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Dollar coins. Very convenient for the new parking meters and much prettier than dollar bills.

They’re just sleeping.

One day they will be on the road again, perfectly restored and stunning in their finned splendor.

Stanley Kubrick / LACMA 11/01/2012 – 06/30/2013

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Shining (1980)

Or: Season Opener, 10/5/2011.

The first rain, one day later than last year.

Dorothy, I found your shoes!

And yes, we are not in Kansas.

Nobody knows whether it was a (mild) earthquake or a cat – one morning our favorite teapot was broken. We found a replacement, carried it home, made some tea in it and discovered that it was one of those pots: Beautiful to look at in its round and sturdy teapot-ness and dripping at the spout. Not good!

On the other hand, we were planning to go on a trip to Germany anyway and I knew that in Germany I would find something called a “Tropfenfänger” or drip-catcher in plain English. Available in any store over there, I told the other half of the household, no problem at all. It’s just one of those little secrets of Europe only the natives know about, I said.

So the Tropfenfänger went on the list of things to bring back home, right besides Rouladennadeln (for keeping beef-olives in shape during cooking) and 80 x 80 cm pillowcases (the largest pillowcases in the USA measure 62 x 62 cm) and other essentials and off we went: Los Angeles, Paris, Hannover, no problem. Getting the stuff on the shopping list too was a breeze… with one exception: Tropfenfänger seemed to have ended up on the list of “extinct creatures”.

Like the Dodo. Oh dear. Doomed to a life with a dripping teapot?

No, the story does have a happy ending: I told my story of woe at the family table and everybody was just as astonished as I was that something we all remembered from our youth had simply disappeared. Until my sister-in-law stood up and left the room, to reappear a short while later with three of the elusive thingies still in their original packaging. She vaguely remembered that they ended up on a storage shelf after clearing out some kitchen… anyway, who cares? I triumphantly carried them home and believe me – that was the end of any dripping from the teapot.

Care to take a look at this magnificent piece of German efficiency?

Not the latest in sleek design, but VERY effective.