2016 was a mixed year, hope for better in 2017

End of the year is in sight.

It was a mixed year. Started off OK with my usual Basic SQL Course at PCATT with some 10 students that went off well.

I underwent a cataract surgery that left with an unpleasant condition called Dysphotopsia. This condition has left me with an elliptical frame ahead of me only through which I have the normal vision.

This was a year in which Hodentek took interest in posting about Political Events in the USA. Being unable to sit on the sidelines, I began to post hoping for the best.  It looked as if time was rife for more than two parties. However it was soon evident that USA can at most have one of two parties ruling at a given time. Donald Trump really achieved that no one has done before. Let us look forward to USA being made great again.

More total posts were made in 2016 than any other year.
Hodentek.blogspot.com 109 posts
Hodentekhelp.blogspot.com  133 posts
HodentekMSSS.blogspot.com  103 posts
HodentekMobile.blogspot.com 83 posts
HodentekPlus.blogspot.com 108 posts

Year 2016 took me to travelling in Europe and I hope to complete the travelogue I began here  with 8 more posts covering Prague, and Saltzburg.

Looks like there is still some interest in my Basic SQL and SQL Server Reporting Services courses. Hope to interact with the students one more time.

I look forward to great things happening in my country of birth and the country that I adopted. Ending corruption is no small feat and I wish great success to Prime Minister Modi and likewise I wish President to be Donald Trump great success on the issues he won.

I wish you all, my readers, a great and eventful 2017.

Feel so lonely here..

Loneliness can wreck havocs not only for human beings but also for animals.

How much more lonely can it get. The picture tells the sad plight.

Picture from this site:

Giraffe populations in Africa have declined. Urbanization, poaching, deforestation, etc are the main causes. Looks like only 60% of what there was in 1985 are left. It will be so sad to see them go away into oblivion.

Watch this video from Iniosante Studios from 3 years of documenting.

Microosoft Delivers this message for PEACE

Peace and harmony are paramount. If we share same values the country is never divided. There are larger issues to address.

Tour of Munich, Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Salzburg - 5

Vienna

 

Here is the slideshow:

If you cannot see this slideshow try this link.

Day 8 is out here:
http://hodentekplus.blogspot.com/2017/01/tour-of-munich-budapest-vienna-prague.html

Tour of Munich, Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Salzburg - 4

Sightseeing Vienna

This is the part the whole group attended.

We did a lot of sightseeing today in Vienna. We started early around 8:00 AM after a reasonable breakfast at Courtyard.  It was a very functional breakfast room and the service was reasonable although they could do with a few more serving staff as there were other groups besides ours.

We visited the Rococo style Schönbrunn Palace (UN Heritage Site) and its environs, the huge plaza with the fountain followed by the bus tours of downtown Vienna. We made a tour of Ringstrasse and had a break at the Goudi styled Hundertwasser haus. It  was very nice and something out of the ordinary. The similarly styled Hundertwasser shopping area  was also attractive and we had a very good guide.

We wanted to see the short opera pieces they arrange for tourists but we could not find the correct performance schedule. It was a pity. We wanted to see a Klimt at Leopold Museum but we were dog tired. We ate at a buffet place(Rosenberg) suggested by our tour director, sauntered a while near the Opera and decided to see the ‘Monet and Picasso’ at Albertina Museum. It was expensive and there were very few themed paintings. We had seen lot more in our earlier travels and in New York. Well Klimt is to Vienna as Mozart is to Salzberg. Klimt branded stuff is everywhere, shirts, blouses, drapery, over wear, underwear, chocolates and you name it.

There was also an optional event in the evening today, the Viennese traditional Heurigen dinner. We skipped. Being a vegetarian I would have been an inconsonant participant.