Applying for a Disabled Parking Permit

Michael Parking tickets in America are much more expensive than in Germany, but if any of you want to experience a really hefty fine, I have two tips for you here: parking at a bus stop or in a disabled parking space - that costs almost a thousand dollars in fines. Even if you only stop briefly and an official, i.e. a policeman or meter maid sees this, you'll be hit with a monster ticket.

As you know, only vehicles displaying a disabled parking permit may park in disabled parking spaces, but as a neutral observer, I often notice that there are people emerging from these cars with astonishing mobility. This made me wonder: Who hands these people handicapped parking permits anyway?

But what do you know, last summer I unexpectedly had the opportunity to explore this question, because after a bad football accident, I could only walk with crutches, even after knee surgery. Every location that was more than 30 feet away became a burden, and so I thought, I'll give it a try, maybe I'll get a plaque and can then park in the first row at the supermarket entrance, so I don't have to torture myself so much.

So I called the doctor's office where I was in treatment for the knee, and asked about a disability permit. The receptionist knew immediately what to do and sent me an email with a filled-out PDF form number 150 issued by the California DMV. On it, the doctor had confirmed that due to my knee injury I suffered from restricted mobility. I went ahead and filled in the remaining form data, driver's license number and address, and signed to confirm. The receptionist had also warned me that the DMV sometimes requires the original form with the doctor's ink, but I just gave it a try and filed an online application with the DMV, and uploaded scans of my driver's license and the doctor's confirmation on the form.

After a few days, I received confirmation via email that a fee of $6 was required to proceed with the application, which I promptly paid online using my credit card. A few days later, I received approval via email, and a week later, a letter from the DMV arrived with the red plastic placard shown in image 3. Accompanying it was the officially stamped certificate from image 4, which must be carried while displaying the plaque hanging from the rearview mirror, while parking the car in restricted spot.

With the placard, one can actually not only park in disabled parking spaces, but also in neighborhoods with residental parking, and even at parking meters, as long as one likes, without paying a dime! And since the temporary plaque is issued for six months, it remains valid even if the patient has recovered in the meantime.

However, you can't use it to park illegally, such as in no-stopping zones or in front of a driveway, where the vehicle will still be towed away regardless. And the permit may only be displayed hanging from the rearview mirror if the person with mobility impairments was transported by the car. Violations and general misuse of the permit can result in even harsher penalties, up to $4,200 in fines.

On my red plastic placard, the word "Temporary" is written in large and bold letters, so it expires in my case after six months, and must then be renewed with a new medical certificate if required. Instead of the tranferable placard, there are also special license plates with the blue disabled symbol, which are permanent and attached to the respective vehicle, and (probably) checked more strictly by the DMV.

Ironically, it also states on the certificate that at service stations with full service, the attendant must fill up the vehicle of a disabled person at the self-service price. I would have liked to test this out for our newsletter readers, but unfortunately, I am not aware of any service stations around here where there are still attendants, except maybe in the state of Oregon.

Angelika's New Job

Angelika After five years at the Burkard School located in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, I thought it was time for something new and applied for a position in special education at the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV). I got the job and have been working there since August as an inclusion specialist, which means I look after children who need additional support. I'm working in both the preschool and kindergarten areas, as well as in primary school. The German School has been around since 1999 and has grown steadily over time. There are now two locations: one in Mountain View on the Peninsula and another in San Francisco's Castro district, very close to our neighborhood. I'm working at both locations alternatingly, with four days a week spent in Mountain View, and one day in San Francisco, where I can easily get to by simply walkng to work over the hill.

The German School is a private school that charges tuition fees and is part of the group of approximately 140 worldwide German schools around the world that are overseen by Germany's federal foreign office. What sets it apart is that students can earn both a German diploma, such as the Abitur, and an American High School Diploma. It goes up to grade 12 and the curriculum follows that of the German state of Thuringia. The school is bilingual; in the classes for very young children and the kindergarten, there are two teachers in each classroom, one who speaks German and one who speaks English. During the first few years of primary school, however, the instruction is conducted solely in German, and English is offered as an elective subject. I am always fascinated by how effortlessly most children switch between languages, and I'm learning a lot by working in this setting.

