Michael Since San Francisco's criminal sidewalk campers broke into our garage and stole my bike ( Rundbrief 12/2014 , Rundbrief 02/2016 ) I have renounced bicycle ownership. However, every now and then I do get the itch to take a little ride, to quickly dash down to the Mission district to grab some Mexican food, or just for fun in the evening shortly before sunset, to zoom around and take photos of funny people in embarrassing situations.

Angelika Every day we receive new bad news from the White House. It feels like we are in a bad TV show. Yet, despite the daily drama, there is political deadlock. Although Republicans have solid majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a Republican president, nothing is moving forward because Republicans are so divided among themselves and the factions within the party are so extreme that compromises seem hopeless.

Angelika Around the corner from us on Chattanooga Street, there is a little wooden box in front of a house that looks like a birdhouse. However, it's not birds that are nourished here in the winter, but rather book-hungry neighbors, as it is a public book exchange.

Michael Sometimes I listen to someone who is speaking normally, and suddenly I think I'm going crazy because the person I'm talking to clearly mispronounces a word. This often happens to me with Canadians; they generally speak quite passable American English, and then suddenly they slip in a wrong word: Did they just say "aboot" instead of "about"? Bam! Exposed! Revealed as a non-American, it's hilarious!

Michael In Rundbrief 10/2016 I have already told you about my newly awakened passion for zooming through San Francisco on a skateboard. You should also know that in my youth, in the late 1970s in Germany, I used to race down hills on a skateboard in my home town of Augsburg Kriegshaber with lots of speed. However, I never had contact with real skateboard gangs where I could have learned any tricks. The sport was simply too exotic in Germany at that time.

Michael What are 1,000 million? In Germany, that's a "Milliarde." Americans, who are generally more inclined towards exaggeration, say "a billion." For example, a few years ago, Facebook paid 17 billion dollars for WhatsApp, and German newspapers wrote "17 Milliarden". So far, so good -- Billion is just the English word for the German "Milliarde" -- if it weren't for the German word "Billion."

Angelika Hawaii has become something like our second home, and we try to spend at least a week there every year. Usually, we fly to Oahu and stay in Kailua on the eastern side of the island, because there is a great beach and no large hotel complexes. However, this year our favorite accommodation was not available, and we decided to try something new.

Angelika In a city changing at a crazy speed, it's reassuring when not everything falls victim to the excavator's tooth or the craze for national chain stores. In our neighborhood, at the corner of Valencia and 22nd Street, there is an Italian delicatessen called "Lucca Ravioli Co." where delicious Italian sausages and groceries have been available for purchase since 1925.