The world according to Herbert

Schupfnudeln

2012-01-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

My mom was very kind and sent us some Settele Schupfnudeln from Germany. This is one of the few bought dishes my mom actually approves of, and boy they are very delicious.

Flip flop

2012-01-26T12:43:00.000-05:00

I am not talking about political banter here, but very unique casual footwear from Kusa. I think there will be quite a few envious looks in Abu Dhabi when I show up with these very cool flip flops.

Fighting words

2012-01-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Don't bring a knife to a gun fight or at least don't call out a competitor in an ad without considering the possible response.

Fünftausend

2012-01-12T14:10:00.002-05:00

It is a very silly and simple milestone, but a milestone nonetheless.

Christmas in Columbia 2011

2011-12-29T11:08:00.001-05:00

This year we ventured to Columbia, SC with Simon and Max so they could experience their first Hildreth family Christmas. Plus my mom has been here for a few weeks and also was able to join us for Christmas, a first for her too.

Amy very relaxed at her mom's house.

If we would have let her, Cheryl would have held both boys 24/7.

Checking out Columbia with my mom on Christmas Eve and we stopped for lunch at Andy's deli.

It is now Christmas morning and this was the first Christmas for my mom in America.

Georgia always looks very festive.

Amy is ready for Christmas.

Cheryl had prepared the tasty breakfast casserole with a bit of help from my mom.

Making sure the boys are never too far from Georgia.

My mom got this stunning scarf from grandmama Georgia.

A beautiful necklace for Amy combines her birthstone and the birthstone of Simon and Max.

Making sure that Amy finally has an image of dad and the boys.

Georgia is now fully digital with this IPad she got from various family members.

My mom got various South Carolina items from Ron and Amy incliding these delicious grits.

Beautiful wooden cutting board for Amy and I from Ron and Amy.

The morning after Christmas and Max seems to have aged quite a bit, mostly of course because of those britches.

Simon also looks like a little old man with this outfit.

It is Advent again

2011-12-03T14:01:00.000-05:00

It is almost Christmas again and we are counting down the days with our hand crafted Advent calendar. By now we are on day 3 and since I get to eat the "odd days" it was my turn today. Yummy.

Usually we make quite a few of these for family and friends but this year our hands were full with the twins and we only mad a couple.

Oh my

2011-12-01T12:20:00.003-05:00

We are so glad we have boys. :-)

Of course having girls would not mean putting up such a stupid stunt with them.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T14:55:00.002-05:00

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at home in Winston-Salem and had a few friends over. We are especially thankful to have such great friends as Luke and Liz Burnett and Anna Miller and Greg Lee.

Liz and Luke brought these very nice flowers.

Anna Miller and her husband Greg Lee recently moved into our neighborhood and we are very glad they did.

Greg might have one of the coolest t-shirt collections and he is quite the chef. They brought a great pie, casserole and an interesting brussels sprouts salad.

Liz Burnett prepared an awesome Thanksgiving feast for us with an amazing salad, a delicious turkey, stuffed onions, superb mashed potatoes and lots more and even had time to hold Simon.

It was also great to have Luke Burnett here

Amy with Max after everybody had a meal

Bonding

2011-11-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

A bit of bonding time with Simon, who seems to be very fond of dad's big nose. :-)

Big lunch date

2011-11-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

Amy and I went on a very nice lunch date to Mozelle's Bistro in Winston-Salem yesterday, understanding that we might not be able go there so easily any time soon. Well, at least not without a babysitter.

Simon and Max

2011-10-28T14:58:00.000-05:00

Our sons Simon and Max arrived on this earth on Wednesday morning and we are absolutely thrilled with them. The two of them might turn out to be Spitzbuben, but until that is in fact determined, we decided to give the two their own website.

Warren Buffett's 5 minute plan to fix the deficit

2011-10-21T07:36:00.004-05:00

An interesting note from Warren Buffett was posted on CNBC

_*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*_

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.

Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.

It is getting closer and closer

2011-10-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

Snapped this picture of Amy this morning on her way to the car. She looks just stunning and we are both super excited about the pending arrival of those twins.
We even got names for the boys. :-)

Cowboy up

2011-10-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Slowtwitch co-worker Timothy Carlson shot this image of me in Kona. Reminds me of the times when I did all the guerrilla marketing efforts at the bike check-in.

Facebook fun

2011-10-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

I guess we could call this very temporary facebook fun.

Pretty in red

2011-09-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

There is no longer hiding the fact that Amy is pregnant and it also is seemingly obvious that we are having twins. Amy though is feeling well and looking awesome.

The nursery

2011-09-21T05:58:00.005-05:00

Yesterday both the dresser/ changing table and the 2nd crib were delivered and the nursery really is starting to take shape. We also have a rocking chair in the works.

The dresser / changing table is quite large. We should be able to fit in quite a few clothes in there.

Although we will not need the 2nd crib yet, it is good to know that it is in place.

These mobiles are from Germany, and the cute mouse version is over the orange crib.

The one with the sheep is also quite adorable and hangs over the green crib.

The family wagon has arrived

2011-09-20T06:18:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we picked up our new Ford Flex family wagon at Parkway Ford in Winston-Salem and it is now at home in the West End. Still looks very clean and smells so new.

Never had a car that had such low mileage. The MINI came to me with about 200 on it.

All hat and no cat

2011-09-16T11:04:00.001-05:00

Either this guy needs a bigger head or smaller hat. :-)

Mofa Race in Ebersbach, Germany

2011-09-08T14:15:00.014-05:00

A Mofa is a motorized bike with a 25cc engine (actually 50cc limited to 25cc) which you are allowed to ride as a 15 year old in Germany. The next step up is a 50cc but you have to be 16 to ride one of those and you need a specific drivers permit. A new fad in Germany is to race these 50cc bikes and Jan Ullrich has been spotted at a few of these events. At the end of Eurobike I was able to check out the Mofa race in Ebersbach, very close to where I grew up.

