Dear Diary

It's good to hear you are doing well, mapleleaf.

Dear Diary,

Today, I brought BigDice to the Stuttgart train station. He went to Cologne where he will attend the two week Subway Franchisee training. It will be so strange not to see him for two weeks. When he was in Echterdingen for two weeks, I visited twice. But now it will be two full weeks. Hmmm, very very strange... My friends will have to keep me busy.

Mapleleaf, I did think about asking one of the principals I've worked with. He's always running around and busy, but maybe he could shoot me an email when he has time. I sent my resume into a boston.com resume challenge - they were looking for resumes that weren't doing the job so that they could spruce them up and use them in an article. Haven't heard yet if they want to use mine.

Dear Diary,
Goodness, while I was drifting, something happened to A2K.

My energy level is higher than before my open-heart surgery in 1/08. Plus, the air is now cooler in NW Georgia...all of which means I can do more work outside. That's GREAT since our yard/house have not been tended to in the past 9+ months.

I am sadden by the recent military surge of Russia.

And by the manner in which politics is conducted in America. There is very little "discourse"; rather, half-truths and lies paraded as fact. Strange, I actually want to know the minds of both candidates, but the machines handling the information flow make that difficult to achieve.

Winning at any costs is now the mantra. It suffocates me.

Urs, how is the new business, or are you still building?

Ah, Mapleleaf, the would-be landlord sent a text message to Stefan telling him he can't have the location. So now we are looking for another place to start the business. Meanwhile, Stefan will be working as a 'free-lance' waiter. A lot of restaurants are looking for good waiters so it's no problem for him to find work. He'll start tomorrow working for friends who own a restaurant in our town. We will see where this all leads us. Nevertheless, I think that it was good that he quit his old job and is doing something and having all these new experiences. I'll keep you posted!

Dear Diary,
I just talked to an old friend whose husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I have known them both for so long, we went through good and not so good times together but this is the worst. And I feel so terribly helpless.

Just had to get that off my chest...

Those are things beyond our control, and all a friend can do is be there for moral support.

Thank you, c.i. While I know that, of course, it is good to hear it from somebody else - especially somebody with as much life experience as you.

Hello urs...I have found that people tend to stay in the same comfort zone until something shakes up the situation. When I was younger, I viewed it as an opportunity... I would always tell my daughter to learn from it and move on...as an adult, she has practiced that approach. If that is all she remembers from our time together, I will feel I have made a significant contribution to her life.

I hope your situation reaps rewards for you.

booo!!! omg this place changed - lemme figure it out

Mapleleaf my friend, yes, it is an opportunity, no doubt.

Now that the end of the year gets closer, of course I think about all the changes it brought. And this year brought a lot of changes. Right now I am getting used to the fact that my husband got his driver's licence and now even bought his very first car - at the age of 41! It's a 15 year old Volvo he bought on ebay for 500 Euros.

Me, I am tired and glad that I have a couple of days off now in December...

Dear Diary,
Life is good. I have reacquired much of my strength. Mental health issues cloud my extended families' perception of me...otherwise, I am enjoying the short story group I attend...THINK GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSIONS. Actually, I am gradually developing an intolerance for poorly written materials.

Is A2K losing active members to Twitter and other such sites?

This summer, end of may, I began my experiment with growing tomatoes upside down...so far, OK, but I failed to include two/thirds of the plant in the original planting...here's hoping I still have a tiny bit of success. But, I do enjoy the container approach to the few flowers and vegetables we raise...especially as our entire property is a hillside.

I KNOW I'VE MISSING SOMETHING IMPORTANT THAT'S HAPPENED WITHIN THE MEMBERSHIP...FEEL FREE TO REFER ME TO SUCH THREADS.

G'day Mapleleaf -

I'm pleased to see you again, and hear you're well. I was thinking of you only the other day.

Greatings Mapleleaf. I to don't lik no bad writting. Gud to c you here agin.

Aaaa...two good souls from the days of creation....what do they call us now....social internet sites....something like that.

I thought Australia had dried up and blowed into the Indian Ocean. I've also heard that wine became important to the Great Island and then tipped into despair when the Aussies realized you need more than one grape type in order to build a long term operation.

By the way, my hair is pretty much gone...life is quite a trip.

edgarblythe....we share many of the same dates (your bio)...I am now 69.

Wind and wine are still going well - I'm trying to drink a fair amount of one without making too much of the other.

Water is still a bit of a mystery - especially away from the coast - it's still bloody dry!

Mapleleaf! How good to see you!

I have to admit that I am more active on facebook these days. I found quite a lot of my a2k friends there.

I may try Facebook....I have the original love letters between myself and my first love. They are nestled in corner of an aging cardboard box, since 1962. I'd like for her to have them, but I can't find her. Facebook might be helpful.

Margo, the science crowd isn't very positive about water in your future. Is most of your population in urban areas on your coasts? What drives Australia's economic wheel?