DAY FROM HECK

Last Friday, I needed to make a trip to NYC. Since I was carrying on my luggage, and since I was flying out pretty early in the morning, I did not show up two hours early. I showed up at 6:00 for a 7:05 flight. As I went to check in, I pulled out my wallet and realized I didn't have my driver's license!

Since I rarely ever take my license out of my wallet, I thought back over the last few days. Hmm ... Must have been left on the copier at work, since I had photocopied my license for a visa application to Brazil! So I race into work (which is about 10-15 minutes from the airport) and can't find the license. I remember that I had made two copies, because I thought one was too dark. I dug around in my recycling bin and took the copy back to the airport, praying that they would be dumb enough to give me a boarding pass with a photocopy of my driver's license and a badge from work.

Turns out, they were dumb enough. First they didn't want to check me in because it was less than 30 minutes to departure. (It was 29 minutes.) They reluctantly agreed, gave me my boarding pass, looked over at the security line, laughed - and said, "Good luck!" "Is that the security line?" "Yes." Longest in the history of Louisville's airport.

So I go running up to the line where the pilots, handicapped people, and travelers with children go. I begged to be let in. The old man refused. So, without any hesitation, I ask a lady in the "real" line if she would allow me to cut in front of her. (Remember the old "front seat, back seat" trick?) So I get through the line without too much hassle and race out to Gate B4.

"Is this the flight to LaGuardia?" "Yes - but the plane doesn't have a working bathroom, so make sure you go before boarding." Say whaaaaaat? I am shocked that planes are allowed to take off without a working bathroom! So anyway, no time to use restroom - I just go ahead and board. Didn't have to go anyway. We fly over to NYC area and, due to bad weather, end up circling around above the city. Then there was a ground stop - no more arriving flights. Pilot says we need to land in Allentown PA to re-fuel. No prob.

So I try to keep myself occupied by thinking back to that old Billy Joel song ... "Well we're waiting here in Allentown ... For the Pennsylvania we never found ..." The pilot says we're not going to be getting off the plane because there are no gates and we won't be there long. Never mind the fact the bathroom doesn't work. After some complaining by passengers, they decide to let us use the toilet - but kindly recommend we don't flush. Since I was sitting in the next to last seat of the plane, I wasn't so sure if that was good. Not flushing has bad consequences. But then so does flushing and creating an overflow. Hmm.

After about 10-15 minutes (and several of us already using the nasty toilet), the pilot relents and lets us off the plane. We couldn't have been off more than 10 minutes, when they re-boarded us and we were off to NYC again. This time, we landed with no problem.

Fast forward to about 7:00PM. I get a call from sister-in-law Lorie that starts like this: "First let me just tell you that everything's OK." Well, you know when a discussion starts that way, EVERYTHING IS NOT OK! I get the news that Kendall had been badly burned when she tipped over a container of bacon grease on the kitchen counter. And that Ashley had put her into a tub of water until the EMT's came, that they went in an ambulance down to the children's hospital, and that she had first- and second-degree burns. (Have you ever stood next to a frying pan and had a splatter of grease jump onto your arm and really sting? Don't you hate that? Imagine an entire container of that grease on your arm, chest, and stomach - and now you know what Kendall must have felt like!)

Long story short, I get back into Louisville by about midnight and race down to the burn unit at children's hospital. Kendall is awake for about 20 seconds before the morphine and exhaustion of the day knock her out. Was good to see that she was at least smiling.

So we've been living with a special patient for the past couple of days. She has to be bathed and re-bandaged twice a day. Not fun at all, as the bathing requires scraping off dead skin. Extremely painful, as you can probably imagine. But in general, she has been amazing. She hasn't complained one bit about her burns hurting - yet she complained for an hour last night about a paper cut! I'm pretty sure if half my body was covered with ointment and I was wrapped all up in gauze, I'd be fairly irritable. Glad Kendall is a better sport than me!

Anyway, here are a few recent pictures of the little bug ...

PS: The folks at LaGuardia let me through security with the photocopied driver's license and employee badge too! "This is your ID?" "Yes." "OK." I looked on the web and think they're supposed to demand a "government-issued form of ID" to let you get by. Does a photocopy of a government-issued ID count? Seems hard to believe, but I'm not complaining.

