...to my weblog for September 2001. And if you have any comments, drop me a line in my guestbook!

August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 Back to the current weblog....

Ever wondered if I am the only non-Egyptian person  living here that thinks this country is strange? Go and have a look at Walters' World, that's the site of my colleague Steve. It's worth a look, although he is actually funnier live!

27.09.2001 Quote of the Day:         Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties (Doug Larson). How true! Weheee! I will fly to London next week! Can't wait...... 26.09.2001 A very nice lady from the German embassy called me two days ago to confirm that I am definitely registered and they know where to find me if push comes to shove and all foreigneres have to leave the country. This morning on the way to work we saw some army movements, mainly tanks being moved on a big train and some troop transporters. Coincidence? Let's say it in the words of Bruce Springsteen - "War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" I finally saw the new video by Michael Jackson. Whoa! He looks like a mummy - a skull with some skin pulled over it. How on earth can a human being do that to itself. And what kind of doctor would do that to a person? Ok, money, the biggest motivator of all times. But, pleeeeeeaaaaaase, he looks terrible! 20.09.2001   Thursday Had a glass of white wine with dinner and feel a bit stupid. Definetely not in the position to offer something insightful about anything tonight. Surfed the net instead. Found this quote by G.B. Shaw: "Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history." Is that the done thing, to quote someone quoting someone else? What is that, double-plagiarism? Then surfed to this site where they take your name and turn it into an abreviation, that stands as a name for a cyborg - does that make sense? I can't tell, I'm too drunk.... Anyway, that's me: C.A.T.H.: Cybernetic Artificial Troubleshooting Humanoid That's actually a pretty going job description for me! 17.09.2001   Monday Updated my registration with the German embassy in Cairo today. But I figure Egypt is the safest place to be at the moment in the Middle East. Can't hurt though. 14.09.2001   Friday A bit of a strange situation here in Egypt. Basically everybody is sorry for all the innocent people that died, but - depending on how bold they are towards me - they tell me "Yes, finally someone showed the Americans that they are not invincible. Did they ever show concern for the Palestinians and their murdered children? No! They had it coming....". What can I say? I am a guest, I live here and I will still live here in a month (unless I get obliterated by some cruise missiles.....), so I stay non-commital, saying, yes, I understand, but..... all these people, we are all the same, no matter what the religion and how terrible it all is.... My bosses, one Egyptian, one English, told me - don't give them your opinion! Be careful what you say! This is all so weird! I am basically sitting in front of the telly, waiting to see American fighters attacking Afghanistan.... 11.09.2001   Tuesday I was just about to leave work to go home, when someone came into the sample room to tell us that some planes had hit some buildings in the US, the Empire State or the White House or something like that..... Yeah, right! So when I arrived home, I immediately switched on the TV and I have been glued to it for the last 3 hours. Finally I could not stand to see that plane crashing into the second tower of the World Trade Center anymore and switched the damn thing off. I just can not believe what I am seeing! It feels as if I am watching the latest adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel..... 10.09.2001   Monday I finally uploaded the photos of Kroko's wedding, I hope I will not get hate-mails from her, when she realises, that I put her online...... 08.09.2001   Saturday While I was on holiday, John and Karin moved into the building. Met John downstairs in the morning, waiting for his car, same as me. Went round to their place on Thursday. We chatted for about 2 hours - it's their first time in Egypt, so they are curious about pretty much everything. He's American, she's German, nice couple. I hope we'll get along, it would be nice to have someone in the building for the occassional chat. And I've got a flu. Is there something sillier than having a flu, when it's close to 30 degrees? Just checked my arsenal - plenty of daynurse, lemsip and flustop..... Chemical warfare! Watched "Oh brother, where art thou" last night. What a weird and funny movie! The Coen brothers in their ususal form. I obviously got the DVD to gawk at George Clooney, who sports a Clark Gable moustache and hair nets!!!!! Very whacky! 05.09.2001   Wednesday First day back at work, strange as usual. Really difficult to get back into it! And, as expected, the work awaiting me is of ridiculuos proportions.  And it will get worse, once Sadie is off on holiday.... 03.09.2001   Montag Deutsches Intermezzo (sorry, you are on the right page, I just did this entry in German for a change, just having been in Germany and all that.... just an exception from the rule...) Bin seit einer Stunde aus dem Urlaub zurueck. 10 Tage Speyer, schoen! Und viel zu kurz und viel zu beschaeftigt, wie ueblich. Die Anreise war schon viel zu abenteuerlich, hat mich aber schliesslich Freitag abends sogar eine Stunde frueher als geplant nach Frankfurt gebracht. Meine Eltern haben mich abgeholt und in Speyer ging es schnurstracks in die naechste Weinstube. Und nein! - es gab keinen Saumagen mit Sauerkraut! Samstags ging es direkt mit meiner Ma zum Einkaufen, Sonntags nach Landau, um die neue Wohnung zu besichtigen. Landau ist uebrigens sehr schoen! Jede Menge Geschaefte..... Und zu Carsten und Co. ging es auch. Meine Nichten sind maechtig groesser geworden in den letzten 8 Monaten und der Hund hat auch einiges zugelegt. Montags ging es zum Media Markt - endlich, endlich, ich habe endlich eine digitale Kamera gekauft! - und dann gab's auch noch einen Philishave mit 4cm langem Aufsatz, ab sofort schneide ich mir meine Haare selber! Keine merkwueredigen Foenfrisuren von verwirrten Aegyptern mehr, die nicht wissen, was sie mit kurzem Haar anfangen sollen. Dienstag, was war da bloss? Weiss' nicht mehr.... Mittwoch abend war ich dann mit Joachim beim Mexikaner und bin auf den neuesten Stand gebracht worden mit Klatsch und Tratsch. Donnerstag Koma! Freitag nochmal Einkaufen, unter anderem das Hochzeitsgeschenk fuer Kroko und Andreas. Samstag Hochzeit! Haben gefeiert bis nachts um 3..... Sonntag mehr Koma, leichter Kater, habe bis nachmittags im Bett gelegen und gelesen. Und heute wieder ueber London zurueck. Mehr Gelegenheit, um Spiele fuer den Gamboy Advance zu kaufen und DVDs.... Habe gerade noch mit Sadie telefoniert, werde erst uebermorgen wieder zur Arbeit erwartet. Excellent! Noch ein freier Tag!

Speyer cathedral...