New Years Eve...

For this New Years Eve I hadn't planned anything special. My boyfriend has plans to spend at least part of the evening with his parents an Lower Austria. I wasn't going to ask him if I can join him since we haven't tried how Daisy and his dog are getting along. I coulcn't go out either since I really didn't want to have to be all by herself since she is terryfied of all the fireworks. So I prepared for a quiet evening at home. We spent most of part of the evening catching up on various TV-Shows. Daisy spent most part of the evening sleeping in the bathroom. Apparently my new apartment works way better for Daisy than my old one. The bathroom is the most quiet room in the apartment. And the living room goes into a air shaft and nobody can get in there. That's why it has been very quiet and that's a way better fit for Daisy. I did make goulash soup for midnight. Daisy just came hiding between my legs for about 30 minutes with those really load fireworks going off. I opened a bottle of Austrian Champagne for midnight. And how it is with that particular night...it jsut doesn't feel any different. I had Daisy up on the couch right next to me and we continued to watch some TV. All in all it was a quite, but a very nice New Years Eve and my boyfriend and I did send text messages from time to time.

Emergency Dental Appointment...

Last night one of my teeth started acting up again badly. So this morning I decided to take advantage of the emergency dental service. That's definitely one of the benefits being back in Austria. But knowing that those appoointment fill up very qucikly it was quite important to be there as soon as they opened. I got there right at 9 am and there were already 5 people there. What pretty much meant that this was going to at least a 2 hour wait. While I waited there the secreatary told new arrivals that the waiting time will be 3+ hours. So I was quite surprised that I was done with my appointment in about 1 1/2 hours. I was prepared for the worst. If the tooth had to be pulled or if I had to have a root canal it wouldn't have surprised me. Turns out that I only had gingival inflammation of one of my teeth and that can cause you some really bad tooth ache. The reason for that is that I had lost a filling on that particualr tooth. As a reason of the infection they couldn't replace the the filling right away. But I did get the infection site cleaned and got some meds. And within a couple of days I should be done with it. I really did like that dentist and that's the reason why I got an appoointment to have taken care of that missing filling in the next few weeks.

My thoughts on the House Sale...

As you guys might have guessed the house has finally sold. While it is for most part a good thing, my feelings on that particular subject are quite devided. I did not blog about the entire process for various reasons. So here are some of my thoughts.
Seeing the money form the sale credited to my checking account was quite nice. On closer examination I really had wished for a strong Dollar and a weak Euro. That would have really benefited me. But since it is the other way around it was quite and eye opener how weak the Dollar currently is. Of course I was aware of the exchange rate. But when you get the numbers from your Ex, I found that I was still thinking in Dollar. And that after 3 years having moved back to Austria. I was expecting to take a hit in value of about 5 Grand, but it's way more than that. Dont't get me wrong, it's still a nice sum that will be put quite good use.
I'm not even going into the entire prepping for sale and the negotiations that took place during the sales process. That's over now. I haven't been there. So I can't even say I would have handled things. That was one of the reason, why I avoided that subject up till now. You can't say what you would have done in a particular situation, since I wasn't confronted with it. Therefore I can't say with certainty what I would have done. On the other hand I do have a well paying full time job and a decent savings account. So being put into that particular situation would have been an entirely differnt ball game.
With the fact that the house has been sold, well there I do have mixed feelings. On the one side it's a great thing. A burdon has been lifted and it's one thing less you have to worry about. On the other hand it also gave me the feeling of a certain loss. You bought the property togther, remodeled it togehter and spent some good times there. It's not like you ever planned on visiting there again or of getting back together. That's just something that is very unlikely to happen. But the fact that the house has been sold makes it real. It makes it a fact and it ends this particular portion of your life forever. The only thing that stay are the memories and the pix.
While the sale of the house wasn't quite emotionally easy, seeing stuff from the house, that had originally been purchased together, being sold or given away,  made it even more tough. I realy can't explain that. I neither had any particular interest in having those items for myself. Not only because of the crazy shipping expenses, but mostly for the fact that it wouldn't fit into my current life anyways. But there is even something that was harder on me. Seeing things thrown into a trasch container. Of course those things had seen so much wear and tear, that they belonged there. But you do the memories connected to thise things. Seeing them in trash dumpster is like getting those memeories thrown away as well. I know it's silly..but emmotions are just no logical.
With all that being said this process brings an almost 10 year long part of my life to a final closure. This process was emotionally almost as hard as picking myself up by my own boot straps, moving back to Austria and rebuilding my life entirely from scratch.
I will always have fond memories of living in the SoCal High Desert and especially good memories of Agua Dulce and Vasquez Rocks. But I will always remember how much of a pain in the ass living in the back country can be.

First Day of Work...

Today was the first day of work for me, after having been off for 1 week. On December 24th our company is closed anyways and December 25th and 26th are public holidays in Austria. So in fact I only took 2 vacation days and was an entire week off work. This certainly doens't help with my vacation days. Currently I have 35 vacation days left and with the new year just around the corner I will be getting another 25 vacation days, what brings the total to 60. Not entirely sure how I'm supposed to gradually reduce those.
And the experience of the first day at work didn't exactly make me want to take more vacation days. I got to work at 7 am and when I looked at my desk, it just looked like a disaster area. I was off work for actually 2 business days and it looked like a bomb or maybe two had exploded at my desk.
So I sat down made some room to work and started with the cash register first. Nobody found it necessary to do the cash register work while I was away. This was the easy part. Then I started dealing with the disaster area also called my desk. And it took me 2 1/2 hours to bring some order into the katastrophe. With that being done I dealt with the most urgent cases and with those things were the deadlines were rapidly approaching. After that I dealt with the backlog of bank statements. And yes this was a very long work day. I went in at 7 am and left a little before 7 pm. And it's those days when I actually not particularly fond of being the companies main-accountant. But I guess that's what it means of working under the current ecconomic circumstances.

Heartburn...

With me having eaten way too much and way too much meat over the XMAS holidays, it didn't come exactly as a surprise that I was getting heartburn. So today I went to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine. And I was expecting to take the medicine once and that would be the end of of it. Well I couldn't have been more wrong. I was taking my heartburn medicine 3 or 4 times a day and it took me 2 days to get over the hearburn. This has been the worst heartburn episode than I can remember. Apparently eating way too much, eating too much meat, to many souces, partly eating too spicy and eating way too many XMAS cookies hasn't done me any good. It's about time that things get back to my normal diet. But New Years Eve isn't far away and that's traditionally onother day where I eat way too much and it might just become another heartburn prone day.

Activating my new LG G2...

I was aware of the fact that I wouldn't be able to use my new LG G2 right out of the box. The new phone requires a Micro-Sim card and my old phone uses a regular Sim card. Of course I could have bought a completely new prepaid sim card, but I didn't want to change my phone number again. And I wasn't going to sign up for a 2-year plan either...these things are way to restrictive as far as I'm concerned. So today I went the a local store of my carrier to arrange for the exchange of the sim card. I was fully prepared to wait a couple of days for them so sind it by mail. But turns out it only takes 5 minutes to the get the new Micro Sim card and have them transfer all your services. That's definitely a plus in my book.
As soon as I got back home I put the new Sim into my new phone. And OMG...this thing is so new and so shiny! And I was in for quite some surprise. The internet on my new phone is about 6 or 7 times faster than on my old Nexus S. It just made me go WOW!! Installing new Apps happens almost in an instant and doesn't take a couple of minutes. Opening new Apps happens right away and doesn't put a strain on your patience. Made me wonder why I put up that long with my old cell phone. Guess there is a reason why most of my friends change their phones every 18 month. And I've been having my old phone for over 4 years.
I'm still learning the tricks of my new LG G2, but so far I'm really loving it. It is very well thought through and the phone works for me and not the other way around. That are definitely 450 bucks well spent.

XMAS with Family...

