So, not for the first time in the land of high-speed internet, I find myself without internet access that I’ve paid for (yes, I pay for my connection - it’s one of the ‘Nebenkosten’ in my rent). I had some connectivity on Monday evening, and Tuesday & yesterday it seemed to work between about noon and 9pm… But there was no internet late on Monday or Tuesday, and there hasn’t been any since it cut off yesterday evening either Saaaaaad panda.

Got here relatively uneventfully on Monday - a taxi driver stopped at the Aircoach stop, where I was waiting with mum and a nice couple from outside Leeds. Ended up bringing us to the airport for the price of a one-way Aircoach each - the comfort was appreciated, but it did mean I was at the airport way too early. Oh well. I’ve probably also blogged all of this previously. Bother.

Anyway, on Wednesday, with the help of a very kind sponsor and a little bit of playing the woman-in-IT card, it emerged that I will be going to ApacheCon. I don’t like doing the whole “I’m a minority, be nice to me” thing, but hey - Colm started it, and he’s the one who persuaded the sponsor, so I guess I have to go with it. I do feel bad at the idea that someone more able, someone who would contribute more or get more out of the conference might not be able to go, because someone thought sending a minority delegate would look better. But, that said, I do like to think that my own credentials are sufficient that I would have gotten it anyway.

Thursday was the first day of my Blockseminar. Many thanks to Eoin, the mini-DVI-to-VGA adapter, that I had forgotten to bring with me, arrived that morning, so I was able to give my talk from the iBook, instead of the laptop provided. Small comforts, but appreciated. I was absolutely terrified, though I think it went pretty well in the end. It was quite a different presentation to the others given that day (there were six on Thursday, I was fourth, and there’ll be five on Friday), but then, the paper was rather different too. I chose that particular paper because it was about the least mathsy of them all - and so my presentation was similarly more about persuasion than proof. Yes, there was maths in it - but unlike the other papers, where the maths were proof-of-concept things, mine were mostly results of practical experiments (the maths for the concept being, well, fairly basic). Interestingly, the lack of practical tests of the algorithms suggested in other papers was brought up for each of them So I was glad to have some numbers!

The lecturers also remarked on the number of slides I had - one of the German girls said she had (or had aimed for) one slide per two minutes. Apparently, that’s about standard in Germany, and the lecturers had been a bit worried when they saw my 37 slides! But I suppose that’s just the way I work. They did compliment the fact that there wasn’t too much information on any of my slides, something I thought wasn’t true of the other presentations. I was happy with the visual slides I had too, helped to both make things clearer, and to give me a chance to pause occasionally!

I know I spoke too fast, and that my German wasn’t top notch - but I got the concepts across sufficiently for one of the others to ask me a question at the end, and, when one of the lecturers asked a follow-up question, I was able to explain why things weren’t the way he thought they were. Because of the speed at which I spoke, the talk actually didn’t last as long as it should have - but that’s how it goes. Despite having practised, I was still terrified, and damn, but some of the technical words are hard! Switching between German pronounciation & English in a sentence is bloody difficult sometimes too. Amusingly, after my talk, the lecturers remarked on my pronounciation of privacy (/pɹɪvəsi/), and adapted theirs (/pɹaɪvɛsi/) to it. Ok, those transcriptions aren’t entirely accurate, because the Germans use a different ‘r’ sound - but they’re close enough

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have just called again - thankfully, I remembered to peek down the corridor before I pressed the buzzer, and they weren’t looking down my direction at the time, so I quickly retreated into my own little apartment! Wahey! If anyone can suggest a way of getting rid of them, that doesn’t involve being rude to them, I’d be most grateful. Thus far, I’ve tried a whole host of things, from cleaning to partying, from eating to studying… I’ve told them I know God is, and that really, as a good little Catholic girl, I’m not their type… But no joy. They just keep on coming back. I’m sure they’re nice blokes, but frankly, I don’t want to be around them. They stand too close, and they give me the heebie-jeebies.

Thursday night was Nicole’s last night in Munich, so a few of us went down to Gunther Murphy’s for a farewell drink. It was good to see the Canadians, and there were a couple of other friends of Nicole’s too - including a real live German! (It’s surprising how few of those I’ve met, considering how long I’ve been in Germany, actually.) We had a few drinks and a good laugh - Nicole’s heading back to Canada to finish off her degree, and she’ll be sorely missed. Luckily, she’s leaving Bari and Katie behind, to keep me amused

Bari had a fantastic jumper, a souvenir of her trip to Bari, Italy, with her name emblazoned across the chest Apparently, she’s got some scarves saying “I love Bari” too - I’m so having one! Of all the cool things! I empathise with her inability to get random junk with her name printed on it. How many souvenir pens/keyrings/notepads/Mickey Mouse ears do you think they make with Noirin on them!? Not an awful many. And those they do have, misspell it.

