Got my first Ticket!!!!!
It took me nearly 3 months to get my first ticket (Strafzettel). And for what? For crossing the street with my bike although the light was red. So - it was kind of a funny situation. I crossed the light - the police guy showed me to come to the side. On the side of the street - two policemen already dealt with 3 other guys that broke the law. So - see the pictures of my first ticket - $20 for crossing a red light with a bike!!
Aside from this interesting story - I tried to play soccer again - but without luck. Nobody showed up as the weather was not too good - although it was not raining - so I circled around Boston and Cambridge with my bike - got lost twice - and hopefully I will remember me swearing to myself about not taking any shortcuts anymore - shortcuts that I thought are shortcuts but turned out as a total opposit of it - well - at least I got some good excercise. No its time for Christophers. cu in june!

Front side of my ticket	Back side of my ticket

New Lessons learned
Sarah and I went for a long long walk today. Started at around 10 AM in Porter Square. Our route continued to Davis Square, Union Square, Lechmer, North End and finally Park Street. What are the lessons that we've learned?
Well - never trust the weather report. Today supposed to be the worst day from a weather perspective - but it turned out to be nearly as nice as yesterday - nice temperatures and sun.
As you can also see from the pictures - we might found the reason why lots of americans drive those big cars.
And yes - a visit in one of the North Ends restaurant's is very nice and they have delicous food - but for a higher price!
Tonight will be another night with Salsa - we discovered a new place at Davis Square and we have already made a deal with the manager in order for Sarah to get in - as she forgot her ID in New Hampshire. So - it's supposed to be a nice evening/night.
And - Ta Ta - tomorrow is the first public holiday here - it's memorial day!

Map of Sommerville at one of the squares there	View over Cambridge towards Boston from Prospect Hill	I think thats the reason for their big cars - they dont really need to care about proper parking
Lots of geese on the Charles River	Big Sailing Cruise Boot form Chile	Italians in the North End - playin their beloved Bocci - they took it really serious

Another Story about my favort Stupid American Law!!!
It was friday night. Sarah came down from New Hampshire. A friend of her was celebrating her 30th birthday at Jillians. They had their private section there with billard and bowling. So - we arrived shortly after nine o'clock. And then the big shock at the entrance - we both forgot our ID's.
The guy at the door didn't want to let us in as after 9PM you are only allowed to go in when you are 21+ - and he said that I might be younger than that :-)! So - we argued a lot - Sarah just came the long way from New Hampshire for this "Private" birthday party and we are not allowed in now because we forgot our ID's. We finally managed to be escorted up to this private room - just to give the present and say hello - being escorted down after some minutes again. When we went down - the boy friend of her friend (he organized the party) went down with us - tryin to speak with the manager. Well - after lots of arguing we ended up with the following deal: We will be specially marked (see picture below), we are not allowed to trink alcohol, if we trink alcohol and somebody sees us - the whole private party is over - yeah - thats america - the country where everything is possible!!!!
Saturday started with the first sunshine that we have seen in weeks here - and finally - the temperatures went up - i think it was about 20 degrees. We first went to the hospital to visit Stephans friend - he is not doing very good at the moment. After that we decided to go to the beach. As clouds of thunderstorms already started to come in we made some quick decisions: bought some beer and food - get into the car - drive to Revere. We had about an hour of sunshine before the rain started. And - as this is another stupid law - we had to be careful with our Corona - the police was watching the beach and Sarah was really serious about not beeing seen with those bottles - so - this would be the next story in the category "stupid american laws"!
So - thats it - saturday night was relaxing - rented a DVD - got some summer rolls from the vietnamese restaurant!
bye bye

We got marked with permanent markers so that everybody knows that we are not really legal in there	Beach on the North Shore of Boston	Another illegal thing - dont tell anyone :-)

