well, well, well

It looks as though my popularity is on the rise. since the last time i wrote on monday, i now have 3, count 'em 3, followers. A big thanks goes out to Zach "Dad" Barnes and Johnny Buchta for their support. Love you guys. I went looking thru the setting on this thing and found that i can send email updates to up to 8 people...actually its 10 but i reserved 2 spots for Mom and Grandma because i know that you check 8 million times a day to see if ive written anything and this will save you some time. since Paul was the first to be in my posse, he gets a spot as well as Johnny and Barnes. that leaves 5. Ive yet to find out if being a follower actually has perks or not, so im making my own. the next 5 people get the email. Also I've allowed you to send posts to friends and family via the little envelope at the bottom of each post and now anyone can write a comment. Let the games begin.

Yesterday and today i woke up early, 9 and 10 respectively, to go over to Henriks and lend a hand where ever i can. Tuesday morning we tore the roof off of one side of the house. i've found that chucking clay shingles from 40 ft up and 40 ft away into a a trailer twice the size of a normal sized dumpster is a bit more tricky that it may appear. Its all about getting the right spin and tragectory...as well and making sure your glove doesnt take off with it. On the day i would say i carried about a 90% field goal percentage but considering the target it should have been much higher. I'm going to chaulk my performance up to the wind...

after we picked up all the pieces from the shingles we missed, we took a break for lunch. this is as good a time as any to introduce Charley. Charley is Henrik's dog and possibly the most apprehensive dog in the world. Running up, tail wagging, you'd think Charley was the friendliest dog in town, but bend down to pet him and he's jumping out of his skin to get out of reach. He's like that with everyone (that ive seen) except Henrik and Elisabeth, Henrik's baby momma (due in June), who he often runs and hides behind when someone gets aggresive about petting him. while we were eating sandwiches in the front yard, Charley was there waiting for someone to toss him a proverbial bone. I tried to sieze this opportunity to get him to trust me by giving him half my sandwich...lets just say i left lunch hungry and disappointed. and to top it off the dog speaks german so i'm kind of shit outta luck at this point with Charley. there really is no point or moral to this story, I'm trying to come up with interesting things to say at this point and I thought it might be a good time to introduce another character...Maybe he will come back into the story line later, and in that case, youll already have a bit of an insight into our relationship.

after throwing all the pieces of clay into the trailer, it was time to get out the bucket and brush ans sling some paint. The paint here is a lot thicker than at home, it covered raw wood in pretty much only one coat..i had to go back and touch up a few spots that were a bit light, but all in all i think it looks pretty good. Once the carpenters get done with the other side of the roof I will go back around and paint on that side of the house. I was there hitting a few spots today, but tomrrow I dont have to go back. The carpenters call what i'm doing "black work" and not because black people do it...which was my first thought when i was told this...to which i responded, we would call it "Mexican work" back home. but i guess black work to them is stuff that they dont do, or at least thats how i understand it.

Since i was done with my black work early today, I went with Henrik on his shipment to Hamburg. He delivers milk to a handfull of customers there once a week. They mostly get the yogurt and the expensive "special" milk that only 60 farms in all of Germany are allowed to produce...Mmm now thats good badger milk! many of his customers are old widows that he said he thinks, "just order milk because they like me." Ive never had the special sauce but the regular milk is damn good and i can only imagine the expensive milk is worth every penny. he delivers to the richest part of town, which reminds me a lot of chicago. the houses are tall and close together with very little yard to speak of. Hamburg is Chitown's sister city by the way.

Tomorrow Hubi, a guy that used to play for the Wild Farmers but this year moved up to the 1st league (we are in the 2nd), and David (also in the same position) are bringing 2 of their american teammates with them to Dohren before their game in Hamburg on saturday. we are going to go out and have some beers tomorrow night, this will be the first american english ive heard in a month...i hope i still remember that v's sound like v's and not w's and j's dont sound like y's.

speaking of j's sounding like y's, baseball season has started and everyone is a buzz. we watched the mets take on the reds on monday night, followed by 6 innings of the Orioles smashing C.C. and the Yankees before it was time for bed. in other baseball news, i'm getting destoyed in fantasy and i need a corner infielder and a pitcher if anyone wants to look at a trade. Tox, I dont need anymore outfielders or middle infielders, and if you take Adam Dunn I dont have a 1st baseman.

that is all for today, I must see if i can salvage my fantasy season,

A-Ron