Dynamic Toll on Freeway Express Lanes

Angelika Unfortunately, I'm now facing a long commute and spend long hours on most days driving to and from my new workplace. Traffic is now almost as bad as before the pandemic, especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, because that's when most Silicon Valley companies like Facebook, Google, Apple require their employees to be in office. Politically speaking, little moves when it comes to traffic in this country, even in California. For decades, people have been arguing about a high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles without any progress. Even plans to expand BART, the subway system of the Bay Area, aren't going anywhere due to high costs. It's all moving way too slowly.

The planners at CalTrans, the California traffic agency, have now started the construction of what are known as "Express Lanes" on our freeways. I don't know if this is really the smart thing to do in order to accelerate the traffic policy turnaround. These restricted lanes on American highways have actually been around for a long time, especially in the Los Angeles area. The original idea was to reward drivers who do not travel alone, and encourage them to form carpools. If a driver has a passenger in the car, they can use the carpool lanes during rush hour, which are supposed to be less congested, helping you to reach your destination faster. Even electric cars with a clean air sticker on the windshield are allowed to use these special lanes, even if there is only the driver in the car.

On Highway 101, which runs from San Francisco down to Silicon Valley, there are now express lanes that require a toll in many areas. If drivers are alone in the car and want to use these lanes, they must pay an extra fee between 5am and 8pm. However, electric vehicles and carpoolers receive discounts: for electric vehicles as well as cars with two or more occupants, it's half price. For three or more passengers and motorcyclists, the lanes are toll-free. Anyone wishing to use the lane, regardless of how many people are in the car, needs a Fastrak device.

Now the crazy thing about this is that these new express tracks have dynamic pricing. The more congestion there is, the more expensive it is to use the fast lanes. Large signs over the lanes show how much the section from here to certain exits currently costs, which can range from 50 cents to $12. There are several sections between San Francisco and Mountain View. With heavy traffic, toll for the express lanes can really add up. This new system is supposed to improve the flow of traffic on the freeway. I doubt that. The revenue generated by the tolls collected is allegedly invested in the expansion of public transportation. That would be nice, because California really needs to make progress on this at some point. I would love to take the train from San Francisco to Mountain View, for example. There's even a high-speed regional express called "Bullet Train", but getting to and from the train station with public transport is onerous and time-consuming, and driving is still much faster, even in heavy traffic.

How can German emigrants renew their passports?

Michael Germans like us who have lived abroad for a long time no longer have a German residence. For this reason, the extension of our passports is not the responsibility of any local government office in Germany, but rather handled by the consulate in San Francisco. However, this particular consulate does not only serve the residents of San Francisco, but also the entire upper west coast of the USA, including Hawaii and Alaska!

Now as you can imagine, they are pretty busy. And one cannot simply waltz in there, show the old passport, hit the table and have it renewed, instead one must first arrange an appointment, of which the consulate grants only thirteen per working day. Besides Friday naturally, because there is no customer traffic at the consulate on Fridays.

Unsurprisingly, new appointments are gone in a flash. The consulate makes new dates available at midnight German local time (!) for the same day in exactly three weeks' time. At this point in time, i.e., at 3pm local San Francisco time (on the previous day), as one might imagine, hundreds of emigrants are swarming the consulate server, in order to attempt to grab one of the highly coveted thirteen new appointments. Unsurprisingly, the consulate server cannot withstand the onslaught, and crashes regularly at this time (Illustration #1).

Those who don't give up immediately, can witness a few minutes later that all appointments for the day are booked (Illustration 2) and the citizen must try again at midnight German time on the next day. Hopefully, nobody is in a rush to get their passport renewed. But according to consular information, one can apply for an emergency appointment by email, and if the urgency of the appointment is successfully justified, one will reportedly be squeezed in somehow.

Those select individuals who manage to fill in the online form with luck and quick fingers, including the bot-proof Captcha that only eagle-eyed people can read, faster than the rest of the hungry mob, get an appointment assigned. On this date, which is exactly three weeks later, they may then come to the embassy at the appointed time with their to-be-renewed travel document plus a set of other documents, including a birth and marriage certificate, along with photocopies. Actually, the old passport can't be renewed, instead one must apply for a new one every time. Also, the consulate is not allowed to store any of the data, so one must bring all the supporting documents in their original form with copies every time.

Regarding passport photos, they must measure exactly 35mm x 45mm according to the specifications in illustration 17. In addition, the depicted head must be facing the camera straigt on and meet a series of proportional requirements. If you have a camera and a color printer at home, you can make your own photos. My (admittedly perfect, but then again I'm a pro) home-made photos were accepted without any issues.

