Carl - Marylou - Jean - Bill - Our Guests for 10 Days

Hot Dog Guy von Alexander Plaza

Carl has a Dukin Donuts Card

Bill and Jean at Train Station

Candy Downtown

Kaiser Wilhelm Church

Marylou is buying a new bag

Hofbrau Haus - supper and beer

Band with 2 Women - Hofbrau Haus

Jean and Bill - The Gangs All Here - Welcome to Berlin

Welcome Herr and Damen Zimmerman

Tamaqua's Cindy Miller President of UPS Global

Copied from The Morning Call.

As a sophomore at Tamaqua Area High School in 1978, Cindy Miller helped lead the Blue Raiders to the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship.

"Being all for the good of the team was something that was part of my life," recalled Miller, who scored 2,155 points in her career.

Now, nearly 40 years later, the 53-year-old Tamaqua native is leading another team in the business world, at global shipper UPS. Miller, who has spent nearly 30 years with UPS, was recently named the first female president of UPS Global Freight Forwarding, a business unit of UPS.

When Miller began her career at UPS in 1988, the Lehigh Valley was a tough place to find work, she recalled. Mack Trucks had just closed its 5C assembly line, Bethlehem Steel was on the decline, and the region's workplace evolution was in its infancy. Miller, who had just earned a degree from Penn State, was looking for a job anywhere she could find one. 

"I realized that UPS is a network of people who have to work very well together," said Miller, speaking last week from UPS' headquarters in Atlanta. "I got that team feeling right away."

The company also challenged her to do more.

"From an athlete's perspective, that hooked me" Miller said. "Once I realized what type of company UPS was, and once I realized the opportunities that were here, I just wanted to always see myself in the next job."

Miller moved from the Lehigh Valley to various operational and managerial positions with UPS in Philadelphia and New York. In 2001, UPS promoted Miller to vice president of operations for its Northern Plains District in Omaha, Neb.

That eventually led to more executive posts overseas. In her most recent role as president of UPS Europe, Miller oversaw about 45,000 employees throughout the continent. Under Miller, the company was the sole logistics provider during the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Miller is now in charge of far fewer employees — between 5,000 and 5,500, she said — but with the world as her market. She moved to Atlanta to coordinate operations. This move, she said, marks her 10th relocation.

"Any time an opportunity presented itself, my answer was always yes," said Miller, whether it was about taking a new position or relocating. "Saying yes more than no brought me more opportunities along the way."

Miller says she returns to Tamaqua to spend time with family and friends. She also has season tickets for Penn State football and still bleeds the blue and white colors of her college and high school.

But she also bleeds brown – as in Pullman brown – and gold, which are UPS' signature colors.

asalamone@mcall.com

In today's The Morning Call.

Stasi - The East German Secret Police

Stasi Headquarters - a giant campus virtually intact

KGB Shield - Stasi Shield

It seems that nothing has shaped the people of East Berlin and East Germany more than the Stasi - their Secret Police. After World War II - the Allies divided Germany into two separate countries. To compound that problem - they divided Berlin (which was in East Germany) into two halves. West Germany became a democratic country under the watch of England - France - and the USA. East Germany became a communist state under the care of the USSR. 

In the communistic USSR - they had the KGB secret police. The KGB was the big brother of the Stasi. 

The Stasi had a giant headquarters in the Litchenberg neighborhood of East Berlin - not far from our apartment. Today - it is a museum. Their job was to monitor the people - to prevent them from escaping East Germany - and to keep them faithful to the communist way. The Stasi ran a youth corp called the Pioneers. It used the program to indoctrinate the kids. Sometimes 90% of the youth were involved in the Pioneers. To qualify to become a member of the Stasi secret police - you first had to serve in the regular East German army for 2 years. Then you took a battery of qualifying tests. Generally members were not college trained. 

Handicap Chair For The Berlin Tram

Only kidding - we bought 4 chairs because guests are coming.

Bringing Home Extra Chair For Guests

Mit Leib Und Seele - With Heart and Soul - and 7 Players Ejected From the Berlin Alba Game

After the game - walking to our tram

That whole glass wall is an LED screen you can see thru

The Alba Dancers were busy all night -
the red head was the lead cow

Last night Lulu wanted to see the Berlin Alba Basketball Team and Mercedes Benz Arena. So we left our apartment at 5:30 PM - and caught Tram 10 straight to the arena. Something was very different. Until I saw the fans walking ahead of us - I thought the arena was closed. There was no big parking lot full of cars - and no noisy traffic as we walked from the tram to the arena. One fellow on the tram steps had 2 tickets for sale - lower level. He wanted 30 euros for the pair but he eventually settled for 20 euros. It was 6:10 PM and we already had our tickets and were entering the big beautiful Mercedes Benz Arena. The arena was built in 2008 and is the home of rock concerts - professional hockey - volleyball - handball - and the Berlin Alba (short for albatross).

