A Little Slice of Heaven.

Hello All,

After 10 or so weeks of eating canned or frozen food, with an occasional restaurant meal, I am happy to have finally broken out of that with a little grilling.

Not BBQ mind you, but grilling. What's the difference? Grilling is throwing meat on a surface heated charcoal or propane. BBQ is an art of rubs and heat applied to meat over time. I've given BBQ a shot with mixed results. Anyone north of VA should ask a Southern friend about BBQ (Jodi has a great story about a "pig pickin" she attended a number of years ago.)

BBQ is one of the few things uniquely American and various regions have their own take on the process (dry or wet) and the type of meat used (beef or pork). Each region claims to have the "best" BBQ and, quite frankly, it is all good. If you get to Kansas City, St. Louis, Most of NC, and Most of TX, don't pass up a chance to have BBQ at the place the locals eat. If I didn't mention your favorite region/state/or local BBQ joint, insert it here _________, now.

Anyways, I grabbed a bag of charcoal, brats (local vendor) and a couple of NY Strip steaks and headed for the grill.

I also took with me a great cigar, Arturo Fuente Opus X Super Belicoso, as well as a couple of bottles of my favorite German beer, produced by Augustiner Braeu (that really old brewery in Munich, founded in 1310).

Now granted, the cigar would have been better accompanied by a glass of scotch or bourbon, but a great German beer was found to be an acceptable substitute.

Back to grilling. Well, I had no equipment/utensils and the grill left a lot to be desired. The manner in which I grilled my steaks was less then ideal with no seasoning on the steak and the meat was too far away from the charcoal. I used a plastic fork to flip them. When I took them off the grill, one side was done to much and the other not enough. But, when the two met in the middle, it was perfect.

It is amazing what you miss when you don't have it. Conversly, we probably don't appreciate what we have. I appreciate what I have and miss what I don't. It is a lot easier to do in a foreign country with different food, language, and customs.

There are some things I would like to change in the US, but, I can think of a lot more things I would keep just the way they are.

Anyways, it was great to smoke a cigar and eat a steak; a little slice of heaven American style, you might say.

God bless America. It is a great nation and a great place to live!

Until Next Time,

Michael

Driving, a new perspective.

Hello All,

Now that I've been at my new place for over 2 weeks which requires a 35-45 minute commute each way, I have a new perspective on driving in Germany.

It's not that I mind driving but it is not something I look forward to either. Seems like there is moderate to heavy traffic everywhere I go and every time I am commuting. I am happy to say though, it is surprisingly orderly. Yellow light means the car ahead of you will try and stop and a blinker means someone will let you in (or you will let them in).

You see, there are lots of laws that govern driving, but, more importantly, people see them as rules. Laws are something the government comes up with and then enforces. Rules are commonly accepted way of doing something that (most) everyone abides by. In fact, as a pedestrian, I have seen people cross at a cross walk with out a "green walking guy" and get scolded or get dirty looks. No traffic was coming but it is customary to wait for the green, remember to be patient.

I have not seen an incident of road rage and the number of times someone did something really stupid or aggressive could be counted on one had. Quite the contrary in the US where people don't seem to be so friendly or accomodating.

I don't think the US could handle parts of the highway that had no speed limit. The Germans follow the rules and make things predictable on the streets. When traveling at 120+ mph, the last thing you want is someone doing something unpredictable. Too few American drivers follow the rules to make this a safe undertaking and lots of people would end up killed. Maybe when we master the concept of stay to the right unless overtaking, then we can turn it up a notch.

Found out some other interesting things about cars and driving in Germany. Turns out that Germans pay a lot of taxes (20% is added to the price of almost everything you buy. It is built into the price that is displayed and the displayed price is what you pay. Not like in the US where you see a price and then sales tax is added at the registar. Think about that, 20%!)

One of the taxes they pay is personal property tax like the good readers in VA pay on their cars every year. The tax in VA is based on the cars value so it goes down every year. The Germans found a way around this and their tax is based on engine displacement, which never changes. This explains why I have seen a lot of cars with engine sizes of 1.5L to 2.2L. That is the most common engine size range and I suspect that moving beyond that results in a much bigger tax burden.

