The Goodbyes start...

It's still over a week before we leave, but the Goodbyes have started. Kathy had a ladies coffee get together this morning in her honor (and that of Dana, our friend who is also leaving Prague later in the summer). Kathy said it was very, very nice and that they gave her nice gifts that I will see tonight when I get home.

My staff surprised me with two gifts today as well. A nice coffee table book of Prague that they wrote kind things in and a wonderful ceramic beer mug. I told them that I wasn't sure that I could defile such a mug by pouring American beer into it. Even though I have another week they presented the gifts today because my college intern, Julie, is going on vacation tomorrow and I will be gone before she returns on the 23rd. So this was the last day that all four of us will be together.


Here are Jiri, Julie, and Vera with the National Museum across the street as a backdrop.


The only one missing is my DC employee, Abdul, who left the company a few weeks ago.

Even though I have only been here a bit less than two years I find myself getting emotional about leaving. The department has changed a lot since I got here - for the better I think - and the credit goes to the staff who works for me. I will miss them.

Blog tidbits...

In slightly more than two weeks we will be moving back to the States and I doubt that I will add new posts to the blog. I might keep the blog going for awhile since most of my hits are on older posts (like the one post I did on Jane Mansfield which still gets a lot of hits). I will probably start another blog on another topic, but if I do I will do it anonymously and it won't deal my family.

Even as I approach the mothballing of the blog, though, there are some significant milestones to savor. As I write this the original hit counter (the small one at the bottom of the left hand side of the blog), which was up and running within a few days of when the blog began in April of 2007, is at 9,997 and I expect it to hit 10,000 by the end of the day. 10,000 hits. If you had asked me when I started if I would reach 10,000 I would have said sure, in 2012. Of course, the daily traffic started quite small and grew over time as there was more content to found by Google searches. So while I have reached 10,000 hits 14 months, I am currently averaging about 1,000 hits a month and about 75% of these hits are first timers, not returning friends and family.

This post is also number 396 and I will hit 400 in the next few days. That's an average of just under one per day (about 93% of the days I add a post), and many of the posts were pretty lame, but at least there was a wide variety of lameness.

I have now had visitors from 96 individual countries or territories (e.g. Puerto Rico and the Palestinian territories) and just yesterday had my first visitor from Iran (also brought to the blog thanks to the post on Jane Mansfield). It proves what a wonderful tool Google is that so many people can find my little blog about this and that. But I never in a million years thought I could reach countries of more than half the planet.

My plan is to convert many of my posts into a book via blurb.com. This is a self-publishing web site that is linkable to some blogs (fortunately, blogger is one of them) so I can create a publisher quality coffee table book of our time in Prague as keepsake.

I have really enjoyed writing the blog and hope that when you stopped by you found something interesting. It was a great learning experience for me and I now feel I could start a blog about anything that interests me and be able to make the blog look good and have interesting features. Thanks for your support.

The church in Andau...

After visiting Weinbau Sattler on Thursday we went to Andau and looked at the Catholic church there. I think it has an interesting architecture but Martin Sattler would say at dinner the next night that it "looks like a factory". I suppose it does, but I still like it.


The door to the church was unlocked - this surprised us since in the US it seems that churches are only open when services are being conducted.


Here is a mural on the ceiling of the church.


In front of the church there is a memorial to the Andau dead from WWI and WWII. It seems as if every town has at least one of these. There are 8 Sattler dead from WWI listed, and 20 from WWII. These numbers, from such a small village, is staggering. I know that the Martin Sattler killed in WWI is related to me since my aunt has a card, in German, with details of his death.


The surnames Peck, Pelzer and Thell are also in my Sattler line (as the maiden names of Sattler wives).

Meeting more of the Sattlers...

On Friday evening we had arranged to meet Martin Sattler for dinner. Martin is a member of the Burgenland Bunch - as I and my cousin Rick are - which has a web site devoted to researching family genealogy in Burgenland.

Martin Sattler is a common name in my genealogy, and is the name of both my great-grandfather and great-great grandfather, both born in Andau.