On the second XMAS holiday in Austria I was invited to spend time with my Sis and her family. This is definitely going to be a very memorable XMAS and one that will be hard to beat. I won't go into the details here, since a blog is not the appropriate place for that. For those of you guys who absolutely have to know DM or inbox me and we can talk about the reasons.
I was supposed to be there by 6 pm. My brother-in-law called me around 5.30 and was goign to  pick me up from the Tram station. I didn't know that my brother was also going to be there. But it's not really a problem. We haven't really talked to each other in about 12 years or so and I don't see that changing. But that's completely fine with me. My brother's-in-law sister and the Great Grandma of my 2 nephews were there as well. We had a little chat at first and than started setting things up. After that we sang a few XMAS carols before exchanging gifts. After that it was time for XMAS dinner. My Sis was having Raclette. It is just a fun part of eating during XMAS and chatting at the same time. But since I have had Fondue the day before...this is something very similar and definitely quite on the meaty side. On the other hand it's XMAS and of course I was completly stuffed.
By about 10.30 we said our good bye's and I headed out since it was going to take me about 45 minutes to get back to my appartment. For this XMAS celebration I didn't bring Daisy with me, since I really didn't want a re-do of the staring contest between Daisy and my Sis' 2 cats.
But all in all it was definitely a great way to celebrat the second XMAS holiday. And every year again I am so thankful that I'm gay and don't have to put up with screaming kids. That would be something that would drive me mad!

Merry XMAS, everyone!!!

A new Phone...

The only XMAS present I bought for myself this year was a new phone. As good as my old Nexsus S was when I bought it. Right now it just belongs in a museum. The battery doesn't hold a charge for longer than 5 hours. I need the restart the phone at least 2 or 3 times per week. Sometimes even more often. For some reason it keeps on crashing. The internet is way too slow for my taste and the Apps I use on a ruglar basis have really become terrible. So in the past couple of month I have been looking into buying a new phone. I narrowed it down to 3: The Galaxsy S4, the LG G2 and the Nexus 5.
I got rid of the Galaxy S4 fairly quickly, since the reviews about that particular phone are just anything but good.
The reviews about the LG G2 and Nexus 5 are pretty much even. Although the LG G2 is the better handset. There was one question that needed to be answered. How much do I care about having KitKat on phone. So I looked into the details of the new Android OS. Turns out there are some nice and interesting changes, but they really don't make that much of an impact for my personal usage of my phone. So in the end I went with the better handset the LG G2.
Here are some of the highlights:

• 5.2-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display
• 1920 x 1080 pixels screen resolution
• 424 ppi pixel density
• Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset
• 2.3 GHz quad-core processor
• Adreno 330 GPU
• 2 GB of RAM
• 16 / 32 GB of internal storage
• NO MicroSD card support
• 13 MP primary camera
• Auto focus and LED flash
• Optical Image Stabilization
• 2.1 MP secondary camera
• 3000 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery
• Up to 800 hours of stand by time
• Up to 17 hours of talk time
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

XMAS Eve...

This XMAS Eve is the first one that I'm once again in a relationship shince moving back from the States to Austria. So my BF and I met up in Vienna's 1st district to have an extended XMAS Brunch. Was quite a nice thing to do and something I rarely ever do. If I'm having brunch I'm the one who prepares it. We wouldn't be spending XMAS Eve together since he was going to see his folks. But that really didn't bother me. I had already gotten the meat for the Fondue on the Saturday and marinated it right away. So that saved me some time. And the fact is if you let the meat sit in the marinade for a couple of days it makes it way better. Once I got back from brunch I spent parts of the afternoon preparing a couple of different sauces und even pre-cooked the soup, while listening to American XMAS music on my phone. That way I would only have to deal with the sides onces evening came around.

Well it turned 8 pm...the time I had planned to start with the fun. But tasting from all the different sauces meant as well, that I just didn't feel hungry at all. So I waited till about 10 pm. But that time I really was in the mood for my XMAS-Eve dinner. Prepared the table, heated up the soup and got things started while watching various Sex and the City and MASH episodes. Even Daisy got her XMAS treat...a Knackwurst, that she had devoured in no time. By the time I was done with my XMAS dinner it was about 11.30 pm and Iwas so stuffed that I didn't even want to move from the couch to put away all the leftovers. Continued to watch TV. By 3 am I felt finally rested enough to put away the leftovers. All in all it was a very comfy XMAS Evening.

Merry XMAS, everyone!!

Punsch at Schloss Belevedere...

Today I finally get around to meeting up with my BF and head over to Schloss Belevdere to have Punsch. We agreed to meet at what will be some day Vienna's new Central Railway Station. But this thing is quite confusing. If you really don't want to meet someone...just meet them there and you're almost sure to miss each other. But with a couple of text messages I figured out where my BF was waiting for me. We then headed over to Schloss Belvedere for some Punsch. The weather wasn't actually perfect for that. It would have been till 4 pm, but then suddenly the fog moved in and it was some thick fog. Made Vienna feel more like London. And that experience also served as explanation why the shot the Third Man in Vienna. But on the upside the fog made for some interesting ambience. OK, it didn't quite feel like XMAS..therefore it was a little too warm, but it got pretty close. We had 2 Punsch each chatted a little, then took a slow stroll through the entire Weihnachtsmarkt. And no, the pic is a stock pik and not a pic of the actual event. Reason therefore is that my phone barely can hold it's charge for 2 hours. So looking forward when I'll be getting my new phone!
Around 8 pm we called in the night and headed both home, since we both had separte plans for this evening.

Health Issues...

Well I haven't been feeling well the past weekend. So I stayed mostly home. But on Monday it was even worse. 2 or 3 trips to the bathroom is no big deal but 6 is rather excessive. So I decided to see my doctor und not only the the new prescriptions for my meds as I had planned. See my doctor is always fun. I get along with him great and he's definitely one piece of eye-candy. He gave me something for my stomach bug and told me to come back in 1 or 2 days if things shouldn't improve. I also got the resuls of my latest blood work. And everything is in the clear. Virus-Load is still undetecable and the T4 count with being at 800 is not bad at all.
My doctor even asked me if I wanted to call in sick with my stomach bug. But I didn't feel that sick so I went to work. My stomach bug got a little better but it took almost till today, until I felt being back to normal

Changes ahead...

Life is funny sometimes...When you get too comfy you actually get a bit lacy and complacent and don't push the agenda aheat that you actually wanted to. With my job being a stressful one at times I just didn't find the right motivation to take classes. Working 50 hours a week and than having to spend your Saturday taking classes...well isn't quite fun. On the other hand with the move to a new apartment and doing some remodeling, taking classes got just put on the back burner. But there is a similarity between not taking classes and not finishing up the remodel. After a certain amount of time you're just a little burned out and you're fine the way things are. Apparently there is always need for a bigger event for to make you change things.
Recently it has come to my attention that the company I'm working for was looking for an accountant. It is true that things haven't been perfect lately, especially with the year-end tax work. And it is also true, that my co-worker is just not really suited for the job. And I guess my boss knows that. That he was going to hire a 3rd accountant is just unreasonable, since 2 accountants are more than enough for the workload. So that tells me that someones head basically is on the chopinb block. While there are quite a number of sings that point ot my co-worker, there is always the possibility that my job is on the line. I really didn't spend much time worrying about that. There are enough accounting jobs out there and I do know that I'm a good accountant. But of course to get the better paid accounting jobs especially in larger companies you have to have taken advanced classes. That was the point when I got mad about myself for not having used the past 12 month to take those classes. So I checked when the next classes are scheduled to start. And they all start in January. The second thing I checked was what my unemployment benefits would be, incase I should be let go. Turns out that the unempolyment benefits cover all my monthly espenses except groceries. That's not really a biggy since I have about 10 Grand in my current savings account. So that's something that gives you a little peace of mind.
With that all being checked I sat down and needed to come up with a game plan for Corporate Tax Exam. I knew that this is going be a quite lengthy and difficult exam. And it usually takes people working fulltime about 1 year. I really didn't want't to wait that long. So I planned my classes that way that I will be taking advanced payroll classes and Corporate Tax Law 1 at the same time. And after I've completed those 2 classes I will be taking Corporate Tax Law 2. This means that from Mid Jannuary to Mid-May I will be taking a 5 hour class on Friday afternoon and a 5 hour class on Saturday. It also means that I won't be having a single Saturday off till Mid-July. Not exactly what I consider fun. But you gotta do, what you gotta do. That will leave me about 6 weeks before taking my Corporate Tax Exam. I know it's quite an ambitous plan, but I do think it is doable.

