furniture in pieces

thursday , july 10 2008
my cousin and two of my aunts came in the morning. we took my cosuins car, drove to the new flat and dropped my mother, her stuff and one of the aunts there. the three of us took the car again, this time for a distance of about two throws of stones, to a swedish furniture market. on top of the building is the parking lot. the market is huge. and acoording to my cousin not even the biggest one. my cousing guided us through the furniture exhibition. entire living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, its a while ago that i have been in such a market. we had a look at the wardrobe and the bedside table my mother had selected and found a matching chest of drawers. my cousing told the guy at the information desk which pieces of furniture we had chosen and got a sheet of paper with numbers back. that paper showed to us where we would get which piece of furniture where. the bed side table was in just one cardboard box, the chest of drawers and was in several cardboard boxes, the pieces for the wardrobe we would get somewhere else. we packed everything on a carrier an went to the cash desk. we paid everything and my cousin and me went to the place where they give out the bigger pieces of furniture. my aunt left the market by feet. the furniture would take the place of the back seats as well. we went to a desk with a a big waiting room, on big boards you can read there, that it would take less than "7 and 1 minute" till your furniture come out. we handed our papers to the guy behind the desk. my cousin told me that when he was here last time they handed those bigger pieces out somewhere else. they had a big TV screen there and showed a "Mr. Bean" video there. repeating always the same one. i think it took less than eight minutes until we had the pieces for the wardrobe. after loading everything into the car we went back to the flat. i took the elevator downstairs to take a little carrier from the basement to carry the furniture. when i came upstairs again my aunt arrived. she had lost her way. we put cardboard boxes with the furniture parts on the carrier and took them to the flat. we had to reapeat that about 5 times. we put the boxes into the sleeping room of my mother and started to unpack them. we started with the smallest piece, the bedside table. i took two parts and connected them with two screws. my cousin showed to me what i had down wrong. the wrong parts to start with. and the wrong screws. my cousin explained the "swedish furniture system" to me. it was not to hard to understand. after putting together the chest of drawers i even could remember how it works. around eight o'clock we stopped with our furniture session and my cousin and my aunt gave me a lift back to the old flat of my mother.

the rest of my adventures with furniture and everything what happened afterwards, you can read tommorrow. i gotta go to bed now.

goodnight everybody,
burkhard

moving in different ways

last night i had a look in wam's book, at the beautiful pictures of dishes. and found my name on the last page in the thank you section. i was not proud. but moved. „for having been always there“, the sentence kept still on moving in my head. until about 4 o'clock. then i decided to take a homeopathic tranquilizer. i needed some sleep til my cousin would come at noon. after waking up, i phoned him. he would not come today, not for driving only once or twice. there was still stuff in the flat, but about everything my mother wants to take to her new flat was packed already then. after lunch i started to read wam's book from the beginning. wam is telling stories about his life, every story accompanied by a vegeterian or vegan recipe. for saving a bit of time i left out the recipes, i anyway don't have the head to try them out now (my food preparing adventures till now include pan cakes and scrambles eggs. not much more.) after the story about the sex pistols i needed to go to the toilet. still sitting on the john, but having already finished my business, my mobile rang. i thought, if it's the bank, i don't wanna miss the call. i answered. it was the bank. exactly one of the beautiful ladys. „you can pass by here now“. at the end of our short conversation she said, „i hope, i didn't disturb you with moving flats“. i answered with something like „no“. i didn't really want to tell her what she was actually disturbing me at. i changed from my „moving flats dress“ to „visit bank dress“, my mother wrote another cheque, i jumped on my bike, let it roll down the hill and 5 minutes later i stood in the bank. the blond lady greeted me with a smile. my heart answered with shifting one gear higher. my mobile rang. i had given in the search of a transport possibility of 2 cubicmetres of stuff in some internet auction. were different transport companies bit to transport my stuff. the cheapest one was 425 euro. much more than the things are actually worth. now the guy running that auction wanted to know, if i would accept one of their offers. i told him that all of them were far too expensive for me. still with a red head, i asked the other lady, if my mother could do now ordinary bank business, she talked to the blond one, who asked me, if i wanted certain bank notes, i shook my head. she disappeared and returned with a hand full of notes. i took them, said two times good-bye and left the bank. pitty that my mother is changing to the bank in sindelfingen soon.

