Regarding one of ALLBELIEF'S Bahai moderators
- From: NUR <wahidazal66@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:37:35 -0800 (PST)
http://wh44x.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
Bill's Corner
Links
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* TED: Ideas worth spreading
* Possummomma (aka, Atheist in a mini van)
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Followers
Blog Archive
* ► 2010 (2)
* ▼ 2009 (20)
o ▼ August (1)
+ It's been rather a while: I passed my yellow
belt ...
o ► June (3)
o ► May (1)
o ► April (6)
o ► March (1)
o ► February (1)
o ► January (7)
* ► 2008 (8)
About Me
WH44
I am a member of the Baha'i Faith, married since 1983, one
daughter born in 1987. I speak English, German & Esperanto. I am
actively learning Farsi & Chinese, and am interested in many others.
View my complete profile
MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2009
It's been rather a while: I passed my yellow belt test. I've been to
the U.S. with my daughter. My intern is progressing well. I'm
currently planning on moving out of my office into a home office by
the end of October, so I can rent the apartment to my recently married
friend.
At the yellow belt test: I flubbed things a bit - I had a terrible
time remembering the correct start for various things I was supposed
to demonstrate. I'm not used to that - I never have test-angst for
academic tests, but somehow it was a problem here. I passed anyway,
but I'm going to need to work on this.
In the U.S.: We had a blast at the big family reunion, where I had
very restricted communication access (no cell phone coverage, no
phones or WiFi in the cabins) - I played a lot of guitar, practiced
martial arts with my sister and my black belt cousin, went swimming,
had some really good food, and generally hung out with people and had
a good time. After that I visited my brother and his family. Finally I
visited my Sister-in-Law and drove a few hours with her and her son to
see Thomas the Tank Engine, life size. I got to go swimming again
while I was at it. We also visited the "Goats on the Roof" Cafe.
Posted by wh44 at 2:50 PM 1 comments
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009
DW is in Macedonia
Well, my DW is off to Macedonia for a week. I drove her and a friend
to a third friend's place about an hour away this afternoon, and
they're all in Macedonia now (at least I presume they are - I haven't
heard from her yet). They're "travel teaching", mostly meaning that
they're giving talks about Baha'i at gatherings and inviting people to
such gatherings.
DW bought a small book on the Macedonian language - sort of a "phrase-
book plus" - they used to be called "globetrotters", but now they're
called something else - I forget what. Unfortunately they're only
available in German - they're really good for getting a quick handle
on a language.
Posted by wh44 at 4:25 PM 0 comments
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
Update
A friend of mine just got married in Armenia. :-) It was only a church
wedding: there were problems with the paperwork, and he's going to
have to get an extra registrar's wedding here in Germany.
I've been practicing guitar a lot: I've buffed up a lot of old things,
and learned a few new, like "When I'm 64" and "El Condor Pasa". E.
wants to do "Hey there, Delilah" and "1 2 3 4" by the "plain white
t's", both of which I'm progressing on.
E. is a teacher, and she's also interested the People's Theater and
Stop and Act, so I've arranged for N., who did People's Theater for
her year of service, to meet her at our Friday evening event (prayers/
singing/story telling).
Oh, and my company has started doing "Kurzarbeit" (short work),
meaning I should be working less. It's complicated, and has just
started, so I'm not going to try and explain it here.
Posted by wh44 at 6:54 AM 0 comments
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2009
Random Late Update
There's no special reason to update now, just I haven't in a long
time. I've been practicing guitar a lot, slacking off on Farsi and
Chinese, making steady progress in Jiu Jitsu. I've got a new laptop
for work - not at my request, but still cool - I still haven't "broken
it in" - I'm still using my old laptop for most things.
I've not been getting enough sleep (so what else is new).
A friend of mine is off in Armenia getting married (hopefully). It
kind of depends on some paperwork I sent to him by mail, which is
taking its sweet time getting there, despite being sent express.
Twice.
My praktikant has been making good progress, though he would like
things to be more hardware oriented, and I don't have that much
hardware stuff for him to do.
I've reserved tickets for K. and myself to go to the States in July -
DW is not going this year. Instead she's off to Macedonia later this
month on a Baha'i Teaching Trip with a couple friends of ours.
