This morning at 830 sharp we were able to talk to USAA Frankfurt. They lined up a rental car for us through Enterprise on base. If we use Enterprise, we won’t even see a bill –which is great! We got there and found that they had only one car left for the day….an Audi A3….hatchback…UGH. Not exactly the spacious moving vehicle we had envisioned. But let me tell you something people, that car is awesome! 6 gears (manual), amazing turning radius, and the little guy is PERFECT for our tiny little one way street and our narrow street parking opportunities.
I spent the day boxing and organizing our things in the hotel room, and getting organized for the moving day itself. Our movers are scheduled to arrive at 8:00am sharp tomorrow. Since we don’t get keys until 8:00pm tonight, getting our multiple loads from the hotel room to the apartment is going to be tough, since we also need to be AT the apartment with the movers. I talked Hubbz into keeping the hotel room for one extra night (which we’ll pay for instead of the Navy footing the bill). As much as we are both Jones-ing for our own mattress, the likelihood of my finding the respective boxes containing the sheets, pillows, towels and bathroom tissue necessary for us to spend a night in our place is pretty slim. Between that and needing some extra time for transit of our goods from the hotel itself, the cost of a hotel room for one more night seemed worthy. Convincing Hubbalicious was a bit more challenging – until I pointed out that he’d have a full breakfast buffet at the hotel – and we’d have to hunt for coffee at the new place…Done deal :)
We crammed our first load of stuff into the little rocket car and sped off to our new neighborhood. We walked in the door and chuckled a bit, as we realized that indeed, the previous tenant was taking all of the light fixtures with her. (this is common in Germany.) We weren’t sure which ones would come with the house. So the walkthrough was happening by the light of the two (ugly) lights in the foyer that actually came with the apartment. There were also lights remaining in the kitchen and bathroom.
Having the walkthrough at this time of night was GENIUS on her part. In the dim light the scratches to the floor and crack in the entry door’s window were barely visible. However, my husband also has flashes of brilliance. As we were about to walk out the door, Hubbz decided to find himself a flashlight. So while the realtor was doing the move our walkthrough with the old tenant, we were snapping iPhone pictures of the damage we saw, using the flashlight as a flash :) We wanted to be sure that we had documented anything we would consider damage in case we have to defend ourselves in three years (we are all the wiser from our German rental car experience)! The old tenants also took the toilet paper roll holder from the bathroom – but were kind enough to leave seven buckets of paint, in various shades of orange, left over from their tenure there. How does one dispose of paint in Germany, you may ask? I’d have to answer : “I don’t know!”. But I guess we’re going to find out!
Once we had keys and had noted the damage we found with the realtor, signed the paperwork, and agreed to the numbers on the gas meter (more on how that works later) the realtor left and we were free to unload the contents of the little rocket car as our first official act of moving! Hello new apartment!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
CLOSETS, EC CARDS AND FLYING PIGS
After a two hour closet designing session on the Ikea website last night (another very cool internet tool, btw), Hubbalicious and I have achieved the design of Closet 1.0 (he’s reserving the right to add another section later, should he decide he needs it). This exercise, btw, was a hilarious and illuminative exercise in understanding how each other thinks. My design approach was based on what I wanted to store (hooks for necklaces here, a small drawer for scarves and gloves there, etc). Hubbalicious’ approach was pure geometry – he had 300 cm² of space in his dresser at home, and therefore needed to replicate that in his closet. Mars, meet Venus :)
The trophy wife errand du jour was to venture forth into Ikea for the THIRD time in five days…and to purchase our closet masterpiece, so its delivery would coincide nicely with our move in date…and I FAILED!! Our local Ikea is an establishment with integrity – because when they discovered that one of the 15 parts I was ready to purchase was out of stock – they just couldn’t sell it to me. I told the clerk that it was okay if the part was backordered – we didn’t really want the closets to be delivered for a week or so anyways – she responded by saying “But Madam, I cannot sell you what I do not have”. Oh! Well…okay then! She told me that they would have the requisite part back in stock in two days (seriously? You can’t backorder for two days?!?), and I could come back and make my purchase then. And so that, Ladies and Gentlemen, marks the only time in the history of mankind that a person has left an Ikea store without having made a purchase!!
In our time here, we have discovered that we really need to have a German bank account. The reasons for this are complicated – so I’ll go into them in a later post – but the long and short of it is, our payment options around here are cash or German bank card and I can’t do math in my head well enough to figure out how much cash I’ll need as I cower through the already intimidating grocery store check-out line.
But I digress – today, on Hubbz’s lunch hour, I met him near the base to venture forth into deep German territory. With some coaching from those who went before us, and some colorful Deutch-glish speak passed between us, we got….well, we got nothing! We started an account, but I don’t think we actually opened it. At no time did they ask us for an initial deposit. They said that our paperwork would come in the mail….so we’ll be making our way back to our oracle for advice on that one!! We even had enough time at lunch to swing by the local O2 shop and ask them how the heck to make the mobile internet solution we bought yesterday work The 19 year old kid behind the counter smirked and told us we had to buy a monthly password from him. He implied that it could only be done at an O2 store. My interpretation of the German brochure (aided by Google Translate) indicated that we could input our credit card number somewhere online to recharge our service when needed – but Smirking Schultzie didn’t want to give up that information, and after our game of German charades at the bank, we were too spent to push any harder, so we rolled over and bought the card. So much for good Ole American Stick-to-itiveness!!
We got a call today indicating that our car parts are FINALLY in!! (For those of you who haven’t been keeping track, it’s been about 6-7 weeks since our little accident. As luck would have it, the mechanic called at 4pm today to ask us to drop the car in the morning. Hubbz has been working with USAA (LOVE them!) through this process and confirmed to me that we have rental car coverage for the time that the car is in the shop (which is pretty crucial, now that we’re a one car family). I assumed that he had the process in hand for retrieving the car – but when I called him at 5pm to ask about the parameters for booking tomorrow’s car, he shrugged (I’m guessing, since I actually couldn’t SEE him) and said he didn’t know. By then, our USAA contact in Frankfurt had gone home for the day (voicemail) and the adjuster who answered the phone in the US call center wasn’t really clear on the rules for us ExPats. Sooooo – now, in order to get the car squared away, we’re going to have to wait until 8:30 tomorrow AM to arrange for our rental car for the day. No biggie, but this means that Hubbz won’t get to work on time (and he really hates that!). We’re hoping for an SUV or a van to minimize the number of loads we need to take from the hotel. Between our 17 suitcases which accompanied us from the states, and the small express shipment that arrived in early July, we have managed to cram a lot of stuff into our little hotel bungalow.
The upside is that we actually heard from the Realtor today (whoa! Watch out for that flying pig!!) He set an appointment for our walk through tomorrow at 7pm. At this time we should receive our keys and be able to move in a first load of our stuff from the hotel (can I get an AMEN?!?) We are relieved and excited – and starting to steel ourselves for the long days ahead.
The trophy wife errand du jour was to venture forth into Ikea for the THIRD time in five days…and to purchase our closet masterpiece, so its delivery would coincide nicely with our move in date…and I FAILED!! Our local Ikea is an establishment with integrity – because when they discovered that one of the 15 parts I was ready to purchase was out of stock – they just couldn’t sell it to me. I told the clerk that it was okay if the part was backordered – we didn’t really want the closets to be delivered for a week or so anyways – she responded by saying “But Madam, I cannot sell you what I do not have”. Oh! Well…okay then! She told me that they would have the requisite part back in stock in two days (seriously? You can’t backorder for two days?!?), and I could come back and make my purchase then. And so that, Ladies and Gentlemen, marks the only time in the history of mankind that a person has left an Ikea store without having made a purchase!!
In our time here, we have discovered that we really need to have a German bank account. The reasons for this are complicated – so I’ll go into them in a later post – but the long and short of it is, our payment options around here are cash or German bank card and I can’t do math in my head well enough to figure out how much cash I’ll need as I cower through the already intimidating grocery store check-out line.
