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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Niki wears leather bathing trunks
















I got into trouble from Cate yesterday because there was no narrative accompanying the Blog.

I told her that I didn’t have anything to say and she responded that I never have anything to say and it doesn’t stop me from writing a Blog.

Despite this ringing endorsement I have decided to carry on.

She just hates the thought that I might me lazing around while she is working. Well of course I am!

The plants are still alive. I have trimmed, watered and fed them and they appear to be coping well with the howling winds. They do get caught up in the cat net so I have to untangle them every now and then.

Of course I spend a lot of time now cutting birds out of the cat net and untangling their feathers from the netting before releasing them back into the wild.

The owls are the biggest problem because when I find them it is daylight and they just can’t see a damn thing so tend to fly off into the sides of buildings. I am not sure what I can do about them but am thinking about strobe lights. I will issue the neighbours with sleep masks.

I notice when I am out cycling that Austrian motorists like using their horns a lot. It seems that they all have this problem and are probably trained from an early age.

‘This is your first toy car Hans - this is the horn – it is the most important part’.

They particularly don’t like it when someone moves into ‘their’ lane in front of them and invariably react badly.

OH NO some sucker is moving into MY lane…I’m not having that Beeeeeeeeeeeep!

They also like to glare at other motorists and probably practice fierce glares in front of the mirror. Some of these are indeed scary and would frighten small children – but are hardly likely to impact on another Austrian motorist.

I think it is the Teutonic desire for order and organisation. Hmmm…I have my route planned carefully….I am going to continue in this lane for 200 meters and the turn left. Then when I get home I am going to eat my Schnitzel with Gertrude, watch ‘Austria’s Next Top Model’ have a hot chocolate, practice my glaring and go to bed.

There are of course times when you have to change lanes. If I don’t know the route I sometimes find that I am in the left lane when I need to turn right. Now I can either keep in then left lane and go to Praha or change lanes to go where I actually want to go.

So I do what every other motorist does and change lanes – and apparently ruin the entire life of the driver into whose lane I am moving.

I am, however, impervious now to Beeps, Toots, Shouts and Glares and even Gestures.

The cats and kitten arrive on 11 June. Cate is going away on Sunday so Muffin and I will have a chance to bond with them before she gets back. They should learn early that they can expect a lot from Cate but it will not include food or anything practical.

Muffin, for example, never bothers asking Cate for something to eat. This would be an entirely futile exercise.

It’s news day today and I must bring this one to your attention.

“Niki Lauda prefers lederhosen to swim in

Three-time Formula One champ Niki Lauda has revealed he loves to go swimming in bathing trunks made of leather.The 60-year-old airline manager said in an interview with magazine News he had been provided such extraordinary bathing trunks by his friend Peter Goach, the chef at top Vienna restaurant "Steirerstöckl". Lauda added the Krapfenwaldlbad in Vienna-Heiligenstadt was his favourite place for swimming”.

I will not comment but will leave this with you to mull over while you eat your morning Coco Pops. You can see them here http://www.xpress.at/nw1/gen/slideshows/slide/show;leute/promis_und_vips/promis_machen_mode/13/;kid;789?flags=nopop;1

8 comments:

  1. and you know what, thse swimming truncks are actually really cool, if they were not a9 sold out, and b) so bloddy expensive I would even get one for holger....

    http://www.xpress.at/nw1/gen/slideshows/slide/show;leute/promis_und_vips/promis_machen_mode/13/;kid;789?flags=nopop;1

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  2. All the excitement about the arrival of the felines... but is it 11 July or 11 June?

    Can't understand your problem with owls. They operated, i.e. flew, quite competently day and night in the Harry Potter books and films.

    Glad it's warmer and the snow fields are no longer providing Thursday's news. What about boating accidents?

    I saw some photos yesterday, from Queensland -
    http://tinyurl.com/oxac7n
    and Spain -
    http://tinyurl.com/o4zloh
    of two skippers who would have been nominated for the Darwin awards, had they not been lucky enough to survive!

    Anyway, please clarify when you are welcoming Moni and Sissi into your life.

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  3. Have you seen the garish new sign on the shopfront at Massimo's? Certainly makes the place stand out a lot more than it did before. Whether it will lead to a new influx of customers remains to be seen.

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  4. Kitten day is of course 11 June. On 11 July we will be down under.

    I thought boat skippers were supposed to be intelligent and steady (like Jim).

    I have see the sign - it is quite something - but until they put up one that says 'non smoking' I am not going in.

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  5. Reminds me of the "NO HONKING HORNS, 350 DOLLAR FINE" in NY.

    sorry I havnt been commenting etc...final exams.

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  6. re Massimo's, but you've been going there for ages and it's always been a smoking place, so what's made you change your mind? :)

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  7. I gave up going months ago when both the owner and the assistant stood smoking in the 'non smoking section'. I now don't go anywhere there is smoking.

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