A personal note from Larry....

Chugger et al-

I must confess that I have been lurking, waiting for the right moment to blog this... Now seems as good a time as any. This is a spritual send-off, if I have ever seen one. I thank Larry for the kind words (by the way, I always wondered what Freizeit means...now I know).

This wraps up my mandatory posts. Now I am just doing it for the fun of it. ;-)

BTW... I believe Larry is referring to my Amazon review of his book that I posted on February 25, 1998. My simple message: Indispensible..

Weather Outlook

Einfahrt... Here's the weather forecast:


The saddest part about rainy weather is that our trip to Englischer Garden will only focus on beer and food, not the lovely sun worshipers that frequent that place. :-(

Sorry Chugger.

My Last Night at Thirsty Dog...

I know this is not Oktoberfest related (well maybe, it's about beer), but tonight was my last visit to "The Dog". Because of bad business practices (my opinion), Saturday is the last day of business for our one and only micro-brewery in Dayton.

Sadness abounds. After having lunch there today, I returned in the evening to participate in the removal of several hundreds of pounds of barley, hops and malt (into my car and Einfahrt's). Hopefully Einfahrt can figure out how to mix all of this shit together to make beer.

I was tricked into a chugging contest with a female type, who was Designated Walker's student teacher. Rumor is she is unbeatable, even though she is tall, thin and very slim. So I gave in and accepted the challenge, knowing I couldn't win (I beat her "she's just a girl"...I lose, "you got beat by a girl????"). So, after two challenges (which I won), Chugger lives up to his name and beats the pants (figuratively speaking of course) off of the challenger. Take that Darr-man ! !

Camaraderie (sp?) was everywhere, beer was flowing, and friends were exchanging pleasantries. Not often do you lose a good drinking establishment, but also a place where your friends congregate. Imagine the trauma when Cheers closed.

Another reason to renew and continue our friendship in munchen.

Blank Chart - AKA Screwed Up Weather Post

I got this from weather.com (shamefully stolen, then subsequently screwed up in an earlier posting)

Click Here for updated 10 day forecast.

Looks like the weekend is going to be pretty good!

Update: I took out the chart/table as it was "breaking the blog"

Respect

Let me assure you I DO NOT have a problem with my attire. I kept ALL my clothes from where I was gainfully employed years ago. I wear them all. How many people do you know that wear wingtips to cut their grass and my Buffett shirts are quite becoming.
Speaking of grass, I no longer do grass! I now only cut it.
Pauliner Girl, I'll have you know that I don't need a Wonderbra as, at my age I can now fill a 42B. I have all the sags referred to in all the medical journals.
It seems that you all are beginning to think I am Grumpy. Oh contrair! I only hate mornings. Give a couple of beers and get me past 10am and I am the perfect example of Mr. Happy. Gosh, I wonder what happens when there is a time change?
What do you think Chugger I posted with out waiting for your sarcastic jabs!

Grumpy? Bah humbug!!

Hurd V. Chirac

Many of us on this blog came from, but no longer work for NCR / AT&T. One of our peers was a fellow named Mark Hurd. He's now CEO of HP. Today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has this:

So when President Jacques Chirac asked his cabinet Tuesday to ensure that Hewlett-Packard "fully respects" its obligations under French labor law, it was no empty threat. CEO Mark Hurd, who wants to cut 14,500 jobs world-wide, including 1,240 positions in France, had better make sure his lawyers have read the fine print of the French legal code. Mr. Chirac even appealed to the European Commission for help but Brussels mercifully rejected the idea of interfering with business decisions.

The overall message of the article is the difficulty in closing or reducing the size of operations in France; and the political positioning of Mssr. Chirac to show he's fighting for jobs while restraining businesses from making business decisions. The article recounts that a Nestle operation, closed by the Swiss company, including offering retirement and/or positions in other plant to its employees has been ordered to "reopen."

Reopen a plant known to be extraneous to operations? to be a drag on the company? An appealing prospect.

Guten Tag Oktoberfesters !

Well, it has been almost a week since Oktoberfest was opened with the ceremonial Tapping of the Keg; O'zapft ist! And since we have not seen any disasters reported, I assume everything is functioning as expected for our visit next week. Speaking of which, approximately 6 days until first arrivals, for those of you who struggled with math.

It appears "alles ist im ordnung", and everyone now just needs to do the last minute packing. Thanks to BarleyMan (aka the Duke of Dunkel) for executing his assigned travel coordination duties for Thursday's first arrivals. The second group will be scurrying along to partake in that first brew as quickly as possible. Remember we have Dell and Jane's single piece of luggage that sounds like one that's big enough to hold all our luggage plus have room for shopping. We are considering a truck to meet us at the airport. I, of course, am always packed and ready to go a moment's notice. Just point me in the right direction, and my bier homing device is activated.

