I’m not keeping good on my promise to write a more journal-style site so that the tens of interested people can keep up with what we’re doing and all of that type of thing. I’m not doing a good job of telling you how I work every day from 7:30-17:00 or so and then take the subway home, spend as much time with my family as possible, eat dinner that my wife has cooked because we’re trying not to eat out so often, then bathe a toddler who doesn’t really want to be bathed but goes anyway because I convince her somehow that her toy pig needs a bath too. Then it’s dry everybody off and eat a snack and how we’re trying to get the toddler into bed early because she has a busy toddler life and has a class or function of some variety five days per week. There’s music class, the soon-to-be gymnastics and dance class taught in German, the German-language music class, the wash-out dance class, the English-speaking playgroup and maybe even a German story time.

I never tell you how the day is a blur from 6.30 ‘til the Interenet drags me to sleep sometime around 11PM. Work is busy—very busy. We’re losing a staff member who happens to be our second-most senior staff member outside of our Section Head and 2 Unit Heads. He has to get back to the States because he feels like if he doesn’t go back now he will lose all of his connections to his good job and good life in Washington State. We’ll definitely miss him. He’s not only a good guy, but he has a tremendous work ethic and great expertise. Also, I’m going to have to start doing all of his work along with another guy—and both of us are already really busy. We’ll try to hire his replacement, but it’s the IAEA and, well, let’s just say it will take a while to go through the process. But work is great; I love working here. Outside of doing my “own thing”, this is the best possible job I could imagine. We work really hard, but are treated like humans and, in fact, compared to the American workplace, we’re treated like royalty. For example, did you know that if one was enjoying one of the many weeks of holiday one receives, and one were to fall ill and have one’s vacation completely ruined, one could produce a doctor’s note and convert said leave to “certified sick leave” and it would no longer be time deducted from your holiday time? In short, you’d get credit back for the vaction. I didn’t know that until last week. This workplace keeps presenting nuggets of goodness like that—it’s like a video game with tons of Easter eggs (secret bonuses, for those not in the know). As another example, we were just awarded the option of taking one month paternity leave if we adopt or produce spawn. This can be taken as one month off or two months of half time at full salary. Oh, and did you know that if you’re sick, you can simply use one of your ten days of “Uncertified Sick Leave” instead of vacation time. If you’re really sick, and produce a doctor’s note, your sick leave is basically unlimited and doesn’t count against your holiday. It’s the workers paradise—it really is. On top of it all, I feel challenged, have authority and, despite a slow start, am now quite busy. Busy enough that I write this on Saturday morning as I prepare to go in for a few hours work with the above-mentioned departing colleague.

Weekends are spent enjoying what we always call “the last of the nice weather”, although the weather seems to stay nice—for now. We get outside as early as possible and stay there as long as possible. Maple naps in her stroller as we weave our way via public transit from one park or natural area to another and stop at beer gardens or vineyards or beautiful little perches overlooking the Danube River with Vienna spread out before us. The city is just amazing for stuff like that. I don’t think any other city of this size can claim as much park land and easy access to genuine agricultural areas. The density is just about perfect—the buildings are all about 5 stories and attached. Businesses can survive everywhere, and are placed everywhere. From our house, we can walk to just about any errand one can imagine: groceries, hardware store, wood shop, furniture stores, pharmacies, restaurants. The list is pretty much unlimited until you get to IKEA and huge stores like that. We also happen to live about 5 blocks from the main shopping street of Vienna, the Mariahilferstrasse. It’s like a giant, outdoor mall about 3 or 4 km long. It’s so big that there are probably 3 or 4 H+Ms on that street. So that’s where we are on the weekends: somewhere in Vienna, enjoying the easy access. The transit is just freaking ridiculous.

I’ve finally started reading books again. The last time I actually read any books was before Maple was born. After that, it was strictly Internet reading. But my friend Jef gave me a Howard Kunstler book on cities that I devoured in a couple of nights, and now I’m reading Heat, a book about Mario Batali.

Halane has been rocking a ton of yoga. She found a Bikram studio about 10 minutes (walking) from our house. I plan to go one of these days, but the classes at present don’t fit my schedule too well.

We have visitors coming at the end of October. Also, at the end of October, we plan to take between one and two weeks of vacation and do a little travelling. We’ll either do Spain to visit friends there, or, if some cheap opportunity arises, we may go way South and hit somewhere like Gozo.

On Monday, I’m going to drink Sturm with my Lebanese friend from work. I’m going to try and ramp up my social calendar a bit because there’s a list of nearly a dozen people with whom I’ve made the “let’s go do _____” plan with, but have never set a date or time. As my friend Elliott used to say: “good ideas are a dime a dozen, but execution is what matters.”