Monday, October 25, 2010

New Apts Take Time...The Sun Shines Not on Bavarians

...not that I don't have time right now...just saying...it's a dead-horse topic this week (month?).  Once again, I'm up early to supervise the work within the new apartment.  Today, we are putting up all the necessary curtain rods (yes, we have to put those up too...), the rest of the light fixtures, mirrors, and pictures.  I don't know if it's normal to have someone do all this for you on contract, but it seems to be consistent with every other installation I've witnessed thus far in Germany...let the professionals handle it.  From what I understand about the school system here, this guy has probably done this for 20 years, though he's only 32 (Germans have to decide about their profession extremely early in life, somewhere around 10-12 years of age...read about the school system here).  I stopped taking shop class in 8th grade, so this kind of stuff would take me at least four times as long to accomplish.  Either way, it's proven tough enough to communicate only in my limited German (we just had a 5 minute conversation about whether I have tape in the house.  I was unfamiliar with the vocab), since most skill-laborers also stop English lessons much earlier as a result of their school/career path.

Other than being the overseer for the day, I'll be once again running to the other apartment to start painting (I'll be there all week...see above for explanation...too bad I can't pretend I have some sort of Pollock obsession.  Coloring within the lines has always been tough).  I also have to defrost the freezer there and then run to the tailor once more (we were missing one curtain).

People here complain about the weather a lot.  I think everybody in Munich is grateful for pretty much everything life has to offer...except the weather.  It's really not all that bad, from what I've seen.  It rains a lot, but so did Boston.  Everybody is always asking me, "so how do you like Munich...oh, you must hate the weather here."  No, actually, I enjoy gray skies...I like storms...I like being out in them...I like the excitement involved...you never know what's going to happen.  Is something wrong with me?  Are we truly damned that it must rain in this world?  A majority of the German population seems to think that it's the most awful thing to happen since Soundgarden or Rage broke up...wait, who didn't get back together in the last year?  Since Johann "Seabass" Bach died.  (btw...why hasn't Sebastian Bach made an attempt at Bach Row?  Sebastian Bach, arguably the former best-looking female singer of the 80's/90's...fronting a metal-esque Bach cover band...with no keyboard players allowed...epic dude).  At least here it will probably be more like Wisconsin in the winter, sticking with snow and staying below freezing once it heads there.  Boston had a knack for snow, then 60's & rainy, then a 75 degree sunny day, then 40's & rainy, snow again, occasional ice storm, 75 degree day again, 5 feet of snow (and suddenly, you can't park anywhere because everybody has put out lawn chairs on the street to call their cleared spots)...all winter.  For a little more description of that famous Munich greyness, here are some exclusive pics from the square (der Platz, auf Deutsch) we live at:





...does that look so bad?  I don't think so, but I do see some Pessimismimbulus Clouds approaching...

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