Many people have recently asked what's going on with my work in the "Tenderloin Childcare Center". I'm still going twice a week, often even three times, when additional help is needed for trips or parties. I have been doing this for exactly one year so far.

Angelika Last weekend we had a holiday here, the so-called "Labor Day" ("Day of Work"), on which Michael also had a day off. So we immediately rented a car to take advantage of the extended weekend. We drove to the "Lost Coast". As the name suggests, this is not exactly the coastal section where the crowds gather and that's why we went there. The "Lost Coast" is located in the far north of California. That's where they couldn't build Highway 1 (Coast Dream Road) back then because the terrain was too rugged and the weather conditions too harsh. Fortunately, later, when technically there was nothing in the way of building the road, there were already nature conservationists who knew how to prevent it.

Angelika Incidentally, I recently had the absolute Seinfeld experience (if you don't know what "Seinfeld" is, just look in my last newsletter). To understand the joke, I have to explain a bit more. First of all, you have to know that there are countless so-called nail shops in America, where you can have your hands and feet cared for. Of course, you can also have your fingernails and toenails painted with nail polish. In our neighborhood alone there are four to five of these nail shops. Whenever we pass by, Michael always bursts out laughing because the people who get their nails painted look like they're in a shop window, which means that everyone who passes by can look at the well-formed or less well-formed feet and hands of the customers.

Angelika A few weeks ago, we were once again rudely awakened by an earthquake of magnitude 5.4. I'm telling you, it was shaking quite a bit. Fortunately, the epicenter was quite far inland, so there was no damage here in San Francisco. The problem was that Michael's computer-accessible earthquake map didn't show the earthquake, and Michael was now firmly convinced that there had been no earthquake at all. He was not dissuaded from his opinion by the fact that our friend Günter, who was visiting from Switzerland at the time, and I had felt the earthquake quite clearly. Later, to Günter's and my honor, it turned out that the map hadn't shown the earthquake because of the map's limited range. The map only shows the immediate area, and the epicenter was, as I said, much further inland. Günter was of course deeply delighted with such adventures being offered to our guests. It only scared him a little because two days earlier we had been to the museum, where an earthquake exhibition was taking place, in which a new room had been built especially for visitors to stand on a moving plate that simulated the strength of the 1989 earthquake. Günter commented later that he could have saved the museum entrance fee.

Michael Hello there, finally it's my turn with some funny stories! When we recently hailed a taxi in the city late at night to ride home, we got into a conversation with the driver, a "long-haired" individual, who immediately recognized that we were speaking German and then told us that he had been stationed in Germany for a few years with the US Army. Now this is nothing unusual -- you can find a lot of Americans here who have been in the Army at some point, and many of them have been in Germany during their service. There's no mandatory service here like in Germany, so the US Army is made up of professional soldiers, and there is no shortage of recruits. A job in the Army often a lifeline for many unemployed youth -- they'd rather be whipped by the drill sergeant than go begging on the street -- unfortunately, there are no other alternatives due to the lack of a social system.

Michael A few weeks ago, there was great excitement at Stinson Beach, a few kilometers north of San Francisco: at this popular destination, a wave surfer was bitten in the, ahem, posterior by a white shark. The authorities immediately issued a ban on swimming and surfing, which led to sharp protests from the surfers who saw their constitutionally guaranteed right being restricted - but when the shark finally stayed away for weeks, the prohibition sign was removed and now they are surfing again!

Michael As you all have surely heard, things are getting tough for President Bill Clinton here in America, who had an affair with an intern in the White House and denied it in a statement before the so-called "Grand Jury" under oath. Now, however, the intern has made a detailed statement and described in minute detail what interesting things happened there. The whole procedure was secret and a certain Ken Starr had the task of writing down the statements and findings in an even more secret report.