The Rain in Spain...

 

A few days before we flew to Málaga, horrible floods that caused more than 200 deaths happened in other parts of Spain. I checked the weather forecast and was reassured to only see sun symbols with occasional clouds for the duration of our stay. We did have lovely weather and overall a great holiday. Less than a week after our return similar torrential rain hit the city and its surroundings, only people were better prepared this time thanks to the authorities reacting faster.

Travelling in times of climate change is becoming a bit of (Russian) roulette, it seems. When Vienna experienced unusually heavy rain in September I also pitied the many tourists who were more or less confined to their rooms unless they had arrived with gum boots and water repellant hooded jackets in their suitcases. Needless to say being able to travel is a privilege and cancelled plans or being stuck at some airport sucks, but is not to be compared with the loss of crops, livestock or your house.

It is a rather scary thought, however, to be caught unawares by some natural disaster while you're in a foreign country (whose language you might not speak or whose infrastructure and processes might be completely unknown to you) while you're on happy hedonistic tourist autopilot mode, ticking off your list of must-see attractions and things to do. I never watch TV when I'm in a hotel and the bookmarked news sites on my phone that I regularly visit might not chose to make a headline of what could affect me unless it has already become a catastrophe of sorts. Food for thought, to say the least...

Teenage Angst vs. Adult Indifference

When I was in my mid-teens news headlines were dominated by the nuclear arms race and who (i.e. USA or USSR) was more likely to "press the red button" and initiate a third world war. I did not take those news well and it really was the stuff of my worries and nightmares. Films like "the Day After" that were screened at school did not help, either and I developed a deep dislike for the evening news on primetime TV. Only doom-scrolling in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic came close to this feeling of being overwhelmed by bad news. 

These days, however, when election results could not be any bleaker both globally and locally, and the protagonists in the USA and Russia objectively pose much more danger than their predecessors in power in the 1980s ever did, I am comparatively chill. I'm not even sure why this is exactly. It definitely is not because I have a crystal ball that allows me a glimpse into a 100% rainbows and unicorns future. It might be because I am happy and content otherwise, it might be because decades of experience have made me more than a little fatalistic and jaded, or because there still is a glimmer of hope that these 70+years old me might not be in this position forever...like, not even until the end of their respective terms of office.

Autumn Blues

 

Autum seems to be everyone's favourite season. It definitely is not mine and I am reminded why every time we switch back to "normal" time. If it were for me, I'd vote for daylight saving time all year round. Those endless summer days are my absolute favourite and I find it super depressing to wake up when it is still pitch black outside and to finish work when it's dark again. I'm like a plant that needs light for growth and energy. Sure, colourful foliage is a pretty sight, but the shorter days (minus snow and everything I love about winter) are really not my vibe.

Old Age

My father turned 80 last week. I am incredibly happy and grateful that he reached this milestone even if I almost can't remember him physically fit and healthy and it's bitter-sweet to see him struggle to get through each day. To live to 80 is still rather impressive (if I was mean, I'd add for men in particular...) but it doesn't have the same WOW-factor it had when I was a child and my maternal great-grandfather's 80th birthday was a big deal. Eighty seemed positively ancient, even more so for a child of kindergarten-age, but just like 40 is the new 30 and 60 the new 50, etc., 90 these days is probably the new 80. Fine with me.

 

Red Flags

On the weekend I met a friend who is unhappy in a textbook toxic relationship. I more or less advised him to RUN. FAST as probably everybody else including his therapist has. I am concerned it will turn out like the equally toxic work environment he stayed in for years longer than he should have. I didn't want to come across all smug giving relationship advice and acknowledged that I made stupid decisions and stuck around way too long in "situationships" myself, but now really enjoy the opposite of drama. I couldn't help wonder if I have really outgrown bad decisions for good or it could happen all over again if I found myself single again. I like to think it would not, but then again, I'd rather not find have to test my theory.

 

Business Trips 2.0

In the past 10 days I was in Linz, Klagenfurt and Innsbruck for business. This week, I will be in Graz for a day. I have travelled more for business recently than I did in the past 7 years and it's like a less glamorous, more environmentally friendly version of my business travels with the Firm which I LOVED and lived for. Goodbye planes and 5* designer hotels, hello trains and staying at my parents' or Highflyer's Innsbruck home (in all fairness, I could have stayed in hotels there, but chose not to for obvious reasons). I still appreciate the change of scenery and have mostly resigned myself to the fact that even if I still had my old job, there probably would be less travelling and more videoconferencing these days, which is only sensible. After all, it's good to have fond memories and my fondest work-related ones are of these business trips that always had a bit of an exciting vacation element to it. At the same time, I wasn't exactly happy most of that time and spent many hours in hotel rooms obsessing over the cryptic texts of guys not worthy of my attention. While it's good not to get stuck on negative things that happened years ago, it's not fair to completely gloss over them and romanticise the past. I'll gladly swap fancy hotels for emotional stability and contentment.

Calm. Hopefully not Before the Storm...

I was able to combine a business commitment in Klagenfurt with a visit to my parents and am writing this from their house. My Mum has recovered from her broken arm and its aftermath and even though both my parents currently have a fierce cold they are comparatively well and I am mostly in my old role of  (spoilt) "child" (if with the footnote "to aging parents") after a summer of role reversal. It feels deceivingly normal, but I am almost afraid I'll jinx it if I say this out loud. Let's put it like this: I am happy about the status quo, but mentally prepared to switch into caretaker-mode again.