We were to meet at 7 PM and since we were a little early we decided to walkl through the little Illmitz cemetery that was just across the street from the restaurant. We had just entered the cemetery when Kathy heard a group of people speaking English and struck up a conversation. It turned out to be a group from Minnesota - from St. Paul no less. They were Gartners and were researching their family history in Burgenland. Al Gartner was the patriarch of the group and he is from Rice Street and knows my uncle Frank Tischler. Al's brother is Jim Gartner who ran the St. Bernard's bowling alley when I was in grade school and in a league there. Small world!

We met at the Presshaus restaurant in Illmitz, just a few doors down from our hotel (and, as noted, across the street from the cemetery). Martin brought his uncle Alfred with him. Martin spoke pretty good English but Alfed didn't speak any. Both men seemed genuinely interested in genealogy and we talked for three hours about the Sattler line and how we might be related. Unfortunately, we can't find the exact manner of how we might be related, and more work is required. I did find out that a Sattler left Burgenland for China in the 1920s and ended up farming 60,000 hectares, which is almost 150,000 acres. I may ask for more details from Martin about this since I am sure it is an interesting story.

It was a great evening. The company was wonderful as were the food and the wine at dinner. I also told Martin about Rick's probable visit next year. I have a feeling that we will meet Martin again.

Meeting the Sattlers...

Our first stop on Thursday after we settled into our hotel was the Weinbau Sattler, a little winery run by Erich Sattler in Tadten, just a couple of miles from Andau which is the area where my Sattler family came from. I assume there is some relation between me and Erich but don't know for sure.

I had looked at the Weinbau Sattler web site but had not contacted Erich ahead of time. We found the winery which is on the main street through Tadten - we had expected something out in the country. We brought with us the article from the International Wall Street Journal from February that had reported on the great Austrian wines and noted a Weinbau Sattler red as one of the best.



The sign for the Sattler winery on the main street though Tadten. In the background is the memorial for the men from Tadten who died in WWI and WWII. There are many Sattlers and a couple of Tischlers listed.

We went through a big wooden door from the street and entered the compound. We didn't see anyone and so continued to the back where we found the tasting room. We also found the door to the wine storage warehouse and rang the bell. After a few minutes an older gentleman came out and we tried to explain that we were looking for Erich. He didn't speak English but we understood that he wasn't in now but would be later. We thanked him and left to explore Andau.

We returned a couple of hours later and this time found Erich at home and I explained that I was doing some genealogy research on Sattlers and thought we might be related. His English was quite good and he graciously invited us to sit and have a chat. He brought out some of his wine (and apple juice for Noah) and I showed him a summary of my Sattler line and asked him if he recognized any or thought we were related. His answer, with a shrug, was "All Sattlers in Burgenland are related". He is a low key guy and I got the impression that he didn't really see the point of trying to find old relatives. Kathy sees a family resemblance, and I guess I do as well in the weak chin (which is nice way of saying no chin).

I asked him if business had picked up after he was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article and he had a blank look. He was not aware that one of his reds was proclaimed one of the best in Europe by one of the best known papers in the world. We gave him the copy of the article that we had brought with us and he seemed proud and happy.

We bought 13 bottles of his wine and then returned the next day and bought 8 more. The prices were very reasonable. The red wine mentioned in the Journal was listed at $32 a bottle at retail, but at his winery it can be had for about $12 a bottle. Again he brought out wine and apple juice and we had another nice visit.


I still don't know for sure if Erich and I are related or how, but I will keep looking with the help of my cousin, Rick. Rick and his wife plan to visit Burgenland next year and I let Erich know that he would probably be having more visitors. We also got the name of Erich's distributor in the US and we hope to be able to buy more of the Weinbau Sattler wine when we get back home.

Off to Burgenland...

The three of us are leaving this morning for eastern Austria, which is the area known as Burgenland. This is the land of my Sattler ancestors - my dad's mother was Barbara Sattler. Anyway, I have some good information on my Sattler ancestors going back to around 1800 and had formerly posted on the topic here and here.

While we are there we are going to have dinner with Martin Sattler and we will try to figure out if or how we are related - I have a high confidence that we are kin. We are also going to visit the Sattler winery, which was lauded in the International Wall Street Journal a few months ago as having some of the best wine in Europe.

