The Happy Hungarian

For some, the title of today's post may sound like an anomaly. My students tell me that there is no such thing as Hungarians' favorite pastime is whining. That is their continual comment, not my own experience. However, Balazs did have problems with an apathetic house manager and electrician when he called for us, creating a more than pleasant experience when the cheerful Hungarian electrician showed up at our door last night. Laszlo the electrician returned at 5:00 pm as promised. Balazs had written down all that he needed to know and he set off to work. Within forty-five minutes he had replaced the circuit breaker, hooked up the electric hot water heater under the kitchen sink, and changed our malfunctioning dimmer switches in the kitchen and living room. His final bill was 3,000 Huf LESS than what he estimated last night. We gave him an extra 2,000 Huf to ingratiate ourselves for when we may need him again. About three years ago, we had dimmer switches put in the kitchen and living room when we at the same time had the light fixtures changed and other electric work done. The electrician, one we lost contact with, went on his own to purchase all of the supplies he needed. What he returned with were dimmers with a sensor. They could be manipulated with a remote control; however, we did not realize this until he left. The way we found out was by using the remote on the television or DVD player, but also turning the lights on and then up and down in various lighting moods, but it never worked for turning them off without getting up and doing it manually. This was a cross we were willing to bear, but over time, something went wrong as it usually does. Remember electricity and I are each others nemesis. What eventually happened was that the lights would go on without any provocation from any remote. If someone sneezed, it would stimulate a Morse code light show with short and long bursts of illumination. If I could only remember dots and dashes from my boy scout days, I would be able to understand the signals that our living room was sending out to the street. The lights almost seemed to be taking revenge on us also as over time, they both would wait until we snuggled into bed at night and then they would alternately turn on and off in random patterns until we climbed out of bed to tap on the control pad repeatedly like training a puppy, hoping against hope that we could effectively get our desired results. Now we have regressed back to the simple on and off and even with low wattage bulbs, it is either a choice between darkness or stage lighting.

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Showing off

I had great pride in showing the new laptop to my class today. They were so excited for all of us. Our rooms at the university have cable Internet access, so I just need to get the Information Systems office to turn on the outlet in my classroom. With an Ethernet cable plugged in we can use the Internet in class with a projector we already have. It will be perfect; for some classes, we blog as a class and for others I am using the Writing Lab at Colorado State University. Now when there are questions or concerns about how to navigate or do something, I demonstrate it right in class and project it on the wall. On the home front, we still don't have electricity in the kitchen. Balazs called the building management's electrician, but said the man told him he was too busy to be bothered with such a small job. Later he called the manager again was given another name for another electrician. This one was more gracious and came over tonight at 5:00. He will be back tomorrow at the same time to fix everything. Fingers crossed! In another vein, I was contacted by another editor from Frommer's, this one the editor for the Eastern Europe book. She asked if I would be interested in updating the Hungary chapter for that book, knowing that I just finished the full book and the Hungary chapter of the rail guide. The deadline is July 15th, giving me plenty of time. Of course I accepted it.

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The New Laptop

The laptop I ordered for my use at school was supposed to be ready today, but I was not venturing there until Balazs was out of classes and could call for me. He called me at 3:30 to say his class was canceled and he would go with me to pick it up. They called him at 9:00 am to say it was ready. They had it hooked up when we arrived to show me that not only had my Windows installed, but also had it updated. The most important part was that the keyboard was an English one, which is why I had to special order it in the first place. I was charged. The B-man came home with me to reinstall Windows on the new desktop that was corrupted when the electric went out. I had to set him up in the hallway; we still don't have the electric fixed in the kitchen. I started loading programs on the laptop. We were like computer central. It was a good thing he was here. I installed programs that I had on disk and the strangest thing happened. When they installed, they showed up in Hungarian. The programs are English programs, so Balazs had to help me change the language setting back to English. If something can go wrong with anything electrical, it will happen to me.