But I digress – today, on Hubbz’s lunch hour, I met him near the base to venture forth into deep German territory. With some coaching from those who went before us, and some colorful Deutch-glish speak passed between us, we got….well, we got nothing! We started an account, but I don’t think we actually opened it. At no time did they ask us for an initial deposit. They said that our paperwork would come in the mail….so we’ll be making our way back to our oracle for advice on that one!! We even had enough time at lunch to swing by the local O2 shop and ask them how the heck to make the mobile internet solution we bought yesterday work The 19 year old kid behind the counter smirked and told us we had to buy a monthly password from him. He implied that it could only be done at an O2 store. My interpretation of the German brochure (aided by Google Translate) indicated that we could input our credit card number somewhere online to recharge our service when needed – but Smirking Schultzie didn’t want to give up that information, and after our game of German charades at the bank, we were too spent to push any harder, so we rolled over and bought the card. So much for good Ole American Stick-to-itiveness!!
We got a call today indicating that our car parts are FINALLY in!! (For those of you who haven’t been keeping track, it’s been about 6-7 weeks since our little accident. As luck would have it, the mechanic called at 4pm today to ask us to drop the car in the morning. Hubbz has been working with USAA (LOVE them!) through this process and confirmed to me that we have rental car coverage for the time that the car is in the shop (which is pretty crucial, now that we’re a one car family). I assumed that he had the process in hand for retrieving the car – but when I called him at 5pm to ask about the parameters for booking tomorrow’s car, he shrugged (I’m guessing, since I actually couldn’t SEE him) and said he didn’t know. By then, our USAA contact in Frankfurt had gone home for the day (voicemail) and the adjuster who answered the phone in the US call center wasn’t really clear on the rules for us ExPats. Sooooo – now, in order to get the car squared away, we’re going to have to wait until 8:30 tomorrow AM to arrange for our rental car for the day. No biggie, but this means that Hubbz won’t get to work on time (and he really hates that!). We’re hoping for an SUV or a van to minimize the number of loads we need to take from the hotel. Between our 17 suitcases which accompanied us from the states, and the small express shipment that arrived in early July, we have managed to cram a lot of stuff into our little hotel bungalow.
The upside is that we actually heard from the Realtor today (whoa! Watch out for that flying pig!!) He set an appointment for our walk through tomorrow at 7pm. At this time we should receive our keys and be able to move in a first load of our stuff from the hotel (can I get an AMEN?!?) We are relieved and excited – and starting to steel ourselves for the long days ahead.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
DID I MENTION WE'RE MOVING ON WEDNESDAY?
Yeah – we are. And for two people who have been waiting 3 months for this fateful day – we are ASTOUNDINGLY unprepared! How is it that two otherwise normally functioning and even (dare I say?)“productive” members of society managed to run out of runway on a THREE MONTH approach?? Clearly, this is a question that I am not equipped to answer - but I digress….
So – here’s how the World of Crazy turns for our little family:
One Month Ago –
I emailed our landlord (LOVE him) and asked about procedures, when he’d like to schedule our move in walk-through (more on that in another post), etc. He replied stating that he (like the rest of Europe) was on holiday for the month of August and that he’d still be gone on our move in date – and he’s already asked our real estate agent (do NOT love him) to help represent him during the walkthrough. Surprisingly (to the landlord, not to us) the real estate agent has not responded to this request to date – and if I wouldn’t mind arranging the meeting with the agent directly, he’d get back to enjoying his time with his family (because apparently a month plus, isn’t enough quality relaxation….not that I would know!). I send the email and (still not surprisingly) get no immediate response.
One Week Ago –
The Real Estate Agent sends Hubbalicious and I an email, with a link to YouTube video of the apartment next door – and asks us if we know anyone from the military who might be interested in it. The email begins “I hope that you are enjoying life in your new apartment…” Fabulous.
Hubbz volunteered to respond to the agent, because we agreed that he would be more friendly than I would (I tried to argue that responding only with “Please send us the appointment time for our walk through – Sincerely, Us” is not MEAN per se – but I had to concede that more flowery language may ensure good relations with the man who holds our house keys for the time being). Hubbz sent the message and got no immediate response.
Tuesday –
We got an email from the agent (YAY!!!!) asking if he could share our contact information with the current tenant (BOOOO) at our HG Apartment who had some household items she was interested in selling to us. As I am in a hospitable mood (having just eaten chocolate) I write back a friendly note granting permission for the information release and gently prodding for a time for our appointment (don’t laugh, I CAN be nice if I want to be...sometimes...after chocolate...). As I am finishing the last line of my email – another email comes from the agent, this time addressed to the tenant with me in cc – with our contact information. So much for asking for permission…. I add the line to the part about passing the info along: “Thank you so much for asking before you sent our information! We appreciate your kind respect.” (See – Mean Me would have changed my answer to “Please do not pass our information along” to embarrass him for already doing so and thus make a point….ahhhhh, it’s a chocolate miracle :))
Friday –
The current tenant at the HG Apartment called me and asked if we would like to buy her closet. It’s a large system of wardrobes with built in drawers that occupies a good 25% of the real estate in what will be our guest room. She said it’s a very nice system but that it’s a pain to deconstruct and that she’d be willing to part with it for half of the price they paid for it 3 years ago. She was asking $1000. Yup, a cool kilo. That’s how we roll in these parts. It’s a “Big Money for Small Furniture” kind of city. I agreed that Hubbalicious and I would swing by on Saturday am to examine said closet and make our decision then.
As I hung up the phone, I realized that I had NOT done my closet research. I have no idea if $1000 is a good deal for a closet of any quality…and what a quality closet might look like…. So geeze, I guess I’d better before I go see some closets before I have to evaluate the potential for savings in the morning! So I collected myself and rushed off to Ikea to see what I could learn (interestingly enough – what we call “i-KEY-ah” in the US, is called “ICK-kay-ah” here….). What I learned was that Ick-kay-ah has a LOT of cool stuff!! After spending a good chunk of time there, I flung my exhausted self back into Home Sweet Hotel Room and started navigating paint colors
.
Sidebar: Painting a rental property is part of your obligation as a tenant here. You can choose when you will paint, but the place must be painted during your tenure. The military acknowledges this and therefore grants us a Move In Housing Allowance (MIHA) for paint. However, please note the “I” in MIHA stands for “In” and therefore this allowance is only good for painting done during your move IN process. You must submit your painting bill within 30 days of your move in date to collect the reimbursement. This makes for a hectic move in period…but allows us to customize our new apartment to our liking.
The painter was due to drop off paint color options for us to peruse on Friday evening. He wanted me to choose colors and call him today with our decision so he could begin work on Thursday. Figuring that I’d have a small window in which to make my choice, I started visiting paint company websites (and the local hardware store) to try to familiarize myself with some options. I discovered that most paint companies (Sherwin-Williams, Behr, etc) have a paint choosing tool which allows you to upload a photo of the room you want to paint and “try on” colors. It even suggests complimentary colors for accent and trim. (That was a colossal time sponge – but really fun!). Of course, being that I am …well, me…I was unable to make any firm decisions. I decided to call off the painter until I had seen my furniture again and was able to hold up the chips to my bedspread or art work.
Saturday –
We finally got a chance to sleep in a bit (a respite from the jetlag we’ve battled since our return from the states last weekend). But we hit the ground running and made it downtown in time for our appointment with the old tenant and check out the closet. (It’s a nice piece, but takes up the entire wall of the guest room in sliver and frosted glass). I must admit the bigger draw for me, was a new opportunity for me see the apartment and for Hubbz to take some measurements. The meeting was pleasant and we left them with the promise that we’d let them know our decision by the end of the day. We then found the closest café and poured over the Ikea catalog to try to figure out our best closet solution. In the end, we decided to buy a new closet system since we wanted to have our clothing in our bedroom (not in the guest room), and a new closet could be customized to our needs. We will probably spend about the same, so the extra convenience is gravy!
