the hot water was fixed yesterday night (they were working on it during the evening dog walk, about 22-23 at "night"). so now i burn my hands everytime i wash them.

tuesday next week i've worked a year at the unemployment office... i was thinking about it during the morning dog walk today, and realised i've learned a lot this year. and i have made many really great friends. so it turned out to be a good decision to go for this job :) tomorrow we'll have an after work party. i'm going to sleep at a friends/colleagues together with another friend/colleague, so that tommy doesn't have to come and get me in the middle of the night (and i can drink alcohol). i'm looking forward to it a lot.

today i've played artist, and copied a photo of (parts of)my family when we had an "italian evening". it turned out i'm really talented!

  ¶ 9:04 PM

  no ice left on our lake. the näs lake is still almost completely covered, though. our lake is much braver :)  ¶ 8:53 PM

  the bob and i went up the stjärtlapping-hill after work today, to look at the view and see how big the ice had grown. but by the time we reached the top it was too dark to see. the lake just looked like a big black blanket on the pale grey ground underneeth us. it looked slightly more rugged on the right half though, where i know it's covered in ice. so i guess the left half is still mostly open water.

it was very nice walking in the darkening woods, with a happy old dog running around looking for frozen horse shit.  ¶ 9:07 PM

  we decided to go for alternative number three, when it comes to the saab and the not very working hand brake. i.e. we found someone else to do it. and it's probably going to cost us more than it's worth... we left it to the shaggy neighbour on the other side of the lake this morning, and were supposed to get it after work today. when we got there the shaggy neighbour was either very drunk or hign/low on something. and the saab wasn't fixed. and the shaggy neighbour told us he'd had to order a new wire, and almost had to replace something big and expensive. fortunately he had been able to fix it (when he told us this he grimased so much he almost fell over, to really show us how difficult it was to fix). i don't really know if i trust the shaggy neighbour, though... as my brother said we only needed to replace the little hard things that are attached to the things that move... and this should only take about an hour, and absolute not more than an hour and a half. when we tried to ask how much it would cost he just grinned and said "x* is never expensive" (* he actually said his name, but as he's a well known figure around here i think some self-censorship can be good). as we didn't seem to be able to get much out of him we left him. and the saab. i wonder if it's going to be able to sleep well tonight :( but it's a brave saab.

i borrowed a saab-fixing-book from a colleague/friend a couple of days ago (almost a week, to be more exact), but i haven't really looked at it until today. the lights on the dashboard don't work, which means in darkness it's impossible to tell how fast we're driving, whether there's any gas left, if the engine is too hot and what time it is. and as it's almost always dark this time of the year we figured this is not very good. it turned out that in order to just change a few small bulbs you need to: * remove the middle thing surrounding the gear lever, *remove the carpets (!) on both the driver and the passenger side, * bend the plastic things around the "carpets" on the doors, * remove the loudspeakers, * remove the things that the air blows through, *remove lots of cables and things to the air conditioning system and other things, * probably remove lots of other stuff i don't remember, * carefully unscrew the bulbs and replace them, * do everything all over agian but backwards. why do they do it like that? why not just use two screws to keep the plastic window in place over the instruments? i don't understand what they might have thought when they constructed this car! i'm just going to buy a little torch to keep on the dashboard.

the ice is growing on our lake, and has now reached our santa-clause-looking neighbour's house.

still no hot water.
i took a shower at work today, to save me from the trouble of carrying boiled water in pots and pans back and forth to the bathroom. but just before i had the shower my favourite colleague/friend told me i was looking good today. that doesn't happen a lot :) so i was thinking that maybe not having a proper shower for almost a week is good for my looks? as i was quite cold i had a shower anyway. i don't really care if i'm good looking or not, as long as i'm not too cold :) i found out my new shampoo is pink. i bought it because of the cute pink bottle, but it turned out the shampoo itself is pink too. love it!  ¶ 7:37 PM

  stjärtlapps and gunfire

the näs lake is almost completely covered in ice today. only a small opening almost in the middle, to the right of the little island. our lake is still fighting the ice, breaking off big floes and sending them away to the river. during the after work dog walk there were lots of gun fire and other big sounds coming from the fight.

