Merry Christmas everyone! We have now finished all our Christmas celebrations, and are spending Christmas day doing absolutely nothing. This year, though, we were lucky to have two santas: 
One is apparently my sister and the other one is Tim (not really sure who’s who though).
Tim and I are right now building up a fear, as we have promised to make 'an English Christmas dinner' for boxing day (tomorrow) and mum has had to order two ducks especially just for that... But we hope you are all enjoying your holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Landed!
Wow! What a trip! Our sweet landlady, M, offered to drive me to Victoria coach station. It'll take 15 mins, she told me. Fair enough, it probably would have, if it wasn't for the fact that we got stuck in traffic a few blocks away from the station. After five minutes in the car, without having moved an inch, I decided to run for it instead. Unloaded my luggage, and started running, bags and all. Only had five mins. to spare... Three blocks later, M finally caught up with me. So luggage back in car, and no feet on the brake... Made it to the coach with no more than 2 seconds to spare!
Finally on the coach, I started to slowly relax. However, it appeared that the block in traffic was not only on the south side of Victoria station, but on all sides... It took us 45 mins. to get from Victoria to Westminster... (Now, be good and google that distance on a map!) I was still ok, because I knew I had booked a very early coach just to have that extra time at the airport, but people around me really seemed to panic. I should have known better myself...
Well, got to the airport, with 2 whole hours left. Perfect! Queued up to the checking in machine (Ryan Air's latest thing), only to discover that it wouldn't print my boarding pass. Weird! Queued up for assistance. Learnt that my last name (God forbid, there are people who have å, ä, ö or other strange characters in their names!) could not be printed by the machine. Queued up for the sales desk. Had my name changed on the ticked. Queued up for the checking in machine again (they couldn't check me in at the sales desk, oh no!). Queued up for the dropping off luggage (a thing that truly deserves a whole other blog entry, but let me tell you; it included anything you've ever seen on 'the Airport' or similar TV shows: crying, swearing, the lot). Queued up for the security check. Ran to gate. Made it with five minutes to spare...
And then panicked on the plane because I thought I was on the wrong flight (staff very foreign, everyone around me speaking Polish, and security announcement in French!). Couldn't be happier than when I finally landed on home grounds!
Tomorrow I'm off to meet Finnish friends in town, and then to my sister's for a lucia and glögg party. And ahead lies the longest holiday I've ever had...
Lazy life
Thank you for all the positive comments! I think I have landed now, and although the fear of the unknown still hits me every now and then, I am more happy now than I have been in a long time. With the financial crisis and all that, this is possibly the worst time ever to suddenly be unemployed, but I will not let that affect me. Proper job hunting begins next year...
So, what have I been up to? Well, we had some friends over for a mini Christmas party (rather unplanned, but still successful). Tim made a big pork roast (very yummy) and I tried to make Yorkshire puddings for the first time ever (and yes, it is more or less a normal pancake recipe). Mum and dad had brought us some Christmassy candle holders and table cloths, and Tim and I bought some really tacky Christmas lights, as well as dug out my old decorations (mostly hand painted Santas) and our straw (hay?) goat from IKEA (a year-round decoration for us) was placed in front of the fireplace. I even managed to dig out my Absolute Christmas-CD, so the transformation of the flat was complete. I now feel very much in mood for the holidays!
Last night we had Peter and Elena over for dinner. Last chance to see them before the holidays, so we wanted to make an effort. Unfortunately, we weren't too keen on the date: Tim had to go to Paris at 5 o'clock this morning (meaning getting up at 3!), so we were rather stressed hosts but still had a very good time. Peter and Elena (as the good academics they are) gave me gifts as a congratulation to being finished - a book and two Wii games... So we spent the last part of the evening playing on the Wii. Who knew that Australians were so good at winter sports? Englishmen being rubbish was, of course, nothing new.
Today, I'm slowly starting to pack. I've booked by coach ticket to Stansted (wow, that airport is far out!) - a bit scared, since I'm using a new company for the first time, but I'm sure it'll work out. I've also called my mobile phone operators again - and hey! this time I am allowed to use my phone abroad without having to pay £100... Don't know if I should be happy, or annoyed. Probably happy! I'm still waiting for the last load of laundry (which, hopefully, will have time to dry), and updating the contents on my mp3-player (no, it's not an iPod, I hate iTunes). I'm slightly worried about how to get all the things in the bags, but think I might actually leave the laptop behind (and that is shocking!). I'm sure there's one I can borrow at home. Wow! The work me is slowly evaporating...
Life, version 2.1
Yes, it is done! The thesis has been delivered (went to the printers one week ago, and was given to the faculty on Wednesday - great thanks to my hero Elise for helping me with that!) - a new phase of my life has begun. It is a great relief, but also strange. The work that I have done has been such a great part of my life and my identity for the past five years, and it is hard to find a new role, and a new way of defining oneself. More than anything, I am really, really tired. I could easily sleep for a week. It has been both physically and mentally exhausting.
Also, the day after I had finished, mum and dad came to visit - and the day after that Tim's mum as well. Tim has been very very busy - his last sale being on the Wednesday (which went very well, and he has been raised to the skies), so I have had to been entertaining and social non stop for the past six days. To say that I am knackered is not an exaggeration. But it has been very nice to have them here, and to focus on some new things.
I still do not know what to do now, though. The natural first step would be to apply for funding in the UK, but I don't think I have enough (English) publications to even be considered. So, I'm sitting here, contemplating my life, wondering what to do next (do I really want to stay in academia?), worrying about lack of money, lack of experience, lack of future plans. It is a strange feeling - being utterly happy and really frightened at the same time... Welcome to my life - version 2.1!
Comedy, ha ha ha!
Saturday was spent in the library, and at night we watched 'We are most amused' - a comedy show in celebration of Prince Charles's 60th birthday, and there were some really good acts. Tim loved Joan Rivers, we both laughed at Robin Williams (although it might have been a little too political) and discovered a - for us - new talent. (The Iranian?) Omid Djalili was absolutely great. I especially laughed at: "We from the Middle East, we don’t know much about comedy. We don’t even know basic joke construction. Like, for you, an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman that is a joke. To us, that is a hostage situation."
Other than that, this was one of my favourites:
Funny was also Eric Idle in a tutu, singing "Always look at the bright side of life" (what else?), with a few new lines, like: "When you're sixty years of age, and you're Mum won't leave the stage, it's good to know that you're still Prince of Wales!" Poor man, he'll never become King...
But it is great to know, that even though I have moved to a country with a rather limited social security system, hardly any maternal leave (not to mention paternal!) and poor housing, then at least British comedy is brilliant!
Subtle hints?
I'm a bit behind on my writing plan already, so I'm not quite sure how to react when I find this in my inbox:
(Click to enlarge.)
Catsitting
We have been catsitting Jim for the past week:
It has been really nice, and we both miss him, now that he has gone back upstairs. The empty food bowl stares back at us, and sitting on the sofa watching TV is just not the same thing without his purring. He is such a social cat, and it is funny how quickly we got used to having him here again. He has really become our baby - we buy him treats, let him eat our dinner, make sure he's entertained, give him the best blanket, and let him sleep on the bed. The bed, yes. Well, that has become a bit of a tricky one. Sleeping on our bed, he soon got used to lying in the middle - thus making me sleep at the very edge, almost falling out - and Tim crammed up against the wall. And still we cannot say no or move him, because we like him there, and want him to be happy. Although there are a few things that in the end got to me: making him breakfast being the main one. Of course his owners normally get up sinfully early, and thus he expects us to get up at the same time. He has worked out that I am the soft one, and that I am the one that should be woken up. So, he climbs on top of me, and then jumps up and down on my chest until I get up and feed him! Getting up at 5.45 on a Saturday morning is not a hit! Also - and this has nothing to do with any kinds of hormonal morning sicknesses - opening a tin of 'super meat' at that time of the day just makes me want to hurl... And still, we both spoil him rotten. We are both starting to wonder how we will do if we were ever to have a real baby...
German dictatorial reference
I think I have reversed back to my early teens. I have an enormous spot! It's red, bright and rather painful. Had it been on my nose, Tim would definitely have called me Rudolph. But it is not. It's right below my nose, above my upper lip. He calls me Hitler...
