Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Save a tree, swap a book

I thought it would be fun to recommend a site once a week. I will do this in addition to my If I had the chance posts. Later I will expand on this idea. If you would like to suggest a site leave me a comment. 

My starting theme is websites pertaining to life in Germany. Now I may expand out into other things. I will just play around with the idea :) Feel free to leave me feedback and ideas. 

So this weeks site:

A book lovers paradise. Post your used English language books and swap them for point that can be used to order any book on the site. So rather then direct swaps it is with accumulated points, but this allows for greater flexibility in choosing books that interest you. 

Facts:
* Free to sign up and use the site
* Shipping a book "book rate" in Germany costs 85 cents. That is the only cost you pay. When you order a book, the poster pays shipping. 
* All English language books
* A variety of subjects
* Great selection
* also has a forum, messaging system, friends list, you can watch books, add to a list of books you want to read and more
* You can swap books you received through the system thus getting multiple reads out of one initial purchase. 
* Nationwide

Down side:
* You cannot buy points, you only accumulate them through trading. So if you have special interest books that no one wants, you may have to wait a while. Improve your chances by posting a variety of book titles, rather then one at a time. 

My suggestion:
I alternate trading and buying books on amazon. I post all books on the site after I read them, and I rarely end up at a point stand still. :)

Keep an eye out for the 1 cent paperbacks on amazon, they even have them in Germany. 

Not in Germany? Look for similar programs in your area, they exist all around the world. 

Before and After- weight loss




Bad Wimpfen Talmarkt

The beer was actually a lot bigger then it looks. 
He's a dork he just wanted to pose with my beer. 
Yes the beer was bigger then my head :)
I was to scared to ride it. 
Yes, I did eat that all by myself. And it was delish!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

If I had the cash....

So I was playing online looking around on websites. And I thought it would be fun to list ten things I would splurge on, if I had the extra cash. This is by no means in any order of importance, nor necessarily the first thing I would buy if given the opportunity.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Say no to self assembly furniture

As some of you know we didn't have a bed, but rather a sofa bed. Not like you think in the states. Rather the German kind. I tried to find a picture but to no avail so try to visual this with me. Two twin mattresses. One is set one hinges attached to a wooden base like a box it swings up and down. Now the other lays flat and has 2 legs it attaches to the base on a slider. So as a couch the back flips up and the other slides, as a bed the back flips down the other slides out. Any who, it was not in any way shape or form comfortable. It had no box spring so the bed caved into the lower base, and had a huge crack or split down the middle of the bed. So I was uber stoacked when my family gave us money for a bed as an anniversary gift. We found one at aldi. 

We found a real bed with one mattress. Which is hard to come by here. Germans like to take two twin mattresses and put them side by side. Brady bunch style only closer. No clue why, it is a German thing. After living here a while you realize there is no sense trying to decipher such behaviors. 

Normal bed, but self assembly required. Well I am a wimp and my husband a computer geek. Construction is by no means our forte. So what according to the instructions was a 30 minutes project turned out to be a half day affair. We had previously assembled the wooden slats (Germans don't do box springs... I know I know.. I really don't know so don't ask me.) Box springs make sense right, wooden slates break, but no no box springs here.

So we start building here is the chain of events (Just the ones that screamed red flag, but we neglected to comprehend)
1. Start with the head board - the metal pieces are too short and don't fit, one screw is defective ( no really it had no screw top lol)
2. The middle support bars- one side broken can screw in. Then a screw snaps in half, and becomes lodged.
3. The side bars fit together, but the screw holes don't line up
4. Yeah we still continued connect he last side and it doesn't properly line up

Now normal people would have stopped at phase one and realized they got a crappy defective peice of ****. But no it took up trying to assemble it two hours to figure it out. So we took it all apart, and ventured back to Aldi (on a Saturday, 1 hour before closing) to return it. 

So we get inside and wait in line with 40 other Germans who buy cart full of groceries every Saturday because heaven forbid the store is not open the next day and one would die without every flavor of yogurt. (another German quirk) So we get to the registrar and these women are like crack addicts they go so fast.

