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Wednesday/ a freebie for my phone

I decided I’m still not ready to spring for a new iPhone 8 or iPhone X. So I went to the Apple store here in Seattle, to inquire about a replacement battery for my old iPhone 6s. (Apple has a special offer of $29 for battery replacements for certain older phones. Normally they charge $79).

Well – it turned out that I’m going to get the battery for free.  The analysis they ran at the store showed that the battery in my phone has gone through 533 charging cycles, and its capacity is now down to 80%.  It is also from a batch of batteries that had since been marked as slightly flawed – hence its free replacement.

Here’s how a typical modern mobile phone Li-ion battery works, highly simplified. The positive electrodes (cathodes) are typically lithium-doped cobalt oxide; the negative electrodes (anodes) are graphite, with a separator in between. There is also an electrolyte, lithium salts in an organic solvent. A large number of these electrode layers are ‘jelly-rolled’ into the pouch to increase the current that the battery can discharge during its use. Lithium ions migrate back and forth depending if the phone is used, or charged. The electrolyte and electrodes degrade over time, though.  Some researchers are working hard to find a solid-state solution (a battery with no electrolyte).  They believe these solid-state batteries would last tens of thousands of cycles instead of a few hundred.  [Picture: Infographic for Galaxy 7 Note phone, by Samsung]
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Tuesday/ Rovaniemi, Lapland

Rovaniemi (pop. 62,000) in Lapland is just south of the Arctic Circle.

Last night I watched ‘Lapland Odyssey (2010)‘ (Finnish, subtitled in English).  It reminded me a little of The Hangover (2009): three buddies on a mission to help the one who’s in trouble with his girlfriend.

I was intrigued by the movie’s snowy landscapes, and the flashes of Northern lights in the sky.  Some scenes feature Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, in northern Finland.

The town was virtually destroyed during World War II, but today it’s a modern little city billing itself as the ‘official’ home town of Santa Claus (it has a Hotel Santa Claus), and for viewing the Northern Lights.

Some screen stills from ‘Lapland Odyssey (2010)’. The three friends set out on a road trip to Rovaniemi, and run into Russians that ran into a reindeer. The snowman is safe from melting (avg. daytime winter temps -8 °C/ 17 °F), and in the final picture Janne makes up with girlfriend Inari.

 

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Monday/ Martin Luther King Day

Monday was a federal holiday in the United States, marking civil rights giant Martin Luther King’s birthday – 89 years ago to the day.  King and Nelson Mandela were contemporaries, but never met.

The South African government refused to issue King a visa in 1966. Mandela was in jail by then – arrested in 1962 for ‘conspiring to overthrow the state’, and sentenced to life imprisonment.  Mandela first visited the United States (he made three trips) in June 1990, four months after his release from prison.  A ticker tape parade was organized for him in New York by New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

King’s widow Coretta Scott King, attended Mandela’s inauguration as South African president in 1994.

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and Marian Robinson tour the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial before the dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy).
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A Beautiful Sunday

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day here in the northwest corner of the United States (56 °F/ 13 °C).  I made my way down to Pike Place Market and the waterfront and bought a book at a second-hand book store there. Where are you from? inquired the owner. ‘Oh – South Africa’ I said, simply.  My camera bag completed my appearance as an international tourist.

Here’s the Seattle waterfront by Pier 59 today. That’s the Seattle Aquarium, the green building with the solar panels on the roof.
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Saturday/ the disaster alert is itself a disaster

The emergency alert that was sent out to cell phones, radio broadcasts, and TV transmissions.

At 8.10 am on Saturday, more than a million Hawaiians were jolted with an ominous text message: ‘Ballistic missile threat inbound, seek immediate shelter’.

The message was generated by accident by someone during the shift change-over at the Hawaii Emergency Response Management Agency.   It took 38 minutes to send a correction text.   Governor David Ige announced later that the early warning system was suspended ‘until further notice’, and that the procedure will be changed to require two people to activate the alert*.  The White House shrugged.  ‘Merely a state exercise’ said deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters, and that President Trump had been informed.

*It’s just mind-boggling that this was not done to start with – and quite incredulous that the designers of the system’s messaging had created no follow-up options of ‘Cancel Alert’ or ‘Threat Over’ or ‘Safe Now’.

Sunday morning: Front Page of the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

 

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Friday/ a stock market melt-up?

