And The Biggest Reason Of All

I chose not to take the job as a Tour Guide. Part of me wanted to accept the offer and another part of me didn't. I made a list of the pros and cons. The cons outweighed the pros.

Pros:

Free travel
Small salary (extremely small salary)
Meeting new people

Cons:

Extremely small salary
Dealing with the drunks
Picking up a trashy bus, after dealing with drunks
Dealing with people that possibly can't be pleased in any way
Traveling without Spousal Unit
Not being able to enjoy the travel because I would be working
Being away from Spousal Unit for possible lengths of time
Not being able to choose the trips to take

Drum roll please

And the biggest reason of all:

If I ever have to take another Rhine River cruise again, I'd pull all my hair out.

Possibilities

I went for my interview. It felt pretty good. I like the two ladies, with whom I spoke. I still need to speak with Spousal Unit this evening to find out how he feels about me traveling. The probability of week long trip/s is a very real possibility.

• They wanted to know if I would be comfortable going to a place that I hadn't been before. Yes.


• Do I realize that I can't make a living at this type of work. Yes.



• If there was any time that I would not be available, as in Spring Break for my children. No.

They then invited me to go to a couple of Christmas markets to get the feel of what it is like to be a tour guide. So this Saturday I'm going to Nuremberg and Rothenburg odt.

Nuremberg. The Hauptmarkt, which provides a picturesque setting and famous market for gingerbread. Nuremberg's star attraction is the Gothic Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) which was erected around 1385 but subsequently replaced with a replica (the original fountain is kept in the German National Museum. The unchanged Renaissance bridge Fleischbrucke crosses the Pegnitz nearby. *

Rothenburg odt. The building on the town square is the Ratstrinkstube and contains a clock which re-enacts the historic meistertrunk daily. According to legend, the meistertrunk commemorates the event in 1631 when the walled town was under siege by the Imperial forces of Count Tilly. On a lark, Count Tilly told the city that he would spare them if anyone could drink a tankard containing about one gallon of wine in one draught. Mayor Nusch took the challenge and was successful, and the city was saved. The clock re-enacts the event hourly from 11:00 to 15:00 and 8:00 to 22:00. Rothenburg celebrates this rescue each year on Whitsun with a festival performance, a grand army march, and a field camp.*

And next Sunday its off to Cologne.

Cologne. The Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom) is the city's famous landmark and unofficial symbol. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it houses the Shrine of the Three Holy Kings that supposedly contains the relics of the Three Magi . It is interesting to note that the residents of Cologne call the cathedral "the eternal construction site" (Dauerbaustelle). They predict that, by the time the renovation of the building has finished, the end of the world will be upon us!*

*The town information is provided by Wikipedia.

I'll Keep You Posted

I have been boring, boring, boring recently. Hence no posting. I really need to get a life. I hope that I will, soon.

I was cruising the net a couple of days ago and came across a travel site that was looking for travel guides. I emailed for further information and gave short synopsis of my capabilities:


Sir/Madam,

I read on the web page that Your Travel Company is looking for tour guides. I am newly in country and looking for a part time position. This is my fourth tour in Germany and while I am reacquainting myself with the European lifestyle I find I have not forgotten much of the country.

I am very people oriented and an expert in customer service. I recently left a position, held for nine years, that required me to interact with all levels of military members. One of my many responsibilities was booking travel arrangements for a training team that traveled world-wide to all military bases.

When I was an active duty spouse, I put together shopping tours for squadron spouses through out Germany. These tours included researching areas for factory outlet shopping, booking hotels, arranging transportation and finding good restaurants.

If I sound like the type of person you might consider for a tour guide, please forward further information.

Sincerely,

She Who

************************************************************************************
Dear She Who,

Thanks you for your kind letter. We would really be interested in seeing you as a free-lance tour guide.

Have a look at the bus tours Your Travel Company Travel offers their customers. You can find our tours online here: Link deleted for all sorts of reasons.

If you have been on group tours before, please let us know which ones and what your experiences have been.

Do you have an outgoing personality? Do you love to do new things?

Please let us know if you feel you meet the following qualifications:
1. You like to travel with groups of people and share your knowledge about history, culture and destinations.
2. You can speak enough German to converse with German bus drivers, Polizei and some vendors on location. (Or you will learn the language quickly as you go along!)
3. You are available weekdays and weekends for Your Travel Company tours that you will be scheduled for.
4. You realize that you can’t “make a living” being a tour guide, but have fun and make a little money on the side.
5. You are willing to have a German small business ID and a German business registration number to work as a “free lance” tour guide for Your Travel Company .
6. You will provide your own medical/liability insurance to cover your work as a “free lance” tour guide. (Your Travel Company can give you information on this.)
If you are willing to do tours for us under these conditions, and learn the Your Travel Company Tours with us, please contact us for more information on becoming part of our team!