After our decision making coffee break, we shot down to the local Media Markt store and bought Hubbalicious a pay as you go cell phone (a decision that was 3 months in the making) and me a wireless internet solution so I can continue to work while we’re waiting for our internet installation to happen (typical runtime window – one month plus!!). Then it was off to Ikea for part deux.
Ikea was crowded and crazy (which those of you who know my darling husband will realize, are not conditions suited to easy and relaxed shopping. The timer starts when we walk in the door and the grumbling begins exactly 27 minutes later!). We were able to figure out our top ideas for a closet solution based on the outward appearance (dimensions, wood color - we'll figure out the "guts" of it later). We also swung by the local Ikea competitor here (called MOMA). Its stuff was a bit flimsier – although no less expensive - so we crossed them off of our list. Then we dropped off the car, and the electronics back at Chez Marriott, and grabbed a train for a visit to the Stuttgart Wine Festival with some friends. I’m invoking Fight Club rules on this particular night – but let’s just say… it was a rainy, funny, wine-y, foodie night that will live in infamy.
Sunday –
This brings us to today. Shops are all closed here on Sundays, so we’re laying low and recovering from…. um…..“jetlag”…… all day….not much happening here….. Still no word from the realtor about Weds (shocker!!). Much like every step we’ve taken in our journey towards this, the “Holy Grail Apartment”…it’s slow going, but we remain hopeful :)
So – here’s how the World of Crazy turns for our little family:
One Month Ago –
I emailed our landlord (LOVE him) and asked about procedures, when he’d like to schedule our move in walk-through (more on that in another post), etc. He replied stating that he (like the rest of Europe) was on holiday for the month of August and that he’d still be gone on our move in date – and he’s already asked our real estate agent (do NOT love him) to help represent him during the walkthrough. Surprisingly (to the landlord, not to us) the real estate agent has not responded to this request to date – and if I wouldn’t mind arranging the meeting with the agent directly, he’d get back to enjoying his time with his family (because apparently a month plus, isn’t enough quality relaxation….not that I would know!). I send the email and (still not surprisingly) get no immediate response.
One Week Ago –
The Real Estate Agent sends Hubbalicious and I an email, with a link to YouTube video of the apartment next door – and asks us if we know anyone from the military who might be interested in it. The email begins “I hope that you are enjoying life in your new apartment…” Fabulous.
Hubbz volunteered to respond to the agent, because we agreed that he would be more friendly than I would (I tried to argue that responding only with “Please send us the appointment time for our walk through – Sincerely, Us” is not MEAN per se – but I had to concede that more flowery language may ensure good relations with the man who holds our house keys for the time being). Hubbz sent the message and got no immediate response.
Tuesday –
We got an email from the agent (YAY!!!!) asking if he could share our contact information with the current tenant (BOOOO) at our HG Apartment who had some household items she was interested in selling to us. As I am in a hospitable mood (having just eaten chocolate) I write back a friendly note granting permission for the information release and gently prodding for a time for our appointment (don’t laugh, I CAN be nice if I want to be...sometimes...after chocolate...). As I am finishing the last line of my email – another email comes from the agent, this time addressed to the tenant with me in cc – with our contact information. So much for asking for permission…. I add the line to the part about passing the info along: “Thank you so much for asking before you sent our information! We appreciate your kind respect.” (See – Mean Me would have changed my answer to “Please do not pass our information along” to embarrass him for already doing so and thus make a point….ahhhhh, it’s a chocolate miracle :))
Friday –
The current tenant at the HG Apartment called me and asked if we would like to buy her closet. It’s a large system of wardrobes with built in drawers that occupies a good 25% of the real estate in what will be our guest room. She said it’s a very nice system but that it’s a pain to deconstruct and that she’d be willing to part with it for half of the price they paid for it 3 years ago. She was asking $1000. Yup, a cool kilo. That’s how we roll in these parts. It’s a “Big Money for Small Furniture” kind of city. I agreed that Hubbalicious and I would swing by on Saturday am to examine said closet and make our decision then.
As I hung up the phone, I realized that I had NOT done my closet research. I have no idea if $1000 is a good deal for a closet of any quality…and what a quality closet might look like…. So geeze, I guess I’d better before I go see some closets before I have to evaluate the potential for savings in the morning! So I collected myself and rushed off to Ikea to see what I could learn (interestingly enough – what we call “i-KEY-ah” in the US, is called “ICK-kay-ah” here….). What I learned was that Ick-kay-ah has a LOT of cool stuff!! After spending a good chunk of time there, I flung my exhausted self back into Home Sweet Hotel Room and started navigating paint colors
.
Sidebar: Painting a rental property is part of your obligation as a tenant here. You can choose when you will paint, but the place must be painted during your tenure. The military acknowledges this and therefore grants us a Move In Housing Allowance (MIHA) for paint. However, please note the “I” in MIHA stands for “In” and therefore this allowance is only good for painting done during your move IN process. You must submit your painting bill within 30 days of your move in date to collect the reimbursement. This makes for a hectic move in period…but allows us to customize our new apartment to our liking.
The painter was due to drop off paint color options for us to peruse on Friday evening. He wanted me to choose colors and call him today with our decision so he could begin work on Thursday. Figuring that I’d have a small window in which to make my choice, I started visiting paint company websites (and the local hardware store) to try to familiarize myself with some options. I discovered that most paint companies (Sherwin-Williams, Behr, etc) have a paint choosing tool which allows you to upload a photo of the room you want to paint and “try on” colors. It even suggests complimentary colors for accent and trim. (That was a colossal time sponge – but really fun!). Of course, being that I am …well, me…I was unable to make any firm decisions. I decided to call off the painter until I had seen my furniture again and was able to hold up the chips to my bedspread or art work.
Saturday –
We finally got a chance to sleep in a bit (a respite from the jetlag we’ve battled since our return from the states last weekend). But we hit the ground running and made it downtown in time for our appointment with the old tenant and check out the closet. (It’s a nice piece, but takes up the entire wall of the guest room in sliver and frosted glass). I must admit the bigger draw for me, was a new opportunity for me see the apartment and for Hubbz to take some measurements. The meeting was pleasant and we left them with the promise that we’d let them know our decision by the end of the day. We then found the closest café and poured over the Ikea catalog to try to figure out our best closet solution. In the end, we decided to buy a new closet system since we wanted to have our clothing in our bedroom (not in the guest room), and a new closet could be customized to our needs. We will probably spend about the same, so the extra convenience is gravy!
After our decision making coffee break, we shot down to the local Media Markt store and bought Hubbalicious a pay as you go cell phone (a decision that was 3 months in the making) and me a wireless internet solution so I can continue to work while we’re waiting for our internet installation to happen (typical runtime window – one month plus!!). Then it was off to Ikea for part deux.
Ikea was crowded and crazy (which those of you who know my darling husband will realize, are not conditions suited to easy and relaxed shopping. The timer starts when we walk in the door and the grumbling begins exactly 27 minutes later!). We were able to figure out our top ideas for a closet solution based on the outward appearance (dimensions, wood color - we'll figure out the "guts" of it later). We also swung by the local Ikea competitor here (called MOMA). Its stuff was a bit flimsier – although no less expensive - so we crossed them off of our list. Then we dropped off the car, and the electronics back at Chez Marriott, and grabbed a train for a visit to the Stuttgart Wine Festival with some friends. I’m invoking Fight Club rules on this particular night – but let’s just say… it was a rainy, funny, wine-y, foodie night that will live in infamy.
