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Wee Beasties
Jun. 12th, 2023 01:33 amIt's been a rather hot week in Berlin, meaning the flat has started to creep towards unbearable temperatures. We're not quite there yet, and fortunately it will drop slightly this week, but the oppressive heat is difficult to get away from. We have the fans on, as well as our miniature air conditioner, but we are likely to buy a proper air conditioner next week. In the meantime, we have also bought a flap that prevents the 'wee beasties' from entering the flat, which allows us to keep the balcony door open through the night. By doing this, temperatures in the morning are at least bearable, but it creeps up very quickly once the day begins.
Work has been the source of significant issue last week, with my duties slowly being taken away from me over the course of the week. I have a chat with them about my future role later today, but it does feel a little like my final days at the last place before I was made redundant. I think it's pretty clear now that any role they have for me is not as advanced as I would like, but I hope that at least the talk will provide clarity and thus will allow me to plan for my future. There's no point pre-empting things though as perhaps they have a place for me in their overarching vision, but right now I am struggling to see precisely where I fit in. I do believe I can still do a job for them though, so all I can do is go into the conversation with an open mind, as jaded as I am working there.
I had something of a breakdown on Friday afternoon regarding this, particularly when Wolfie admitted to me he wasn't particularly looking forward to the social events I had planned this weekend. Our poor social life is one of the things we really need to change about living in Berlin and I am really trying my best to organise things. Due to being overly sensitive about feeling useless at work, I overreacted, but my brain felt like a capacitator going off with uncontrolled energy. I was angry, rageful and kept crying for about four hours, even at the supermarket when we picked up groceries. It is concerning that my work is having this effect. Wolfie thought I was taking it out on him and while we did thrash things out later in the evening, I felt pretty weak all night. Boris Johnson's resignation as an MP, which I found out about once I had gotten back from the supermarket, did lift my mood somewhat. Fortunately, Wolfie was kind enough to invite me to the Toxic Nightclub on VR where he and Arwyn ('hello puppy!') were playing banging indie and rock tunes. I got to meet a few new people there as well as chat with Pirat more, while Chop Suey by System of a Down in 8-bit was a fantastic revelation. It was great to feel included and I was grateful to Wolfie for inviting me, particularly as I ended up staying up until 5am such was the good time I was having. The highlight of course was watching Wolfie's 'Snooty Boy' dad dancing. I really love his wolf avatar as it looks so friendly, plus when he sneaks up on me, his snoot is the first thing I see out of the corner of my eye. Due to his lack of a garage here, he seems to spend most of his free time redesigning him in Unity and he is a wonderful character.
Saturday was the Spandauer Stammi, which we hadn't attended since Blujay visited in August 2021. As it's German-speaking, we have always been too shy to go, if we haven't been busy with other things. Earlier in the week, I dropped Skaugen a message and asked if he wanted to go, with us arranging to meet slightly earlier to go to the Cruise-In American Diner on an industrial estate in Spandau. It's an odd location to choose, but I think they hold classic American car rallies so the car parking spaces are useful to them. It was another gloriously sunny day so we took the bus there, alighting later than anticipated as we had been delayed at Spandau railway station picking up money or visiting DM in Skaugen's case. We sat outside for our food, under the wonderful signage of Mobelland, which had furniture for every room apart from sex dungeons. The guy serving us was full of hungover sarcastic humour and was confused in which language to speak to me in - at one point he asked if I wanted American cheese sauce in my strawberry milkshake. Anyway, it was typical diner fayre with a German twist, which meant the burgers were the weird ones they have here rather than smashed patties. The chips were well-seasoned but perhaps there could have been more of them, although the burger was so huge I struggled to finish it. The coleslaw was pleasant but paultry. I did think the pink milkshake topped with whipped cream was the highlight while I also managed to bukkake the unicorn on my T-shirt with American cheese sauce. Anyway, the food was nice enough without being spectacular and soon we were on our way to Pool Position for the Stammi.
