Google Plus iPad App

Today I downloaded the App for GooglePlus, that had been added to the App Store on Sept. 23 and supports now iPad's as well. Here are my thoughts about this App:
Once you open the App you're greeted by the sign-in screen. The one thing that did bother my right from the beginning is the fact the change between landscape and portrait orientation doesn't work. It's not a big deal but definitely annoying. 
After you have signed in you're greeted by the G+ Overview Screen, that gives you access to your Settings, Stream, Messenger, Photos, Profile and Circles. On the bottom you have a status bar letting you you if you have any notifications. So far this screen looks exactly the same way as the Android App.

Let's take a closer look at the settings tab:

This is the place to go if you want to sign out of the App. 

The next tab are Push Notifications. In essence it let's you decide when you what to be notified about mentions, shares & comments. You can also set when you want to be notified if someone added you to their circles, tags and comments on photos of you. It allows you to specify if you want be notified if someone comments on post after you've already commented. The default settings seem to do here a good job...not quite sure if you end up with a notification overload if you were to turn on all notifications. I guess only future will tell.

The next tab are Streams. Circles, Incoming and Nearby are selected by default. Here you can change the views around. 

The Messenger tab let's you choose who can IM you. You have the choice between Everyone, Extended Circles and Your Circles.

The last tab gives you access to Help, Feedback, Privacy Policy and TOS.

All in all the Settings Interface is clear, uncluttered and straight forward.

In the Stream you can side swipe through all the Views that you have selected in the Settings. Quite a nice feature. Here you can also check into Places and write your Posts. The Post-Tab is straight forward. It let's you add your current location to the post and gives the choice between taking a pic with your iPad camera or choose one stored on your iPad  and of course it let's you choose which of your circles you want to share it with. It doesn't allow you however to record a video status update and post it right away. This is a feature I would love to see in a future release of this App. 
The fact that you still don't have a reasonable good way of posting Links besides 'copy and paste' is a big disappointment!! I'm not talking about adding a 'text link', I'm talking about pulling the link feed and adding top Pic, Avatar or Icon with a small excerpt of the Article automatically to the post.

The Messenger tab contains the Instant Messenger. It is pretty straight forward and that's all there is to that tab.

The Photo-Tab is exactly what one expects. It houses all your Photos,  all your pix, if you have a Blog with Blogspot, all the photos from your Circles and if you have a Google Phone (like the Nexus S) it also holds all the pix that have automatically been added via instant upload from your phone. The top tab let's you take new pix with your iPad camera and gives you access to the pix stored on your iPad.

The Profile-Tab gives you the option to change your Profile Pic with a pic associated with your G+ Account, take a new one with your iPad camera or choose a pic stored on your iPad. This is a huge improvement compared to the mobile version of G+, that didn't give you that option.
The About-Tab in the bottom status bar contains your personal Info and let's someone send an email to the owner of the Profile. Is the same as in the mobile version of G+.
The next 2 Tabs give access to your Posts and Photos.

Once you open the Circles you find 2 top Tabs. 'People' view shows everyone in your circles in alphabetical order. If you tab on a name you can change which circle this person is associated with and it gives you access to that users profile. The 'Circles' view shows your contacts sorted by circles and gives you access the the same information as in 'People' view. In 'People' view you have an additional tab at the bottom that offers you a list of suggested people.

All in all a great App and a huge improvement over the mobile version of G+!! If I had to rate that App I would give it a 3.8 on a scale of 1 to 5.  My main complaints are that the Link Sharing needs to be optimized in order to pull the Link Feed automatically and that this App still doesn't give me the option to share certain G+ content with other social networks. Fixing the page orientation issue and integrating the iPad video cam into the App would be nice, but isn't essential for me.

Hiking 'Hegerberg'

Today was other beautiful fall day and I decided to take Daisy for a hike. My parents chose to join me. I wanted to hike from 'Stollberg' to 'Hegerberg'. The way I remembered it is, that it was about 2 hour hike along a ridge in the foothills.
Well memory is s funny thing. I remembered the hiking time right, but the trail that's an e entirely different story. First of all the trail only follows the ridge line at the end of the hike. You have to hike actually quite far down into the valley and then hike back up to the ridge. Well, that's nothing unusual in the foothills but having to hike the first hour completely on a paved, rural road that's just no fun. It's not the traffic as there was barely any, but hiking on a paved road is just no fun. Once you get of the road it's a fun hike through the forest and along the ridge line and Daisy really enjoyed it. After about 2 hours we reached the 'Johann Enzinger Haus' and had lunch there.
After relaxing for about 1 hour we headed back to the car. All was fine until we hit the paved road again. While hiking down it didn't even realize how far down that was. You do realize that, once you have to hike it all back up again. Having to do that on paved road no fun at all. While hiking back it occurred to me, that I could have parked the car where the trail leaves the road. OK, that reduces the hiking time by a out 1 hour, but it least you don't have to hike the paved road and the forest and ridge line hike are a fun hike.
Once o got home I checked with one of the older trail maps and it turns out that the trail always went that far down. Can't really say that I remember that. The only reason why I thought that you only hike on paved road for about 15 minutes is, that the last time I hiked that trail the road hadn't been paved..and that of course makes a hike feel quite differently.
Besides the paved road it was a fun fall hike!!
You can check out more pix of that hike in the photo-album 'Hiking 'Hegerberg' on my Facebook Page!!

