Today Andres started his trip to Baudette, Minnesota, where he is going to be for the next two weeks. Therefore I'll take his place to keep you informed of the "latest and greatest" adventures in which we get involved. He says he is lucky because now he can add 2 more states to the list of US states where he has been to. But he will suffer. He just doesn't know yet...
Baudette is in the borderline with Canada, the engineers would preferably surpass the border and get even lower temperatures to do their testing, but it's not allowed (not without paying anyway). So, they stay just at the border, in a very small town where Bosch has a facility with a proving ground. The place is so small, that Andres was told there is only one restaurant in town. And the other towns are like an hour away. To add more fun I just copied the temperature records form the Wikipedia, take a look at January and February, with a daily mean temperature of -16 / -12 °C, at night they get down to -22°C (in average). Even the mean year temperatures scare a little, 4°C daily, and -2 at night, brrrrr
Well, you could say that I am being cruel (and in fact, I might enjoy it a little :)). But to be fair, I am suffering it too. Last week was the coldest day of my life, we had almost -20°C, also the coldest day in the last 4 years. Why they waited for me to get that cold? Well, you could just say from the picture below that it was only 1 to 2 inches snowfall. But still, it hurts!!!
But that was last week. Today we are above 0°C, which might be seen as a better temperature. IT'S NOT! Why? Because at least at -10 the snow remains solid, you can just brush the snow off. As the temperature turns to 0°C, it starts melting, and then freezing, and it turns into ice. Icy paths, icy streets. Today the kids got lucky, schools were closed. And not because of low temperatures. It was because of the ice.
This morning I also had to do a little ice scratching on the car. But as I understood from a co-worker, I got lucky, because I had snow between ice and the car, and so the ice came out easily. It's much worse when the ice builds up directly on the car. Fortunately my car didn't look like this...
But you know what? In US, it doesn't really matter to have ice or snow around your car. People here (some of them) have two car keys, with one they turn the engine on, with the other they close the car and get a nice cup of coffe while they wait until everything is melted... You couldn't do that with the fuel prices in Europe, rather scratching the car than the pocket...
But to be fair, other than outside, the temperature in the building are very comfortable. Even in the car, once it warmed up, you feel like at home. So much at home, that we started to do some American things like getting a coffee and enjoying it while driving, sometimes even through a drive-thru!! 100% American Style!!
An even though I hate driving, and driving hates me, my car and I just have to get along, as I don't have enough money to pay a driver, and here you can't rely in public transportation. Well, I don't mind it very much, other than getting lost once or twice per week, I survived so far, didn't have a single scratch yet, and didn't break any BIG traffic rule yet. But in my defense, I must say, some traffic rules just aren't logic.
Let's begin with the right turn, it is allowed to turn right with red traffic light, except if you see this sign. You might think it's very clear, but I really tell you, once you know you can turn right even on red, you don't look for such signals, you just look for a gap to drive in the road.
The image below is something very typical here. You come straight ahead and find this composition.
First of all, it is impossible to read everything at the same time, so at the end you can understand something like "turn right on red only". Second, how do you know Ãf you need to go north or south? North or south from what?. I get completely confused when I see such things. But the very best thing, is that I was told that these left-turns are only present in Michigan. No other state has such left-turns. I really can't say if these are better than roundabouts, but the truth is, they are starting to build some roundabouts here, and they are much more confusing!!
By the way, if you are in such turn, and are waiting to go left, you can also drive when the light is red, as long as there's enough space. That's because it's one direction only, so you are seeing what is coming. That's something I didn't try yet, I just know you can do that....
One of the best things is if you get to a crossing without traffic lights. Then the rule is first come, first serve. Even if you want to turn left, and someone comes in the opposite direction and want to drive forward, you can't let him go first. Believe me, he'll wait for you to go left first. So you all wait like idiots :)
And I'd like to finish with a picture of a traffic light, they are also a delight, since they hang from cables, moving free with the wind. You are in the car and think how much wind is necessary for that to fall. Fortunately, the light turns green and you stop thinking nonsense.That's the end of it for now, hopefully you enjoyed reading it as I did writing it.
Lots Of Love
Lita