We are staying in what looks to be a nice hotel, the Hotel Zur Post, in the town of Illmitz, just east of lake Neusiedl am See. The town of my forefathers is Andau, and is located about 15 miles east of Illmitz on the border with Hungary.

I will report more but it will likely be when we return on Saturday.

My good deed for the day...

Returning from a visit to our new building yesterday (see previous post) I came to the top of the escalator at the Muzeum metro station and saw one of the metro police with a young woman. At first I thought that the young woman was trying to get help in working the automated ticket machines, since they were standing next to a bank of them and they are not that easy to decipher. So I decided to stop to see if I could help.

As I approached I could see that the young woman was sobbing and I heard her say "I don't understand" to the unmoved female policewoman. I suppose I could have bailed but she looked so distressed that I thought I would at least see what the problem was.

Apparently, the girl had just arrived from the airport. She had purchased a transportation ticket at the airport but when she was spot checked (the metro police often check riders of the metro for valid tickets since the honor system is used, i.e. no turnstiles) the policewoman said that there was a problem. She would have to wait for the regular city police an dbe dealt with accordingly.

You can buy tickets that are valid for 24 hours anywhere within Prague, but there are also tickets where the validity is based on either time or distance (in zones). I listened to the young girl and explained that I didn't speak Czech but that perhaps the ticket she bought at the airport might, indeed, be expired. Not to worry, I said, they usually just want you to pay the fine and then you can be on your way.

I asked her if they told her the amount of the fine. 700 crowns, she said (about $44). That seemed a bit steep to me - I had expected around 400 crowns. I turned to the policewoman and asked if the fine could be smaller - and for effect I placed the thumb and forefinger of my right hand close together. I expected some answer in Czech that I wouldn't understand. But she said, in perfect English. "That is impossible". I didn't dare ask what was impossible about it since I didnt want to get arrested myself.

Hmmm. I asked the girl if she had any crowns and of course she didn't. She was just coming from the airport. Hmmm. I had another thought. "Do you have friends in Prague?" I asked. Yes, her boyfriend was here in Prague. Great - I would lend her my cell phone and she could call him to come and help her out. Then she quickly went on - "but his mobile phone is off, I can't reach him".

Hmmm. I knew I only had 300 crowns on me, well short of the 700 needed. If I wanted to trust her I could leave and find an ATM (there was one at my building just a few minutes away), get some money and come back. But that would take some time and the police might show up by then and take her somewhere else. Then one of those strange occurences - occured. I looked up and there in the station was an ATM, not 30 feet from where I was standing.*** I had never noticed it before. But I took it as some kind of sign and told her to wait and I would be right back. I walked over to the ATM and put in my card. While it was reading my card I began to worry "what if I can only get 1,000 crowns out of this thing. I don't think the metro police will make change".

Just then I heard the girl's voice behind. I turned to see the policewoman leading her away and the girl pleading "they are taking me somewhere else". They vanished around the corner.

I typed my PIN and, as luck would have it, while the machine didn't offer a 700 crown amount it did offer to spit out 600. I withdrew that and added 100 crowns from my wallet. I grabbed one of my business cards from my wallet and went to see if I could find them. Luckily, I turned the first corner and there was the girl and the policewoman - they had been joined by two Prague policeman.

I folded the bills so that they were smaller than my business card and walked up to her. I tapped her on the shoulder and handed her my business card, but in a way so that the others wouldn't see the money behind it. "Here is my card", I said, and then whispered that there was also 700 crowns if she needed it. And I turned and walked away. Her look as I turned was a mix of gratitude, relief and a little disbelief.

I didn't think much more about it the rest of the day and even forgot to tell Kathy about it when I got home (maybe because it would sound like a crazy thing to do). I had just cleaned up the dishes from dinner when my cell phone rang. That doesn't happen very often and so I wondered who it was. It was the girl from the metro. She had to use the 700 crowns for the fine and wanted to meet me the next day to pay me back. We agreed to meet in from of the National Muzeum right across from my office at 12 noon today.

She was right on time, and had her boyfriend and another girlfriend with her. She explained that the ticket she had bought at the airpotrt was indeed for a set time and that she had exceeded the time on the ticket by 3 minutes! All of this hassle for 3 minutes. The police had threatened to hold her for 24 hours if she hadn't paid the fine. All three of them were very nice and very grateful.