Apollo 18

Today I finally got around to watching Apollo 18. Well I didn't read any of the reviews on purpose. Hadn't heard anything positive or negative either...and that's something that rarely happens. In retrospect I wish I had read those reviews before.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, here is the synopsis of 'Apollo 18'.
Holy crap...where do I start? Well by the time the movie had ended I was happy about 1 thing...that the movie had finally ended. That was definitely a major relief! It was one of the absolute worst movies that I have seen in a very long time. On the positive side I only wasted 86 minutes!
This is one of the slowest and most boring movies I have ever seen. The characters are dull, boring and lifeless. Nobody found it worthwhile to spend even a little time to develop the characters. I can live with characters that I don't like. I never even got the chance to either like or dislike the characters, I just didn't care for them. If something bad or good happened to them it would have been of no importance.
The story really doesn't go anywhere. It moves around in circles for 86 minutes and by the time the movie ends no story has been told. You could have taken the storyline on so many different directions or shed light on it in so many different angles, but nothing of at kind ever happens. Once the movie is over you're left with the question what the point of the entire story was to begin with.
The dialogue isn't any better than the the storyline. It's dull, boring and uninteresting. Those characters have not a single interesting line. In 86 minutes that's certainly an accomplishment! Even with the the dull dialogue, giving the characters a little personality would have improved this movie immensely.
The only slightly positive feel about the movie is the static camera work and the way the surface of the moon looks like. The wannabe SFX are a bad joke and by saying so I'm trying to be nice. They're trying to do a handy cam style. That's all well and good, but it's way too much. It's too grainy, it's way too jumpy, quite distracting and annoying! Less of the handy cam style would have improved the movie!
If a were to write a recipe for that disastrous movie it probably sound something like that: Take 80 minutes of story that goes nowhere, add some dull and lifeless characters, add boring dialogue really bad SFX, season with a little 'Alien' and 'Paranormal Activity' and in the end sprinkle some Stanley Kubrick over it and hope that something remotely tolerable emerges.
By the time the movie was over I was relieved it had finally ended. I was thinking that I haven't seen anything that bad in a very long time. Even cheesy Saturday SyFy movies are way better than this movie. How anyone could believe that a movie this bad belongs in a movie theatre is beyond my comprehension. I came very close to shut the movie of on several occasions. Luckily I watched it as a torrent. If I had seen that in a movie theatre I would have been pissed that I spent 10+ bucks on a movie like that and I might have even walked out. In order for that to happen a movie has to be exceptionally bad!! On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, I would have to give it a -5!!
Definitely a absolute DISLIKE!!

The Green Hornet

Today I finally got around to watch 'The Green Hornet'. Well being in Austria I have to either endure horrible dubs into friggin' German or to catch a showing of the original version in one of Vienna's very few movie theaters that actually do so. So downloading the movie via a torrent and streaming it to my iPad seemed definitely the better way to go. If it were an movie that I absolutely want to see on the big screen I would have waited for such a screening, but the reviews for 'The Green Hornet' weren't promising at all. So I guess it's a good thing that I don't listen to movie reviews to begin with.
For those of you who have no clue what movie I'm talking about check out the Synopsis of 'The Green Hornet'.
All in all a really enjoyed to movie. It's pretty much what I expect from a Superhero/Action Movie: Simple story, good action scenes and appealing visual effects. This movie delivered it all. It's way better than all the reviews made it sound like. Yes, it is true that sometimes the story moves along a little slow, but considering that they have 2 hours to set the scene, develop the characters, go through the action scenes and come up with an ending...well they did do a good job. The visual effects and car chase scenes were great and I really liked the way the cut the fight scenes.
All in all a good action movie...and it did exactly what a Superhero/Action Movie is supposed to do: It was fun to watch and it entertained me. So the negative reviews really don't do it any justice!!

So the Vacation comes to an End...

