Celebration & closure: the end of an era
Curmudgeon receives sad news – as Elderly Aunt passes on. Continue reading Celebration & closure: the end of an era
A message from a reader: in search of (a taste of) home?
A “Leserbrief” to the blog. Another long-term Briton in Vienna asks me for tips on fish and chips and curries Continue reading A message from a reader: in search of (a taste of) home?
CurmudgeonGPT
Curmudgeon explores ChatGPT before reverting to pen and flipchart paper to solve more important issues. He hopes not to have derailed his Nephew’s dreams of property ownership. Continue reading CurmudgeonGPT
Three score years and ten
Curmudgeon turns a biblical age. Not that this venerable state of affairs will mean he changes his habits, other than maybe more naps. Continue reading Three score years and ten
Curmudgeon reduces his digital footprint
Reducing a digital footprint helped me come to terms of really being retired. Continue reading Curmudgeon reduces his digital footprint
From car-free to care-free travel, but first solving the Coronation Conundrum
Curmudgeon has a new car, but now needs to work out how to celebrate the Coronation following some slight fraternal pressure. Continue reading From car-free to care-free travel, but first solving the Coronation Conundrum
Fast food fads fade fast
Do you remember the first Bubble Tea wave of 2011? The noodle box craze? Queues for Dunkin Donuts? Vegan Burger King? It’s all another fast fading fast food fad. Continue reading Fast food fads fade fast
Being called “young” at approaching 70
Curmudgeon unwittingly gets sucked into the cut-throat world of care home stickermania, by octogenarian flattery, which distracts him long enough for a cycle way to appear in front of his home and for a Presidential re-election. Continue reading Being called “young” at approaching 70
Flummoxed by the emergency services
I have been riding public transportation in Vienna for nigh on 30 years. I know pretty much most of the tram, bus, underground and train networks off by heart. Or at least I thought I did. Two years of reduced travel, or probably not having to be anywhere particularly urgently have clearly had an effect though.
Continue reading “Flummoxed by the emergency services”
Tag der Arbeit: return of the Mai Aufmarsch
Curmudgeon muses on politics, electricity bills, Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and first world problems like Boy Racers Continue reading Tag der Arbeit: return of the Mai Aufmarsch
A vital sign
Curmudgeon breaks a long silence to leave a vital sign – sorry it has been so long since I last posted. Continue reading A vital sign
The ill wind that blows when the timetable changes
The annual timetable change brings new routes, headlines, commuter confusion and for some stations it is inevitably the end of the line. Curmudgeon runs his eyes over the ÖBB. Continue reading The ill wind that blows when the timetable changes
And just like that, the end of lockdown, as Lockdown Austria Series 4 draws to an anticlimactic close.
Curmudgeon reviews the latest series of Lockdown Austria. Bit parts aplenty, heroes/villains exiting stage (centre) right. Continue reading And just like that, the end of lockdown, as Lockdown Austria Series 4 draws to an anticlimactic close.
Am I one of the very few sticking to lockdown?
Curmudgeon’s resolve is unbroken and he is heeding the lockdown. Why? Because he wants to be the solution to the problem not the cause of it being exacerbated. Continue reading Am I one of the very few sticking to lockdown?
To save, or not to save: that is the question.
Curmudgeon returns to muse on whether it is good to save when the rewards for doing so are so scant. Continue reading To save, or not to save: that is the question.
If the shot is not on target, move the goalposts…
Curmudgeon invites you to get out of town and shun Vienna now that it has lost its world-beating status for liveability, or has it? In any case, bring a Wegbier on this trip through the Sommerloch. Continue reading If the shot is not on target, move the goalposts…
From Pillar(box) to Post(man) – a parcel-based dilemma
Curmudgeon is caught on the hop by a parcel – with customs fees to pay on a parcel from elderly aunt – and with exact change only the requirement of his postman. Continue reading From Pillar(box) to Post(man) – a parcel-based dilemma
The Bezirkszeitung – A Guilty Pleasure
Curmudgeon tries his hand at deciphering the match-making ads in his local Bezirkszeitung (district newspaper) Continue reading The Bezirkszeitung – A Guilty Pleasure
Have I been missing owt, not going out?
Soon to be fully vaccinated, Spring has dragged for Curmudgeon. A longer than expected online exile helped him get through a tricky fourth lockdown. Continue reading Have I been missing owt, not going out?
1992 and all that
After three and a half years, Curmudgeon takes time to explain how he came to end up in Vienna – from a railtrip through Europe with his hotel room in Vienna being on the Gürtel through to his eyrie in the Döblinger Cottageviertel. Continue reading 1992 and all that
The Curmudgeon in the Cottage 
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