i went to the town centre, brought bread and bananas and went into another book shop, and was a bit disappointed that they don't have wam's book. at the bakery i bought bread, in the supermarket bananas (biological;-) and went to the train station. i asked the lady there about sending things by train, no chance for boxes, suite-cases up tho 25 kg 15 euro something, the third one almost ten euro, the fourth one again 15 and something. in front of the public library, i just had a cappucino, without entering the library, i made my way home and continued to read wam's book. at times i was just ROFL (rolling on the floor and laughing). the more i read, the more the stories were familiar to me, the last couple because i was taking part in them. an exception was the one taking place in belzig. i remembered only that the local health department managed to be a real pain for the kitchen, and me ending up at infocafe. when it happened, i couldn't find a positive side in it. reading it less than one year later i was laughing my head off.

in a reading break, i phoned my cousin, to ask him when he would come tommorrow. around ten. he understood from my sister, that i had a checque to pay in the furniture shop for the wardrobe of my mother. i clarified the situation and asked my mother which wardrobe she actually has selected. she showed it to me in the catalogue and i finished reading wam`s book.

good night,
burkhard

money troubles

books for library
for a couple of days my mother complains about pain in her leg. but it's only in the evening and not too serious. at least that's what she said. the corrections of the first fifteen pages of the book i translated were in the mailbox today. i put commas and closing speech mark in the rong order. all of them. a couple more mistakes, and everything adds up to about two or three serious mistakes and three or four more ordinary mistakes. per page. looks like more work. i sent the rest of the book by email to my friend who found the mistakes mentioned above.

my mother, my two sisters and me are the legal heirs of my father. we agreed that my mother gets the money, which is anyway not too much. i packed all books which i still had from the library in the top case of my bicycle bags and went to the bank to check if the papers from my sister's bank already had arrived. they did not. which means to get money from the bank we need the signatures from all of us. till now the bank didn't make any problems, only when we tried last week to make a standing order for the rent of my mother's new flat in another branch of the bank, troubles started. i took money from my own account. which will be finished soon. i hope tommorrow those papers will arrive.

when i made a quick movement to one side riding my bike, the bags flipped over the carrier. i had to get up, but managed to get the bags back in order again. the top with all those books was maybe a bit too heavy. in the first supermarket i was looking for ages for things from the shopping list. after those ages had passed by i went to my bike to pack the things into te bags. on the way to my bike i passed by a group of youngsters who were making fun of each other. they involve people passing by as well. i was not in the mood and slowed down my movements. tey went all quite. i went to the next supermarket. i found things much easier there. i went to the bookshop. wam's had arrived book! the lady excused the delay with a smile and the words it was missing in one delivery. i put it into my bicycle bag and went to the public library. after locking my bike it dropped again on the floor. the books again. i gave them all back except one. i got a cappucino and read the last pages in the book i still had. after finishing a second cappucino and the book, i gave the book back.

after dinner i put the left over papers from my father into ring binders and those in a cardbord box. my cousin phoned to tell us that he will be coming tommorrow around lunch time. later my sister phoned, that gher husband won't be able to join us on thursday to buy a wardrobe for my mother and if my cousin and me can't do that tommorrow. looks like my cousin has to pass by my sister's place to get the money. my mother's account is still blocked and my cousin and my bank account more or less empty. i will try now with having a look into wam's book and then with sleeping.

good night everybody,
burkhard

shopping troubles

yesterday my brother-in-law said it would take longer to walk than ten minutes from my mothers new flat to the market square in sindelfingen. after lunch today my sister left to berlin. i took my bike to the bank to clarify some financial thing for my mother, unfortunately some papers didn't arrive yet. i am afraid, i'll have to go tommorrow again. from the bank i went to sindelfingen to my mother's new home and walked from there to the market square. my brother-in-law was right. it took me eleven minutes. i decided it was time for a break, bought a computer magazine, sat myself outside a cafe and got a cup of coffee. when i had an idea which articles are interesting i got up and tried to find the supermarket. the direct way is about 5 minutes by bike, it took me about 25 to find it. i bought everything my mother had written on my shopping list, except white cheese, which they didn't have. i searched the entire floor of the shopping centre, lots of clothing and shoe shops, some shops with glasses and jewelery, but no other supermarket. i took the trolley to my bike and realised that the wind must have been too strong. it was laying instead of standing at its parking place. i managed to lift it up again. i took the trolley back and got on my bike. when i just wanted to give up searching i found another suprmarket. no white cheese. when i decided to go to my mothers new flat i found one more suprmarket. they didn't have the white cheese my mother wanted, but at least another brand. i found another way to my mothers flat, without having to violate any traffic rules. even not by car. in the flat i emptied two boxes from their books. while putting the boxes on top of my bicycle, i managed to drop it on the floor once more. the bicycle. i went the same way back, my brother-in-law drove yesterday, except the last bit, which was through the forest. after dinner i packed some bed stuff and clothes into plastic bags. on special request of my cousin, he says he can pack them easier than boxes. the ring binders into boxes.

