Photokina 2008 Cologne

Lucky me just before I have to leave Germany "again", I was able to attend the Photokina exhibition 2008. On a very sunny day I arrived in cologne, a little sad not having the time to take some pics around the “Dom” of cologne. The exhibition was amazing, seeing all these cameras, comparing them to another and shooting pictures with all of them.

The attending companies where so kind and also provided models to take pictures from; they had hawks as well as nice girls, posing in perfect lightning. After several hours of wondering around I enjoyed the comfort of a nice massage chair combined with a mind trainer; an amazing experience I must say, like a laser show inside your brain.

Flea market Bonn

The most favorite event for me in summer is the annual flea market located in Bonn – Rheinaue. Right next to the river Rhein in between beautiful arranged gardens and rare trees is it always possible to find exact the most unuseful item you did not have yet but always wanted to know what it feels like to own it.

I must say the climate of flee market certainly has changed over the years, people trying to sell stuff; I would be ashamed to be seen with. Overpriced comic books, corroded tools and of course the Rollex watch for 90 bucks. Never the less, it awakes the hunter in me and after hours of looking through other people belongings you will find a thing or two that will come in handy soon. The most rewarding thing afterwards is, like in so many other German activities, the usual beer ceremony; sitting down in a beer garden nearby, eating a pretzel and drinking a beer or two.

Algebra 1

Servus
hier für alle die noch etwas Vorbereitung brauchen. Lineare Algebra heißt das Zauberwort!!!
Wer schon Skripte für andere Vorlesungen hat kann diese hier auch noch einstellen, denke doch das wir alle im selben Boot sitzen ;).

MFG

2 Bücher ca 600 Seiten

Lineare Algebra.zip

Algebra 2

Und hier nun der Hammer 630 Seiten geballte Algebra !?!

Download hier:

Wine tour to Linz

This weekend we went for a little trip to see some of the nice surroundings of my hometown. We passed the last remains of the bridge of Remagen to arrive at Linz.

Linz is a typical old German village as tourist imagine whole Germany must look like; I certainly felt like stuck in an old 60´s movie. The local brass ensemble played hits only the elderly can remember, anyway there was a very good reason for me to come here on this lovely sunny Sunday afternoon and this reason was called “Federweißer und Ziebelkuchen” for all you non German speaker I will explain:

Federweißer is a very young wine, very sweet and with still yeast in it. It’s a deadly mixture as it tastes like juice but makes boom at some point ;) most probably to happen 1 hour later when you sit in the sun zipping the last bit out of your glass ready to go but not able to. Ziebelkuchen on the other hand is neither a pie nor a pizza it’s an onion pie and only eatable with enough Federweißer. Lucky me I wasn´t driving…

Fire fighting

The biggest enemy on board a ship is a fire, so met a firefighter at a fire station nearby and did some exercising with a breathing apparatus. Highlight here was a obstacle course. We crawled through tubes and holes, over walls and other obstacles just for fun the light was turn of a fog machine started, screaming sound where coming out of the speakers last but not least special lamps where sending heat rays towards us. After a morning indoor the afternoon was all about the outdoor. We all met on a gravel pit and gave the fire extinguishers a try. Just some diesel and Gas put together in a pan, lighted up and we had an easy target to practice on. Powder extinguishers, CO2 extinguishers or the good old fire hose we tried them all.

One other highlight on this birthday of mine was that I was allowed to drive a Trabbi. For all of you not knowing what that is here a little intro. The Trabbi was the most manufactured car in East Germany an icon of socialist communism. Made out of a composite fabric and not metal it is very light and very noisy. Rumor has it, that it was made out of old cleaning rags soaked in epoxy. Never the less a great car, a merc everybody can drive but steering this one you have to think ahead, as there is no power brake unit nor a power steering. I was really thankful for this opportunity; a very old dream of mine came true this day.

Basic Safty Training "The Boat"

These days I am in Cuxhaven, a really small town on in the north of Germany to learn about safety procedures in nautical vessels. Trust me it is more fun than it sounds like. Despite all the boring theoretical lessons we have, the practical stuff is making up for it. Here are just some impressions what it was all about.

The lifeboat:
Boarding a lifeboat early in the morning wasn´t a lot of fun at first, as it was still a little wet and slippery. With the sun cam the fun and for ours we row the little boat around forward, backward, in circles, everybody had a turn shouting the commandos.