Today the vacation ended. I got up around 7 am and took Daisy for her morning walk. After that I started packing and by 8 am everything was packed. My Dad of course needed still 1 more hour before he was done. That gave me time go check my eMails, Facebook and Twitter. While I was doing that I heard my parents argue and argue about things that are of no real importance. It was pretty much driving me crazy. There was one thing I was thinking about: If 45+ years of marriage/relationship do that to you...well than you're definitely better of staying single. A little after 9 am my Dad was done and we went to have breakfast. By 10.30 all was packed and we were ready to leave. I just felt lucky that I was driving my Mom's old car with Daisy in the back and didn't have to listen to my parents argue about this and that. I turned on my 'Travel Play List' on my iPad and could listen to good music while driving back home. On the freeway there wasn't too much traffic, so we were making good progress. In Mondsee we stopped for a snack and drinks before continuing. A little over 1 hour before I got to my parents I had to stop at a rest area to untangle Daisy's leash. She had the leash partially wrapped around her hind legs...and that definitely couldn't have been comfy at all. As soon as I was done, I jumped back on the freeway again and by about 4 pm I had it made to my parents place.  So ends 1 week vacation in the Austrian Mountains. The majority of it was fun..my parents arguing and pickering not so much!

Vacation 2011, Day 7: Steinalm

Today was the last full day of the vacation. My Dad wanted to get the toll sticker for my Mom's car and fill up both cars before heading home tomorrow. Well, I would have done that either in the evening or tomorrow morning. As far as I'm concerned it was at least a partial waste of a perfect good vacation day. Arguing with my Dad at the age of 73 is pretty much a fruitless endeavor. So I just let him have his way. First we picked up the toll sticker and then headed out to Saalfelden to fill up both cars. 
Next up was the Einsiedelei (hermitage) that my Mom wanted to see. It's only a 30 minute hike on a fairly easy trail. Turns out that there is still a so called hermit living up there. The important word in the last sentence is 'so called'. If you want to be a hermit, well that's fine with me...but calling yourself a hermit and just living 30 minutes from civilization is a joke. On top of that the so called hermit lives only up there in summer, what makes the joke even worse as far as I'm concerned. That led to a slight argument with my parents about organized religion. Don't know those people anything about me? It was a bad idea to argue organized religion with me 10 years ago and that absolutely hasn't changed!

After my parent had their time at the hermitage we hiked to Steinalm via Fuchssteig. That's a hike of a little over 1 hour. The first part is quite steep and you better know what you're doing or it could end badly. If you're afraid of heights, well than that's definitely not the trail for you. Daisy didn't have any issues with that trail at all and actually really enjoyed herself. After about 30 minutes we continued on the main trail, since Fuchssteig is s little of a short cut. The last 1/2 hour up to is a fairly easy hike and we made it to Steinalm around 1 pm. When we got there I realized that there were several animals there including a goat. Daisy wasn't interested in the other animals, but showed genuine interest in the goat. So I let her do her thing and waited what was going to happen, but was ready to break things off in case the were to get out of hands. Well, both of them checked each other out without any issues at all. At Steinalm we had a little snack and something to drink and relaxed there for about 1 hour. Then we started to head back down. Again Daisy socialized a little with the goat. Apparently that's something that is hardwired into her DNA. We continued on the main trail and about 1 1/2 hours later we had made it back to car.
All in all a good last day of the vacation!

Vacation 2011, Day 6: Mitterberg Alm

Well today the weather was supposed to be more stabile than yesterday. By only looking out if the window you certainly weren't quite able to tell that. Clouds hanging low and fog in the lower parts of the mountain behind the hotel. But my Dad had set his heart to go hiking...and to make a long story short...hiking we went.  He wanted to hike from 'Arthur Haus' to 'Mitterfeld Alm'. We got to 'Arthur Haus' around noon and started with the hike. Well the hike has no real technical difficulties, but can be steep at times. It was a fun hike, sometimes hiking in light fog and that gives the trail a little of a mystical ambience. About 50 minutes later we had made it to 'Mitterfeld Alm'. We stopped there to have s quick drink, before heading back to 'Arthur Haus'. From there my Dad wanted to hike a trail, that is featuring several places where you can see the mining history around 'Arthur Haus'. After a rather short time my Mom had enough of hiking for the Day and went back to 'Arthur Haus'...and that's a nice way of putting it! I continued in the trail with my Dad. On the one hand I didn't mind hiking a bit longer and on the other hand I didn't want him to do that on is own, since with the age of 73 he isn't hiking as good as he used to. Of course by doing so I had to endure my Dad's history lesson. Something I'm not particularly fond of. When I'm going for a hike...I do just that and I'm not interested in s history lesson. If at a later point in time I should be interested in the history lesson about that particular trail I will read it then. That's something where my Dad and I don't see eye to eye...and that has been going on for at least the past 30 years...most likely way longer than that!! For the most part it was fine...over the years I've learned to let him talk, while I don't listen anyway and  I've become very good at that and most of the time don't register that what he is saying anyways. Well we hiked till a place called 'Windrauchegg Alm', where we turned around and headed back to 'Arthur Haus'.  Again Daisy got to socialize with free roaming cattle there. This seems to become Daisy new hobby and passion. It's quite interesting, as that socializing is a one-way street. Daisy likes to sniff and check out cattle, but if a cow does it to her in return, that kinda scares her and she always hides behind me. During many of the hikes in the future Daisy will continue to see free roaming cattle and maybe with the time she will get used to idea that it is OK if a cow checks her out. Guess only future will tell. Well, my Dad and I made it back to 'Arthur Haus' and met up with my Mom to have coffee there before heading back to the hotel.

