By popular demand...

The living room with some of the furniture.



The living room with no furniture.



The hall



Although it has been a couple of weeks since the floors has been finished, I haven't really put the place back together yet. I'm now interviewing painters, and when they come, I'll have to move everything again anyway.

The walls have needed paint since I moved in - oh four years ago - but I haven't been able to figure out what colors I want. Now I have no choice. The floors are so beautiful now that the walls look ridiculous. So I'm looking for painters who also do color consulting.

Ah, the joys of home ownership!

Floors!!

My on-line presence might be pretty sketchy for the next week, as I'll be living in a very posh hotel as my NEW FLOORS are being installed.

I've been moving stuff out of the rooms with the warped hardwood floors to the kitchen and guest room, and I should have everything completed by the time the crew comes on Friday morning. I imagine I'll come home to all kinds of dust and nastiness, but beneath it all will be beautiful, shiny, freshly stained oak.

In other news, I'd like to thank the House, the Senate, and Drinky McDumbass for finally passing the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008!

Sure, there are some annoying provisions in there, but on the whole, I really believe this thing will create a more organized regulatory structure. It will force banks to assist homeowners in need, which will in turn bolster the work of banks, thrifts, and the bond market.

Oh, and it sort of saves my job for the time being.

Czeski-Krumlov

The vacation picture posting has begun! For fun, I'm doing them in reverse. This is my last day in the Czech Republic. Click on the pictures and they will get larger. I recommend doing that with the mural below.

Arme Schlampe

Wow. I can read about it in the papers and follow exchange rates, but I didn't really understand how weak the dollar is until today, when I paid $7 for a cup of coffee.

Now don't get me wrong, it was a fancy coffee and probably the best I have had in years (melange) but this is kind of silly.

No, it is completely ridiculous.

However, theater tickets on opening day at the Volkstheater were only $12 yesterday. We went to go see Eine Heikle Sache, Die Seele by Dimitré Dinev. (A Tricky Thing, the Soul) enjoyable, completely macabre, and very funny at the same time. It is a farce about a wake that plays heavy with existentialism and living in exile.

Today is an excellent museum day; it is cold and rainy. I went to see the Paul Klee exhibit at the Albertina, and had to skip a few activities I had planned because I spent three hours on just that part of the HUGE gallery. Raise your hands if you knew that Klee was so fascinating. In fact, I found myself breezing through the Oskar Kokoschka exhibit at the same place because I had had enough culture for one day. At this point I should probably mention that I had gone to the museum because of Kokoschka in the first place. (Kokoschka is Austrian, while Klee is just Swiss.)

I did learn one new word in dialect from a friend who ha drecently been to Bern. Apparently in Switzerland, it is not unusual to see "Mistkratzer" on the menu. This translates to "shit scratcher" Can you figure out what dish this refers to?

Speaking German again has resulted in broken gears in my head. I've forgotten a lot. However, after three days I'm already at the language crisis phase where I also can't remember how to express myself to say in English, either. This is a good sign. After a couple of days of this, I generally speak much more fluently.

I wish I'd thought to bring my camera software. It would be fun to actually post the pictures on the day they were taken rather than two weeks later.

Feh.. eh?!

Or whatever.

So I posted the link about the CD mix, I started a list of songs for the CD mix, and then didn't do it. I don't think anyone reading has ever been inspired by my little advertisements, but someday - SOME DAY someone might do the mix because they read about it here. And it just wouldn't be right to not do the mix.

By way of explanation for my general silence, I'll admit that I dropped a few of life's curve balls. They've been coming fast and furious this year, so I guess this was bound to happen.

I'll get a reprieve from normal life a week from today though - I'm going to Europe for two whole weeks.

Here's the plan so far:

• Fly into Munich- spend the day, night and next day with Betti. Eat chocolate, drink wine.
• Travel by train to Vienna where I will be staying with Romeo and hanging out with several certifiable Bulgarians. Drink coffee and wine; eat Topfentaschen by the pound.
  
• Meet with friends for actual Sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher. I've been experimenting with this confection for about a year now, and I no longer remember what the real torte tastes like. Time for a refresher.
• Then, in no particular order: Bike day in Bratislava, some weekend with Paul and Doris in BFE Linz Land, Trip with Romeo to Budapest, actual culture of sorts will happen in Vienna.

So don't cry for me Argentina. Things may suck a bit today, but tomorrow's looking kind of awesome.

Warning: Not for the Squeemish

And so, ladies, gentlemen, and others, I am miraculously still alive.

The whole procedure of retrieving the late-sprouting wisdom tooth from deep under the gum line took 3 1/2 hours. I'm always one for getting my money's worth, you know. The time and effort it took to get that baby out surprised even the arrogant surgeon.