Turbo charging and super charging is also more much more common out here and the engines come that way from the factory. Turbo/supercharging increases power with out increasing displacement and lower displacement keeps taxes down. By the way, the car insurance companies also base premiums on engine displacement so your insurance is also more expensive.

The diesel engines are also very common out here. One of the most popular combos is the turbo-diesel engine. Turbo charging keeps taxes down and diesel fuel is cheaper then gasoline. A gallon of unleaded gasoline is around USD $6.75 a gallon based on current exchange rates and a gallon of diesel cost USD $5.40. So, at $1.30 per gallon difference in price, sign me up for diesel. Diesel also gets better gas mileage so the gap is even bigger in favor of diesel.

Of course this in not the case in the US where many stations don't offer diesel unless you want to get in line with the 18 wheelers. Not many cars have a diesel engine option and diesel is more expensive than unleaded. It is hard to make a case for diesel in the US taking those things into consideration. Diesel is clearly the future (vs gasoline or electric hybrid) and you will see the trend towards diesel continue in the US.

Taking all these things into consideration, you can see that owning a car and driving it in Europe is a very expensive proposition. Therefore, many people, especially in the cities, don't own cars. This is an easy decision to make because of the well thought out and very efficient public transportation system. Train and bus networks are far reaching and never late.

I should also point out that if you can find a parking spot, it is fairly expensive to park your car. A lot of the cars you and I drive would not even fit into most parking spots or have the tight turning radius to maneuver in a parking garage.

So, for many Germans, they learn the train schedule/train network, keep their bike tires properly inflated, or buy a motorcycle or scooter. I think I would own a motorcycle as my daily driver here if I lived here long term. Motorcycles can also split lanes (go between cars which is great when traffic is down to a crawl, get great mileage, and I would probably look pretty good in my leather riding gear. I can see Jodi riding a bike or Vespa for sure.

Hope everyone has a great week. In another week or two, I will be at the halfway mark. Check back during the week, I am going to try to get something out about a castle I visited last week and one I went to today.

Cheers,
Michael

Germans and Fitness.

Hello All,

You know, before I came here, I only saw Germans in films and maybe on TV. I always picture fat, sausage eating folks who drink a lot of beer. The sausage and beer part is true but Germans are very health conscious.

In fact, the national obesity rate in German is 14% according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Overall rate in US is 34%.

Would you believe that no state in the US has a rate this low as Germany. I was floored. Colorado checkes in at 19% and every other state is 20% or above. UK is 24%, France is 11%, Italy is 10%, and Japan checks in at 4% (but rising).

If you live in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, your states obesity rate (sorry) is over 30%.

This is an alarming trend in developed societies. I suspect that, based on established guidelines, I am close to being obese.

But, in Germany, a lot of people walk, jog, run, cycle. It is not uncommon to see older folks/couples taking an walk in the evening or on a weekend morning. Many take bike to run errands around town. Lots of people take the train/walk to work or bike. It is not uncommon for people riding bikes to get to destinations before someone driving....traffic is that bad in the cities.

Don't have any answers. Eat more veggies and take a walk, I guess.

Cheers,
Michael

Formula 1 weekend at the Nurburgring

Greetings all,

Sorry for the lack of activity on the blog. Seems like the trend is for me to go somewhere on a weekend trip and then write about it the following weekend. I suppose I could do it after work during the week but often after finishing up the daily routine when I return from work, I'm just not up for it.

Nothing really of interest takes place during the week so I am afraid there would not be much to write about. I get up, dress, go to work, come back to my room, have dinner, surf the internet, watch a bit of TV and then hit the rack. Do that 5 days in a row and that sums up the week.

The week of 5-11 Jul was pretty busy. Was off on the 6th because of the July 4 holiday (was in France as you probably recall) so it was a 4 day work week. On the 7th, I spent a fair part of the day moving out of the hotel where I have lived for the last 2 months and into a hotel like room on a US Army barracks about 35 minutes away.

It was a hassle repacking everything I brought here for a move cross town but all and all, it has proved worth while. I was getting a little tired of living at the hotel so the move was welcomed in the end. The only drawback is that I am 35 minutes away from where I work vs 5 minutes and the fastest way to get there is straight through downtown Stuttgart. Sometimes traffic can be a little heavy so that can be a pain in the butt. I usually don't mind the drive though.

