An Invasion of a "STRANGER" Kind.... NEW THREAD IS UP!! Go Thee NOW!

[tinkgurl]

I am planning on doing up another page. And it involved ALL of you!!

I want to throw together a "FAVORS PAGE"; one of all the things you guys would like me to hunt down, find and either do/ see/ find/ photograph etc....

You have the first two entries: Mickey phones and now, the marg. stand.

(BTW, you aren't forgetting my photo challenge are you??)

That sounds great!

Haha, nope I'm not forgetting! Me and Kristen will definitely do it!

 

[maroo]

Perplexing!!!!


And you are so getting popcorned......








Tee hee.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

PERPLEXING news, please!!

 

[KatMark]

Perplexing!!!!


And you are so getting popcorned......








Tee hee.

Ditto what maroo said (especially since you said I should read about the vegetables and fruit that i don't like in reference to her earlier in your report...so I need to stick together with her!).

 

[kimmylaj]

definitely perplexing first please....
oh and i am all caught up (is there a pat myself on the back smiley?)
i spent many hours this weekend so i could be all caught up, your birthday seemed like fun, minus all the work

 

[KathyRN137]

I'm all for hearing GOOD news....


Kathy

 

[jenbear123]

I vote for perplexing first! How can you keep us hanging for this long?! It's murder, I tell you! MURDER!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

More popcorn! I'm perplexed as to why the perplexing story has not appeared - could it be you're still asleep maybe?

 

[englishrose47]

PERPLEXING news, please!!

I think I am PERPLEXED!!!!!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

OK, I'm finally up and got my grumpy hubby out the door. More on that later.

So, the exciting day finally came. It was the day we could buy our train tickets for the German part of our return home! I was excited!! I was giddy! I was out of my mind thrilled. Remember that for later.

So, I get on the horn with Magdelena, as I had just a few questions about the website and the what exactly we wanted. If you don't remember, Magdelena is "Flossbolna" on here and you can find her current Trippie

HERE

and we are set to MEET!! up with here and her sister, Katharina!!

She and I were cruisin through the process and I was pretty happy that we got a phenomenal deal, getting ALL 5 of us to Nuremberg for like $80 bucks. Unfortunately, I could not book our return tickets, as they don't sell tickets sooner than 92 days out. This, in my case, is going to be a good thing. I pushed the "complete" button, stoked that it was so "easy". And truly, it was! If you ever need to navigate the Bahn site for getting train tickets to tour around Deutschland, they've got you covered with an easy to use set up.

It's the consumer who needs to have a brain made of more than straw! I printed out my ticket, and boy did it look GOOD!!! So pretty with barcodes, our seat assignment (which is around a table, I might add ) AND







THE WRONG NAME!!!!




And now for the perplexing part....


I cannot for the life of me remember typing in my MAIDEN NAME at any time during the process!!! AT. ALL!

But that's the name that ended up on my ticket. You wouldn't normally think this is bad, but you book it so that the credit card you use becomes your ID, to make sure that the one who purchases the ticket is actually the one using it. So there it is. My maiden name right above the credit card number. I haven't used my maiden name in like 22 years!!! The last time was on Facebook. And now you can imagine how completely perplexed and mystified, if I have your permission to be rather redundant, I am at HOW exactly that name got on there.

Was it that I was just too distracted in my zeal for buying train tickets at all?
Was I distracted by talking to Magdelena at the same time?
Did my brain fall out somewhere between doing dishes and hanging laundry outside? I looked, but sadly, it was not there.

Now, before you completely freak out for me/us, there is a silver lining. We hope. And that's coming up sometime later in my day.

Because there's a lot going on here. Back to Grumpy DH. Our neighbors are being their usual poopheaded selves (same ones who stole our land and outhouse), and NOT cooperating with the land issues we have. We cannot sell our house here until the land documents are re-drawn and fixed. But they simply will not listen to a word Mike says when he goes over there. She is a nasty, uncooperative woman who refuses to listen to anything anyone says, and claims we just don't understand the process. Perhaps if she shut her mouth, she might clue in that SHE is the problem.

On top of this, the tax office AGAIN screwed up our account. This is a long-standing problem that the idiots there can't seem to fix. It causes ENORMOUS stress on Mike and I seriously worry for him. The breaking point can't be too far away.