Posted by wh44 at 3:22 PM 0 comments
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2009
Fun with Sensei and May Day
This past Thursday at Jiu Jitsu we got to play with rope (hojo?),
tying each other up and hitting each other with them. :-)
Afterwards, I broke out the guitar, and Sensei, his GF, DW and I sang
songs until past 11:00 pm. Much fun! :-)
Generally I've been steadily improving at guitar playing. I'm thinking
of trying to create a video and post it on youtube - as much for
learning how to post on youtube as anything else.
My Farsi has been noticeably improving, although my Farsi teacher is
going on vacation in a little over a week, so it may slide again.
Our Friday evenings now have a set of regulars. I'm really happy with
them, despite some difficulties. This Friday evening was also May Day.
Posted by wh44 at 5:19 PM 0 comments
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009
Update
It's near two weeks since I last posted. I need to post more often.
I now have a 'praktikant' at work (whatever that is in English). He's
not been able to really help yet, but he's been learning what I've
been teaching him very quickly.
Our Friday night event is still going strong. I'm still going to Jiu
Jitsu. Ruhi course, book 1, started up again this past Tuesday - DW
and I are the tutors.
My participation at allbeliefs.com has been suffering a bit, as full
time job, practicing guitar and studying the Writings have been
filling my free time.
I'm generally feeling pretty good about life, though I think I need to
slow down a bit somehow.
Posted by wh44 at 4:00 PM 0 comments
MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009
Watchmen & Stuff
Well, DW did want to go to Watchmen after all. It was in German, of
course. I think they did a good job of it. They changed the story a
bit, but not in any way that I felt detracted from it. Warning: it is
rather gory in parts. In general, I enjoyed it and DW thought it was
an "OK" movie. :-)
I've been getting on a late night schedule, which is not really good,
considering my praktikant starts tomorrow at 9:00 am sharp. I think
this may be related to my difficulties with hay fever, which are
ongoing - generally there seems to be less pollen at night, and I
don't feel so great in the morning.
I've been continuing to practice guitar a lot - I've decided to at
least get the basics down of every song in my basic German guitar
book. A fairly big project.
Posted by wh44 at 1:05 PM 0 comments
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2009
Friday Event and Grilling
Busy, busy, busy! We've been "this close" to a release of the new
software for weeks now. I made a final fix and checked it in late last
night (Friday evening / Saturday morning), even though Friday and
Monday are official holidays here in Germany.
Thursday was Jiu Jitsu as usual - very few people. Most of the
regulars seem to be on vacation. Our Sensei asked me to show a
technique from our retreat that we don't normally do - kind of
embarrassing, because I didn't remember the new stuff very well -
there was a *lot* of new stuff.
Our Friday evening event was very successful, with 7 people, lots of
singing and guitar playing and interesting discussion, even though our
daughter K. is off in Austria skiing with friends (Thursday through
Sunday). I'm really happy that DW started this! :-)
Today we went to A.'s and grilled with her and her kids and R. It was
lots of fun, and I played some guitar, too. We spent from about 1:00
pm until 6:00 pm there.
Now that the weather is so nice, my hay fever is beginning to kick in.
I noticed it some last night, but after grilling it seems to have
really kicked in. Perhaps somewhat provoked by my having an espresso -
caffeine and sugar seem to provoke the hay fever.
I kind of want to go to the movie theater, but the only thing
interesting is "The Watchmen", and it's only 10:45 pm, in German, and
nobody seems to want to go with me. So, I guess I'll hope it's still
being shown somewhere in the U.S. this Summer when I go - this is one
I do want to see on the big screen, preferably in English.
Posted by wh44 at 10:41 AM 0 comments
SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2009
Jiu Jitsu Training & Friends in Kassel
The Jiu Jitsu training went well. There were more about 50 people
there, and about 20 black belts. There were nearly a dozen trainers. I
felt seriously low-level with my mere white-yellow belt, although
there were 4 white-belts there. I think I learned a good bit - though
there really was too much for me to absorb half of it.
Afterward there was a grill party with meat and bread. No salad, not
even potato salad, no fries, no veggies. About a pound of meat per
person. Oh, and six cases of beer - although there was water and cola
for those who didn't want alcohol for whatever reason.
