Appointments And More Appointments

Now that we are at home and we can speak a bit of english during our holiday we are scheduled to visit the many doctors and services providers that we have put off for quite some time. Eye doctors, dentists, banks, DMV, the list goes on.

I can already tell the coming days will be filled with errands and catching up on long overdue things. I just hope I don't wear myself out to much and that we can still enjoz ourselves while we are here.

I Put On White Socks Today

This is the first day in as long as I can remember since last holiday season that I put on white athletic socks without the intention of running.

As I start my day people will give me strange looks for the way I am dressed, but by the time I end the day, no one will even pay any attention to me.

Caritas Candles

One Million Star Event in Baden

In Switzerland there is a humanitarian aid group called Caritas that puts on an annual candle vigil to raise awareness and money for their organization. On one single day cities throughout the country include displays were contributors can purchase a candle for 7 CHF. This sponsorship raises money and creates a very interesting visual display.

This year Baden had one of its own Caritas vigils. A line on candles snaked from our front door on our busy street to a small plaza a few tens of meters away. The path of candles was intended to draw crowds from the busy shopping street to the plaza to see the candles and hopefully make a contribution.

The candles were arranged in a large star shaped pattern on the ground. At one point a group of singers gathered at the middle of the start to sing some Christmas songs in three part harmony. They had obviously practiced and despite the fact that they didn't really look to organized were very good.

It was a great opportunity to capture some interesting pictures. Essentially shooting by candle light the environment was a bit of a challenge but I made due with what I had. I set-up my tripod right in the middle of the event and started snapping photos. There was one other photographer shooting as well.

Unfortunately just as I figured out the proper settings given the lighting conditions my batteries ran out. No worries though, my hands were cold and it was time to go in. The picture above was one of the last images I captured.

One thing I always forget to do when shooting night images with 'single points of light' is to remove the clear glass protective filter on the front of my lens. If you don't do this you can get additional reflections from the light bouncing off the front of the lens back to the back side of the clear filter, and then back into the camera. The results are often strange colored spots on the image. If you look at this image you can see green spots on the left arm of the guy with his back to the camera. Hopefully next time I'll remember.

Speech, Speech!

Today at work I had to give a 'Speech.' We had an organization wide meeting, about 60-70 people in attendance, and each line manager had to give a update on their respective departments. We had a similar meeting about 8 months ago although I did not have to present anything.

Going into the event I wasn't expecting much in terms of the room layout. I expected a small room, with chairs, a power point presentation being projected, and maybe some space at the front of the room to walk around. I prefer to have some flexibility to move around the room when I present. What I got was something a little different.

The room was large, half empty, and had a large stage at the front. It was too large of a space to speak without a microphone. One the stage was a podium and a mic. I would be stuck in one spot, Oh no! Definitely not my style.

In general I like public speaking. I find it a real challenge to engage and keep an audience listening. Not to say I don't get nervous. I always get a bit of the jitters, but after about 2 minutes I usually settle in. This case was no different, I settled in and just moved along.

The challenge in this situation is I stepped to the mic after over an hour and a half of long speeches done by people with various levels of skill in the English language. The challenge, re-energizing the audience that was on the verge of an afternoon nap.

While speaking I found myself being very careful with word selection. I needed to choose words are phrases that were understandable to a large audience of non-native English speakers. I found myself often pausing for a second to think about the best words to use, but I think that worked out well because it gave my audience time to really comprehend and understand what I was saying.

After the meeting, I got several compliments that I spoke well, and was very clear about the objectives and goals for my team. Coming from non-native speakers I was very glad to get the positive feedback. I did find myself, battling with my internal desire to wander the stage. I really had to keep myself focused at staying at the podium so my voice level would remain at a constant level with the amplification system.

It was a great learning experience, hopefully I will get to do it again soon.

