Kinder Eier

When I was a kid, part of the whole special experience that a Kinder Überaschung Eier created was due to the novelty of the characters they created. It was their toys and their ideas.

Now, it seems that they have in some way reduced to catering to facilitating mania. It is as if their brand isn’t as big as it once was and they think that they need to piggyback on someone else’s moment. It’s really say that they don’t seem to be able to retain their uniqueness in both brand and culture.

Paw patrol? Really?!?

German Waters

One thing that I had not even factored into my upcoming move, and my trip to Germany was a change in the taste of water. Our water in Eugene at Baker Boulevard is simply the best. It might be the copper pipes, but it taste fresh.

So I decided to test out two German waters and compare it with the Evian water.

The Evian water tastes mineral-infused, rather than fresh-glacial. The one on the left, in the glass bottle, has the strongest mineral taste. Mostly I bought it for the glass bottle over the plastics, but it is also not to my tastes.

Non-profit organizational structure in Germany

I found the linked descriptions of the different types of non-profit organizations in Germany helpful.
https://cof.org/content/nonprofit-law-germany

My brief takeaway is that the situation is both similar and different from the US context. In the USA corporate registration is with the state, and then when registered with the state, the organization may also register with the IRS for tax-exempt status under a variety of possible scenarios. In Germany, It becomes important to decide which kind of basic organizational structure one registers for as that determines some of the basic ways the organization must conduct it's business (outside of the public-good qualified work).

Sled and Tobbogan Research

I research all sorts of things... but one area I do not do enough research in is fun - especially winter fun.

With the resent 5" (or theres about) of snow in Eugene I thought I would pull a memory or two out of my past and take a look online to see if I could find any pictures. I am particularly interested in sledding. This is sorta new. Let me explain. Growing up I learned to ski. It was an individualistic sport and did not require cooperation. In contrast to the atmosphere around skiing (at least my exposure to it), sledding is much more of a social enterprise. In database terms, in stead of a one-to-one relationship (skier to skies) it is a many-to-one relationship (people to sled). Give this past I think it might be time to revisit the sled in context of the social element and re-evaluate "sledding".

Last night some students in Becky's program and I got out to a local hill and went sledding. It was a blast. Even though I am the guy in the red jacket. (permissions on video no-longer work)

Meadowbrook Sectional Toboggan

It reminded me of a sled my dad had when I was in the third grade. It was an orange. Recent internet sluthing has shown that it was likely a Meadowbrook Sectional Toboggan. There is a patent for it in google. The only picture I could find on the Internet for the make/model is below.

Long Toboggan

Long Toboggan


Folded Sled

Foldable in three sections.

Foldable sled in extended position

In extended position

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Shooting Lightning

I was out tonight looking for the moon. It is full moon and I am in southern Germany at the moment. My friend Doris noticed a rather spectacular moon rise while she was out for a bike ride. When she came home she told me about it and we jumped in the car to go try and see it, but the clouds had already come in and covered the moon. Noticing a few cloud-to-cloud sparks I told Doris about how I have wanted to shoot lightning for some time but have not had the chance. I set the camera to 30 sec. exposure and pointed it in the direction of the storm… and this is what I got.

Lightning in Schwartzwald

Lightning in Schwartzwald.