The Sunday weather was gorgeous, but because of my 50-hour work day Thursday – Saturday, I had to stay at home most of Sunday, finishing some urgent chores in all areas of my life, and I got out of the house just once.
February
Author: Hettie D.
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
The Dance Of Death At The Steppenwolf
I didn’t really get this play. I chose to go because I haven’t been to Steppenwolf for a while, and they had discounted tickets for the Chicago Theater Week, and also, I wanted to take my friend Y to a show. When we talked about it, I didn’t know that I would have a work crisis! There was supposed to be nothing going on this weekend, and I asked her which show she would rather see at the Goodman or at the Steppenwolf, and she chose that one. The description looked interesting, and I didn’t know the play, so I readily agreed.
In the high stone tower of an isolated naval fortress, Alice and Edgar are about to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss—if decades of resentment, recrimination and mutual sabotage count as bliss. But when an alluring visitor arrives, the delicate balance of their tedious arrangement falls off its axis, cracks growing into canyons. In Conor McPherson’s wicked take on Strindberg’s masterclass in marital warfare, a twisted love triangle waltzes off the edge of a cliff, plunging us all into the deep.
The play was written in 1900, which I didn’t realize before I came to the show, and that probably explains why “I didn’t get it.” For example, it was challenging to figure out the nature of the relationships between Alice and Kurt and the “vampire kiss.” When I read more about the play, I got an impression that it was a “symbol” of something. I think it was all about symbolism, and as I have recently realized, I do not understand it or like it.
One thing is for sure – the acting was superb. Even when you can’t make any sense of the plot, the acting is incredibly believable. My friend enjoyed it just because of that, and texted me later that it was a great experience, but to be entirely honest, I think she was just happy to see me :).
Music Against Violence
I will start with a live recording of Bruce Springsteen’s performance of his song, then post an official audio recording, plus a recording of Billy Bragg’s City of Heroes. Thanks to Michael Roman for sharing.
Lyrics for non-English speakers and for people with restricted YouTube access:
Lyrics:Through the winter’s ice and coldDown Nicollet AvenueA city aflame fought fire and ice‘Neath an occupier’s bootsKing Trump’s private army from the DHSGuns belted to their coatsCame to Minneapolis to enforce the lawOr so their story goesAgainst smoke and rubber bulletsBy the dawn’s early lightCitizens stood for justiceTheir voices ringing through the nightAnd there were bloody footprintsWhere mercy should have stoodAnd two dead left to die on snow-filled streetsAlex Pretti and Renee GoodOh our Minneapolis, I hear your voiceSinging through the bloody mistWe’ll take our stand for this landAnd the stranger in our midstHere in our home they killed and roamedIn the winter of ’26We’ll remember the names of those who diedOn the streets of MinneapolisTrump’s federal thugs beat up onHis face and his chestThen we heard the gunshotsAnd Alex Pretti lay in the snow, deadTheir claim was self defense, sirJust don’t believe your eyesIt’s our blood and bonesAnd these whistles and phonesAgainst Miller and Noem’s dirty liesOh our Minneapolis, I hear your voiceCrying through the bloody mistWe’ll remember the names of those who diedOn the streets of MinneapolisNow they say they’re here to uphold the lawBut they trample on our rightsIf your skin is black or brown my friendYou can be questioned or deported on sightIn chants of ICE out nowOur city’s heart and soul persistsThrough broken glass and bloody tearsOn the streets of MinneapolisOh our Minneapolis, I hear your voiceSinging through the bloody mistHere in our home they killed and roamedIn the winter of ’26We’ll take our stand for this landAnd the stranger in our midstWe’ll remember the names of those who diedOn the streets of MinneapolisWe’ll remember the names of those who diedOn the streets of Minneapolis
Lyrics for non-English speakers and for people with restricted YouTube access:
CITY OF HEROESThe ghost of Martin NiemöllerHaunts the halls of history When they came for the communistsHe said “It’s nothing to do with me”When they came for the democratsHe had nothing to sayAnd when they came for the JewsHe just looked the other wayHis silence didn’t save himWhen they came for him as wellThere was no one to speak out for himResistance had been quelledWhat excuses would you tell yourself If this ever happened to you?Well I live in a city of heroesI know what I would doWhen they came for the immigrantsI got in their faceWhen they came for the refugeesI got in their faceWhen they came for the five-year-oldsI got in their faceWhen they came to my neighbourhoodI just got in their faceThey use tear gas and pepper sprayAgainst our whistles and our phonesBut in this city of heroesWe will protect our homeWhen they dragged people from their carsI got in their faceWhen they took families from their homesI got in their faceWhen they murdered our sisterI got in their faceWhen they murdered our brotherI still got in their faceIn Dachau Martin NiemöllerSuffered for his complicityBut in this city of heroesWe learn the lessons of historyI will bear witness to terrorI will bear witness to tyrannyI will bear witness to murderI will bear witness to fascismWords and Music by Billy BraggEngineered, recorded and mixed by Jamie Parker at Echo Town Studio, DorsetImage taken on the streets of Minneapolis on Friday 23rd January 2026 by Jim Walsh
Flying Bask (With Adventures)
I updated the post about Prague with the hotel pictures this morning. Before that, things were really intense, and they still are.
