Markus Up Close and Personal

We’re Back From the Sailing Regatta!

Happy Saturday! Wednesday night, Vivian and I got back from the sailing regatta in Long Beach, CA. It was an amazing roadtrip: We drove 3,586 miles = 5,771 kilometers! While driving through the desert in Arizona at 115F (48C), I realized that … There must be a new law! And the law is “The Law


Markus Up Close and Personal

THE THING!

Happy Sunday! Today, we saw something… well, let’s say “bizarre”. Here’s what happened: Right now, I’m on a roadtrip from Austin to San Francisco with my daughter Vivian. It’s a straight shot: Take Interstate 10 until Los Angeles and then Interstate 5 up to San Francisco. If you have never done a roadtrip, I highly


Markus Up Close and Personal

I’m back! :-)

I spent a few days in California, and I realized a few things: Trading on the West Coast is BRUTAL! On the West Coast, markets open at 6:30am. I like to be ready and in front of my computer 15 min before the markets open. That’s 6:15am! And in order to be (somewhat) awake at


Markus Up Close and Personal

Frustrating…

Happy Monday! I’m back from the sailing regatta with Vivian, … and it was super frustrating: On Saturday, we waited all day for wind. Around 3:00pm, the wind FINALLY picked up, and the kids jumped in their boats ready to race. The race committee was just about to set a course when suddenly… there was


Markus Up Close and Personal

I Made a Huge Mistake!

Right now, I’m 35,000 feet in the air on my way to Germany. And yesterday, I made a huge mistake: I decided to make some shrimp for dinner. And it turned out pretty good: This is the first time I used my “magic shrimp peeler and deveiner” that I bought a few weeks ago, and


Markus Up Close and Personal

I’m shipping up to Boston!

Right now, my daughter Vivian and I are visiting her brother Julius in Boston. And yesterday, we watch him racing on the Charles River. When it was his time for a break, they both watched the other sailors and discussed racing strategies. So cool! After watching several races, Vivian and I got hungry and decided


Markus Up Close and Personal

How to turn a bad situation into a good one.

Ok, I admit it: I’m a weirdo! Because I like rain. And no, I’m not THAT weird that I’m dancing in the rain: But here’s the deal: When I was living in Germany, I didn’t like rain – at all! Because in Germany, it’s that “never-ending” kind of rain. It’s the kind of rain that


Markus Up Close and Personal

The Midnight Scooper

I love eating ice cream – especially hot fudge sundaes – but I don’t like scooping it. When you take the ice cream out of the freezer, it’s always so hard, and when I’m using an ice cream scooper it always feels like the ice cream is jumping out of the box, over my shoulder