Oh golly, our friends would surely be stressed if they had to truck those bikes 560 km west to Aachen. No, we'll spend a day with the friends and then jump the train together with the bikes. Aachen is on the Belgian border but still in Germany. We chose it since we could not easily find a train that would cross the border with us and the bikes.

Yes, I understood all that. In the original plan though you were starting from Leipzig. Are you still going to Leipzig first to pick them up, or will your friends be moving them forward to your new starting place?

The bikes are two full sized German ones that we bought in Netherlands in 2018 and stashed with friends in Leipzig, telling them we'll be right back. But CoviD intervened, and then we reconnected with the Fridays for a couple of tours. The German bikes have been in our friends' den for FIVE years. We bet they (the friends, not the bikes) will be glad to see us. The bikes will no doubt have forgotten us. That's good, because last time I ripped the seat post and seat out of Dodie's bike and contrived to throw both under a train!

You probably already mentioned this if I had been reading more closely, but what’s the plan for reuniting with up your bikes now?

Interesting thoughts on your e-assist conversions as we have had quite the opposite experience. We have now flown our e-assisted recumbent trikes on 17 different flights without any hiccups. We have also had 100% reliability with the motors and components (Grin Technologies kit). We were, however, questioned quite extensively on our last trip as the boxes were weighing 57 pounds each as the rear wheel with hubs weigh 10 pounds by themselves. So rather than fight the good fight and produce the written policies to Alaska Airlines, this next trip I will simply mount the old rims to the trikes for travel, put the hub motor wheel in our luggage and reassemble upon arrival. Boxes will now come in around 47 pounds. Alaska Aitlines’ policy states they will wave either the dimensions of the box or the weigh of a box for sports equipment. Of course the batteries are carry-on and we have never had any questions regarding them. I do pack each battery into a separate ziplock and have a printed copy of FAA policy regarding the batteries.

Looking forward to your journal and travels.

We can see clear sailing now to our flight to Frankfurt tomorrow. The only exception on the sailing front, though, is that BC Ferries has been breaking their boats and cancelling sailings all over the place. Westjet and Air Canada want about $400 to fly a person over to Vancouver. In another week, their price drops to $165. Crooks!

Yes, I was jokingly asking if daughter #1 could introduce me to her anesthesiologist. btw, an anesthesiologist earns about $400,000 per year in BC - worth it!

It was increasingly painful having first Dodie and then two doctors probing in there with tweezers. Perhaps fortunately, practitioner #4 did not mention the pain of the needle in the hand. I was lucky to have Dodie in the room, with a hand on my chest and getting me to breathe. We had to fight to have her in the room, but after 55 years we will not be separated.

One other thing that Dodie thought of was the necessity of a Tetanus shot. As a nurse she watched one man die from a blackberry thorn.

I’m so glad to hear you got the splinter out and got some antibiotics! I learned the hard way to not let wounds get infected. Sorry to hear about all the problems you’ve encountered. I hope everything works out!

How awful! Yes, you were very brave in my opinion. The quick around fingernails is so sensitive. I probably would have been asking for general anesthesia. Hope it heals well.

I had what I thought was a splinter this summer in the ball of my foot (I am barefoot all summer). The doctor told me how painful the shot of novocaine would be and I chickened out. My blood pressure was the highest ever! Three days later I performed surgery on it myself and it turned out it was a thorn. Now, weeks later, the ball of my foot still has a strange burning sensation at times. I hope your finger heals completely and quickly and doesn't limit you on your ride.

Oh God!! I've done that! It's the most painful thing! I cringe looking at this. I'm so sorry

Seemed entirely appropriate. I’d be whining too.

A problem is that the very word "splinter" denotes something minor. Only the lion with a thorn in its paw gives the affliction some status.

Did you like the whiny and entitled tone?