More news from Europe

Here's another image of the Helblinghaus. Pretty, isn't it? Today I've been at the Congress most of the day and tomorrow I will be also since I'm speaking tomorrow. This will be short and I may not get one in tomorrow. We'll see.


Yesterday evening was the Opening Ceremony of the Congress, followed by much eating and drinking. Once again I staggered back to my hotel about midnight. Honestly, I've now drunk nearly more in two days than I drank in the last year put together. So much fun, but I'm too old to be carousing this much. Tabun. That being said, the official Speaker's Dinner is tonight, so I have at least one more late night of carousing. I have to try to be somewhat responsible because I'm speaking first thing in the morning. Luckily for me, 'first thing in the morning' for this Congress is a very civilized 9:30 am.

There are some things that are so different at European conferences of this sort compared to US-based conferences that even if you were dropped into one without knowing where you were, you would know by the differences. The civilized 9:30 am start is one of those differences. 7:00 am is the start for many things at US conferences. And 7:00 am is brutal after a late night. Another difference is that all sorts of beverages, including alcoholic ones, are served on the trade show floor in Europe, which is something you never see in the US. A third difference is the timing of meals. The Speaker's Dinner this evening starts at 9:00 pm. When I'm at home, I'm often asleep by 9:00 pm because I'm such an early morning person. So not only does jet lag mess with my sense of time, but the timing of meals and events changes my normal routine into something unrecognizable. It challenges my ability to adapt. So far I can say that I've made the adaptation without too much difficulty but getting up this morning was hard. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and not worse.

This picture is a structure in the Swarovski Crystal Store. The top layer is penguins, next one down is bighorn sheep and penguins, next is deer, next is elk and bears and the bottom (which I unfortunately cut off in this image) is swans. All made out of glittering crystal. It was quite a sight.

Anyway, gotta go get changed to go to an Organ Recital in Dom St. Jakob, followed by the Speaker's Dinner. Tomorrow evening is a concert by the Haydn Orchestra Bozen-Trient. This orchestra played at the Opening Ceremony, so I'm looking forward to hearing them again.

Innsbruck pics - as promised

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm much more lively today after sleeping 10+ hours. Yesterday evening I went out to eat with some old friends and new friends, and we had a great meal and lots of great beer. I staggered back about 11:00 pm Innsbruck time and became unconscious as soon as my head hit the pillow. This morning I got up about 9:15, cleaned up and then went sightseeing. My colleagues all had early morning meetings, but I came in a day early for two reasons. One, so that I could be a little less jet-lagged when things got going. And second, because I haven't been here before and don't know when I'll get back. I want to have some time to explore and just see stuff. So I've been wandering around Innsbruck today. This first picture is the Golden Roof which is found in the Old Town in Innsbruck. It was originally a royal residence built in 1420 by Frederick IV, with the guilt tiles added in 1500 by Maximilian I. There was a band playing from the top balcony this morning. You can't see them all that well in this picture but there were six or seven people playing brass instruments. The square in front of the building was full of people sightseeing and listening.

I took several pictures from around the square and various place in Old Town because the buildings were so pretty. This picture on the left is taken from the square. I was standing facing the Golden Roof and then looking to the right. The decorated white building on the end is called the Helblinghaus. It's a Gothic townhouse built in the 15th century and decorated like this sometime around 1730. I'm always amazed to think that buildings in Europe are older than the United States is.

This next picture is taken standing almost directly below the Golden

Roof and looking to the right. Gorgeous buildings and there's a glimpse of the mountains that surround Innsbruck. The umbrella tops at the bottom of these pictures were covering outdoor tables for the various restaurants and bars that line the square. I had lunch at one. I also did some sightseeing-shopping which is my version of not really sightseeing nor really shopping. I guess it's essentially scoping out the places where I may do some shopping later. I went to the Swarovski Crystal store, and actually managed to get out without spending money. Proof that there are miracles in this world.

