Category: everyday life

On Upcoming Election Day

These are my first elections as a Chicago resident, which means two things: first, the local elections are more predetermined, and although voting is still important, I know that my voice won’t tip the scale. Second, I could use one of the early voting supersites.

For those unfamiliar with them, if you are a Chicago resident, you can vote at these sites no matter where you live: using your address, the correct bulletin will be pulled to your voting screen. Since I traveled when the early voting started and missed two weekends, I was slightly worried about whether I will have time. But with the supersites, I could stop there after work (which I did on Thursday), and it took me fifteen minutes total, including a two-minute wait and two-minute paperwork.

I can’t tell enough how much I am proud of my girls – today, they spent three hours canvassing and hit seventy doors! In Wisconsin, each door matters, so they made a meaningful impact. A group with which I could canvas is one of several things I didn’t find yet since I moved to Rogers Park. I told Anna that I would come to Milwaukee in the fall of 2024 to canvass with them. But seriously, can you believe that these two little girls canvassed for three hours and were really helpful?!

The First Work Week After

Since I barely blogged this week, it should be obvious that the first week after the conference was very intense. There are several projects which I both need and want to do, and each of them could easily take all the work time I have. I would be happy to have sixteen extra hours a day, because I really-really want to do it all.

On top of that: the program committee of PG Day Chicago started regular meetings, and I feel terrible that it’s not that much I can do at the moment. November PUG is less than two weeks away. Mom is having multiple health issues, mostly related to arthritis. When she feels better, she does not want any help, and when she feels worse, she does not ask, which does not help me to address the situation.

Also, I am still seeing too many shows (and I know it’s too many, but I can’t resist the post-pandemic luxury of ‘all is open.” Last night, I was at CSO with my neighbor, and we listened to the Bartok Second violin concerto with Christian Tetzlaff, and it was so amazing, I still can’t get over it! There are lots of his videos online, and if you watch just one, you’ll see what I am talking about!

So – today is Friday, and I want to do so many things during the weekend, that I am sure at least 30% of them will be not done!

My Halloween Costume

I didn’t get a prize for it, but I still like it, especially because the top is the real thing from Western Ukraine (I have had it for at least seven years, if not more). And I had to order the headdress, ensuring they won’t send a Frida Kahlo one!

I Am Back To The Same Place…

Berlin was my first “zagranitsa”, I wrote about it here. Today, I was standing at the same place where I stood thirty-eight years ago. Actually, I stood a little bit further, we were not allowed that close to the Brandenburg Gates.

Today, we walked from West to East Berlin, and back, something I could not imagine would ever be possible for me!

Choosing the Wall. souvenirs
I didn’t get this one, but I loved the idea!

Helsinki PostgreSQL User Group

Hettie D.'s avatarThe World of Data

I am so happy I finally fulfilled my promise to contribute to the Helsinki PostgreSQL community and present at their meetup last night! Thanks to Aiven for hosting, and many thanks to all organizers. My talk was a preview of the talk I am giving at PG Conf EU tomorrow!

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Uber Crisis

Recently, I often have had trouble getting an Uber ride right away. I first noticed it after the late evening concerts, and I learned that I have to wait or start walking away from the venue or both. But last Friday, I could not get Uber to go to the airport for more than 20 minutes, and then we hit the rush hour!

I had a very interesting conversation with the driver. He told me that the share Uber pays to the drivers is relatively small and does not reflect what the passenger pays. That’s why, he continued, drivers no longer want to pick the airport rides. He said that he is considering becoming a CTA bus driver. He mentioned that the bus driver’s pay used to be very low, but now they are paid $40/hour and have insurance and other benefits. I asked him whether Lift or any cab service would be better, but his advice about getting to the airport was to use the train!
I need to think about it 🙂

Lady Inertia

I could not decide whether I should take a larger suitcase on my upcoming trip or a cabin size. Now that I have Finnair Gold, my luggage is free, but I didn’t want to wait for it. Besides, I am going to Berlin from Helsinki, and if I took a larger one, I would have to check it on my way to Berlin. I always take a folding duffle bag with me so I can check it in on the way back if needed, and I told Boris that if this folded bag weren’t taking extra space in my luggage, I would be okay with it being the carry-on only. Then he said – why won’t you check it in on the way to Helsinki as well? It is free, and then your carry-on won’t be so overpacked, and your backpack won’t be so heavy. And you can go to Berlin with a carry-on only. And I thought- why was I not thinking?! Why I didn’t consider doing this in the first place?! I know perfectly well why – because of the mind inertia! Because I always had to pay for an extra luggage piece, and I forgot that I did not need to pay anymore. Also, I forgot that my luggage travels with the “priority” label, so it is always the first to be unloaded.

That’s what your mind’s inertia does!

Fall Colors

CSO Last Night

The concert was absolutely amazing. But let me tell you first, what was before the concert:). The CSO resumed the Classic Encounter series – interactive multimedia presentations by Chicago’s radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmer. Each time, it is a meeting with one of the CSO musicians who participate in the concert on that night, so they talk both about the music and the instrument, and it is incredibly interesting. Oh, and also, there is wine and finger food, and sweets.

Yesterday, the guest was CSO trumpet John Hagstrom, and he was so cool, and witty, and everything, and the experience was truly amazing, and it definitely helped to feel more connected with the piece!

And the conductor…. I believe it was the first time that I heard ChristianThielemann conducting – I very unique, so passionate, and the orchestra is visibly enojing his leadership. John Hagstrom mentioned that he might be a candidate for replacing maestro Muti who’s last season with CSO we are currently celebrating. We’ll see…

Ohm and Thielemann was conducting Bruckner 8th symphony without the score – can you imagine it?!

And the final note – I went with my neighbor, we didn’t do anything together for a while, and now she is a subscriber, too! I am glad we can do things together.

Chicago PUG is live again!

Hettie D.'s avatarThe World of Data

Today we had the first live meetup after …
You know, I do not even count my two attempts to resume live meetups a year ago. I can’t compare them to the meetup we had today. Today was a blast! It was back to the old days and even better.

Fewer people than I used to have pre-pandemic, but a dozen people showed up, and we had pizza and drinks, and we socialized before the presentation. Several long-lost members came, and even some people who started to attend virtually during the pandemic attended for the first time in person.

I took the risk upon myself and did both hosting and presenting, and it went great! The tech team rehearsed with me three times, making sure there were no glitches and experimenting with different setups until we found the perfect one. I didn’t need to take care of the food and…

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