I was thinking a bit too about Planet Apache, where this blog is syndicated. I got an email from someone who’d read Colm’s post, about me trying to get to ApacheCon, on Planet Apache. They suggested I add my own blog to the Planet, and reassured me that lack of technical content wasn’t an issue. After a brief internal conflict, I decided to go for it. I’ve been there for a wee while now, and yes, my posts are rather different to what usually turns up on Planet Apache. Heading home on the UBahn, I was considering whether I should stay on the Planet, or whether my blog was just a bit out of place there. I decided I’d stay - I’m probably the youngest on the Planet, I know I’m one of what can’t be more than a single-digit-number of women, so yes, my content is going to be different. You guys can ignore my posts, just put up with them, or enjoy the fresh perspective It’s all down to you

Once I got in, it was time to go to rid my clothes of the smell of smoke, wash every particle of it off me, and even rinse out my poor, stinging eyes. Damn, but I miss the smoking ban. And still no bloody internet Saaaaaad panda. Turns out, the strike that hit the opera when dad & I visited, more than a month ago, is also preventing the replacement of a vital switch, somewhere along the line between me and my internet.

I’m tired. I haven’t slept properly since I got here, on Monday. I’ve been running on adrenaline up til now, with the presentation I had to do yesterday. That’s gone now, I still didn’t sleep last night, and I’m just wrecked. I really can’t cope with this much longer - I just want a decent night’s sleep, I’m going out of my head. Usually, my coping strategy is to browse the weird and wonderful corners of the web until I get so stupid-bored I just fall asleep. But even that option isn’t there anymore. Seriously not a happy panda.

Ewww! I can’t say this enough times… I’ve just taken a jar of Frankfurters out of my fridge… According to the label, they should be good until 16.11.2007, if kept below 25°C. I’m pretty confident my fridge stayed below that temperature, although naturally I can’t be certain. The jar was still sealed, with both the seal around the neck and the pop-up cap undamaged/unpopped.

But there was mould in it. Icky lumps of white mould, and occasional bits of blue mould, floating in the brine that the sausages come in. Words fail me. The closest I can come is a face-pulling cry of “ewww”, over and over again.

I feel ill.

Note: While I was writing this post, last night, my internet died - hence the odd posting time. No, despite being in Munich, I don’t generally eat sausages for breakfast. And yes, I’m a student. Half past midday is a perfectly reasonable time for breakfast.

I’m currently in the third year of a four year degree. I’ve taken a year out, and spent it working for a major corporation. I enjoyed some of the work, but hated the inflexibility, and the hugeness of the company. Looking back, the work I enjoyed most was research, number-crunching, puzzle-solving, for people. (Yes, the people were significant - I did lots of puzzle-solving for computers too, when stuff was broken, on purpose. Again with the not-liking-big-corporation-ness.) I also enjoyed documenting stuff, although it was very much task-oriented documentation, rather than code-oriented.

I’ve also worked in technical support, both in the public and private sectors. There’s so much, and yet so very little that I can say about that one - yes, it’s hellish, but yes, it’s fun. Again, I like people. And, for the most part, I like dealing with people. Especially when I can help people find solutions to their problems.

Finally, I have some experience in text editing - starting with my THIMUN experiences, where I was the only native-English-speaking editor on an English-language publication (and the native-English-speaking advisor was an American, who wanted to keep the publication in British English - what fun!) - going through my time as a committee president in the MEP (a job that’s really all about drafting and re-drafting, combined with a little bit of chairing and a lot of timekeeping), and past the crazy days that were my SAIMUN stint as Head of Press. I’m now a documentation committer for the Apache httpd project, and recently, I had to entirely redraft a paper submitted to an English-language medical journal by non-English-speakers - the content was good, but the language was frankly, barely comprehensible. I like text editing. A lot. Possibly more than is healthy.

So, I’m trying to find the perfect career. Obviously, if I could, I’d just regenerate as the next iteration of Susie Dent. But failing that, there are a few things I’m considering just now. Librarian, technical writer, possibly even back to technical support. I like organising things too, so conference organiser or executive PA is probably in there somewhere too.