Sunday –
This brings us to today. Shops are all closed here on Sundays, so we’re laying low and recovering from…. um…..“jetlag”…… all day….not much happening here….. Still no word from the realtor about Weds (shocker!!). Much like every step we’ve taken in our journey towards this, the “Holy Grail Apartment”…it’s slow going, but we remain hopeful :)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
HERE'S ONE FOR THE LADIES...BECAUSE YOU'LL UNDERSTAND!
The intention of this blog is to keep our loved ones apprised of our collective experiences in Germany. It would be easy for someone as opinionated as myself to use it for powers of evil and expound upon the things that are affecting ME (as opposed to US) in my life. So, I try to keep a tight rein on my urge to write about the more internal or singular things that happen. However, today I am going to stray from this path just a bit and share with you something that happened to me, but in all honesty is affecting us both over here.
In preparation for our quick US trip, and, because it was time, I got a haircut…or rather, I should say…I got
THE.
WORST.
HAIRCUT.
EVER.
(There will be no pictures posted….nope….don't even ask....never…what am I, crazy??)
This is one of the things they DON’T put in the “So You’re Marrying the Military” brochure (no they don’t actually have one..but wouldn’t that be a good idea?!?). Every three years we get a new house, a new set of friends and a new scene out of our bedroom window – all very cool things. But, we also have to find a new dentist, doctor, pizza delivery place, car repair, - and for us girls who like to be as put together as possible – a new hair stylist, manicurist, and esthetician. Not to wax all “complain-y” here, but other than being far from family, I’d say that’s the worst part of this gig.
So - I knew it was going to be a risky venture – and I had discussed it ad nauseum with my girlfriends. Where we would go, how we would discern a good salon from a bad one, etc. Finally, the time came along, as it always does, when Hubbalicious started to tease me about the increasing number of gray hairs threaded through my coif (hardy har har, since I can’t retort to the man who shaves his head!!) and when I started to grumble about how my hair wouldn’t do what it was supposed to do anymore. Then, I realized that we would soon be attending a wedding and that there would be pictures taken at said wedding. So, with a defeated sigh I admitted that I had reached that fateful day when I would surrender myself to someone who hopefully understood my native language well enough to cover my gray and trim my hair in a flattering and natural way
.
In an effort to be as communicative as possible, I drove over to a salon that I had been eyeing in the neighborhood of our hotel and made an appointment. They looked at my hair and attempted to understand what I wanted and then made an appointment for me with one of their stylists. I took a deep breath, smiled and prayed.
But then, fate stepped in….One of my friends here has children who attend the International School, which specializes in bridging their native language and schooling with the practices here in Germany. They produce a list of vendors in the area who speak English and welcome ex-pat business. She used a hairdresser on their list and came back with RAVE reviews about his work – so I took that as a sign that I should look no further than the place endorsed twice already – and made an appointment there instead.
The young man I worked with was funny and kind (and as I later discovered, NOT the one that my friend had seen). He seemed to understand what I was striving for and, I, hoping to embrace the fact that he knew what he was doing, agreed to his recommendations. The FIRST bad sign happened when he was about halfway through the foils on my head and said “Oh, I think the color we picked was too dark to show up, so I went a little lighter”. Wait – WHAT?? The SECOND bad sign I noticed was that he only put about 5 foils onto the top of my head. (My favorite stylist in Norfolk would put about 15 in that area – coloring fewer hairs and allowing them to blend into my other hair color in a much more natural way). Then he started cutting….
When he was done, the result was a bubble cut with tiger stripes. (Think Carol Brady Mullet, only brunette with honey colored stripes). I could not get out of there fast enough. I am proud to say that I DID NOT CRY. But I’ll admit to a great deal of affirmations spoken aloud and a seemingly endless cycle of looking at my hair in the rear view mirror, and then batting it away in disgust. I called my mom, she commiserated and suggested I make an appointment in CA. I called my sister who lovingly took up the call to arms and started dialing all the hairstylists she trusted in the area. (God love you both – seriously)
Hubbz called as I was driving home. He knew I was worried about the experience and wanted to see how it went. I sighed and repeated one of my affirmations to him “Oh well, it’s only hair. It will grow”. He clucked empathetically and assured me it probably wasn’t as bad as I thought.
When I picked Hubbalicious up from work that night, he climbed in the car and I laughingly stuck a pose and batted my eyes at him. He laughed (I should say guffawed!) and shook his head and said “I’m sorry Babe”. About 3 minutes later he regained his composure and tried to convince me that he kinda liked it…. I then gave him a little pearl of wisdom about how if he really wants me to believe a lie to improve my self image, he may want to LEAD with it next time, instead of the laughing and pointing routine we had just shared…. It was a sweet thought though!
While I didn’t cry and I did do my best to force all of my pragmatic thoughts to the foreground of my brain – I do have to admit that at night, the wee beastie thoughts of panic and disgust got the better of me. I actually think I lost sleep over this ridiculous haircut. Then, suddenly, I had a thought!! Despite my many attempts to remember to do so, I had forgotten to cancel my original appointment in my neighborhood!! Divine Intervention – I think so!!
So, the next morning, I rolled up to the new salon, ready for the color and cut on the books – and sheepishly explained to the hair tech that I had just had some work done on the previous day – and could she please help me!?!? She was a great sport. She repaired the color and spoke to me about strategy for fixing the cut. Unfortunately, it’s a process – so we actually agreed to cut MORE hair in an effort to start to fix the shape. With my hair already waaaaayyyy shorter than I wanted, I called my sister off of the appointment making process – short of shaving my head, there was little else to be done.
So…the end result is this… for two times the price, I have a haircut that still makes me sigh heavily each time I look in the mirror. AND my dear sweet husband gets to be part of the super-fun floor show which includes my sullen expression every time we leave the hotel and my overall reluctance to do anything social, because I would much prefer to hibernate until my hair grows!! See- I told you this story had a direct correlation to our life in Germany!!
In preparation for our quick US trip, and, because it was time, I got a haircut…or rather, I should say…I got
THE.
WORST.
HAIRCUT.
EVER.
(There will be no pictures posted….nope….don't even ask....never…what am I, crazy??)
This is one of the things they DON’T put in the “So You’re Marrying the Military” brochure (no they don’t actually have one..but wouldn’t that be a good idea?!?). Every three years we get a new house, a new set of friends and a new scene out of our bedroom window – all very cool things. But, we also have to find a new dentist, doctor, pizza delivery place, car repair, - and for us girls who like to be as put together as possible – a new hair stylist, manicurist, and esthetician. Not to wax all “complain-y” here, but other than being far from family, I’d say that’s the worst part of this gig.
So - I knew it was going to be a risky venture – and I had discussed it ad nauseum with my girlfriends. Where we would go, how we would discern a good salon from a bad one, etc. Finally, the time came along, as it always does, when Hubbalicious started to tease me about the increasing number of gray hairs threaded through my coif (hardy har har, since I can’t retort to the man who shaves his head!!) and when I started to grumble about how my hair wouldn’t do what it was supposed to do anymore. Then, I realized that we would soon be attending a wedding and that there would be pictures taken at said wedding. So, with a defeated sigh I admitted that I had reached that fateful day when I would surrender myself to someone who hopefully understood my native language well enough to cover my gray and trim my hair in a flattering and natural way
.
In an effort to be as communicative as possible, I drove over to a salon that I had been eyeing in the neighborhood of our hotel and made an appointment. They looked at my hair and attempted to understand what I wanted and then made an appointment for me with one of their stylists. I took a deep breath, smiled and prayed.
But then, fate stepped in….One of my friends here has children who attend the International School, which specializes in bridging their native language and schooling with the practices here in Germany. They produce a list of vendors in the area who speak English and welcome ex-pat business. She used a hairdresser on their list and came back with RAVE reviews about his work – so I took that as a sign that I should look no further than the place endorsed twice already – and made an appointment there instead.
