Der Himmel über Berlin

I really used to be quite fond of Poland.

They have some very nice beers, especially Tyskie.

I have also always been intruiged by the language. I like the 'L' with the line through it that's pronounced like an English 'W'.

Not to mention the mountains, of course - the Tatras on the border with Slovakia. Very, very beautiful indeed.

Speaking of beautiful, pretty much every Polish female I've ever seen falls into that bracket.

Over the last week, however, my opinions have changed somewhat. You see, in the apartment where I am dogsitting, there is a Polish bar directly downstairs. And, apparently, Polish music has only two volume settings: Brain Implodingly Loud and Eardrum Bashingly Loud.

You only ever hear Eardrum Bashingly Loud after you call them for the second time at SEVEN IN THE MORNING, threatening them with a police visit. Eardrum Bashingly Loud is the conciliatory volume, reserved for the appeasment of cantankerous old buggers like me.

I do have a number of ideas on how to overcome this problem.

1). Become a nocturnal being who sleeps during the day.
Would make working rather difficult though. Still, that's a minor issue.

2). Murder every single person down there, and torch the premises.
Aside from the logistics of torching a pub without the surrounding properties being damaged, I feel that this would only offer the very shortest of short-term relief.

3). Make a playlist of every Beethoven symphony and have it playing in my ears as I drift peacefully to sleep.
This works. Doesn't do anything about the vibrations, of course, but it works. Pity he only wrote nine though. Plus the first movement of the fifth always wakes me up. DADADA DUUUM!

4). Keep blogging rubbish all night until I fall asleep and dribble sleep-goo all over my keyboard.
Might give this one a try.

For the last week, I have been dogsitting for a buddy while he's out of town. Let's get the formalities out of the way - here's a photo for the cuteness freaks:

Jenkins is so much better than most people. True, she sheds more hair than most, and the constant pestering when there is food available grates a little, but in general, she's just the best.

I love the utter happiness that she displays when I come in at the end of the day. She gets so excited that she sprints all around the house, yapping excitedly, incandescent with joy. Heck, it's not even at the end of the day. If I pop out to leave out the rubbish, that's the greeting I get when I return two minutes later. How many people get so excited to see you that they almost wet themselves?

I didn't much like living on my own when I did it for a few months, but with a dog in the house, it's completely different. She domintes the house, but in a good way. How many people could do that?

She's also a really good listener. She'll lie there and never interrupt, unless it's for the occasional reassuing lick. There's no me me me with her. Sure, she'll let you know if she needs to go out and poo, but that's the extent of her needs. How many people are that simple?

She's not even really a dog. She doesn't waste her time with the usual doggy things. No fetching, no chasing things, no snapping at flies. She doesn't even bark properly. It's less of a 'WOOF' and more of a 'HUUUUUUUU'. Doesn't even like other dogs. I swear I can hear her tutting disdainfully when the another dog walks by.

Alas, our ways must part on Saturday. I'm not going to lie, it will be nice to sleep without smelly dog breath in my face all night. It will also be nice to be able to wear black clothes again. I'll really miss everything else about her though. She's the best.