You think I’m conceited? Oh, far from it. You know, I am Jochen’s office muggie! I keep him company nine hours a day. Sometimes even during weekends when Jochen is doing overtime. The relationship between an office muggie and her owner is definitely delicious food for thought and provides ample material for economic and psychological treatises, and I am pretty sure that someone has already mugged up on this topic.
Anyway, wherever Jochen goes, I will follow him faithfully. To the office kitchenette (watching him chat with his cute young colleague − oh, the mere thought of it drives me mad with jealousy!), to his office, to meetings. It is, therefore, only right and proper that I am his very special queen of hearts.
What Jochen’s girlfriend thinks of me, you wonder? I haven't got a clue, to be honest. But what I know for sure is that without me Jochen would find life dull and tasteless.
What? You don’t know Jochen? Never mind, but I will leak to you some information where you can find us: in one of the offices of RASTAL in Höhr-Grenzhausen. When I look out of the window from Jochen’s desk, I'd say that his office is on the third floor. Now please do remember that because we will come back to this detail later.
The view from here is very beautiful. Maybe this is the reason why I look so sleek and well-proportioned. The lovely landscapes of the Westerwald with their gently ondulating hills must have inspired my creators. To what, you want to know? To endow me with such sweet red strawberry lips, of course, and nothing more. Honni soit qui mal y pense, shame to anyone who thinks evil of it. Remember: I am Jochen’s sunshine, not his “sinshine”, so we really do not need to go into that any further. But what I would like to underline with all emphasis at my command is the fact that I was created at RASTAL. Created? Yes indeed, I was created. Cars may be “manufactured” or “produced”, but that’s too mechanical, too far away from my world of charm and grace.
You may feel inclined to object that I do not consist of anything but porcelain and some colour and that I should not give myself airs and “mug it up”. Alright, alright, I won't deny the thing about the porcelain and the colour. But I am definitely endowed with character and personality. And that's why I am so desirable and in high demand. Jochen is not the only one who is mad about me. Everyone is. Sorry to sound a bit hoity-toity, but I am, in all modesty, the most glamorous office mug of the world.
You know, before I saw the light of day as a mug, I only existed as an idea: as an idea of Andreas and Carsten, designers at RASTAL, who had already developed plenty of mug shapes. The names of my competitors are Tiffany, Brazil, Sidney and Kenia Slim. I won’t waste a word on them here. And leave me in peace with the Diva mug. If there was a DSDS (German Idol) competition for the likes of us, she would be the first trying to lay claim to that title.
While I can put up with the existence of Tiffany, Brazil and Sidney, I must admit that Kenia Slim is a real thorn in my porcelain flesh because she came after me. I was there first. The Kenia Slim mug by RASTAL is always trying to push herself to the forefront by changing her looks: She appears on the mug scene in either glass, porcelain or frosted glass attire, and in two sizes: normal and slim. Oh, poor me! Why on earth am I, Sunshine, condemned to be “normal” although my body mass index clearly points to “slim” – tall and slender? Besides, I believe myself endowed with the perfectly proportioned figure of a supermodel. This, at least, is the image I have of myself.
Despite all reason and visual evidence, my creators decided differently, and that for sure is something I will never ever forgive them. How dare they not gratify the dearest wish of a sweet party girl! Sigh… Sob… But what can I do?
I grew from sort of humble beginnings, from a number of strokes on a piece of paper. Then I took on form and shape in the computers of RASTAL, where I was endowed with alluring curves. If you could only see me in my entire beauty! The mug only shows my face, and I could go mad at the thought that Andreas and Carsten suddenly lost their ardent interest in me. Though it’s really no wonder, given the many decorated mugs they bring into the world day by day. It really drives me to despair that they keep creating new rivals for me all the time!
But alas, although a pretty blonde-curled girl like me could tear her hair out in despair, it’s no use moaning. I must face reality: Andreas and Carsten simply cannot be faithful. They have a passion for change; today they may create a cup or mug for this brand, tomorrow an Exclusive Glass for some other. That’s their reputation and vocation. At RASTAL they say that they are international leaders in the creation of brand identities reflected in glass, ceramic or porcelain. Just imagine: Thanks to more than 500 RASTAL employees, over 100 million of glasses as well as cups and mugs leave Höhr-Grenzhausen each year.
Industrial enterprises, service providers, institutions and organisations as well as advertising and sales promotion agencies appreciate RASTAL’s comprehensive range of advertising products designed “in glass and more”. Because RASTAL products used for free gift, incentive or sales promotion campaigns always tie in with current trends. Just think of me as an example, dear Reader: Advertising products by RASTAL meet the most exacting customer requirements. They have that certain something, they are handy, modern and always appropriate for the desired purpose.
Hello, hello, they are talking about me! Of course they are.
Ah, let’s forget about those unfaithful guys in the design office. What the heck could a girl like me expect from a bunch of creative folks? Let's rather move on to Hubertus and Werner in the tech department, where I felt truly understood from the very beginning. Believe it or not: When Hubertus and Werner saw the sketches and my perfect measurements, they immediately found that Sunshine is not only very special, but that she deserves something special. My heroes! Needless to say that it was Hubertus and Werner who had the brilliant idea to adorn my ear, pardon me: my handle, with a little diamond. Some say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend; whether that's true or not, is irrelevant, but the gemmy makes me feel so ennobled. If only I could, I would kiss my heroes all over and over again. Thanks to their sparkling wisdom, the sun and I, Sunshine Sandy, have joined forces in lighting up Jochen's life. And when there is no sun around? Then Jochen can rightly sing, looking at my beaming face: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey!”
The tech staff at RASTAL are really clever folks. In order to accommodate all customer needs and requests, they keep devising ever new decoration procedures which they call .
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