Dag 452: Gruppbokning

With less than 24 hours to go, here is the latest news from Scotland:

The current weather prospect is:
friday - 17° full sun
saturday - 15° light rain
sunday - 18° sunny intervals

First drink (or two) in Stockholm will be in the Ice Bar at 18:45 (it was the only free slot, but we will hopefully make it in time).

Things I have to remember:
bring passport (currently in my inside jacket pocket)
bring kent ticklets (they are currently in my laptop bag, but I won't be taking that so I must remember to take them out)
check with Adrian whether he thinks I should use the internet check in facility and check in this afternoon (you can do it 22 hours before the flight - do you want a window or an isle?)
bring my printouts of flight bookings and hotel booking ref numbers etc.
if there is anything else I need to remember I can't remember what it is to put it on this list, which means I may still not remember it tomorrow - so we are stuffed!

Also a lot of these Stockholm bars seem to like you to dress up a bit in order to get in and I haven't got any particularly decent clothes with me. I was going to buy some on Saturday, but that won't help me for Friday night.

Dag 451: this night wounds time

In just two short days time Adrian and I will be heading off to Stockholm to see Kent and do some other stuff that will result in a fun weekend for all concerned.

I have been monitoring the weather situation and as per usual the forecast changes several times a day. The current prognosis is:
Friday 27th - 19° and full sun (this morning it said 16° and full sun)
Saturday 28th - 19° and sunny intervals (this morning it said 16° and full sun)
Sunday 29th - 20° and light rain (this morning it said 23° and full sun)

So friday looks like having the best weather at the moment, but as we don't arrive until around 17:30 we won't be able to take full advantage of it. I am hoping that when I look again later this afternoon it may have improved again. But I guess it will all be different when I look again tomorrow.

I have been trying to cram up on my Swedish by listening to only Swedish music and watching Swedish DVDs over the last few days. I watched the original Norwegian version of Insomnia (which isn't as quite as strange as it sounds because it features 2 Swedish detectives so there is a fair amount of Swedish being spoken in it) and last night I watched the first 2 hours of Den 5:e Kvinnan so I've got the remaining 2 hours left for tonight. It doesn't have english subtitles so I've been watching it with Swedish subtitles to help me link up the sounds being heard to what is written down but they don't leave the subtitles up long enough to read them. So if the person responsible for those subtitles is reading this, please make them stay on the screen a bit longer for the next one you do.

On thursday night I shall probably watch Sprängaren again as its not only good, but resonably easy to follow what is being said and they keep the subtitles on the screen for long enough.

I am really looking forward to the plane touching down at Arlanda and my first steps on Swedish ground, it always gives me a goose pimply/hairs standing up on the back of the neck type feeling.

So Adrian, where do you fancy having our first drink on friday evening? Shall we go to the coolest bar on Stockholm (I will probably need to book a 45 minute slot) or maybe one of the highest bars in Stockholm or one of the apartment loftest type bars?

Adrian and Dom: going out in Stockholm whatever the weather.

Shelving, a beginner's guide

I'm home again. Not that I was away too far, but was skipping around catching up with West coast people, and praying quite a lot.
For some strange reason, I expected to have a flurry of free time due to finishing somewhat prematurely my last contract. This didn't happen. I also expected to feel an elevated sense of wellbeing due to escaping the clutches of corporate America, umm, UK. This somewhat happened.
It's very strange, no matter how long I do this contracting thing, I think I'll always feel a bit strange when one ends. I always go through the same doubts over whether I'll ever work again, should I just take the first job that comes along, even if it's bar work? This usually lasts for a week or two, then the blissful realization that I don't need to get dressed in the morning kicks in and I smile.
I've been putting up shelves. I bought some power tools, as I felt I was sufficiently mature enough to use a jigsaw without losing too many fingers. So far, so good with that one. I also got an angle grinder, as I felt it was my duty as a man to have a least one power tool which I had no idea what it was for.
I've also discovered the pleasure of Cash & Carry shopping. My mum goes to these places for a little shop business to pick up stuff to sell. Now, I always thought these places meant buying things by the hundred, which isn't true. She wanted to go to one, and I said I'd take her. This was obviously a ruse to get on her good side and a hint of self flagellation by suffering a shop. Once we got in though, I was like a kid in a candy store, and not even the good candy, the one I like. All the tat you see in markets starts it's (retail) life here. You pick up those toy guns that shoot little balls for a couple of quid, and they sell for a tenner at the market. This allows you to easily buy 20 and hand them out to all the kids in the street while starting a sweep with the neighbours over the number of permanent injuries that will occur within a set period of time.
Anyway, I now have a compass in my car and can tell you at any given time which direction I'm going (£2.50).
So, not much else happening - was at a first communion on Sunday, am off to Ireland this weekend, then another communion next weekend. One would imagine that I am being turned to the dark side of the force with all these goings on, but I can assure you that my reaction to certain religious events on Sunday afternoon would prove that all the bluebells are still blue.

