More Android fun and frustration

Ever since I bought a bike, I've been taking rides through the city when the weather is nice: it's a great way to burn off a few beers' worth of calories, while also getting some sun and seeing some parts of the city that I wouldn't otherwise see. Although there are many streets that are a bit dangerous on a bike, Munich is extremely bike-friendly, and there's almost always a pleasant, safe, and scenic route to get just about anywhere.

Android now has an awesome Navigation system that gives turn-by-turn directions. It's theoretically got biking directions (although that's not available here in Munich yet). So, I figure, an obviously great implementation of this tool would be the following:

1) Go to Google Maps and cross-reference it with the Munich bike path map (http://maps.muenchen.de/radlstadtplan_2009/radlstadtplan_2009.html?str=Marienpl.&num=8)

2) Plan out a nice scenic route for the day that utilized bike paths as much as possible, and goes through one or two parks, monuments, or whatever.

3) Export the route in Google Maps via one of the many methods available

4) Pop it into the nav system, pop in one of my headphones, and go!

Instead, there's virtually no integration, which means that I either have to memorize my route (or else keep popping out my phone and double-check my location on the way), or else utilize the default Navigation routes, which always go through the dangerous, ugly, car-priority streets.

Off the top of my head, I can think of many applications for this tie-in:

--When going to your friend's new place, he can send you a route of the best way to get there.

--You're going to a picnic in the park, and you want to send your friends the best route to the closest parking lot.

--You want to publish some of the best walks or bike rides in your favorite cities.

--You found a great shortcut in town and want to share it with all your friends who regularly have to drive through the same area.

Or whatever. What confuses me is that this functionality has got to be really, really easy for Google to build in; the hard part is figuring out the route, and that part's already done! The Nav software only needs to shout out the directions - shouldn't that be easy?

Anybody else find this to be a maddening lack of obvious, simple functionality?

Heading back home

So, I know I've indicated this is probably happening before, but now it's certain: we're going back home to NYC.

The short backstory: Clau's company purchased another large company. This other large company focuses pretty much on one product and is not nearly as diversified as Clau's company. The product that this other company makes is the same product on which the Munich office focuses. Therefore, the decision was made to consolidate the Munich office with this company's HQ in England. Technically, the Munich office will stay, but it will become a "satellite" office, meaning a very small office that does niche work; definitely not a healthy place for Clau to be in her career.

We thought long and hard about all the possibilities, but it really came down to this; moving here, although personally healthy for us, turned out to be a career killer for me. I've been pretty unhappy in my job, mostly because it's so obvious that it's not going anywhere; I only stayed in it for a couple of reasons that had nothing to do with the work itself; although that worked out for the best, I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance.

So, when Clau found out that she was going to have to move somewhere, she started steering the ship towards New York. She got the official offer last week - timeframe is looking like late October.

I have mixed feelings about it; we've finally made some good friends here, and we actually had a solid month of good weather, which allowed me to appreciate just how beautiful the city is. I'll definitely miss it. I've learned enough German to have a somewhat interesting conversation. I just got my German driver's license. We bought a relatively expensive kitchen, closets, appliances, and television - we really committed to staying here, and now we can't. So, we're sad to be going, but if I have to leave here, then my first choice of destination would be back to NY, so I guess it could be worse.

We have some other stuff to sort out: details of the relocation, Clau's green card, etc. But, at this point, I'd say it's a done deal: we're moving back home!