Passports for Q-Tips

Gingerbread Cookies and the Chirstmas Market

We were running low on Q-Tips and liquid handsoap so it was time to cross the boarder and head to Germany. Prices for somethings can be half as much in Germany. We made the 30 minute train trip to Waldshut not knowing if anything good would be going on, but we figured it was close to Christmas so we might find a Christmas market.

We made the decision to go to Germany just after we made the rounds at the Baden Advent market. It is a 1 day event with crafts and some food. We went to get some Knoblibrot (garlic bread), but the machine was Kaputt. So we ended up getting some mulled cider and a servelat (grilled sausage).

Sure enough when we arrived in the Waldshut old town there was a small Christmas market. It wasn't too big, maybe about 20 to 30 booths. Even smaller than the Baden market. There were the traditional wooden crafts and candles. There were also plenty of food booths as well. There was raclette, and flamekuchen, a form of white pizza with a cream sauce instead of tomato sauce. I was disappointed that we ate in Baden because the food in Waldshut looked, and smelled much better.

We did stop for a little gluhwein while we were there. This traditional hot, spiced wine is perfect for the cold weather. Every market serves it, and everyone stands around holding their little mugs keeping there hands warm and chatting.

Close to the gluhwein stand was a stand selling cookies and candy. This is were I took the photograph above of the two gingerbread cookies. After I got home I looked up the German word on the second cookie as I was not familiar with it. It turns out that the two cookies next to each other say "Scrubby Cowboy."

Season of Cheer & Too Many Parties

The season of Christmas parties is upon us. It is crazy, every organization has its own social event and of course you feel somewhat obligated to go. This week the madness starts. Tonight there was a big party at work, and apero really, that started around 5:00. Some of my co-workers asked if I was going, I was on the phone at the time, so I kind declined.

My wife has her office party tonight as well so she'll be gone.

Next week I have an event with my immediate team. I look forward to it. I made it in the middle of the week since some of my team travel in and everyone will be here.

Then I have a party that is being thrown by a software vendor company that I work with. They schedule the party for a Friday night. Seeing that 3 quarters of all the staff on the project fly in from other countries I thought that was a strange evening to have an office party. I don't blame those people that declined because they want to fly home.

I'm sure we'll have other informal gatherings and drinks. It will be a very busy couple of weeks.

Christmas Lights in Baden, Switzerland

With all of the lights out in the streets I decided it was time to take out the camera. I managed to get home at a reasonable hour this evening so I had some extra time to roam the streets to try to capture the lights. Tonight I spent an hour shooting in just two spots. Overall I didn't take too many images, but this is one of my favorites.

This picture is actually one I thought would be a throw away. I had sent my camer to a 30 second exposure and with about 3 seconds to go a care pulled up behind me. I grabbed my tripod and stepped out of the street. Although moving the camera during the last few seconds didn't really effect the overall image sharpness, you can notice that the lights in the streets seem to have little commet tails from me moving the camera.

I like the effect, so its a keeper by my standards.

The Tree Is Up, Without the Bus Ride Too!

The Tree

We decided to put the tree up this weekend. A little early, but since we'll be home for Christmas we figured we rather put the tree up early so we can enjoy it for a few short weeks. This week the search for the tree was much easier than last year.

Last year you may remember we ended up riding the city bus home with our tree from the local lumberyard. This year we knew the routine so things were a little easier. What really simplified the entire day was our mobility membership. Luckily there was a mini-van available for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. We reserved it for a 2 and a half hour window and made our way to pick up the tree.

After getting the tree we just dropped the seats in the back of the mini-van, threw in the tree and we were on our way home. I never thought i would like a 'mini-van' but after that experience I see how they could be handy.

We spent Saturday doing the initial decorating and finished off the tree on Sunday. I think it looks really good. This is the second year I've ever had a short needle tree. As a kid we used to always get the longer needle douglas firs. I am acutally learning to like the short needled trees. They look really tacky with no ornaments, but once decorated I think they actually show off the ornaments better.

A little language lesson. Christmas ornaments in German is Baumschmuck. This is one of my favorite German words. If you translate it literally it means tree jewlery.