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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Bauhaus is our house

I had my first drive to the Flughafen and it was a doddle. Geoffrey and Carmella were going to catch a train – because their departure coincided with the arrival of the Hendersons – but John and Christine arrived early so I fired up the QM and set off to the airport. This was a reasonably uneventful trip and I surprised myself by getting lost only once on the way home. Another motorist shouted at me and blew his horn. My German is not so good but I think he said ‘What a magnificent car - and you drive so beautifully’ I am not sure why he bared his teeth.

The cord for the iron is one metre long. I would like those of you who iron to think about this for a minute. The only way to iron successfully is to put the ironing board on the floor next to a power point and kneel beside it. The iron is an FXH3 with a Super – Vertical – Antical system - but doesn’t get very hot. I would like to present for you the discussion that took place in the design section of the company that makes this triumph of modern technology.

“Gunther – I have finished designing the FXH3.
Ja – sehr gut Werner – have you put a cord on it?
A cord – was is das?
Das is the thing that connects it to the electricity – it is very important.
Gott in Himmel – I have used all the budget in the design of this magnificent feat of engineering – I have no money for a cord.
Well you must have one – without a cord the iron will not work well at all.
OK then – how long must this cord thing be?
I don’t know Werner – I have never used an iron – you must use your imagination!”

John and I went to Bauhaus to buy firewood. They had no real wood as - according to the sales assistant – this sold out almost immediately. I cannot understand why the Austrians prefer real wood for their fires rather than compressed sawdust and I am sure nor can the person at Bauhaus who ordered two pallets of real wood and 6,000 pallets of sawdust – most of which remains unsold. Perhaps he works part time as an iron designer.

After loading up the trolley we were accosted by a security guard who wanted to see my receipt and seemed disappointed when I produced a valid one. I think he would have liked to have beaten me soundly with his stick . It was cold and wet and he didn’t look at all happy to be on duty at Bauhaus today.

I took us two trips to get the sawdust into the apartment but we now have enough of this stuff piled to the ceiling to have a roaring blaze for at least an hour. The sawdust weighs a tonne but burns like cardboard.

It is raining constantly so John and Christine are going to the museum to count cherubs and nymphs - which is great way to pass a rainy morning as long as you have the incentive of pastries and coffee at the end of it. I am thinking I might go to Shopping City Sud to get a few chores done before the weekend. See how blasé I have become about taking the QM out of its lair!

Cate’s start to the day was fairly average – she forgot her keys so couldn’t get into her office. I was on my way home when she rang so I was tasked to go home – get the keys and take them to her. I decided to see if I could park outside and save 15 minutes but could not do this so went around the block. This is not as easy as it sounds because there are many one way streets (Einbahn) and I got caught at traffic lights and then behind a garbage truck. So it took rather a long time to get back to Cate and she was really cross – which is unusual for her because her default status these days is enraged.

Soon I will tell you about why Cate doesn’t have an internet connection at home and how happy this makes her.

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