Reinhold and the Things That Should Work in Theory

Reinhold and the Things That Should Work in Theory

When it comes to cars, there are very few people who can outmatch Reinhold.

Ask him about an engine, a model, or a car brand, and you won’t just get an answer—you’ll often get the entire family history of the vehicle as well.

It’s much the same with airplanes.

And whenever we travel, I would happily bet that Reinhold could get us to our destination without the internet, a GPS, or even a smartphone.

Probably by taking a more scenic route, too.

For many years, he has planned our trips, mapped out routes, found shortcuts, and discovered places we would never have seen without him.

In short:

Reinhold is a man with a remarkable sense of direction.

Most of the time, anyway.

Because then there are those other moments.

The moments when modern technology decides to go its own way.

Or Reinhold does.

Sometimes it’s surprisingly difficult to tell the difference.

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The GPS Situation

A trip to the doctor.

Without GPS.

Reinhold knows the way.

Or at least that’s what he claims.

I am busy climbing Mount Everest on my cross trainer at home when the phone rings.

“Can you tell me where I am?”

No, he did not ask that in a gentle voice.

“Isn’t the GPS working?” I ask.

A reasonable question. After all, he was sitting in a BMW that probably has more computing power than the spacecraft that landed on the moon.

“No. The stupid system suddenly wants my BMW ID. It says I have to pull over and enter it.”

Up until a few days ago, everything had worked perfectly.

I open a map on my iPad, locate his approximate position, and begin a remote navigation session.

“You’re still about six miles from your destination.”

“Yes, but this road goes to Bordesholm!”

“Then don’t go to Bordesholm. Leave Bordesholm on your left. After that, Flintbek should be signposted.”

A brief pause.

“Okay.”

He hangs up.

A few minutes later, a thought suddenly occurs to me:

Why didn’t he simply open Google Maps on his iPhone?

I ask him exactly that later.

His answer comes without the slightest attempt at self-defense:

„You got me there.“

A brief pause.

Then:

“I thought my personal assistant would be faster.”

And finally:

“Made it there. More or less by accident.”

Before anyone assumes the GPS won this battle:

Back at home, Reinhold sat down at his desk with the manual, found the solution, and brought the system back to its senses within a matter of minutes.

The GPS has worked flawlessly ever since.

The question “Can you tell me where I am?” remains unforgettable, though.

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The Printer Story

A few days ago, our printer started producing pages that looked as though it had decided to explore its artistic side.

To me, the situation was obvious:

The printer had a problem.

To Reinhold, the situation was equally obvious:

The printer could not possibly have a problem.

After all, we had just installed new cartridges.

His logic was airtight.

New cartridges.

Therefore, no printer problem.

Several cleaning cycles later, it turned out that:

The printer was to blame.

The printer knew it.

I knew it.

The printer probably even knew that I knew it.

Only Reinhold was not entirely convinced yet.

If there’s one thing Reinhold can do, it’s plan a trip.

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My Conclusion

Reinhold has Google Maps.

He has a GPS.

He has a smartphone.

And yet, sometimes he still prefers drawing his own maps.

That probably explains more about him than anything else.

And honestly?

I think I would miss it if things were any different.

For anyone who thinks I’m exaggerating: this is one of Reinhold’s hand-drawn navigation maps.

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More from Life between the Journeys: Stories, memories, and little moments you won’t find in a travel guide.

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