Season Finale Amazing Race 23...

That the season finale was going to start off with another equalizer was pretty much a given. Why anone would think that 15 minutes head start at the beginning of a leg is that much of a benefit just doesn't really meet with reality. That 3 teams are trying to force Leo and Jamal out is a smart move.
Tim and Marie not giving away their leverage was definitely a smart move. Why they didn't take the challenge at the park...well I really didn't get the benefit of it. The other 2 teams doing the challange in the park was pretty much a given, and hafter having seen the challange it really didn't look that difficult.
I really didn't care for the japanese Gameshow challange at all. As far as I'm concerened that was just a redo of season 20 and preety much a let down.
The Roadblock challange was pretty much a laughing joke as far as I'm concerned. And we're back at the topic that they should either get rid of non-elimination legs all together or return to people having give up all their stuff.
The puzzle-type challange was not that easy and it did belong at this stage of the race. The one thing I found a little odd is that Tim and Marie didn't comment on the fact that Leo and Jamal were doing already the Speed Bump. Cudos to Marie for catching up that quickly with everyone else and finishing the Roadblock ahead of everyone else. Going from last to first during a single challange is quite an accomplishment.
The fact that Leo and Jamal got eliminated was just fucking AWESOME!!!
The equalizer at the beginning of the 2nd hour of the season finale was pretty much a given. The race to the Taxi's in Alaska was something fresh. The Plane Challange would have been quite fun. And aparently it looks much easier than it actually is. Waiting for a suppy drop from Nicoe and Marie in real life might turn out to be quite long wait...LOL
The Galcier Challenge just looked awesome and is definitely something right up my alley. Having to axe your clue out and searching among quite a number of invalid clues was definitely something fresh. And the fact that they had to take a trip by kayak and didn't get their final destination revealed right there was a good move.
When it comes to the Nicole I haven't seen anyone act that downright inept at the Glacier Challange. Holding onto your ice axe should be a given. Of course the challange can be completed with one axe, but it makes it so much harder and so much more time consuming.
Jason and Amy on the other hand seemed to be quite it sync today. They didn't seem to have an problems at all so far. The final challenge was a tough one. As soon as I hear about it I was pretty much sure that most wouldn't have paid too much attention to the local currency. And I got proven right. But I'm also quite sure that for future seasons teams will pay way more close attention to curencies. And the producers will have to come up with something fresh. Jason and Amy did win this season fair and square. They ran their race and especially at the last leg they worked together like a well oiled machine.
With all that being said, when it comes to the entire season and compared to other seasons, TAR 23 was without any doubt the worst season of the entire franchise. It started disappointing and they really kept that thing going all season long. A return to the way earlier seasons were would be an awesome change.

Amazing Race episode "Cobra in my Teeth"...

That this episode was starting up with a food challange wasn't actually a big surprise. We have it in every single season. Not sure how much of the entire "snake drama" is real and how much is played up. It's definitely not the nastiest food challange we've seen so far. It would have been something different if Marie had taken the penalty, but that didn't happen. But you have to hand it to hear dealing with the challange and being able to cope with it for being an vegeterian.
The Roadblock was an OK challange. There's really much to that challange than patience. From the difficuly level it really didn't have any place in that stage of the race. Boiling eggs sounds like the producers are so running out of ideas. I was happy that they made all 3 teams go back and redo at least some of their eggs...otehrwise I would have had to call Foul.
The Beauty pageant challange was fun to watch. Nothing super exciting, but it definitely looked easier than the alternative. With the beauty challange it definitely comes in handy to have a eye for detail and a little bit about make up.  But all things considered...the guys certainly looked pretty...LOL...
Leo and Jamal ditching the Tea challange, going to the beauty challange and then going back to the tea challenge again...has to be one of the worst tactical errors I've seen in a very long time. I did feel sorry for Travis and Nicole, that they jsut couldn't figure out that they have to clean up their faces before seeing the judge.
There was a little bit excitement with the race to the Pit Stop. But that was pretty much it. That seems to be the theme of this season: as little excitement as possible.
That this was going to be a non elimination leg was pretty much a given. They didn't even attempt to hide that face, since they kept playing that up way too much.
If I had to find a term to describe that episode...it probably would be something like "Yawn City".

Amazing Race episode "Part like the Read Sea"...

Anotehr example of a rather boring episode. The equalizer at the beginning was pretty much a given. Fortunately it didn't come to a Double-Equalizer at the train station.
When it comes to the Detour I think the Bird challenge was the easier one. The only thing is that Leo and Jamal are just getting fucking annoying. The only thing I want to do with those two dumb asses is blow their heas off!! They really need to go!!
The Roadblock was OK. Nothing really special and certainly nothing that belongs at this stage of the race. The only thing I can't believe is that someone wouldn't know what an Octave is. Nicole...where the hell have you been at school when they thaught that. So I guess Nicole shouldn't do any challenges that have even remotely to do with musical stuff.
As far as Ally an Ashley go that just made a few bad the decissions and it was all downhill from there.
To sum it up...this episode was thea least entertaining episode of the entire season so far...and I was glad for it to be over.

Amazing Race episode "One hot Camel"...

Here are my thoughts on episdoe 8. The episode started out rather slow. Having to use the coins from Norway was I nice touch, but it didn't quite hit the mark. For my expectations it just was too easy for that stage of the race.
For the entire Dune Buggy challenge I have just one word: BORING!!! We had a very similar challenge just a couple of seasons ago. So I would really have hoped for a more interesting challenge. Looks like the producers are running out of ideas. It might be time to bring some fresh blood into the department designing the challenges. The only thing that made this challenge sligthly entertaining to watch were the girls getting stuck. Let me give you people a little piece of advice. If the same approach hasn't made any progress at all after 2 or 3 attempts it most likely won't work at all and you might consider a different approach. But credit where credit is due...it's quite an acomplishment to completely burn up a clutch!!
When it comes to the detour, I still think the Camel challenge was the easier one. Travis and Nicole using the Express Pass and u-turning Leo and Jamal was a perfect strategic move.That they only showed 1 team being turned back with their camel might most likely have been an editing choice, but I really would have liked to see that happen more often. I really don't believe that all the other teams happen to pick the perfect camel right away.
The roadblock was a real fun challenge. As far as I'm concerned the real high point of this entire episode. The Leo and Jamal didn't get eliminated is a pitty, as I'm really getting tired of those two cruddy bums! That the bunnies weren't going to survice this leg of the race with the U-Turn and the Speed Bump was pretty much a given. But I really did like the Tidal Wave challenge. That would have also been another fun challenge. This Speed Bump seemed to be a little hard as the speed bumps in the privous couple of seasons. And I wouldn't mind if they brought that challenge back during the regular race maybe in during the early legs.
All in all it was an OK episode. Nothing terribly exciting, but not a complete bore either. All the editing choices didn't really help to make it a more exciting episode. I think a partly contributing factor to this is that the majority of the challenges are just too easy for this stage of the race.

Amazing Race episode "Speed Dating is the worst"...

That the flight would pretty much be another equalizer was pretty much a given, so no real surpise there. We didn't see much of a race to the mosque. Going there wasn't much of a challange at all. It did surprise me a little that people where surprised that women had the ware certain clothing pieces to a mosque. By now that should be known as common knowledge.
Neither of the 2 options of the Detour were particularly fun. But if I had to decide I would have probably gone for "Sort it Out". The food sorting challenge just did look a little easier and less exhausting than the other one.
The Roadblock definitely looked like a fun challange. Of course how qick you finish solely depends how good you're with reading at high speeds and remembering names and racing times. After about half of the teams were done with the Roadblock it became pretty clear that this was going to be a Non-Elimination leg. Since they kept play it up way too much. That was rather a bummer since I'm so over with those non-eliminaton legs. As for as I'm concerned they don't serve much ofa purpose to begin with.
All in all another example of an expisode with lots of pretty pictures. You might even broadcast thtat on the Travel Channel and nobody would ever notice the difference. Besides that this episode was very slow, not much action at all a little boring actually.

Amazing Race episode "Choir Boy at Heart"...

