Outing at Danube Island...

Well, I've been chatting back and forth with this guy. And we do get well along in the chat. It's not like he would fit my usual dating age bracket nor does he fit into the guys I usually date. But as the saying goes...opposites attract. We've also been out on a Sunday afternoon for a casual date and we seemed to get along well with each other. But all of that is purely theoretical if we can't our dogs to get along with each other. And as far as Gina goes... sympathy is all that counts.
So we arranged for us to meet at Danube Island. And the plan was to let our dogs get to know each other and than go for a stroll along the river Danube. The dogs meeting each other was pretty much a piece of cake. Gina was unsure at first but really showed genuine interest in Angie. And after a little bitching around Angie wanted to socialize as well. Just 10 minutes into the meeting the two dogs were getting along perfectly with each other just like BFF's. They were walking side by side with each other, exploring the same things and problems at all. That made me very happy.
But I did get to know different sides of Gina as well. While she usually is a little defensive about big dogs in the neighborhood, it didn't bother her at all Danube Island. Apparently being out on a hike and meeting other dogs an entirely different game than meeting dogs in the neighborhood. The second thing I figured out is that Gina apparently is kind of a water dog. She was constantly pulling towards the river Danube and if I had let her she probably would have gone for a swim. Considering that the Danube is a major stream and has quite a considerable current, that would have been a bad idea. In the future I might try that with on of the closed of sidearms. But I did let her get a little taste of the river and of course my crazy dog had to step right into the Danube and drink out of it. After that now it's over with pulling towards the water...well not so much luck. Guess Daisy did spoil me in that regard, since she was pretty much water shy.
In the end we walked from Reichsbrücke to Floridsdorferbrücke and back. That is pretty much a hike of about 2 hours. And it was fun for the dogs and for Roger and I as well. We said our good byes at the subway station and I headed back to my apartment.

Economic Calculus Practice Test...

Today marks the day that I'm done with my class in economic calculus. On the one hand I'm happy about it on the other hand it means that I really have to start to prepare for my there test that I will have to take at the beginning of June.
And it is customary to take a practice test, just like the one you might face during the exam. I really wasn't too worried about it. I thought I did practice while I was taking the class and I had not too many trouble understand the subject at hand. But boy, that test showed me otherwise. Not that I haven't comprehended the subject, but I still miss a lot of practice. If I were to write this test for real today I would definitely fail it. So I#m actually quite happy that my exam in economic calculus is about 1 month away, that should give me plenty of time to practice. From now on most of my free time will be spent practicing economic calculus, while having to take 2 classes per week in cost calculation at the same time.

Update on my Back...

Those of you who read my Blog regularly know, that I have been having issues with my back and that I had recently an appointment with the orthopedist. I got meds as well. And all I can say I'm very excited about the progress. The meds are really working and the back pain is completely gone. Very happy about that. That I it took me 2 weeks to make an appointment with the orthopedist wasn't such a good idea. I could have bee pain free in a matter of days an not have to deal with the back pain. There is a lesson to be learned: Got to the doctor right away when you are in pain.

Appointment with the Orthopedist...

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I still have been having issues with my back. Thing had improved over the past few weeks, but in the morning it was always the same story. Getting up was no problem, but after about 10 minutes my back started to feel stiff. And the movement in my lower back was definitely impaired and of course it was hurting as well. nut after moving around for a couple of hours it usually gets better. Lumbago or no lumbago it wasn't supposed to take that long to heal. So today I finally had the appointment with the Orthopedist. After all if it's something worse than lumbago it is important to start it treating as soon as possible. I got off work about 1 1/2 hours early and headed to my appointment. Had to wait for about 10 minutes. I talked with the doctor about my issues. And from the symptoms he didn't think that it was a slipped disc. And I don't show any of the neurological symptoms usually associated with a slipped disc. The Orthopedist went on to examine my back with something called a spine liner. Turns out that I have a blockade on one of the vertebrae joints in my lower back. Not only is the movement if the disc joint impaired but the movement of the muscles as well. What has happened when I had my lumbago episode was, that I really crushed on of the nerves good and that lead to an inflammation. And that was still going on. And with no treatment I wouldn't have corrected itself. Every time you go to sleep and your muscle relax start to aggravate that inflammation again. So I got a manual treatment to the blockage undone and I have to take anti-inflammatory meds for about a week or so and that should take care of the problem.
I will definitely keep you guys posted on the progress.