MORE EUROPE PICTURES

1) Listening to musicians at Kisfaludy Haz, the restaurant overlooking Lake Balaton.
2) Appetizers - goose liver (the brown stuff), goose grease (on top), paprikas (sliced on bottom). Something I learned is that the cure for burning lips and mouth, due to a piping hot paprika, is goose grease.
3) Overlooking Lake Balaton, and the vineyards, from Kisfaludy Haz.
4) Doing some wine-tasting. I'm attentively listening to "my translator" - thus the weird look. The "wine guy" is holding what they call a stealing pumpkin. In the old days, an old hollow pumpkin with a long stalk was used for the purpose of taking wine out of the barrels and displacing into drinking glasses.
5) Tihany Abbey.
6) Overlooking Balaton from a great view atop hillside at Tihany Abbey.
7) The "Paprika House" in Tihany. Paprikas hanging on the outside of the building are drying out.
8) Buda Castle.
9) A McDonalds in the train station next to our hotel. The train station was designed by Eiffel (the same guy that designed the tower in France). Funny to have a McD's in there. I ventured over for a few "Shrekka" ice creams late at night.
10) Getting served some schnitzels at Figlmuller.
11) St. Stephen's in Vienna. One of the most famous landmarks in the city.
12) Hungarian protesters in Vienna. This was very embarrassing to our colleagues. The protesters claimed that they had to protest in Vienna, because they were not given such freedom in Hungary. I know this is not true, as I have seen many protesters outside of the Parliament building in Budapest. They are perfectly free, however, many of them are simply drunkards who are looking for some fun with other drunkards - giving all the protesters a bad name.

EUROPEAN "VACATION"

I spent about eight days in Europe recently on a business trip. Since I was there over a weekend, I got to do a few fun things as well. (Not that work isn't fun too, but ...) Unfortunately, my camera was stolen from my checked garment bag, so I didn't get any good pics myself - but many of my colleagues had cameras.

Flight over was an ordeal. We were supposed to fly from Louisville to Cincinnati, then Cincinnati to New York JFK, then JFK to Budapest. Turned out that there were weather problems in New York, so we were re-routed from Cincinnati to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Prague, then Prague to Budapest. Needless to say, when flying Delta anytime, and especially with any changes to itinerary, luggage will never arrive. (This is my fifth consecutive trip with luggage problems!) If anyone wants to know how long it takes to blow dry a handwashed pair of underwear, I can now tell you. The key is to set up a jig to hold the blow dryer in place, drying your undies as you take a shower.

So anyway, we got to Budapest about half a day later than originally planned. Got some good work done on Thursday and Friday, then headed to Vienna for a day trip Saturday.

First order of business in Vienna was to get a Wiener Schnitzel. We went to a place called Figlmuller that our colleagues had visited previously. Kind of like a place near Purdue called La Bamba's, a Mexican chain that advertised Burritos Bigger Than Your Head, they say a real Schnitzel should hang over the side of the plate like this:

Don't you think this would be good with a beer? Looks like a beer food, right? Too bad. No beer at Figlmuller. Wine if you please.

After Figlmuller, we stopped into the world-famous Demel cafe - known for its cakes, prestigious decor, and unhelpful staff (a Viennese tradition). Not that I needed more to eat - I would be exaggerating to say I ate half of my Schnitzel - but the coffee was great. And when in Vienna, a cafe like this is a must-do. One thing I really like about Europe is the number of places where you can eat outside.

The Demel was right near the Hofburg Castle. After our coffees and cakes, we went to the Hofburg complex to visit the Spanish Riding School, where Lipizzan horses train. Don't ask me why SLOVENIAN horses are trained in the methods of a FRENCH riding master, at a riding school in AUSTRIA, named the SPANISH Riding School. I'll leave you to figure that part out. But I will say that this was an incredible show. The horses and the riders are incredibly well-trained. I believe much of this training was, in the early years, for military purposes. Even if you aren't a horse lover or aren't that knowledgeable about horses in general, you can still easily appreciate the skills that these Lipizzaners show off during their performances.

After the horse show, we roamed around and checked out other sites in Vienna. Lots of castles, another outdoor cafe, etc. The splendor and size of the castles is unbelievable. Hard to imagine the amount of money and time it took to build these places. We also visited the Hundertwasser Haus, which is actually a small apartment complex in Vienna. You may think Friedensreich Hundertwasser was smoking dope in the 1960's when he did this, but actually it was built in the early 1980's.

