Washer - Take 2...

Today was just another Monday. Crazy, then easy going and then crazy again. Just like every other Monday. But this I had to get off work at 5 pm to take care of some unfinished business. Usually I stay till about 6 pm. Well but today I managed to get off work at 5.08 pm just in time to catch the bus. First up was a stop at the grocery store, since I had forgotten to some stuff that I needed this week.
Then it was a train ride back to the appliance store. Everyone who regularly reads my blog know that they had to cancel the contract on Saturday. Well today we redid the contract and just in case the ATM card was going to have other issues I had gotten the money for the down payment in cash. The rest went off without a hitch. So if everything goes according to plan I should have a washer/dryer all-in-one appliance within the next 7 to 10 days. I will keep you guys posted on that.

Shopping Trip...

Today I went on a little shopping trip. First up was the usual stuff. Mostly grocery stuff for the weekend and the upcoming week. Even bought a 24 pack of beer. And yes I had to carry it about 1/4 mile back to my apartment and up 3 flights of stairs. In the future I might not be doing that. Instead it might be the better choice to borrow a car and by several packs of them. That way I only have to carry them up the stairs.
Next was a trip to the hardware store. I borrowed my Sis' car. Figured that might be easier than having to transport that in the subway. Well it would have worked but wouldn't have been the most practical thing to do. Bought a couple of things like an ironing board and some other items mostly for the bathroom including a clothes dryer. Spent about 100 bucks.
Next up was the appliance store. I wanted to look at washing machines. Found what I was looking for. It's appliance that puts washer and dryer into one single appliance. You might not get the same efficiency out than you get from 2 separate appliances. But for apartment living it's a good compromise. Signed the contract and went to pay. Well then when the trouble started. Didn't have enough cash on me for the down payment. Figured no problem I pay it with my ATM card. Wrong...doesn't quite work that way. Since I have a daily limit. Figured no problem. I go the the ATM machine and get some cash. Supposedly the cash limit doesn't count against the card limit. Wrong again. It does. So the only that I could do was to cancel the contract and will have to re-do it on Monday after work. Wasn't quite happy about that. In situations like these I miss having a credit card.
Later I was supposed to visit with friends, but since it was almost 7 pm and I still hadn't eaten dinner I figured I'll be seeing them some other Saturday since I didn't feel like paying 10 bucks for the train for one direction for just seeing them for 2 hours. So Daisy and I stayed in and had a quiet and very enjoyable Saturday evening.

A Little Surprise...

Today it was the same procedure with Daisy again. Well I didn't expect an different outcome than yesterday. It it was way easier on me at work. Well, but not all things turn out the way you expect them to.
When I got back from work Daisy was super excited to see me. But she had managed to get the rope muzzle off. So I reviewed the video footage and she had even done better than yesterday. That she is walking up to the door less and doing way less whimpering is definitely an improvement as far as I'm concerned. So from now on there really isn't any need for the rope muzzle. Very happy about that. And since I'm living in a penthouse apartment there are only a few people walking by each day and that seems to be helpful with the separation anxiety as well.
If I had known about the meds in 2005 when I got her I would have put her on them and made the first few month so much easier on her...

A hard Day...

Today was truly a hard day. Not quite sure who it was harder on...me or Daisy. At 11.30 pm last night my Mom calls me that she can't look after Daisy for the rest of the week. Apparently the 74-year old dumb fuck yelled so long at my mom that she gave in. Of course that was quite a problem for me. And it's not the first time he pulled a stunt like that. But this time it will have consequences as I'm gonna drag him into court and sue him and over the past year I got enough evidence against him to let him disappear in prison for the next 10 years.
But all of that didn't help me. I didn't get a hold of anyone who could have looked after Daisy. So this morning I had to rope muzzle her. That way she can't howl and bark. I so hated to do that, but it was the only way I could think of. It was tight enough so that she didn't get it off, but not so tight that it was hurting her. So I turned on the video cam and left for work. It was a terrible day. Barely could concentrate on my work and on top if that this work day just didn't want to end. I left after 8 hours and went straight home. But Daisy was completely fine and super excited to see me. When I reviewed the video footage it turned out that she went a couple of times to the door when she heard someone. Once nobody came she started whimpering a few times, and then went back to her doggie bed and that's definitely good news. Still hate that I had to do that. I really hope that she will have gotten to me leaving for work soon and apparently the meds do their job.