I also tried to get a good picture of this church, Dom St. Jakob, but it was difficult to get the perspective. If I get most of the church you can't see the details, and if I get the details you can't see what the church looks like. So this picture is most of the church without much detail. I have lots of pictures of the detail also. I just had to decide what general pictures to post today. I'll have time to post others some other time when I can sit and sort them out better.

I walked over to the river, Inn, and took this picture looking across the river. Inn is the name of the river, and the bridge right there, Inn-brucke, gives the city it's name. The river is rushing and silty. I suppose it's fed by snow-melt. You can see in this picture that the clouds were lifting enough to see some of the rocky crags around the area. There's almost no snow left in the high country now.

Last night when we went out to eat it was raining pretty hard (really glad I packed a rain coat), and this morning it was mostly cloudy with flashes of brief sunlight. This afternoon it's been mostly sunny, but there were brief periods of sun yesterday too. I think daily rain is the norm here for this time of year. The Congress registration bag includes an umbrella! It's a pretty bright red with the congress logo on it. Even with my rain coat, this umbrella will come in handy. It's small and easy to carry if I don't want to lug the raincoat.

Anyway the clouds tend to be low, so you often can't see that Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains. I did manage to get enough break in the clouds to see the tops of some of the mountains and this last picture shows some of that. I should have time this week to get many more pretty mountain pictures. I'll be sure and post the best ones.

Greetings from Innsbruck!

The next several blogs will probably be from Innsbruck, and after this one I'll try to have some pictures to share. I just arrived and got checked in to my hotel room. I'm so tired!!! I need to stay up until it's time to go to bed here in Austria, so I can start getting over the jet lag. I've been up just over 24 hours now though, so I'm not functioning all that well. I only slept an hour on the (9 1/2 hour) flight over. If I could ever sleep on planes, I've lost the ability. And the flight from Frankfurt to Innsbruck was too rough to sleep. I don't know whether that's standard (we were flying alongside the mountain whose top was in the clouds above us), or we just had a rough day. Several poor people on the plane were getting sick. It didn't bother me, but then I didn't eat the snack they served. Not because the plane ride was rough. Because it was 2:30 am Dallas time and my stomach was totally uninterested in having anything on it.

The trip went off without a hitch. All planes were on time. Not only did I make my connection in Frankfurt, but my luggage made it also. Pretty remarkable since I had less than an hour between flights and I went through Customs, etc, and my luggage made the transfer from American Airlines to Austrian/Tyrolean Airlines. It was raining in Frankfurt. I mention that because we rode a little bus out to where the connecting flight was parked and semi-dashed through the rain to board the plane. The woman sitting next to me on the leg to Innsbruck says that it's supposed to rain every day while we're here. I'm glad I brought a raincoat.

The trip to Innsbruck was in a twin prop plane and I think the whole plane was full of people coming here for EuroMedLab, which is why I'm here also. I actually met some people in my field whose names I've been familiar with for some time. This is going to be a fun and interesting meeting I think. I do have to remember that in this part of the world, especially Germany so Austria is probably the same, you are not called "doctor" unless you are a medical doctor. Us PhD types are referred to as "professor". I need to be sure I refer to my colleagues that way also. Which reminds me. I need to switch some units in my talk from American units to SI units.

More later.

Early Sunday - pre-Memorial Day

It's a peaceful, lazy Sunday morning, and my coffee and I are not quite ready to start the day. It would be more perfect if it was sunny, but it looks like today will be similar to yesterday .... mostly cloudy with threatening rain and the sun peeking through every once in a while. Still, the cats are laying on the patio making sure that no birds bother their drinking spot, and it's a nice morning. I'm listening to the Jyu Oh Sei (anime series) soundtrack, and it's the perfect background to a really nice, laid back morning.


I don't really have anything to blog about. I'm just unmotivated to be productive yet with my usual Sunday chores. Mostly that's because I have an extra day this weekend. Tomorrow's Memorial Day.