Christmas
Ok, we have finally taken the bull by the horns and booked our flights to Sweden for Christmas. It took me absolutely forever to book the tickets. Couldn't decide when I wanted to go, with which company, or whether I should travel back with Tim or not. In the one hour I spent on British Airway's booking page, the prize of a one way ticket went from £61, to 29, back to 61, to 93, back to 29, then 61, then 165 and finally 61 again! I gave up on them!
But as it will probably be the last Christmas I ever have when I can take as much time off as I want (now, that's a depressing thought) I'm making it a long one. Will fly out to "Stockholm" (with cheapo Ryanair, thus Västerås) on the 12th and back to England on the 4th of January - so New Year's in Stockholm as well. I am so looking forward to it - help out with Christmas preparations, work a little bit (new exciting research at the Royal Library - no thesis!) and have plenty of time to see everyone. Feel a little bit bad about Christmas, because Tim and I are on a very strict budget, but have decided I can't walk around feeling anxious about that all the time. Denial, it's a great thing! This year I am really going to enjoy the holidays!
Word of the day
My word of the day (I'm very much in thesis writing mode), which is very useful: skriftproduktionsperiod ('writing production period'). Ha! Put that in a sentence if you can!
PhD updates
Ok, I better make this official or there will be no pressure. I have now a dead line: the 29th of this month will be the day I hand in (unless I finish early, of course, but that's not even on the map). I cannot work on this another Christmas (or rather, feel guilty for not working on it), and there's no way I will let it drag into another year. Also, on the 29th, my parents are visiting us again, and the fear of my parents (read: mum) is probably the greatest motivation there is. (Who said you ever become independent?!) I figured, that by making it official I feel even more pressure to finish. So, count the days with me, at this time next month I might be a happy woman!
Weekend report
We had quite a relaxing weekend, much needed I believe. I was supposed to go clubbing on Friday, but ended up not going. Slept in on Saturday, before running some errands. A friend from Norway was in town, but I didn't manage to get hold of him so never met up. Instead, bought four dvd's and three Wii games. It was absolutely pouring down, so it was quite nice to go back home and snuggle up on the sofa with a movie with the rain tapping on the windows. Jim refused to go out. I didn't blame him. Halloween weekend and all, we watched 28 days later. Very good! Had already seen the sequel (28 weeks later) which I enjoyed, as well as the 'comic' version Shaun of the dead (which happens to be one of my favourite movies). Sunday was equally slow. We slept, read, watched Apocalypto, played some Wii, stroked the cat... All the usual stuff. Had planned to go and see a bonfire and some firework, but were in the end too lazy. The weather still wasn't great and the only celebrations we knew about were in Mile End, which is miles away (ha ha ha!). So decided to wait til Wednesday, when the real Fawke's day is. (Read more about that here. It is such a great story!) Some of the biggest celebrations are held in Clapham, not too far away from us, which suits us much better. Hope for no rain on the fifth then and I'll get to experience my first English bonfire night. And as a curiousity, here's a useful poem to read on the day:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Also, I would like to thank you for all the positive comments about the flat! I like it a lot, although there are loads of things I would fix/change if it were ours. At the moment, isolating the windows will have to do (why, why, why will people not use double glassing???). Now at least you know how we live.
Daily observation
Today in the library I sat next to a man with a spectacular hair. [Feel free to here sing anything you know from the musical.] The man, in his sixties/seventies wore an amazing white, curly wig. The hair was just too big and too white to be real, and the synthetic material just glowed. And yes, looking a bit closer you could see some of his real hair poking out at the back of the neck. And I just couldn’t help wondering why he was wearing that? It was so unnatural looking, almost as if he woke up after a particularly tough Halloween weekend, realizing he’d overslept, and ran straight to the library completely unconscious about the fact that his clown hair was still on. (Mind you, I forgot to have a look at his shoes!) It looked like a young Michael Jackson, if Michael Jackson indeed had been white (at that time). Or was he serious? What on earth happened to the old fashioned toupees? And I feel incredibly guilty, but it was really hard not to look.
It was almost as bad as the transvestite we had when I first started college. Nothing wrong with transvestites (I don’t know any, as far as I know, but I’m sure they’re no worse than the rest of us), but he was neither the glamorous gay club world transvestites, or the ‘is it a rather manly woman or quite a female man’ that you run into every now and then. This man was so obviously a man, with an ill fitting dress and poor lipstick technique. He was studying to become a high school teacher. And it always struck me, that no matter how good a teacher he was, he would never be accepted by the pupils (or their farming parents). The man disappeared after a few months. I still don’t know if he gave up his studies, or just moved, but I still hope he eventually found something to do that was right for him. But it was still really hard not to look.
Pictures of the flat
Finally, I've taken a few pictures of the flat. It looks very yellow (which is partly true) but that's because I didn't use a flash. Anyway, here it is. The living room and adjacent kitchen:
The not so very impressing bathroom:
Our bedroom (the one room that needs the most done to it):
And finally, the guest room (aka Tim's dressing room):
Photos of the day
So, autumn is finally here. It is windy, rainy and cold (apparently it's warmer in Reykjavik than here), but also rather pretty.
Here's Stockwell by night:
And Lansdowne Gardens in the rain...
New week
Well, I've now discovered a new week (who celebrates Easter anyway, this could be the official Halloween week): lucky Friday, lonely Saturday, worrying Sunday (Tim got stuck in a tunnel on the Eurostar for close to four hours, and with no phone switched on!), and finally shitty Monday. Yes, I might just as well make it public — I woke up nice and early this morning only to discover that I have the urinary tract infection from hell! So, there, now we all know it. (Sorry, just have to whinge about it.) Thus my morning was spent in the local health clinic...
Finally getting in to the British Library, I was met by complete chaos. It was children's day! And there were children, parents, more children, grandparents, buggies, nannies, and kindergarten groups everywhere! The courtyard was completely packed, and the queue for bag search enormous. (Yes, the bag search - another thing I've planned to blog about for months now.) Kind of cute, but also a bit stressing when all you want to do is to make up for the wasted morning. On a break a few hours later, I also discovered that they had invited illustrators of children's books to come and 'perform' (i.e. draw) live on a giant canvas. Quite entertaining to watch, and a great crowd pleaser. Just look at all the people! 
However, I was a bit bummed to realize that I had missed one of my favorites: Quentin Blake! Anyone who grew up reading Roald Dahl knows what I'm referring to. Oh well, maybe next year. It wouldn't surprise me if was still in the BL then...
Lucky me!
Guess who had to eat calf brains for dinner, and be bitten by bedbugs?
And guess who didn't go to Paris....
Guess who didn't go to Paris?
Cookies, coffe and an unfinished PhD-thesis. What else does a girl want for a Saturday night?!
Ready for a good Friday
Four chick flicks ready - Mean girls, Save the last dance, Clueless and the wonderful Little women (all for only £13 pounds in Zavvi!)... Guess whose husband is in Paris for the weekend?!
(My great plan was also to load up on popcorn, which Tim hates but I love. Unfortunately, all I could found was the micro pop version, and we have no micro. Bugger! Oh well, I'm sure Doritos will do the trick too.)
Breakfast for adults
We had Tim's nephew visiting two weeks ago. He's eight, and very picky with food. Thus, we had to fill the fridge with whatever special stuff he wanted. I'm still eating his yogurts. "For stronger bones". "From 4-6 months onwards". It does not feel very grown up!
Dinner for adults
Monday: tea and M&Ms.
I think we just lost about 5000 gups. (We did defrost the chicken, we just couldn't be bothered to cook.)
Another thing...
... that I would be happy to live without is the poor plumming. We were convinced we had sorted it out, but no. The kitchen sink is connected to both the bathroom sink and the washing machine: i.e. food in one of them, and you have food in the other two as well. Often when you go into the bathroom it now looks as if one of us is bulimic - old food everywhere in the sink. Yuk! And before we can do any laundry we now have to run a simple spin and rinse cycle in the machine, to get rid of left overs... (I have not yet had the courage to tell Tim I've found pieces of leek in his clean underwear...) Something clearly has to be done!
A thing...
...that I definitely do not appreciate finding on the middle of the carpet in the hall: an enormous woodlouse! (The size of half a thumb!) How did he get there? What happened to living in the middle of a overdeveloped city, far far away from nature? Why is nature haunting me? Oh, so many questions...
Iceland may have bad finances, but they sure know how to make music
Listened to Björk on the way in to work. The line 'I thought I could organize freedom - how Scandinavian of me', always gets stuck in my head.
