Category Archives: thoughts

Freak Day

car, thoughts

Have you ever experienced days where nothing, I mean literally nothing works as planned or intended, despite your best efforts? Today was such a day for me.

It all started quite innocently. I got up, got coffee and got ready to take Ro to his 9:15a swim class. Then I got a message and a call from my wife: turns out I had both keys for the 3rd vehicle in my pocket – oops!. My BMW had been quarantined in the garage for the last 7 days, waiting to be ferried to our mechanic to have it looked over – I was suspecting something wrong with its power steering.Due to the lack of keys for the 3rd car, MrsM drove the soon to be sick car for the Sat groceries trip. She almost didn’t make it. On the turn into the parking lot she lost all power steering, veered into the other lane and managed to not hit anything while slowly making her way back to her lane, while hanging off the side of the steering wheel for her life – there was no more  power assist and the 4600lb curb weight, nor the 255 size front tires where of any help in this situation. She finally made it into the parking lot unharmed. Fast forward 3 hours. After picking her up with the 3rd car after having returned with car #1 from the swimming lesson, I called AAA to have the stranded Beamer towed to my preferred independent mechanic in town. I had to be present to pick up the Beamer. So I drove back with car #1 with the kiddo in the rear to wait for the flatbed truck. After 1.5h wait the tow truck finally showed up and shortly after we were on our way to the BMW shop, me in close pursuit of the tow truck (by now you probably have figured out that the BMW is car #2). Shortly after entering the freeway behind the tow truck I lost power on car #1 completely! – My mind went: Oh shit!!! – another tow truck needed. Then it hit me: MrsM had mentioned earlier in the day that car #1 was low on gas. What an understatement: it was OUT of gas. And I needed another tow truck. How embarrassing – and entirely my fault. When the engine died I was going 55mph towards an uphill exit ramp. When the shoulder started to disappear I hit the breaks and stopped.

Silience.

After weighing my options (narrow exit ramp with shoulder) I decided to call MrsM to request fuel to be delivers via car #3 and to call the cops to deliver my ticket along with some protection from the rear traffic while I was refueling. 15min later all that unfolded, minus the ticket. I can say I got my tax dollars back from a super friendly cop. He was very helpful and Ro was very relieved that daddy didn’t end up with a ticket for “biggest moron on planet” – the cop’s comment: this happens all the time. Scary, is what I say.

So after 30min of unplanned parking on the off ramp we were again on our way to see if the Beamer had been dropped off at the shop, which it had been. For the rest of the day I cancelled flying and any other potentially dangerous activity and pretty much stayed in bed. It was much more relaxing than the first half of the day….

What a day!

The Texas learning: cops can actually be your friend AND one needs three cars.Now shoot me.

 

 

Watch the Snails – by Jay Carpenter – (reposted with his permission)

thoughts, travel, USA, weather

Watch the Snails

By Jay Carpenter   – Fall 2009

 

The Thing

My all-time favorite science fiction movie is, “The Thing (From Outer Space)”, circa 1952.  I am NOT referring to the John Carpenter remake.  The original film still scares me today and I have seen it probably 50 times.  In the end, the creature from outer space is ultimately defeated.  However, all of the crewmembers of the polar ice station who killed the alien are wondering what will happen next.  Will there be more creatures?  I am thinking that an alien who possesses technology for space travel must certainly have GPS tracking on his way to our planet!

 

The closing line of the movie is delivered by Scotty, a newspaper reporter.  He relays to other reporters listening over a shortwave radio the story of their encounter with the terrible and mean alien being.  At the end he says, “Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!”

 

Shortly after this movie came out, there was a rash of UFOs sited all over the world.

 

The Drought Continues

About ten years ago, we were in a similar drought situation as we find ourselves today.  There was blistering heat, absolutely no rain and no forecast for rain.  My cousin Will Ed, who lives in Spicewood and studies Texas climate history says, “We are in a continuing long term drought, interrupted by occasional flooding.”  I think Will Ed is right.