On Thursday, I had to do several things after I got back to Chicago. An additional challenge was that my flight from Prague arrived at 10:50 PM (not a delay; that was how it was scheduled), and my flight to London was at 7:50 AM the next day (with a 7:20 AM boarding time). Boris crafted a morning route using public transportation that was not longer than a taxi ride, and we had to leave the house at 5 AM.
I packed almost everything in my large suitcase (the one I would take home) before my departure to Prague, but I still had to move things from the small luggage to the big one, and I had to pack yogurts from the fridge right before leaving the house. I decided that, in addition to having breakfast in the Finnair lounge, I would also take a shower there. The plan was very tight, especially because I also needed to check in a large luggage. The plan worked perfectly.
After we boarded the aircraft, the captain announced that there was fog in London (surprise :)), and all flights were queued, and our turn is 1.5 hours from our original time. I started panicing, but it was not much I could do, except for hoping that the long flight will be held to pick up all late passengers. Also, since we were scheduled to be delayed, the crew got permission to distribute care packages; the best you could possibly imagine!
Fortunately, we were allowed to take off about 30 minutes later, so everything looked manageable. We landed in London about 20 min behind the schedule. Since the connection time was short from the start, and I had to go to anothe terminal, and to the furthest gate there, it was still very close, but I made it.
The only thing which went not as planned was that I wan unable to connect to the in-flight internet from ny work computer. Typically, I do not work on the flight, but this time, I had two big things coming upon my arrival. One thing had to be performed on Thursdays after my arrival, and 4:30 PM, and another one on Friday. Both of them requiered some prep work, and I was almost on schedule with the Friday one, but I didn’t prep for Thursday. It was supposed to be a fast and easy thing, but I was hoping to script the work while I am in the air, and I couldn’t.
The flight to Chicago departed on time, and it landed an hour earlier. All was great, except for I was still unable to connect to the internet from the work laptop. As it always happens in ORD in the situations like this, there was no gate for us, so we spent another 25 min taxing, but still arrived 30 min earlier. As it is common these days, there are no lines for the border control at all, and the most time-consuming part was waiting for the luggage.
Last time when I waited for Uber for more than 20 minutes, I made a note to myself to use a regular cab instead, and it worked perfectly. There was no wait (same as in Helsinki), so things looked perfect for the rest of my plans for that evening. I still had time to prep for my 4:30, which should have taken no more than 15-20 min, and I was even hoping to stop by my mom before heading to the Opera.
And that’s where my plans derailed. When I came home and logged to work, I realized that I had to do something else, and I only started prepping for my 4:30 PM at about 3:45. Then I realized that some information was missing, and that overall things were not as easy as I thought. Long story short, I worked until 6:15 nonstop, then checked that Salome had no intermission and realized it’s not even worth trying to get there, because , at a minimum, I needed to change from the clothes I wore since departure and to put the contacts in.
I texted my neighbor that I had a work crisis, and that she would have to see the opera without me (she was already on her way). It was actually good that I didn’t try to go, because one more issue popped up.
The advantage of me not going to the opera was that I had time to go to see my mom, and also, I had time to sort my mail and unpack the packages, take care of my plants, start my laundry, etc. However, while I was done with my Thursday work, more unexpected details for Friday kept coming, so I ended up going to bed at almost 11:30 PM, and had to go to work on Friday. OK, I didn’t “have to,” but I had no food at home, so it made sense to go to the office and relocate home for the evening work.
In case you didn’t know, January 31 is a National Croissant Day. I pre-ordered special croissants from Vanille while I was still in Prague, and picked them up before relocating home for the rest of the day- evening.
Once again, the work was supposed to start at 4 PM and go for 2-3 hours, at least the part where I was involved, but things didn’t end up as I planned yet another time. I still didn’t have food in the house except of what was left since before my trip (surprisingly, even the milk survived). I had a CSA deliver, but there were still some items I needed.
Since Amazon Fresh repeatedly said there were no delivery slots, I ordered food deliver directly from Jewel Osco, and it was such a pleasant experience that I will continue doing it (no out-of stock at the last minute, could use my coupons, local delivery, etc).
As of now (Saturday morning), the work is still not done, and thought technically I could be still busy at that time, I didn’t expect to be :)). I hope that everything will be done in the next three hours, because I do not want to derail more plans!
Speaker’s Gifts From Prague Postgers Dev Days
Prague Postgres Dev Days
When I planned my trip to Prague, I thought I would be able to take extra days off for an “unpaid conference,” but in 2026, the PTO tracking changed, and as a result, I no longer received “unpaid conference time.” I am still going to contest it, because I still took my work computer with me, and I still did quite a bit of work while there.
