david miller troyer

I’m guilty. I used my blog to whine and complain. oh yeah, and I used the word ‘piddle’ three times… snap. I guess I wrote the entry in the heat of the moment, and I need to downplay its tone for my readers, hehe. on a lighter note, I got an email from Chad Stoesz, a fellow intermenno trainee whom I’ll be working with at thomashof. we share many interests and I think it will make times there even better than I expected. I’m out, peace.

So today I slept in late, woke up and piddled around the house. I soon decided that today looked like the best riding weather I’d seen in a long time (75/23 degrees, calm, 50% humidity). So I hopped on my bike and headed out 11 south, forgoing some hiking with friends (They were going to hone quarry, which I’ve been to many times, and it sounded like they were just going to piddle around for an hour or so).

I crossed the augusta/rockingham county line, went a few more miles and stopped at a church to stretch out and take a quick nap. I decided I would find a way to cut east over I-81 and piddle my way back home. I finally made it to 276 north towards home, and was just pulling into Weyers Cave when I heard the infamous pop. That’s right, I broke my third rear, drive-side spoke on the same wheel. Let’s just say it turned a great ride into an annoying one, a 2.5 hour one into a 3.5 hour one, a slightly strenuous one into an arduous one, a joy into a pain in the ass, literally. Not to mention I was passed on the side of the road by another biker. I guess since my bike is worth 1/8 of what his was, and the fact I wasn’t wearing $500 worth of accessories forgoes the common courtesy to stop and see if I needed any help. I guess there wasn’t anything he could have done anyhow, but still.

Well, let’s just say Les is going to be seeing and hearing from me on Monday. I honestly haven’t been this turned over about anything in a LONG time.

I found out today where I’ll be spending six months of my life, starting in early august. I’ll be living and working at Die Tagungsstätte Thomashof just outside of Karlsruhe, Germany. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

Thomashof is a Mennonite Conference Center. You will be living in the institution with other young volunteers, including young men doing their civil service (Conscientious Objectors) as well as another trainee (Chad Stoesz). You will be working in the kitchen and dining hall as well as in the area of maintenance.

wow, there’s still a lot to speculate about and I’m excited to have a taste. for those of you who don’t know, this placement will be for August-February and then I will be given another placement for the last six months. From the map it looks like I might have to work on polishing some of my high school French, in addition to the high German I’m studying… when in reality, I’ll probably be using some form of low German.

update: click here for the thomashof site translated into english.

well, this summer has been relatively uneventful. microbiology is keeping me straight, though I’m not sure how much of Ken’s humor I can take. I’m still keeping my eyes open for additional employment to keep me busy this summer. Unfortunately, as well as I did during the school year to say otherwise, I have resorted to computer games in some of my free time. wow, the more I think about that, the more stupid it seems… I should ride/hike/read/job hunt/sleep/hang out more. the game is alarmingly addicting.

Here’s a list of some of the goals/aspirations I have for the summer (subject to change):

• visit my brother-in-law who plays professional baseball. it’s looking like a trip to Dunedin, Florida
• visit my friends in Ontario, maybe one in Alberta
• ride my bike at least 1000 miles
• backpack. the northern loop of the massanutten trail is looking tempting
• visit my sister in Wooster, Ohio, where she’ll be accompanying the Ohio Light Opera on the keys
• get a general handle on deutsch to help smooth the transitions of living in Germany and/or Switzerland for a year

well, I just finished cleaning up from the meal I made my family. my infamous cheese steak sandwiches only get better each time. I’d be willing to make them sometime for anyone who so wishes.

I’m taking a summer class at EMU, microbiology. it’s only 3 weeks long, 8-12 in the morning, and I get 4 credits. overall it’s not bad, I rather enjoy it. today we took a field trip to the harrisonburg/rockingham sewage treatment plant, and I actually found it quite stimulating and not as crappy as some people had forecasted.

I rode around 23 miles today out to weyers cave and back. a rear drive-side spoke broke randomly (second time since I’ve owned the bike) and I had to gimp the remaining 7 miles home. it really was unfortunate, as I had been maintaining a 16.1 mph average while fighting a headwind (and crappy drivers, but that’s another rant) on the way out. anyhow, if you’re in intermenno… give me a shout, I’m not a big fan of mass emails. peace.