July 11, 2019

Thoughts on eating in restaurants & buying groceries in Germany

We (husband, grown son and I) just got back from a 10 day trip to Germany. We spent six days in Berlin, then took the train to the small northern Bavarian town of Kitzingen, where I lived in the mid seventies, and were there two nights, one day. I kept a journal and noted most of the restaurants we ate at and the food, but wanted to share some general thoughts.

Berlin is a very dynamic, multicultural city. There are an enormous number of restaurants, representing many cuisines, especially Middle Eastern. With so many places to eat, it's relatively inexpensive to eat in restaurants, bakeries and cafes in Berlin.

In Germany, one usually just seats oneself in a restaurant. Usually though, if you exhibit some hesitation, restaurant staff will ask how many are in your party and seat you. The international signal that you're ready to order is closed menus. Every place we ate, they got each person's food order and then took drink orders, whereas, at least where I live, you order your food and drink at the same time. Sometimes, if we looked to be having trouble deciding what we wanted, they'd get the drinks first and then get the food order.

Both in Berlin and in Kitzingen, in ethnic and in German restaurants, the food was served very attractively. It being summer, many dishes were garnished with tomato and cucumber, and sometimes fresh fruit as well. It seemed that rather more care and attention was paid to presentation than is often the case in the US, especially in restaurants that are not high end.

Food in Germany is served piping hot. Not that you often get cold or lukewarm food it the US, but in Germany it was always really hot.

Our appetites may have been affected by traveling and touring, but we found the German portions quite large and often more than we could eat at a sitting.

I think in Germany people are more accustomed to sitting and enjoying dinner companions' company. In the US, the server tends to bring the bill as soon as they note you're finished (or in a busy place may even try to rush you a little), but we had to learn to either allow plenty of time for a meal, or risk looking like impatient Americans and ask for the bill.

We did do some grocery shopping. Food prices, at least in Berlin, seem cheaper for a lot of things than they are here. Beer can be had for 59 Euro cents for a half liter bottle. A kilo of Italian apricots was 1.49 Euros - California apricots had been selling for $2.99 a pound here in Iowa, so that's roughly four times the price. Much produce and other foodstuffs were "bio" (organic) and not that much more expensive than the regular kind.

There is a deposit on most bottles and cans of drinks - often 25 Euro cents, so it adds up.

I plan to talk about specific meals in the "What's for dinner" and breakfast threads, but thought you might be interested in my general observations.

May 24, 2019

MSNBC All In: Speaking to the issues that matter most to Iowa's black voters

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/speaking-to-the-issues-that-matter-most-to-iowa-s-black-voters-60147781972?fbclid=IwAR0WRgpQCFa5Ly5Z-mhEaUhZdadz48C57zzphBNazUwUYXr089_e7mJPbs4

Trymaine Lee from All In talking to Mayor Quentin Hart and others in Waterloo about what candidates need to do for Iowa's black voters.

I was very pleased to see this because it may have put a few cracks in people's perception of Iowa as a monolith of whiteness. Also I'm a fan of Mayor Hart, though I think he has a pretty tough gig.

February 17, 2019

Iowa Senate District 30

We've got some interesting things going on with this senate seat here in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, so thought I'd try to catch you up on it a little.

Democratic Senator Jeff Danielson resigned from his senate seat Thursday, which he had held since 2005. The district is considered a swing district. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/14/iowa-senate-democratic-senator-jeff-danielson-resigns-democrat-special-election-cedar-falls/2875742002/

My understanding is he resigned from the Iowa Senate because he is also resigning from his job with the Cedar Falls Fire Department. Not many jobs will let you have the time off to go to Des Moines and be in the legislature periodically. Apparently he has accepted another job in the Cedar Valley, but has not disclosed about it publicly yet.

Why did he resign from the fire department? Well, Cedar Falls has been using dual-trained (police & fire) public safety officers (PSOs). Many of the existing firefighters feel that is a much less safe way of protecting the public, and ten have resigned. The city says using PSOs is just as safe and saves money. For myself, it seems strange to me that so many firefighters feel so strongly about this that they gave up their livelihoods.