My new room is not quite as modern as the other place and a little "Motel 6" like. It has everything I need though including internet and a little more space to store things. It also has washers and dryers downstairs so I can do laundry during the week without having to go to a laundromat. It also has a little kitchenette on every floor so I will be able to prepare a meal every now and again instead of eating frozen and canned stuff.

It is also a much cheaper option then the other hotel which saves the government a lot of money. /

Well, enough about the mundane. I am happy to report that I checked another box on the "Things to do during a lifetime". I am sure this is not on your list but it was on mine, "attend a Formula 1 Gran Prix race".

Now, while Formula 1 racing is seen as the very top tier and pinnacle of motorsports, it does not have much of a following in the US. However, it does average about 600 MILLION viewers internationally for every race. That is twice the population of the US. So, it is a big deal everywhere except the US.

Many races are sponsored by a countries central government, who spend (and lose) millions of dollars each race. Why you ask? Hosting a Formula 1 race is seen as a national prize much like hosting the Olympics. It bolsters a countries presense on the world stage with China and the Middle East having recently been granted a place on the calendar.

The cars themselves are marvels of engineering and aerodynamics. They are like fighter jets that stick to the ground instead of flying. The cars are all handbuilt with many teams operating windtunnels 24/7 in hopes of improving performance and testing modified designs in hopes of gaining a few thousandths of a second on the next race.

Top speeds are around 220 mph. Lots of race cars go that fast, you say. What's the big deal? It is not so much how fast they go, it is how fast they stop and how fast they go through the turns. The rate at which these cars slow is staggering thanks to their carbon fiber brake rotors and carbon fiber brake pads. Going through a turn can generate as much as 5 times the force of gravity (5g). The same force can be generated while decelerating.

/

Brake rotors can get as hot as 1800 degree Fahrenheit (twice that of the cars we drive) and stop an F1 car traveling 190 mph in 4 seconds. At a mere 100 kph (62 mph), the car will come to a stop in 1.4 seconds and cover 55 feet. Most cars take around 120 ft to stop from a speed of 60 mph. A "high performance" car will take around 90 feet or almost twice the distance of a F1 car.

Engine speeds are limited (!) to 18,000 rpms. Most road cars redline (max safe engine speed) at 6500 rpms. The engines used to be 3.0l, V-10 but regulations changed and they are now 2.4l, V-8s. Building an engine within regulations will generate around 720 hp and the old V-10s were close to 1000 hp. This in a car that weighs 600kg (1322 lbs). Many cars on the streets today weigh between 3300 lbs and 4000 lbs.

Doing the math, a F1 car has a power to weight ratio of 1 to 1.82. A Corvette (3200 lbs and 430 hp) with it base engine has a power to weight ratio of 1 to 7.5.

Team budgets go as high as $450,000,000 per year (yes, that is almost 1/2 a billion dollars per year). A "low budget" team may only have $50 million in their coffers for the year. Some drivers are paid a salary of $40 million per year. it is not unusual for the highest paid (including endorsements) sports figure in the world to be a F1 driver.

/

Ave budget for a NASCAR team is $15 million and an Indy team budget is around $8 million.

/

Well, back to the race weekend...in a nutshell, everything besides the actual race sucked.

I left on Friday later then I hoped and was in traffic the whole way up to the inn I was staying at which was about 2.5 hours away. The hotel was nice enough. Clean and everything worked. I figured it was about 45 minutes from the race track.

Saturday was qualifing. I didn't know my way around the track nor did I have my tickets in my possession as they were at will call. I had lots to do and was unfamiliar with the area. I thought I had best give myself plenty of time.

I made it to the track in 1.5 hours in heavy traffic. After a bit of wandering around, I found where my tickets were being held for me, picked them up, and went off to the grandstands. I also spent Sat shopping for souveniers and the like. Past experience tells me that you do not want to be messing with that on race day when it would be a packed house.

