Michael Let's get straight to today's main topic: Gun ownership in the USA, bang, bang! 86 million Americans own a total of about 240 million guns. In the US, the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, the Constitution of the USA has several Amendments. The first of these, freedom of speech, we explained last time with practical examples. The second Amendment, however, says:

Michael Hey, and we went on vacation again: We actually wanted to go to New York before Christmas. New York during the Christmas season--whether or not Christmas means anything to you--is simply stunning. Overall, New York is a fascinating city. But it didn't happen this year because apparently all of America goes to New York during the Christmas season, and hotel and flights were astronomically pricey, even for us earning in dollars.

Michael First, we faced the problem of getting our luggage from the car, which we had parked in the parking garage, to the room. Although we only had two travel bags with us, since the path from the garage to the hotel room led through the casino, we didn't necessarily want to appear as Mr. and Mrs. Packhorse, so we used the "valet parking." In a previous newsletter, I already explained how this works: You simply drive up, leave the car key in the ignition, and a liveried hotel employee hands you a ticket. Then the employee gets in, drives the car to the parking lot, and informs someone else to bring the luggage from the trunk to the room. You go up to the room, where shortly afterward the bellman rings, to whom you then give 2-3 dollars per piece of luggage. When departing the next day, you call the reception, ask if you could get "help with our baggage," upon which a bellman comes up with a cart. You then go down to the valet parking with him, where you again give the bellman 2-3 dollars per piece of luggage and the valet guy, who brings the car around, gets out, and leaves the engine running, about 3 dollars. Then you get in and drive off. Whew!

Michael Before leaving Las Vegas, we stopped at a supermarket to stock up on groceries. In high spirits, I took a photo of Angelika selecting potato chips at the supermarket (Picture 2). Immediately, a saleswoman approached me and said I wasn't allowed to do that. I mumbled something and slinked away. As I later found out, this is not allowed because the supermarket wants to keep the shelf arrangement secret. Manufacturers pay high prices for whether and where the goods are placed on the shelves. We then crossed the state border into California and only stopped again at "Death Valley Junction" to take pictures of old junk (Photos 3 and 4).

Angelika Michael insists that I contribute something to the newsletter before I board the plane to Germany. Well, since my departure is already on Thursday, which is tomorrow, I need to hurry up. I'll keep it shorter this time, as there are still a thousand and one things to do. Most of you are already well-informed about our travel plans. I will head to Northern Germany on Thursday and spend the first two weeks with my family there. In the third week, I will meet Michael in Munich. Together, we will explore Southern Germany for a week. Michael hasn't been to Germany in over four years. However, since he now gets three weeks of annual leave at AOL, I was able to persuade him to spend a week in Germany. We are eager to hear his impressions. Incidentally, his first action was to organize a card game night with his old friends from college. After all, Michael spent half of his student days playing cards in the college cafeteria.

Angelika Michael has already diligently reported on everything that has happened since our last newsletter. I would just like to add that this country now also has a new president (so nicely called "president-elect" here). But of course, you have heard about this despite the BSE crisis dominating the news in Germany. I just can't help but note that with Bush, something is coming our way. Not only does the man want to push through his idiosyncratic "Star Wars," a missile defense system in space, but he also sees no issue with drilling for more gas in Alaska, leaving environmental regulations to be voluntarily followed by companies, and talking up a recession to push through his controversial tax cuts.

Angelika Yes, and I have to report on another political issue. California is currently grappling with a severe energy crisis. Every day we are threatened with the possibility that, literally, the lights will go out for a few hours because the electricity being produced is no longer sufficient. Even today, we are at energy alert level 3, which means that the power companies might turn off the supply in the late afternoon, leaving us without electricity for a few hours.

Angelika Now I would like to contribute something to your amusement. As Michael already mentioned once, we will probably be going on vacation to Japan in the near future. That's why this year for Christmas, there were all sorts of gifts related to "Japan." Michael was delighted with sake cups (sake = Japanese rice wine), various types of sake, miso soup bowls, and the highlight, a Japanese language class that we will both start in April. But what would Japan be without karaoke? You know, that's the thing where you sing along to well-known music. Usually, a video plays on the screen, the music plays, and the lyrics are displayed--but you have to sing yourself. Now, Michael's Japanese colleague at work loves "karaoke." She says that singing relaxes her completely. During a Christmas party at the house of Michael's other colleague, she tried to persuade us to go to karaoke with her. At first, I turned pale with shock, as I assumed I would have to sing on a stage in front of several hundred people (that's how I knew it from television).