Cool Swede

What happened?

2011-12-04T02:55:00.001-05:00

I used to be a neat and organized person.

I never missed people’s birthdays. I never lost socks to the dryer monster. I was always on time or early to meetings. My pen caps were always matched up with proper pens and always pushed on tight.

Somewhere along the way, things changed. I guess it had something to do with becoming a newspaper editor.

All of a sudden, there wasn’t time to worry about trivialities. All that matters is getting the darn paper done, preferably on time.

Now I am always late to meetings. I forget to send in reports. I forget birthdays and other important things like dentist’s appointments. I’ve even worn my clothes inside out.

So how do these things happen? And does one go back to having things in order?

I do not like to be the person who forgets to send my grandma a birthday card, or forgets what my significant other’s favorite food is. I do not want to have a checklist for how to get dressed in the morning, but I would like to have time to actually write a to-do list before midnight. I certainly don’t want to be the one who never fills out her SMS report for corporate until the fourth reminder email. And I don’t want to have missing socks.

I’m trying really hard to remember everything, to do everything that needs to get done. I guess sometimes, it’s just not possible.

But this year, at least, my Christmas cards WILL be sent out on time. I guess at least I can check that off the list.

Solving problems

2011-09-05T23:40:00.002-04:00

The challenge with trying to solve problems for other people is to figure out how get those people to clearly identify what the problem actually is.

"The bullets are gone on my pages," someone told me recently.

OK, explain. Are they gone from the template? Do you not know how to put them back? Is the font missing? Did they disappear in printed or just from what you can see? Where exactly are they "gone" from?

"They just won't show up."

Not helpful.

I also get the "it just won't work" complaints, the "something just happened to my monitor/screen/camera/phone" issues and the "what should I do?" questions.

However, it's my job as an editor to be a mind reader, an innovator, a mom, a caretaker, and of course, the in-house IT person, so eventually, we get to the bottom of things. Most of the time, at least.

And the bullets? Well, it was a systems issue. The font just wasn't compatible with our printing software. Haven't solved that one yet, but at least we got to the bottom of the problem.

The haunted condo

2011-09-03T00:34:00.005-04:00

I'm beginning to think that our neighbor's condo is haunted by an evil spirit.

For the past 45 minutes, my neighbors have been slamming doors (louder than usual, and even in the bathrooms and the closets) and screaming at each other. "Fuck this" and "I don't CARE" and then there was some crying.

Perhaps this wouldn't be so weird if they weren't the fourth couple living there since we moved in four years ago.

First, there was the Unit Owner. He lived here the first year. A few weeks after he introduced us to his girlfriend/fiancee/wife (depends on what day you asked him), he moved in with her in another unit and we haven't seen him since.

Loud TV Guy stayed in the unit for about a month. He wasn't living there full-time, so he doesn't really count. But he was painting or helping out with something and slept on a mattress on the floor. The sound from his television would bounce off the empty walls into all hours of the night, and a few times I think I even banged on our wall with a broom to get him to turn it down.

Woman With 3-year-old and Dog moved in after that. They seemed really nice - the girl was sweet and quiet and the dog was adorable. They must have lived here around the time of my abdominal surgery, because I remember during my first walk outside that the little girl looked at me, pointed and said "mom, why is she walking so funny?"

The trouble started when the husband came up here from North Carolina and couldn't find a job. Maybe he got laid off, maybe he got fired, we're not sure. From the noise he made when running up and down the stairs, he must have been at least 250 pounds. And boy, would he go up and down those stairs.

Turns out, that was the least of our concerns. He had a real bad temper as well. We heard a couple of nasty verbal arguments, but they always ended before we had a chance to really worry it would be taken to the next level and feel the need to call the police. Then there was The Big Fight. Banging, stomping, crashing. Door slamming. Angry man leaving. Quiet. Woman on phone crying.

We're not sure he ever came back. Bills started piling up. Termination notices came in the mail (we frequently get mail that's supposed to be for our neighbors and have to hand deliver it). Next thing we know, Woman With 3-year-old and Dog move out.

Mom With Teenage Son came next. We think there were actually two sons, and one of them might have lived in a basement room without windows. But we only saw them - or smelled them - when they stood out on our patio smoking cigarette after cigarette after cigarette. The smoke seeped in through cracks around the doors, and watching TV in our own living room became unbearable.

Doors would still slam, but there was no screaming, at least not that I can recall. I'm pretty sure the mom said she was divorced. She had many decorations and garden tools with her when she moved in, indicating she had downsized from a large house.

A few months later, I caught them packing boxes into a moving van. "My son got kicked out of school," Mom With Teenage Son said. "There's no reason for us to stay here now."

Couple With Tiny Cars moved in next. They've probably been living here eight or night months now. Doors have always slammed, but nothing like tonight.

And the eavesdropping was inevitable, as they took their fight outside on the patio and it's finally a cool enough night to have the windows open. After one of them left and then came back, it is finally silent again.

We'll see which one of them - or both, perhaps - is moving out tomorrow.

And the deck plans start happening...

2011-05-01T02:52:00.003-04:00

Transporting wood home from the store to start making the deck extension.

Our grill got a new home, in what used to be my wildflower garden. Well, at least it's off of the deck part, giving us more space to move around! More rocks will come, and some flowers to cover the ugly cinder blocks, but first we are getting a new grill!

I was experimenting with the cinder blocks to see if I could get them as high as the regular deck, but it wasn't really working. Will have to work out another removable foundation.

And here's the frame of the deck extension. Complete with metal corners and all! (but you can't see those in the picture)

And thanks to IKEA, we have covered our ugly existing concrete patio in some fancy (removable) wood decking. Now we just need some new outdoor furniture!

Chernobyl - 25 years ago

2011-04-26T01:28:00.002-04:00

It makes me feel really old to think that the big nuclear accident in the Ukraine that peopel still talk about happened 25 years ago today.

I can still remember my grandmother ushering me inside - no more outdoor time until the radioactive clouds had passed over Sweden.

Of course, I was only 7 years old at the time, so I wasn't thinking about the 31 people who lost their lives. I didn't even know what a nuclear reactor was. All I knew was that there had been a big explosion somewhere in the Soviet Union, that radioactive fumes were in the atmosphere, and that inside became the new outside for a couple of weeks.

I'm not even sure there was radioactive fallout where we lived in Sweden, but my grandma insisted it was dangerous, so inside I went. It was springtime, which made it so much harder to stay indoors. Flowers were starting to come up, the grass was getting greener. For months, my grandmother would warn me not to touch the grass or eat leaves or whatever we did as 7-year-olds, because there could be remnants of radiation.

Now, all I can think of are those poor souls that lived within a close proximity of the blast, all of those who later died or got sick from the radiation, and all animals near the plant who died off within a couple of years. It took days for the Soviets to providing information to the outside world - who knows how long before it told its people the truth. But people obviously knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Back to writing... sort of

2010-10-08T02:25:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to the first newspaper editorial I've written in almost a year... Not much time for writing anymore, as I'm sure you've all seen on this blog since there's been NOTHING on it...

CLICK HERE TO READ IT

Continuing in the kitchen

2010-05-31T23:36:00.003-04:00

Home Depot had a sale on glass tiles for the kitchen this weekend. That motivated me to spackle the entire back wall (the yellow glue from the ugly fake wood floor tiles has been showing for months) in preparation of some tiling.

Of course, I don't know how to tile, but at least the walls will be ready soon. I just have to sand and spackle them one more time... And we still have to order and install the counter tops...

But at least this motivated us to get some painting done on the lower cabinets. One step closer to having a completed kitchen...

A wonderful piece of history

2010-05-22T14:27:00.005-04:00

Today I navigated to the New Haven Register website to catch up on some local news. Instead, I came across THIS ARTICLE about the famous "Treskilling Yellow" stamp once again going up for auction.

The stamp, known to me as the Treskilling Banco, is of importance because it was postmarked in 1857 in Kopparberg, Sweden - my hometown of 3,100 people (You can see "Kopp" on the postmark). It was a big part of history growing up, and there's a museum in my town dedicated to the stamp.

There's even a celebration on July 13 every year - the day the stamp was postmarked.

The Treskilling Banco stamp is worth more than $2 million, and all because of a mistake. You see, the stamp was supposed to be green, but due to a misprint, it was printed in yellow.

At the time, it was worth 3 shillings - less than a penny. The boy who found it, Georg Wilhelm Backman, sold it to a stamp collector for about $1 in 1886.

Today, it's the most valuable stamp in the world.

SVT World

2010-05-04T00:20:00.000-04:00

I recently saw an ad in Nordstjernan for SVT World, and I’m considering trying it. Through SVT World, you can watch Swedish television in the United States. You basically buy another type of cable box and it lets you watch certain Swedish programs like debates, music and sports as well as children’s shows.

The limitations, however, are that the company is not allowed to air any shows already broadcast in the U.S. I doubt SVT would have been allowed to broadcast the Olympics, for example, since the network NBC owns the rights to those here.

And you can’t watch shows like “Friends” or “Seinfeld” through the Swedish stations. I believe they also edit them and just air certain shows internationally, so you can’t watch the same show as grandma is watching in Sweden at the same time on basically the same channel.

But still, the idea is intriguing. I just haven’t decided yet if I want to pay an extra $25 a month for watching television.

Is that really Swedish?

2010-05-03T00:18:00.001-04:00

People ask me about anything, from "Swedish meatballs" to Swedish massage. "Is that REALLY Swedish?" they say. The answer depends on the question.

Swedish meatballs are, of course, just called “meatballs” in Sweden. They are made by mixing ground beef and chopped up onions with bread crumbs soaked in milk. The meatballs are softer and less dense than the larger ones known in America as Italian meatballs.

In the U.S., I think people avoid the onions because so many people don’t like them. But the Swedish meatballs are very popular. So popular, in fact, that there’s a song about them. http://coolswede.blogspot.com/2008/05/swedish-meatball-song.html

But what about Swedish massage? Is that really Swedish?

The Swedish massage if often attributed to Per Henrik Ling, the father of Swedish gymnastics. As it turns out, Ling visited with a Chinese martial artist to improve body treatment. But a Dutch doctor, Johan Georg Mezger, was the man who adopted the basic strokes of massage known as the Swedish massage we know today.