Although frightening, the procedure was relatively painless. The shot of whatever-it-was worked almost instantly. I also had a ready supply of NO2, but I guarantee you that no laughing took place during this procedure. I'm not the gas had any effect on me at all. It smelled like rotting flowers, and the mask was too large for my face and kept poking me in the eye. The prying, the sawing, the drilling, the pulling, and the packing were all painless. The clamps were unfortunately not.

The missing tooth produced a "gaping deficit," which in plain English means, "a big hole." To fix this, I wound up with a bone graft made from ground up, sterilized cadaver (human). I cannot describe to you how disgusting I feel to have part of a dead person growing into my own bone. Perhaps I don't have to.

I left the office with a "good job" from the doctor, applause from the staff, antibiotics, steroids, anti-bacterial rinse, and a prescription for Darvocet. My good friend and pediatrician Dr. B took me home, administered drugs, and only left me when I entered my drug-induced haze.

Thursday evening is bit of a blur - A few good friends phoned or texted their much-appreciated support. The narcotics gave me a wicked case of the munchies. (Try feeding that beast when you can hardly open your mouth!) I participated, more or less, in Thursday night chat with the #squeeze buddies, but guys, I'm sorry - I don't remember much. I didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. or so, but when I did, it was bliss. I slept until 11:45, and even then, I only woke up because the phone was ringing.

Now I'm recuperating, watching movies, going out of my mind from forced relaxation, and hoping the grapefruit-sized swelling on the right side of my face goes back to normal before Monday.

Thanks to those of you who left comments and wished me luck!

More about Doggies

First things first - I still haven't adopted anybody.

I went back to the shelter last week to visit Hudson, and I'm completely in love with him. He's such a sweet baby. I chatted with one of the shelter volunteers about possible barking and howling, and she told me she's never heard him utter a peep unless he's outside and another dog gets too close. It would seem that Hudson is not a fan of other dogs. In fact, he hates 'em.

Before going to the shelter I invited two other friends to come along and check him out before I made a decision (I'm in love, I can't be expected to behave rationally.) Both of them canceled at the last minute, and so I decided to leave the adoption for another day.

And I did return on Wednesday with reinforcements and found that Hudson was gone! The shelter was too worried about his aggression towards other dogs, and so they sent him for a three week study-abroad to the Southside to attend K9 University. Crushed, I left my business card and asked them to call me when he gets back from his trip.

Lauren, my partner in many crimes, has her reservations about Hudson because as a Hound, he is predisposed to certain traits that might make him less than the best condo dog. And how did she try to help the situation? She took me to the Chicago Dog Show last weekend!

It was a great day, although somewhat overwhelming. So many wonderful dogs - none of them available for adoption. I spoke to people from various rescue programs, loved on lots of dogs, and watched the puppy best of breeds/best-in-show. (Can I tell you how ridiculously cute the puppy toy representatives are??)

Below are a few of my favorite pictures of the day. If you want to see the rest, click the link at the top of the page to see all the pictures I posted to my website. If you want to see larger images and are using Internet Explorer, you can click on the photos and you'll get just that.

I think this little guy is a Cairn Terrier. He's a volunteer dog who visits young children in hospitals.

This guy is a representative from the Bulldog rescue. A few of his colleagues were with him, dressed up in other costumes, but it being so close to St. Patrick's Day, here's a cute little leprechaun:
I think Lauren knows what kind of puppy is - (comment Lauren?) Look at how cute he is! He was going to town on his little toy, flipping out and just being adorable. It was hard to get a picture of him that wasn't blurry.


File this one under "pity". Look what they've done to this Poodle?! He's been shaven and styled, and his ears are in elastic bands!


Love, Love Love. I hugged this dog for a long time and didn't want to let her go. Say what you will about Doberman Pinchers - they are sweet dogs! I was so excited at the prospect of having another Doby (had two as a teen) that I actually called the Doby rescue. Yeah - unless I want the toy version, and I don't, these guys are just too big to live without a yard.

Pre-grooming bad hair day. Although, this could be a picture of me, come July.

So stay tuned - it will be three weeks before I can have Hudson, but in the spirit of trying to find the right dog, I'm still looking. I'm looking with half a heart, but I'm looking.

Updates

Two updates:

1. Report on my full-body whiplash. There is none. However, I do have a gigantic welt on my left thigh.
   
2. From the comments: Alexis asked about a week ago how I was doing in my quest to kick the Starbucks habit. I am very pleased to report that I have been quite successful. Making coffee before I leave for the office is part of my routine now, and since it is a French press, the coffee is strong enough that I generally don't need a second cup. I'd say I go in for a latte maybe once a week now, if that.