The young man I worked with was funny and kind (and as I later discovered, NOT the one that my friend had seen). He seemed to understand what I was striving for and, I, hoping to embrace the fact that he knew what he was doing, agreed to his recommendations. The FIRST bad sign happened when he was about halfway through the foils on my head and said “Oh, I think the color we picked was too dark to show up, so I went a little lighter”. Wait – WHAT?? The SECOND bad sign I noticed was that he only put about 5 foils onto the top of my head. (My favorite stylist in Norfolk would put about 15 in that area – coloring fewer hairs and allowing them to blend into my other hair color in a much more natural way). Then he started cutting….
When he was done, the result was a bubble cut with tiger stripes. (Think Carol Brady Mullet, only brunette with honey colored stripes). I could not get out of there fast enough. I am proud to say that I DID NOT CRY. But I’ll admit to a great deal of affirmations spoken aloud and a seemingly endless cycle of looking at my hair in the rear view mirror, and then batting it away in disgust. I called my mom, she commiserated and suggested I make an appointment in CA. I called my sister who lovingly took up the call to arms and started dialing all the hairstylists she trusted in the area. (God love you both – seriously)
Hubbz called as I was driving home. He knew I was worried about the experience and wanted to see how it went. I sighed and repeated one of my affirmations to him “Oh well, it’s only hair. It will grow”. He clucked empathetically and assured me it probably wasn’t as bad as I thought.
When I picked Hubbalicious up from work that night, he climbed in the car and I laughingly stuck a pose and batted my eyes at him. He laughed (I should say guffawed!) and shook his head and said “I’m sorry Babe”. About 3 minutes later he regained his composure and tried to convince me that he kinda liked it…. I then gave him a little pearl of wisdom about how if he really wants me to believe a lie to improve my self image, he may want to LEAD with it next time, instead of the laughing and pointing routine we had just shared…. It was a sweet thought though!
While I didn’t cry and I did do my best to force all of my pragmatic thoughts to the foreground of my brain – I do have to admit that at night, the wee beastie thoughts of panic and disgust got the better of me. I actually think I lost sleep over this ridiculous haircut. Then, suddenly, I had a thought!! Despite my many attempts to remember to do so, I had forgotten to cancel my original appointment in my neighborhood!! Divine Intervention – I think so!!
So, the next morning, I rolled up to the new salon, ready for the color and cut on the books – and sheepishly explained to the hair tech that I had just had some work done on the previous day – and could she please help me!?!? She was a great sport. She repaired the color and spoke to me about strategy for fixing the cut. Unfortunately, it’s a process – so we actually agreed to cut MORE hair in an effort to start to fix the shape. With my hair already waaaaayyyy shorter than I wanted, I called my sister off of the appointment making process – short of shaving my head, there was little else to be done.
So…the end result is this… for two times the price, I have a haircut that still makes me sigh heavily each time I look in the mirror. AND my dear sweet husband gets to be part of the super-fun floor show which includes my sullen expression every time we leave the hotel and my overall reluctance to do anything social, because I would much prefer to hibernate until my hair grows!! See- I told you this story had a direct correlation to our life in Germany!!
Friday, August 13, 2010
MAIL CALL!!
Hubbz and I are taking off for the states tomorrow. A dear friend is getting married next week, and even though we really didn’t plan to be coming back to the states for visits, we couldn’t imagine missing it! It just so happens that this visit is likely to coincide with the birth of our newest niece or nephew. How cool is that?!
Hubbz came home on Tuesday and mentioned that he had put the mail on hold for the week that we’re going to be gone. I kinda shrugged and smiled – and then he reminded me of just how interesting our mail situation was when we arrived (more on that to come).
Our mail comes to the base in the same manner that mail gets to US Troops in the field. We use an APO (Armed forces Post Office). The mail comes to a post office box (or Community Mail Room) on one of the bases, and financially, it’s just like mailing something to us in the US. This is how it works:
When mail for us leaves the sender, it goes to an APO collection point (ours is in NY). Once received there, it is the responsibility of the US military. And there it waits (…until a full load of mail is collected? …until someone feels like sorting it? …until someone finally determines just how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The urban legends are rampant) ….anyhow, it waits and at some point, it all gets bundled up and put on some sort of government transport headed for Germany where it will be put in our little box (it’s a cute little box with a combination lock which is almost exactly like the ones we used to have on our respective college campuses, back in the day…..). We cannot accept a Fed Ex or UPS package on base (and who would want to pay for THOSE shipping charges!!) – although when we’re settled in the Holy Grail Apartment, we could do so there. And since the mail waits at the clearing station for an unclear and irregular amount of time, it’s a complete waste of money to send something overnight via the USPS. We send and receive most things that are bigger than an envelope via Priority mail. The envelopes go the good old fashioned 44 cent route.
Our Community Mail Room (CMR) is on the base where Hubbalicious works, so sometimes he checks the mail on his way to get lunch. At other times, we meet there when I pick him up from work at the end of the day. By and large, it’s a pretty good system. We can send and receive stuff here in Germany for the same price of mailing an item in the states. We have US post offices on the bases to help us figure out the best way to make the mail get there, and – hey – the advantage of not having to learn the ins and outs of German mail regulations and post office customs is a big plus!
When we were preparing to move to Stuttgart, we contacted our sponsor at Hubbz’s office and asked how we should go about arranging for a CMR address. The guys there were really great and hiked down to the CMR to arrange for a box for us. We were even more impressed with their kindness when we learned that the Base Post Office will only deal with CMR assignations, vacancies and distribution of combo locks between 900-1000 each morning (and will only deal with the service member, not spouses). Yes, the irony is that Hubbz’s colleagues are better credentialed to retrieve my mail than I am…. The 900-1000 thing, although a pain, wouldn’t bother us so much….if they were actually STAFFED from 900-1000 each morning. Hubbz stood in line well past 920 one morning, waiting for someone who “deals with that” to be available to the folks who needed service. Ah the freedoms of Federal employment…
Sorry - I'll refocus here! When we were preparing for the big move, we diligently filled out our forwarding address card with our CMR address. I even updated our Netflix account so we’d have something to watch waiting for us here in the land of German language television! Little did we know – or even expect – that the CMR will return any mail that has been sitting in our box for more than 2 weeks! Once we arrived, we had only a small stack of envelopes and none of them were the wedding invitations or Netflix we were expecting to see. It took a few weeks of items bouncing from here back to Norfolk and points beyond, but we eventually got it all sorted out.
So – in advance of our 7 day trip next week, Hubbz wasn’t about to take any chances! He placed a hold on our CMR so that none of our precious items would be returned while we were away. Of course, we haven’t had anything in our box this week – they took that hold seriously, but neglected to read that the start date was tomorrow. I guess the hold notice is the task to which fast attention and full priority is given…just don’t tell that to the guys waiting in line at 930 for their CMR assignment!!
Hubbz came home on Tuesday and mentioned that he had put the mail on hold for the week that we’re going to be gone. I kinda shrugged and smiled – and then he reminded me of just how interesting our mail situation was when we arrived (more on that to come).
Our mail comes to the base in the same manner that mail gets to US Troops in the field. We use an APO (Armed forces Post Office). The mail comes to a post office box (or Community Mail Room) on one of the bases, and financially, it’s just like mailing something to us in the US. This is how it works:
When mail for us leaves the sender, it goes to an APO collection point (ours is in NY). Once received there, it is the responsibility of the US military. And there it waits (…until a full load of mail is collected? …until someone feels like sorting it? …until someone finally determines just how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The urban legends are rampant) ….anyhow, it waits and at some point, it all gets bundled up and put on some sort of government transport headed for Germany where it will be put in our little box (it’s a cute little box with a combination lock which is almost exactly like the ones we used to have on our respective college campuses, back in the day…..). We cannot accept a Fed Ex or UPS package on base (and who would want to pay for THOSE shipping charges!!) – although when we’re settled in the Holy Grail Apartment, we could do so there. And since the mail waits at the clearing station for an unclear and irregular amount of time, it’s a complete waste of money to send something overnight via the USPS. We send and receive most things that are bigger than an envelope via Priority mail. The envelopes go the good old fashioned 44 cent route.