No entry fee for this annual event

Yes, that is 22km through the speed trap

And an aggressive pass

A big sand pit for the kids right next to the course

Not the ride desired

Trouble in pit lane

All kinds of interesting rides

No words needed

We think running might have been faster

Skilled and fast

The pits were very busy

Quite a large support staff / crew here

Day over for this team.

It is not about the speed, but the style. :-)

But some guys really were fast.

Like a scene out of Mad Max

How much longer before that front end breaks off?

The action is getting faster

But the audience is chilled

Thank you iPhone

2011-08-27T06:40:00.003-05:00

With the iPhone getting more popular in Germany there is the possibility that one stupid word will be spoken and written a bit less. People actually refer to this fantastic device as "das iPhone" and they do not call it "das Handy," that oh so stupid German word for a mobile phone. After all it is important for the Haves (iPhone users) to show the Havenots (other phone users) that they got the really cool gadget.

ARTpARTy Summer 2011

2011-08-21T17:15:00.021-05:00

Saturday night we had another ARTpARTy at our house and we had a great time indeed and think so did all the guests. Amy is still on "bed rest" but this week she got a bit more leeway and gets to move a bit more. She is still very careful though and made sure she was sitting down pretty much all evening. For this party we had 37 people present and 19 pieces of ART. Sorry Treb and Daniela that we never snapped your picture.

Nancy Tuohy is an ARTpARTy pro by now.

Luke Neff came with 2 art works this time.

Luke's second art work was a very cool fish image.

Nice embroidery by Jeff Zillner

Bill Brewer's painting was very well done.

Craig Dishner came solo this time as his wife Kim watched the kids at home.

We are very glad Amret Hawfield could come again.

Amret's husband Wes made a music sampler for the party.

I sometimes ride bikes with Jeff Leal and this was his first ARTpARTy appearance.

Mark Meyer is also someone I ride with and he made this cool cycling painting. First timer at ARTpARTy too.

We are now the proud owners of the jewelry Liz Burnett made.

Our neighbor Mary Horan painted this cool tray.

The knitted sock monkey Jen Cannon had made was very popular.

We are glad that Ginny Norton could join us for this ARTpARTy.

Matt and Caroline Ankerson were also first time ARTpARTy guests and Matt painted this cool John Lennon image.

Dave and Bess Wildman were ate the party again and Dave created a set of fireworks images.

Amy worked in paper mache and made a pregnant sculpture.

For this ARTpARTy I "brought" a photo I had taken with my iPhone.

Previous ARTpARTy galleries:

- ARTpARTY February 2011
- ARTpARTY August 2010
- ARTpARTy Clover Street January 2010
- August 2009 Clover Street ARTpARTy
- Piedmont Leaf Lofts ARTpARTy
- 2007 Chattanooga ARTpARTy
- Late 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga
- Early 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga

Chalkboard wall test

2011-08-17T16:41:00.004-05:00

Today we tried out our chalkboard wall in the nursery and it seems to work very well. Slowly but surely we are getting the room ready for the arrival of the twin boys. But don't worry about the art here, this was just a test. :-)

iPhone action

2011-08-11T16:00:00.002-05:00

Snapped the picture below at the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem during a break of my DSLR photo class. The building is stunning, and I like the furniture there too, but this picture was actually taken on my iPhone 4 and not my Canon DSLR. I love all the lines and angles.

Baby transporter

2011-08-06T09:36:00.004-05:00

The BMW MCoupe is long gone now as it really would not have been a good baby transporter and after some back and forth we decided on a Ford Flex in platinum white. So one like this should be in front of our house before too long.

Little champions

2011-07-29T16:32:00.001-05:00

We are so excited about the twins arrival and we are now over 24 weeks into the pregnancy. We are now slowly getting gear and accessories together.

Our new neighbors

2011-07-11T11:13:00.002-05:00

Just like the year before a family of birds have moved into our bird house. We never really thought that it would become someone's home or birthplace, we just thought the little house was cute. From what we can tell it appears the birds are Wrens, but one thing is for sure, they are very Angry Birds. Every time we leave the house the parents go absolutely nuts, in a cute sort of way of course.

Running in Mexico

2011-06-26T13:34:00.003-05:00

This running clip from our visit to Mexico shows well how beautiful that part of the Mayan Coast is and more specifically out Hotel Esencia and the beach right in front of it. I actually did a longer run prior but did not have GoPro ready,so I went out again for a short jog to film part of the run.

Mexico 2011

2011-06-24T18:20:00.015-05:00

Amy and I spent a few days in Mexico to relax in the sun and we had a wonderful time here. We are about 20km South of Playa de Carmen at a beautiful hotel called Esencia and everything was magnificent. We are leaving from here early tomorrow but wanted to share a few images from the trip. We'll add more images soon.

Our unit was very nice and clean.

A bit of reading time for Amy in our plunge pool

Huevas Rancheras done right

Amy's breakfast was delicious too

On the first day the skies were a bit overcast

But the beach was awesome anyway

It almost felt like a private beach

A bit of reading time by the pool

The space to relax at the beach

Oh what a view

What ever we needed was right there

As we said, very quiet and peaceful here even on super sunny days

Amy had this lobster wrap for lunch. Yummy.

