Tag Archives: schwag

German politics

Political Schwag that is sooo German!

Bill got home last night. He and Arran had a joyous reunion. Both of them cried… Arran cried with joy when he sniffed Bill and realized his favorite person was home, and Bill cried with relief having survived three weeks of TDY. He had a challenging three weeks. Don’t get me wrong– he was in the Army for 30 years and has endured all kinds of stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s not stressful for him and for us.

I don’t tend to pay a lot of attention to the stuff in our mailbox or on our doorstep, unless it’s something that looks important. Just before the recent elections, someone left a little bag of political schwag for us, not knowing that, alas, we aren’t locals. Bill finally looked in the bag this morning and was very amused. Behold…

  • The Christian Democratic Union party is all about enjoying and promoting life…
  • They gave us a bottle opener for our beer…
  • And a little packet of wildflower seeds!

I’m delighted by the seeds, especially. Our poor backyard has really suffered over the wet winter months and Noyzi’s insistence on running back and forth like a crazed shepherd. I like to plant flowers and spruce things up, and since the “lockdown” has sort of lifted a teeny bit– Germans can get haircuts, buy books, and visit the garden section of their hardware store– this seems like an especially appropriate gift to voters. Who doesn’t love flowers? Except for those of us with allergies. In any case, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an American politician give out flower seeds or bottle openers as a means of bolstering political support. I think it’s cool… and very GERMAN.

Although yesterday’s bipolar weather might cause us to put off gardening for a week or so.

As you can see by the featured photo, our village’s Easter decorations are up. It makes things look a little more normal, at least, even though the COVID-19 restrictions continue. What a bummer… but at least Bill is finally home again. I have missed him, and this morning, when I felt his hand on my shoulder, I realized how much I have missed human contact. I guess this pandemic is teaching me to appreciate some of the small things in life.

A year ago, we tried to adopt a dog and that effort turned into a tragedy. This year, we’re still healthy and reasonably happy. And we have Noyzi, the Kosovar street dog, in our midst. He has really been a great asset to our family and is turning into a really loving and adorable friend. I live for his daily tail wags, goofy smiles, and poop zoomies/crazy dog. I think he was meant to be ours, against all odds. That being said, I hope to hell those vaccines get out soon, so we can go back to a somewhat normal lifestyle and do some traveling again.

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Early birthday present…

These arrived yesterday…

  • Still haven’t tried their beer… but these will get a lot of use!

My birthday is Saturday. Father’s Day is Sunday. Bill has a birthday in July. That’s why I decided to buy expensive Ass Clown Brewing Company insulated travel tumblers.

Ass Clown Brewing Company is located in Cornelius, North Carolina, which I think isn’t too far from Charlotte. I see from the map on their Facebook page that they’re in an area not too far from Interstate 77, which I used to travel somewhat often when I lived in South Carolina. I became aware of their company when Bill and I lived in North Carolina seven or eight years ago, but we were never able to visit their brewery to try any of their beers. I love the name of their company, though, so I followed them on Facebook.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed they were advertising the above tumblers. I asked them if they would ship them to APO. They hadn’t heard of APO, so I had to explain it to them. Those of us affiliated with the military or U.S. government get APO access– meaning we can receive mail at a post office box as if we were still in the USA. That means we can buy stuff on Amazon.com and other sites without having it sent to our German home address. It saves a lot on shipping and duties. Not all U.S. businesses will ship to APO, because it’s a bit of a hassle. The package has to go to the post office and the sender has to fill out customs forms. That’s a pain in the ass.

So I asked the good people at Ass Clown Brewing Company if they were willing to ship to APO. After a somewhat lengthy chat on Facebook messenger, they said they would. I think I ended up paying about $72 for these two tumblers, mainly because they’re large and we had them personalized. We also had to pay sales tax and shipping, of course. But I’m pretty excited by them because they look great, and I love getting new gear from craft breweries. We kind of collect this stuff. The beer cozies and stickers were extra schwag they threw in. I don’t know how often we’ll use these. I prefer drinking beer from glasses or stone mugs. On the other hand, they might make my next road trip more fun.

Now, I kind of wish I’d ordered t-shirts, too. I have a feeling I’m going to need them as the temperatures rise here in Germany. I do still have my two air conditioners that kind of work… I have noticed more places in Germany are installing air conditioning as global warming becomes more of a problem. Twelve years ago, it never got that hot here, but I can remember some truly brutal recent summers. I’m just glad the house we’re in now has rolladens on all of the windows. It’s definitely cooler in this house than it was our last one.

Tomorrow, Bill is taking me away on my birthday getaway. It’s just two nights, and we’re not even leaving Hesse. I kind of don’t want to go… but I kind of do want to go, because I’m tired of being bored. I just dread the hassle. Anyway, I should have a somewhat more exciting blog post when we get back from our little “staycation”. Maybe soon, we can venture down to Stuttgart for a trip to the dentist. God knows, we both need a good cleaning.

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