Livin' La Vida Luxem: The Unhappiest Place in Luxembourg

For those of you that have been keeping up with this blog, Thank YOU! The real reason I write this, however, is as a public service to those planning on living abroad. This centers me and give my life purpose.

Psyche.

The line at Controle Technique 9:30am - not too bad (I thought).

The really real reason is because this is a great place to vent some steam and gripe via digital postcards. You may recall we have a car, and her name is Vicki. Why is she named Vicki? I'm not sure, but I believe it came in some sort of martini inspired vision. Anyway…to paraphrase an earlier post, this is Luxembourg, and NOTHING here is ever a one time event. This is especially true for a special little place over in Sandweiler called Controle Technique Please follow the link because I have no idea how is is that 61 people actually like them! The FaceBook comment says it all…Michael states, "Ugh! There is a super long wait in line, the people are in poor spirits and not very nice…the entire organization is bad!" Seriously, I just spent five hours waiting in line because my tires didn't have a special European Certificate…I still don't know the significance of this document, and one again poor Vicki has been rejected.

A 046 - 11:15am. "There are 30 people ahead of you." I left at 2:30pm - rejected & dejected :(

Oh yeah, the reason for all of this rejection drama is because I bought new wheels and snow tires (online - mistake #1) from an American retailer (mistake #2 - for a really good price I might add). Snow tires are mandatory here, and nowhere did I read that the wheels they must be Euro-certified with the EU seal of approve. Alas, I now must find a mechanical engineer to state in writing that these Michelin tires (French Brand by the way) are sufficient to be driven on the roads of the Old World. Yikes. So much for a great price on tires…what do you think an engineer is going to charge to size up Vicki's new winter wear.

So. Now, I have to go to these guys (or someone similar) and pay an additional €600 for Vicki's new shoes.

In other news, Luxembourg has finally organized its first new government in 40 years. Parliament has been led by the CSV (Christian Socialists Peoples Party - sorry no English here) since the 1970's! Now the new coalition is run by the DP (Democratic Party - no English here either) with the former mayor of the Ville, Xavier Bettel, as the new Prime Minister. This in kinda big news around here. Not to name drop, but your cub-blogger has indeed met Mr Bettel. Super nice, and just like everyone here in Luxembourg, very warm and welcoming! Ok, that was a rather large name drop :) Mr Bettel is an interesting guy, you can read an interview here on BuzzFeed.

In yet more news…poor JoJo got in a dust-up at the dog park. He's fine, but he did get his ear bit because he was being too aggressive with a toy. The funny part is that the sweetest dog there, Dita, put him back in his place. The dog park is for everyone, and there is no room (Jonas) for a dominant male…especially when your one of the smaller pooches in the park. Again, he's made a full recovery, and he and Dita have made up.