Countdown to Europe: less than 1 day!!!

So surprise surprise: I didn't receive my Dutch bank card. I'll leave instructions for my land lady to FedEx or USPS send it to my parents' address if it arrives. Will also check in next Thursday to find out the status. If the card still hasn't arrived I'll call my bank and make them send another new card to my parents.
Yeah fucken lovely.

Packed my weekend bag but will transfer some stuff to my backpack. Gonna be quite the travel.
Leaving at 1:25 pm to Newark, then connecting flight to A-dam at 4:40 pm. I'll arrive at Schiphol at 6 am Sunday morning. Will collect my baggage and check in for the flight to Budapest. Then I'll try to buy a European SIM card so I can use my other US phone during the 6.5 weeks I'm in Europe.
Jetlag will be imminent!

Not sure how much internet access I'll have during this period so prolly won't update this blog a lot, if at all. But I'm sure I'll take plenty of pictures so there will be goodies once I get back to Pittsburgh on October 10.

Don't worry, I'm bringing my towel!

Countdown to Europe: 4 days

Not much news really. Just that my data are giving me headaches. The proverb states that if you torture your data long enough, it will confess to anything you want. But right now it feels more like the data is torturing is me.
So, what do the data want me to confess???

Four days left and still no sign of my new Dutch bank card....

Countdown to Europe: 6 days

Got a phone call from Eyetique last night informing me my new glasses have arrived. Will go pick them up tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll like them or I'll have spent $680 for jack shit hehe.

Target rules!
This shop is a bit like the Dutch V&D but bigger and better. Bought some new underwear, contact lenses fluid and several cleaning cloths.

Since it's raining and I've watched all my Netflix movies I'm off to Dreaming Ant to rent some more flicks!

RIP Jos Brink

I found out this sad news earlier tonight. Although his death doesn't come as a surprise as word got out in July that he was terminally ill, it's definitely a big loss.
This guy was very active in pretty much all entertainment channels (TV, musicals, cabaret, etc.) and honestly, he was the real thing. Whereas so many TV personalities put on a mask/show this guy was just himself. Genuinely interested, caring and always having a good time.

Jos, you will be missed.

Countdown to Europe: 9 days

Bitching always works! Got the Gorefest CD yesterday and rocking out to it since I got home.
Also got 2 DVDs from my friend Paul from Canada who shot a lot of videos at the Maryland Deathfest 2007. Hope I'll have some time to check the DVDs out this weekend.

Still hot as hell inside my house. Airco is for posers!

Will get some groceries in a bit since I'm making pancakes again...

So I just found out this afternoon that I'll still have a job for at least next year starting September 1. Since officially there's a 3 year limit at CMU that one can be a postdoc we'll talk about the possibilities/limitations concerning my 4th year.
Quite possibly I'll end up applyin for a job elsewhere while still working on the current CMU project.

Informed my land lady right away so I won't be kicked out haha. Sweet.

I also read a news item today about a virus attacking other ABN AMRO customers. During the virus attack the customers unknowingly activate some mechanism which transfers money from their account to elsewhere. While the customers only see an error message. Pretty clever.
But I don't think that's what happened to me. Although, when I recently tried to log in online I did get an error message but I think that was because my bank card was expired. But it should be noted that this only happened to customers who were using an older OS version. I use Windows XP, not really old I'd say.
Additionally, my account was cancelled since April and to my knowledge this recent virus didn't cancel any accounts but it 'just' stole money.
Still puzzling but at least I have my account AND my money back.

Anyway, should throw a little party tonight! It would be awesome if the new Gorefest CD finally has arrived. After having paid $33 for an import version of the album from Germany one would expect that the seller would send it via airmail. But had he done so the CD should have arrived by now.
I think he found out I'm Dutch.
Bloody bastard!

Countdown to Europe: 10 days

Got my visa papers all done. Still need to pay the € 80 fee but I need my new Dutch bank card for that.
Also need to buy an A5 size envelope and self address it and place € 6.45 worth of stamps on it so the embassy can mail my passport with the new visa back to me.