Well, I did like the fact that they went to Vienna, Austria in episode 6. Vienna is not only my home town but also my current place of residency. So I was quite looking forward to that episode.
Right at the beginning at just thought that people should use their head before opening their mouths. Vienna has absolutely nothing to do with the "Sound of Music". The plot isn't set anywhere near Vienna nor does any scene play in Vienna. So if you use movie or musical references try to use them in the right context. That certainly would be nice for a change.
That the train was going to be another equalizer was a given. So I really don't get why people are surprised about that. When it comes to the detour I probably would have gone for the Fast Forward as well. As this would have been a real fun challenge. But wind in Vienna can be tricky at times. So not waiting around too long was the right decision. At first I wasn't sure what was goint to be the easier detour challenge. Turns out the masks were the right pick. I'm not entirely sure how much of the Taxi issue was kinda produced. Under normal circumstances you will have a hard time flagging down a Taxi in Vienna. You have to either call for a cab or you've to go to one of the numerous Taxi staging areas. But this being Vienna's 1st District...things can be a little different.
When it comes to the entire Choir challenge...OMG!! I just kept laughing my ass off. That was the worst German pronounciation I've heard in a long time. And this sond was so out of tune. I wouldn't have passed any team. I was required to sing that song when I was in school, so I do know what it was supposed to sound...and none of the teams came even close. The ER Doctors did come closest to hit the mark. It brought back memories from the time I tried to teach my Ex a couple of German phrases. But considered to the last 2 teams he was doing great getting German pronounciatio right.
It was not a super exciting epsiode. Another excample of an episode that you would expect on the Travel Channel, but I don't think it's up to Amazing Race standards. Lots of pretty scenery but not that much stuff going on.

Amazing Race episode "Getting our Grooves on"...

Here are my thoughtson episode 5.
I did like the fact that this was a 2 part race. But with that being said the equalizer of the ferry ride made the 2 part episode pretty much pointless. The could have easily done that with 2 episodes. That was definitely disappointing.
 Once they arrived in Poland some teams were having the worst luck with taxi drivers that I've seen in quite some time. But it makes for good TV though. That one express pass got used that early in the race...well I'm not sure if that is a good choice. When it comes the the detour challange I rpobably would have chosen "Pose" it just seemed to be easier than learning a Polka routine. But makbe I'm completely wrong with that. I still think team "Oklahoma's" reaction is a little over the top. You're racing for 1 million bucks, so why would you care if something is humiliating or not. But by the way...he did look pretty in the dress...LOL... Another thing that still amazes me each and every season. People are still puzzeld that the inhabitants of a foreign country don't necessarily speak English...SERIOUSLY!! You would think after 22 season teams would finally get the message.
The use of the Double U-Turn is perfectly legitimate and the way it was used here was a good strategic move. Therefore I'm fine with it. The Roadblock was a pure chance of luck. Some teams got it quicker and other did take way longer. It was pretty clear that this was going to be an elimination leg. They didn't even try to make any attempt of hiding it. And I'm fine with that choice by the producers. I do have a little a beef with the entire "Pose" challange. They were supposed to collect 75 Sloti. But if you really looked closely most of the coins were Euro coins. Therefore I have to cry foul here. It's a repeat of the coin issue that we had 2 seasons ago. And I'm not happy about that.
I'm sorry to see the Hippies go, since they were such a fun team.

Amazing Race episode "Beards in the Wind"...

This episode start with something very familiar...another equalizer. No surprise here. When it comes to the detour im not quite sure about wich task is easier, but if I had to chose I probably would have chosen "Fish Jerky"...it just looks a little easier and less time consuming. I've only one suggestiong for the Afghan Boys...always check your equipment before starting out with a task. A stupid mistake like that can easily break your race. After 22 seasons something like that should no longer be happening...but apparently contestants just don't learn from previous seasons.
I really didn't care for all the trash talking, that's something we could have easily done without.
We're now into season 23 and teams are still not reading their clues properly...SERIOUSLY!!
So far the express pass really hasn't proven to be that much of a benefit since teams don't seem to go for the power play. Apparently everyone is looking pretty much through the tactics.
I really didn't think that the roadblock was that difficult. Bungee Junping from a bridge seemed like a fun challange but nothing that would make me think "WOW...Awesome". I just don't think that this challange is up to the standards that we've gotten used to. And challenge with the Ford Ranger pretty much goes along the line of the bridge challenge. So nothing really special.
One thing did strike me a little odd. As far as I remember you drive on the right side of the road in Norway, so why exactly did the quarry pickups have the stiring wheel on the wrong side ?
I did like that the "Hippies" came in first place..they really earned that fare and square. Other than that I didn't think that this was a particluar exciting episode. I would even go as far to say that it was rather slow. It was another example of an episode with beautiful scenery...and we had that already last season. They could have put the majority of that episode on the Traven Channel or NatGeo and you would have never noticed the difference.

Amazing Race episode "King Arthur Style"...

As some of you guys might have figured out...I've gotten kinda behind on this season of the Amazing Race. Well, life is funny some times as it has a tendency to get in your way. And when I get back from a 12+ hour work day I just want to kick back and relax. But right now it seems I have the time and I'm in the mood to catch up. So here are my thoughts on episode 3.
That the flight was going to be an equalizer didn't really come as a surprise. And we all know that a flight can make or break your race. Rolling the dice and having 3 connecting flight is definitely huge gamble. And it might just come back to bite you in the ass. If at all possible I would advice against such a tactic. Tems being divided on different flights makes it more interesting. But somehow the drama about the flights feels a little artificial. Not sure if that drama was for real or if it was at least partly produced. In my opinion they did "milk" that segement a little too long.
With the Coach challenge it was hard to believe. You get show a pic of a coach and you ask what it is? SERIOUSLY!! IF that's the best American education can do, well than America is really screwed! Fortunately there are a lot nice people around the globe to tell the teams that the coaches can be found in the Coach Museum. Surprise, Surprise!
If it had been my pick I would have chosen the Map Challenge. Sounded way easier and quicker than the tile challange. I liked that the tile master was having fun at the contestants expense. The first few teams were doing really well with the Map Challange, but with the Oklahoma Boys it was all downhill from there. Apparentyl calulus isn't big in Oklahoma. You calculate Magellan's journey and you forget the zero. Says somthing about your Math skills. But not realizing that this can't possibly be right tells me that you must have troubles with common sense skills as well. And common sense is a very important skill to have on the Amazing Race. Watching the two other teams with the Map Challange was just painful. It was quite apparent that they don't know anything about Geography and not much about History either. Magellan took his journey from 1519 to 1522. And no he did not take the Panama canal, since it digging the canal didn't start till 1904. Having a little knowledge of geography and history might come in quite handy when going on the Amazing Race.
That team NFL got kicked off was due to their bad luck with planes. I haven't seen any team having that bad luck with flights in a very long time. And I do agree with teh descision not even let them attempt the challanges, since there was no point to that in the first place. And we haven't seen that in quite some time either.

Amazing Race Ep. "Zip it, Bingo"...

Episode 2 of the Amaying Race wasn't that exciting as far as I'm concerned. It wasn't an episode of rather a slow pace. Lot of the same things and the real race feeling just didn' come up.
Of course a public attraction is closed during night hours. Suprise, Surprise! The detour was OK. I'm not quite sure what is the easier task. But if I had to pick one I probably would have gone with Brining. It just looked like the less exhausting challenge.
I didn't care to much for the buses with the different time tables. Just widens up the race field and creats 2 blocks of racers. That the "Bingo" guys tried to be smart and got bit in the ass...well that's not exactly new on the Amazing Race. A strategy like that can make or brake your race. But on the other hand if you don't take risks here and there you can't end up with a substantial gain either. So far this has been the first time on this season that even one team had taken the chances. Let's hope it's not one time thing. That it didn't work out in the end and most likely got them eliminated is part of the game. And of course if they had read the clue more carefully, they might still be in the game. So the not properly reading the clues continues!!
The Roadblock Challenge was just a very weak task as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that made it a little more interesting to watch was the fact that no team really read the clue. The clue clearly stated to pack the cart in the right order and not make some pile out of it.
I still don't have a favorite team, but on the other hand I don't absolutely hate another team either. Still happy that the "Hippies" are still in the race and seem to be doing well. Those 2 guys just seem to have fun on the race.

First Day of Work...