Today I spent the day visiting friends who live near Kassel. DW and K.
and I all went. We spent a lot of time playing guitar and singing, and
all had a good time.
Posted by wh44 at 3:54 PM 0 comments
FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009
Miscellany
I haven't got any one special thing to report today. Life is going
pretty well. :-)
I've been waking up early and doing dishes and other useful stuff in
the morning, before DW is awake. It feels good. I get tired earlier in
the evening, of course.
Jiu Jitsu went well yesterday. Today's Friday Evening Event went well,
although only three people showed, and K. was off at a house-warming
party for her best friend. We sang a lot, heard a story, said a few
prayers.
Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm going to a short Jiu Jitsu retreat, with a
grill-party afterward. Sunday we're off to visit a friend and his
family in Kassel that we haven't seen in ages.
That's all for now.
Posted by wh44 at 1:57 PM 0 comments
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009
Postage
I really have to post more - it won't help my writing much if I only
write once every few weeks.
My DW has instigated a regular Friday evening event (with my and K.'s
support), and I'm very happy with it! It is a prayer/sing-a-long/story-
telling meeting. Our first event was last Friday, and it was great
fun! :-)
Since last time:
- I went to Stuttgart Wednesday last week
- I've been to Jiu Jitsu regularly, though I missed once - I was
overtired the day after Stuttgart.
- I've been mostly staying to a semi-normal schedule, getting up most
mornings before 9:00.
- Last time at Jiu Jitsu, I seem to have irritated my previously hurt
toe - it swelled up and turned red, but it seems to have recovered
quickly and I will be going to Jiu Jitsu again today.
- I am restarting my Farsi lessons.
Posted by wh44 at 11:14 PM 0 comments
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009
Happy Belated Naw Ruz
It's been forever since I last posted. The fast is over - it went
really well. I got up in time for breakfast everyday and we had
prayers after breakfast every day. For our anniversary, on the 19th,
we went out to dinner (a Mexican restaurant) and a movie ("Slumdog
Millionaire"). On Naw Ruz evening (March 20) itself, DW invited over a
friend for dinner (non-Baha'i). On the 21st we went to a Baha'i
friend's Naw Ruz party. DW kind of flipped out in the morning, because
she was really tired (I, unfortunately, woke her up in the early
morning hours and she couldn't get back to sleep), and because
*everyone* she invited canceled at the last minute. Fortunately, it
was still fun with the few of us, and DW felt much better after. I
played guitar while everyone sang songs from the "Musical Fireside" (I
practiced a lot). Our daughter K. went to a parallel Naw Ruz party,
with mostly young people, and also had fun. My toe is finally (mostly)
recovered and I've been back to Jiu Jitsu three times now. Work has
been hefty - I'm implementing SSL/TLS for our product.
Posted by wh44 at 7:26 AM 0 comments
Labels: Anniversary, fast, guitar, injury, Jiu Jitsu, Naw Ruz
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009
25 Random Things About Me
This is copied from my facebook account:
1. I hate chain letters, pyramid schemes and such
2. but I like memes
3. Which is why I'm breaking the rule on this meme and not tagging
anyone (you're supposed to tag 25 people).
4. I play guitar
5. I speak German fluently
6. I speak Esperanto good enough to communicate.
7. I'm actively learning Chinese on my own (ni hao!) using a book I
bought in Shanghai.
8. I'm semi-actively learning Farsi (Persian) - I have a teacher
9. I've learned a bit (minimum: alphabet, numbers) about a lot of
languages, including Ukrainian, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek,
Latin, French, Spanish, ...
10. I started learning these languages before seeing an article, where
scientists say that learning a new language when you are older adds
about 2 years to your life. :-)
11. I have a tendency to stay up way too late - this tends to reduce
life expectancy.
12. I write programs I want in my non-existent spare time
13. Though I read a lot, I am not a fast reader.
14. I currently have no TV, and haven't had one for most of my life.
It's a choice.
15. I call family (in the U.S.) pretty much every Sunday, sometimes
talking for hours.
