If ever there was a time to be an unethical flight attendant...
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
If ever there was a time to be an unethical flight attendant...
Something should happen to the Danes for inconveniencing the Author...
Kiki should realize that there is always going to be something that will sidetrack her in her goal to become a surgeon, and if she starts on this path of becoming part of a Search and Rescue unit then there will be another thing to come up then another and another and another until one day she will find that time has passed her by and it is too late for her to achieve her goal.
If Kiki wants to be part of a Search and Rescue unit then she should tell everyone in charge it will only be after becoming a surgeon, and if they really wants her then they should let her do her training during her long academic breaks.
I wonder if the funeral of Johann Schultz was an open casket or a closed one as the various intelligence agencies of the world needed to confirm that it was really him that died and was buried.
If it was a closed casket funeral then I could see a lot of agents trying to break in to the mortuary the night before trying to see for themselves that it was Schultz in the coffin and not empty.
If it was an open casket, then a lot of pictures were taking using the small spy cameras and afterwards the agents are somewhere else having drinks and confirming to each other's that yes Schultz is dead and toasting his good fortune of a long life, peaceful death, and loving if chaotic family.
Kiki should realize that there is always going to be something that will sidetrack her in her goal to become a surgeon, and if she starts on this path of becoming part of a Search and Rescue unit then there will be another thing to come up then another and another and another until one day she will find that time has passed her by and it is too late for her to achieve her goal.
If Kiki wants to be part of a Search and Rescue unit then she should tell everyone in charge it will only be after becoming a surgeon, and if they really wants her then they should let her do her training during her long academic breaks.
I wonder if the funeral of Johann Schultz was an open casket or a closed one as the various intelligence agencies of the world needed to confirm that it was really him that died and was buried.
If it was a closed casket funeral then I could see a lot of agents trying to break in to the mortuary the night before trying to see for themselves that it was Schultz in the coffin and not empty.
If it was an open casket, then a lot of pictures were taking using the small spy cameras and afterwards the agents are somewhere else having drinks and confirming to each other's that yes Schultz is dead and toasting his good fortune of a long life, peaceful death, and loving if chaotic family.
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Presently, Kiki is in the third year of University study and while it has gone unmentioned as yet she is about to hit a wall anyway in the fourth year. The term is numerus clausus, meaning that to advance further requires entry into courses of study that strictly limit the number of students attending. She thinks she being pushed further away from her goals but it isn't an accident that the people advising her are encouraging her to take advantage of an opportunity to get a leg up.
In a minor aside, what is the fate of the Hamburg-American Line?
Without losing their fleet twice IOTL to reparations, it can be assumed that it is doing somewhat better ITTL.
With Germany having earlier turboprop airliners that can cross the Atlantic, will that cut deeply into the ocean liner business sooner and cause the company to stop its transatlantic voyages before it did in 1969 IOTL?
Without losing their fleet twice IOTL to reparations, it can be assumed that it is doing somewhat better ITTL.
With Germany having earlier turboprop airliners that can cross the Atlantic, will that cut deeply into the ocean liner business sooner and cause the company to stop its transatlantic voyages before it did in 1969 IOTL?
IOTL the construction of the S.S. United States was heavily subsidized by the Federal Government to be used as a troop ship to reinforce the American Army in Europe, with the ways that things played out ITTL and no American troops stationed in Europe, I doubt that the S.S. United States gets past the drawing board stage.
With Germany first having transatlantic turboprop airliners, then Great Britain getting all the bugs out of the deHaviland Comet the world's first commercial jet airliner, and the Boeing 707 coming on line sooner, I think that passenger ocean liners will see a much faster and steeper drop off ITTL then in OTL.
Remember the ocean liner business model is much different then the cruise lines model, ocean liners were until the jet age the most efficient way of having large number of passengers to cross the ocean and the big point of comparisons between the various passenger lines was to see which ship could cross the Atlantic the fastest.
