In Love Again

My first computer was a 128-kb Mac. Remember those! I upgraded to a 512, but then lost the faith and moved to IBM because of my job. Last fall I purchased (my last!) Dell laptop with (ta da!) VISTA and the new MS Word etc. Too much has already been written about these products, it should suffice to say that in January I ordered a MacBook, and, as the song goes ... I'm in love again!

But, Apple, please, please don't get lost the way you did in the early 1990s!

Cabaret at the Volkstheater

We saw Cabaret at the Vienna Volkstheater last night. Excellent show, unfortunately the last performance. The Volkstheater is great place to see live theater in Vienna. Here's a photo from the website (a scene from the song: Two Ladies, photo copyright by Lalo Jodlbauer).

TRB Intercity Rail Passenger Committee

Among the events at the 2008 TRB Annual Meeting were several sessions and meetings organized by the TRB's Intercity Passenger Rail Committee (I'm a member). The sessions and workshop were packed with interesting new information and ideas. We heard many good approaches for improving passenger rail in the USA and world! The Committee has a great new website where you can download information about passenger rail.

TRB 2008

Another year, another TRB Annual Meeting. This year's was great, of course too much to do and too many people to see, but that's success. I had five papers in three sessions and one meeting. Good comments and lots of interest. Download my presentations and papers from my website.

Catch-22 - Vienna Style

One of the funny things that happened in moving to Vienna is the process we had to go through for me to obtain permission to work. Actually, it's only funny now because it's over.

I wanted to start my own business (Vienna Transport Strategies) and so I went to the Chamber of Commerce, they were able to register me in about 5 minutes, but to complete the registration I needed to have permission to work. However, the city department responsible for giving me permission to work could not give it to me because I had no job.

Get it: you cannot start a business because you do not have permission to work, but you cannot get permission to work because you do not have a business.

The happy ending came when my wife got a job, then I was able to get permission to work as the spouse of an Austrian!

Moving is hard work!

We left Zurich at the end of July and moved to Vienna in early August. I cannot believe how hard it has been to move. From the IKEA runs to build cabinets to the formalities of registering to live in Austria and getting permission for me (an American) to work here. But we finally see light at the end of the tunnel.
As the old transportation joke goes, I hope it's not a train coming!

Vienna

We have just moved to Vienna and things are very busy. Lots to unpack and do, no internet at home. So, that's why no recent bloging. I hope to start again soon.