And the days get shorter

As Fall increasingly pushes out the bright days of summer and the light changes to that 'golden hour' glow for the brief hours we have sunlight here in Stockholm I notice that the residents of Stockholm change. It seems that the winter wardrobe comes out and the summer one gets put away almost by the calendar as opposed to the temperatures and season themselves, the bright blues, greens, reds, oranges, and yellows of summer clothing give way to brown, black, dark camel and occasionally still the red pair of pants. The wearers of these cloths also seem to pull into themselves as well acting more reserved, quieter, and what might appear to be sadder and it almost appears that the mood fits the clothes instead of the other way around.

Now that I have lived here for a year, and I have experienced all the seasons I can see why in late Spring, Sweden embraces the sun and summer like no other other country I have experienced. Conversely though this Fall I am more aware of the opposite and how Fall brings a melancholy to Sweden. It might appear that people pack up their love of life and their upbeat, unbridled joy with the patio furniture that they put away in the garage, only to appear again when the bright sun and longer days once again appear. What I do think happens is that the joy is there, but it turns inward to home and family. The upcoming holidays kicked of by Lucia in mid-December and all the lights and candles aglow all over the country are about light and joy, and keeping back the darkness. It may seem more tempered that that of a Midsommar revelry but the festiveness is just the same, it all just happens indoors.

The thing that surprises me most though is the the clothing. Everything is dark, dark, dark come Fall and into Winter. Now, bear with me here as this train of thought may be a bit disjointed and come off the rails. Winter here in Sweden is dark. At most I think we get 5-6 hours of sunlight (that is sunrise to sunset) at the time of the Winter Solstice, so if you go to lunch late while at work, you return to the office at dusk. The whole country seems subdued. You would think that it would be appropriate to fight the darkness with some bright wardrobe choices, akin to fighting the darkness with candles in your windows, but no. Rarely do you see a bright red or yellow winter coat, everything is black or brown, or maybe dark camel in color and to be honest at night it makes it damn hard to see people walking about. When you are dressed as dark as it is outside and still move about with a pedestrian right of way it is downright dangerous. I get tense driving at night in Sweden in the winter, I am always afraid I am going to hit someone! In order for safety I suggest that Swedes start wearing brighter colors in the Winter months. Break the norm and walk on the wild side and try on something festive. It might just save your life, and make you feel good too!

Trends (strictly my opinion)

I have noticed lately that a lot of people have been getting gastric bypass surgery. A lot. I know some people who desperately needed it as their health and in some cases their lives depended on it. There there seem to be those who, in my opinion (please note this is my opinion only. My Blog, My Thoughts) who do it to take what they think is the easy way out. I can't see how reducing the amount of food your stomach can hold and all the potential health issues that can come from surgery is easier than making the decision to change your habits and your own life through your own will. I look at some of these folks and all I can think to myself is "you're not that big."

I know I am a large man myself and on more than one occasion I have tried to lose weight and in some cases I have succeeded and in other cases I have failed. When I have failed it was my inability to commit to the lifestyle changes that are required in order for the changes I wanted to see to my body occur. I feel that sometimes humans take the path of least resistance, and don't fight for what they want or need or now is right anymore. In anything.

Since I am on an opinion kick today I am also concerned about the number of guys I know who are going on CPAP machines. If I have a couple of poor nights sleep my husband always asks; "maybe you have sleep apnea?" to which my standard response is "no, I just slept like shit, it happens." My biggest problem with sleep apnea and a CPAP machine is the sleep test. I have never heard of anyone, EVER who has gone to a sleep test and not walked away with an order for a CPAP machine. Not once. I can't even see how someone who is a good sleeper could even walk away without failing. You're in a strange place, a strange bed, hooked up to machines. Yea, now go to sleep. That is not going to happen. I've even heard it referred to now as a "bear right of passage," almost like a badge of honor. These things trouble me and make me wonder about what is medically necessary, and what is says about healthcare as a corporation. Sadly I have noticed this worldwide, not just where medicine is privatized. Anyway I certainly don't have the answers but sometimes someone needs to ask the question.

Things that pique my interest

So this is a random post, coming out of nowhere but this morning I was uploading photos to the interwebs from yesterday's Berserkers rugby match so I was surfing around the net and looking at pictures. Of men. Not even naked men mind you, just pictures of guys I know even some I don't. Many of them are contacts of mine on a photograph sharing site where we share tips on shooting pics, and life in general.

