“He would be walking this John Wayne walk. He was the best-looking man getting off that train, because he would just glow.” ~ Lisa Schunk

Edward W. Schunk was 54 years old and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald as a bond broker. Cantor Fitzgerald was located in One World Trade Center and lost 658 employees the day of the attacks, among them Edward.

He and his wife Lisa lived in Baldwin, NY and Lisa drove him to the train station every morning and also picked him up in the evenings. Her quote above describes that and shows how much she loves him.

Though they never had any children, he was a great uncle to his eight nieces. When reading his Legacy.com guestbook you can read a few of their entries, but of course also a lot of entries from all the people missing him. Probably a reason why he was their favorite uncle was that Edward stayed young at heart.

He played Santa for his nieces many times, due to his wife wonderful cooking (he loved Italian food), he didn’t really need a pillow to hide under his Santa suit.

I’d like to end this tribute with an entry posted in the above mentioned guestbook.

Eddie,
A day does not go by that we don’t think about you and smile. We miss you so much, your bear hugs most of all. Our faith assures us that we will see you again, and we’re counting on you for a hug. Your kind spirit has touched us all, we are all so blessed to have known you and loved you. ~ Sam and Chris Logios, RVC, New York

Project 2,996

I think it’s time to tell you something about my “new” life.
I started my new job on Tuesday last week. To my surprise I already knew the two people starting with me. They were both at the application workshop with me. Katrin and Dominik are both very nice.
Right now we’re being trained, have to go on trains with other colleagues and stuff like that.
Yesterday was very interesting. We were able to look at one of our trains from below. They also told us about how trains work and such. As soon as it got too technical, I instantly zoomed out

Today I’m spending my day in Diessen. There’s a huge and apparently famous (never heard of it before) pottery market this weekend. Lots of people! Especially on our trains. Most of the time we drive with only one compartment, but today all trains towards Augsburg drive with two compartments.
My job is to make sure that everyone gets on and off the trains safely. Not much work really, since I have nothing to do inbetween. The trains only go once an hour, in both directions at the same time. Up to now the people are really nice, hopefully it’ll stay that way.

Tomorrow I will go on the train with a colleague again, he’s quite nice, so it should be a good day.

After work I will pick up our moving van, since our big move is this weekend. After Carola gets home from work, we will drive up to our old flat and will arrive some time in the middle of the night.

Carola’s brother and brother in law will join us early saturday morning to help with everything. If everything works as planned, we will be finished packing up some time in the afternoon and ready to clean up the flat so we can hand it over to the landlord.
I think it will take around 3 hours to drive down to our new place, which means we’ll only unload matresses and go to sleep instantly.
The rest will be done on sunday.
I’m so looking forward to living in our new flat. It’s really realy nice and was only just renovated completely. I will make sure to take lots of pictures as soon as we set up everything and made the flat presentable.
The next train will come in soon, so I will maybe write some more later.

Here I am again, train just left and the station is empty. Oh the silence, so nice, you can only hear the birds singing and the radio playing. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? Boo me for not bringing anything to read, but hey, that way you’ll probably get the longest entry ever from me.
Though right now I’m not sure what to write anymore…

Oh yes, I could tell you what I think about two season finales I just watched.
Beware! Spoilers ahead if you didn’t see the eps yet!
1st Grey’s Anatomy: Wow, just wow! Shonda is so cruel, I’m sure she must be a real sadist, teasing us like that.
I definitely see it coming that John Doe is George. And Izzie,… wow. Here you sit thinking that she is getting better, since she’s remembering again and then that. I don’t want either of them to die, GA won’t be the same. Please, someone tell me that they will miraculously survive!
Loved Merder’s “wedding”, it was so sweet and really suits them. A huge wedding wouldn’t have been right for them. Still hope to see them go to City Hall in the next season though, to make it officially official
Poor Bailey! I really want her to start the pediatrics fellowship program. She’s perfect for that job. Seriously, I don’t understand her husband. First of all, the person setting an ultimatum always loses. Secondly, he knew about her job before, so it’s not really a surprise, that she’s at work so much.