Mom and Daisy...

Since Daisy and I are now staying permanently in Vienna I asked my Mom if she could look after Daisy at my apartment for about 1 week. Although Daisy has been on her anti-anxiety meds for 2 weeks now I wasn't quite sure if she would be able to handle the separation for 9+ hours. So my Mom showed up before I had to leave to work. Daisy was quite excited to see her. And I left for work. When I came back Daisy barked at me first and once she realized who it was she was super excited. My Mom said that it wasn't any problem and that she slept most of the day anyways. The meds make her pretty docile and quite sleepy actually. For now that's not a bad thing as it makes it easier on her. There were only a few times when she heard someone walking up the stairs and of course she went to the door and when nobody came she started to whimper a little. But other than that it went well. I'm very happy about that.

Final Move and a Double Date...

After yesterday's blow up with my alleged "sperm donor" I really had to make some serious consequences. That douche has to be declared incompetent and he needs to be locked up in a psychiatric institution. Screaming and yelling at me is one thing, but he really doesn't have to do it with the dog around. The dog is hiding and every time he starts yelling exactly there where the dog is hiding. As if he were doing it on purpose. And I'm sure he's exactly doing that. Considering how many things he does just to piss other people of. So I told him if he should ever come closer that 50 feet to the dog I will kill him. That's not a figure of speech...I meant it exactly the way I said it.
So I got up at 5.30 am brought the last few pieces of stuff into my apartment. It just was too much to be able to transport that via train. Got back dropped of the car took my dog and went to the train station and headed to Vienna. It was also the same day a local music festival ended and it was fun seeing that all those kids with happy faces and not grump like some moronic douche. Nice thing about traveling by train is that you have only to pay 2.90 for the dog and she can travel as far as you want to for 1 entire day. I got about half the way to Vienna until I realized that I had forgotten something important. Yep I forgot my apartment keys. But at that time there was nothing I could do about it. Got off the train in Vienna and I had checked my Train App and new the next train was about to leave 10 minutes later. Called my friend Sandra and she was going to pick me up at the train station. Got my apartment keys, made a quick stop at Sandra's place and she gave me a quick tour, since I haven't seen her place since it has been remodeled. And then we headed back to the train station since I had a train to catch.
Got to Vienna and dropped the some stuff off at my apartment, grabbed the doggie backpack and headed out again. Since Daisy and I were having a double date. I was hanging with a guy and his dog. And it's one of those rare circumstances that Daisy and his dog hit it off right away. OK, the dog is a boy...just like her Daddy. It was fairly hot so we spent most time at the park and the 2 dogs had tons of fun. Later we went over to Vienna's 20th district where the guy lives to have some lunch. It's funny it was almost like coming home...since I used to live in the 20th district about 20 years ago. All in all the date went well. Not quite sure where it is going to go. He's maybe a little too serious for my taste. I don't take things seriously and especially I don't take myself seriously and I just love to be able to geek out about SciFi and Phantasy stuff. But that's just not his thing. As a doggie date and as friendship I can see that working, but I don't see it being more than that. But you never know.
Getting back home to my place Daisy and I just chilled and it was a great feeling. Nobody with negative energy around and nobody screaming and yelling. It's just peaceful. And that's exactly the way the future will be as with this day the moronic douche has been cut out of my life permanently. Well I won't get to see certain people that often as I would like to. But that's apparently a price I have to pay to keep my sanity. I will head out there every couple of weeks for 5 or 6 hours to hang and catch up with people and than go back to my apartment. Of course it would be much easier if Daisy and Sandra's German Shepherd would be getting along better.

Tax Work...

