Regensblog

It’s Saturday, and it’s been a very relaxing one, for the most part. It was kind of a rough week what with a possible plumbing emergency, cleaning up other people’s messes at work, all-day meetings, and appointments with the tax advisor. So I’ve been slacking today — I figure I’ve earned it. I got up at 06:30 by mistake and then took a great afternoonish nap for a couple of hours after finishing another chapter of [The Ersatz Elevator](http://bookcrossing.com/journal/3292295 “A Series of Unforunate Events #5″) by Lemony Snicket.

I couldn’t figure out what was missing from my Saturday. And then it hit me: I need a *döner*.

Several weekends in a row, Sarah and I have done our Saturday grocery shopping at Kaufland, a large department store across from the *Bahnhof* in the Regensburger Arcaden. Integrated into Kaufland is a great little *döner* shop. It’s been recommended to us as the best *döner* in Regensburg (thanks Jentry & Markus!), and it’s a whole Euro cheaper than the one in my office park for a comparable product. I think I’ve developed a sort of dependency on my Saturday afternoon *döner*. This is not good.

For more about *döner kebaps* in general, check [this wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab).

Sarah and I were chowing down in our favorite Kurdish restaurant Exil this evening, where they always seem to have music playing that I like, or at least can tolerate. Tonight, our favorite waitress was working. She’s our favorite because she memorized our drinks and Sarah’s preference for *den Salat [ohne](http://dict.leo.org/se?lp=ende&p=/Ue0E.&search=ohne) [Zwiebeln](http://dict.leo.org/se?lp=ende&p=/Ue0E.&search=Zwiebel), bitte* pretty early, and she occasionally hooks up with free coffee-drinks (*espressi*, *cappucini*, lattés, that sort of thing) — tonight was one of those nights.

Anyhoo, the other dude working tonight, who actually took our order, is the one who asks if we want garlic with our meals, as if it were optional or something. We always say “*na klar!*” to properly convey that we are [*profis*](http://dict.leo.org/se?lp=ende&p=/Ue0E.&search=Profi) when it comes to Exil and garlic in general (the food has been extra tasty every time this happens). This guy seems to have a thing for soul. He was jamming out behind the bar to the likes of Barry White, Aretha Franklin, the Dramatics. And then James Brown’s the Payback came on. That reminded me of the movie of the same name (starring Mel Gibson). My favorite in the movie is when the older, white-haired gangster dude says something along the lines of “$70,000? Is that all? I’ve got *suits* that cost more than that.” I couldn’t remember his name. Fortunately, I’m married to an [imdb.com](http://imdb.com) in human form and she promptly recognized who I was talking about without having seen the movie.

It was James Coburn — one third of the fabled Three Lees (along with more obvious Lees like Lee Marvin and Lee Majors). How could I have forgotten who that was?

I just upgraded my Kubuntu installation from the Hoary Hedgehog version to the latest version: Breezy Badger. It took about 30 minutes to get all the files necessary for that, but then all I had to do was answer a few questions and the upgrade proceeded beautifully. A whole bunch of interesting stuff spewed forth on my screen during the upgrade process, and there were even a few red lines there indicating that parts of the process failed somehow, but so far, that seems to have had no adverse effects.

If you

• have an old(er) computer (of many types - you might be surprised what works with Linux) you want to tinker with,
• and/or you are interested in Linux but aren’t sure where to start,
• and/or you are tired of Windows and ready for a change, but not thrilled about the cost of a new Mac

I *highly* recommend [Kubuntu](http://www.kubuntu.org “KDE + Ubuntu = Kubuntu”) or [Ubuntu](http://www.ubuntulinux.org “I am what I am because of who we all are”). They’re sister projects - the difference being that the Kubuntu version is based on the K Desktop Environment (a.k.a. KDE) and Ubuntu on GNOME. What’s the difference between KDE and GNOME? Actually, I can’t comment on that, because I’ve only ever used KDE. I imagine it’s something like the difference between the look and feel of Windows and Mac OS - there are dedicated, passionate advocates of both, even though they both pretty much get the job done. It’s a preference thing.

Mostly what I really like about (K)Ubuntu so far is the emphasis on community. I feel that coming through loud and clear on their websites and mailing lists.

On the way to England in December, we’re staying in Hamburg for a few days. I’ve just attempted to make reservations at a hotel in a notorious district of Hamburg called the *Reeperbahn* (pronounced “RAPER-bonn”) - somewhat equivalent to the red-light district of Amsterdam.

Hamburg’s supposed to be a fun town, but we’ve never been there, and though we’ve got our trusty Frommer’s Germany to guide us, any tips from the general public are welcome. Click the link to the Comments below to submit your € 0,02 about what to skip, what *not* to skip, personal horror stories, fond memories, etc. pertaining to Hamburg.

I mean, Hamburg was a good thing for the Beatles, wasn’t it?