#20 Breathless due to the...

... week. At least that's how I felt on some days here, because it got cold again, really cold this time. After a short help from a neighbor, I had a day off on the weekend. But since I really didn't do anything this time, there is nothing exciting to report from that time, except that on Friday evening, I took my absolute favorite picture so far (in the category of stars) with Fathi at a joint fire.

In Germany, there were weather warnings in some places due to possible black ice (I hope you got through it well), we also had a weather warning. However, our reason was not the black ice, but that we could reach temperatures of up to minus 40 degrees, and they did come at us with full force. My phone told me on Monday morning that it was minus 34 degrees, and on the way to breakfast, I thought that such cold and fresh air would certainly feel good and refreshing. I thought this exactly for one breath... the rest of the way I coughed my lungs out. They simply can't handle these temperatures at all. By the way, the thermometer at our place then said that it was minus 42 degrees. Just minus 42 degrees – so crazy. Jenny gave us a day off because of the cold. But you couldn't really do anything because it was just too cold. In the afternoon, I went for a walk for an hour, which was actually possible (even though it feels like you're wearing 10 kilograms of clothes), and I wanted to walk back over the lake, which meant walking on surfaces where no one had walked yet, and that was again a real workout for the legs. The snow is about 30 cm high in some places, and after a while, you're really exhausted. Furthermore, at these cold temperatures, I also tried the experiment with boiling water and it really works.

Knowledge with Samuel:

Most people have probably seen the experiment on the TV show with the mouse, "Wissen macht Ah!" Or Galileo. Boiling water is thrown into the air at very low temperatures (at least 30 degrees below zero) and freezes immediately into ice. This is called the Mpemba effect. It is still not clearly understood to this day. There are various possibilities why the water freezes immediately. Here is a brief explanation:

"It is widely accepted that evaporation is a reason for the behavior of the hotter liquid. When it evaporates, there is less mass left to freeze. In addition, the liquid is further cooled by the evaporation. However, experiments suggest that this cannot be the only cause of the effect. Another reason is probably convection: movement is present in the warm liquid. This not only favors the removal of heat, but also the formation of ice crystals." (Source: https://tdy.es/oTnpq)

In any case, it's a lot of fun. I did the experiment several times right away.

On Tuesday, I offered to work in the house, but Jenny said that we should still take the day off because we would continue building the house 100% on Wednesday. However, she told me that I could burn all the old wood down by the lake. So it was off to the lake (once again) with a beautiful sunset this time, and there I started my fire. This time without newspaper or any other aids (like gasoline), just with wood shavings (+ 1 matchstick), and then it was a matter of constantly feeding the fire until it was big enough.

On Wednesday, of course, we didn't continue building the house because it was still minus 40 degrees, but we were able to work in the house, and the work was: cleaning. That's not a problem, after all, it's warm and dry. However, tidying up such a kitchen takes some time. I finally finished it today (Friday). It's really unbelievable how much accumulates over the years. I needed three trash bags just for the kitchen. Of course, these also had to be taken to the "dump". I'm still shocked by the hole! So on Thursday, it was time to load the truck and go. However, this time I should drive to familiarize myself with the truck. The car has so many settings and buttons and everything... incredible, but the most important setting is and remains the heated steering wheel.

So my hands firmly and permanently gripped the steering wheel and off we went. After a few minutes, Fathi and I suddenly saw a large animal standing on the road, and after we approached with a walking pace, it turned out to be a big coyote. Fortunately, there is not much traffic on the roads here, so I could stop briefly to observe the coyote. Very impressive to see such animals in the wild (!) up close. The car ride went on. It's really an awesome car with a pretty powerful engine, and when you push the gas pedal once – wow, it's really fun.

Today, on Friday, I quickly finished the kitchen before heading back to the construction site. Actually, I was supposed to drive to the city with Dave on Friday to help him load the snowmobile, but so far only one of the two snowmobiles has been repaired, and Dave wanted to wait until we could pick up both of them at the same time, so Dave drove to the city alone today. Jenny, Fathi, and I wanted to start installing the new roof for the one overhang today. Since I was prepared for a trip to the city, I didn't wear my work gloves at the beginning, and then you grab a chipboard the wrong way, and you get a splinter in your finger... it was really difficult to pull it out because it was so big and really deep in my finger. I already rammed one under my fingernail recently... so work gloves are not completely unimportant. :D

You see, there's really not much going on here due to all of my free days. Funny enough, I'm often asked what keeps me busy or what's troubling me. Of course, there are many things I think about and that occupy me, but I certainly won't tell you about them – Ha. But here are my top three that I'd like to share with you.

Top 3: Dart World Championship

I'm a big dart fan and I actually watch all the big matches that you can somehow watch without a paid subscription. The crowning glory is always the Dart World Championship, which you can enjoy at home during Christmas time in front of a fireplace and with a hot tea/mulled wine. This year is the first year that I can't watch the Dart World Championship live. It's so bitter. I only have the summary every evening to watch. Recently, Jenny came in and shouted: Germany! Germany! And then she asked me what kind of world championship I was watching. She couldn't believe it when I said dart. She was really surprised that I, as a young man, am so enthusiastic about darts :D Well, she hears about my enthusiasm every evening now when I watch the summary and get excited.

Top 2: Back

My back must be twice as big now as it was before I came here, otherwise I can't explain this continuous and not really easy muscle soreness in my back. It really hurts, and I hope it will loosen up soon. It can't be tension, because by now I stretch (get ready for it) in the mornings and (!!!) in the evenings. For my standards, that's really a miracle :D However, I try not to be really annoyed about it. I've already tried in Germany not to be so annoyed all the time about things that I can't change anymore (like a broken glass or something). Here, too, there are often situations where I get annoyed, but then I think... will I still be annoyed about this in ten years from now, and most of the time the answer is NO, so why should I spend so much energy on it now just to get upset unnecessarily. However, there is one thing that would still annoy me in ten years.

Top 1: Hard Drive

I lost my hard drive, or rather it is no longer in my possession. Besides private documents and all my digital teaching materials, there is also a folder on this hard drive called "Canada" and it now contains over 10GB of photos. It would be a really big loss for me, also emotionally. So much that I associate with these photos, so many memories and moments. That's why I would still be upset about it in ten years if I couldn't find it again. Maybe a Christmas miracle will happen.

Speaking of Christmas: It's not that time for me yet, but it is Christmas Eve for you now. But first, I wish all students and people working in the school system a relaxing winter vacation! One year ago, I used the vacation to finally prepare for my exam – how time flies. But I wish you a peaceful holiday, just the way you imagine it.

Time to find peace, meet old friends again, chat, celebrate, ...

Samuel