Rampent Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Katzenjammer (a really descriptive word ... literally 'Cats Yowling'.) A hangover. Thanks, the hangover is already sorted this side, till tomorrow mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofstrad Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Half a lifetime ago, in Gutersloh, I went for a night out with my brother in law, who was in the RAF at the time. When we got back to the car, there was a note on the windscreen. Neither of us know any German and as this was the mid 80s, paranoia cut in. Out came the mirror on a stick and a full sweep of the car, for a bomb. A second opinion was radioed for and received. In the end, we left the car and took a taxi. In the morning, an interpretor translated the note for us as "Sorry, I hit your car, please call...." So we drove the car to the nearest garage. Did it blow up just as you were walking away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I really don't know what to make of this. You always came across as being American to me, but now you're German and from Nazi occupied land originally. Before I lived in Germany I lived in Belgium ... before that I lived in England ... before that I lived in the US ... before that I lived in England and before that I lived in the Channel Islands. I came to England in 1968. Since then (I count that as my first 'move') I've moved house 35 times. It's been a nomadic life. We keep threatening to settle down somewhere, but it never seems to happen. We now have a house here and a house in the US and from this year on, we will both be retired, the furniture can stay where it is and it's just a case of moving ourselves and the dogs backwards and forwards. Unless my wife has other plans.:hihi: Back to the way the Germans treat car damage: I'm sure that there are 'hit and run' accidents here, but because everybody is expected to report all damage to cars (and because the German Police are meticulous in following up car damage) it is the norm for people to contact the owner of a car in the event of an accident (even a minor parking accident at a supermarket.) Most people wouldn't dream of doing otherwise. I was living just outside Heidelberg in Jan 2005. I went to England (to take my son back to University) and when I came back, I noticed that my neighbour's wife's car (an aged [but immaculate] Honda had a dent in it. I pointed out the dent to Ovidiu (who hadn't seen it.) He said that the car was her very first new car and although it wasn't worth much, it was her 'pride and joy'. The next day, there was a knock on the door and there were two policemen. They asked me about the dent. I told them I'd reported it to my neighbour, but I hadn't done it (indeed, I was in England when it happened.) I noted that the dent was a bit higher than one might have expected had it been done by a car and told them that while I was away, my landlord had had the outside of my house plastered. I suggested the damage might've been caused by a small lorry. They asked me for the name of the Stuckateur, but I couldn't tell them. I told them I rented the house, my landlord lived locally and his wife worked in the Town Hall, so they could check there. 'Oh, we know Ralf' said one of the policemen. 'We'll talk to Nella.' (Hardly surprising; his brother was a local policeman.) I was chatting to the policemen and I asked them whether it was usual for them to conduct house-to-house enquiries as a part of the follow-up to a minor incident. (Look of shock and horror on the faces: ) "Of course we investigate such incidents! A crime has been committed! We have to investigate it! - We might not catch the person who did it, but it won't be for lack of trying." I was amazed. I pointed out that in the UK, if your house was burgled and you reported it to the police, they would give you a crime number ... but you'd be bloody lucky to get a visit from an actual policeman. If you reported a minor ding to a car parked outside, they'd think you were having them on. Their turn to be amazed. "It doesn't work like that here Rupert!" (They went off, carried out their enquiries and I head subsequently that they did manage to track down the guy who dented Carmen's car. It cost him rather more than a new car would've cost.) I don't know who came up with the reporting scheme for vehicle repairs (nor do I know how long it's been in operation - certainly more than 5 years.) It seems to work and it's not particularly epensive to implement. There are computers, each vehicle has a registration book, a registration mark and a VIN. People accept that they will need an accident report and such a report doesn't cost any money. If you damage your own car at home - If you were to drive it into the front wall of the garage, for example - you take it down to the police and get an accident report which certifies that there was no 3rd party damage and you don't owe anybody any money. Then - and only then - you can get it repaired. The system is a little bit cumbersome, but it reduces crime (which is seen as improving 'quality of life'.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Half a lifetime ago, in Gutersloh, I went for a night out with my brother in law, who was in the RAF at the time... 'German Efficiency' doesn't always get it right. In the early '80's my wife and I both had some un-planned leave so we hitched a ride to Nörvenich (a Luftwaffe base just outside Köln.) We rented a car and set off to do some touring. The car packed up before we got off the forecourt, so they gave us another. I was a little concerned about the reliability. The first place we went to was a NATO installation called Börfink bunker. (My wife had been stationed there in about 1973.) We stopped the car, got out and she took some photos. We got back in the car and drove off. We went to Hahn, Ramstein and a few other places (to see friends stationed there) and eventually drove back to Köln. The car did overheat just before we got it back, but we managed to get it back to the dealer. "How was your trip?" She asked. "Pretty good", I said. "The car was fine up until about an hour ago when it started to overheat. - I was slightly worried, because I didn't think we were going to make it back, but it got us there. Who should I have called in the event of a breakdown?" She laughed. "You wouldn't have had any problems at all had you broken down. You would have received assistance almost immediately." "What do you mean? I asked. "Well", she said "When you left here, you drove to Börfink and you took some photographs." "Yes", I said "My wife was stationed there some years ago." "Well" she said "The guard on the gate was worried. He thought you might be terrorists (the Red Army Faction was fairly active at that time) and he reported you to the police. They checked out the registration and came here to check out the hirer details. When they saw what you'd put as your occupation, they thought you were a cheeky sod, but they started to panic. They couldn't arrest you, because you hadn't actually done anything wrong, but when they followed you and you went from one military installation to another, they got really worried. And they couldn't understand how you managed to gain access so easily. You've been under constant police surveillance (when you weren't on a military installation) and had you broken down, you would've received assistance within seconds." "Oh," said I. "Do you think I should phone the local Police chief and explain to him that in England "RAF" doesn't usually stand for Red Army Faction?" "No" she said. "Don't rub it in. He worked it out about half an hour ago and he's now trying to come up with an explanation for why he spent 250,000DM on providing an escort for a pair of tourists for the last 5 days." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofstrad Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Great story Rupert. Bit of a worry though, it might not have turned out to be such a happy ending! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofstrad Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyway, back on topic. If I were to be totally honest, I probably would not have left my details if no-one had witnessed the event. I would imagine that I'm not on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Honestly, is always best because people nearly always find out sooner or later. It will also help to clear conscience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofstrad Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Honestly, is always best because people nearly always find out sooner or later. It will also help to clear conscience. So you would have left your details Mecky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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