Freedom is Calling - Page 24 of 25 - Blog about following the call of freedom

Mobility

EW January 12, 2024

What a week. Sunny and well below freezing. Is there a better place to be as the montains? White peaks against blue sky. It so much opens my heart. I love it!

However, without a car, my radius of action was severely crippled. Sure, there are buses and trains – if they run at all due to extensive strikes.
What a joy it was, when the garage called and reported the successful repair of my vehicle! There was no loss of time on my side to get there and pick up “Big Paul”, as we translated “Der dicke Paul” into English.

Of course, first thing was to go on an extensive test drive. I really enjoyed the restored smooth sound of the engine and the beautiful montains around me.

To get a glimpse, you may watch the short clip on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YPChLrMvaU8

Freedom is in the head, but for sure, an operating vehicle extends my mobility and thereby increases the ease and range of where I want to go. I guess, mobility is a major part of how I experience freedom.

So, I finally got rid of my shackles – at least of one of them. On Sunday, I will take the road north to my home. There I will make up for the things that I missed during the forced extention of my sojourn in the Alps.

Good bye montains! I’ll be back again – for more than one reason.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Hey – We loooove your Feedback!

GEF January 12, 2024

Wow!! We are getting feedback and comments for our blog! That’s great! Wonderful to stay in touch with you guys and exchange our thoughts and feelings.

One lady sent a message stating she liked our special syntax and „personality“ in our posts.

Thanks for the wonderful and encouraging compliment!

Since we aren’t native speakers, we probably have a tendency to express ourselves in „Genglish“ style. Something, AI cannot copy, yet!

Big or fat - there is a difference

The question came up what „Der Dicke Paul“ meant. Fat Paul? No, not really. This would translate into: „Der Fette Paul“.

Some words seem to have a certain touch or note that you cannot translate into another language easily. „Der Dicke“ is such a term.

Our lovely Postal Service van has something that we in German might call „caliber“. The warm yellow color makes it even more prominent.

I’m a horse lady, and what comes to my mind is a comparison between a heavy draught-horse and a light weight Arabian thoroughbred. They are the same species, both are correct in proportion, but with very different appearance and looks.

I used to drive a white turbo car that I actually called „My little Arabian“, while now, „Der Dicke Paul“ has a Shire Horse quality to it.

„Der Dicke“ can mean sort of „chubby“, but also in a more metaphoric sense „important“ or „impressive“.
This is why in English I would rather call it „Big Paul“. Just like London’s Big Ben.

A funny mix-up

When Paul came back from the garage we took a ride – and, hey, it was running smoothly. We enjoyed driving under a flawless blue Bavarian sky. The sun shining brightly giving our winter wonderland an even more dazzling vibe.

And we had a laugh at the gas station: At first glance, the guy really expected us to come in and deliver the mail.

This is the noticeable effect of a well established branding color! And the friendly reputation that comes with it.

We’ll keep it for sure.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Waiting

EW January 6, 2024

Well, this week meant kind of waiting time for me. It’s still four days to go until the garage will open after their vacation and take a look at my car.

I noticed that my mind works like an autopilot. It wants me to do things that I usually would have done at this time of the year. But that’s not possible right now. For my mind that’s a bad thing.

However, for me it’s an opportunity. And, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trapped in a bad place. This morning as I looked out of the window everything was covered in fresh white snow. It’s still snowing and I love snow.

Yesterday, on our daily walk (well, almost daily) there was a flock of Alpine chough circling above our heads. I made a little video clip and you can see it on YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKna4APmzos)

Alpine choughs are amazing birds. During summer, they live far up in the montains and nag hikers for food. In winter, they raid the town and steal French fries and pretzel.

Waste of time?

I guess, my time of waiting was not wasted. I created this blog, which would not have happened when regular routines had dominated my life.

However, I very much look forward to have my car back and running. So, please cross your fingers that the mechanic will find the problem and fix it.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Any Machine with a Name has a longer Life

GEF January 6, 2024

Someone must have loved our car. Whoever put that sticker saying „Bulli“ on the hood over the headlight – they must have had a heart for this big yellow hard working vehicle.

What are your criteria, when you buy a car? Not so easy these days with the ever changing technology.

What are you attracted to? Electric car? Photovoltaic car? Hybrid? Or stick with a combustion engine?

It must suit your lifestyle and do it’s job, that’s for sure.

For us, wanting to travel the spontaneous, less organizational and individualistic way, off the beaten track, we rather care about an accountable infrastructure and easy repair just in case.

Also, we are not so fond anymore of sleeping in a tent during rainstorms at a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius (we happily used to do that in Canada when we were so much younger).

So, we were looking for what in Germany we call an „oviparous wool-milk-pig“ – something that fits every wish and need:

A sturdy car with high mileage, agile enough to handle in any traffic, on any street or forest road and large enough to sleep, sit, eat and work in it.
And we wanted a good price.

A lot of research and recommendations later, we ended up with „Deutsche Post“ – and got completely overwhelmed.

There were hundreds of used vans, typically in gorse yellow color, in the backyard of one dealer alone. And then the next dealer and the next.

Most of the cars were pretty run down. Scratches and dents by the dozen, some very rusty, some leaking some dubious liquid from an unidentifyable source. And no guarantee, of course … OMG!

The dealer would just smirk: „They come like that. If you don’t like this one, just pick another one.“

Eventually, one of the less bruised vehicles gave us a kind of a smile. My partner took a deeper look.

We checked it outside and inside. Both of us hopped behind the steering wheel for an individual test drive. Nothing much to complain about.
Deal done.

Back home, we thought about what had attracted us und why – from the flock of all yellow lookalikes – we had chosen this one over the others.

Of course, the relatively decent physical and technical status of the car made a difference. Also, the price seemed okay.

But from our marketing experience we knew, all choices have a strong emotional aspect, too. Ours was the „Bulli“ sticker. All other cars only had some leftovers of the formal „Deutsche Post“ sign.

I remember one of my dowsing teachers (a long time ago) once said: „If you call your washing machine Emma, it will have a longer life.“

I admit, I never gave my washing machine a name. But I found this effect true of all my cars. The nameless went fast.

The ones with a name though were close to my heart and I always cherished and praised them after long, exhausting Autobahn rides, because they had taken me home safely and comfortably.

These cars lasted almost forever and eventually would die of rust.
I guess, our „Bulli“, now named „Der Dicke Paul“, has a good survival chance after all.

We’ll see what happens when the mechanic puts it on the maintenance pit next week.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and