Brought my Acer laptop to the Computer Maintenance Group and was told it might be the main logic board (whatever that is). If that's the case then they said it ain't worth fixing and I'd be better off buying a new laptop.
We'll see.

It's only 10 days left now! Getting more excited every day though it hasn't really sunk in yet since I'm still in the midst of everything here.

countdown to Europe: 11 days

Ok, got my picture taken for my new visa and filled in most of the 3 visa forms. Gotta get 1 more contact person for one form and check the issuance date of my current visa.
My advisor/colleague Vincent will use my car in my absence so I can avoid getting those annoying parking tickets concerning the city's street cleaning activities.

Also got a message from my Dutch bank indicating my money was taken by unknown people but has now been restores on my reactivated account. They also said the new bank card is on its way.
Yay.

Gotta bug the EC members tomorrow to see if they can let me know the decision about approving/rejecting our new project proposal before I leave on the 25th.
Whatever their answer will be I will need to negotiate with my land lady. If they give me the decision's outcome then obviously I'll have a better position in the negotation but we'll see.

Right, am going to a friend who's helping me with my own laptop. If we get it fixed and revamped I will take this laptop with me on my Europe trip. If not then I'll bring my work laptop.

Work? Uhm, yeah. I'll get some work done, also need to make my presentation for the Earli conference in Budapest. Just found out our symposium is scheduled on Wednesday August 29 at 8:30am.
Lovely.

Westworld reprise

One of the people I hung out with at Westworld has put some pics on her facebook site.
I originally had a link to the CogSci photo book but apparently if I post 3 links only 2 of them work. Lovely.
Pics with me in it are HERE and HERE.
Feel free to browse her photos to get some idea of that scary place we were stuck in for about a week.

I'd never seen facebook before despite invites from a few people. I don't like it. The space it uses is way too small for my liking. Additionally the fact that only 66.666666666% of the links will work is utterly retarded.

I luv my blog, I'm sticking with this!

Posted some pics I shot during the torrential rain HERE.

minor complaints

Since I'm in a sharing mood I'll write down two small occurences that also happened this week.
When I was trying to open a data file in SPSS a few days ago I got an error message informing me my license was expired. Interesting since I've only had the program for half a year and the license ought to be valid for 4 years.
After getting in touch with their tech support I explain the situation and over the course of the day they give me a few solutions to try out. Fortunately, one solution (replacing 1 fucken dll file!!!) actually managed to solve the error message and I'm back in business.
Only took me about a day though.

I decided I'd work at home yesterday since I wanted to catch up on some sleep and had some household chores to do. Shortly after I finally was ready to do some work on my laptop (around 3 pm) a huge thunderstorm with a zillion lightning flashes and torrential rains sweeps over Pittsburgh. It knocks out the power in my neighborhood (and other Pittsburgh areas) for hours so I'm left with no other choice to shut down my laptop.
I decide to take a ride to have a look at the aftermath of the enormous storm. There's tree branches on streets, traffic lights not working due to the knocked out power, police barricaded several streets due to flooding and most of the main roads are back up with traffic.
Since the power is still out when I get back to my appartment I decide to check out the cinema and see if they are still operational. Fortunately they are and I end up watching "Rescue dawn" at the Squirrel Hill theatre and "Bourne ultimatum" at the Loews theatre.

Yeah, been a rather eventful week :-)

Dealing with bureaucracy living abroad 2: the disappearing bank account

Since I never use my Dutch bank card while living here in Pittsburgh I only found out a few months after de facto that my Dutch bank card expired in February 2007. So 3.5 weeks ago I called my Dutch (ABN AMRO) bank to ask how I can obtain a new bank card. I am told my current address is not in their system so I need to send them a form with which they can update their files. They also tell me to include a letter in which I can request a new bank card. Lastly, they tell me it will take 2 weeks for the new bank card to arrive at my 'new' US address.
I do all this and spend $36 to have the package delivered by USPS to the bank within 2 days. The delivery is confirmed on the USPS website.