Before leaving Vienna, I also stopped into the below restroom in a subway near the opera house, thus its name as the Urinals of Opera Bathroom. I believe this has been slightly controversial. Not sure why that would be.

We returned from Vienna to Budapest on Saturday evening. Early Sunday, my good friends Krisztina and Tamas picked me up at the hotel for another excursion. This time it was to Northern Hungary, to visit Visegrad and Esztergom. Both towns are about 30 miles northwest of Budapest, right around the area called the Danube Bend. They are near the scenic village of Szentendre, which I visited on my last trip to Budapest, but was not able to visit again during this trip. Visegrad, although being the smallest town in Hungary, was once of international importance as a place where Hungarian kings would bring foreign dignitaries and popular rulers of the region. The town is nearly a thousand years old! (Keep in mind, Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, so I don't think we have much in the way of thousand-year-old things here in the United States!) The main attraction in Visegrad is the old Royal Palace, which dates back to the 1300's. I can't remember if it was the primary home of the king at that time - I seem to remember that it was more of a summer residence but a place where he spent a lot of time. Not only was it in a beautiful area of the country, but it was also in a strategically important location on the Danube Bend. You can see in this picture that the palace overlooks the river.

Esztergom is another very old city in Hungary, and for over 300 years it was actually the capital. In Esztergom, we visited the Basilica and its treasury. This is the largest church in Hungary. It also houses the largest organ in Hungary (third largest in all of Europe). The organ has been undergoing renovations for about 20 years. After visiting, I read that the organ pipes range from a quarter of an inch all the way up to 11 yards! While visiting the Basilica, we climbed up to the top center dome and walked around the outside. Krisztina, Tamas, and I all counted the number of stairs on our way back down - and found that we had gone up 401 steps total! You can see the view of the Danube and what is modern-day Slovakia on the other side. The bridge there is newly-constructed, the original having been destroyed by retreating German troops in 1944.

On our final day in Hungary, we took a team-building trip with our colleagues to Lake Balaton. This is the largest lake in Central Europe. Some Europeans refer to the lake as "Europe's largest puddle" because it is extremely shallow everywhere. Despite this harsh criticism, it is an extremely popular vacation destination for landlocked Hungary. It was also popular with Germans when the country was divided, as Hungary was a place that both East Germans and West Germans alike could visit. Before the Berlin Wall fell, families used to reunite at Lake Balaton for a week or two of summer vacation. This was the only place and time that they could see each other.

If you look at the map below, you can see where we went on this trip to Balaton. We drove southeast from Budapest until we arrived at Szantodrev. There, we got on a ferry and went across the skinniest part of the lake to Tihany, which is another extremely old and historical town. Atop a hill where the abbey is located, there is a beautiful view of the lake.

I also liked the shop below that had drying paprikas all along its outside walls. We stopped there for a few gifts. Many of the popular dishes in Hungary are flavored with paprika, including the wonderful goulash soup. While on this visit, I learned a good remedy for a mouth burning with paprika - goose greese. This is used as a spread for bread. Hungarians seem to have an affinity for all things geese, it seems - goose liver of many varieties can be found on nearly every menu there. Roasted goose liver, fried goose liver, goose liver with goose liver on top, etc. The possibilities are endless. Although I am not a fan of the goose liver, I can honestly say that I am a fan of goulash and even raw paprika. I am also a huge fan of the drink they call palinka. (When pronouncing this, emphasize the first syllable, like most words in Hungarian - PALinka.) This is often described as Hungarian brandy, but if you follow the link above and check out the picture, you will see that it is clear. It is about 40% alcohol content and is considered to be good for digestion. "One before dinner, two after!" I have to admit that I've become a big fan of palinka. Some have even said I might be a "palinka-holic"!

Anyway, continuing along Lake Balaton ... We drove from Tihany to the west, ending up at our final destination of Badascony. (Click here for another website dedicated to Badascony.) This is a resort area and famous wine-producing region. Part of the reason for the success of vineyards is that this was once a volcano, and the rock here absorbs and reflects heat in such a way to be good for the grapes. We did some wine tasting and then enjoyed dinner at the Kisfaludy Haz in the most enjoyable setting I think I've ever experienced. Imagine eating dinner with a vantage point up on a hill overlooking a lake, with vineyards running from atop the hill down to the water. Imagine also a group of men playing Hungarian folk songs and gypsie music on their violin, cello, and dulcimer. (They also played a little bit of Frank Sinatra - New York, New York - when they knew there was an American in their presence!) Words can't really describe how special this place was and how special the evening was, but hopefully this picture can give you a glimpse of it:

One last thing ... This is a picture of Krisztina and me at the Gerbeaud cafe in Budapest. This is a place that my Gram and Pop Zim visited and highly recommended.