Mezger may have known Ling and called it Swedish massage because of Ling’s influences, but the massage isn’t Swedish at all. Nor is it called “Swedish massage” in Sweden – it’s called “classic massage.”

I can’t find much online about the Swedish braid, but when I first heard a woman’s hair referred to as having Swedish braids, I thought of Pippi Longstocking. I believe Swedish braids are two braids flying freely, one on each side of the head. A French braid, on the other hand, is more complicated since the entire braid is attached to your head.

And finally, the Swedish fish. It is based on the soft, chewy candy made by Malaco, but in Sweden they come in all shapes and colors, not just fish. For some reason, whoever exported it must have decided that red fish would sell the best in the United States.

More garden pictures

2010-05-01T14:05:00.002-04:00

Planted some leftover marigolds in a pot.
Perhaps I stuck too many of them in there,
but we'll see how it goes.

The first lilies, the Stargazers, are starting to poke out
of the ground. I am trying to protect them this year
with bigger rocks, although a termite guy already stomped
on one of them. Don't know if it will recover.

My first batch of "protected" lilies are starting to
come up in a giant pot on the patio. At least the
maintenance guys won't touch these! (I hope)
I planted 10 more in a separate pot this year.

And in the kitchen window, I have strawberry
and tomato seeds growing. They will later be planted
outside in an upside-down topsy-turvy pot,
where they will hopefully grow upside-down.

Spending time in the garden

2010-05-01T13:51:00.004-04:00

When I brought home my new plants from the garden store on Wednesday, I couldn't wait to get outside to plant them on my patio. But by the time I got home, it was too dark and too cold, and the plants ended up getting tucked into the garage with the soil and other supplies.

Today I woke up and it was a beautiful day - I also didn't have to go to work, so it was time to plant my petunias and marigolds in a flower box on the front porch.

Then I ventured in the back yard, and it looked like this:

So I spent the afternoon digging up dandelions by the roots. And now it looks like this:

It's spring!

2010-04-29T17:11:00.001-04:00

Some energy left over for home improvement

2010-04-18T20:40:00.002-04:00

It's always good to set some goals. I have a hard time getting anything done unless I have a deadline - perhaps that's why I work in the newspaper business.

This past week, I decided I would try to get Albie's work area done before his 30th birthday next week. As I'm sure I've told you all before, his area is the hallway - we got stuck on several points there.

First, there was the corner by the stairs which we couldn't reach. One ladder was too tall, the other too short. And it was overall just awkward. So it's been on hold for about a year, with the rest of the wall painted and just a corner and some upper edges near the ceiling left white, framed with blue tape.

Of course, this is the corner I see every morning while waking up, since there's a direct view from the bedroom.

Another corner, directly across from the stairs, features Albie's desk and computer work station. So when we first painted, we went up to the desk from both directions, then we stopped. His actual work corner has been a dirty white, unpainted area for way too long.

The third project is that 1/3 of the rest of the upstairs wall only got one coat of paint - what's the point in continuing when 2 corners still had to be done?

Well, yesterday I finished off all of those "problem areas."

Albie helped me move the desk before he left for work - I did the rest. With a corner pad taped to a pole, I finished most of the top edges by the stairs with minimal stains on the ceiling (a few stains on the rug though as the pad slipped off and bounced down the stairs). With a brush taped to the pole, I the finished the corner. Getting the tape off was the worst part, and it included taping a paper towel to a stick and then taping a paper knife to the same stick to cut slips off that had gotten stuck.

The best part? Hanging the shelf, the curtains and the framed Mets memorabilia that's been tucked away in various nooks and crannies for over a year.

Birthdays galore

2010-04-10T23:20:00.004-04:00

I feel like my new job should be to host birthday parties. Or to be involved with them in one way or another.

At work, we've started a Birthday Planning Committee (you fans of "The Office" will know exactly what I'm talking about). Every time it's someone's birthday, we plan a theme and we make that person feel really special.

It really started with a very low attendance at our Christmas party. This inspired us all to plan better and make everyone's day feel special so they would want to help out for all the other birthdays.

In January, we had a Twilight party with vampire cupcakes, bloody drinks and blood-smeared popcorn. February's theme was Polish, since two people in our office both had birthdays close to each other and they are both from Poland. A designer brought in pierogies and we ordered a cake with the Polish flag on it.

For March, we had to keep it simple since everyone was stressed out and I was going out of town the two days before the party. We decorated everything in green in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and I brought in my blender and made non-alcoholic apple martini slushies. Another co-worker baked a green cake.

We won't have another work-related party now until June (unfortunately our boss who got laid off would have been the next one on the list). However, I had a 30th birthday party to attend for a friend today, tomorrow there's a bridal show er for another friend, and in 2 weeks Albie is turning 30. Lots more planning to do!

More forgetfulness

2010-03-25T22:11:00.002-04:00

I've certainly been neglecting friends and relatives this year when it comes to their birthdays.

My friend Carmen, whose birthday was March 3, had to wait until February for her Christmas present and will probably have to wait until June until her birthday card arrives.

You see, I make or buy birthday cards for people. I even address them, but then they get stuck in my car for weeks since I never have time to go to the post office.

Poor grandma, my aunt and my dad. They never got any cards at all. I did remember to call my grandma, though, a day later, but not my dad.

And no, I'm not pregnant.

Today, I was the guest speaker in a journalism class at Middlesex Community College (they had cake and everything!). When I got back to the office, I realized I'd left the power supply to my laptop in the classroom back at the school.

My staff and I scheduled a whole bunch of community meetings for next week, and were just about to publish the schedule in the paper for tomorrow, when - and hour before deadline - I realized Monday is my first wedding anniversary and I'm taking the day off. Whoops.

Oh, and I just pulled into my driveway at home tonight when I remembered I never returned my husband's movie to Blockbuster. It's still in my car.

Can I please order some extra memory for tomorrow? I would only need like 5 gigs or so.

Those were the days

2010-03-21T14:52:00.001-04:00

Remember when VHS tapes used to get stuck in your VCR and you had to take a hanger and jam it in there to get the tape out? Those were the days! Apparently, some people still remember how to do this.

Watching a duck die

2010-03-20T20:58:00.003-04:00

Just watched a duck die in front of my eyes today on the farm - it was pretty traumatic.

As I got there today, David and Kathleen (farm owners) had just gotten home from the store and they found Buttercup in the pond - lifeless. They pulled her out and put her body on a rock in the sun while they unloaded their stuff.

When I got there, Kathleen just came outside to mourn her baby, saw me, and said "Buttercup just died."

I looked over at the bird on the rock, and she was breathing and moving her head.

"She's moving," I said, and we immediately started getting towels, paper towels and the heat lamp ready so we could dry her off and warm her up - she was soaking, almost dripping, and extremely cold.

Kathleen got her stethoscope and listened to Buttercup's heart - there was a faint pulse!

We sat with the duck for almost an hour, watching her breathe and slowly move her head back and forth.

She kept moving her head around, which gave us hope, and she seemed to like it when I rubbed her chest with a paper towel to get her dry and warm.

We just sat there in the sun, trying to think of what else we could do to help her. Then after a little while, she just stopped moving completely, and she was gone.

Layoffs

2010-03-18T22:42:00.002-04:00

I was about half an hour late for work on Tuesday because I made a last-minute stop at the store to pick up some party items.

Tuesday afternoon, I was set to head to Philadelphia for an editor's conference. My first day back to the office - Friday - we're hosting a St. Patrick's Day birthday party for two co-workers and I wanted to be ready.

Dragging along my laptop bag, my lunch and several grocery bags, I stepped off the elevator Tuesday morning to find everyone assembled in the conference room.

"Oh well," I thought as I took a quick peek in there. "Must be just advertising people. They probably don't need me."

I continued to the lunchroom, dumped my bags on the counter, and turned around to find the advertising director right behind me.

"Do I need to be in there?" I asked as I saw his urgent expression.

He nodded.

"Yes, but first I need to tell you that (our publisher) is no longer with us," he said. "Now, come."

I rushed after him into the conference room only to find my former publisher stand there giving out his cell phone number to the staff in case of further questions. In the room was also the director of human resources.

Later that afternoon, we got an e-mail from our new CEO detailing the layoffs in the company. Eight positions in total were cut - four senior officials (3 VPs and 1 corporate human resources director) and four publishers at smaller newspapers.

The scariest thing? They will not be replaced.

Instead of having someone there for us at all hours of the day - someone in charge - we are now left with an empty office and a phone number for our new Connecticut Cluster publisher in New Haven. Of course, he'll only be there for 8 weeks or so, until he moves to his new position in Philadelphia. Then someone else will fill that role, and we have no idea who that person is.

Much to think about at the editorial conference for the past two days, and also much to discuss with the new CEO. He explained the reasoning behind it to me this morning after I confronted him via e-mail about his decision - cutting management in order to put more editorial people on the street, basically trying to undo all the damage the Journal Register Company has done over the past 2 decades.

Will it be that easy? I don't know. But we have been promised at least one new digital reporter in our cluster, and that person will most likely end up in Middletown (as a symbolic gesture since our paper was the one who lost a publisher).

Now I just have to figure out how we go from here. Lot's of new ideas from the conference. I just have to figure out how to get everyone else on board. Before, two of us had a vision. Now, it's just me.

(You can read more about this on my work blog HERE).

Look who's driving

2010-03-13T23:20:00.003-05:00

As I stopped at a traffic light on my way home from work Thursday night, I noticed the license plate on the car in front of me. It said "671 GUD." I chuckled and took a photo with my cell phone. "Gud" means "God" in Swedish. You just have to snap a picture when God is out driving around. ;-)

Breakfast

2010-03-13T14:21:00.002-05:00

The smell of grandma's freezer

2010-03-10T23:10:00.003-05:00

I pulled a couple of hot dogs out of the freezer when I got home from work today and realized that the plastic bag they were in smelled like my grandmother's house.

I paused and smelled it again. Yup, it smelled just like if I had pulled the bag out of grandma's freezer in Sweden 20 years go.

