Weeeekend...

...is here :-) It'll be my last official Munich weekend. Can't wait!
You won't believe it, but since Tuesday my travel plan's haven't changed at all. Still going to France, still going to Sagunto. "Coincidentally" I have a short stay in Munich between those 2 trips (arriving on Saturday and leaving for Spain on Monday), so I can go to Oktoberfest. WOHOOOO!!!! Currently I'm struggling to get my luggage logistics settled. Have to get the rest of my stuff to Gelsenkirchen for storage, but have to leave a bag in Munich with my stuff for Spain and some stuff for Qatar, and another bag in Erlangen containing office and winter clothes (should be cold when I get back).

Update: Boss said I might go to Thailand instead of Qatar. WHEEEEEE! Keeping my fingers firmly crossed :-)))
See many of you soon!

And again...

...things have been changed. But this time everything's fixed!!! (or at least that's what I hope). Yesterday the language course agency called and told me they had no place for me to stay in Aix en Provence, therefore I changed the destination. I'll get my classes in Tours instead of Aix now. Côte d'Azure would have been nice... ah well, maybe next time.
Spain plans have been rescheduled as well: It's 5 weeks instead of 7 and only 2 weeks substitute instead of 4 ...bit relieved. After that I'll squeeze in a Munich weekend (27th-29th of October), then back to Erlangen for a few days and after that off for the next construction site.
That's about it.

Viva l'España!

As mentioned before, in my new job nothing's fixed, and today it showed. My boss told me this morning that, after my language classes in France, I'll be staying in Sagunto (Spain, near Valencia) for 7 weeks - 2 weeks training, and then I'll substitute the local commercial for 4 weeks while he's on holiday. ...2 weeks of training on the job are hardly enough to do the job properly and mind you, I don't speak Spanish AT ALL!!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Can you tell I'm a little nervous?!? However, I'll do my best and hope it'll suffice. At least the location seems to be nice (check out some pics): long beaches, historical buildings... all in all just the right place to build a power plant ;-)

Aix-en-where????

The next weeks start to take shape. My language course has been confirmed :-) From September 3rd till the 23rd I'll have a 3 week crash course in Aix-en-Procence at the Cote d'Azure. It's a tough program, but the sea and the weather will ease my heartship ;-) PG is rather giving when it comes to training. For details you can check here ...my program is No. 87 (Französisch, Seite 3).
Right before heading off for France, I'll have my first leadership workshop.
Apart from that I'm looking fw. to the weekend, which is of course packed once more, but will be nice to empty my head for a few days.

2nd day...

got my new laptop today! Slim, fast, light, black... I love it! In case you care, click here.
At least the next few weeks start to take shape. My direct boss wants to send me on a 3-weeks french intensive course somewhere in France, once my time in Erlangen is up. He'll think about where to send me for training on-the-job, so I might get an update on that during this week as well.
Also I learned that I will not be part of SAG anymore, when I start working in France, but will be transferred to the local company (but I get a return guarantee). Therefore I'm no longer a delegate when I get there, but I'll get the same payment as if I was one ...kinda complicated, but it sounds like a fair deal. Only remarkable other thing to report is that I got up at 6:45am two days in a row already, which is WAY too early, but troubles me much less then I would have expected. Aaaaand... that's all for now.

Parlez-vous français?

...well, a bit, but as it seems by now I might speak it properly soon. Nothing is fixed, but as my boss told me they intend to send me to Pont sur Sambre ...in case they get the contract. Pont sur Sambre is a small french village, located in the north-east right at the Belgian border, and has about 2500 habitants.
...so you get an idea.
Not quite the world trip I expected, but it's cool with me.
Since the contract hasn't been signed by now, they will take the time and give me loads of training before. Next 2 weeks (instead of 4) Erlangen, then more than one construction site for training on the job. These sites might indeed be located rather far away... I'll get more information tomorrow.

Too hungover

for a decent post. Had a great weekend! Now packing and then off for Erlangen. A detailed post with pics will follow.

Who needs sleep anyway...