It was really something to see the cars on the track (F1 is held on dedicated race tracks called "road courses" which feature a series of turns and straight aways, this particular track is 3.5 miles in length and has 16 left and right turns of various radii). The cars are sleek, low, and fast. The sound they make at speed is incredible. It is a shriek that penetrates you skull and resonates through your body. I listened for a couple of minutes without hearing protection just to take it in. Some people sat through the whole race on race day (1.5 hours) without hearing protection which really surprised me.

Sunday was race day and I knew traffic and crowds would be worse then Sat. I thought I better give myself even more time to get to the track for the race which was scheduled to start at 2:00 pm. I left at 8:30 am thinking it would take me 2 hours to get to the track. I would get there in time to see the Porsche Cup race at 10:45 am. Much to my surprise, a drive that would have taken with 45 minutes with no traffic, took 4.5 HOURS. I probably could have walked in that time. I was shocked at the traffic situation. At one point, I honestly thought I would miss the start of the race. Thankfully, I got to my seat 30 minutes before the race started.

After the race started, it seemed like it was all worth it. I was sitting at a F1 race in Europe.

All and all, I was happy I went but would NEVER do it again. There must have been 90,000 poeple who descended on this little remote town and I parked in a field with 18" high grass (there were Ferraris in that farmers field, too). Like any sporting event, there is no way to watch instant replays or hear the commentary that you would hear on a TV broadcast. I had to ask who won the race and I was at the damn thing. Lastly, ticket prices that rival the prices of a Superbowl ticket. You can go general admission which is the cheapest route but you would stand at some far reaching corner of the track, in the dirt or mud if it rains.

Don't really have any pictures to share. My camera is great for taking still shots but not so much at higher speed action shots or things that are far away. The race had both those things.

Jodi would have gladly went with me if she was here and not complained about a thing even though she would have hated every minute of it. I am a lucky guy to have a woman like that.

Cheers,
Michael

4th of July, Part 2

I will pick up where I left off from my last blog as that took me through until a little past noon.

Strasbourg is also known for the surprising number of art museums. I sure didn't have time for all of them so I picked the two that seemed to offer the biggest bang for the buck (or in this case, how much could I see given the few hours I had).

I decided on the Mussee des Beauz-Arts (fine arts from European Masters mostly from 1300s through 1800s, but some were as old as 1100). Once I got there and started looking at the pieces on display but I wasn't really sure what I was looking at because the placards were in French. Additionally, I didn't recognize many of the artists. I can tell you that I am sure I saw some very famous paintings. I was really struck by more then a few. Some objects in some the paintings actually looked real. True works of art. Saw some of the works of El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, and Raphael. Also saw a couple of pieces by Rembrandt.

The second floor gallery was very big. The paintings were mostly tied to Christian themes, Christ, Virgin Mary, and the crucifixion, as well as many of the early saints. I really wished I knew more about what I was seeing, I just knew it was something special.

It was refreshing that these works were not behind glass and you were not kept 10 feet away from them. Sensors would go off if you got within 12 inches of the painting, but, at 12.5 inches away, you can really see lots of the details.

Next was the Musuem of Modern and Contemporary Art. I decided on this museum because they advertised that they had works by Claude Monet, Rodin, and Picasso. I especially wanted to see Rodin's "Gates of Hell" which turns out to be at a different museum.

Well, I never found the Monet or Rodin. The Picasso's were a bit of a disappointment. There were about a dozen drawings on paper about the size an 8.5"x11" and it seems like half of them featured testicals and a penis. I would have said "phallic symbol" but there was nothing symbolic about it. It was just testicals and a penis. I just didn't get it and I was not going to stare at it for an hour and then go on about the symbolism or how it made me feel. I simply didn't like it. I didn't need to sit on the provided veiwing/contemplating bench to determine that.

Other pieces of art that I saw included an old suit coat on a hanger suspended on a nail, a polycarbonate cube filled with scraps of paper, a wall painted orange (not sure if that was one of the pieces of the museum or just a wall painted orange), a piece of canvas painted black, an igloo made of broken panes of glass, and a piece of furniture from the '50s nailed to the wall. I suppose I was not sophisticated enough to understand the significance of what I saw. Other then "I just didn't get it", I don't know what else to say. I guess my Polish heritage and blue collar background is showing.

/

Unless you are a big fan of contemporary art and "get it", then you can pass on this one.