People with less confidence can have their photos taken at a variety of specialty stores in San Francisco, but also at Walgreens. There's no photo studio there, but instead, one stands in front of a white wall in the store, the clerk retrieves a cheap digital camera from a drawer, takes a photo, and then inserts the SD card into a color printer. Walgreens even has a setting for "German Passport" on the computer, and the image then meets the required specifications. For this service, one typically pays around $18.

Generally, the citizen hands over their old passport at the appointment at the consulate. But then of course the old document can't be used until the issuance of the new passport. However, if a passport that is not yet completely expired is still urgently needed for travel, the citizen may hold onto it after submitting the application at the consulate. But since a German citizen can only possess one passport document at any time, they must either send the old passport by mail or personally deliver it for deactivation as soon as the new passport arrives at the consulate. If they leave the old passport at the consulate when applying for the new one, on the other hand, the staff will deactivate it there upon arrival of the new one. Only then can the new passport be collected, either by Fedex (at a cost of $23.60 for postage) or in person at the consulate with an appointment.

By the way, I wanted to dispel a rumor that is stubbornly circulating on the Internet: A German passport does not necessarily have to be "valid for at least X months" in order to enter Germany with it. It actually remains valid until the very last date of validity, indicated on the document.

According to rumors, I have also heard from some expatriate Germans on Facebook that it is indeed possible to extend a passport at a residents' registration office in any city during a visit in Germany, provided that one is stubborn enough. From what I've heard, the offices in larger cities often put up resistance, but smaller towns allegedly make an exception for an extra fee. However, one must then stay in Germany until the new passport is ready, which can take several months.

On average, it takes the consulate 6-8 weeks to issue a new passport. However, by paying an express fee of €32, you can speed up the process. I had booked the "Fully Loaded, All Inclusive" luxury package (my words), which includes all extras such as express processing and subsequent FedEx delivery. And lo and behold, the FedEx envelope with my new passport arrived exactly 14 days after my consulate appointment at our home address. Although it was marked for personal delivery only upon signature, I found it lying in the lobby of our building in the evening.

The old passport that I had submitted with the application at the consulate was also included in the envelope, although the machine-readable section had been cut off to cancel it (See the Schrempf story in Rundbrief 11/2022).

As you can see in the breakdown in Figure 19, the processing, including the foreign surcharge costs 81 Euros, the express fee is an additional 32 Euros and the Fedex delivery costs 23.60 Euros. The consulate accepts credit cards (Visa/Mastercard), which will be charged in Euros from a location pretending to be located in Germany, so the credit card company shouldn't be too paranoid about it. Supposedly you can also pay in cash in local currency (US dollars in our case), although the consulate's website claims otherwise. The Euros charged to my credit card were naturally converted back to dollars by the credit card company, and a total of $149 was deducted (see Figure 20).

Here's another bit of interesting consulate lore: The foreign representations of the Federal Republic of Germany are divided into consulates and embassies. There is always only one embassy per country, and in the United States it is located at the capital, Washington, DC. However, the Germany also maintains a total of eight general consulates here in the U.S., where you can also get a new passport among other things. The head of the consulate in San Francisco, the consul, is incidentally an employee of Germany's foreign service and reports to the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock. In more remote areas such as Hawaii, German citizens can also seek help from a locally resident honorary consul, who receives German citizens at home in his living room and arranges the processing of applications with the nearest consulate. Could this be the next step in my career?

Drama Finding a New Primary Care Doctor

Angelika In May of this year, our longtime family doctor informed us that he was retiring. We had been anticipating his departure for some time now, as our doctor was over 70 by our estimates. That he even managed to deal with the crumbling American healthcare system for so long is commendable. He was a doctor of the good old school: careful, experienced, but not prone to panic or ordering unnecessary tests. On the other hand, he acted quickly and surely when it was necessary. He was the one who diagnosed Michael's pulmonary embolism, which the emergency room had unfortunately missed. We will be forever grateful for that.

In our naivety, we initially did not worry about finding a new family doctor in San Francisco. After all, we live in a big city with what we thought were many options. Our doctor didn't find a successor for his practice, but he sent us a letter listing half a dozen doctors who were willing to take on his patients. In July, we thought it was time to bite the bullet and find a new primary care physician, because without one, you're in trouble if you unexpectedly get sick. I also needed a health certificate for my new job, so that was another reason.

