Tag Archives: new appliances

Hessen, Purchases

What a difference a new mattress makes!

After I did my blog writing yesterday, I was sitting in my steamy office pouring sweat, rather impatiently waiting for our new mattress and air conditioner to be delivered in two different shipments. I had moved the old air conditioner to the bedroom, until the new one got to us. I have since moved that AC back into the office, so my sweaty days are over, for now.

The mattress arrived first. I had already completely stripped the bed by 1:00 PM, when the two guys arrived with our new bedding. We were expecting to have to schlep it up the stairs, but the delivery guys kindly did that for us.

Once the new mattress arrived, Bill and I wrangled the old mattress off the bed, cursing the fact that, for some reason, it didn’t have handles on the sides. We pushed the old mattress into the hallway, and then while Bill unwrapped the new one from its plastic, I vacuumed up all of the dust, dirt, hair, and trash that was under the bed since we moved in back in 2018. It was pretty gross, though not quite as gross as it was when we moved out of Jettingen in late 2018.

We put the new mattress on the bed, and worked up a sweat putting the cover, foam topper, and feather bed on it, then the sheets and duvets. I sat down on it and was immediately impressed by how much better the new mattress is. For one thing, there’s no “hill” in the middle of it! We do have the old box springs, but that’s okay for now. We’ll check back again to see if they get any in at AAFES so we can replace those, too.

About an hour later, the new AC showed up. We did have to haul that upstairs, and it wasn’t easy. But, we managed to get it into our bedroom, and Bill set it up quickly. It’s much quieter than our old one, and does a good job keeping the room cool while we sleep.

This morning, Bill was noticeably well rested and in a good mood. It occurred to me that once you get to our ages, things like mattress replacement should be a priority. Good rest is essential for good health, and better work. I did wake up a time or two last night, but I don’t think it had more to do with the mattress than my need to pee.

The new air conditioner is a bit more compact than its predecessor and came with a remote control that works well. I think the other AC also had a remote, but we bought it as a floor model at a Media Markt in Nagold. So this new machine is a step up, and well worth the money. I’m too old and crotchety to wake up hot and sweaty… and given that menopause is upon me, it’s even more important to have an AC. I know the AC will probably be tucked away for the winter a month from now, but to me, the money to be comfortable for the last few weeks of summer was very well spent.

The air conditioner came from Amazon.de. I’d rather not give Bezos money, but sometimes, the logistics are just easier with Amazon. This was one of those occasions. I had to give the driver a six digit code to accept this shipment. I guess they’ve had problems with people taking stuff that isn’t theirs. I didn’t have to give anyone a code when we got our new washer and dryer in 2023.

Now, it’s time to do something about my OLD Mini Cooper, which is long overdue for retirement. Stay tuned for that update.

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Arran’s chemo #8

I don’t have a lot to write about Arran’s chemo treatment yesterday. It basically went off without incident. The only thing unusual was that our landlord had to come over with a repair guy, because the dishwasher isn’t working properly. The appointment he made was at 5:00, which was also when Arran’s chemo treatment was. Bill is pretty much the only one working at the office this week, so he couldn’t come home early. I had visions of Noyzi being home alone and panicking… the memories of that other dog we tried to rescue escaping is still fresh in my mind, even though that was almost three years ago.

So, before I took off for the vet’s, I put Noyzi in his “room”, and shut the door. He wasn’t happy about it and did some whining. But I knew he would be in there for less than an hour, since I knew Bill would be home before I got back from the vet’s office. As it turned out, Bill and I passed each other as I was heading out, and he was heading toward home. Noyzi was “locked up” for maybe ten minutes.

There was an adorable bulldog at the vet’s office last night, who kept dancing around making little shrieking noises. I like all dogs, although I’ve never been particularly attracted to the snub nosed dogs. That dog was pretty cute, though. Once he left, a lady with a very pretty boxer came in. I got the sense that the boxer didn’t like female dogs, because she had no issue with Arran, but was growling at another female dog– looked like a collie or something akin to it. Arran got most of his chemo in the waiting room, and he made no protest whatsoever, except I had to drag him into the exam room.

