27 December 2002 ---JOURNAL ENTRY FIVE---
I just had a turkey sandwich. I think I've gotten my fix on turkey for awhile...I worked my ass off last night, made a lot of much-needed money and must go back tonight to do it all over again. We were slammed at the restaurant, had a girl whose first night waiting alone was last night and it would have been busy for three well-seasoned vets to handle all that pressure!
Christmas was excellent. I spent some time with Amy's family who have now become my family. I got a digital camera, and hopefully that will add a new perspective to my webpage in the coming months. When I get to Freiburg, I'll take a bunch of pictures with it and upload them to my page. I'm trying right now to upload some images, one from Xmas and a couple from my visit to Freiburg in November and hopefully there is a picture underneath this text but little do you know that at least 20 minutes will pass from these words being typed to the picture being there successfully! Oh, how does one support the invisible passage of time?!?
Oh shit, I got it to work! It's not perfect but I got these images up and on the page now, and it only took 9 minutes! I'm not sure how to space the second row of pictures but you get the general idea. Well, I guess my "self-pride" for the day has climaxed...excuse me while I pat myself wherever I like!
I'm down to 17 days now. I haven't sold my car yet, actually I've only gotten one call on it but the guy from the autotrader said it would be tough to sell during Xmas week. I called them and lowered the car to $7100 for th next issue of the autotrader and hopefully can still get $6500 for it when it's all said and done. I'm babbling now but wanted to get a bunch of info on here before the moment left me. I've bought a lot of DVDs the last week because I knew that I wouldn't have any English-speaking television while in Germany and I'll need some from time to time, even if my goal is to be completely immersed into the culture and language. You can expect my list of DVDs to be on my packing list, as can how much clothing I'm taking. I'm bringing too much with me but I have a feeling that I'll need it and even if I don't, I"ll want it and for a move of this magnitude and difficulty, having a couple of things by your side that make you feel like you're home are worth it. The crazy thing is that it will cost me about 200 bucks to ship three boxes to Freiburg, Germany but again, it's worth it. I have my big blue duffel bag packed to the brim and also my purple travelpack and both of those will be check-ins and that leaves my REI green pack which I love with all my life and that thing's stitching and seams will be tested once I finish stuffing that bad boy! I did also get some "clothing savers" though, and they should save some space because you suck all the oxygen out of the bag, thus giving the clothes less reason to bulk up. Should work well with the sweaters and bulkier clothing.
I shaved my beard off. My driver's license picture will have my beard for all time's memory (well, actually for five years) but I'll try and get that on there so you can see it, it was a trip. Coupled with my bushed out hair, I looked like I had been locked down for awhile or was about to! Still though, I've been getting a lot of compliments on my hair and while I like them, it's hard to believe sometimes because let's face it, my hair is a mess! You should see it today, I can't tell if I'm winning the battle or not!
I'm feeling this journal entry coming to a close but wanted to fill you in on a few things. I haven't been writing too much lately, even my normal 2-page journal entries because, well, I'm not quite sure why. I still have so much stuff to do and I think I'm trying not to be reminded quite so often by opening up the book and seeing what's left. I do think that someday it will make an interesting albeit neurotic read for some futuristic relative. Let's just hope I'm dead once they find it! I think though, I will add at least one more story to my webpage today to give some of you some new stuff to read. I still plan to put all three of my novels on there but it's going to take a long time to get that together so be patient. However, because I'm so stoked that even reading this right now, I've added a new short story called "Even a Dirty Flower" and I'll even give you some insight on it. It's a fictional piece about two true things that happened to me. Unfortunately, not all of it's true, but enough of it is to mean something to me. Check it out, let me know what you think. Well, that's enough for this entry, peace and smiles, I hope you're having a happy holiday season and I think I'll go for a run before I get demotivated. Is that a word? Ah, who cares!
Today's lesson in German is below:
Koennen Sie mir bitte helfen? = Keuhrnen zee meer bitta helfan? = Can you help me please?