I enjoyed pasta pomodoro

The unique outdoor yoga studio at Hotel Esencia

Beautiful sunset on the Mayan Coast

My wife is always stunning and here ready for dinner

A self portrait before dinner

A delicious Fritata Esencia with goat cheese, turkey ham and asparagus

Chilaquiles

Another beautiful beach day

The view from the Mayan ruins in Tulum

We only were touristy on Friday. Here we are in Tulum

Authentic fish tacos

Le Mans fun

2011-06-13T13:43:00.003-05:00

2 out of 3 factory Audi race cars fell victim to terrible crashes at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans but the remaining #2 car came back to win the race. Now that is a story. I wonder if Audi makes one of these fast Turbo Diesels with enough room for Amy and I and the 2 babies.

BAM

Time to part

2011-06-03T15:08:00.002-05:00

Yup, it is time to part with my trusted BMW MCoupe. I have loved it for almost 12 years but it gets driven less and less and soon we just will need a bigger car. The babies just would not fit in there.

Doppelfreude

2011-05-19T07:44:00.004-05:00

Amy and I are so happy to announce that Amy is pregnant and in November we will double our family with twins. We are so thrilled and excited.

Here is Baby A and it is amazing what you can see at 12 weeks

Baby B did not want to pose for the picture

Manfred

2011-05-05T13:04:00.004-05:00

During my recent trip to Germany I managed to see my brother Manfred and his family for a few hours. They invited me to a yummy dinner and we got to chat about this and that.

The happy family

It is great to get them started early

Germany April 2011

2011-04-24T15:35:00.007-05:00

Usually I gripe about the weather in Germany, but this time is certainly nice. A few impressions from the first days here.

Unusually nice weather this time of year brought hordes of folks to the Lake of Constance.

This isn't a movie star, this is my mom with overwhelming choices of ice cream.

My mom decided on the Schwarzwald Becher

My Spaghetti ice cream seconds before it got inhaled. (It is vanilla ice cream squeezed through a press with raspberry sauce and white chocolate sprinkles)

Yup, we are in Germany.

After we returned from the lake I bumped into Zita Schaedler on the soccer field in Ostrach. This stunning 84-year old lives in our house and she is an icon in this town.

Oh yes, spring has sprung

2011-04-08T14:05:00.003-05:00

The plants in our front yard seem super happy with the current weather and it just looks beautiful. The scent of spring is also in the air and of course what is not to like about a stunning blue sky.

Cranky

2011-04-06T08:25:00.002-05:00

I was cranky for a while because my beloved Crank t-shirt endured a million washes just like Seinfeld's Golden Boy and it eventually had to be taken out of the rotation. Now it is finally available again and you'll soon see me wearing one virtually every day. :-)

Bert

2011-03-24T18:05:00.003-05:00

Bert isn't short for Herbert, I snapped this image on my iPhone from an old wall advertisement that was recently uncovered. The ad is actually for a business on Liberty street and I just grabbed a small detail of LiBERTy.

Help Japan

2011-03-16T09:38:00.004-05:00

Many creative folks have stepped up with powerful art to help the earthquake / tsunami victims in Japan and bring attention to that region. There has been quite a response and many of these posters have already sold out, but you can go straight to the Red Cross and donate your money there.

I have already donated, but have you?

My United Airlines Blues 2

2011-03-14T14:13:00.005-05:00

So my bag finally arrived after my United Airlines Blues and while the broken/missing zipper tabs are annoying, I am mostly mad that my Oakley glasses and my spare Canon lens has gone missing in action. My whole suitcase actually looked riffled through, so someone had a bit of fun with this.

Called United and they blamed the TSA, then called TSA and they pointed out that it had to go through customs. More finger pointing will come for sure but action seem to come most likely not.

Baggage folks actually offered me a $50 voucher for the general baggage "inconvenience" but I didn't accept it. I basically am missing expensive gear and they want to "sell" me another United ticket?

My United Airlines Blues

2011-03-12T19:34:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday March 8th I was supposed to fly from GSO, with United Airlines via Washington, Dulles and JFK airport in NY to Abu Dhabi in the United Emirates (well the flight from NYC to Abu Dhabi would have been with Etihad Airlines.) On Tuesday my flight from GSO to IAD was delayed so much that I could not have made my connections, and I ended up not going, but wasted a lot of time in the airport. We rebooked and tried the same route again on Wednesday March 9th. After pushing flight UA7679 away from the gate in Greensboro at 2:45pm we sat for 2 hours on the tarmac seemingly because of thunderstorms in DC. I managed to get to Washington Dulles around 5:20pm, but despite on board promises that we all would make our connections I ended up missing flight UA5693 to JFK.

The typical finger pointing game started when I went to customer service. After waiting in line for more than an hour I was told that I should not have booked my flight on 2 different airlines, that thus United could only help me get to NYC, but not to Abu Dhabi. I would have to call Etihad Airlines myself to get assistance to go to Abu Dhabi. When I called Etihad, they told me that their flight is not late and that they can't see the problem, plus it should be United's job to get me there

Once it became clear that I would not make any of my connections to Abu Dhabi, I knew I now would arrive too late for the Abu Dhabi Triathlon there, and decided to return to GSO before I would end up getting stuck overnight in Washington. Around 7pm the Customer Service desk at Washington-Dulles (C terminal) assisted me with the matter and got me on a flight back to GSO and promised to work on getting my checked bag (at that time in Washington,DC seemingly) back with me to Greensboro. I checked again with customer service in the A terminal before my flight UA5761 was departing at 10:12pm and I was told that my checked bag is indeed going with me.

When I arrived at GSO just after 11pm, my bag did not get there and I filed a delayed baggage claim UA816781 with a very unprofessional baggage handler there and listed my home address 1311 Clover Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 as the final destination.