that's it for today,
good night,
burkhard

there and back again

when i got up in the morning, my sister was already gone for that weddingof a friend of hers. after my breakfast my cousin and my aunt arrived. we put boxes with plates and books into the car. my cousin drove my mother, my aunt and me to the new flat of my mother. my mother knows the way by car to the big shopping centre in sindelfingen. were my cousin should have gone to the left, my mother directed my cousin to the right. the way to the shopping centre she is used to. despite this little de-tour we managed to find te building, which is at the end of a one way street. the little van of her new landlord was already outside the buiding. we first had a look at the flat. both my cousin and my aunt agreed that it's a beautiful one. a couple of minutes later the door opened. my mothers new landlord came in. we talked a little with him, he had a little carrier with him with which we brought the boxes in. leaving mother, aunt and landlord behind, my cousin and me drove back to the old flat in böblingen. we put the top of the dining room cupboard into the corridor and carried the bottom downstairs to the car of my cousin. we went back and forth about 4 times and brought as well the top of the cupboard, more boxes and the carpet from the living room my cousin and my aunt had brought in february for the birthday of my father.
and a little table. to the new flat we went now every time the same way, only that we entered the one way street from the wrong side, which was easier and only about fifty meters. my sisters family had a small sofa in their house, they wanted to give to my mother. my cousin and me drove to get it. my sister had gone already in the morning with her son to a party from his music school, so only my brother-in-law and their daughter were at home. they had asked us not to ring the bell, but to phone them when we enter the town not to wake up my beautiful little niece. my brother-in-law was busy in the garden when we came to the house. he and my cousin carried that sofa out of the basement while i took the legs from a little table for my mother. they also put a little cupboard for my mothers television into the car of my brother-in-law. we drove back to sindelfingen, while my brother-in-law was waiting for my sister and their son to return home. aftre putting the cupboard top on its bottom we were waiting for my brother-in-law to come with the telly cupboard. i phoned him to see what was going on, my sister was already home, but my brother-inlaw had found a friend who would bring a bed for my mother. but she had to do tings first and my brother-in-law had to still put the bed into her car. thus we left my aunt at the flat, while my mother, cousin and me went back to the old flat. we packed in a couple more boxes with clothes. driving in the wrong direction of that one way street, my cousin was jokin that his mother would be upset if she would see that. i reminded him that the windows and the balconee of the flat are in the other direction, from where you can't see the street. as he was parking the car we saw his mother sitting on the bench in front of the building, already shouting at us. or him....? my cousin informed his mother about our conversation in the car and we all had to laugh. back in the flat my sister phone that her husband was on his way with their friend. my cousin and me decided to wait outside, their is no name yet at the bell outside the building, and we wanted to make sure that my brother-in-llaw and the friend would not be closed out. while we were sitting outside i phone him, to tell him that the building is at the end of a one way street. they were already on the good end. when we were unloading the car the friend excused the dirt in it, with "it is an agricultural vehicle". after unloading my brother-in-law took a key for the flat for in case he would bring the chairs and the telly cupboard the day after. my cousin and my aunt gave me a lift home, after breakfast i was falling into my bed.

sunday
short after lunch my sister came back from that wedding. she had her lunch and after a coffee we took a bus. she had not seen the flat and i wanted to pick some of the now empty boxes. the bus took a de-tour cause, the street was closed for some street party in town. we were five minutes late for the train. we took the bus and walked downhill to the flat. after we had been the some minutes the bell rang. i though there was soomething wrong with the bell, when the door opened and my brother-in-law and his son stepped in. he had the telly cupboard and the chairs with him. after carrying everything inside we had a look at the bed, he couldn't find the screws at home. they were not with the bed either. he figured another way to fix it, but he has to get some material first. well he's an engineer. he drove us back home.

in the evening there was a discussion about "did people in germany loose faith in democracy" on telly. especially in east germany people are not happy about the political development. one of the people discussing was that minister for interior affairs, who was on wednesday in belzig. he had said earlier that people in the "new german states" are not ready for democracy yet. or are they just more critical?

