The Way I See It

Jan 5, 2002

Phoenix

Jan 19, 2002

Oops, I Did It Again
Cologne

Cologne Dom, Germany, 515 feet, first sighting And now more personal notes from my personal log: "I’m becoming more isolated at work…I'm not clicking with anyone there. When I try to speak to people I hardly get a response, and I’ve been here over a month now. I think the only person who has befriended me is Criss. There is no warmth from where I am but it seems like everyone else is getting along great. I feel indifference from them. I guess it bothers me more being somewhat isolated over here. Lori whom I knew in 1993-94 very well has hardly said a word to me unless I corner her in her office to talk. She just works 30 feet away. I sent her an email but she never responded...we used to have so much fun at work.
I haven’t spent much time trying to talk to Ronald Doerr, another co-worker from Fairchild...he works across the street. Ron and I were the maniacs of the office at Fairchild (1993-1994) and we fed off each other’s humor constantly. Once the office went to work out together and when we returned Ron sheepishly...said he’d forgotten to bring his uniform top and asked if he could borrow my coat until he was able to get it from home. I said sure…but I asked one thing of him…when Lori came back in the office I wanted him to flash her (he was topless). So he did. One Friday afternoon we all had to stay until after 7 pm and we were laughing so hard no one complained about the overtime…not even the whiners. I’d learned to say everyone’s name backwards and it just escalated from there until we were all laughing so hard we had stomach pains. I emailed Ron last week and asked him where I could dispose of dead bodies and if he knew of anyone in the area who was really good at cleaning upholstery. He responded and told me to shred the body and burn the upholstery. Neither of us has tried to communicate since. I guess I should make an attempt to see him.
(Click on photos with pink borders to see full-size image).

Cologne Dom, Germany, full frontal

Cologne Dom, Germany, full frontal

January 19, 2002 – Koln (Cologne) Germany: I'd signed up and paid for ($79) a trip to Amsterdam and was given a map to show me how to reach the pick-up point for the tour which was supposed to leave at 1:30 am and return at midnight. I hate night departures so I sat up on my bed and wrote "In Your Honor" ...a tribute to my favorite uncle, Bushy as I waited to depart.

I left at 12:40 am even though the lady at the USO told me it would only take 30 minutes to get there. It was a military base called Kleber. I drove around until 2am trying to find the place with no success. I’d had it marked on a map and still I couldn't find it. I know I was no more than a kilometer away most of the time but it was dark and there were no signs. I was upset and tired. I hate starting a trip in the middle of the night.

After a depressing night from missing my trip, I awoke with an unexpected free day! I had the car packed for the Amsterdam trip...I had to go somewhere. I was mentally prepared to visit was Koln (pronounced Cologne) on Monday, so I just moved it up two days. Cologne was a 335 kilometer drive and it was all autobahn, so I was cruising between 120 and 140 kilometers (75 and 87 miles) an hour most of the trip, briefly hitting 100 miles an hour just to see if my Ford Focus could do it. I felt more secure in this Focus than the Mercedes, simply because it was six inches lower. There was still snow all over and patches of ice but outside of Cologne the sun came out, it warmed to about 50 F degrees.

Cologne (4th largest city in Germany) felt cold with no personality, no warmth. I drove into the city with little drama, parked within sight of the Dom, and walked 2 kilometers through a large cobblestone walkway surrounded by sidewalk shops and cafés. Make no mistake…the Dom is difficult to see from a distance but...once you get up close it is VERY IMPRESSIVE, almost unreal. It looks like something out of a gothic fairy tale. There's a large colored poster of the Cologne cathedral hanging at the front desk of the place I stayed in Vogelweh, and when I saw it I said to myself,"That is awesome---I've got to go there!" I have that same photo framed and hanging in my great room at my house now.

Cologne Dom, Germany, beggars' paradise

Cologne Dom, Germany, beggars' paradise

Begun in 1248 AD, it took 632 years to build this monster and was still built to the original specifications. The alleged skulls of the three wise men (Magi) are in this cathedral, designed to dwarf any cathedral of its day, and standing 515 feet tall when completed in 1880, it was the tallest structure in the world. And to think it was started in 1248! Nine bombs struck it during World War II but it looks fine now.

Cologne Dom, Germany, butt shot

The cathedral in Trier was indescribably beautiful on the inside, but the Dom in Cologne was indescribably beautiful on the outside. It stood out from its surroundings with the subtlety of a giant black spider sucking on your face. Yet it was so imposing and so awesome, it had no soul. The interior was majestic and intimidating, but smelled of wet concrete, was cold, drafty, dark and lifeless. The stone was all black from years of dirty air and the structure projected fear.

Inside Cologne Cathedral

Inside Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Dom, Germany...Horsey sniffing around for gargoyles