(And yes, I have also listened to Sigur Rós half the day - until it got late, and the game between Spart and Furuset began, and I had to switch over to Norwegian internet radio. Sparta is now, after 10 matches, at the top of the table!!! Very happy!)
Things that happen...
... when your husband is home alone for a week:
1) No dishes are made (he could not work out how the dishwasher works)
2) Dish washing liquid is used in the washing machine (well, at least he did the laundry - and all the glass we do in the washing machine is very shiny!)
So much for equality in the home!
Back on the writing track
Echo… echo… echo…
Yes, I admit, it’s quite empty in here. I’ve been really bad at updating lately. Partly, this is because of my trip to Sweden, partly because I’ve been rather stressed and down, and blogging then is just plain depressing — if not for me, so for you readers. But things are slowly looking brighter. If nothing else, they finally have started with free internet in the British Library! Absolutely perfect! I love it. Although it took me a few days to get it to work. I had to log in with my old account, but I couldn’t remember the details. Tried registering a new account, but they already had my reader’s pass on file, so that didn’t work. But no worry, it said on the homepage. Just write your user name, and we’ll email you your password. Only two problems: 1) How could I check my email if they wouldn’t allow me to use the internet, and 2) I couldn’t remember my user name (but was pretty sure of my password). Very frustrating! But after a few phone calls (with my super phone, which is still lovely) everything is up and running, and I can now check emails/update the blog/chat and well, search for info online whenever I want. Super! It really feels like a luxury!
Other good news: we finally gave in and bought a "new" TV. We had been promised one from a friend, but none of us had ever the time to meet up to get it. It had to be a weekend, and when he was available we weren’t and vice versa. But last Sunday we agreed that we’d had enough! The tiny one that came with the flat has definitely done its job. So, we looked around on some ads online, and called a few. Found one who wanted to sell the same day (sounds suspicious?), and was willing to deliver it, too. A few hour later, she was ours! £ 80 felt like very well spent money when we saw the huge TV that arrived (29 inches, 3 years old). It is enormous. I’m not sure if it’s because we are so used to the old, tiny one, or because it really is big, or because the furniture it’s standing on is small… but anyway. It has revolutionized our lives. We can now zap with a remote; watch all five channels without having to go through 99 channels on the way there; and use the Wii again. (Yes, we are playing Super Mario like crazy.) The remote control is particularly impressing. It is absolutely huge! I almost suspect it has been made for someone half blind/deaf/generally disabled person. Just look at the size of the buttons:
Well, at least it is hard to lose it!
Older
We are definitely getting older. Had a dinner party last night (30 grown-up-points), for Tim's boss and our landlady (120 gups). They arrived with a flower and expensive wine (10 gups). As a main, we (read: I) served organic Scottish salmon (80 gups). For dessert we had crackers and fancy cheeses (200 gups). We (read: all but me) talked mostly about the Firm (70 gups), and about what to serve at an upcoming event ("How many cucumber sandwiches does one person eat?" = 400 gups). The dinner was eaten on normal plates, but with silver knives and forks (2000 gups).
Yes, it was a great opportunity to finally use our silver. I (somewhat involuntarily) started collecting at an early age - being given one piece at a time, by my grandparents (and considering that I/we now have 6 knives, 6 forks, 6 table spoons and 8 tea spoons I was probably very young when it started). But this still made me feel very grown up, and very old.
Stress
Woke up this morning from a stress dream. Normally, when I'm stressed, I just don't sleep, so having dreams like this is a bit uncommon, but quite frightening. Dreamt that Tim and I had to move in three days, and that the only thing we could find was a cottage in southern Sweden (Skåne). It was small and cozy, but very old, run down, and same rent as here. Somehow (this was, after all a dream) it would be a three hour commute (!) for Tim in the mornings. He seemed quite thrilled (liked the cottage and being close to the sea), but I was really worried about living out in nowhere, without a car (which we clearly couldn't afford). Mum tried to calm me down, and claim that the 451 bus (?!) ran in to town (Ängelholm!) every day. And then I realized I had to take a job in Ängelholm (because there was no way I could apply for a job in London from there), where I would end up working as an unhappy shop assistant for the rest of my life. And that's when I woke up!
So, I woke up stressed, and depressed, and generally unhappy. Told Tim about my dream, and he laughed and said that was the cutest stress dream he'd ever heard of...
Back!
I'm back in London. It's absolutely pouring down, but it doesn't matter because I'm wearing bright red shoes. And they make life a lot brighter!
Credits
I hate the world today. Called my phone company, 3, to get their so called 'international roaming' going, in order to be able to use the phone while abroad. Well, they had to run a credit check (again!), and came to the conclusion, that we had to pay a 150 pounds deposit for it! Are they insane?! Yes, I accept we had to pay a deposit for the phone. They ran a credit check, and although we both know that we have a perfect credit rating, the system checks everyone on the address; so if someone else has bad credit, then it affects you as well. But this time?! Give me a break! Alternatively, I could wait 2 months, and it would be activated. Yes, I'll wait... but isn't that just insane? What did they expect me to do with the phone, anyway?! Part of the reason why I chose this company, was because they have deal with the same network abroad (i.e. use 3 in Sweden, and it'll be the same charges as if you were in the UK). Gaaaah!
Strangest sight of the day 2
Ok, good day for this kind of stuff: two great spottings today.
1) Woman walking through the British Library with a pillow (!) under her arm.
2) At King's Cross tube station: young girl, dressed in pink, sitting in a buggy, being pushed by her older sister. The sister, c. 10 years old, is dressed in a shocking neon pink coloured tracksuit. After them comes their mother (very blond), in her late 30s, in a matching tracksuit (same colour!), in a pair of even more matching furry (!) pink flip flops, decorated with glitter! Pink overload, anyone?!
More tech stuff
Well, I can't just write a really negative post like that, but have to add a piece of good tech news as well. Finally, on October 31st, LocoRoco 2 is being released! It's probably the best game ever made for the PSP (well, at least a good tie with Patapon):
The songs are so catchy it's untrue! Ever since getting - and finishing - the first game last Christmas I have wanted a sequel. So now I know what I'll be doing as soon as the thesis is finished...
And good news for Tim: big sale coming up, and he's being interviewed by one of the big national papers tomorrow. Cool!
Technical difficulties
Hm, well, the phone sure is doing it's job (and more), but the laptop truly has a mind of its own. Both bluetooth and wireless decided to give in today, although not completely - the wireless found the server, just refused to connect; and the bluetooth could be found by other devices, but not the other way around. Very frustrating. Also, in a brave moment when I thought I was able to create my own vpn network, I somehow managed to unregister the University of Oslo's administrator, who set up the computer in the first place. I can still connect to UiO's server via vpn, but I'm not sure whether they can access my computer any longer?! Very complicated. After two restarts, one anti virus scan (3 hours!), one spyware scan (1 hour) and cleaning up all the temp files (much needed, I fear), the wireless is finally up again. Computers really do their own thing, don't they?! What I really need is a pro to go through everything... (And this is when I would normally call Tim's friend Peter, who is a computer engineer, but I'm afraid everything on this laptop is in either Norwegian or Swedish... not very helpful!) Needless to say, I did not get much done today, and I am starting to panic a bit. But I'm looking forward to going to Stockholm on Friday... Yay!
Pure joy
So, here it is, my new little baby:
Oh, it's such a super toy (yes, the geek alert is on)! I had been rather jealous of Tim's Blackberry for days, but we were both about to cancel our old contracts (lousy Vodafone!)... so, there was nothing to stop me, really. I'm in love - step aside, Jim (now also known as Stinkface, aka Puke-atron [his Transformers name])! There's nothing this baby can't do (except making coffee, possibly).
I still have to work on the camera, the pictures come out fairly blueish (although that might just be on the screen, I'm experimenting by sending stuff to Flickr, but haven't had time to check it out yet), and the Sync application won't work with Thunderbird (bloody Outlook!), so transferring contacts have proved to be a long, slow process. Finally found some weird application that could sync both with Thunderbird and Lightning. Yay! (Although, admittedly, I somehow ended up with double or even triple entries of most contacts - I suspect it also synced with gmail...) Also, obviously no Scandinavian characters. Worked out how to get most of them, but am still without a decent 'å'. Tried to work out how to add on new fonts, but got a bit bored of it.
