The internet is here!

I finally got my internet service installed yesterday. The service isn't as fast as the DSL in Illinios, but still way faster than dial-up. Been getting two months of security upgrades installed from Windows Update. Also installed free fire wall and anti-virus software. So more posts will be forthcoming.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well still no internet at home, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, the installer is scheduled to come on Saturday morning. Finally!

Michael's Still Alive!

I was asked to post a quick note because people are worrying.

I haven't been posting because I haven't been able to get internet access in my apartment. I'm able to sneak quick looks at email at work and get to an Internet Cafe a couple of times a week after work. Can't work offline on blog entries and then upload them to the internet because my laptop doesn't have access to the internet like it did in the hotel room. And even though it's not as bad as in the hotel room, It's still expensive to access the internet by the minute. Also I have to struggle with a German_language keyboard ("Y" and "Z" keys are reversed; punctuation is a real hunt and search operation.)

Don't know when I'll get internet access so posts will be few and far-between till then. I promise to post as soon as I get it but it may be a while yet.

10 Days Later

Sorry, I haven't posted for a while. I promised my sister I would post something. Big news is that I have moved into my apartment on the Praterstern. Hectic day yesterday. Getting the deposit from the bank (a story in itself for a later time), taking occupancy, running around like crazy getting essentials, then getting to bed early so I could get up before 6 to get ready for work and be able to catch the bus to Seibersdorf (where my laboratory, SAL is located.) That's the worst aspect of the new job; having to get up early every morning to take the bus. Still getting used to it, still have terrible jet lag.

Other quick observations about Vienna, store hours are bad. Stores close at 7 (or 1900 as we say in Europe) during the week and at 6 on Saturday. And Sunday? Forget it, everything is closed!

Vienna had a reputation for being expensive even before the dollar took a dive versus the Euro, now it's unbelievable. I spent $5 for a cheap glass. $45 for a bath mat, $24 for a towel.

Oh well, the bread is great here and so far it hasn't been too bad.

Vienna Sixth Day

I did not get the house; the German couple that saw it the day before I did decided to take it. I did get the apartment in the 2nd District though which is a nice consolation. One nice thing is that the landlord has a washer and drier in the basement and allows the tennants to use it free of charge. That saves several hundred euros in having to buy a washer and drier. It is in a great location for the bus to Siebersdorf also as it is only one stop away on the U1 line (there are 5 rapid transit lines in Vienna, U1, U2, U3, U4, and U6, it is not known why there is no U5). I will be going out to Siebersdorf tomorrow. Taking the shuttle out there from the VIC at 11:30.

Also, got more interesting news from the employee orientation. 4 of the 10 IAEA holidays are withing the next 3 weeks. I will have Dec. 20, 25, 26, and Jan. 1 off. Since Dec. 20 is an Islam holiday, I will on that day be able to shop for furnishings for the apartment since stores will be open, unlike the other three holidays. I should be able to move in to the new apartment sometime next week so I will be in it for Christmas. Good news. I should also be getting my post adjustment deposited into my new bank account this week so I will have funds for the 3 month deposit I will have to put down.

Also met a few more people from the lab today as there was a meeting in the VIC for principal players from SAL. I have now met the three unit heads along with the QA officer and met once again the Lab director who I met in June at NBL.

Vienna Fourth and Fifth Day

Vienna Fourth Day


Well, I was going to do some sight seeing today, but the weather was awful. Cold and rainy, I walked to the U1 line transit station at the VIC and turned around and came back to the hotel. Oh well. A nothing day.


There will be plenty of time to sight see on future Sundays. Most stores are closed on Sunday so shopping is impractical. Saturday is for shopping as most stores are only open till 19:00 (7:00 PM) during the week and I won't get home till after 18:00 once I start making the commute to Siebersdorf.


Vienna Fifth Day


First day on the job. It went well enough. Got my permanent badge. Had my entrance interview with the HR person.



