As I write this, Annette is winging her way across the Atlantic (by the time I post, she may actually be in Paris). Since I don't actually know how the defense went - though we weren't expecting any surprises - I am fully entitled to greet her at the airport with "Dr. Annette, I presume?"

She arrives at three; it is now heading for noon. The rains have stopped and the sun might even attempt an appearance. In a few minutes I'll hop on the U9 and head up to the Markthalle in Moabit to buy some Turkish goo (garlic-eggplant cream and paprika-feta paste) and various other items for a small dinner tonight. Then off to the airport. Perhaps I should buy some flowers, or two plastic glasses and a small bottle of champagne.

Yesterday, I lived the hausfrau lifestyle. (Might as well get used to it.) After a sluggish start I took the laundry over to the pricey "Schnell und Sauber" laundromat (Wäschautomat?) and dealt with that, then some necessary grocery shopping, then a trip down to Karstadt's well-stocked "Zoologischer Abteilung" for cat food and a litter upgrade. Vita didn't much like the first batch of litter we tried, and expressed her displeasure in the most direct and clearly-understood manner: as I watched in horror, she sprayed the wall under the kitchen table. (The new litter seems to have settled the issue.)

At three I snuck out for a quick skate in the Grunewald, taking advantage of unexpectedly dry roads in this unseasonably pleasant weather. It works quite well: a fifteen minute ride to the Huttenweg parking lot (oh how I love these maps) and then two trips up and down the Kronprinzessinnenweg. With the rain's return I probably won't be skating again for a while, nothing but a steady diet of drizzly training rides.

In the late afternoon I strolled down Rheinstraße, into Steglitz. We live close to all manner of good shopping: every conceivable species of food, a great bike shop, some really expensive furniture, and clothes I can't afford. (Everyone has a website here - how quickly things have changed.) In the want versus need category, I lusted after a Boblbee. This is so cool, though I need a 300 DM backpack like I need a hole in the head. I first saw these in a design magazine, but hadn't actually had the chance to admire one in person until now. Very, very cool. I wonder if they're cheaper at home? I still can't stop obsessing over what is and isn't cheaper here. There's no logic to it sometimes.

I spent the rest of the evening at home. A quick burst of effort to clean the place - doesn't take long when it's this empty - because I my domestic pride won't allow me to let Annette return to any sort of mess. European cleaning products smell different than their North American counterparts. It takes you a while to grow accustomed to it. The eco-friendly Germans use a vinegar-based cleaner that smells like nothing else on earth. It works pretty well and presumably doesn't kill frogs or waterfowl, but it does leave a strange odour in the air.

My final act of the evening was to re-install NT again. No crisis, I just wanted to do it into a clean directory to get rid of some crap and problems hanging around from all the testing last week. Trying to un-install Internet Explorer is a treat: all you see is a little window telling you that you have the most current version, and therefore do not need to upgrade. Right.

Weird. Reminds me of the time we chanced upon A Flock of Seagulls playing in front of fifty drunken commodities traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange patio on steamy summer Friday afternoon in 1994.