Yes, there are loads of features that I have no idea what they are for, or I doubt I'll ever use (voice dialling being one of them), but some of them are just too cool for school. My favourite is the remote control. It can be used to navigate the 'pointer' in Windows, and I am sooo going to use that when giving my lecture in Linköping next week. Hi tech power point, here I come! (Oh, should probably write that lecture...)
Hi tech heaven
Ok. I'm the first one to admit it might seem a bit over the top, but I just cannot help it. This is written on my new toy, and I am completely in love with it! Although no longer in love with Jim who just puked all over our carpet... Biblical proportions! But my new super duper mobile phone is wonderful, and I'm in love!!!
Competition for Tim
I've got a new boyfriend. He's great. Beautiful, black, thick hair (none of Tim's thinning). Never a hard word. Likes a good meal and relaxing with me on the sofa. Is always really happy to see me when I get in. His name is Jim.
Yes, we are cat-sitting this week. And it is quite nice! Tim is working a lot, so it feels good to have someone to come home to. We both like Jim, really. And I fear we spoil him quite a bit (I'm not sure he'll want to go back upstairs after this stay). We even let him sleep on our bed... (I happen to know he's not even allowed in the bedroom upstairs.) But it takes a little time to get used to having 'something' there. Although Jim is more like a puppy than an old cat. This morning, Tim complained about Jim following him around all the time.
-Well, have you fed him? I asked
-Oh, yeah, that's why he kept staring at the kitchen!
Well done, Sherlock!
Advice
Some pieces of advice for all the ladies out there...
1) Do not believe your husband when he says he will clean the pan in which he roasted a whole duck.
2) Do not leave a pan, in which you have roasted a whole duck, to stand for a week.
(Alternatively, do not cook duck.)
(No) more meatballs
After last nights embarrassment, things got even worse. We both got home late (obviously) and Tim decided to cook something nice and quick. The last meatballs! Perfect, really - fast and tasty. The workers had been in, changing one of the window panes, so it was a bit messy, but we were both too tired and hungry to do anything about it before dinner. Tim started frying the meatballs, but it was not long before one of them escaped, and jumped down on the sideboard. No problems. Not wanting to pick it up (don't ask me why), he simply rolled it down to the pan he held out below the bench. Then he remembered! There was saw dust and glass splinter everywhere. And all that had now been shoved in to the pan... Needless to say, we did not have any meatballs for dinner.
So, to cheer me up:
Embarrassment
I guess it's been a bit naughty of me to call Tim all these names (although he certainly calls himself a lot more - and a lot worse than this), so it probably serves me right, that I now call myself tomato-face! Oh, the embarrassment...
I had spent the day in the BL, being rather good. Had gone through all my old notes, to make sure there were no question marks I had not followed up. One minute to eight, and the library is on the edge of closing. I pack up my things, shut down the computer, return my books, and... no, do not unlock the laptop. I normally use a laptop lock (which is attached to the laptop, and then bound around the lamp above the reading desk). Well, the lock has a simple four-digit combination (which happens to be the same as the pin to my Visa card, so nothing too tricky) but it just wouldn't open! Tried over and over again! No, still locked. In the end, had to go to security, and they called for a janitor to come and cut it open. Before the janitor arrived three of us managed to pull the thing over the lamp. I was absolutely mortified! And really stressed. I mean, now is not the time to have to find a lock smith.
Got home. Tried again. Oh, yes. Wrong combination. Tadaaa! Lock opens! I am sooo embarrassed!
Music discoveries
One of my fairly recent discoveries is that you in iTunes can access other people’s music libraries. (Stupid people who let complete strangers do that!) This is a great feature, as I am bored of my own music — and too busy to upload anything new, and too poor to buy new stuff. So, when I want new music I just surf around other people’s iTunes. The music is only half the fun, though. The greatest part is to see what weird taste in music some people have (classical and hard core house and Britney — must be someone who shares the computer with a teenage son or daughter), and also to try and guess whose library it is I am listening too (which is really hard, because there are too many people in the library) and what kind of person it is. Today I listened to a library which definitely belonged to a Swede... And a person whose taste in music is more or less the same as mine! It was actually quite scary — it was like looking at my own library, plus/minus a few! Who can it be...?
Work update: polishing on my summary, and waiting for some proofs. Thesis now 555 pages long...
Another weekend gone
Great weekend with the Norwegians. Friday was mostly spent on Oxford Street, running in and out of all the shops. I was behaving well, and did not buy anything, although I found a new shoe shop which I will definitely pay a visit to as soon as I get money (that really sucks with being unemployed – there’s no way you can save up to anything!). Very late pub lunch and the obligatory pint, more shopping, and then heading home. Tim cooked us an excellent duck, served with all the proper English things (though we skipped the Yorkshire pudding – but I swear, one day I’ll learn how to make them. Mmmmm), especially my new favourite – roasted parsnips. We played board games (our new London game) and drank far too much wine. Saturday was spent in Camden town. Perfect, sunny day, and lots of crazy stuff to look at. Unfortunately, we had dinner in a very overpriced and not very nice restaurant in Covent garden (not our choice), but ended the evening on an upbeat – watching Blades of Glory (Tim’s favourite). Eili and Tonje left at an ungodly hour this morning, while Tim and I had the luxury of going back to bed for another few hours. Then we went in to town to pick up a few papers for Tim. Had a well deserved burger for dinner (ah, don’t you love Sundays?!), and a walk through St. James’ park on the way home. I was oohing and aaahing over the squirrels, as always. Also stopped in Zavvi on the way (hm, do we see a pattern here?), and invested in a few movies. Two each. Tim picked the latest two Alien/Predators ones. So we have now just wasted almost two hours on Alien vs. Predator. Don’t see it. Or, if you do, rent it – don’t buy it. I actually quite liked the Predator movies, but this was pure crap! Oh, well. At least I have a Harry Potter movie and Gladiator to look forward to…
Headline that makes one stressed
(Click to make image larger)
Ok, this is something you don't want to see when you enter a news page. I know Tim was going to Exeter. But he did promise to text me this morning (which he hasn't), and paranoid me - at home, miserable with a cold - started to think that maybe he was on a secret mission, and that he went to Brussels instead... Well, I'm not going to tell him this, because I'm pretty sure he'd think that was pretty cool, and start telling me how the Firm actually is a cover up story for him being an agent. And the story would never end. And I would deeply regret ever planting the idea in his head...
Visitors
Finally, close to lunchtime, Eili and Tonje arrived in Stockwell. We relaxed at home for a few hours (they had, after all, got up at 4 in the morning to travel), before heading to Leicester Square. Walked around there, and through China town, before grabbing two pints (and too many nachos) at the Two Brewers. Went on to Covent garden, and from there down to Strand and on to Trafalgar Square, and then Piccadilly Circus. Walked into Soho, and rested our tired feet with another beer in the Blue Posts. Tim met up after work (he had been working late) and we all had a lovely meal at Strada (you can't go wrong there). Took the slowest bus ever home, and then relaxed on the sofa. It is so great to have them here (and I wish every Wednesday was like today), and to get updated with everything. Tomorrow, Tim is going to Exeter, the girls are going to the Madonna concert at Wembely stadium while I'll be working - I am very jealous!
Bad day done good
I am so happy I am ready to explode! No, I'm not finished with my thesis, but we finally have lights again!!! Changing the wiring in all the fuses, we found the faulty one, and - ta daaa! I am just jumping up and down! Didn't think a little light could make anyone so happy. (Although, suddenly, we can see all the dirt in the corners...) This day couldn't have ended better. And at the moment, I am ready to do anything for my super husband: Fusefixer Spider-Tim!
Maximum frustration
Ok, I'm really on the edge now... I don't know how much more I can take! Suddenly realized we're having guests coming. Eili and Tonje are coming tomorrow morning, staying till Sunday. So, now very desperate to fix things. And I'm having one of those days in which everything goes wrong...
