Pick-A-Day

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Archives

The Main Maine Problem

Back in November I took a week long vacation to Maine and Boston with a friend.

We didn’t need a car for the Boston part of the trip, but the Maine portion need one. After landing in Boston, we got our rental car and headed north – it was a real shitty red Honda Civic, […]

In defense of the hamster.

Last year, during the initial lockdown, there was that run on soap and on toilet paper.

Both puzzled me: I always have enough soap on hand to get me through at least the next three months – and, more to the point, were these people not washing their hands before the pandemic? Did it […]

Time for a pause…

Now that I’ve moved, my apartment is filled with boxes – and I don’t have a reason to unpack until the kitchen is installed and other furniture delivered – a few weeks into the future.

I’ve done some basic cleaning of my old apartment – removing the shocking amount of dust that had accumulated behind […]

Whatchamacallit 162: Boys, Be Ambitious

My last big, fun, international trip was to Japan, which I mentioned in Whatchamacallit 85: Japanese Vase – there I talked about Okinawa, which was pleasantly warm and sunny.

At the other end of Japan I visited the Sapporo Snow Festival – where temperatures were decided cold, with weather ranging from sunny and extra […]

Whatchamacallit 38: Original Source Mint

A long time ago I discovered Original Source – specifically their mint products. This one (“for men”) is Black Mint, from the British market, but does not appear on their website. Only “mint and tea tree” is for sale, both in the UK and Germany, per the websites.

There are two things I really […]

Whatchamacallit 6: nackte männer

This is the first “annoyed” whatchamacallit – the poster of nackte männer that I look at each evening lying in bed. It’s at the foot of my bed, directly opposite my head.

Why am I annoyed?

Simple: because today, Friday, after work, my plans are to go to the airport, hop on Austrian (OS) […]

Whatchamacallit 5: Hier war Goethe nie

Before moving to Germany, I think it is safe to say that I had not really thought at all about Germany and its history – beyond the typical broad strokes that Americans learn about: Germany was responsible for World War I and for World War II.

I could go on about the accuracy of […]

Whatchamacallit 4: Northwest Airlines Mug

Growing up in Denver, Northwest Airlines as not an airline I noticed with any regularity. As a kid, the airlines that mattered were United, Continental, and Frontier – all three hubbing at Stapleton International Airport – of those three, only one exists – strangely all three are that one. (I’m talking about the original […]

Whatchamacallit 2: Hooks for hanging shower curtains.

I realize, upfront, that this is an odd one to feature, but there is a story there.

When I was a kid, it endlessly annoyed me that the shower curtain would always have empty holes when hanging. Whether we did not have enough hooks because some had broken over the years or because shower […]

Whatchamacallit 1: Amsterdam painting.

This painting of Amsterdam is something I acquired a long time ago.

The date on the painting is 2003, which sounds about right. I know that bought it before I moved to Germany – it was framed by Framemakers in Bloomington, Indiana. I am relieved to know that Framemakers is still in business, apparently […]