Reminiscences and Current Circumstances

We're visiting Bonn, Germany, a small German town that inadvertently served as Germany’s capital city for over 40 years because the Russians sealed off east Germany, and with it, Berlin. So locals called it ”the capital village.” I was here in 1963, when President John F. Kenny visited Germany and spoke from the staircase of the town hall (pictured). An enormous audience came out to see him, filling the square and neighboring streets. I stood in this square that was body to body and held my camera high to get a photo of him.

He was the first American President to visit Germany after the end of the horrible world war. He pledged America’s support for German democracy and the German people loved him. He then went to Berlin and promised to stand firmly by West Berlin against the Russians, uttering the famous statement, ”Ich bin ein Berliner.”

Months later, he was assassinated. Throughout Germany, he was deeply mourned. In the department store restaurant where we ordinarily ate, it was almost completely quiet. Hardly anyone spoke.

Germans felt the same love for Barack Obama, turning out to see him by the hundreds of thousands before he became President, prompting his U.S. political opponents to churlishly mock him as a “celebrity.”  They being “real Americans.” This was effective in some of the parts of the country that posted on social media: “He’s different.” Wink wink, nod nod.

So on the train yesterday, I picked up a Bild Zeitung and read that Trump is angry with Angela Merkel and threatening to withdraw all American troops from Germany. Angela Merkel has been Germany’s Chancellor since 2005.  She has a PhD in chemistry and has worked as a research scientist.  Donald Trump hosted a reality TV show.  Before that, he bankrupted his casino, his charity has been closed down for mismanagement, his “Trump University” has been fined for fraud.  The PhD Chemist vs. the Grifter.  The America First guy supported by the Russians is threatening to abandon Germany, damaging if not destroying, everything America has accomplished here during the past 70 years. Because Angela Merkel isn't sucking up. Isn’t paying enough in protection payments. Allegedly.  But the underlying issue is that he’s following the narcissist playbook: Create a problem, then fix the problem you created, then demand praise for fixing the problem you created.

So we’ve come 180 degrees, from protecting Germany from the Russians to the Russian puppet bullying Germany. Germans are rightly dismayed. They have experience with how badly things can go wrong when a clown and a bully becomes The Leader.

Reminiscences and Current Circumstances. 
We're visiting Bonn, Germany, a small German town that inadvertently served as Germany’s capital city for over 40 years because the Russians sealed off east Germany, and with it, Berlin. So locals called it ”the capital village.” I was here in 1963, when President John F. Kenny visited Germany and spoke from the staircase of the town hall (pictured). An enormous audience came out to see him, filling the square and neighboring streets. I stood in this square that was body to body and held my camera high to get a photo of him.
He was the first American President to visit Germany after the end of the horrible world war. He pledged America’s support for German democracy and the German people loved him. He then went to Berlin and promised to stand firmly by West Berlin against the Russians, uttering the famous statement, ”Ich bin ein Berliner.”
Months later, he was assassinated. Throughout Germany, he was deeply mourned. In the department store restaurant where we ordinarily ate, it was almost completely quiet. Hardly anyone spoke.
Germans felt the same love for Barack Obama, turning out to see him by the hundreds of thousands before he became President, prompting his U.S. political opponents to churlishly mock him as a “celebrity.”  They being “real Americans.” This was effective in some parts of the country that posted on social media. “He’s different.” Wink wink, nod nod.
So on the train yesterday, I picked up a Bild Zeitung and read that Trump is angry with Angela Merkel and threatening to withdraw all American troops from Germany. Angela Merkel has been Germany’s Chancellor since 2005.  She has a PhD in chemistry and has worked as a research scientist.  Donald Trump hosted a reality TV show.  Before that, he bankrupted his casino, his charity has been closed down for mismanagement, his “Trump University” has been fined for fraud.  The PhD Chemist vs. the Grifter.  The America First guy supported by the Russians is threatening to abandon Germany, damaging if not destroying, everything America has accomplished here during the past 70 years. Because Angela Merkel isn't sucking up. Isn’t paying enough in protection payments. Allegedly.  But the underlying issue is that he’s following the narcissist playbook: Create a problem, then fix the problem you created, then demand praise for fixing the problem you created.
So we’ve come 180 degrees, from protecting Germany from the Russians to the Russian puppet bullying Germany. Germans are rightly dismayed. They have experience with how badly things can go wrong when a clown and a bully becomes The Leader.

