The Exploits of a TurboGeek!

So, it started out innocently enough.  Doesn’t everything that goes horribly awry with me start innocently?  There have been some Swing Dance classes on base, and I’ve been attending them pretty regularly.  They’re beginner classes, so I go mostly to be supportive.  I’m not teaching or anything, but the instructors figured out I knew what I was doing so now I’m an official helper.

Sharon, one of the instructors, was interested in checking out the Swing Scene in Heidelberg, so we went down a few times and had a pretty good time.  There are some familiar faces there, and also some new ones, so it is good to be back.  You’d think that by the third time we went, we’d have ironed out all of the hard stuff, and we’d be able to go, dance and get home without any significant events.  You’d be wrong…

We began with a late start, because I insisted on going swimming after work, so rather than starting at 6:30, we met at 7:00.  Then we had to play some Guitar Hero, and that only set us back later.  We would have made the 8:30 lesson with time to spare, except I missed a turn, and ended up on a 20km detour.  Again, not a big issue, but then I decided to stop and get gas.

Since gas is so expensive here, I get some coupons that make the price a bit more like the expensive prices you enjoy.  Only I didn’t realize that all of my coupons expired last year!  So, that messed up the gas run.  So, after all the minor mishaps, we made it to the class about 30 minutes late, and learned some good stuff.  After we’d danced for a while, Sharon and I practiced a few of the things we’d learned, and decided to leave…

This was when we discovered the parking garage was locked up tight.  We couldn’t even get to the car to get stuff out of it.  Apparently it locked at 1100, and at 11:10, there wasn’t a soul around.  Sharon had even noticed the sign (I hadn’t) but didn’t think we’d be out that late.  So, I figured we’d catch a train home, and then sometime the next day, we’d return for my car…

Of course, we didn’t know where the train station was.  More importantly, Sharon had left her purse in the car.   The car, contained the purse, which contained her car keys and her ID…  So, there would be no way for her to get to work once home…

So, a quick calculation…  Taxi fare to train + train fare for two + gas for a round trip to Heidelberg + an extra day parking fees = about 100 Euros.  We’ll call this the stupidity penalty.  So, we decided to minimize the stupidity penalty.  The above plan also involves a 2 hour train ride, and also about 2 hours of driving.

Instead, we decided to walk around for an hour looking for a cheap hotel.  We couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous we looked, showing up at fairly posh hotels, asking for a room for the night at midnight, with no luggage.  We tried to explain that the parking garage at our car, but the desk staff only smiled.

Ultimately we found a Best Western for 79 Euros, and called it a success.  When we got to the room, I noticed the door lock looked odd.  Tentatively, I inserted the key into the… not lock.  Then I just lost it and started laughing uncontrollably.  Sharon didn’t quite get it, so I showed her, there was no lock on the door.

At this point, there wasn’t much we could do.  I’d already paid, so we figured we’d check out the room anyway.  Inside the door, we found another door.  This time with a lock!  Success.  The room was actually large, even by American standards.  Enormous by Euro standards.  So large that when Sharon returned fire from her bed by the wall, the pillow fell short of my bed in the middle of the room by about a foot.  She wasn’t so lucky when I sent the volley back, and then she kept my spare pillow.  Meanie.

We got up at about 6:30, and found the garage open 10 minutes early.  Some fancy driving and a little luck on the Autobahn and we were back to our neighborhood in time for her to get to work just 10 minutes late.  I had a late start, so I got in right on time

All in all, it was fun, and we laughed a lot.  I now join many of my immigrant brethren who have been trapped by a German Parkhaus.  May all my disasters end so well!

Tschuss!

So, a long time ago, I made a pledge to write something informative and kind about the folks who I’ve linked in my blog.  Then, I got distracted and forgot about it for a while.  However, HWIC reminded me of something in her blog today, so I figured I’d get back on track with that little project.

