Retirement

More about my retirement!

I think that you guys will get bored with news of my retirement pretty quickly.

However, I have  more events to share with you and as they arise I'll put them on the Blog.

 Finally I made the cover, not quite "Rolling Stone" but at least I'm on the cover of the "Big Press"

With a nod to Dr Hook for the "Cover of the Rolling Stone"

Yes, I know I'm really showing my age with that band and song.

Not only the cover, but page 2 as well.

More to the point you never know who is sharing your secret pictures.

I don't have Facebook or any of that other social media rubbish, yet my picture still ends up in the paper.

Ciao Bella

More soon 

Norm

When I'm 66

To paraphrase a Beatles song!!!

My ever vigilant nephew has pointed out that this is not a paraphrasing of the Beatles words.

It merely substitutes 66 for 64, which as you all know does not paraphrase the original meaning.

Thank you Steven for your editing assistance with the BLOG.
My in house editor suggests "Recoin a phrase" so we may try that next time.

When I'm 66

Well now I am 66, I'm headed for retirement, WOW, when did that come about?

Peter and Margaret Nash invited Anne and me to the annual engineering department bash to celebrate 
my retirement.

Easy for them to say.

From the beginning of 2015 onwards, I have to spend 24-7 with "She Who Must Be Obeyed"

Thank Goodness that I have a shed!!!

or two.

The entire crew had a gift for me.

But first I had to guess what it was!

I thought that perhaps it was one shoe, the name Jimmy Choo sprang to mind.

But no it was:

The new Norman Cain Bobble Head.

That is a collector's piece in the making.

This was me six years ago.

Now look at me today, I haven't aged a bit.

I would like to thank all of the staff of the engineering department not only for the gift but for the great friendship we have had over the years.

It has been a real pleasure to work with such wonderful people.

Now I move on to the next phase, the new boss is going to be something of a challenge.

How do you keep up with a woman in thigh length boots and a penchant for leopard!

With great difficulty, that's how.

Ciao Bella

Norm

Germany Part 3

We got the chance to sample some of the local delicacies on Tuesday evening in the Christmas Market.



James with Bratwurst.


Below is a new addition to the burgplatz.





Just in case you have a hard time understanding the sign, and I must admit the advertising picture is confusing; there is another more "GRAPHIC" indicator on the other side.




After leaving Dusseldorf on Wednesday, we headed for Siegen to visit Dango & Dienenthal.
As usual getting out of Dusseldorf was the hard part.There are so many construction sites and diversions that even the GPS gives up.

We were met at DDS by Rainer Dango, and, as usual a full schedule had been arranged.
A plant tour, reviews of new developments, the new facility they have built, etc.

Following the work schedule, I went with Rainer to check out his 1966 Mustang 289.





Was it cold Norm? I hear you asking.




You could say that.





Then is was a quick trip back to the hotel to change for dinner.

As this was my actual birthday, we went out to an Italian restaurant.
Some of the best Italian restaurants are in Germany.




Shown in the picture, clockwise from the left, Rainer, James, Petra, and of course the birthday boy.



Yes, I know that I said changed for dinner, I had to get out of the tie and put on a Harley shirt, hey! it was MY birthday.

That's me 'splainin things.

The guy at Glama told us that Italian restaurants change ownership fairly frequently when the background of the owners becomes known!!!!!

I'm sure that you can figure that one out.





Then it was back to the hotel for a birthday beer.

Krombacher is my absolute favorite beer in these parts.

MFG
"Mit Freundlich Grussen"

Norm

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Germany 2014 Part 2

After work we some time to look around the Altstad, (Old City)
The Christmas Market is in full swing with lots of people out and about.
I must admit that I'm puzzled as to why people choose to sit outside to eat when it is barely above freezing.
James has a theory and he may well be right.
He thinks that as most people smoke and that you cannot smoke inside, they would rather sit outside and freeze their butt off (if you'll pardon the pun)

It was a really rather special and nostalgic visit to the Altstad, I looked at the places where we all went to celebrate my 60th birthday.
I was thinking of you guys as we walked around.
Barb, Leon, Glen and Denise, all the gang from England, and of course Gretchen.

Here is a picture of what is currently standing where we stood for the webcam event.







You can just see the tower in the background where we were.

We walked a little further afield and saw some rather exotic stuff for sale.







Real moccasins from Arizona.
Maybe!







Unmentionables from...






A new pair of bike boots.








How about a new pair of Levis' for $111.00


On Wednesday we are leaving for the next part of the trip, we head to Siegen to meet up with the people at DDS.

Fingers crossed it looks like the Lufthansa pilots strike is over for this week.

Norm

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Germany 2014

We set off on Saturday afternoon, it's always the same; you have to wear or carry a heavy coat and sweater to go somewhere cold and it's 90 degrees when you leave home.












We got on the plane on time, and it seemed like it was good to go but then we got the "We have a slight problem" comment, fortunately it was a short delay.

Off we went in the big aluminum tube.









