Yelli and I are going back to the US for Xmas for 2 weeks. We've recently been added to the public insurance rolls here in Germany. Unfortunately, that insurance will not cover us while we're in the US. Presumably we'll need travel insurance, which our public insurance provider offers and is sending in the mail. But maybe an American insurance company is a better way to go?
Another sticking point is that we may need coverage for a pre-existing condition. Hmmm...
Does anyone have experience in dealing with this? Any advice? Please leave any helpful info in comments or if you prefer you can email the address in the profile for yelli.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
PR in the 60's
Although this is usually more of Honeyhorsepie's thing, I am also interested in climate change legislation and scientific facts.
See anything significant about this oil ad from the 1960's?
Really? 7 million tons of glaciers??? Mission accomplished...
See anything significant about this oil ad from the 1960's?
Really? 7 million tons of glaciers??? Mission accomplished...
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fahrradsport Wednesday - Dynamos
Berlin is way far North, which means it gets very dark very early in the winter. Thus, anyone riding a bike must have lights for his/her bike. A nice old lady made this perfectly clear to me a few weeks ago when she screamed at me "Mann muss Lichter haben!!!" Ach so, alles klar...
The thing is, I had a light on my bike. It just happened that at the time it decided to stop working. This is because my bike has a dynamo on it. For those of you not in the know, a dynamo is a little generator that is powered by running along your tire. The idea seems nice; with a dynamo, you are self sufficient and not dependent upon batteries that will run out, so you should have a light that always works. But guess what? Dynamos are a pain in the ass. Let me explain.
Dynamos essentially require degrees in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering in order to be properly maintained. Mechanically they must be in exactly the right position against the tire so that it is optimally turning as the tire turns. Otherwise it doesn't turn and instead rubs a hole in the side of your tire. Also, your tire pressure has to be exactly right. And then the dynamo can't be too dirty, otherwise it won't turn properly. Which is so easy to do on the ultra-clean streets of Berlin.
Then these things require a wire from the dynamo to the back and front lights. To complete the circuit, electricity then runs through the frame of the bike itself! So, here you have an electrical circuit running over the whole of your bike through a flimsy wire and the bike frame exposed to the elements. Sure, nothing could go wrong there!
If it's working, great! You get a nice bright light (except only when you're peddling). But if it's not, then how do you figure out what's wrong? Is it the light bulb? Is the wire broken someplace? Is the dynamo working properly and making good contact with the tire? Has the rain shorted out the bike? At the time when the nice old lady was informing me that my light wasn't working, it would work (temporarily) if I bounced up and down on my bike. So what the heck could be wrong to explain that?
Guess what? I don't want to find out. A light with a battery is just much easier to figure out, and it's not distributed over the whole bike. And LED technology has made batteries go for much, much longer without compromising brightness. I've noticed that nearly all the old bikes in Berlin have dynamos, but that many of the newer bikes have battery-powered lights. So even the slow-to-adopt-new-technology Germans are catching on.
Do yourself a favor: ditch the dynamo!
The thing is, I had a light on my bike. It just happened that at the time it decided to stop working. This is because my bike has a dynamo on it. For those of you not in the know, a dynamo is a little generator that is powered by running along your tire. The idea seems nice; with a dynamo, you are self sufficient and not dependent upon batteries that will run out, so you should have a light that always works. But guess what? Dynamos are a pain in the ass. Let me explain.
Dynamos essentially require degrees in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering in order to be properly maintained. Mechanically they must be in exactly the right position against the tire so that it is optimally turning as the tire turns. Otherwise it doesn't turn and instead rubs a hole in the side of your tire. Also, your tire pressure has to be exactly right. And then the dynamo can't be too dirty, otherwise it won't turn properly. Which is so easy to do on the ultra-clean streets of Berlin.
Then these things require a wire from the dynamo to the back and front lights. To complete the circuit, electricity then runs through the frame of the bike itself! So, here you have an electrical circuit running over the whole of your bike through a flimsy wire and the bike frame exposed to the elements. Sure, nothing could go wrong there!
If it's working, great! You get a nice bright light (except only when you're peddling). But if it's not, then how do you figure out what's wrong? Is it the light bulb? Is the wire broken someplace? Is the dynamo working properly and making good contact with the tire? Has the rain shorted out the bike? At the time when the nice old lady was informing me that my light wasn't working, it would work (temporarily) if I bounced up and down on my bike. So what the heck could be wrong to explain that?
Guess what? I don't want to find out. A light with a battery is just much easier to figure out, and it's not distributed over the whole bike. And LED technology has made batteries go for much, much longer without compromising brightness. I've noticed that nearly all the old bikes in Berlin have dynamos, but that many of the newer bikes have battery-powered lights. So even the slow-to-adopt-new-technology Germans are catching on.