Today was my first day of work after a 2 week vacation. It has also been the first realy vacation since I started working for my current company. When I got to work I expected to find my desk had been decalered an disaster area. Well, it didn't look like that at first glance. My desk looked quite in order actually...and I found that highly supicous. And my feeling was right. I started with the cash register and it worked out quite fine.
Then I started to look through all stacks and it turns out the the entire disaster was actually hidden. There were things packed togehter that didn't even have to remotest thing to do with each other. And I'm not even talking about the timeframe. Things were in the pack of the piles that should have been in the front. And the things that had been most urgent were somewhere in the middle. Of course my co-worker hadn't touched the things that should have been dealt right away. So I had a couple of rather unfriendly emails waiting for me. And had to deal with a couple of people on the phone asking me the subject hadn't been dealt with. If my co-worker really had looked into the subject he could have solved it by himself. Guess that was a little to much to expect. And quite honestly I really didn't expect that. And then there were a couple of subjects regard year-end tax paperwork that he could have figured out himself, but apparently didn't feel like using his head and digging into the subject himself. That he couldn't figure out certain issues for the tax guys, I can undestand that...since it took me about 2 hours to think the issue through and figure out why I solved a couple of items a certain way.
So all in all it wasn't horrible, but it took me almost 5 hours to sort through all the paperwork and bring them in the necessary order. Now comes then fun part of working through them in a timly manner. By the time my work day was over I was actually still quite relaxed. That was a little suprising to me, since usually the recreational value of a vaction doesn't last longer than being 2 hours at work again.
When I got back home I was quite eager to figure out how Daisy had been. Wasn't entirely sure how she would react to of me having to go back to work after the move from the 12th to the 5th district. Since this was the first time that she had been all day by herself in the new apartment I let my camcorder record the entire thing. For the first 1 1/2 hours she walked up to the door and was waiting every time she heard some noise in the hallway. After that she just jumped onto the couch at slept for most of the time. Made here and there a round through the apartemnt and changed occasionlly her sleeping position. But she wasn't whining or complaining at all. So I guess all the complaing she did when we moved first to Vienna had to do with the change from the countryside to the big city and the suddenly she had to stay all by herself, after having had my family around for almost 1 year. So I'm very happy about that.

Amazing Race Ep. "We're not in Oklahoma no more"...

Today I finally got around to watch the season premier of Amzing Race season 23. For the past couple of seasons I've been recording audio comments of each episode. But due to my recent move my iMac is still packed away and I really don't want to deal with the basic audi tool on my laptop. For this season I will do my thoughts on each episode a little differently. First of all I voice my opinion an the end of each segment and it will be all in written form. That means of course that during one single episode it is quite possible that my view of a team might just change back and forth. And here it goes...
We have another start in LA. Nothing really special about that. The start on the set of a Western Town gave me hope that things would be a little differently. But just using a little the visual Ambience of a Western Town and just doing the regular start was really boring. I would have expected more. For example a buggy race to the cars comes to mind instantly and would have been much more fun.
This is season 23 and people still don't prepare for the race to LAX. SERIOUSLY!! And there are language barriers in LA...would could have predicted that one. I'm absolutely shocked! LOL...
We learn that they are agian using 2 express passes and everyone is totally stoked about it. Seriously!! Hasn't anyone watched last season and we all know how that turned out. The express pass isn't that benefitial at all. It much rather puts a huge target on your back.
The Roadblock. Well was not really exciting. We had something way too similar within the last 2 seasons. And that makes you question if the producers have run out of challenges or if the've just become complacent. The paragliding challange was quite a disappointment.
Well, the "Fish Challenge" wasn't the most exciting challenge, but it still was fun to watch. Here are some of my thoughts. You go on the Amazing Race, but you don't train how to row a boat? Because in the entire history of the Amazing Race there has never ever been a rowing challenge. SERIOUSLY!! This is now season 23 and Surprise, Surprise...people are still not reading their clues! Are you friggn' kidding me!!! Does anyone actually watch any season of the Amazing Race before going on the race? Hmmm...it just doesn't look that way.
I don't have a favorite team so far. But I don't absolutely dislike any team at this point either. Not a real fan of the former couple. The constant pickering and arguing makes for good TV, but gets really anoying with the time. The two "Barbie Type" teams aren't among my favorite teams either. But I'm happy that Team "Hippie" is still around. They seem like a team that is going to be fun to watch. But if TEam "Oklahoma" doesn't get their acto together in regard of directions, they might just become Team "Getting regularly Lost".

High Speed Internet...

This afternoon was going to be my appointment with UPC to have my Highspeed Internet transferred to my new place. But this day started out way earlier, since I was going to pick up my Mom at my Sis' place.
So I got up at 5 am, took Daisy for her morning walk and then had breakfast. By about 6 am I had to leave to head over to my Sis...and it would talk me almost 1 hour to get there. Daisy and 1 took the tram through Vienna's 1st District and then out the the 18th District where my sister lives. And we got there around 7 am. I picked up my Mom and my nephew Daniel who was also going to join us. We headed back by tram to my apartment and I showed my Mom my new place. She really liked my choice of colors and liked my new apartment as well. We had time to catch up, since we hadn't seen each other in about 1 year. By 10 am my nephew got restless as this was quite boring for him. So I packed up Daisy and brought showed them the way to Vienna's Train Terminal West. I went to the train gate with them and we said our good bye's.
Daisy and I headed back to the apartment, had some lunch and waited for the UPC guy to show up. The appointment was between noon and 5 pm. He showed up at 1 pm and that's defintely a plus in my book. Usually I wouldn't even have to be at home to have my Internet transferred. They just have to plug in 2 cables in the house and that's it. But he had to install the outlets in the apartment, since there had never been any UPC internet installed. All in all it took him about 20 minutes to do the entire installation and after that the internet and and TV worked perfectly now. Now I can even use my UPC DVR and even watch regular German Cable TV. And of course that's exactly what I did. Watching German Cable Shows is fine. But having to watch US TV-Series dubbed into Geman almost makes me wanna puke! Shows I watch regularly and especially anything Star Trek I refuse to watch in German. But for regualr German Cable and cheesy SciFi Movies it's fine. But I will never ever watch mainstream Movies in German as they were meant to be watched in English. And I only have the TV Channels because they're part of my Internet Package deal.
But having my Highspeed Internet back again is really quite nice!

Minor Trouble Shooting...

This morning I had the appointment at 8.30 am with the realtor for my old apartment. Knowing Daisy issues with separation anxiety I brought her along. I really didn't want to take the chanaces of her having to stay in the new place all by herself. I plan on testing that out, but not before Thursday or Friday. I got to my apointment just in time. I made a walkthrough with the realtor, he took a couple of pix and I gave him one of the keyes of the apartment. That way he can show the place any time he wants to, without me having to be there each and every time.
When I got back the my new place I didn't feel like doing much. On the one hand the weather was quite unfriendly and I hadn't gotten too much sleep for the past week. So I planned on taking a short nap. Well the short nap turned out to be 3 hours long. Then I was motivated to do some cleaning in the kitchen and then moved on to put all the kitchen stuff in it's place. That's easier said than done, since my new kitchen is way smaller than the one in my old apartment...So you really have to think through what is going to go where. While I was doing that I realized that the hot water wasn't working. So I called the plumber who does a lot of plubing, electrical stuff and who also heater service for the company managing the building. I thought it would take him a couple of days to show up. But as luck will have it he was on his way to my apartmetn building and was going to take a look at it. He showed up about 2 hours later and showed me how to trouble shoot the heating unit if that should occur again. He also mentioned that, if this keeps happening on a regular basis there is one part that needs to be changed and that I shoudl call him if I want to change this part. Best thing was that this visit was free of charge.
Next up I connected my washer/dryer and did a test run and it runs perfectly. Then I did some minor bathroom setup. And shortly after that I noticed that Daisy had found her new 'Daisy Den'. Appartenly the place between tub, bathroom sink and washer makes a perfect den. Next up were a few minor fixes of my paintjob before I called in the night.

Moving Day...

