Ein Tag bis Fliegen

Taxes done.

Packing, mostly done. We're planning to stay up late tonight to help with sleeping right away on the plane to London. When we board (8p) it will be 4a in Munich ... sooner we can rotate the schedule the better.

Final packing has yet to occur. Need to whittle down the small library on Germany to a few books that will have to do the job. The convertible does not promise much carrying space. Backseat will work, but can be like hanging a "good stuff is in here" sign on the window. Mostly we'll be driving and in smaller towns when we've got the extra few bags.

Unlocking the phones is turning out to be a bit tricky. iPhone 3G that have been fully upgraded to the latest/greatest software cannot be unlocked currently. So my main phone is out. Pam's is the older 2G and I failed to ever Ebay my old 2G iPhone so I'm working to get that one setup and unlocked. Nearly there. If it all works, we buy a sim at the airport in München and we'll have Germany cell phone numbers to use for the trip. Much better than international roaming.

German language skills are still rough. I'd put myself solidly in the 3 y.o. range ... maybe. Time in the environment will help as it has on the past couple of trips to Mexico for the Spanish.

At this point, it's just time to get on the plane and go.

The sausages are calling ... the Beer is flowing.

Emmy is about to wake up.

Snowstorms, panic attacks & VINs

All of a sudden this trip is moving in on us very quickly. One week from tomorrow we get on the plane and it feels like many things need to be done.

Truth is, very little needs to be done. We need to get the International Driver's Permit (IDP), finish the taxes, pack and get on the plane. The rest will take care of itself.

At least one big one is knocked out now ... we got the VIN for das Auto (Emmy is her name now). It was actually at the dealer on Thursday but Denver was blanked out by snow. Our client advisor got it yesterday and called in the morning. I hurried down to the dealership yesterday to get the finance paperwork done. Spent some time recovering after realizing the payment required to own this vehicle in 5 years. We knew this already, but signing a contract agreeing to make that payment monthly is a different story now isn't it. Toughest part is switching from being a leaser to a buyer ... no equity to trade-in :)

It didn't help to throw in the extras. I'm normally not in favor of buying some of the adds at the dealer since we know they are marking the product up, but right now that makes the most sense and their prices were not bad. Clear bra, window tint, lo-jack, run-flat tire protection, gap insurance and extended warranty ... it all adds up quick and put another $130 on the payment (yes @ 2.9% I am financing the adds).

The extended warranty is another questionable item. I don't love them, although I have one on the Infiniti to cover the gap between manufacturer's warranty and lease end, and we have one on the Acura provided gratis by the dealership if we get ALL non-emergency service done there (very clever move on their part IMHO).

However, when looking at the price of this car and the list of very expensive and fairly new technologies going into this machine ...

• 1st year of the Dual Clutch Transmission
• 1st year for the hard drive based iDrive
• 2nd year for the retractable hard top
• 2nd year for the high-rev V8

Coupled with the large number of high-tech devices ... seems like insurance rather than warranty. With this particular policy, if we don't use it, we get most of the price back. Guess we'll have to learn the hard way if it turns out to be hard to NOT use the policy. Otherwise, we only use it if something big happens.

So, today was spent with the burdensome task of pushing snow from the top to the bottom of Vail mountain using nothing but a pair of 175 cm boards. Kids were checked into a ridiculously expensive ski school and I spent the day skiing with my Dad and a friend ... the first time I've skied like an adult in a while. During this day I found myself wondering several times if the Alps will be very impressive. I live in one of the most remarkably beautiful places and spend a fair amount of time at the tops of big mountains. The question is only really aimed at planning. Do I plan to visit mountains like Zugspitze or Pfänder, spending several hours, only to go "looks like the view from the top of Mt. Elbert", having then lost that time exploring the truly unique aspects of Europe, 12th and 13th century architecture? Guess that will be a game-time decision.

Zwei wochen zum zu gehen

Ack!

All of a sudden, two weeks feels very soon. There's a lot to do, but most of it can't be done, yet.

We're still waiting on the VIN for the car. Once we get this, we can finally go complete the process by financing the transaction. Getting nervous about this one, although the consumer debt culture seems to be relaxing, not tightening ... we should be o.k.