2nd Desperate Housewives: I was so curious to see how the whole Dave story would be resolved. I’m happy that nothing happened to MJ and Susan. When Mike put the tape into the drawer I was like “Oh no! Don’t put it there, you will forget all about it!” and when Katherine took it to tape it over it was even worse.
Dave’s twisted ways of thinking always fascinated me. And to kill MJ the same way his daughter and wife died… I expected nothing less. Though I screamed in shock when Dave ran towards MJ with the gun.
So who did Mike marry in the end? I read other opinions stating it must be Susan, because Karl was at the wedding. But honestly, I don’t think the writers would make it that easy for us to figure out.
It was good to see Edie one last time. I was so sad to see her leave that way, will definitely miss her.
I’m really curious about Ana, I guess she might be next season’s mystery. I’m having a deja vu. Up to now it reminds me of the whole Kayla situation. With her showing her evilness to Gaby but being all goody two shoes with Carlos. Why do these men never realize they’re being played.
Lynette is pregnant again! I’m so happy that it’s not the cancer again. I wonder how they will handle the new situation. Lynette will have to quit her job which means Tom will have to get one and won’t be able to go back to school. I feel sorry for him, he was so anxious and happy packing his backpack and all. But who knows, it might all turn out completely different that what I’m expecting now.
Ok, almost forgot…. Bree and Karl?!? Like OMG! What would Susan have to say about that? I guess it will be ok for an affair, but definitely not a real relationship. Two people who are as power-hungry as them, nope, don’t think so.

I guess that’s all I have to say about these two shows. I really need to get caught up with Lost. I missed so many episodes already, I don’t even remember where I left of.

I never thought I would be caught up with this, but I’m really looking forward to the finale of Germany’s Next Topmodel tonight. I will be home just in time before it starts. Phew. I really really want Sara to win, that girl is so gorgeous and definitely deserves it. The other two are great too, but still, I will be crossing my fingers for her.

What else can I tell you? I really don’t know right now. I have two more hours to spend here. What will I do, what will I do? Guess I will be incredibly bored. I’ll go outside now and see how many people are there yet. It sounds very empty, but I guess it isn’t. We’ll see.

So it WAS empty when I went outside. Maybe 20-30 people. But within a few minutes the number rose up to over 100, probably 150. Now I only have one train to check left, then wait one more hour until I can go back home.
But I’ll definitely stop writing now before I bore you to death

Right now we’re in Thuringia, visiting Carola’s family for the weekend. I love staying with them, her family is so nice and sweet. Made me feel at home instantly, and that with me having difficulties warming up with strangers. Today we will go see a soccer game of the local team. Looking forward to that, since it’s always very exciting.
We will drive back home to Augsburg tonight, since we have a meeting about a flat tomorrow. We already looked at it last week and really want to have it (like so many before, but this is definitely the best of all we’ve seen so far!). Tomorrow we’re going to meet up with the landlord, because he wants to meet us and get to know us. Please cross your fingers!

And am just testing QuickPress

Mmmmh, smoochies!!

This time I didn’t only not forget to post an entry, I also added a new layout! No, the layout wasn’t made by me. I found it on Wordpress, made my own header image and changed some things so it suits my needs.

So what’s new in my life?
I’m “living” in Augsburg now. In a one-room flat with Carola. I will start my new job on May 12th, and we are currently looking for a new place to live.
All my stuff is still in my old apartement, and we will pick it up as soon as we’re ready to move. Hopefully we will find a new flat soon, Carola is already very worried, since we have to find one by June 1st. Personally I think it won’t be too much of a problem.

So new job… I will do the same thing as Carola, working for the Bayerische Regiobahn, a private railway company that serves a regional route.
I’m so happy that I finally found a job down here.

Last Wednesday I had my last day of work at my old job. It was all very sad, my colleagues were so sweet. They made me a little friendship book with pictures and good wishes. Not that I would’ve forgotten about any of them, but this way I can’t I will definitely miss them a lot.

Concerning Carola’s and my engagement, there are no news yet. We have no idea, when we will be able to get married at the registry office. I just checked on updates last night, but the only thing I found out, that it might happen some time in the second half of the year. So please keep your fingers crossed.
I can’t wait to be married to the love of my life! <3

It’s quite upsetting for me that I can’t see her every day. Since I didn’t write anything since March, it’s also news that Carola found a job in Augsburg and moved there the beginning of September. We see each other during the weekends, but it still is difficult for me. I really hope I’ll find a job down there very soon, so we can get a new flat together. At the moment I’m only living for our weekends together. Though now it’s not even weekends anymore since Carola started working shifts.