Unlike in the UK, you have to register beforehand to go to meets here, meaning you can't just spontaneously go. We did this on the Friday and we were there about half an hour after it began. I had put a message on the Fureigners group saying we were going and a few people said they would come. Surprisingly, we ended up with seven, which was about one-third of the total attendance. I seem to recall, two years ago, it was far more popular but yesterday was a very hot day and the pool hall was sweltering. There is a number 11 pool ball on the outside which, from the inside, looks a little like a Swastika as it's a red and white circle with black in it, while we ended up having a great time on the Foozball tables. I lost every single game I played, with four separate partners no less, but I was getting better. I lost 10-0 with Wolfie and in the end was losing 10-9 and 10-8. We also had a few drinks, which were served really slowly, and chatted. Most of this was in English but I was struck by just how many Fureigners were also fluent in German. This saddened me based on my own level of the language, but most of them do have direct German relatives and so learnt the language around the home. I had no such privilege. As usual, finding people to whom to speak German is proving tricky.
We left about 11pm, with Skaugen suggesting we go to the local Kaufland, which was shutting at 11:30pm. There, we picked up some snacks and beer before trudging around the side of the Zitadelle to a bench overlooking the weir. We saw a few other party groups as we did this, while Seabass and Shiyan spent much of our time here playing the harmonica. We also saw a fox and a raccoon on the other bank of the Havel and at one point it looked like they were talking to each other. We ended up staying here until about 1am, when everyone had to split. We headed back home, surprised at how late we had stayed out and delighted about how good a time we had. We are now aiming to bring the Fureigners back into the German-speaking fold a bit as we have learnt why they have been distinct for a while.
Sunday was largely a calm day spent writing whenever I could battle this heat (I really need to finish this story quickly before the temperature gets even hotter as we head deeper into summer). However, this evening I headed over to BRLO to meet with Seabass. Wolfie was going to come but Saturday really pushed his foot too far, while I had put the meeting out to the others, but no-one came along (Jol was going to, but in the end had to look after his family). It was a pleasant evening sat on deckchairs underneath a tree, watching trains go by and at one point observing one of the most beautiful dogs I have ever seen. I love being outside in Berlin at this time of year, it's just a shame it's more pleasant than being indoors. Seabass was good company although at times I felt I was doing most of the talking and there were a few awkward silences. Still, I'm sure things will become easier the more we meet, and the two pints I had went down very well, along with their signature mac and cheese. We headed off at 10:30pm so I could get the fast train home, which turned into a bus and the U7 as people got confused at Zoologischer Garten station, the RE2 to Berlin Hauptbahnhof and the RE2 to Nauen being within one minute of the same platform causing an issue. It was pretty clear to me, but people ended up holding up the eastbound train so the westbound one could not access the platform. I left them to their madness and got the bus, needing the toilet. I eventually went when I got home, but not before getting a McDonald's cheeseburger in Spandau that looked like someone had sat on it. Still, it was a very nice end to a nice weekend I suppose.
Work has been the source of significant issue last week, with my duties slowly being taken away from me over the course of the week. I have a chat with them about my future role later today, but it does feel a little like my final days at the last place before I was made redundant. I think it's pretty clear now that any role they have for me is not as advanced as I would like, but I hope that at least the talk will provide clarity and thus will allow me to plan for my future. There's no point pre-empting things though as perhaps they have a place for me in their overarching vision, but right now I am struggling to see precisely where I fit in. I do believe I can still do a job for them though, so all I can do is go into the conversation with an open mind, as jaded as I am working there.
I had something of a breakdown on Friday afternoon regarding this, particularly when Wolfie admitted to me he wasn't particularly looking forward to the social events I had planned this weekend. Our poor social life is one of the things we really need to change about living in Berlin and I am really trying my best to organise things. Due to being overly sensitive about feeling useless at work, I overreacted, but my brain felt like a capacitator going off with uncontrolled energy. I was angry, rageful and kept crying for about four hours, even at the supermarket when we picked up groceries. It is concerning that my work is having this effect. Wolfie thought I was taking it out on him and while we did thrash things out later in the evening, I felt pretty weak all night. Boris Johnson's resignation as an MP, which I found out about once I had gotten back from the supermarket, did lift my mood somewhat. Fortunately, Wolfie was kind enough to invite me to the Toxic Nightclub on VR where he and Arwyn ('hello puppy!') were playing banging indie and rock tunes. I got to meet a few new people there as well as chat with Pirat more, while Chop Suey by System of a Down in 8-bit was a fantastic revelation. It was great to feel included and I was grateful to Wolfie for inviting me, particularly as I ended up staying up until 5am such was the good time I was having. The highlight of course was watching Wolfie's 'Snooty Boy' dad dancing. I really love his wolf avatar as it looks so friendly, plus when he sneaks up on me, his snoot is the first thing I see out of the corner of my eye. Due to his lack of a garage here, he seems to spend most of his free time redesigning him in Unity and he is a wonderful character.