Vacation 2011, Day 5: Seisenberg Klamm

From 9/14/11

Today was the weather was supposed to be rather unstable. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to sunshine and blue sky. But dark clouds slowly started to build up in the mountains, so a short hiking trip seemed to be best choice. I choose to take Daisy for a canyon hike to 'Seisenberg Klamm'. It was only about a 1 hour drive by car. My parents decider to join me. We got there around 11 am and the clouds were getting darker and thicker. So it was a good thing that the canyon hike was only a little over 1 mile long.  At the beginning it's a nice and wide path, but soon you reach the canyon and the bridges start. Daisy didn't have any issues with that at all. She acted as if she had been doing that all her life. She wasn't even by the people coming back down. What surprised me that the sound of the water rushing by didn't bother her at all. Well that was about to change when we reached the 'Dunkle Klamm' (dark canyon). First of all as them name suggests it's rather dark and narrow in there and that of course makes the noise way louder. Up to that point Daisy was walking in front of me, if I told her to do so. But in the 'Dunkle Klamm' it was at times so loud that she couldn't hear my voice and there is actually 1 spot, where the sound form a waterfall makes one of the bridges shake. That's when Daisy looked to me for guidance and so I walked ahead and Daisy stayed right next to me. Shortly after that we had made kit through the most impressive part of the anyone. We could have hiked to one on the snack places further upstream, but since it was starting to rain it seemed like a good decision to turn around and head back to the car.  On the way down Daisy had gotten used to the noise and didn't mind walking in front of me, when I instructed her to do so...but of course she turned occasionally around to make sure that I was still there. Shortly before we made it back to the car we had to encounter of those entirely neurotic 'rat sized' dogs, who just had to throw a temper tantrum and piss everyone off. Of course Daisy didn't stand for that and reacted to the fact that this wannabe 'Napoleon' tried to attack her. I had to break the entire thing off or I would have had a full blown dog fight on my hand...and that's something I can definitely live without. The 'almost' dog fight didn't really frustrate me...that what really pissed me off was the usability of the the other dog's owner to control or redirect his dog. Other than that one fly in the ointment it was a great day and Daisy seemed to have enjoyed it.

Vacation 2011, Day 4: Mandelwände

From 9/13/11

Today was going to be another very stable day, weather wise speaking. So I thought it would be a great idea to take Daisy for a hike along the 'Mandelwänxe'. The hike from Arthur Haus to Erich Hütte is about 3 hours long and my parents decided to join me. We decided that hiking from Arthur Haus to Erich Hütte would be the better idea, since you don't have to catch a bus at the end of the hike. So we left at about 8.45 am and drove to 'Dientner Sattel' to catch the bus to Arthur Haus. This was also Daisy's first time of ever driving with a bus...at least as far as I know. Everything was cool until the bus arrived. She gave that big yellow thing an odd look. She probably was thinking: "I'm not sure if I'm going to like that thing". But for most part she was fine and waited very patiently. People boarding the bus and a lot of people also leaving the bus at the rear entrance, well that started to freak Daisy a little out. One guy came a little too close for her comfort with his hiking poles and so Daisy barked at him once. As far as I'm concerned she had every right to do so. Other than that there was no issue at all. We boarded the bus and found a spot and for Daisy it was the most natural thing in the world, as if she had been riding busses her whole life long.  About 45 minutes we arrived at Arthur Haus and breakfast there. After that we left and started to walk in the direction of Erich Hütte. The trail is quite easy without any technical difficulties. The trail is mostly even, but of course you have to walk out each and every creek. About 1 hour into the hike we got to a place called 'Vierhütten' and had a quick lunch break there. Daisy was chillin' under the table. We continued with the hike and the closer you get to 'Birgkar' the more creeks you have to walk out and the deeper the gullies become. On the way there we passed by lots and lots of free roaming cattle and Daisy got way more confident with the cattle and sniffed and checked out several of them. Apparently that's something that has to be hardwired into the DNA of a cattledog. Once we reached the 'Birgkar' we took a short break and again Daisy was drinking out of a creek. I knew that we had roughly completed 2/3's of the hike. We continued and had to deal with the more muddy part of the trail. Luckily they put logs over the worst parts. For most parts Daisy followed my lead and walked over the logs. But with some parts she just walked through the mud. It amazes me every single time, that in no time a completely muddy dog paw is clean again. If they only could apply that technique to my hiking boots! By about 4.30 pm we had made it to Erich Hütte and stopped there for drinks. Daisy drank a little from her water bowl, was chillin' under the table and then falling asleep. After we had relaxed a little we walked back to the car. On the way down we encountered another herd of cattle. One of the cows tried to give Daisy a sniff...but my cowdog was completely oblivious to that and got spooked. Once she realized that it was only a cow she gave the cow nose a sniff and checked the cow out for a little while. It definitely was a great hike with lots of great and interesting experiences for Daisy!!