As advised I called the 1800-221-6903 number the next morning around 9am (March 10th) and was told that my bag is in Buffalo, NY and would be back with me within 24 hours and I would get a call later. When I had not heard a thing by 7pm I called again and was told that my bag is at JFK airport in NYC and soon would be coming coming back via Greensboro.

When I still had not received any update on March 11th by 10am I called again and asked for a supervisor. The supervisor then advised me that my bag first needed to go to Abu Dhabi, UAE my original final destination before it could get routed elsewhere. This certainly made no sense to me, as that could not happen if I planned to do something along those lines. After some back and forth the supervisor told me he would put in a note to make sure the bag comes back to GSO instead and would not go to Abu Dhabi. And he promised to expect a call.

Today is March 12th and at 1pm I made another call and was first "helped" by one person who gave me no information other than asking me for my information that is clearly in my file complaint. Most annoying thing at that baggage center is that the service folks seem to be otherwise occupied as they are talking to me. While they asked me questions like "So is your backup phone number 336-776 ....?" and "So you noted you want your bag shipped to Winston-Salem?" I could hear feverish typing at that desk. Are they sending emails to friends or handling customer service for other brands while they appease the annoying customer with non info? Eventually I was connected to a different supervisor who at first had no info other than telling that they are waiting to hear back from JFK and to expect a call soon, before noting "I just go a message that bag left JFK on March 11th with Etihad flight 100 to Abu Dhabi.

Are you kidding me?

I missed a major event because of the messed up flights and now this baggage nightmare? I am sure the FAA will find this story quite interesting.

I need my bag back here in North Carolina asap and I am owed a major apology at the very least.

Hu Hu Hu Hu

2011-03-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

Missed out this year to take part at the Rottweiler Fasnet, but there is always next year. The tradition is actually so old that the United States as a country is quite youthful in comparison. Hu Hu Hu Hu

Spring has arrived

2011-03-03T11:14:00.002-05:00

It has been quite a bit warmer recently and it is much appreciated of course. The plants seem to really enjoy the sun and warmer temps too and we are now seeing signs of the spring, plus the scent outside is great.

Atemlos

2011-03-01T23:54:00.000-05:00

In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away

- shing xiong

Soooo good

2011-02-26T13:39:00.003-05:00

Amy and I really like the Honey Stinger Waffles and they might be the tastiest morsels one could desire during a longer workout. The initial packaging was a bit tricky though and not so easy to open, but the new ones open just fine. Yum.

Just imagine

2011-02-11T09:18:00.003-05:00

The image below was taken in Indonesia where farmers use a road to dry their rice. Now imagine if that happened in Europe or North America? People don't even have patience /tolerance for farmers driving tractors or cyclists on the roads.

ARTpARTy Februarus 2011

2011-02-05T16:33:00.020-05:00

The ARTpARTy last night was a great success and we had an incredible 22 pieces of ART on display which were eventually going home with someone else. We also had a record amount of first timers here but that certainly did not show.

Betsy Hamilton started off the evening with a bang

Jeff Zillner's pillow was snatched up early

Maybe the only ARTpARTy moment when Bill Brewer did not smile

Laura Scott with her decoupage creation

Amy created a 3-dimensional art work and seemingly has a crappy photographer as a husband :-(

With my cement book ends

Our neighbor Mary Horan had done a nice print

A beautiful necklace by Clare Fader

Kyle Webster had never been to one of our parties and we were glad he came.

Paige and Andy Lester Niles with a Prefontaine shrine and a warm knitted hat (now ours)

The lamp by Julia Toone and Brian LeFevre was very popular

Charles and Erika von Isenburg crafted a beer bottle opener and a boot scratcher for their first appearance at ARTpARTy

A beautiful photo by Evan and Caitlin Brennan who joined the ARTpARTy for the first time.

Hannah Albertson was an ARTpARTy newbie too, but it did not show.

Jen Cannon is already an experienced ARTpARTy guest

Laura Gallaher's star was crafted from recycled Christmas cards

Kyle and Laura Godat are ARTpARTY veterans by now

Vicki Latimer Roan had her husband Tim embedded in this ART piece, and boy was it popular.

Max was crafty with wood, paint, nails and string

Checking out the goods for the pending ART exchange

Previous ARTpARTy galleries:
- ARTpARTY August 2010
- ARTpARTy Clover Street January 2010
- August 2009 Clover Street ARTpARTy
- Piedmont Leaf Lofts ARTpARTy
- 2007 Chattanooga ARTpARTy
- Late 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga
- Early 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga

Almost there

2011-02-04T10:28:00.003-05:00

With the ARTpARTy Februarus 2011 approaching with giant steps, my current art work for the pARTy has only limited time left in this house. It took me quite a bit of time to get these cement book ends finished, but they came out very nice. I also learned a lot in the process for future cement projects. Tonight's event though should be super exciting and word has it that lots of good art pieces will be exchanged.

The machine

2011-01-24T12:48:00.002-05:00

Oh do I wish the weather was nicer so I could spend more time on this machine. This size Large Scott Plasma 3 is built up with SRAM Red components, a Zipp Firecrest 808/404 combo, a Fizik Arione Tri2 Carbon saddle, a Quarq powermeter and Profile Design bars.

Hello beautiful

2011-01-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

That says it all.