Bloomberg Businessweek already calls the run-up of the stock market a ‘melt-up’.

It’s not even mid-January, and the stock market is already up 4% for the year.

Veteran investor Bill Miller said on CNBC this week of the US stock market, that there might be a ‘melt-up’ this year.  Bond investors could soon decide that they are missing out, and start pouring lots of money into equity funds.  This scenario could add another 30% of valuation – this to a stock market that has now gone up for nine years, with no 10% (or more) correction since 2011.  Whoah.  That would be a time for even the most optimistic investor to start to panic.

Bill Miller pointed to the U.S. 10 Year Treasury Note, and said if the rate breaks through 2.6%, and heads towards 3%, that bond investors could start bailing out of bond funds and cause a stock market melt-up. (An increasing bond yield means existing bond holders will get a lower return when selling their existing bond investment).
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Thursday/ the President of the United States is obnoxious, and then lies about it

So this happened in the Oval Office on Thursday, when Trump discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal.  Trump, per the Washington Post: ‘Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?’ .  On Friday morning, Senator Dick Durban confirmed that he used the word several times.

 

Early Friday morning, Trump denied in tweets that he used derogatory language, as the fall-out continued. The government of Botswana sent a letter inquiring if they are a sh** hole country as well.  (And how about South Africa, President Trump?). The US ambassador to Panama announced his resignation.

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Wednesday/ snacking on grape nuts

My new favorite snack cereal is Post’s Grape-Nuts. I see it has been around a long, long time. It is made from wheat and barley, so no grapes and no nuts! It does have a nutty taste, and was originally thought to contain grape sugar.

Mr. Post created his cereal way back in 1897. The box reads on the front: ‘Fully Cooked, Pre-Digested, Breakfast Food/ Grape-Nuts/ A food for the brain and nerve centres’. The Super Mario video game character on the 2018 box was created by Nintendo Japan, in 1985.
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Tuesday/ 52 places to go, 2018

Hey! Seattle is featured on the New York Times list of 52 places to go for 2018.  It’s quite a spectacle, the set of pictures that the New York Times compiled, some of them animated.

The familiar (to me) sight of the Amazon biospheres in downtown Seattle. [Picture: New York Times]
I go ga-ga over geometrical structures, and stylish, steely buildings, such as these in Oslo, Norway. [Picture: New York Times]
Is it a truck? Is it a train? It’s the Stoosbahnen funicular, near Lucerne, Switzerland. [Picture: New York Times]

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Monday/ money questions (in Germany)

The Frankfurt Allgemeine newspaper that I brought back from my trip, has a 6-page supplement with 40 questions about money (in Germany, and for 2018).
Below are short answers to the questions, that I roughly translated to English.
1. Can saving be fun? Yes. Start early in life and save consistently. It is fun to see one’s money grow.
2. Should I spend my money before inflation comes and everything becomes more expensive? Yes. On the whole, and for durable items, it’s a good time to be a consumer.
3. When will there again be interest paid on savings accounts? The bitter answer is: it will still be a number of years. 
4. Is it wise to buy Bitcoin? Probably not. It is very risky. 
5. What kind of insurance does everyone need? Germans are fearful. Still, insure for ruinous events only, such as one’s home and the life for the bread- winner. (My note: Germans have universal healthcare).
6. Is it a good idea to buy (German) government bonds? No, not worth it in these times. 

Continue reading “Monday/ money questions (in Germany)”

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Sunday/ hair that is ice = hair ice

Hair ice found in the Olympic forest.

Check out this amazing picture of hair ice. It was posted on the local TV station’s web site, and is from the Olympic forest nearby Seattle.

Hair ice forms on moist, rotting wood from broadleaf trees when temperatures are slightly under 0 °C (32 °F) and the air is humid. Swiss and German researchers found that the fungus ‘Exidiopsis effusa’ in the wood, as key to the formation of hair ice.

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Saturday/ such a ‘stable genius’

‘The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.’ -Albert Einstein

A book by Michael Wolff called ‘Fire and Fury’ was published on Friday (the printed copies quickly selling out), adding fuel to the speculation about President Trump’s sanity and mental fitness for office.

And what does President My-Nuclear-Button-Is-Bigger-Than-Yours do? He claims he is ‘like, really smart’, and then corrects himself. No, he’s actually a ‘stable genius’.  (Well, your tweets make you look like an unstable idiot).  Looks like we’re in for another long year in politics here in the United States.

