Cell Phone and Web Cam...

...make a connection!

I had two stellar days. Three actually. It started with the Fasnacht. I had the door closed and was listening to it all day, flipped back and forth to the different cameras. It was great and sad, because this event makes me homesick, and my brother is gone. He used to love it.

Yesterday, while on an errand I backed out of a parking spot into a truck. My fault. The usual, the truck came out of nowhere. The old fellow who drove the thing didn't seem to mind and didn't want my info. I asked at least 5 times. There was definitely a dent in the side of his truck. His son would 'suck' it out... old truck... had other dents... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Whoever you are.

Today while working and having the web cams going, my godson phoned. He was in the midst of Fasnacht, at one of the spots where I could direct him to a position where I could actually see him and Sandra waving at the camera. There's 9 hrs difference, they are half a world away. It was sooooo coooool! I was yelling into the phone, because the noise of drums, fiffers and musik was incredibly loud. Check out the pictures.

I just checked the live cams again and they are now silent. It's 05:00 hrs in Basel. I'll try for a trip during Fasnacht next year. (Das foto ist von hier.)

FASNACHT - today a 4 am...

... Carneval in Basel started

I am watching it live from my work desk in Canada. This year there are several live cameras available at key locations in the city. Even if you didn't grow up in Basel, this is worth a look. It's on 24 hours a day for three marvellous days! Click here to see. This link will probably not be working after February 16, but this one will.

It's great to dream but...

...measuring gets you further.

Across the car port, accessible with a separate entrance is a studio room. When I moved in 11 years ago we had it dry-walled and two storage areas were added, one of which was intended to become a bathroom when we had city services. Getting those services is loosely chronicled here, it was quite a long journey! We now have it, water and sewer, which makes it possible to add that bathroom, finally... The studio room would make an excellet guest room for my friends and family to stay in for extended periods.

So, I am going to apply for a permit to get this done. For that I need a plan, a drawing with measurements to show where the bathroom will be. I measured, again... once more. 3 x 7' tiny! Why does everything always look bigger when it's empty?

While googling I found American Standard US. This site has a great planning tool, a step by step planner for all that is involved in a renovation, including a drawing tool with which you can draw bathrooms to scale. In my space there is room for a standard toilet and a pedestal sink. A shower? No way. Moving walls would make this project too expensive.

You do learn something while cruising! I did a lot of that in earlier years... and want to do again, by the way, it's such a great way to travel... but I digress. I'll now be looking for ship fitters. It seems to me that on some of the ships I was on had smaller bathrooms with a shower than the space I am working with.

Open Visio, start working on a custom bathroom...