bigbluemeanie

Reflections

2012-01-24T20:07:04+00:00

My reflections on leaving Berlin: I’ve been coming here for three and a half years to visit a long-standing client and this could be the last time I will visit them. I have made friends here and this is a sad thought.

The gathering gloom

2012-01-23T20:07:21+00:00

Night falls here in Berlin. The ground is wet and the air is fresh. My breaths let off small clouds as I make my way to the taxi rank.

Taking the goat

2012-01-20T18:23:55+00:00

This is a very thoughtful Christmas present that I received last month: a donation on my behalf to a third world charity: Action Aid: Gifts in Action. and the gift came with some little paper cut-out figures so that I could play with some similar donors (or proxy donors) who were also recipients (or donors) of similar gifts.

There was one problem with the gift! The two people who gave it to me (knowing of my specific objection to sending goats to sub-Saharan Africa) had intended to make a donation to an HIV charity on my behalf, and not send a goat to Malawi on my behalf. So when the wrong gift pack arrived, what to do?

No problem - they went online and made a donation to a goat sanctuary. Result! One family in Malawi get their goat, and one goat is recued from an abusive owner…

Sunshine

2012-01-16T12:12:01+00:00

There was glorious winter sunshine this past weekend in the mountains. I’m home, tired, and a bit sunburned.

Heaven!

2012-01-13T15:09:55+00:00

I’m in heaven…

Last legs

2012-01-12T18:49:08+00:00

We’re on the last stage of our journey and already the service stations are selling ski clothes. How exciting!

Second leg

2012-01-12T14:48:40+00:00

These are some of the legs I saw on the second leg of my journey this morning into the office in Paris (on the Paris Metro/underground train).

This is Ebbsfleet International

2012-01-12T06:01:00+00:00

I’m off to work in Paris today… and from there I’m Leaving tonight for a weekend break in the French Alps with some colleagues.

Humour Chart

2012-01-10T07:18:45+00:00

The WH Smith book “humour chart” is a real bundle of laughs.

The story that unfolds is as dark and cold as Sweden itself

according to one reviewer.

Dim and dimmer

2012-01-09T07:17:12+00:00

According to the “advertisement-rich” Dictionary.Reference.Com website the word Dim has a number of meanings:

adjective, dim-mer, dim-mest
not bright; obscure from lack of light or emitted light: a dimroom; a dim flashlight.
not seen clearly or in detail; indistinct: a dim object in thedistance.
not clear to the mind; vague: a dim idea.
not brilliant; dull in luster: a dim color.
not clear or distinct to the senses; faint: a dim sound.
not seeing clearly: eyes dim with tears.
tending to be unfavorable; not likely to happen, succeed, befavorable, etc.: a dim chance of winning.
not understanding clearly..
rather stupid; dim-witted.
verb, dimmed, dim·ming.
verb, dimmed, dim·ming (used with object).
to make dim or dimmer.
to switch (the headlights of a vehicle) from the high to the low beam.
verb (used without object)
to become or grow dim or dimmer.
Verb phrase
dim out, (in wartime) to reduce the night illumination of (a city, ship, etc.) to make it less visible from the air or sea, as a protection from enemy aircraft or ships.
Idiom
take a dim view of, to regard with disapproval, skepticism, or dismay: Her mother takes a dim view of her choice of friends.

The word comes to Modern English from Old English, which in turn inherited it from the Old Norse dimmr (dark). According to Edenics the words dim and dumb share a common and ancient root. They highlight that in Russian smoke is dim; in Turkish it is duman.

Note: I took the photograph of the building looming over the lamp post in Dublin last year.