Trapped in a German car park!

Guten tag everyone

Well it is soooooooo much better having the car. Freedom reigns!

The weather has been terrible! Freezing cold and wet! Like the middle of winter, but luckily we brought lots of warm clothes (NOT!).

Yesterday Jase was working from here with one of the company's French sales people - David Bergot. I really wanted to stay and practise my lingo with David (I did at lunch time and he has left me 3 CDs to help!), but thought I should make myself scarce, so I drove to the Offenburg heated indoor pool!! Yes that's right - having a car means no more redundant walks to the local Durbach freezing outdoor pool! It was the first time I had driven over here since Jase drove the car back from Strasbourg on Monday. I must admit it is way harder having not ridden my bike over here - I just kept reciting, "Stay on the right", to myself constantly all the way to the pool and managed to park in a car park building nearby that said Frei (free) under the sign. So far so good!

Never one to start anything gently, I got in the pool and swam 2.5km without stopping. I think I was just fully frustrated after 4 days of full sedentaryism (if that is ever a word!). I was gutted as I initially thought the pool was 30m long, and thought 3km in 1hr wasn't too bad for my 3rd swim doing lengths (I had 2 swims in London) in about 15years. I went home and googled the pool and turns out I am slower than a wet week - swimming only 2.5km in an hour!! Strangely enough I am actually the fastest (and most obsessive) swimmer in the facility - which seems to be filled with elderly flounderers! They swim up and down floundering with crazy strokes like double armed backstroke! I can now understand your swimming pool rage CW! Today I simply used aggressive passing manouvres and never let the old timers stop me in my tracks - I managed to just about clear the lane by doing this!! Brilliant!! I am there to swim lengths - not make friends!

Well I best get to the drama that is the title of this blog.... Yesterday after swimming, I wandered into town and got a coffee and had a look at the shops. It was market day so there was heaps to look at and the town was buzzing. I even made a purchase - new actual swimming togs (yes CW the kind of togs I bagged!) - it seems a bikini is simply no good for my new found activity - every time I pushed off the wall I just about lost it!

Anyway after all of that I wandered back to the car park building, hopped in the car, and drove to the exit point with my ticket ready to put in the machine. The ticket was rejected - no matter which way I put it in!! Luckily no-one was behind me, so I backed away from the barrier and re-parked. I had just seen a car leave before me so thought there was just a fault with my ticket. Then I had a brainwave! Out I hopped and walked to the entrance and pressed the button for a new ticket. No luck. I guess then everyone could get out of the car pack without paying if that idea had worked.... hmmmm - try again I thought. I drove up to the exit and put my ticket in... no luck! I read the words that came up... "Parkzeit abgelaufen, bitte nachzahlen". Oh shit I thought!!! I think the car park is now closed for the night!!!! I drove back and parked contemplating my next move. I thought of ringing Jason but the fireworks I would receive were not really too enticing, especially since he kept going on about what a great car it was and that it only had 7km on the clock and I was to be very careful when driving, bla bla bla!! I could just hear him saying that "if someone breaks into it over night.....bla bla bla".

New and better plan then dawned on me... I walked up to the machine, and put my ticket in about 5 times, while I made sure to write the words that came up very accurately. Luckily for me a trusty SportsMed pen was found in my bag - they just seem to pop up everywhere! My next plan was to walk up the street and look for some young people to interpret the words for me (most older people here don't speak English). I spotted 2 "young" women about my age and asked for their help. They said that it meant my time was up and I had to pay in the machine by the exit. I told them there was no machine there so they very kindly walked back to the carpark with me, and I felt really stupid when I saw the machine right next to the exit!! I sheepishly paid my dosh and was out of there as fast as I could, whilst obviously still reciting "Stay on the right, stay on the right".

Yes it seems I am still an idiot. I am just not sure how these things happen to me.

Last night, Jase took me on a drive to show me his favourite training route - with a 20km hill. It was awesome, and there was even a ski jump up the top and some snow! There are some good looking walks up there, so I am planning to keep swimming for now in the hope that my legs will settle so I can get up there maybe at the weekend.

J