Bill Dawson's Weblog

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-16

bill — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:59:59 +0000

always a little heart flutter just as i hit F5 in sqlserver console connected to a production db. #

A Day in Budapest

bill — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:30:51 +0000

I took off a few days from work during the week before last, so I decided to make at least one day trip. I chose Budapest and went just for the day. The train was EUR 38 round-trip, a pretty great price. The journey lasted three hours each way. I arrived at about 11:00 and left at about 19:00, for a total of eight hours in the city.

Budapest is really very nice. Unlike Vienna, where the river cuts through some of the outer districts of the city, the Danube runs right through the inner districts of Budapest. (Back in the day, the river separated Buda from Pest.) I visited the Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya) first, since I had read that it is a bit of a tradition to check out the city from that high vantage point before doing anything else. Indeed, the Bastion offers quite a spectacular view. I took a sweeping video with my mobile phone.

I hit all of the places I most wanted to see, such as Margaret Island, the Parliament, the House of Terror, Heroes Square and, just before getting back to the train station, Central Cafe. The Central Cafe is beautiful, and their house salad, containing lots of sesame seeds, is really yummy.

So, after eight years of living in Vienna, I can finally say I made it to Budapest, if only for eight hours.

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Twitter Updates for 2008-07-09

bill — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Just crawled out of bed, now sipping coffee and checking Twitter for the 1st time in many days. Looks very nice in Vienna — not too hot. #
Road construction just outside my office window. Lovely noise. I _really_ hate working next to that kind of noise. #
Just finished lunch, enjoying one of man’s greatest inventions: the injection of cheese into sausage — the beloved Käsekrainer. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-02

bill — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Vienna’s gonna be warm, warm, warm. #
Going to Budapest tomorrow, where, according to faz.net, it should be sunny and 31 C. #
Doing some Excel VBA coding. Wow, I’d really missed that! (sarcasm) #
It’s so warm in Vienna that I had to…. eat an ice-cream cone at lunch. Of course I _needed_ to. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-01

bill — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Mmm, Kaffee. I “went dark” yesterday after really staying out too late Sunday/Monday. Was great seeing Span & Ger fans so peaceful. #
I captured my friend Frido surfing along Spaniards on the Graben. http://is.gd/JqJ #
Time for nighttime productivity, for first time in almost a month. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-30

bill — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Productivity is still _slowly_ approaching. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-29

bill — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Eating donut holes and drinking coffee at 12:35. I love Sundays. #
I see productivity on the horizon, slowly approaching… Tonight the EM (EURO2008) finally ends! #

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-26

bill — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:59:59 +0000

well i thought turkey played the better game. Nevertheless i am 15 EUR poorer #
we started at Altes AKH & then moved on when the amazing t-storm hit. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-25

bill — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:59:59 +0000

Thinkin ’bout lunch. Gonna be Sushi today. Will sit outside in this fabelhaftes Weather. Sorry to all you stuck inside. #
I put EUR 15,00 on Turkey at bwin.com. With odds at 7:1, I figured why not go for it. #
Mmm, lunch was good. I switched my choice to Pad Thai Noodles instead of sushi. The weather was perfect (for sitting in shade). #
have to decide where to watch ger vs turkey. Home? Altes AKH? Sommerstage? Eipeltauer? Definitely not Fanzone. #

Euro2008, you’re killing my productivity

bill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:15:42 +0000

On June 7, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. Central European Time, the Swiss and Czech national soccer teams started Europe’s big productivity killer, “Euro2008“. Since that night I watched soccer for 14 consecutive nights, sometimes two games per night, sometimes just one. Last night there was finally a breather as they prepare for the first semi-final match Wednesday night (Germany v Turkey).

Normally I use my after-work hours to do “continuing education” such as brushing up on Django, which has been my big goal for the last few months. But for two straight weeks I have done absolutely nothing useful during the evenings. Because of the soccer fever here (Austria is co-host of the Euro2008 tournament), I’ve also done a lot more “partying” than usual, which has further reduced my productivity.

On the other hand I have really enjoyed the atmosphere here in Vienna during the last few weeks. Many back home in the States won’t realize what a big deal this is, particularly here because Vienna is a host city. It’s huge here. The FanZone has been packed on some nights, to the point where they had to stop letting people in. Austria v Germany was a big attraction (for obvious reasons here in Vienna), as was Croatia v Turkey (Vienna has very large Turkish and Croatian communities.) I’ve only been in the FanZone once. The big screens there are great, but there is only one choice of beer (Carlsberg got the big contract); it is overpriced at EUR 4.50 per 1/2 liter and it really is not so tasty. I prefer partying outside the FanZone and drinking beers of my choosing, such as Stiegl.

We’ve enjoyed several of the games at my brother-in-law’s garden, plus several at a local microbrewery (a fairly rare thing in Austria) called Eipeltauer, two at an outdoor cafe/bar called Summerstage and one — the big one, Austria v Germany — at a fairly large private venue, Stiegl-Ambulanz (see photo here, as well as video at YouTube). The rest I’ve enjoyed from the comfort of my living room.

Tonight, being an off-night, means getting my Django house in order again.