Our Community Mail Room (CMR) is on the base where Hubbalicious works, so sometimes he checks the mail on his way to get lunch. At other times, we meet there when I pick him up from work at the end of the day. By and large, it’s a pretty good system. We can send and receive stuff here in Germany for the same price of mailing an item in the states. We have US post offices on the bases to help us figure out the best way to make the mail get there, and – hey – the advantage of not having to learn the ins and outs of German mail regulations and post office customs is a big plus!
When we were preparing to move to Stuttgart, we contacted our sponsor at Hubbz’s office and asked how we should go about arranging for a CMR address. The guys there were really great and hiked down to the CMR to arrange for a box for us. We were even more impressed with their kindness when we learned that the Base Post Office will only deal with CMR assignations, vacancies and distribution of combo locks between 900-1000 each morning (and will only deal with the service member, not spouses). Yes, the irony is that Hubbz’s colleagues are better credentialed to retrieve my mail than I am…. The 900-1000 thing, although a pain, wouldn’t bother us so much….if they were actually STAFFED from 900-1000 each morning. Hubbz stood in line well past 920 one morning, waiting for someone who “deals with that” to be available to the folks who needed service. Ah the freedoms of Federal employment…
Sorry - I'll refocus here! When we were preparing for the big move, we diligently filled out our forwarding address card with our CMR address. I even updated our Netflix account so we’d have something to watch waiting for us here in the land of German language television! Little did we know – or even expect – that the CMR will return any mail that has been sitting in our box for more than 2 weeks! Once we arrived, we had only a small stack of envelopes and none of them were the wedding invitations or Netflix we were expecting to see. It took a few weeks of items bouncing from here back to Norfolk and points beyond, but we eventually got it all sorted out.
So – in advance of our 7 day trip next week, Hubbz wasn’t about to take any chances! He placed a hold on our CMR so that none of our precious items would be returned while we were away. Of course, we haven’t had anything in our box this week – they took that hold seriously, but neglected to read that the start date was tomorrow. I guess the hold notice is the task to which fast attention and full priority is given…just don’t tell that to the guys waiting in line at 930 for their CMR assignment!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
HOW TO SAVE 19% AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE.....
Today my big base errand is to update our VAT forms. It occurred to me that I had no idea what a VAT form was before I got here – and that made me want to share my new knowledge with you!
Since we are technically not German citizens, Germany acknowledges that we shouldn’t have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) – which is very fair and gracious of them…and very German to be so precise! Since the Euro is roughly 20 cents stronger than the dollar – and VAT is an additional 19% automatically added to the price of everything - this pretty much levels the playing field in the currency department.
Here’s how it works: We purchase (for about $3 each) up to 10 VAT waiver forms from the Customs office on base. When we decide we are ready to make a purchase, we bring the VAT form to the counter and (assuming they accept them) they knock 19% off of the price of the item. They sign and initial, we sign and initial and after a distribution of carbon copies, we’re out the door. One of their copies goes to the German government, one of our copies goes to the US government - and, no, it hasn't escaped my realization that now in addition to my husband monitoring my spending, I have two countries to which I am now accountable!!
Since we can only have 10 forms in hand at a time, we need to submit the US copy of the used forms to the Customs office in order to purchase new blank ones. God help you if you lose a form…I don’t know what happens then – but we’ve been warned, so we intend to never find out!
There are a few rules…the vendor has to accept the VAT form. Since the onus is on them to ensure that the government understands why their receipts are low, that seems fair. As a general rule, you can’t use the form on consumables (so the grocery store and restaurant are “no’s”, although counter-intuitively, hotel and rental car charges are "yes's"). Most importantly, you can’t use the form to buy something for someone else – we certainly don’t want to abuse our privileges. We've got a pretty good thing going here....
With most of our energy focused on securing housing lately, we have used our first 10 VAT forms almost exclusively on our hotel charges. (Although I just used one yesterday on a cozy gray sweater for the seemingly autumn-like weather we’ve been having). Thus, today, my stay-at-home-trophy-wife job is to trot on over to the VAT office and turn in our receipts so I can buy 10 new forms. We’ll need one for our next round of hotel charges tomorrow – and – hey – we’re moving soon – and there’s still more nesting shopping to be done :)
Since we are technically not German citizens, Germany acknowledges that we shouldn’t have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) – which is very fair and gracious of them…and very German to be so precise! Since the Euro is roughly 20 cents stronger than the dollar – and VAT is an additional 19% automatically added to the price of everything - this pretty much levels the playing field in the currency department.
Here’s how it works: We purchase (for about $3 each) up to 10 VAT waiver forms from the Customs office on base. When we decide we are ready to make a purchase, we bring the VAT form to the counter and (assuming they accept them) they knock 19% off of the price of the item. They sign and initial, we sign and initial and after a distribution of carbon copies, we’re out the door. One of their copies goes to the German government, one of our copies goes to the US government - and, no, it hasn't escaped my realization that now in addition to my husband monitoring my spending, I have two countries to which I am now accountable!!
Since we can only have 10 forms in hand at a time, we need to submit the US copy of the used forms to the Customs office in order to purchase new blank ones. God help you if you lose a form…I don’t know what happens then – but we’ve been warned, so we intend to never find out!
There are a few rules…the vendor has to accept the VAT form. Since the onus is on them to ensure that the government understands why their receipts are low, that seems fair. As a general rule, you can’t use the form on consumables (so the grocery store and restaurant are “no’s”, although counter-intuitively, hotel and rental car charges are "yes's"). Most importantly, you can’t use the form to buy something for someone else – we certainly don’t want to abuse our privileges. We've got a pretty good thing going here....
With most of our energy focused on securing housing lately, we have used our first 10 VAT forms almost exclusively on our hotel charges. (Although I just used one yesterday on a cozy gray sweater for the seemingly autumn-like weather we’ve been having). Thus, today, my stay-at-home-trophy-wife job is to trot on over to the VAT office and turn in our receipts so I can buy 10 new forms. We’ll need one for our next round of hotel charges tomorrow – and – hey – we’re moving soon – and there’s still more nesting shopping to be done :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO? (Hint: ...the answer is ALWAYS "Shop")
With the turning of the calendar page, I started to realize that we would soon be moving into our new place - and that meant I was within legal limits for "nesting shopping".
Here's my logic: We have our first house guests coming in late September - just weeks after our stuff arrives. Now, I've mentioned before that our little place is not air conditioned, so suddenly it occurred to me that - for the sake of the comfort and well being of our guests - I should make sure we had summer bedding in the guest room, in case of a heat spell.
It was pure kismet that this realization struck me just HOURS before Hubbalicious mentioned to me over dinner that I was going to have to start thinking about the colors I wanted the painters to paint the apartment soon (this is typical in Germany, you must paint an apartment once during your tenure there - either at move in, or move out. Military pays for the move IN costs...so this is a no-brainer for us).
Well any sane person (okay, any sane woman) will agree that new paint and new bedding must be coordinated! And while Hubbs and I received lovely new bedding as wedding gifts for our Master Bedroom - we kind of relegated all of our "pre-marriage" bedding to the guest room... Clearly you sane people (women) will agree that the Universe was sending me a message!!! and who am I to ignore the speaking Universe?? I mean really!!
Now, German beds are not sized in the same manner that US beds are -so there's no quick trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond to answer the call of the Universe. This took research. There was Googling involved. Lots of Googling.... (By the by, Pottery Barn has this really cool tool that allows you to mock up a bed, customize a wall with paint color and match the bedding to it - really fun!! Also - Sherwin Williams.com lets you play with paint colors and coordinating trim in mocked up rooms - or upload your own pictures of your rooms and do the same....)