Ordering Train Tickets...

This year I have planned a vacation. And I had talked it over with Udo, one of my friends from Germany. And we came up with the plan to spend out vacation together at the Baltic Sea. My first idea was to get a rental car and do the trip that way. Might be easier to manage with Gina than going by train. Once I calculated the cost for the car rental, insurance and gas and compared the total to the train tickets it turns out that taking a rental car is financially a no go. After all money doesn't grow on trees and I'm not going to pay 5 times the amount of the train ticket for a rental car. Either way I was going to go to Leizig to pick up my German friend anyways.
So I had to figure out the best route for the train. There are basically 3 options. Route number one through the Czech Republic is the shortest distance but takes the longest. Route number 2 and 3 are off by about 1 1/2 hours. You can either go via Munich or via Nürnberg to Leipzig. Both options would habe given me enough time when transferring from one train to another to take Gina for a bathroom break. I really didn't want her to be stuck in a train for 9 hours with no option of being able to do her business. In the end I chose to go via Munich. It is the faster route since you're traveling all the way on the high speed rail network.
Next thing I had to figure out are the travel dates. I had an idea when I did want to go. But I had to nail down the date. And this depended on the discounts you can get when booking early. Standard ticket to Leipzig is about 150 bucks. But of you book early you can get it as low as 49 bucks. Next I had to choose if I wanted to go during the day or during the night. In the end I opted for a day travel. After all you want be able to see something as well. So I jumped online an booked the ticket. And I will be going on a vacation beginning August 29th. This should definitely be fun.

I hate Math...

Well, up till now Economic Calculus hasn't been too bad. At least I could figure things out and come up with a learning system that works for me. But todays class was entirely different. It dealt with mathematical functions. And I really disliked them in Highschool. Never really got the hang of them. Since they don't make any sense to begin with. At least as far as I'm concerned. You know that absolutely crazy stuff like "y = kx + d". Just the sound of that stuff makes my skin crawl. That was one of the reasons I quit Highschool and started working in accounting. Accounting has very little to do with math and compared to math accounting is a absolutely logical subject. So you can imagine that having to listen today for 5 hours to a trainer talking about the theoretical concept of mathematical functions was pretty much like torture for me. I somewhat understand the concept and I can see that there are only very few practical applications as far as I'm concerned. But in order to pass my economic calculus exam I will have to deal with that terrible subject. And to make matters even worse this particular subject will be haunting during my class in cost calculation as well. And that doesn't exactly make me a happy camper. But that's something you have to go through in order to earn your certification.

Cost Calculation...

Those of you guys who read my blog regularly know, that I wanted to make this spring semester a rather low key one. But not so much luck. If I want to be able to get my accounting diploma by June 2016 I still have to take 3 additional classes. That much was clear at the beginning of the spring semester when I decided to take economic calculus. But this meant as well, that I would have take either business law or balancing techniques & year end tax work together with cost calculation. And that was something I really wasn't particularly fond of. Since those 2 classes ares quite time consuming and demanding. So I really wanted an option to take cost calculation beforehand. But taking this class parallel to economic calculus would be a bad idea since economic calculus is the basis for cost calculation. I really was hoping that they would offer a class in cost calculation during summer. But not so much luck. The option I was left with was having to take that class on Friday and would cut badly into my working schedule. So I wasn't fond of that idea either. But there was a class 2 times per week in the evening that would have been perfect. But of course there was no place in that class available. But I did put my name on the waiting list. I figured it can't hurt and if it doesn't work out I can always take the class on Friday. Honestly I wasn't really hopeful to get a place in that class. Today I got a call from the admissions department of the local FH and they informed me that a spot had opened in that class and they did offer me the spot. Of course I said immediately yes right away. But that means that I will be attending class at the WIFI FH twice a week for about 6 weeks. But at least those classes are only 2 1/2 hours and not 5 hours in a row. That should make it a little easier. But it means as well that I will have to learn cost calculation while at the same preparing for my exam in economic calculus, since I will be writing that test at the beginning of June. And to makes things even more fun, I will have 10 days to prepare for my written exam in cost calculation after the class has ended. I really want to take the exam by the end of June. So I probably will end up taking a week off work before I take the written exam. If that shouldn't work out for some reason I will have to wait till November to take the exam. And in my experience waiting that long is just not a smart idea especially with subject like cost calculation.
The next 10 weeks are really going to be tough. But with the necessary drive I should be able to make it through it. So much for the spring semester being low key.

