Chapter 219 Fun fun fun

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So the Gods are laughing their heads off again. Spent most of yesterday evening assembling one the things we bought at IKEA and a couple of hours today fixing my computer.

The power-supply have been really noisy for a few days so i finally decided to replace it instead of it seizing up and possibly damaging something in the process. I took it out and had it with me to the store to be sure of getting a replacement that would work and left with a new one thinking just that.
All was going well until i realized that the new power-supply had no connector for my graphics card! So off to the store again to exchange it but finally i got it in place and so far it seems to be working alright.

N being very wise left me to smoulder and curse alone in the room we call The Workshop while i put everything together.
My supply of patience when it comes to the thing is very limited.

Chapter 218 Foolish perhaps but triumphant

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There are any number of things that you should be careful doing as a couple. Buying a pet together, re-decorate your house or apartment, taking your first real vacation and the ultimate test, going to IKEA.
N and me have been a couple for a while and been to IKEA a number of times but going there on a Saturday just as everyone received their salaries could have been a disaster.

Perhaps we can attribute it to experience or that i shot a couple of people with my iphone-shotgun on the way but we made it through without any injuries, except to our wallets that took a hit. We pray for its speedy recovery.

These are some of the things we came away with.

Hemnes Byrå

Hemnes Klädskåp

Norden klaffbord

Let me also just say that home-delivery is a beautiful thing!

Chapter 217 Question of the day

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Going back to Chapter 206 and 215 i want to show everyone this beautiful sculpture-like item i just got delivered and ask if anyone can say what is. Bonus point and a free beer next time we meet to the first person that get the name right.

What is this?

Chapter 216 Another one, yawn

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What started as yet another day in paradise...no wait.. What started as yet another day in a cold wintry Stockholm ended with the company i work for being threatened with a lawsuit.

Throughout my career at a number of businesses i must have received at least 50 of these so far and they have never been taken any further than the threatening email.
They have all had a number of things in common except being wrong which i must emphasize, they have never gone anywhere and the sender uses CAPS a lot. The biggest common denominator i have noticed is that the sender has made some type of mistake and by using words like lawyer, lawsuit and compensation they expect the company to run to their rescue and humbly beg for forgiveness without being at fault.

No foul, no fine.

Scales of Justice in our favor

Chapter 215 Could this be heaven

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I like to buy stuff and just like many others i like to buy things like tools, gadgets, things that run on electricity, "things that might come in handy someday" and things that just catch my eye, like the anvil i got a couple of years ago.
To my eternal sorrow many of these items, especially those that are really cool can only be found online and often in the US. This a problem both as the freight is expensive and many companies won't ship to Sweden or any other country oddly enough. This never ceases to amaze me, why do they ignore so much buying potential and why can't they make an exception for me?

But there are of course stores where you can find things and today i got a catalog from one such. Here you can find such essentials as a muffler for your car, or child if you get one for your make and year that is. You can buy lawn-mowers, bicycles, tools by the hundreds, nuts and bolts, welding gear, toys, scents to use in your sauna and car-seats. You name it and they might just have it.

The name of this wonderful goldmine of bounties is Biltema Go there and rejoice if you are a kindred spirit!

Chapter 214 The Crusade goes on

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The very latest on the me against winter war.

I woke up to hear N tell me that the subway wasn't running but that i had to take the replacement-bus instead. Every one who has ever been forced to rely on those can tell you that it will always end in tears.
Today was no different, i got to the bus-stop to find a queue 50 meters long and 4 people deep - i immediately cut the line and took a place in the middle. No excuses, it's the law of the jungle in times like these.

20 minutes later the first bus came, and left without stopping as it of course was already full. I did get a seat on the next one 10 minutes later and eventually could transfer at a subway-station where the trains ran albeit somewhat irregularly.
I mustn't forget to mention that ten people had to get off the bus at one point to move a car that was blocking the road. I was all for ramming it but the driver said he wanted to keep his job. I think that deep down in his heart of hearts also wanted the same thing.

To make a bitterly cold and patience-trying day short i will just say that the trip home was very similar except that we didn't have to move a car.

Join the fight!

                                                                         

Chapter 213 Enough is enough

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I will let this picture express my feelings and just let everybody know that it took us 30 minutes go one stop with the subway today, in the name of symmetry it also took us almost as long to go back.

Yes please! When does the plane leave?

Who do we complain to about this endless Winter?

Chapter 212 The things people get hung up about.

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Something that might surprise some is that i with some regularity read this column that answers questions on manners and customs. I guess i get some strange satisfaction in seeing what people ask and seem genuinely concerned about.
Each time i check up on the latest questions there are perhaps five new ones and it never fails that i get stunned by the content of at least one. The things that they are worried or upset about and want Magdalena Ribbing who is the expert to help them with is truly amazing.
You would think that there are larger issues in life than how you fold your napkin or give a speech at a dinner. I will admit to some interest in etiquette but the level of importance given to these questions is disturbing sometimes.

Today i read this piece (in english) that dealt with when it was appropriate to lock your front door after the guest has left. The letter-writer felt unwelcome when the host locked the door right after he/she had left and would never do that.
But seriously, how can you even question something like this? I know that some hardly ever lock their doors but i think most do and i myself would probably react with surprise if the door was left unlocked.

Please be friendly and courteous but don't be a fanatic about it.

