At least I was up.

My original thought was to perhaps briefly go back to bed this morning after taking Travelling Companion to the airport,  but that never seems to work anyway,  so I figured I wouldn't bother.    I think it's the coffee,  and I know better than to try to function without it.

By the way, the traffic is really great at 5:30.

It also doesn't help to wake up before the alarm goes off either.  I hate that. I seem to have very little difficulty lying in if there's no need to haul myself out of bed,  but just as soon as there is any kind of reason,  the last two or three hours are interrupted by checking the clock.  We never set the alarm on normal work days.   Muggins here is the alarm clock.  I have no idea how that works either,  except to say that my eyes just seem to pop open around six or so.

With the possible exception of elevator issues,  it's pretty darned nice living on the top floor.  When it's sunny out,  it's sunny in.  When the wind is high, well it can be a little bit disconcerting,  and of course when it's really hot out,  we're just glad to have air conditioning.   But overall,  I'm pretty content with the top floor program.  I can actually go out doors without having to go down to street level.  Pretty nice.

The only other slight issue,  is that something along the lines of four times a year all the chimneys either have to be inspected or cleaned.   Today was a cleaning day.  Actually,  it was only this morning for about an hour,  since the boys started at around seven.
While I realise it's pretty peaceful here since I don't have music blaring or even a TV as background noise, and therefore any kind of noise on the roof is quite noticeable,  I could have sworn someone was starting to build another dwelling up there!
I think I've mentioned this before?  The "herd of cattle on the roof"?
I'm exaggerating,  but not by much.

Since this building was built in 1908,  it stands to reason that the apartments below have fireplaces,  since that could very well have been the only way of keeping warm in the past.  In speaking to one of my neighbours down stairs,  I was surprised to hear his apartment had four fireplaces!   So not just for aesthetics.   Everybody's chimney was getting a good reaming,  now let me tell you!

I should apologize that I haven't been including too many pictures lately, but there hasn't been that much that's really picture worthy.  I'm not about to run upstairs to take a picture of the chimneys either.   Down below a couple cafes have set out their summertime tables and chairs,  although it's been a little too cool to be sitting outside just yet.  Other than that,  not much else going on.

Oh,  forgot to mention,  we did have guests for dinner on Saturday night.   That was pleasant.  At this point in time I'm fairly comfortable with my choices at the butchers,  so I'm willing to risk grilling up some steaks.   It's one thing to make an unpleasant discovering if there's just the two of us,  but one needs to be confident in what's ending up on the plate when there are guests involved.
Although Travelling Companion and I haven't gotten bored with each other just yet,  it's always nice to have some company to yak with.    The gentleman is a young fellow who works at the company that cannot be named,  and we'll be looking for him in the upcoming Vienna Marathon.  Word is he went out and ran something like 25k on Sunday.  And...I think it was actually farther,  but I forget.  If I got it wrong I apologize.  Hopefully nobody will be checking on my facts.*

For those of you who may not know (and I know I sure didn't)  the Vienna Marathon is kind of a big deal.   The bonus is,  Mariahilfer Strasse is part of the course.

 How exactly I'm going to be out there at the right time to catch him as he runs by is still a bit of a mystery,  but I'll try to figure it out.  Picking someone out of that kind of crowd is a bit of a challenge.   You need to go to the website there and have a look.   It will open in a new window.  Don't fret.
 If you do happen to take a look at the video of Haile Gebresellassie,  you'll need to either really pay attention, or be able to read the German subtitles.   I found myself reading the German,  since his Ethiopian accent is kinda strong.   He probably won't be that hard to pick out during the race,  since I'm guessing he'll be well out in front.   He's kind of like,  I don't know,   the Michael Schumacher of racing?   Hard to describe really,  but it seems those connected with the marathon are all excited that he'll be here to run on the 17th of April.

Whatever.

He said he was going to retire after some issues at the New York Marathon last November,  but then shortly thereafter announced he had changed his mind.   Hopefully he'll do better than Schumacher after his post retirement return.

We'll see.






*If you don't get my snide jokes,  I'll happily explain.   But I shouldn't have to.




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