Well now, its been quite some time since I’ve actually written something on this blog so I suppose something should be in order right? Hell, I’ve been busy okay? If you really want to keep up with my daily doings just follow me on Twitter, or on Facebook, although I essentially treat those as the same platform. I think the lack of effort on here is mainly due to my Nintendo Wii addiction, thanks for that one family! I just can’t seem to get enough Call Of Duty 5 (and now Guitar Hero)  in every free minute of my life.  So, lets recap whats been going on around here for the last few months:

• We just came back from Las Vegas, commonly reffered to as ‘The Big Out’ (no kids!).  It was a friggin good time, so lets just say what happens in Vegas…. No I can easily boil the 4 days down for you;  Walking, drinking, eating, gambling, drinking, walking and did I mention walking? If interested check out the photos in the gallery in the link above.
• I finally finished the basement! Well, mostly. There are a couple of things left to do but by golly I got it done. It only took me almost three months. We decided the heck with it why not just do the whole thing. I would have a photo of the finished product but its already been taken over by kid toys, which is obscuring my fine work. I don’t feel like cleaning it up either.  Yeah ever since I finished I’ve been on a lazy streak.
• Erik and I went to another Monster Truck Show! Cars were crushed, the kids went wild.
• The kids have been busy growing up (its what they do best.). I can’t believe my baby girl is now a toddlin smack talkin toddler.  Lauren is something else I tells ya, and so damn cute.  Erik is just a massive ball of energy. For a kid who doesn’t eat much, where the heck are his batteries?
• I turned 36. I won’t go further into details on this one.
• Working.  NIU was keeping me busy with plenty of overtime stuff this past winter. By the way is Winter finally done? This was a brutal one.

So there ya have it. 3 months or so packed into a nice little list. Exciting and impressive I know.

Wow, even though it felt like forever ago that we were grousing over lost luggage and horrible British teeth, it seems our little journey has come to its end. I am ready to go home. Sitting here on my Birthday alone in a tiny hotel room in Urberach, after some nice beer and chicken. I am ready to come home, even though I just got here.

Its been a stressful week, but I’m glad I did it. I knew it was coming that my Grandmother was going to pass, but didn’t think it would be that quick. It was hard to say goodbye. She had a fitting sendoff surrounded by family, friends and neighbors who all knew her. She was a tough lady, living a tough life but always to the fullest. My Omi will be missed.

It was also a good time to catch up with rest of the family who I don’t often see. Uncle Joe and I had some good quality time together (read that as many beers later..). We discussed everything from Erik to the Internet. Hoffentlich, mein lieber Uncle Joe wurdest du jeztz auch diese Web Seite reden mit deim neuen Computer!

So, I will make this post short as I have to get my butt out of bed in six hours. Hopefully next time I will be here with my whole family for a longer period. See you on the other side of the ocean.

So, continuing on in our saga. We left our young heroes stranded at the gates of Mordor. Samwise and Frodo…no wait a second, wrong story….

Where were we? Ah yes, upon entering the sea of masses at Manchester lobby we found our way to the BMI counter. Apparently they already knew we were bumped and had reissued tickets for us. The nice gentlemen personally saw to it that our luggage would be accounted for as well, or so we thought anyway. So, he tells us to go to this other counter and check in, in fact he walks us over. This airline is called Flybe.com, in our fogginess at the time we did not know this was not part of BMI. We thought we were rebooked on the next Lufthansa flight. Nope, turns out we were thrown on this cheapo flight service, which literally began service that day. Nice friggin timing lads. So our turn comes, and we get checked in and once again we have to explain the luggage problem to this lady. We got nothing but a blank look. Listen lady, we need to make sure our luggage is transferred with us! “I’m not sure what you mean? You have no luggage to check in?” Arrghh!!! Somehow her supervisor sitting next to her knew what to do, and she took care of us. I have no idea what she typed into the computer, but I think she just added our luggage tags to the manifest knowing full well they could have been thrown on an airplane going to Norway in the meantime. We had no physical confirmation. Whatever, fine. So now we had until 2 PM, and its only 10 AM.

We found our way to the main concourse area, after going through security again. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we needed to change some cash there to buy some food. My dad plunks down a 20 at the exchange counter, he gets back 7 pounds. “Sir thats not enough for drinking here.” Holy crap its expensive here! We bought 2 coffees and it came to the equivalent of $10! So anyways, we trudged into the food/bar area. At this point I didn’t care what time it was, it was time to drink. The only highlight during this ordeal is at least I got to sample the Guiness from its place of origin, or at least one island over so you know its fresh. Man that was tasty.

We decided to get something to eat, let me tell you the British are not known for their cuisine, and airport cuisine is even worse. My dad was insane and ordered steak and kidney pie, and I had something called English brunch which consisted of 2 fried eggs, two ancient sausages that resembled leather, some navy beans fresh from the can, and half fried chips, er french fries. Big mistake. Both were awful. No wonder they have terrible teeth . At least I had internet access!

