Last Week's Mixed Bag

Here's a couple of odds and ends that happened last week.

1) I finally got a corner office with a window. Last fall, one of the engineers in my department retired. I was offered his old place not long after, but we waited until it was convienent to move, and that happened to be last friday (which also coincides with #2). This last week I (and other people in the department) have been recycling tons of old paper, moving desks, scrapping old product (unsellable engineering samples), and generally getting things straightened out in our 4 rooms (the title of a great movie, by the way). So now, I have that corner office with a window, which is everyone's dream, right? I do share it with another engineer and our breakfast break area, so it isn't what you are thinking, but it is still quite nice.

2) My manager is taking a different job. That's sad, because I like him a lot as a manager and as a friend, so it will be hard to see him go. Of course, we don't have that "two weeks notice" thing that they have in the US. He will be here for a while, at least until April, if not longer, depending on how things go with management. His replacement is also a nice guy and a friend, so I am not worried about having to work for a bad manager, which is a relief.

3) The bird flu finally reached Germany. So I have to stop playing with dead birds. Bummer.

4) The weather is no longer constantly below zero. In fact, we had a nice rainbow out the window today.


5) Last sunday we saw a Fasching parade in Ellhofen. (See last year's Fasching report, if you aren't familiar with it). It was quite a bit of fun. There are some great pictures of the event on Flickr. If you are too lazy to click the link, here are 3 random pics. Just keep hitting reload on your browser, and eventually you'll see them all.

www.flickr.com