Like most Americans who have no immediate family members in the armed forces, I probably spend too little time thinking about what Memorial Day stands for. For me, it's an extra shopping day before I go to Austria. A day off from work. A day to play or party. Those are all thoughts that are probably more in people's minds than the actual meaning of the day. Maybe that's true for me, and too many people like me, because the conflicts that US forces are involved in are not quite real. Of course I see all the pictures in the news, on the Internet, in my newspaper, many places. But it's no more or less real for me personally than everything else I see in those places. It's hard to empathize with, or understand things that don't touch you directly. That's why it's important to sometimes stop and try to understand why we have a Memorial Day.


Some time ago Newsweek did a special issue (Wow! Two years ago. April 2, 2007) called "Voices of the Fallen". In the issue they printed the letters, journal entries, emails, etc, from people who died in the War in Iraq. I read it all. I kept it. For a brief period of time, I had a better understanding that each and every person in uniform has a life and a family. Each soldier is important in someone's life and every loss is a personal loss to someone. I also have a better understanding that my own life is blessed.


I donate to a lot of charities. After reading that article, I added the USO to my list. It's the least I can do to help, and it gives me a feeling of connection and a way to remember more than once a year that regular people are fighting and dying. And on Memorial Day, I'll read that issue again and spend a little of the day for the purpose it was intended. I'll remember the people serving in our Armed Forces, past and present.


Hmmm. I guess I did have something to blog about.

Peach Report

This morning is absolutely gorgeous, after raining essentially all day yesterday. Today may be a perfect day because the temp is currently mid-60s and it's only supposed to get to mid-70s. A beautiful, not-too-hot day, although it is a tad muggy thanks to all the rain. I went out to look at how the peaches are doing, so here's a current peach report.

As you can see there are still a LOT of peaches on my tree and they're growing well. The birds and insects and weather are starting to thin the baby peaches out a bit for me. I also have some squirrels around this year that haven't been here in past years. I imagine they'll make some inroads on the peaches also as the peaches get riper. Now it's mostly wind and insects. Whenever I mow the lawn I pick up probably ~30 little fallen peaches under and around the tree. The current rate of loss hasn't made much of a dent in the total yet though. The little ones are really cute when they're this size and this green and fuzzy.

I read an entire book yesterday. I'm not sure what came over me. Since I'm reading 12 books at a time right now I don't usually read one all the way through, but I really liked this book. The story line, the characters, the tone and style, I liked it all so I just kept reading. The book is Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti. Nice story. And for once I had a day to myself to just chill. I just kept reading. Okay, so I might have to catch up on some things today that I should have done yesterday. It was worth it to read for that many hours straight and finish the story.

Also, instead of starting another book in place of the one I just finished, I'll start cutting back on the number I'm reading simultaneously now. I've been meaning to do that and this is a good place to start. I love to read, but I have so many things I want to do in my free time, and too little free time to do them in. I suppose that's why it's unusual for me to spend so much of my free time on one thing, and read a whole book. Usually I divvy it up between all the things I want to do.

I'm starting to get prepared for my trip to Innsbruck. I've basically finished preparing the talk I'm giving, except for a few details and polishing it. Now I'm starting to consider what stuff to take with me. Computer? check. Ipod? check. Camera? CHECK. Cell phone? check. Chargers and attachments for all of those? Oops, that's a no check. I need to find out what type of converter I need for my electronics. Hmmmmm. Better do that quick 'cause I'll have to find and buy one after I figure out what I need. That trip is approaching fast. Clothes? semi-check. I can go with what I have now, but probably will do some more shopping before I go. Luggage? check, but which pieces to take? This is going to be a testament to my packing skill. *laughing* And I'll probably be paying fees for over-weight luggage. I want one checked bag and one carry-on ... for a week's worth of clothes, including professional and cocktail clothes, and all my electronics. Do-able, but it will be interesting.

