kareina

Before we came out for this short course we had an e-mail providing the urls for a variety of free programs we needed to download in order to do the practical sessions. One of the programs comes with a warning when you install it that there are many, many, many sub programs which could be downloaded, and to save space one might wish to pick and choose. However, the e-mail didn't give any indication as to which, if any, of the sub programs we'd need. Therefore I went with the default package, and hoped. Nope. Not good enough. When using another of the programs (which one must use the first program to access at all) I encountered a "command not found" error on the first step of the first practical. In asking our fearless leader it turns out that this is because I didn't install one of the necessary sub programs. Sigh. This is why I am here, in the hotel lobby (where there is internet available), downloading/installing that (and others they suggest I add as well) program, instead of in the classroom actually using the programs. It is up to 8% now.

The hotel here in Verbania is very generous with its serving sizes. I did manage to eat a small amount of last night's dinner, despite the very, very late hour (we sat down at 8pm, which is a good three to six hours later than I normally quit eating for the day, but I'd deliberately eaten less than normal, in hopes of being able to be sociable and actually eat with my colleagues). I managed a small amount of the yummy lentil-barley soup they brought out at 20:15 (but stopped her after the first small ladle full, not wanting three heaping scoops like she gave everyone else at my table), and ate a few bites of the gnocci with tomato sauce when it came out at 20:40, but was too full to finish even the tiny scoop she'd given me (and she filled everyone else's plate). I didn't even let her try giving me any of the meat or carrots that came out at 21:00, nor the desert (some sort of fruit-jam topped baked good by the look of it) that came out at 21:30. I really don't understand how anyone else managed to eat all of that food so close to bedtime--doesn't it hurt them to go to bed with a full tum like it does me? Perhaps some of them stayed up late, but since breakfast was served at 07:30 in preparation for 08:30 lectures, I wasn't willing to stay up very late.

Breakfast was a help-yourself affair, with choices of hard or soft bread rolls, or really dark croissants with jam filling, or museli, corflakes, or one other cereal with yoghurt, milk, or fruit cocktail.

Lunch today was another elaborate meal--the brought out a beef lasagne at 13:20 (being a vegetarian, I nibbled a bread roll from the basket on the table), followed by a yummy rice dish cooked in pumpkin broth with enough cheese to make it sticky at 13:30, then they brought out bowls of lettuce with vinegar and oil for the tables and served what looked like slabs of chicken at 13:40, and let me know that they'd bring me a vegetarian option along with a vinegar-free salad in a few minutes. Sure enough, a short time later they brought out a plate covered with slices of fresh tomato, covered with fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and basil, and another bowl of lettuce, this time without dressing. There was way too much for one person to eat, but one of my co-workers, who also doesn't like vinegar, was sitting next to me, so she helped me with the lettuce, and once I'd managed to eat about half of the tomato and cheese (with the lettuce--I think it would have been better without the oil), the others at my table agreed to eat the rest of it for me.

hmm. That brings the download to 13%. Darn it--by the clock they should have switched to the next set of practicals, but I'm not leaving my computer here, and if I take it with me the downloads will stop...

When last I posted it was late Thursday night, it is now Sunday evening, so I guess it is time to post something, lest mom start worrying about me.

Friday: some uni work during the morning followed by a short nap before heading out to enjoy the large fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky (and accumulating into a thick slush on the ground, which, in places where people weren't walking, driving, or otherwise disturbing it, actually looked like snow). We stopped at several stores, and picked up a number of items I'd been putting off shopping for, including a box of new hearing aid batteries. The first six places we tried for those didn't have them, and each suggested the next. Eventually, we gave up. Then we stopped into a store which had desk lamps (whcih we also needed), and lo and behold, they had hearing aid batteries in the size I needed! Yay! We eventually shopped our way into the correct neigbourhood for our D&D game, and spent the evening having much fun. One of our players wasn't feeling well, but the rest of the party found out about some nasty orcs who had been ambushing caravans, and we managed to track them and then come up with a Plan to overcome them. Much to our delight the plan worked and we were triumphant. Two of the players happen to be children, and they both really enjoyed the funny things the orcs said to us during the battle (yes, one of the characters does speak that language).

Saturday: I meant to spend the day doing uni work. I did spend the day finishing up a good book and making the trek out to IKEA to purchase some cross-bracing for the shelf I made for the toaster oven. I also checked to see if they happen to have a shelf the correct size to squeeze into the last spot in the hallway where a shelf could possibly go. The answer is, yes, they have one which is the correct dimension left to right, but is too deep by a couple of inches, and I don't really want the hall to be any narrower than it it. Therefore I will have to purchace lumber and build my own shelves sometime in the not too distant future.

Sunday: Took the train out here to Verbania . This turns out to be a very pretty town nestled between a large, lovely, lake and some nice looking mountains. I really enjoyed the last part of the train ride, and even had to put my sewing down so as to better keep my nose pressed to the window to admire the view. I've checked into my hotel room, determined that there is internet access in the hotel loby, and will soon be meeting the other participants of the short course for "dinner". However, I don't really expect to be eating anything myself--we aren't gathering till 8pm, and I am rarely hungry that late into the evening. I have eaten less than usual today though, so there is a chance I'll manage to eat a little something. We will see if I can manage it. (How do other people manage to eat at all hours of the night? Oh well, I guess that I can't complain, since I like being slender, and, no doubt, the not being hungry at night thing helps with that.

Tomorrow: class starts at 08:30 and our schedule is full till 21:00 (with frequent breaks for coffee or food). Repeat every day this week. Should be fun. There are some 30 participants signed up for this, and they have come here from all over the world--I met some from Brazil and the USA on the shuttle to the hotel, and I noticed places like Korea, Switzerland, Germany, and Norway (as well as the many from Italy) on the list.