Germany Aug 2012, pt. I - Eurobike

Some pix taken during my late August trip to southern Germany. Part I, the Eurobike trade show:

Sweet Ford Modeo Estate diesel rental car. Solid, roomy, torquey and great brakes and tires...

 ...I had it maxed out at 221 km/h (≈137MPH) on an open, downhill, unrestricted stretch of the Autobahn.

Since the Eurobike trade show is in the relatively small city of Friedrichshafen, lodging accommodations can tend to be "creative" at times. This year a group of us stayed at a Catholic academy:

 Dorm style:

 My thoughts exactly:

Weingarten in the morning:

 Weingarten street art:

 ???:

 Covered roadway between Weingarten and Friedrichshafen:

 Snack #1

 Part of Electra's 80 meter long Eurobike stand:

Anodized 3D violet makes a nostalgic appearance. I bought one of these headsets for my friend who owns the wonderful Velo Hangar shop in Solana Beach:

BOO!

Show-going pooch:

Don P and Thor "The God Of Thunder" Hushovd:

Snack #2:

 Interesting wine-carrying rack on a Schwinn:

 German-style marketing, paint-on jerseys:

Sweet lighting:

Snack three, salty-sweet licorice fish from northern Germany (Hamburg): 

 One of many, repeated texts that kept coming through over multiple nights as I tried to sleep:

Sorry, no Don Jose here. Now beat it.

Another Mouth To Feed

Allison had been talking about getting a second Labrador for the past few months. My standard response has always been “but you already have one”. But since I have multiple bikes (and a couple of under-used cars for that matter), I didn’t have much ground to stand on. So from the Labrador Rescuers (the same agency we got Juno from three years ago) comes Boomer.

 

A seven year-old, well-trained and overweight male. His previous owners abandoned him on USMC Camp Pendleton a few weeks ago. They had called the on-base animal shelter to surrender a seven year-old black Lab, but the shelter was full. He was found later the same night, wandering about on an airstrip. Thankfully a base fire chief is also a volunteer for the Lab Rescuers, he picked “Boomer” up and brought him home.

 Fast forward a few weeks and he’s now with us. At 105 lbs., he’s still a good 15-20 lbs. overweight, but with some activity, he should be in better shape within a few months. He’s very well-mannered and gets along just fine with Juno. We’ll see how he is in the long run, and if his “true” personality comes out like Juno’s did after a few months.

More Taipei

More Taipei randomness from some time spent out on the streets.

Some street doggies:

 (first time I've seen a Labrador retriever in Taiwan)

 Some Engrish:

 Angry onion:

 Hog:

Grocery store goodies:

 

 

 Seafood, Japanese-style oatmeal

Night Market treats:

Night market shirts with Engrish:

Actually

Vintage

Brilliant

Solutely

Superb

(actually French-ish)

1960 VW American

Minibus

Volkswagen

Germany's Volkswagen used its Czech

Subsidiary Skoda to start 

Full of dueaors

And full of Hopeb

I'm not even going to attempt this one.

Linsanity is on full display in the island nation.

A friend bought this for his son. Cost = NT$100 (about US $3.20)

Vintage Sneakers

Have I forgotten something?

new sneakers from my beloved

These Shoes Seen Everything

Here I Go Again On My Own, Going Down The Only Road I've

Only Road I've Ever Know, Like A Drifter I Was Born To Walk

Alone*

*the last three lines were poorly ripped from a horrible hit from the horrible band Whitesnake

Funnys Smiker on the subway

Homies For Life

(I've been called "Homie" or "Holmsey" by some for a large part of my life)

Dumpling man from the excellent Din Tai Fung dumpling restaurant.

Giant luumber ball (about 8' tall), in the Grand Hyatt Taipei lobby

One view of a grey Taipei from the rooftop garden of the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall:

And another:

Taipei 101:

Distracted cabbie (GPS, dash cam, dash TV):

Beware of aggressive blue crabs in this elevator:

This waitress' English name was "Doggy":

 Dolce & Garbana?

Year of the Dragon: