Plumbing Work - Round 2...

Those of you guys who regularly read my blog know that I have been having troubles with my plumbing. Although I was on Sunday back to square one there was only so much I could do about it. I was still waiting for the estimate from the plumbing company and on top of that the landlord was on vacation. To makes things even worse this is the peak of tax season and therefore the busiest time at work for me. So I was stuck without a shower. I went back to basics and just washed myself over a pot...and for the most part I was fine with it. Not that this is particularly new to me, since I used to do that when being on a long distance hiking trail. With the cooler weather I was fine with it and that's the reason I didn't jump into action quicker. On Friday I received the estimate and it would be at least 500 bucks and I probably would have to have a fight with the landlord about getting fully reimbursed.
So I went out to a local hardware store and got my self a big, mean Kärcher wet/dry vacuum. I needed a vacuum anyways and with that I was killing 2 flies at once. Got exactly what I was looking for and it was about 90 bucks. I really didn't feel like transporting the thing back to my apartment in the subway and so I called a cab. It's also the first time for me taking a cab in Vienna since moving back from the States over 2 years ago. Got home and started right away. My original plan was to emty out the shower and that way I would be at least able to take a shower before heading into work. Yes I would have to repeat that every time, but that's something I was prepared to do until the landlord is back in town again.
I did make good progress with the shower itself and I got a ton of crap out of the pipes. Worked on and off all afternoon long. With flushing plenty of times I got a nice drain in the kitchen and bathroom sink going. I was pretty happy with that. Then is used the "blow function" of the vacuum and got a ton of crap loosened. With lots of flushing and sucking the crap out of the drains finally the shower started to drain slowly. After that I boiled pot after pot on the stove and poured it down the drains and with lots of flushing I finally got back the drain in the kitchen and bathroom sink as it used to be. Then I continiued the same procedure several times on the shower and I relly got it draining nicely. OK, it's still way slower than it used to be but it list it's draining and not backing up anymore. So all in all I'm very happy with my big mean wet/dry vacuum and with the result I accomplished.

And the House Hunting begins...

Today marks the day that the Househunting begins once more. Got a couple of answer about the apartments I was interested in. 2 of them turned me down because of Daisy. But I expected some "sorry, but no dog" so I wasn't particularly upset. And it's not like the House Hunting I used to do when I was 20, where I was only looking for a roof over my head. No I only send out inquiries if I like a place and can see myself living there. Got 2 positive answers as well. Both apartments are roughly the same size. One of them is in Vienna's 5th district and the other on in the 7th district. Of course the 7th is most likely the area, but on the downside it would increase my commute to work. I set up an appointment to see the apartment in the 5th district after work.
When I got the directions there I realized that it is actully a little closer to a major street than I actually would like to. But I went and saw it anyway. Of course the commute to work would be even shorter than from my current apartment. It has a perfect proximity to public transportation. 2 Subway Lines close by and just 1 tram station form what's going to become Vienna's Central Railway Station in the future. The building is located on a one way street and actually for it being only 1 block from a major street it really is fairly quiet. The building itself is an "Altbau" with the First and Second Penthouse Floor having been done a couple of years ago. But the apartment I was looking at didn't really look like a penthouse, more like your average apartment.
It has a decent size...roughly about 610 sqf and that's just the right size for me. A nice sized Bedroom, decent size living room. The kitchen is of an average size. It's not open concept, but still kinda open and close to the living room, so that you can carry on a conversation with guest being seated in the living room while you're cooking. A nice sized bathroom and a it does also have a cover balcony and having an outdoor living space in the city is a major plus in my book. The apartment is on the 4th floor and even with the windows open it's still fairly quiet. Especially the balcony is since it does not go out to the surrounding streets, but to the inside. The bulding has a keyed elevator and that's another major plus in my book and it has a 30 sqf basement compartment as well.
At first it was just an OK apartment for me, mostly because of the proximity to a major street, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it actually has about 9 out of 10 things I was looking for...and for this being an rental apartment that's not bad at all. I haven't made any decissions quite yet...still waiting to hear back from another place and still going to look that the apartment in the 7th district. On top of that I'm not exactly in a rush since I'm planning of moving in September. But I will keep you guys posted on the progress.

Plumbing Disaster...