Purchased a "handy" which is a Vienese term for mobile phone. If one wants the number, e-mail me but remember that international calls are expensive and also that Vienna is 7 hours ahead of Chicago, so that when it is 18:00 in Chicago it is 1 in the morning in Vienna. Also I am at work from 8 to 17:30 which is 1 in the morning to 10:30 in Chicago and shouoldn't take personal calls then except in emergencies.


I had two serindipitous encounters in the elevators today. First when riding up to SAL's office in the VIC (again SAL is the Safeguards Analytical Laboratory which is in Siebersdorf and when I say "office" I mean literally a room in a large office campus which is the Vienna International Center where the IAEA's world headquarters are located along with several other UN agencies) an old co-worker from NBL, Bruce Moran, got on the elevator. I worked with Bruce in the early 80's and I knew he had recently started (it turns out last week) at the IAEA as a section chief in the IAEA headquarters. I have his office number and I left him my handy number.


Then riding down the elevator to the housing office, I ran into a woman that runs the new employee orientation program. Since she saw that I had a permanent badge and that she didn't recognize me, she asked me if I was a new employee. So even though I am not in the system yet, I will be able to attend the new employee orientation program tomorrow instead of later in the month.


I still don't know if I got the house I want, of if I will have to settle for that apartment in the 2nd district. The housing department will let me know tomorrow.

Vienna Third Day

Saw one more place today. Far away the best place in terms of both quality and value. A little more expensive than the places I waw yesterday but worth every Euro! On a very non-descript street with closed factories and a closed munitions store on the corner, you walk through an older apartment building's entrance into a courtyard where there are two identical small houses. Their owner lives in the right hand one, the other one is for rent. The place is two floors with two washrooms and a living room. The kitchen is small is but well-appointed with gas stove, small refrigerator, small microwave, dish washer, a pass-through into the living/dining area. A room that could be a guest room or an office. A walk-in closet! In Vienna! The second floor has two bedrooms. There's lots of storage areas. It's impecably designed. The owner is now involved in teaching music but used to be an garden architech and said he was a frusterated architech and it shows.

The bad news is that I was a day late to see it. He showed it to a german couple yesterday and gave them till Monday to decide. I think they would be crazy not to take it but if they don't, I will! Otherwise I will spend less money and take the apartment I saw yesterday.

I then had dinner with Drs. Harald and Jane Poths and their lovely 10-year old daughter Patricia. They were employed by Los Alamos prior to the family's move to Vienna and is currently a house husband, although he it thinking about volunteering to teach at a local university in the hope that it would turn into a paying job. He is a native of Gemany and served as my guide the last three days. He is a jovial and nice man and I cannot even begin to express how much he has aided me. Jane is the Mass Spec Section Head at SAL, and if my other co-workers are half as nice as she is, working at SAL will be a dream.

On the way to their apartment, I figured out a sure way to make my luggage arrive. I stopped and bought some underware, socks, and a dress shirt for Monday. Of course when I got to my room tonight, my luggage had arrived! So the hostage saga is over. And I have clean underware!

In computer news, my external hard drive is mysteriously not being recognized by the PC. Not good but maybe I can get it to recognize it again. It seems to be a problem with the USB interface rather than damage to the disc. I also have a problem with the integrated memory card reader with the laptop as it is not able to read my camera's memory card. It keeps giving me a semaphore error when I access the pictures, although it can read the card's directory structure fine. Because of the expense of using the internet in the hotel room I was unable to extensively research the problem, but it seems to be a problem with the Vista driver for the reader, as other people have been reporting similar problems. Hopefully it will be fixed with Service Pack 1 for Vista which I last heard was to be released in the first quarter of next year.


In good computer news though, I realized that the cable that connects my USB hub to the laptop is the same type used by my camera and my mp3 player. So even though I forgot the cable at home and the card reader doesn't work, I can share some pictures with you, I hope. These 2 pictures are of a statue we passed on the street while coming from an apartment viewing. Let's see if I can figure out how to upload them to the blog.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Soon the posts will become less frequent and more terse as I start work on Monday.