Today (August 10) is exactly 3 weeks that the package arrived at the ABN AMRO office. Since I have not heard anything I call them again. They inform me that my 'new' address is now in their system. Yay.
But then they tell me all my Dutch accounts are cancelled as of April 2007. They do not know why. They don't know any answers; they don't know where my money went.
I explain that in order to obtain a new US visa on September 10, 2007, I need to pay the visa fee with a valid Dutch bank card which holds my name. That is an explicit demand which I can't avoid. If I fail the embassy will not process my request for a new visa. I tell them that if this happens it will not make CMU nor me very happy.

Having fun yet? I promised that you'd love these experiences!

An hour ago the office of the ABN AMRO at which I used to do my business when I still lived in the Netherlands gets back to me to inform me my bank account has been reactivated. Great.
Also, they have processed my request for a new bank card which should arrive at my US address 'soon'. They can't guarantee it will arrive within 2 weeks time but 'it should'. I'm leaving for Budapest on August 25.
Still no answer to where my money went, they'll get back to me on that.

So, still considering to go work/live abroad? Think again. Have a laugh at my expense. Then stay put.

Dealing with bureaucracy living abroad 1: driver license drama

For people who are considering to go work and live abroad; here's some nice first hand experiences. You'll love them for sure!

1. US driver license: I needed to renew it. So I called the phone number listed on their website. Got a computer and a zillion options which are only useful for US citizens. So I filled in an online contact form with all my questions since I'm a foreigner and know that I need to bring extra documentation and stuff.
I did get an official response with answers so I went to a driver license center which should be able to help me according to the official response. Wrong. They tell me I need to go to another center which can update my INS status (meaning my visa status). I go to that 2nd center, wait for 2.5 hours and then am being told I miss 1 form which states that I am being employed by CMU. I complain. They tell me I can make an official complaint at an office adjacent to this central helpdesk. I walk over and complain some more. The guy tells me to come back directly to his office once I get the CMU statement.
So after obtaining that statement I go directly to his office. He asks me when my current driver license expires, I tell him August 31. He responds that they can't renew it now since you can only do that between 3 days prior and 3 days after the expiration date. I tell him I'll be in Europe from August 25 on. Only then he asks me if I'm a US citizen. Ah, since I'm not he can help me renew the license right now.
Total time needed to finally attain my new US driver license: 2 weeks.

2. Dutch driver license: since it expired in June 2007 I requested the required forms from the Dutch company called RDW. They send it to my parents' address even though I explicitly asked them to send the forms to my US address. After my dad has sent the forms I fill in everything and realize I need a new photograph. A Dutch size photograph. Which is a different size than the ones they have here in the US. I've been unable to find a photography place which can provide me with the correct size photograph.
Current status: I'll wait until I get back to the Netherlands, then have my picture taken and send in all required materials to obtain my new Dutch driver license.

27 rare aquatic lifeforms

Pretty neat:
http://www.bountyfishing.com/blog/2007/08/07/27-aquatic-lifeforms-you-never-caught-while-fishing/

The Westworld experience and other updates

The CogSci conference was held last week in Nashville, Tennessee and I spent most of it (July 31-August 5) at the hotel.
The day before I left (July 30) I quickly made my poster for the conference, got it printed, worked on an abstract for a symposium at another conference, and worked on the new project plan to be submitted two days later.

Since I arrived on Tuesday I was lucky since a lot of colleagues were supposed to fly in on Wednesday on an ill-fated flight. The same airline (US airways) that catered my flight told my colleagues that there was some "mechanical failure" and that the flight was cancelled while all of them were sitting at the gate, ready to board the plane.
Since it was pretty much only my colleagues who were on this flight it is likely that US airways figured it would cost them money to actually do this flight and subsequently cancelled it.
My colleagues were forced to chose between two flights and either take one or two lay-overs.
I felt sorry for them but also smiled to myself that I was smart/lucky to fly in the day before the conference started. This is exactly the kind of crap which you want to avoid and I fortunately did.
Good thing for all of us the flight back to Pittsburgh went smooth like butter without any glitches.

