Dreams

I have weird dreams. And I usually remember one per night. This one is a bit strange though, even for me, but if any one of you out there feel like Dr Freud, and would like to do an analysis, be my guest.

Background: The dream involves my Irish friend Niall, who every now and then visits Stockholm when here in business. We met just over a year ago on a plane from Stockholm to Paris, where he transfered to Dublin and I to Lisbon. Good laugh he is. Our evenings usually end up being early mornings and although we both agree that *this* time (it being a working day tomorrow) we'll go easy on the drinks, and make it an early evening. Yeah. Right. You know, blah-blah-blah *drink* awh-sleep-is-for-whimps *drink* want-another-one *drink*. Right?

Aaaanyway, here is the dream: - eh, no. Forget it. It was too strange when I saw it typed out. I'll just toss in keywords: Lounge, music, smoke in acid green colour, inhaling fumes, no buzz, hyper active and paranoid (and not me mind you), a joint the size of a cigar, 100 travel bags and a conference center. So I guess an analysis will be tough. Instead, enjoy this clip!

OK & Cranes

I've finally done some research on the term OK. Been meaning to do it for years. Just never had the chance to do so when I remembered, and never remembered when I had the chance to do it. Ah well. So now I know. At least one story.

Now on to another subject I've been pondering over for years; how the f*ck do they manage to assemble/mount the huge cranes used at construction sites? Anyone knows? Not only are they tall monsters, but they usually have a massive counter balance block hanging at one end. Must weigh a ton!

JFGI? Yeah, well - I have. And this far I've only come across a bunch of pictures of cranes. Soooooo, easy to transport (yeah, all folded up they are) but no nice movies showing them being mounted. I did find a local company close to where I live that claim that cranes is their area of expertise... so, maybe I'll give them a call and ask to come watch next time they've got a job to do.

Strange? Me? Wait until I post one of my latests dreams.

Cats, Hair & Weddings

Came back here to post a tribute picture to John as he posted a nice lazy picture today.

If you can't understand why I posted this picture. Look again. Closely.

And, for all you people out there that probably couldn't care less, order is restored, I'm no longer a brunette! Simply discovered how very tiresome it was, having the world believing I actually had some brains, so I decided today to quit the Artificial Intelligence thing I've had going for some months and went back to being blonde. Let's see what effect this will have at work. I might get away with just taking minutes during meetings and every now and then I might have to bring coffee for the clever (non-blondes) in the office.

Part from this, nothing exciting seems to be going on. Ah, well, my brothers wedding party is coming up. Will be a laugh. I hope. Last wedding I went to (my sisters) was truly embarrassing. My bad. *burr* Lesson learned, so will behave this time. (OMG... I just realized the jokes they'll tell on my expense. But wtf I deserve it. If I'm lucky I'll come down with a flu or something as good.)

Sunrise and fishing

Walking out from work today I was reminded of how much I enjoy the changing of seasons here in Sweden. 2 o'clock in the morning, I could see the signs of sunrise in the east. And now, 4 o'clock, it is daylight. Sun is up in 7 minutes and I really should go to bed (but bank holiday tomorrow so I can enjoy this morning first.)

Oh, and now I also want to go camping! It is a great thing to do in June. Set the alarm for 3 AM, go up, watch the sun rise and then crawl back into a tent where the warm sleeping bag awaits.

And where have I put my fishing gear? Fishing is a perfect excuse for being up very early. No one really notices if you just sit around and watch as the world wakes up.

Summer is fantastic!

So... Now I've visited Switzerland

Had no idea I would spend part of my weekend in the land of clocks and mountains. But I did. We missed the conneting flight to Stockholm in Zürich, due to delayed flight out of Lisbon.

It wasn't much of a surprise to us that the Stockholm plane left Zürich without us, as we, already sitting at the gate in Lisbon, had seen the departure time change every 30 minutes. Second time it was delayed we realized we were toast.

Before boarding the delayed flight in Lisbon we called our travel agency - alternatively we could have attacked the Gate personell, which the majority of our fellow travellers decided to be the ultimate way of managing the situation. I really really really would like to know if they honestly think that screaming at a person in Lisbon will make time stop somewhere else in the world. Anyhow, the sad news for us was that our ticket didn't allow the agency to re-book us from Lisbon, but there was a chance we could be re-routed from Zürich via Copenhagen to Stockholm.