Lately I am noticing more and more than people are taking self-portraits. Now that is all fine and dandy but many people are using point and shoot cameras and smartphones and often use mirrors to capture their reflection. I know that the individual taking the picture is supposed to be the main subject, but somehow my eye tends to wander and I end up looking at the extraneous things the lens captures. Often this is piles of dirty laundry (or clean and just piled up for all I know), unmade beds, piles of things in rooms that sometimes look as if the inhabitants should be featured on the next A&E episode of "Hoarders."

I know, I know, that is not what we should be looking at, but people should be aware that when taking a photo of themselves in the mirror they more often than not show us more than they intended and should be more conscious of it. Just some thoughts from me on this chilly fall morning in Stockholm, but I leave you all with one question. Is it just me or am I the only person fascinated by the fact that a single man in his 40's appears to have a brass stripper pole in his bedroom? Kind of hard to overlook.

Apple Walnut Cake.

I baked this cake yesterday and it was quite successful so I thought I would go ahead and post it here. I based it on the recipe of Paula Deen (Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake) however I made a couple of changes, adding in nutmeg and cutting back the oil and replacing part with melted butter. (Yea, I know it was a Paula Deen recipe without butter, and I added it in). I did not make the glaze for mine as I felt it would be too sweet and it was just as good without it. 


Ingredients
Honey Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons milk


Apple Cake:
3 cups diced Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples
1 cup lightly toasted chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
Directions
Glaze: Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Set the bowl aside.


Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan or tube pan.


In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.


Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until completely combined. Fold in the apple mixture.


Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.


Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.


Drizzle the apple cake with some of the honey glaze, serve and enjoy!

Baking and Stuff

So I have been doing a fair amount of baking lately, almost all cheesecakes...the baked kind, not the chilled kind. I am toying with the idea of selling these little beauties out of my home so I have been trying different recipes to see how will they work, can be duplicated, improved upon, multiplied and reduced depending on the number I want to make. So far I have made varieties of Nutella, NY Style Plain and Chocolate and today or tomorrow I will try a pumpkin cheesecake. First I need to find canned pumpkin, but I found a store that carries it, The English Shop so I will make a trip down there later today.

There is a tradition here in Sweden and it is the Fika (pronounced "fee-ka"). It is traditionally a group coffee break that is accompanied by sweets. Most offices have them weekly and either the company provides the sweets, or there is a rotational list of employees and everyone takes a turn providing the sweets for the office. I am seriously working on creating a menu of items and starting a Fika Service. I would test and perfect a manageable number of menu items that I can produce out of my own home where people could order items when it was their turn to provide items for Fika. I would limit it to cheesecakes (a variety), cookies (also about 6 different kinds) and maybe something like cupcakes (but I would need to work on my frosting skills) or maybe some cakes that are not frosted like apple cakes and pumpkin and banana breads.

I think this is something that could work, and maybe I can post recipes, and other shopping tips such as where to find things in Sweden on this blog. I DO know that if I am going to continue to bake like this I need to do something with this stuff other than eat it, I can't afford to gain the weight! If you have any thoughts or ideas I would love to hear them!

Carl

Carl, a photo by Jay the Expat on Flickr.

I took some nice shots of Carl today, here is a sample.

Fit(s) and starts

This morning, like most mornings I was up early. Lately I can only sleep until 5:30 or 6 am. I toss and turn for about 30 minutes to see if I can fall back asleep and it just doesn't happen. I generally wake up with a slight back pain as well. In the past few weeks I have become more aware of how I actually feel physically and to be honest I am not that thrilled with it. I have little aches and pains, my knees are stiff when I stand up from sitting for a length of time and I in general feel sluggish.

I know there are changes that I need to make, and one of the most important is becoming more active again, but that is kind of harder and harder to so the more sedentary you are, and I have come to the conclusion I am pretty damn sedentary. Now that I am 44 I worry about my health in the long term and what my life will be like if I stay like this. I look at friends and acquaintances who have gone down the weight loss path, some with more success than others using many different tools such as surgery or diet and exercise. I do not think surgery is the right way for me personally, I fear I would go through all of that, but my habits would not change so it would be just a matter of time until I would be back in the situation I am today, just older and more frustrated. Please understand that is my view on surgery as it pertains to me, not a judgement on anyone I know who has had the surgery.

