Month: June 2025

Prague Postgres User Group And Some Walking Around

Time in Prague was 80% professional, and just a little bit of walking around. The meetup was fun because I had an opportunity to present my Security talk (which is rarely accepted), and Boris gave his temporal aggregates talk, which he would never give otherwise. Meetup pictures:

City pictures:

The neogogthic fountain
The 13th centure church
The motorized butterflies

Prague

We spent the last two days in Prague. My good friend and colleague from Prague called for potential presenters for the Prague Postgres User Group, and I figured out I can do it as a part of my vacation, because how can I stay away from Postgres for ten days! Looked like it all would work well, and we could spend one extra day in Prague. Boris suggested we could go to the Kutna Hora to see the Silver Mines – he visited it many years ago, and the tripp was planned. When it turned out that the meetup needed one more speaker, I suggested that Boris give a talk as well, so it became even better!

Everything worked as expected, except that somehow I developed a very brief but intense cold, just for one day, when I needed it the least!

I booked a suite in Charles Bridge Palace Hotel through AAPR. I started using their booking system a couple of years ago (yes, I am eligible for their benefits for several years) and realized I can find some really good deals even in Tallinn! That was yet another “boutique” hotel in my life, and the “palace” part was very pronounced 🙂

The hotel entrance
The ground floor hallway
The overpass connects different parts of the building
The sitting room of our suite
The window view – daytime
The window view – evening
The third floor hallway (by our suite)
The only problem with breakfast was that it opened very late – at 7:30. Usually, we are among the first for breakfast, and there is no rush around the buffet, but in this hotel, half of the guests were down there by the opening time.

We used Welcome Pickup for all our transportation because of a lack of time, even though the public transportation in Prague is more than decent. The only reason I mention it now is that our driver provided us with a lot of solicited and unsolicited information, and one of the things he was talking about was the closeness of the Czechs and Germans, specifically regarding their respective cousins. Overall, I had a better impression of the Czech cousin this time around, but Boris and I agree on the German aspect: very good meat dishes and very bad coffee 🙂 (well, you can say “not strong enough”, but honestly, even cappuccino was somehow “mild”)

Horseriding

Today, I did something I have never done before. My friend Zoya invited us to the stable, and we walked with the horses, and then tried to ride.

Here I am combing the tail of the minihorse named Romeo. The purpose of taking this picture was to show my granddaughters that the horse doesn’t mind combing, even when I pull hard!

Approximately fifteen minutes into the walk, I realized that walking the horse and pulling him when he demonstrates his temper is worse for my spine than holding my granddaughter’s hand, so I passed the bridle to Boris. Later, Zoya let me walk the bigger horse, so I got another fifteen minutes. I think I stopped both times at the right time, because my back didn’t hurt afterwards. Then, we both tried to ride the horse. I think I could get on her back on the fifth attempt 😂, but I did!

Family History: Finding A Missing Relative

Like everyone, I knew about the Ellis Island archives, but I never thought I would need to search there, because I do not have any “ancestors” who arrived in America many years ago – it’s me, who came here! But here I was the other day, trying to find whether and when my great-grandmother’s brother came to America. I was pretty sure he did, because my second cousin told me that the family “was in touch” with him and then “lost touch”, shortly after the revolution, I would assume.

Given how many Jews were escaping Russia during the 1900s pogroms, and not knowing the year when my great-grand-uncle came to America, and not even being sure about the name, I didn’t have high expectations about success in the Ellis Island archives. Still, to my surprise, I got a result in five minutes, just typing a couple of possible name spelling variations. Funny that the guide to the search for your ancestors suggested you shouldn’t type the name that they adopted in the US. It states that all of this “using the name of the village as the last name” or “translating Italian names into English” are not more than legends, that the newcomers adopted their new names after arrival. So I first tried his legal name, and that’s when my first several tries didn’t yield any results. But the moment I typed the name, my cousin said my great-grand-uncle has adopted, I found him! Again, I was surprised that only one person checked all the boxes!

