Chapter 25 Unwritten rules

Verse 1

We encounter them everywhere and all the time, they influence our lives in more ways than we can imagine. I am talking about the "Unwritten rules" those implied and inferred rules and conventions that control and regulate social interaction between people. The whole idea that there exists a set of rules that are understood and known by people that never have meet is quite astonishing to me.
The exact wording and phrasing of the rules is of course different for us all but very often the meaning and code of conduct that the rules are meant to encourage is the same.
As the "Unwritten rules" are an abstract thing that only can be said to exist in the minds of people they are varied in the extreme and usually only share one thing, they deal with common sense and aim to make people behave civilized.

Verse 2

Of course there is another side to all this. As we are dealing with something can be called rules and those are used to govern behavior we will always have those that wont abide by them. You run into them all the time, at the pub, in the supermarket or you will meet them where i usually do, at work.
Their aberrant ways can manifest themselves differently. Sometimes they don't understand the use of words like "Thank you" or "Excuse me" Queues and such are alien to them whereas sharp elbows and loud voices are much in use.
On the freeways the aberrants are more dangerous, setting aside actual laws as well as "Unwritten rules" like the "zippermethod" used for letting cars get in front of you they will actually cause accidents as well as aggravate others.
We will not discuss those that go further beyond the pale than that.

Verse 3

Above i have only mentioned the "Unwritten rules as they apply to people in general. There are of course more specialized rules that cover more specific groups like the military, clergy, couples or devoted roleplayers.
We might go into those at a later date but for now i will only say that they infinitely more complex.

Chapter 24 How long?

Verse 1

They say that "Good things come to those that wait" but somehow they fail to say exactly how long you have to wait.
God knows that i have been waiting for a while now and i have a hunch that i have some waiting ahead of me still. If the "Good things" should someday finally show up i am willing to bet money on the fact that they would be someone else's idea of "Good things" and would just annoy the hell out of me.

Verse 2

Another aspect of the above is that bad things happen pretty damn instantly and very often repeatedly. If the powers that be had any sense of fair play we would all be issued a helmet and a flakjacket at birth, i mean how else are we supposed to cope?

Verse 3

Rest assured that for good or bad, C & V will not let you wait very long, but will not supply any bodyprotection either.

Chapter 23 Wait for it

Verse 1

...

Chapter 22 Short span of freedom

Verse 1

Starting tomorrow i have two days off from work, and as all such days they will pass with the speed of lightning. Whereas this coming weekend when i am working will probably see the two slowest moving days in history.

Verse 2

I am still eager to get a crew together for a pokernight with some high wheeling and dealing. Going by the interest shown earlier we might be as many as seven people next time. Getting some more ladies in would be nice as there are just two at the moment.

Chapter 21 Review

Verse 1

First Monday after the party and i think i have recovered fully.
My bottle of Malibu is gone and with it my beers. For my part i had a great time and i think most of the participants will agree that it was a Saturday well spent.
It seemed that everybody got along well enough, some more than others, but that's not for here.

Verse 2

The night ended with a number of us at the pokertable for a few hands of Texas hold 'em. Those few hands lasted until 5 am when we finally called it quits.
My best hand was a flush and that don't cut it against the class of opponents that i faced. Congratz to the winner, but remember it was just a testmatch.
I am definitely interested in another night of poker.

Verse 3

Am now trying to shuffle the chips and that aint easy let me tell ya.

Chapter 20 Drinks

Verse 1

Soon it is time for my girlfriend's moving-in party and i have planned to have one or two drinks. I have a favorite that isn't strong but great-tasting.
You take Malibu to which you add tropical-fruitjuice and shake with ice, pour and drink. As i said not strong but nice, a good drink for mingling.
I fully expect to see some Vanilla skies too.
It looks like its going to be a nice mix of people at the party, that makes for an enjoyable evening.

Verse 2

I have of course bought a few well-thought out presents that will be quite useful in the new apartment. Things that no one should be without.
But there is still one more day of work to get through before i get to unwind with drinks and snacks, will do my best not to run amok before then.
Trying very hard right now actually.

Verse 3

To those still unclear as to where they should be on Saturday, C'mon already!

Chapter 19 Sleeping late

Verse 1

As the days get shorter and darker i cant help but getting more and more tired.
I sleep longer into the day, hardly ever getting up before 11 am unless i have to due to work, but still i walk around a little zombie-like.
The fact that the days are darker should mean that the brain would be tricked into thinking it was night and it was time to sleep, allowing for non-essential functions to shut down and for valuable rest to be gained. But no, feet-dragging and shoulders-sagging zombies are all around.

Verse 2

A remedy to the state of the walking dead is of course to do something worthwhile.
This thing should preferably be something one enjoys, because worthwhile stuff that is boring seldom gets done.( See Chapter 7 for examples of these things.)
It is not always as easy as one would like to think of fun things do to. Sure it is easy to think of them but a lot of times there are obstacles to overcome.

Verse 3

Darkness shouldn't induce sleep like it does and my brother needs to get up in the mornings

Chapter 18 The big win

Verse 1

Like so many others i play the Lotto, hoping against all odds to hit the jackpot.
The dream of financial independence and total monetary freedom lives and breathes in me.
I have a co-worker who said that that she would rather win 25K a month for 25 years than 7.5 million all at once. I cannot disagree more, i want it all and i want it now. For me there isn't a single reason why i would want to get my money in installments like that, but being the cynic that i am i can find any number of reasons not to.