The last days were a bit exhausting: packing, transporting all my stuff to Gelsenkirchen, taking care of family matters, meeting friends... loads to do and little sleep.
A "first time" was yours truly taking the train down to Munich. I almost managed to miss the first connection to catch the first of my trains. Obviously train riding has many advantages to driving yourself, such as watching DVD, sleeping and watching funny people. However, taking the train only confirmed what I had known in the first place: I'm a driver, not a passenger! Sitting around and just waiting to get somewhere is simply not my cup of tea. Ah well, I gave it a try.

After arriving at home I unpacked my stuff and headed towards Heimertingen to do what I neglected far too long: I made the first step to get my financials in order by Torsten who checked all my contracts, questioned me about professional and private objectives and thereby started to customize a concept that suits me fine. As usual my visit was accompanied by great cooking of Tanja and pleasant chats about our lives.

Today I took the time to recover from the last days and will conclude the evening with one or two hours at the Kölsch place around the corner. Apparently I'll need the energy, as I've been instructed to be ready tomorrow at 2 pm, with a packed back, for pick-up by Thomas and Marion who will take me... I have no idea where! The whole gang managed to keep it secret, apart from occasional teases that lead in no direction whatsoever! Being the incurious, patient an... oh, who am I kidding!?! I'm DYING to find out what's happening tomorrow!!!!!
Make sure to check back what they did with/to me.

Haushaltswarenmesse 2006

Tuesday, 1am. The first annual Haushaltswarenmesse just ended.
Andre came up with the idea to exchange stuff that appears useless to oneself but someone else might enjoy. So Chris, Ela, Tof, Britta, Andre, Andrea and myself met up at our place to exchange all dust collectors we gathered through the years. What can I say: It was great! I got rid of almost everything and everybody was happy with the exchanged goods. Afer that we had beer and bullshit at CiP and continued a bit at our place after the Biergarten closed.
Tomorrow (or better today) I'll drive my beloved route from Munich to Gelsenkirchen for the last time, as far as I know. (...I misused the guests to load the Sprinter I rent with the stuff I'll put into storage in Gelsenkirchen).

Sleepy now and tomorrow will be a long day. Sleep well y'all!

Sunday, lazy Sunday...

Ich hab ganz konsequent
den ganzen Tag verpennt,
jetzt brauch ich sehr viel Ruhe
für Dinge, die ich heut nicht tue.
Ich fang ganz spontan
überhaupt nichts an,
das zieh ich eisern durch,
konzentriert und ruhig
bis ich drüber einschlaf.

Ich les heut keine Zeitung,
ich hab heut keine Meinung,
bin außer Dienst gestellt,
heute dreht die Welt
mal eine Runde ohne mich,
dreht sich ohne mich.

Ich mach heute blau,
das mach ich ganz genau,
ich bleib präzis hier liegen,
das muss ich heut noch fertig kriegen.
Ich mach heute frei,
stör mich nicht dabei,
das ist jetzt ziemlich dring'nd,
wenn es nicht gelingt,
muss ich morgen noch mal ran.

Ich hab heut keine Ziele
und keine Wir-Gefühle,
ganz egal, wo du bist,
wenn du mich vermisst,
dann tu es heimlich, ohne mich,
tu es ohne mich.

Ich les heut keine Zeitung,
ich hab heut keine Meinung,
bin außer Dienst gestellt,
heute dreht die Welt
mal eine Runde ohne mich,
dreht sich ohne mich.

Annett Louisan - Die Trägheit

Wohooo... revisited

In an earlier post I reported on my questionable record on the Gelsenkirchen-Munich trip. The police finally charged me for it: it was the distance. 20m instead of the required 56m. 80 bucks and 2 points in Flensburg.
Can consider myself lucky that they didn't measure the speed as well.

YEAH!

I made it! I actually managed to change my blog layout. It's not as easy as you think, at least if you have no clue of programming html whatsoever. Don't think it's final, but after fighting html source codes for a few hours, my motivation for dedicating myself to a long photoshop session was kinda low.
However, this is my first shot and I like it.

FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Goodbye to pretence, bitches and pointless tasks! PG, here I come :-)