Back! :)

Back home with a healing shoulder - but not able to do more typing than with my left hand. So just a short peep into this site and then off again to give my shoulder and body some rest. Reading is a good alternative, lying on the couch with Gustav and Emil purring at my side.
Thank you so much, to all my friends and family for your good wishes, calls and flowers and help! More news when I'm allowed to do so - work won't start before August, and so will my blog, I'm afraid.
Have a great summer until then, enjoy your holidays and the sun! :)

Off to hospital and better health

Everything is taken care of, cats and flat and post and plants, so will be my shoulder today in DRK Kliniken Westend. My niece Cathy will accompany me to hospital, and hopefully back home again on Wednesday. Wish me luck!

Two days to go

...until Monday and my operation. I spend the weekend getting everything ready for my three to five days in hospital and the week or so later when it'll be hard to move my arm and shoulder. I wonder what to wear above the bandaged shoulder and how to put it on. And what to wear in hospital. I surfed a few shops and bought some sweater and blouses wide enough to hold my arm inside. Luckily there's lots of special sales on right now, and the second hand store round the corner is always good for great stuff. I bought a linen summer blouse by a german designer for only 3,50. :)
Cruising the city made me feel hungry, and since it had started to rain (again) and I was on Ku'damm, I went to "Biers Ku'damm 195" for one of their famous curry sausages. The people at the table next to me enjoyed some as well, with chips and champagne, as is the custom here. If you have the money to do so.
I preferred to buy a small bottle of prosecco on my way home, and had a glass with fresh raspberries for desert in my living room. Lecker!

Invitations

What a summer! Rather cold during the day, and in the evening pouring down with rain.
When Hartmut and I left the SEB bank yesterday, we got wet by just crossing Friedrichstraße. So we decided to get dry and enjoy a meal at Galeries Lafayette, a posh french department store in between more luxurious and expensive shops. Prizes for the delicious french food are not too high, but still. I chose a jacket potatoe with cream, and then Hartmut invited me and paid. If I had known! ;)
At home I checked for the exhibition in Second Life, it's still on, but the truck has left. Not many people were watching it, but a few were interested, so we had some discussions on working poor and the need for minimum wages. Later I was invited to join a wedding party, the ceremony was in Cologne cathedral. Amazing! All the guests were dressed up in the latest fashion evening and cocktail gowns, and the brides in white and beautiful. A lesbian wedding, apparently.
We were offered champagne and wedding cake at the party, which made me hungry and get back to real life and some chocolate.
Today was my last day at work for some time, since I will go to hospital next Monday to have my shoulder cut. Hopefully I will be back to a life without pains and working in my office again in two weeks time. It might take longer though.
Hartmut gave me a get-better-book, and my niece Cathy called this morning and will help me next week, since she's in Berlin right now visiting her father's family. I feel so much more comfortable now she's here and will lend me a hand. And Ute will try her best, as well - she's a nurse, lucky me!

The ABC of life

Accept differences
Be kind
Count your blessings
Dream
Express thanks
Forgive
Give freely
Harm no one
Imagine more
Jettison anger
Keep confidences
Love truly
Master something
Nurture hope
Open your mind
Pack lightly
Quell rumours
Reciprocate
Seek wisdom
Touch hearts
Understand
Value truth
Win graciously
Xeriscape (= a water-conserving landscape design)
Yearn for peace
Zealously support a worthy cause

Moving up

From my small office on the 2nd floor I moved up to the 6th. What a beautiful view! Admire tv-tower and Spree! And so nice to be close to my collegues! Hartmut is in the next room just behind me, and the doors are always open.
My job is slowly changing, too. Before I was doing websites and digital archives all the time, now it's all kinds of archive work, files and books and offline research as well. Last time I had done that was in 2001 with my former union IG Medien. Back to the roots... :)

First union in second life!

My friend and colleague Bernd, responsible for the Mindestlohn-blog and more activities on our struggle for minimum wages (7,50 Euro per hour), and his coworkers made it come true: ver.di and NGG are the first german unions in SL! Maybe even the first trade unions world wide?
Anyway, they opened up this exhibition in NewBerlin, and since I couldn't make it from my office in time to the opening, I had a look yesterday and today from my laptop at home. The exhibition is as great as in real life! I couldn't join them at Potsdamer Plat for the real action either. So websites it is. Not the same, is it? But still: Have a look here!

I did it again!

I went to the open air gallery and bought a painting! Sigh!
I couldn't resist temptation and the moderate prize, went to the bank, payed the artist, took my treasure home, and now it makes my lounge look so much more beautiful!
Before that I walked for miles and miles through the most lovely wild life natural grown park made of meadows and woods. It grew all by itself during fifty years of being on West Berlin ground, but belonging to East Berlin government. In the late 80s the township had meant to destroy it and build some new railway factories there. But neighbours were clever and successful in the end. Now the park is just great, with old engines and metal sculptures in the middle of nature taking over. A small paradise for animals and plants, and for me as well!

The world in a nutshell

When you can't travel to see the world, let the world come to you! It's easy to do so in Berlin.
At "All Nations' Festival", several embassies open their doors one saturday each year to visitors to show them the beauties of their countries. Yesterday I had a glimpse into Malaysia, Malta, Lesotho, Southafrica, Venezuela and Bolivia, saw movies on these countries, tried drinks I had never heard of before, tasted delicious snacks, and was sorry I couldn't buy the lovely dresses and decorations they showed off. The special topic of this year was sleeping, different beds, traditions, hours to dream off. Rather interesting!
Then back home and on to Crellestraße-Festival. A long tradition, as well, for neighbours and friends to meet, talk, enjoy great food (prepared by neighbours), listen to music (played by other neighbours), and above all for the children to have fun. There were quite a few different nations as well. And great music from the 70s!
Summer in Berlin is crammed with festivals and special events. It's hard to decide where to go or rather where not to go. Today I will join three of them, the open air gallery on Oberbaumbrücke, UFA harbour festival in the old movie area, and the long day of city nature. I've been living in Berlin for six years now, always on Crellestraße, and not once took a walk through the fabulous wild life park between Gleisdreieck and Priesterweg. Unbelievable I missed such a wonderful place in the middle of the city until today!