Another very interesting documentary

Saw this a few weeks ago as well and really enjoyed it.  http://www.solutionslocales-lefilm.com/en/accueil  Just now thought to look for the website - it's a French film and the translation of the title isn't quite what I would have thought it would be but really works: Think Global Act Rural

Do try and see it if you can - there's a trailer on that website too.

Random thoughts

Some of the (very, very many) films that are almost guaranteed to make me cry, in no particular order:

• Love Actually
• The Parent Trap (any version of it)
• Ghost
• Armageddon
• Forrest Gump
• Terminator 2
• The Great Escape
• V for Vendetta
• The Truman Show

Every once in a while I realise that something from my childhood has had a bigger impact on me that I thought.  My dad was a firm believer that your pockets were for keeping money, keys or a hanky in but under no circumstances for keeping your hands in.  It was a big no-no for any of the lads working for us (not to mention for any of us kids) to be standing around with their hands in their pockets.  I always thought it was a bit over the top.  But now I find myself occasionally watching a film or television series (even sometimes just in work or out and about in daily life) and being so incredibly irritated by people standing around in even the most formal setting, with their hands in their pockets.  You're meeting the president?  Why not walk into the room with your hands in your pockets.  About to tell someone they're dying?  Sure, leave your hands in your pockets. The things our parents drum into us and those around us often stay with us whether we realise it or not.

Random thoughts

Still don't seem to be in a place where I feel like I can get back to normal posting any time soon.  Part of this is the recurring thought that I have nothing of worth to share.  This has been a big problem for me in general during this bout of depression and goes beyond the usual low self-esteem issues I've always struggled with.  However, I do have lots of ideas for things I want to post about and quite a few half-started drafts and I will try to spend some time on them over the next few months.  In the meantime I'm just going to occasionally post mish-mash posts of random thoughts.  I do far too much over-explaining anyway.  So here goes:

I've just ordered The Friday Night Knitting Club, a book which I bought (in an airport I think) a few years ago, read, was fairly sure I wouldn't read again and so it went into the pile for the charity shop.  Only for me to remember a few months later that I had meant to copy down the instructions for knitting an afghan patchwork type blanket.  Following the not terribly huge success of the Blanket Project I would really like to give this type of thing another go.  But with bigger squares and an overall smaller blanket.  Because while it might not look great and while it may be coming apart at the seams (yes, I really need to learn some sewing/finishing skills) that blanket is made of almost pure wool (this stuff)  and will keep me warm on the coldest of days or nights. 

A friend in choir told me recently about a new car-sharing scheme in our town.  I knew there were one or two in operation and had always planned to find out more and it was great to talk to someone about their experiences.  And even better, the closest place the cars are parked to me is the car park just about four minutes walk from where I live.  I plan to join up soon but am undecided as to whether or not I'll start using it as an excuse to just start using a car for everything.  Time will tell.  Need to save up enough for the deposit first.

I've done so little to make any headway with the house since this post.  The armchair is full with a pile of clothes to be ironed/folded/put away and the yellow couch is completely covered with stuff at this stage.

I have moths in my bedroom.  So annoying and I really need to start dragging stuff out and seeing if I can find any particular spot of infestation.  Have only seen individuals ones and am killing any I do see when I see them (or throwing them out the window if it happens to be close to it, which it rarely is).  But the place I have seen most of them is in the corner very close to my bed.  I've been sleeping on the couch for the last couple of weeks and trying to convince myself it's only because I wanted to spend a couple of weeks sleeping in a double bed again.  Have thus far only found one blanket with a hole in it and washed that at 60 degrees so hopefully even if there were any eggs laid on it (in it?), that will take care of it. 

I went into a shop the other day because I need to buy a laundry basket.  Came out with a small footstool.  That's just the way things are at the moment.

Miscellaneous stuff on Sunday evening

I find it more and more difficult to watch American shows or comedies these days - the absolute horror that comes over people if they see a naked body part (apart from during sex scenes - and even then I still find myself wondering why so many women seem to feel the need to leave their bras on during sex), or if any bodily function is mentioned is harder and harder for me to accept because what used to be an over the top reaction added in for laughs has become so mainstream that it seems to have become the 'normal' way to think.  This thought has been brought to mind again recently as I started watching United States of Tara - I realise it is used in part to emphasise the difference between some of her alter egos and her but there have been a couple of parts where the daughter has really irritated me.

I've been to see two films in the cinema this weekend.  Long time since I've done that and apart from the heat (most cinemas here, at least the smaller ones, tend not to be air conditioned) I've really enjoyed it.  First up was Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three.  Some Like It Hot was a firm favourite at home when I was a kid and I've seen The Apartment and Buddy Buddy several times but apart from that haven't really seen a lot of Billy Wilder's films.  One, Two, Three was hilarious.   "Is everybody in this world corrupt?" - "I don't know everybody."

The second film was Taste the Waste - this is a documentary that was shown on television here a while ago and I remember only finding out about it a week or two later, when it was no longer available online.  Either it was just advertising for the film then or it has simply gained enough popularity to now be shown in cinemas all over.  Check if it will be near you soon, ask about it if it's not and maybe if enough demand is created, it will be shown all over.  Shocking footage (even when you know the facts behind it already) of the sheer quantities of food thrown away every day.  And of course, the statistics (yes, we all know the statistics can be made to say what you want but still...): the amount of food thrown away in Europe and North America could feed every starving person in the world. Three times over.

One of my local bakers was in the film too.  Knowing his shop, I know that he already offers day-old bread for sale at a reduced price (20% off).  Whatever is still leftover after that used to go to make animal feed but is now crushed up and mixed with sawdust to make pellets that he can use to heat the ovens to bake the bread.  If every bakery in Germany were to do the same, we'd need one less nuclear power plant.

