Yet another strange day

I'll just give the rundown of today hour by hour.  I don't know if I could sort it out any other way.

So, I slept in this morning because I just needed the sleep.  The cloudy day truly helped my effort.  I then took Etsy for a walk and took her with me to the auto shop in town where I wanted to take my car to get fixed.

I chose this shop for several reasons.  First, it was in town, only about a mile away.  Second, it is a car repair shop only.  The other two car repair places in town are also car dealers.  I feel that when you double-dip like that, the quality of the repair is no longer a priority and is actually not the primary income source.  Third, on occasion, I have seen these guys working past 9pm.  If you live and work in Germany, this is exceptional.  The vast majority of 1st shift workers are religious-borderline-fanatical about clocking out at 5pm in Kaiserslautern.  Seeing him work late on repairing cars told me that he genuinely like repairing cars and cares about his work.

The receptionist spoke some english, (I learned her sister lives in New Jersey and is married to a US Army soldier!) but I memorized a few critical words to explain what I needed done.  The message got across, and I was told that the final could would range between tens of euro if drilling the bolts out was successful to hundreds of euro if the rotor needed to be replaced.  This was about what was expected.  They also said that they could get it done today, which I was very pleased to hear.

I drove the car very slowly to the shop, the owner looked at it, and agreed with me on what we had discussed.  I also asked him if he could simply replace all of the bolts, called "Schrauben."  I was beginning to think that maybe all of them were compromised given that two had snapped.  He said he would consider it.

I fortunately was still able to walk half of my scheduled dogs today, as I could take the train into Kaiserslautern and walk where I needed to.  While walking my first dog, they called me to say that they had successfully drilled out the bolts and the car was ready to go, and the final tab, including labor, was in the tens of euro! This is the best one could hope for anywhere!  I had enough time to walk my other two dogs and make it back to the train station in time to get back to the shop.

At the train station, I decided to get a beef stick while waiting as I was a little hungry.  It got stuck.  "Well,"  I figured, "may as well get two."  So I did.  Such a sacrifice :)

I got back to the shop an hour before they closed and found the receptionist gone, but the owner and another mechanic were working away listening to the local radio.  He said that he went ahead and replace all of the bolts when he found one of the remaining two on the wheel almost snapped in half as well.

The two broken bolts, the almost broken bolt, and a normal bolt.  These four bolts were what he was dealing with once he got that wheel off of my car to drill the snapped bolts out.  All were for the same wheel!

He said that I was very lucky.  I completely agreed with him.  I looked at the bill, thanked him profusely, and gave him a few euro extra for all of his exceptional work.  I learned from the bill that he was actually cutting me a huge deal based upon the cost for parts and what he was charging for labor AND factoring the typical 20% tax.

I drove the car back home to walk Etsy where it snowed a small sprinkle.  Talk about timing with getting the car fixed!

Snowflakes on my shoulder.

I then gleefully drove my car to Ramstein to buy snow shovels and then treat myself to Chili's on base there.  While waiting in line to pay for the shovels, the lady in front of me with her two little children was told by the cashier that her fuel ration discount had expired a few days ago because her on-post vehicle inspection had expired.  Upon eavesdropping, I heard that she had a 2 year inspection, and having just purchased a car that had a one-year inspection, I completely understand how she had lost track of that.  She also was told that as a result, she owed more money.  She seemed very embarrassed and almost scared because she didn't have the extra money.  She had no card to use, and was very likely on a fixed income because only her husband worked.  Again, this is very common for military families.  While she called her husband to figure out what to do next, I asked the cashier how much she owed.  He told me $20.  I just footed her the $20 in cash.  She was surprised and still embarrassed.  I simply told her, "Don't worry about it.  It's Christmas."  She was almost apologizing still, and I told her that I had the money.  It wasn't a problem.

That moment kind of made me a little sad for a few reasons.  First, it is the holiday season, and I felt that many people including myself just weren't thinking about it and it's meaning.  I actually surprised myself when I said it.  Second, I think it's the lack of snow and the lack of Christmas decorations on the houses.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas yet.  Third, I think being away from the states, effectively away from home, makes Christmas just not feel the same for a lot of military members.  Being in a foreign country, I feel like a lot of us just do what we can to make do until we get back, sometimes without even thinking about it.  Personally, J and I are getting geared up because we are slated to sing in several Christmas concerts very soon, and J and I are actively seeking out the Christmas Markets in the area.

Finally, I went to Chili's to gorge myself.  I saw this awesome sign in the parking lot.  I just had to take a picture.

I was so freaking hungry!  The service at Chili's is so very close to the service back in the states.  The wait staff really wait on you, are very prompt, and are always helping you out while keeping a casual atmosphere.  I went for the triple threat:  boneless buffalo wings, boneless buffalo chicken salad, and a chocolate shake with Diet (yes diet) Coke on the refill rotation.  I swear I ate it all in record time, and only for one minute did I start to feel full.  That minute passed quickly.

J and I chatted on the phone a little bit while I was there.  She got a chance to meet another female officer.  This particular officer was close friends with the first three star female general.  J absolutely loved all of the time, however brief it was, she spent talking to her.  I'm so happy she was able to find such a wonderful mentor, and what a rare opportunity to meet such a person!

We both agreed that today was laced with too many "perfect timing" situations.  It was the kind of day where it was perfectly clear that we either had awesome guardian angels or that there really is a plan for us that we don't entirely know about yet.  I was reflecting on how many close calls I have had in my life.  I'm definitely thinking that my life is being preserved for something.  I'm starting to think that I know what that is, so I'll pursue it.  It's starting to feel like J's feeling was about applying to the US Army JAG.  She wasn't sure why, but she felt very strongly that it was something she was meant to do.

This Saturday, we are going to Heidelberg to experience the Christmas Market there.  I'm hoping to have a bunch more pictures to share.  Until then!