Looking outside I see a thin layer of snow covering nearly everything in sight. The snow has been here for a few days, at least–certainly as long as I have been here. This is atypical for this region, but there has been a cold-front through the area recently.
But things are about to change. Today we are expected to see a high of +1°C. This weekend we’ll be up to +4°C, with a high of +6°C on the five-day forecast. Snow: your time is limited.
It is especially nice to compare this to the weekend highs in Ottawa: -11°C. Brrr. The nice thing about these constant and low temperatures in Ottawa is that the Rideau Canal–the world’s largest skating rink–is partially open for business, with the rest of the canal expected to be opened soon. It has been an annual tradition of mine to take the bus down to the canal at least once a year and go for a nice skate down to Dow’s Lake and back. Unfortunately it appears that such a dream would be impossible this year due to the current transit union strike in Ottawa.
It is illegal to drive on snow-covered roads without snow tires in Germany. Not that any roads in this region are really “snow covered”, but my rental car here does have snow tires on it. I was given yet-another Opel Astra this time, although this time it is brand new, with only 28 kilometres on the car when I received it. That doesn’t change its terrible 0-60 time; this car accelerates as fast as a Barbara Bush on land.
I have confirmed that I am required to exchange my Ontario driver’s license for a German one, sometime in the next couple of months. I thought I could get away with using my Ontario license the entire time, as I still have legal residence in Canada, though that seems to be not the case. From what I can tell it must be exchanged six months after the initial registration in Germany. It looks like the process should be relatively simple, and will be a direct exchange.
And apart from all that, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend after a few pretty exciting ones.
Nice writing to you, Interneters.