New Food of the Week #1

I decided I am going to try and taste at least one new food every week.  It might be something at a restaurant, something I picked up in a grocery store, or even something I made.  To kick things off I decided to go with something easy and grabbed a package of cookies.

I generally love coffee-flavored anything and these looked good on the package.  There is a coffee-flavored cookie inside with caramel on top, dipped in chocolate with nuts.  But I have to say I won't be buying any more of these.  The cookie inside is very hard, and that just threw me off what would otherwise by something I would probably enjoy.

Luckily, while wandering around today I stumbled across a small shop that specializes in foods from abroad for expats.  There was lots of stuff from Japan, India, Australia, and the UK, with a bit of stuff from other countries.  I figure between that store and what I can find in the grocery stores, there will be lots to sample.

On to Hotel #2... and a side note about parking in downtown Poznan

Today I checked out of the IBB Andersia and moved to the Hotel Don Prestige, which is a smaller hotel that focuses on longer-stay guests.  My room is smaller, and not as lavish, but that's no surprise.

Thankfully the pillows and bed seems slightly softer, which might help.  The unfortunately downside to this hotel is that there is a small street and park on one side (luckily the side I'm on) and on the other side are a street with tram tracks and the tram comes by regularly.  It's also not as well built as the IBB, so the ambient noise level is going to be much higher.

Of course, my commute got a bit longer (how could it not) but work isn't too far off as you can see from this picture taken out my window.

I also thought I'd point out something about parking in Poznan.  If you look at the cars across the park from my window in the shot above you can tell that most of them are parked up on the curb.  There are actually parking spots that run parallel to the curb.  But there is so little available parking that people park on the sidewalks.  Sometimes it's just partly on the sidewalk like this.  Sometimes they park fully on the sidewalk.  I'm told they risk having a boot put on their car, but I haven't seen that happen yet.  Here's a closer picture of the parking situation.

Home, Sweet..... Maybe?

Yesterday (Friday) I put down a deposit to hold an apartment I saw on Wednesday.  If all goes well I will get the contract and have it reviewed early this coming week.  And if there are no issues with the contract I might be receiving the keys as early as this coming Friday.

It's in a relatively new apartment complex called Galileo and is just a 10-15 minute walk to work (and outlined in red in the image above).  On a very nice note, the owner just finished furnishing the apartment (which in Poland means building and supplying everything other than the studs that were in the original outside walls) so everything will be brand new.

I'm glad I found a place I liked relatively quickly, as school is starting back up soon and the city is flooded with college students looking for a place to live.  Wish me luck.

The Shortest Commute Ever with Unexpected Exhibitionist Opportunities

The long-stay hotel that my employer was originally going to put me up in for the first 30-days (while I look for an apartment) was fully booked for my arrival date.  So for the first week or so, I'm staying at the IBB Andersia hotel.  This is very nice because not only is the IBB a higher-quality hotel, it also happens to make my commute exceptionally short.  The IBB Andersia occupies the first 10 floors of the Andersia tower.  And my employers offices take up floors 13 through 18 of the same tower (My cubicle is on the 16th floor).  This means my morning commute consists of going down the elevator to floor 0 (ground level), out the hotel door, about 40 feet to my right, in another door, and up the elevator to the 16th floor.  If only things were always this easy.

Like most European hotels the bed feels like it is made out of plywood with a quarter-inch of cotton batting spread over it.  And the pillows are the hardest I have ever found that aren't actually made of wood or rock.  However, the IBB Andersia does have at least one quirk you might find interesting.  From the picture below of my room (excuse the immediate clutter cause by just dumping my bag out), you would think that the Andersia is a basic "luxury" hotel.





And if you look out the window, there is a nice view to the old Stary Browar shopping center across the street.  Stary Browar is an old coverted brewery that has won several shopping center awards.


But if you are feeling like a bit of an exhibitionist, this is the view of the hotel room, looking in from that nice big window overlooking the mall.