Well, my last Blog Post where I was thinking about moving to a better suited place for Daisy and I couldn't have been more "prophetical". Sometimes I think I must be really psychic.
That there was something not quite right with the drain of the shower is not exactly new to me. It had always been slow, but I just didn't feel like having to pay the plumber myself and than having to fight with the landlord of getting reimbursed. Clearly the plumbing system is his responsibility. But the landlord does only what is an aboslute must. Everything else is always a fight. When it comes to that I really miss having a professional real estate company managing the building.
To make long story short. Firday morning the drain of the shower stopped working. So I used some of the tricks I knew about to get the shower drain unclogged again. Well, it just made matters worse. I ended up of having some of the stuff stuck to the walls of the drain loosened and it ended up right in the bathtub. All tricks didn't help and since I had to leave for work I had to let it the way it was. As you can imagine I was not a happy camper.
I couldn't get a hold of the landlord and so I took matters into my own hands and called a local plumber. They offered very reasonable flat rates and the were going to send someone over on Friday afternoon. So I left work early. That being in the middle of tax season and this being busiest time for me didn't help to improve my mood. The plumber really worked his ass off. After about 1 hour he managed to unclog the drain somewhat. He told me that this is only a very temporary fix and that it can break down at any time and that I would have the drain high pressure cleaned. That's clearly the obligation of the landlord and I have to talk to him first otherwise I might end up paying for the entire procedure myself.
Of course the entire thing is a pain in the ass, but it also gave me the necessary kick in the butt to get serious about finding a new place for Daisy and I. Spent Saturday afternoon looking at places online and found about 5 or 6 that I liked and so I wrote to the Real Estate Agents to find out if dogs are allowed, since it isn't that easy at the moment to find great apartments that allow dogs. So I hope to hear back from some of the Agents by Monday or Tuesday.
But the "Plumbing God" was not quite finished with me yet. On Sunday afternoon the fix broke down again and it was right back to Ground Zero. All the tricks didn't help and after trying it on and off for a couple of hours I gave up. It was time to rethink the strategy. Here it comes in handy if you have learned to think on your feet. Since I couldn't fix the problem I had to find a way to wash myself for Monday. Then I remembered how I used to do that as a kid when visiting my Grandma. There was no running water at her place and you had to wash yourself over a bucket. And that's exactly what I recreated. Well, of course it's an inconvenience...but as a short term solution it's very doable.
But there is good news as well. Only the drain stack of the bathroom and kitchen broke down, luckily the stack for the washer and toilet is still in perfect working order. At least I still can cook and wash dishes, you just have to get a little creative go back to basics...to the way we used to do those things
60 or 70 years ago.
Now I have to call the landlord and have him set up an appointment for a pressure cleaning of the drain. I will keep you guys updated on that.

Daisy's Arthritis..

Well, with Daisy being 16 years old it is no surprise that she is occasionally having issues with her Arthritis. This evening when I took her out I realized that she was limping, although she wasn't doing that when we walked down the stairs. So I wasn't quite sure if it was Arthritis or if she had just stepped wrong. But during the walk it acutally didn't get wors. She seemed to be doing fine on flat surfaces but stepping up was verz difficult for her. When we came back she barely could walk the stairs. So I grabbed her and carried her up all 4 flights of stairs. The next few days it wasn't any different. Daisy was still limping and being a good doggy daddy I carried her up and down the stairs. But Daisy so doesn't like the idea. She just wants to walk. But if you think that would slow down her excitement when I get back from work, think again. She is as excited as always and she jumps and bounces around on 3 legs. Finally after 1 week of me having to carry Daisy up and down the stairs things improved to a point where I let her walk up the stairs and there were no problems with that at all. And now everything is back to normal and once again Daisy walks the stairs up and down.
But this episode got me thinking that things are not going to improve, but most likesly they're gonna get worse. So I might seriously thinking of moving again and this time to a building with an elevator. So there might be another move for Daisy and I in the near future.

Credit Card...

Since I moved back from the States to Austria I haven't been having a credit card. Not that I really would have missed it, but there were here and there instances when it would have been nice to have a credit card. But having just returned from abroad no bank is gonna offer you a credit card. That's a privilege you have to earn. After my recent chat with my bank they did offer me a credit card. We settled on a Visa Gold Card. Nothing too over the top, but something that really fits my occasional needs. It just proves once more that being able to hold a stable job and bringing home a paycheck on a regular basis really pays off in the end.
Today I had set up the apointment to pick up the credit card since banks in Austria are reluctant to send them by mail. Since the head office of my bank is about 30 miles from where I live I figured it would be most benefitial to me to have that appointment at 8.30 am. That way it would impact my busy work schedule the least.
Got up at the usual time. Took Daisy out for her morning walk and then headed out to the head office of my bank. Got there in time and picked up my credit card. After that I went right back to work.
So now I'm once again a holder of a credit card.

1-year Anniversary...

Believe it or not, but today marks the 1-year Anniversary that I've been with my current employer. I can't believe that it has only been that short as it feels way longer to me. And when talking to my co-workers they have the same feeling. For the most part it has been a very positive experience and I truly love my job. Well, at least most of the time. If I had to put a numeric value at it I probably would say that I love my job about 98% of the time, and there are those 2% when things really can get on my nerves. But considering other jobs I had that's actually great. I really love working as an accountant in a famliy sized business it's quite interesting and you get to do many things you would never ever get to do in a large company and you do have quite an influence on how to set up your working procedurte or change things around. For me that's just awesome and I wouldn't have it any other way. And getting regularly positive feedback from my boss and being told that he appreciates the way I perform my job is quite a nice bonus as well.
For this anniversary I brought a cake to work, but since we're currently in the middle of prepping the paperwork for the tax guys...well, there just wasn't much time to celebrate.
Of course being in the middle of tax season means some added stress as well. But most of time I don't mind that. And then there are those times, when things just don't go together when you just think "what the hell was I thinking, when I decided to become an accountant". But for most part I do like tax season, because it's interesting and when things don't go together it gives you a good idea on how to do things better in the future. Accounting definitely is on  of those things: You either understand it or you don't, you either love it or you just hate it.
I truly can say that I'm really looking forward to go to work each and every day. And having a job like that these days is definitely worth a lot.