U2!!!
Just came back from the U2 Concert at the Fleet Center in Boston. Its been the first time that I've seen them live and it was quite impressiv. As it is already past midnight I wont spend too much words on that. But it was really worth the money!
In the afternoon we also had our Bowling Event at Segue. Usually I score like 110 - 120. So I was surprised today that I had one very good round - see the pictures!bye bye

Check that score - I am in the 2nd line!!	I guess that somebody has been SuperSized here	U2
U2	U2	U2

LIVERPOOOOOOL
All of you that watched this incredible game now what I am talking about. That was really incredible - and I can tell you - the italians in the italian cafe where I've watched the game became really quite when Liverpool equalized after the went down 3:0!
So - its been a very great afternoon. Tomorrow is another work day for me - for most of you it isn't as you have another public holiday!!
But - my first official public holiday is comming up - on monday is Memorial Day - which means my first day off here. have a nice night

Thats very american: Dunkin Donuts coffee and a donut	See the question there: Can Liverpool come back in 2nd half? I guess that nobody would have sayed yes here!	Thats the place in little italy where we watched the game!

Weather is getting worser every day now - today its been even colder than yesterday and more rain. Additionally to this - a storm is comming from the ocean with winds up to 60mph - making it even colder than it is already.
Well - this weather is just really nothing to feel motivated of doing anything than sitting at home - watching TV or reading.
I watched the two final episodes of 24 yesterday - really good - I for you hope they will show them soon in europe!
Looking forward for the rest of the week. Tomorrow I will go home in the afternoon - checking some bar in the north end (little italy) - watching the final of the european champions league!
And then on thursday - finally - after sooooo long waiting - the U2 concert!!!!
Thats it - bye bye

Nasty days behind us - nasty day today - and nasty days ahead.
Its been the coldest may since 133 years here in new england - at least thats what they said on the weather channel. Our todays high was about 8 degrees. Its suppossed to rain all day tomorrow and on wednesday with same temperatures. This weather is only perfect if you want to sit at home and do nothing - and that is actually what I did yesterday and today after I came home from work. So - not really exciting - but good for my body - refilling some energy.
Star Wars started here with lots of records and it seems to be hard right now getting tickets for the movies. Well - I guess the tickets might not be the problem - but I wouldn't want to wait in line for a long time before the movie starts. Here in the US you dont purchase a ticket for a special seat in a certain row - you just purchase a ticket and choose your seat when you get in. So - I might stick to some movie that is shown on TV (interrupted by commercials every 15 minutes) or I just go on with my new Scarpetta Novel - cu

That was quite a long day - just came home - its 2:45 in the morning.
Got up at 8 as I had to do some errands. I had to despit a check on my bank account - then I bought a new pair of jeans - and I finally got the new U2 Album before I hear them live next week here in Boston.
I went out with Ernst for lunch - we went to the Thai on the other side of Mass Ave. Then we headed for the Museum of Science. Besides the normal Exhibition we also went to the planetarium - but it was actually not too exciting.
After 2 or 3 hours in the museum we decided that it is at least time for a beer. We made it through the cold and rainy new england weather and ended in an irish pub somewhere near fanueil hall. We left the bar 5!!! hours later! So - I guess that we did not only have one beer :-)!
He headed home and I made my way to Ryles for some dancing. Well - as everthing closes at 2 AM I started my journey home at around 2. As there is no subway operating at this time I decided to spare the money for the taxi and walk home. 40 minutes later I arrived here - and now I am sitting here - my eyes really tired and therefore I say good night to you. bye
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Some pictures from yesterday:

Small park at the MIT Campus	Electricity show at the Museum of Science
For the Star Wars Fans: a space glider from the movie	He was british - and it was getting harder to understand him with each additional beer that he had

Hi there. Its been a nice day - lots of meetings - lots of work. The plans for the weekend have changed a lot. Usually we would have gone to Cape Cod - but Stephan needs to stay in Boston. So we postponed it. Then - I wanted to go Salsa - but - on my way there I decided that I am just too tired for it end turned around - went into the liquor store - and now I am sitting here - with some microwave pop corn and some beer - having a nice friday night at home.
Hope to get up early tomorrow - getting some errands done - meeting with Ernst for lunch and probably we will head for the Museum of Science.
So - bye bye.