When I opened up the freezer, I found a bag of dill next to where the hot dogs had been.
"Aha!" I exclaimed to nobody. "That's why!"

You see, my grandmother would always keep dill and parsley in the freezer.
"You never know when you'll need it," she'd say.

Perhaps she still does. All I know is that at her old house where I grew up, she used to have an enormous freezer against the back wall of the kitchen for all her baked goods and some extra meatballs. I didn't realize until today that all those things in there had a very distinctive smell.

It's amazing how such little things can bring so many memories.

The joy of being in charge

2010-03-09T19:14:00.005-05:00

As soon as I entered the office this morning, I got pushed into the conference room by our advertising director.

"Great, you're here!" he said with relief and kept directing me away from my office and into teh big room.

He then turned to walk away, a little too quickly, and I could hear him mumble "enjoy" under his breath.

In the conference room were two angry black women and my publisher, all looking a bit distraught.
"I just don't understand," one of the women said. "Why you gotta put my background information in? Why you gotta do that?"

Once we established she was one of the people who had been arrested a few days ago, and was accused of wielding a knife at a young man allegedly smoking crack cocaine outside her building, she claimed she'd never been convicted of anything and that everything about the knife was false.

We calmly told her we could check our facts but that the information came from the local police, and if there was anything wrong, she would have to take it up with them.

The friend said "See, I told you so! Why you gotta come here and yell at them for???" and then the real action took off.

We showed them to the elevator door, but the two women argued louder and louder and were finally screaming at each other "You're not the one who's losing the house - you just shut the (expletive) up!)"

Others in our office were hiding in their cubicles, wondering if they should call the cops.

The elevator finally came and off the women went - with a few faded screams as the elevator took them down 4 floors. It could not leave fast enough.

Of course, once we checked the court records online and her arrest report, the woman was indeed guilty of drug violations and violating a protective order and police did indeed say she threatened a man with a knife over the weekend. It didn't make us feel any better about the situation.

As I made it to my office, I had a call from a reader in Killingworth telling me that apparently said in our paper that the New Haven mayor - an outstanding and friendly man - was being investigated for by federal officials for taking bribes from a developer, when in fact it was the mayor of Shelton who was under investigation.

"How could we do this to such a nice man?" the reader wanted to know.

And finally, someone who was named frequently in the comment section of our web site decided to hit "report abuse" on any comment that mentioned his name, which lead us to a long discussion on what constitutes a public person. Is the man who owns most of the company where six people just died in an explosion considered a public person? The story and all discussions and questions around it are certainly newsworthy and it's in the public's right to know. Does the fact that this man is a former city official still make him a current public person? Can you ever stop being a public person? And will this matter in terms of us removing the comments, that in our view were not threatening or libelous?

Tough day today.

Losing my mind!

2010-03-06T14:27:00.002-05:00

The new job is going great, but sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind.

Yesterday, I lost my wallet. ME. Lost. My. Wallet.

I rarely lose anything - I'm known to be the founder of lost things.

I first realized it around 4 p.m. when I stepped out to grab some dinner and put my hands in the empty pockets of my coat. Hm! I thought. Strange. Must have left it at home.

I searched the office when I got back just in case. Not there.

When I got in my car to go home that night, I searched the car. Not there.

I got so paranoid I called my husband and asked him to log in to my bank account to make sure no big purchases had been made. He confirmed that the last time the card was used was the day before at Dunkin' Donuts.

When I got home, I searched the house. Not there. I called work again and had my co-workers search the entire office. Not there.

Last step was searching the car - again - with a flashlight. Of course, the wallet had slid in between the seat and the door, just where the seat belt comes out of the bottom of the car. Phew!

But if this was the only thing, I would have written it off as just something weird. However, two weeks ago, I blew off a doctor's appointment when I was supposed to have X-rays taken. My doctor drove to a different office and waited for me there for half an hour.

I didn' t have the slightest idea my appointment was even that week. I had no reminders in my calendar. In fact, I couldn't even find the little card with the appointment date and time. Weird!

This is so unlike me. Perhaps I will just write it off as stress. Anyone else have any other suggestions?

New blog for work

2010-02-05T09:58:00.001-05:00

I am doing a new blog for work now. You can check it out here. But pretty soon I'm hoping to be able to do both.

Bloggpaus/blog break

2010-01-30T19:38:00.001-05:00

I should have done this a while back... but I guess it's not too late! I am taking a break from blogging. Too much going on at work and I can't really give this any serious attention.

Stay tuned though as I'll probably be back by the end of February or so.

Knox prosecutor convicted - Seattle News - MyNorthwest.com

2010-01-26T21:04:00.001-05:00

Knox prosecutor convicted - Seattle News - MyNorthwest.com

Posted using ShareThis

Semmeldags!

2010-01-24T12:33:00.001-05:00

First try! And they must be eaten with warm milk!

Comments

2010-01-24T11:37:00.003-05:00

I have turned on word verification for comments on this blog, because I've been getting a lot of spam comments like "Hello! You may probably be very curious to know how one can make real money on investments."

While it is easy to just delete them on the newer posts, when they pop up on old ones it's a pain to try to find them and remove them.

Hopefully, this won't create a big hassle for any of you real people trying to comment. Let me know if it does, and I will try to figure something else out to block the spam.

Oh, how easy

2010-01-23T16:24:00.005-05:00

I saw a friend's blog and realized how easy it is in Sweden to say "no thanks" to spam in the mail.

You simply make a sign or write a note that says "no fliers, please" and the person delivering inserts and such is not supposed to put junk mail in your mailbox.

Mostly, this is made possible because mail is delivered to each and every apartment in Sweden through a small mail slot in the front door. If the sign is on the door, it stops unwanted mail.

It is also possible because companies hire a separate staff to distribute fliers and such, unlike in the United States, where it all has to be sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Here, you have to visit the post office or its web site to stop unwanted mail, but you also run the risk of stopping magazines or free newspapers if you opt out.

And most companies use newspapers to distribute their fliers and inserts, because it's the most convenient way to reach the consumers. Unless you live in a house and has a mailbox by the road, most people's boxes are locked and unaccessible.

I wish I could just put a sign up on our box though that says "stop putting junk in here! Mailman, take that crap back with you when you leave!" but I'm afraid that's not allowed, nor would anyone adhere to it (It is, after all, a federal crime to tamper with anyone else's mail in any way).

No wonder our recycling bin is full before our two weeks are up! And we don't even have a daily newspaper at our house (despite working for newspapers, or perhaps because we both work for newspapers, we do not want one at our house every day).

Outdoor time on the farm

2010-01-23T15:20:00.002-05:00

Rosie

Ragano

Vanna

Vampire cupcakes

2010-01-21T23:42:00.003-05:00

It's a co-worker's birthday next week, so we are having a "Twilight" party at the office. Today I started practicing making vampire cupcakes. See all the blood? It's yummy raspberry preserves! They were really supposed to be made with meringue, but I couldn't find any. Instead, I used Fluff. A little stickier, but still good.

Pizza - so simple, so good

2010-01-17T15:42:00.002-05:00

The best thing about pizza is that you can use pretty much what you have at home. If you don't have pizza dough (I buy mine pre-made for $1.29, much easier than having to make it), you can use a tortilla or a piece of bread.

While mozzarella is the best cheese, I've used cheddar cheese, feta cheese and various Mexican cheeses - sometimes a combination of all of them.

For sauce, I usually throw on a couple of spoonfuls of whatever open jar of pasta sauce I have in the fridge, but sometimes I'll end up with just a can of crushed tomatoes.

For other toppings I use whatever vegetables I have at home, although I sometimes put some ham and pineapple on it.

Today's pizza consists of a Stop & Shop dough with red peppers, onions, fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, mozz, parmesan, Classico sauce and some oregano. Time to dig in!

Another batch of food bread

2010-01-16T22:38:00.004-05:00

About a week ago, I made batch of what is in our house called "food bread," a direct translation from the Swedish matbröd. It's basically any bread that you can have cold cuts and cheese on, (so not muffins or pastries).

My grandfather would have called this particular bread siktkakor, and the rye bread recipe is straight from his secret black baking book, via my grandmohter dictating it over the phone.

It was the first time I ever tried it by myself, and all things considered, it came out pretty decent. The best part? If I have half a slice of this for breakfast with some butter and cheese, I am full until lunch.

WHAT I’M READING: ‘In the Middle of the Night’

2010-01-13T00:55:00.001-05:00

When I first picked up the controversial book about the July 2007 murders in Cheshire, I was hoping to learn more details of the actual case. I wanted to read about what had happened that morning as Dr. William Petit became the only survivor in his family of a brutal home invasion that ended with a beautiful New England home going up in flames.

As I started reading “In the Middle of the Night,” however, I quickly realized that Brian McDonald’s book is more a disguised love store with one of the suspects arrested in the case, Joshua Komisarjevsky; it is the story about a homeschooled child raised in a Christian home, who had overcome so much, but still turned to crime at an early age.

I really didn’t want to read about Komisarjevsky’s grandfather renovating his barn in the 1980s, nor did I want to read about his family and what they have accomplished – it is simply irrelevant to this case and I quickly skipped over several pages when his family history came up.

Two men committed this crime and are currently awaiting trial for it, and it is clear that one person is featured in a favorable light (as if the author is saying "I understand why you did this, it's OK") and the other is blamed for most of what happened ("he was a fat, clumsy, not so bright guy from Winsted" - my interpretation of what the author wrote, not actual quotes from the book).

This deadly home invasion happened on a quiet street not more than 15 minutes from where I’ve spent most of my years in Connecticut. It was in a safe neighborhood, where nobody locked their doors, and it happened to an average family, who had no connection to the brutal criminals who broke into their house as they lay safely in their beds.

I want to read THEIR story – the story that Dr. Petit will one day tell, and may have already shared with some of his close friends. I want to know what gave him the courage to keep going after everyone he loved was gone.

What I definitely do not want to read is a glorified version of events from the viewpoint of one of the two criminals currently on trial for the tree deaths, a man who was not supposed to have any contact with anyone on the outside except his lawyer, but someone managed to write pages worth of letters to a mediocre author who wanted to make some money. And, it should be said, the author also managed to lie his way into prison to visit Komisarjevsky, by pretending to be an attorney.

