One of the fun-not-fun things I get to do every year, at the start of the year, is do my car cost calculations for the tax stuff. The car we have (which stands in the garage most of the time) is owned not by us, or myself, but by my company, so its costs are part of my business costs.

I am, of course, allowed to use it for private things as well - but as it's the company's car, this counts, for all bureaucratic purposes, as something called "Leistungsentnahme - Nutzung von Gegenständen für Zwecke außerhalb des Unternehmens" (use of goods for purposes outside of business), and that, in turn, counts as part of the generated income... and that, in its own turn, is what I owe 19% VAT for.

If you are confused now, let me un-confuse you: I have a car (that I paid for), but if I use it for private purposes, I have to calculate the actual costs per kilometre, figure out how many km I have been driving for private stuff (which means keeping and then going through the vehicle log), calculate the value of that, and then pay the 19% of VAT of this value to the state. So I basically have to pay to use my own car... which is in some sense feeling so absurd that it makes me laugh a little inside every time.

The side effect of having a company car and having to do all this mathsy stuff on its costs? Getting a very, very clear picture of how much a klick of driving a car really costs. Now, mind you, our car gets relatively little use - I end up at significantly under 10,000 km per year, unless some really unusual, weirdly long journeys happen - and of course, figures can change. But if you've ever heard of the 0.3 € costs per km that are often used as a basis for calculating driving costs, and thought to yourself "well, that is way more than I pay", you were probably falling into the same trap that I did before changing to company car. Most people only look at the obvious running costs, which is the fuel (and maybe the oil), but really, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, if you only reckon fuel costs, driving 500 km seems to cost very little in comparison to going with public transport, such as metro or train.

What gets forgotten, though, are all the other costs... and there are plenty of these. You have to buy the car. Insurance for the car is obligatory in Germany, plus there's car taxes. Maintenance costs - regular checks to keep things running - as well as repairs. Costs for the garage. New tires, necessary once in a while. Possibly membership in some club for accident and breakdown cover. Costs for TÜV (regular vehicle inspection).

Which means that many years, our car has not cost .3 € per kilometre driven, but something in the range of .34-.35 €. This means ten km cost three € fifty - that's a coffee in a café. Driving a hundred costs 35 €.

Of course, some of the costs per km will go down if you drive more. We have a diesel car, which becomes cheaper (because of high taxes, but low fuel costs, comparatively) if you drive more. (There are studies that come to the conclusion that electric cars are already the more cost-effective solution, though they do not state how many km per year they used as the basis for the calculations.) But then you will also have service intervals coming up faster, and there will be more wear and tear. So let's say I drive more and can calculate with .3 € - even with this number as the actual costs, public transport will often be cheaper. If I manage to get a super saver price, it's sometimes just a fraction of what the car would cost, less than half the price if I'm lucky.

Added bonus? If I'm sitting in the train, I can do whatever I want to. If I am sitting in the car, I have to drive. Maybe I can listen to some podcast on the side, but knitting or reading or writing are right out - which are all things I like to do during train rides. So if I can, I'll use the train for travel.

Obviously, there are things where this is not possible, such as fairs, when I fill the car with stuff - but I've successfully lugged stuff for a workshop or a work meeting in the huge suitcase I have just for these purposes all through Germany and, indeed, across borders. That suitcase fits about 16 clamps plus a lot of extra stuff. It's not fun to lug it up or down stairs when fully loaded, and not fun to run with it when the train is delayed and I have to hurry to catch the next one - but I still love being able to go to a work spot per train. I just try to see these things as free fitness training.

So - are you a train/public transport or car person? Have you ever figured out the true cost of your car kilometres?

I'm back from my breather, and it was a wonderful time - there was holiday knitting, and there was bouldering, and some quality shopping for things I cannot get here, and there were walks in sunny weather and a bit of mudlarking and there was cake.

Lots of cake.

[caption id="attachment_4080" align="alignnone" width="446"] That, by the way, is the Afternoon Tea for two people in the Salvation Army Café near St Paul's. Which was delicious.