Part 92, Chapter 1445
Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred Forty-Five
1st May 1961
Tempelhof, Berlin
It had been suggested that Kiki have a plan for what she would do afterwards if she washed out at Laupheim. If Kiki was being honest with herself, she replaced “if” with “when” but as she was learning, even her other plans were fraught with difficulty.
“This shouldn’t be an issue for you” Kiki’s Student Advisor said, “Just pick up the phone and call your father, get him to give the University a donation or something.”
For her that was possibly the most humiliating suggestion that he could possibly have made for her. For the rest of her life Kiki would have the suggestion that she had gotten into the next stage of her education by such means following her. She would also have everyone in her class knowing that someone better than her would have gotten the shaft. It was the result of deliberate policy by the University they limited the number of slots available to enter different stages of the Medical program. Kiki had completed the portion required to become a Medic or a Nurse, but the learning curve had gotten a lot steeper. While her scores were good, she was competing with other students whose scores were even better. It wasn’t the first time that Kiki had failed, but this was the first time the very best she could do wasn’t quite enough.
“Can you put my name forward anyway” Kiki said, “For the waiting list.”
“I can” The Advisor told her, “But baring a miracle you will just have to wait until next year and hope for a better outcome. Perhaps something will have changed between now and then.”
Kiki felt like her head was about to explode at how she was being painted into a corner. That something would have to be Laupheim and it was starting to look like if she went there it would no longer be a matter of pass/fail, it was pass or die trying.
Wunsdorf-Zossen
“We finally got the first prototype onto the track” Emil said, “And Zella is being every bit as insufferable as I figured she would be when I saw the design for the fairing that she sold the Engineers on.”
Horst just shook his head at that. The single-minded ruthlessness and devil may care attitude that annoyed Emil about his daughter was exactly the same as the one that Emil himself had displayed throughout his adult life. There was also another aspect of Emil that rankled Horst quite a bit, he was becoming certain that there was a painting molding away in some hidden corner of Emil’s house. While everyone around him was starting to suffer the ill effects of age, Emil remained in good health and was even somewhat youthful even into his sixth decade.
“You aren’t riding it are you?” Horst asked. If Emil was doing that, it would be too much for Horst in light of his own problems.
“No” Emil replied, “The prototype is like strapping yourself to a rocket except you are on the outside. That’s a young man’s game, I think I’ll stick with my old R68.”
That was rich, Emil’s BMW was the fastest production motorcycle in the world when he had bought it less than a decade earlier. Horst ought to know, he had heard Emil brag about that enough times. Then again, if Zella was really like Emil, then the young man’s game in question might actually be a young woman’s game as well. Horst found the thought to be extremely amusing. The great GFM Markgraf von Holz finally meeting an enemy that he couldn’t defeat, his daughter, who was apparently as big a pain in the ass as her father.
“What’s this about the cruise that Nina told Maria about last week?” Emil asked changing the subject. Due to competition from the airlines the ocean liners that had once plied the Trans-Atlantic route all either gone to the breakers or had been repurposed. These days they were used to provide vacations to mostly retirees who wanted to go sightseeing without having to put in a great deal of effort. It had been much to Horst’s annoyance that he was exactly the sort who such vacations were being advertised to.
“Nina’s idea” Horst said, “Around the Mediterranean Sea, stops in Italy, Greece and Egypt. See the Pyramids.”
“That sounds fun” Emil said, “Better than just knocking about the house and driving Nina nuts.”
It was a reminder to Horst that the wives always talked to each other. The result was that Emil probably knew more about what was going on with Horst than he otherwise would have.
“If you say so” Horst replied.
“Think about it” Emil said, “People who remember who you are will love nothing better than to be rubbing elbows with Mad Dog Horst himself.”
“I always hated that nickname” Horst said. He had been given that name when he had landed like a ton of bricks on the Division that he had unexpectedly been given command of. It had originally been an insult, denoting the role that he was seen as playing for Field Marshal von Wolvogle, later as the race to Moscow had heated up the men of the Division had started using it as one of affection. They were the tough bastards being led by the toughest bastard. The fact that they had won the race to the Russian Capital had cemented Horst’s reputation.
