They are frantic to answer their phone the SECOND it rings. Even if they are eating, or worse: playing bridge or in mid-sentence talking to somebody, they can’t bear not to respond and would not dream of ignoring it till a more opportune and less impolite moment.

But they ignore their e-mails, many often for days on end.

99,9 percent of all phone calls can wait, at the very least ten-fifteen minutes if you ask me, and if people can’t be bothered to record a voice message, or send a whatsapp or email instead, it was not important, whereas the majority of emails requires some kind of attention and response.

So is that also just part of the German IT Angst, or why are people slaves of their telephone and not of their emails?

Sunday will try to squeeze in a loop around Urbanhafen on the way to a Volkshochschule birdwatching walk on the cemeteries in Bergmannstraße 8-9.30.

Monday perhaps Friedhof der St.Pius-und der St.Hedwig-Kirchengemeinde/St. Andrew – St Mark’s Cemetery

Tuesday perhaps Luckenwalde

Main purpose: This photo course with Artistravel.

IN PROGRESS

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup black lentils 3 + 1/2 cup water 3 pieces garlic 2 shallots 2 + 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp salt pepper to taste 1/2 cup tahini few sprigs parsley

DIRECTIONS: 1. Add the black lentils to a small saucepan along with about 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on medium low for 25mins 2. Crush, peel, and roughly chop the garlic. Peel and slice down the shallots 3. Heat up a sauté pan to medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil followed by the garlic and shallots. Fry for 2-3mins. Add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds, then cook for another 30 seconds. Set the pan aside 4. Drain the remaining liquid from the black lentils and transfer to a food processor. Add the sautéed garlic and shallots. Add 1/2 cup water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Blend for about 2mins. Add the tahini, then blend again for about 1min 5. Plate the dip and garnish with salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and olive oil to serve

…. even if you are just going to the supermarket. (Or on a quick, early-morning walk at Urbanhafen – photos further down).

And finally – they never stop doing that these days – even the teenagers – do the not realise what a horrible cliché that has become:

Just trying to convince myself while actually losing interest in photography.

Increasingly, wherever I go I am surrounded by fusspots and whiners.

Are you even hearing yourselves? The light is either too dark or too bright; the temperature in the room is either too cold or too warm; the air too stale or too fresh; the bridge cards too big or too small or too sticky or too slippery; too much or too little milk in the coffee. And on and on and on.

It is as insufferable as it is incesssant, and one gets the impression that most of the time, it is just a bad habit.

And today people are claiming that the switch to daylight saving time/summertime is f…… up their circadian rhythms, or whatever it is, for days. Some even talk about “seasonal jetlag”. Give me a break!

Do most people still have dozens of devices which they need to spend time on resetting manually? No. Do most people have to get up extremely early to catch a red-eye on this partcular Sunday? No. Do most people have a disease which causes them to need to be extra-ultra-meticulous with the timing of their medication? No.

In fact, if the press did not make such a song and dance about it, nobody would even notice nowadays.

So please stop and think before you mindlessly blurt out all these eternal, petty complaints and focus on dealing with the real problems in the world.

After a “successful” check-up (two years and eight months cancer free – and boob-free, but you can’t have everything) with my invaluable gynecologist, Dr Ursina Heil (who shares offices with my equally invaluable GP, Dr Thomas Heil) in Halensee, on a tip from Agata, a fellow bird nerd, and bridge buddy.

My main purpose was to finally get a decent photo of a Green Woodpecker/Grünspecht, which has become my Achilles’ Heel. The first couple of years in Berlin, I never saw any, and after I started seeing them from time to time, I have ever only managed really bad photos of them. Recently, I have been to places where, alledgedly, there should be several of them, but not seen any, and today was no exception, but I got lucky in other ways.

I started in Schönower Park, where there was a loud party, so I only photographed some of those invasive beasts – Mandarin Ducks – and a small section of the John F. Kennedy School.

Further south in Heinrich-Laehr Park, I had the priviledge of coming up close and personal with a Goshawk/Habicht, disturbing him in a freshly slaughtered meal of what I assume used to be a pigeon.

Other results: A Great Spotted Woodpecker/Buntspecht, what I think was a Redwing/Rotdrossel, and a cute, singing Robin/Rotkehlchen.

(In view of my ressistance to make human portraits ……)

In my opinion the most hyped and overrated animal in the world. All they do is eat and contemplate their big, and growing, bellies (much like some …. well, never mind) and they can’t even be bothered to have sex. This set of twins, and the last one about four years ago, in Berlin Zoo, came about by way of artificial insemination:

Some more birds:

I also like hoofstock …..

….. and almost all other animals:

Decided to photograph some of the more common, usual suspects which I normally do not bother to photograph. And good to see that the supply of material for my series “garbage disposal Berlin-style” is never-ending and that the pigeons were eyeing my balcony when I got back just in time to avert the start of a new nest.