And Gutenberg Lived Here: Whew!

Its been a busy week here in Gutenberg Land:

Trying to find someone to repair a refrigerator,

when every day for the last week, and this one,

was either a “bridge day” –

ie a lot of people  here in Gutenberg land only work until Friday at 2 PM-

due to the number of hours a worker’s week legally has to contain-

and to be honest, with all the social litigation going on in parliment,

and people now having to work to 67,

or longer,

to get their pensions,

I haven’t got a clue how many hours that is any more-

but

this week, and until next Monday,

if you link all the “bridge days”

with normal holidays,

ie Friday afternoon, Saturday, Sunday, bridge day, Tuesday Reformation day, Wednesday All Saints Day-

also known here as “let’s cross the bridge and all go shopping in Wiesbaden,

since the state of Hessen is Lutheran,

Thursday and Friday morning “bridge day”

Saturday, Sunday,

you have….

a ten-day holiday.

With people all filing into the filled for months trains,

for a late fall vacation in the mountains,

if you are from the flatlands,

or the flatlands,

if you are from the mountains.

Or taking quick short plane hop vacations

to the capitols of other countries in the European Union.

(not so much England any more,

since many travel agencies here have now stopped selling plane and train tickets

or giving out information about

“the big sinner.”

And while the Germans are in Holland,

or Scandinavia,

about half the Dutch have climbed into their campers,

and are filling the autobahn (the fast highway)

on their way to the Hunsruck mountains

to hunt for the gem splinter remains of the jewel trade

that the Hunsrücker toss into the old quarries,

to attract the Dutch.

(Spanish, Italian….fill in the blank)

And, of course, the Germans are in Holland,

some of them trying out the pot shops.

Or in countries-

not so much Turkey this year-

that don’t fight the yearly battle of the Protestants versus the Catholics.

Unless, of course, they are Elfer-

the carnival groups,

who are madly spending each moment trying to get ready for the Carnival season

which starts on Elf- the eleventh of November-

because of the French Revolution,

(Egalite, Liberte, Fraternite)

which the Gutenberger were part of,

ie declared the Gutenberg republic in 1798.

(And got soundly beaten by royal troops,

as reported by war reporter J.W. Goethe-

he who later stopped drinking and started writing Faust.

Or something like that-

It’ s been a while since I studied him)

So here we are,

in Gutenberg land,

a country at the moment filled with Dutch, spanish etc

and the River packed with luxury liners filled with Russians,

and American and British tour groups

with Nordic walking sticks

and large ID tags with a picture of a Viking on them.

And Japanese

on their way to Rothenburg ob der Taube,

and to sing in the Beethoven house in Bonn,

and the rest of us,

the Gutenberger,

are trying desperately to find exotic flavored gummy bears

for the hoards of kids who will travel through the neighborhood tonight

to collect their tribute-

great kids, and a lot of fun, especially when they have learned poems in English,

which sometimes are a bit odd for the situation,

but still,

great kids,

(even if they do have gourmet taste)

And, as I already mentioned, we will stay home today,

hoping against hope

for a refrigerator repairman

to finally get back from Majorca,

and give us a call.

About a refrigerator that sounds like an 1800s freight train

chasing a herd of buffalo down the tracks.

I wonder if they have gourmet gummi bears

at the gas station?

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