Olympics Vancouver 2010

I'm sitting here watching the Hockey finals. Canada vs. USA. And man, I want Canada to win. My favourite sister-in-law Catrin lives in this beautiful country. It is the better America. I have been there with my wife in 2003 and it was our first vacation together. We still love the Rockies so much and Vancouver and Vancouver Island have definitely been special to us. They will be in my Heart forever.
And these Olympic Games are real and not fake like Bejing 2008. Man that sucked. Canada I have a drink on you. I want to come and see you soon. That's a promise. Good night and good luck. At the moment Canada is leading 2:1.

In the middle of the night.....

when the time is right..........you start thinking about a lot of things. This blog has been dead for a long time. I don't know if I will manage to reanimate it.
A lot of things have changed in my life. A new baby (Paul-Robert was born on November, 26 last year) keeps us on the go. He is very cute and handsome though. We all love him very much.
I've started looking for a new job. I had an opportunity but it didn't work because of less income than before. Let's see what happens next.
I've have changed from product management to sales which was a big step and I still hope in the right direction. Now I'm working at home, sitting in my office on the second floor of our house.
Pretty hot in here because outside it looks like Italy or Spain or something.
I have turned 39 last week so I'm heading straight on to 40 next year. Damn. Is this the beginning of a midlife crisis? My knee hurts for months now, I'm a wreck.
Presumaby hardly anyone will read this post. It's my fault, I know. Let's see what happens. You were always on my mind.

Still waiting

Paul-Robert is still not out of his Mum's belly. But we are awaiting him every day now. We are very curious how he will look like. My guess is more like Tina, but who knows anyway?

We had to go through some "problems" the last weeks concerning only one part of the regular measurement throughout the pregnancy. But it seems like everything is a tempest in a teapot. Paul-Robert remained calm and did everything perfectly what was expected of him. Brave little boy. He also passed a test that simulated pains, he didn't mind. I'm proud!
Little boy we await you so much. Your big sister, too. She is talking a lot about you! Be sure to have a good birth, I will be there.....

Konrad returns

I know, I've been away for a long time. I don't know exactly why this has happened but anyway.

Some things have gone crazy at work. We are having a very good year at work concerning sales figures and profits but this seems to be not good enough. I can't help but laughing about the pressure that is put on us. It's beyond any reasonable measure. Furthermore our allowance for using the internet has been cut down enourmously. I don't know if I am willing to accept this. I'm not the slave of my company, the compensation for pain and suffering is too little.

At home Tina is getting into the final stage of pregnancy. Emma is running wild because we think that she realizes some of the changes that will take place. She has also started Kindergarden and will turn three in December. A lot of things to handle with for her. She is so smart but also so strong minded. That's not at all easy for the parents.

Our house in the middle of the street. We have settled very comfortable there. We love it very much and would never trade it with anything else. It stands firm as a rock for our little family.
I'm glad that we dared to take this big step into the future.

My social life has suffered a lot the last year but I didn't find the time to get around everywhere I wanted to. The important friends stay, everybody else......well that's difficult. Sometimes you have to life with a guilty conscience. And yes you can survive without running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Although this is difficult for a gemini I have to admit.
I suffer from a knee injury. Man that's hard for a soccer junkie like me. I have already started again of course although I don't know if I should have. Hopeless case I think.

Yes of course we are looking forward to Paul-Robert!!!!!!

About a boy II - Now we have a name

It's going to be a Paul-Robert. We have discussed for a long time and now made a decision. Tina liked Paul and I liked Robert. So both of us have a part of the name we like. I think that's a Solomonic decision, isn't it?

Tina is doing fine and that's the most important thing. The belly is growing to a notable size. We can feel the movements and kicks of the little boy. That's amazing. Emma likes the name we have selected, too. It funny how she talks about her upcoming brother. She believes it will be twins, I don't know why. Probably because she likes to read Lennart Nilsson's "A child is born".

Now in German - I'm sitting here in the boring room...

Mein wahrscheinlich erster Eintrag in Deutsch. Da es schon 22 Uhr ist bin ich zu faul, jetzt gedanklich noch einmal in eine fremde Sprache umzuschalten.
Trotzdem ein seltsames Gefühl, einmal in der eigenen Sprache hier zu Gange zu sein.
Sitze hier alleine, Emma schläft und Tina ist auf der Abschlussfeier ihrer Absolventenklasse.
Ich war nicht sehr fleißig, was Posts in der letzten Zeit betrifft. Dies hatte mehrere Gründe.
Zu viel zu tun in der Arbeit, wo einmal mehr enormer Druck aufgebaut wurde. In den wenigen Stunden am Abend bleibt manchmal wenig Zeit für Muse. Emma fordert ihr Recht, wenn ich heimkomme und diese Zeit mit ihr genieße ich auch.
Der Bub in Tinas Bauch wächst und mittlerweile haben wir die Halbzeit der Schwangerschaft bereits überschritten. Verrückt, wie schnell das alles geht. Ich bin sehr gespannt, wie unsere Familie zu viert sich bewährt. Für Emma die kleine Prinzessin wird es bestimmt erst einmal schwierig, da sie bisher die unbestrittene Nummer eins war. Tina hat heute ein Buch gekauft, welches auf ein Geschwisterchen einstimmen soll. Zumindest war sie sehr interessiert und wollte es gleich zweimal vorgelesen haben.
Sie ist brav ins Bett gegangen und hat gesagt, dass nur ausgeschlafene Kinder in den Zoo gehen können. Sie hat nämlich beschlossen, dass sie unbedingt einmal wieder mit Mama und Papa in den Zoo gehen möchte. Unser Einverständnis wird - selbstverständlich- vorausgesetzt.
Wohl dem, der eine solche Tochter hat, die Freizeitplanung wird uns bereits abgenommen.
Bei ihrer Begeisterung für Tiere aber auch kein Wunder. Ohne ihren Eisbären geht sie jedenfalls nicht ins Bett. Vermutlich müssen wir demnächst nach Alaska fliegen, ohnehin ein Urlaubswunsch von Tina und mir. Neben z.B. Barcelona, New York, Polen, Sibirien, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate u.s.w.u.s.f.
Werde nun auch noch ein bisschen lesen, zur Zeit hat mich "Im Schatten des Windes" von Carlos Ruiz Zafon im festen Griff. Good night and good luck.

About a boy

Now it's a fact: We are going to have a boy. What a surprise. Everybody was talking about a second girl. Well except me.
Tina's gynaecologist talked about 70% probability for a girl. Stupid her. Why didn't she stop whispering this idea into Tina's ear? Now she will need some time to get used to the idea of a boy. I told her that a boy will love his mom very much and finally she agreed. Isn't it good to have both sexes when you have two kids?

I will have to buy a football right away, well just kidding, but I'm looking forward to our little male strengthening in our family. Otherwise three girls would have oppressed me hopelessly.
We are not very sure whether we will ever find a name for a boy. But maybe muse will kiss us.
I made a million of suggestions yesterday but Tina was not ready to start a discussion.
Right now the most likely basis for agreement would be Quentin. Following in order: Konstantin and Ben(jamin). But this is still the beginning of the process.

My sister-in-law Catrin will be godmother, but now we can't name him after her. Or does a name Catrino exist? Maybe we take Friedrich, the name of Tina's and Catrin's grandpa for a second name. I'm so excited.

Tell the girls that I am back in town

Who knows this song?

Actually I'm already back for a long time. Not everything went well in Italy. The group dynamics went in the wrong direction and turned against two folks including me. Three of five guys turned hysterical because of the weather forecast and decided to flee from the camping (!) site. Hey, why would I go for camping when I'm afraid of the weather?
I would have stayed but they decided to tear down our tents in the run of seconds and what would have been the choice then? So we left after five of seven days originally planned. For a ride of about 600 miles one way. Man that sucked hell of a lot. They didn't even face a discussion which I tried to start - at least. They preferred to remain silent. Isn't that cowardly?
Well I have already decided not to take part next year. Not only because of this actions but also because of becoming daddy for the second time. And let's see what will happen in two years. A lot of water will run down Nuremberg's river Pegnitz until then....

Now the good news. It will be a boy. No, I don't know but I have to admit that I would like to have one for sure. Another baby girl would of course be super as well (think of Emma) but a boy for a dad, wouldn't that be good?
I think we will know this in a few weeks I am absolutely excited about it. The main problem would be the name for a boy probably. Nobody replied to my suggestions some posts ago. Only two names seem to be suitable for consensus: Konstantin and Benjamin (or Ben). Well maybe Peter but this is more from my side. But there will something on our mind when it comes to the point.
Tina had a checkup today and everything was just fine.

Heading from North to South - Viva Italia!

Today I'll be flying to the German North, to Bremen. I have to organize a visit of customers to a plant of my company.
Tomorrow I'm going home and we are leaving to Italy by car in the evening. To our beloved Tuscany I have written about it the last years.

Our "academic circle" is on the agenda. Holiday coverage will be on my mind.

I'm in a good mood:

• No responsibilities there, well besides fetching beer sometimes
• Good weather forecast
• The "Club" 1.FC Nürnberg has won the German league cup. A myth is back from 40 years of sleep. I have to take off my hat! And I will write about it more. I promise.
• Only five GOOD people starting tomorrow, we will have enough space in our two cars. The BAD people will arrive on Tuesday by plane to Rome with small luggage (gay handbags?). Noblesse oblige.

A little reflection would be not that bad - at the G8 summit in Germany

In the Süddeutsche Zeitung Jens Bisky writes that he has been mixing with anti-globalisation activists to find out more about their preparations for the G8 summit.

"The majority of the left-wing anti-globalisation movement does not want to and will not take up the sword. At the very most they might practise a little 'civil disobedience' as it is called today. And this is what they are rehearsing now. Last Saturday in Berlin Kreuzberg, a group of mostly young people met for blockade training. There was plenty of useful stuff to learn. How to communicate under stress. Which make-up is tear-gas proof. How best to be carried off by the police."

Why do they have to build this fence? If they ever think total security is possible this is not true. What kind of life is this to live for a politician?

Stop showing fear as common political reflex. Isn't this what they wanted?
I would like this on the agenda of discussion.