Progress Report

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
05/23/2016 at 14:23 • Filed to: None

A couple of days after handing in my license, I started this little visualisation. It’s pretty much self explanatory. Not much red left, yeah! Just a few observations three weeks in:

- I love the free workout. It’s only 20 minutes of riding my bike a day but that gives me 100 minutes more per week. My students don’t think it’s weird and some 5th graders even said that they think it’s cool that at least one teacher isn’t such a lardass who has to drive to work every morning. On top of that the weather has been absolutely perfect so far.

- If you’ve read this far, you won’t be surprised that I didn’t really miss driving until a few days ago. I saw this as a little adventure which just spiced things up. It wasn’t until this weekend that the fact that I am actually being punished for not being a good boy really entered my mind. I would have liked to go to the beach this weekend, but noooooooo. Also, the pollen is making my car look like shit, to the point where it slowly starts to look like an abandoned vehicle.

This time next week I’ll be able to tell you if it started right up. And I’ll definitely be waiting until the ban is over. If I got cought only a few minutes before midnight on Sunday the result could be half a year in jail or a fine to tune of half a years pay.

DISCUSSION (15)

Dru > Klaus Schmoll
05/23/2016 at 14:28

I can recall a time when the state of North Carolina strongly suggested I hand in my license. Was your hand in voluntary?

getFuckedHerb > Dru
05/23/2016 at 14:38

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/goodbye-old-fr… should help clear things up. I too had to go looking for why a person would do such a thing.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Klaus Schmoll
05/23/2016 at 14:44

Good you started missing it, in the beginning of the article it felt like you would go all Alissa Walker on us, convincing us of only using Public Transport and our Bicycles.

That said, cycling every day isn’t that bad, I used to cycle to high school every day for 6 years, and the added free exercise was a nice benefit.

Klaus Schmoll > getFuckedHerb
05/23/2016 at 14:53

I should probably have linked that. Thanks for doing that for me. Also thanks for digging into my reasons before yelling at me for being a commie pinko or whatever. What should actually be common sense has become pretty rare these days.

Dru > Klaus Schmoll
05/23/2016 at 15:05

Wow. Germany seems pretty harsh. How fast were you going when you got cited each time?

Ash78, voting early and often > Dru
05/23/2016 at 15:06

Relatively speaking, the US is extremely lenient for speeding and DUI, both financially and punitively.

Dru > Ash78, voting early and often
05/23/2016 at 15:17

I don’t doubt it. I know people who have multiple DUI's and never spent a day behind bars. Though I lost my privilege for speeding infraction(s).

Ash78, voting early and often > Dru
05/23/2016 at 15:23

My old Japanese friend in college got a DUI and said it was unusual to be able to find a white collar job for 1-2 years after that, in addition to costing him about $10,000 in fines, lawyers, and classes. Unreal. They have always been on the harsher end of the spectrum.

Klaus Schmoll > Dru
05/23/2016 at 15:41

28 kph over on the Autobahn. The window is 21 over to 30 over out of town, which gives you a €100 fine and a point on your license, no immediate driving ban. I didn’t know that getting that twice withing 24 months results in a ban. Also, this time they gave me a 4 month window in which to hand it in. Should anything resulting in points happen in the next year (until the first one gets deleted after 24 months, it happened last summer) I would have to hand it in immediately.

It’s harsh, but I can accept that. I phazed out, didn’t see the limit on an empty Autobahn. Twice. My fault! It’s good to know that the idiots I see from time to time will face the same fate rather sooner than later if they keep on driving like that.

Klaus Schmoll > Ash78, voting early and often
05/23/2016 at 15:50

A friend of mine was sooooo happy when Germany won the world cup in 2014 that he and a friend went for a cruise in his new-to-him CPO VW CC. He can’t remember anything about the drive. His memory sets in when the airbags popped on some industrial estate. I don’t remember the actual blood level, but it was something you can’t achieve with beer alone. They must have raided the liquor cabinet.

He lost his license completely. It took over a year and over €10K in lawyer fees, psychological evaluations, medical tests, and so on until he was allowed to take the test again. Not a single minute behind bars though.

Your boy, BJR > Klaus Schmoll
05/23/2016 at 15:54

This is the most German post I've ever seen.

Klaus Schmoll > Your boy, BJR
05/23/2016 at 15:59

Care to elaborate?

Your boy, BJR > Klaus Schmoll
05/23/2016 at 16:04

“I vill spend my free time meticülously arranging ze post itz. Only instead auf jüst taking ze post itz down when a day passes, I shall replace it vith a different colored post it to signify zat a day häs passed.”

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Klaus Schmoll
05/24/2016 at 14:15

Does that mean you can’t even start your car in your driveway? I can understand the penalty if you actually drive the car on the roads without a license, but that harsh of a punishment for starting a car in your driveway seems harsh.

Klaus Schmoll > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
05/24/2016 at 15:40

I could start it. It sits on private property in a small courtyard so I could drive back and forth a few meters all day long. There’s just no point. I could even do track days as long as somebody drives me there.