Michael and I both called several doctors from the list, just to find out that almost nobody accepted new patients or cared enough about their own practice being on the successor list of our doctor. Often, no one answered the phone, and when we left a message, no one bothered to call back. We dialed and dialed and scoured the Internet for other options. The few times we actually did get someone to pick up the phone, it felt like winning the lottery. Most didn't care at all about our situation, except one time I got lucky and a nice healthcare worker gave me three phone numbers to try a few large health organizations like Dignity Health, One Medical, and Circle Medical.

These organizations manage large medical practices and sometimes even hospitals. Doctors are then employed by them. Most of them do not have a particularly good reputation, as patients have to deal with excessive bureaucracy and a huge administrative apparatus. Reviews often reveal chaotic conditions. When I tried to log in to the portal of Dignity Health to view my doctor's notes (see link below), I found myself navigating through endless menus and pop-ups before finally finding what I was looking for.

At long last, we finally found a family doctor through the Dignity Health group. Not in the city of San Francisco, but 20 miles south on the Peninsula, in the town of Belmont. We made an appointment online with the doctor, and were pleasantly surprised that the complex has free parking, which is unheard of in San Francisco.

So why is it so difficult to find a primary care physician these days? Family doctors are poorly paid in the USA, just like in Germany, and there's very few doctors who want to work in the field for this reason. Added to this is the extremely inefficient American healthcare system that demands dealing with bureaucratic burdens, totally unrelated to their actual work. As a result, according to forecasts, by the year 2025, California will experience a shortage of 4,700 primary care physicians.

Shopping Tax Free in Europe

Angelika If you're still one of these people who like shopping trips to the city center, you may have already noticed that in Europe, stores sometimes advertise tax-free shopping. How does this work? The value added tax, which Germany levies on most goods, adds 19% to the purchase price. But people from non-EU countries can get a refund on the tax paid on purchases during their trip. The prerequisite is that the goods are only intended for personal use and are brought abroad in unused condition and carried in the traveling luggage.

This also applies to German citizens living in non-EU countries, like us. It is required, though, that their German passport must show the foreign residence, or the customs officer will be deny the required stamp on the customs form. To claim a value added tax refund, customers can theoretically obtain an export certificate at the store, then collect the customs stamp upon departure at the airport, which certifies export of the goods, and then later present or send the stamped certificate back to the store. This is naturally very cumbersome, especially when you've shopped at many different stores during a tourist visit.

Therefore, there are service providers that simplify the reimbursement for foreign customers, for a fee. "Global Blue Refund" is one of the best-known companies, but recently it has become increasingly common to find another provider called "Planet Tax Free". Customers can process the claime through either provider. In cities with many foreign tourists like Amsterdam, you often see stores display the sign "Tax Free Shopping", but even in my small town of Oldenburg where I like to shop for clothes at the store "Leffers" during my visit to Germany, this works as advertised.

Now how does this work specifically when you're shopping? At the checkout, you tell the cashier that you want to shop "Tax Free". Then Leffers in Oldenburg will fill out a "Global Blue Refund" form by hand, and "Hirmer" in Munich will print an electronic form for "Planet Tax Free" at the checkout. It is also important that the original cash register receipt is attached to the form. Customers must then enter their contact details such as address and passport number on the form and sign it. Each country has slightly different rules. In Germany, the customer must be at least 18 years old and have purchased goods worth a minimum of €50 per transaction.

The second step then happens at customs at the airport. It's a bit tedious to handle the necessary paperwork before departure at the airport, as it takes time. But since we always buy so much on our trips to Germany, it does pay off. Now, where the departing traveler receives the export customs stamp depends on the airport and also whether the goods are carried in carry-on luggage or checked-in luggage. Also, the customs officer might want to inspect the goods. We have been doing "Tax-Free Shopping" for years and had to open our goods twice in front of the customs officer. And we've observed stressed travelers frantically unpacking their suitcases to find the goods when the customs officer demands it. Experienced travelers like us, of course, pack everything easily accessible in a designated suitcase.

Travelers usually first goes to the check-in counter of their airline at the airport. They check in their luggage and receive the baggage tag, but tell the counter agent, before the luggage disappears on the conveyor belt into the bowels of the airport, that they have "Tax-Free Shopping" in their luggage and still have to go to customs. They get their luggage reissued and now haul it through the airport, until they reach the customs counter, which may be quite a distance from the airline's check-in counter. After waiting in line there, and saying a quick prayer that there isn't someone before them in line who will hand the customs officer a stack of incomplete forms, or whose goods cannot be found in their suitcase. We've seen everything! At the customs counter, you then hand the customs officer the "Tax-Free Forms" and your passport. The customs officer then stamps the departure certificate on the form, and hopefully does not see the need to inspect every pair of underwear or socks that were purchased. Right then and there, the luggage is then placed onto a conveyor belt in the customs office, from where it enters the bowels of the airport on its way to be loaded onto the plane. I always cross my fingers that the luggage then does not disappear mysteriously somewhere in the airport building and will actually ends up on the correct aircraft.