Nivea

2011-01-04T12:13:00.001-05:00

Amy and I love the Nivea lotion below, but that version is not easily found in US stores, so we have to schlepp some with us when we travel to Europe or task my mom to send us some in a care package. Oh the vanity.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T21:25:00.006-05:00

We rang in the New Year last night at home and as I still don't like the taste and scent of alcohol, my beverage of choice was Orangina. Amy doesn't have that phobia and enjoyed some champagne. :-)

Happy New Year

Christmas in Columbia, SC 2010

2010-12-28T14:13:00.016-05:00

Amy and I went with Pete to South Carolina to spend time with Amy's family over Christmas. We had a great time and below are a few pics from Christmas day.

Chuck's dog Simon is very festive in his green Christmas sweater.

Ron and Chuck checking out Chuck's coasters made from recycled phone buttons.

Pierre is a new addition to the house of Amy's dad Ron and his wife Amy. He is a little rascal.

Flora does not mind the camera that much.

Pete doing what he is doing best - relaxing. Well earned after the eye operation of course.

The brunch table is set at the house of Amy's mom

Lots of goodies on my plate

A very nice start for Christmas morning indeed

Grandmama Georgia joined us for brunch

After a lot of work finally at the table

The Christmas tree with presents at Amy's mom's house

A nice tissue holder for Grandmama Georgia

Happy faces everywhere

Well, trying hard to look unhappy

Cheryl displays her new earrings

The Christmas tree at Amy's dad's house blocked in by tons of gifts

Amy models new rain boots and flannel pajamas

A book for Amy is immediately getting attention

New knives for Grandmama Georgia

Am's dad looks forward to sleep, eat and read

We love this beautiful lamp from Ron and Amy

A quiet corner for Amy to read

Christmas time

2010-12-24T09:02:00.004-05:00

A few Christmas impressions from our home ready for the holidays.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The view from the dining room towards the living room

Our Charlie Brown tree on the counter between dining room and kitchen

The kitchen is clean and ready for guests

A slightly different perspective towards the kitchen

Our tree with modern ornaments in the den

The main Christmas tree in the living room, very traditional (and orderly) :-)

The warmest place in the house

Am's tree in her office is very cute

So many apples

2010-12-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

Apples, apples everywhere

Advent factory on Clover Street

2010-11-30T15:21:00.007-05:00

December 1st is almost upon us and we got the advent wreaths for a few friends and family done just in time. It is actually quite a time consuming enterprise but it does get you into the holiday spirit.

In full production :-)

Some imperfect Lindt truffles had to be eaten

Our advent wreath was the last one done

A closer look at the wreath

Another detail of the wreath

A few miniature clothespins fell victim to the feverish pace

Jordan Rapp rules

2010-11-21T20:03:00.002-05:00

Jordan Rapp was nearly killed by a hit and run driver a few months back and today he finished 4th at Ironman Arizona. You rock my friend

A pet update

2010-11-11T21:33:00.005-05:00

Pete does like the fireplace

and Sylvie has moved in the guest bathroom near the radiator

Suppe und Salat

2010-11-08T12:01:00.004-05:00

Gestern Abend gab es Suppe und Salat bei uns und es war sehr gut. Fuer so ein Herbst Wetter Abend gibt es wohl kaum was besseres. Well, for those of you who don't understand my native tongue, we had soup and salad for dinner last night and it was very fine and hit the spot.

Foursquare success

2010-11-07T20:24:00.001-05:00

Who says foursquare isn't good for anything? This morning I actually unlocked the foursquare special at Whole Foods. Yes.

The reward (a $10 gift card) was promptly put to good use

Halloween in the West End

2010-11-01T11:31:00.006-05:00

Halloween came and went and we had a good time. Well, Amy actually was on call and Halloween is seemingly always a bit crazy in terms of work. So I represented alone.

The calm before the storm

As most likely expected, a diverse candy selection at our home

What people saw when they approached the house

The pumpkin really looked pretty good

Up the street from us a Krispy Kreme employee had these great treats to offer

Pumpkin time

2010-10-28T08:19:00.006-05:00

It is that time of year again and last night I worked over a pumpkin to create a jack-o-lantern. Notice the interesting separation of top and bottom. :-)

Very focused on the task at hand.

Evan JackO may want eye brows.

Don't mess with a man who might know karate and surely has a knife in his hands.

JackO in action.

Historic West End Holiday Homes Tour

2010-10-23T22:10:00.003-05:00

The Historic West End Holiday Homes Tour is coming soon to the beautiful West End area of Winston-Salem. More details can be found here, plus you can become a fan on facebook.

Favorite Kona pic

2010-10-21T17:31:00.002-05:00

The picture below I snapped of Linsey Corbin during the bike check-in for the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championships might be my favorite of that trip. It is just kind of artsy and not just another race photo.

Hawaii pics

2010-10-17T15:52:00.004-05:00

We didn't really keep a photo diary of our trip to Hawaii this year but below are a couple pics we snapped while on the other side of the Big Island. weather was great of course.

Oktoberfest in Winston-Salem

2010-10-02T22:49:00.003-05:00

Most people of course will think about Munich, Germany when they hear the word Oktoberfest, but there are "Oktoberfests" pretty much all over the world. So tonight I went for an hour to the one here in Winston-Salem and they did a pretty nice job with it. But stuff like that always seem a bit strange to me.

Flowers everywhere

2010-10-02T12:28:00.003-05:00

During a recent visit to SECCA here in Winston-Salem I came across this very interesting statue / flower vase. From a distance it looks like a real person sitting there.

It is about that time

2010-09-28T05:07:00.002-05:00

As the colors are changing, the leaves are falling and the temperatures are getting a bit cooler here, it is pretty much time for the annual pilgrimage to Kona, Hawaii. It'll be nice to see lots of friends there, but we still have a few days to go.

