First Day

Sunday was a travel day and doesn’t count as my first day of retirement, so . . .

. . . the first thing I did Monday was to go to the bank and get some cash from the ATM machine. If for some reason that didn’t work, plan B was using a note I had allowing me to draw money from Gerda’s account. I am glad the card worked. I didn’t really want to go to a teller with a note from the wife.

Then it was off to the Einwohnermeldeamt to register as a resident with the town officials. Very simple procedure and the lady there filled out a single form for me to sign. This had to be done before going the Ausländerbehörden in Hassfurt. There I have to register as an alien. This is like just letting them know I was here, instead of begging the government for permission to have my spouse live with me like we had to do in the States. I can fill out a form to bring back next week with a picture. This whole process is a far cry from the months and money spent getting the same thing done when Gerda came to the states.

I also went to the Apotheke (drug store) for some cough medicine. Gerda is hacking pretty bad. I go in and asked one of the ladies there what I should get for her. What followed was a thorough discussion of her symptoms and a recommendation based on these symptoms and her own personal experience. Very nice to be able to discuss these things with a trained pharmacist in such detail.

After that, I went to the DAK and in a matter of minutes, we both had health insurance coverage. Pretty easy, if you ask me. Next, it was to the Rewe Center to get a couple of things like coffee and yogurt and other essentials.

I used Marcel’s car to go to Hassfurt. This was a little strange at first and I had a hard time finding reverse. It will take a while to get used to the price of gas. It’s running around $8.00 per gallon.