Germany Week 7

Well this was quite an interesting week here in Deuchland. I finally got to feeling better about Wednesday. We had a meeting with H.R. Wednesday afternoon about changes to the project team. We were told that because of the state of the economy and the need to save money and resources within the company, our teams would be reduced from 15 T.M.s to 5. So 2 days later I was notified that I would continue on the project team. Our trips will be 9 weeks instead of 8 and we will probably be required to fly coach beginning with the next trip. As you can imagine a lot of our team was disappointed about the cutbacks. We were also notified that no pay increases and no bonuses will be given this year. At least we still have a job. Saturday was an interesting day. Barry Clayton and myself decided to ride trains and buses around the area. We bought a boarding pass good for all trains and buses for the day for 6.50 Euro. Barry wanted to go to Rittersport to get some chocolate to take home. So a 20 minute trip from the hotel by car ended in a 2.5 hr. trip by train and bus. It was rainy and cold but it did not deter our efforts. From there we took a bus and train back to Stuttgart to eat at the Blockhouse restaurant which is the closest thing to American food we have found. I had another great steak. I feel very blessed and fortunate with all that has transpired. I feel the love and support of all my family and look forward to seeing you all very soon. I LOVE YOU ALL. DAD.

Germany Week 6

Well everyone. This week started out good. Everything went well at work. I was looking forward to the weekend, then everything went to pot. I began feeling bad about 10 a.m. Friday by 1 p.m. I had nothing left in my stomach. I went to the plant doctor for some medication and as soon as we got back to the hotel I went to bed. I am getting plenty of rest while watching the basketball tournament in my bed. Sorry, I know this is no fun reading about but it aint no picnic living it either. Dont worry about me. I will be back in the saddle by Monday morning. Tell all the grands I love them and I have their shoes. By the way, our stay has been extended 6 days. I will be flying home on Thursday April 9. See you soon. Dad.

Germany Week 5

Well, well, well. Week 5 is complete already. Things at work are going well. We had a little bit of a lull this week waiting on some new parts to come in, but that was ok with me. Yesterday I went with Barry Clayton who is an engineer from Tuscaloosa to Stuttgart. We went to the Mercedes Museum. We traveled there by train from Goldberg station just outside of Sindelfingen. We spent 3 hours in the museum. I have just one word for it. Unbelievable. It is a new museum opened in 2006, 8 stories tall, cylindrical in design. You take an elevator to the top floor and walk down one level at a time. It was filled with all sorts of mercedes vehicles from cars to fire engines to trucks to buses, etc. It also contained information about the social period and history of each era as you progressed through the years. When you buy a ticket for the train system it is good for the entire day. So on the way back we rode up to a small town to the north called Herrenburg. There was a beautiful old Catholic church built about 1267, a lot of old buildings, shops, etc. We stayed there about 2 hours, all the shops had closed at 2 p.m. so we decided to go back again some time. Sunday Jenz Rudigar picked me up at the hotel and took me to have lunch with his wife and 2 children. He has 1 boy age 11 and a girl age 8. They are both adorable and speak good English. They went to Holy Spirit school when they lived in Tuscaloosa. We had a very good meal and took a walk through the woods and after about 20 minutes we were at the Ritter Sport factory. We went through the small museum and learned about the origins of the company. They were perfect hosts and have invited Anne and I to come back for a barbeque in June. I hope everyone has been doing well and I miss you all. Will see you soon. Love, Dad.

Germany Week 4

This week was good in many respects. We finished up lot 1 of parts this week @ the plant. Next week we will begin to build 4 crash cars. These will be used of course to use in crash tests to validate structural integrity and make necessary changes before the car goes into production. We had a visit this week from Phil Johnson, one of our V.P.s He said they had recently met with Bill Taylors boss and were very encouraged by what they heard. The company is committed to research and development and new products to be on schedule. This will allow us to be ready to meet demand and have successful rampups when the economy improves.
Saturday morning Thomas Supper picked me up @ 9 a.m. and we went to his house for breakfast. He and his wife speak pretty good english and his 2 daughters take english in school. His daughters are Catalina 11 and Natalie 9. Thomases wife Suzanna is from Brazil. After breakfast we went to a protestatant church in their neighborhood to clean the building. Suzanna is the custodian at the church and they had an activity the night before. We moved all the chairs and mopped the floor and put all the chairs back in place for Sunday morning. Sounds familiar huh. Thomas and 5 of his friends have season tickets to the Stuttgart football *soccer* games. One of the group was not able to go so he invited me to go with them. Thomas was the only one who spoke any english but I had a great time. It was however very cold at the game. Stuttgart beat Dartmund 2 to 1. So we all were very happy. Thomas said if we had lost the game I could never come to another game. Lucky for me huh. He also gave me a Stuttgart cap. They won the champiohship in 2007. He said after the game 250,000 fans partied all night in the streets of Stuttgart. Germany had never seen anything like it.
We plan to go back in June to visit his family and have a barbeque. I was amazed that even though they allow smoking in the stadium it was much cleaner than our stadiums in the U.S. When you buy a cup of beer or cola you pay a 50 cent deposit on the cup and get it back when you return it to the concession stands. Thomas took a back pack in with us and we had coffee and snops at half time. Well most of us anyway. I had an opportunity to talk about the church when Thomas and Suzanna asked why I did not drink coffee or tea. Also before I left home Anne challenged me to read the Book of Mormon while I am here. I have made good progress, have read 260 pages so far. I also am doing stepups and pushups each day in my room to try to get in shape a little since we do so much walking. Today will be for relaxing and watching some movies. We are halfway through, be home in less than 4 weeks. See ya soon. Love to everyone, Dad.

Germany Trip Week 3

This was a good week here in Dueschland. The weather is warming up a little. Yesterday it was about 45 degrees. Our work at the plant went well this week. We built 2 heckwagons or rearfloors. We will have some of our management team here this week so we tried to get some organizational things finished this week also. Enough about work already. I heard an interesting philosphy about german life. It goes like this. In Germany people work hard, save their money, buy a house and drink a good glass of wine. Simple but I think its a good philosphy. On Saturday we went to an old town about 1 and a half hours drive north. It is referred to as a gem of the Middle Ages. Rothenburg is the name of the walled city. It has a wall that encompasses the entire perimiter of the town. The wall is about 70 feet tall and has access towers at each corner to allow you to walk along the wall under a covered walkway. The Tauber river runs along one border of the wall and the view is breathtaking. The first castle was built there in A.D. 970. The Imperial castle was built in 1142 but was destroyed by earthquake in 1356. About 40% of the city was destroyed in 1945 during WWII. As you can imagine the old buildings and cobblestone streets are amazing. There are of course small shops, museums, restraurants and hotels throughout the city. It was a very enjoyable day. Wish you all could have been there with me. Today we went to visit the family of one of our german trainers from 2004. He and his family lived in Tuscaloosa for 3 years. They have 2 girls, 5th grade and 8th grade. We ate lunch with them. Talked and walked and then ate dessert and coffee, not me of course, I mean the coffee part. It was a very enjoyable visit. He asked if any of our wives would be coming and he invited us to come back to visit again. His name is Jenz Herter. Well I miss you all and have enjoyed getting blog replys. Its all new to me. Please tell all the grands hello for me. I love you all. See you soon. Dad.