Hi there - its been a very interesting day at the Boston SAPphire conference. First of all - Gregor was right - the booth babes were really hot - at least from this one company (I cant remember the name as I was just looking at those girls :-) ).
So - the conference was really good actually - gave some presentations - and had some nice talks with other companies as well as competitors. The best think of all though was that the SAP show had a nice evening event today - it was a concert of Bon Jovi. So I called Sarah - as I had another ticket to spare - and she could make it to this really really really great show. see some pictures here from this nice day!

Boston Convention Center where we had our booth	Agganis Arena at Boston University	Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi	Bon Jovi	Bon Jovi
Commonwealth Avenue on our way home	The gloves at Porter Square Station	Another Porter Square Station picture

First I want to answer Udo's question about how those liquor stores look like as I havent discovered this hidden area in the past two months. Well - for me this area always looked like a small isle to the back storage rooms of the store. But in fact - its just a small isle where you can find fridges with the imported beer.
So - what was happening today: Ernst - our CTO from the linz office - came in today. He is here for some business over the next days. I got the chance to show him Christophers - and of course Julius Echter and some Nachos. Stephan joined us as well and we had some interesting discussions about food and the world of IT.
Tomorrow I will be out at the Boston SAPphire Show - I am suppossed to give some demos their. And - if the stories of Gregor are true - I am supposed to see some nice booth babes from the other companies that are presenting their stuff.
I am also looking forward to the weekend - Stephan and I are going to the Cape - fixing up his Bed&Breakfast business as memorial weekend comes up - which is kind of the starting point of the season. bye bye

Not much to say about today. Well - I've been sent to a customer site where the visit was not really necessary - got there - copied to files to the correct location - and got back - taking me 2.5 hours. I cant think of a better way to spend my time in times of product releases and milestones.
I started making detailed plans for the upcomming roadtrip to canada - looks nice - and lots of driving. Now I am sitting here thinking if I should get up and go to Central Square for an hour or two of Salsa - but I dont think I will as I have to get up early tomorrow. Well - have a nice night - cu

Its been a nice weekend with Gregor around in town. We had a tour round cambride on friday evening. Another nice tour yesterday up on the north shore - visiting Swampscott, Salem, Gloucester, Rockport and Haliput State Park.
Today we made a tour through North End - ending in an irish pub near Quincy Market for some original irish stew. After that we had a Boston Duck Tour. Still on our ToDo-List for today - a visit a Christophers! bye

My first visit in my appartment - with a welcome beer	Wanny play the chessmaster of Harvard Square - only 2 bucks	Midnight performance at the Havanna Club
Ancient ship in Salem	A guy selling live lobsters in Rockport	Fishing Harbour in Rockport
Sarah challenged us into rock climbing on Haliput State Park	The Big Dig: Thats the before and after picture in Boston after the construction will be finished	Boston State House
Beacon Hill - thats where the rich people live	The duck that we were riding	Its good to see that some people think like that

Its been a nice day - lots of things to do - but ok. Came home round 8 - throwing all my laundry in the washing maschine - waiting for it to be finished while I have some Julius Echter. Here is a great link - check this out: StoreWars. Stephan just came home and I hope I can convince him that we should check out how the nachos are today at Christophers.
The weekend is on its doorsteps - thats good - but unfortunatly - mine is normal length where you at home in austria have monday off.
Here are some more pictures from last weekend!

The bathroom in one of the bars we went to - you could see in the toilets - but as soon as you close them from the inside the glass changed	Having some fun at this salsa place	Guggenheim Museum - to be hones - it was not really fascinating
That was weired - on Times Square they have this recruiting station	Another picture of Times Square	The girls at Hooters celebrating on the table next by

Its past midnight - just came home from Nashville - finding the fridge full of Julius Echter Wheatbeer - thanks to Stephan. As I have to get up in about 6 hours I wanna keep this short - but here are some pictures from New York. good night.