So - I have spent the better part of two days contemplating, envisioning, searching for and subsequently purchasing new sheets, comforter (for the winter cold), duvet cover, shams, and coverlet (for the summer warmth) for our new place. What a sense of accomplishment :) Now I wait to see if the stuff is going to work when it arrives...ah the agony and ecstasy of online shopping!
You may be wondering what Hubbz was doing as I shopped and contemplated and hemmed and hawed.... I asked him if he wanted to weigh in - and he did a little - but then realized that he didn't really want to get deep into a discussion about shades of blue and summer v. winter bed linens. Ultimately he did a lot of the slow head shake (you know the scene: the eyes closed, half smile, slow shake of the head that indicates "I don't know how this action is executable by any rational human, but you're MY human, so I'm going to be quiet and let you be crazy"). So, he did the head shake and smiled and sweetly input all of the charges into our money management system. You gotta love a guy who knows when to let it roll....
Here's my logic: We have our first house guests coming in late September - just weeks after our stuff arrives. Now, I've mentioned before that our little place is not air conditioned, so suddenly it occurred to me that - for the sake of the comfort and well being of our guests - I should make sure we had summer bedding in the guest room, in case of a heat spell.
It was pure kismet that this realization struck me just HOURS before Hubbalicious mentioned to me over dinner that I was going to have to start thinking about the colors I wanted the painters to paint the apartment soon (this is typical in Germany, you must paint an apartment once during your tenure there - either at move in, or move out. Military pays for the move IN costs...so this is a no-brainer for us).
Well any sane person (okay, any sane woman) will agree that new paint and new bedding must be coordinated! And while Hubbs and I received lovely new bedding as wedding gifts for our Master Bedroom - we kind of relegated all of our "pre-marriage" bedding to the guest room... Clearly you sane people (women) will agree that the Universe was sending me a message!!! and who am I to ignore the speaking Universe?? I mean really!!
Now, German beds are not sized in the same manner that US beds are -so there's no quick trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond to answer the call of the Universe. This took research. There was Googling involved. Lots of Googling.... (By the by, Pottery Barn has this really cool tool that allows you to mock up a bed, customize a wall with paint color and match the bedding to it - really fun!! Also - Sherwin Williams.com lets you play with paint colors and coordinating trim in mocked up rooms - or upload your own pictures of your rooms and do the same....)
So - I have spent the better part of two days contemplating, envisioning, searching for and subsequently purchasing new sheets, comforter (for the winter cold), duvet cover, shams, and coverlet (for the summer warmth) for our new place. What a sense of accomplishment :) Now I wait to see if the stuff is going to work when it arrives...ah the agony and ecstasy of online shopping!
You may be wondering what Hubbz was doing as I shopped and contemplated and hemmed and hawed.... I asked him if he wanted to weigh in - and he did a little - but then realized that he didn't really want to get deep into a discussion about shades of blue and summer v. winter bed linens. Ultimately he did a lot of the slow head shake (you know the scene: the eyes closed, half smile, slow shake of the head that indicates "I don't know how this action is executable by any rational human, but you're MY human, so I'm going to be quiet and let you be crazy"). So, he did the head shake and smiled and sweetly input all of the charges into our money management system. You gotta love a guy who knows when to let it roll....
Thursday, August 5, 2010
STATUS REPORT: APARTMENT V. HOTEL
The news is good, folks. Your government has decided to subsidize this little family for one more month :) It took a little begging, a lot of paperwork and a big ole emotional shrug as we submitted our plea and let the chips fall as the may.
We last left the situation with the realization that our Sept 1 move in date was waaaayyy outside of the batter's box of easy government subsidy (they think that 2 months is plenty of time to find a suitable place to live) and we were wondering what we could do as we spun our wheels waiting for the Holy Grail Apartment to be ready for us! We trotted down to our favorite meeting spot: the housing office -where waiting is guaranteed, and appointments are not- to find out what next steps we could take.
It turns out that our guesses were pretty much right on - Option One: we could move into a furnished one bedroom apartment and do all of the paperwork for a permanent place to cover the rent for that temporary time frame. Then a month later, we could move out and go through the same paperwork process with our legitimate apartment, and say a few thousand rosaries that the double paperwork in a 30 day time span would go through without a hitch, question or disastrous financial shortfall. The upside to this plan: we'd gain a couch and a kitchen - two things that hotel living doesn't provide...
Option Two: We file a request for an extension - to be printed on Hubbalicious' Command Letterhead and signed by his boss (uncomfortable)- and submit it with a copy of our signed lease, explaining our need for the extension and proving that we weren't trying to milk the system (which I have to admit, is a pretty good system). The upside to this, of course, is that we wouldn't have to move, we'd still get a stipend to cover our meals, and did I mention that the hotel has free internet and maid service??
The downside to Option Two is that the deciding party takes their sweet, sweet time in making this decision - so we were told not to expect an answer until....oh TWO DAYS AFTER OUR PERIOD ENDED. Yep - they didn't think it was at all troublesome that the message could be "We're sorry, but your claim has been denied. You need to move two days ago and you'll be responsible for all costs pertaining to your temporary living until you can find a furnished apartment and negotiate the contract and have it approved by the housing office"
Well, sometimes you just have to trust in the system. Sometimes you just have to do some internet shopping instead of looking for furnished apartments that you probably/hopefully won't need. And that's exactly what I did :) We implemented Option Two and they did approve our little extension and I'm free of the need to vacuum or change the sheets for another month - sweet!
We last left the situation with the realization that our Sept 1 move in date was waaaayyy outside of the batter's box of easy government subsidy (they think that 2 months is plenty of time to find a suitable place to live) and we were wondering what we could do as we spun our wheels waiting for the Holy Grail Apartment to be ready for us! We trotted down to our favorite meeting spot: the housing office -where waiting is guaranteed, and appointments are not- to find out what next steps we could take.
It turns out that our guesses were pretty much right on - Option One: we could move into a furnished one bedroom apartment and do all of the paperwork for a permanent place to cover the rent for that temporary time frame. Then a month later, we could move out and go through the same paperwork process with our legitimate apartment, and say a few thousand rosaries that the double paperwork in a 30 day time span would go through without a hitch, question or disastrous financial shortfall. The upside to this plan: we'd gain a couch and a kitchen - two things that hotel living doesn't provide...
Option Two: We file a request for an extension - to be printed on Hubbalicious' Command Letterhead and signed by his boss (uncomfortable)- and submit it with a copy of our signed lease, explaining our need for the extension and proving that we weren't trying to milk the system (which I have to admit, is a pretty good system). The upside to this, of course, is that we wouldn't have to move, we'd still get a stipend to cover our meals, and did I mention that the hotel has free internet and maid service??
The downside to Option Two is that the deciding party takes their sweet, sweet time in making this decision - so we were told not to expect an answer until....oh TWO DAYS AFTER OUR PERIOD ENDED. Yep - they didn't think it was at all troublesome that the message could be "We're sorry, but your claim has been denied. You need to move two days ago and you'll be responsible for all costs pertaining to your temporary living until you can find a furnished apartment and negotiate the contract and have it approved by the housing office"
Well, sometimes you just have to trust in the system. Sometimes you just have to do some internet shopping instead of looking for furnished apartments that you probably/hopefully won't need. And that's exactly what I did :) We implemented Option Two and they did approve our little extension and I'm free of the need to vacuum or change the sheets for another month - sweet!
Monday, August 2, 2010
THE LAND BETWEEN TWO LAKES
Last weekend we took our first European vacation!!! We have some dear friends who are here only for a few months. They have been a shining example of how to take full advantage of living in Germany. They say it’s because their time is short here, but perhaps they also have a stronger “go get ‘em” spirit than we do.
Friends like this are fantastic to have, because they become a quick resource for what weekend trips are valuable and how to go about booking them. Last weekend, we were fortunate enough to hitch a ride along with our friends – who had booked a weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland.
