Hubbalicious is back at work today, so it is me and my friend the painter holding down the fort. He seems to be an interesting fellow - he was a born here in Stuttgart to Croatian parents. When he came of age, he decided to go home to Croatia and serve his mandatory military time there. He became the equivalent to a Navy Seal. When he tried to make a career of it, he wasn’t guaranteed a Seal slot – so he walked away from the military entirely and returned to Germany. Now he is painting my house. And I imagine he could kill me with his bare hands if he wanted to…. Seriously though, he’s a very nice man. He enjoys practicing his English with us, and LOVES to chat with Hubbz about all things military and political. (He also tells me to “ask my husband” about any question he has about the house. Clearly a different gender structure where he lives…)
While our painter friend paints, I work. Since my temporary internet solution is based on a cellular network – I work propped up on our windowsill in order to get a strong enough connection to work. We cannot wait to get our internet set up!! It’s kind of the hinge for all of our communication and comfort needs here. Soon, it will be the hub for us to have a US phone number, American tv shows AND of course, wireless internet access in the whole house!! Here’s what I mean:
Basic cable is included in our rent. This consists of about 30 channels in German - plus CNN International and BBC International (the only English speaking networks). We haven’t even bothered to set up the tv yet, since we 1) have no time to watch it and 2) have nothing interesting tempting us to watch it. Our tv is actually a computer monitor that Hubbz noticed was dual voltage as we were packing up our things in VA. I’m fairly certain he’s going to make a case for a new tv when the time is right. He doesn’t know that I know….but I figure there’s nothing wrong with a little mystery in your marriage :)
Once we have internet, we will set up our Slingbox. The Slingbox, is a friend to all tv addicted Ex Pats – like yours truly (and Mr. yours truly) over here. It’s basically a tool that routes into a cable box set up in the US, and allows you to watch the tv and control the cable box remotely from your computer using the internet. It’s GENIUS. Here’s how it works:
My sister in law added a cable box to her normal subscription package (we contribute to her monthly cable bill) and plugged it into the wall (not a tv set) in her home somewhere. The Slingbox connects to the cable box, and an internet connection. We will soon be able to log into a website that makes our computer, the tv that is connected to the cable box! We’ll have use of the dvr, we can subscribe to Showtime, just like we were back in the good Ol’ U-S- of tv addicted -A!
Through Vonage, we were able to subscribe to an internet phone service that allows us to have a US phone number. This will allow all of you time zone minded loved ones to call us at domestic rates at our home in Germany! AND, as if it couldn’t get any cooler, we ported my old cell phone number over to the Vonage phone – I get to keep the phone number I’ve had for more than 10 years now! I know my mom is happy about that one!
Fast internet will also allow us to have and use Skype. We’re really excited about this. It is so nice to see your shining faces and see how big your kiddos have grown, AND, once the apartment is finally settled in (a day that I KNOW will come, but is hard to ever envision right now!) we can swing the webcam around and show our families where we live! What fun!
This all sounds great, doesn’t it? Well it’s the GETTING internet that seems to be the stumbling block around here. First of all, there’s the language barrier when trying to set it up. My husband is a saint and has handled this for us. One might be able to argue that he wants internet/tv more than he hates talking to people on the phone…but I’m going to give him the points for sainthood anyways. I’m a giver like that :)
The next hurdle is getting the guy to actually show up. We’ve heard so many horror stories about people waiting fruitlessly all day long for the cable installer – and then getting a notice a week later via mail about how the cable guy came but no one answered the door. Or worse, the installer comes, pokes around the wires and says something to the effect of: “these wires weren’t installed by us, call Deutsche Telecom and ask them to fix them, then we’ll come back and install your internet” Of course, Deutsche Telecom has zero interest in sending a service rep when you are not using their service. And if you do get the wires fixed, you're back at the bottom of the list waiting for an appointment. The stories I’ve heard indicate that it will take upwards of a month to get the cable installed – sometimes two months. So I’m not holding my breath!!
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