It was nice to act as a good samaritan, especially as an American. Also, I can't believe that Prague would allow this kind of treatment of tourists by it's police. It's not like tourism is important to the city or anything (//sarcasm//).






*** There was also an ATM even closer, just right around the corner, not 10 feet from where we were standing. I passed this one every day but only remembered it later.

The Lent diet is over...

Lent - the period of the Catholic calendar from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday - is meant to be a period of reflection and fasting as good Catholics prepare for the Easter celebration of the resurrection of Christ. For the last several years as my Lenten sacrifice I have given up both alocohol and sweets. It has gone from something that I dread to something I actually look forward to.

It does take a little adjustment, though. In the evening after putting Noah to bed I usually have one beer or one drink. For the first few days I have to fight the force of habit and not have a beer, but then I get used to the new status quo and it becomes easy.

Giving up sweets is a little easier since there are so many sugar free substitutes now. I allow myself sugar free gum, sugar free jello and diet soda.

One of the non-spiritual benefits I noticed from the first year is that giving up alcohol and sweets made me lose weight. The weight loss has varied from year to year, but is always noticeable and last year it was 8 pounds. When I got on the scale yesterday (Easter) morning, the loss for the 46 days of Lent was 11 pounds.

Someday I am going to write a book called The Lenten Diet and make a fortune, but until then I will have to be satisfied with having my clothes fit better for a portion of the year.

A nice Thursday lunch...

Kathy and I met for lunch today at a nice place called Parliament, near Old Town square. Kathy had found the place when she and her friends stopped for lunch while they were in Prague.

The place is small but well appointed - lots of dark wood. The menu has listings in English and Russian in addition to Czech, and the waiter spoke very good English.

The most notable thing abuot the restaurant was the service. The waiter came promptly and took our drink order (just 2 Coke Lights) and when he brought those (also promptly) he took our food order. The food arrived in about 10 minutes, which is lightning fast around these parts.

I had basic pork roast with potatoe dumplings and sauerkraut, and everything was fantastic. The pork was tender with a nice light gravy, the dumplings were light compared to most I've had from other places, and the sauerkraut was obvioulsy very fresh. Good portion size, too.

The total bill came to about 240 crowns, or about $15 (not bad, but that same 240 crowns would have cost us just a little over $10 when we first got to Prague).

About the only negative was the amount of smoke in the air, and that is just a fact of life when dining out in Prague during winter. Once the outdoor cafes open it's much nicer - less smoke, better views, great weather.

Kathy and I try to meet for lunch or morning coffee at least once a month. It's a real treat.

My 2007 taxes are done!...

I got my W-2 delivered on Thursday and it only took about an hour using the on-line version of TurboTax. I have filed on-line this way for about seven years, but this year was particularly easy for a variety of reasons.

First, 2007 was the first year that we were in Prague for the entire calendar year - we moved here in August of 2006. The 2006 taxes were more complicated because of the time split between Minnesota and Prague. But 2007 was easy.

Because we were overseas for all of 2007 there was no state tax to file - we are not residents of any state. That cut the paperwork by almost half (although state taxes are generally less involved than federal).

The biggest reason for the time saving, though, was that I used the standard deduction. Without a house (which we sold last February) there is not much to itemize, so it was cost effective - and much quicker - to use the standard deduction of $10,700. A lot of time is saved when you don't have to pull together donation receipts and look up how much you spent on your car tabs.

Because we are expats working overseas there is a foreign income exclusion. That means that when I calculate my gross income I then get to subtract the amount of the foreign income exclusion. For 2007 that exclusion is $85,700. That doesn't leave a lot left - and then you take away the standard deduction.

Anyway, I don't think I have been done this quickly with taxes since, well, when I was still in school. This will, of course, all change whenever we move back but for now I'm lovin' it.

The truth about what I do...

is summed up in this cartoon.

Crackberry...

Well, I have a BlackBerry again. I had one with my last employer, ATK, but BlackBerry isn't as prevalent here in Europe as it is in the US and Radio Free Europe did not use them - until recently. A combination of demand (from our president, director of communications, me, etc.) and supply (more companies are adopting BlackBerry in Europe) has convinced our Technology guys to solve the technical issues with utilizing BlackBerry - and they have.