Chapter 211 Win some, lose more

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I put in some extra hours at work early in the week in order to leave a couple of hours early today. I can swear that i heard the gods laugh mockingly as i then immediately got to spend half an hour of that time waiting for the subway.
That was on my way home, i had already lost another 30 minutes going to work as well so i guess i should have seen it coming. Sadly enough i was still one of the lucky ones, the passengers on a train going the other way was recommended to find other ways of getting home. Those that didn't get of the train at that time was soon thereafter ordered off and the train left, standing on the platform was a couple of hundred cranky and tired ex-passengers.
A riot was not far off.

Heaven forbid that the companies responsible for running the trains and keeping the tracks in working order actually come to terms with the fact that we get snow and low temperatures in Sweden when its Winter.

The first subway started running in Sweden 1950 and i am willing to bet that we had Winters then too but 60 years later we are still unable to cope.

Nil desperandum they say but i do.

Chapter 210 Impressive but not right

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We are still on the lookout for a sideboard or cabinet with sliding doors, something that is seemingly impossible to find.
Looking around i found this piece that is both big enough and not without appealing qualities.

Photo: Auktionskompaniet.com

I have to admit that if i had kitchen of the right size and style i would consider something like this. It has attitude and exhibits a certain panache. I guess it would be a real chore to carry and get into place though but it would look really good in an appropriate setting.

So as i haven't got the kitchen, the strength to carry it and it lacks sliding doors my search goes on. Those of you that enjoy those things and want standard doors can find the cabinet here.

As it stands now you can get it for a nice price too.

Chapter 209 Sliding doors: Suggestions wanted

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We are looking for some new furniture for our kitchen and are thinking about possibly a sideboard or cabinet of some kind.
It should hold a big number of glasses, some cooking books and whatnot else.

There are of course a lot of possible candidates but we want it to have sliding doors, regular doors mean you have to arrange the rest of the kitchen carefully if you want to be able to open them.
I can let you know that if you want sliding doors you run out of options very fast.

Ideas anyone?

Chapter 208 Long sleeves or too long?

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Today i bought the first long-sleeved sweater i have bought in the the last 15 years. I have also not worn one for about as long and thought i wouldn't anytime soon.
If asked i could hardly explain why, i haven't felt really comfortable in long sleeves for some reason and when i have used shirts they almost always had the sleeves folded up.
Perhaps i have been abducted by aliens and brainwashed in some way or it's my time institutionalized and forced to wear a straight-jacket that is coming back to haunt me.

Either way i'm struggling to rejoin rest of society as a long-sleever again.

Chapter 207 Valentines

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For all of you that anxiously wondered if i gave something to N for valentines i can say only this, of course i did!

She got flowers and a spanking, brand new can-opener. Who ever said i wasn't a romantic?

Chapter 206 Roughing it

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I have always been kinda keen on hiking, camping, survival and bushcraft and that makes it a bit strange that i haven't really done any.

Let me know just state by survival i'm not talking about the extremist that has his own nuclear bomb shelter far away in the outback stocked with guns and food for decades. I am referring to a state of preparedness in both knowledge, mindset as well as having the right equipment for those situations that we all can be subjected to at any time.

It can be getting stranded in the car on a cold winter-night  on a remote stretch of road - having snow-chains and a shovel to get the car out, keeping blankets, water and something to eat stocked in the trunk if no help arrives. I am also talking about first aid skills like being able to administer CPR,  knowing when and how to apply a tourniquet and what to do when a person is choking, things we all should know that can save a persons life, possibly your own.

But that was not really the subject of this post.

Getting out the city and leaving Mcdonalds, traffic and crowds behind for a minute is the thing.

I am all for having good gear and not having to rely on what you can find on the spot, using a gps instead of navigating by the stars, eating food you carry with you as opposed to roots and berries is totally acceptable to me. I'm not backwards in that regard and will take full advantage of anything that can help me have a good time in the great outdoors.

What i'm saying is that i would not object to spending some time in the semi-wilds, set up a nice shelter, build a good fire, get some food going and enjoy nature for a bit in the near future.

Chapter 205 Review: Sherlock Holmes 2009

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Take this advice first of all and you will enjoy this movie so much more: Allow for a more action-oriented Holmes and Watson and try to not compare this movie with the old books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The main characters are played by Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law and i got the distinct impression that they enjoyed doing the movie and putting their own touches to the famous pair.
Watson has often been reduced to almost a bit part but that was not the case here, he had a story of his own and Holmes relied heavily on him and the emotions due to the breakup in progress caused by Watson's engagement was a nice touch.In several scenes you can really see how that pains Holmes.

The story is quite good about black magic in high places and also introduces Holmes's arch-enemy to be, Professor Moriarty as well an old sweet-heart. That Irene manages to out-smart Holmes a few times make him more human and fallible.
Something i can imagine conservatives will dislike is the fight-scenes but again take my advice. Imagine that a person like Sherlock Holmes has read any number of books on any subject imaginable and for scientific reasons learned an advanced and unusual style of  fighting. It is not unreasonable and will help you get over the fact that he puts up a really good fight.

To sum up i can recommend this movie even though i was skeptical at first, the story is fair and paced in a good way. That i really felt the actors had fun together make for some nice scenes and quite good dialoque. Seeing old London as Tower Bridge is being built give the story a interesting setting as well

There is no real need to see this at the cinema but do rent it when it gets out.

Chapter 204 Up in the saddle

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I have been told by a friend to start this up again so of course i will. Coming up soon is a review of the new movie about Sherlock Holmes.