Just read this startling news from The Onion's video network:
Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Waste-to-Hip Ratio Extreme!
There I was, surfing teh interwebs as one does, and I found this peach on Flickr.
It took me several minutes to return to planet Earth.
It took me several minutes to return to planet Earth.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Settling in
Things are going pretty well with the after-move mayhem. We're unpacking boxes as quickly as we can, but of course it takes time. At least most of the rooms are livable in. Last Thursday I had a day off; the sofa was delievered, the satellite was installed and the security alarm was activated. We also indulged in a big plasma TV so we can watch satellite TV and play my XBox on it. The next thing is to connect the XBox to the internet - either by one of those wireless gizmos, or I might feed a cable down to the DorkDen.
The DorkDen™ is the name given to my basement room by Wenchie, which is a great name! It's small (because the rest of the basement has a shower, sauna and laundry room) but we've managed to fit quite a bit in there. There's a computer desk on one wall, with a desk big enough to fit all my radio stuff on. There's also a sofa and TV unit so I can chill if Linda's watching something upstairs.
I transmitted my first show on Wednesday, using Patsy, my new PC. Everything worked fine, even though I hadn't actually performed any test transmissions. This was all made possible by the fact that Tele2, against all odds, installed ADSL in two weeks! It was actually switched on on Thursday (the same day I was off). I guess because I was anticipating the same deal as last time, when I moved into the flat, that it would take a while. But now it seems that, because I'm not "apartment scum" any more it happened quicker. It also helps that the telephone switch is right outside our front fence!
We've done the big shopping run to IKEA, of course - twice now actually. The desk in the picture, with the new bin and filing system, are courtesy of our Swedish flatpack company, of course, along with lots of other little bits and pieces for the kitchen.
I was off from Monday to Wednesday this week with a cold. I guess the stress of moving and stuff caught up with me. Linda had the same thing the week before and had to take the rest of the week off from Wednesday. At least we've got the "summer cold" out of the way now!
The DorkDen™ is the name given to my basement room by Wenchie, which is a great name! It's small (because the rest of the basement has a shower, sauna and laundry room) but we've managed to fit quite a bit in there. There's a computer desk on one wall, with a desk big enough to fit all my radio stuff on. There's also a sofa and TV unit so I can chill if Linda's watching something upstairs.
I transmitted my first show on Wednesday, using Patsy, my new PC. Everything worked fine, even though I hadn't actually performed any test transmissions. This was all made possible by the fact that Tele2, against all odds, installed ADSL in two weeks! It was actually switched on on Thursday (the same day I was off). I guess because I was anticipating the same deal as last time, when I moved into the flat, that it would take a while. But now it seems that, because I'm not "apartment scum" any more it happened quicker. It also helps that the telephone switch is right outside our front fence!
We've done the big shopping run to IKEA, of course - twice now actually. The desk in the picture, with the new bin and filing system, are courtesy of our Swedish flatpack company, of course, along with lots of other little bits and pieces for the kitchen.
I was off from Monday to Wednesday this week with a cold. I guess the stress of moving and stuff caught up with me. Linda had the same thing the week before and had to take the rest of the week off from Wednesday. At least we've got the "summer cold" out of the way now!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
People are unreliable
BAH!
That's all I can say... Big Eddie let us down by phoning Linda up the week before last, saying that he couldn't make it because of other work. That left us in the lurch somewhat - so we decided to buy some paint and get on with it ourselves.
It won't be finished in time, however. But we have to remind ourselves of the old adage, "Rome wasn't built in a day". The living room is nearly done and, touch wood, will be finished in time for the move. Then we can tackle each room after moving in. It's not as if the house was falling in on itself after all.
We christened the house last weekend, actually. On Saturday, my friend Robert came over to help me fill in the dreaded Tax forms (I closed my business down last year, so I had to report on it in this year's accounts), and afterwards, we joined up with Linda and Kenneth who had been painting throughout the day. Robert and Cicci had bought us a barbecue grill as a wedding gift, so we tried it out of course! After some rather fine flintstek (pork steak) with potato salad, we plunged into the jacuzzi that is in the back patio of the new house. Ah, bliss! And we had to try out the sauna as well. I can see us using those two contraptions quite often through the summer! And the previous owners told us there's nothing better than seeing the freezing cold New Year in than a bottle of chilled champange in the heated jacuzzi - we will certainly be trying that.
The old apartment is just about ready for moving now - there's a load of boxes lying around with the "last moment" stuff remaining, like my PC. Tele2 are unfortunately dragging their heels again witht he broadband transfer, so for some reason I still have broadband here at the flat (even though I asked them to start transferring it a week ago). That's ominous...
Other than that, nothing exciting to report... moving house can't be called "exciting" really, can it?!
