Something better then nothing?

Greetings all,

I haven't posted this week for a couple of reasons: nothing really happened and I was lazy. Thought I would post "something" which may or may not be "better then nothing". You decide.

Well as you probably recall, my journey to hell was foiled by bad weather and accidents on the road/track/course. I went back to the green hell a couple of Sundays ago and really glad I did. The ride up was uneventful and when I arrived I got right in the line to enter the track.

The first lap was pretty unnerving for a couple of reason. I was going in cold in so much that I did not know the track. The second thing that was unnerving was the packs of marauding cars that continued to approach rapidly from behind. It was a lot of work staying out of their way.

I did a second lap without exiting the track and that time around was a little better. I had a lap under my belt felt a little more comfortable knowing what the limits of my rental were. As I was finishing the second lap, I decided to come in. Everything felt pretty solid with the car but if anything was going to fail, I figured it would be the brakes. You see, this car was not really designed for this type of continuous high speed deceleration. The car is very heavy (probably around 3900lbs and meant as a boulvard cruiser which was at home with short stints of spirted driving (not 24 miles on the Nurburgring).

With multiple hard stops, brakes begin to get very, very hot. This heat boils the brake fluid and creates gases in the brake lines and these gases cause the brake pedal to sink to the floor board just as you need to shed 75 mph so you can make the next turn. I decide to come in for an hour to let the brakes cool off so I would not be "that guy" who shut to the track.

I went back out after about 45 min (rotors were still surprising warm) and had an enjoyable couple of laps. Traffic had thinned which allowed me to concentrate on driving the proper line instead of constantly looking in the rear veiw mirror to see who was crawling up my exhasut pipe.

I saw several instances where drivers did not properly negotiate a turn and side swiped the guard rail bringing out a local caution flag and saw one fella spin his TVR (expensive British car you can't get in the US) and plant the backend into the barrier. You can see from the pics that I you go off the driving surface, you are probably going to hit something.

All and all, it was a great experience but I would not say that I "conquered the ring". I did, however, check a box on the things to do during a lifetime, did not damage my rental car, did not get collected up in anyone else's wreck, and stayed out of all the faster cars way.

This past Thrusday, the fun continued as I ventured out to the Hockenheimring which is a dedicated race track where, amognst other things, Formula 1 races are held. This track is not as complex as the Nurburgring as it is only 4.5 miles in length with 10 turns vs the Nurburgring at over 12 miles and 75 turns.

I was surprised how many turned out for the open track session. There were probably at least 100 cars and 300 motorcycles there. Instead of paying per lap like the green hell, you paid a flat fee for a 15 minute session.

The big difference is that this is a race track and not a public road like the Nurburgring and there are no rules here other then don't be stupid and watch out for the other guy. Here, cars would pass where ever they had room and it was not uncommon to have faster cars passing on both my right and left at the same time as we entered long straights.

Through the turns, everyone wants to be on the same exact part of the track called the "apex" which is the ideal high point of a turn and allows for fastest speeds. It as not uncommon that I would lean into the apex to find that a faster car had squirted under neath me. You really had to have your head on a swival especially with 100 cars on the track.

The E350 Coupe I have as a rental really showed its weaknesses here. The car has pretty good power (3.5 liters making almost 300hp) but the front end really lacks grip (the winter tires it is sporting certainly didn't help). You see, to go through a turn the tires have to overcome the cars desire to continue moving in the direction it is going. In this case, the car's front end gets loaded up with weight (transfered under braking) and the front tires have to wrestle it around into a new direction. The less grip you have, the slower you have to go to stay on the radius of the turn. Slow in the corners means slow overall.

I am happy to report, I did manage to pass a couple of cars just based on sheer horsepower.

Again, very happy I went out and now can say I have driven on a Formula 1 track.

Well, that is about it. Now you have to decide, is something better then nothing?

On another note, my replacement should be here here in about 3 weeks. Honey (Jodi, my wife)...I'm comin' home!

Until next time.

My redeployment has begun.

Hello All,

Redeployment is the buzz word for "you completed your deployment and you are going back to where you came from". I have about 6 weeks left, but today, I did pack one of my pieces of luggage with stuff I knew I would not need before I leave.

Hard to believe it has been almost 7 mos already. There is no way I will see all the things that I wanted to see. But, even if I only did half the things I did, I would consider it a worthwhile expedition. Certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Since we have a contract on the house, I have been mindful to contain my leisure spending. We have the house in the near future and that house will need a refrigerator (all the installed appliances are GE Profile so I will have to get something that matches those) as well as a family trip to Disney. I figure that Rome has stood for thousands of years and if I don't get out to see it for another 20, I am confident that it will still be there.