Berlin Alba plays in the German League and the Euro League. They have the highest attendance average in Europe of 11,500 a game. They beat the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs last year in a game - the only European team to do that. The arena holds 17,000 but they keep black curtains pulled over almost the entire upper deck. 

At half time - I bought a Diet Coke - 3.50 euros - no ice - no lid - a straw. There were tons of pretzels and beer but I was strong. 

There is an almost 4 feet high wall all the away around the court - about 10 feet back from the boundary lines. The teams' benches are behind that wall - like NHL hockey. The coach - 5 players - and referees are the only ones inside the wall. This city sure likes it walls. The walls also serve as video boards - as they flash during the whole game. What a distraction! During the whole game - a drum line was winding up the crowd - reminded me of Nuremberg Films.

"Mit Leib Und Seele"- With Heart and Soul is the Alba motto. It is pasted all over the arena. In the third quarter - a game broke out in the middle of a fight. A hard foul brought a brawl - causing the entire starting five players of the Alba being ejected - plus two from the Baskets Bonn. Berlin was 20 ahead and it got close for a bit - but the Baskets ran out of gas. 

After the game - it was eerie again. At the doors - people were claiming things that security had taken from them before the game. Outside - there was no auto exhaust - everyone was quietly walking to the trams - subways - and trains. This was really ironic coming from the Mercedes Benz Arena. The Spree River - where people used to swim across to West Berlin - passed by the arena - along with a long section of The Wall left over.

We walked to our Tram which was waiting about 1/4 mile away. We expected a scrum - but instead there were empty seats - when the last seat filled - they pulled out. We were home by 9:30 PM.

Intro of the Berlin Alba

The section behind the opposing team was walled off
with a private entrance

The Berlin Alba were formed in 1991

Note the wall around the floor

With Heart and Soul

Alba Dancers

Very few cars came to the Mercedes Benz Arena.
People buy monthly transportation passes for
80 euros and can go anywhere in Berlin any time

Berlin versus Bonn - Mercedes Benz Arena

Seven players got thrown out of the game. More story later. 

Berlin won by 20. 

Cool Camper

Rule #1 - Find a level parking space

Look at this cute little German camper. It is a plastic body 2 cylinder Trabant station wagon. The pop up tent has a floor that is covered by a large mattress. The tent folds down when going down the highway. There is a small light ladder going down the back of the car that can be removed to open up the station wagon back. 2 kids could sleep in the back of the station wagon. 2 adults could sleep in the tent. 

The car with its Duraplast bakelite body weighs about 1200 pounds. The engine is air cooled - 2 cycle - and 2 cylinder. It is front wheel drive - way ahead of its time. You must mix gas and oil in the 6 gallon fuel tank. It has no gas gauge - just a ruler to stick in the tank. The tank is under the hood above the carburetor - so the fuel flows into the engine without the need of a fuel pump. It gets 45 mile per gallon - so it can go 270 miles on a tank full.

This camper is in the Trabant Museum in Berlin. 

Wolfsburg - The Volkswagen Capital of the World

Lulu - Wanda - JP covet a VW bus

Wolfsburg

That tram took us on a tour of the factory

In 1966 - I bought my first car - a 1956 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible. In 1969 - my first brand new car was a navy blue VW Beetle sedan. Both were build at the factory in Wolfsburg - Germany. Today it is the largest automobile factory in the world.

VW has been in the news lately for getting caught cheating on the EPA emissions tests. Simply - they designed a way that the cars would fudge the results when they were plugged into the computer testing to see how dirty the cars made the air. Mostly - the cheating was done on diesel cars entering the USA. They were bragging about “clean diesel technology.”

Wolfsburg is one of the newest towns in Europe. It was built in 1938 as a company town to produce the “people’s car” - the affectionate and efficient Beetle. The community - plant - museum - factory - and VW World - all sit along the Aller River. Cars can be shipped by water - rail - and air - all over the world. Of course they have plants in the USA - Mexico - Brazil - and many other places. One can still order a car - and pick it up here in Wolfsburg - drive it around Europe - and send it home to the USA.

Berlin - Trabant Museum - Trabi World - Checkpoint Charlie - Topography of Terror

This museum covers the Nazi rein - 1933 to 1945
In the window you see Lulu - and The Wall

The plastic - front wheel drive - 2 cylinder Trabi

During the last couple days - it has been sunny and the temperature reached the 70s. Since we are farther north than Maine - I am assuming we have really lucked out with the weather here. We spend part of the day with our guests - JP and Wanda - but while they have gone on a few organized tours - we have just walked downtown and enjoyed the weather and sites.