But as for Monday, it was a legit working day. I didn’t go to co-working because I had to leave for the airport before 3 PM, and I still wanted to have some time with Boris. I worked from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM, with only a break for a 30-min walk, and then we headed to the airport, where I kept doing things from the lounge, and still did one work meeting from the hotel, and still dialed in to work a couple of times on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Aside from that, the whole trip to Prague was uneventful in a good way and very productive. The hotel where I stayed (Vienna House Diplomat) was much better than the one I stayed at last year, in all aspects. The room was better, and the gym was on-site and very well equipped. The reception told me that there was an extra charge of 10 euros per visit, but it was totally worth it. The gym had everything, was way more spacious than the one at my Helsinki coworking space, and opened at 6 AM (actually, even a little bit earlier than that!)
This time, I knew what the venue looked like, so I didn’t spend time wandering around the University campus. There were no technical issues with my workshop; the class was full, people listened, reacted, and thanked me many times.
Also, this time, I didn’t have to leave on the same day, so I could stay for the speaker’s dinner and for two-thirds of the talks on Wednesday. I met with everyone I planned to meet, had some unplanned meetings, and all conversations were very productive. I hope that I secured a couple of new sponsors for PG DATA 2026.
My friend Gulcin promised a birthday cake for my belated birthday celebration, and brought a box of delicious pastries! Everyone who was there tried at least a little bit 🙂
People still can’t believe that I turned 63. Gulcin asked me what the secret of my youthfulness is, and as usual, I responded that the secret is that I always do what I want to do, and never do the things I don’t want to do :). She and another person who was there even posted about it on LinkedIn, which was funny.
Also, the Lighting talks organizer convinced me to submit a lighting talk, so I gave a five-minute into to my new project, and used this opportunity to advertise PG DATA.
Overall, despite many problems I currently have at work and with many of my non-work activities, my mood is significantly better than before the conference.
I am finishing this post on my flight to London, and for some reason, my Google Photos is not available. I will add more photos from the hotel when I am on another provider 🙂
Helsinki Appendix
Firstly, I added more details about the Finnish presidents (and one more picture), so if you are curious, you can revisit this post.
And secondly, I wanted to show the interior of a new Helsonki tram. These trams can go back and forth without turning (like trains); they have doors on both sides (like trains), and they have charges 🙂
All Presidents Of Finland
Helsinki has memorials for several Presidents of Finland (possibly for all of them, and I just don’t know), but unless you know that they are president’s memorials, you would never recognize them. On Sunday, Boris suggested we visit all the presidents he knew, and since it still felt not as cold as in Vienna, I agreed (and barely made it, because it was actually pretty cold!)
In short, all post-WWII Finnish Presidents had to balance between being the USSR neighbor and trying to do the best for the people of Finland
Why The Soviet Union Didn’t Annex Austria?
During our Vienna walks, we came across this monument (which was not recommended to us as a point of interest by any app), and stared at it, puzzled, trying to make sense out of it. It’s not like you won’t expect a wartime cemetery in Vienna, but what shocked us was the monument’s size. Somehow, I didn’t even hear about this monument, not exactly the size of Berlin’s Treptow memorial, but still massive. We were even more shocked after we read the sign saying the monument was erected in August 1945, when, as we already knew, the whole of Vienna was in ruins. We couldn’t imagine how anybody would invest that much resources in a monument at such a moment.
When we visited the Albertina museum, we learned that Austrian independence was only declared in 1955, and we realized that we didn’t know anything about that part of history, and why Austria was not made a socialist country after WWII. Somehow, we assumed that Austria was “in the western territory” and didn’t realize that, actually, there were Soviet troops that were there, and they were there for a while.
Since the House of Austrian History was closed on Tuesday when we tried to attend, I did some reading on the topic. From what I read, it seems like it was almost by accident. Yes, there was a Moscow Treaty of 1943, which technically didn’t allow the Annexation of Austria, but we all are aware of multiple cases when no treaty would stop Stalin. I also read that, since Austria (and Vienna) was divided into four parts, similar to Germany itself and Berlin, the Soviet Union couldn’t pursue direct annexation. In addition, the “Soviet” part of Austria didn’t have any significant economic value, and the Communist Party barely existed. So my understanding is that it was simply not the top priority for Stalin, so it remained in the “undefined” status until Khruschev was preparing for the XX Communist Party Congress.
In any case, lucky Austrians!
Tapiola And Toys Museum
On Saturday, I met with my friend Natasha and her daughter (and my goddaughter) Sonia, and Natasha suggested we go to Tapiola, a 1950s project of integrating urban development with nature. I have never been there, and for Natasha, that’s the place she lived when she was a kid, and she wanted to show it to me.
Once again, it might have been better if it weren’t so cold, but it was still very interesting. Retrospectively, I should have taken more pictures!
We ended our field trip with a visit to the cafe that makes the biggest cinnamon buns one can imagine:
Hettie's Reflections 