/

One piece that was very impressive was of Christ walking down some steps to start his journey to his crucifixion, soldiers holding back the crowds. This piece was probably 40' tall and 40' wide (this piece was f**king huge, sorry GOD, but it was, just think about the dimensions, how was it even worked on?). It was pretty amazing. Even with a little research, I can't find the painting online.

You thought I forgot about my "stereotype" comments earlier, didn't you. It struck me as unusual that a surprising large percentage of the male population carries a man purse/clutch like bag. Talk about not getting it. I posted a number of pics of this on my flickr site for you to check out. Keep in mind, I took all these pics in the span of a few minutes. It is not something I spent all day accomplishing.

I have never seen American men carry these things. I have never seen German men carry these things. I have not been to the UK, but I bet Englishmen don't carry these things and I am quite certain that you will not find an Irishman carrying a man purse.

I've got to wonder, what do they carry in their handbags? If I need to carry something, I put it in my trouser/jeans/shorts pocket. That is why they are there right? I don't recall ever having to carry so much stuff that I ran out of room in my pockets. Even if I had so much stuff to carry, I would put it in my wife's purse. Did they not use their pockets or was this a case of having to carry too much stuff and not having their wife around? Those man bags were some dainty little things though.

I even saw fathers walking with their sons. They both sported these man purses. Old men carried them. I even saw a guy with a tattoo on his neck had one too. Guys with neck tattoos should not carry a man clutch. It was very confusing.

I am really happy that my Dad bought us baseball gloves instead.

Great news, Jerry (Jodi's Dad), I got you a souvenier from Strasbourg. Just wait until Christmas! (yes, it is a man bag)

Stereotypes exist for a reason. They are generally not just created out of thin air. When you think about Americans, you think cowboys, pickup trucks, hard working, ambitious. When you think about Germans, you think brutal efficiency, industrious, hard working, stoic, structured. English? Tea drinking, cricket, polite, love the queen. All this stuff in pretty much true. BTW, Europeans think Americans are loud and brash. You know what? We are.

The French? You tell what the stereotype is. I will say that the wearing of proper leather footware (like in Germany) is less common. Lots of sandals here. Collared, tucked in shirts in Germany...not in France. Well groomed. Germany. More hippie like. France.

/

While the women in France may, overall, be more fashionable, German women seem better dressed.

The people of France seem to embrace a more bohemian lifestyle which would be seen to have little value in Germany. I think Jodi would like France, only for this bohemian leaning society. I like Germany a lot better. It just suits me.

All and all, it was a very worthwhile trip. I really wished my wife could have been with me. Walking along the waterways of a very old European city would have been very romantic (if you have anything smart to say about that, I will hit you with my man bag).

That's all for now. Next weekend is the Grand Prix of Germany, a Formula 1 race. Probably the only one I will ever see, so I am pretty geeked.

/

Be sure to check out my flickr site. I took lots of really good snapshots and added a little description so you would know what you were looking at.

Michael

Accidently Deleted 4th of July Part 1

Sorry Folks,

I am really pissed at myself because I accidently deleted part 1 of my post. I will not have time to recreate it and it cannot be recovered.

Thankfully most of it was city history stuff. Pls wikipedia it and read the first couple of screens. The city has been around in some way, shape or form for over 2000 years.

The main draw to the city is the Cathedral. It was much better then the one in Ulm.

Also went to St. Thomas Church and saw a pipe organ Mozart played. Pretty cool. Saw the sarcopogus of the first bishop of Strasbourg. He died 1200 years ago.

Also took a boat tour around the city which was a different perspective then on foot.

Ok, with that and the pics on flickr.com, you will get a good idea of the first half of the day. Part 2 is already posted.

I thought the pic of the bike was funny. I have determined that this is the bike equivalent of having your car "keyed". It reminded me of the Carrie Underwood song titled "Before He Cheats". It is about a girl whose boyfriend is cheating on her so she goes up to his nice 4 wheel drive pick-up truck and keys the paint, slashes the tires, smashes the headlights, and shreds the seats.

I can imagine that the same thing happend to some French woman and this was the end result of her boyfriends bike. Remember ladies, he is not worth it. Leave his bike alone.