Another reason to pull back a bit is that the dollar continues to sink against the Euro. The exchange rate is now Euro $ 0.66 per USD $1. That means to get Euro $100, it costs USD $150. In other words, add 50% to all the prices you see. This in on top of a 20% tax on most everything you buy. It is called VAT or "value added tax" but I'm not sure where the value gets added.

I haven't really done much shopping here in Germany but casual observation has allowed me to draw the conclusion that almost everything you can buy in Germany is also available in the US. The only difference is that you get to pay an extra 80% for it here (20% VAT plus 50% on the exchange rate). As an example, a $50 item in the US is $50 Euro, plus VAT (brings you to $60) plus exchange rate brings you to $90 USD. Of course, Germans get paid in Euros so they don't take a bath on the exchange rate.

Speaking of VAT, maybe we could have a 20% tax on everything that we buy in the US to pay for Universal Health Care. You know, "free" health care for everyone? That way, when you work, you can pay income tax and when you spend, you can pay VAT (don't think you are just not going to spend any money to not pay VAT because there is also an estate tax). Almost be enough make me move out of the country.

You know, Germany has a "cradle to grave" healthcare system. You are probably thinking, "That 20% VAT tax must pay for it". If you thought that, you would be wrong. Everyone who draws a paycheck has an average of 13% deducted to fund this system. If you don't like how much is withheld from your paycheck, maybe you would be happier with 13% less.

If that were the case, we might as well just move the family to Germany. Jodi already knows how to speak German, Wynnie (the dog) already thinks she is a German Shepard and we already own two German made automobiles.

In addition to that, there are highways out here with no speed restrictions and the climate seems to be overcast and cool more then it is hot and humid. Both these things appeal to me. Jodi is also of German heritage so it would be like going back to the Fatherland for her.

I think the Germans would be happy to have us. I have a lot of traits which are valued here. I am efficient, organized, methodical, and precise as well as being somewhat stern. The ladies wear proper footwear here, mostly leather flats and heels. Jodi loves shoes. She also likes riding scooters so she could get a Vespa to get around.

As an added bonus, folks here aren't much for truck based vehicles. Neither am I. An average sized car is the size of a BMW 3 series. Station wagons or estate/touring wagons, as they are called here, are the hip anti-SUV. Jodi and I both like station wagons. Kids, pack your bags! We're going to Bavaria. (Jodi wanted me to point out that she does not like station wagons or scooters.)

Germans apparently have not gotten the word that smoking kills. The smoking rate in the US is highest in W. Virginia, Kentucky, and Mississippi (28.5%-25.1%). No offense to any reader from those states. Those are just the stats from the Center of Disease Control (those are 2006 numbers, btw). Lowest rate is Utah (9.8%).

For Germans over the age of 17, the smoking rate is a shocking 44 percent for males and 37 percent for females (1996 stats). 2004 stats from German government surveys stated that half the women aged 15 to 30 smoke today.

I have an idea, as part of Universal Health Care, provide to everyone who is over the age of 18, two packs of cigarettes per week and fund an "all you can eat" option at fast food restaurants. If you choose not to smoke your cigs, you are encouraged to give them to someone that will. I don't think we can afford to keep everyone alive until they turn 100 years old.

I've also heard talk about "death panels" that would decide what care you get (or don't get). I'm intrigued. I wonder what the panel chairperson would grade out at (government job term)? Probably a GS-15, I'll bet. Hummmmmm......

They wouldn't be called "death panels" either. I suggest Healthcare Allocation Review Panel or HARP. Don't worry, if I become a HARP Chairman, I have got everyone covered. By the way, my birthday is 14 Nov and I enjoy scotch and cigars (just in case you want me to think of you fondly while reviewing your case). See, I am already towing the party line by setting the example...."Be like your HARP Chairman, smoke and drink like I do!"

You know, if the President wants to stimulate the economy, he should appoint me as his Tobacco Czar to implement this plan immediately. People would save money by not having to buy two packs of cigs a week which would give them money to spend on other things. Cig manufacturers would have to hire people to make more cigarettes which would lower unemployment.