Sort of a funny story about the financing of this vehicle. When we filled out the financing app, I put down my income from last year and all other im'potent info, fully expecting someone to ask me if I could verify that income. However, that call never came. What did come (about a week later) was a timid call from the local BMW agent saying my application had been rejected. My reaction was calm with an undercurrent of "you've got to be fucking kidding me". So, we talked about the situation a bit and it became quickly apparent that BMW wanted, but didn't want to ask for, verification of income. The concern was that I haven't had a car payment that big before.

WTF? Is it normal for a car company to just trust what we put down on that random application about how much we make? Seriously? She said we'd be fine if I wanted to put down $30K on the car ... um, no thanks.

So, when I offered to send my W2 over verifying my income from 2008, the lending agent was relieved. What a strange world ... and no wonder we've gotten upside-down in the economy if people have been able to put whatever they want down on the app without verification. I don't work that way.

Still, some part of me is worried that something will go wrong between the approval and the time that BMW has fully agreed to give me a car and trust that I will pay them back. This mostly stems from the years of being completely upside down and borderline capable of paying our bills. It's funny how some of these fears seem to be slow to leave. Credit score is high, debt is low, income is comfortable, and still I worry about acceptance from creditors.

There's a corollary here to my feelings about weight loss. Perhaps it's a symptom of my personality and nothing more. I have managed to shed myself of some 50+/- pounds since 2003 when I was a peak weight of 215 lbs. That was the year my paternal grandmother passed away (the same one talked about previously) and I regained focus on my health. I'm not sure if that's what she meant in her morphine-addled message of "you're better than this" ... but I searched for meaning in those slurred syllables and could only find my fatness as a source.

So, I attacked the problem with a vengeance. And, with Dr. Atkins at my side, I lost weight at an incredible pace. Then started running and lost even more. Today I clock in at 165+/- depending on the part of the year, pushing as low at 158 in the late summers.

However, I still feel like the fatboy. I Still see myself as that person fighting the fight. I'm out there five days a week fighting against the fatboy ... holding him off ... afraid when I look in the mirror that he'll be right there, staring at me, belly hanging out.

So, hopefully it will all be o.k. The fatboy is not coming back, no matter how many Weißbeir I enjoy. BMW is going to gladly sell us this car since we've built the foundation that shows capability to pay for it. Life will go on ... happier or not for this move, only time will tell.

As of now, I can tell you the Fatboy is jiggly with excitement ;)

Drei Wochen zum zu gehen

So, less than 3 weeks from flying and just over 3 weeks from the appointment. This will be the toughest stretch of waiting since there's really not much that we can do to prepare but wait.

Sometime in the next week or so we should get the VIN for the car. BMW has said to expect this around 2 weeks before the pickup date. It might be a little earlier in our case since the factories appear to be closed the week before Easter so production would have to be earlier than normal.

Once we've got the VIN, we can complete the process through BMW Financial.

In the meantime, more reading, studying German and planning finding options of things to do during each day. Check out the sub-pages for each destination city to see how the trip is coming together.

Aufwiederhören

An interview with Lt. Col Erwin George Labbe

This is the text of an interview with my grandfather. It was taken in April or May of 1994 during my college World History class.

Initially, I received an F on this paper ... the instructor felt that the events described were beyond those that he understood from WWII as he had studied it. He required proof and I put him in contact with Grandpa. In the end, I got an A for this work.

We know much more today than we did 15 years ago. You are now free to read and experience the coming of age of a 24-year-old ... I can tell you that this interview changed my life forever ...

For all questions, I am the questioner. For any answers, my Grandfather and Grandmother were in attendance. My Grandfather answered most questions, my Grandmother cried a lot. It was a very tough interview. Unfortunately, I did not capture all of the questions or answers in an interview that lasted 2+ hours. The result is still worth reading. I can also say that in the hundreds and hundreds of hours that I spent with these same grandparents, this topic was not raised. Only through direct questioning did I come to understand this part of their lives.

Q) When did you serve during the war?

A) March 1942 until the end

Q) What was your job during the war?

A) I was a pilot.

Q) What type of pilot?

A) I was an instuctor in the Air Training Command, preparing new recruits for the Advanced Air Training taught on the Pacific.

Q) Where were you stationed?

A) Midland, Texas

Q) What exactly did you teach?

