Lessons Learned as of Late

There are times in life we learn important lessons to help us grow. This may be why I was always sort of tall for my age.

Lessons learned for the week, in chronological order:

1.) Being on top of your to do list and life tasks is usually the first indication you have overlooked something, usually something that could potentially send your life catapaulting into chaos when remembered (after it is too late).

2.) Do not let the following people fool you:

• End times gurus who proclaim the Euro to be the One World Currency. The Euro is about as compatible with credit institutions outside Europe as water is with... oil. No, tar. No, tar made from oil.
• German bank personel who assure you they are doing everything they can to help you transfer money between foreign accounts, yet fail to inform you they actually have an associate who SPECIFICALLY HANDLES SITUATIONS WITH FOREIGN BANK TRANSACTIONS.
• Aforementioned German bank personel who assure you it is not possible to transfer money overseas.

3.) Making partial payments on car loan until you can get money transferred into AMerican dollars to pay bills is not just like paying the minimum balance on a credit card bill.

4.)  Just because you haven't actually heard anything from your car loan officer, and just because there are no huge red flags on your online account, does NOT mean loan sharks haven't been stalking your stateside mailing address trying to repossess your car.

5.) Loan sharks do not care that you have been in Germany for a year, trying in vain to transfer Euros into dollars so you can pay your bills from an American account. They do, however, care that your car is not at your mailing address but "smuggled" (i.e. driven in plain daylight with full knowledge of customs official) across the border to Canada just as you stopped  making full car payments, where it now resides with The Fiancee.

6.)Never doubt the Fiancee's ability to be my hero and save the day with his mad Western Union skillz and unconditional love.

7.) Wallets are not to be unattended. No, not even in a library locker in naive little Wolfenbuettel.

8.) Always be thankful for your rival arch nemeses. Sometimes when they go out of their way to prove they are better than you, they actually can be handy for something. Like recovering stolen wallets in the bottom of a woman's bathroom garbage can.

9.) Do not attempt to take stress out on tin cans of tomatoes with a dulled can opener whose lever is missing.

10.) Do not mistake gushing blood for tomato juice. Also, try not to die of blood loss if possible.


Yep. I knew I was feeling tall lately. Growth spurt!