June 1

Another good day of work today; learning, always learning.  We're trying to get our plans ready for this weekend, as tomorrow is "Friday" and we have a 4 day weekend.  I even got to have a conversation with cousin Nathan today on Google chat.  That was nice.  The problem with talking to people is that some are sleeping and most aren't online by the time that I leave work.  I'm certainly glad that Nathan didn't fall into either of those categories today.  Right now I am planning on heading up to Koblenz, then traveling a bit around Rheinland-Pfalz doing day trips.  After work today I walked over to LIDL to get some groceries (meat finally! And nummy Nutella natürlich).  I found some "normal" sized bread for the first time today too.  That will be nice.  And chocolate…I bought chocolate.  And it's pretty good, even for being cheap.  After watching a spot of tennis I ran to Großwinternheim and back.  It's pretty amazing how quickly I'm getting back into running shape.  It's taken maybe three or four runs to get back up to speed; of course still far below what Jeff is running, and probably most other people I know, but still…I feel good about it.  I figured out my washing machine today too.  I have no dryer, but the little front loader has this crazy "sling" cycle (Schleudern) which gets them dry enough for me to put them on a rack that was in the room.  It works well, and uses no energy, and cools my room by removing energy from the air for evaporation (well, maybe not that last part).  The reason I say the sling-cycle is crazy is that when it gets going, it sounds like the apartment building is about to take off.  I would compare the washer to a small jet engine is what it comes down to.  But it is at least incredibly useful and it cleans my clothes.  I'm not sure that I like the FAA monitoring my bathroom though.