Phone a friend

So I have a favor to ask.

Last week I received quite a shock when I opened the phone bill. It was almost twice what it normally is for a month. A quick review showed a number of very expensive calls. They were all by us, and they were to a number we recognised. It was the first (and last!) time we had ever called that number from our home phone. Over 80 Euro went into four or five phone calls over a few days. They were important, nessesary phone calls, and we would make them again, but they did show me just how lucky we are to live in a internet-enabled world.

We generally make calls with Skype on the computer. A quick glance at the screen tells me how much I am spending (usually 2 cents per minute) and how much credit I have available. Plus I can call another logged in Skype member for free. So computer to computer is free, and computer to phone is 2 cents. 80 Euro would be good for 4000 minutes. Even better, for the same price I can forward calls to my actual phone. Any of you who have ever called the phone # in the US and had me answer in Germany? Thank Skype. I purchased the phone number and simply have the calls forwarded to my phone. When we go away for the weekend the number forwards to my cell phone. When we move in a few months I will forward the calls to our new phone number.

Here's the best thing about the Skype number, and it gets to the favor I need to ask you. It is just a normal phone number in the US. Depending on your plan, it may be free for you to call me. If you have a flat rate for the US, or free evenings and weekends, or any other little tricks which do not exist in Germany, you can use them to call me for free.

The favor? Please call us. When we lived in Hawaii, we were behind everyone, time wise. I called people I needed to call for business early in the morning. By afternoon I could begin to call family and friends as their day wound down. My parents stay up late, so they were called later, generally as I made dinner. I know the time line for being six hours behind. It is easier to call if you are behind than it is when you are ahead. Trust me. Here, just at the time I am thinking "Hey, I'd like to call....", the boy gets home from school and life goes on and I forget to call. Then you all head off to work or whatever else your day might hold, and I might leave a message, but I know that I will forget to call again. Our weekends are generally pretty busy, so I again forget.

I'm not saying that your time isn't filled with the same million things that fill my day. What I am saying is that it is generally pretty easy for me to set things aside for a few moments so I can say hello. If it is a bad time to talk, I do not answer my phone. At night our phones stay downstairs where they will not wake us. You can call at any time, for any reason. You will always have a better chance of contacting me than I will have of contacting you. And it is either free, or the cost of a simple call within the US.

So if you have a Skype account, let me know. We can add each other as contacts, and maybe I'll see you online. If not, I'm not asking you to create one just for me. I am asking you to call us occasionally.

Don't have our US number? Need a better explanation? Please email me. As long as I actually know you I will be happy to give you the info. I am doing what I can to avoid another insane phone bill!

Thanks!

Vilseck sky

Clouds over Vilseck this week. The storm has cleared out, but left behind some amazing skies.

Images from Austria

We were not in Austria long enough to update this blog, but I have a feeling that it would not have worked...

So we tried very hard to go rodeling in Austria again this year, but we were thwarted. First there was no snow, and then the boy started to cough. We decided to come home early and have a quiet weekend at home instead.

Unfortunately, getting home was a bit of a problem, even with our handy navigator. She tried to help us through the rough stuff, but the staus were neverending, and it took us a really long time to get home.

Luckily the boy was well prepared for the trip, so he watched a couple of movies and he ate a bunch of junk food. After a nap and a quick stop of IKEA to use the facilities, we were home.

Those of us in the front seat were not so well entertained.

So we are glad to be home, and we have already decided to again head south at some point in the very near future, but we are hoping that we won't have to relive the traffic from Saturday.

The holiday season is at an end

The boy went back to school this morning. It has been fun having him at home, but we were all happy to get him on the bus!

We spent most of the majority of the vacation at home. Our friend Ann joined us for a few days, and we spent time with Daniel and his parents. Wendall received some board games as gifts, and we all of us enjoyed playing them after dinner. I think that it is a tradition which we can build.

Prague was fun, but rushed. It is a three hour drive, so we made it there by lunch and then ran around like crazy people. We stayed as long as we could and left before we wanted to, and the trip reminded us that Prague is one of our favorite places to be. We look forward to returning as the days get longer. It was Ann's first time in Prague, and she immediately began planning a return trip. It has that effect on people.

New Year's Eve was spent at our house with Ann, Daniel, Heike, and Todd (Daniel's parents). We ate, drank, lit fireworks, and had a wonderful night. The funniest part of the night was when Ann and I were able to relive the (chemical) gas attack which drove us from our dorm rooms 15 years ago.* We were grilling at the table and I added some hot peppers to the mix. Moments later we all started coughing, and the room had to be cleared. Wendall and I opened all of the windows and ran the fans, and Heike and Todd joined Ann on the front stoop. The boys were upstairs, so missed my attempt to add spice to the evening!


On New Year's day, we dropped Ann off at the Munich airport. My navigator tells me that I live 146 miles from the airport, and that it is a two hour drive. The navigator forgets that I live in Germany. I drove 140 of those miles in just over an hour. It helped that it was early in the morning and that the weather was clear. The trip home from the airport took the standard two and a half hours.

Other than the day trip to Prague and the trips to the airport we stayed home. The boy and I did go to Playmobil Land with a friend over the weekend, and we had fun, but it was more about seeing an old friend than about being at "Little Plastic People Land"

*When Ann and I were seniors in college our dorm was evacuated after someone dropped a canister of a military grade gas. He had kept it as a souvenier of his summer interning at a military proving ground. Needless to say he did not graduate and is probably still working off the debt for the emergency services. No one suffered lasting damage, but a few hundred students were all without housing for a few days.

Mpozi Mshale Tolbert

Mpozi was my friend in High School. We met at CAPA, Philadelphia's High School for Creative and Performing Arts. There have been a number of CAPA students who have been sucessful in their field, and Mpozi was one of them. He did not gradate with me, but he certainly did make a name for himself in a creative field.

Mpozi became a photographer, first for the Philadelphia City Paper and then for the Indianapolis Star. He was also very active in the musical world, both as a photographer and as a dj.

Mpozi died in July, at his desk, of a heart attack. The last time I saw him was in Philly, probably 15 years ago. Still, reading the news of his death upset me. It was one thing to know that I once had a friend named Mpozi, and that I would most likely never see him again. It is quite another to know that there once was a man named Mpozi, and that no one will ever know him again.

http://www.okayplayer.com/mpozi/mpozi_mshale_tolbert.html

~

Goodbye my friend.

A frazzled start to the new year

But it is getting better!

Tomorrow the boy and I will head out to spend time with a friend. This is a family who moved last summer, and we are meeting in a central location. I look forward to spending the day away from home, but not on a trip.

Our holidays were full. We spent them at home, but with friends.

Coffee with the in-laws

Today we went to a friend's house for coffee. She ad invited her parents, and wanted us all to meet. We had a lovely time and enjoyed ourselves completely.

Her son, who is five, made miniature tea cakes for us. They were delicious, and I asked the boy what he was making me for dinner. He mentioned not being able to cook, but offered to learn.

So now I'll add some simple cooking lessons to our evenings. It should be interesting!

Happy New Year

I started off the new year with some computer issues. I am working to resolve them, and then I can get back to other things. The Holiday message from the family has been pushed aside while things have been crazy here, so watch this space.

Well, not this space, the space above.....

We hope you had a great time welcoming the new year.