First, we needed to go to Böblingen to get Bill an international driver’s license. Of course, we could take a chance and drive to Austria without one, but Bill is not the type to risk big fines and hassles. So we went, getting a later start than advisable. By the time we got to the appropriate government office, there was a big line of people. We waited about two hours to take care of our business. We had to stand for the first twenty minutes or so, because there wasn’t enough seating. One thing I did like, though, was the lighting. It wasn’t that harsh fluorescent lighting you find in the depressing American government offices. In fact, I noticed they take advantage of natural lighting by way of large windows. The lady who finally took care of us had a nice view of trees, too.
While we were waiting, I discovered that the office had free Wi-Fi. I made the mistake of using it. Who could blame me? It was faster than 4G. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up with a Net Nanny like program called “SurfGuard.eu” on my phone and it was blocking access to my blog. I certainly couldn’t have that. At first, I thought SurfGuard had to do with the Wi-Fi and my phone would go back to normal once we were out of the building. I was wrong.
I went looking for information about SurfGuard and all I can find is that it’s some sort of malware. Sadly, everything I found about removing it was for PC users, not iPhones. And sorry, but nothing is going to block me from my blog on my phone. Fuck that. So SurfGuard had to go.
We had lunch at the Schönbuch Brauhaus. I had Fleischkaese, which is sausage loaf with onion gravy and served with potato salad. It was okay, but reminded me of glorified Spam. I probably won’t have it again, though it definitely stuck to my ribs. I spent all of lunch trying to fix my phone. Bill had the special, which was butterflied pork cutlets with fries.
When all my efforts to get rid of SurfGuard failed, I finally ended up erasing the phone and am now having to upload all my apps. I lost all my photos, though fortunately they are all on my computer now, anyway. It’s a huge pain in the ass. I get that the government folks don’t want people looking at porn and shit while in their building, but I don’t appreciate having weird Net Nanny type programs installed on my phone without my knowledge.
After lunch, we went to Heinrich’s Drink Market and got rid of some empty bottles. We picked up a few new brews, then headed for Breunigerland to pick up a vignette for our trip to Austria. While we were there, I spotted Äffle und Pferdle mugs and bowls. I wanted to buy one of the mugs, but resisted the urge. Instead, we went to have coffee… Actually, Bill had a latte and I had sekt. Hey, where can you have sekt in an American mall?
So now we’re home and the dogs were glad to see us. We’ll have a short week and be off to Austria on Friday. I can hardly wait.