Somehow, British cake is considerably different from German cake, and somehow I have not yet managed to copy it. I probably have not tried hard enough (read: properly, using a recipe from Britain and actually sticking to what it says) - but when we are across the Channel, I end up eating lots of cake and really enjoying it, and scones with clotted cream as well.

So there was cake, and scones, and more cake. Too much for my own good, probaby... but I regret nothing.

There was also a streak of luck in timing, and we got to see the first female Doctor Who right when it was aired in Britain, which was totally awesome (and of course accompanied by a nice cup of tea). It's probably a good thing we only discovered quite late that we could watch older episodes of Dr Who in our apartment, or there might have been some binge-watching to the detriment of sleeptime (which was very, very much needed).

What there was not, though, were those lovely German Heinzelmännchen who take care of all the work back home while one is away, so on the list of "urgent things to do", getting emails and shop orders on their way was right up there on top with "go grocery shopping or starve".

Now there's some Textile Forum stuff to be taken care of, and Google has let me know that there seem to be some issues with the mobile version of my webpage. So if you've been trying to read stuff on the blog with your mobile implement and have gotten a load of 404 errors - I'm sorry about that, I am now aware of it, and I am trying to fix it. (If you should run into any errors, or have any other issues with these pages, please don't hesitate to tell me. It's amazing how many things can remain undetected even if you try from time to time to make sure everything is working alright - so I always appreciate getting a hint if something is not!)

I didn't realise the tandem would be such an interesting thing, and get several comments right away! It is such a normal piece of life for us, and has been for years, that I don't think twice about it anymore. And yes, hauling stuff is very easily done with this contraption (but transporting wool was not the main reason we got it).

Back in about 2004/2005, the Most Patient Husband and I realised we would both like to go on bike holidays together, but our performance on bikes was, how shall I put it: slightly dissimilar. Slightly as in that famous race between the hare and the hedgehog, only without the hedgehog trick. (I was the hedgehog, by the way. Still am.) So the obvious solution was trying out a tandem, and we started right away to look for one with good luggage capacity to get holiday equipment onto the bike without having to add a trailer (which is the usual solution for tandem vacations).

We stumbled across a slightly unusual bike that way - the Hase Pino. Which was a semi-recumbent, and we'd never had contact with 'bents before, so it was all very weird and new. On this, you have the usual luggage rack that will fit three bags (two panniers and a topcase), plus an optional lowrider underneath that will fit another two large and two small panniers. Which sets you back a bit compared to two single bikes, but not so much.

So we went to our local bike dealer for special bikes, ZoxBikes - and he did have one of the tandems... so off we were for a test ride. The first metres were very weird, and the first corners doubly so, as the stoker (the one not handling the steering stuff) sits on top of the front wheel. Which means the captain (the one who does handle the steering stuff) has to guess where the wheel is, and the stoker has the feeling of going straight into a wall or the abyss that you can get when you sit in a bus right in front.

A little test round an a slightly larger test round later, we went home... and we got our tandem in October 2005.



It's a relatively pricey bike (you pay extra for exotics), it does have quite a few flaws (there are some technical details that are, well... questionable), but we haven't regretted our decision for a single second. We've gone on tours long and short, we've hauled all kinds of stuff with it, we've spent wonderful vacations in Spain and (most often) in England with this thing. We also use it as our main daily means of transport when we go somewhere together, year round - on spike tires in winter for safe riding.

So. That's the tandem story - or at least the first part of it. If you have questions, ask away in the comments, and I'll write more!

I like travelling. Well, up to a point - at some point, it does get tedious, and then I really love to be home again.

It's made much nicer, though, by having stuff that I don't want to be without with me, and some things are by now a no-brainer to stick into the bag. My own pillow, for instance. While I used to be able to sleep on about any pillow when I was little, at some point, this changed, and I'm now much more comfortable with my own little pillow to rest my head on. So that does accompany me.

Another thing is some stuff to amuse me, which usually boils down to knitting and an ebook reader (as that is easy to transport and offers a whole library). Finally, something for the yoga habit: my day starts with a bit of yoga, and so I take either a mat or a yoga towel or yoga paws, depending on the space I have and the willingness to carry stuff.