We didn’t know much about Interlaken except for the fact that it was in the Swiss Alps and that it was a ski area in the winter. We had opted to share a “family suite” in a small hotel that put our whole group (4 adults and 1 kiddo) into interconnected private rooms that were part of the proprietor’s home.
Hubbalicious had a conference call that didn’t end until 8:00 on Friday night. So the plan was that I’d pack us up during the day, pick up a portable dinner, and we’d leave directly from the base – and arrive sometime after midnight. So, we drove up in the dark. We noticed after we crossed the Swiss border, that we could make out a few lakes and mountains as we made the drive. We laughed about how pretty we assumed it was. We got to our room at about 12:30 and dropped instantly into bed.
The next morning, we woke up slowly. I went in to take a shower and curiously glanced outside of the bathroom window. This is what I saw:
Yep – it was the cutest little Swiss Mountain Town you ever did see!! I ran in and jumped on the bed to wake up Hubbz like it was Christmas morning!! The pictures don’t even do it justice – it was like living in a movie set. Mother Nature - 1,000,000 / Industrialized World -0
We had a grand time. After a yummy hotel breakfast of strong café au lait and fresh croissants, we chose a mountain and worked our way up. The girls took the kiddo up on the gondola. The guys did a rather strenuous hike and met us at the top. While we waited for them we explored the little area up there. There was a trampoline and slide for the kiddos. There were cows (with big bells around their necks) and pigs in a field nearby. They didn’t mind at all that we walked right up to a sleeping, snoring pig and rubbed his ears. 200 yards away they had placed benches at overlook points where you could sit and enjoy the amazing view (no rails, no signs – they just assume you won’t be too dumb to sit on a bench and enjoy the view safely). We sat on a deck overlooking the valley and had some beer and snacks as we waited for the men to join us for lunch. The sun was high and the breeze was light. We couldn’t have asked for a better day!
When the guys arrived and lunch was done, we headed for the highlight of the day’s activities: The Alpine Slide – or as the kiddo called it “The Pineapple Slide”. The Alpine Slide is basically a bobsled that runs on a track in the hills. We have seen a few of them here and there – it’s kind of a summer activity to fill the time until the snow arrives. Here’s a picture:
It has a hand brake and zips along a track until you get to the bottom. This particular track had a cable that would pull you and the sled up to the top again when the ride was over. Staying on the sled at that sharp incline may have been the most challenging part of the ride!! We had a lot of fun – each adult took two rides – one with the kiddo, one without. That allowed the kid to pretty much ride for an hour straight, and the adults got to test their mettle just once, with only themselves as the possible victim of a crash (we saw no crashes all day long). I am seriously thinking that a little setup like this would be a huge moneymaker for a certain piece of property I know of in NorCal :)
When the sliding was done we decided we’d walk back down to the town together. We took the “easier” trail this time. It was well marked, and in most places paved – so something a hard-core hiker would scoff at –but it was steep enough that we spent pretty much the whole 90 minutes of leisurely walking, trying NOT to slide on the gravel – so there was a significant decline to most of the trail. It was yet another way to soak up the beauty of the Alps. So lovely!!
We spent a few hours poking around our host town. We window shopped and ate gelato (we’re going to have a serious ice cream addiction here any minute now…) Then we cleaned up and drove to Interlaken proper for a lovely outdoor dinner on the park. It just so happened that the park was a major landing site for the hundreds of paragliders we had watched soar around the sky all day – very cool!!
Sunday we poked around town a little more, and bought the souvenirs that we had been contemplating all night long :) Then packed up and headed to one of the lakeside towns. We put our toes in the water and had lunch by the lake, before driving back to home sweet hotel room. It was a lovely weekend – and a much needed break from our routine!
**We have a Flickr account where we keep all the pictures of our adventures. We're careful about putting everything out into the ether - so if you'd like to see them, send me an email or FB message and I'll help you gain access.
Friends like this are fantastic to have, because they become a quick resource for what weekend trips are valuable and how to go about booking them. Last weekend, we were fortunate enough to hitch a ride along with our friends – who had booked a weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland.
We didn’t know much about Interlaken except for the fact that it was in the Swiss Alps and that it was a ski area in the winter. We had opted to share a “family suite” in a small hotel that put our whole group (4 adults and 1 kiddo) into interconnected private rooms that were part of the proprietor’s home.
Hubbalicious had a conference call that didn’t end until 8:00 on Friday night. So the plan was that I’d pack us up during the day, pick up a portable dinner, and we’d leave directly from the base – and arrive sometime after midnight. So, we drove up in the dark. We noticed after we crossed the Swiss border, that we could make out a few lakes and mountains as we made the drive. We laughed about how pretty we assumed it was. We got to our room at about 12:30 and dropped instantly into bed.
The next morning, we woke up slowly. I went in to take a shower and curiously glanced outside of the bathroom window. This is what I saw:
Yep – it was the cutest little Swiss Mountain Town you ever did see!! I ran in and jumped on the bed to wake up Hubbz like it was Christmas morning!! The pictures don’t even do it justice – it was like living in a movie set. Mother Nature - 1,000,000 / Industrialized World -0
We had a grand time. After a yummy hotel breakfast of strong café au lait and fresh croissants, we chose a mountain and worked our way up. The girls took the kiddo up on the gondola. The guys did a rather strenuous hike and met us at the top. While we waited for them we explored the little area up there. There was a trampoline and slide for the kiddos. There were cows (with big bells around their necks) and pigs in a field nearby. They didn’t mind at all that we walked right up to a sleeping, snoring pig and rubbed his ears. 200 yards away they had placed benches at overlook points where you could sit and enjoy the amazing view (no rails, no signs – they just assume you won’t be too dumb to sit on a bench and enjoy the view safely). We sat on a deck overlooking the valley and had some beer and snacks as we waited for the men to join us for lunch. The sun was high and the breeze was light. We couldn’t have asked for a better day!
When the guys arrived and lunch was done, we headed for the highlight of the day’s activities: The Alpine Slide – or as the kiddo called it “The Pineapple Slide”. The Alpine Slide is basically a bobsled that runs on a track in the hills. We have seen a few of them here and there – it’s kind of a summer activity to fill the time until the snow arrives. Here’s a picture:
It has a hand brake and zips along a track until you get to the bottom. This particular track had a cable that would pull you and the sled up to the top again when the ride was over. Staying on the sled at that sharp incline may have been the most challenging part of the ride!! We had a lot of fun – each adult took two rides – one with the kiddo, one without. That allowed the kid to pretty much ride for an hour straight, and the adults got to test their mettle just once, with only themselves as the possible victim of a crash (we saw no crashes all day long). I am seriously thinking that a little setup like this would be a huge moneymaker for a certain piece of property I know of in NorCal :)
When the sliding was done we decided we’d walk back down to the town together. We took the “easier” trail this time. It was well marked, and in most places paved – so something a hard-core hiker would scoff at –but it was steep enough that we spent pretty much the whole 90 minutes of leisurely walking, trying NOT to slide on the gravel – so there was a significant decline to most of the trail. It was yet another way to soak up the beauty of the Alps. So lovely!!
We spent a few hours poking around our host town. We window shopped and ate gelato (we’re going to have a serious ice cream addiction here any minute now…) Then we cleaned up and drove to Interlaken proper for a lovely outdoor dinner on the park. It just so happened that the park was a major landing site for the hundreds of paragliders we had watched soar around the sky all day – very cool!!
Sunday we poked around town a little more, and bought the souvenirs that we had been contemplating all night long :) Then packed up and headed to one of the lakeside towns. We put our toes in the water and had lunch by the lake, before driving back to home sweet hotel room. It was a lovely weekend – and a much needed break from our routine!
**We have a Flickr account where we keep all the pictures of our adventures. We're careful about putting everything out into the ether - so if you'd like to see them, send me an email or FB message and I'll help you gain access.
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