Next week, our chemo regime changes. Arran doesn’t have to go to the vet’s office for his IV drug infusion for the first time since October. Instead, he’ll just get pills, and more often. The week of Christmas, he’ll be back for another infusion. He’s still doing very well, in terms of his quality of life. He has a lot of energy… or a lot for a dog his age. Walks are still a must. In fact, the other day, he ruined a duvet because I was washing the sheets and he made a bed on the duvet, which I had put on the floor. I guess he forgot himself and peed all over it. I didn’t walk him the day before, so he had a couple of accidents. It gave me an excuse to buy a new duvet and cover, which I’d been wanting to do, anyway. In fact, I ended up buying two duvets.

Arran still loves to eat, and will jump and dance for his food. Last night, after he saw the vet, he demanded a treat from her. Then, after his chemo treatment, he wanted another one. And his face was all bright and adoring when we got home, and Bill was there to welcome us. He looks kind of timid and sad when we’re at the vet’s office, but the rest of the time, he’s mostly his old self. I still don’t know how long he’s got, but he’s definitely giving life his all. I still think getting chemo for him was a good decision, even though I know the results are temporary. This time with Arran is precious, and we know to enjoy it as much as we can.

The landlord and the repair guy were only here for a short while. The verdict is, we need a new dishwasher. The landlord didn’t even bat an eye about it. The one we’ve been using is about twelve years old, and somehow the hose wasn’t draining properly. Apparently, there was a lot of standing water under the machine. The landlord casually said he’d ordered a new dishwasher, and it will get to us sometime next week. I hope the next thing he replaces is the refrigerator. It’s definitely high time. He also told Bill that the vet who owns the practice where we take our dogs is actually one of our neighbors. His property is adjacent to our landlord’s backyard.

Once again, I’m shocked by the difference between him and our ex landlady. It’s night and day… Ex landlady would have blamed me for this development, even though all I’ve been doing is using the dishwasher the way I always have. In fact, Bill messes with it more than I do. I just put dishes in it.

Anyway, so ends this week’s chemo report. I’ll be home alone next week, so it’s good that the regime is changing.

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How we spent our Sunday… Bill plays with his new toys!

A few months ago, Bill told me that for Christmas, he wanted an Anova Precision Cooker.  He’d seen it advertised on Facebook and thought it looked “cool”.  A friend of mine in California bought one and was raving about it, so I ordered one.  I hoped it would arrive in time for Christmas, but it only got to us a couple of weeks ago.  Anova Culinary won’t ship to APO and I didn’t want to have it sent to my German address because I feared the duties I’d end up paying.  And then, it appeared that they had a backlog of orders, so although I ordered it in November, it didn’t get to my mother in law until December 23.  She sent it to our APO box, but I guess it got put on the slow boat.

We bought the version that is 220 volts because we may be in Germany for awhile.  You can also get a 110 volt version.  I believe there are a few accessories one can buy for this gadget, too.

Anyway, Bill decided he wanted to try his new toy yesterday, so he bought a duck breast and used the Anova Precision Cooker to prepare it.  I made a video of the experience, which some readers might find interesting.  The duck breast turned out great, although the process of cooking it took a few hours.  I think it’s cool that this gadget runs off your phone or an iPad.  Check it out!

You can use this thing to cook all kinds of meats…  Bill is having fun learning how this new (for him) way of cooking.

 

Besides cooking duck breast, Bill also brewed his first batch of beer since we moved back to Germany in 2014.  When we lived here the first time, from 2007-09, we were under the impression that homebrewing was illegal.  But then from 2009-11, we lived in Fayetteville, Georgia for about 18 months, and Bill got hooked up with a great homebrewing guru who had a store.  He learned the basics of brewing there and then continued his hobby until we moved back to Germany.  Because he thought homebrewing was still illegal, he left his equipment in the States.  He has since purchased new equipment from Austin Homebrew Supply.  Although shipping costs were a bitch, the stuff made it to our APO box with no problem.