And then there's the food and drink related things, like these:



If you have travelled with me, or seen me at a fair or other event, chances are high that this battered mug was there, too. It's a Thermos King Tumbler mug, holds close to half a litre of drink, is absolutely spillproof when closed and keeps things hot forever. In most cases, baristas will fill it directly and thus save one disposable cup at a time, which is also nice. I usually call it "the world's best thermos cup". I also usually have my own cutlery plus a bit of salt (you never know when you need salt) and, most recent add-on to the essentials, the mini-immersion heater. Add a few bags of tea, and the world's your oyster... because somehow, I really love to have a cup of tea in the evening when I'm alone in my room, getting ready for the night.

Anything you really, really need to have with you when you travel?

I've had a beyond wonderful time up in Scandinavia - but I can't tell you anything specific about the details of the project part at this time, as the team wants to have good, solid results from their tests before anything gets written about it on the internet. So for now, you're stuck with the abstract available on the CTR website... and the short video there. The team, by the way, was a group of utterly wonderful people, and it was pure pleasure to work together with them.

What I can tell you, too, is that learned a few interesting things about my spinning - for instance, that I move very little apart from what is necessary, and that I can actually spin decent yarn with a very small, very light spindle. The moment this small spindle clicked for me was a total delight, and I spent the rest of the day, and a good bit of the next one, marvelling about how workable it was. Mind you - I don't think I will become best friends with tiny spindles now, but we will be able to develop a good working relationship. Plus it made me reconsider park-and-draft as a production technique, something I had only seen as a method to use while learning and before progressing to "proper" spinning.

I've also learned that Swedish cinnamon rolls are the originals, with a different dough than the Danish ones; that the Danes are utterly incredibly good at making marshmallow puffs; that Scandinavia is so much more of paying with card and not cash than Germany; that both Copenhagen and Lund are very bicycle-friendly; that public transport there is, compared to Germany, quite affordable and very good; that there is a really nice bouldering gym in Copenhagen; and that bringing a tiny immersion heater and a few bags of tea along with my trusty thermos mug (that travels with me about anywhere) makes a huge difference to my comfort levels in the evenings, sitting on my own in a hotel room somewhere.

Now, apart from going to the conference, we had a little extra time to spend in Cardiff, and just in case you would like to hear about that as well... here you go.

First of all, Cardiff was really, really nice. They have a very good and quite affordable public transport system, with a bus going out to Cardiff Bay every few minutes and buses going everywhere about all the time. (Except to the airport on a Sunday morning!) There is lots of small and large shops and many different shopping arcades, a large covered market where you can buy food and other stuff, several parcs, the very imposing castle, lovely food for fair or very fair prices and lots of friendly people.

My only problem with the friendly people that were chatting at us randomly was that I sometimes had a lot of trouble understanding the accent. It’s a lovely accent (I am a fan of locally different forms of language anyways) and I had already heard a little bit more of it due to watching Torchwood, but sometimes… well, sometimes it could as well have been Welsh they were speaking at me.

Apart from all this, there is also lots of culture going on in Cardiff – events at museums, galleries, there’s the Millenium Centre with lots of stuff happening and so on and so on. We had not enough time to take advantage of all that, but altogether, it reminded me a tiny bit of London, only much smaller and less expensive. (And with probably more Dr Who and Torchwood.) We did manage to stroll along the Bay and visit the Dr Who experience, which was a lot of fun.

The only disappointment was public transport to the airport. It is called “Cardiff International Airport” but should probably called “Wales International Heliport”, judging from its size. It has exactly one runway and is tiny, and with only very few flights going in and out. (Nuremburg has only one runway and is sort of as tiny, but much more busy.) Now, I’m all for small airports (I find them much more charming and nice, in general, than the huge ones), but if it is not possible to get there by train or bus by 9:30 on a Sunday… well, that is kind of inconvenient. We had to take a taxi out to get there in time, not something I had planned on.
To be fair, we had to take a taxi to get out to Nuremburg airport on our way to Cardiff as well, but that was for a flight taking off at 6 in the morning, and I can understand public transport not running then! 

That minor issue aside, I totally enjoyed being in Cardiff, as well as the conference, and I could well imagine going back there some day in the future. Probably in the summer, though, not in January!