In the town where the crimes happened, many protested as the library was set to buy copies of the book. The library said it is part of the town’s history; residents said nobody should support this book because of the horrible events it portrays and how McDonald went about writing it.

I say, let the library have it – that way, nobody needs to waste any of their money on buying it, and McDonald won’t sell anymore books.

In December, only a little over 21,000 copies of the book had sold on Amazon.com, something a local judge pointed out as he denied an attorney's request to have the triple-murder trial moved to a different court. The defense attorney for Stephen Hayes claims the book blames his client for setting fire to the house and says this is taining the jury pool so it will be impossible for Hayes to get a fair trial. The judge did not agree, and the trial is set to start in New Haven later this year.

I'm glad a review copy of the book landed on my desk - I certainly would have never paid to read it. If anyone else is interested in it, I'll be glad to pass along my copy so you can put your money to a better use.

WHAT I’M READING: ‘Up for Renewal’

2010-01-12T00:25:00.001-05:00

“Up for Renewal” follows writer Cathy Alter as she takes on the task of letting magazines guide her life.

Alter, a divorced Jewish woman living in Washington, D.C., sets out on the task of letting "O," "Cosmopolitan" and "Glamour" teach her about love, sex and starting her life over. And in 12 months, she manages to do just that.

First, she learns how to wrap a sandwich to bring to work using a clingy plastic wrap. Then, she learns how to make a whole meal. She even learns to get rid of her "upper-arm jiggle," to be comfortable with going camping, how to live without washing her hair every day and how to paint her apartment.

One of the reviewers on the back cover of the book said it feels like you’ve made a new friend when you read it, and that’s really how I felt. While I chuckled slightly and felt significantly more domestic than Alter as she stumbled through her sandwich stage, her voice is open and honest and it is very easy to feel sympathy for her many failures.

Of course, the book isn’t for everyone. For one thing, there are several references to Alter and her co-worker having sex at work, which may be too much to handle for some. Others might just not understand Alter’s personality.

I lent “Up for Renewal” to a co-worker who was going through a renewal face, and she hated it.
“This woman can’t even make a sandwich,” was the first thing she said.
“But didn’t you think it was funny?” I asked.
“Not really. She gives all Jewish women from Connecticut a bad name.”

She quickly handed the book back, as if not wanting to be seen with it near her desk. But that’s OK. We can’t all like the same thing. I am currently having my “Monster of Florence” co-worker read it just to see if I’m crazy, or if she likes it too.

I’ll get back to you on how that goes.

WHAT I’M READING: ‘The Monster of Florence’

2010-01-11T00:01:00.003-05:00

A co-worker first recommended the book “The Monster of Florence” a month ago. I got it for Christmas from Albie’s mom, and I finished reading it last week.

The book by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi takes you through 14 brutal murders in and around Florence dating back 20 years, and the Italian law enforcement’s search for the killer. But this is also a story of how a local newspaper journalist becomes a monster expert through his own investigations and great reporting, and later a suspect in the murders.

It is a story of how the Italian legal system lacks oversight, how prosecutors tell investigators what to look for (and what to find), and how innocent people can be convicted of heinous crimes with almost no physical evidence to back up the charges.

The story is extremely timely and relevant as 22-year-old American Amanda Knox was just convicted in the killing of a British exchange student in Perugia, Italy, in December.

At the center of both cases is prosecutor Guiliano Mignini. Mignini was indicted and charged with abuse of office in 2006 after he ordered wiretaps on several journalists – especially those who wrote about him critically – and area judges, but he is still allowed to keep working as a prosecutor despite the charges against him. He is expected to stand trial for abuse of office and “abetting” in the Monster of Florence case.

There seems to be a bias in prosecution in both cases. Once the prosecutor made up his mind about who he thought was behind the Monster of Florence crimes, Mignini disregarded not only physical evidence, but also common sense. It seems he has done the same in the Knox case.

According to CBS blog Crimesider, Mignini quietly appeared in court on and off for his own trial since April 2008, while waging a highly publicized prosecution against Knox.

Did Amanda Knox really kill her roommate? I don’t know. But she should at least be allowed a fair trial, and not a trial overseen by a man who is being investigated for not letting people have fair trials.

The Italian justice system does, indeed, seem to be in need of repair.

Let’s just hope Knox gets a chance to appeal her conviction and a separate set of eyes – people who are not on Magnini’s payroll – will re-examine the evidence against her.

Let us also hope that Magnini will be held accountable for his actions if it turns out he made the Italian justice system look worse than it already is.

Dear IKEA...

2010-01-03T18:16:00.001-05:00

Dear IKEA,

I’ve decided to take a break from coming to your store – perhaps for a year, perhaps forever.

Shopping at your IKEA store in New Haven is very bad for my health. It dramatically increases my stress levels; it makes me angry to the point that I want to hit someone in the parking lot with my car to relieve my frustration of shopping in your store (and I almost did this successfully the last time I was there).

The lack of bags, and the way your staff rudely tells its customers they no longer carry them, is the biggest bogus idea I’ve ever heard of. When I asked why a few months back, an “IKEA co-worker” simply shrugged her shoulders as if to say “that’s not my problem.” She then proceeded to tell me lies about changes in state statutes that would require all stores in Connecticut to stop carrying bags – she was not too pleased when I corrected her, and I still had nothing to put my items in.

As I stood there at the end of the check-out line with dozens of tiny little items piled up on top of each other and nowhere to put them, the co-worker informed me that I could go back inside and grab some giant blue bags that were for sale.

I ended up shoving my stuff back into the cart and wheeling it out to my car, where I quickly threw everything into the trunk higgledy-piggledy – not caring whether anything broke.

At my last visit, the “co-worker” cheerily informed me of the boxes available at the exit – all the way across the bottom floor. So, I am supposed to leave the items I have already paid for, while the cashier piles the next person’s stuff on top of mine, to run across the store and get some boxes? I’m pretty sure most of my stuff would be gone by the time I came back.

Don’t get me wrong – I have no problem paying for bags, or even bringing my own bags from home. But it’s kind of hard to do when you’ve never even told anyone they won’t be available.

If you aren’t going to have bags, and you are doing this for what to you seems like honorable reasons, then put a huge sign up BEFORE people get to the registers saying “We do not offer bags – go grab a box now!” Or offer boxes by the checkouts, instead of leaving your customers stranded with a pile of crap they now wish they had never bought in the first place while the cashier – again – shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head to inform you that this really isn’t his problem. He really just wants you to leave the store, no matter how much crap you have to struggle with.

And don’t even get me started on the quality of the products you sell. As if this isn’t indicative in itself by the amount of recalls your store has due to strangulation hazards and other dangers, let me tell you about some recent problems we’ve experienced.
The Malm bed my husband and I bought last year was missing every single piece required to actually put the bed together. When we called the help center to see how we could get the darn screws or plugs, we were told that we could just drive back down to the store to pick up these parts – 30 miles away. After much hassle, the person at the other end agreed to ship us the items, which came about a week later. In the meantime, we were sleeping on the floor.

The blinds we bought for all our windows include a part you are supposed to attach to cover up the hinges. Since the Velcro included isn’t strong enough, this part has fallen off on every single blind we have bought. Despite using double-sticking tape – and finally, Superglue – the little wooden slip will fall of, mostly in the middle of the night, scaring the crap out of us and the cats.

For Christmas in 2005, I had made a Swedish dish using anchovies bought in the IKEA food market. It gave me food poisoning, and I was throwing up for three days, unable to go to work.

The caviar I bought on my next trip had already expired, and it was oozing some strange-colored material that certainly did not belong in the tube.

And now, your store employees tell me, you don’t even accept batteries for recycling. So what good are you?

You don’t have shopping bags, your staff is rude and uneducated, you sell furniture that’s crap with missing parts, and you try to poison me with your food products.

Perhaps I should have used the blinds to try to strangle myself instead of shopping in your store – it certainly would have been a lot more pleasant.

'Welcome to America'

2009-12-29T01:23:00.000-05:00

A few weeks after I received my greencard in the mail, I received “Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants.”

What they send you is actually just an abridged version in a 4-page flyer. To get the complete guide, you have to visit a government web site. I considered doing that, just to see what the Urdu or Tagalog versions look like, but I am a bit offended they do not offer a Swedish equivalent.

Reading the small flyer makes me wonder what kind of people the government really gives greencards to. There’s advice on “Getting Settled in the United States” like how to find a place to live, how to get a job, how to find an English class and how to prepare for emergencies.

Now, if you do not have a place to live, why – and more importantly, how? – could you apply for permanent residency status? That’s the most ludicrous one, to me.

The brochure also advises that “you should not move permanently to another country” (Well, duh!), that “each person has an important role to play in his or her local community” (say what?) and that if you do not have a computer at home, “you can use one at your local public library or at an ‘Internet Café’” (to print the entire guide).

Reading the “guide” makes me think they should have just given me a greencard when I set foot on American soil at John F. Kennedy Airport back in 1998. I had a job, a place to stay, and I knew how to call 911. I had access to a computer AND I knew where the library was. I also spoke English, which is more than you can say of most people who come here (and end up staying).

So, remind me, why does the U.S. government make things so difficult?

Shopping and coffee

2009-12-28T01:01:00.001-05:00

I felt like a true American today, guiding a large, blue cart down the narrow isles at Walmart with a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in my hand. Like at least 100 other people, I was out at 11 a.m. to look for the best after-holiday sales.

Mostly, I was looking to stock up on wrapping paper, labels and ribbons for next Christmas, but I ended up with some good deals on small gift items as well.

The iced mocha latte I was holding was actually supposed to have been my Christmas morning wake-up drink.

I had finally convinced Albie to stop at Dunkin’ Donuts on our way to his parents’ house on Christmas Day. We pulled up the drive-through, and a chipper voice said, “Welcome to Dunkin’ Donuts, how may I help you?”

Albie placed my order since he was driving; there was complete silence. We wondered if maybe he had offended the attendant by starting out with “All I want is…” Usually, they come back and try to sell you something else.