Other than that I don’t think anything else is new. Oh yes, wait. I’m going to be “step-aunt”. My step-brother just told me yesterday. Don’t know much yet, like when the baby is due, but I am excited about it. Was about time too. Because of the baby and also because of the whole finance problems right now (Andi works in finance) they are leaving London to come back to Germany.
My brother will be in Beijing for about a year, so I guess for now I missed my chance for a weekend in London

So what’s new? Carola had a big fight with her flatmate and now she’s gonna move in with me in 2 weeks. She keeps warning me, but I’m looking forward to us living together. It’s nothing final though, since we don’t know what happens once she’s finished with her apprenticeship. Her final written exams are in May and her oral exams most likely by the end of June.
Inbetween we will travel to Paris. Again.
First we will spend two days in Paris and then three more days in Disneyland. So looking forward to it. I’ve only seen Paris once, when I was a kid, so I don’t remember much.
After Paris we will go to Düsseldorf where my stepbrother is going to get married in what seems to be a very big, stylish wedding (invitation says “Women are welcome to wear hats”!!)
In October we will celebrate my 30th birthday in a small hotel in the Bavarian Forest. Relaxing, hiking, relaxing, doing stuff like that.
And how can we afford all this? Carola won the Disneytrip, we get discount on the hotel in Paris, got really cheap flights and also get discount on the hotel in the Bavarian Forest. Isn’t it nice to work in the travel business?

My new place is really cosy, though not everything is finished yet. No kitchen sink yet, my stove isn’t connected yet, and my washing machine isn’t either. Two rooms still need to be fixed up. And actually I’m slacking off doing the bedroom right now. But sssssshhhh, don’t tell my girl!

Oh well, I think I have written enough for now and might just get started with work.
In case you’re wondering why I’m home in the middle of the day…. our boss sent several people home early, since we don’t have enough work for everyone right now.

Gedenkvideo für unseren geliebten Sohn Florian. – MyVideo

RIP Florian

Please visit Unser Engel Florian (German) for more information on this little hero.

Looking forward to getting your comments.

And now I’m back with a new layout which I just created.
I wanted a new layout and no more skinning, so this will be the only layout you will be able to see. Sorry about that, but I grew tired of having so many layouts.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted the new layout to look like, so I just entered random words at istockphoto and ended up picking this beautiful picture.

I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

The weather wasn’t very friendly on the day of the parade. It changed from sunshine to rain and storm back to sunshine. With a little bit of rain and storm in between.
But the parade was awesome nevertheless. We stayed in one spot until almost all wagons had passed and then we started walking along with the parade. My tail bone started hurting like hell when we reached the holocaust memorial, which is why we decided to take a rest and sit there for a while, watching the parade pass by yet again (yes, while walking along we overtook quite a few wagons).
I still remember when I saw the Brandenburg gate from a bus for the first time, when I was shocked that it was so much smaller than I always thought. Now that I was standing right in front of it, the feeling went away, it actually isn’t all that small. On our way to the victory column we did pass people who obviously had too much to drink already. Saw a girl lying on top of someone else in a way it couldn’t have been comfortable. Ouch.
We stayed for a bit during the final rally, listening to what Berlin’s gay mayor had to say and to a bit of the music.
But we were really exhausted so we didn’t stay that long, deciding to come back for the fireworks. In the end we slept through that though, oops.
Had dinner at a little sixties diner, very tasty, I miss having something like that around here. A GOOD burger instead of the usual fast food stuff…
On Sunday morning we drove back home, yet again stopping by at Carola’s parents’ place for a little bbq, which was very nice. I really enjoyed staying with them.

So, that’s the most important facts of the weekend. We did see Shrek the Third on Friday night, and contrary to what I expected after hearing some rather harsh critics, I really liked it. Though it was weird to hear the new German voice for donkey. I was too used to the old one. RIP Randolf Kronberg, you lent your voice to Eddie Murphy for a long time.

So how do you like the new layout?

My mom didn’t last long and got a dog from the pound just a few days ago. Her name is Eva and she’s a tricolored Collie. Very adorable, but a little slow and a little fat. She will need to lose about 15 pounds or so. Her previous owner was an old lady who obviously spoiled her with food and wasn’t able to go on long walks with her. But she is a total sweetheart. She also gets along with Max and Lilli, which is very important since they’re going to stay with her for good.
They’re just not happy at my place, ’cause they don’t have the possibility to go outside, and here at my mom’s place there’s no problem. They will have to stay inside for 2-3 weeks, until they get used to their new home and then my mom will let them go outside. Yay for happy kitties.

Work is good, doing more over-hours that I would like to, but oh well, what can you do? There’s a lot to do, which is great, ’cause the day passes faster. The new department is actually a lot better than I thought, people are really nice and teamwork is great. I’m only responsible for making flight offers, so I don’t have answer any phonecalls, that’s awesome!

Other than that there’s still not very much going on in my life. Well, ok partly there is, I admit it, but it’s nothing to tell here on the blog.

I’m sure I will miss my little kitties, but it’s good to know that they will be happy and that I will be able to see them from time to time, whenever I come back home.