So the rest of the time was spent sitting there waiting for our flight’s gate assignment, which apparently they don’t figure out until the plane shows up. With our stomachs churning,we observed the two scotsmen in full regalia pound one beer after another. Aye laddie!

So finally, 1:30 our gate gets assigned. We pick up and walk down there, only theres no airplane yet. 1:50, still no airplane and theres been no announcements. The crew stands around in huddled whispers and sqawk into the radio. Nope nothing and when asked they have no idea either. What the hell airline is this? Finally some lady in a suit decides to make some phone calls its now 2:15. She announces we will be boarding in 15 minutes..uh but theres no plane.

Finally a new airplane is seen towing into the gate, one of those 50 seat Learjet deals, at least it wasn’t a prop. So, the plane is sitting there, not a ground crew or pilot to be seen. Eventually the pilot shows up, must have had to finish that one last beer. So finally we all line up and go down the gangway, and literally walk out onto the tarmac into the plane. We take our seats, and are directed to keep our seatbelts unfastened as the friggin plane must be fueled. What the hell! So the plane is being gassed up, hey I see no luggage guy yet. The plane crew starts hemming and hawing with the ground crew, over what I’m not sure but eventually the pilot gets involved. Finally the luggage shows up, and an hour and half later we get airborn. Minus any sort of refreshment of course. Thats what they were arguing about, should they wait even longer to load some food? The captain I guess vetoed that decision.

Finally we reach Frankfurt, and I’ve been awake for 24 hours at this point. So we walk into the luggage area, wanna take bets if our luggage came out? You guessed it…nope. @##$%$%&#! We wander to the lost luggage desk. After some insistence they check the computers, we finally have a break. Our luggage was indeed there at the airport, it was transferred to our original flight and was in the lost and found holding area. The lady was even nice enough to escort us to it because there was no way we would have found it by ourselves.

So luggage in hand, we made our way to Urberach..and to bed eventually.

Hallo from Luneburg I finally made it. Sitting here after dinner in my room, cruisin the net with my trusty laptop doing some school work, some work work and drinking a..Becks? Yeah, I come half way around the world and I get a Becks. Thats what you get when you send your father into the gas station to buy a six pack. Its like sending him to the video store and he comes back with some B-movie POS film he was told was good. Thats ok.

Anyway I have a moment to catch my breath, as the last day was from hell as you can see, but that was only part of the story. Now I shall recap the ordeal before I forget it among the fog of jetlag and let it be recorded for future generations to study. So, we got on the first half of the flight no problem. In fact we upgraded ourselves to economy plus with BMI. What does that mean? Well its not coach, and it certainly isn’t first or business class, its somewhere halfway between business and coach. You still get the same seats as in coach, but more leg room, the drinks are non stop and free (wow that wine was good), we had a menu to choose from and we each had our own little tv in the seat. Even with all this pampered luxury I still couldn’t sleep worth a damn. I tried, oh I tried. I thought no big deal I can sleep in the car later…not knowing our odyssey was about to unfold in England.

So, for all of you reading this please be warned: If you must fly to Europe, do not, I repeat DO NOT fly through England! I have never experienced such a botched up, poorly designed, clueless polite people, horrid and expensive food anywhere else. We landed and knew we had 1 hour between flights. Naturally we arrived about 20 minutes late…so we run up the ramp, and find in order to change planes we must also change terminals. So we see the sign, arrivals to the left, transfer to the right. Screeeeeeech! Damn, security gate! “Good morning gentlemen, are you on a connecting flight?” (Thick cockney accent here). Yes, we’re going on Lufthansa. “May I see your passports and boarding pass?” We don’t have boarding passes, it was an E ticket. “I see…” He turns around at the lady picking her nose behind the desk. Mind you everyone else on the plane is gone. So the lady shrugs I don’t know and don’t care like, “See the gentleman around the corner”. Allright, we go to him and explain ourselves. So this guy says, “Ahh right a transfer eh? Yes, please go through this gate and take the transfer bus”. So mind you hes the wall right behind the first gate, with a door to it in the back. He climbs OVER the counter to tell the other chap to let us through. Fine Fine, we go through the typical routine, take off your shit, unpack your bags, check your prostrate. Now the lady gets off her tush and takes us downstairs, the bus will get us from here in a few minutes.

She closes the door, we are now locked in this holding pen with no way to get out. Time ticks away, where the f$%$! is this bus? My dad picks up the phone in there to call the desk about the damn bus. Just as they answer the bus shows up. We have now 15 minutes to make the plane. We hop on, the bus starts driving, and it was a bit jarring because even at the airport we drive on the left side. So we keep going…and going..hey look theres our bird…and there goes our bird…what the? Hey sir! Where are you taking us? “I don’t know, where do you need to go??” Lufthansa! “OHHHH righto!” By this time we were almost to terminal 1, he turns the bus around right on the tarmac. Naturally we get stuck behind a baggage train. DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT! So we finally get out, of course we can’t open the door, he has to get out and swipe his card…So we race up the stairs and reach the landing only to find…another security check point. Same fucking routine….May I see your boarding cards please? Same explanation…and now the phone call is made. “Sorry, the plane has been overbooked and we can’t let you through here.” WHAT!!!! “I’m sorry, now what you’ll have to do is go through this door, down stairs, through passport control and back into the lobby.”

