What a game! The German Women’s Football Team beat Brasil and defended the World Championship in a tough and fast game. Special Kudos to Nadine Angerer our fantastic goalie with a head like a brick and nerves of steel! She did not concede a single goal in the Worldcup!! Let me repeat this: SHE DID NOT CONCEDE A SINGLE GOAL!!
Wednesday morning I rode my bike to work for the first time. It was a nice morning for a bike ride, and it took me about 40 Minutes to get to work - no big deal. However, riding in traffic is really not very enjoyable and many drivers passed me with just a few inches between their right rear-view mirrors and me. I have got to try the Greenway, which might take longer, but it might be more enjoyable. Also, I really need to leave the laptop at work. Riding with a backpack is als a bit of a drag. I think I’ll try it again next week.
Women’s Football WorldCup, that is … The German women beat Norway 3:0 and will play against the winner of tomorrow’s game Brazil-USA on Sunday. Sadly, I was not able to see the game, as it started at 8:00 in the Morning here, and I have to be at work, and I have no cable TV at home. But it sounds like it was a great game with a very strong German team. I certainly will get up early on Sunday and watch the final at a friend’s place. Oh boy - I am sooo hoping for a Germany-USA final!!
When we moved closer Durham in June, I started seriously considering the idea of riding my bike to work. Several guys I work with already do that. It’s a great way to stay in shape and reduce your environmental footprint. So, now that the weather is cooler (less than 90F/32°C) I really ran out of excuses not to try it. Heck, one of my coworkers ran to work the other day, and he lives just down the road, maybe a mile or two closer. So, yesterday I put road tires on my bike and cleaned it a bit, so that I could take it into town.
This morning, I got up at 8:00 and did a test run. At least Sunday morning there would be less traffic. It took me 30 Minutes to get to the office, where I took a 30-Min break, and then I turned around and biked back. The ride back is uphill, and so it took me 45 Minutes to get back home. I think I can do this maybe twice a week. The most direct way to go is not a particularly nice ride, mostly along a busy, four-lane road. At least there are decent sidewalks for a good part of the ride, which makes it much safer. Probably I’ll try to take the North/South Greenway part of the American Tobacco Trail, although that’s not so direct, but it might be a more pleasant ride.
With three stokes of his wooden mallet, the Mayor of Munich tapped a 224-Liter beer barrel today - the first of many beer barrels to be drained at this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich. He poured the first Mass for the Ministerpräsident (governor) of Bavaria.
Organizers expect to sell 6 Million Mass (Liters) at €7.90, as well as half a million grilled chicken and the meat of 90 oxen.
My new ride - a black 1991 Mercedes Benz 300D. She’s at 244,000 miles, and going strong. Well, right now she’s actually short a turbo, but that’ll get fixed next week. Even without the turbo she’s a mighty nice ride, especially now that she’s no longer on that stinky diesel, and running on homemade juice.
The Moon from inside the eye of Hurricane Felix, shot by Randy Bynon during a hurricane hunter mission. Amazing photo - click on the thumbnail to see the large version on the Wunderground site.
We brought this plumeria back from Hawai’i in 2004 and planted the stem in a pot. For a while nothing happened. Then it started growing leaves. This spring Laura transferred the plant to a larger pot and it started growing more leaves.
When we moved, we gave the plumeria a nice, sunny spot on the deck. The plant loved the hot weather this summer and grew like crazy. Last week we noticed the flower buds, and tonight was the night! The plumeria’s first flower opened. Pretty amazing - it took only 10 hours, and in the last few hours you could almost watch it unfurl its delicate petals.
Click on the picture to see the gallery.