I know what I need to do is get off my ass and start small; a walk around the block with the dogs, a bike ride, join a gym but sometimes the first step is the hardest. Watch this space, as it will be a record or accounting of the steps I take to change this. Today is the first of October, so it might as well start today.

Some things are so different

So last night I ordered something online, nothing major just a couple of spring form cake pans from a website here in Sweden, however this is the first time I was unable to use my Visa out of Canada to complete the purchase. We do have an account here in Sweden and the debit card can act like a Visa for purchases, similar to those in the US, but I have not used it for purchases online, only in person where there is a chip/card reader and you input a pin.When I tried to use my Visa from Canada it took me to the 'Verified by VISA' pop up that I get often, I put in my password and....nothing. It failed. Now I knew my card was good and such, and I knew that Carl had run up against this in the past so I tried the Swedish Visa.

I input all the required info and when I got to the verification part it told me to get my card reader. Oh boy, this can't be good, or easy. You see Sweden, and in fact it seems all of Europe, is far FAR ahead of North America in banking. I mean even to log in you have a specific card that you put into your own personal card reader that you can either attach to your computer via USB or wirelessly as well. In this instance I was prompted to place my Visa into the card reader and follow the instructions. I did, and after a series of numbers and verifications I got a code to input into the transaction that approved it. Kinda freaky, but cool all at the same time.

One thing I find interesting here is that no one uses checks (or cheques to my Canadian and UK readers). If you have a bill to pay you get the payee's bank routing and customer number and just directly post the payment to them. There are even people who work at the Embassy who had never even seen a check/cheque until they went to work there. To be honest the system here still puzzels me, and I have yet to figure it out completely. Maybe someday in the next 3 years I will get it.

Catching Up

This week was not the most eventful on the calendar for me personally. I did get a follow-up from the headhunter and yes the company still is interested, they presented my resume and yadda, yadda. We will see what happens, I am hoping for the best but I am a pessimist at heart. I did a major clean on the house and made one of the best cheesecakes (Nutella) that I think I have ever made. I am thinking about trying a few more cheesecakes and maybe just selling those out of my home for some pocket cash, just need to perfect a few more recipes.

Now that I have more time on my hands though I am looking more and more at world events. Some big things did happen this week; DADT was finally ended in the US and gay and lesbians can now serve openly. A big step and a big deal, however it was marred by the recent Repuglican debate when a gay serviceman asked a question via internet with video and asked; “In 2010, when I was deployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was, because I’m a gay soldier, and I didn’t want to lose my job,” said Stephen Hill, whose image was projected on a large TV screen in the debate hall. “My question is, under one of your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the progress that’s been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?” The audience boo'd him. Santorum immediately went on to explain why DADT must be reinstated, and goes on to say that "any type of sexual activity has no place in the military." Okay. Well then that is the most ridiculous answer that could have been given. Gay or straight, sex will occur. It happens. Many soldiers are married to other soldiers so his answer is just plain stupid. However it is not his answer that angers me, what angers me is that he did not even stop and chastise the crowd for booing a serving member of the military. He says he did not hear the boo as he was formulating his answer to the question. What an asshole.

The think that concerns me most is that one of these idiots will be the Repuglican nominee, and all of them are vying for the votes of the Tea Baggers of Christ. Funny how everything that comes out of the mouths of these theocracy wanting nut bags is completely against any christian teachings I am aware of. Also the current President who fired up a new generation of voters on a promise of Change has been lackluster at best. I am curious, and somewhat scared to see how this all turns out in 2012.

In other news we are waiting for a dead satellite to fall to earth. I hear it is about the size of a bus, but no one can seem to pinpoint when or where it will actually fall. It was supposed to last night, but now they are saying sometime this morning. I am fascinated to see that every country is convinced it will crash on their soil, even though approximately 71% of the earth surface is covered by water so I am guessing it will splash down somewhere in a large body of water.

Today we are off to watch rugby here in Stockholm, a final Swedish Cup match, should be fun. Right now the weather is glorious and I hope it stays that way, soon enough the days will shorten dramatically and the general forecast will be gloomy. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and if something interesting happens I will endeavor to write about it. ****UPDATE***** Satellite fell in the Pacific.

The week in review

So after my last post of whining and feeling sorry for myself, I snapped out of it pretty quickly. Life is a journey and you just have to roll with it.

This week once again gave The Carl another opportunity that we don't usually get. He was invited to attend the opening of Parliament here, and I having the time off was able to capture the event digitally. Yes, I have photos of my hubby with the flag waving on the car, and stepping out of it. Pretty cool I must say.