Vacation 2011, Day 3: Willi Schwaiger Weg

From 9/12/11

Today Started out rather slow. It was still cloudy from a passing through cold front and we were supposed to get showers throughout the day. So my parents and I went out to Maria Alm to do some grocery shopping. Hearing my parents argue with each other was not much fun. I just thought that this is something that's going to drive me nuts.  After we were done with the shopping my Mom wanted to take a look at the village church of Maria Alm. While my parents took a look at the church Daisy and I waited outside. After that the dark clouds and with that the rain was moving in more and more and so I decided that I just didn't want to take the chances with a hike out there...and so we headed back at the hotel. When we got back to the hotel, the weather looked way better and with a rain jacket in my backpack I went out for a light hike. We had planned to hike along the Urslau River and than cross over to the Willi Schwaiger Weg and hike this trail in it's entire length. The hike along the Urslau River is quite nice and actually very easy. About 1/2 hour later we reached a place called "Trieffen". It's a rain curtain, very similar to the "Weeping Wall" at Glacier National Park...but way smaller. We relaxed there for a little and then continued on the Willi Schwaiger Weg. This trail has changed quite a lot since I hiked it last. Lots of damage from recent storms and some avalanches did considerable damage as well. The trail is still OK, but no longer that great than it used to be. Daisy didn't care about that and had a blast checking out the alpine flora. Again she made use of her new skill of drinking directly out of a creek. Soon after that we reached the highest point of that particular trail. We could have continued up for another 2 hours to a mountain pass, but the weather was a little too unstable for my taste. So we started to hike back down to Hinterthal. On the way down we passed a colony of groundhogs. At first Daisy was entirely oblivious to them, but as we got closer to on of the burrows she got quite interested in the entire thing. I had to stop her from getting too overexcited, since I didn't want her to freak the groundhogs out. Further down we passed several creeks. Where a bridge was available, Daisy followed my lead. The last one didn't have a bridge and Daisy simply walked through the creek as if she had done that her whole life. For those of you don't know Daisy...this dog is quite water shy and for many years she absolutely dislike to walk through water. Why she suddenly started doing that and even seems to enjoy it...well I don't have the slightest clue!! Further down the trail we encountered again a herd of cattle. Well Daisy didn't care to much about the bulls, but she got interested in one cow. The cow was interested in Daisy as well. It was quite interesting seeing those two check each other out. Now my cow dog has checked out her first cow and it was a very positive new experience for Daisy. About 20 minutes later we were back at the hotel. Considering how the day started it turned into a great vacation day!