 It's a beautiful bathroom.  And you do have curtains on your room window and in the bathroom that you can close.  But I do wonder just how many people don't bother with either?  So if you want the chance to show any hidden exhibitionist tendencies you have, come to the IBB Andersia hotel in Poznan, Poland.  =)

And before anyone asks, no I have absolutely NO exhibitionist tendencies and my curtains stay firmly closed!

For Some Reason, I Don't Feel That Secure



Warsaw airport, waiting near my gate for my plane that leaves in 1.5 hours.


When I flew out September 16th, I knew the day was going to suck.  From arriving at the airport in Sacramento until arriving at my hotel in Poznan, I spent about 23 hours either on my way to or from an airport, in an airport for a layover, or in plane.  The fact that only about 15 hours was actually spent flying just makes things worse.

But the worst part, of course, was security.  During my trip to Poland I had to go through the exact same security process 3 different times.  Once in Sacramento when I got to the airport.  Once in Chicago when I went to access the International Terminal.  And again in Warsaw (or "Varsava" as I'm told it should be pronounced phonetically in Polish, with the r soft). 

Yet despite these multiple trips through security, I didn't feel all that secure.  Perhaps it was the fact that no airport trusted the security staff at any other airport enough to pass people through without screening them again.  Maybe it was the fact that I saw so many aiport staff who looked way shadier than anyone flying buzzing in and out of "secured" doors (especially in Chicago).  Or maybe it's just the fact that I know that with airline budgets being what they are that I'm far more likely to die in a crash due to crappy maintenance than I am due to terrorism.

I can sort of understand going through security again in Warsaw (who would trust American security?), but the fact that the TSA in Chicago don't trust the TSA in Sacramento enough to route people straight through really makes me wonder just how "secure" we are when we fly.

Goodbye Subie, We Hardly Knew Ya.....

Like a heartless bastard, today I sold off my 10 month-old "child", Subie the Subaru.  Rather than leave it in the care of my loving family, I decided to take the expedient route, cut my losses, and accept the highest bid from Carmax the kennel runners. 

There it will sit caged on the lot with the other homeless cars, taken only for an occasional walk, hoping that some day soon a new, more loving owner, will come along and rescue it.

And while my poor car pines away at the car pound, I am enjoying the freedom of not having either a car or cell phone for the first time in nearly 20 years.  Of course, like any junkie, I will soon be getting a new phone to help keep me connected to the world.  But let's see if I can hold out longer before I get a new car.

Have fun everyone.

The Start

On September 16th, 2011 I will leave the U.S.A. to start my roughly 2-year life abroad.  The flight path shown above is the route I will take to my new home in Poznań, Poland.


How did I end up taking this trip?  I simply said "yes" when I was offered the opportunity to uproot my entire life; say goodbye to family, friends and co-workers; and go to a country I had never been to before and where I don't speak the language.


I can't guarantee you'll find much of interest on this blog; but I'm a single middle-aged American abroad, so who knows what sort of stupidity I could end up showing.  Let's just hope I don't end up setting back American-Polish relations to a new 50-year low.  =)

Why "The Memorandum"

So why call this blog "The Memorandum"?  At first, I was going to call it "A Wander Abroad", since that is what I was about to embark upon.  But when I showed my Mom the URL, she looked at and said "A Wonder Bra? What sort of name is that?"

So, since many of the people I created this blog for are co-workers and because I had to find a URL that wasn't already in use on Blogger, I ended up going with "The Memorandum".  Both because it has sort of a business-type sound to it, and because the book sitting on my desk at the moment is titled "The Fuller Memorandum".  So I'm a bit lazy too.  =)

BTW, the Laundry novels by Charles Stross, which the Fuller Memorandum is part of and which begin with The Atrocity Archive are fantastic books.  Think James Bond with a hacker attitude meets the Cthulu mythos.  Great books!