So I have a new BlackBerry 8800. It's pretty cool, and much more advanced (and slimmer) than the one I had over a year ago at ATK. It now has a color screen and can play music and videos much like an iPhone. It also has GPS but I don't know yet if the service we pay for includes the extra for the GPS function.

To be truthful, my volume of email is substantially lower than when I was at ATK. I probably get only 15% of that volume in my current position (plus, I don't work weekends and only about 42 hours per week). Still, the old Nokia phone I had was four years old and no longer held a charge very well. Since PDAs are standard issue for management, I am happy to have my BlackBerry back.

Birthday beers...

Well, today I turn 49 years old. Birthdays aren't a big deal to me, and I certainly don't get depressed by them. My saying is, "Any day on the green side of the grass is a good one." My recently departed in-laws [meaning they went back to the US after a visit here, not that they recently died], Bill, Gert, Nancy and Stuart, were kind enough to get me a little birthday present before they left. They visited a local beer store that has hundreds (well, at least scores) of different kinds of Czech beers by the bottle. They got me six bottles of beer. Here I am posing with them (the beers, not the in-laws).














One of the beers is particularly interesting as it has a naked woman on the label, with her hands strategically placed. I am enjoying that beer as we speak - both drinking it and looking at the label. Ah, being 49 isn't that bad.

Pigeon attack...

I was sitting at my desk last week when I heard a loud thud. I turned around but there was nothing unusual out my window, which if you recall looks onto a courtyard. I assumed that there were workers on the roof above my office and thought nothing more of it.

The next day I entered my office and as I walked around the desk to get to my chair I noticed something on the window. It looked like this. Look VERY closely.













Still can't tell what it is? Here is a view of my window from across the courtyard.


Yep, it was a pigeon strike. You can't tell from the picture, but the impression left on my window has the detail of an x-ray, showing individual feathers and details of the beak. It obviously wasn't even slowing down when it hit the window. I assume it has shuffled of the mortal coil, is not pining for the fjords and that it is an ex-pigeon.

Anniversaries and Birthdays...

Today is my mom and dad's wedding anniversary. They were married 59 years ago today. Here is a picture from their wedding reception.

Tomorrow, October 10th, would have been my dad's 79th birthday. This will be the first of these milestones without him around, and it is difficult.
October has always been the biggest month for birthday and other celebrations. Other birthdays in October include mine, my youngest sister's and my mom's mom (deceased). The anniversary of my oldest sister and her husband is also in October.

It was always easy for me to remember my dad's age, since our birthdays are only a few days apart and he is thirty years older than me (so you can figure out that I will be 49 next week).

It's still hard to believe that he is gone, and of course, we all miss him greatly.

Golf tournament in the Czech Republic (yeah!)...

I spent the day at a golf tournament at one of the nicer courses around here, in Karlovy Vary, about 70 mile west of Prague. The tournament was sponsored by Citibank. I met one of their reps a few weeks ago and she invited me to attend. Here she is along with the rest of our foursome - Jan and Frantisek.

The weather this morning was far from ideal. About 50 degrees and drizzling. The invitation didn't say "play rain or shine" or give an alternate date if there was rain, so I decided to make the drive (thanks again, Garmin). It ended up staying in the 50s, but not a drop of rain during the 5 hour and 45 minute round.

I didn't play very well - a score of 100. But I had some good holes and made some good shots, particularly with the driver. The hole distances are in meters instead of yards and I should have looked up the conversion before I played. I know that a yard is close to a meter, but don't know if a yard is longer or shorter.

Here is the clubhouse coming up the 18th hole.


This is a downhill 191 meter par 3. I hit a solid 4-iron and stuck it about 8 feet from the pin. Of course I missed the birdie putt (but tapped in for par).




This is the par 5 9th hole. I got a par here as well thanks to a long drive down the middle of the narrow fairway.








There was free food before, during and after the round. Alas, no drink carts. Because of the zero tolerance on drinking and driving - any alcohol in your blood results in a DUI - no beer. Still, it was very nice to get onto a golf course and use my own clubs. I still suck at golf, but it was fun.

