By now, Jarco, who oversees all the technical side at Valo, is my good friend, and happily greeta me when I arrive. This time, he told me: now we have a proper app, and you can make reservations there, and you can also get your morning porrige for free. Do you like porrige?
Unfortunately, for some reason, I was unalbe to find the app in the App Store, which I reported to him later that day. Next day, when he saw me walking down for breakfast, he asked meL are you eating a proper breakfast today, or just porrige? That was, in fact, the day when I ate fruits and protein at home before heading to Valo, so I said – I was thinking just a porrige today. He said: OK, let’s go! He walked down to the cafeteria with me and told the cashier: she is booked for today, she just doesn’t have the app, can she have porrige?
That was very sweet, and although it looked like I could get the same porrige for free just showing my QR code, I was very thankful to him for taking care of me 🙂
And I can’t miss this opportunity to show VALO Works one more time. I never read the inside of the cards which are placed on the shelves in each room:
I can’t be in Helsinki without meeting with my friend Natasha! I was so thankful that, even though she now works full-time, she still found time to stop by my coworking space after work, and we sat and talked for almost two hours! (And yes, I love that we could do it in the same space, and it was OK with everyone)
Natasha brought me a bag of Ukrainian sweets: there is a new store operated by Ukrainian refugees, and they ship directly from Ukraine. She was happy to support their business, and the sweets taste great (and it’s a terrific idea to mix all varieties in one bag – I can barely find two of the same kind!).
(I might still bring some of them home, althought I can’t guarantee :))
It was a good event, although I had a feeling it was too brief: not much time before or during the breaks. I was hoping to have more talks with the fellow organizers, friends, and sponsors, and I simply didn’t have enough time, especially because I only skipped one session; otherwise, I was actively listening.
My talk was very well received.
It turned out that Boris mentioned at the last Helsinki PUG that there would be an opportunity to have the Query Optimization signed by two of the three authors, and several people approached us with paper copies. 😀
I attended several incredibly interesting talks, and I am planning to follow up with some people because I want to explore more of what they are doing.
Three out of four PG DATA Org committee members presented at Nordic!
After the conference was over, those who didn’t leave to catch their flights went for drinks at the hotel bar. Boris and I wanted to take a couple of people whom we knew and who were in Helsinki for the first time, for one more round of Finnish authentic food, and we walked to the Konstan Möljä restaurant. Since my friend Zoya introduced us to this place, we’ve loved it! Our guests also liked it!
Boris volunteered at Nordic, so he had to be there half an hour earlier than I did, and I used that half-hour for a short walk because I didn’t have gym that morning and expected to be inside for the whole day.
This year, Nordic PG Day was in Helsinki, which is why I submitted the talk, and I would actually go even if my talk won’t be accepted:). However, it is still a very busy time because all the other days are working days.
I arrived on Sunday, and Boris and I went to the Baroque concert in the Old Church. They performed a Resurrection Story by Heinrich Schütz. It was very interesting, definitely something I had never heard before, so I count it as a positive experience, even though it was difficult to stay awake after the long flight 🙂
On Monday morning, I went to VALO co-working, and as always, it was very welcoming, and the way their environment is set up really helps to focus on work.
In the evening, we went to the speakers’ dinner at Zetor. I passed this place dozens of time, and never knew that it is considered a big touris attraction. I didn’t have time to take pictures of the interior, because I was talking to people all the time, so the pictures are from the restaurant website:)
I think we were sitting in this section
I took some pictures of the food we were served. The salmon soup was not the one I was expecting, so this was an experience rather than a success:
The raindeer meat was awesome, as well as the dessert.
Boris and I went back home at the first opportunity, and I do not know how people who went to the bar afterwards, could participate in the conference the next day – this remains a mystery!
This year, I came to SCaLE for two days only, and I am busier than ever! It’s nice, warm, and sunny outside, but I was barely out both days, trying to catch up with a couple of dozen people, building new connections, and doing the outreach.
That’s me talking at the educational track! But overall, I talked to way more people!
I am still at the conference, taking a Red Eye flight back to Chicago tonight!
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.
A button-operated shower
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!
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!)
The area by the hotel cafe
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.
I brought cookies for those people who didn’t want to rely on the mercy of the Postal Service
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.
Speakers and volunteers photo
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 🙂
Hettie's Reflections 