Anything tied to agriculture would also see a boost like fertilizer companies and companies like John Deere because more farm land would need to be cultivated to keep up with tobacco demand. Farmers in the South would switch to growing tobacco and generate more profit for themselves and farmers everywhere would make more money because the farmers in the South are growing less of whatever the other farmers are growing (supply and demand). And finally, people would die sooner because they smoke and that will save everyone money in the long run by having to put less money towards Universal Health Care.

This plan is a win for everyone. If you smoke, you get FREE cigarettes. What smoker wouldn't like that? The government would save money by providing free cigarettes because it would save lots of money on the back end by not having to spend as much on smokers' lifetime care. The government would love to save some money. And, we would win by having truly free healthcare.
The only outlay would be the modest cost of providing people with free cigarettes which the government could do by running federal tobacco farms. Once you do that, the plan sustains itself.

You can see that this is a much better idea then "cash for clunkers" which is not self sustaining and only benefited people who bought a new car, sold a new car, or manufactured a new car. That is pretty narrow in scope.

Think about it and tell me it wouldn't work. I bet you can't.

I think I'll call this plan: "Smokes For Smokers".

Cheers,
Michael

I wanted to go to Hell today. It was closed.

Hello all,

Today I had planned on taking a trip to Hell but it was temporarily closed.

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Of course, I am not referring to that fire and brimstone place where devils are poking you with pitchforks. I am referring to the storied and once notorious race course which is now classified as a one way public toll road called the Nürburgring Nordschleife, also know as "Grüne Hölle" or "The Green Hell".

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The Nürburgring Nordschleife... a famous, now historical race track, is situated in the beautiful Eifel region in Germany. It is still rated as the most demanding race track in the world. According to Sir Jackie Stewart: "The greatest and most challenging race circuit in the world". It used to be the German Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit until Niki Lauda's crash in 1976 in which he almost burned to death while trapped in his car. Miraculously, he was behind the wheel of his Formula 1 car to race only six weeks (two races) later, finishing fourth in the Italian GP.

Modern Formula 1 circuits are between 2.6 miles (Magny-Cours, France) and 4.2 miles (Spa Francorchamps, Belgium) in length and may contain some 8 to 15 corners. This track is 12.9 miles in length and contains 73 (that being the official number) corners! Add to this the altitude difference of around 300 meters between lowest and highest point on the track, several blind corners behind a crest, lack of run-off area (remember, this track existed before safety entered Formula 1), many bumps and dips, often slippery conditions, and you'll realize that this is not going to be a walk in the park.

So, I left at 0820 which was a little later then I wanted to leave. This track (part of it was used for the German Gran Prix which I attended in Jul) is about 3 hours away and I wanted to get there before lunch when I thought it would be a little less crowded.

An hour into my drive, traffic on the autobahn came to a stand still. 10 minutes prior to coming to a stand still, I was moving along at about 125 mph. We all sat there for almost 2 hours before we got under way.

Turns out it was a single car accident (the most common on the autobahn) in the far left lane. A little car, like a VW Golf, had plowed into the guard rail. The car was a mess and the section of guard rail it hit had buckled pretty good (and this was reinforced guard rail, not the garden varity stuff we have in the US).

I continued on and as I got within 45 minutes of the track, it was getting darker and darker. Eventually, I experienced light showers. No problem, the course would still be open and the wet road surface would slow everyone down. This is probably true for most but not for those with more confidence then driving skills. So, on the other hand, while most would slow, there would be a handful who would not and cause mishaps.

The light rain was fine with me because I was not going to go out there and try and set a new record. That would have been foolish and dangerous as my rental car (Mercedes Benz E350 coupe) is not a race car. It is not even a sports car. It is way too heavy and does not have brakes designed for the punishing workout track driving brings. I suspect that the repetitive hard braking would have cooked the brakes to a point of having very reduced capacity to outright failure. I was not going to be "that guy" who put a car into the barrier, much less a rental.

Once I got to the entrance area, I was shocked at how many people were there. Some in extremely expensive exotic sports cars, others on motorcycles, and still many more in their daily drivers. Some obviously turned out just to watch the spectacle and planned on making a day of it with chairs, grills, and beer.

So, I prepaid my toll and had a debit card with 4 laps of credit. It is funny that this toll road has no outlets, i.e. it doesn't go anywhere. You exit at the same point that you enter the road. The fee for this trip to nowhere is Euro $22 per lap (you get a discount for multiple laps so my 4 lap toll was Euro $75.