Our 11th anniversary...

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary and I can't let that pass without note. Last year on our 10th anniversary we spent the first night in our new house in Prague. Today wasn't so dramatic - just a rainy fall day with us well entrenched in our new house and new city. We went to Coffee Heaven (the Prague equivalent of Starbucks) after dropping Noah off at school for a relaxing coffee before I went to work and Kathy went to the bank to make some changes in some automatic bill payments.

Thinking about our 11 years together it struck me that on the one hand the time seems to have flown by, while on the other my life is so drastically different now than we before I met Kathy that it seems like forever ago that we were married. Interesting how it feels both near and far off.

I'm not sure where we will be on our 15th, 20th or 25th anniversary (I could guess, but will leave that for some other time) but wherever it is will be a continuation of the adventure that is currently 11 years old. It's been quite a trip and I look forward to what the future holds.

Happy Labor Day (but I worked)...

While all of you are enjoying the long Labor Day weekend, I was dutifully at work today. The first Monday in September is not a holiday to recognize workers in the Czech Republic (that would be May Day). Our Radio Free Europe holidays are a mixed bag of US and Czech. While I don't get Labor Day off I do get Thanksgiving off - but not the day after Thanksgiving. Of course, Noah's school has class on Thanksgiving, so having Thanksgiving off doesn't do a lot of good. Last Thanksgiving Kahty and I went to the Museum of Communism, which is some ways was the most poignent way to spend that holiday.

Simple little twists of fate...

I am constantly amazed at the little coincidences in life. The little out of the ordinary things that happen despite great odds against them happening. Each of the last two days I have left the office at lunchtime to look at a few hotels for an upcoming visit by family. We haven't had to utilize a hotel in Prague so I wanted to visit a few in the price range to be able to make a recommendation.

Anyway, on Tuesday I had visited one and was on my way to another near Old Town square when I passed an older gentleman who was obviously asking a waitress in one of the numerous sidewalk cafes for directions. I thought nothing of it since it is a scene that is repeated thousands of times every day in Prague. In any event, I was having some difficulties of my own trying to find the next candidate hotel, so stopped at the corner and drew out my map to get a fix. As I stood there the older gentleman passed me on the corner, looked at me and turned back to approach me. "Do you know where the Grand Hotel Bohemia is", he asked. I was just about to say that I didn't when he added "It's near the Powder Tower". I was pretty sure I knew where the Powder Tower. He was very frustrated at being lost, and seemed genuinely confused in such a way that I would be very concerned to see the same look in a close relative. I suppose I could have pointed in the general direction of the Powder Tower and said "That way about three blocks", but I sensed that he might need more help than that, so I abandoned my task to find his hotel.

During our walk I found out that his name (or at least his nickname) was "Hack" and that he was in Prague for a few days with his wife and a tour group. They had been in Prague seven years earlier so they decided to skip the group's tour of the castle and instead go their own way for a few hours. He works for the department of Homeland Security and what I asked what he did his only reply was "administration" but I didn't press - there are some organizations where you don't press such things (others are the NSA and CIA).

As we approached the Powder Tower he knew that his hotel was nearby but it took another ten minutes of circling in until we found the entrance. Hack's relief at being back in familiar territory was palpable and he called his wife,who was up in their room, form the front desk and asked her to come down to the lobby bar. Hack offered me a beer as a token of his appreciation. And while a few years ago I would have politely turned him down - no need, not a big deal, you would done the same for me - I accepted with relish.


Here is the Powder Tower

His wife joined us presently and we proceeded to enjoy a fine Czech beer (aren't they all?) and have a very nice chat. His wife, whose name I didn't catch since Hack never really introduced us, was born in Latvia before emigrating to the US as a young girl. She told the story of her and Hack being in Budapest a few days before and she went on a Danube river cruise where headphones were provided with commentary in multiple languages, including, it said, Latvian. Excitedly she turned on the Latvian channel to be shocked to find that it was actually not Latvian at all, but Russian. You could just hear the disgust in her voice. Latvians don't like the Russians (Czechs don't like the Russians, Poles don't like the Russians, just about no one likes the Russians)***.