A minute or so went by, then Albie finally said, “well, I’m gonna drive up now” into the microphone. Still nothing.

We drove up, and realized it was pitch black inside. Closed. Stupid automated voice machine! And not even a sign anywhere saying they were going to be closed. I thought it was only in Europe things shut down completely for Christmas.

McDonald’s was open on Christmas Eve here, when I stopped to get a McDouble and some fries on my way home from work. Even Albie found this weird, but I hadn’t had any lunch and I knew it was going to be hours before Christmas dinner was served, and McDonald’s was the only place open on my way home.

Now, I found out I cannot have my coffee when I want to! What is the world coming to? And don’t tell me I have to brew it myself in the morning – I will do no such thing. I want to pull up to a little window in my little car and pay someone to squirt the appropriate amount of whipped cream into a plastic cup and then sprinkle chocolate syrup on it – it is the only way I can start my day like a true American.

Holiday party at work

2009-12-23T19:07:00.002-05:00

(I made the table cloths, someone else brought in the cute decorations)

December birthdays

2009-12-20T13:51:00.006-05:00

Four of my friends also have birthdays in December. Usually, we do not have time do get together for everyone's birthday, so we try to do a group thing. This year, we tried planning individual parties, and, of course, mine got snowed out.

But on Friday night we all met up at East Side restaurant in New Britain, a German place more famous for its atmosphere than its food, to celebrate Justin's birthday.

The staff was all in Bavarian costumes, and as soon as someone at a table ordered a large jug of beer (one liter), the whole room would shout "ticki, tocki, ticki, tocki, hoy, hoy, hoy!"

The food was OK, but very expensive. And I made the mistake of ordering au gratin potatoes, when I should have just stuck with mashed. I am sure the wienerschnitzel would have been better than the pot roast I ordered as well. Oh well, at least chocolate ice cream was included in the price for dessert, and the beer was pretty darn good!

Getting in the Christmas mood

2009-12-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

The December storm

2009-12-20T13:47:00.003-05:00

We got some snow last night - first big storm of the season. It's great that we will finally have a white Christmas. And despite ruining a planned birthday party, it was nice of the storm to happen on a Saturday night into Sunday morning so the road crews will have time to clear the roads before I have to go back to work.

When Swedes come to Middletown

2009-12-13T12:40:00.003-05:00

Last week, the Pitea Chamber Choir from Sweden visited Middletown (where I work) to host a joint concert with the Wesleyan University chorus. The performance started with a traditional Lucia processional, and it brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful (and yes, it made me a little homesick).

The director of the Swedish chorus, Erik Westberg, has been teaching at Wesleyan University this semester as part of a grant and exchange program. This concert, and another one by just the Swedish chorus the following day, were the culmination of his time in the United States.

He stopped by my office a couple of weeks ago and we chatted about the differences between Americans and Swedes (Americans work harder and longer) and about what the appropriate answer is to "How are you doing?" in different situations (When a friend asks: "Good, how are you?"; When asked at a restaurant: "Fine thank you.")

Now, he gets to go back to Sweden to celebrate Christmas, while I am stuck here to celebrate it "the American way."

Another beautiful gift

2009-12-11T22:34:00.003-05:00

A co-worker made this gorgeous quilt in green and purple for my birthday. Of course, as soon as I got home, the kitties played tunnels with it. When I tried to fold it up and tuck it away, they decided it was their new sleeping spot on the dining room table!

My bestest birthday present

2009-12-11T22:32:00.002-05:00

My lovely husband and his mom got me this beautiful camera for my birthday - a Nikon D3000!

Another wedding

2009-12-08T01:22:00.002-05:00

Another one of my friends is getting married next year, and I am going to be in the wedding party. I haven't been in a wedding since 2007, when my best friend got married.

Being part of an American wedding can be both a hassle and a lot of fun. It's fun because you get to partake in all the intimate details and "behind the scenes stuff," but you also have to help with arrangements, planning and keeping the bride calm on her big day.

It can also be expensive. This time, I am getting off pretty easy. I think our bridesmaid's dresses came in around $150, and I don't have to stay overnight anywhere since the wedding is in Connecticut. With the hair and the nails and the shoes and the gifts, it will still add up.

I'm still really glad we did our wedding as simple as could be. Well, I guess it could have been even simpler, but I'm happy we only had 2o guests and that we were able to do it in Vermont. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. While others may forget details of their big day years later because they had so many details to remember, I will always remember us throwing m&ms at each other after dinner and eating cheese and crackers in the hot tub.

Twilight: New Moon

2009-12-07T23:40:00.004-05:00

My husband took me to see "New Moon" for my birthday - after quite a bit of begging. He hated the first movie, "Twilight," and even I thought it was pretty corny and stupid.

But I still wanted to see the sequel. After all, this is the book where Jacob is featured prominently, and he is my favorite character. I wish there was a movie just about Jacob, but this is probably as close as we're gonna get. That is, of course, until they make the fourth movie. Then hopefully at least part of it will be about him.

The main reason I have a problem with the movies is that they are so geared toward 14-year-old girls. Ooooh, look! There's Edward running without his shirt on! And the "Bella, I won't ever hurt you, I won't ever leave you" and then the next minute you're gone. I guess if I had still been 14 I would have loved it - that's what life was like back then, right?

Thanks to a bigger budget for movie no. 2, "New Moon" actually does OK in terms of tying things together - there's depressing music, there's great cinematography - and yes, I even cried when Edward left. And compared to the first movie - but that's not saying much since it was absolute garbage - "New Moon" is 10 times better.

The best part? Edward isn't it in much.

Sometimes, I guess, it's better when the characters just stay in your head. At least then they look the way you want them to, and not like a pretty-boy "Harry Potter" actor who is now wearing too much makeup.

My birthday dinner

2009-12-07T23:32:00.001-05:00

Yummy, yummy foods!

Hello Kitty!

2009-12-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

A pretty cookie someone made for a party I recently went to.

(I just had to take a picture before I munched on that cute face!)

The 30th year of Viktoria

2009-12-06T23:24:00.002-05:00

A year and a half ago, I wrote a blog post called The Years of Viktoria, where I named all my years from 1978 to 2008.

I'd like to add 2009 to that: The Year of Big Changes.

Not only did I get married this year, but I also had my stomach cut open and started a new job. I am not sure what next year will bring, but I think I read in a horoscope somewhere that it will be peacful and things will begin to settle down for me. At least that's what I'd like to believe.

I usually spend a lot of time on my birthday reflecting over years past and people I do not see anymore and why that is, but this year my birthday has been a pretty normal day. And it's been fun - and very relaxing. Of course, the two mimosas helped, as did the half-bottle of wine at Olive Garden.

Swedish buns at work

2009-12-06T13:21:00.002-05:00

Kitties in the snow

2009-12-06T13:13:00.003-05:00

As a birthday present to myself, I took the kitties out to play in the snow this morning. They are usually pretty good - they never go very far. Today, they tip-toed around in the snow, shaking their paws every three seconds. They sniffed it, they touched it, they walked backwards - but they didn't even consider coming back inside. I had to enlist my husband to help lure them back in. Now they yowl at the door, wanting to go back outside.

Gotta love the GPS

2009-11-29T22:34:00.004-05:00

Most of the time, I don't need a GPS system to tell me where to go. Even if I do use the little machine, I still like to look up directions ahead of time because it isn't always that reliable.

It is convenient to use if I have enough patience to actually wait for it to boot up and find a GPS signal, and then plug in the address, because it can tell me exactly where to turn if I am not sure, and I never have to wonder if I went too far or if I missed the exit.

But for the most part, I just turn it on to get some laughs.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving on the highway to get to a friend's house. I wasn't sure about the last couple of turns, so I had turned the system on before I left my house to be ready. I am in the left lane on the highway, when a female voice suddenly comes out of nowhere and demands that I "turn left in a quarter mile." There were no exits in sight.

I ignored the command, thinking about all those idiots who have driven into walls or lakes "because my GPS system told me to turn there." You gotta use some common sense, people!

Since the person who gave it to me used the GPS in Torrington, the system frequently wants me to go back north. And lately, no matter where I am or what address I punch in, it seems it just wants me to "turn around whenever possible" or "make a right and then a right" to go in the opposite direction.

Perhaps one day it will come in handy. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Ready for the holidays

2009-11-28T23:18:00.003-05:00

On Thanksgiving night, Albie pulled out our Christmas tree from the big box in the basement and started putting it together. It looks even better this year than before with the new floors. I got done early at work Friday and spent most of the night putting up the rest of the decorations (two stockings and lights around the window in the kitchen, Albie's Pharmacy in the window and wreaths and lights on all our railings). Now we are ready!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T21:40:00.002-05:00

My reward

2009-11-22T23:34:00.004-05:00

The biggest problem with shopping for other people is that I always find things for myself. I usually don't let myself get them - I try to nicely remind myself that this trip is about other people, and I can get whatever I want another time.

This bag, however, was just too good to be true. I had looked at something similar a few years ago when I got my first real job as a journalist. Saturday, it was the first thing that caught my eye as I walked into JC Penney's at the mall.

There it was, on the top rack, just in front of me in its black shinyness.

Looking around to see if anyone else had seen it too, I slowly walked towards it. It was as if it was calling my name.

As I got close enough to see the price, I almost choked out of surprise: $14.97. Thinking there must be some sort of mistake, I peeled the clearance sticker off slightly to see the original price: $140.

After getting confirmation from the cashier that the beautiful bag was, indeed, only $15, I just had to have it. And that was the best part of my Christmas shopping yesterday.

Seeing double

2009-11-22T23:19:00.003-05:00

I hate shopping with lots of other people around. The slow-walkers you can't get around, the people who stop in the middle of the aisles without notice, the kids who scream because they cannot take the toys home and the lack of parking - I just hate all of it.

So in an attempt to avoid some craziness, I ventured out on Saturday to do most of my Christmas shopping (the big sales start on Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - known as Black Friday here).

The Christmas cards I ordered last week also came in right before the weekend, so my plan was to get most of the holiday-related madness out of the way so I can spend part of December - Viktoria's Birthday Season - cooking good food and making holiday candy. And maybe even get some relaxing done, while others are out running around like crazy.