A) I trained navigators and flew practice bombing missions over Dallas and El Paso. We were pretty close to half-way between the two, which is why it's called Midland.

Q) Did you teach pilots how to deal with the Kamikaze problem?

A) The Kamikazes were a Navy problem, and those schools were on the carriers in the Pacific.

Q) Did you experience any of the accelerated officer promotions as a result of the War?

A) No really. It was 14 months between 2nd Lieutenant and Captain.

Q) Is that a normal promotion period?

A) Yes.

Q) What was your eventual rank?

A) Lieutenant Colonel.

Q) I know that you did not graduate college until after the war, how did you get to be an officer?

A) There was a desperate need for pilots, so I became an officer with High School eductation. Later the Air Force helped me graduate from the University of Omaha in Nebraska.

Q) What was it like in the United States before the War? In other words, what was the US opinion of the conflict in Europe?

A) The Morale in the United States was very high. We had been in a few battles and successful at those. I didn't pay attention to until Pearl Harbor, though.

Q) Was Pearl Harbor a motivation in your decision to join the war effort?

A) Yes

Q) Did you struggle with the concept of dying for your country?

A) You always think someone else is going to get killed.

Q) Were you ever in the position of going to battle?

A) I was supposed to go to India with Neder(?), and most of those people got killed, but I stayed behind to marry your grandmother.

Q) What was the attitude in the US after the war? Did the Holocaust have a big affect on the US public?

A) The Holocaust was very poorly publicized. We did not understand the devastation until were were stationed just south of Frankfurt, Germany in 1946. There you could not escape it. We were in a min-base, made by moving the Germans out of their homes so we could move in. The Germans hated us. You could smell the bodies left outside of the camp.

Q) What about the German people?

A) They were desperate. There was no food. We often left a bag of groceries at the gate for someone to come and collect.

Q) How long was it before the economy seemed to recovery in Germany?

A) We left Germany in '48 and came back in '50, so it was probably '51 before thing seemed O.K. We left again and came back in '56. By then they were booming. Much better than the US seemed to be doing.

Q) Were you at fear for your life while in Germany?

A) Yes. Your Grandmother couldn't walk down the street outside the camp because the Germans would spit on her. When I was gone on missions she would sleep with my service revolver under her pillow. We were encouraged to stay inside because there was fighting in the woods off of the base.

Q) There was fighting a year after the War ended?

A) The tanks were still in the woods. Nazis and other radical groups resisting the end.

Q) Did you get a feel for the devastation due to loss of life in Russia and Poland, or were you overwhelmed with the problems in Germany?

A) We knew of Russia's problems because the French wanted us (the US) to attack them while their army was diminished.

Q) How did the French feel about the recent occupation of their country?

A) We were stationed in Paris after the War, but before we went to Germany. The Parisians felt that they had won the war, and we (the US) had stood by and watched. There were still problems getting rid of the pro-Nazis that have been the government of France.

Q) What was your reaction to the end of the war?

A) Elated! Jubilated!

Q) What was the US reaction to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

A) We did not know what an atomic bomb was, and did not comprehend what we (the US) had done to them (Japan) until the early 1960's.

Vier Wochen zum zu gehen

This seems to have passed us by mercifully.

Tomorrow will be drei Wochen before we get on the plane. It's hard to describe how much I want this trip to begin. I'm very emotional every time I think about it. The only reason for hoping it comes slowly is so that I can make progress on my German. I regret the 20 years I have not been learning this beautiful language.

So, tomorrow I will write the next chapter. In the mean time, I continue to plan the trip. Visit the 3rd chapter of the story again if it's been some time. I re-wrote the itinerary to include a lot of links to sites for the destinations. Now I'll focus on drilling in on the destination sites to narrow down our choices of what to do on our days "off".

I have the very intense pleasure of living next door to a German native. And her nephew Freidrich (Freddy) is here for the year in American High School to learn english. I spent some time with Freddy yesterday and he is encouraging me to visit the Dachau Memorial. On a lot of levels I am very scared of this visit. When I asked Freddy if the Memorial was fair to the German people he said "no, it was not kind to the Germans". I don't want to the be typical American tourist out to villianize the Germans. That chapter in history has passed. Every people have their demons to deal with ... for Americans, slavery is a tragic part of our past. Is it equal to that period in Germanic history? Maybe not, maybe so ... that is for you to decide. Both Nationalities have problematic past, though, so how can we pass judgement fairly???