I hope I have a place to stay over there. The secretary of the Congress assures me that I have a room, but I haven't seen anything in writing. This is why I prefer to make my own arrangements ... because then I know they're made. In this case I'm going with a leap of faith and trusting the secretary person. Unlike me, but that's how it is. I'll let you know whether the trust was misplaced on June 6th when I either do or don't have a place to sleep. I'm seriously looking forward to this trip, so I'm not too worried about the arrangements. I know a fair number of people who are attending the Congress, and can always camp out with someone if worse came to worst.

Suppose I'd better get to my Sunday chores.

Early Saturday

It's a rainy Saturday morning, and my coffee and I are chilling. I have no major plans for the day. Small errand plans, but no major plans. I woke up too early for a Saturday morning, about 5:30. That's an hour later than the time I get up on weekdays, but still .... too early for a weekend. I try to sleep later on weekends, but basically I'm an early morning person. No matter what I do it's almost impossible for me to sleep beyond about 7:00 at the latest. Late nights are hard for me. I get sleepy pretty early in the evening.

To keep the post from being too boring I added a picture of Delicate Arch taken at sun-up last summer when we were in Arches National Park. I suppose it's a good thing I'm an early morning person since I tend to take vacation in August. In Utah in August it's better to hike very early in the morning. This particular hike up to Delicate Arch is short. Pretty steep in places, but short, so I usually hike it early on the day I'm leaving to go home. The other good thing about hiking this one early is that it's a popular hike. Later in the day, there are usually people everywhere .... even in the baking heat.

There are four national parks that I like to go to in Utah. Every time I'm out there I go to Zion Canyon National Park and hike the Angel's Landing Trail. It's one of my favorite trails because the last half mile is what I call a "scramble". Almost more of a climb than a hike. Way fun. This picture is from the top of the trail looking back and down at the ridge that the trail comes across. So I go to Zion every time. The other three parks I may or may not make depending on how much time I have, but if I have the time, I do all four. I usually start at Zion then move back across the state, going to Bryce Canyon next, followed by Capital Reef and then Arches last. I always intend to go to Canyonlands also, but never seem to get there because I enjoy the other four parks so much.

Bryce may be the most beautiful of the parks. It certainly seems to be the most visited and filled with tourists. The views are spectacular though. I have a million picture of Bryce, and none of them really do it justice. It's difficult to get the perspective of the place in pictures. Some day I'll round up all my pictures of the four parks and do a post on each one. The picture I posted some time ago of my friend in the campsite was taken at Bryce. The campground is in a pine forest and tends to be cool. Which is usually a nice change form the heat in Zion.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Capital Reef. It's probably the least well known park of the four, but it was the first park I ever camped in in Utah. Multiple years ago I threw camping gear in my car and started driving west. That was when I realized that there are five national parks in Utah and also realized how amazing parts of the state are. Capital Reef was one of the places I stopped and camped and hiked. I just like it a lot. It's got huge old cottonwoods around the campground, fruit orchards, petroglyphs, and of course the unique terrain of Utah. Plus I've watched it grow from a small national park with barely one campground to a nice-sized, comfortable place to visit. The best word I have for Capital Reef is "peaceful". 1993 was the first year I camped there.

And of course, last but certainly not least, Arches is an awesome place. In recent years I've gotten in the habit of "hoteling it" in Moab and day hiking from there rather than camping in Arches itself. That's because I'm generally ready to clean up in a hotel by the time I get to Arches, and because Arches campground is small. If you don't get there early, there are no places left. I have enjoyed camping in Arches also though. Last year one of the arches fell before we got there and a trail was blocked. It was okay though, because my favorite arches and formations were fine and there was still access to them via another trail.