I didn't get nearly everything done that I had planned, of course - I never do in terms of shopping - but I think I made out pretty good. Especially in terms of getting things for free because someone screwed up.

For Albie's grandma and for a friend of mine, I had ordered some re-prints of photos at Walmart. I stopped by yesterday afternoon to place the order via a machine in the store, thinking I could go back today to pick up the prints. Of course, the machine was broken and the pictures were never ordered.

Four trips to the store later, I get a call saying "they are all set, you can come pick them up." Credit card in hand, I rush to the check-out counter.
"No charge," the lady says. "You had to wait way too long for these."

I ran out of the store happily - and of course I forgot to pick up the extra wrapping paper I so desperately needed. When I got home, and Albie reminded me I also forgot to pick up the W40 he had asked me to get, I ripped open the photo envelope to show him what I planned to give his grandma.
"Wait a minute!" I said. "There's two of everything!"
And it didn't cost a thing.

A similar thing happened with the Christmas cards. As I was in the midst of the last batch of cards early this morning, I realized the amount of envelopes I had put aside and the inch-high stack of cards left on my desk didn't exactly match up. For some reason, the card company had sent me 150 photo cards instead of the 75 I ordered.

The only problem now is to figure out what to do with all the extra stuff. I really don't want to send out the same cards again next year! Anyone want two?

The Berlin Wall

2009-11-16T01:36:00.003-05:00

I don't remember much about the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was 10 years old at the time, and I remember that a few weeks later - probably over the Christmas holidays - a classmate of mine went to Germany with her family and came back with a piece of concrete.

"What's that?" we all asked as she showed it off in school.

"It's a piece of The Wall," she said.

The wall was, of course, one of the stops on my trip to Berlin in 2001 when I went with my friend Jenny (above). Part of it still stands, showing a clear division of East and West that is not easily forgotten.

Apparently, when it happened, I wrote a song about the wall coming down. My grandmother just reminded me when I spoke to her last week. I vaguely remember hitting some keys on our old, out-of-tune piano and trying to compose some ugly notes on a sheet of home-made music notation paper.

My grandmother, who had just been released from the hospital after a back surgery, remembers laying in bed as I played and sang to her from across the room.

"Oh, I wish we had recorded it," my grandmother said.

All I can remember is that I - when I was 14 or 15 - found some badly written piece of pink paper, and when I tried to play the notes on it, it sounded like the theme song to "McGyver." I tossed it on the spot and never thought about it again.

Cat massage

2009-11-15T13:18:00.004-05:00

My friend and former roommate Bo is training to be a massage therapist. She came over to my house yesterday to give me a massage as part of her training toward her practical exam. However, someone else in my house decided HE was the one who should get a massage.

Before the table was even completely set up, Pip was pacing back and forth underneath and around it. As soon as the sheets went on it, Pip was on the table too. Although his massage lasted only a few minutes, and not the full 50 that I got, he seemed more than pleased when he jumped off and settled back in his regular spot on top of the kitty tower.

The warm welcome

2009-11-12T22:36:00.002-05:00

Today I had a letter from USCIS in the mail.

"Your application has been approved," it said. "Welcome to America."

To someone who has received at least a dozen letters from the government on the same letterhead, each listing a case number and an outcome, or a laundry list of missing documents, it was refreshing to get a letter where the overall tone was different.

Not only was the writer trying to convey a warm welcome while at the same time using government-approved sentences, but the bottom of the letter contained phone numbers you can call for help if you run into ANY problems, ANY at all.

All of a sudden, I am getting the VIP treatment. Now, I am almost an American.

The Greencard Interview

2009-11-07T23:58:00.002-05:00

We had prepared for it for months, starting with the day I sent in the last of my "additional evidence" requested by the immigration authorities.

The night before the interview, Albie read aloud some sample questions he had found on the internet, and we learned that the interviwer may ask where we keep our towels and dirty laundry as well as who feeds the cats and how often, what we had for breakfast that morning and who sleeps on what side of the bed.

All my photo albums were ready to go - from the wedding album to cat and condo photos - and all our joint Christmas cards for the past 2 years were neatly arranged in Ziplock bags.

We got to the interview a few minutes early, found parking right away, and realized the building we were looking for was the courthouse. The metal detector was no problem, except for the paperclip in my shoe, and after we checked in with the receptionist we were seen almost immediately.

Albie had joked that I would be made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, to which I confidently responded "I don't need to know it - I am not a citizen."

As we entered a small office with glass walls, the immigration officer stopped and asked us both to raise or right hand. "Oh shit!" I thought. Maybe Albie was right.

"Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth here today?" he asked.
"I do," Albie said.
"Yes," I replied.
Which led to a discussion as to what the correct and appropriate answer actually is. We found out that even nodding was OK in this instance.

"So, you guys live in (town name)?" our interviewer's first question was, although it wasn't really a question. "The Magic Valley."
Then we discussed the water quality of the local river (rumor has it that 20 years ago you could develop film in the river).
"And you are both reporters?"
"Well, we both work for newspapers. That's why we are so tired - it's the morning after Election Day."
"I see."

The interviewer looked through our applications. He turned to me, almost apologetically.
"Have you ever been arrested?"
"No."
"In any country?"
"No."
"I'm just kidding." He laughed. "I know you haven't."
He pointed to the papers.
Ha ha.
"Have you ever been a terrorist?"
"No."
"Let's see..." (Looking through papers)
"Is that my background check?"
"Yes. You're good - no terrorist activities."

More flipping through papers.
"So, you guys got married in Vermont?"
"Yes."
"Why do you want to come HERE, if you're from Sweden? You should make your husband move to Sweden!"
"Sure, maybe later, after we have kids."
"Although Sweden has its share of immigration problems."
"Sure."

"Any joint property?"
"Yes."
Paperwork.
"Good. This is great."

A few minutes later...
"OK, you are all set. Your greencard will arrive in two weeks."
"What? We're done?"
"Yup. Look for it in the mail."
"But don't you want to see our wedding photos?"
Sigh.
"Yes, sure."
"We've gone through all this trouble."
"That's what everyone says."

New in the dining room

2009-11-04T21:38:00.003-05:00

We used our new sconses on the walls of the dining room for the first time today! It was the perfect day to light candles all around the house, and with daylight savings time being over, everything gets dark really early.

Dinner for three

2009-11-04T21:35:00.003-05:00

Sophie and Pip decided to join Albie's mom for dinner now that we actually have a dining room table. Then Sophie fell asleep on a placemat after dinner...

The Royal Party

2009-11-02T22:22:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, my former landlord - the farm owner - threw us a Royal Celebration party on her farm (coincidentally, right outside the house where I used to live). We were singing, dancing, eating and - best of all - I got to wear my wedding dress again!

Of course, that particular day it was cold and very windy. Her royal highness picture above - when not being warmed up by her husband - was wearing a thermo shirt under the dress and a sweater on top of it.

Most people were freezing their butts off, but the food and company was very good, and after some wine everyone seemed to warm up a bit.

My new to-do list

2009-11-02T21:14:00.003-05:00

Before I took the job in Middletown, I had made a to-do list of things to get through during my last week in Torrington.

* Get a haircut
* Get an oil change
* Clean the bathroom

were some of the things on my list. Well, 7,000 miles overdue, my car finally got an oil change last weekend. Still waiting for that haircut, though, and I haven't made it to my chiropractor in over eight weeks. Good thing I still have time to visit the gym once a week so my bad back can keep up with my new schedule!

I haven't had time to do much, yet important things like watching "CSI" usually makes it into my schedule somehow...

Most of the time when I get home, I don't even turn my computer on. And my computer is The Writing Machine. Albie's computer, conveniently located on the landing just by the stairs, is always on. But his computer is for fun things like playing jigsaw puzzles, checking e-mail or harvesting pumpkins on my farm.

I find it very hard to write in such an open space. And I find it even harder to turn my computer on and go in my room and close the door. It's much easier to avoid it altogether.

Obama in Connecticut

2009-10-23T20:23:00.002-04:00

I received this tonight in my work e-mail and figured I'd share a little piece of it - seems like the beginning of an award-winning speech to me!

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 23, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SENATOR DODD FUNDRAISING DINNER

Stamford Hilton
Stamford, Connecticut

5:47 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Connecticut! (Applause.) Hello, Stamford! (Applause.) It is good to be back in Connecticut. Thank you so much. Everybody, please have a seat -- have a seat. Relax for a second. I'm just warming up here. (Laughter.)

I'm going to talk a little bit about this guy in a second. Let me begin by just acknowledging some wonderful public servants who have just been serving their constituencies with great distinction for, in some cases, a lot of years.

First of all, Congressman John Larson is in the house. Where's John? There he is, John Larson. (Applause.) Congressman Chris Murphy. Chris. (Applause.) Congressman Jim Himes. (Applause.) Yes, sir. This is Jim's district, so he's got the home court advantage. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. (Applause.) And Mayor of Stamford, Dannel Malloy is in the house. (Applause.)

I can see this is a feisty crowd. (Applause.) What are you guys eating? (Laughter.) You don't know yet, huh? It's a surprise? All right.

My new office

2009-10-22T00:05:00.002-04:00

My new office is located in an old clocktower building, hence the beautiful antique stairs (that nobody ever uses because we have an elevator taking us straight to the fourth floor).

Everything is clean and new (as opposed to flooded and water damaged like in Torrington). I started decorating slightly last week, but the Ivar bookcase is currently leaning up against the window frame since I forgot to buy the metal cross that supports it!

Eventually, the books will go on the bookcase and there will be more plants in the window (there are 3 right now, but since they're against a dark background you can hardly see them).

The last picture shows my actual work space. I had two computers, but mostly just use my laptop. The second computer I had to give away to a new reporter - I just kept the nice widescreen monitor for show!

Painting the closet

2009-10-21T23:16:00.002-04:00

Once the new floors were in, it became obvious that our dirty old closet needed to have a fresh coat of paint before we put any items back in there. Still in the process of touching that up as well... and of course the trim around the door and the door itself will have to be painted white (the same white as all the other trim).