You've (hopefully) read about my past through meine Großvater. I've decided to find (dammit why am I upset) the article that I wrote based on my interview with he and meine Großmuter. It is brief but intense. And apparently very important to me.

Strangely enough, when meine Tante heard about our trip, she sent me a package of stuff from the things Opa and Oma left behind. I've been through their remaining possessions a few times, but there are so many piles of pictures and things that they kept from their travels, it's impossible to latch onto everything. How Cheryl knew to look for and find the little booklet on Garmisch-Partikirchen I'll never know.

Dammit, I miss them so much. I'm beginning to wonder if I can keep it together for this trip. I apparently can't keep it together long enough to write this blog.

Wo in Deutschland ist Waldo ... err Chris und Pam?

I'm pretty sure my friends and family are getting tired of me complaining about the difficulties of deciding where to go. It really is a daunting challenge, though. We want to see it all, but that's just not possible, and Germany is filled with things that NEED to be seen.

For a while I was thinking Cologne (Koln). This is where the exchange students were from and they set an image of the Dom and the Rhein that has lasted me for decades.

Then, it was the Nurburgring ... the ultimate place to drive a top notch sports car. If you are willing to risk an accident (frequent occurrences) that your insurance will likely refuse to cover.

And, of course, Berlin. There are not many cities in the World that have been as important as Berlin in the course of history. Checkpoint Charlie, the remains of the wall, etc. It should be seen.

In the end, we're going to stay in Bavaria. We'll visit Berlin another day when the kids can go. I'll take my chances on the Ring in a rented track car when I've been to a track or two in preparation. And Koln just doesn't fit without the Ring as a destination. Maybe on our next ED trip :)

It is not exactly a compromise to contain the trip to Bavaria, though. I am surrounded by books dedicated to the region. This area comprises huge tradition and represents a significant portion of what I've come to think of as German culture. This is where the Alps are. This is where Neushwanstein is. Oktoberfest was born here. Beer flows freely and is made everywhere. We will not be disappointed no matter what the trip ends up being.

So, after many, many, many hours of reviewing options:
... do we stay in a different city each night or find a couple of bases?
... do we go in luxury, reserve smaller hotels, or go the pension route?
... touristy small cities, touristy big cities?
... Salzburg, Innsbruck, Vienna as part of this trip?
... Konigsee or Bodensee? Which is better to experience?
... Baden-Baden with the clothing optional spas?

here is our basic plan. What we do in and around each stop is undecided yet, and might be a trip time decision based on weather, etc:

6/4 - Montag

• fly out of Denver at night

7/4 - Dienstag

• arrive in München @ 6p
• check into Hotel Laimerhof

8/4 - Mittwoch

• tour München's Marienplatz

9/4 - Donnerstag

• visit Schloss Nymphemberg in the morning
• tour BMW Factory or BMW Museum
• pick up car @ der Welt @ 2:10p
• pick up winter tires
• drive to Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Berchtesgaden

10/4 - Karfreitag

• brief visit to Berchtesgaden
• drive die Alpenstraße to Hohenschwangau
• visit Garmisch (Zugzpitze) or Schloß Linderhof on the way
• stay in Villa Jagerhaus at the base of Schloß Hohenschwangau

11/4 - Samstag

• open day for touring
• possible options -- Füssen, Lindau, Oberammergau, Bregenz
• return to Hohenschwangau

12/4 - Östersonntag

• visit Schloß Neushwanstein and Schloß Hohenschwangau
• drive die Romantische Straße to Villa Arborea in Augsburg

13/4 - Östermontag

• brief tour of Augsburg
• drive die Romantische Straße all day, touring along the way
• need to research interesting sights along this stretch of the route
• arrive at Gotisches Haus in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

14/4 - Dienstag

• open day for touring
• possible options -- Würzburg, Nürnburg
• return to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

15/4 - Mittwoch

• brief visit in Rothenburg ob der Tauber to finish any shopping
• drive to Dachau Memorial?
• drive to München to return winter tires and drop off car
• stay at Hotel Laimerhof

16/4 - Donnerstag

• fly home

I'm already regretting the end of this trip.