 

Anyway, in the time of the last hard drought of the late 1990s, a TV news reporter gal was doing a story about the heat wave and the failure of local farmers’ crops.  She visited a small farm east of Austin and interviewed a farmer.  She asked the type of questions that try to milk out a “woe is me” response.  Although this farmer’s crops were certainly burnt beyond recognition, he was not dismayed.  In fact, he was smiling as he forecasted a large rain event in the near future, which would be good for the upcoming winter garden and provide sub moisture for next year’s crop.

 

When asked how he knew that rain was coming when every expert weather forecaster was preaching Armageddon, he replied slowly, “Whal . . . ya see them thar snails crawlin’ up the sides of ma barn?  (The camera zooms in to a close up of a dozen slugs crawling straight up the barn’s wood wall). That’s a shore sign that rain is comin’, and comin’ big!”

 

The news reporter, in a post wrap editorial, ridiculed the farmer’s home-spun weather forecasting technique.  She said that this type of lore is primitive and superstitious.  With perfect hair and a gleam in her eye, she made the farmer appear foolish and ignorant of the scientific method.  Her personal comments, dripping with sarcasm, were more lengthy than the actual report about the drought.

 

The next week it rained for eight days straight and we received over 10 inches of the blessed wet stuff.

 

I never did see the news reporter do a follow up on the farmer’s prediction. In fact, I have not seen that news lady at all, since that time.

 

This morning I saw two snails crawling up the side of my house.  I also saw a red sky at dawn while walking Molly, our miniature albino coyote (recently captured from the Chihuahuan Desert of the Big Bend).  “Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.”  Then I went inside and viewed a TV news report about a tropical storm in the Caribbean headed this way, perhaps developing into a hurricane.  OMG, I thought.  Could our present drought (the worst that Will Ed has ever seen in our area) be coming to an end?

 

It will most likely be “occasional flooding”, but I will take anything at this point.

 

Watch the snails . . . everywhere.  Keep looking.  KEEP WATCHING THE SNAILS!

Europe – my favourite places

thoughts, travel

Many times asked what places to visit in Europe. Here’s my personal best list:

– Paris, France: – Seine, Louvre, Monparnace with view of Eiffel tower, Versailles

– Mosel, Germany – Traben Trabach and the Loreley on the River Rhine by boat

– Aix en Provence – The french Alps – Haute Provence – rugged mountains

– Sweden – for the lakes and the hospitality

– Amsterdam – relax, get a coffee, walk or ride a bicycle

– Great Britain: Cambridge University – Regal

– Heidelberger Schloss and Schlossgarten Schwetzingen

– Prague/Chec Republic

– Barcelona, Spain

– Florence, Siena – Italy

– Strassburg, France

– Berlin Germany (contrasts melting)

– Hamburg Hafen

– Automuseum: Porsche, Mercedes (Stuttgart), BMW (Munich)

– Zurich (Switzerland)

– Mainz, Speyer, Rothenburg

– Weinstrasse

– castles – Burgen (my favorite: Burg Berwartstein)

– Skiing: Meribel, Trois Vallees – France – stellar skiing with never ending slopes

A good time to travel Europe is May/June or September for outdoor activities. July/August can be hot -up to 100F – but there’s no real pattern.

Using trains is smart in Europe. Pay extra for the fast trains – it’s worth it. Pack light, as trains don’t have generous luggage spaces.

If you like fast driving, try the Autobahn. But its congested, stressful and expensive. But it allows you to go to remote places at your own leisure. Recommended for non city travel. Requires planning around rush hour traffic in cities.

People prefer cash in Europe over credit cards – keep cash with you – around 100-200Euros in small denominations.

Nothing but gas stations and possibly restaurants are open on Sundays.