New floor pictures

2009-10-21T23:13:00.003-04:00

You'll have to excuse the mess - we are still in the process of painting the trim that was removed and put up again. And we still haven't managed to bring the couch back into the living room - it's very heavy and it barely fits through the door and up the little entrance way.

I will post better pictures another day - maybe when the weekend arrives!

An update about work

2009-10-20T00:38:00.004-04:00

It's been so long since I posted something on here, that I had to log in to the site all over again. Normally, Blogger remembers my password - I guess I passed the expiration date.

I've been a bit hesitant to blog about work. Not only have I been extremely busy getting us through a re-design and conversion from tabloid to broadsheet with all the template changes and system quirks that involves, but I've been busy interviewing people for open positions. I've hired two - now there's only one spot left. But it seems to be the hardest.

I've been reluctant to post something on here too because I know that anyone in my new office who decides to google my name plus "blog," or maybe just google my name, would eventually come across this blog. I'm not quite sure what is "safe" to blog about yet - being the boss and all.

But I guess I can say I've settled in to my new office a bit - kitty pictures are up on the wall behind me, bookcase and plants have been purchased at IKEA. I'm thinking of making curtains as well for my nice big window. The only problem? The ceilings are 12 foot tall.

On the home front, our floors are finally done. We got brand new ones after they ripped out the ones that didn't look too good, and our stove finally got hooked up again on Friday afternoon. Of course, the gas company says "anytime between noon and 4 p.m.," which turns into 5:30 p.m.... so I lost almost a whole day of work sitting here waiting for the gas guy. Oh well. I guess I'll have grounds for a BIG argument once the bill comes... Considering how much they are costing me, they should be paying me to sit here and wait...

I've got a pot of chili on the stove now and the antipasto squares just came out of the oven. Of course, with the floors now done, it means all those other home improvement projects we'd been putting off until the floors were done are now on the to-do list. Can of white trim paint, here I come!

Floors finally done

2009-10-15T00:31:00.002-04:00

I got home today and voila! The floors are all done! No more strangers running in and out of our house at ungodly hours of the morning...

Still have to wait until Friday to have stove hooked up again since I didn't call the gas company early enough... oh well. At least by the weekend I'll be able to cook again!

Another flooring update

2009-10-10T23:26:00.001-04:00

Did you think the floors looked good in the previous pictures? Oh well. We ripped them out and had to start all over again. They were defective (The edges of each piece kept sticking up).

The floors are now a little less done than what you saw in the pictures below, but they are nicer ones for the same price.

Of course, we weren't expecting it taking almost three weeks to complete... it's tough not having a stove hooked up. I guess I could have cooked some stuff on the George Forman or on the real grill - or in the Crock Pot or microwave for that matter. But I just haven't been home to even worry about it. Work is getting the best of me.

But with one week behind us after the redesign, things will hopefully calm down real soon. The beginning of last week, though, was awful - especially in terms of phone messages. I didn't even have time to listen to my messages before I had new ones, and as soon as I hung up, someone called again. "The crossword is missing." "Where is my cryptoquote?" "I can't find the index."

All in all, though, it went well.

Flooring update

2009-10-03T13:22:00.003-04:00

After five days of having to get up at 8 a.m. to let the floor guy in, I am a bit disappointed to see that the floors still aren't done. Granted, we hit a bump in the road on the first day - our plywood underneath the particle board wasn't thick enough and made everything really bouncy. We had to add an extra half-inch of plywood before the floor could be laid down.

And the company only sent one guy to do the job. On the third day, he brought in his brother. But they are still not done.

The dining room is done but still needs all the trim re-attached. The living room is mostly done, but you can see the black "rug" area in the picture where the floor still has to go up to the railing. And the hallway needs its entire floor. And they haven't even ripped out the old floor in the kitchen!

So, not only have I been getting up at 8 a.m. every other day (Albie and I took turns), but I've had to go back to sleep with earplugs. We've also had the stove disconnected since Monday and cannot cook or use the oven. Can't wait until this is all over!

The toilet emergency

2009-10-03T11:20:00.003-04:00

I was deep in sleep on Saturday morning when Albie comes bursting into the bedroom.
"Viiiiih-khan! Get up!" he yells in a panicked voice. "Get up, get up, get up!"

I jump out of bed and stand for a second in the dark, dizzy, trying to figure out what's going on. Albie grabs my shoulders and looks straight into my eyes.
"How do you turn the water off on the toilet?"

Immediately, I realize the severity of the situation. I rush into the bathroom. Halfway to the toilet, I notice my feet are already soaked in about an inch of water. Albie stops at the door, throwing down a ton of paper towels behind me.

I turn the little knob and the water stops. (All my plumming experience actually stems from incidents just like this one). Of course, there is still water everywhere - lots of water.

We start throwing old bath towels on the floor, then the hand towels. I refuse to use my nice, new towels. Even if we wash them later, I'm gonna know they've been in "toilet water."

Everything goes in the tub - for now. While Albie is wiping up the last of the water, I get to work on the toilet issue with a plunger and a bucket of hot water. A few minutes later, we are good to go.

We wipe down the whole bathroom to get the toilet smell out of it. I wash my hands, vigorously, and head back to bed. After all, it's only 11 a.m.

"At least I don't have to clean the bathroom today," I think as I slide back under my warm blanket. I mentally check it off my to-do list and fall back asleep.

You know you're the boss when...

2009-10-01T01:46:00.002-04:00

You know you're the boss when...

People stop talking as you walk down the hall.
Reporters quickly close out of solitaire as you approach their desks.
People older than you starts referring to you as ma'm.
IT/tech people respond to your desperate calls for help within a few minutes instead of a few weeks.
You can afford to buy lunch instead of make it.
Your rearview mirror has a nice, laminated parking pass.
It is up to you to decide whose name gets to be on the masthead.

Kitties help with floor project

2009-09-27T15:47:00.003-04:00

What's up with all this???

Boy, ripping up carpets is fun!!!

I like to eat it and hide underneath it.

But the whole thing is VERY exhausting...

The floor project

2009-09-27T15:40:00.004-04:00

So in addition to starting a new job less than a week ago, we are also having new floors installed. The guys are coming tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. to start. In order to get ready, Albie and I had to rip out all the ugly, green wall-to-wall carpet and the foam underneath. To be nice, we also pulled up all the little pieces of nail-strips that held the carpet in place.

The floor guys will tear up the particle board, which will just crumble since it consists of glued-together sawdust. I am hoping to be out of the house when they start and will probably just have a glimpse of their progress before I pass out for the night.

The good news is that in 3-4 days, we will have brand new hardwood floors. Bye, bye ugly carpet! We won't miss you a bit!

Ch-ch-changes

2009-09-23T00:16:00.002-04:00

So, I got a new job. In fact, I started this week (Tuesday).

It all happened very quickly. Because it's within the same company, I guess it's considered a promotion and I didn't have to give 2 weeks' notice. It's going to mean a lot more work - at least for the next month or so - but also a little more money. Which hopefully will make it worthwhile.

More details will follow as soon as I'm able to get some rest - the past couple of weeks have been immensely stressful. Let's just put it this way, the woman who was in my office before me either had the world's worst hangnails or didn't spend much time working - while cleaning out her desk, I've already found three emery boards (nail files).

Tired Thursday

2009-09-17T12:01:00.002-04:00

The mystery at Yale University

2009-09-15T01:01:00.005-04:00

Annie Le was supposed to get married Sunday. She had meticulously planned her wedding, and she was looking forward to becoming Mrs. Jonathan Widawsky, friends say.

Last Tuesday, she entered her lab at Yale University. She never came out again.

The day of her wedding, forensic officials announced they had found the body of a girl who matched Le's description. It was found inside a wall, in a chase on the basement level.

For days, I kept hoping this would just be a case of cold feet. Perhaps Annie Le had changed her mind, I thought. Maybe she wore a disguise and slipped out of the building unnoticed by the security cameras. She could have just wanted to get away from it all for a little while. But why leave her purse, her keys, her ID and her cell phone behind?

When officials on Saturday found bloody clothes tucked away above the ceiling tiles in the laboratory building in New Haven, I knew she couldn't possibly be alive. Despite saying later that the clothes were no Le's, it was impossible not to think of what probably happened in that building that caused someone to stash away evidence.

The suspect, identified as a lab worker with defensive wounds on his body when first interviewed, is expected to be arrested Tuesday. We all want to know who it is and what happened. But of course, the more pressing question is why. Why was a 24-year-old, friendly, pretty girl slain five days before her wedding? Why did she have to die?

Perhaps we'll never know the whole story. But hopefully at least the family will know why their daughter and future wife was taken away too soon. It won't make it any easier to deal with the loss, but at least they will know she didn't willingly abandon this world.

The luxury of making toast

2009-09-11T01:58:00.002-04:00

Toast was a luxury at my house when I was growing up. We had a very old toaster that needed a big adapter to be plugged in, and both the toaster and the adapter were stowed away in a hallway closet.

It took several days of begging before my grandmother would go upstairs to try to find the darn thing – we only ended up using it a couple of times a year.

I thought of this today as I slipped a couple of pieces of potato bread from the freezer to the toaster as an evening snack. We use the toaster often, and we always keep it on the counter.

“How convenient,” I thought to myself after the bread popped up a couple of minutes later. Then I remembered what it used to be like (with my grandma's old toaster we had to keep checking on the bread and manually pull it up when it was ready).

I wonder how other people look at the world, people who grew up with toasters and Nintendo and VCRs. Or the kids today, who all have computers in their homes and their own cell phone before they turn 12.

They don’t have to be responsible – someone can always track them down. They don’t have to learn new things or be creative – someone else will do it for them if they just wait long enough.

Perhaps I’m being overly cynical – and I’m starting to feel like an old lady here talking about “the good old days” – but so many teens today have no idea and can’t even imagine what life was like with less technology. What will become of these children? Do we even dare to imagine?

REPOST: Remembering Ground Zero

2009-09-11T00:49:00.000-04:00

I'm posting a link to a previous entry titled "Remembering Ground Zero" in honor of the 8th anniversary of 9/11/01 today.