Oh, look at that there must be another bike nut sitting over there, I wonder who that could be.








We got to fly over all the exclusive places, British West Hartlepool to name but a few.

Then on into Frankfurt; after walking about five miles we met up with our luggage. The luggage was intended to be carry on but an over zealous check in clerk was being pedantic.
So we waited and we waited, eventually we got the bags and set off on another monumental trek to get the rental car.
That was an experience in itself, it has all kinds of ECO shit on board, it turns the engine off at stop lights, it has a nine speed transmission and is diesel!
Go Figure.
Off we went to Duseldorf, not much traffic to start but it got busy as we got closer.
The GPS was totally confused by the road closures in the center of Dusseldorf, fortunately I wasn't.
We made it to the hotel OK and of course they only had one room ready.

The luggage was deposited in one room and we decided to walk around until the second one was available.

Man was it cold!









It was so cold that this outdoor restaurant had a giant video screen with a blazing fire. I swear you could feel the heat.
Of course it begs the question "Why eat outside when it is so cold"

On we went and took a couple of pictures in the old city hall square.











I wonder if we know anyone who has ridden on this Carousel?


Or

Been in this cozy little bar?











When we got back to the hotel it was time to unpack, that's when I found my Ukulele babes waiting.









Work on Monday, more soon from the road when we get back.

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Germany

Germany 2014

This trip will be almost a repeat of the trip we took in 2008 for my 60th birthday.

There are a couple of notable exceptions.

This time it will be only my friend and colleague James Wilbourn and me taking the trip.

We will not be going to Belgium.

There will be GPS in the vehicle.

No more driving down the street the wrong way and meeting the tram!

The timing is almost exactly the same.

We leave on November 29th and return on December 5th.

During the trip we will celebrate my 66th birthday!

I remember when we first met Barb and Leon, Barb had a helmet sticker that said:

Damn, I Got Old Quick

How right that was!

Some changes, this time we have a different pilot.

I'm not taking the Rolls after what happened last time.

Gretchen is staying home.

It probably will not snow.

The best ever Ambassador to Europe will be enjoying the Arizona sun.

A few of the gang will be missing.

I will add a few more candles to the birthday cake!
Erik, Thank you for the one in the picture.

Check the blog for updates as the trip progresses.

And,

Yes we will be working.

More of the never ending birthday!

More Parties

Friday night we re-celebrated Ms Annie's birthday along with the birthday of our good friend and neighbor Charles.

As usual, the celebration was arranged by the birthday gal, and I must say in retrospect, a great job she did too.

The crew assembled at a local Italian restaurant we all love, Que Pasta, not a truly Italian name but...

At least the waiter is really Italian, Luca is our favorite server in this place, a great guy with a beguiling scar on one cheek, gained in a duel perhaps?

As you can see Ms Monroe graced the event with her presence, OK it's not really the late Marilyn but at least she was late.

Put another candle on your birthday cake you are... well you know how it goes.

The things you see when you don't have your gun.

Thank you Fiona for the cake, it really raised some eyebrows, way to go girl.

The birthday duo together.

Just kids behaving badly. (With a combined age of 135 years)

The entire crew.

Brent gives Anne a twirl.

Doesn't he look like Bryan Ferry?

Moving on to Saturday Night

We had dinner on Saturday night with our friend Cherie and her family in Cerritos, more birthday celebrations.

This time even I made it on to one of the pictures.

See that grin, that's what happens when you are at the end of an extreme party season.

Thank you to you for sharing these great experiences with Anne and me.

We love you all.

The Never Ending Birthday

We seem to have been celebrating Anne's birthday for a month now!

Really it's just because she has had all kinds of different events going on.

I gave her my gifts on Wednesday, the day before her birthday.

 All in all they were very well received, several books, DVD, a map of Madrid and a guide to the Prado museum. (We plan to go to Madrid next year and a visit to the Prado is on the list).  She had to explain to her girlfriends that it was Prado, not Prada, as some of them were wondering if she would be buying any new dresses!

There was another small gift,

 A champagne stopper in the form of a leopard high heel shoe.  This last item is more for novelty value than anything else because she can usually polish off a bottle of champagne before it needs a cork to stop it from going flat!


On Friday we went to Long Beach in the afternoon and checked into the Westin Hotel on Ocean Blvd.

We planned ahead  to spend the night there and walk across to the Sky Room where we were having dinner.

This was the view from the room looking across to the Queen Mary.

The outdoor area next to the hotel (AKA smokers hangout)

Ready for the party, OK one of the parties.

The picture was taken in the hotel elevator by a BA flight attendant.

She was on her way to the airport for a flight back to London; best of luck with that airport.

Finally we were in the Sky Room.

We clean up pretty well for a couple of oldsters.

The whole experience was wonderful.

Good food, live music and dancing, what more could you ask for?

Well here is a good start.

Then the festivities were over and the check arrived.

Really! 

I expected it to be more.

To be continued.