For 38 euros you can drive a Trabant around Berlin

I have talked about the Trabant before - but after seeing the Trabant Museum and Trabi World - here I go again. The Trabant was virtually the only car available in East Germany for 40 years. It was made in Zwickau - when it first came out it was very advanced. It had front wheel drive and a plastic body. The engine is the size of a small watermelon and it produced 28 horsepower. The engine was a big polluter - it smoked because you had to mix oil with the gasoline. It sat 4 people and had a large trunk for such a little car. Many people escaped from East Germany in the trunk of these little things.

Can coal companies afford to clean up coal country

A worsening financial crisis for the nation’s biggest coal companies is sparking concerns that U.S. taxpayers could be stuck with hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in cleanup costs across a landscape of shuttered mines stretching from Appalachia to the northern Plains.

Worries about huge liabilities associated with hundreds of polluted mine sites have mounted as Peabody Energy, the world’s largest publicly traded coal company, was forced to appeal to creditors for an extra 30 days to pay its debts. Two of the four other biggest U.S. coal companies have declared bankruptcy in the past six months.

Under a 1977 federal law, coal companies are required to clean up mining sites when they’re shut down. But the industry’s plummeting fortunes have raised questions about whether companies can fulfill their obligations to rehabilitate vast strip mines in Western states — many of which are on federally owned property — as well as mountaintop-removal mining sites in the East.

Friday - 5 Hours on the Berlin Food Tour

Berlin Food Tour

On Friday - Wanda and JP took us on the Berlin Food Tour. If you are a foodie - you would enjoy this 5 hours roaming around downtown Berlin sampling different foods - being guided by a PhD - speaking English. No it was not Lulu. 

We sampled meatballs - done meat - coffee - wine - cookies - curry wurst - beer - butter - noodles. Personally - I can barely tell the difference between white sausage and brown sausage - but Lulu loved it. I think she likes talking about food more than eating it. Since I have gained 30 pounds - I should take up her habit. 

meatballs

beer

sausage - pretzels - wine

more wine

I forget what they had

cafe next to machine gun wall

We were close to Hitler's bunker - note
machine gun bullet holes

Berlin loves coffee and cake - preferably
outside the sun - sometimes with a blanket 

See the Berlin Tower and Berlin Cathedral
in background

This Jewish School has a double fence -
for protection by the city

Jewish Cemetery downtown

A Berlin favorite - curry wurst - a sausage sliced

into coin size pieces - then red sauce -

and covered with curry powder. 

The finale was a micro brewer
right under the train tracks

Springtime in Berlin - Saturday - Sunny and 64

We had lunch at the East West Cafe - sitting on the line between East and West Berlin. The wall is long gone - but these two guards that still stand there. The Germans hate the Russians. First - they brutally raped and pillaged Berlin when they arrived. But the Russians had an excuse - the Germans that invaded Russia killed about 20 million people - military and civilians. the Americans came out as the good guys. We treated the West Germans so much better than the Russians treated the East Germans. 

The new Train Station in Central Berlin - note the beautiful skies. Trees are all budding. You can take a train to anywhere the country from here. Tracks go out in all directions on 3 levels there. We will take a train to Wolfsburg here on Wednesday. We will also go from here to Hamburg with Carl and Marylou - Jean and Bill.  Tram 10 goes directly from our neighborhood to this station. 

You can rent these BMW i3 electric cars with your credit card. They are nowt cheap  - like 30 cents a minute. 

The East West Cafe can be seen through the wall. These posts mark where the Berlin Wall was.

The grassy area was No Man's Land. If you were in it - you were dead. It is just crazy - these zealots and their walls!

The camper is outside our door - only moved once in 2 months. Note all the people sitting out - drinking and eating on this sunny 64 degree Saturday.

These brass honorary plates can be found in the sidewalks. they honor people who died in the death camps.

Berlin - How About An Electric Rental Scooter

eMio - rental electric scooter

It looks like an electric Vespa - but it is not

I love riding my Vespa scooter and my Nissan Leaf electric car. Here is a neat combination to try. It is an eMio electric rental scooter. We have seen couples scooting around town on them - they are silent but nimble. 

We are not sure of how you rent them - but I am pretty sure that you download an App onto your phone - and then locate a scooter. If it is available - it would be on marked on the App as ready. The one thing that confuses me - you would think they would be plugged in when they are not being used. 

I will have to read up more about how the scooter and the system works.