i had a stjärtlapps-tour down the slope outside our bedroom window tonight. under the stars. the ice/lake fight is now quiet. this winter i want to go down the stjärtlapps-hill in the middle of the night once. that'd be great.

still no hot water.  ¶ 11:24 PM

  the fantastic toyota has now changed into it's winter tyres. it looks really pretty. the tommy got to try out his new gadget: a hydraulic floor jack. i like the "old fashioned" ones better, the ones you screw up and down until your shoulders hurt. they seem more reliable, somehow. i don't know if i really trust this new big shiny read one that makes it seem so easy. so, the tommy who likes new gadgets took care of the floor jack, and i took care of the changing of tyres.

the tommy's brother + fiancé + son were supposed to come visit us this weekend. they didn't, however. they hadn't had time to change tyres so they didn't want to go as the first snow came a few days ago. so we've been alone with the house full of good food :) i'm not complaining too much about that :) this probably wasn't the best weekend to come and stay with a little son anyway, as i guess little sons get dirty now and then, and we still have no hot water. it's working fine for us, though. we're boiling water to use for cleaning the floors, the dishes and ourselves. and to make tea, of course :) i actually think it's quite cosy. and i get to use my beautiful enamel pots and pans!  ¶ 4:06 PM

  snow and cold water

the first snow came some time during 0.30 and 5.45 this morning. bob is happy. snow somehow makes him think he's a puppy. looks fun when an old man runs around playing in the snow, going as fast as he can until he falls, and then starts making snow angels while sliding down the hill. makes me happy too.

we have no hot water since a few days back. the thing that turns cold water into hot water is not working. funny, somehow: during summer we have no cold water, and during winter we have no hot water :)  ¶ 12:31 AM

  i wonder if the bob's desert ancestors would be proud or ashamed to see him enjoying this cold weather...  ¶ 10:48 PM

  home from a weekend in tierp/skärplinge. the wallpapers turned out to just need some time to adjust to their new environment, and looked much better after a night's rest. it's probably not the most beautiful room i've ever seen, but quite ok (if i might say so myself).

the saab probably still needs some more fixing to be ok. unfortunately. i really don't see the point in having a handbrake that works... i never use it anyway. but, as i'm not the one who decides whether it's necessary or not, it needs to be fixed. it's the small things attached to the moving things that need to be replaced (my brothers wouldn't be too proud if they heard my explanation...). we didn't know that, so we didn't buy any. and when we found out it was too late. so now we have three options (at least): *ignore it and hope that the car testing people agrees with me that a working handbreak is really not very important, *trying to fix it myself (my smallest little brother said i probably could, my biggest little brother just laughed... i wonder who's to be trusted most?), *find someone else who can do it, and probably pay them too much.

we stopped quickly at my sister's in gävle on our way home. they've made a very cosy home, she and her boyfriend. and they gave us coffee. like real people. and she's only a baby. and i don't like coffee. but it was nice having coffee in my baby sister's own home.

the ice has started to grow on the lake. probably tonight, as it's been very cold. this morning everything was pale grey with frost, and when i turned to the näs road i saw that the little creek in their lake was all white with ice. our like is still iceless. the näs lake is much weaker than ours.

this evening i had a phone call from i friend i'm much too bad at keeping in touch with. i think about her a lot, but somehow i never get around to phoning her. now i'm going to be happy for at least a few hours. it was great talking to her. but my elbow hurts after having been bent for so long...  ¶ 9:27 PM

  today i've learnt that i stink at hanging wall paper. that's good to know.  ¶ 9:32 PM

  my father is learning how to fly! ... i have a really cool father...

today i had my first bath in ages (i've had showers though :). it was wonderful. i locked myself up in the bathroom with candles and bubble bath and chocolate. wonderful wonderful wonderful.

