Europe Diary - Post #6 by Kathy

It's laundry day at the Stuttgart Youth Hostel -- a timetaking process as there is only one small washing machine and one small dryer and after careful consolidation and reuse of clothes, I have managed to narrow it down to no less than 6 small loads of laundry after one week of wear x 4 people. No, I'm not going to wash out clothes every night and hang them to dry on every available surface in our room, only to have them never get dry so I can display them drying out the back window of the car, as we move from place to place. I do laundry once per week at home so this is also how we're handling it here on our month long journey. It also gives us some downtime to relax and get caught up on stuff.

Unfortunately, we are having technical difficulties here at Our Tripping Mystery, as as this seems to be a running theme in my life. I was so ready for this vacation after the hospital where I work went to computerized charting on March 1st, and my stress level with this process was at an all-time high. Give me the most difficult patient, drunk or dying, and I can handle it better than the frustration of trying to figure out a new computer system with limited help.

The beginning of our vacation technical problems started in Heidelberg when we programmed the Renault GPS to go to the castle when we were about 100 km away. All was going well, it is our first time using a GPS, and I was starting to get used to following the little red line everywhere -- it is brainless. However, when we got into the old city of Heidelberg, the GPS was trying to get wind us up the hill, and I didn't want to go there, as I wanted to park down below and take the funicular up. Well, when I started leading us to the parking garage, TomTom got pissy and kept trying to reconfigure our route to reroute us back up the hill. It became a battle of TomTom vs. Kathy in Old Heidelberg, and I suppose TomTom won as the red line has never since reappeared. Now we just have a blue triangle that just tells us where we actually are rather than where we're supposed to be going. All it's really good for is showing us if the side of the road is green or beige at any given moment. We tried calling Floris in Amsterdam, but I think he's done with us after my comments about the stretchy Peugeot get-up so he was no help in telling us how to reset it, and instead he told us to find a Renault dealer then promptly hung up the phone. Finding a Renault dealer would be a lot easier if the GPS was working. Duh. I was able to get us to Stuttgart, and then we picked up a city map to get us to our destination.

Then the follwing technical problems all happened in rapid-fire succession after the broken GPS -- even I'm not sure WTF . . . The hostel doesn't have free wi-fi; it costs 5 euros. Mike paid the 5 euros so he could quickly look up the Stuttgart Renault dealer on his iPhone (which is now on a "global plan" but not a "data plan" because that#s super expensive.) We have been charging the 4 cameras, 2 iPhones, 2 iPods, and a netbook nightly on two 220v to 110v converter boxes with Mike's homemade mission control. Here's a photo:

Also, the wi-fi only works in the lounge area of the hostel and not the rooms. So we're all sitting in the lounge pulling out the laptop to get a better idea of where the Renault dealer is and maybe blog or post pictures, and Mike realizes that the wi-fi code is only per device so we elected to pay another 5 euros to get the netbook on the wi-fi. Ouch. Mike heads up the stairs to the lobby to get the new wi-fi code. Meanwhile, the netbook is plugged into the wall through the converter box, and the kids and I are seated around the table. A few minutes later a loud "pop" goes off and the outlet where the netbook is plugged in is smoking. Mike comes back and asks, "What's on fire?" and we tell him, "The computer," and he gets all excited. He's not the ER nurse of the family, and he loves his computers so you gotta feel bad for the guy. I have no idea why the fire alarm did not go off. Mike opened the window really fast, and no one was down there when we were there, but I listened to subsequent people walk through and say over and over again, "Do you smell smoke?" Later, we took this picture on the back of the door in our room. Made me laugh . . .

Luckily, the computer is fine, but when this battery life is done we will be out of luck. We do have another converter box, but it is smaller and doesn#t run the netbook. So after laundry this morning, we are going to "Media Mart" to look for another converter. Oh joy. Right now I'm on a pay hourly hostel computer with this funky German keyboard:

We are still having a good time, despite attempting to burn down the youth hostel. I'm super excited because this afternoon we are going to the Staatsgalerie for a special show of Turner, Monet, and Twombly together. I wanted to see J.M.W. Turner's, "Peace: Burial at Sea" again at the Tate Gallery in London because I did my first sketch of this painting back in 1989 when I took an art history class while studying in London. Turner is one of my favorite painters, and I was so sad when I read that the Tate had this particular painting out on loan right now. But then elated to research that it was on loan to Stuttgart's Staatsgalerie, and I would be staying 3 blocks away from the museum! Coupled with a show that includes Monet AND Twombly, and I am in art heaven!!! All is good, and we are off to Switzerland and then the Cinque Terre over the next week for some R & R. I mostly miss my doggy (a little), but I know he's in good hands with Grammy Christine whom I love so much :) My brother-in-law lost his 7 year battle with cancer on Monday so I was thankful that I had some technology and connection to home at that moment. Mary, I didn't light that candle for Michael yet, but I said a prayer here in the chapel of the Heidelberg castle. I will be at Tim's graduation with you come hell or high water . . .