The home update

Our contractor Rick Stevens has worked very hard since yesterday morning and the progress is fantastic. The additional cabinets and the new counter top are ordered and will take a little while, but we should be able to move in our home in the next 2 weeks.

The view from the dining room into the kitchen



The view from the kitchen into the dining room

Hey Hey

Don't you go anywhere

Mmm Milka

Our cat Sylvie is 12 years old and to this day has not eaten out of any one's hand, not even her cat food. I have been tempting her for quite a while with various items, and yesterday I finally succeeded. Sylvie loves Milka chocolate apparently and kept licking and licking and licking until the chocolate in my hand melted.

Apple iPhone versus Blackberry Storm

Neither of these ads is an official one, but each shows quite a bit of passion for the brands.

First came "BlackBerry Shows Apple Who Is The Boss."



The response from Apple fans came not much later.
(although they have a little issue too)

Flowers

Amy's birthday flowers looked very nice yesterday and still do today. But we knew that gifts would not stay nicely wrapped for very long so we snapped a quick reminder pic.

It is your birthday

Happy Birthday Amy

Amy

It is your birthday in only a matter of minutes.

Happy Birthday

The miracles of technology

6 months ago my 73 year old mom didn't even have a computer but I had wanted to get her one for the last couple of years. But while curious, she always had resisted. Before Christmas she finally got herself a laptop, went to a computer course and got an internet connection. We have been emailing back and forth on a regular basis now for about 2 months and it has been great. On the phone sometimes it appears that things get lost in translation, and that actually has nothing to do with me calling from overseas. It is also true for my brothers who call her from Germany or even within town. So the emailing has been perfect in terms of getting all information across.

When I went home recently I installed Skype on her computer and today I had my first Skype phone call with her. I could actually give my mom a video tour of the apartment as we talked. :-)

It is a miracle. Mom, you have come a long way.

Snow in Winston-Salem

It started snowing quite heavily last night and by 6am this morning Winston-Salem was covered by a thick blanket of snow.

After a morning of sunshine the snow is starting to melt



My snow covered Cooper S in the foreground, various RJ Reynolds buildings in the background



A look at the Piedmont Leaf Lofts overpass over 4th Street

Chubby cheeks

Before there was Arnold on Different Strokes, there was Herbert Krabel in Ostrach. :-)
This picture was taken the first year in Kindergarten.

Black Mountain Marathon

A few months ago I signed up for the Black Mountain Marathon in Black Mountain, NC because I had not yet done a trail marathon. Luck had it that I not only signed up for one of the most scenic trail marathons, but also one of the hardest. I have been running quite a bit this winter so I felt decently prepared, although here in Winston-Salem we do not have good uphill running available unless you drive. With 5,340 feet of climbing in the Black Mountain Marathon to the 13 mile turnaround point I would get plenty of climbing in during the race and we all know that what goes up, must come down. Lots of rain and cool temps on the top promised an epic day.

The calm before the storm. It is nice and dry in the hotel room.



Trying to stay dry under an awning with Jonathan Kelly (also Winston-Salem)



A few minutes before the start and it looks wet.



Amy was at the turnaround checkpoint and it was great seeing a friendly, familiar face. She caught me sucking down an e-Gel.



I crossed the line in 4:15:05 and was happy with this result in very tough conditions. The puddles in the grass are an indication of what the trails looked like.