Assassin&#39;s Lair

Sunday, 31. May 2026 ~ 14:27 Uhr

Monthly entry - May 2026

May...in which we meet Stella the puppy, clean out the attic for real (meaning with some proper progress that made both of us very happy) and get used to life without a dog.
It does mean much greater freedom and flexibility overall, although I feel guilty for being so relieved about it.

Tags: dog, home improvement, photos/pictures

current mood:

accomplished

confess

Friday, 1. May 2026 ~ 00:49 Uhr

Monthly entry - April 2026

April...in which our sweet girl Vesta has some more amazing adventures in her little red cart before she is put to sleep at 17 years of age.
I take some action on AI programming and ETF saving plans.

Don't be surprised at the length of this entry. Most of the text I'd written before the final vet appointment because I knew I wouldn't do it afterwards.

Tomorrow is a holiday and I'm going to sleep in like nobody's business...

Tags: death, dog, event, family, photos/pictures, videos

current mood:

exhausted

confess

Saturday, 25. April 2026 ~ 19:39 Uhr

"Poll" Poll

Poll #2142387 Polls for testing purposes

Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All. Participants: 1

How important would it be for you to have polls appear correctly in your private LJ/DW archive?

View Answers

Very important

0(0.0%)

Somewhat important

1(100.0%)

Not important

0(0.0%)

Do you still think so?

View Answers

Yes

1(100.0%)

Maybe

0(0.0%)

No

0(0.0%)

Boxers or briefs

View Answers

Boxers

1(100.0%)

Briefs

0(0.0%)

No underwear at all

0(0.0%)

What's your favourite fandom at this very moment?

View Answers

How often do you use AI per week?

View Answers

Mean: 0.00 Median: 0 Std. Dev 0.00

1

0(0.0%)

2

0(0.0%)

3

0(0.0%)

4

0(0.0%)

5

0(0.0%)

6

0(0.0%)

7

0(0.0%)

8

0(0.0%)

9

0(0.0%)

10

0(0.0%)

confess

Tuesday, 31. March 2026 ~ 18:18 Uhr

Monthly entry - March 2026

March...in which Mum finally returns home and I have to go back to the office.
My dad and brother visit to help out. My aunt dies.
The dog gets her own cart and loves it.

Happy Easter to you all!

Tags: death, dog, event, family, home improvement, photos/pictures

confess

Sunday, 1. March 2026 ~ 22:46 Uhr

Monthly entry - February 2026

February...in which Mum starts walking again (albeit slowly and with walking aids).
It snows again like crazy before we feel the first spring-like temperatures.

Tags: family, photos/pictures

confess

Sunday, 1. February 2026 ~ 15:12 Uhr

Monthly entry - January 2026

January...in which the main event is still Mum's situation, but things calm down a bit. She caught a bug and felt like crap for a few days, but is getting better now. Maybe from the end of next week on she can start standing/training to walk properly again. /fingers crossed

We finally get fibre glass (after five years or so), I set up the home network anew and use Gemini 3 to program some phython scripts for me.
The dead tree in the garden is finally removed.
Work has ups and downs, but is more or less fine and I'm glad I didn't take (or had to take) extended vacation.
Vesta enjoys the snow.

Has anyone used AI as their personal programmer (or otherwise) and created something amazing for their life yet?

trobadora, for fixing a bad case of writer's block, maybe?

Tags: creativity, family, home improvement, photos/pictures

2 confessions | confess

Wednesday, 31. December 2025 ~ 23:28 Uhr

Monthly entry - December 2025

December...in which my Mum is hit by a car and breaks both her legs. The month is filled with related organisation (yay, German bureaucracy) and getting work stuff done before the much needed Christmas break.

Hopefully your December was less stressful than ours - have a great start into 2026, everyone!

Tags: event, family

current mood: drained

drained

3 confessions | confess

Sunday, 30. November 2025 ~ 23:33 Uhr

Monthly entry - November 2025

November...in which I lean more into the low carb approach, the dog wears clothes and I go wild with a label printer.

Oh man, tomorrow is already the 1st December. Where did the year go?
Only a few weeks until Christmas (and finally some peace and quiet, I hope).

Tags: dog, health/fitness, home improvement, konsum, photos/pictures

current mood: busy

busy

confess

Sunday, 30. November 2025 ~ 18:40 Uhr

Monthly entry - September/October 2025

A late two month combo entry, because I just didn't get my shit together until now...

September...in which we prepare for the trip to SF and I get the last pieces of my gift for my prof.

October...in which we rest up from the trip and prepare for the colder days. I decide to switch my eating habits up a bit and try low carb. The new doorbell is installed by yours truly. The fibre glass cable arrives at our home. We have a 'fire protection assistant refresher' at work and I'm responsible for the fire. (MUAHAHA)

Tags: health/fitness, home improvement, photos/pictures

current mood: busy

busy

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:36 Uhr

Trip to San Francisco - Overview

Unbelievable that took me so long to put all the photos and info from our San Francisco trip together. This was supposed to be done the week after my return (in October!!), with the regular (but smaller) monthly entry for October following at the end of that month, as usual.

