What really annoys me is that this cost me a round of golf

I joke with people that they can plan for rain whenever I've made a tee time. When I woke up this morning I thought my prophecy would once again come true: it was cloudy and cold and ominous. But then the clouds started to clear, and while it remained cold it turned into a promising afternoon. So I was excited as I drove a couple of blocks to pick up my friend Cory.

I was considerably less excited when I got about halfway through the intersection of 1st Ave and Broad St. Basically, this happened:



Yeah. I got in an accident. And as a result I didn't get to play golf today, which may or may not have caused all of the clouds to burn away and temps to rise into the mid 60s. I spent most of my afternoon on the phone with my insurance company (actually not the worst experience in the world). I was surprised how many people asked whether anyone was hurt in the accident. I laughed it off and said no, and wondered why no one asked whether or not I missed a tee time. How rude.

Anyways, this is what my fender is supposed to look like:



And this is what my fender actually looks like:




Yarg. Now I have to decide between golf and football tomorrow. Booooo!

3861

That's how many miles my car had on it when I got the oil changed on Saturday afternoon. This isn't a particularly notable story except for what it means I don't do a lot of these days: drive.

Just how little? Let's dig into the stats a little bit:

• I've owned the car for ~280 days
  
• The car had 1700 miles when it was loaded on the trailer to be shipped to Seattle
• Overall I've averaged 13.8 miles/day
  
• While in DC I averaged 28.3 miles/day
  
• While in Seattle I've been averaging just 9.8 miles/day
• A 10,000 mile/year lease is 27.4 miles/day
  

Which means I own a very nice depreciating asset, albeit slightly slower than average. Which kind of sucks.

Germany update

My body is completely wigged out by the time change. I was in great shape on Tuesday, but then had a restless night's sleep on Wednesday and spent most of yesterday in a haze. Luckily it was my turn to drive, so I got to drive through this haze to Munich from Regensburg. The trip went fine, but it's scary how fast closing speeds are on the Autobahn. I was averaging 140-150 kph (84-90 mph), which seemed pretty quick. Still, every now and then I'd be passing someone and I'd look up and there would be a Mercedes sedan just filling my rear view mirror, obviously annoyed that he had to slow down from 200 kph.

I have some stories that will be good to share, but probably off the blog, as they involve my traveling companion/co-worker and how annoying he is.

That said, the "pork/beer/dumpling/sauerkraut" diet is working out fantastically. I couldn't be happier about what I'm eating.

100mph on the Autobahn on 2 hours sleep? You guys play hoops for money?

So the trip is over. I'm in my hotel room in Regensburg, which looks like an amazingly pleasant place in the Bavarian countryside. Some old churches (this is home to Benedict XVI, or something like that). A nice university. Lots of people on bikes. I'm sure it would be even better if I knew where I was. My travelling companion forgot the map, so we cruised around for 30 minutes before finding the hotel. I had to translate a bus map into directions. In German. I'm a genius.

Anyways, if you rent a car in Munich, don't choose Dollar, as the cars aren't onsite. As far as I can tell, they may not actually be in Germany either. After figuring that out we got the car and roared off to Regensburg. Paul kept saying how he wasn't a fast driver, and then would say something like "Wow, I'm going 100". He wasn't (he's not good with the mph/kph deal), but we were still going fast, and he's only had slightly more sleep than me. He also drove a decent way down a one way road (the wrong way), but we're all good now. I was supposedly navigating and missed the first two turns, which were actually highways. My readership should know that I don't get lost on the road. Unless it is in Venice after 8 bottles of wine.

There really aren't going to be any more stories, at least now. I'm going to sleep (it's 8pm), will work tomorrow, hopefully see Regensburg tomorrow evening. That said, German radio is fascinating. As is the "GPS" system in our car. It won't let you program destination, but it will tell you what street you are on and your lat/long coordinates. Which, when you are lost in a German city is incredibly useless information.

The requisite post on The Bachelor

As a former Bachelor candidate myself I feel I need, no, must, comment on last night's premier of The Bachelor. The guy who is the Bachelor was my year at Duke; I knew of him but didn't know him personally.

Anyways, my thoughts on what is likely to be the only episode I'll actually watch:

1. It was amazingly uncomfortable to watch him greet the girls. I thought my 30th birthday was bad (moving across the country to a town with no friends), but being forced to meet 25 rabid and likely over-the-top aggressive girls would have much, much worse.
   
2. That said, 4 of the contestants are from Charleston (or Hilton Head), and that's pretty optimal.
3. This was my big takeaway: why the hell did they have him driving a Saleen S7? For the uninitiated, this is a custom supercar that sells for a touch over $500,000. Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing automobile (0-60 in under 3 seconds), but if you are going to pick out a super-car to improve the image of the Bachelor, why not pick something that is immediately recognizable by most people. What's wrong with a Ferrari F430? Or a Lambo? Or Bentley? Or, keeping it American, a Ford GT? You really need to be a car geek to know what a Saleen S7 is. And I don't think the Bachelor's audience is full of car geeks.
4. BTW, if he owns that car, I'm joining the Navy tomorrow. Or running an Ironman.
5. Seriously, budget is no constraint and you don't pick this? I wouldn't want to be on that show anyways.