Vegas action

2010-09-26T16:31:00.003-05:00

I spent the last week in Las Vegas at Interbike and Patrick from redkiteprayer.com snapped a picture of me before the Tour De Lake Mead on Tuesday morning. I was only there to shoot pictures, thus the not so crash safe helmet on my noggin.

Peanut gallery

2010-09-19T06:39:00.002-05:00

At the recent Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series finals in Budapest I was in a peanut gallery of sorts with a bunch of photographers from around the world. German shooter Frank Wechsel captured this image where we all were attentively awaiting for the top finishers to cross the line. But now where is Waldo?

Good times

2010-09-17T07:59:00.002-05:00

It was very nice to spend time with my mom on my recent business trip to Europe and she really enjoys hanging out with me too. So it is win, win for all.

Another visit in Pfullingen

2010-09-05T17:16:00.008-05:00

Last time I visited Matze, Jutta and Oscar it was winter and we all went sledding in cold temps. This time the weather was quite a bit nicer and many less layers were needed and it was great to see them all again.

They just came back from a ride when I arrived

There is so much fun to be had in the sand box

That plum pie was delicious

After checking out a woodpecker

That looks so good too

And it is gone

Enough with eating for now

Time to say Auf Wiedersehen

ARTpARTy Augustus 2010

2010-08-29T12:00:00.021-05:00

So we had another ARTpARTy at our house and we had a great time indeed. We had quite a few first time ARTpARTy attendees and that makes it always quite interesting. Quite a few friends couldn't make it because of schedule conflicts, but their will be another one in January. Below are some of the artists with their work.

Amy had taken this photos during a snow storm with long exposures and mounted them on black.

I initially planned to add red flower petals to this image but decided to keep it as is.

Ken Otterbourg could go into business with his popular gourd fish art

A great architectural rendering of a building in High Point by Craig Dishner

Bess and Dave Wildman had not yet been to one of our ARTpARTies and Bess pulled of this nice water painting hours before the party started.

The Kuckoo Time art of Mitch Termotto was very popular

Mike and Shannon Chang created candles in bottom wine bottles halfs

These great planters by Luke and Liz Burnett are now in our possession

Laura and Jared Gallaher each brought a nice work of art.

A look at West End details by Leighanne Dorton, as Tim Roan gives his approval

Tim Roan displays the kid's wrapping art of Vicki Latimer Roan's art work

Water buffalo art by Jenn Cannon who just recently moved here

Max was also a first time attendee at the ARTpARTy and it did not show

Nancy Tuohy had a great image that had everyone guessing where it was taken.

Related image galleries:
- ARTpARTy Clover Street January 2010
- August 2009 Clover Street ARTpARTy
- Piedmont Leaf Lofts ARTpARTy
- 2007 Chattanooga ARTpARTy
- Late 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga
- Early 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga

Project Runway Casanova

2010-08-13T11:16:00.004-05:00

When Amy and I watch Project Runway this season, I can't help thinking that contestant Casanova (yes, that is seemingly his name) looks remarkably like Brother Salvatore from the movie The Name of the Rose. Put a monk's robe on Casanova and he could step right onto the set if it were filmed today. :-)

Kaba

2010-08-05T12:01:00.003-05:00

Kaba is the chocolate milk powder that I grew up with in Germany. In fact as a child I used to Kaba as the term for any chocolate milk or hot chocolate, kind of like Kleenex instead of tissues.

Nice note

2010-07-30T20:42:00.002-05:00

Came across this note on the facebook page of a friend of mine. Someone apparently left it in the stairway of an apartment building after a "little" incident on the third floor. This situation would have meant police action in the USA, but in this case in Germany it was "resolved" with an embarrassing note.

Baseball night

2010-07-26T13:01:00.006-05:00

This weekend Amy and I went to a baseball game here in Winston-Salem and it is such an easy walk for us to get there. But boy was it hot that night. Plus the game was endless with the pitchers not doing so well that night. We left around 11pm with the game tied 11-11 after the ninth inning and eventually the Dash team won 13-12.

The baseball park here is quite nice

Amy got us a great huge lemon ice

Glad there is no close pic of my sweaty shirt. :-)

No nibbling please

2010-07-23T08:32:00.002-05:00

While at Whole Foods the other day I noticed the "no nibbling please" sign at the food bar. It is actually quite sad that people have to be told not to snack on these items. People, not everything in the store is a tasting sample.

The swim changes

2010-07-15T21:22:00.004-05:00

Until recently I only swam straight sets in the pool and I don't mean multiple sets. More like get in the pool and swim anywhere from 1000m to about 1500m without stopping, and when I trained for Ironman I just increased the distance. Now I actually do different sets, warm up, do kick sessions, various drills and focus on different speed set sessions ranging from short (25m) to long (400m) and totally ranging from 2000m to 3000m. Plus I now got Posidrive fins, hand paddles and finger paddles.

Separated at birth?

2010-07-11T22:07:00.004-05:00

Is it possible that Dutch soccer star Dirk Kuyt and Alfred E Newman of Mad Magazine were somehow accidentally separated at birth? Imagine a slightly blonder mullet on Alfred E Newman and we almost got a perfect match.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T20:18:00.003-05:00

Amy and I got engaged 3 years ago on 4th of July and we are celebrating our anniversary of that event in Vail, Colorado where we are attending the wedding of my friend Kevin Burnette.

Vail is stunning and we are having a great time here. Happy 4th of July everybody.

The line

2010-06-25T14:41:00.003-05:00

This line in front of the Friendly Center Greensboro Apple store was maybe the longest line I stood in for a while. All in all about 1:45 from the time I arrived there until I finally walked out the door with the new iPhone4 in hand.

