Auf Wiedersehen

Doesnt mean Good Bye, it means: Until we see each other again.

No, I am not "threatening to leave the site". You aint gonna get rid of me that easily.

I've taken Rob's (from the CAC) tag to heart:
"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." - Sun Tzu

So, this might come as a surprise to some people, but this has been in the works for quite some time, years actually. But the time has finally arrived to announce, that we are moving to Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

We will be putting all of our things into Sea Containers on June 4th, including the Vette and the Magnum (They get to snuggle in their own 40 foot palace), the settlement for the house is on June 6th and then fly to Frankfurt around June 24/25th to go apartment hunting. I will start working on July 2nd for the same company that had transferred me from Frankfurt to Princeton NJ in 1997, albeit this round is on me .

As you can imagine, this isn't something that is done lightly, or easily. It's been very trying, especially for my wife. It's been quite a rough patch but she understands my desire to raise our child there and is on board with the move. We shall see what pans out, but i am positive that she will like it as well.

While the transition wont be easy for either my wife or my child, or my family and friends here, I hope that all goes according to plan, but expect the unexpected.

I have always lived by the motto of "Prepare for the worst, hope for the Best", I will do just that.

I wanted to take this opportunity to say Thank You to all who have made me feel welcome and taught me a lot when we met in person or online over the past couple of years. I wont name names, so.

just simply: Thank You.

To all my 82 CE friends I haven't met yet, hopefully we will meet in the future during one of our family vists to the US.


I'll be online on the 82CERegistry a little less frequently in the upcoming couple of weeks, until the dust has settled and we have a place to live and a decent line to the Web (Cant wait for Broadband. Yeay ). But I might just stop in from work and see how my extended family is doing.

As I said: It's not Good Bye, it's Auf Wiedersehen !

_________________

-Stefan

Very Cool Stefan,

I think that making such a big move is fantastic. And it's good to hear the vette is making the move with you...

I will keep my fingers crossed that you and your family are safe during the transition, and I look forward to see your posts from Germany about all the adventures you have getting there, and cruising the country side in one kick butt ride...

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Thanks Dwayne, i will..

Good luck on the trans atlantic transition ........

_________________
I own an 82 Collectors edition , and a 78 Pace car

Allrighty, little breather from the moving front and a quick update:

Saturday (the 1st):
Wrap up stuff for Ebay Consigment guy to take and do the ebay thing for us. His mini van was stuffed full of old treadmill, bowflex (dont ask. ), 43" tv (with convergence issues), my pioneer receiver & cd/dvd players , drill, battery tender and and and..
Ah well, no time to do it myself, but at least we'll get something for it.

Sunday:
Throw last PC's into original boxes for shipment, pack suitcase (mine was the last one, go figure) and move to GrandMa's (My mother in law).

Monday:
Movers come late (scheduled for 9:30am, arrived 11:30am due to a flood/accident on I78). Driver cant fit 40foot container into driveway and runs over realtor sign.. ooops..
I drive in front of him to designated spot to drop 40footer. He does and goes to get 20footer...
A lot of back and forth to get the car's into the 40, including run to local wood shop to buy addtnl. 2x3's..

Here are some pics (Sorry about the size):
Cars "Deplated" and ready to roll..


Maggy ready for the box..


Maggy all snuggled in there..


And here comes the old iron...


Cars in the box and tires being fitted with 2x4 shoes (U shaped boxes nailed to the container floor, as well as straps for the tires being nailed down to prevent movement)..


See ya in Frankfurt, Baby.. :cry


Btw, i drove the cars in there.. Almost ripped off the passenger mirror on the Mag.. Transferring 2 tons from one elevated platform to another get's yer heart going..

Movers are still packing but starting to say that there isnt enough room for everything. Estimator guy estimated 944 cubic feet, 20 footer takes 1100 cuFeet.. What the.. ??

Some overflow get's put into the front of the cars (with a 2x3 lattice nailed down in the front to prevent movement of boxes & mattresses). By 11:30pm the 20 footer is packed to the gills and the leftovers get packed on the moving van, to be sent in another shipment..
After a lot of back and forth, all things are packed and we get back to GrandMas at 1am, no dinner for anyone, but we're done..

Tuesday:
Wifey and i go to the house to clean, end up being there until midnight, but it looks nice..