Verse 2

There are people who claim that money doesn't make you happy, i kid you not!
Sure, i agree that money doesn't carry happiness with it but the freedom it represents does. Being able enjoy life a little more and having the time usually spent at work as you own. Money to me would mean being able to have the freedom to choose and that can never be a bad thing. That question is if you can call the thing you live a life or an existence.
Being needlessly rich would sure make it easier to answer that question.

Chapter 17 Autumn

Verse 1

Autumn has arrived after a slight delay caused by a pleasant Indiansummer.
The season of rain, wind and increasingly cold days have already caused me to use gloves and a scarf, damn it but i don't like to freeze.
I am not opposed to Autumn as such, i quite like it. With the wind blowing and leaves falling i can even like the rain. Autumn has a certain crispness to it that is refreshing with colors you cant beat, it is the fact that a horrible winter follows that bothers me.

Verse 2

As a child Winter was something else from what it is nowadays. Then it was two meters of perfect snow, perfect for things like snowballs, castles and for riding a sledge down a hill on. You could be out in a roaring blizzard for hours on end and the word frostbite didn't exist, not for you but your mother might worry.
These days Winter means something else entirely. Mostly it represents trouble with public transportation, too cold bathrooms after a shower and needing to dress like an Eskimo, and its not even as if we get those nice two meters of snow anymore.
Now we get some grayish snow that semimelt at once and then refreeze into something weirdly shaped that makes the ground superslippery.
Your shoes get ruined by the mix of salt and gravel that is distributed on the roads while your feet are frozen solid. Lovely.

Verse 3

A comfort would be the fact that i could spend the cold winternights in front of a blazing fire comfortably seated in a nice leathercouch...but i cant cause i don't got any.

Verse 4

All those in favor of Summer say Nay!...to Winter

Chapter 16 The littledude

Verse 1

Last Thursday i went to see my youngest nephew.
He was agreeably quiet and seemed manageable, which i suspect is good fortune for his parents. It could of course be that he was acting wellbehaved on account of me and my girlfriend visiting. If that's the case he is also quite clever.
I remarked at the time that he looked like an cunning old gnome with his mind full of ancient wisdom. Standing three apples high he also resembled Yoda although not green and with a lot less wrinkles.
Basically he was quite cute.

Verse 2

My girlfriends moving-in party is next Saturday and the preparations are underway.
I am looking forward to it and to finally getting a chance to meet some of her other friends. The prospect of a beer or two also appeals to me.

Verse 3

Congratz again to Magnus and Camilla and best wishes.

Chapter 15 The pokerevent

Verse 1

Yesterday we had a little poker get together at my girlfriends place. Out of the original six expected to come we ended up being three. A number of the absentees wanted another chance to play, a chance they will get cause it was great fun and well worth repeating
We did some small ruleconsultations but in the main the game flowed smoothly with a number of large pots and exciting hands with heavy betting.
The chips i had bought had a nice weight to them and was well worth their price, which was reasonable to begin with.

Verse 2

The knee is getting better although it still hurts when i have walked on it.
Hopefully it will continue to improve.

Chapter 14 Bob's your uncle?

Verse 1

Heave ho. I am an uncle again.
This time the guilty party was my younger sister Camilla. So far the ones responsible for the continuation of the family name are my sisters, while my brother and me are taking it slow. No need to rush these things right?

Verse 2

Anyhow, the sun is shining and all is well, except my knee that aches.
I have gotten into the pokerswamp as so many others before me and hopefully we will have ourselves a pokernight this coming Sunday.

Chapter 13 Broken down

Verse 1

Resting up at home with a busted knee. According to the doctor i have a muscle rupture or a busted menisci in the knee.
Hopefully the former because the latter seems a lot less fun. A good prognosis is that i am recovered in 1-2 weeks, a worse one is 6-8 weeks.

Chapter 12 Sleepless or sleep more?

Verse 1

Presently i'm at work wishing i was asleep. How is it that its so hard to get the amount of sleep you need? This morning i had to get up at 8 am but i still didn't go to bed until 2 am. I didn't do anything special, just zapped between channels letting time pass me by hoping in vain for something interesting to happen.
My personal problems are that i'm a night person not liking early mornings much and that i don't want to waste excellent nighttime by sleeping it away. This would be less of a problem if i only slept late every morning but i'm not overly fond of sleeping too late either.
Don't get me me wrong. I like to sleep, problem is that it takes too long.

Verse 2

At my girlfriend's new place i have gotten a pillow that's just fantastic. I sleep much better with that than with my old one. Im thinking of stealing it but then i'm faced with the problem of not having a good pillow when i'm over there. Big dilemma.
Can i clone it you think or should i just move in?
Anyways, tomorrow is a day off from work and that's something to look forward to. Sleep here i come!

Chapter 11 Gear

Verse 1

Can you have too much gear? I find that hard to believe.
Yesterday i bought a 5,5" LCD TV. Do i need one you ask, no not need as such but i wanted one. I plan to place it in the room where i keep my computers so i can watch TV while playing games, i like to multitask. Now i just hope my fuses can take the added load.

Verse 2

Secretly i plan to supplant a friend as the one responsible for most electromagnetic radiation released and to do that i need more gear.
I fear that i don't have much of a chance though. He is fond of saying that his apartment is detectable from Kiruna and i think that that's not too far from the truth.