That's all I can say... Big Eddie let us down by phoning Linda up the week before last, saying that he couldn't make it because of other work. That left us in the lurch somewhat - so we decided to buy some paint and get on with it ourselves.
It won't be finished in time, however. But we have to remind ourselves of the old adage, "Rome wasn't built in a day". The living room is nearly done and, touch wood, will be finished in time for the move. Then we can tackle each room after moving in. It's not as if the house was falling in on itself after all.
We christened the house last weekend, actually. On Saturday, my friend Robert came over to help me fill in the dreaded Tax forms (I closed my business down last year, so I had to report on it in this year's accounts), and afterwards, we joined up with Linda and Kenneth who had been painting throughout the day. Robert and Cicci had bought us a barbecue grill as a wedding gift, so we tried it out of course! After some rather fine flintstek (pork steak) with potato salad, we plunged into the jacuzzi that is in the back patio of the new house. Ah, bliss! And we had to try out the sauna as well. I can see us using those two contraptions quite often through the summer! And the previous owners told us there's nothing better than seeing the freezing cold New Year in than a bottle of chilled champange in the heated jacuzzi - we will certainly be trying that.
The old apartment is just about ready for moving now - there's a load of boxes lying around with the "last moment" stuff remaining, like my PC. Tele2 are unfortunately dragging their heels again witht he broadband transfer, so for some reason I still have broadband here at the flat (even though I asked them to start transferring it a week ago). That's ominous...
Other than that, nothing exciting to report... moving house can't be called "exciting" really, can it?!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Getting the Key
Over the past month, things have been progressing with Operation: GöteBowness. We have moved Linda's stuff into a storage facility (except for her clothes and essentials of course), and she and I are now in the flat.
Next Tuesday is the Big Day where the keys are signed over to us. We are going to the local bank, signing some papers and then the previous owners will take us over to the house to explain a couple of things to us; for instance, we have an online security system, so we need to know how to set the code so the security guys don't come in the middle of the night thinking there's a robber! All the little things as well, like the heating system, where the telephone / television points are, how the remote control on the shower works (no, really!) and all that malarkey.
Big Eddie, the father of one of my colleague's girlfriend, is also hopefully coming on that evening too, to check the place out and give us a quote on decorating the place. He will be decorating the bedrooms and living room. We are set to move in on Saturday May 10th, with a little help from friends and colleagues; so it should be relatively smooth. After that, there's the unfortunate nightmare of cleaning the old flat (including Polyfilling and repainting the living room), but we're going to get a professional company in to do the cleaning for us.
Spring has sprung here in Gothenburg as well. It's not too hot but nice and sunny at the moment. Pity we'll be busy most weekends and working in the daytime!
Next Tuesday is the Big Day where the keys are signed over to us. We are going to the local bank, signing some papers and then the previous owners will take us over to the house to explain a couple of things to us; for instance, we have an online security system, so we need to know how to set the code so the security guys don't come in the middle of the night thinking there's a robber! All the little things as well, like the heating system, where the telephone / television points are, how the remote control on the shower works (no, really!) and all that malarkey.
Big Eddie, the father of one of my colleague's girlfriend, is also hopefully coming on that evening too, to check the place out and give us a quote on decorating the place. He will be decorating the bedrooms and living room. We are set to move in on Saturday May 10th, with a little help from friends and colleagues; so it should be relatively smooth. After that, there's the unfortunate nightmare of cleaning the old flat (including Polyfilling and repainting the living room), but we're going to get a professional company in to do the cleaning for us.
Spring has sprung here in Gothenburg as well. It's not too hot but nice and sunny at the moment. Pity we'll be busy most weekends and working in the daytime!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
ARGH, Warehouse is Closing Down!!!11!ONE!
Pfft.
At the moment, because I'm living on my own for a short while longer, and because a number of my development buddies at work also do it, I go to Nordstan for lunch. There's a few places to choose from, but one frequent place is Warehouse. They do a good "Red Hot Chilli Burger" there. This is actually false advertising because this is Sweden and most Swedes don't "do hot", but it's tasty and, besides which, I'm digressing.
Four of us went in there this lunchtime and sat at a table. The waitress came up and asked if we were eating from the buffet (all you can eat for a fixed price, blah blah). "No," we said, "we're ordering off the menu".
"Ah," she said, "we don't have a menu any more, just the buffet for a while longer, because we're closing down."
We sat there in collective gobsmackisation (for wont of a word that actually exists). One of our frequent haunts - which is pretty packed just about every lunchtime - is closing down! The waitress explained that the landlords - Nordstan I guess - have increased the rent by 140%, so I guess they wanted to get shut of them.
A sad moment in my gastronomic life. Now we're going to have to find another place to keep the number of options at a decent level. Or start making my own food.... nah.