Try to envision all simultaneously
1. I am handed two forms to fill out in German. 
2. She starts trying to run off with the cart which has my purse.
3. She yelling at my husband about why we didn't tie the box together.
4. I am yelling asking what the paper say
5. Husbands answering me and chasing cart
6. She tosses us money and throws away our original receipt then proceeds to the next person

I couldn't even ask for my receipt back for the other parts of the bed. We had to track down another person who claims we wont need it, which I find hard to believe. The warrenty says original receipt required. 

So they did not just let us trade it in, we had to get cash, go outside, and then back in. And buy a new bed. 

We got home, and assembled the next bed. Luckily it went pretty fast since it was the second time around. After about an hour we managed to get the bed together. Now that did include occasional rants in German by my counter part and threats to kick the bed or throw it out the window. But in the end it came together. And thank God, it had no defects.

So 5 hours later we have the bed set up.

I love the bed, but so not worth it. I am all about the delivery and installation. Worth every penny. 

Thursday, July 30, 2009

If I had the chance... Waverly Hills Sanatorium


If I had the chance I would love the opportunity to do an overnight tour of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

Background info/ facts:
* Waverly Hills was a Tuberculosis hospital.
* It is rumored the death toll was in the tens of thousands
* The rate of death was so high that a tunnel originally created for supplies was converted into what is known today as the body chute, a underground tunnel for fast removal of bodies
* Location behind the horror film "Death Tunnel"
* Twice featured on Ghost Hunters
* Considered the most haunted building in America
* A ghost known as Timmy a small boy is reported to dart across the halls and move balls, both caught on video

Why it interests me:
I have always been fascinated with paranormal activity. Now I am not one to say it does or does not exist or to argue the validity of either sides, all I know is it scares the heck out of me, and I love being scared. I first found out about the place after watching the movie Death Tunnel. Now this was not the best movie, actually it was plain junk, but it sparked my interest about the historical building. I later saw the building featured in Ghost hunters. After a bit of googling I found out that they not only offer tours of the place you can spend a hundred buck and stay the night. I thought this was the greatest, until I saw you are alone in the building... dun dun dun. Now the place terrifies me it truly does, but it fascinates me so much. Given the chance I would stay the night in a heartbeat. I would just prefer to have a tour guide stay with me * )

Maybe it is the fact that so much has happened there, so many people have seen strange things, that it makes the unimaginable actually conceivable. I think regardless of wether the place is haunted or not (shhh I think it is) I would love the chance to go inside and see it. TO see the old hospital rooms. I love comparing original photos to what things look like today. 

Remember that old show on MTC where they put normal people in supposedly haunted places and watched them get the crap scared out of them. Oh it was so great. I wish they would bring that back. 

For more info visit:

So if you had the chance, to go any one place, or do any one thing what would it be?

For more information or to participate in if I had the chance please read here



If I had the chance.....

For a while I have played around with the idea of creating my own blog activity, and after toying around with different ideas I have finally found it. We will call this "If I had a chance".

Concept: Think of the things you would if given the opportunity jump at the chance to do. Something you find interesting for example my first post will be regarding the Waverly Hills Sanatarium, which conducts overnight visits (post to come later) Do a bit of research, and post about what you found and why you want to do it.

I have not yet created a graphic for this, but I will in the near future, and once I have you are more than welcome to use it. 

Rules:
1. Find a place or activity you want to do. Be specific and include links. Something you find interesting. But not broad. No I want to go to Paris, or Africa. You are really free to choose what interests you here, I only ask that is be a specific tangible place other people could research if interested.  

2. Create a blog post talking about what it is you would do if given the chance. Post relevant links, or photos, and even background info or facts, and most important why it is of interest to you. 

3. A new post will come out every Thursday, but you are welcome to participate any day of the week.

4. Use the blog title "If I had the chance" plus you info. Example If I had that chance I would stay overnight in the Waverly Hills Sanitarium. 

5. Please include a link back to this blog. Feel free to post your blog link in the comments or mrlinky.

6. And last but not least lets keep this clean. I am very open to various ideas and interests, but nothing adult  or explicit in nature. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions at Lostintranslation_08@yahoo.com


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