This may seem like a lot to drive on a toll road that doesn't go anywhere. However, motorsports enthusiasts seek out "The Ring". This is a popular attraction for many driving and riding enthusiasts from all over the world, partly because of its history (completed in 1927) and the considerable challenge it still provides. The lack of oncoming traffic and intersections sets it apart from regular roads, and the absence of a blanket speed limit makes it an additional attraction.

So, I was all ready to go and approached the toll gate only to find that signage indicated it was closed. I asked that traffic attendant what was going on and he said that someone crashed and the track was closed until the track was cleared. Looks like that over confident, under skilled driver closed "Hell".

While it is unusual for deaths to occur during sanctioned races, there are several fatalities and many accidents each year during public sessions. It is not unusual for the track to be closed several times a day for cleanup, repair, and medical intervention. The track management does not publish any official figures, but regular visitors to the track have used police reports to estimate the number of fatalities at somewhere between 3-12 in a full year.

Somehow, I feel like a victim in all this. Two mishaps had spoiled my trip to "The Green Hell". I will try again next week.

/

Until next week,

Michael

The Perfect Storm

Hello All,

It is Labor Day weekend and I hope everyone is enjoying a little time off. I, however, am not. As the saying goes, "duty calls". Something has come up and I will be working everyday until further notice. On non-working days, like today, I have a couple of hours of work and briefs to attend. So, while not a full work day, I have to stay close to the barn which eliminates even day trips into the surrounding area.

I realized that Germans love sitting in cafes and beer gardens in the summer because summer is a relatively short season here. Today is cool with scattered showers. Summer is giving way to fall and the tables of the cafes will soon be moved back indoors. The summer festivals will give way to Octoberfest, and Octoberfest will give way to Christmas festivals.

So, how does all this tie into "the perfect storm"? It doesn't.

As you all know, the economy has been in the dumpster for a while now. About 18 mos ago, the perfect storm existed with banking, spending, credit card debt, home equity loans, and speculative home buying. This led to the biggest collapse in home values any of us has ever seen and many respected financial institutions, which have been in business for almost a century, are no longer.

The stock market also experienced a huge pull back and unemployment is as high as it has been in decades.

As a result of all this, interest rates have been lowered by the Federal Reserve in an effort to stimulate the economy and housing foreclosures have driven down the overall market prices. In areas that had the biggest run ups (Las Vegas, S. California, Phoenix, Florida) now have the highest foreclosure rates with many properties being sold for half of their selling prices only 3 years ago.

This, is the "new perfect storm": historically low interest rates and an over supply in the housing market. Slowly, people are dipping their toes back in the housing market to take advantage of prevailing market conditions. Count me and my ever lovin' wife, Jodi, as having our toes in the water. We had a contract accepted on a home in the small town we live in now, Sneads Ferry, NC.

The house was built in 2006 just before the market peaked and is in, what was supposed to be, a planned community development. Many of the lots were snatched up by greedy speculators thinking they would make some fast, easy, money. I've come to realize that making money is neither fast nor easy. A handful of houses were built and many of the lots are for sale.

As is the case with all planned communities, the first thing the developer does is build a nice entrance with beautiful landscaping leading you all the way to the sales office. To impress potential buyers even more, a community clubhouse was built and tennis courts are situated next to it. That is about as far as they got before the housing crisis hit although a pool is promised but I doubt it will ever be built.

Back to the house. It was built in 2006 by one of the development builders to demonstate the work he is capable of. It has never been lived in. The price of the house was recently reduced and a couple had a contract in on it that same day. We were heartbroken. We requested that our offer be submitted as a back-up offer and the realtor said that our offer was so laughably low that it would not even be considered.

Well, the couple with the contract backed out of the deal and the realtor representing the seller/builder contacted us to see if we still wanted to submit our laughably low offer. This time, I was laughing and we went from there. We had to move a little on our offer, but they came down a lot more then we came up. Patience and persistence paid off.

We feel like we got a really good deal and a 4.875% interest rate to boot. All these exotic ARMs and 80/20 mortgages for 110% of the properties "appraised" value was one of the factors that got us into this mess so, needless to say, I am a 30 year conventional loan kind of guy.

Jodi loves the large screened back porch and the country style front porch as well as the fact that deer can often be spotted on the property. She probably will not love it so much when they eat all the flowers she says she is going to plant.

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I can picture us growing old together there.

That is about it. 4 Bed Room, 2.5 Bath, 2600 sq ft. We close on 1 Nov, just before I get back.

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Cheers,

Michael