The sewer problem, as well, never really totally resolves itself, so our open cesspool lays reeking just outside our front door. Nice.

May I continue my rant?? Our good friend (they used to live in our city, but moved- can you imagine why?) hit a pedestrian a few days ago, and is now facing court. The ped. walked away, but now thinks she's hit the jackpot lottery. And to top it off, our pastor (who happens to also be our best friend(s), LeeAnn's hubby!!! (Yes, OUR LeeAnn) landed in the hospital with chest pain yesterday. Everything looks fine; they never did find out what was wrong, but I nearly pooped my pants thinking that any of a million things (like that) could go wrong and our trip could blow away like smoke.



In short, we cannot get out of here soon enough.

 

[eandesmom]

So where is the good news?????

Oh my word Liesa!

is what you need



and a glass of wine.

Wow.

Can you just bring a marriage certificate? I've had to do that with plane ticket messes before. Thanks to airlines who require a certified copy of your certificate just to change the name on your frequent flier account!

Hey don't feel bad. At least you didn't book TWO outbound flights instead of one outbound and one return. Hard to fly out of a place you've already left.

 

[All7OfUs]

So where is the good news?????

Oh my word Liesa!

is what you need



and a glass of wine.

Wow.

Can you just bring a marriage certificate? I've had to do that with plane ticket messes before. Thanks to airlines who require a certified copy of your certificate just to change the name on your frequent flier account!

Hey don't feel bad. At least you didn't book TWO outbound flights instead of one outbound and one return. Hard to fly out of a place you've already left.

I haven't had a nervous breakdown yet, but am getting close. It breaks my heart to see Mike in such angst over all this stuff.

Well, the good is coming in a little while. I need to get the kids moving on their school work.

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi Liesa, I love the story so far and thanks for the good marks you give the German railway web site! And thanks for mentioning our TR! I really hope to get an update done soon, but life is just too busy right now (luckily with pretty good things! )...

And I guess it is my turn now to tell a funny story to your readers...

When Liesa had her ticket we were going through everything that was written on the ticket (while the website is available in English, the ticket is printed in German) and I told Liesa where there would be printed which coach and which seats they had reserved, and then Liesa comes across that it not only says "Tisch" (meaning table), but also "Handy" and I think she got a bit confused. Well, it means that she will be in the mobile phone zone on the train - Handy (pronounced the English way) is the German word for mobile phone! We actually use an English word that means something different in English in the German language... pretty strange, isn't it??

Actually these mobile phone coaches are really good: they have a repeater on the top of these coaches so you have actually pretty good mobile phone coverage while traveling on the high speed train at up to 185 mph!!

And just for fun, that's what an ICE train looks like:

And that's what the coach looks like inside:

 

[All7OfUs]

Let’s continue this debacle, shall we?

I last left off, having gone off on a rant involving unreasonable neighbors, open cesspools that make for a fragrant entrance to our home, morons at the tax office, and an amateur mistake precipitated by school girlish giddiness.

So, I have some really awesome tickets here that entitle us to a one-way trip from the Frankfurt Airport to Nuremberg. Tomorrow I can buy our return fare, and I’ll sure to be more cognizant of what my name is. By now, some of you may be thinking, I’m a completely brainless ditz who can’t add 2 and 2. At this point in my life, you may be right.

Meantime, I still have this dilemma of what to do about the tickets with my maiden name gracing the front. What to do, what to do? Magdelena gave some interesting insight, saying that every German passport would have a woman’s maiden name on it, and that they are commonly used. My passport doesn’t, BUT we did find a copy of our marriage certificate here, so we’ll travel with that. (Cynthia, you guessed it right on.) ALSO, a bonus: the credit card itself has my middle initial, which also happens to be the same as my maiden name. Score! I can just tell them it stands for my maiden name; and if they ask present my marriage cert., tell them I accidently used my old name and, in the end, hope they don’t ask at all. The worst case scenario is that we pay a 15 Euro penalty to change the tickets, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I hate to lost 15 Euro; that’s like the equivalent of about 2 cups of coffee.

