SIT REP

It's been about 2 weeks or so since the wife and kid left so I thought I'd give an update on how I've been spending my latest parole. Unfortunately I don't really have much to report. Things sure have changed since the last time they went to visit her family in the Philippines. Last time I spent my weekends in places like Rome, Geneva, Amsterdam and Venice. This time I've spent every weekend right here in Heidelberg. Mostly it's because I really want to get back in shape a bit which means mountain climbing. So a typical weekend is; wake up Saturday, hike up the mountain, come home, take a shower, then go out and walk around town. Sometimes I'll pop into the pub to watch a match if there's a good one on. I usually grab a Gazetto dello Sport which is the Italian sports paper I used to read religiously in Italy, and relax in one of my preferred restaurants, cafes or pubs. A couple weeks ago I discovered a pool hall in the Altstadt so sometimes I go shoot some stick. I try to do a hike on Sunday as well if I'm not too sore (or hungover!). I squeeze my errands into the weekends wherever I can find the time as well.

So as you can see, my parole has been very dull and anti-climactic thus far. I'm sorry to disappoint those of you who were looking forward to tales of voyages to far away and exotic places but this is my life now. But don't feel sorry for me, I've actually been enjoying the opportunity to spend some time alone doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. And for those of you who have never been here, Heidelberg is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe so there's plenty to do here and always something to keep me occupied. I've got a couple more weeks here then I jump on a plane for the conference in St. Louis that my coworker screwed me into having to go to.

The way I look at it, my last parole was a chance to go crazy, galavant around Europe and get fat and out of shape. My current parole is a chance to undo some of that, lose some weight and get back in shape. So far so good...