Does anyone have any suggestions, horror stories, or better ideas? Or want to give me a week or two’s work experience, late this summer? Aww, go on, go on, go on

I woke up this morning so stiff I couldn’t walk straight. I’m not sure how I was sleeping, but it must’ve been some seriously weird way.

Several interesting things occurred to me during the day, almost all of which I have since forgotten. One that I didn’t forget was the various patron saints I was familiar with during childhood. St Blaise, the patron saint of sore throats. St Jude, hopeless cases. St Anthony, lost things. St Bridget, livestock. St Christopher, travellers. St Nicholas, children. St Patrick, the Irish. St Cecilia, music. St Francis of Assissi, animals.

Creme de Mer is my favourite cosmetic ever. I’ve no idea what the actual product is like, but anywhere it’s sold, I just love being. Why? They have the most fabulous tropical aquaria - Brown Thomas, Harvey Nich’s, even the airport. Beautiful, brightly coloured, tropical creatures, in UV-/blacklight- lit aquaria, with wonderful exotic plants. Nemos, and seahorses, and black Nemos, and myriad wonders. I want one (a Creme de Mer aquarium, you understand, although any myriad wonder would probably do). Please?

I’ve jumped another hour forward, I’m tired and slightly sweltering. It’s a lot warmer here than I expected, although there were still huge mounds of dirty snow out at the airport - old stuff that hasn’t melted yet.

I remembered what I had forgotten as I was on the UBahn on the way back to my place, from Marienplatz - the VGA converter for my iBook. Bother. Yuck. Hassle. Should be ok though, I’ll work out something.

Once again, I’m nervous and stressed about college. Hopefully things will seem more do-able tomorrow, when it’s bright. It was twilight when I was leaving the airport, and well dark by the time I got to Olympiazentrum.

I really don’t like flying. All the hanging around, all the restrictions, all the hassle. Give me a train, any day, and I don’t care if it takes many, many times as long. Let me get on when I arrive at the station and be gone again in ten minutes. Let me bring what I want with me, do what I want while I’m travelling, and have my stuff with me when I get off.

Unusually, when I was going through security in Dublin Airport, they didn’t make me take off my shoes. They didn’t make me do it when I was going to New York either, but I think they just missed me by accident that time. This time, they weren’t making anyone do it. They still have the signs up about how the mats are regularly disinfected though, so it may come back. Who knows.

I’m tired now, and so stiff that I can’t actually walk properly at all anymore. So I’m going to bed. Yay bed.

Colm and I went to see this on Friday, in the cinema in the new (ok, not any more, but still) Dundrum Town Centre. The cinema itself was actually pretty nice - I must admit, from their website, I was expecting something slightly dodgy, but it wasn’t at all. They also appear to have a few cool ideas, like movie showings for people with babies, so that you can see the film you’ve been dying to see, without having to get a babysitter, and adults-only showings of kids movies, so you can see the new Harry Potter without the screaming kids

Anyway, on to the movie - it was an excellent movie, and well worth watching. I came out of it (ok, I sat through half of it) dying to just thump Truman Capote. He was annoying. But I think he was meant to be. He was, however, brilliantly played. I’ve never read anything he wrote, and after the movie, I never wanted to, but since then I’ve gotten more curious about the story behind the book, In Cold Blood, and I suspect when I get home after the next stint in Munich that I’ll find a copy and read it.

The movie follows Capote as he writes In Cold Blood, which is the story of the murders of a rural American family. The thing I really liked was Harper Lee. She’s a woman I’ve admired ever since I read To Kill a Mockingbird, and she was a powerful and moving character. Capote, on the other hand, seemed ineffectual, weak, and somehow duplicitous. I didn’t like him at all - but I guess it’s a good director who can stir up such strong emotions

I’d highly recommend Capote to almost anyone - there’s very little in the way of scariness - three violent moments during the film, none more than a few seconds, is about the height of it. It’s an interesting story, Harper Lee is brilliant, and Perry is also well worth watching.

But for pity’s sake, won’t someone please thump Capote?!

So, I’ve now successfully fixed all my time-telling devices (I think). This gives me, however, little joy, since I’ll be going to Germany tomorrow, and doing the whole thing over again. I’m not much looking forward to going there - I’m really not a fan of airports and all that jazz - but it’ll be good once I’m there.

Anyone who wants to give me feedback on my paper or presentation for the course I’ll be doing when I’m over there, please do. Ideally soon, so I can use it

In other progress reports, I have succeeded, with almost no help, in turning myself into a pain experiment. I am covered in cuts, and bruises, and blisters. There’s no particular reason for this - I just keep injuring myself, in a series of awkward and amusing accidents. I wish I could stop.

