the world has turned and left me here

the day the earth stood still

You should never, ever say things like "Gee, I haven't been sick in over a year, how great is that?" even to yourself. As a result of doing so I am now sick. Okay, maybe the recent Oktoberfest/Keller merrymaking has weakened my immune system or something. Just another reason why alcohol is a dumb drug, especially for a space cadet like me who's always complaining about being out of touch with reality anyway. I suppose if you're a sturdy prole-type who doesn't need his brain then it's okay; maybe you need alcohol at the end of every day just to forget the harsh reality you live in.

Well I have to say, scrubby bald earring dude at the Police registration office, I love you. You're my freakin hero. You knew in the beginning somehow that I'd be staying here longer than August, and made the first residence permit valid until mid-October, even though I thought this was silly and unnecessary at the time. And you hooked me up with humongo bigtime favor #2 today because I thought I was done for. Now I'll never again have to sit in that dim hellhole of a waiting room listening to squawling children for hours on end! Thanks again bro!

Another one to internalize: don't get on a train without first making sure it's the right one. Even if it arrives at the right time heading the right direction, that's still no guarantee. Because of this mistake I ended up here...

...some deadly quiet S-Bahn station where a train only comes once every half hour. As you can see, time has stopped. (Note the guilty rock still resting at the bottom of the clock face.) The other side was even more thoroughly smashed: there was no trace of glass, and the bent hands were convulsing like a dying insect. I watched a noiseless patient spider already in the process of claiming the clock for his own. Honestly, I was a little worried that I had entered some sort of time warp, and would never make it out of this place.