One thing we need to watch out for is Grumpy's demeanor. Americans are such a common sight these days that a new Oktoberfest guide by the Naumann publishing company has a new definition: "A species mostly spotted moving around in packs and wearing shorts, baseball caps and Hawaiian shirts." Substitute Hawaiian for Jimmy Buffet, and, well, you know....

Side note, got back from Cleveland last night around 10:30, and the prognosis is moderate stage Alzheimer's for mom. A slowly progressive disease that just gets worse. Right now just memory issues (hopefully nothing else), and as usual, the medical profession wants to prescribe drugs.
--- Turn cynic mode on ---
Of course when asked what the drugs will do, the answer is "not much". When asked if "we will see any improvement", the answer is "probably not". So my sister asked the ultimate question, "why bother then", and the answer was "because it might help". My translation.... "I get a kick back from the drug company for prescribing Aricept, so let's go for it."
--- Turn cynic mode off ---

Since it's Open Blog Thursday...

I thought I would post something.

I'm off to Cleveland for the rest of the day (actually 3+ hours to get there, probably 30 mins at doctor, then 3+ hours home), and will not be online until late tonight. Oh, btw... doctor is for my mother, not me. Seems they think Alzheimer's is starting. Should know more later.

Guess that could be my post for tomorrow.

My Blog

It is with much consternation that I am posting this blog. It seems ye olde gainfully employeed do not realize the energy I expend doing "womans work". While you sit behind your guilded desk; puffing cigars or sipping Starbucks, hear I am dutifully performing "womans work".
Just today, I made the beds(OK only mine); went shopping; prepared the meals(only mine); went shopping; did the laundry; went shopping; swept the floors; went shopping; dusted the furniture; went shopping; washed the windows; watched "All My Children" and then went shopping; talked on the phone; went shopping! And now you want me to post too!! I am very busy, I no longer get to take a couple of hours for lunch; I no longer get to stop after work and partake of that FINE nector we refer to as bier! No, I have to do womans work. Oh, I also had to go to the dry cleaners to pick up her majesties clothes and make arrangements for her cake for her blessed birthday on Friday NUMBER 50 !!!!! Of course I still had to trim the yard; cut the grass; and deposit my great gift, born to me via the great bald eagle that shits my SOC check once a month! I don't use automatic deposit as I don't trust the banks.
That said I have posted for the last time as NEXT WEDNESDAY, I will be wending my way to the promised land to partake of the nectar with my wonderful employed friends.

Quack!!

Is it me.....

... or has Grumpy missed another assigned posting day (I know it is still early, and maybe this will get him off his you-know-what)?

Drinking in Munchen is going to be very inexpensive for the blog participants that Grumpy is buying bier for.

What say you Grumpy ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?

French Factories

[Trying hard to behave self]

Apparently, Mssr. Villepin will be proposing changes in how much to PAY women to have children. I was unaware of this, but monthly pay for children has been a part of French life for some time. The proposed changes bring the monthly payment to $1,250. for a woman with three children.

This concept seems, well, foreign, to me.

Honey: Pack up the kids: we're moving to France!!

Hey Barbus....

When does the time change in Europe this year? Will we be affected?

Bring your Bumpershoots and Galoshes

The weather appears to be warmer than we have experienced in the past, but wet.

It shouldn't slow us down too much, but may make the tents a little more crowded.

No sitting outside.... :-(

Field Researcher's Meeting Place

Most of us get in either Thursday or Friday afternoon. We will be meeting up at the HofBrauHaus Friday afternoon (September 30th, sometime around 3:00 PM.) To those who might be following this blog, are going to be in Munich, and wish to say hello - feel free to come by and share a beer (or two) with us! I guess the only good way to tell who we are among the crowd will be that we will attempt to wear our Field Researcher t-Shirts. While there may be a slight crowd, (yes really,) there can't be that many Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich Field Researchers. If there are, well, we can join them as well! Just use the secret Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich sign (it involves bringing over a beer.)

If you'd like, post a message here so that we know to look for you.

Germany Loses Its Own Election

This is the title of an article in Der Spiegel (English version.) The article states that a Chancellor must be elected/chosen by October 18th. I suspect that there will be some amount of discussion about this, among Germans, while we are there. Apparently major decisions are deadlocked until this is sorted out. Good wishes to our German hosts!

I'm not enough up on German politics to have valid opinions, so this is largely a spectator sport for me. My understanding is that there ended up being not much difference in their positions on: Iraq, economy, jobs, social state, foreign policy, or the admission of Turkey. Hard to figure out the lighter shadings of their positions. Notably absent from campaign discussions were EU issues (other than Turkey.)

