Navigation and the like.

Germans and their navigational systems. At first, I thought that these people were whimps. Then, I tried to drive in Europe. I quickly realized that it's a good thing that cars used to be a lot slower, as you need an excellent navigator to get you and your vehicle anywhere but the nuthouse or the local fuel station (to tuck tail and ask for directions). An interesting link
German Der Spiegel article (in English)

Side note... Der Spiegel is the German equivalent of Time/Newsweek to read it in English go here - Der Spiegel Magazine - English site A good way to get the German perspective on things.

Back to the point of my post. Did I really have a point or was it just an excuse to chatter? Well, nevermind.... We call our car 'The Landbound Spaceship" because of this LOVELY piece of equipment. In the middle of our dash sits the control center. Contained herewith is said Navigational System, DVD player, multi-disk CD player, Radio, info. center (traffic conditions and the like) and more. You can push a button and the scree flips up to reveal two SD card slots to add MP3 capability to our stereo.

What's more, it's illegal to talk on the phone whilst driving in Germany. In that vein, our car came with a wonderful hands-free Bluetooth system. If someone calls, you hit the button on the dash and suddenly, the persons voice takes over the sound of the car. "Hello!" When you're finished, stab the button again and back comes the music. Very safe and very bizarre. The first few times I used it, I felt vaguely psychotic.

Monday was a good day for exercise. I managed to pull off a long-ish run after dropping Dee and Don off at the airport (Bye you two). I think it was in the neighborhood of 45+ mins. My watch showed 40, but I forgot to turn the clock back on for a long stretch of the run. Then, after Kera got home, we went for a 2.5 hour bike ride out south of town, through the German countryside (we had about 180 degree view of the Alps). No, riding in Bavaria isn't all bad.

I'm signed up for the Swiss Single-Speed Championships. We'll head down to Switzerland on Sat. morning for that. Kera might end up participating if we can fit a bike for her. Apparently, the promoter is bringing extra SS's in an effort to get more people to participate (primarily, the spousal units). The course is pretty flat so it ought to be a good first time effort should she choose to partake in the festivities. Otherwise, we might just have some good pics of the race from her vantage behind beer goggles.

Monday, I had an interview, of sorts, with the owner of local tour company Mike's Bike's. He's considering me to host this tour Neuschwanstein Castle. He had a few more people to talk with, but promised to call me either way. If I get the job, I pal around with the customers to and from the tour. While they are doing the tour, etc. I can do whatever I want. Hike, swim, run, read... anything. It'd be 11 long hours a day, 5 days a week. However, it'd get me a work permit and a place to start. I'll report back later on further developments.

So, back to the saga of our lives. The previous interview that I mentioned... well, got an SMS (text message to the rest of the world) from the owner of the company... I'm going to be employed! As of tomorrow, he says that I'll have a work permit and we'll start working out the details. Here's the place that I'll get to spend my days.. Neuschwanstein Castle and the area.

Did I mention that life has a funny way of turning out very differently than you may have planned? Obviously, for me, it certainly has... in a very good way. Off to go celebrate!