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Water, Lights, Third World

Last week there was a notice on the front door of our building stating the water would be shut off on the whole block due to the new apartment building they are building down the street. Each time this happens, we seem to have problems when they turn it back on and this time was no exception. The water went off on Friday morning, but when it was turned on again at 5:00 pm, our kitchen faucet just trickled water like an old man with kidney stones. Our building manager's office is only open on Tuesday and Thursday, but if desperate enough the water in the bathrooms were fine. Tuesday, Ron called the manager and within a couple of hours a two plumbers were at our door. It only took them minutes to discover that the problem was our water heater, which resides under the sink. They said it was shot and had to be replaced. I asked him to write down exactly what we needed so we could go buy it and then call them to install it. All of this was done with Balazs on the phone handing the phone back and forth. Balazs being only 22 years old, did not think of what to me were the obvious questions when he was speaking to the plumber, so we did a back and forth a number of times. Balazs has some short term memory issues when he is nervous. Ron went on Wednesday to get the heater. Balazs called the plumbers again and they scheduled us for today at 9:30, but shockingly arrived at 9:20. I went to physical therapy leaving Ron in charge. When I returned, the heater was in, but there is still no hot water. The plumber now has to get an electrician to fix the outlet down there that the hot water tank plugs into. In the meanwhile, we discovered that the wall that the computer was plugged into has no electricity at all, though none of the circuit breakers are off. All of the outlets and the wall lamp on that wall are kaput. There is something about my energy field or aura that does not do well with electrical items. When I was a child, we had milk machines. Put in a quarter and out popped a quart of milk. One time, I put in my quarter while my mother had the car running. As I was heading back to the car, I heard another plop. When I turned, there was a second quart of milk. This continued for 20 quarts, emptying the machine. My mother called the company when we got home to report it, but they told her to enjoy it. Once it was out, they could not do anything with it. They did ask her to keep me away from the machines in the future, though.

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Computer Store Shopping

Balazs called the computer store today to see if the computer was ready. They said it was ready, but he said they sounded dubious about it. We decided to try an outing there anyway. Across the street from the store, they have another store that only handles laptops. I had made the decision that since the university was not going to supply my office with a computer to use in the classrooms, I was going to do it myself and went to look at what was on offer. The first issue was getting an English keyboard. This narrowed the selection quite a bit and when we came to some decision of what would be the best options, they had to call and see if it could be fitted with an English keyboard. The salesman called, but they would have to call him back. We went across the street to pick up the desktop and returned. Still no answer. We went for coffee and returned an hour later to learn we had success. The model I wanted was available with an English keyboard; they could have it by Monday. However, it Windows is extra and only in Hungarian. I handed him my disk and code that I had just retrieved from across the street and we were set. Balazs mentioned earlier that he had a bad feeling that they had forgotten to return my disks or to install the WiFi card or both. Neither bit of his premonitions were were welcomed thoughts, but when we did find the disks in the box, at least he would have been 50% wrong in his predicting skills thus far. He carted the computer home for me so I did not hurt my back again. We set it up, found the WiFi card and all was going swimmingly when the electric went out. One minute later it is on again and we start again, but after three minutes of configuring, boom, no electricity. A minute later, let there be light and there was light and we said this is good. Turn the computer on, work away for a short time when darkness yet again. Primal scream number 48,475. We changed the outlet that the computer was plugged into. Started it up. Windows was corrupted. It would not start in normal mode, it would not start in Safe mode. To fix this problem, install the original Windows disk and press R for repair, was the message on the screen. But you don't understand, my disk is at the other computer store to be put on the laptop. I don't have it. The screen flashed "Your tough luck buddy boy". Personally, I think computers are getting to damn smart for their own good. Balazs was off the mark with his premonitions of the reasons for disaster, but he must have sensed something was going to happen and it did. So the new computer is sitting there as useless as its predecessor did until Monday at the earliest. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