Food wise, keep an open mind and go with local specialties. They are usually the best choice. France has excellent prix fixe menus in 2 or three price points. the middle one is usually an excellent choice.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Driving Tips for Accident Avoidance

car, thoughts
  1. Keep your distance – 3 sec rule to follow
  2. Don’t speed into turns – brake before the turn, accellerate out of the apex. Use the brake lights of the cars ahead of you as your “eyes ahead around the turn”.
  3. Don’t get distracted – actively and consciously drive and concentrate on driving, when you’re driving. No talking on the phone (pull over), no texting, no deep conversations with passengers, no eating, no drinking, no computers/DVD in driver visibility, no Nav system operation, ideally – no radio (I know – music affects your mood and can work you up – try Techno on the Autobahn).
  4. Know all the cars around you, especially in the rear. You need to track usually at least 5 cars at all times
  5. Anticipate what other drivers will do next – that includes all other targets around you
  6. avoid clusters of cars. If caught drive 5mph below speed limit to let cluster slowly pass around you to re-create your distance
  7. In dangerous looking situations – cover your brake pedal either with your right foot, or if you’re trained, with your left foot to be ready for emergency breaking. But don’t ride the brakes!
  8. Know your “outs”. Where can you stick your car if someone is trying to hit you head on? At that moment anything but the head on collision is the better choice – the guardrail is a great place to put your car! Even a tree is better than head on on driver side!
  9. Many times you can avoid a collision altogether by knowing how many cars can pass each other on a given road. In our neighborhood on the single lane road with bike lane that number is five! Five cars can pass each other without touching, despite markings for only two – know that!
  10. Your brakes are stronger than your engine in every car. Know how much pressure you need to apply to engage the anti-lock brakes. Train in a safe environment (empty parking lot).
  11. Avoid eye contact with agitated drivers. Get away from aggressive drivers – let them pass/let them go. (Drive 5 mph below speed-limit, don’t try to speed away from an aggressive driver). If that doesn’t work, take a detour, plan a turn off the road and aggressively brake at the last moment for the turn without a car behind you and without endangering anybody. The aggressive driver will be surprised and shoot by you in the parallel lane before he knows what’s happening. If you’re followed, call 911, but keep moving, never stop. Drive within the traffic rules as much as possible.
  12. Traffic jams: when passing a traffic jam in a faster lane: turn on your head lights, follow the car in front of you at a safe distance, off-set by a half foot towards the side of the traffic jam. Ensure that the gap behind you is ideally larger than the one in front of you. That ensures, that cars sitting in the jammed up lane will try to merge behind you, not in front of you.
  13. Always check cross traffic when entering an intersection, even with a green light and especially during the first 5 seconds of a green light! Look for bicycles, motorcycles, emergency vehicles….
  14. Beware of red trucks
  15. Don’t mess with an 18 wheeler, you’re going to loose. Don’t drive next to them. Wait behind them until you can pass them safely.
  16. Don’t merge in front of 18 wheelers unless you have 300ft. Same goes for cars/trucks with trailers – their brakes are much weaker, and if you have to emergency brake in front of them, they *will* hit you.
  17. If you do something stupid – we all do at some point- slow down, be upset with yourself, pledge to never do this again and correct your behavior. Worst case pull over and take a breather and think about how you got yourself almost into trouble. You probably violated one of the rules above… My driving instructor once told me: “The difference between an experienced and inexperienced driver is that for an experienced drivers there’s a bell that goes off when you’re doing something stupid. For an inexperienced driver, there’s no bell.” Learn from your mistakes.
  18. Keep your windows and mirrors and eye glasses clean
  19. Always turn your head before changing lanes or turning
  20. Be extra careful when backing up. Turn your head, don’t rely on distance sensors or cameras only.

You might be surprised to find that “Don’t Speed” is *not* on my list of safe driving tips. That’s by design. I’m convinced that when you follow above rules you can safely maneuver traffic while exceeding the posted speed limit by a reasonable margin – but don’t be reckless and be respectful to others! Go fast where you can and slow down if you would impact the driving of others.

20 years of accident free driving support that point. But make no mistake: driving faster than the speed limit is statistically more dangerous – period. The choice is yours and there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the posted speed limit. In fact it’s the only legal way of driving as you know :-). But speed limits change with time and location. It used to be 55mph on Interstates, now it’s 85mph in Texas. In Germany there are stretches of Autobahn where there is no speed limit. So perspective on how safe it is to drive fast, and how acceptable the risks are for doing so change over time and in different countries.