I have to figure out what “Dranden” is because no geographical location is identified by this name, so the officers were not that knowledgeable. Also, I ordered the print of the ship manifest page, because I can’t see all of the details in the frame they showed me on the website. The manifest mentions he came from Lithuania, and it is quite possible that he was on his way, but I still can’t figure out what place name was mutilated like this!

And one more discovery. I vaguely remembered that my uncle, who immigrated to the US independently from me, mentioned our relatives “who were here before us.” I contacted his widow, who told me that she knew about these relatives and even used to be in contact with them, but those were yet other relatives! The relatives from my father’s father’s side, and all the connections are well known, so I will try to get in touch with them as well!

I will tell more about them when I get to the other part of my family history!

My historical posts are being published in random order. Please refer to the page Hettie’s timeline to find where exactly each post belongs and what was before and after.

A Video Of Last Week’s Event

That’s the showcase I attended last week:

Raining

We tried to beat the rain twice today. The first time, we biked for about an hour and had to take the train to the city center, and then biked back home in the rain. I felt cheated because I was very serious about biking more today.

The rain stopped in the afternoon, and it even became sunny, and Boris said he would go for another bike ride, because there would be no more rain for two hours. We went, and we got so rained on, I can’t even describe it! Boris said it was much better than in the morning, because it was an adventure 😂. My biking clothes is still drying!

Best Summer Things

How could it be that I didn’t know about the existence of the cinnamon bun ice cream?!
Everybody takes pictures of the bees in the flower, right?!

Midsummer And Doing Nothing

Gorgeous days of doing nothing! I am still doing all related to my NFP and the 2026 conference, but that’s a fun part of whatever I am doing, and so small compared to my regular workload. All this aside, there can’t be a better way of putting yourself into “doing nothing” than being in Finland during Midsummer, when everyone around is doing nothing, and even most of the museums are closed.

And this sudden warmth, when 66F feels ten degrees warmer than in Chicago, even withth the wind, and even by the water. I would never think about going short-sleeved at 66F in Chicago! But here I was, taking off a light jacket and walking in a t-shirt.

I went to Regatta, knowing there would be a line, and it was, but I stayed in it for less than 15 minutes, got the best cinnamon bun in town, a dark roast coffee, and sat by the water. I wondered about “Beware of birds” on the terrace railing by the tables, but I didn’t wonder for long! It was not even a seagull, but just a sparrow, who swung by my cinnamon bun, which I held in my hand!!! I was just: what’s that soft thing that fell down from nowhere?! And he was gone! Sitting on the railing, showing with all its appearance that he had nothing to do with what had happened! I had to cover my bun with the paper bag flap between bites!

… And Vacations Started!

My flight was not cancelled, it departed on time, didn’t land in Reykjavik, and arrived in Helsinki on time. The food was served, and the luggage was not delayed. The extensive questioning on the Finnish border is a new norm, so I am learning how to pronounce Mechelininkatu the way the border control can understand, because now they are actually checking the addresses!

It was hopelessly raining yesterday, but today the sun is shining, and it feels much warmer than the actual temperatures, even with the wind (do not ask, I have no idea how they are doing in here!). We had a long bike ride (short by Boris’ standards, but whatever). I mean, I think I could go a little bit longer, but not twice as long.

We got back home, he made lunch (and yes, I am on my ten days “not cooking/not washing the dishes/not cleaning”), and went on “more biking.” And I am going over the conference stuff, which is although “normal,” still takes a lot of my time!

Time Magazine: The U.S. Elected Officials Who Have Been Arrested or Approached by Authorities While Protesting Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

The U.S. Elected Officials Who Have Been Arrested or Approached by Authorities While Protesting Trump’s Immigration Crackdown article does not mention Chicago Aldremen, so I can only imagine how many cases like that had happened around the country.

During his speech at the World Refugee Day rally in Chicago on Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson said pretty much “We will do everything to defend our Constitution from President Trump.” Not exactly those words, but very close, which is both ironic and sad.

The Time Magazine article full text is below.

Continue reading “Time Magazine: The U.S. Elected Officials Who Have Been Arrested or Approached by Authorities While Protesting Trump’s Immigration Crackdown” →