Easter Ham...

Since I moved back from the States it has become somewhat of a tradition to cook easter ham from scratch. Those of you, who read my blog regularly know, that a bough a good cut of meat. First up was creating the base for the soup. I still had same beef stock from a previous cooking session in my freezer, so at least I didn't have to create the stock entirely from scratch. And that saved me about 90 minutes. Put in the beef stock and added some fresh veggies for the soup. And than came the fun part for me.

The seasonings. I started with some salt and pepper then added chopped onions and garlic. Next up were some oregano and parsley and topped it off with a pinch cheyenne pepper and spicy paprika. Brought the base of the soup to a boil and tasted it. It was OK, but I still wasn't entirely happy with it. So I added more pepper and topped it off with sweet paprika and some curry. Now I was happy with the taste.
I took the pot off the flame put the cut of meat into it and let it soak for about 3 hours. This gave me time to catch up on my emails and social media. After about 3 hours I put the pot back onto the stove, brought the entire thing to a bowl and the simmered it for roughly 90 minutes. If the smell that came from the kitchen is any indicator than this should be one tasty easter ham.

Easter Shopping...

After I had taken Gina out for her Friday afternoon walk it was time to do some grocery shopping for the upcoming easter weekend. At lot of stuff I had already purchased during the week. Especially items with an long expiration date. I also had preordered the meat for at my local butcher. While buying the meat there is maybe a little more expensive than buying at the supermarket, but I get exactly the cut of meat I want and I know the quality is very good.
So first thing I picked up the meat at the butcher and the 1,6 kg (4 lbs) cost me about 16 bucks what actually is a very good deal. Next up was my local grocery store. I still needed some seasonings and a really good base for the soup I will be cooking the meat in. Of course I could have bought beef broth, but I just hate that. It just tastes generic and doesn't allow for any individual taste. And since I love to cook I was going to make the soup entirely from scratch. Had to buy bread, mushrooms, onions and some sandwich meat as well. Was done with my grocery shopping in under 30 minutes. To my surprise the store wasn't packed for this being a Friday afternoon/early evening. And the total came in around 30 bucks. Considering that this was 3 day holiday weekend this isn't bad at all.

Jeans shopping - Round 2...

Today I got off work around 1 pm. About 1 hour later as I wanted to. Went direct to Vienna's 7th district. Got there within 30 minutes, although I had to get across half of Vienna to get there from my workplace. You gotta have to love subways. Makes getting around so much quicker. Found the Levi's shop right away. Luckily Mariahilferstrasse wasn't super crowded. And the shop was almost empty. Told the employee what I was looking for and she handed me a pair of 501's. I tried them and still wasn't sure if they were the right size. So I asked to try a pair in size 34. And again it was the same experience as at home. I just couldn't breathe in them. So I knew that 36 is the right size for me. Went out of the dressing room t choose some colors. Went with the classic blue and 2 more faded colors, since I really like those colors as well. But it is still my considered opinion, that the classic 501's Levi's have a slightly different cut than the 501's in faded colors. But they do fit me very well. Yes paying around 80 bucks for a pair of jeans isn't exactly cheep. But one has to take paying for the brand and paying the custom duties into consideration. And besides that, they are a perfect fit. For those of you guys who think that's expensive...thinks again. When I calculate price of the merchandise through the average time I can reasonably wear them...then that ends up to about 23 cents a day. And that's a decent deal as far as I'm concerned. So, if anyone ever said that accountants aren't fun to be around with...has to be entirely of his mind.