Well, today I thought would be just another regular day at work. There's just one thing wrong with that. As soon as you have a thought like that you're most likely getting screwed royally. That was exactly how today turned out.
My boss dropped today a little bomb on me. That I had to do all the tax prep-work all by myself. Not that it is that difficult to understand. But you're not supposed to have to take care of a task like that if you're only with a company for less than 3 month. Under normal circumstances you have at least your exam as accountant and usually you have about 2 or 3 years work experience after you exam, before you ever get to do a task like that.
Well, since bitching around didn't help I went straight to what had to be done. I know what had to printed out for the tax company and I knew as well what had to ad up in the end if everything had been done right. Most of the things worked out quite fine. But there were a couple of things to had to be examined further. Some differences were OK, but others had to be corrected first before they could be sent to the tax guys. One particular difference had nothing to do with accounting, but with the way the accounts had been transferred from the old to the new system. So I had to talk to the developer of the program to finally get things right.
As final task I had to deal with those customers where it is not quite certain if and how much they will be paying. And these customer accounts had to be corrected accordingly. Everyone who understands Austrian Accounting I'm talking about EWB!! At first it might have been a little intimidating but I got very quickly used to it. And actually it is quite a fun task. Not that the tax prep-work is particularly fun, but it is quite enjoyable to have to make decisions at that stage of my career.
All in all it turned out quite well. The rest is now up to the tax guys.

Big Changes at Work...

Well, today was certainly a day of big changes at work. I already knew that this day would eventually be coming, but didn't expect it today. My co-worker was supposed to have her last day on Tuesday, so it came quite as a surprise that she had her last day today. Somebody screwed here up and it wasn't me. So she had to show me 2 tasks that I've never done before. Well they're not really that complicated, but still I won't have anyone to ask if I should forget just 1 step. But I'm pretty confident that I should be able to handle those 2 tasks.
Up till now I handled the accounts receivable, the accounts payable and the management of late payments including several statistical tasks for the German Sub-Company. That certainly keeps you quite busy. On top of that I will have to do the controlling of the Cash Register including all the accounting related tasks of the Cash Register, Accounts Receivable, Management of Late Payments, additional Statistical Task, Prep-Work of all supplier invoices for the Austrian Sub-Company and for International clients. Furthermore I will be the  main "go to guy" for the tax company and I will also be responsible for the "main balancing work" throughout the year for both sub-companies.
Fun, fun FUN!!!
That's certainly a lot of work. But don't expect that you get that done in 40 hours per week. That work is usually done by 2 people. One with 40 hours and one with 25 hours per week. So I guess it's gonna be a lot of overtime. But I don't mind. It's a quite a challenge and a great work experience. I don't have to worry about my job and since I'm gonna paid the overtime, it's gonna be boatload of cash.
Supposedly they're looking for a replacement, but haven't found someone quite yet. Summer is not the best time to look for new employees and many people don't take that job, because they're either expecting a setting like in large companies or an ridiculous amount of money. Not everyone is right doing accounting for a family style business. There are a wide variety tasks you have to deal with. So you certainly won't be getting bored any time soon. You have to b able to make many decision on your own and you have to be very good with "self-organization". For me it's not a problem and I really do enjoy my job...at least for the most part.
Will keep you guys posted about how things are progressing.

VET appointment...

Today I had my VET appointment with Daisy regarding her separation anxiety. I had mad that appointment with the "big boss" himself. If someone's able to figure something out he is definitely the guy to do so.
So I described the entire situation to him and he told me right away that Daisy is very attached to me...over-attached you might even say and that's what causing her problems now. The thing with her previous moves was that I was at home for some time. The same applies when it comes to the transcontinental move. After Daisy arrived I was home for a couple of month and she slowly got used to the new place.
He also told me that with behavioral measures and positive reenforcement alone it just won't be working. He suggested a 2 tongue approach. Desensitizing her from me leaving by getting ready to leave on several occasions and then not leaving. Leaving for 1 or 2 minutes and coming back right away. And Daisy has to go on anti-anxiety drugs. She will be on those drugs now for 1 month, then we will see the Vet again and decide if the meds are working and if she is improving. If yes then she will have to take them for at least 2 month maybe even 3 month through. After that she will be taken off the meds and we will see if she can handle it.
Well having to put her on meds is not my first choice. I did look into alternatives. Getting her a pet sitter, who stays with her while I'm at work. Well, that is anything but a cheap endeavor...it would cost me for 1 month about 800 bucks...and that's just not an option. Additional there are some other non-prescription sprays that are supposed to calm dogs. I will give those a closer look and a try as well.
Of course it did occur to me that Daisy might never get used to the living in an apartment building. That this might just be too much for her to handle...Should this be the case then I will have to break the lease and move her into a house. There are houses out there in the price range of my current place. But it would increase my commute to work again. Daisy is family and in the end you do what you've gotta do. Every dog owner will understand!
Will keep you guys posted about Daisy's progress!!