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Friday/ unpacking

I unpacked my bags today, and started going through my mountain of junk mail.

It’s bitterly cold on the East Coast (Boston at -6 °F/ -21°C), and frozen iguanas are falling out of the trees in Florida.  Zoologists say they will ‘thaw’ again and come back to life.  Here is Seattle it was a balmy 49°F/ 9°C today, with rain.

Top: My porcelain mugs and creamer survived in my luggage without breaking.  It’s for my coffee in the morning, and from porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal’s factory in Selb in Bavaria, that dates back to 1879.  I love the colors and the simple design.  Bottom: I took advantage of my stop at Heathrow to get my grubby hands on the shiny new 12-sided one-pound coin, as well as the new £10 polymer note with its cool holographs. The first note printed was reportedly given to the Queen, the second note to Prince Philip, the third to Theresa May (Prime Minister), and the fourth to Philip Hammond (Chancellor of the Exchequer).
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Thursday/ east, west – home best

From the toy store at Heathrow airport: a cute little ‘Celebration’ teddy bear.

 

I’m home from my world travels, east and west, north and south.

Our flight to Seattle today went without incident. My checked bags that British Airways had held overnight, had made it onto my new flight as well.

 

The flight path shows us about 7 hours into the 10 hr flight, crossing over Iceland, Greenland and Canada. I sat on the wing of the Boeing 777, and snapped the sky outside every few hours.

 

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Wednesday night/ adventures in Terminal 5

I missed my connection to Seattle. We left Frankfurt way too late. High gusting winds (across Europe today), delayed our departure by 50 minutes.  Then upon arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, we spent another 20 agonizing minutes on the tarmac, waiting for a gate to open.

As soon as I got off the plane, I made a run for it.  There was still 10 minutes to spare to the Seattle departure time, but no-no-NO! – not enough time, they said at the security check point, stopping me.  (Why is there another security checkpoint for connecting passengers? Maybe it’s a United States destination thing only.)

So now I stood in line at the British Airways counter for 40 minutes. Re-booked my ticket to Thursday.  Exiting through passport control took even longer. One ‘crosses’ the UK Border into the UK (big bold letters at passport control).  By the time I made it to the airport hotel it was four hours later.  But hey! Today is done, tomorrow is another day, and I will have another shot at making it home.

Clockwise from top left: boarding the British Airways Airbus A320 at Frankfurt airport | Approaching Heathrow airport; that is the city of London and the Thames river below | Baggage claim but no bags for me: they hold it and will put it on the Thursday flight. Luckily I have a change of underwear and socks in my backpack! And I wear the British Airways emergency pack XL t-shirt as a night gown 🙂 | Our ‘HotelHoppa’ shuttle bus at Terminal 5.
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Wednesday morning/ home-ward bound

7:00 am My bags are packed!  I am taking the train back to Frankfurt this morning. 

Shortly after twelve noon I will board British Airways to London, and then on to Seattle from there. 

11:00 am I made it to Frankfurt Airport .. but Deutsche Bahn made me sweat a little.  My original train was delayed by more than an hour, and then the rebooked train was late as well.  Then my phone’s British Airways app said ‘Sorry, missed connection’ and I thought Oh no! the flight to London must be completely delayed. But no, there was on problem – it was just that the app could not find a network to connect to.

Here’s the ICE train at Cologne main train station. It came from Hannover, and was heading to Basel. Luckily it made stops in Cologne and at Frankfurt airport, and I could hop on.
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Tuesday/ two museums

Today was my last day in Cologne.  The museums and shops were finally open again after being closed Sunday & Monday.   I only made it to two museums, though: the Museum Ludwig and the Chocolate Museum.

Museum Ludwig was established in 1976. This building near the Cologne Cathedral opened in 1986. The museum has artwork from the collections of lawyer Josef Haubrich (born 1889, died 1961) and of chocolate magnate Peter Ludwig (1925- 1996). It has one of the largest collection of Picasso’s artwork in Europe. The ‘Rosenquist’ sign on the left refers to a current exhibit of art of the American James Rosenquist, a pop-artist and contemporary of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, who passed away in March 2017.
One of Rosenquist’s best-known pieces from the early 1960s. It is called ‘President Elect’ and is a billboard-style painting, depicting John F Kennedy’s face alongside a rainbow, a yellow Chevrolet and a piece of cake.
This is ‘inside’ a Rosenquist work called ‘Horizon Home Sweet Home’ (1970). It is a series of colored canvas panels on a room’s four walls.  Some panels have aluminized mylar (plastic) stretched onto a frame, that creates distorted reflections of the other colored panels.