What else has happened since I made an entry? Well, we get the keys to our new house on April 30th, but we might not actually move in straight away. Instead we'll get some of the decorating done, seeing as I have this flat for one month's crossover. Then it will be nice and new when we move in. It could mean that Linda lives here at the flat for that month too, if all goes well and she has sold her apartment by then, but that's no biggie.
Linda had her birthday party too - not too many people because space was short, but it was great fun and lovely to see friends and family - on both sides - again.
At the moment, because I'm living on my own for a short while longer, and because a number of my development buddies at work also do it, I go to Nordstan for lunch. There's a few places to choose from, but one frequent place is Warehouse. They do a good "Red Hot Chilli Burger" there. This is actually false advertising because this is Sweden and most Swedes don't "do hot", but it's tasty and, besides which, I'm digressing.
Four of us went in there this lunchtime and sat at a table. The waitress came up and asked if we were eating from the buffet (all you can eat for a fixed price, blah blah). "No," we said, "we're ordering off the menu".
"Ah," she said, "we don't have a menu any more, just the buffet for a while longer, because we're closing down."
We sat there in collective gobsmackisation (for wont of a word that actually exists). One of our frequent haunts - which is pretty packed just about every lunchtime - is closing down! The waitress explained that the landlords - Nordstan I guess - have increased the rent by 140%, so I guess they wanted to get shut of them.
A sad moment in my gastronomic life. Now we're going to have to find another place to keep the number of options at a decent level. Or start making my own food.... nah.
What else has happened since I made an entry? Well, we get the keys to our new house on April 30th, but we might not actually move in straight away. Instead we'll get some of the decorating done, seeing as I have this flat for one month's crossover. Then it will be nice and new when we move in. It could mean that Linda lives here at the flat for that month too, if all goes well and she has sold her apartment by then, but that's no biggie.
Linda had her birthday party too - not too many people because space was short, but it was great fun and lovely to see friends and family - on both sides - again.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Operation: GöteBowness
Forgive the crappy title, but it was the only one I could come up with using my limited brain capacity. Anyhoo, the Bowness Train continues to chuffa-chuffa at full pelt - we have just signed a contract to buy a house! We will be moving to Tolered, a suburb in the Hisingen island in Gothenburg. Actually, it's not that far from where I live at the moment - about 5 minutes by bus in fact.
We were either going to go for something in Trollhättan or Göteborg, and we couldn't make our minds up (we've been thinking of moving for quite a few months now). Our minds were in Trollhättan (you get more house for your money, it's quieter but Göteborg is still accessible by train), but our hearts were in Göteborg (this is the city I moved to, and Linda has lived here for a lot of her life). In the end, Göteborg won our hearts. It does mean that Linda will have to commute for a while, but she's had to do it before so it's not too bad. It also means that I'll have to do a lot of housework and cooking because I'll get home first. Hopefully you'll have a mental image of me in a pinafore now, a la "I Want to Break Free" video by Queen. ;) We won't be moving in until the end of April, but that gives me time to pack my stuff up and throw out all the old crap!
So... engaged in December, married in January, bought a house in February... by July we'll have teenagers!
Also, we went on our honeymoon (in Swedish, smekmånad, a translation of which could be "fondle-month!") to Crete a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful place, and spring-like for the first few days. It got a little overcast and rainy towards the end, but it didn't detract from the vacation at all. We stayed with Linda's mormor and morfar (maternal grandmother and grandfather) whose friends have a villa in Plaka, a small village near Chania on the North penninsula. Bliss! Pictures, for those interested, can be found here.
We were either going to go for something in Trollhättan or Göteborg, and we couldn't make our minds up (we've been thinking of moving for quite a few months now). Our minds were in Trollhättan (you get more house for your money, it's quieter but Göteborg is still accessible by train), but our hearts were in Göteborg (this is the city I moved to, and Linda has lived here for a lot of her life). In the end, Göteborg won our hearts. It does mean that Linda will have to commute for a while, but she's had to do it before so it's not too bad. It also means that I'll have to do a lot of housework and cooking because I'll get home first. Hopefully you'll have a mental image of me in a pinafore now, a la "I Want to Break Free" video by Queen. ;) We won't be moving in until the end of April, but that gives me time to pack my stuff up and throw out all the old crap!
So... engaged in December, married in January, bought a house in February... by July we'll have teenagers!
Also, we went on our honeymoon (in Swedish, smekmånad, a translation of which could be "fondle-month!") to Crete a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful place, and spring-like for the first few days. It got a little overcast and rainy towards the end, but it didn't detract from the vacation at all. We stayed with Linda's mormor and morfar (maternal grandmother and grandfather) whose friends have a villa in Plaka, a small village near Chania on the North penninsula. Bliss! Pictures, for those interested, can be found here.
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