In 1983 Jan and I decided go to Germany. After weeks of preparations we finally had all the tickets and reservations and 44 lb of our luggage packed.Jan had made herself a beautiful Supersuede suit that would stand the rigors of traveling.....

Introducing Jan to Germany I was glad we got off at Frankfurt, because I was convinced that the passengers who had boarded in London would soon start frying chickens in the isles of the airplane....

Recycled Toilet Paper? Our trip continued to Oberstdorf where we stayed at the Kappeler Hotel. From the balcony of our room the view of the surrounding mountains was breathtaking, especially when a thunderstorm created a rainbow that seemed to stand between us and the mountain scenery. The guests at the hotel were primarily older, conservative people.

At the first happy hour Jan and I were determined to stir this sedate group up a bit. Of course we generated some curiosity because we spoke English with each other and I conversed with them in German. They said that for an American my German was perfect, and they wanted to know where I had learned it. I replied,in school, enjoying their amazement. They were surprised that schools in America taught a language that well. I didn't let on that my schooling had been in Germany. This often repeated dialogue was a source of great amusement for us.

Nobody takes the task of recycling more seriously than Germans. They even sort their empty glass containers by the color of the glass. Some of the guests wanted to know how that was handled in America. That subject got me into one of my devilish moods and I pulled another fast one on them. I reported how it was done in California, and then expressed my amazement that in Germany they even recycled toilet paper. This generated an outraged denial by the ladies, but I insisted that I had proof. I went to our room and fetched a piece of wrapping that had covered a roll of toilet paper, and was imprinted as "Recycled." That brought the house down.The guests tried to convince me that the toilet paper recycling had taken place before use, not after. I pretended not quite to believe that. That discussion certainly broke the formality.... ..

Christmas With the New Family

For the Christmas celebration Jan and I planned to stay at a cabin at Bass Lake, near Yosemite National Park. Her two daughters would join us there, because skiing was possible near by. The cabin was located in winter wonderland, in contrast to Santa Barbara's usual Christmas weather. I wanted to get together with the kids to see if we could get more comfortable with each other. This was especially necessary with Susan, who still saw me as an intruder into the close relationship with her mother....

The Sundance Program

In my work as a project engineer there was a small experimental program for the navy. It was an infrared detector for a submarine. The performance requirements for these detectors were extremely high and required a lot of special attention and they were always in a hurry for these units. Sometimes I had to come in on Sundays to get the units finished and back to the navy. There were no written specifications on the performance, but the standing order was to squeeze the highest D*numbers out of the detectors. Dee star (D*), is a measure of detector sensitivity. I loved that program, because it allowed leeway in the manufacturing processes to accomplish the highest performance.

When the program ended the company expressed their appreciation for all the extra work by sending the program manager and me to Hawaii where the installation of the last unit took place. We could take our spouses along but Jan doesn't like the island. In Waikiki we met with two employees who were directly involved in the installation....

The Weird Americans

To me, a European expatriot, America's constant obsession with God is sickening. Whether it is real or sarcastic makes no difference. "God bless America" or "One nation under God" and "In God we trust, everybody else pays cash," is pathetic. If you believe in God, that is your business, but why constantly toot that all over the world? American's obsession with God is not any different than the Islamic obsession where every second sentence they utter has to have Allah in it.....