I tried to empty the garage in Tating today so that we could actually use it – to store things we might want to bring there from Hamburg. There was loads and it took three car loads to get rid of old, dusty, semi-destroyed stuff. Pat nearly lost it when I came back after one of these runs to the dump with a school desk in a perfect condition, and a really neat armchair also in perfect condition. It’s just unbelievable what some people throw away!
On the way back over the autobahn, we saw a really interesting road sign telling tank drivers what the maximum speed for their ‘vehicles’ was – last time I had consciously seen one of those was long before anyone even thought that the wall 
would come down.
There was also a brilliant view from the bridge across the Kiel Canal .looking at an old-time three-master! Traffic almost came to a stand still.
Pádraig was with a carer and Pat’s sister today, while we were out emptying the garage in Tating. It all worked out really well.
We weren’t out for a long time, but we were out. And we were not afraid to be away. It sounds like nothing, but in comparison to some months ago, or even the time he was still in hospital, this is a huge change.
What hasn’t changed is this insane feeling of being tired. The sitting in front of a computer screen an my eyes closing, of nodding off in between sentences or even words. Of taking half an hour to write a few sentences and hoping they make some kind of sense. Of wanting to write more, to describe the day in more details, to describe how Pádraig is doing in more details. But just falling asleep during the attempt.
Back in Dublin tomorrow to check on the extension.
Hospi-Tales 
The fact that you can do all you are doing and be as tired as you are and yet you still write a fantastic, articulate and wonderful blog sharing your experiences and thoughts. And keeping us all apprised of your progress, the house progress, and of course the amazing progress of Padraig. Amazing!
I remember being stunned in the late 80s when I spent time in Germany and saw tank speed signs on motorways. When my friend told me they were for American tanks, I was gobsmacked. I rarely saw trucks full of soldiers here in the US, and I’ve *never* seen a tank, let alone on a road! When I saw them (especially my compatriots in huge transports in Germany) I was uncomfortable being around armed forces and wondered how it felt for Germans to have all these American soldiers there.
We must organise a big huge never-ending party one day, Diane, for all of you who kept us going with your encouragement, praise to make me blush, and friendship we’ll all have forever.
In relation to those tanks, Diane. They were there, of course, to keep us all safe and secure! I remember in the early 80s when I was coming back to Germany from my year in Salamanca (when/where I met Pat:), driving my VW Beetle at an amazing 100km/hour into Germany, listening to the first German news for months (no internet then), and hearing the German minister of defence telling the German people that not the protesters against the Cruise and Pershing II missiles, but the German Army were the biggest peace movement in the country!! – I still remember the laugh and thinking: ‘Welcome home, Reinhard! This has to be Germany!’