Vacation 2011, Day 2: A hike to Pichlalm

From 9/11/11

Today I got up at 7 am to take Daisy for her morning walk. It was just the right time that we could watch the second part of the sunrise up at Selbhorn, a mountain top visible from the hotel. The air was still fresh...chilly you might even say, but that's one of the things I like about going hiking in fall. Around 7.30 my parents and I went to breakfast. Unfortunately since the breakfast was in the rooms of an upscale restaurant, dogs were not allowed there and Daisy had to stay at the room. She wasn't particularly excited about that, but took it quite well. At the restaurant I made myself a Continental Breakfast 'Harry Style'. Bread, Sandwich Meat, Nutella, Egg, Coffee and a Fruit-Cocktail to top the breakfast off.  After we returned from breakfast we were greeted by a super excited Daisy and we started to get ready to leave for today's hike to Pichlalm. This hike is about 2 hours long in one direction and has no real technical difficulties, but is certainly quite steep at parts...and you have to climb about 1200 feet between starting point and destination. Well, we started easy and at a fairly slow pace and that gave Daisy tons of times to check out all the scents and smells. After about 40 minutes we passed by Mußbach Alm, a local snack place, but didn't stop there. Considering Daisy's age she does an awesome job hiking. She hikes at the same pace regardless how steep the terrain is, has still tons of time to check out the scents and smells, has obviously fun and a great time and is most of the time still hiking faster then I am. There are lots of free roaming cattle up there and for most of the time Daisy wasn't particularly interested in the cows. By the time we were about 2/3's into the hike,that was about to change. This time a 1-year old bull was interested in her. At first Daisy wasn't too sure what to make of it. But was willing to check that young bull out. But that guy just had to sniff her with that big nose and that did it for Daisy. She thought, that this guy is a little too interested and off she went. Next up was the rather muddy part...but that didn't bother Daisy at all and she even made use of her new skill and drank directly from one of the creeks we passed by. Shortly after that we reached Pichlalm. There Daisy met the local herding dog and after a few rather tense moments they checked each other out and even socialized a little. We sat down and had something to drink and a little snack. From up there you have a great view of the surrounding mountains. After a little over 1/2 hour of relaxing we started getting ready to head back down. A Jack Russell crossed our way and just had to try to socialize with Daisy. Well she didn't want to know anything about that. She warned him twice, but that guy just didn't understand the meaning of the word 'No'. A rather dominant dog on the one side and a overexcited and overconfident dog on the other side...well that's a bad combination. I intervened before something bad could happen. The rest of the hike down was pretty much without any incidents. We stopped at Mußbach Alm and had something to drink. Since it was rather hot there it was only a very short stop and we continued with he hike back down. On the way down we had to pass one of the bigger creeks. In the morning Daisy had walked behind me across the bridge. But this time she walked into the creek and drank out form some time and then walked through the rest of the creek without any problems at all. Apparently she no longer is water shy! Shortly before we reached the hotel we met the dog of a local farmer. Daisy didn't even see him since he didn't move. Once he moved Daisy got startled and after s short tense moment Daisy figured that this dog is actually a boy and might be fun to hang out with. They socialized for a little, what prompted a certain Tweet and Facebook Status Message: "Daisy is like her Daddy...likes to make out with guys". After that we headed back to the hotel to relax there for a couple of hours. For dinner we went to Restaurant Ambiente. This is a very good restaurant and I had a very yummy Zucchini Cream Soup and Pork Loin in Dijon Sauce. All in all it was a great Day 2 of the vacation!

Vacation 2011, Day 1

From 9/10/11

Today my parents were leaving for a 1 week long vacation into the Austrian Mountains. They had asked me if I wanted to join them and of course I said yes. They were going to the Hochkoenig Mountain Group and it has been at least 12 years since I visited there for the last time. On top of that I thought that it would be a great experience for Daisy. So I got up at about 7 am and took Daisy for her walk. After that I had breakfast and then finished up some last minute packing tasks. Once all that was done I prepped my Mom's old car for Daisy and started to pack up the car. By the time I was done with that, there was enough time to sit down and do my morning check on my eMails, Tweets and Facebook. By the time I was done my Dad finally got to a point where his packing tasks were almost complete. I helped him put the suitcases into his car and by about 10 am we finally left. We headed west and drove till Mondsee where we had a lunch break. After spending there about 1 hour we continued and got off the freeway. Up next was a quite windy mountain road. I had completely forgotten how windy that particular road was, but in no time I was in my mountain driving mode and I actually enjoyed driving that mountain road quite a lot. By about 2 pm we had made it to Dientener Sattel and had coffee at Birgkar Haus. After that we drove the last few miles to Hotel Alpina, the final destination of the entire trip. My iPad worked perfectly as on-board entertainment center, since the car's entertainment center belongs into a museum!! After checking in and unpacking we went for a short walk along the Urslau Rived.  Daisy especially needed that walk, since she had spent the majority of the day in the car. Good thing, that she loves going on road trips. After the walk and some short relaxation at the hotel we went to have dinner at Urslauer Hof. Daisy joined us and in Austria it is quite common to bring your dog to a restaurant...especially in a touristy place like that. Well, there was a Maltese there and those 2 dogs really didn't like each other. Of course I intervened and broke the entire thing off right away...and for the rest of the evening Daisy was chillin' under the table. I had a very yummy Onion Roast for dinner.  Once we were done with dinner we headed back to the Hotel to chill out there before calling in the night. There is only 1 thing that I don't like about that hotel...there is no WiFi!! This is supposed to be one of the better hotels and no WiFi...are you friggin'  kidding me!! Yes there is a Internet Terminal in the lobby, but I have better things to do than to have to go to the lobby every time I want to check something on the internet. Unless of course there is only WiFi in the lobby...well that would be almost as bad as no WiFi at all!! Luckily have my Nexus S that I can use as portable WiFi HotSpot and thanks to my Data Plan from Drei.at with 6 GB Data Bandwidth that's not a problem at all!! All in all a very good beginning of the vacation! Since I have only the iPad and it is very difficult to upload large amounts of pix up to Facebook, Google+, Picasa etc...I will for now just post a couple of pix via my phone. Maybe I will figure out a workable solution for that issue. But I will definitely talk about that particular problem in a separate Blog Post!

