Don't Try This at Home....

This is one of the pieces of construction equipment that has been tearing up our road for the past 2 months. This particular road is the ONLY way in or out of our house to the rest of the civilized world. The top of this big hoe can swivel 360 degrees so that the driver can dig dirt from one side of the road and drop it on the other. Do you see where I'm going with this?



And this is what happens when the driver of the hoe doesn't see you coming around him. Wait, I mean when he doesn't even bother to LOOK to see if you're coming around him.....

The hoe (which weighs in a several tons, I'm sure) hit Grace's side of the car. Fortunately (but not coincidentally), Grace had asked to sit on Troy's side today. Still think there's no God?

The driver of the equipment told the German POLIZEI that he was to blame....The police didn't even question me after the driver made his statement. (By the way, this picture was taken through the big hole where dark glass used to reside)

Here's a better view of the impact site. In the States, this damage would probably be repairable. Over here, they'll most like consider my van a complete loss. We were only 6 months away from having her paid off. Maybe I'll get my mini Cooper after all.

And You Thought I Was Teasing....

Here are just a few of the Czech vans gearing up for junking in our village....


And here are some of the junk piles you'll find along the streets......

By the way, I snagged the kids' coat rack for Grace and Troy. Did I mention that I'm pathetic?

Mysterious German Pasttimes

It's hard to believe that I have never blogged anything about junking. Junking is a national pasttime around here, at least with the Czechs and the Poles. So what is junking? Junking, which takes place in each village only twice a year, is when people throw out any household items that are too big for the regular garbage can, and the city garbage folks come around and pick up and dispose of everything properly (if I haven't said it before, Germans are super sensitive about protecting the environment....yet another one of my gripes about living here). Anyway, there are no thrift stores in Germany, no Salvation Army upon which to dump your unwanted trashy items; no garage sales allowed; no super-sized garbage cans for disposing of things like couches, bookcases, mirrors, cabinets, carpets, etc....So people just put it out on the streets.

Now here's the fun part. Once it goes out on the street, it becomes fair game and anyone can pick it up. This is where the Czechs and the Poles come in, for when it's a junking day around here, you'll see tons of big, white vans with CZ or PL license plates cruising along, ready to snatch up any half-way decent items for future sale at their flea markets. I had heard about these folks when I moved here last year. I heard about junking, and how it's addictive, and how many of our wives will snatch up items just to keep the foreigners from getting said items, whether those wives want the stuff or not. I heard these stories, and laughed, and thought how pathetic it all sounded.

Why am I telling you all of this? Besides for your cultural enlightenment? Because today I participated in my first junking. It almost sounds illegal, doesn't it? I found this awesome tall cabinet--with drawers--on the side of the road, stopped in the pouring rain, and loaded it in my car. (It definitely needs some paint, but I'm thinking it will be great for storage...assuming I ever take it out of my van). What's even worse is that I was so excited, I spent most of the next hour driving around my stupid village looking for other junky items I could take home and use to clutter my house.

I'm pathetic.

It's official.

Summer is over.

At least for people in Germany, that is. I realize that the rest of the world may be broiling in 100 degree temperatures, but here at home it's a whopping 57 degrees, as in FARENHEIT. This is August, right? Did I overdose on Ambien and sleep through 3 months of my life (say it isn't so!)? Is this my fault? Did I complain too loudly? Can't I just get a happy medium? We missed spring all together, and now it seems our summer has been doomed to only last a mere 3 weeks. At this rate, we'll be taking our family ski vacation over Labor Day. What's wrong with this picture?

Even worse--I finally got our winter clothes packed away at the end of June, and I can't remember where I put the boxes.