Ooga booga umblegumble

Helloodle! Wow, stuff's been going on while I was away! First, we ("you, me, them... everybody, everybody!") have a new contributor, the fantabulous Beckstar, who has quietly picked up the baton and put in a formidable debut performance. Welcome aboard! Then, I've generally been having a whale of a time this last week, which has been a very welcome change from the sort of semi-lethargic unease I've been under recently. Highlights of the week included (in no particular order):

• a full day spent teaching Business English to one of my oldest friends from back home. What blew me away is how much I enjoyed teaching again - couldn't say I've missed it much since I quit last year, so the shock was a pleasant one. Way hay for prepositions and irregular verbforms...

• A very pleasurable excursion to Mannheim to see an exhibition on space travel and aerospace technology (a pet subject of mine) at the Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit. Went there with bass playing friend Joachim and his girlfriend Svenja. I'm hoping to have some pictures to show from the day soon, as Joe had his brandnew digital camera along with him and snapped away merrily until a security guard told him off...

• Finally, a gruelling but worthwhile all-day bicycle tour around Tübingen and the Schönbuch with René, my faithful bro' in arms (like me, he's been places and done things before deciding he wants to be a pastor) was an absolute tonic to my mental and physical diet. I have to admit I wasn't too excited at the idea when crawling out of bed Thursday morning, but the ride itself turned out to be excellent in so many ways that I'm profoundly endebted to my energetic friend and his initiative. Not only did we see some truly beautiful landscape, but we also had great conversation and really enjoyed each other's company (well, at least I did). Best of all, though, has been the tangible aftermath of a whole day's physical exertion and exposure to the elements. I don't remember the last time I've felt as tingly and full of energy as I do right now. Plus, my self-confidence and positive self-awareness have just skyrocketed! No, I've not been feeling particularly good about myself recently, I guess. I'd been wanting to lose weight and get back in shape, but haven't really mustered the initiative, and my morale has suffered accordingly. All this is about to change, I hope. Provided the weather doesn't become quite as horrible as they're forecasting right now, that is. Forecastfox is saying there's to be snow again next week - eeeughh!! I may really have to go pick up that treadmill and start working out indoors... Anyway, having rediscovered the joys of physical exercise is brilliant - I feel all bubbly and vibrant and even a bit attractive again. Yay!

So, yeah, all that's pretty good and I thought I should let you know. What's not good is that some sort of password entry window pops up everytime I load this, my blog's homepage, into Firefox. Not sure what's going on here - has it happened to you, too, dear readers? If so, please let me know - maybe some sort of leechy software has attached itself to the URL and needs combatting? I eagerly await your feedback, possums... And with that, cheerio for now! Be safe, y'alls