Do yourself a favor: ditch the dynamo!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Solution
I am not going to bore you with details about why I haven't blogged but a choir trip to Dunblane and...let's just say that being sick sucks. You know what sucks even more? A toddler that is sick. Poor little guy. We are all recovered (for the most part) but falling asleep before my head hits the pillow every night is not entirely conducive to blogging.
back to regularly scheduled blogging...
Have you ever been hungry AND your feet were bare? Well, look no further!
Introducing...BROTSCHUH!
And only 62 Euros! Imagine that! Hurry before they are all sold out!
Thanks to my friend J for the heads up!
back to regularly scheduled blogging...
Have you ever been hungry AND your feet were bare? Well, look no further!
Introducing...BROTSCHUH!
And only 62 Euros! Imagine that! Hurry before they are all sold out!Thanks to my friend J for the heads up!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Funny Foto Freitag
I was just thinking that I needed to find Micheal Jackson, Elvis and Barack Obama matryoshka dolls for Christmas presents. Thank you Prague. All my Christmas shopping is now done! (Don't look Mom and Dad!)
seen in a souvenir shop in Prague
seen in a souvenir shop in PragueI think I also see Montel Williams as the small one.
Does anyone know who the woman is? Madonna maybe? (I think that is what is written.)
If you want to play along, please leave me a comment. Happy Funny Foto Freitag!
Does anyone know who the woman is? Madonna maybe? (I think that is what is written.)
If you want to play along, please leave me a comment. Happy Funny Foto Freitag!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The World is eagerly awaiting the fall of the Berlin Wall's 20th Anniversary this coming Monday 9 November. There will be many activities and celebrations. Even U2 is coming to sing a free concert at the famous Brandenburger Gate tonight.
However, in total complete ironic hilarity, the concert organizers are building awall 20ft high barrier around the free concert so only people who have tickets (which were free BTW) can see!
You can't make this stuff up folks!
However, in total complete ironic hilarity, the concert organizers are building a
You can't make this stuff up folks!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Fahrradsport Wednesday
I've been given permission to have a regular feature on 50%, and I need an outlet to vent about a recent "hobby" I have taken up. I speak of Fahrradsport or cycling. Every Wednesday, you'll hear about my musings on riding a bike in Berlin.
Over the last year yelli and I had year tickets for riding the local public transit system. We could ride them any time to any place. Very nice and very convenient. But at nearly 700 euros a pop, we decided to let them expire and try to cycle more. So I've been cycling to work, there and back, 40 min each way.
I would say cycling in Berlin is pretty easy, overall. Many streets have dedicated bike lanes. And I don't mean just a lane painted on the side of the road. In many places, they actually have a lane, running along the sidewalk what is laid with bricks! And at many busy intersections, there are streetlights dedicated just to cyclists. They have paid attention to the fact that cycling is an important way to get around, much more than any place I've seen in the US.
One drawback (I'll will be coming back to many other drawbacks in future posts; after all, a blog is often just an outlet for ranting more than anything) is that Berlin is more or less a city that has a prominent East-West Axis, given that a major rail line runs in the middle of the city in this direction. In general, at least where I am in West Berlin, there are lots of nice bike lanes running east and west. But there are hardly any that are dedicated to running north and south. This sucks for me because that is the direction of my commute. So I end up taking a silly route that goes on streets along with traffic with little turns onto small bike lanes, back onto the street, and back.
More next week!
Over the last year yelli and I had year tickets for riding the local public transit system. We could ride them any time to any place. Very nice and very convenient. But at nearly 700 euros a pop, we decided to let them expire and try to cycle more. So I've been cycling to work, there and back, 40 min each way.
I would say cycling in Berlin is pretty easy, overall. Many streets have dedicated bike lanes. And I don't mean just a lane painted on the side of the road. In many places, they actually have a lane, running along the sidewalk what is laid with bricks! And at many busy intersections, there are streetlights dedicated just to cyclists. They have paid attention to the fact that cycling is an important way to get around, much more than any place I've seen in the US.
One drawback (I'll will be coming back to many other drawbacks in future posts; after all, a blog is often just an outlet for ranting more than anything) is that Berlin is more or less a city that has a prominent East-West Axis, given that a major rail line runs in the middle of the city in this direction. In general, at least where I am in West Berlin, there are lots of nice bike lanes running east and west. But there are hardly any that are dedicated to running north and south. This sucks for me because that is the direction of my commute. So I end up taking a silly route that goes on streets along with traffic with little turns onto small bike lanes, back onto the street, and back.
More next week!
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