The most likely Republican candidate is the abominable Walt Rogers, who lost his house seat last November to Dave Williams. Both Williams and Bob Kressig, the other House representative from Danielson's district, have said they are not interested in the Senate seat. However, there are already two possible Democratic candidates: Amy Peterson, a UNI Special Education professor, and Tom Ralston, a local labor leader. As usual, Bleeding Heartland has great information: https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2019/02/16/two-democrats-running-for-iowa-senate-district-30-special/

A special district convention will pick the Democratic nominee on February 23. Rumors are flying that Governor Reynolds will opt to have the special election during spring break, to lessen the impact of votes from UNI students.

August 26, 2018

Transition Sunday

Today my church went from the building we've occupied for 24 years to our new meeting space. Getting there was a process that has taken about a year and a half, with lots of planning and lots of work by lots of people, so I thought I might describe it for you.

We are a small Mennonite congregation that has been in existence for 37 years. Our group has numbered 50 at times, now we have about 30 at Sunday worship.

The building we were in was a built in 1915. It had housed an Evangelical United Brethren church, which had merged with the United Methodist church in the 50's (I think). But there is a bigger United Methodist church just a block away, so the former EUBs sold us their building. But in the last couple years, the congregation decided this large, old building was too expensive and too time consuming to maintain. Also a local developer offered us quite a decent price for the building.

So we looked for a suitable space. We found out that a Presbyterian church a couple blocks from our building had a large space they had used for youth functions that they were hoping to rent. So, many meetings ensued, many, many details arranged, and today we started worship in our old building and midway through the service walked to the Presbyterian church.


Several people from their congregation were at the door to welcome us. The sign out front said "Welcome Mennonites and all". They sent a lovely bouquet which graced our new pulpit.


Life as a congregation is always about people learning to be church together. We Mennos and the Presbyterians who have so graciously welcomed us know we will learn together how to be the Church in the world together. It probably won't be a 100 percent smooth road, but there are a great many positives for both congregations. It seems like a good solution for us.

August 11, 2018

At Carrier, the Factory Trump Saved, Morale Is Through the Floor - NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/business/economy/carrier-trump-absenteeism-morale.html

Seems Carrier is having problems with absenteeism and getting production where they want. The workers feel like the rug may be pulled out from underneath them at any time, so they call in.

My brother has worked for a comptetitor of Carrier's for three decades. Four days after a tornado destroyed Lennox's Marshalltown, Iowa factory, Lennox said they would rebuild, not move production out of the country. I expect that sort of commitment to the employees' futures will make problems like Carriers less common there. When people give the bulk of their time and energy and lives to a corporation, they not only deserve decent wages and benefits - they deserve to have security and respect. So what if the execs have to give up a second vacation home or some huge stock bonuses. We all have to make sacrifices to make this country work, dontcha know.

from the article:

What’s ailing Carrier isn’t weak demand. Furnace sales are strong, and managers have increased overtime and even recalled 150 previously laid-off workers. Instead, employees share a looming sense that a factory shutdown is inevitable — that Carrier has merely postponed the closing until a more politically opportune moment.

In some ways, the situation is a metaphor for blue-collar work and life in the United States today. Paychecks are a tad fatter and the economic picture has brightened slightly, but no one feels particularly secure or hopeful.
“People still don’t trust Carrier,” said Paul Roell, a group leader who has worked at the plant for 19 years. “They still have the warehouses and the factory in Mexico, and they can move down whenever. We all know that Carrier has the money to do whatever they want.”

Several times in late July and early August, so many workers were missing that the furnace line had to shut down in midday — even more disruptive than an early-morning halt. That hadn’t happened in years, employees said. Some workers cite illness, while others claim days under the Family and Medical Leave Act, saying they are taking care of sick relatives.