So I made another video of Bill as he brews beer.  It’s about fifteen minutes, but it covers the first steps in making beer.  I’ll make another video in a week when the brew has had some time to ferment and we move to the second step.

Bill makes beer!

I should mention that I filmed all of this on a new camera I bought last week.  My filmmaking skills are still developing, but I think Bill did a good job!

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Nagold

Another lunch at Luz Bistro and a trip to Media Markt…

ETA in 2025: Luz Bistro is now closed.

Our microwave gave up the ghost a few days ago.  We have no idea how old it is; we bought it from the people who lived in our house before us.  It was a basic model though, probably readily accessible at AAFES.  I use the microwave a lot during the week when I heat up leftovers for lunch, so it was a real bummer that the thing died on us.

Fortunately, we recently discovered that the nearby town of Nagold has a Media Markt.  Media Markt is basically like a European version of Best Buy.  Rather than trying to fix our used microwave, we decided to buy a new one.  An added bonus is that Nagold is one of our favorite little towns and boasts some nice restaurants, including Luz Bistro at the Alte Post.

I have blogged about Luz Bistro several times.  We’ve been there probably half a dozen times and we’ve never been disappointed with the food or the service.  I also like it because it’s rarely crowded, probably because the food isn’t cheap.  Although Luz Bistro doesn’t offer cheap eats, I have never felt we paid more than we should have.

Nagold was busy today because the market was going on.  I was a little sorry we didn’t make time to pick up some fresh goodies.  Maybe next weekend we’ll go.

We arrived at Luz at a little bit past noon.  A very charming and delightful waitress greeted us and invited us to sit where we wanted.  We selected a two top near the window, which seems to be where we always end up sitting when we’re not outside on the terrace.  When the waitress discovered we were English speakers, she offered us menus in English.  We told her German menus were fine.  The truth is, I probably ought to take the English menus more often!  However, I did manage to pick a great lunch today, despite having to clarify that I was ordering fish and not something I wouldn’t like.

Bill and I decided to have beer today instead of our usual wine…  

My lunch was delicious!  It was skrei, which is a lovely mild white fish from Norway.  It reminds me a bit of turbot or flounder.  The chef paired it with sinfully buttery mashed potatoes, foam, and topped with greens and scallions.  I really enjoyed it, although I had to cry uncle on the mashed potatoes.  They were so good, but a bit rich. 

Bill went with bratwurst and potato salad, accompanied by mustard.  He liked his lunch, too.  He said it reminded him of the wurst he enjoyed in Bavaria during his first Germany tour in the 1980s (before my time, obviously).  He couldn’t finish the potato salad.

For dessert, Bill had espresso.

I had “a bowl full of chocolate”.  Seriously, that’s what it was called in the menu.  It was basically very cold chocolate mousse and whipped cream served in what looked like a mixing bowl.  The whipped cream dollops had little madeleines on them.  The dessert was very light, which I appreciated.

 

After we finished lunch, we made reservations to eat at the Alte Post’s formal restaurant for next weekend.  As nice as Luz Bistro is, the Alte Post also has a more formal eatery which offers up to seven courses.  I look forward to returning and reporting after we try it.  It will be our first time.

Then, after we made reservations for next week’s Saturday dinner, we went to the Bauhaus/Media Markt in Nagold.  We lived here for over a year before we knew it existed!  But this shopping area actually has a lot of stores, including an Aldi, Deichmann’s, and a Kaufland, as well as a McDonald’s.

After searching briefly, we found the microwaves and ended up coming home with one that is a combination convection oven and grill.  I’m hoping I like it.  It’s bound to be a step up from our basic microwave that just bit the dust.  Bill is also going to try out his new toy, the Anova Precision Cooker.  I got it for him for Christmas, but it only just arrived.  And tomorrow, he will be brewing beer for the first time since we left Texas.  Should be a happy time!

This place was a madhouse today!

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