, found here.

And in particular the Travels set. which currently has entries from this trip only... once back to Montreal I'll upadate it with other destinations...

Engaged friends, enjoy, marrying friends enjoy even more!!! Single friends enjoy even even more!!!!
All the rest of you...

BeWellStayOuttaTrouble!!!

And keep in touch...

V, send my your phone number and I'll be sure to call you when I get back!!

P.S.
This reminder from Gilles who is a wealth of world history (and reams of other old-world knowledge), who received a quick preview of my story...

"GPS in Italiano?
No wonder ragazzo, you’re on the march of the Holy Roman Empire !
The Germanic tribes that Romans called Marcomanni, who battled the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries were simply the "men of the borderlands." Constantin left Augusta Treverorum and the Mosella to found Constantinopolis in 330, remember?"

I wish I had...

Love ,

roy