A Hike to Rudolfshöhe

After yesterday's thunderstorm today's temperature was in the low to mid 60's. On top of that it was supposed to be one of the most stable days weather wise speaking, before entering another unstable period. So the decision to take Daisy for a hike was quite an easy one. With temperatures being that moderate, that was the perfect opportunity to take Daisy for a hike in the lower foothills. My parents chose to join me. The trailhead is about a 15 minutes car ride from my parents and we got there around 11 am.
In the beginning the trail is fairly flat and follows one of the logging roads. The forest starts getting more dense and the logging road starts climbing higher and higher. I enjoyed hiking in the forest and temperatures being in the mid 60's quite a lot. You leave the logging road and have one steeper portion of the trail and you"re finally out on the ridge. You follow the mostly flat trail in the ridge. Daisy had a blast with all the different scents and smells. Then the trail switches back and forth between ridge and forest. You step out of the forest and there is the destination of the hike: The Ochsenburger Huette. We had lunch up there and they have quite a good selection up there. From the terrace in front of the hut we enjoyed the view of the surrounding lower and mid-level foothills. After about 1 hour rest we started to hike back to the car.
All in all the entire hike takes about 3 hours to complete and Daisy definitely had a blast up there. You can check out more pix about this hike on my Facebook Page in the photo-album "Ochsenburger Hütte 2011"!!

Hiking Reisalm

Today I decided to take Daisy for a hike into the local foothills. I chose "Reisalm" since it is a fairly easy hike but gets you up into an elevation where I thought it would be cooler than down at my parents place. I was definitely right in regard to the temperature and my parents chose to join me. Leaving at an early time or at least at a reasonable time, well that would be a first with my Dad....and of course it didn't happen. The trailhead is a little under 1 hour from my parents place and we got there at about 11.30 am.
If you hike all the way to the top it takes you roughly about 2 hours. The first part to a place called 'Hinteralm' quite easy and more of a walk. Usually you have there quite some cattle and I was really interested to see Daisy's reaction. When we got there there was no cattle to be found anywhere...just lots and lots of cow poop. Daisy gave the entire thing a sniff and she wasn't quite sure what to make about the entire thing. We didn't stop at the 'Hintealm' where the also sell beverages and snacks, since we only had hiked for about 1 hour. From there on it starts to climb all continuously all the way to the summit. Some of it is quite steep, while other parts are moderate. One of the things I like snout this trail, is that large parts of it lead trough forest and are threfore way cooler than those trail parts out in the open. Since we were hiking at s fairly slow pace, that gave Daisy enough time to check out the surroundings. About 2/3's through The ascent Daisy figured out can also chill in the cool grass while waiting for my parents to catch up. Finally we made it to the summit plateau and we got our first look at the cattle. Daisy ears where all perky and she was genuinely interested in the cattle. But she wasn't quite sure what to make of the adult cow. The young live stock on the other hand was way more her thing. After a short hike over the summit plateau we finally reached the summit. With an elevation of 4560 feet it's certainly not the most impressive summit, but you have an great panoramic view from up there and the temperature was very nice...not too hot and not to cold either.
After a quick stop for s summit photo we went over to the 'Reisalmhaus'. This is your typical Austrian Mountain Hut and we did have lunch there. I opted to have 'Schweinsbraten', since I haven't had that in ages. The closest thing would probably be a roast pork. Daisy got lots to drink and some goodies. We spent about 1 hour there relaxed before heading back down. For the descend we decided to take a different route. This trail is longer but way less steep and the majority of it leads through the forest...and that's way more comfy than having to hike down all the way in the sun on a south facing slope. We stopped at the 'Hinteralm' for a quick beverage before continuing back to the car.
After we got back to the car my Mom wanted to go for a coffee and so we stopped at a Restaurant nearby. They did have a very relaxed and respectful dog and Daisy and this male dog socialized for z little. In the beginning Daisy didn't think too much of the idea of that guy sniffing her butt...but as th time went on she was cool with and reciprocated by sniffing his butt and his dick. The minute I saw that I knew exactly what the though bubble would have said if that were a comic: "Hello...and who are you??".
All in all a great day and Daisy really had a blast. After the hike she was tired and spent most of the evening chilling on her doggy bed.
You can check out more pix of that hike on my Facebook Page in the photo-album "Reisalm 2011"!!

