Another Reunion

This year there seem to be many reunions: First the high-school reunion in July, then the UniBwM-colleage reunion. And now a personal reunion, with a friend whom I knew since 28 years but had not seen in 25 years. I use the time to make a detour to Innsbruck, before continuing to the actual destination of my travel.

VaMP in Deutschem Museum

At our UniBwM reunion I heard that the vehicle which we had been working on, "Versuchsfahrzeug fuer Autonome Mobilitaet - Passenger" (VaMP), was now an exhibit in the technology museum "Deutsches Museum" in Munich. A new hall had been opened, devoted to all kinds of traffic artefacts, with trains and cars. And VaMP was there. A strange feeling, to see that piece of technology with which I had gotten my PhD 11 years ago, now in a public exhibition. I had been driving with in in 1994 around the Paris Airport Charles de Gaulle, and I had driven it (together with my colleague Markus Maurer) to Denmark in 1995, on our often referred trip form Munich to Odense, where the car drove about 95% of the distance only controlled by its camera vision system.

Some Sightseeing

The weather in Munich is grey and cold, but at least it does not rain. So I decide to drive a bit south to the Alps. Tegernsee, Sylvensteinsee.



In the evening, a concert in the Gasteig. When living in Munich, we had often gone - I had a student ID, and often got those cheap tickets for excellent performances. Somehow after a few years we had stopped going to those concerts, so now it was for more than 13 years that I was once again at the Gasteig. The Munich Philharmonic played a Strauss-only program (Richard): Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, and Also Sprach Zarathustra. Quite heavy stuff. In my opinion, the brass was overall too lound and overshadowed the strings. Could have had a few more players in the violin sections. As an Encore they played Wagner's Vorspiel to the Meistersinger of Nuremberg. An all-German program, quite teutonic.

Reunion with Former Colleagues from UniBwM

Friday night a pleasant reunion had been scheduled: after 11 years I would see again some of my former colleagues from UniBwM where I had worked on the autonomous vehicle and where I got my PhD degree. Prof. Dickmanns had organised this meeting on the university campus. As I was driving towards it, I noticed that many of the roads had changed. Roundabouts everywhere, a new bypass road. And the entrance road to the campus too had somewhat been moved. It was already dark, but I found my way ok.

Nice to meet the former colleagues - there was a lot to tell! They work now in a variety of positions, as project managers, and some as professors.

Travelling Again

Again travelling. On Thursday I work in the morning at the Uni, then take a taxi to the airport. Leave the Smart on campus, after letting security know about it. The flights go well. First to Amsterdam, then further on to Munich. The flight to Munich has a problem: as the bus approaches the plane on the Schiphol airfield, it stops but does not let any passengers out. At the plane, a few maintenance people keep walking up and down the stairs. After about 10 min an announcement that this plane has a problem with a crew seat, and so it cannot take off. We drive back to the terminal, until another plane is found. With one hour delay we take off, and arrive in Munich.

I had a rental car reservation from Avis. As I walk up to the counter of Avis at the Airport Munich, the counter is closed. All other counters appear to be open, just the Avis counter is closed. I look at my reservation voucher: yes, it states there that the counter only is open from 7:00-23:00. I might have made it, had I arrived earlier. But now it is shortly after midnight. I just tried to call Avis on my mobile phone, when a cleaning woman tells me that the Europcar counter would take the responsibilities for Avis after closing hours. And indeed, the friendly chap from Europcar has my reservation. I was pleasantly surprised: had only reserved a Economy car (VW Polo), but got a Opel Astra Stationwagon, 1.6l, with Navigationsystem. Nice treat.

Now just driving to the hotel in a Southern suburb of Munich. At 1am I arrive at the hotel.

New Member of "the Fleet"

Yesterday, my vehicle fleet got extended by a new member: a 2002 "smart car". Finally, I can express my environmental conscience with an adequate vehicle, to compensate for my CO-2 sins (frequent flying, huge 1970s gas guzzlers). And it is a convertible, suitable for the next summer. It was a sale from a private owner. The vehicle is in very good condition, and I hope to have now a trouble-free and economical commute to work everyday.



The Suzuki will be sold - it recently failed the annual MOT test, and it is not feasible to get it fixed. I placed a free ad on Craigslist and got already 3 inquiries. Whoever pays first, will get the car...

Dinner at Meg Soosay's Home

Last year, in summer 2006, Meg Soosay had organised a charity dinner. This year she again organised one. Well, not one, but 10 so far - each member of staff was invited, and since the dinner table sits only about 10 people, she did repeat the dinner several times, with different guests each time. This Monday my schedule finally allowed me to attend. She cooked nice food from her home in Malaysia - excellent!

Talk about the Leeds Town Hall Organ

Saturday morning, from 9:30 - 11:00, organist Simon Lindley (a former member of staff at Leeds MEt) gave a 1 1/2 hour overview on the history and capabilities of the Leeds Town Hall organ. He played a few pieces, highlighting the sound of the more than 6000 pipes. He also provided a wealth of information about the history of Leeds, the Town Hall, and Leeds in general.

I want a "good" car...

Well, since I have only two car wrecks, I would finally like to know what it is to own a "good" car, one that is not going to be dumped at the scrap yard. The Citroen is very old and worn, but it runs well and seems to be safe; so I will invest and keep it going for a little while. The Suzuki was at the MOT station a few weeks ago - and failed grandiously many items. So I will have to scrap it, or sell it for parts. Repairing it is not an option, as the repair would be way too expensive. Some welding would have to be done.

So I am looking now for a "nice" car, reliable and economically to run. I have in mind something quite specific...

Car Towing into Garage

Next day, Thursday, I arrange for a garage, get a quote over the phone. Possibly the steering pump will have to be replaced... could be expensive. The AA comes shortly before noon. Since the suspension is driven by the hydraulics, the car is no longer suspended... and actually I am not supposed to drive it, as the seals of the suspension might suffer. But I have no other choice... the car needs to be towed, and is being brought to the shop.