2024-05-16
We got a new washing machine. It has a display and can make sound. It also knows how much load it has to handle and adjusts the time it needs automatically. It's from an old German brand that was bought by an American company. They are produced outside the country now. Dad ordered it from a local store and they delivered the new and took the old washer. Very simple and not complicated.
In Germany you get a 2 years warranty by law. But the sticker on the washing machine says replacement parts are guaranteed to be available for 10 years. The clothes are now dryer than before, but it's still not a dryer. We hang them near the window in the living room, and have a dehumidifier to keep the humidity low. I cut down large trash bags and taped them together to form a tent. So the humidity it has to manage is contained inside it.
2024-03-30
I watched a few seasons of TV shows i missed in the past years. I remembered why i always wanted to live in New York City, and nowhere else. I picture it similar to Hong Kong, just without the humidity. Oh, and i like the seasons. I like snow, i like when the leaves fall, and i like when they grow again.
I actually can tolerate a lot of noise. I was never really alone, thanks to my parents. I have no secrets, orientation, or taste i need to hide. I don't mind the eyes, ears, and noses around me. And you can say whatever you want to me too. I listen, i always have. There are things to learn, all the time.
This doesn't mean that i don't care about privacy. I'm running a widget that i designed without the need to sign up. I don't keep a database of usernames and passwords that would connect you to everyone and everything. You can be whoever you want to be, within your boundaries. I don't care, and no one else should.
I learned a lot by watching The Simpsons. How to treat and how not to treat my future wife, children, family, friends, and strangers. Futurama is an extension to this. Without my feelings for this picture and her i would have already left for Hong Kong. Thanks to Matt Groening for making getting old fun.
2024-03-17
Our washing machine broke down. We had it for more than a decade. It's not that easy to find a replacement. They are bulky and expensive. When the new one gets delivered, what happens with the old one? Should we buy locally or online? Many questions and many answers. A co-worker from mom said buying a second-hand washer is cheaper and will last longer. New ones aren't supposed to work after the warranty expires.
I wouldn't say i'm a musician. But i made some things this month. I recorded pieces and put them together in Audacity. It's really fun and i enjoy the result for a moment. I'm very critical of myself. There are always things i would have changed. I think i will like them more after some time has passed, like looking at old photos.
2024-02-24
I wrote new tools last month, and kept making them better. I combined them into one multi-tool, so they share some code together. It's stable now, but i'm trying to improve things. For example, a online source went offline, so i added another way of processing to get a result.
I made voice recordings since last month. FFmpeg with the default bitrate messed up the audio. I wanted to tolerate it, but no. So there are two versions of them now. That was easy to fix. I kept the WAV files and other parts needed to create the videos. Last year i added the option to output my animations to MP4 files, and now they can include audio.
I have gone back drinking coffee. I found the perfect dosage for me. One teaspoon ground coffee for one cup. I can drink a lot throughout the day. This is different from what i have done before. I used to do it without the spoon. It's too mild for mom, but she adds milk to it.
2024-01-12
Mom brought things from the lost and found office at work. If no one cared, they get either trashed or shared. She got me a notebook sleeve made from black felt, a board game made in natural leather that can be rolled for storage, a USB-C charger, and an amenity kit from an American airline.
I like this one, because the case has a zipper. Inside were a pair of socks, sleep mask, ear plugs, and creams for face and hand. The last time i got such a kit was decades ago. Airlines don't seem to give them to Economy Class passengers anymore, even on long flights. And no toothbrush and toothpaste in this one.
My sleep has gotten better. Getting used to the noise outside that was not there before. Some time ago, the house next to my room was doing some heavy construction work. It was so loud for so long, i had to get noise canceling headphones. It made listening heavy. I became very selective.
I once lost an umbrella in a bus, and that's it. It probably rained before i got in, and it stopped after i got out. And i was probably lost somewhere in a thought in between. I usually don't leave things behind. So that was a rare case stuck in my mind.
2024-01-04
Tina's first year was at an all-female school. I didn't ask why she changed the school to ours. I think her mother wanted her to know how boys are. I didn't know there was a difference in how we behave. But that was the moment i realized they are special.
I used to tap the shoulder and look away, like someone else was doing it. I think Esrin liked things like this about me. I cared about the reaction, but not the end result. I used to build cardboard castles in the garden, and didn't care about the rain.
They were big enough for me to get in, thanks to those vegetable boxes. Our restaurant in Ratingen gave me these pieces to play with for six years, till 1998. The garden was not exclusive to us. Above the restaurant were others, like my neighbour Hedda.
After my uncle left in 1996, to go back to Hong Kong, after 3 years, my parents got me a rabbit. He wanted to stay, and my parents wanted him to stay to help my father in the kitchen, but Germany didn't let him. We could have run the restaurant longer with his support. These days, it seems Germany doesn't care if someone stays or works at all.
She was black and white, and my first pet not living inside an aquarium. We got her from a store in Düsseldorf near the old town hall building. That was fun, but a lot of work too. She was a princess. We did everything to make her happy. Fresh vegetables, water, cleaning her space and surroundings. She often tried to dig through the floor of her cage and made a mess outside too.
2023-12-26
Every morning i woke up to see her. From primary school to university. Tina, Agnes, Sarah, Lea, Melanie, and Christiane. They were all shining in their own ways. Had eyes like skies on clear days. I wasn't too visible to them. But they were the light when the world wasn't that bright.
They are all versions of my teacher from primary school, Ute Anger, born 1953. She was self-confident, mentally and physically. Sometimes i wonder what happened to her. Years after school, Tina told me once she was seeing her at the gym regularly. So maybe she is still around.
Esrin wasn't that visible to me. Only two decades later i understand that she had a crush on me. We lived on the same street in Ratingen. She had a twin sister, Nesrin, who got ill at some point and stopped looking almost identical. How can i tell she liked me? She was very offensive.
She made her dad take me, her and her sister to the department store, just to walk around, picking stuff up and hanging out. And she wrote in my book that i'm her best friend, with a heart sticker next to it. Basically an analog version of a heart emoji.
I googled her 25 years later, and she is smart, and attractive. She didn't move far away, working in Düsseldorf. She is probably not single, but i don't know. I'm happy for her. She wrote about me that i'm bold. I should have tried to contact her a long time ago.
2023-12-10
This year was special, at least for me. Because it was with you. My head is full of pictures, hoping to become true. We could have just met and never fallen apart. But taking the long way made me love you even more. And here i am, hoping you think this too.
This year i looked in the mirror more than ever before. Looking at the past and the present. Another year older, with more meaning to live for. In one of these pictures we are enough. Not just to survive, but to wake up every morning.
I remember three worlds i lived through in my sleep, from recent days. I haven't had much quality sleep this year. So they are notable. Although they were not really happy ones. Zombies, pandemic, and a remote place. But i managed to survive them. Always remember to eat.
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