Day 69: Errands.

We have two weeks of shopping to catch up on! UGH! We didn't get up until until 9. I think the traveling over the past weekend caught up with us.

We a ton of errands to run. First stop: Bopple to buy a loaf of fresh bread. We have to go there first for two reasons, it's on our way out of town and they close at one o'clock and we are sure we will not be back before then.

We next stop at Trieber for some breakfast. Trieber is located next door to LIDL where I need to buy local stuff but I didn't want to have to go back to the apartment and unload. We will come back after we get to the bank and to the BX.

We go to the bank to arrange the security deposit transfer into our landlord's account along with setting up the monthly transfer for the rent. We won't even have to think about paying the rent, it will automatically come out of our account. If we were in the US, I would prefer to write the check and send it but here in Germany this makes more sense.

We head on over to the BX and it appears the military families of Panzer are having a huge lawn sale right in front of the BX. As we walk, I wonder if they have some stuff that we could use. It appears they do. We pick up a used color tv for $12 and a web cam for $5. Great deals! I didn't see anything else that I just HAD to have so we went inside.

It was at this point that I noticed I couldn't catch my breathe. I told Ted to go into the BX on his own and that I would sit and wait in the food court. He took a very long time. I only gave him a few things to get. What in the world could he be doing?? He finally came out and I saw he was carrying not one, but two bags. What in the world did he buy? It turns out he bought tools for work, shirt and shorts for himself along with the few things I had asked him to get for me.

Now he had to go over and check out our phones. I forgot the code for my phone but it didn't matter, he came back out and said he was going to close down his phone because the cost of having a service in Germany was outrageous. I will be shutting down my cell phone as soon as we get a land line and VoIP set up in the apartment. I'm hoping we can do that quickly.

He also needed to get a haircut. So while he was doing that, they have these wonderful massage chairs in the hallway outside of the Barber shop. I sat and had a chair massage for 2 EURO. It was divine and felt SO good!

We head on over to Patch where I was supposed to do some shopping but I said we go on Sunday because I just didn't feel like fighting the crowds on a Saturday. Ted JUST made it to take his trousers to the cleaners (they close at 4) and we were on our way back to LIDL to get that shopping done.

I ask Ted if we can visit the store our Landlord gave us in Reutlingen. I want to start checking on beds. We get there at 5 and they close at 6 so we walk around and find a guy named Klaus. He tells us which bed and which frame to buy and gave us a price on a box to put the frames and beds in. It's VERY expensive and I'm thinking IKEA or the place that the previous tenant told us about a warehouse place where the furniture is good and not as expensive as IKEA. We need to check it out. This store not only sells furniture (and is three floors) but it sells linens, kitchen stuff, bath stuff and kitchens. I will need more than an hour to browse through this store. I'll have to find a bus that goes from Plieningen to Reutlingen so I can shop without having to drag poor Ted around...but I don't think he minds too much.

We did see that Reutlingen has quite a few "big box" stores that we will need to investigate in the coming weeks and months.

We get to LIDL and I buy the things on my list and we go home to unload. Ted is adamant that I go to the clinic. I'm still out of breath and we need to get another round of antibiotic for me. So off we go to the clinic.

We get there and the doctor on duty is the first doctor that saw Ted when he was sick the first time. She speaks English which is good. It turns out that I keep re-infecting my lungs because my sinusitis is not gone. So she gives me another round of antibiotics and something for the sinusitis. We go to the Apotheke to get the prescriptions. I'm going to have to get on the stick and get reimbursed from the health insurance for these prescriptions and for the clinic visits.

We'll have to find out if there's a clinic near Plieningen but with the doctor's offices right next door to our apartment we'll have to find one that speaks English!

By now Ted is famished and wants to eat. He wants to go back to the Schwaun Brau in Bernhausen (it's in Filderstadt as well) but is a ways away. For those of you in California think Rocklin and Roseville and for those of you in Ohio think Poland and Boardman.

We go there and the same waitress as before waits on us. We have our dinner and go home. It's time to rest and go to bed. It's been a long, long day!