Weasels and Wenaults

I have a new car. A Renault. It's not a new car, but it doesn't leak oil, has brakes that work, blinkers that work and no electrical system failures. And a nice little roll top roof that is great on a sunny day.

I was getting my hair cut the other day, and was complaining to Birgit the Stylist about the weasels in my attic, camped right above my bedroom. She said she had a problem with the weasels, too, since they were eating the rubber tip of the antenna on her Mercedes (she's a successful stylist...)

"They rubber on the Mercedes?" I asked. "Why would they like that?"

"I don't know," she said. "But it's common knowledge here that they like to eat the Mercedes and Renaults."

So those were the little pawprints I saw on my little roll top, Renault roof this morning.

Walking in Hainburg

Sometimes things work out well. Last night I sold a piece to the Christian Science Monitor. I've written a couple of pieces for them-which, for one reason or another were killed or never ran--but this one should go through without a problem. I've wanted to be published there, so this is good.



Unrelated to anything having to do with the Christian Science Monitor, here are a couple of pics of Hainburg.
In the afternoons, Remi and I like to walk in these fields, which are about 1/2 mile from the house.




















And here's Remi, emerging like Shoeless Joe from the Iowa cornfields:

Algeria

When I was in Algeria there were a couple of bombs that went off, but no injuried. Car bombings are fairly common in Algeria, but because of skirmishes in regions outside of the capital. After fending off horrific terrorism during the 90s (200,000 killed), Algeria is starting to come back. But some serious bombings in the capital a couple of weeks ago can only be viewed, at best, as a disappointing setback.
I wrote a piece on it for worldpoliticswatch
You can also find it archived at McCracken Archives

I'm Back, Baby!!

No more drive-by emailing from my neighbor's wifi connection...

Hey, it only took three weeks.

Lots happened in the interim, but I'm so breathless with the idea of web access, I'm putting on my virtual bikini and goin' surfin...

See ya soon.

Stuck in Inode Hell....

... but almost out.
Turns out Inode was actively lying to me about the status of my account. They've actually canceled my line. Hey, if you're gonna break up with me, do it to my face... don't just stop returning my calls and ignoring me...


Am changing providers... hope to be online again by early next week.

Yooohoooo? Where's My Internet???

Internet is still down. As a freelance journalist, it's my life blood. Safe to say I've been getting a lot of cleaning done around the house and catching up on my reading.

Inode says it's not their problem, Austria Telekom says it's not their problem, and several Helpline employees from both have managed to disconnect me... pesky customer that I am.

Boycott Inode Internet Company in Austria... and Happy Easter

At about 10 am yesterday morning, my internet went down.
I spent more than half hour (at my cost) to call Inode to find out why.
They said I hadn't paid the bill.
I told them the bill wasn't overdue, but by the way, had been in contact with them earlier in the week about not receiving my bills from them.*
I paid bill anyway and faxed proof of payment to them.
Came home, called again, put on hold for another 40 minutes at my expense.
They say service will be on in 5 minutes.
Two hours later, service not on. I call again.
They say it wasn't a problem with bill after all (I knew that)but another problem.
I tell them that I have much work to do, and no time for no internet problems. By this time, it is 5 pm.
They tell me to call Austria Telekom, who can come out within two weeks to examine the problem. Within two weeks. What should I do... go on vacation?
When I complain that Austria Telekom isn't the answer (I believe it is similar to a problem last year, in which they change address for macs, but don't tell me), they disconnect me. It's a long holiday weekend here. Won't even be able to call anyone til Tuesday. And I have a Monday story deadline. Charming.
This company is called Inode and operates out of Graz. Really, the absolute worst I've seen in years. As soon as I can, I'm switching to another service. But if any Austrian readers are viewing this, feel free to let me know if you've ever had any sort of similar experience with Inode. I'm considering it as a business story for Der Standard or Die Presse--how private enterprise in Austria struggles to succeed simply because it refuses to act professionally competitive.
Lucky for me, an internet cafe opened in Hainburg this weekend. But it won't be open Easter Monday (national holiday in this Catholic country). And they won't allow me to work from my powerbook... so, not a fix.

I Missed the Wedding

Remi and I were walking back from town the other day and an old woman who lives next to the walled part of the city came out of her tiny house and was trying to entice Remi to come to her.
"What kind of dog is this?" she asked.
"A Jack Russell."
"Is this Remi?"
"Yes," I said.

"So you're the American lady with the London taxi," she said. "And you're married to an Australian."

I ensured her that, yes, I was the American lady with the London taxi, but that I didn't have an Australian husband.

"Yes, yes. You're husband is Australian."

"No, he's not. I don't have an Australian husband. I don't have a husband. I'm still single."

There was no arguing with her. I was the American lady with the Jack Russell named Remi, the London taxi, and the Australian husband. She wouldn't hear otherwise.

I hope he's good looking and great in bed, and I hope she knows where he is.

Vienna Museums and Pig Bladder Condoms

There's the Kunsthalle museum, or the Kunsthistorisches Museum, or the Lichtenstein Museum, or the Albertina, or the Mozarthaus, or the Museum of Applied Arts,
...or the brand new Museum of Contraception and Abortion.
It opened a couple of weeks ago in Vienna--founded by an Austrian abortionist, although it's hard to tell what its aim is--to promote contraception, to educate on abortion, or simply to chronicle techniques of both over the last 100 years.
Austrians are big on contraception, if not abortion, and risk--as do other European nations--a significant population drop over the coming decade.
So I guess that means less people to go tour the Museum of Contraception and Abortion.

Ugh

I postponed Armenia. I was supposed to be going on April 8, but I need to get some medical tests out of the way first. Nothing too serious (I hope!), but it'll be good to get it all behind me. Yerevan Waits For You....

The latest from JibJab: What We Call the News

They've done it again.
JibJab

Now We Are Five

Happy Birthday, Remi.

Remi is a rescue dog, having been abandoned in the former USSR.
Consider rescue when adopting a pet.

www.russellrescue.com