My first visit - in a bar in SOHO, Manhattan	Sarahs car - lightly melted because of the garbage that somebody lit	Grand Central Station
Check the poster on the back	Madison Square Garden	Alex got typical american food at one of the food corners at The Garden - with beer in a cup and a straw
Times Square	Hooters - thats like paradise - food - sports and nice girls	New York at night - from the Empire State Building

Its been a very productive day. Getting up at 3 AM already to get in touch with the linz lab as they had some issues to fix. Well - didnt get too much sleep after that. The customer visit today was very productive and we did everything that we were supposed to do till 4PM. This early leave gave us some nice time to stay outside in the nice weather - we had about 30 degrees. In the evening we went out for some real BBQ here in nashville. Just came home and only wanna say good night - tomorrow will be another long day!

Greetings from Nashville - the home of country music!!
Arrived here late last night - today it was kind of a strange day. Went to the customer to show them how to use our products - we ran into some issues that I tried to solved on-site. Partyl successfull we left at around 4PM - and since that time I am sitting here in the hotel room - solving all the other issues that have been raised during the day - man - I can tell you - once you get out of the office - work just seems to get more and more. I wonder if I will ever be able to make a long vacation - at least - it will be hard to relax as I know that there are tons of mails and work waiting for me when I am back in office.
But again - always look on the bright side of life - therefore I think I am going to call Joe in his hotelroom (he is a collegue of mine) - asking him out for some beer or maybe some original BBQ.
cu

Hi there - greetings from La Guardia - the airport in New York City.
It was a nice weekend. I arrived here earlier than expected - already on thursday night. Sarah - she was in town as well as she had some appointments - picked me up in Chinatown and then we met with Alex, Martin and Markus.
Went out to some bars in manhatten. On Friday we went out to Queens - just taking the subway there and walking around - it was interesting to not only see Downtown Manhatten.
Friday night we went out again - first meeting some friends from Sarah who were later in charge of finding some House Club - as Alex, Martin and Markus were looking for such a club. But unfortunatelly we didnt really find what they were looking for.
Saturday was nice too - first we went to a womans Basketball game in Madison Square Garden - this stadium is really impressiv - and that was good so - as the match was not too exciting. After that we made our way to HOOTERS. Some of the bar girls were really nice to look at them - but it seems that the only thing about them was that they are good looking - but that was actually enough for us :-)
After that we took the elevator up on the Empire State Building - I can tell you - thats amazing!!! It was around 10PM - on the 86th floor of the building with a view that is hard to explain.
That wasn't all! - we went down to SOHO - again trying to find some nice bars/hourse club. And we found it. As house is not really my style I left a bit earlier - around 2:30AM - but the boys made it till 9AM.
Today was just really relaxing - getting a breakfast and then walking in Central Park - a final dinner and off to the airport.

But here comes a strange story - thats what happened:
Sarahs is not very fortunate with her car - it has been stolen 2 weeks before but found again by the police in the woods. The car was pretty much ok - only the CD's got stolen. Then - on thursday night we parked the car in SOHO when we went out. When we came back - it seemed that somebody wanted to break into the car as the lock on the drivers side as well as the lock on the trunk didn't work anymore. Well - that was not all. We finally parked the car in the street where her appartment is (somewhere in harlem) - she woke up like 5 AM in the morning having a strange feeling - so she went out having a look at the car - and guess what? She came back with this incredible story: Someone seemed to lit the garbage bags that were placed on the sidewalks for pick up of the cleaning guys. The fire was so hot that it melted the back bumper and her back lights. We went to the police station at about 6AM reporting this and they told us that there have been more fires like that in the neighborhood.
So - 3 incidents with her car in 2 weeks - strange things happen.
I forgot to bring my camera accessories so I am not able to upload some pictures yet - but I will do so when I get back to Boston on thursday. And - unfortunately - I am not able to take any more pictures from Nashville as my batteries are empty. Damn thing!
Good bye

