Just read an article that tried to explain the reasons behind the design of German toilets. Supposedly, it is due to the fact that they like to "View their work". Apparently you can tell a lot about internal health this way.
Personally, I'll head to the doctor.....
No annoying "splash" but the racing stripes do tend to be a little more of a problem.
Off to Rome next weekend!
It's always good to get home. While we are having a great time and all, a trip home always brings all that we truly miss to the forefront. That being, family, friends and our beloved city (not to mention Spartan basketball!).
We spent a great deal of time travelling around to see as many people as we could but we couldn't hit you all. To those we didn't see, the door is open in Wiesbaden! Kelli got a great deal of Mall time in and spent a bunch of time with her friends and their new babies. I got to East Lansing for a basketball game as well as Chicago to play in a Texas Hold 'Em Poker tournament at John Mauck's house (He of the Oktoberfest fame). We spent Xmas Eve with Kelli's family in Macomb and then hopped in the car where we spent a few days with my family in Harbor Springs at my brother Dave's house. The entire family was there under one roof! We also got time to get over to see Kelli's grandma in Ellsworth (near Charlevoix) as well.
New Year's was at Lelli's in Pontiac and then to friends house for the Party and even more Poker! We headed back to Deutschland on the 2nd.
No plans on returning home until next Christmas. That made this trip very good for us. Nearly three weeks with those that matter most.
This New Year is going to be a good one! Our travel and visitor calendar is filling up quickly. So far we are heading to
Hey all,
Just sittin' watching the Steelers dominate the Colts this evening.
Still have to get pix from the holidays up here. Will get it done this week, I promise!
We made some travel plans today for the early part of this year. By the end of April, Kelli and I will be hitting Strasbourg, Munich (maybe twice), Prague, Athens and Venice. Kelli's friend Amy and her husband Brian as well as Brian and Cory Place will be here in March. We can't wait!
Leave us some messages!
D
This article is from this months issue of Forbes - if anyone cares
Backseat Driver
Detroit: Heal Thy Self
Jerry Flint, 01.05.06, 11:50 AM ET
The strangest thing about the crisis in the American auto industry is this: Nobody outside of Detroit seems to care.
General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) could go down. Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) could go down. If either company fails, hundreds of thousands of workers could lose their jobs and health benefits. I'm not saying that this is going to happen. I'm just saying that the American people and the leaders in Washington don't seem particularly concerned about the traditional U.S. auto industry.
I remember when we used to say that one in six jobs in America was connected to the automobile industry.
I remember in 1953 when the head of General Motors, Charles E. Wilson, said, "What is good for the country is good for General Motors and vice versa."
I remember when the folding of a small automaker, little Studebaker, was a big story on the Dow Jones ticker, the front page column of the Wall Street Journal and got the journalist who broke the story promoted to executive editor.
When I arrived in Washington to head the Forbes bureau there, Ronald Reagan was taking office, and the big story (once the Iranian hostages were released) was the loan guarantee to save Chrysler. People actually cared. This position was not unanimous, but most of those in the Congress wanted to save Chrysler.
Congress forced the United Auto Workers to make concessions to Chrysler before giving the company's chairman at the time, Lee Iacocca, his loan guarantees. That deal actually turned out to be hugely profitable to the government, which demanded stock options from Chrysler at the last moment before sealing the deal.
I doubt that either General Motors or Ford could engineer a similar government bailout today.
These days, most Americans already buy cars made by foreign companies. If you pull out all of Detroit's business with the rent-a-car and fleet buyers, you'll see that true retail sales by Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ), Honda Motor (nyse: HMC - news - people ) and Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) easily top those of Chevrolet and Ford. And Chrysler is now owned by the Germans.
The new auto industry in the U.S. is largely in the South. This part of the business is growing and hiring--and is nonunion. The Japanese, Germans and Koreans have plants in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Toyota is building a plant in Texas. Each of those states has two Senators and House members interested in protecting the foreign factories in their states, not doing favors for Michigan.
In the fat years of the 1980s and 1990s, U.S. companies squandered profits on misguided acquisitions and poor product decisions. Too many Americans once owned Detroit cars and believed that dealers and the companies mistreated them when their vehicles had problems. In short, a sizable percentage of the American public is not sympathetic to the plight of the domestic manufacturers.
The United Auto Workers union and its members have an image problem, too. Sure, in recent years GM and Ford have made progress in working with unions and in achieving improvements in quality. However, for far too long UAW workers laughed at complaints about quality, and the union did nothing to punish workers who failed to perform. In terms of pay, pensions and health care, UAW workers are better off than most Americans in private industry.
How about the U.S. Government? Well, the Treasury Department doesn't care if U.S. car companies go out of business and workers lose their jobs. The Treasury's big job right now is financing the nation's deficit, and they do it by selling bonds to the Chinese and Japanese. The Asians get that money with profits from their sales and exports to America.
The Defense Department is the other important agency in Washington. Hey, if people are unemployed, maybe it will be easier to fill the army's ranks. Like the State Department, Defense does not want the Asians angry with us because of trade. The attitude is that we need them on our side militarily, so let them have their way with trade.
Detroit executives wonder why Washington has not done anything for 40 years about unfair exchange rates that make Asian products exceptionally low priced here. Simply put, relations with Japan, China and Korea are more important that some shut factories in the rust belt. Rick Wagoner, the boss of General Motors, in particular, complains about health care costs. He seems to want a national health care system to bail out his company. Frankly, it is difficult to see America accepting what we used to call "socialized medicine" just so GM and its workers can continue to have a better medical plan than the rest of us.
Maybe it is time for the companies to stop their dividends. Maybe it is time for the union to tell its members how bad things are. And maybe it is time for the Governor of Michigan to understand why people don't want to build in her state.
Face up to it Detroit: America doesn't care. You have to save yourselves.
It was wonderful to be home for the holidays. We now know the meaning behind the song "I'll be Home for Christmas". Being home for the holidays is the best feeling in the world and I honestly believe that we were able to see 90% of our family and friends. To those we were unable to see this time around, we look forward to seeing you in 2006.
Thanks to so many for the holidays parties - BR and Cory's annual Christmas party was a blast, my girlfriends annual Christmas party was special this year with the arrival of two babies in the later part of the year (thanks Jenna for hosting this year!), seeing my two high school friends Rebecca & Katie, and being with our families (Berry, Rankin, and Boss) was extremely special this year with the changes in our families in the past year or so. The best lesson from 2005 for us is that family is number one and our friends are more like a family of friends. New Years Eve was a treat hangin' with Jason and Jen and several of their friends who over the years have become ours. Big Baby (aka Marcum) also made an appearance. We hope to get him across the pond this year...
After all the good American eating, Dan and I bought an elliptical today and it arrives Saturday. Looking forward to getting in shape before summer. It will be here before we know it.
As of right now we don't have any plans to return to the US until Christmas 2006 which means we look forward to hosting our friends and family. First on the list looks like Amy and Brian in early March and then BR and Cory in mid-March. Dan's dad plans to come in the summer. The Chicago boys (Mauck, Chambers) plan to make Oktoberfest a second annual this year. Hope to get my bro over, too. Mom and Dad come in May 2007 and we were are already making travel arrangements.
In 2006 we plan to hit Italy big. Also want to get to London and Greece. Any suggestions? Let us know.
Miss you all bunches.....much love to you all in the new year.
We have just gotten home and are about to crash for a couple of hours. We both were upgraded to Business Class for the trip back which took the edge off a bit.
Plenty of pictures and stories to come soon. Miss you all already.
D&K