Bring your surfboards!

Munich is truly an amazing place. Castles, beer, churches, women, pig knuckles, stair diving,....and now..... surfing.

Here's a shot a the latest craze on the Isar. I guess the bottom is perfect for creating a wave during the recent rains. I can't wait to see Einfahrt and Barbus tackling the monster curl! Or as they call it in Bavaria... Das Grosse Kahuna .... dude!

The Three Musketeers ! !

BarleyMan, What Happened?

It is great that you are planning the arrival of the first Oktoberfestians and offering meeting suggestions... Meeting Suggestions . However, while this is in the spirit of your assigned (and accepted) responsibilities, it does not seem to be in line with what would be expected of a Duke and Dutchess.

A previous posting assigned you the responsibility to arrange safe transport for fellow Oktoberfestians... Responsibilities While not explicitly defined, the expectation was an escort from the Flughafen to the Hauptbahnhof.

What happened?

We Can Now Actually Say.....

We go to Oktoberfest NEXT WEEK !

alcohol popsicles

I’ve just read that the Munich Beer Festival has banned "alcohol popsicles" and pop music to stop the event turning into a "drunken orgy". Scenes of drunken girls dancing semi-naked on the backs of male party-goers or on tables were flashed around the world last year. Oktoberfest organisers now want to return to the festival's roots by concentrating on beer steins and traditional brass bands.
Festival organiser Gabriele Weishaeupl said: "It has begun to turn into an orgy for party animals. The tents are not supposed to be discos, but should remain traditional Bavarian beer tents. "Last year was one of the bawdiest years ever, with many an exposed nipple as well as the huge quantities of alcohol consumed."Alcopops have been banned and beer tent owners have agreed to refrain from playing popular hits such as DJ Otzi's Hey Baby and Lou Bega's Mambo No 5.I am not sure but Oktoberfest 2005 could become a boring experience.

I wonder what will be banned after we have been there.

Hotel Excelsior

You can all inform your spouses that the Hotel Excelsior has blow dryers in all the rooms. That may not mean much to those of you who no longer have a full head of hair, but to us womenfolk it's one less thing to worry about, especially with adaptors, converters etc. :>)

Ahh! A cool one!

We are visiting the Spaten tent. Right?

Interesting Outcome

The German election results look confusing....

BERLIN
Exit polls showed conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party leading in German parliamentary elections Sunday, but falling short of the majority she needs to form a center-right coalition even as voters ousted Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government.

How long do they have to form a coalition? What if they cannot form a coalition government?

Perhaps they will solicit our support while we are there. Bribery (in the form of a beer) is always welcome. ;-)

Meeting spot on Thursday

By my projections, we (2 people) are in at 9:50, hit the S-Bahn by 10:30, at the hotel by 11:30. Best case.

Check-in, shower, shave, ready to drink by 12:15.

The Philly group (4 people) will land at 10:35. Given the same time schedule, but more complex logistics, they will be ready to drink (at a central meeting point), by 1:30). The youngsters will be ready before that, Grumpy and wife a little longer.

The Paris team (5 people), land at 11:55. Will being an EU based flight decrease time in Airport? Hmmmm. Catch the 12:30 train, 1:15 to hbf, 1:30 check in, 2:15 ready to roll.

This all assumes NO CHECKED LUGGAGE or International Warrants by Interpol to clear like last time.

My recommendation is that we meet at Augustiner Großgaststätte on Karlsplatz at 2:15. This is a good place, outside area if weather is nice, and within striking distance of other venues and the U-Bahn to Weis'n.

OR we could meet at Weisses Bräuhaus (near HofBrauHaus) or Augustiner Keller (a walk).

Comments? Suggestions? My goal is to have a spot that is around stuff to do, open, and amenable to a large group (9). I'd rather not meet at the hotel.

Let me know and I will put together fool proof directions for our friends at the Marriott and Alfa. I figure Chugger and Einfahrt can make it on their own. Also, my phone is functional in German (it should be, since it is T-Mobile).

Homely Hugo!

I realize today was designated "A Day of Rest" however I find it necessary for some one to obligue me. Usually the only thing that puccers on Sunday is my deriea when the collection plate is passed around, however today I will pucker my lips in order to obtain some information on "Homely Hugo aka Speedy-Civic. I need Homely"s name. I assume Jack Lynch is really John, but Homely, who knows. If you would please provide me with "the real Speedy-Civic's" name it would be appreciated. Why you ask? So we can cancel his reservation unless he posts before trying to depart from Philadelphia. Actually it's a secret.
I never thought of that, but we should also think of some devious thing for the two lady companions traveling under the disguised names Dell and Sam actually Della and Samantha. Have a great day. Go Bucks! Go Browns! Go Indians!