First Brown Bottle meeting in the Lexington Office with a real brown bottle afterwards. Well - how is that possible? I brought a six pack of german wheat beer with me today - showing my american collegues how we back in austria deal with our brown bottle meetings.
Well - I got back home at 6PM - and as I was hungry and as I only had 30 pages left in the book that I was reading I decided to go to Christophers - having some meal and finishing my book.
Tomorrow will be a nice day. There is public holiday in austria - so I expect not too many working related stuff from abroad - and I will go to New York tomorrow night - taking a bus.
I am not sure if you see many updates from me in the next week as I will first be in New York over the weekend and then in Nashville at a customer till wednesday. So - I hope to do some updates - but I might not be able to do. bye bye

There is one thing that I have to say about today - I dont wanna get old!!!
Why that? I played soccer again - and every bone and muscle hurts now - I am just not used to it any more. So - after work I went home - actually I was not motivated to do anything - but I thought - lets check this place again from last week - so I did. It was nice - just 6 players (compared to 20+ from last week) - which ment lots of running. I got home at around 8 - having a race with Stephan. He was driving home and we met between Central and Harvard Square. I lost the race by hair! So - for all of you that are not familar with the distances here - we are talking about a distance of 2 miles where it was much easier to get through traffic by bike as with the car (well - I might have passed some red traffic lights - but that is out of question now :-) ).
After that - having a quick shower and - tah tah - Christopers for Nachos and some Burgah! And now I get a nice desert - Stephan brought it up from school. Good night!

Hi there - well - its been a nice day so far. Not too much trouble at work which makes me leave earlier (good to get down of my extra hours from the previous weeks). I went down to Boston trying to get some answers for the fees I've to pay for my bank account. And the people there told me that there is a 10$ fee whenever I receive a wired transfer (which is the money I get transfered for my rent from our ausrian office).
After that I went on walking in Boston - checking out the Prudential shopping mall - getting home shortly before 8 checking out the new mexican restaurant on Porter Square - getting a chicken taco salad for take away.
So - I am sitting here - having my taco salad with some wheat beer watching CNN. There is a strange story going on here in the states about a "Runaway Bride" fooling all people in her home city - faking an abduction by faking police reports and so on. They recently found her in Las Vegas and are discussing now how to deal with the situation. Well - strange things happen. But before that I watched one of my favorit shows here on TV. Its called American Chopper. Check out the link - its really great.
Well - there is another thing that I received today - check out this link - it will give you some background about Bostonians: Check out Background about Bostonians!

A view from Boston Common Park to Boston Downtown	A very common scene in parks here - kids playin baseball	My good taco salad

A nice weekend is ending. Here is a brief overview about the things that happened.
Friday night: of course salsa at havanna club.
Saturday: taking the bus to Concord, NH. Sarah picked me up at the bus terminal and then we started a short city tour through the capital of New Hampshire. We've been invited to her mothers house for dinner and afterwards we went on to Keene where we watched the Opera "Cinderella". The conductor of this opera was a former school friend of sarahs sister. The opera was nice - but it would have been better if I would understand some italian - as it was performed in italian with english subtitles projected on the high top of the stage. After that we had a short visit in a nice pub/restaurant where I guy performed some country songs. I guess the guy is not really from the new england area as I could not understand a word that he was saying - but I guess it was funny because the "real americans" in there laughted most of the time.
Sunday: Wheather was not really good but turned a bit better in the afternoon. So we decided to take a canoe and check out the lake.
Thats my story for the 1st of May (labor day in austria) - looking forward to the next weekend where I will go down to New York seeing some of my friends (Martin, Markus and Alex) - bye bye

State House in Concord, NH	City Tower - I guess they just ran out of money - therefore they dont have a big tower	Barbecue in the rain
The musicians in the Opera - preparing for the show	Thats the country singer on the right	Well - I thought its time for some "ART"ificial picture