Monday, November 5, 2012

Take *that* GPS!

Hurrah!  I just got Marky and I home from the store - a 15-20 min expressway drive - *without GPS*!!!  Woo hoooo!  I know, I sound like a complete moron.  But you come for a drive over here and you'll be congratulating me too!  ;)

I am usually pretty good with directions but over here I am completely clueless and constantly disoriented.  Nothing seems to be laid out on a grid.  All roads are like - no pun intended - a pretzel.  They go up, down, in and out of tunnels, around and around.  You get the gist.  There seems to be no true East/West, North/South.  In fact, the highways usually don't state a direction.  Instead of taking I-94 West or I-75 South, you drive towards a particular city destination.  This can be especially confusing when you don't know the lay of the land.  And the tunnels... you go in one way but there may be various outlets... which to choose?!

So far GPS has been my closest friend here.  Or, Junie B. Jones as Peter calls "her", our GPS lady guide with a strange British accent.  But I have to say I relish the small victories I have without Junie B.  Some days it feels like I will never be without her here, that I will never ever ever figure out which way to go on my own.  Other days, like today, I feel a small glimmer of hope.  I just might be able to figure this big pretzel out!

Anyways, boring topic.  Sorry.  But that's my big news for today folks!

Visit me tomorrow where you can learn all about everyday stuff here in Germany.  This past week I've been compiling a list.  A very loooong list.  I had bronchitis last week and am *finally* starting to get over it.  Not being able to sleep great, I sat up and sipped hot tea and started my list of the Fab, the Bad and the UGH-ly here.  So if you're bored and have time, stop by and read it.  Or read it in small chunks so your eyes don't glaze over and fall out of your head!

Hope all are well and having a good driving day.  With or without your GPS friend.  :)

(Here are a couple of picts that show typical roads and scenery in our immediate area.  I pulled these from Yahoo Images but will post some of my own soon.  Stuttgart is very beautiful... in a deep valley surrounded by office buildings and residences bizarrely intertwined with farms and vineyards.  We are up from the valley, altitude level about 1400 ft.)


We live very close to the Stuttgart Airport.  I was on these roads today.

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