Driving in Germany

The first day, on the way from the airport we passed a "Stau," German for traffic jam. This is not your US style traffic jam as it was backed up at least 10-12 KM's, metric system, with people out of their cars visiting, picnicing and just waiting. The cause was a two car accident where a car hit a flat bed truck at a high rate of speed and was partially demolished. Secondary to that is the fact the German Polizei will not allow traffic to start flowing until they complete their investigation into the accident and the site is cleaned. Stau's are something to avoid at all costs as you do not know how long or when you may move again.

Now to debunk a myth, there is a speed limit on the Autobahn. There are sections that have no speed limit but generally it is 130 km/h, roughly 81 mph. You also have to have tires that are rated for the speed you are travelling, generally tires from the US are not the proper ones to have here as ours are generally rated for 90 mph. It is also funny to see American muscle cars get left in the dust by an Opel or VW Golf, not even seeing the German machines that are built for the Autobahn.

Next, a German law that is good, because the Germans have laws for everything. People wishing to get their driver's license have to attend real training and take a real test prior to receiving thier license. US servicemembers are exempt from the training and driver's portion but the written test does a good job of keeping some people off the road. We do attend an orientation course but even with that people still fail miserably. It also doesn't keep jackasses from doing their jackassery but eventually they become slick spots, hopefully they don't take anyone else out.

Finally a law that needs to be instituted in the US. You can get a ticket if you are caught cruising in the left hand lane. If the lane is open and you aren't passing, then you better be in it. Even the older German's seem to be able to follow this one.

All for now.

First Post and Ground Rules

Going to give this a shot since I don't want to have to update Facebook all the time. This is mostly to keep family and friends up to date about my family moving to Germany. Something most folks can't fathom but one we have been trying to do for almost 15 years. The time is now so we plan on making the best of it. We have already been here 2 and a half weeks so I will be playing catch up of the highlights(and lowlights) for the time that has passed. Needless to say this has been the toughest move we have experienced.

Now for the ground rules. I will not be using the names of my kids, while I do trust my family and friends I do not trust the vast majority of humanity. Therefore they will be known as big, middle and little. They will also be called Her Royal Highness the Queen, Space Cadet, and Little Big Girl when the name fits the attitude. I will probably post other things from time to time but that is my perogative and I have always wanted a soapbox, this is probably the closest thing I will get.

The picture is of the family on the flight over, couldn't be a better picture to include in the first blog.

That is all for now, let the games begin.