The cutiepies

2010-06-13T18:56:00.002-05:00

Yup, the title says it all. This blogpost is about the 2 cutiepies in our house.

Pete in the kitchen after a walk

Sylvie in her room (Amy's office)

You have been warned

2010-06-09T14:11:00.003-05:00

We noticed this warning sign a couple years ago when we were in Panama City Beach, Florida for the Ironman triathlon event there. Not surprisingly, we did not see any unattended kids running around in the coffee shop where this sign was posted.

XTERRA Tsali 2010

2010-06-06T21:35:00.008-05:00

Decided this week to race XTERRA Tsali and went to Bryson City, NC for the weekend. Amy had to work and could not join me. I wasn't sure what to expect but mostly wanted it for training motivation anyway. The Santa Cruz Blur Carbon worked fantastic and I ended up with a very solid race.

The second transition of XTERRA Tsali was set up right near the MTB trail head of the Tsali Recreation Area.

Took this image for fun the day before the race and missed out to step on it the next day. Not because of performance though, but because I washed myself in the lake at the time.

This is where we swam.

The view from the Ridge Top Motel in Bryson City wasn't shabby.

The bike set up in T2 in the morning. Note the fine transition towel

Quite muddy after the race

Tim and his wife drove up from Chattanooga

New neighbors

2010-06-04T19:52:00.002-05:00

Recently a new family moved into our neighborhood, or to be more specific, they actually moved into the birdhouse on our front porch. So far we have not seen a rent check or any other form of payment and we are holding our expectations very low along those lines.
They are very cute though.

Man and his friend

2010-06-02T17:55:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we went to the beach in Litchfield by the Sea and Amy snapped this very nice image of Pete and I strutting on the beach. Pete though is not crazy about the water and long walks are not going to happen either. But he is so adorable and sweet.

Vegetable delivery

2010-05-29T09:35:00.001-05:00

We get a nice selection of vegetables delivered each week and this week's box of goodies included Swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, beet greens and Asian greens.

Making sure you get what you pay for

2010-05-26T06:55:00.001-05:00

While getting gas at a gas station in Germany I noticed an interesting vehicle right next to us. 2 fairly unofficial looking guys in that vehicle had connected a gas hose to their very high tech measuring device within the VW bus and were making sure that the gas station was actually giving the exact liters of gas or diesel customers had actually paid for. The German government looking out for the little man. Nice.

A few more pics from Switzerland

2010-05-22T15:55:00.017-05:00

After a great week in Oberschwaben it was time to say goodbye to my mom, family, friends and Ostrach as we headed to Zurich, Switzerland for the final 2 days before our flight back to the USA. It was a bit of the shame to leave now as the weather was finally coming around, but word had it that we would have good weather in Zurich too.

On Friday morning we had a little bit of time to walk into downtown Ostrach to grab pastries for the trip and a pack of smokes too. Not really. :-)

We stopped at the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen/Neuhausen on the way to Zurich

On the way to check out other view points

A view of the falls from higher up

This slight detour was certainly worth it

Shopping for post cards at the Rheinfall

We arrived in Zurich after lunch and were greeted by great weather and blue skies

Hmmm, I wonder which one of those would look good in my home

That is one cool Citroen

Lots of cool narrow streets can be found in Zurich

Our hotel is on the Niederberger Strasse which is sadly a bit loud at night

Another beautiful day greeted us on Saturday

The Fraumuenster on the left has amazing Marc Chagall stained glass windows

The Grossmuenster in Zurich is just about to open the doors

A stunning view from the topafter a long hike

It was quite windy up there

The view from the top towards our hotel, which is just to the right of that bridge

The beautiful weather made surely for a better fleamarket

When living in downtown Zurich there is seemingly little need to own a car

So many shoes so little time

Even more May Germany trip pics

2010-05-20T15:48:00.019-05:00

Wednesday was a big family visit day and we started the day early with a drive to Rottweil where my dad's side family lives. We had lunch at Aunt Lore's, saw Granddad Gustav and Hanne after that and then got cake at the house of my aunt Gerda. After a long drive back we went to m cousin Albert, his wife Waldtraut and daughter Isabelle for dinner. Thursday we traveled to Sigmaringen to see the castle, check out the downtown and after that visited Sigmaringen.

Upon arriving in Rottweil, Cheryl made a new friend

My cousin Anja and my aunt Lore with Amy

Amy in front of the Schwarzes Tor (black gate) in Rottweil

With my 96-year old granddad Gustav and his wife Hanne

Approaching aunt Gerda's house

Cheryl and Georgia fascinated with miniature Fasnet figures from Rottweil

With my godmother aunt Gerda in front of her house

Isabelle got a big hug from Cheryl and we got a great dinner of Fleischkaese, potato salad and mixed salad for dinner, plus the great company of Albert, Waldtraut and Isabelle

The semolina with cream and strawberries desert was fantastic

With Albert, Waldtraut and Isabelle after a great meal

On Thursday we went to Sigmaringen where Amy measured up against a knight

Looking beautiful in the entry hall of the castle in Sigmaringen

Georgia stood guard in front of the castle

With the stunning castle in Sigmaringen in the background

The swan came by to see if we had anything to eat

Our lunch stop on Wednesday was at the Gasthof zum Bach in Bad Saulgau

A very pleased Georgia after she managed to open the tight Pilsner bottle fliptop

Amy enjoyed Swabian bacon Duennete for lunch

The May tree in downtown Bad Saulgau looks quite sad against the cold gray sky

Before dinner, Amy and I ran through the countryside around Ostrach. Amy decided to wear her traveling compression socks because it was so cold and we brought only shorts.