By the time we arrived in Zürich I couldn't care less about making the Copenhagen plane, but my colleague was dying to get home. So we ran. Like crazy. With coats, computer bags and hand bags flying. Trying to be polite by informing the travellers, slowly making their way in front of us, to mind us as we needed to pass them. We did good. We made it to the transfer desk first of all. But no luck. The Copenhagen plane was full and gate closed (as if that mattered since the plane was full already). Part from that little piece of non-interesting information the Swisse staff impressed us with their efficiency and pleasantness. Coming in from Portugal I guess we were easy to impress as well.

Standing at the desk, my colleague took care of answering questions and sorting out the details, so I had the possibility of watching other people. And again I was amazed to see how angry people behave (and this time it was not me). What incredible amount of energy must be used to be angry. What little good comes out of doing business when being angry. And how different people under press behaves. One german guy was standing way back in the line screaming at us all to hurry up. Moron. Then I overheard another guy saying he was a bit nervous he would not make his flight to Copenhagen (the guy was now first in line, but no clerk available to assist him yet).
I asked: "Are you on the 20:10 to Copenhagen?"
He: "Yes, but I have no boarding pass which was informed I must get here".
So I asked our Swisse-clock-clerk if it was possible she stopped helping us for a minute, in order to give the guy his boarding card which she happily did.

So, all in all, the trip back to Stockholm was not all bad. We've had a *lot* of good laughs and I'm so glad I didn't end up doing this trip alone. (Partially cause I would have laughed, and seemed like a crazy person being on my own).

As soon as we had our hotel voucher, and the boarding cards for the first flight out Saturday, we decided to (1) have champagne - for fun and (2) do tax-free shopping - which we normally never have time to do and now my kids will be happy.

Things that made me laugh:
* Fellow travellers - an endless source of joy. Sometimes because of how they look but most times because of what they do.
* Swisse people - proud wearers of funky looking moustaches
* Portugese people - excellent ignoring upset people (which is amusing as this upsets them even more)
* Ourselves - surprisingly stupid but in good spirit (like having the champagne instead of picking up our bags from the belt, so had to claim lost luggage...)

Vacation - Crete

Been to Crete for a week with my two kids, my mother and my brother's two kids. This was a Christmas Gift from her to the kids (without first checking with the parents, and I was told to join as she couldn't manage all four of them on her own).

We stayed in a decent apartments hotel, although I missed central heating as it gets freezing cold and damp at night. It had a nice pool, were the kids enjoyed some hours. And the hotel was right on the beach so I could spend my hours down there overlooking the sea listening to my walkman.

Great foods as always. Drank some fantastic Raki (the Greek version of Italian Grappa) but also had some *really* nasty Raki which hadn't been filtered enough and left a terrible oily aftertaste (I smiled happily at the proud maker of the shite as he looked like he'd gone through some hard work to produce it). Interesting, but not unexpected, weather: rain, 15 degrees and windy one day, then 25 and sunny the next. I was pleased I had brought not only my bikini but my padded windstopper jacket which I wore some of the days as well as every night.

So all in all a great holiday then? Ehrm, well...

I was 16 when I moved away from home and after 10 minutes with her I remember why. Being with her is like riding a roller-coaster filled with lunatic dictators. I do lover her, it's just that I cannot stand being around her for very long. She lacks important social skills, but is the first to point out if anyone else is in error. She is intimidating when addressing just about anyone, and gets offended if anyone doesn't address her properly. She doesn't listen to anyone, but expects all to listen to her at any given time. She has terrible mood swings and has no patience, what so ever, if anybody (and we're especially talking about *kids* aged 9-13 here) is acting up due to being tired, warm, cold or hungry.
If there is such a thing as Kharma, I am scared to think of what she'll be in her next life. And I feel sorry for her. All the time.

But it was a great holiday. I had some really good talks with the kids (not surprisingly due to some of grandma's odd outbursts during the day) where I was happy to hear what they'd felt (mostly that she was over reacting) and how they manages to cope with her.

I listened to some great music and realized that I need more time away from the office in order to be able to listen to some music as it requires me being relaxed in order to enjoy it.

I read The Wasp Factory and Complicity by Iain Banks. Both good, so will go hunting for more of his works.

We visited an old friend who used to run a restaurant, but now runs five of them in Rethymnon. I was delighted to see how happy he was to see us all again. Truly heartwarming.

And we all have a nice tan so winter felt far away until we came back last night only to find it was -1 degree and frost :-)

PS. the picture is especially for Anna