Spring Housecleaning

Since my often wonky Internet connection seems to be momentarily solid, having no doubt worn itself ragged from jumping up and down like a midget on a Dutch hooker the duration of this morning, I shall attempt a quick but meaty post on current affairs.  I know the title seems a bit inappropriate for this time of year, but with the winter two thirds over and STILL not a speck of snow (or a good hard freeze) here in my German neighborhood, it seems like spring is ready to break out any day now.  I’ve been a bit less active on my blog lately, owing to the distractions and perturbations of life, but still post willy-nilly across many social platforms and websites, even if I don’t post full-on blog entries with as much regularity as I would otherwise be compelled.  Figured I’d hit my main talking points in one fell swoop here.   First the big three.

Sex

I am still for it, even though my pom-poms are dangling a bit lower than your average hip-hopper’s pants. My wife is also struggling with health issues that make my rooting for sex a more prominent feature of the day than actually having any, but going out to dinner and talking dirty to each other before coming home and passing out in bed was already a prominent feature in our post-50 bag of sex tricks, so it’s not as huge an issue as if we were in our more succulent youth.

That said, I don’t think women need help from Republicans in figuring out their end of the deal, so why the hell won’t these rightwing politicos keep their hands off women’s vaginas?  I like handling a vagina as much as the next guy, but I know I’m only renting it and am not allowed to go nailing pictures all over the walls and trying to install new plumbing fixtures, let alone make up new rules on the maintenance thereof.   Ferchrissakes.

Politics

Politics.  Pardon Snowden and build a statue of him next to the Washington Monument.  Put some bankers in jail from the space being freed by not arresting pot smokers.  Quit arresting pot smokers.  Quit pretending that legalized pot is the end of the world as we know it, particularly you highly paid TV perps with all the false pearl clutching (you know who they are). Put some of those torturers from the past Bush administration in jail before you go all half-cocked about other countries and their “international” obligations to law and justice.  Give us all a fucking break.

Religion

A wish fulfillment fantasy for nervous mortals.  Still as useless as tits on a pumpkin.  In dwindling demand, but still a huge threat to national and international stability due to their reckless reliance on poppycock in their search for deeper meanings in shallow water.

Life

Having a few teeth pulled this week is nothing compared to what Rita is dealing with. My wife is hanging onto life tenaciously, even as she struggles to deal with her terminal cancer.  It’s  already been a bit over a year since she abandoned her unsuccessful treatment regime at a renowned German lung clinic, walking away from an opportunity to turn herself into a long-term medical experiment for a bunch of curious doctors.  Her local doctors are now pushing us to make accommodations at a full blown palliative care facility.  That is an unlikely event in any case, since my wife would sooner do herself in at one fell swoop, than linger in such a pitiful state for weeks/months.  She is still not ambulatory.  She still manages to teach English classes and keep our business running, but her pain is becoming increasingly difficult to manage and the prescriptive solutions more debilitating.  It’s a heartbreaking and worrisome thing to have to witness.  Right now we’re hoping she’ll be physically able to make our 25th wedding anniversary at the end of the month.  Dinner in Paris.

Living

We’re still getting along as near “normal” as we can under the circumstances.  My wife continues to worry more about my future success without her, than she does with the fact that she has bigger issues of her own right now.  I don’t want her to worry about me.  Providence has seen fit to bless me in ways that most men only dream about.  I have no idea why the dice of the universe haven’t crapped me out already, but I’m optimistic on my future even as I attempt to squelch the tears from considering the present situation with my wife.

Blogging

I’ll continue to blog, tweet, post pix, just as I always have.  The subjects will continue to be as diverse as my interests.  I’m still in love with Spotify and thankful to be able to reach out and access so much music.  My wife and I both engage in a fair amount of musical therapy made more pleasant by their vast catalog of music and our deep (read: old people) memories of songs from out past.  I pop in-check in on Yelp every now and then.  I’ll occasional throw a comment on my GetGlue TV social app when viewing a show I like, but never in real-time, since my TV and time is shifted by half a globe from the US.  I’ve been tossing up a few odd AudioBoos lately.  Also trying to spread my photos across several apps.  My main pro Flickr account, Instagram and Facebook get the biggest share of my pics.  Look forward to more photo blogging fun since I acquired my Sony DSC-QX10 for Xmas.  I’ll be trying to organize and post a lot of pics locked on my computer at present and adding new stuff along the way as well.  A fairly comprehensive map to my social media is on my Social page here at this blog for those who are interested.

Enjoy.

Midnight at the Apollo

The Mission

A few months ago Rita and I went on a trip to see Sister Act-The Musical at the Stage Apollo Theater in Stuttgart.  She’s trying to squeeze as much good stuff into her life as she can after having been diagnosed with terminal cancer in February of this year following her unsuccessful treatments at the lung clinic in Hemer Germany.  This is one stop on her “bucket list” tour.  Click on photos to embiggen in new window.

Rita is one of the smartest, toughest and bravest people on the planet and despite all our past and present challenges, there’s nobody I’d rather spend my days with.

The Location

As it so happens, the Stage Apollo Theater is integrally connected to the Dormero Hotel, one of the swankiest hotels I have had the pleasure of staying.  Here’s a shot of the Dormero from the road:

My wife was as excited by the prospect of staying at the Dormero Hotel as she was about going to the musical.  The hotel stay was a gift from her mother to her ailing daughter, and to be honest, I don’t know what it cost, to stay there.  Given the level of amenities I’d probably have a heart attack if I ever took the time to check what the room cost, so I never did.  I was dazed enough by this sign I saw coming into the Hotel advertising Sunday “Brunch” for 29 euro ($38 USD).

Hotel Facilities and Grounds

My complete set of photos and videos of the Dormero Hotel and the Stuttgart SI-Centrum area are here on my Flickr for the sake of posterity and those who want a more thorough tour of the hotel and the area around it.  I do want to highlight one little bit of Rube Goldberg magic that caught my eye at the breakfast buffet one morning.  It’s a high volume automatic orange juice machine.  Here’s my Vine clip:

Room Amenities

Screw the fitness and wellness centers, did somebody say FREE MINIBAR?

While you are getting loopy off the liquor in the free mini bar you can watch television or surf the web on one of the two flat panel televisions embedded flush with the wall. I loaded up my website specially for this picture.  A wireless keyboard is provided as the input and control device for web browsing.

Media Center

If there isn’t a free movie of your liking you can always watch videos off your iPhone using the available wall mounted charger/dock that is located directly below the television and routed to play through it.

Special Flourishes

Another one of the features in the room was the adjustable ambient lighting, available in your choice of color.  Click link to see Vine video.

As is the case in a lot of hotels, there is an assortment of personal care items provided for guests.  No competent overview of the Dormero Hotel room amenities would be complete without a thorough examination of the contents of the “Comfort Box” left on the counter in the bathroom.

I’m sure there are many other Dormero Hotel features that could or should have been highlighted.  I didn’t take advantage of several of the amenities offered on the premises so I can’t give any insight into those.  There were health and fitness areas on site.  There was also a nightclub with music and computer controlled club lighting where I assume people danced .Rita and I aren’t doing a lot of dancing these days.  It’s hard for us to stay up late enough to make it to the party.  As shown in my Flickr Stuttgart set, the entire area is flush with retail and cultural offerings making it a worthy destination for anyone looking to spend an interesting day in Stuttgart.

Enjoy.