Wednesday:
Settlement: All done. New people VERY happy about house. Exchange emails, go back and nap for 1 hour after calming down child that thinks, we're leaving her behind..

We find out we'll have to pay additional $3k on top of the estimate due to overflow (it ends up being 1600 cuft, not the estimated 944). Ah well, watchagonnado now? Price of doing business. The contract does state that the price will be set after all is packed.

Today:
Get back to work and reduce emails and work load from last 3 days..




Keep smiling, right ?! I am ..

I'll keep ya's posted..

_________________

-Stefan

All I can say is WOW!!!! I couldn't imagine what it would take to move across the street, and your moving half way around the world.
My hat is off to you, and I sure hope you, your family, AND your containers make the voyage safe....

_________________
Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts
Gone, but not forgotten

Stefan,

Missed your post, but hope you see this when you arrive back home... was a pleasure to meet you.... wish I had more time to spend on the 82 and with you guys... it has been a very busy, but rewarding assignment here in Virginia. We too are moving.... Montgomery, Alabama. Hope to have more spare time for the next year, before we move on again. We are out of here this week, and have to leave the CE in storage yet again, as we've picked up another project.....



All the best to you and your family!

Mark

Very nice Mark, be sure to post a thread for us with some more info on your new toy...

_________________
Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts
Gone, but not forgotten

Ah yes the real world..

Hey All..

It's been some time. Hope you still know me..
I've ordered the ISP/Telefon connection of 7/13, setup on 8/2 and still nothing. The wifey just send emails to all CEO's of the company (1&1) and i just talked to the head of Customer Service. 6 weeks for a friggin' 2 wire to the house.. Unreal..
Hopefully this week, we'll be online and i can go back and reread all the threads i've missed.

The cars came here ok, no nics or scratches from transport and a friend of my dads is working on getting the Vette sorted out first, then the big Maggy (As the Vette was registered here 10 years ago, it should be easier, but i'm not counting chickens just yet).

Just figured i'll come by and drop a note that we're still alive. Still settling into the house. Trying to replace all the stuff we had to sell and get hooked up, job and privately.. (Not) Soon (enough), this shall all be a memory and we'll be cruisin'..

Ciao for now, i'll hop back on full swing when we have DSL at home (Dont wanna stress the new boss' nerves too much just yet)..

A BIG WAVE from Germany!

-Stefan

_________________

-Stefan

It's good to hear you survived the move Stefan, I look forward to hearing more when you get online permently....

Be safe!

Allrighty,
another quick update (from work, pssst)..

We got the DSL/Telefone done. Crossed connection in the switch box on the street. Took all of 1 hour for the Tech Girl to figure out.. Ay. But it works, and darn is it fast.. 150mb downloaded in 7 minutes (approx). wheee

The Vette was at the Tuev (The inspection place here) and they found 2 things:
The handbrake wasnt working at all (Well, doooh, i havent used the thing in ages) and the bottom of the drivetrain was full of "fluids", ie. oil..

So, off to the dealer (Opel handles Chevy here). Handbrake took them 5 minutes (apparently it had crudded itself tight), but the oil issue will take some time (a week or 10 days), as the oil rings (Simmer Ring) in the front, the oil pan gasket and gasket for the diff are leaking, slightly, but enough for the Inspection guy not to pass her.

But, the good part is: I wont need to disable the red side light and stick reflectors on the back. and to fix the above it's just money (quite a bit, but oh well, call it moving cost) and needs to get done anyway.

Soooo.. End of next week, the Vette should be fixed and shown to the Tuev again to finish Inspections, then i can go get plates and we should be on the road again.

The Maggy is in East Germany right now, as they are easier to deal with, and the friend has connections there. Couple of things to be done there, mainly to satisfy the law, ie. Vin on the frame rail, fog light in the back, stamped plate in the engine compartment, and whatever else they can think of. Keep the fingers crossed that we get a good inspector and that we pass the emissions test. Frankfurt kinda refused to deal with it (because, although they sell the same thing here as a Chrysler 300c Touring, mine says Dodge Magnum, must be a different car, eh? ).

We shall see..


But the wife got a residence permit, took all of 10 minutes, very kewl. Now off to get her drivers license changed to a german one.

