Dawn has settled in to her new job well. It's a much more enjoyable office environment and the work, yes, there actually is work, is a helluva lot more interesting. The managers are also much more accomodating to her driving situation. When the weather and roads are bad, she's been able to work from home which has helped alleviate a lot of stress for her. This has been a good thing, too. Although the weather here never gets too nasty (at least not yet), the country roads do get slick and are usually low on the priority list of the snow plows. There haven't been any big snowfalls so far this year, but even a couple of centimeters can make driving conditions hazardous over here. The roads with no shoulders, the lack of maintenance, the agressive and self-centered German drivers.....it can be a bit much. Accidents are common over here in the winter for the factors I've listed. I feel bad that Dawn has to deal with this on a daily basis, but with me working where I do and her where she does and with our future timeline uncertain, it's just not worth it to make a move right now.
Speaking of snow and winter weather, it feels a bit like Christmas Eve for me this evening. I love snow. Love it. For four years now, however, the winters here have been pretty disappointing for me. The first two years barely saw any snow fall, last year we had a short stretch of wintery weather and this year has been so-so. People seem to get excited when there are a few centimeters on the ground, but I want to see meter-deep drifts. I want to see cars burried. I want to be able to cross-country ski from my front door to the grocery store. I want a blizzard to hit, immobilizing the town we live in for three days. I'm weird, but I enjoy these types of events. Finally, it looks like we may be getting hit with a storm tomorrow that could deposit six to ten inches of snow in the initial blast with a couple more inches expected the following days. Yeah, it's not Buffalo type snow, but it will do. The most snow I've seen on the ground in Parserg or Weiden is only two or three inches. If we can get a foot built up, I'll be happy. I've been watching this thing all week and it looks like it probably is going to happen. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
As for me, I'm back at work now after being off all last month. I was recovering from various physical ailments and just trying to get somewhat healthy again. While at home, I worked on some photo stuff and wrote a manuscript. The 55,000 word manuscript deals with my injuries and my suffering from arthritis and gout over the past 15 years. I've told about dealing with these ailments from the perspective of my traveling and outdoor activities. I've finished the final draft and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it next. If anyone knows a literary agent......
Because of me being all beaten up and broken, there won't be any skiing this year. I was a bit bummed by this at first, but have come to grips with it now. I'll deal, get healthy and go from there. I may be facing another knee surgery, but that still hasn't been decided. As long as I'm able to do some light hiking and biking this summer, I'll be content. If not, I'll figure that out when I get there. Dawn and I will be traveling with the ski club next month for a trip to Switzerland. Although I won't be hitting the slopes, Dawn will get up there to slide around for a day or two. I'll just be playing with my new camera and checking the town out. We're looking forward to it!
Not much else I can think of right now. I've got some stuff I need, well, not 'need', but stuff I'd like to get done tonight. Playing more with the new camera, installing a new 2 TB hard drive I just got, doing some research on the literary world and some other things. We're planning a trip to Regensburg this weekend if the trains are running to do a bit of shopping and to get some sushi. Sunday, I'm sure we'll be out walking in the snow for a few hours. This means I should get this stuff done tonight. It is nice, though, to actually have some plans for the weekend. With me laid up for the past month or so, things have been fairly quiet. It will be good to get back out in the world again.
Happy New Year!
My first picture with the new camera:
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