Thursday & Friday

Thursday, we went to visit B's sister, R.

R has some vision problems and wanted us to help her configure her computer in such a way that she could more easily see the screen...

We found out there's a thing in Windows called the Magnifier, which is a separate window that can be moved around or sized differently. It kind of imitates an actual magnifying glass, enlarging everything the cursor points at.

You can also enlarge the cursor, making it easier to see.

R's apartment, from the living room

View from the second floor to the living room

I'm sharing these pics of R's apartment because I like the uncluttered look of the place, and the modern design. The place is small---maybe 800 SF---but comfortable, with lots of light coming in through a huge living room window downstairs, and more normal-sized windows upstairs.

I don't know that these kinds of places are more expensive to build than the houses / apartments you usually see in the US, but for whatever reason, you don't see too many of them. Beats me why not.

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Today it was snowing. Snowed last night, not much, maybe an inch, but today the fat flakes were really floating down. We took the tram to the 9th District to meet our friends P and G for lunch at a Greek place called Rembetiko. I thought the food was pretty good, and the conversation with our friends was wonderful. After an hour or so the guys had to get back to work, so we walked them most of the way back, parting company here:

The Strudlhofstiege

Took a walk through the 9th, then to the Danube Canal where, despite the snow, there were joggers, an occasional cyclist, and people walking their dogs (I guess a dog's need to shit is eternal, winter be damned.)

Up there, the street. Down here, the walkway parallel to the Danube Canal

The white buildings are apartments along the Danube Canal.

This snow, and the snow the US and England / Europe have been recently hit with, made B wonder why certain places (England and OKC) are so ill-equipped to handle snow. Vienna has an army of snow plows, sand trucks, and private individuals who shovel sidewalks, clear roads and parking lots, etc. (They are especially visible and efficient in election years, like this.)

"It doesn't snow that much or that hard, usually, in Oklahoma...." I said.

"But when it does, it brings everything to a standstill. If you have an Army dedicated to keeping the US safe from attack, why don't you have snowplows? You've been attacked far less often than you've had crippling snowstorms, after all."

"Right, but Ratheon and General Dynamics don't make snowplows," I said, "and whoever DOES make snowplows doesn't seem to cram enough cash into the pockets of our elected representatives."

I hope that flip answer is wrong, but I'm afraid it might not be.