Sincerely,

Maybe My New Boss

************************************************************************************

Ms. Maybe My New Boss,

I read the information in your email and feel that I meet the requirements for a free lance position. I speak some German, though not at a conversational level at the moment. I have not conversed in German for 16 years, so it is a little rusty.

I enjoy people and interact well in groups. I studied European history in college and was privileged to be able to visit many of the locations I studied.

I am in Germany for this fourth tour because I urged my husband to apply for his position because I was ready for more adventures. I am available for days and weekends.

I am interested in meeting at your convenience, to further discuss this exciting possibility for freelancing.

Sincerely,

She Who

*************************************************************************************

Dear Mrs. She Who,

Thanks for your fast response! We’d love to meet with you and see what your impressions are. Can you come in to Your Travel Company Travel on Tuesday, 9 December at 10:30?

My colleague, Roxanne, and I would like to sit down and answer any questions you may have at that time.

Please let us know.

*************************************************************************************

Maybe I will soon have a job, travel, and have some adventures. I'll keep you posted.

Are we there yet?

I have another work friend. We get along.

He has a giggle and perverse sense of humor. He is also, so.... not politically correct. Sometimes he asks me to go to the grocery store (Commissary) with him. I smoke, he smokes, he does not smoke in his truck, so I drive.

As soon as the seat belt clicks, he starts with the whiney a$$ "Are We There Yet????" crap and continues with this diatribe until we drive the 2 1/2 blocks to the Commissary.

Can I smack him into tomorrow?

Doc, Love ya more.

I Just Need To Pick Up a Few Things

I have a girlfriend.

She HATES to go to the store for groceries.

She calls me. Nellie, whatcha doing for lunch?

Me: I don't know, why, what do you have in mind?

Jaki: Do you mind going to the Commissary with me?

Me: Jaki, Do you need to pick up a few things?

Jaki: YAH, I just need a few things.

So we go to the Military grocery store (Commissary) together on our lunch breaks. She just needs to pick up a few things. A full friggin' grocery cart later that takes me to pull and steer and her to push we get to leave. AND it's my fault that she needed so many items because I was unavailable last week to go shopping because of the conference. She wouldn't go alone 'cause I always know what she needs.

Woman, I don't even know what's in your pantry.

Jaki this one's for you.

Love ya more.

More Conference Crap

The kitchen that is not a kitchen. It has all the stuff for a great presentation. It does not have anything that allows one to actually prepare food other than semi decent knives to cut up food.

Killer fountain soda machine set up. And, the coffee brewer isn't bad. Not Starbucks quality, but capable of putting out 50 gallons of standard blahhhhhh coffee in ten or so minutes.

It has a stack washer and dryer to wash and clean the bar towels every night.

It has a dishwasher that does a load in 4 minutes. True, we have to rinse and scrub everything prior to loading. Don't most women do that anyway????

It does not have a cooktop. It does not have an oven. It does have a small microwave that I do not consider an oven.

What I could have done with a cooktop and a little pasta. I could have brought the cost down to maybe $3.00 a day.

Don't even get me started on soup or chili possibilities.

I'm Gonna Have to Change My Banner Statement

Loyal Readers, (If being loyal after only starting this Blog last weekend counts as being Loyal)

I received some news that blew me out of the water today. In a very good way.

My Spousal Unit applied for a new position several weeks ago. Early last week HE was notified that HE was on the short list. Late last week He interviewed and felt good about the the interview.

This morning HE called me. HE was offered the job and HE accepted.

We are moving to Germany.

OMG what have we done??????????

Allowin' Myself to Get Sick

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a very busy week. It is the kick off (Final walk through, set up, and shopping day for the conference). The conference itself runs Tuesday - Thursday. Our task has had this conference yearly since the task began. This means that we have held the conference since right after the human capability for speech began.

This year I have the pleasure of shopping for 2 1/2 meals per day for 175 people for the three days of the conference. I have a semi-limited budget. I must order in for the actual lunch meal. The choices at this location are limited also.

This duty I brought on myself. I volunteered. If I had not, it would have been assigned to me. I keep doing these things to myself. Add - helpful, kind, thoughtful, and considerate to things about me.

This next week is going to be sheer Hedoublehockeysticks. I do believe I can allow myself to get sick that week after. Right now I just need to pencil it into my schedule.