12 Jan 2006 - Been a while since the last update, either because of work or the fact that the AC adapter for my laptop fritzed out, so I wasn't able to power my computer, much less bring it to the library. So I bought a new one on EBay.

Anyway, here's what's been up since the last update. First of all, I got a new job at the Sembach gas station. I would have to say it's better than the school cafeteria. It'll be a lot more work, but I'll get more hours, which means more money. Also more of a chance to work weekends and holidays, which also means extra pay.

I got my new bowling ball that was a part of my Christmas present from Stephanie. I bought it on Ebay and had it drilled at Ramstein on the 11th of January, and that ball is awesome! I bowled five games right away after I got it drilled, and after the first two games of trying to find my mark, I found my mark, as I bowled the best three games I've had in a few years. Who says a new bowling ball doesn't make a difference? I'm putting up my bowling scores here on the webpage. You can view them here: BOWLING SCORES. You can see what my new ball looks like and read about it HERE.

And last but not least, we went to Paris for New Year's!!! That was fun soaking up all that history. We went with a tour group (about twenty people or so) and took a charter bus. Not having to drive ourselves saved a ton of hassle. We all stayed in a hotel about fifteen minutes from the Eiffel Tower. Before we checked into the hotel though, We went to the Palace of Versailles, home to Louis XIV. That was place was remarkable, and huge! I don't have any pictures of Versailles up right now, but they will be soon. After that, we went to dinner and then took a cruise on the Seine River, followed by the countdown to midnight near the Eiffel Tower (which i unfortunately missed because i was too darn tired).

New Year's Day we did the tour of the city, which included stops at the Arc de Triumph, the Champs-�lys�es, the site of the Bastille, and the Eiffel Tower. We spent about an hour and a half at the Arc. We also stopped back by there during the evening for a picture stop with the Arc lit up. You can view those pictures HERE. We just walked down the Champs-�lys�es a little bit and had some lunch at a bistro. Following a few quick picture stops, we got to the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the second level and I got some pretty good pictures, although it was drizzling and was kind of windy. You can access the Eiffel Tower pictures HERE. After the Eiffel Tower, we returned to the hotel for a while and then went to dinner down at the Hard Rock Cafe. Food was expensive, but good, and no I didn't not buy a t-shirt. Later, we went to the late night show at the Moulin Rouge. Awesome show!

Monday we hit the Louvre. That place is humungous! We only had three hours in there, and we barely made a dent in viewing the amount of stuff there is in that place. We only had enough time to view the most famous stuff, such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Unfortunately they didn't allow photography around the pictures, but I got some pretty good shots of the statues. You can access the Louvre pictures HERE. After the Louvre, we left Paris and headed for Reims, the site of where all the kings of France were coronated. We saw the actual cathedral where the coronations happened. After the cathedral, we went to tour where they make Taittinger champagne, also in Reims. That was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. It's amazing how many millions (yes, millions) of bottles of champagne they had down there in the catacombs. All the pictures I took in Reims will be up later. After we left Reims, we returned to Germany. All in all, it was a blast, although we need to take another trip back there to see everything we didn't have time for the first time.