And finally, thanks to two very generous donations, I’m now past the halfway mark with the airfare for my trip to ApacheCon. I’m still waiting on the “smaller half” of my Erasmus grant, and will now almost certainly be able to attend the Hackathon. Many appropriate yays

I’ve had plenty of time to kill in Dublin lately (can you tell I have an assignment due?), there’ll be folk over from the ASF in a couple of weeks, and this is something I’ve been planning on doing for ages, so here goes with the sequel to my Whistle-Stop Tour of Europe.

(Excuse me. Minor diversion while I go tweak the PHP. This template is pretty, but weirdly put together, full of MSDOS linebreaks, and weird coding decisions.)

Starting in the south city - if you’re lucky, in the summertime, you’ll see a barge navigating the Grand Canal - people often gather on Leeson St Bridge to stand and stare Off Earlsfort Terrace, at the top of Leeson St, lie the secret Iveagh gardens - you’d never believe how close you are to the city centre, in this little haven. It’s somewhat wilder than some of the other parks in Dublin, but as long as you mind the nettles, a very nice place indeed.

Mere minutes away in the other direction, Fitzwilliam Square is one of the newest (built in the 1820s), and smallest, of the city’s Georgian squares. It boasts a beautifully groomed park, tucked away and almost unknown - it’s the only garden of its kind that remains private, exclusively for the use of the square’s residents. At the end of Fitzwilliam St is the imposing facade of Holles St Hospital - the National Maternity Hospital.

Standing outside Holles St, both directions have something to offer - in one direction is St Stephen’s Church. Apparently. Ask anyone where that is, and you’ll almost certainly get blank stares. I’ve never known it as anything other than the Peppercanister. In the other direction lies one of the city’s worst kept secrets when it comes to a summer lunchtime picnic venue - Merrion Square. The National Gallery and Leinster House (where the parliaments sit, and the Government has its offices) are on the west side of the square.

Next up is Trinity College. The Museum Building is well worth a look, although apparently you have to be staff/student to be allowed upstairs in there - oh well, I’ve never seen many porters around it. Then of course, there’s the Book of Kells, and the absolutely fabulous Long Room library. Go. See them. Do check with me first though, because as a student, I can bring in a few guests for free - yay! The 1937 Reading Room is most photogenic, as is, of course, the Campanile. The Chapel isn’t the prettiest building on campus, and the Public Theatre just has too many stressful memories (It contains the Examinations Hall. ’nuff said.) And just so it’s clear - I’m a Buttery girl, and I’ll bring you for a drink there, any day

The National Museum on Kildare St houses many shiny things - it’s the museum of archaeology and history - and entry costs only your time. Well worth a brief nose around, on your way to St Stephen’s Green. There are sometimes interesting concerts on at the bandstand in the Green, but generally only on summer weekends.

Closer to the river, still on the south, is Temple Bar - Dublin’s trendy, urbane quarter, where goth-kids gather by day, and drunken stag parties from across the world congregate with the equally drunken hens at night. Best seen on a late Saturday morning - not too early, after the street cleaners have been through - when both the aforementioned are tucked up in their beds, and the wonderful food market reigns supreme

There are several choices for river crossings - O’Connell Bridge is probably the very centre of the city, and is the only bridge in the world that’s wider than it is long. The Ha’penny Bridge is a more recognisable Dublin icon - but you can take photos from O’Connell Bridge, so I’d still go with crossing that one The Millenium Spire is unmissable, however hard you try, and the only thing really worth seeing on O’Connell St (the GPO, or General Post Office, where the Proclamation of Independence was read in 1916) is currently swathed in scaffolding and sheets

At the top of O’Connell St is the Garden of Remembrance - small, pretty, and a nice place to take a break from the city. The lesser-known but more beautiful War Memorial Gardens are, acccording to our national heritage organisation, one of the most famous memorial gardens in Europe - I’m not sure I agree, but they are very well worth a visit.

Other things to see and do in Dublin include the museum at Collins’ Barracks - which was the oldest working barracks in the world, before it became part of the National Museum of Ireland. Now, it’s the museum for decorative arts and history, and a very shiny place The Four Courts is a very pretty building, but I’m not sure whether it’s still open to the public or not. I understand it is, but with restrictions - but that could be completely off.