Happy driving!

P.S.: if you do nothing but folow guideline 1. + 2. you’ve eliminated 80% of all danger.

After a day of thinking I’ve found two more interesting guidelines:

21. Always signal your intentions to allow other drivers to “read you”

22. When under time pressure “slow down, to speed up”. Think about it. You’re not gaining much time by speeding i.e. 20% on  a 10 miles drive. But you could hit the next three lane traffic light at green while the speeding cars had to come to a full stop. You might zoom by them with momentum in the free lane, just when the light turns green. Slow down to speed up is a psychological way of arriving safely and not giving up much time in the process. All you’re giving up is fun and pressure. But you’re decision making skills aren’t so hot under time pressure to begin with. So overall, you’re coming out ahead following this “Zen driving” approach. Much safer.

 

 

 

 

Zitat

thoughts

“Zögerlichkeit und Klugheit sind geeignet, Geschaffenes zu bewahren. Nur aber die Kühnheit gestaltet und ist in der Lage, Neues zu erwerben.” – Guenther Kollmar – Gruender Oettinger Gruppe

 

Wind Direction – Definitions

thoughts

Today I got asked a question by a peer engineer who has nothing to do with flying. He asked me if a north wind was going to or coming from the north? And this is a good question. From an engineer’s perspective there’s no right or wrong. It’s just how you define it. It happens so that it’s defined as “coming from” which works nicely when “flying to” the north that both line up nicely and you can land on that runway pointing to the north straight into the wind.

But as so many things that surround us, there is no inherent right or wrong of this, it’s just how someone defined it. Electric current doesn’t flow from Plus to Minus, but from Minus to Plus by definition. But that’s just a model, meaning: does the current flow at all? Isn’t it all just waves? And weren’t electrons just energy? Definitions.

In the end all it matters is that you have a system of definitions that is coherent and doesn’t contradict itself that you can work with. That’s all.

So north winds come from the north.

 

Words that are missing from the English Language

thoughts

Interestingly there are some words in the German language that don’t have a one to one correspondence in English. When using them in a translation, these words leave you unsatisfied, longing for better phrases to describe the feeling.

Here are two examples of German words that I struggle with to translate:

  • Geborgenheit – the feeling of belonging, safety and protection
  • Gemuetlichkeit – the state that occurs when hanging out with friends or family and having a good time – but not in a loud way.  Also includes a feeling of warmth. (I made these definitions up, there might be better definitions out there).

Of course there are also cases, where the English language has adopted a German word. Examples include Zeitgeit, and Waldsterben (less used these days – hey, we Texans still struggle with the concept of climate change 😉 – I digress. ). But more often the opposite is taking place – the German language integrating English words into the common usage.

On a philosophical level it is interesting to explore what “thought space” a language is able to describe. If you think of language as manifestation of thoughts (which I believe is not the only way thoughts can exist) then there are things or concepts that people speaking a certain language cannot sufficiently describe. I know people have studied tribe languages to determine how far along they where developed. I’m not convinced that there’s a true hierarchy of languages – maybe just sets of languages with varying degree of overlap. For example the native Indian tribes of america had many many ways to describe phenomena’s of nature. Our western world languages seem to have rubbed off of each other enough that the overlap is almost 100%. But traveling to Africa or East Asia will open a language space that is unknown to the western world. (Unfortunately I don’t know enough about that yet to write about it in an intelligent way – but maybe in the future …).

Back to the thought that German has words for “Gemuetlichkeit” and “Geborgenheit” while the English language has not, strikes me as one of the German oddities. After all the German’s aren’t known for their warmth but for their efficiency and bluntness. But having grown up in Germany I’ve come to know and experience that the private side of being German actually does include these cozy warm fuzzy feelings as well. They are usually just well hidden from the public eye. Germans are private people.