On Friday I met some friends from the Adobe office here for lunch and that was a lot of fun (more fun not having to go back to the office to be honest!) and one of those friends had sent me on Thursday a posting for a job here in Stockholm.

I had looked at the job and noticed that it had stated that both English and Swedish were required, so I emailed the head hunter and asked him, he said yes so I had pretty much written it off. Later on Friday afternoon he called me and told me he had spoken to the hiring manager and that English only was not a deal killer so he asked me to send me my CV. We chatted a bit more about the position and then I sent off me CV to him. I think it might be a bit above me but I think I can learn the bits I am not as strong on, we shall see. At this point I would just be happy with an interview.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Reality bites

Today it finally hit me that I have nothing I have to do every day, and it hit kind of hard. I was hoping the "vacation" feeling would last a bit longer, but it didn't. Now the question is what do I do with myself and all this time that I have? Yes, I need to continue to look for a job, but I also need to find something in the interim that gives me some satisfaction and/or purpose.
We shall see what this brings, but if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them!

10 Years Gone

Ten years ago today. Those four words and you already know what this post is about. I was working in Dallas, TX for JPMorgan Chase and at least 20% of our staff had transferred from NYC. I was at my desk and my Mom called me and told me that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. My first was it was something small like a Cessna, but as we all know it was much worse and horribly calculated. Many people I worked with had family and friends who worked in the WTC, and I knew business contacts who I talked to daily. I also had many friends who worked in the area. So many never came home. Many more survived, but were never able to return, haunted by what they witnessed on that day. Little did I know too, until later, that a man I had met briefly and flirted with a few years prior in New Orleans was going to commit an act of bravery unlike I had ever known.


Today I had the honor to accompany Carl to a remembrance service at the Official Residence of the United States Embassy here in Stockholm. Carl attended as he is the Charges d'Affaires a.i. for Canada until the new Ambassador arrives and was therefore invited and I, as his spouse, accompanied him. The service was lovely, and solem as it should be. Bells were rung for each flight, and for each tower that collapsed in turn. Hymns were sung, poetry read, and speeches delivered. Towards the end though a group of school-aged kids gathered on the balconies above and unfurled four hand-made banners. These kids took part in a 2-day project that involved storytelling and focusing on creating places of peace. Each banner was an island where all were welcome and peace ruled and the feeling of being an outsider, language barriers, fear, scorn, abuse, poverty and a myriad of other issues were replaced with love, understanding, cooperation, acceptance and all the things that are good in the world. 


Ten years on and the world is a much different place, and the US especially has lost quite a bit of it's innocence. The constant state of fear that is maintained, the security screening that we all most go through when travelling, creation of major departments in the US Government that 15 years ago would have sounded ludicrous such as "The Department of Homeland Security" is the result of this day 10 years ago, and it is now our reality. Sometimes I think that the efforts to create security actually makes us all more tense and on edge and actually cause us to lose sight of what we all really want; peace. The presentation that the kids did today made me smile. It gave me some hope that in spite of all that is wrong in the world that there is still hope in youth.  


Today though my thoughts turn to Alice Hoagland the mother of Mark Bingham, the man I referred to in this first paragraph of this post who was one of the people who stormed the cockpit of Flight 93 over Pennsylvania and lost his life to save others. Her son has left quite a legacy that has grown out of his actions, but I think she'd rather have him here with her. If you are unfamiliar with Mark, click on his name and it will take you to Wikipedia and you can read more about him there. 


When we entered the Official Residence there was a flag in the entry hall, a "Flag of Honor" that listed in the stripes of the US Flag all of those lost on that day. It brought a tear to my eye. Below are pictures; in the blue stripe, 3rd row down in the center is Mark's name. I hope that everyone reflects on what happened ten years ago today, but don't stop there, allow it to be a catalyst for change. Make this world a better place. Speak out when you witness something wrong, stand up for what is right. Exercise your right to vote, don't be apathetic, get involved and make a difference. Even the smallest action can have far reaching consequences. 

Curmudgeon List

A list of a few things I don't "get" or care for; maybe I am just old. 