Dag 443: Jag förstår inte!

Äntligen min post i svenska - till och med det är mycket felaktigt svenska.

Adrian och jag kommer att vara i Stockholm på fredag 27 maj för att se en kent konsert. Konserten är på lördag så på fredag kväll vill vi gå ut och slå runt.

För två år sedan reste Adrian och jag till Sverige för att se en Sting konsert på Skansen. Vi hade en bra tid och hade jag min första massage - det var på Sturbadet.

Den här är inte så enkelt. Jag behöver mer träning.

Förlåt för min svenska.
Jag är snart tillbaka i engelska.

Dag 439: The list's the thing

So, I've singularly failed to come up with a post in Swedish so I'll do my next one in Swedish and this one can be in English.

Lots of things have happened so here is a summary:
I am currently doing shifts, which I am not enjoying at all. Al has left us so we had a leaving do in the Candy Bar, Edinburgh. This was my last night out thanks to the fact that I have been on constant late or early shifts every day since then. Did I mention that I don't like doing shifts?

I managed to get one of my synths hooked up to my computer and recorded a couple of test tracks to get back into the swing of things, but I haven't been able to do any more recording since as I have been working on shifts - which I don't like doing. I wonder how many musicians have had their musical careers ruined by having to work on shifts? Probably 1.

The cough that I have had for the last 4 weeks finally seems to have gone away which hopefully means I will be 100% fit and well for my trip to Stockholm in 2 weeks time. I'm sure it was related to my having to work on shifts.

I bought a Talk now Swedish language cd to do a bit of brushing up and so far I have got 550 points and not a single question wrong. The program is really well put together, but it is also really easy. I need to try and find an intermediate type version, but there probably isn't much time to sort this out before I go. 550 points is actually pretty good when you take into account the fact that I've had to work on shifts everyday since Al left.

As far as my movie watching goes - I haven't had time to watch any because of all the shifts I've had to work.

When I go to Sweden on 27th may I need to buy the following items, which I hope I will be able to do without wasting too much of Adrian's valuable time:
1 copy of the white noise DVD - release date 27/05/2005
1 copy of any Kurt Wallander DVDs that have been released since my last visit
1 Beck DVD (to add to my collection, I get one more each trip)
1 Pippi Långstrump DVD (purely for Swedish practice)
1 pair of Nudie jeans
1 black Nudie long sleeved top + several t-shirts
some socks and pants
3 bottles of gla shampo (enough to last me until my next trip)
I may also by a new mobile phone while I am there

While we are on the subject of listing things on desks, here is the current contents of mine:
1 Apple PowerBook (which I am currently writing this on)
1 Compaq Evo desktop (which I can't write this on because the site is blocked by websense)
1 desk phone with a toy (space fox) from a kinder egg stuck to the ear-piece
1 p800 mobile phone
1 p800 spare keyboard flap with corner tag broken off (and 2 bits of white plastic from fibre optics cable stick into 2 holes in it)
1 penny coin in a red metal clip
1 paper clip stuck in a piece of blutack which has the red petals from a fake poppy stuck round it
3 floppy disks (2 containing midi files and the other labelled kintail)
1 pizza express napkin
2 starbucks napkins
3 plain white napkin
1 superman coffee mat (brought back from America by Al)
1 pair of cheap headphones
1 copy of Solaris operating Environment Boot Camp (hardly used)
1 notebook bought from NK in Stockholm
1 price tag for above book marked Bookbinders Design SEK 195
1 grey sweatshirt sporting the words "alpha chi omega" which I don't really like
1 plastic fork
2 plastic knives
1 pot of tipp-ex
1 pad of post-it notes (yellow)
1 sachet of malt viniger
1 sachet of tomato ketchup
1 Paul Smith wallet bought in Stockholm (I wanted to buy a Swedish wallet, but due to various pressures, which I won't go into now, I was forced into buying this instead)
a huge amount of printed out pages with such things as how to stop and start callidus on them
1 sun microsystems mouse mat which states "the network is the computer" - so I guess I don't actually need my computer any more, I can just do everything I need using the network
3 blank cds
1 pack of chewing gum from marks & expensive
3 little paper umbrellas
1 plastic spooky castle (complete with ghost and working doors - from a kinder egg)
1 fake moustach
1 brass hook type thing that you use to tie up the chord from some blinds or curtains - this is stuck to the side of my monitor with blu tack

I would also like a poster containing the words "Ye be warned! Pirates be operatin' in this area, yarr." to be taken into consideration.

Vi ses nästa gång!