beige_alert | yet more thoughts

yet more:

Upon arriving in Germany I saw a great many little cars in the size category in which there are very few in the US, and many, many makes and models not sold here. I spent weeks being driven around tiny narrow streets and parking in tiny weird places. The typical American SUV would have just gotten stuck! My last day lisande drove me to the airport in her A-class (not sold in the US) and parked in a tiny space in the parking garage. Some hours later, I got off a plane in Milwaukee, and the first thing I saw in the parking garage here were a bunch of cars big even by American standards: A crew-cab pickup, a big SUV, and a bunch of vans. I’ve always thought there were a lot of ridiculously big vehicles around here, but it was quite a shock to see afresh.

The other observation is, if 1.8 liters and 75 horsepower is enough for 175 km/h, what on Earth do we in the land of the 105 km/h speed limit need such huge engines for? Also interesting to see little cars towing trailers. Here we think you need a truck to tow anything.

Speaking pretty much no German, it was always a thrill to understand anything. There were some times I could figure out the subject under discussion. I was always happy when someone would ask another for an English word they didn’t know and I knew what they wanted from their question in German. The mining museum was actually especially fun. Like any museum the exhibit provides clear context for the signs, and in the mining museum especially much of the technical jargon was pretty guessable and some chemistry terminology I already knew in German (being a chemist), so I really had a great illusion of competence. Leave the museum and head out into the real world and I don’t have a clue, but it was fun.

I cannot get over all the tile roofs. A tile roof is an exotic thing in the USA. There, brick. Here, vinyl. I looked out the window and said, “Looks like Europe.” Asked what I meant, I noted that the buildings were not made of plastic. No asphalt shingles. It’s a very different look.

On one occasion I saw a little two-seater Smart make a quick U-turn into a parking space, in a way which would have been impossible for any car in the US.

I noticed that Jürgen had an interesting way of shifting, keeping the RPM down to just a little over 1000 whenever possible. It probably isn't great for the car, but when gas is around $7 a gallon, you do anything you can to improve mileage!

The problem with a SmartCar is that it's not actually very smar for antying other than 2 people commuting ;)

And how many people really regularly commute with more than 2 people in the car?

Very few, sadly.

But that seems a silly reason to buy a car.

But it's cute! And it's so small we bicyclists ought to be able to intimidate Smart drivers. ;)

much of the technical jargon was pretty guessable and some chemistry terminology I already knew in German (being a chemist)

W ist für Wolfram. :-)

Na ist für Natrium.

But the best: "Nickel, that one is easy."
"What is it in English?"
"Nickel!"
*grin*

But the machine that makes anything that begins with N still can't make it.

The mining museum was actually especially fun. Like any museum the exhibit provides clear context for the signs, and in the mining museum especially much of the technical jargon was pretty guessable and some chemistry terminology I already knew in German (being a chemist), so I really had a great illusion of competence.

You didn't only have the illusion of competence! Remember how lost Steffi and I were when it came to all those pumps and other technical stuff? We looked at it, shrugged, said "oh, look the pretty colours - it's blue!" - and you walked around looking like you actually understood how those items were supposed to work! :)

yet more thoughts

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

die Chemie

Re: die Chemie

Re: die Chemie

no subject