• Chunky jewelry on guys (or girls for that matter, but on girls I can at least get it but on guys?).
• Man-pris. These would be capri pants for men in case you were wondering. 
• Why it is that when you have the time to sleep, you can't but when you have a lot to do sometimes all you want to do is nap. 
• Why people wear those weird ass Vibram foot-gloves, they look stupid.
• Nose piercing.
• Hipsters in general.
• Why people wear hats that are 'in fashion' even though it makes them look like dorks. 
• People who do not dress age appropriately.
• People? Who end every sentence? With a question?
• Walking into a room and forgetting why I walked in there, or any one of many iterations of this. 
• People who initiate online conversations and then become monosyllabic. 

I'm sure there is more...but I started typing this and forgot most of them (see second to the last item).

Funemployed!!

Today was my last day of work at Adobe. I've mentioned it before on here and now it is over. My co-workers here in Stockholm gave me a lovely send-off yesterday at fika with flowers, a lovely cake, and a wonderful book on Stockholm signed by all in the office and a very nice bottle of wine. 

My co-workers in Ottawa sent me a great scanned card they all signed and there is a gift on it's way, all in all a wonderful send off and to be honest I am glad for the break and I look forward to whatever presents itself next.

This weekend will be busy with a dinner with friends on Saturday night and plans on Sunday with a remembrance of 9-11. I am looking forward to relaxing when I can. The next week or so I will be cleaning the house *really* well then when that is done I will be going out and about and checking out parts of Sweden I have yet to see. Speaking of things I have yet to see, I saw this on the way home today. Ass Transport. Yes, really. It made me laugh all the way home, thank god traffic was slow enough that I could get a pic of it!

Have a great weekend everyone! And remember, I am available for lunch dates, book accordingly. 

Let the weather fit the mood.

Four more days to go at work and all I can say is "meh." It's an overcast and rainy day here in Stockholm and the weather pretty much sums up my mood today. On the bright side, me niece is coming into town tonight to stay with is for a couple of days as her job brings her to Stockholm. 

One year ago today....

Exactly 365 days ago today we arrived in Sweden. God that was a long day. Myself, Carl, the two dogs, their crates and all of our luggage in a rented van on a late afternoon drive from Ottawa to Montreal to catch our flight. Checking in and getting the dogs crated, dropping off the rental van, paying for excess baggage and the dogs, going through security with the dogs (as they have to step out of the kennels, be checked over with the wand, the kennels go through xray and so on and so on). Because of time I did this while Carl returned the van. Honestly it was one of the most stressful 60 minutes or so of my life. 


Once all that was done, I don't recall much else until I was sitting on the jet. I know we must have eaten something. I know we were tired. We could not stay in our house as everything was packed and on a truck at a warehouse already so we stayed in a hotel. We got up early, went back to the house and cleaned it the best we could. We then had to go drop off our car at the warehouse so it could be shipped over, dropped of keys to the house to the rental agency, then on the road to Montreal. 


Once all was settled and we were on the plane I just kept fretting about the dogs as they had never been in kennels that much before. We had done a lot of prep work about 3 months out to get them used to the kennels but they still weren't crazy about them. Lufthansa was great though, the flight attendant found us to let us know that the dogs made it on board with no issues before take off, and they even came up and said that they must be fine as if the dogs bark in the hold they can usually hear them in the galley. I was hoping they were asleep in the dark, they were. 

The flight was fine, except my personal entertainment unit failed at my seat. Not the end of the world as I had a book and my ipod with me but I still got an in flight credit (which I still have not used - I should look and see if it is still valid). We landed in Munich and we knew that in Frankfort you could actually request to see the dogs, but in Munich the way the airport was laid out we couldn't. We had a few hours of layover and we were both pretty exhausted (see below).

Ah, lovely aren't we? After what seemed like a day-and-a-half layover in Munich (where we at least ran into our friend Ken) we were on the flight for Stockholm. We could see the dog's crates being loaded and we saw movement so we were relieved. 

We finally landed in Stockholm, and we knew that the Ambassador was planning on meeting us at the airport, though I had no idea she would be standing at the end of the jetbridge. I'm sure looking like we did we made a lovely first impression. 

Once we got our luggage, we waited for the dogs at oversized baggage but we could not let them out of the kennel until we cleared customs. There was someone in line in front of us with something that looked like a hunting rifle with a sight on it and I swear the customs officer was on the phone about this for 10 minutes or so. When it was our turn we handed him the paperwork, had to bring the dogs out of the kennels so he could scan their microchips to make sure they matched the paperwork and we were on our tired, but merry way. It seemed to us that the customs officer was more baffled by the gun than the dogs. All in all from landing to exiting the airport with the dogs was about 45 minutes. I was impressed. 

