Assignment: Germany
 

....been notified by my employer that I'll be on long term "special" assignment in Germany ( 4 mos). Starting around June 1 or so.

Access to this board might be "iffy" due to corporate internet restrictions and other issues..so I might not be posting as much as before.

Was wondering if one kind Pelicanhead can do me a favor. Would like someone to VCR tape all remaining WRC rallys ( on Speed ....usu late night Sunday's) until October or November when I get back. Any chance for this? TIA

I'm going to be *very* busy and will likely not have much spare time...but let me know if anyone in the area would like to meet. I'll likely use Hurth / Cologne as my headquarters.

In one way this is a bummer.....just got my car fully insured for the "driving" 6 mo period ahead...having been in "storage mode" insurance coverage the last 6 mos. Car just came off jack stands and will be put up again. Just called the insurance guy to "go back" to prior status ... :(

Wil

Will,

I'll give the taping a go for you.

I could run them straight to disc and burn em to DVD's.

Should be able to get 4 races per disc.

It'd be good if someone else does it as well, insurance never hurts.

Where in Germany will you be or is that confidential?

Scott

It could be worse......I'd take 4 months in Germany with pay. Not gonna happen to me. Unless you work 24/7, you should be able to take full advantage of the "relocation."

If you get chance, go see the Schlumpf Museum.

Cheers,

Paul.

Wil, take your car to Germany with you. My dream vacation would be to take my car "home" and drive it around the twisty roads of Bavaria and toss it around the 'Ring, not to mention testing its legs on the Autobahn. For me it would be well worth it.

I might really try to export my car to Ger. What a deal!

David Duffield

Wil,
I shipped my car last year to germany for six months it was great and not that expensive, but I had some time to drive it. Sounds like you will be busy. In Koln You should get to know the Kolsh pretty well (a local beer served in small glasses) I think K9 Handler is nearby he seems like a right dude. have fun!

Wil,

Spent a long time there and love it over there. Have seen several US plated cars there, the issue is getting insurance coverage. Before you go, get over to a AAA office and get an international drivers license. That will make you legal to drive there.

Enjoy your time there and get to know the country and people. Its a nice place!

JoeA

It get's pretty chilly in the evening, maybe you could score a "Le Mans" jacket before you go;)

Seriously, We'll miss you around the board but Germany will be a blast.

I bet you that they'll have better coverage of the WRC there then they do here! I don't have a calender near by, but maybe you could take in the German rally in person.

True. Rally coverage will be full on. Any TV in europe will give you more rally than you can imagine. One night in Torino Italy I watched an hour of what might have been called " "the year in crashes" or "best rally crashes" hosted by a bikini clad woman. No language barrier there...

You guys are great...

Yep...all these thoughts have been rolling around in my head.....some will work...others won't.

The downside is my family stays in the States. We might be able to wrangle a (single) trip for one of us to see the other ( either direction) in this 4 month period. If so, then better for my wife to visit Germany than for me to come "home". But my two girls ( one a freshman in college..the other married....yessir I'm an old fart) won't be part of the $ stipend. Maybe we'll cover the cost for these also..maybe...

I'm familiar with the Intl Driver's license and such...done it before. Have visited Germany in the past ..both on my own nickel and on company time. I'm a first generation American and my German background and moderate language skills got me "considered" for the assignment.

I'm creating a library of Speed-coverage WRC rallys, and although I might try to see the German rally live ( in Rust ??)....I still need a VCR formatted for US use. Any help here is appreciated. Next one is up fast in early June. Scott ( and others) ... many thanks.

Not much chance of getting my car over on such short notice...and I'll go crazy if it's parked in the street or in a garage five blocks away from where I'm staying. Better to try a hot lap at Spa or the 'Ring in my rental car !!!

More later...this might come off in less than 1-2 weeks....

Those who asked....my HQ is Hurth/Cologne....main HQ is in Dusseldorf, but my job will have me driving all over the mid/western region to visit a number of our plant sites.

Wil

Wil,
Like I posted on another thread....Koln is only 1 hour from the Nurburgring and June/July/Aug are the prime months to get in some laps. I am a couple hours drive down south (Kaiserslautern) between Manheim and Saarbrucken on the A6. The A62, A63 and A61 all lead up to your HQ area...so we will get together while you are here for sure.

Wil,

Sounds like fun! I did the same for my company in 1999. They asked for volunteers to go to Denmark for a 3 month posting. I had residence permits for Europe and spoke several of the languages, so was one of 9 people sent over.

We returned 5.5 months later. Had an excellent time and would do it again in a heartbeat! Hope you enjoy it! Hope you can stay long enough to make the Christmas markets in Germany! They are really worth seeing.

JoeA

hallo Wil
I am in Mönchengladbach , 45 minutes from Cologne and about 35 Minutes from Ddorf .
send me a email and i give you my tel. nr. so you can call me when you are here . K9 has my number as well .
you are lucky to come here in Summer , it is quite nice , The Ring, Spa , Zandvoort ,Zolder ;Assen , Hockenheim all between 50 and 250 KM away .
Harald

Here's the Schlumpf website. http://www.collection-schlumpf.com/schlumpf/en/decouve_05.html

The museum is actually in France, but very close to the German Border. I was there in '87, and reckon it's well worth a visit. Do a search and you'll find lots of reviews, etc.

Cheers,

Paul.

Speedster and K9..thanks for the listing, we'll try to meet.... a drive at Spa or the Ring would be a great experience.

Some of you may know I am a first-generation American and come from German ancestry. So I've been in Europe before a number of times in my lifetime. This will be the first for a long(ish) term company assignment.

PaulK..forgot to mention earlier but I have visited Schlumpf museum. It is quite fantastic. So is the story of the brothers Schlumpf and how the museum came to be in the first place.

Wil

To Scott:
Hey... I'm back from my long term assignment from Germany and I was wondering if you had an opportunity to tape any of the WRC rallys since June ? Not a big deal if for some reason it didn't work out..... just curious. Was able to see the WRC rally in Germany live. Even got a nice autograph from Markko Martins' co-driver , Michael Park. Just too weird...he died in the awful crash at rally GB in Wales about 1 month later. Creepy.
-Wil

PS- as I may have mentioned in other threads, I apologize for not being able to get together with some of you folks....the days were pretty long and free time was at a minimum.

Co-driver/navigator... arguably the most dangerous ride in in motorsport :(

damn sorry I missed you during your assignment...another day I guess.