Congratulations Arnold!! Second Term as Governor of California

I have always admired my fellow countryman Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a matter of fact, we were born in the same town, Graz.
Now, while Graz has withdrawn his 'Eherenbuergerschaft' and taken his name off the prominent soccer stadium in Liebenau, Arnold has won a second term as Governor of California, the most populous, most advanced and wealthiest state of the union. (If California was an independent country, its economy would rank nr 6 or 7 in the world, slightly ahead of Italy.)



Here's a link to Arnold's website with a video presentation of his Inaugural Speech - it's well worth listening to.

http://www.joinarnold.com/site/c.jkIVLdMTJrE/b.1804725/k.BE28/Home.htm

Noodles are fun

There is a ramen shop (Chinese Egg Noodles) near our house and we love going there for kimchi ramen and gyooza. They make their own kimchi and it is just so delicious. A little hot, so not very suitable for the children, but Cyd and I love loading up on this pickled cabbagge which is rich in vitamin C.

MRI

Today we had to go back to Shin Suma Hospital for Cyd's MRI.






Cyd had to change into a gown and take off all jewellry - I was not allowed to come near the MRI machine as it is highly sensitive to metal.













Going over the results with Dr. Iwasaki, we learned a lot about joints and tendons. But it became clear that Cyd needs an operation soon. We are now considering suitable dates in January 2007.

If anything can go wrong, it will!

Just a small reminder of Murphy's Law which states:

If anything can go wrong, it will. Especially when it comes to computers and hard drives. It is a known fact that the average hard drive has a life span of 2.5 years. Considering this it is quite astounding that our civilization entrusts all of our important facts and data to such a fragile medium. (The Romans chiselled important stuff into rocks!)

So please don't forget to make frequent back-ups of your work on your computers.

I just went through a tough time when, beginning last Friday, my computer started to act weird. I tried fixing it with special software over the weekend, but by Monday morning, just minutes after I made another thorough backup (!!) it died completely. Cause of death: hard disk crash.

Storage media have become very cheap and there is no excuse for loosing data.

What to back up?

Basically all your work.
While applications can be reinstalled from their original disks, whatever you create is most valuable as it cannot be found anywhere else.

Also, your preference settings, bookmarks, shortcuts, and key-chained passwords should be backed up on a regular basis.

So after I purchased a new computer, I just brought in my data from my back up and I am up and running!

Installing all the software takes some time, unfortunately.

Please take this advice seriously,

Regards
WSF

The show goes on...

After Cyd's accident, it was Conrad's turn to hit and break his little pinky-toe!



The doctor's visit at Kaisei Hospital took from 9 am till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But Dr. Shibonuma took good care of Conrad and explained everything exactly on hand of the x-rays.

Children Inc

For a number of years, Cyd and I have sponsored poor children in countries like Thailand and Keniya.

I usually pick girls for my sponsorships because I believe traditionally the family spends more of their resources on the education of their male offspring while girls often times get left behind.

I donate money to an organisation named Children Inc. and if you feel the christmas spirit welling up in your heart or you'd just like to give yourself the rewards that come with being charitable, I suggest you visit Children Inc's website and sign up for a sponsorship.

For less than a can of Coca Cola (1 US Dollar) per day, you can put a child through school and change a life!

Here's an excerpt from Children Inc's website:

At Children Inc., you can sponsor a child for as little as $28 a month, but there are other ways to support our mission. Sponsoring individual children here in the US or overseas is the preferred method. Sponsors make a direct impact in the lives of children and find the experience rewarding, enjoying thank you letters and photos from the children. Others choose to donate directly to our US or overseas programs. You can also help by visiting some of our partner websites. By contributing to these funds or visiting the websites listed, you can give even more children the gift of hope.

Make sure you visit:

http://www.children-inc.org/

Thank you Frieda!

Looking at my blog about Cyd's injury and various hospital visits, I realise that I have omitted one important fact: Frieda's unwavering support. She cancelled her private appointments Sunday to help with the children while Wolfgang brought Cyd to various hospital emergency rooms. And she also helped throughout the week around the clock. Here's a big and loud THANK YOU FRIEDA!