I fear it will be hard to explain to YOU who hasn't been there and I figured bringing my camera would be pointless since I was to spend almost all my time just at the 'hotel'.

First of all, after seeing the enormous lobby area and spotting an entrance leading to a large area with palm trees and a bridge over a pond, I got the feeling this 'hotel' would be somewhat different from the usual hotels I've been to.
During checking in I was given a map, to check it out click HERE.
Obviously I got lost once I walked off the main path in the Delta wing and the labyrinthine hallways where the guestsroom where located didn't help much in finding my room.
Eventually I figured it out, just moments before I lost the hilarity of the situation and started to get pissed off.

After getting rid of my bags and installing my stuff in the room I went out to scout the hotel areas. The first impression was of awe, inspired by seeing all those plants, trees, ponds, cascades and the likes. This hotel has also about 6 restaurants, 2 pubs, several shops, a few cookie/sandwich/salad places.
So pretty much it had almost everything one would need to live. Of course this was way too luxurious and expensive deluxe. But being stuck in such a 'hotel' somewhere between airport and the city left me with not many alternatives than to spend money like it was plain water.
Furthermore, the restaurants and pubs closed fairly early so the 'hotel' had a huge impact on our daily rhythm.

Let me tell you that being in a large airconditioned area where you are forced to breathe, eat and drink according to their schedule will make any living being feel awkward.
Besides the obviously hilarious hotel name (seriously, Gaylord Opryland, what the fuck?) the atmosphere of being coerced into sullen obedience in the country music capital of the world gave this entire experience an unreal touch.
It literally did feel like being in "Westworld" (Yul Brynner movie anyone?) and we had several conversations about the absurdity of the situation. We never really knew what those other two conferences were (office suppliers suppliers, what the hell?) and if the participants were actual humans or planted robots.
We also observed some drunken actions, mostly by guys (or robots...), who cornered/harassed women by groping and trying to kiss them. Pretty hilarious really. But also strange since the targeted women didn't oppose as much as one would expect. In one case (at the blues bar, see below) the woman actually went home with the guy after he had harassed, pulled her hair and groped her for well over an hour! Go figure...

After a few days I started to feel a bit freaked out. But I guess THEY noticed and adjusted the air composition in my hotel room so that feeling settled down fairly quickly. Eventually we dared to leave the compound, not in shuttle buses as they wanted as to, but on foot. Yes we were so bold and brave!
And actually found several normally priced restaurants, a HUGE mall (3 miles long if I'm correct) and best of all: fresh outside air. Wow.
We ended up going to the same blues bar downtown Nashville two nights in a row on Friday and Saturday night. A band played both nights with a nice mixture of rock, blues, covers and major guitar wankery. The frontman was quite the showman and walked up the stairs to the upper area of the bar to show off to all the audience members. Still, he had some mad skills and his band played as a tight unit. Though I'm not much of a blues fan it really was very enjoyable.

The last character I wanna mention is one of the cab drivers we had. It was Tony Montana.
Seriously.
He slowly worked on his looseness really. First he told us a story about him being nice to his customer (he returned a wallet with lots of $$$) and the customer scolding him for being late because he dared to pick up another customer with whom he had prior arrangement.
Then he started telling us that we shouldn't use Yellow Cab at any cost since their employees are ill-treated by their bosses, he knew 'cause he had worked for that cab company. But after this he started telling that the Yellow Cab employees are mostly Somalians and that they frequently steal his customers after he got a dispatch call.
He'd see them pull off right in front of him. Since he tried the nice way of talking to them and they always denied stealing his customers so he figured he wouldn't let them take advantage of him anymore. So nowadays every time he sees one of them Somalians he walks right up to them and....
SPITS THEM RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!!
Happens every day, he just walks up to them and spits in their face. That'll teach them to steal his customers.
Ok Tony, thanks for giving us front door service to the blues bar but don't expect us to call you later tonight to bring us back to our hotel hahahaha!

So now it's Tuesday August 7 and I've survived Westworld, weird people, whacky cab drivers.
Frank Capra was right: it's a wonderful life!