The dogs were finally let out of their kennels briefly after about 16 hours and they happily found a patch of grass. Back into the kennels, not very willingly for the drive to the house. We finally arrived and once the Ambassador and the rest of the team left we were here. All four of us fell asleep on the bed in a lump, but we were here in Stockholm. 

This is stuck in my head and it won't go away!! (NSFW)

The List

When we moved to Sweden one year ago (and it will be one year this coming Friday, September 2) we had the weekend, Labor Day, and then we both reported to work on the following Tuesday. Now this house is big, there is no two ways about it. It is hard to keep clean especially with two dogs but for the most part we have managed. Where we have struggled thus far is the garden. 

The property surrounding the house is not large, to mow the lawn, front and side takes maybe 30 minutes on a slow day, but when the landscaping was done a lot of thought went into it. What we have noticed is that from Spring all the way until late Summer there is something blooming. We have been able to identify lilacs, peonies, spirea, rhododendrons, roses and one other flowering tree that I can't identify. We have been told it is jasmine, but I am not convinced.

The trouble with all of this is that there is no landscape plan, and no gardener. We are supposed to do this all ourselves and to be honest I have a brown thumb from hell. In addition we have not had the time to really work on it like we should. Once again, two dogs have not necessarily helped either. After next week my goal is to read up on the plants, and do some major work out there in that garden. Things need to be pruned, deadheaded, mowed, plucked, cleaned and may a weeds pulled. I am looking forward to this but intimidated at the same time. I have started a list of what we have and how to take care of it and this will be my road map.

In addition I have started a list of things around the rest of the house that I have noticed and just not have had time to deal with, or have been so tired I just ignored it. There are some draperies that need rehanging, some pictures that need to be moved and hung up properly, maybe even swapping out a light fixture or two. I know it is not our house, but we are going to be here another three years so I want it to be something we are both comfortable in.

Anyway, the garden and landscaping shall be first so we don't piss off the neighbors. I so wish we could afford a gardner LOL. Will keep you all posted to progress!

Okay, I might like this...at least for a short time.

So I took today off to go touring about Stockholm and the surrounding area with some friends from the US and Australia who are visiting and we had a marvelous time. We went to Vaxholm and while the guys went and took the ferry over to the fort, I stayed behind and had a cappuccino, a cinnamon roll and walked around the shore for about 45 minutes while they were gone. I have worried about what I am going to do after next week when my employment ends, but I have discovered that there is more than enough to explore in the area to keep me busy. At least for a little while. Here is a picture of the fort at Vaxholm. 

Sorry! Been away...a lot going on yet nothing much.

I have been remiss in posting! My apologies. Lately I have been just plodding through life the past week or two. I am still kind of adjusting to the fact that in 2 weeks from today I will be out of work and trying to figure out what is next for me. 


I want to do something that will allow me to make some money, and do something I enjoy but not sure what yet. Add a language barrier to that and it make it a bit harder. 


In the past couple of weeks we have had a few guests come through Stockholm, and it has been fun to see them all and there are more arriving this weekend. It's been a lot of fun and next week I am actually going to take a day off and go out and sightsee with the visitors a bit. 

The Swedish Quidditch Cup....Sorta

So, today we went to see a match of the Swedish Quidditch Cup that is being held here in the Stockholm area. We expected it to be odd, and probably funny to watch, but sadly it was...well....boring. 


Now knowing darn well that a fictional sporting event involving flying brooms and magic brought to life are sure to be a lesser event then what one sees on the screen in a "Harry Potter" film, my expectations were low. That being said there weren't even brooms. I at least expected little brooms they might ride like a hobby horse to at least keep in the spirit if things, but no. It was more of a keep-away/dodgeball thingy. The only thing creative was the Snitch. As most people know there are 3 types of balls; The Quaffle (1), the Bludgers (2) and the much coveted Snitch. 


The Snitch turned out to be a pert blonde with a punkish haircut, and a little gold outfit. Within the last minutes of the match she starts to run. Kind of around the pitch with the Seekers chasing her and they must pull off of her a black flag of some sort to "capture the Snitch." All in all it was about 30 minutes of us complaining on how wrong it was. Ah well. It was still a lovely day in the sun. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. 

Change, good or just scary?

As I have mentioned in previous posts my current job contract is ending mid-September and that means I am going to have to find another job here in Stockholm. This is kind of daunting as my Swedish is hardly good enough to land me a job. 