Wait - America isn't the greatest country?

2009-09-10T12:55:00.002-04:00

I came across this column today by a friend of mine from Massachusetts who is currently teaching English in Malaysia. It touches on how Americans are taught from an early age that their country is the best in the world, the "land of opportunity," and that some Americans may need a reality check in that regard.

Obama's speech to students

2009-09-10T03:35:00.002-04:00

President Barack Obama on Tuesday spoke to school-age children across the nation. His speech was about encouraging kids to work hard and to stay in school.

But for some reason, it all turned political - not the speech, just the reactions to it. Parents were in an uproar over the president trying to instill Communist propaganda, and some school districts chose not to show the speech at all. Others made the speech available afterward, or came up with alternative activities for the children whose parents wouldn't let them see it.

Perhaps it hasn't been understood in the rest of the world, but America is being very tough on its new president. Of course, Obama entered office at a very tough time - thousands of soldiers shipped off to various countries, the U.S. dollar is worth less than it ever has and people are losing their homes and jobs on a daily basis. The mood is negative, pessimistic. The hope the new president instilled during his election campaign seems to have fizzled out amongst the people.

Of course, Republicans have always been loud-mouths. Perhaps they are just bored. They constantly complain that Obama hasn't produced any miracles yet - some even call for his removal from office, and he hasn't even served for a year!

To me, the best part about Obama is that even though he is a Democrat, he is willing to see things from all angles. During a graduation speech in May or June, he brought up the topic of abortion. This was at a Catholic school, and some were very scared of what he would say. His thought? People can be for it or against it, but there are ways we can all come together to help make sure nobody has to make that decision in the first place. Nobody really WANTS to have an abortion, so let's get to the bottom of the problem instead of arguing over the Band-Aid solution.

It amazes me that parents could be so stupid that they actually keep their kids out of school because they think the president may brainwash them with his words. The good news, though, is that at least their kids may actually listen. That's at least something.

But I hate to think of the brainwashing that goes on in those children's homes.

Wordless Wednesday: Sophie on bug patrol

2009-09-09T00:54:00.000-04:00

Tennis today

2009-09-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

Albie and I headed out to the tennis courts today. It was the first time I've played in probably two years, and the very first time Albie and I played each other.

We didn't end up playing a real game - just hit the ball back and forth (and into the net). Lots of running... It is finally starting to get cooler outside again so we can enjoy some activities. Plus, I've been dying to play since before the surgery when Albie got our Wii game and we played video game tennis all the time.

Of course, the surgery slowed me down for a few months, but now I feel I'm pretty much back to normal.

Little boy turns 21

2009-09-03T22:49:00.002-04:00

When I first came to the United States, the boy I was about to babysit was a few days shy of his 10th birthday. Today, he turned 21.

I can't take too much credit for his success in life since I was only his live-in nanny for two years, but I'm very proud to say that he's now a grown man with an interest in accounting and politics. He is the vice president of the student government at his pretty prestigious university, and he has a job working at a school in Harlem to learn how to manage a nonprofit organization.

He has his own apartment, and his girlfriend since four years goes to college in Massachusetts.

When I spoke to him on the phone today, we were both on our way to important meetings and disussed the benefits of driving a stick-shift vs. cruising around in an automatic car because you have more control. Like an adult, he politely asked me about work and about life.

We parted to attend to more important things in life, and I took a few moments to just reflect over this amazing boy who seems to have grown up so fast.

At this moment, I feel just like any proud parent would. Except that I'm not. But kind of, in a way.

The ability to multi-task

2009-09-03T01:30:00.003-04:00

Why is it that women are better than men at multi-tasking? It it because they have to get so many more things done in a day?

Men always seem so focused on getting one task done, and often doing it very well. Of course, they think they can multi-task as you try to have a conversation and they want to watch the end of a baseball game. "I'm listening," they say with both eyes still glued to the television. But they really don't hear a word you say.

No, men are definitely worse at doing multiple things at the same time.

I was thinking about this tonight as I prepared dinner for tomorrow, made some tea and (two different) snacks for me and Albie and loaded the dishwasher - all in less than half an hour.

You just have to start with what takes the longest, like putting the pasta on the stove, and then If you are in the kitchen anyway, you might as well finish all those other things, right?

Perhaps this is also why, when women do something, men don't seem to think it is a big deal. It's just stuff that happen automatically to them.

Of course, if you clean the fridge and make dinner and produce fresh cookies and boil the eggs for breakfast while also cleaning the stove, it can't be that hard, right? Until they try to do it. Then it becomes the biggest and most difficult project in the world.

Wordless Wednesday: Helping mommy get organized

2009-09-02T00:51:00.001-04:00

Cleaning my car

2009-08-30T23:37:00.002-04:00

For the first time since I got my Ford Focus last year, I decided to clean it. Don't get me wrong - I take out the trash every once in a while that I've thrown behind the driver's seat, but it was time for a vacuum and wipe-down.

Since the car didn't come with any rugs and I've been too cheap and too lazy to go find some that fit my car, all the dirt from this past winter has gathered near and under the front seats. I thoroughly vacuumed all the floors.

Then came the more difficult project - finding out what would get the tree sap off my hood and windshield. I knew taking the car to a regular car wash wouldn't work since Albie tried this last week and the tree sap on his car is still intact. In fact, it may be even more stuck to the car than before.

I started with a regular household cleaner. It worked well on the window, but didn't get much of the gooey stuff off. Next was dishwashing soap and water - while scrubbing with a soft sponge. This got part of the spots on the hood off, but it took too much scrubbing to even make a little difference, so I gave up.

After consulting the wonderful internet, I found out that nail polish remover should work quite well. So, there I was, scrubbing my windshield inch by inch with tiny cotton swabs drenched in nail polish remover... it was quite amazing to see the nasty goo disappear. As I was done and announced to Albie that I finally found something that worked, all he had to say was, "Great! Wanna do my car now?"

The answer, of course, depends on what happens tomorrow. If he is a nice husband, perhaps I will help him out with his car...

Hanging out with daddy

2009-08-27T01:29:00.000-04:00

More lunchroom photos

2009-08-27T01:24:00.002-04:00

We are still working on a few things, like getting a new refrigerator, getting the old wall a/c unit removed and getting some actual furniture in there like a couch and some coffee tables... plus, I want some more lighting so people will STOP turning on the stupid florescents!!!

Lunchroom makeover

2009-08-24T14:40:00.003-04:00

In the process of being painted... more about this to follow.

Two lamps - the table with the built-in lamp

was $8 at the thrift store. The other lamp

I had at home, but I bought the shade for $2.

Update on the office situation

2009-08-24T14:37:00.001-04:00

So we decided to use the air conditioning at work last week despite the leaks. We put up buckets everywhere, until one evening.... one of the ceiling tiles came crashing down right on my neighbor's desk - it had filled up with water above it, and everything was now soaked.

Thank goodness it will be a bit cooler this week, because I don't know how much longer I could stand working in the heat!

Hanging out with the cousins

2009-08-18T02:40:00.002-04:00

...so we did end up hanging out with other people after all!

A day without the internet

2009-08-18T02:39:00.000-04:00

Not having internet for a whole day is very frustrating, especially when I know I’ve got pumpkins to harvest that will go bad in a few hours. I was also supposed to post news stories to Twitter this morning for work, and send out some e-mails about an upcoming farm party. But I’m not able to do any of that, because we cannot get online.

As I sat down at my computer to try to get some writing done, I also realized that Albie has stolen my mouse. He brought it down to the basement with some other computer stuff to see if he could get the cable modem to work without using the wireless connection. So right now I’m sitting here hitting the arrow keys, the tab key and the enter key to see how much I can get done. What on earth did people do in a mouse-less society?

What did people do before the internet, for that matter? Although I remember the early days of my childhood when we didn’t have computers, I cannot imagine living without them at this point in my life.

Oh well, I guess I will have to go watch TV or something. Or maybe I’ll go hang out with some other people. Nah, that’s just too much for a Monday afternoon. Television it is.

The joy of condo living

2009-08-16T19:33:00.001-04:00

Some days, I just wish I lived in a house in the middle of the woods.

On Tuesday this week, the maintenance guys came to mow the lawn outside my bedroom window early in the morning. On Wednesday, it was the garbage truck that woke me up – the Dumpster is almost across the street from our unit, and they had to keep backing the truck back and forth to get it into position.

I don’t know what they were doing on Thursday, but it was loud, and it was way too early to even think about finding out what was going on.

By the time the gardeners came back to trim the hedges at 9 a.m. on Friday, I was so tired I didn’t know what to do with myself. I do work at night, after all, and I need my rest in the mornings.

I finally grabbed my pillow and comforter and waddled into the second bedroom, where I fell back asleep on the futon. It was much easier to ignore the teen neighbor’s music blaring through the walls than it was the “whirrrrr-weeeee-pause-whirrrr-weeeee” sound from the front of the house. I got a good two more hours in before the gardeners came to the back of our building and there was no more escaping any noise.

But now I would like to escape to a house in the woods, please, with no neighbors, no gardeners, no visitors, no roads… no airplanes overhead. Oh, and no delivery trucks or garbage men. Just a big, empty house with lots of silence.

A great work environment

2009-08-16T19:16:00.004-04:00

It’s been hot for the past few days – really hot. Like in the 90s (30-35 degrees C). At the office, our air conditioning unit in the newsroom finally gave in this week.

First, it started as a trickle right next to my desk. Then there was a flood. For three days, we had wastebaskets covering the wettest spots.

We even had to wrap my neighbor's computer, monitor and keyboard in garbage bags to prevent damage (see photo above).

If we kept the A/C on, there was a constant trickle. If we turned the A/C off, it gushed down. So we left it on. The first time the fixer guys came, they said it was a compressor or something, so they replaced it. That afternoon it got even worse.

The repairmen came back and decided we need a new unit. That's $15,000 we can't afford to spend right now, our publisher said.

We spent the weekend trying to set up big fans all over the place that could blow the cool air in from other departments. One evening I even worked in another room because I had a terrible headache and the heat made me nauseated. But at least the dripping has stopped.

Thank goodness I’m not working today – the worst days out of all of them.