So after I spend time vacationing in Utah I usually end up on my sister's doorstep. She lives in Colorado, and it's certainly no hardship to visit my Colorado relatives while I'm on vacation. Colorado is also beautiful, but in entirely different ways than Utah. I also have more trouble hiking in Colorado due to the elevation. I'm definitely a flat-lander. I can hike there, but it's slower. I have to take more time to stop and just breathe.

I hope I get out to Utah this summer. My schedule is pretty full this year, but I'm going to try to go.

It's raining this morning, but looks like it's beginning to stop. It's supposed to clear up later. Looks like I'll have to mow the lawn again as soon as it dries out. This time of year I mow more than once a week or it gets out of hand.

Anyway, just thought I'd do a short post while I'm drinking my coffee and waiting for the rest of the world to rise and shine. I'll leave you with a picture of fat cat sleeping.

May already?

Has it really been this long since I've blogged? Sugoi! I suppose I've been busy.

Last weekend my sister, my niece and my grandniece came visiting. They decided it was past time to introduce my grandniece to her relatives she hadn't yet met on this side of the family, including her other great aunt and uncle and her great grandparents. It was a fun weekend although United lost their luggage when they came in. They finally manged to retrieve it the day before they left to go home. United was ..... less than helpful, would be the kindest way to express it. I think I'll leave it at that since I long ago decided to try not to turn this blog into a rant .... no matter how much I might occasionally want to!

This is my grandniece discussing pears with her grandmother. I won't say who won the discussion, but most of the pears ended up where they were intended to go. Julia is 11 months old now so she's totally at the stage where she can get into pretty much everything. She's so cute though. I don't envy her parents having to start telling that cute little face "no" to things. It's such a good thing that I'm not parent. How can you say "no" when the child looks at you like that?

Families are quite amazing. I love every member of my family, even when they irritate me beyond reason. I suppose that's what makes them family. When your friends irritate you beyond reason, you either move on and lose the friendship, or try to resolve the issue if it's a best friend relationship. But with family members, even if you don't talk to them for long periods of time, they're still your family and you keep trying to hold onto that and save the relationship and continue to love them. I wonder if we'd keep more friends if we treated them more like family members ..... keep trying to make it work, even when you're "irritated beyond reason"? Or maybe the reverse is true. Perhaps there are times when you should move on, even from family members. I think that's definitely true. I've been blessed in my family. Oh, we have our issues and skeletons. It wouldn't be a family otherwise. But there are people who have things that have happened in their families that are harmful to the physical or mental well-being of members or both. Yes, I know we should always forgive, but being only human, the most natural feeling in the world is having ill will toward someone who has hurt us, or even more so, hurt someone we care about. And if that hurt is on-going, then it's time to move on and forget that person. Forgiveness can come later. Time and distance really is the only cure for some things.

Okaaaaay. That was way too philosophical. Not sure where that came from this morning.

It's been raining here on and off for the better part of the last two weeks, which has pushed my lawn into full-tilt jungle growth mode. It managed to dry out long enough on Thursday for me to mow and edge, before it started raining again. It was a pain though. 92 degrees and close to 100 % humidity. I felt like I'd melt. I do love my lawn when it's this gorgeous, thick, bright green, nicely mowed and edged look though. Luckily it's not a big lawn, or I'd kill myself mowing in the summer here. I only have 0.2 acres. *laughing* Yes, I know the exact amount, because of signing the gas and oil lease last Fall.

I realized that I hadn't posted a picture of my first yellow rose like I did the first red one, so here it is. Yay! I have yellow roses along with my red.

You know the best part about spending time with the people you love? Going home afterward. LOL No, of course that's not it. I just couldn't resist. For me it's the sense of belonging. That there are people that accept me with all my flaws and eccentricities. I suppose those people are my 'family', whether they happen to be related to me by blood or not.

In this increasingly small world we live in, one day we'll ALL be related to each other by blood. Probably we should start acting like it now.

Shikatanai. Apparently I'm just feeling philosophical this morning. I'll end this and try again later.