Once we got real plates, i shall take pics again (i still have to take pics of the temp plates, although they expired.. F-0400 with a date on the right side in yellow )

So, things are a moving, slowly but surely..

Greetings from the outpost...

_________________

-Stefan

I thought i was set there, for a moment, but then reality came back.


Reality being, that in the last 10 years, the FRANKFURT Car Registration Place (KFZ Zulassung) is still a bunch of little Napoleons (I go with a PG rated version here, i was gonna go waaay below the belt )

I showed up Wednesday, car at the dealer, as i only needed the title filled and plates made. Inspection was/is done, papers were all set, but no..

First, get a number to stand in line, that i wont need, then go to the Tech People that deal with Weird Imports and other odds to make sure all is in hand.

(insert Game Show buzzer Stopper here)
THEM: Ah, Sir, no, that wont do. We need to see the car to measure the front plate size.

ME: But the Inspection guy wrote that it's ok, as per the exemption from 1991.

THEM: Yeah, about that. He doesnt know anything, we make the rules here. We need to check that. We dont think it's valid anymore.

ME: WHAT?????? WTF?

THEM: Also, where is your sale contract?

ME: Aeh: I've owned the car since 1993, as per the copy of the last German title.

THEM: Oh, ok. Where is the German Title?

ME: I had to turn it in when i got the US Title, after Exporting the car.

THEM: So, you need a replacement title.

ME: No a new one.

THEM: No, You used to have one, so you need a replacement one, unless you have a piece of paper from the US, in german, that says they took it. Btw, please swear that you lost the German title here with your signature.

ME: I didnt loose it, as i said, i had to turn it in.

THEM: Do you have the german piece of paper? No, sign here pls.

ME: Fine. How long does this take?

THEM: 6-8 weeks. We will check on the validity on the exemption list from 1991 and call you. We will notify you when the replacement title is here too.

ME: F***.. Where do i pay for the replacement title?



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

As you can tell, big wrench. Not pleased at all. If they dismiss the exemption from 1991, i might need to refit the red turning signals to orange, maybe even the emergency flashers (they are supposed to flash red and green alternating between the flashers and a button). They might get prickly on the front plate and tell me to run a full length one (which is about double the size and kinda bends over the corners). And if they really dont like me, they might make me cover the side markers and stick reflectors on the back like in the old days.

Then, when the dupe title finally get's here, they want to see the car, ie. new temp plates (call the insurance, take a half day, get temp plates at the above place, run to the car, take the car to the place, just for some **** to measure the front plate holder. Or he might feel gracious and not even look at the car. Arrrgh what a crock..

So, sorry to keep the thread going, but we're not done yet..


Oh, and about the Maggy: I've decided to let professionals do the work. Pay them an arm and a leg, but at least we wont have to deal with a gazillion little things ourselves. It should go to Wuppertal (about 2.5 hours drive from here) next week, for a 2 week stint, then to the above "place" for title and plates.. We'll see..

_________________

-Stefan

Hello Stefan,

welcome to the real world!!!!
Now you can imagine, what it will be, to get a vette licensed over here!

If you´rs settled, please take a look at:
http://www.corvetteforum.de/thread.php? ... 28558&sid=

I´ll manage this international meeting each year in Suhl!
It would be nice to see you there, besides the nice fellows of the Wiesbaden-American-Corvette-Club, too.

Sen me a eMail at: fsahm@arcor.de and we might call!

Friedel

Hey Friedel..

I'll send you an email asap.. I was looking at the thread over at cf.de and i'll try and make it happen. By then we should have the Vette titled..

You'll hear from me soon.

-Stefan

_________________

-Stefan

And a quick update:

The Maggy has been through the Inspection and the Shop sent the papers. I went to the "DOT" and it went without a hitch. I was shocked.

I kept waiting for someone to ask to see the car (It's still in a different city). But nothing, he just grumbled that we had too many excemptions and "similar to"s that needed to be put into the title..

We have the license plates and will pick it up tomorrow pm. A nice train ride with the ICE and we should have at least the family cart now.


Vette: Still waiting for the Dupe Title to arrive..



PS: If you dont know the ICE, here is a pic:
http://eriksrailnews.com/archive/stuff/ ... .small.jpg

_________________

-Stefan