Slightly more coherent today

...as it's finally beginning to sink in that I'm free.

Thanks to you lovely f-listers for your good wishes and congratulations! You've been patient and understanding whenever I whinged and whined, for which I'm immensely grateful. I hope that from now on, there will be more good than bad things to share with you.

Janine and her new boyfriend are coming today --I'm very curious, because I haven't met him yet. He's a Brit living in Vienna, an artsy bohémien-type. Considering Janine's usual type, this was quite unexpected, but then patterns are there to be broken. And the pattern wasn't *that* good after all, so maybe this time things will be better. I certainly hope so.

Tomorrow we're going to Hattusa (second time for me, but I certainly don't mind), Monday will be dedicated to shopping and what little sightseeing can be done here, and on Tuesday we'll leave for Vienna together.

It seems that my nephew Daniel has made a superhuman effort to clean the flat before my arrival. He told me how much dirt had accumulated under the washing machine -- I could hardly stop my eyes from popping out of their sockets. Anyway, Barbara the marvellous cleaning lady is going to add the final touches to the cleanlinless. There is, after all, a certain difference between what a 25-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman perceive as cleanliness, and Barbara's standards are much closer to my own. Still, I appreciate it that he didn't just move out and leave all the rest to Barbara.

Ticket to Ankara and back on the 9th and 11th respectively has already been bought -- another eye-popping moment. It cost € 790. Probably because I'm not staying the weekend, but considering it's economy class that's quite hair-raising. However, having ze boyz safely in Vienna and being able to partly do and mostly supervise the packing without having to look out for them is worth the money.

Since the flat in Skopje is unfurnished, there has to be another packing day in Vienna. Moreover I'm seriously considering subletting the flat, as Daniel won't need it anymore, so I'll have to empty it anyway. I offered it to my predecessor in Skopje who is going back to Vienna and doesn't have a flat there, and she was very interested. If she doesn't take it, there'll be legions of ministry people drooling on my doorstep. It's not every day that you can rent 85m² in the centre for a mere € 400 a month, management fee included. I've been paying the rent plus heating, internet and TV for 3 years, i.e. subletting the flat means I'll save ca. € 600 per month. Not a sum of money to be sneezed at, and I certainly don't mind staying at a hotel when I go to Vienna. Or at my brother's. Janine's place is huge, but boyfriend is practically living there, so I'd certainly prefer a hotel. My brother is away most of the time, so his flat would do eqally well.

Janine pus one will be here around 6 p.m., so there's plenty of time for watching more Dr Who season 4 and reading.