However, putting together the photos (and occasional videos), sorting out and adding the expenses, Google Maps and the overview the way I wanted it all took ages; at some point it became too much and I just had to do something else. Suddenly I had to work again, catching up with whatever had been brewing during my vacation. After three long weeks with >9 hour days things are seemingly calming down a bit now, and this weekend I swore to myself that I would complete the DW/LJ part.

So here is the report on my San Francisco Trip. One entry per day with lots of photos and a few lines of text to account for what happened are public now.

What we had not expected or accounted for was the US government shutdown, but the only issue we had was that Muir Woods closed down before we could get there, and considering all the other amazing things we saw (including Yosemite despite the shutdown!) it wasn't that bad. Even the lines at the airport on our way back were moderate, so no chaos as some people and outlets had indicated (at least not at that point).

Overview

Day	Date	Locations
01	23rd September 2025	Flight to SF, The Chapter
02	24th September 2025	Union Square, Nintendo Store, Chinatown, North Beach, Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Car Turnaround, The Cannery & Lombard Street
03	25th September 2025	SF Premium Outlets
04	26th September 2025	Palace of Fine Arts, Bob's Lookout, Marina District Lighthouse & Wave Organ, The Presidio with the Yoda Fountain & the Lucasfilm Lobby
05	27th September 2025	MBA Event
06	28th September 2025	Lands End Trail Eagles Point, Legion of Honor, Stonestown Galleria
07	29th September 2025	Alcatraz, Painted Ladies
08	30th September 2025	Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Ferry Ride, Ferry Terminal Farmer's Market, Tony's Pizza (North Beach), Musée Mécanique, Cable Car Ride
09	1st October 2025	Cable Car Museum, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf
10	2nd October 2025	Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park
11	3rd October 2025	Oracle Park, Treasure Island, Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, Coit Tower, Cheesecake Factory
12	4th October 2025	Yosemite
13	5th October 2025	Japan Town, Salesforce Park
14	6th October 2025	Baker Beach, Fisherman's Wharf
15	7th October 2025	Coffee at Chris' place, flight home

Tags: event, photos/pictures, travels, vacation

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:29 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 15 (7th October 2025)

My prof had invited us to his house that morning, so we hopped on the bus with all our luggage and went to the Caltrain station to catch the train to Burlingame. Due to bus delays we were lucky a nice lady helped us with our luggage because otherwise we might have missed that train. (Imagine our faces when we raced off the bus frantically looking for the entrance to the train station...and then realising it was three flights of stairs down, no elevator. And I had to take Mum's suitcase and my own because it was too heavy for her. Bless that lady who carried Mum's suitcase all the way down.)

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:29 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 14 (6th October 2025)

Our last full day in San Francisco. The weather was perfect as if to give us a proper send-off. We went to Baker Beach and got our best shots of the Golden Gate Bridge. A guy was standing around on the beach completely nude and looked as if he was expecting that someone would tell him off. No one gave a fig. My kinda state.
We walked barefoot through the sand and waves, and tried to soak up as much sun as possible as we knew the weather we'd experience upon our return.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:28 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 13 (5th October 2025)

Since Mum had gotten tickets to see the Haas-Lilienthal House while I was on the MBA event we went to Japan Town in the morning to be back when they'd open at 12:00. After some waiting around I googled the place and it turned out the Haas-Lilienthal House wasn't even open on Sundays. XD
So we just went back to Japan Town and took a trip to the Salesforce Park afterwards.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:28 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 12 (4th October 2025)

Guess we were lucky the trip was still on, despite the US government shutdown. We got up at 4:25, turned off the alarm and slipped out as quietly as we could to not wake John up...just to find him dozing in one of the comfy chairs in the dark kitchen. Uh well, to each their own.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:27 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 11 (3rd October 2025)

Oracle Park was on my list of place to see, not because of a sudden interest in Baseball, but because I'd watched the second part of "San Andreas" (the disaster movie with The Rock in which San Francisco is destroyed) by coincidence before the trip and I absolutely wanted to see this particular location to compare it to the scene on a rewatch. It was pretty cool seeing the same area we'd previously been in surrounded by debris!
I added some comparison screenshots from the film below my own set of photos!

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:27 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 10 (2nd October 2025)

It had been raining in the early morning, and was still grey and wet outside.
That's why we took the bus to Golden Gate Park to see the Conservatory of Flowers, but when a few rays of sunshine came out on the way, we changed plans and went to Ocean Beach instead.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:26 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 9 (1st October 2025)

We started the day by tidying up our pods as we would get new linens, and buying new 7-Day passes for public transport. This time I got a Clipper Card for Mum as well as I didn't want to chance it with her Muni app.
The day started out rather grey again, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to visit the Cable Car Museum to find out how the system works. We walked past a huge hotel which had a statue of Tony Bennett standing in the front, near the zebra crossing underneath a small sign labelled "Tony Bennett Way".

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:26 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 8 (30th September 2025)

Bridge Day! The plan was to go over the bridge to Sausalito by bus (130) and take the ride back on the ferry, the checking out the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Terminal. And that's exactly what we did!