Here is the bar at the Grand Hotel Bohemia where we had a beer.

I finished my beer and bid a fond farewell. I thought later that I should have invited them to Radio Free Europe to show them around or to attend our daily editorial meeting. Hack and I exchanged business cards but I don't know if we will ever correspond or talk again. Even if we don't, it was one of those little things that happen to break up the routine. I wish them well.

*** What's not to like. A poll that just came out, reported today on the Drudge Report, shows that young Russians admire Josef Stalin and feel that all the bad things that history says he did (like murder 20 million of his own people) either didn't occur at all or are exaggerations.

Very strange events last night...

Last night was the first night in three weeks that I have been on my own, after two weeks at my mom's house in the US and then the week long visit of Styopa in Prague. To say the least it was, um, interesting. Let me relay the three interesting (at least to me) things that happened between midnight and 7:00 a.m.

First, I was asleep in bed when I felt someone touch my leg and say "Al". It was a female voice so I assumed it was Kathy. It was a very real sensation, and I woke up right away expecting Kathy to be there standing over me. I looked to the right side of my bed (the side the leg that was touched was) and there was no one there. I then looked to the left and the rest of the bedroom and, of course, no one was in the room. I also noticed that my bedroom door was closed. In a second I realized that Kathy and Noah were still in the States and decided it was just a dream, no matter how real it felt. I fell back to sleep.

Then I had a dream about walking down the street with Tony Soprano, from the TV show "The Sopranos". I had just watched the final episode on the computer last night just before bedtime so it was fresh in my mind. Anyway, as Tony and I were walking we were both laughing and talking. I don't know what was being said except for the fact that we were both happy and I called him "dad" several times. The character of Tony Soprano is my age, so it seemed strange calling him dad, but I did.

Now, the third and especially weird thing. Just as I am in this dream, walking down the street with Tony Soprano and laughing and me calling him dad, I am woken up again. This time by sounds out in the hall outside my bedroom. I open my eyes and I can see that it's morning and I roll over in my bed to look that way - toward my door that goes out into the hall. I looked just in time to see the closed bedroom door swing open. It didn't open just a crack, but wide, like someone was walking through. I had every expectation that someone would actually walk through the door after it opened - but no one did. Surprisingly, I was not afraid by this strange occurance, especially considering the other things that had happened before.

What does it mean? Maybe nothing. The first dream, about being touched, could have been just that - a dream. The second dream, about Tony Soprano, isn't that surprising given that I had just watched the final episode of The Sopranos several hours before. The last thing, the door opening, is a little tougher to explain. But is possible that with the windows open there was a breeze or something that pushed (or sucked) the door open.

What do I think it means? Well, I don't know if this is a common belief, and I don't think it is, but I believe that the recently deceased can and do sometimes send messages to those left behind, usually to let them know that despite what you are feeling everything is OK. I am convinced I received messages from my late wife, Debbie, in the form of especially vivid dreams that I had a little over a year after her death. In the last one, after I moved to Saudi Arabia in 1991, she came to my villa door and when I opened she just stood there for a minute and then walked away. Although there were no words exchanged I strongly sensed the message was "I'm OK where I am and I'm going away now, so you have to get on with your life". These dreams had a very different feel to regular dreams and were very vivid and hard to forget (as opposed to most dreams that are hard to remember). While Debbie would be in future dreams, none of them were of this heightened awareness type.

My dad passed away in March, a little more than four months ago. Was he sending a signal that he is OK where he is and for us not to worry? The character of Tony Soprano is a gangster and a very bad guy, but he is an authority figure, and in the last last scene of the last episode he waits in a diner as his family - wife, son and daughter - join him one by one. The show ends as the last member of the family arrives at the restaurant. Except that this is The Sopranos, the scene is very normal and shows a close, happy family.

What about being woken up by a touch on the leg and a woman calling my name? I don't know, but besides Deb I also lost a sister to cancer many years ago. Could it hve been one of them? If my theory about messages from the departed is subscribed to, it could have been a way to be told to pay attention, because something was going to happen.

Even if it wasn't a message from my dad, it was at least some significant event in my subconscious. I will have to think on it some more. But I hope that tonight I don't dream, and I may lock the bedroom door.