Something tells me you would find this Merkel Video Blogging thing interesting:

http://watchme.xolo.tv/
 

happy bastille day. it's 20 years. maybe I'll read your novel...
 

I've only met a few multi-billionairs, but one that is here a lot locally is Erivan Haub. He has just absolutely cleaned up on real estate around here for 30 years. I think he and his family own drugstores. I keep wanting to say Tanglewood, but I know that's not right, but something like that. Great guy. But very, very savvy to find cheap things and make them worth a lot of money. Very impressive. I've always wondered if people in Germany understoof what a real estate barron he is in the United States.
 

Joe is Joe Columbe, who founded Trader Joe's as Pronto Markets before selling it to the Albrecht brothers of Germany (they own Aldi's).

/Trader Joe's for 5 years
 

Ja, genau. The point is Trader Joe's is owned by the people who run the German equivalent of Gemco or Vons.

@Anonymous 2: Thanks! Are you an ex-girlfriend, or just Steve?
 

And the further point is, even in Germany's most exalted temples of gourmet excess you can't find anything half as interesting as what you find in a so-so Trader Joe's.
 

i would like to add that the edamame and california microbrews at trader joes are amazing.
 

If only you could buy them at Aldi.
 

Wait, did anyone notice that? A note of nostalgia for California beer? Good God. And I'm in *Germany.*