Another option is to carry purchased items in carry-on luggage, provided they fit. However, it is important to note that in this case, customs inspection will take place after the security line. This can be confusing and I have also experienced being directed to the wrong customs office in the main hall before. With carry-on luggage, one goes through security first, then passport control for departure, and finally finds the customs office on the other side. There, the procedure is similar to the one described above, with the difference that of course one does not put the hand luggage on a conveyor belt, but takes it on the flight. Incidentally, on my last trip, the customs officer asked me if I had two passports. How did he know that? Because I had presented my American passport for tax-free purchases, but had shown my German passport exit passport control beforehand. Big brother is watching you.

Now here comes the final step. Unless you want to receive your reimbursement on your next trip to Germany, by showing the form with the customs stamp at the store, large airports like Munich and Frankfurt offer "Global Blue" tax refund booths, processing the refund for a hefty fee. Travels can get the refund in cash, which again requires paying fees. Those who want dollars instead of Euros receive an unfavorable exchange rate. Another option is to present your credit card, on which the refund will then be credited, which is less burdened with fees and happens relatively quickly.

The refund request can also be sent to Global Blue or Planet Tax Free using a provided envelope, which takes longer, but it's useful if the counter is not staffed. Near the customs office there are special mailboxes for this purpose. However, it always gives me a little stomach ache to enter my credit card number on the form, which then goes around the world to reach the offices of Global Blue and Planet Tax Free, which are located in Slovakia and Poland. Last time, we sent our request to "Planet Tax Free", and for weeks the money did not appear on our credit card. Michael had already filed a search request online when suddenly almost simultaneously the refund appeared on our credit card.

How much do you actually lose in fees from the reimbursement amount? You can see in Figure 25 that from a purchase price of 609.93 Euros at the store, a total of 97.38 Euros in value-added tax were withheld, which at that time were 106.05 US Dollars. Exactly two months after our trip, 66.70 dollars arrived on our credit card after all processing and conversion fees had been deducted, so the processor kept a total of 37% in fees, not exactly a bargain!

Top product: Cheap Bike Rack

Michael Actually, have you noticed these people who carry bicycles on a rack mounted on the back of their car on the Autobahn? They're really annoying! But since I have bought one of these bicycle carriers myself, I see the situation in a whole different light.

Due to my knee injury, I couldn't properly walk or hike for months, so I bought a second bike for Angelika and instead of our strenunous urban hikes, we rode bikes. San Francisco is not entirely safe for cycling and it is also exhausting because of its hills, so I looked for a bike rack to mount on the car, to drive to a flat areas and go on some nice rides.

I found a trunk mounted bike rack on Amazon for $35, consisting of a metal frame and four straps with metal hooks to secure the rack on the car, by inserting the hooks into the nooks and crannies by the trunk lid. The design of the rack is simple yet effective, except in Germany, you would be arrested immediately if you were caught driving with it on your car on the autobahn.

While shuttling our bikes around, we've discovered interesting new tricks: usually, if you want to park anywhere in the bay area near a main attraction, you'll face always-hungry parking meters and lurking meter maids. But if you have bicycles mounted on your car, you simply park half a mile away in a residential area, dismount the bikes and cycle to the attraction in about two minutes, where you can easily store the bikes, for example in front of a restaurant. Unless, of course, you end up in the city of Sausalito, where there are signs everywhere that proclaim in draconian words that bicycles may not be parked on the sidewalk. What a dump!

The bike mount fits on both of our cars, one of which has a trunk and the other one has a rear hatch, but the design is versatible enough to fit both. You shouldn't be worried about scratching your car's clear coat either, as the rack's metal hooks fit snugly at the seams of the trunk or hatch, and may even rattle when turning corners, but so far I haven't noticed any damage. Of course, this could also be due to the fact that we have long since passed the stage where new scratches would bother us with our old cars. All in all ... another Top Product!

Greetings from San Francisco

Angelika and Michael