Headed into town to get a few things. Had decided to meet Tim for lunch, but he was too busy. Sat in the park at Hanover Square and ate a sandwich, pnly to get up and discover great mud stains on my new jacket. Finally got my coffee at Selfridges, only to discover that they've stopped selling my favourite type. On to John Lewis where I got en extra pillow and two pillowcases. BIG bag. We actually have loads of pillowcases, but were short on pillows. Unfortunately, English pillows don't have the same measurements as Scandinavian ones. Here they are long and thin. I'm used to square ones. You could by 'Oxford style' pillows, which are square, but they are almost twice the size of an Scandinavan one. Very frustrating. (I'm considering making a petition for an international pillow standard. Anyone interested?) Then bought four white espresso cups from Höganäs (!) on sale, which was really the highlight of my day. But not necessary according to husband, oh well. Fighting my way through Oxford street with the big bags, elbowing all the tourists. I hate that street. Umbrella broke on the way back, just as it started to piss down. We have very English weather at the moment...
At home, all windows open - the builders have been scraping the window frames, second day in a row. Paint dust all over the place... and very cold. Things are just not going my way today.
(Almost complete) darkness
the Boltons 2 – Technology 5000
This is driving me insane! 10 days, still no light... Tim has had a look at all the antique fuses, but they all seem fine! We will try and change the wiring in them all tonight (we have, however, great difficulties working out which fuse runs what), but at this moment we fear it might be a mouse that has bitten off some wiring somewhere... Aaaah! We made an effort last night though, and rearranged all the small lights we have, so that there's at least one working light bulb in every room (except for the bathroom, where candles are still the thing). I am frustrated beyond words!
Meatball miracles etc
Yup! We made it to Cambridge. I decided against buying a new dress, but opted for wearing the one I wore last year (little black thing). Upgraded it by getting a gold bolero and a matching clutch bag instead. Which, in the end, came to about the same prize as a new dress...
The dinner was quite nice. It is Tim's old college that has a annual (more or less, there was a break between 1908 and 2003) audit dinner. Long story, ask Tim if you want to know more. Anyway, this was my third one, and I had a really good time. Knowing more people now, the dreaded mingling was quite fun, and I got to see lots of old friends. Key to having a good evening is of course where you get seated at the dinner table (this is, after all, a seven course meal), but I was lucky this time. The gentleman on my left never turned up (apparently that was a good thing), but next to me I had an undergrad student, and opposite his girlfriend, both medievalists. They were nice and easygoing, and it was good not to have someone too serious as company... The girl and I compared notes on faux pas at previous dinners. My worst one was to dip my fingers in a bowl of rose water (when you were supposed to dip your serviette), but she won by telling me how she managed to pour sherry into her red wine glass (a thing that was later publicly announced!), and putting fruit on what she thought was her plate, but was in fact a variant of aforesaid bowl of rose water!
Food and wine was very good, and I drank too much port, which I discovered the day after... However, I had made a great revelation on the Thursday - Sainsbury's sell Swedish meatballs (Scans!!!) for only 99p. The meatballs definitely saved my Saturday. Best hangover cure ever: meatballs and coke! (I have now bought two more packages, not because I am planning to get drunk, but because they were incredibly yummy!) And in the future, if I feel homesick I don't have to go all the way to IKEA, but can just walk to the store around the corner. Bliss!
Sunday, Tim went to Bristol to go to a birthday party for the owner of Uley Brewery... I haven't heard from him yet, so I assume it was a good party. He's coming back tomorrow, via some library somewhere.
I, on the other hand, met up with Mathilde and her friends, who were visiting London for the weekend. We strolled around Spitafield market, had a drink at Jaguar Shoes, and dinner at the Drunken Monkey. I felt like the most uncool person on the planet, not in touch with anything trendy, but had a really good time. Spent the last part of the evening watching 'Billy Elliot', one of my favourite movies. Found it for £3 at Sainsbury's! (I love that store!) Soppy me cried in the end, as always. (And I don't even like ballet.) A great way to spend a Sunday.
Good song
Spider-Tim, spider-Tim
removes all the spiders, yes that's him.
Will he hover or use a glass?
I don't know, but he saves my ass.
Look out, here is spider-Tim!
Panic!
Fancy Cambridge college dinner coming up tomorrow... Accommodation, almost check. Train tickets, check. Make up, check. Jewelery, check. Shoes, check. Shawl, check. Dress, absolutely not even close to a check. Oups! I think I know what I will be doing tomorrow morning...
Btw, today realized one of the greatest things with being an adult: you can buy any toilet paper you want to! Just so you know.
Photo report
I'm a bit too lazy today to write anything proper. Doing a lot of proof reading, and will soon try and head in to town for that dress I never bought. Also, need more coffee ('intresseklubben antecknar'). So, today's post is just a photo report from the past weekend (sorry about the poor quality, I used Tim's mobile). Tim really connected with his youngest niece, Ellie. She, who was born very premature and weighed less than a kilo, is now home, and is a healthy and very cute baby. Tim is in love!
We already have our roles set. If we ever have children, Tim will be the fun one, who always plays with them. I'll be the strict one, setting all the rules. (However, Tim is convinced that by the time any child is about 10, it will be too embarressed to be seen with its silly father.)
Tech updates
Technology 1 - the Boltons 1
Ok, I am actually quite happy. After a month without any internet I am now online again. And this has been celebrated with a day of way too much surfing. Things would be a lot better though if it wasn't for technology's resistance against us. I thought we finally had conquered nature: the number of moths and spiders have finally gone down (my mum claims it because it is getting colder, but I would assume that would bring even more of them inside) and we haven't seen any bugs for a week. However, last week we lost all light... Yes, all ceiling light died on us late on Thursday. Since we went away for the weekend, that wasn't really anything we had time to deal with. I came back at lunch time yesterday, but the electrical fuses are of an ancient kind, unknown to me. Apparently, you have do to some serious surgery and change some wiring inside of the fuse... Well, enough said. That means it is now Tuesday night, Tim has finally had the time to look at the fuses, and well, discovered he can't work out which one it is! So here we are: we can work all the rest of the electrical stuff - so the two floor lamps we have in the living room are fine - but have no light. I.e. all rooms but living room are completely dark. In theory it is quite cosy to sit on the loo in candle light, but in practice... no! To be honest, it freaks me out a bit to go around with a flash light in my own home (esp. with known spider problems). I am really close to give in to technology!
Travels
After a long week, today Tim and I are off to Gloucestershire (damn, that is a tough one to spell for a Scandinavian). We will have a private moment at the cemetery, and catch up with that part of the family. I will probably head back to the civilization on Sunday, while Tim will stay till Monday. He has to go via Oxford on the way back (trip to a library for some research), but I don’t fancy that detour. Especially not since I’m so close to being finished. My final chapter has been handed in, and I now only have to write the summary. (And loads of proof readings, I fear, but it is too depressing to think of that right now.) Wait! What was that? A light? Could this be the end of the tunnel?
(And the picture of the day is actually the last picture I took with the camera before it broke down. [And no, I still haven’t received a new lens.] The zoom is thus not working properly. But this is the kind of thing I play around with instead of being a good PhD student.)
IT progress
Yeah! I think we might be back on track. Land line phone should be up and running on Friday (might call a few lucky souls then), and internet on Tuesday. So, fingers crossed, thumbs held, legs broken and all the other things. I might soon have a life again!
Oh, and last minute good news on the PhD - I, who am so proud of having found not one, but two fragments of medieval Swedish prayer books for my PhD (although admittedly one is a re-used 12th century English one) have now found a third one! Google, random searches on weird words (no, I didn't not search for 'medieval Swedish prayer book from Vadstena', that would be too obvious) and a lot of luck can sometimes do miracles. It doesn't add anything significant (more than a few lines of text) to my PhD, but it is still pretty impressive, and I have now raised the number of known manuscripts from 15 to 18! :-) *proud* (And anyone really interested: there will be an exhibition of Vadstena manuscripts in the Royal Library in Stockholm next autumn, yours truly are currently writing two articles for the exhibition catalogue.)
Flat
I thought it’s about time that all of you out there get updated on our new flat. First of all: it is absolutely huge (compared to the old one, that is. I know how some of you live…). Having that extra guest room (planned to be an office, now more or less just full of all the crap we couldn’t fit anywhere else — and believe me, there’s plenty of that!) just makes such a great difference.
Ok, will start with the negative sides (and I know it will seem like a lot, but trust me, it is ok). No shower. (I’ve fallen and bruised my legs so many times getting in and out of the bath before investing in a bath mat.) I’m not a great fan of bath tubs (although Tim is, and is very happy), and sitting down taking a shower… well, it’s just not the same. Mind you, we have good water pressure (not always like that in England, but one of the good things about being in the basement). No isolation on the windows (single glass) will undoubtedly make it very cold in the winter (but hey, we have already lived through that once). The plumbing has a life on its own (including funny/strange sounds, leaking pipe under the kitchen sink if doing laundry at the same time, and leaking washing machine if doing dishes at the same time), but at the end of the day that is not our problem.