Now you realize in America something like this is not possible. We go down there and find the huge line for entering the country. Lucky for us being EU citizens we can choose the quicker line. I told my dad we’re screwed now because we don’t have the proper paperwork. So miraculously they let us in..essentially we could have snuck into England at this point. So we end up at the service desk to find out what the hell to do. The problem being of course the luggage, which surely did not make it here.

Part 2 to be continued…..

Coming to blog post near you…

What the hell is a quid…

Local cuisine…

Where is our plane…I don’t know either…but you are the gate person….

Where is our luggage…

You don’t want to miss it!

Sitting here in Manchester England, stranded…no sleep approaching 24 hour mark. Laptop battery losing strength..getting tired…ever so tired. Luggage is whereabouts unknown, can’t understand what the hell these people are saying…Its english isn’t it? This place is friggin expensive, 1 tall mocha and 1 espresso…5 quid..what the hell is a quid?! About 10 bucks…

Dave..at least you will be in the comfort of knowing I sampled the Guiness for breakfast..or lunch or whatever the hell time it is here. And it was gooooooooooood…

The odyssey continues….

Bloody hell!

My folks, Dennis and Jamie were also with us for the weekend and I think a good time was had by all. Lots of eating and napping , man that hammock is the bomb! Now of course since my body has been trained for an afternoon nap, its been tough to not get sleepy in the afternoon now. Basically we spent lots of time just hanging out, eating farm fresh eggs, visiting Saugatuck and South Haven and the beach. Dad also even took me to the secret fishing hole on one of the many Plumber farms near the house. Damn, those were some big bass!

After that it was smooth sailing, and we arrived at the lake in good time. The next few days again were spent eating and sleeping, and for me a bit of fishing as well. Actually we all went fishing although Erik was more interested in the casting part. Hey, he’s two. As long as he had a good time.

Welp, the mystery tour has been completed, and for those of you who guessed Las Vegas, YOU ARE CORRECT SIR.

As you can see from the photo, we stayed at the Paris Hotel. For a first time visitor, Vegas is very overwhelming! The sights, the sounds, the slot machines..they’re everywhere! And did I mention its dry and hot? 106 on Sunday when we left.Unfortunately we did not come home with more money in our pockets than when we left, but we did come home with some at least. We don’t have to sell the house which I suppose is a good thing. We tried our hand at Blackjack and basically got our asses handed to us in about 30 minutes, there went my $100! Slots also sucked our wallets dry but Saturday night I got hot and won some of it back.

We went and saw Penn and Teller, damn good show and hilarious too. But for the most part, we mostly walked and walked and walked and walked some more in between eating, eating, eating and eating more. Love them buffets. Nothing is free in this town anymore so we really didn’t do too much else. Overall, it was great time. And remember, what they say is true, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Including one of Trishas shoes. Oh well. We did leave with our shirts on though.

Photos are here.

Holy cow its already July. We’re done blowing things up (except for some of our neighbors who insist on continuing grrrr) and our little summer vacation up to Glenn Michigan is done.

So, heres a brief synopsis of our trip (pictures). The first half of the week was blazing hot, and of course there was no air conditioning so we were roughing it by drinking much beer and eating ice pops. Food was one of the first things on our mind up there, must be the country air. We ate like pigs everyday it seemed, time to do some more running. My folks, Dennis and Jamie were also up there for the first weekend and we all had a grand old time.
Pretty much all we did the rest of the week was to either take naps, read, drink and eat or play on a playground (Eriks new obsession).

We made a couple of forays out of the homestead though. One day we went to Grand Rapids and checked out the Childrens Museum there. We also went to Saugatuck quite a bit to sample some of the “finer” foods and wine tasting. We walked out of there with a case and a half worth of wine no thanks to Fenn Valley Vineyard and Tabor Hill. Mmmmmmm, Tabor Hill…

Anyways, we also went to Holland for a day (booooring) and to yet another park near there. I tried finding a good inland lake to go fishing in but it was too hot so shore fishing was out of the question.

I do have to report we did get a visit from the resident ghost, Betty, in the house on Thursday night. There have been other incidents in the same room with different people but this was my first. We were all sleeping, Trisha and I were in the guest room (apparently this is Betty’s room) and it was still hot so the windows were open. The evening was very windy, the window shades were rattling constantly or the door kept creeping open. I was probably half asleep when I felt someone grab my upper arm as if to try and wake me. There was no mistaking that feeling. I woke up and asked Trisha what she wanted. She said that she wasn’t trying to wake me, so then who was? Ohh man…Insert Twilight Zone music here.

So since we clearly we overstaying our welcome in the house, we decided to leave Friday night instead of on Saturday. No way I’m sleeping in that room anymore! Hey I’m a wus, I’ll admit it.