 

[All7OfUs]

Hi Liesa, I love the story so far and thanks for the good marks you give the German railway web site! And thanks for mentioning our TR! I really hope to get an update done soon, but life is just too busy right now (luckily with pretty good things! )...

And I guess it is my turn now to tell a funny story to your readers...

It was very user friendly! Maybe they should have a reminder to use your real name.

Updates are fun, but life does continue-

It was beyond funny. I don't know why I find this particularly amusing. Such a comical play on words, I guess:

When Liesa had her ticket we were going through everything that was written on the ticket (while the website is available in English, the ticket is printed in German) and I told Liesa where there would be printed which coach and which seats they had reserved, and then Liesa comes across that it not only says "Tisch" (meaning table), but also "Handy" and I think she got a bit confused. Well, it means that she will be in the mobile phone zone on the train - Handy (pronounced the English way) is the German word for mobile phone! We actually use an English word that means something different in English in the German language... pretty strange, isn't it??

The phone in one's hand can be awfully "handy".

Actually these mobile phone coaches are really good: they have a repeater on the top of these coaches so you have actually pretty good mobile phone coverage while traveling on the high speed train at up to 185 mph!!

THAT IS FAST!!!! We just watched Mission Impossible again the other night, and the scene where Tom's face is all getting contorted when he's on the outside reminds me of this. Hopefully, we won't be meeting Max in the baggage car.

And just for fun, that's what an ICE train looks like:

Ultra sleek, and pretty!! But I judge 'em by the bathroom.

And that's what the coach looks like inside:

Can I mention has vastly clean and different these look compared to a developing world train?? If you are confused at this comment, be sure to read my updates on my blog about past train trips in Blankistan. Can you say "nightmare"?

 

[nodnol]

I hate to lost 15 Euro; that’s like the equivalent of about 2 cups of coffee.

Well, on the ICE train, you can actually buy four cups of coffee for 15 Euros!

I hate booking or buying things on a website I'm not well acquainted with, I'm always afraid of doing something really stupid... but I was lucky so far...

Ultra sleek, and pretty!! But I judge 'em by the bathroom.

You won't see the track through the toilet

 

[All7OfUs]

Well, on the ICE train, you can actually buy four cups of coffee for 15 Euros!

Phew that's a relief. I thought things were REALLY REALLY expensive. Now I know they are just expensive.

I hate booking or buying things on a website I'm not well acquainted with, I'm always afraid of doing something really stupid... but I was lucky so far...

This was beyond stupid, and actually downright mystifying. I have ZERO recollection of typing that name in. And am now starting to wonder if perhaps my Explorer settings somehow automatically filled it in from if they were saved from when I was joining FB?? Who knows!! It said "surname" which also may have tripped me up, I'm more used to "Last Name". The whole thing is just odd!

You won't see the track through the toilet

Now that right there is indeed a bonus. So you're saying my "waste" won't flush onto the tracks?? Here the tracks are Hepatitis Farms.

 

[Flossbolna]

Ok, Katharina already told you that 15 Euros would cover drinks for everyone in your family, not just two coffees!

The toilets are generally quite good. Of course you never know what other people do to them, but they are ok, much better than what we used to have when I was a kid (we had the flush to the tracks system until about 15 years ago here as well). A google search came up with this picture:

Which is the handicapped bathroom on the ICE, but the general design is the same for the normal bathroom, just less roomy. And a word of warning: If you use the handicapped bathroom, make sure to lock it electronically (by pressing the red button) from the inside, otherwise people are able to open the sliding door - and since this is an automatic door, it will open all the way and wait for some time until it closes again!!! I was once the person outside... Of course I looked the other way... And once the door was closed the conductor came along and told me that the toilet wasn't occupied and before I could do anything, he hit the open button and once again I had to look the other way!!

 

[All7OfUs]

HA! That's funny, not once, but twice!!

I'll bet the person on the inside was wondering what the HECK was going on!! Poor person just trying to do his/ her business.

I've forgotten to lock the door here, but here they don't turn away, they tell you to hurry up- no lie!

 

[All7OfUs]

Hey All!

I just posted a fun update on my blog I think will be interesting! Mike and the kids went camping a few weekends ago and brought back some really fun photos of turtles, a GIGANTIC eagle's nest, and such. Take a peek.