Saturday was the Spandauer Stammi, which we hadn't attended since Blujay visited in August 2021. As it's German-speaking, we have always been too shy to go, if we haven't been busy with other things. Earlier in the week, I dropped Skaugen a message and asked if he wanted to go, with us arranging to meet slightly earlier to go to the Cruise-In American Diner on an industrial estate in Spandau. It's an odd location to choose, but I think they hold classic American car rallies so the car parking spaces are useful to them. It was another gloriously sunny day so we took the bus there, alighting later than anticipated as we had been delayed at Spandau railway station picking up money or visiting DM in Skaugen's case. We sat outside for our food, under the wonderful signage of Mobelland, which had furniture for every room apart from sex dungeons. The guy serving us was full of hungover sarcastic humour and was confused in which language to speak to me in - at one point he asked if I wanted American cheese sauce in my strawberry milkshake. Anyway, it was typical diner fayre with a German twist, which meant the burgers were the weird ones they have here rather than smashed patties. The chips were well-seasoned but perhaps there could have been more of them, although the burger was so huge I struggled to finish it. The coleslaw was pleasant but paultry. I did think the pink milkshake topped with whipped cream was the highlight while I also managed to bukkake the unicorn on my T-shirt with American cheese sauce. Anyway, the food was nice enough without being spectacular and soon we were on our way to Pool Position for the Stammi.
Unlike in the UK, you have to register beforehand to go to meets here, meaning you can't just spontaneously go. We did this on the Friday and we were there about half an hour after it began. I had put a message on the Fureigners group saying we were going and a few people said they would come. Surprisingly, we ended up with seven, which was about one-third of the total attendance. I seem to recall, two years ago, it was far more popular but yesterday was a very hot day and the pool hall was sweltering. There is a number 11 pool ball on the outside which, from the inside, looks a little like a Swastika as it's a red and white circle with black in it, while we ended up having a great time on the Foozball tables. I lost every single game I played, with four separate partners no less, but I was getting better. I lost 10-0 with Wolfie and in the end was losing 10-9 and 10-8. We also had a few drinks, which were served really slowly, and chatted. Most of this was in English but I was struck by just how many Fureigners were also fluent in German. This saddened me based on my own level of the language, but most of them do have direct German relatives and so learnt the language around the home. I had no such privilege. As usual, finding people to whom to speak German is proving tricky.
We left about 11pm, with Skaugen suggesting we go to the local Kaufland, which was shutting at 11:30pm. There, we picked up some snacks and beer before trudging around the side of the Zitadelle to a bench overlooking the weir. We saw a few other party groups as we did this, while Seabass and Shiyan spent much of our time here playing the harmonica. We also saw a fox and a raccoon on the other bank of the Havel and at one point it looked like they were talking to each other. We ended up staying here until about 1am, when everyone had to split. We headed back home, surprised at how late we had stayed out and delighted about how good a time we had. We are now aiming to bring the Fureigners back into the German-speaking fold a bit as we have learnt why they have been distinct for a while.
Sunday was largely a calm day spent writing whenever I could battle this heat (I really need to finish this story quickly before the temperature gets even hotter as we head deeper into summer). However, this evening I headed over to BRLO to meet with Seabass. Wolfie was going to come but Saturday really pushed his foot too far, while I had put the meeting out to the others, but no-one came along (Jol was going to, but in the end had to look after his family). It was a pleasant evening sat on deckchairs underneath a tree, watching trains go by and at one point observing one of the most beautiful dogs I have ever seen. I love being outside in Berlin at this time of year, it's just a shame it's more pleasant than being indoors. Seabass was good company although at times I felt I was doing most of the talking and there were a few awkward silences. Still, I'm sure things will become easier the more we meet, and the two pints I had went down very well, along with their signature mac and cheese. We headed off at 10:30pm so I could get the fast train home, which turned into a bus and the U7 as people got confused at Zoologischer Garten station, the RE2 to Berlin Hauptbahnhof and the RE2 to Nauen being within one minute of the same platform causing an issue. It was pretty clear to me, but people ended up holding up the eastbound train so the westbound one could not access the platform. I left them to their madness and got the bus, needing the toilet. I eventually went when I got home, but not before getting a McDonald's cheeseburger in Spandau that looked like someone had sat on it. Still, it was a very nice end to a nice weekend I suppose.