Dublin Castle is worth a wander, and has another very pretty garden, outside the new Chester Beatty Library (the original was turned into a hotel). I don’t find the new museum quite as atmospheric as the old one, but if it’s Oriental that floats your junk, it’s the place to see - and as with most of Dublin’s museums & libraries, admission is free

The Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate is so-so - rather touristy, and not as good a tour as it used to be - but worth it if you’re a Guinness drinker, and ends with the fairly spectacular views from the Gravity Bar. I haven’t done the Jameson tour since I was too young to remember, but reports are good.

Phoenix Park isn’t my favourite place on earth, but it does contain the only even-numbered postal code on the north side of the river, Áras an Uachtaráin - the President’s House - which is open to visitors on Saturdays. (Tickets are available on the day only, at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.) It’s also home to the Papal Cross, where the Pope said Mass to over a million people, during his 1979 visit to Ireland, as well as the US Ambassador to Ireland.

The Wellington Monument, also in the Park, is the second tallest obelisk in the world (only the Washinton one is taller), and the Park itself is famous for its size - it’s among the largest city/walled parks in the world (it is the largest city park, and the second largest walled park, in Europe, to the best of my knowledge). It’s also home to Dublin Zoo, of which I am a proud supporter.

More things to see and do in Dublin will follow, as I remember them

Right. The ol’ corporate sponsorship hasn’t been so great, but with a little help from my friends, I reckon I should be able to make it to ApacheCon EU 2006 this summer.

I’m asking you to donate what you can. I’ll keep the blog updated with how I’m doing - if I can even get airfare to make it to the Hackathon, I’ll be delighted. I’m hoping the Apache Software Foundation may be able to ease some of the pain, by waiving the registration fee, or at least bringing it down to a more student-friendly level

Any donations not used in getting me to ApacheCon EU 2006 will be donated to the Apache Software Foundation.

So, after the last post, Danny provided me with the most wonderfully huge towel, and taught me some of the voodoo required for controlling the shower. He then conjured up some yummy pancakes and amusing stories for breakfast

Afterwards, we curled up on the couch to watch Futurama DVDs. What a great way to spend a St Patrick’s Day I met up with Donal and Sonya for coffee in Java’s in the afternoon, and Colm appeared shortly thereafter. Steve brought us out to Eddie Rockets, where a most enjoyable dinner was had, and then returned us to Dromroe, where connectivity was stolen

Eventually, we headed out to Jury’s, checked in, enjoyed the luxury of a bath (showers are all very well, but…), and watched dodgy TV. Breakfast on Saturday was late - half one, to be precise But it left us time to go shopping, and find two new jumpers for Colm. We ate in the Wild Onion, and then ate some more, and some more It was sooo, soooo good though Yay for Wild Onion.

The journey back to Dublin was mostly uneventful, with only a few niggles. Why on earth is Southbound translated to O Dheas, and Northbound to O Thuaidh? There were other ones, but I was sleepy, and have since forgotten what they are… We did more shopping in Dundrum when we got home, and rounded off the evening with yet another DVD - Elf. It’s definitely a fun, if somewhat cheesy, and completely out of season, movie.

And now it is Sunday, and I am beginning to panic over my essay & presentation for the Blockseminar I’m doing in two weeks. So I will go, and procrastinate.

So, after a day of wandering UL yesterday, Steve came and picked me up outside the Students’ Union, and verily was nice to me We met the charming Luisa, and ineffable Bruce, and were provided with a brief display of what appeared to be a very difficult dance move.

Dinner in Luigi Malone’s was super-yummy, although I was somewhat confused by the half packet of chocolate digestives on the passenger’s seat, when we returned to the car. After a brief fumble at the lock, it turned out not to be Steve’s car after all, so we continued on until we found that.

Dropping by the cinema on the way home, we decided to see Lucky Number Slevin - and to avoid the game machine full of plush Crazy Frogs. It was an excellent film, if rather gory. For those of you playing along at home, no, the guy eating the peanut-butter sandwiches isn’t anorexic - he’s ataraxic. There were several “Aha!” moments during the film, where I realised five minutes before they clarified it all, what they had been building up to for the last half hour - but I still don’t get the bit with the watch. Lots of twists and turns in the story were well explained at the end, although the explanation did drag on a bit. Definitely a worthwhile movie, and not as scary as I had feared after the first few minutes.

Now it’s Patrick’s Day, and it really doesn’t feel like it. I’m nice and warm and cosy, and if it’s raining, I don’t know about it I’m having an easy day, no big fuss, no parade, and definitely no stress. Yay