The biggest issue for me is all the animals! And no, I’m not talking about the free cat we have (good ol’ Jim, he’s very friendly und cuddly), but all the bugs etc. The occasional spider we had in the old flat is absolutely nothing against what we have now. I stopped counting after finding about 30 of them (fairly evenly divided between bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, living room and hall, but hardly any in the guest room). Tim, the soppy thing, refuses to kill them (in England, it means bad luck, in Sweden it means bad weather the following day, and this being England, well, there’s bad weather anyway, so why care?!), but rather puts them in a glass and throws them out the kitchen window (and I swear they have absolutely no problem climbing straight back in). After a few days, however, he decided to do something drastic and hovered up a bunch. The problem is, you only have to wait an hour before a new spider (or the same one?) has taken its place. There’s an infinite number… On the good side: they are not wolf spiders. Wolf spiders are aggressive bastards, hunting for food, and thus running a lot. These are ‘normal house spiders’, which make a little web, and just sit there. So, if you find one you can be fairly certain that he’ll still be there the next day (and the day after, and the day after etc.). It makes chasing a lot easier! The first few spiders I found really scared me, the next lot made me laugh, and now, well, I’m just very tired of them, because they just keep coming back. Well, we also have plenty of moths (mainly bathroom and hall), and have additionally found normal bugs (bathroom again, according to Tim they are ‘night crawlers’, but being without internet I haven’t been able to google that), big fat flies (in the living room, but they seem to have been killed off now *knock on wood*) and an earth worm (!!! Where did he come from???) in the hall. We were offered new carpeting in the bathroom, but I just fear tearing up the one that’s there now, who knows what it will reveal…?! I also suspect there’s a big nesting/reproducing ground under the bath tub. Brrr. Big reward for anyone who has a solution to the problem!
Well, on the positive side: the flat has become ‘very us’. We have already pictures up on the walls, and it feels much more like home than the old one ever did. It is also a lot quieter — no tube trains running underneath at night, and no noisy neighbours above (and also a very quite street). We finally have a proper kitchen (although admittedly a small fridge). It is now fun to cook again. And we have a dining table! Hurray! It feels quite civilised to eat dinner at a proper table, and not in front of the TV. We also have a big hall, with room for shoes and coats. (Who thought that would be considered a luxury?)
For those of you who wondered: yes, we still have Boris. Tim couldn’t (didn’t want to?) find him a new home, so he had to move with us. However, he is no longer next to the bed, but in a cupboard (on top of a spare fridge! thank God for extra storage space). Of course, now, for the first time, we actually have the space to hang him on a wall, but I refuse. I don’t want to face his big grin every time I walk into a room.
I really like the area we live in. It’s a funny mix of people (sometimes called Little Portugal because of all the Portuguese, and there are plenty of tapas bars), and of areas. Really nice housing next to council estates. Our part is very nice and green. Yes, it is a bit further out than before, but not a great deal. Five stops on the Victoria line to Oxford Circus (11 mins), and another three to my beloved Library. We’re also on the Northern line (always good to be on two lines if something happens), and close to Vauxhall bus terminal. Walking distance to a big Sainsbury’s, and loads of little shops around. We have not yet have had the time to investigate the pubs in the area (believe it or not), but there are at least four just in our block (one is a definite no, two quite possibly yes)! The move has definitely been an upgrade.
Updates
I am writing this from ‘upstairs’. Our landlords are away for the day (well, he’s more or less always away, she had to go to Cambridge to sample the menu for a big dinner party — it’s a tough life for some people), but are having builders coming by (they are putting on a new roof). So, I agreed to ‘house sit’ for the day, to make sure they don’t wreck the place completely. A few brownie points for me, and the chance to use their connected computer.
Our saga continues… Or rather, it doesn’t, because nothing is happening. I am, of course, talking about our phone line/broadband. We contacted one of the big companies, which had a great deal on offer, two weeks ago. Yes, we would get everything installed in four days. Great. The fourth day came and went. Nothing! Contacted the company after a week. No, they couldn’t do us, because someone in that flat had already had a deal with them before. Eh?! So!? Well, company policy, they can’t renew on an address until a certain time has passed. Ok, it’s now after business hours, so wait a day and call different company. Straightforward no! Excuse me?! They don’t do our side of the street! (As if ours was the bad side or something.) Now, it’s Friday and after business hours, so can’t call until Tuesday, because Monday is a bank holiday. Aaah! So, today, Tim has to find a third (!) company, and hopefully they are happy to do business with us. So, in a few days, maybe, we will be connected again…
Anyway, we’ve had a nice bank holiday weekend. The original plan was to go back to Dursley this weekend, but it suited everyone better to do it the next instead. Good for us, because it’s really one of those times of the year you don’t want to travel (and definitely not buy the tickets on the day before). Instead, on the Saturday, we worked a bit (as always), and then went to see Peter and Elena in Beckton, far, far out on the DLR (‘Dockland’s Light Railways’, or something like that). Elena, being Italian, served the most amazing home made pasta. I was in heaven!
Sunday, we quickly went by Trafalgar Square, to see a little bit of the handing over of the Olympics*. Then on to Tim’s office to pick up some paperwork and to John Lewis on Oxford Circus to look for a dress for me (fancy dinner party coming up — see reference to landlady’s menu tasting above), but the one I had seen was sold out. I was a bit mopy, but cheered up after a very late lunch/early dinner in Strada (they make a goat cheese pizza which is to kill for). Strolled down to Piccadilly Circus and went in to Zavvi (music store, former ‘Virgin’), where we bought season four of Futurama. Yes, we are still without a proper TV, and have been watching all the episodes in season three (which we already owned) too many times. It’s was about time for something new. Went down to St James’ park to catch the end of the Olympics, and then back home for some chocolate, wine and Futurama. Perfect Sunday! Bank holiday Monday was spent in Notting Hill, where the annual Carnival was on its last day. Loads of people, but not as unpleasant as, for instance, the Chinese New Year’s festival we went to earlier in the year, when you were unable to move. Some entertaining people, with great costumes and music. Food and beer sold at every street corner. Very nice, and I am now ready to take percussion lessons in a samba band!
* ‘Team GB’ (which I consider a pretty silly name) has made this year’s Olympic games the best one for the country in over 100 years (and I guess it is pretty impressive, if one considers that GB at that time was a super power with loads of colonies. Also, it’s a good starting point for all sports, since the success was mostly thanks do great funding the last year, so I suspect there will be a lot of lobbying for the next four years). So everyone (more or less) is now pretty excited about having the next summer Olympics. And, I confess, so am I. Tim and I now take bookings for whoever wants to come and stay with us (we are pretty sure we will still be living somewhere in London) for the summer of 2012. First come, first serve (although we might possibly get mean, and say: best paying, first serve).
Weekend report
A few words from the pricey British Library… Phone, internet and extra TV-channels have now been ordered, but not yet delivered. I’m still very isolated!
We have now had our first over-night guest — our old colleague and friend from Oslo, Anne Irene, who stayed a night on her way from Nottingham to Heathrow. Great to see her again, and to get some updated from Norway. Managed both dinner at funky ‘Hot stuff’ around the corner (trendy Indian place) and lunch at ‘the Fentiman Arms’ (very nice gastro-pub).
This weekend we spent ‘up north’ in Yorkshire. (Haven’t managed to work out how to link to my old entries, and will not even try with my few valuable minutes in the Library, but some of you might remember the old post on Jerveaulx Abbey.) Anyway, Tim had to give a lecture, which gave us the chance to go and see some countryside, including ruins of a 12th century Cistercian abbey (privately owned! this is so English!). Very nice, although I felt rather out of place (being half the age of everyone else — the audience was mainly from the Art Fund or the Ripon Cathedral patrons). Prize for anyone who can guess what souvenir we brought back with us!
A person in Tim’s close family passed away two weeks ago, so we’ll be going to Gloucestershire next weekend. Tim has been very upset and in complete shock these days, but hopefully things will seem a bit easier after the memorial. It’s been a rough month.
Online for a while!