“At least no one has made a movie about your supposed exploits” Emil replied, and Horst had to agree with that much. Emil had been subjected to that for decades.
1st May 1961
Tempelhof, Berlin
It had been suggested that Kiki have a plan for what she would do afterwards if she washed out at Laupheim. If Kiki was being honest with herself, she replaced “if” with “when” but as she was learning, even her other plans were fraught with difficulty.
“This shouldn’t be an issue for you” Kiki’s Student Advisor said, “Just pick up the phone and call your father, get him to give the University a donation or something.”
For her that was possibly the most humiliating suggestion that he could possibly have made for her. For the rest of her life Kiki would have the suggestion that she had gotten into the next stage of her education by such means following her. She would also have everyone in her class knowing that someone better than her would have gotten the shaft. It was the result of deliberate policy by the University they limited the number of slots available to enter different stages of the Medical program. Kiki had completed the portion required to become a Medic or a Nurse, but the learning curve had gotten a lot steeper. While her scores were good, she was competing with other students whose scores were even better. It wasn’t the first time that Kiki had failed, but this was the first time the very best she could do wasn’t quite enough.
“Can you put my name forward anyway” Kiki said, “For the waiting list.”
“I can” The Advisor told her, “But baring a miracle you will just have to wait until next year and hope for a better outcome. Perhaps something will have changed between now and then.”
Kiki felt like her head was about to explode at how she was being painted into a corner. That something would have to be Laupheim and it was starting to look like if she went there it would no longer be a matter of pass/fail, it was pass or die trying.
Wunsdorf-Zossen
“We finally got the first prototype onto the track” Emil said, “And Zella is being every bit as insufferable as I figured she would be when I saw the design for the fairing that she sold the Engineers on.”
Horst just shook his head at that. The single-minded ruthlessness and devil may care attitude that annoyed Emil about his daughter was exactly the same as the one that Emil himself had displayed throughout his adult life. There was also another aspect of Emil that rankled Horst quite a bit, he was becoming certain that there was a painting molding away in some hidden corner of Emil’s house. While everyone around him was starting to suffer the ill effects of age, Emil remained in good health and was even somewhat youthful even into his sixth decade.
“You aren’t riding it are you?” Horst asked. If Emil was doing that, it would be too much for Horst in light of his own problems.
“No” Emil replied, “The prototype is like strapping yourself to a rocket except you are on the outside. That’s a young man’s game, I think I’ll stick with my old R68.”
That was rich, Emil’s BMW was the fastest production motorcycle in the world when he had bought it less than a decade earlier. Horst ought to know, he had heard Emil brag about that enough times. Then again, if Zella was really like Emil, then the young man’s game in question might actually be a young woman’s game as well. Horst found the thought to be extremely amusing. The great GFM Markgraf von Holz finally meeting an enemy that he couldn’t defeat, his daughter, who was apparently as big a pain in the ass as her father.
“What’s this about the cruise that Nina told Maria about last week?” Emil asked changing the subject. Due to competition from the airlines the ocean liners that had once plied the Trans-Atlantic route all either gone to the breakers or had been repurposed. These days they were used to provide vacations to mostly retirees who wanted to go sightseeing without having to put in a great deal of effort. It had been much to Horst’s annoyance that he was exactly the sort who such vacations were being advertised to.
“Nina’s idea” Horst said, “Around the Mediterranean Sea, stops in Italy, Greece and Egypt. See the Pyramids.”
“That sounds fun” Emil said, “Better than just knocking about the house and driving Nina nuts.”
It was a reminder to Horst that the wives always talked to each other. The result was that Emil probably knew more about what was going on with Horst than he otherwise would have.
“If you say so” Horst replied.
“Think about it” Emil said, “People who remember who you are will love nothing better than to be rubbing elbows with Mad Dog Horst himself.”