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Happy Valentines Day

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Monday, Monday

It is Monday and I am charged as I boarded the bus to bring my Windows disc to the computer store to have it installed on the new computer. They said it would take an hour and then I could come back for it. Thinking ahead, I also brought the software for the monitor and the cordless mouse and keyboard. When I arrived at the store and was asked if I needed help, I said I was waiting for Peter. Peter was the salesman I had arranged all of my needs with on Friday. He asked me in Hungarian if he could help me and I showed him my paper with his name and all of the data HE wrote on it. When he looked up at me with a blank stare, I could tell there was no recognition happening, he had a short in his hardware. I could have been a new immigrant that had just arrived at the airport and made my way to the store for all of the familiarity we shared. After multiple attempts at trying to communicate with me in Hungarian, a point he seemed to have forgotten that my student warned him about, he went to get an English speaker. They did not have any of the computers in stock. As I repeated "But you said..." I was transported in time to a childhood of adult promises that were withdrawn at the last minute. A new offer was given. Leave my discs, they will get a computer by tomorrow and then they will call me to come pick it up before 6:00 pm. What could I do? They had me by the short circuits. Later, I called my student and told him the story. I could have recited his response before hearing it "Welcome to Hungary".

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Off to the Computer Wizard

Yesterday, Ron could not get the computer in the kitchen to recognize the WiFi connection. I was called to the rescue, but no matter what I did, I could not get it to work. I spent four hours uninstalling and reinstalling the software for USB WiFi adapter with no good results for longer than five minutes. Not being sure whether or not it was the computer, the USB or the adapter, I was at a loss for what to do next. The best solution was to buy a new computer. I could get a brand new one for $300. with a WiFi built in, Multi read DVD R/W and a whole lot more hard drive space than this one has, plus the USB ports would be 2.0, while these are the old 1.0. This old Gateway was bought while I was still in my doctoral program, so it is about 10 years old. It functions well for most things, so I thought I would offer to my friend Laszlo. Today, my sidekick student and I went to the computer store where he had called and they said they had the computers I wanted in stock. When we arrived, they said they had computers on hand, but would have to install the WiFi card. The computer comes without software, so I would have supply my own Windows. Their only offer is Windows in Hungarian for an extra fee, but that would be pointless for me. This computer mainly for the use of guests who really utilize it often. It is another of our selling points for those who do not have laptops, making it a high priority item. Ron also uses it often when school work, writing, or catching up on finances keeps me tied to the main computer. I was told if I had my own legal version of Windows CD, they would install it at no charge. I arranged to drop off my disk on Monday, had my personal interpreter ask if the salesman would be working, so I could ask for him and go it alone when I returned. It was settled. He wrote it all out, gave me his name and I was set. It will take me about four hours to install the programs needed on that computer that Ron uses when I am here at the main computer and we are ready to go. So now we are just waiting for Monday, Monday.

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Super Wednesday

In the US, it was Super Tuesday, but for us it was Super Wednesday with the time difference. Ron set his clock to wake at 6:00 am, but since we have left the States, I see politics through different lens. I woke at 3:30, could not get back to sleep, so decided to watch the results for an hour or so. I never made it back to bed; the results had me mesmerized until I had to shower and go into the university at 9:00.

Thanks to Democrats Abroad, we were able to vote in the primaries over the Internet. We had to register by January 31st and then received electronic ballot and ID numbers. Voting started at GMT + 13 hours on Tuesday, which early afternoon for us. Minutes after our eligible time, I had my vote in. Ron lagged behind for hours, with me hovering over his shoulder while he did. After he voted, I refused to speak to him for a few hours; we did not agree on our selection.

In 2004, the American Chamber of Commerce held an election function here in Budapest, which we attended. There was an overflowing pile of Democratic buttons and only a few Republican ones. Innocently, we thought this was a sign we were amongst like minds, but after pinning ourselves and joining the festivities, we found we were the minority of minorities. Others actually had the nerve to harass us for wearing the pins we did and it was not with humor either. Some were quite aggressive with their comments. Being high level executives with multinational companies from the US, it made sense at the time. Hopefully, they will host another such party this year. I am older, wiser, and have been working on honing my aggressive political skills.

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My Adopted Baby

For my birthday, my friend Daphnee adopted a rescue elephant for me. I get updates on her progress. She was found in a sink hole at one month old. The organization is: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
I received a photo of her progress in January.

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