A quick note from someone who feels rather isolated at the moment… We have now moved, and have no landline phone, no internet, no mobile reception (basement flat), and only an old TV with one channel which cannot read the signal from the Wii. Not the most hi tech place, and definitely not a home made for communication with the rest of the world. At the moment, I have paid almost £6 for 24 hours of internet at the British Library (after being unable to check my mail for 10 days it became unbearable). Well, 24 hours is a bit of a lie: there will of course be no access between 20.00 tonight and 9.30 tomorrow. But Tim has promised that we will have both phone and internet in four days. Hurray! (And when that happens I will send out one of those boring ‘we-have-moved-here-are-all-our contact-details’ email — don’t really fancy posting here in case the blog ever becomes public.)
The new flat is a saga to itself. Full story will follow. In the meantime, here are some of our summer photos…
Tim and me on the boat (oh, first picture of me that I post... I'm so shy!)
Nothing beats a Swedish summer night...
Back to reality
Yes, as the title says: we are now back to reality. And that with a bang! Landed late Sunday night, after having had an amazing last week. Swedish summer at its best. 25-30 degrees Celsius every day, and 22 in the water.
Went on small excursions, went fishing (both with fishing rods and with net. I was good at throwing with the rod - too good, actually. One hook got caught on a rock, and we managed to tear of the fishing line. I was secretly happy it wasn't a big pike ['gädda'] though. The net was more rewarding: we got 3 fishes to keep [two flounders, and one silvery big thing, 'Sik' in Swedish, which created a whole bunch of jokes from Tim, e.g. "did he wear a turban?"]. 6 fishes were too small, and were thrown back in, although one of them immediately jumped back into the net, so, 9 or 10 fishes all in all. We had a bet going, and I'm sorry to say my pessimistic guess of 4 did not make me a winner. The lucky winner was my uncle, who guessed on 8.)
Other than that, we mostly relaxed. Were good one day, and assembled a cupboard for the summer house, in midst Tim almost fainted, and had to go and see a doctor. (Something wrong, but not wrong enough, with his ear. It'll go away on its own.) So, we are back to Tim always being sick on holidays! (Israel being the exception to the rule.)
Going back to work on Monday was really depressing, but at least we got the moving boxes delivered. Today we started packing... It is hell! We managed to move with only 18 boxes from Norway, but we seem to have accumulated loads of stuff this last year. We ordered 24 boxes from the removal firm, and, well, it does not seem to be enough. The main problem, of course, is all the books. Filling just the bottom of a box with books makes it too heavy for anything else to go in. In Norway, this was no problem. The removal firm we hired there definitely had no health and safety regulations for the cheap Polish guys they used. Our boxes were twice as full. Now, no box is allowed to weigh more than 20 kg. So we pack, and then unpack, then repack, then unpack etc. etc. etc... First priority tomorrow morning is to try and get hold of book boxes. I wish I could say we have a clever back up plan, but we really don't...
Roller coaster
Today has been a real roller coaster. Extreme happiness, and then amazingly down. Tim has been just the same. Good news about my PhD – will not have to write the paper on grammaticalization, which I thought I had to in order to hand in. My colleague handed in today – very happy for him, but also depressed that it wasn’t me.
We spent quite a bit of the day finding a recipe and then shopping for tonight’s dinner. Made ‘pink ladies’ before dinner (mainly white rum and cranberry juice), with grilled pita bread, hummus, ‘aubergine mash’ (inspired by our trip to Israel) and olive tapenade. Then chilli marinated grilled chicken, with an amazing sauce with lime and sambal oelek.
Had to drive to Oxelösund for the shopping. I am really tired of the car now. Well, the car itself is quite all right (a Saab 9000?), especially after my parents fixed the ac. But there’s no radio and no CD-player, and as previous stated, I really prefer driving with music on. Driving down from Stockholm to the summer house, I had to sing to myself to get some music. However, I couldn’t really think of any songs that I knew. Aimed for some old style jazz/easy listening. Wanted to sing ‘Fly me to the moon’, but couldn’t even remember which song it was, only that it was something to do with ‘moon’. So started singing ‘Blue moon’ instead – problem being, I only knew those two words. Gave up. In the end, starting to sing ‘Happy birthday’ just because it was the only song I could think of.
The really bad news of the day is that my camera has died!!! Well, it was actually the lens, and not the camera house. To begin with, it was really hard to zoom in and out with the lens, but when removing it from the camera house, it refused to work completely, and there is now something loose inside it. Aaaah! I am so frustrated. Especially since Tim had just showed me a perfect butterfly bush, which we apparently have in the garden. Well, at least managed to take a few photos first… [And here, I tried to insert a few pretty pictures, but the amazingly slow internet connection we have in the cabin cannot take it.]
This has really been a great bug year. Not so many mosquitoes (or they have stopped liking me), but loads of flies and wasps. Luckily, my uncle has an illegal electric bug killer. It is shaped as a tennis racquet, which electrocutes the bugs. The voltage is apparently not allowed in this country, but it was bought in Thailand, so oh well. Tim loves ‘the toy’! And today I was grateful that he does, since we found the biggest flying thing I have ever seen. It was the size of my thumb, I swear. My mum argues that it was a hornet, but Tim claims it was just a weird form of fly. Whatever it was, I am more than happy to see it dead. Some parts of nature should never come inside…
Last week of holiday
So, it's our last week of this summer holiday, and it feels quite stressful. Wish we had more time for most things: more time to relax, more time to work (nothing new there, ha ha!), more time to spend with friends and family, more time to ourselves. More of everything, basically. These last few days have been very summery, though, which is really nice. Last week's rain didn't do much for our holiday mood. (Oh, how Swedish of me - to discuss the weather. According to Tim, the weather is one of two safe topics for conversation - the other one being dinner!)
Tim has been good, and has proof read most of his book. I have been less good, and has barely looked at my documents. I have, however, solved a load of crossword puzzles, which I claim is very good for my written Swedish - at least I'd like to think so... The last few days have also been spent in the company of friends with babies - and poor Tim has done his best to remind me of how stinky, noisy, messy etc. babies are. Ha ha! (And it is worth to note that Tim is a lot better with kids than I ever will be - well, I guess he can relate to it - being one himself!)
We are now in the summer house, together with my parents and my aunt and uncle. The have a dinner order, which means that each family takes care of the dinner every other night. Tim, the fool, suggested tonight that WE should cook tomorrow, being part of the household and all! Well, I should be fair and maybe mention that it was originally my idea - but the thought was that we would think of something to cook first. Now, we are really stuck, having promised four people to serve something really amazing tomorrow night... One of our (very few) specialities is lasagna, but both mum and uncle wont eat pasta, so such much for that. If I know us right, tomorrow will largely be spent hunting for recipies, and then panicking when we can't think of anything. Tomorrow night could be a very interesting evening...
Summer holiday - mid report
So, half of our summer holiday has now passed. It has been eventful, to say the least. I really don't know where the days have gone, but we sure haven't been lazy. Met several friends in and around Stockholm (and had a well deserved hair cut, thank you Lisen!), including Lena, who had come with her kids all the way from Puyallup, Washington.
Picked Tim up on the Friday, and then drove to the island where my parents have their summer house. It rained! (So much that I had to stop the car in a panic, since I couldn't work out how to get the wind screen wipers to work on max - very embarrassing!) It was great to see Tim again, although he still had not really landed mentally - it would take him a few days to relax from work.
Saturday, my darling parents had planned a surprise birthday party for me. Unfortunately (or luckily for me, whichever) one of my cousins had managed to say a little too much, and I had already worked out what was going on (which I found quite convenient, because then I could dress up a bit and put on makeup, something I would normally never do when just relaxing in the summer house). I did not, however, know who would be coming, and it was great to see everyone who turned up, although I hardly had time to talk to them all. The biggest surprise was to see one of my oldest friends, who I hadn't spoken to for years. Tobias and Lisen and baby Vera spent the night, and chilled out the day after. Tim, my niece Felicia and I had the first swim of the year. It was absolutely freezing!
On the Monday we drove down south, to meet one of my cousins and his family, who were out with the boat. We swapped the car for the boat, and then sailed off. Five days at sea followed. Tight, no personal space, sunny (got, as I do every time I'm sailing, terribly burnt), rainy, ran out of bread the last day, but also very nice, and good to spend some time with the family (without computers, TVs or anything). It was, however, also very nice to come back to a hot shower (jumping in and out of ice cold sea water just isn't the same) and a proper toilet (with privacy!)...