We Apologize for the Inconvenience

I told many people I’d be journaling our travels on my blog, which I've neglected for 4 years. I'm experiencing some hiccups with that.  I used to publish it with MacOS, but now am using an iPad with iOS. That, and the changes in the blog software during the previous four years have made resuming difficult. I'll probably improve but don’t have much time to get it sorted.  In the meantime, I've been posting a lot of stuff on Facebook. While avoiding Facebook is a wise choice for many people, if your curiosity triumphs over common sense, you can catch up with us there. My apologies.

Dead Time

Nick Robers and I visited the catacombs under Paris. A strenuous day. Between the catacombs and the Metro, we climbed over 25 stories and walked over 20,000 steps. At one point, I decided the catacombs were a sensible place to die, but my heart was't in it. Instead, we applied our excellent CSI skills acquired from watching TV to definitely establishing homicide in a few deaths from the 14th century. 

The bone collection is massive and seems to go for miles. The catacombs themselves are almost endless, providing grist to mystery writers like Peter May for his book "Dry Bones," which I very much enjoyed.

Jet Lag

I was wise not to mention what jet lag is like while Nick still had a chance to bailout. 

In Flight

Catching the flight to Minneapolis was not without incident but we're on it. It will have been 27 hours of travel for me before we get on the real plane; the one that goes to Paris. This has just been foreplay so far.  

Nick often stays up until 2 or 3 a.m. and sleeps late. Today he arose at 6:00 a.m., getting a dose of what jet lag feels like. I don't dare tell him that actual jet lag is much, much worse. He might mutiny.

When we arrive in Minneapolis, we’ll only have about 20 minutes before boarding the real plane. That's a good thing.

Departure: July 30

Are We There Yet?

The trip to Europe started at noon for me, when the Megabus for Madison, WI, pulled out of Minneapolis.  The plan is to connect with Nick there, then the next day, take a bus to O’Hare. Twenty five hours after having left Minneapolis, we’ll board the plane for Paris. It only makes one stop...MINNEAPOLIS.  

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

You're Going Away!

Time flies when you’re having fun. I must have had a hell of a good time because it’s been over four years since my last post.

  

"You’re Going Away!" That’s the message one gets after ordering a piece of Away brand luggage. They make it sound so wonderful that if you had ordered a piece without any definite travel plans, you’d be persuaded to make some, pronto.

The travel hype doesn’t end there. When the suitcase arrives and you open the large box, you’re greeted with this message:

These guys aren’t selling luggage. They’re selling the pursuit of happiness through travel.

So...having bought the luggage, my grandson Nick (below) and I are Going Away!  We’re spending the month of August in Europe. This blog will journal our trip. Or some of it anyway. I hope I have the disciple to do it, in spite of any jet lag or exhaustion we encounter. With fingers crossed and good intentions...

The Brawl

I watched the Republican debate Tuesday night.  It was like entering a working class bar two or three hours after the other customers had arrived.  Ted Cruz was vowing to carpet bomb ISIS cities.  Donald Trump vowed to "take out" the families of terrorists.  Ben Carson vowed to send tens of thousands of U.S. troops into Syria.  John Kasich was going to punch Russia in the nose.  Chris Christie vowed to shoot down Russian planes.  Carley Fiorina wanted to bring back the warrior general who was let go "because Obama didn't want to hear what he had to say." (The General later said on Fox News that he had served under President Bush, not Obama, and had left the military in 2003, while Obama was still in the State legislature.)  Chris Christie said he would be different from that "feckless weakling" Barack Obama and would persuade King Hussein to send in his country's troops, apparently unaware that King Hussein has been dead for 16 years.  Donald trump was asked how to best buttress our nuclear triad. He bluffed, trying to obscure the fact that he doesn't have a clue what our nuclear triad is.

 

I didn't feel more secure after the event and turned off the TV rather than watch the candidates hit the spin rooms.  Later, I read that none of these armchair generals served a single day in the military.

Something Completely Different

I've just istened to episode 551 of the Mormon Stories podcast, "Lindsay Hansen Park's Year of Polygamy."  She's refreshing, well-balanced and articulate.  Then I checked out her podcast episodes: Year of Polygamy Podcast. Wow.

Most Mormon presentations drip with sanctimoniousness or heavy scholarly tones. Lindsay is a young mother finding her way, with a fresh open-minded approach.  She uncovers mountains of historical information, of which Mormons (be they Fundamentalists or L.D.S.) are completely unaware.  It's a monumental body of work that will have strong influence for years to come.

Productivity

Lately I've spent to much time reading about productivity and buying productivity apps, and too little time being productive.