 

This is upstairs, and I thought the giant mural on the right is a Picasso, but it is not. The artist is Fernand Léger, a contemporary of Picasso, and the painting is called ‘Les Plongeurs'(The Divers), 1942.
Here’s the Chocolate Museum. It is on the Rhine, and it looks like a river ship. It’s only 4.30 pm, but the sun is already setting.
Sights inside the Chocolate Museum, clockwise from the left: giant cocoabean chocolate fountain | Molten chocolate with roller-stirrer driven by a simple motor, from Lindt | Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in chocolate | A little souvenir handed to one at the exit (entrance fee is €11/ US$13) | one of a large collection of charming old chocolate bar wrappers.
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Monday/ Rheinauhafen, Cologne

I spent some time in Rheinauhafen (‘Rhine old port’) today. It is a former port facility on the Rhine*, now rebuilt into modern condominiums, offices and commercial buildings.  A Microsoft office building was completed in 2008, the main condominium building in 2009, and most of the other buildings a few years before that, or a few years later.

*Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine.  Here in Cologne it is the Nieder-Rhein (the lower Rhine).

I did the best I could do with my photo of the three dramatic Kranhäuser (‘harbor crane’) buildings, shot into the sun. They each have two-part outrigger sections that rest only on a slender, fully glazed staircase tower. These are just below the Severin Bridge (yellow on the map), and on the little peninsula in the Rhine. The Microsoft office (picture bottom middle) is across the canal, on the true riverbank.
A close-up of the residential building. The green triangular column and spans in the background are of the Severin Bridge. A realtor’s office advertised a few of the units that are for sale. Sample numbers: 2 bedroom, 130m2 (1,400 sqft) unit goes for €1.1 million (US$ 1.3 million). A 3-bedroom was for rent for €3,650 pm (US$ 4,400).
These buildings are a little further down south from the Kranhäuser buildings. The ones on the left have an old or classic architecture, but they are almost brand new, from what I can tell. The modern brick and glass building on the right is a high-school. MY high school did not look like that! (I wish it did).
I love this old sepia picture, printed onto the glass enclosure of a kiosk, with the – port worker? who was he? – resting his arms on the fence.  A great way to acknowledge the rich history of the port.
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Good-bye 2017. Hello 2018!

And there it goes, the year that was 2017.

Happy New Year, everyone.

How does one become a better person (‘mensch’)? asks the Süddeutsche Zeiting newspaper. Many people want to, but do not know exactly how to.  Well, it does take conscious effort, but it’s not complicated. ‘You just have to start’, says the author.
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Sunday/ more of Cologne

I spent much more time walking today than I did on the trains on the U-bahn. It was good for sight-seeing, but I feel it in my legs and feet tonight.

Here is a map of the Cologne altstadt (old city). Pictures clockwise from top left: St. Gereon’s Basilica is a Roman Catholic church. Rebuilt and added onto, its origins date back all the way to 612 A.D. | Gereons wall with gate: part of the medieval old city wall of Cologne | Cologne cathedral today. It is very large inside with beautiful stained class windows. | St. Aposteln is another one of 12 major Romanesque churches in the city of Cologne.
Here is the Cologne Tower, a 44-storey office skyscraper in the Neustadt-Nord district. It opened in 2002. The image of Cologne Cathedral on the window panes is not a reflection, but artwork. On the left, in the distance, is the old Colonius telecommunications tower. It opened in 1981, but the restaurant and viewing area were closed in 1992, with no prospect of reopening. (Aw).
This is one of the city’s many Merzenich bakeries (it’s a franchise), near Ebertsplatz. Check out the giant ‘plunderbrezels’ (‘plunder’ pretzels) in the window.  They go for €10.95 ($13.14) each – but hey, enough to feed a family!
It’s Germany, and so one sees BMWs everywhere, of course. This is under a bridge by the hauptbahnhof (main train station) with the old steel beams lit up in bluegreen.
Here’s a ‘Find the Willem’ picture, a reflection in the window on Christophstreet. ‘Room Free’, says the sign. The Cologne cathedral is a picture inside, and the square windowed apartments is the reflection.