I met Kelly when I was on one of my many extended business trips for work.  She worked at a hotel I stayed at, and became a very good friend of mine through a lot of initially random and chance consequences.  To set the record straight, many of you met a Kelly who I also met via my residence at a hotel while traveling for work…  If you met the Kelly with a British accent, that is a different Kelly.  This Kelly has a regular NorCal accent, and is supercool!

Kelly used to work the night shifts at the hotel, and I also used to work around the clock.  Initially, I’d come home from work at some crazily predawn hour, and find my way back to my room only to call Kelly who I had just passed at the front desk for a wake up call.  Since I can’t actually have a short phone conversation and Kelly is fun to talk to, our short exchanges about when I’d like to wake up, and how I couldn’t possibly survive on so little sleep grew longer and longer until we’d end up spending a great deal of time on the phone.  This was despite the fact that she was literally less than a 1 minute walk away in the hotel lobby.

It got to the point where I sincerely looked forward to calling downstairs for a wake-up call and chatting the night away.  As you know I don’t have any pets, or much of anything else to “come home to”.   I don’t say this as a way to garner pity, it is the life I lead, and one day that will change, but I’ve got some growing to do before I can get there.  I don’t know if Kelly knows this, but for all my time away, she was a very large part of what made it possible for me to survive.  In many ways, she was who I came home to.

There was also the cookies, which is what sort of inspired the memory.  In the evenings, the hotel staff would bake cookies for the guests, and after weeks of me and my colleagues asking “Are the cookies ready?” the staff realized it was easier to just call us when they started baking.  Kelly, recognizing that I generally tried to take the crummier shifts for my team, got in the habit of saving cookies for me.  So I came home not only to a bright smile and sincere conversation, but to a warm cookie wrapped in a napkin!

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and that trip was no exception.  After I got back home to my “normal life” which wasn’t really normal given how unstable a regime of constant travel can be, I realized how much I missed chatting with Kelly.  So, a few times when I arrived home in the wee hours, I’d call her at the hotel and we could chat for a little while like old times.  Well, not quite, there was the lack of cookies, and also the knowledge that I didn’t need to wake up at some obscene hour.

Time passed, and eventually I found myself back up north at Kelly’s hotel, and I was really thrilled that she was still working there, covering the crummy night shifts with me.  We chatted more and more, and she eventually unearthed one of my better guarded secrets… My birthday.  I don’t know why, but I almost always keep my birthday a secret.  I’m not ashamed of my age, but being the center of attention on a given day always makes me a bit uncomfortable.  I don’t know how she did it, but not only did she find it out, she graced me with a giant cookie to help me celebrate.  It was one of those big Mrs. Fields cookies that can feed about 120 kids.

After I shared it with Kelly, and some of the hotel staff, and my team, I still had about 118 servings of cookie left.  Not being one to let things go to waste, it stayed in my refrigerator for days, being consumed slowly over time whenever anyone came to my room (usually to play Playstation, I travel in style).  I ended up eating almost all of it, which didn’t help my attempts to lose weight and prepare for an upcoming triathlon.  (A point for which I continually thanked her for )
In reality, the thing I still most remember about that trip, is feeling at home at my hotel.  When I came home from work, there were people there who seemed happy to see me.  Not only that, I ended up building a truly significant friendship with someone there, so that when I started to feel down, I had someone to lean on and when I started to feel up, I had someone to share it with.  Kelly was that person.
My business trip was a success, but what I recall best were the little things that became the foundation of the friendship.  Late night talks about nothing in particular, playing Lord of the Rings on the Playstation, a trip to the lake for hiking and photography, and eating some of the best salads at the local salad bar.  Well, and the cookies of course.

Nowadays, I see Kelly on Instant Messenger and we chat as much as we can.  We’ve also spent a great deal of time with our current addiction, which is World of Warcraft   We can’t necessarily hang out together on this planet, but on the internet everyone is right next door!

Which brings us here…  Because on the internet, we’re all right next door.  I’m sorry I’ve had the place shuttered up for so long.  I’ll try to start being a better neighbor.  For now, here’s some lovin’ for my good neighbor, HelloWhenImCrashing!