Anyone else seen any good films recently?  I picked up a few leaflets for cinemas and theatres etc. and really want to try and make an effort to get out and do things every once in a while.

Meal plan for week 36

Sunday
Lunch - Zwiebelkuchen and tomato salad
Dinner - Chicken parcels (roasted on top of slices of courgette and tomato) with boiled potatoes

Monday
Lunch - Spinach and feta tart
Dinner - Leftover chicken and fried potatoes

Tuesday
Lunch - Spinach and feta tart
Dinner - Tomatoes and courgette with pasta

Wednesday
Lunch - leftover pasta
Dinner - tomato salad

Thursday
Lunch - tomato salad
Dinner - I may go digging around in the freezer

Friday
Totally out of ideas - probably whatever of the list above I don't actually get around to making/eating.

How much is a good night's sleep worth?

Well, today the answer is 60 euro.

I arrived back late last night and after opening all the windows to let some air into the apartment I couldn't resist hitting the computer so that I could update my budget spreadsheet.  I had been keeping an eye on my bank accounts while I was away and had even thought to bring my list of codes so that I could do some transfers as soon as I got paid.  My overdraft balance is looking pretty improved at the moment but I have to admit I will need to withdraw money from that account before the end of the month as I have a few more bills due which are just about going to wipe out my current account.  I could have transferred less to the overdrawn account so that I was left with enough to cover the entire month but I think I will be far more careful to spend less when I know it's money coming from an overdrawn account than I might otherwise be.  I finally got the payment from the financial aid program in work - I had applied for that in relation to the tooth implant I had done last year (which cost 2,800 euro, of which I paid 2,500) and they offered me just over 1,200.  Fantastic.  It was paid to me with my salary and was partially taxed so I came out with 924 euro extra.  It's hard not to moan about it being taxed but really, it was money for free so how can I complain?  That money has been put aside to pay for expenses incurred while on holiday and also to pay for our planned choir trip in October.

I also finally received my tax refund, which amounted to nearly 1,500.  I have to figure out if that's correct now, based on the assessment notices that arrived while I was away.  I can't make head nor tail of them.  I seem to have gotten a big payment for 2008 (expected, as that was the year I moved here and I only worked here for five months as well as being able to offset some moving costs), a very small one for 2009 (when I had actually tried to offset some moving costs as well, which I had only received the invoice for in 2009) and then another big refund for 2010 (totally unexpected as I only had a few standard things to offset).  Mind you, if the one for 2010 is correct I'd be happy enough because that should be approximately what future years look like.  I think I'll need to get up early one day next week and take a trip down to the Finanzamt to check.

When I got back yesterday I saw a notice in the hallway that my upstairs neighbour is having a party this evening.  If I had known that earlier, I would have just stayed in my sister's for another day.  At least he has given a day's notice this time - he had a party last year not long after he moved in without mentioning it to anyone and I had to go up a couple of times before they finally turned the music (and the dancing) down to a level I could sleep through at two o'clock.  Having had a long day travelling yesterday following a lovely but not quite as relaxing holiday as hoped (families are just hard work sometimes!), I had been looking forward to a couple of nights' good sleep in my own bed before starting back to work on Monday.  With the prospect of a party raging above my head until the small hours tonight I decided that I really don't care about spending money on something that's a bit unnecessary and went trawling the internet to see if I could get a cheap hotel room for the night.  Yes, there is a possibility that I could find a friend to loan me their spare room or couch to sleep on, which would obviously be cheaper.  But I've been with other people more or less non-stop for two weeks and I really needed these couple of days to myself (which is why I came back a couple of days early in the first place).

I couldn't find anywhere for less than 79 euro online (for just the room, no breakfast) without having to travel for nearly an hour but when I was walking home from the market I realised that there's at least one hotel on that road that I pass by all the time and barely even notice.  I walked in, asked if they had a room and am glad I did, as they did have one and it's all mine for just 60 euro, including a full breakfast in the morning.  There's no bath so my idea of making an evening of it and having a nice long soak has been scotched but on the plus side it's only four minutes walk away from home so I won't have to spend half an hour getting there either.  Some might consider this a foolish waste of money but I think the hopefully good night's sleep I will get is absolutely worth it.

Preserving efforts 2010

• 3-berry jam
• Apple jelly
• Apple juice (I just found two litre jars of juice that I had shoved in the back of a cupboard that normally doesn't have anything food related in it - very annoyed because one is showing signs of a slightly slimy film on top so I assume the pastuerisation that occurs with the steam juicing still isn't enough to preserve for more than a few weeks.  On the other hand, it might be turning into a vinegar mother so I'll have to look up a bit more about that before throwing it away)
• Apple sauce
• Dried apples
• Bread and butter pickles (I really dislike cucumber, one of the foulest tasting vegetables there is in my opinion so avoiding it during the current e-coli outbreak is no hardship - however the pickles I made last year to use up a glut from the garden went down very well with the people there so I will probably make lots of these again in the future to use as gifts and to bring to potluck type dinners)
• Broad beans (frozen)
• Cherry jam (and now I know there's a difference between sweet cherries for eating and sour cherries for making jam with - not liking and therefore never eating cherries, how was I supposed to know?)
• Chutney (made one lot and it burned - thought I had rescued most of it on time but opening a jar several months later led to a tasty chutney with a horribly sulphurous aftertaste)
• Redcurrants (dried)
• Dilly beans
• Kasundi (made at the request of friends - far too oily for my tastes but they seem to think it tasted the way it should)
• Peach, nectarine and apple jam 
• Peas (frozen)
• Raspberry jam
• Dried strawberries
• Frozen strawberries
• Strawberry jam
• Bottled tomatoes
• Dried tomatoes
• Dried bananas