More Germany images

2010-05-18T11:50:00.026-05:00

We had quite a mellow Monday,but Tuesday was quite packed with activities. So here are a bunch of images from the last 2 days.

On Monday afternoon we walked up to the Buchbuehl in Ostrach

The whole crew with my uncle Fritz and his wife Maria after our hike

Monday night we all went to the Schwabentherme in Bad Saulgau, well known for the thermal springs

This was the first time that I visited the Schwabentherme in daylight

Tuesday morning we traveled to Meersburg to catch a ship to the flower Mainau island

Amy and her mom Cheryl look happy on the ship

With my mom on the ship

I guess it feels like a vacation now

The Pfahlbauten in Unteruhldingen remind us of times when folks here lived on the water

The blimp Zeppelin flew over our heads. If not so expensive, that would be a fun way to see the Lake of Constance

A large crew of workers on the flower island Mainau makes this possible

These flowers are "surprisingly" named fringed tulips

A sea of colors greets the visitors here

A very lucky shot inside the butterfly exhibit

Everyone is "hunting" for butterflies

Yes, caught another butterfly

A butterfly ready to take off

Now that butterfly exhibit was excellent

Some of the flowers are not blooming yet

After a long day of hiking around the island

Amy and my mom in front of one of the restaurants on the Mainau

Waiting for the ship Baden to carry us back to Meersburg

My mom, Georgia and Cheryl had a great time on the island Mainau

Downtown Meersburg is quite quaint

The Basilika Birnau is one of the most stunning small churches in Europe (photography inside is not allowed though)

But I did find a nice image online of the stunning interior

The view from the Basilika Birnau is beautiful too

Spring 2010 trip to Germany

2010-05-16T14:05:00.021-05:00

We arrived Friday afternoon in Southern Germany after a long trip from the USA. We actually took the ferry across from Konstanz to Meersburg this time and we all enjoyed that experience despite the cool temps. We napped during the afternoon, had a good meal in the evening and called it night soon after. Below are a few images of our adventures in Germany so far.

After breakfast on Saturday we went to see the basilica in Weingarten, Germany

Georgia lit a candle for a friend back home

The interior of the basilica

Stunning artwork on the ceiling

Descending down the stairs in front of the basilica in Weingarten

The St. Martin fountain in Weingarten

We had lunch at the Cafe Central in Ravensburg

An interesting way to support a building up higher while working on the ground floor

While shopping in Ravensburg we ran into Siggi, Moritz, Lena and Stefan

We had dinner in the Alte Muehle in Waldbeuren and the owner showed how to take the bone out of a trout and made us aware that trout cheeks are a delicacy

Amy and I had vanilla ice cream with hot raspberries for desert

After breakfast on Sunday we all went to the Affenberg in Salem, Germany to see the Barbary Macaques and a ton of storks. Plus the old buildings are quite cool too.

Feeding time for the storks

The storks looked quite content after the meal

Georgia made a new friend in Salem at the Affenberg

This Barbary macaque got the last piece of Amy's popcorn

My mom has never been here before despite living quite close

At the end of the monkey tour

Strolling over calm water

Somehow Georgia had a hard time escaping from the monkey enclosure

We all ate lunch inside this building

Georgia in action in Germany

One small element of the Salem castle

When the old abbey burned down around 1690 it was quickly replaced, but this time with fire fighting stuff planned in. Thus you can find now a fire fighting museum there.

Another interesting old school fire engine

The 4 musketeers at the end of a long tourism day in front of the Gothic basilica in Salem

One of several interesting statues in Castle Salem, Germany

Amy under a lemon tree

That is where mustard comes from

Back on the boat

2010-05-15T00:17:00.002-05:00

The image of Amy and I on the boat wasn't taken in Scandinavia, but on a rainy day crossing the Lake of Constance in Southern Germany. We are actually on a little field trip with Amy's mom Cheryl and her grandmama Georgia.

Walking in the shadows of...

2010-05-11T22:05:00.003-05:00

Well, enjoying sunshine and shadows here in Winston-Salem before heading to a very rainy Germany. But we'll have a good time just the same. :-)

Fleischkaese

2010-04-30T10:54:00.001-05:00

Two weeks from today I'll be having some Fleischkaese for sure. A trip to the local butcher in Ostrach, Germany is already on schedule. :-)

Smokers

2010-04-28T13:18:00.003-05:00

The pic below is from an exhibit in Sydney, Australia, but sadly many streets are covered with cigarettes and that is truly inconsiderate and annoying. So smokers, clean up after yourselves.

Colors

2010-04-20T14:47:00.001-05:00

On a recent walk with Amy we stopped under the bridge near Runnymede Ave because of all the interesting colors and textures on the wall. I posed in front of it to add a bit more color and texture. :-)

Parking fools

2010-04-17T06:41:00.005-05:00

Some time back in Chattanooga I noticed people parked in Low Emission Vehicle parking spots seemingly without regard for the signage. But I also realized that people might not really understand what actually counts as a low emission vehicle, plus those spots were just too close to the entrance of the Green Life store. Yesterday I stumbled upon a few interesting cars in the Compact Car parking area of the Thruway Center in Winston-Salem. Maybe it isn't clear what compact is? :-)

Boston Creme cake

2010-04-13T14:38:00.004-05:00

Amy made a super yummy Boston Creme cake Amy for my birthday and that made for a great start of the day. A candle for each decade, plus a half one for the other 5 years.

Pollen Nation

2010-04-05T14:56:00.002-05:00

The spring time has arrived indeed and the pollen is settling everywhere. The little beemer is quite pollen green currently and it is time for a wash soon.