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:25 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 7 (29th September 2025)

We got up earlier than usual to be at the Ferry (Pier 33) in time for the Alcatraz Tour. On the way we realised that we'd forgotten our water bottles, so we dropped by a 7/11 (the only store open at the time) to buy two small bottles for the trip.
We took photos on the way as it was eerily empty in the area.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:25 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 6 (28th September 2025)

What a grey day. We took the bus to Lands End Eagles Point to get a better look at the Golden Gate Bridge, but the weather was not on our side.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:25 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 5 (27th September 2025)

Finally, the event I'd initialised the whole trip for - today I met my professor and some of my fellow MBA students in person, and officially received my diploma. There aren't too many photos as it was a bit of a private affair and I didn't want to publish the faces of a bunch of people willy-nilly. My prof is fair game as he's very much making himself a public figure to begin with. XD

Unfortunately I haven't received the diploma photos from him yet, will have to inquire in the next video chat.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:24 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 4 (26th September 2025)

This time I managed to sleep until 4:00 in the morning, but was awake from then on. After breakfast (without milk for tea and coffee as the hostel's delivery hadn't arrived, boooh) we took the bus to the Palace of Fine Arts.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:23 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 3 (25th September 2025)

PXL_20250926_003614255.LONG_EXPOSURE-02.ORIGINAL

You would think that a visitor to San Francisco checks out the highlights in the city first (starting with the Golden Gate Bridge), but I was on a bit of a time table as the MBA graduation event I'd come for in the first place would take place on the following Saturday.
So I had strategically planned to do some clothes shopping beforehand.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:23 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 2 (24th September 2025)

Gah, jetlag. We were both awake at 2:00 in the morning and tried to rest as much as possible, but in the end got up quite early.
There is no breakfast at The Chapter, but they have complimentary coffee and tea, so we poured a cup each and planned the day.

confess

Thursday, 13. November 2025 ~ 21:22 Uhr

San Francisco Trip, Day 1 (23rd September 2025)

Suitcases and backpacks were sitting next to the door and due to the rainy and cold weather we were wearing appropriate clothing and shoes.

confess

Monday, 13. October 2025 ~ 20:47 Uhr

Pixel 10 Pro - Camera Zoom

We returned from San Francisco a few days ago, and I'm still trying to catch up with everything, including journal entries.
For the trip both Mum and I decided to get the latest Pixel phone, mainly for its top notch camera. The second reason is that we both still owned older phones in excellent conditions that we could use as trade-ins, lowering the price for the new phones considerably (otherwise we wouldn't have done it).
The camera is indeed top notch, including the excellent zoom. (Click on the photos to see them in their original size - otherwise you may not even make out the detail from the zoom shot.)

It works with AI, and not all images come out as good, of course. But more often than not it's pretty damn impressive.
I've got one more...

Tags: konsum, photos/pictures, wtf

current mood:

impressed

confess

Sunday, 31. August 2025 ~ 13:03 Uhr

Monthly entry - August 2025

August...in which work is still impossible, but at least I'm beginning to see an end now.
There is some garden improvement, we went to Münzenberg Castle with some friends and - to my surprise - I'm buying the latest Google Pixel phone.

Tags: event, home improvement, konsum, photos/pictures

current mood: hopeful

hopeful

confess

Thursday, 31. July 2025 ~ 23:08 Uhr

Monthly entry - July 2025

July...in which the workload lightens for all but 5 seconds, then is back up. But at least I'm working on my own project and don't have to jump in as backup for my colleague as it was initially planned. Even manage to finish a few improvement tasks.
In the last week of the month the fiber glass construction works start in our street. They dig up the whole sidewalk, plant the pipes and fill everything up again. Not sure when, but I'm guessing by the beginning of the year at the latest we should be connected. It won't be a massive change overall, but the connection should be more stable on the weekends which is something I'm looking forward to.

Tags: home improvement, konsum, photos/pictures

current mood:

accomplished

2 confessions | confess

Monday, 30. June 2025 ~ 23:16 Uhr

Monthly entry - June 2025

June...in which we have two more holidays, which is perfect because the workload at the office is still incredible. Somehow we also squeeze in a team lunch at a Korean place near the office. With the extra days I get some things done at home as well. The company summer fest takes places.

Oh dear, it's hot. 35°C today and of course the Deutsche Bahn had delays and no working air conditioning on any train.
At least they finally got the air conditioning in the office to work properly, so it was actually nice to be there today. My hope rests on Thursday when there should be storms and the temps coming down a bit.

Tags: home improvement, konsum, photos/pictures, videos

current mood: drained

drained

confess

Thursday, 12. June 2025 ~ 17:42 Uhr

Epic Store: Two Point Hospital up for grabs!

If you play on your PC I just wanted to let you know that a very fine game is currently free in the Epic store: --> Two Point Hospital

In general it's a good idea to check back on the page regularly as the free games change weekly. Have fun!

Tags: games, pc

current mood: chipper

chipper

confess

	The Rookie
	CSI: Vegas
	All Rise
	Law & Order SVU
	Star Trek: Picard
	The Boys
	Father Brown
	Avenue 5
	The Orville
	Hanna
	Hell's Kitchen
	Last Week Tonight