For the moving day I had hired a moving company to move all the boxes and the heavy stuff like the couch, TV and expecially the 200 lbs washer/dryer. So I got up around 6 am and took Daisy for her morning walk. After we got back I had breakfast and then packed up some last minute items. I was done with all that by 8 am. Then the only thing left to do was to wait for the moving company to show up. Well, they were supposed to show up by 8 am...and at 8.20 am the bell finally rang. So that wasn't that much of waiting time.
We made our first walk-through and I told them what all had to be moved. Well, they had carried down the boxes in absolutely no time. That would be something that would have taken me at least 2 hours. Next up was my living room couch follwed by the TV and finally the carried down the 200 lbs washer/dryer. Those 2 guys are really used to doing that stuff. And expecially one of them was quite an eyecandy. I certianly wouldn't have thrown him out of my bed.
While all that moving was going on, Daisy had to stay in the kitchen, because she would have been in the way all the time. There's one thing that this dog knows to do perfectly...find the worst spot possible! Once all the stuff was in the moving truck, I left Daisy at my old apartment and headed over to my new place. I got there a couple of minutes after the moving guys got there. In the new place it was way easier, since there is an elevator and you don't have to carry all the stuff up 4 flights of stairs. By 10.30 am the entire move was over. And it only cost me 250 bucks. That's money well spent as far as I'm concerned. And should I ever move again I wouldn't hesitate to hire that moving comany again.

The plan was to get some cleaning supplies and then pick up Daisy, head over to the new place and do some cleaning and to head out to the hardware store for some supplies I was missing. But we all know, that nothing ever works out as planned. When I left the store I got a call from the realtor of my old place that he intended to show the place the next day. With me having already moved out, that wasn't the issue. But during all the packing I hadn't done any cleaning in my old place in the past 10 days...and it really showed. So I grabbed some cleaning supplies and headed over to the old place to get some basic cleaning done. The bathroom and living room were done fairly quickly. Then I packed up some stuff that I didn't have any moving box for and transproted that stuff over to my new place. Having to take public transportation for that was actually not that bad. After some lunch I headed back over to my old place to finish cleaning the the kitchen and the living room. By the time I was done it was about 7 pm. I probably could have let it the way it was, but first of all I didn't want it to look like pigsty and second I really didn't want that any amount is being deducted from my security deposit.
When I got to my new apartment I just put the the couch in it's place, connected BluRay Player and TV, ordered some Pizza and that finally brought this moving day to an end. Well, I won't be having any highspeed internet until Thursday...but for those few Days I will be using my cell phone as protable WiFi Hotspot.

Pre-Move Weekend...

Those of you wo read my Blog regularly probably know that I had borrowed my Sis' car over the weekend to move some items, that I don't trust the moving guys with. These items included my computers, the monitor and some other heavy kitchen appliances that I didn't want to buy an extra stable box for and of course the loose items form the kitchen and the bathroom. I also transported Daisy's
Doggy Crate and the paint cans. When I initially planned the pre-move I thought that wouldn't be more than 2 or 3 boxes at the most. But things just kept adding up.
Originally I had planned to move everything on Saturday, but sicne I had the car for both days I divided it in 2 even loads. But carrying down all that stuff over 3 flights of stairs and packing it in the car is way more time consuming and way more exhausting than I thought. On top of that Daisy was not what you call a happy camper. She kept whining each time I left with one box. And I still have a vivid memory how badly that went 1 1/2 years ago. I really didn't want to have Daisy walk up and down with me with each trip. But the separation anxiety didn't take over and Daisy calmed down and waited right at the door for me to return. As soon as I got back she was completely overexcited. But that something I can live with.
Once the car was packed I picked up Daisy and we headed over to my new apartment in Vienna's 5th district. This is a fairly short ride by car. Takes you approximately 10 minutes. I was fortunate to get a parking spot right in front of my apartment building. I had Daisy stay in the car while I unloaded one elevator load worth of stuff. Then picked up Daisy, loaded up the elevator and brought the stuff into the apartment. I was done in under 30 minutes, while it had taken me about 1 1/2 hours to carry all the stuff down in my old place.
Once we were done we headed over to my old place and I finished packing up everything for the moving guys. The rest that didn't fit anywhere had to be transported by car. I was short aboutz 2 boxes. Really underestimated all the things I had acquired in the last 1 1/2 years. By the time I realized I was short of boxes I couldn't by any additional ones since the store had already closed for the weekend. So I prepped it for the second pre-move trip for the next.
While I warmed up left-over dinner from the day before poor Daisy was just sleeping right there in the middle of the kitchen compeletely exhausted from all the moving anxiety. But the fact that the separation anxiety didn't get the best of her gives me hope that she will get used to the new place during my vacation and that I won't have to put her back in anti-separation anxiety drugs as I had to do 1 1/2 years earlier. I had planned on watching a movie, but didn't even see 1/3 of it. By the time I woke up again it was about 1.30 am the movie was already over, and I had just one more beer and headed to bed.
On Sunday we repeated pretty much exactly what we had done on Saturday. Once again Daisy was able to keep her seperation anxiety in check. So I'm quite happy about that. By the time I had pretty much wrapped up the pre-move my Sis called me and asked if I could pick her and Bernd up from the railway station, since they were returning from a mountaineering trip over the weekend. Picked them up at the railway station and since my new place is only about 10 minutes by car I showed them how far the place has gotten so far. My Sis pointed out the lack of view of my new apartment, but that's just the thing with urban living. You rarely get a good view. And the view from my apartment really wasn't a deciding factor for me. Bernd on the other hand liked the way the apartment is cut. Although the apartment is only about 57 square meters (615 sqf) it looks way bigger.
After my Sis and Bernd had left I brought some order into all the items I had moved. Now my future bedroom has the look of a warehouse. I continued to do some touch up work with my paintjob. By the time I ran out of light I headed over to my old place and that brought the pre-move weekend to an end. There's once thing I can say with certainty...comple physical exhaustion really feels exhausting.

Visiting my Sis...

Today I had planned to head over to my Sis right after work. Well that didn't quite happen. Everything would have worked out perfectly if I had gotten off work at 4 pm as I had planned. But since it took me till 5.30 pm to wrap things up, my time table was pretty much screwed up. I had to make a trip to the hardware store to pick up some items I still needed for the move. That went fairly quickly. Then I headed over to my old place to pick up Daisy. At this point the 7 pm time table to be at my Sis was still possible. But a heavy down pour had other plans and I wasn't going to go out with Daisy in that kind of weather an be completely soaked by the time I would be getting to the subway. Luckily these down pours usually don't last that long. So I was only running about 1/2 hour late.
It was the first time since Easter that I had hung out with my Sis. We only live about 30 minutes apart from each other, but we have to very different life styles and so we don't see each other that often as we would like to. My 2 nephews were deligthed to see Daisy. And it was also the first time that Daisy met my Sis' 2 cats. And lets put it that way Daisy and cats are not exactly friends. The only thing Daisy wanted to do is to chase the cat. That's just something I've never been able to change. Those 2 cats didn't quite like her either, but were way too curious for their own good. So Daisy had to stay on the leash. For most parts that worked out quite fine. There was one tense moment though. But for the rest of the evening we could observe a staring match betwen Daisy and the 2 cats.
We did catch up on what was going on in each others life and by 9 pm we said our good byes and I picked up my Sis' car that she let me borrow for the pre-move that I had planned for the next day. Daisy and I got home by about 9.30 pm. Usually while I'm cooking Daisy is watching me. But from all the excitement with the cats and from the almost 2 hour long staring duell, poor Daisy was all wiped out and slept alle stretched out in the middle of the kitchen. She didn't even open her eyes when I was walking around. The rest of the evening was quiet and relaxed since the next day was going to be an exhausting one.

Last Day of Work...

