back in Europe

I am now back at my post in E/C Europe.(see footnote)

In contrast to El Paso, Texas, I was not awoken at eight am or nine am or any time at all by computer mediated telephone solicitation.

That obnoxious feature of life in the USA is, curiously enough, absent here.

note:
I am extremely cognizant of the claim that Vienna is east of Prague---and I must be humbled by the creative literature coming out of the region, including especially authors who are not widely known---Nevertheless operating with my naive American categories, I continue to find the concept "Eastern Europe" useful whenever I am faced with certain material inadequacies--e.g., the absence of exhaust fans in kitchens or bathrooms, windows without screens, or the scarcity of books.......(I have been told that during "communism" books were cheaper....)  ---And I am simultaneously amazed by the over-abundance of sunglasses and fancy roller skates (costing approximately 200 US dollars a pair...) the moment it stops raining..................(I concede that in El Paso, Texas, sunglasses have a purpose, but the sun is never so bright as that in the flood plains of |Central Europe.........)