I also am worried about boredom until I find something to do. I want to be sure that I get out, and see parts of Stockholm, and even Sweden that I have not seen yet, but I also know myself well enough to recognize I can just as easily do nothing all day too. 

I've also considered trying to do something here on my own, kind of build a business for myself. Maybe a dog walking business, or a home cleaning business or I might see if I can get some photography gigs. It would be nice to have something that was flexible and portable. Something I could do from wherever I am, but I wonder if my photography is actually good enough. 

Ah well, we shall see. 

Unmotivated

So much going on in the world; the London riots, The US economy and credit rating in the toilet, and in general the US seemingly entering a holy war. Christians v/s the world, govern by the bible, and all that malarky. 

Changes afoot here with me as well....it is becoming more and more likely that my contract won't be renewed/extended at work so come mid-September I will find myself unemployed. It makes it kind of hard to get up and go in there every day, but I do it so I can try and get as much as I can done and not leave it for others to clean up. If this does come to pass, there will be a very long post about it and how I feel about it, but I will wait until the appropriate time. 

Keep those in London in your thoughts, as well as these guys from San Francisco. This breaks my heart and puts a lot into perspective, but it also pisses me off beyond words. 

SF Gay Married Couple Loses Immigration Bid DOMA is enforced.

Pride, the morning after

Well done Stockholm! I have seen more than my share of Pride Festivities in my almost 44 years, but Stockholm is now up in the top 3. I have never before seen so many people come out to watch a parade. The entire city was there, and I spent my day standing next to Louise, a woman I'd say in here late 60's who was as into the parade as a 20 year old. She is not gay, but is just as proud of the fact that being gay in her country and being able to be out, and married is such a non-issue. She wouldn't let me take her picture though LOL! There were so many people in attendance from all over Northern Europe too, it was amazing.

There were many moving things: for instance, those who marched to represent those without rights.

One of the most moving for me were the members of the Social Democratic Party all carried Norwegian Flags as a remembrance of those who were recently murdered there.

And as usual there were all sorts of interesting and fun things to see, from scary drag queens, to the new rugby club (The Berskerkers) who my husband plays with. 

If you look on the link to the right, there are many more pics of Pride. Thank you Stockholm for an amazing party!

Stockholm Pride

This week is Pride here in Stockholm and today is the Parade. Forecasts indicate that there are 50,000 marchers and about 500,000 viewers along the parade route which will take approximately 3 hours. Carl is marching with the Berserkers Gay Rugby Team and I am going to try to photograph as much of the parade as I can. Pictures will follow. 

'Semester' or 'Why yes, I am the only one in the office...'

Swedes have this wonderful thing that is called 'semester', or as the rest of the world would call it, vacation. Now where I come from you get 2 weeks of vacation a year. That is it until such a time has passed that you have had enough years of service to get maybe an extra week. In Sweden you get 5 weeks, right out of the gate. 

This summer I have had an extraordinary amount of work to accomplish, all of us at work have as there are several projects going on. Oops, forgot to mention that I report to and am based out of Canada so I get all the (limited) vacation time that most Canadians have (read:2 weeks) so I have been going into the office every day. 

It seems that most Swedes take their summer holidays for the month of July. Yes, that is the entire month. I noticed this when I returned to work from my one week off at the beginning of July and came to the realization that myself, and the receptionist who was a temp, were there only two people in the office. For an entire month. 

Now that wouldn't be so bad, except now that August is here everyone is returning and asking me; "where did you go on semester?" to which I must reply; "Oh I spent a week in the US." Of course I then get the; "where else did you go" and I have to say "nowhere, back to work." 

It is at that moment that the eyebrows raise, and a look of genuine surprise and I then must explain the differences between vacation time in Europe and North American vacation time. I have gotten used to explaining it (though I think I might just have to have it printed on business cards to make it easier) but I still have not gotten used to that slight look of pity I get. LOL

So, why I am here...

For anyone stumbling upon this and reading this I thought I would post a bit about why I am here. I am 43 (soon to be 44) and a gay man, married and living in Stockholm, Sweden. I am here because my husband is posted here for his job, and we have been here almost 1 year now. This will be where I post some thoughts on Sweden, Canada (where I moved here from) and the US (where I was born). 


Watch this space, and hopefully I will have something insightful, witty or snarky to post. 


Cheers!