Today was the last day before I went on vacation. I was hoping to get out of work by 4 pm at the latest. Well, that's something that just didn't happen. There were way too many things to deal with and to many loose ends to tie up. On top of all of that I had to figure out the best way to set up the new form for payment reminders. With the update of our software to the new version all the all forms became invalid and had to be created again. Well, I thought being an accountant that wouldn't be my job. The way I understand it, that would be the way of the Software and IT-Guys...after all we are paying them to do that job. But as it turns out it's my job to do that. So I managed to get one form up and running. Not that I'm entirely happy with it, but at least for now it's a workable solution. I didn't get the forms for the other 2 sub-companies done. I hope that my co-worker is able to get that done. I told him, if he can't figure it out by himself he should call the Tech-Guys. But something tells me that the entire update of the forms isn't goint to work out the way it is supposed to. Maybe I'm being pessimistic here. But knowing my co-worker I really don't think it's going to turn out the right way. And that I will have to deal with it once I get back from my vacation.
By the time I left work it was 5.30 pm and on my way home I had the feeling that I had forgotten something. Well a couple of hours later it hit me that I hadn't completed one statistic that the Federal Statistic Agency want's to have by the 15th of each month. I considered for a second to come in on Tuesday and finish the damned thing. But than I remebered how deal with the statistics of other co-workers. We tell the Agency that the co-worker is on vacation and that it will be done as soon as he is back. If that should turn out to be a problem...well, my boss has my cell number and can call me...otherwise I really couldn't care less...at least at this particular point in time.
Apparently after not having had a real vacation for more thatn  1 1/2 years I'm more than overdue for it.

The Packing continues...

Today I didn't go over to my new place. I stayed in my old apartment to continue with the packing. This has been an ongoing process over the last several weeks. And it actually isn't that easy. You have to think very carefully through what you're going to pack. Since I'm still working I can't pack a lot of things, because I still need them for work. And of course the kitchen can't be packed up and that is going to take quite some time. But I did manage to pack up most of the bedroom. At least that stuff, that I won't be needung during the next week. I also managed to pack up most of my office stuff. Of course the computers are not packed up yet and I really don't want the moving guys to move my computers. I rather be doing that myself. Already talked to my Sis and I wil be borrowing her car most likely on the next Saturday to move some stuff, that I don't want to trust the moving guys with. That will give me the entire Sunday to pack up the entire kitchen. So far I think the packing is moving along at a fairly nice pace. But poor Daisy isn't quite sure what to make of the entire packing and she's even less sure how to feel about the spending parts of the time in the new place and parts of my free time in the old place.

Painting Round 2...

Today was going to be another day of painting. At least that was the plan. But as we all know, sometimes things don't work out as planned. I got pretty much around the time I wanted to, but I went and got a haircut first, since that was the last time that was going to be possible before my vacation starts. So I got a little a later start than I would have liked to.
I picked up Daisy and we headed over to my new place and I started with painting round number 3 of the living room. These walls suck up way more color than expected. Well, I probably could have just done touch up's...but there were quite a bit of them and so I figured I might as well do another round. By the time I was finished I was happy the way it turned out.
Next up was that, what will eventually become may work and eating area. Luckily I had already taped all the corners off when I did the prep-work for the painting and so I didn't have to waste much time with it. So I painted round numer one. And with these walls the first round of painting always looks like a bad paint job. By the time I was finished on one end the color was dry enough for round number two. Can't say that I was a big fan of that, as I was getting a headache and I forgot to bring any Aspirin and my should muscles were starting to bother me. But I put all of that out of my mind, since I really wanted to get in 2 rounds of painting in the rest of the living room. On top of that I was already 6 pm when I started with round 3. So the light situation was slowly becoming an issues as well. But I did finsish round number 2. I think it turned out OK. By the time I was done there was just not enough day light to check the quality on the paint job. I was just happy that I managed to get the round number two done. I cleaned my self up a little and headed back home. And how did Daisy spend the day? She was in the middle of the 'pain area' and spent it most time sleeping, while I was working hard. Guess in my next time I want to come back as a dog!
I really wanted to order outfood, since I so didn't feel like cooking. But since I had already purchased all the ingredients I stuck with the original plan of cooking. Peeled the potatoes and cooked them for the Erbs-Wurst Soup. Is kind of an adaptation of a traditional hiker's meal in Austria. Easy to prepare and very cheap. What you do is you cook peeled potatoes and once they are done you throw them in the blender. After it's all blended put them back in the pot warm it up and add Peas and small pieces of Sausage...and you're done. With the right seasoning it's a quite tasty meal epecially if you've been working hard all day long. When I relaxad after dinner on the couch all my muslces and a lot of joints were hurting. Some of those muscles I didn't even realize that I had them before the entire painting marathon. And I would have given a kingdome for a good massage. But since nobody was around to do the task, I had to be without a massage.
I had planned of watchting a movie, but guess what...I fell asleep in front of the TV and woke up around 3.30 am. Apparently I really needed the sleep.

Registering in Vienna's 5th District...

Every citizen in Austria is supposed to change your registration withn 3 days after moving into a new place. The law isn't entirely clear what contitutes the process of moving. Is the process of moving considered when you physically move into a new place or is the fact of signing a lease enough requiring you to change your registration. Well I wasn't going to argue with civil servants that point, as you can only loose that argument. But  I have limited time and so it didn't happen within a 3-day period after signing the lease. It was more like a 10-day period.
I wanted to do that before moving into new place since I have to go district office to do so and it usually requries some waiting. I wanted to do that beforehand, since I didn't want Daisy to have to be in the new apartment alone by herself right after moving. So today I took the time and went down to the Magistratische Bezirksamt for the 5th District right when they opened at 8 am. I was prepared to wait about 1/2 at the least to put in your paperwork and have your registration changed. I was quite surprised to find that I was only the second person waiting. And I was done changing my registration within 5 minutes. That was the fastest I've ever been in and out of the district office in my life.
Once I got to work and emailed a copy of my new registration to the city in order to change Daisy registration to the 5th district as well. Now Daisy and I are both oficially rigistered in Margareten (Vienna's 5th District).
I also forwarded a copy of my changed registration to our human resources department in order to get my 2 aditional days off for moving. I talked it out with them and we decided that they would just take 2 days off my regular vacation days, since I'm moving during my vacation. So instead of having to take 10 vacation days I will only take 8 and still have a 2 week vacation.

Let the remodeling begin...

Since I got the keyes I got also a look at the freshly painted apartment. And as it is quite common it had been painted white. The bright white just isn't my thing. And I figured I might start with the painting of the living room right away before moving in any furniture. Transporting the heavy paint cans and the rest of the painting suppies by tram isn't that easy. Yes, it's possible...but probalby not the most effective way to do that. First I thought about getting a rental car for that. But for one day they want to charge you about 80 bucks and on top of your credit card and your drivers license they want a valid passport from you as well. Currently I don't own a valid passport. So I canceled the rental car and went with a cab instead. I could fit all the stuff I needed to transport easily in the cab and it cost me only 12 bucks.
After I had dropped off all the painting suppies at my new place, I went back and picked up Daisy. When it comes to Trams and public transportation Daisy just is a natural. Even with her being 16 years old she still loves to go for rides. We got to the new place and it was Daisy's first time checking out the new apartment. Well, she checked it out but wasn't quite entirely sure what to make of it. She did stand long in front of the patio door but didn't dare to walk outside by herself. Finally she settled down while I started setting up the paint area and do all the taping off. And it always takes a ton of time. By the time I was done with all of that, the day light was fading and we headed back to my old place to get some dinner. All in all it was a quite sucessful Saturday.
On Sunday Daisy and I headed over to the new place and I started painting. I had decided to paint that part of the living room first where the couch is going. Then I painted all he corners of the rest. By the time I was done with that I started with the second coat of paint. All in all I'm happy with the way it turned out. But I'm still not sure if it's going to need a 3rd coat of paint, since these wall suck up paint like crazy.

I got the Keyes...

Well, today was finally the day that I was going to sign the Lease. For that to happen I had to leave work early, since the appointment was at 4 pm. I left at 3 pm what would have given me enought time to get to Vienna's 1st District, where the branch office to the company managing the building is located. But we all know that things quite often don't work the way as you plan them. And this was just another example. The bus that I had to catch in order to make my appointment didn't come. That's not the firsts time that happens with that particular bus line. So I called a cab instead. I knew that way I would make the appointment, but it would cost me about 20 bucks. But, that's just one of those things that you just have to do. Luckily the cab arrived within 3 minutes and I did make it to my appointment with about 10 minutes to spare. I signed the lease and the addendum allowing me to have dogs at the apartment was part of the Lease. I paid the real estates agent's comission and then I headed with a representative of the company managing the building over for a walk -trough. Everything was as it's supposed to be and as I remembered it. The only thing that hasn't been dealt with is the heater and they've already set up an appointment to have that fixed without costing me a single dime. I don't have to take care of the utilities as that will be done as well by the company managing the apartment. The only thing left to do is for me to switch over my internet provider to the new place and yes the most important thing is to pull off the move.
Still, the new place feels a little smaller as my current one, although they have the same size. But the setup of the nex place just works way better for my current lifestyle. And a big plus is the outdoor living space. OK, it really doesn't have any view but a patio is definitely a plus in my book.
On my way home I called the moving company and booked the moving team for September 16th. Since I don't have any plans of moving a 200 lb washer by myself. And since the offer a fixed rate I had them move the rest of the furniture and the boxes as well. I will be packing all my stuff, but I won't be carrying it down 4 flights of stairs.

