i still have to do some working, packing, communicating and sleeping, but instead i’m sitting here, posting a picture of my preparations for tomorrow:

oh well…

i drove by a piece of roadkill today. it was so messed up, its original form was unrecognizable.

the first kangaroo i saw in australia was roadkill. when i think of it, i still remember the distinctive smell of death which came from the decomposing animal - like it was yesterday.

when entomologists want to know whether a hard-to-find species of beetle - e.g. the stag beetle lucanus cervus (de: hirschkäfer) - is still present in an area, it’s common practice to look for run-over individuals.

“welcome home!” to simon, who spent the last year as a volunteer teacher in a little village in kenya’s hinterland.

jan, simon, gabriel, mathias & max

i think that this kind of commitment deserves a great deal of respect!

his friends and family organized a surprise party and made him a banner. :)

i’ve become terribly negligent at uploading photos of current events (of whatever kind), so this is the beginning of my “random photos” photoalbum.

1 photo so far. still counting…
update 2008-08-04 01:35: there are 12 up now.
… must … sleep …
 

[view photos: the "random photos" photoalbum]

i had to see it to believe it: there’s a subway restaurant in tirol!

subway sandwiches, innsbruckerstr. 95, 6300 wörgl, austria

my tomtom gps (fully equipped with subway POI’s) didn’t know about it, and the official subway restaurant locator doesn’t even mention austria at all. i’ve never seen any ads out either.

i was in the area last week, and when i stepped in, i had a big smile on my face that reached from one ear to the other. it was like a flashback from the first time i ate there, somewhere in new zealand. back then, i was completely confused with all the choices i had to make.

mhhhh, subway!
i would post the photo of me eating the sandwich without unwrapping it, but i look like i’ve been constantly awake for …about 7 weeks. ;)

i was supposed to be working in the field around hainzenberg (in the ziller valley), but for most of the day it was raining so hard, that i considered building an ark. thanks, thor!

yesterday, however, was a beautifully sunny day, and i’m hoping that the next days will be alike:

the ziller valley (or zillertal valley),
looking northwards from hippach

—

little sidenote: it’s usually about the time when my friends wish me “nice holidays” that i realize i’ve cramped up almost the entire summer with all things work. will i ever learn to reserve a few days for relaxing time at home? probably not.

(i’m uploading this through a GPRS connection - it takes forever to something as simple as reloading a text page.)

i went through a revolving door today¹.
it was rotating so slowly, i kept fearing i didn’t have enough food and water to survive.