“I always hated that nickname” Horst said. He had been given that name when he had landed like a ton of bricks on the Division that he had unexpectedly been given command of. It had originally been an insult, denoting the role that he was seen as playing for Field Marshal von Wolvogle, later as the race to Moscow had heated up the men of the Division had started using it as one of affection. They were the tough bastards being led by the toughest bastard. The fact that they had won the race to the Russian Capital had cemented Horst’s reputation.
“At least no one has made a movie about your supposed exploits” Emil replied, and Horst had to agree with that much. Emil had been subjected to that for decades.
I am going to be a downer and say that EMil is going to die on that motorcycle, ala T. E Lawrence.
My sister’s late Mother-in-Law was a noted research scientist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography primarily specializing in Antarctica, and every few years she would go on cruise with her husband and to pay for it and get upgrades she would give lectures to the other passengers, with that in mind von Horst may find himself singing for his supper by telling war stories at the Captain’s Table and making himself available to the other passengers and I have a bad feeling about it.
As for Kiki, what good is it to be Lori Loughlin’s excuse me the Kaiser’s daughter if you can’t take advantage of it once in a while?
Because Kiki doesn't want to get a slot on the class-list that isn't gained on her own merits, quite understandable actually.
I know... I was trying to be snarky and use something from OTL now to make a point.
Kiki is known by the people of the German Empire as the "People's Princess" and when this story gets out that Kiki is waiting her turn like everyone else is supposed to do, a lot of people will admire her for it while thinking at the same time "If the Kaiser was my Father..." .
With the Twentieth anniversary of the formation of the Auxiliaries coming up the spotlight is going to be on the first volunteers like Helen von Richthofen and Katherine von Michener and how they are still inspiring other young women to join the military, of course Her Imperial Highness, Princess Kristina will be the reluctant poster girl in all of this.
Midge & Frank, with only a couple of sentences Peabody-Martini created in my mind two very real and plausible characters while in some ways a cliche of Americans abroad but still unique in their own ways.
On the "Typical American Tourist" - we've seen the Hick who never left the country before and doesn't know what the rest of the world thinks of Americans and gets upset when he finds out. Without OTL WWII will we have the Ugly American who knows that America is the best in the world and Americans are Gods On Earth? Will we have the Missionary bringing American culture to the world? Or even the Hippie/Rebellious Youth looking for the perfect world that isn't America? Until now the only overseas Americans we've had are Jack Kennedy and George Bush. Oops - and Dillinger.
That would require some sort of combination of happenstance and probably some luck, good or bad, thrown in. Such things never happen in this timeline...
I think what we will get ITTL is the ignorant American, who sees the discrimination that goes on at home, the segregation, the Jim Crow laws et al, and sees it as, at best unfortunate, and at worst "just the natural order of things", and will come up against a much more racially liberal Germany, who will find that unpalatable in the main. Even the British, with their colonial problems, (not curtailed by American interference or by WWII*), are likely to be less indulgent of the American approach to their non-white population.
* At the time, many British pro imperialists were up in arms about it. While the latter half of the 20th century was no picnic, I suspect that much more "enlightened" colonialism would have generated some far nastier blood baths than the rush to independence did.
You forgot Nancy, Gloria, Martin Luther King, and the members of the 1st SFG particularly Jonny and Parker. That reminds me I haven't written about what MLK has been up to lately.
Please be sarcastic.Too bad Asia didn't stay in that hospital.
FBKampfer
Banned
No. Although realistically it couldn't have been the same hospital, else she's easily found, as ITTL. To clarify, a prison would suffice just fine, but as a woman she'd be relatively easy to find. So a hospital is an unfortunate necessity.
Ideally, she's committed under a false name, transfered repeatedly, name changed again, more transfers, and just completely lost in the system, left to rot.
Or maybe just unceremoniously kicked out of a cargo plane over Germany decades later.
Having started out pro Germany, I shifted hardcore pro-USA around 1950, IIRC.
Any who interfere must be ruthlessly and mercilessly punished.