August 17, 2017

2018 Governor's Race Candidate Questionnaires

I always find it helpful to have information laid out in an orderly, graphic form. Citizens for Community Improvement has this neato graphic showing eight gubernatorial candidates' views on four issues (clean water, immigration, raising the wage, and healthcare). I know Todd Prichard has since dropped out, and the field will narrow further, but this may help people in narrowing their choices:

January 28, 2017

Racially-charged trouble brewing on the Waterloo City Council

A white member of the Waterloo City Council did not like the fact that the black mayor hired a part-time communications director without council approval. This council member emailed the mayor, saying, "“Not appropriate without council approval. You work for us. Obama (yesterday) is gone.” However, the City Attorney and City Clerk say the mayor did follow the proper process and had authority to hire a part-time position without seeking council approval.

Then the lone black City Council member came forward with a number of racially charged, insensitive remarks that the objecting council member and another white member of the council made.

If you read the second article, you'll see some classic examples of minimizing and downplaying racism. Hell, I'm white and clearly speaking from a position of privilege, and I can see it plain as day.

It is a lot of fuss to make over a part time position, but the council members who have made the racist remarks need to learn to filter their racism out to do the city's business, not all this bullshit "oh we didn't mean it that way, the black mayor and council member are being overly sensitive".

Quentin Hart was elected after a runoff election last year as Waterloo's first black mayor. Blacks have been a vital part of Waterloo since 1910, and account for 15.5 percent of the city's population.

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/hart-lind-trade-heated-emails/article_9bfe3b71-1ce6-559b-910e-6e3e0df62c13.html

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/waterloo-councilman-jerome-amos-accuses-colleagues-of-inappropriate-comments/article_8bf2af21-7754-59e3-a296-7d1124bec636.html

November 15, 2013

Judge with little knowledge setting visitation for parent's convenience

NOT with the child's needs in mind.

What usually is better for a breastfed child this age is for the father to have visits that are shorter in duration but more frequent. Instead of two whole days, a couple of weekday evenings and a couple of weekend mornings or afternoons might work better than an entire weekend. Breastfeeding is a huge help for a child's physical and emotional health - even more important with the upheaval of a custody battle. It is selfish for the father to demand the bigger, less frequent blocks of time, and ignorant of the judge to rule that the mother must accede to that.

November 13, 2012

I am a member of a religious denomination which conscientiously objects

to all wars ... I'm a Mennonite, but traditionally Church of the Brethren and Society of Friends (Quakers) are also conscientious objectors.

My understanding is that CO status was never automatic for members of these denominations. Young men who applied for CO status had to make their case the same as others. Members of these denominations ("Historic Peace Churches&quot often engaged in alternative service in WWII and Vietnam.

The Mennonite Church USA has a ministry reaching out to service members who become conscientious objectors during their enlistments. It's usually a far more complicated matter than somebody thinking the Army was like Boy Scouts on steroids and finding out different. Here is a link to an article about this: http://www.themennonite.org/issues/13-7/articles/Honorable_discharge_for_conscientious_objection

Personally, I could not participate in war making or being in a situation where that was a possibility. I find it impossible to reconcile loving God and following Jesus with harming another human being. It was with a heavy heart that I watched my older son register for the draft. He has not chosen to join the church, but considers himself a conscientious objector.

Another issues that lays heavy on my heart is taxes supporting the military. Without the draft, conscientious objection is moot. But our dollars are being drafted every day, used for killing and harming people. I hate that I either pay Federal taxes (not just income tax but in the form of taxes on telephone service, etc.) or go to jail. For many years there has been a campaign to have a Peace Tax, so people would not have to compromise their deeply held beliefs. If one opted to pay the Peace Tax, more actually would be owed, since there would be an administrative cost. It strikes me as very unfair that Catholics and fundamentalists can be taken seriously when they say the Affordable Care Act would infringe on their religious freedom by making them pay for contraception, yet religious pacifists like myself must support with our money that which we find just as objectionable. Here is a link about the Peace Tax: http://www.peacetaxfund.org/

July 30, 2012

If you glance at the article, you will see

that formula fed babies will still get formula in the hospital. But mothers won't be sent home with a "gift" bag. They will have to make arrangements to feed their babies at home. Just like the breastfeeding mothers. Who are, after all, providing their babies' food in the hospital - without compensation! Think of that!