16. I am taking Jiu Jitsu (yellow/white belt) - except my health keeps
getting in the way (currently nursing a probable broken toe)
17. I found out it can be fun to read and give constructive criticism
to beginning authors, like my sister.
18. My office is pretty much the messiest place I know right now (I
can see several defunct computers, monitors and printers right now)
19. I once wrote an astrology program and a numerology program, though
I do not believe in either (I got paid for it).
20. I don't really believe in Tarot either, but I do readings, and
they tend to be frighteningly accurate. :-(
21. I used to drink way too much beer in college - until I stopped
drinking altogether.
22. I almost always carry a pen in my shirt collar (you can see the
clip under my beard in my profile photo)
23. I carry my watch on my right hand, even though I'm right handed.
24. I wear my wedding ring on my right hand - a German tradition that
most Germans don't follow any more: most wear it left like they see in
American movies now.
25. I have two copies of a water color painting of the river and city
where I live, one hanging in my office, one at home, painted by a good
friend I haven't seen in a over a decade.
Posted by wh44 at 1:36 AM 2 comments
Labels: memage
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2009
Photo Meme
PerpetualBeginner tagged me!
Rules are as follows:
1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store
your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.
3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with
the picture.
4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing
and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you
chose them.
I am not going to comply entirely:
- My sixth folder has one single picture in it
- Aside from having an aversion to chain-letter like schemes, I don't
know 6 bloggers.
I am also not going to show the one picture in folder 6, though I will
describe it: it is a picture of a cute little girl and her two middle-
aged temporary foster parents sitting at a table. It was taken on the
25th of May, 2007. This is the little girl that the German foster
agency was planning on having us parent for permanent foster care.
That is, until a doctor said she needed to be institutionalized.
Putting up the photo would likely break a German privacy law or two,
so I won't.
This picture is the sixth picture from my seventh folder. It was taken
on the 10th of June, 2007. We were visiting my sister,
PerpetualBeginner, and her family during our Summer vacation. We all
went out to a local reservoir, where we had great fun hunting for
fossils and skipping stones. This was an attempt to photograph a fish.
If I recall correctly, the fish is actually in the photo, but I
certainly can't find it now.
Posted by wh44 at 5:44 AM 1 comments
Labels: memage, perpetualbeginner, photo, reservoir
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009
Injury and a Book
Well, I managed to injure, possibly break my little toe on my left
foot during Jiu Jitsu on Thursday. I don't even know how or when
exactly - just at the end of class I noticed my toe was hurting and
progressively worse. It was probably my own fault: I was tired and was
making all kinds of mistakes. The toe looks to be straight - I even
pulled on the end a little to be sure it was straight, but the whole
side of my foot is discolored. Yesterday it was purple and green, this
afternoon when I got up (yes, I went to bed rather late) it looked
almost normal, but now after moving around a bit the discoloration has
increased again, so I'm taking it easy, with my foot up while I surf
and do stuff online.
Part of that "moving around" today was visiting some friends of ours:
A. and her daughters M. (5) and L. (3). M. wrote a book, which she
proudly showed us, about Jesus Christ, and Peter Pan, and Ariel and
Melody, and Pirates, complete with pictures. After showing it to us,
she said we should take it to the bookstore, so we could sell it. :-)
Posted by wh44 at 3:03 PM 2 comments
Labels: books, injury
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2009
Inauguration Day
Generally a very happy day! :-)
Today we started Ruhi Class 1. K. and I are the co-tutors. Though not
everyone showed, I'm very happy with our start. K. is sick, a cough,
sore throat and running a slight fever, so I did most of the leading.
Her being sick was also the excuse for two of the no-shows - getting
sick is no joke when you're over 70.
Of course, today our latest president was inaugurated. Things are
looking very bad economically, and I think we really need a smart and
inspiring president to lead us out of it: half the battle is getting
people motivated.
I finally ordered some new glasses - my old glasses are pretty damaged
and keep falling off my nose. Decent glasses are expensive!
Oh, and K.'s power supply is on the fritz again - I need to resolder
the connector, which is really difficult because the plastic bits melt
before the solder does. I may end up ruining the connector. Why do
they make such stupid connectors?!
Posted by wh44 at 3:56 PM 0 comments
MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2009
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