Appointment with my Bank...

Since the troubles with the lease seemed to be dealt with I had to have an appointment with my bank. The trouble is the thing with the security deposit. This has to be at the company managing the building in order to be able to sign the lease. Usually you would just transfer it by online banking. The problem is that the accounting for this building is done in Graz and the branch office in Vienna doesn't have any access to the accounting data. Besides that it would have been a too short time for the deposit to be recorded properly. So your only choice is to make a cash deposit at the bank of the recepient. The thing they want is an official signature from the bank, that the money has been put into their account.
So today I went to the headquarters of my bank and withdrew in cash the security deposit for the new place and the commision for the real estate agent. Withdrawing 5 Grand from your checking account really hurts. Then I went a branch office of the recipients bank and made a cash deposit into their account. Now that has been dealt with there is nothing standing in the way of signing the Lease on the coming Monday.

Troubles with the Lease...

Today I got a draft of the lease for the new place. Most of it is pretty standard and there really isn't much to it. But there was however one section that definitely wasn't quite the way I wanted and needed it to be. It's the section of keeping animals. While it is standard that you are allowed to keep animls that are being kept in cages dogs and cats are a different thing. That's something that doesn't fall under that clause. And I definitely wanted to have that spelled out in the lease otherweise I was not going to sign it. That I was goign to be allowed to have cats and dogs was something the real eastate agent had promised to me.
So I called the people responsible for the contract. Of course the woman who dealt with this particular contract wasn't available right away. But she did call me back later in the day and we talked it over and she assured me that in the final draft. I made it quite clear that I wouldn't sign this contract unless that is spelled out and that I can not be held responsible if costs should arise because the contract has to be redone. She told me that would be no problem and that the only thing I had to do is to get the security doposit to them in time. So that means that I will be signing the lease for the new place on August 26th.

The packing that didn't quite happen...

Since I got the word, that I had gotten the new place in Vienna's 5th district I thought it would b e a good idea to get a head start in the packing. I had gotten several moving boxes on my way home from work. But first I had to make head or tails what can be packed and what has to stay out for the moment. I did pack one box with small kitchen appliances that I'm very unlikely to use during the next few weeks. The next thing was that a lot of my clothes can be packed. But when I looked through them I realized that some of it had been sitting in the closet for about 1 year and it really could use some washing before going into boxes. On top of that the clothes that I don't wear regularly will have to stay in boxes for some times, because I won't ge having a closet space for them right away. So I started with the washing...and that's quite a time consuming process. Although this was a 4-day weekend for me I spent most of the time doing load after load of laundry. So the packing didn't actually quite happen. But I did come up with a "battle plan" in which order things are going to be packed and I figured out what expenses are going to be paid cash or by ATM and what is going to be paid by credit card just in order to have a little financial safety net. After all having to pay for the security deposit, the real eastate agent's comission, fees for the contract my savings is gonna take a very big hit. And it will have to take the hit about 10 days earlier than I would like to. But when all is said and done I will still have about 1 Grand at my disposal. If you're being used to having a savings account with about 7 or 8 Grand...that's not too much, but definitely something I can handle. So certain things in the new apartment will have priority, while others will have to be put in the back burner for now.

I got the Place...

Today I got a call from the real eastate guys that I got the place. I was quite excited as you can imagine. This place will make it for Daisy so much easier. No more walking up and down 4 flights of stairs 3 or 4 times a day. The building I'm moving into has an elevator. Once again it's an apartment on the 4th floor and the setup of the apartment itself works way better for my current lifestyle than the apartment I'm currently living in. The new place is about the same size and it does have a coverd balcony. It's not one of these tiny things that doesn't do you any good to begin with but an outdoor living space of a useable size. Yes the rent is about 100 bucks more of what I'm paying now...but that's just one of the things we do for our furry companions.
So it was a good thing that I picked up some moving boxes at a local hardware store on my way home from work on Wednesday. This beeing a 4-Day Weekend for me gives me time to get the packing started. I will have about 4 weeks before the actual move is gonna happen. So hopefully it won't be getting too stressful.
During the next week I should be getting a draft of the lease and we probably will pick an appointment to sign the lease.

Round 3 with the Tax Guys...

Today was round 3 with the tax guys. And I knew from the beginning that they would be digging out a ton of stuff. On the other hand it is their job to do that. The point here is not to blame someone, but to point out what's going wrong during the year, what could be done better and how to avoid mistakes like that.
With that being said, I keep a perspective about what they dig out. If that what they find is under 10% of the entries during the year, that would be a normal quote for accounting mistakes. And I woudldn't worry too much about it. But then of course there are those mistakes that are kind embarassing. Payments with missing invoices, invoices numbered wrong or not put in the folders in numerical order, those are unnecessary mistakes. When it comes to some of the accounting errors they are partly due to interpretation. We see it one way and the tax guys see it another way. In the end we have to find common ground and figure out a way how to avoid that in the future. And then there are those things that are clearly worng, because the exenses have been recorded on the wrong accounts and some have been put in the wrong class. Those are the things I was not particularly happy about. Mistakes like that can happen, but it should have occured to my co-worker who prepped that paperwork, that here seems to be something out of order. But he didn't see that and that's actually an embarassment. And it's a given fact if a tax guy findes a couple of unnecessary things than they start to look way more carefully than they would be doing otherwise.
When the tax guys were talking to me, I do agree with them that things like that should not be happening and I try to figure out a way how we could avoid that in the future. Most of the corrections were be given to me, since it is pretty much second nature for me to make those changes. It is immediately clear to me what needs to be done and I've corrected that in no time. My co-worker on the other hand seems to take al long time. It's not quite clear to him what needs to be done. He seems to be slightly confused when he has to correct the amount including the tax, the amount with no tax and when the whole tax needs to be changed and when he just has to record a tax correction. At first it was not quite clear to me why he has problems with that. But it seems to be the way those kids learn accounting these days. They all learn it now on computers and therefore they are missing part of the understanding. I learned accounting on paper and therefore it is clear to me what accounts are being touched when they are recorded, regardless if I physically see them during the process or not. Therefore my understanding of the matter is different as when someone never ever had to do that on paper. And then of course I've been involved with accounting for almost 25 years and I've worked it from many different angles, therefore you have and entirely different understanding of the matter. My co-worker was already so down, that the tax guys and I agreed that I should be doing most of the corrections, otherwise he might think he can't do anything right and might just throw down the towel and quit. The thing I didn't tell my co-worker is that fact that he didn't balance the transfer accounts and that the didn't even attempt to balance the open positions on the liability side and on the outstanding debts. From a accounting point of view it's pretty much a mess. But I didn't tell him that, I figured once we're done with this years tax paperwork I will sit down with him and try to explain to him the proper way to deal with those during the business year and what prep-work has to be done before the tax guys get their hands on it.
Shortly before the work day ended we had a talk about accounting. Turns out that he thought with having attended 5 years of Merchants-Academy he just would sit down do some accounting and it would all be right. And it came as a complete surprise to him that he actually knows very little about the way acoutning is being done in a real company and in real life. And he was really completly down and depressed and he might have realized that he being 22 and coming right from school and having to deal with our somewhat complicated system accountingwise, might not exactly what you call a happy fit. I've known that for some time, but it's not my place to point that out. What I told him is that he needs to give himself time to learn how accounting is being done in real life and that doesn't happen over night. I do hope that I talked him out of quiting, since there were situations during that day when I wasn't sure if he's gonna stay or quit.