good night,
burkhard

old or new?

my younger sister wants to visit a friend tommorrow who is getting married. for the last days she was looking for a lift, i suggested to her to go by train, she thinks a lift might be a couple of euros cheaper. eventually she found a lift for the major part of the way, for the rest she will take public transport.

in the morning i checked facebook, wam said the presentation of his book yesterday went well. nick asked me if i could send a message to all former pakrac volunteers on facebook for the anniversary at the weekend. when i checked a message from john, i figured that he had done that already.

since my mother got the new flat, one of the main issues concerning the new flat in my family is her furniture. my family is in this case my sister, my mother, me, but also one cousin, several aunts, uncles and friends. most of the furniture of my mother is either old, broken or doesn't really fit into her new flat. my older sister offered to buy almost everything new. till now my mother wasn't too keen to throw all the old furniture away and of getting new one, even if my sister pays for it. i guess, it is again about too many memories being connected. to the kitchen table, the cupboard, the chairs, her bed and the sofa in the living room. today my sister sent me a list of furniture items to go through with my mother. at the end she agreed to about everything for my sister to buy.

my younger sister was typing minutes of a seminar she participated in the last two or three days. today one or two pages were gone all of a sudden. i tried myy best to find the text, but it seems it is really gone. the strange thing is, the text won't opne in its original format anymore.

looks like my cousin will come tommorrow to have a look at the flat and to start with the first things moving.

good night,
burkhard

typing troubles

one of the reasons why i didn´t write my blog the last couple of weeks was, that i was typing somethings else. a translation from english to german. i had agreed with a friend of mine in belzig already last year that i would translate his book. actually i should have finished at the end of march. but then my father died, and i have to admid i had other priorities then. last week monday i finally finished the translation. on wednesday little corrections. on saturday the book cover. i had asked a friend in belzig if she could do the editing. she asked me if i new the correcting symbols in german. today i sent her the first fifteen pages, for her to see what the book is about and if she is willing to do it.

after breakfast i figured how i can use my fathers computer from my laptop. my fathers computer got more capacity and thus more options and acts now like a server. now i can do whatever i did before on it, while my sister is using it as well. one of the things which i didn't figure yet was printing from my laptop. now i just can connect to the server and have everything from it's screen on my laptop's. and am thus able to print as well.

after lunch i made my usual tour to town. first i bought a newspaper, then to the bank to transfer the rent of my mother's old flat and the provision for the new one, from there to the supermarket, where i bought some food stuff. at the bakery i asked the lady for one bread. in one piece. the lady disappeared with my bread, i was still hoping she would wrap it, she put not only paper around, but also cut it in slices. when i went out the supermarket i realised it was raining. after packing the stuff and being on my bike the rain became heavier. i escaped to the public library. first to the entrance for a cup of coffee, a rest and the opportunity for my cloths to dry a bit. and to see how wam's interview looks in the newspaper. it took more space than i expected. more than half the page. including a big photo from wam. wam had said the questions were a bit stupid, but he managed pretty well. inside the library i love to stroll around, reading here and there a bit. that's what i did today as well to let time and rain pass. and i found the correcting symbols inside a german dictionary. and yes, i guess i can handle them. i found myself a chair and was reading in front of the window, when i saw half of böblingen firebrigade passing by. i hope nothing serious happened. when i left the library the rain was a little less strong.

seems like we are not sure if my cousin is coming tommorrow for moving. i guess this time we should remember tommorrow toinform the landlord better about developments on our side.

in the evening i was looking for a lift for my sister's and my stuff, about 15 boxes and a fridge. i checked with professional companies, they want 300 to 700 euros, which would be more than the whole stuff is worth. i checked on forums which offer lifts. i found one guy going with a van from stuttgart to berlin in about three weeks. from berlin i hope to find somebody to transport my stuff to belzig. i printed (which is sooooo easy now!) his details, checked my email and tested that connection to the server. i guess i tested a bit much, my sister came into the living room late and complained that the computer was too slow and wouldn't shut off anymore. i tried to shut it off from my laptop, but somehow managed to shut off the wrong computer. i had to re-type half of this entry again. sort of a draw-back. the good thing was that i somehow managed to remember what i had written, and it didn't take me too long to write the whole thing. despite the rain today it's still too hot...

good night everybody.
burkhard