'Fun' with Government Agencies

Well, today was a day of dealing with Government Agencies. First I had to deal with the entire eCard issue. They started that thing back in 2005. It's sort of your Social Security Master Key. Gives you access to health insurance, insurance coverage with accidents, dental benefits, prescription coverage, unemployment benefits and so on. But this eCard can do way more. You can have added more functions to that card and it becomes sort of a citizen card. LIt let's you do a lot deal ins you have with Government Agencies online and you can use this card as an ID card and for your online bank dealings. Well the WebSite for the eCard explains all th functions of the card, what information is encrypted on the card and who has access to that information. It even explains in easy words how your personal information is protected. The only thing this website doesn't tell you is, how you get the card issued in the first place. All searches in their website for that particular question lead to zero results. That's a big, fat Fail in my book. The information from the eCard WebSite, plus additional information from the WebSite of the Unemployment Office, plus some information from the WebSite of the Social Security Administration, plus some deductive reasoning finally gave me the answer I was looking for. You can get the eCard in 2 ways: If you start a new job and you don't have an eCard one will be issued. The second way of getting that card issued is by filing a claim with the Unemployment Office. Well so I called the Unemployment office. Not because I could collect unemployment but just for the reason of getting health insurance. I gut surprisingly quick a hold of them and talked to a very friendly and helpful clerk. That came as quite a surprise to me! I remember those clerks being anything but helpful, grumpy and even rude at times. I asked her right away what the deal was, since I hadn't worked in Austria or the EU for the past 8 years. She told me that the max. period than can be bridged, when it comes to health insurance through the Unemployment Office, is 5 years. The only option I still do have is to file for 'Mindestsicherung'. That are Minimum Security Benefits...and that would give me again health insurance coverage. But to file for 'Mindestsicherung' you have to meet certain criteria. Not quite sure what those are and before talking about that to the Unemployment Office I really wanted to do my research, so that I know what I'm talking about. Since the Unemployment Office is only open till 1 pm on a Friday, I knew that I wouldn't be done in time doing my research. So I guess round 2 of the 'Fun wi Government Agencies' will be played on Monday. I will definitely keep you guys posted!!

Daisy's first 2 Weeks in Austria

Exactly 2 weeks ago Daisy joined me in Austria. Well, from the get go on Daisy wasn't frightened, scared or in a state of panic. She made it through the relocation without any problems and was just super excited to see me. Since moving to Austria she has gotten used to my parents house. That took her a few days, but now she feels at home in each and every room. She got very quickly reacquainted with my mom, sis and my 2 nephews. She tolerates almost everything what those 2 boys are doing with the grace and patience of a saint. If she had enough she just walks away and finds a more peaceful place. Getting used to Bernd and my Dad took a little longer. I knew it would since there is something about Daisy and getting used to guys. Now she let's my dad take her out for a walk. OK, that has only happened once...but for Daisy that's s big step. Just a couple of days ago she started to let Bernd and my Dad pet her. I really didn't see that coming.
The first 2 or 3 days Daisy wasn't really a happy camper when it comes to eating. She definitely didn't have her usual appetite. She was eating but only a little. I didn't think tha it hsf anything to do with the food itself, since I mzde sure that I got the same brand as in the States. My guess is, that it had something to do with the stress and confusion of the relocation. Putting some 'meat juice' from cooking over her food definitely helped her with the eating issue. After 3 days she was back to her usual appetite. Very about that!! In those 2 weeks Daisy has gone on several hikes and enjoyed each and every one of them. And of course she loves all the new scents and smells. Meanwhile she gotten very well acquainted with the neighborhood my parents live in. Daisy even made a few new doggy friends. I wouldn't say that they're BFF's, but they tolerate and hang out with each other and seem to have fun doing so.
Her being alone is still a kinda touchy subject. If Daisy realizes that I'm gone, than she panics a little, gies looking for me and starts her whiny thingy. This also happens if she can hear me talking but just can't figure out where exactly I went. But in general she gets better with that. I'm just not sure if that whiny thingy is genuine or just show off. The few time where she was by herself she acted the way she always did. Once she new for sure she wasn't coming she circled several rooms once and than found herself a strategic spot and waited for me to return. If I have to run an errand and my family is around she continues to look for throughout the house for quite some time while doing her whiny thingy. And of course she has an audience...and that audience feels kinda sorry for her and tries to put her at ease. I still think that part of it is show off and that it is a actually easier for her when I leave and nobody else is around.
But all in all she has adjusted very well, has gotten used to the new surroundings and seems to like the place.