CINCINNATI

From FoxNews.com ...

A Cincinnati man is expecting six children with six different women, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. During court proceedings charging Rickey Lackey with attempted theft, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh asked Lackey how many children he had. Lackey's response: “None, but I have six on the way." That prompted Marsh to ask Lackey, 25, if he was marrying a woman with six kids. “No, I be concubining," Lackey responded, meaning he lives with women he is not married to. Lackey's lawyer stopped the line of questioning and the judge dropped it after deciding it was not relevant to the case. Lackey was later convicted for attempted theft. The women are all expecting between August and October.

CONSTRUCTION SIGN - BUSTED!

WEIRD NEWS

When I was in Hungary in October, the hotel had an English-language newspaper in my room when I arrived. Here is a small article I came across.

SILICON BREAST IMPLANTS SAVE WOMAN IN CRASH
A Bulgarian woman survived a road accident because her silicon breast implants acted like airbags, Sofia News Agency reported last week. Elena Marinova, 24, from Sofia crashed into another car after ignoring a red light in the city of Ruse in northern Bulgaria. The two cars were written off, and the driver of the other seriously injured but Marinova survived due to the airbag effect of her implants. "However, they are not as safe as the real thing because they burst, which airbags are not supposed to," a police official said.

PUERTO RICO

I'm back from Puerto Rico. The first picture is a view from my "oceanfront" hotel room, and the second is an odd scene - the first time I've ever captured a cow, a shanty, and the ocean all in one photograph. It was an interesting first trip to the island for me. Although Arecibo is not exactly a booming metropolis, it does have some of the usual sites you'd expect of any town on the US mainland - Walmart, Sears, Walgreens, fast food venues, etc. I managed to avoid mofongo (a local dish of mashed plantains mixed with some pork and shrimp and seasoned with garlic) and ate at Chili's several nights and Damon's a few nights. It is definitely a different culture there, no where more evident than in the way they drive. Although I guess it wasn't necessarily much different than New Jersey, to be honest.

On some other topics ...

I was happy to see Tom DeLay resign from the House. I wish he had resigned several months ago. Although Republicans will continue to say that he is innocent and the victim of politics, I think he has harmed the party and they should have cut ties to him. The GOP is winning elections running on a platform of "moral values" and we can not tolerate even the slightest hint of unethical behavior in the party and expect to win the "values" vote. We need to deal with people like DeLay swiftly. Time will tell whether or not he has actually committed a crime, but the fact is he engaged in behavior that is questionable - and that's enough. We should be holding ourselves to a higher standard. Conservatives seem to want to pick up the Clintonesque excuse and blame it on a vast left-wing conspiracy. We hated Clinton when he did it, yet we're now falling back on the same weak excuse. DeLay and his buddy Abramoff may be the downfall of this Republican run of success.

I was also sad to see Andy Card resign last week. I had the opportunity to meet with him while at Harvard. Most people probably don't even know who he is and would be surprised to find out he was probably one of the five most powerful men on the planet in his position of Chief of Staff. If you work at the White House, even as a Cabinet member, you've got to go through the Chief of Staff to get to the President. You don't just hop on Microsoft Outlook and check Dubya's schedule, then plan a meeting when he's got an opening. No, the Chief of Staff schedules the President's calendar, who he's going to see, where he's going to go, etc. He is the first person to meet the President EVERY morning - and they discuss the events of the upcoming day. Pretty powerful gatekeeper role, eh?

Anyway, Card had some tremendously unique perspectives because of his close proximity to the President. He also served in the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations. I won't go into any of his stories here, but recall that Card is the guy that whispered into Bush's ear on 9/11/01 that a second plane had hit the WTC. In Card's visit at Harvard, he stressed repeatedly that he served only at the pleasure of the President, and that when the pleasure was gone he would leave. I guess a combination of the botched Supreme Court nomination, the poor response to Katrina, and the ports deal were all enough to suggest that changes needed to be made. I don't have an opinion one way or the other on the new Chief, but I suspect as do many people that further changes are forthcoming.