Ever have a week, really a month, where everything goes wrong? Yep. That was me the last several weeks. Thankfully it was not people-wrong, but mechanical-wrong.
It started with the The Big, Red, Intimating, not-out-of-order Machine, it went out-of-order. Our hot water supply went to nil, our showers came to an end and the house got cold. Despite some sunny days, it’s still pretty chill here in Germany.
We quickly discovered it was a lack of oil. All four of our big, huge, tanks were bone dry. Nothing beeped, lit-up or sang out “Danger Wil Robinson, Danger!”. The Big, Red, Intimating, not-out-of-order Machine just stopped working. I quickly arranged for new oil… that was going to take 3-4 weeks to deliver. Apparently this is something I should plan for. Instead, I dug a little deeper & got a speed delivery 3 days later. Phew!
One day after that, The Big, Red, Intimating, not-out-of-order Machine was again out-of-order. We spent a weekend, thankfully a warm, sunny weekend, without water. That Monday, this Monday, was extra special.
It was the day after Dane’s big birthday blowout. We’d spent all weekend cleaning & repairing zombie blinds (how is it I have never babbled about zombie blinds? Sorry, I’m going to leave you to wonder today) so the house would look perfect for the invading horde. Earlier that week my beautiful Veronica began to creak & croak. In the shop she went for a new steering system. So without car, without a shower, but working zombie blinds, I needed to find a way to Frankfurt to see Esther (Zesty Digi Designs from Australia) and Manu (Scraps from far-away here in Germany)!
I’m pretty savvy with trains by now, so I grabbed Dane & headed to the hauptbanhof in Stuttgart to take a big ICE train to Frankfurt. As our little regional s-bahn pulled up, my phone rang. Tess had injured her foot at school. I turned back around and spent the next 6 hours discovering it was just a bad sprain.
Manu, Esther and I were all so disappointed. And then, Dave saved the day and came home with a beautiful 2014 Audi from the rental place! And a day off work on Tuesday to help me shuffle kids around and make sure I got my girl time in. My hero. Seriously, my hero.
Tuesday morning I called the guy behind The Big, Red, Intimating, not-out-of-order Machine and pled my case. He promised to come out in the afternoon, after the kids were home from school (to help translate for Dave) but before soccer. Thankfully Germans understand the importance of soccer. Even for 7-year-olds. I hopped into my fancy futuristic car and hit the autobahn.
My fancy futuristic car has a LOT more get-up go than Veronica. I put on speed control (auto pilot) to stop me from breaking the sound barrier. In my old car, speed control has a little +(plus) button to increase the speed just a little. Fancy futuristic car had this too, and after 10 minutes cruising at 140kmph, I was ready for a little more oomph. I hit the +(plus) button.
Dude! That fancy futuristic car took off in 2 seconds to 180kmph! Aaaaaaaah! It was like being in a jet plane, but on the ground. I slowed that fancy futuristic car, and my heart, way back down and slowly sped to Frankfurt & my waiting friends.
Dave called as I pulled into the outskirts of a really big city. Frankfurt is much bigger than Stuttgart. Gulp. Dave had good news, The Big, Red, Intimating, not-out-of-order Machine was fixed and a hot shower awaited my return. As I hung up, I spotted Manu peering around some trees looking for me (or more likely Veronica) .With a big grin I found a park space and jumped right into her arms, and then Esthers.
The three of us had a fantastic, amazing, couldn’t-be-better afternoon and evening. It was 23:00 before I realized it, and I still had a 2+ hour drive home. I’m going to need another NL to babble about our meet, I’m way too chatty today to fit it in here. But! I do have a picture! It was sunny & warm in Frankfurt and we enjoyed a lovely dinner outside. I can close my eyes and still hear them babbling. I miss them so much already.
[…] person she is. She is one of a handful of Designers I’ve had the pleasure to meet in person (My Fancy Futuristic Car). Esther is the embodiment of what Americans call “salt of the earth.” She is just good […]