Those crazy Germans

The float below was seen during a Rosenmontag carnival parade in Duesseldorf, Germany. Who is getting spanked here? :-)




The most traditional carnival (Fasnet) though is in the Southwest of Germany where I grew up. My favorite one and most likely the one with the most tradition is in Rottweil, Germany where my dad grew up.

Here are a few impressions of masks and costumes of the big Rosenmontag 8am parade in Rottweil:

Big Daddy

Today I ran the Big Daddy trail on Lookout Mountain and I consider it one of the best trail runs in the Chattanooga area and quite possibly one of the toughest ones. Depending on where you start it is anywhere from 11 to 13 miles and you pretty much have to be a local to find it.
Today's cool temps were nice but the partially frozen ground with a very thin layer of snow made it a bit treacherous at times. Today was also one of the first times that I ran it by myself, usually I try to run with at least one other person.
Now it is time for a nap.

I like Savannah, GA

I went to Savannah, GA for the weekend and from what I have seen it seems very cool. The Waterfront is great and there are all kinds of unique restaurants and stores.

Here are a few impressions:

Who owns the mailbox?

I paid for my mailbox and thus it should be up to me to decide who can put mail in it. But it is apparently against the law for UPS, DHL or FedEx to utilize personal mailboxes, and we are not just talking packages here. If they for example missed you at your house for a delivery that can't be released without a signature, they can't leave the notice in your box. Nor can they leave a copy of a shipping slip in there. That makes no sense to me.

It is my mailbox, on my property and I should decide who gets to put their grabby hands in there, not the government.

Aqua Teen Boston bombs

Pictured here is one of the devices placed by the Aqua Teen Cartoon "terrorists". I can really appreciate that officials are taking all kinds of threats serious, but those "devices" have been apparently there for quite some time. By lunchtime officials were notified by web savy folks that these items are part of a marketing campaign and even Journalist alleded to that fact. But the city of Boston was not able to admit a judgement error and as late as 5pm still had a serious press conference.

Is it so hard to say "Oops we mad a mistake."