Today, we swapped back - car for boat, and headed back. Mum and dad stayed at the summer house, while I drove Tim and Felicia to Stockholm. This weekend will be spent seeing some more people (I am, after all, not the only one to become old this year). I am looking forward to seeing everyone we haven't seen yet, as well as having some 'us time'.
Report from the mother country
Oh, I can hear the echo in here... Sorry about that. Being back in Sweden has, as always, been rather chaotic.
Spent the first few days with mum, dad, sister and niece in Göteborg. Forced the rest of the family to take a small detour through Vadstena on the way there, so that I could have a look at the birgittine museum there. They even had a few manuscripts on loan. Very nice! (I could tell the others couldn't care less, but I was really excited. Rather pathetic, come think of it!) Amusement park and museum and good food on the west coast, and then the rest of the week in Stockholm.
I've tried to see as many old friends as possible, and have done a fairly good job. Many of them I had not seen in over a year and a half (I didn't meet up with anyone when we were here at new year's, and I was not back at all last summer), so there was a lot of catching up to do.
I did try to be good as well, and brought the laptop (oh, I can't wait for the day that the laptop wont be my number one accessory), but efficient working time so far? Well, probably not more than 30 minutes.
Tomorrow I'm off early to Skavsta/Nyköping, to pick up Tim (the cheapo-airlines of course never flies to central Stockholm). Then on to the summer house, where we probably will spend the rest of the holiday (although the promise of a friend's birthday party might bring us back for a day or two). It's a bit frightening to be driving again (but very excited that I managed to fill up the gas in the car - for the first time in four years?), especially since someone has removed the aerial so there's no radio. I always, always drive with the radio on. I need music to be able to drive properly. I did try singing to myself when driving to the gas station earlier today, but it just wasn't the same... Luckily, I have bought two new (well, to me at least) CDs, so I hope that at least one of them is good...!
I'm now really looking forward to getting out to the summer house. Tim will sleep and fish, I will play with my new camera (birthday gift from mum and dad - also, Tim's mum, who's a photographer has promised to give me a few lessons later on. Sweet!).
Will try and write a few updates. (And if it rains, there will probably not be anything else to do.)
Nice day
I had a really great birthday (and I normally don't like birthdays) yesterday. Got lots of phone calls, messages and emails. Thank you! It was really nice to have a relaxed day. Went to the library, of course, but had a long lunch (with dessert!) and stopped caring about not being finished. Took the bus back to Waterloo at eight, and as I was sitting there, going over Waterloo bridge, looking at the setting sun playing over the Houses of Parliament, it didn't matter that I don't have my PhD yet, no kids and no job. I am quite happy anyway. And sweet, sweet Tim took me to dinner at a rather fancy place and made the staff sing for me (ha ha ha!). Came back home and opened the cards that had arrived, and the gift from my family (a camera, so there'll be plenty more photos coming up here in the future). I was all smiles! I think I could get used to being twenty-ten.
Tonight I am finally off to Sweden. Can hardly wait!
The BIG day
So, it is now official: I am old. And trust me, after a weekend of playing Wii, my body really feels old too. I can hardly move.
Thus, in celebration of Mondays, here is an old time favourite of mine:
The rest of the day will - surprise, surprise - be spent in the library...
Thus, in celebration of Mondays, here is an old time favourite of mine:
The rest of the day will - surprise, surprise - be spent in the library...
Friday 20/6 part two
After having enjoyed the view from the Church of the Redeemer, we went on to the Church of the holy Sepulcher, which was the thing Tim really wanted to see.
It was rather strange, because I had assumed the church would be much more extravagant, but it was quite modest, at least the exterior, as you can see. The interior was quite varied, but heavily inspired by the Greek orthodox monks that take care of it. We walked around the church, and had a look at the (assumed) shrine of Christ. I felt a bit religious (or rather unworthy for not being more so), while Tim liked the historical aspects of it. I partly regretted not having done enough research on forehand, as there were many parts of the church I/we didn't know anything abouts: caves, shrines, holy cracks (!), altars etc. But it was a great experience.
After having seen the holy Sepulcher we decided it was time for lunch. We found a falafel bar in the bazaar area. Good food, but we were completely ripped off when it came to paying. Oh well, we just had to live with that. Everything else had been very cheap, and if that was the worst that would happen, then that would be ok.
Stuffed with yummy falafels and fresh orange juice we went down to the Western wall (aka ‘the Wailing wall’, see earlier post). It was the first place where we actually met some serious security (apart from the airport, of course). There was bag searches and metal detectors. Once in the area by the wall, I was lent a shawl. I thought I was covered (pun not intended) with a basic t-shirt (no cleavage) and shorts that went over my knees, but apparently women had to cover their arms as well (unclean as we are...). I, unknowingly, tried to enter the men's area (women on one side men on the other), but finally made it there. Tim started chatting to a rabbi by his part of the wall. In the end the rabbi gave (read: sold) us two pieces of red string that had touched the holy wall, and hoped we would be blessed with five children! The strings were tied around our wrists (very Madonna). Tim, however, removed his after a while, not knowing if it had any distinctive social connotations. So, I assume we'll only get 2,5 children now. (Which, to be frank, sounds a lotter better than 5! But we are still debating whether that half will be a midget or not.)
Although the Western Wall was impressive, we were in the midday sun, and it was too hot for us. We tried hiding in the shadows of the bazaars, while aiming for the Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately, all access was denied. I think we came mid prayer. Instead, we went for the thing I wanted to do, which was walking part of the Via Dolorosa. It felt a bit ambitious doing all fourteen stations of the cross and, as it soon turned out, some of them were quite hard to discover, but we aimed for a few of them. We managed to do the first few, but then got terribly lost. The Old town has so many tiny alleyways and unnamed streets, and none of them were straight. I think Tim was a it more worried than me - didn't want to end up in any 'bad' areas or so, but I was absolutely calm. As long as you look like a (Christian) tourist you are ok. Finally, we managed to 'get back on track', as we discovered a sign saying we were by the ninth station. Went in to a Coptic monastery, and had a look at some excavations of the really old Jerusalem.
After all this walking, we headed back to central town and the bus station. It was one of the warmest days so far – the taxi driver on the way back said it was 44 degrees outside, and we were absolutely exhausted when we got on the coach. We had been told that Jerusalem would be absolutely dead by three o'clock, because of the Shabbat, but there was still loads of people around (and several open stores) when we jumped on the coach at four. We now headed to Rehovot, a small town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where we met Tim's friend Dror (Israeli jew) and his wife Magda (Polish catholic). We spent the night at their place, playing with their three-year-old son (who really fancied Tim), eating incredible amounts of food and drinking some very nice Israeli wine and Polish vodka! It didn't take a second to fall asleep that night.
Birthday memories
On this day, four years ago, Tim asked my father for my hand in marriage. The ring he gave me was meant to be for my birthday, but he was too afraid to do it in front of my entire family, who was coming up for the day. So I got the ring (and thus my birthday present) two days early.
This year, I got it early too. I just got a Wii from Tim for my 30th birthday, two days early. There are several reasons for this: 1) the Wii console had to be bought when they had some in stock, 2) I guessed what it was, and Tim couldn't lie to me, and 3) I really like to play some before I go on holiday on Tuesday.
So, early happy birthday to me, and happy engagement anniversary to us! It has been four great years!
Sorry, no updates today. Have been working like crazy on the thesis. (370 pages and counting... and that does not include the appendices.)
Met Tim and some of his colleagues after work for a glass of wine, and fell asleep straight away when I got home at ten. Two hours later: Tim comes to bed, and I am now wide awake...
Tomorrow, back to the library, and then off to Stockwell to sort out keys and all sort of things to do with the new flat.
Friday 20/6 part one
This was the big day of adventures. We had already decided to devote this day to
We strolled through some of the bazaars. Here was the kind of things that I wanted to see… Loads of carpets, and bowls and jewellery – very touristy, but that was quite expected. On our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which was the one thing Tim really wanted to see), we stumbled upon the Church of the Redeemer. The church itself was very simple, but had a very tall bell tower. Climbing up was quite an expedition. We were both completely out of breath (and later on we would also walk around with cramps in our calves), but the view was absolutely amazing (breathtaking, ha ha!). You could see all of
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