tomorrow we're going to my brother's to hang wallpaper and get the car fixed.

the cats stayed at home. the neighbour is letting them out now and then, so i think they are ok with it.  ¶ 11:00 PM

  when i came home from work today i met the teo cat with a bird in his mouth. he looked really proud, with his head held high, carrying the bird so it didn't even touch the ground. when i had parked the car a realised the bird wasn't dead. he carried it into the bushes, where he let go of it for a while and then cought it again. he's a vicious little killer cat.

the bob nearly killed himself with an empty bag of cat food yesterday night. his head got stuck in it, and he pannicked. but the tommy rescued him.  ¶ 9:19 PM

  oh, i forgot: the next step towards winter wasn't long underpants, as i thought before. it was the winter shoes. they are now on. at least most of the time. the soles are so worn-out i get blisters under my heals if i wear them too long. i guess i'm not buying new shoes as often as i should... but the long underpants are still in the drawer. no real winter yet, in other words.  ¶ 8:53 PM

  tuesday and wednesday we had a conversation course at work. interesting and tiring. we had to act "difficult customers", in order to practise how to deal with them. i got to practise how to react to threats, cursing, insults, arrogance and tears. when the wednesday was finally over my head hurt and i felt that i could probably sleep for a week. i nearly did, too :) i fell asleep on the sofa after dinner, and slept until it was time to go to bed. but i really feel i learnt a lot. going to work today i was almost nervous, expecting to meet one of those difficult ones i had practised on. but everyone was nice :) i was even thanked three times (by different people :), because i had been to so much help.

tomorrow the tommy and i are going to visit my parents in tierp. the youngest little brother is going to fix the saab (or at least i hope he will), and i'm going to hang wallpaper in his house in return. he is going to sell the house and move north, as he's going to start a new job in a city only 100 km from here.

the clown shoes have now been thrown away. tommy said we should take a photo of the soles, as he hadn't seen anything like it... but i miss them. they were great.

my orchids seem to love me. they are flowering and flowering and growing and growing. it makes me want to do something nice for them... but what can you do for an orchid?  ¶ 8:39 PM

  my geraniums are funny people. they are flowering like mad things right now, while i think the best thing must be to save as much strength as possible for the dark and painful winter... i've been trying to discuss this with them, but they won't listen. i don't really know what i'm supposed to do in this situation: should i cut their flowers off, and *force* them to rest (as i guess i'm supposed to be the oldes and wisest of us)? or should i let them learn from their mistakes? or maybe they are right, and it's ok to flower just before winter...?  ¶ 6:27 PM

  i've become addicted to sudoku. can't stop. fortunately there's only one left in the house now, so i can rest my brain for a while when i've solved it. it's a very good thing i don't like alcohol and have never tried cigarettes! i become addicted to things very quickly...  ¶ 3:29 PM

  my mother has kidnapped a cat! cool... i have a mother who's a criminal...  ¶ 3:16 PM

  i've been wearing pyjamas the entire weekend. it's a bit scary going for dog walks though, cause even if people can't see my blue teddy bear pyjamas-jacket under the winter jacket, and the trousers could be normal ugly only-to-wear-at-home-pants, there's always the risk that someone will invite me in for a cup of coffee.  ¶ 2:43 PM

  today the bob and i met a sleeping cow. she was really really beautiful, with a big brown dinosaur head that reminded a lot of anton's. all the other cows were chewing grass or just looking at the view, but this one was resting her nose on the ground with her eyes closed. when we were right beside her she raised her head and opened her eyes, and we stopped to look at her for a while and think about anton. after a while she said "mu" very quietly, blinked a few times and then went back to sleep. i love cows.  ¶ 2:11 PM

  i've cooked! real food! i even touched meat (and i *hate* touching meat. and fish. and other things that are wet and sticky). it smelled fantastic, just like real food cooked by a real person. i can't say it was the best tasting food i've eaten (i do think microwaved cheese sandwiches are better than most ordinary food), but i'm really proud of the smell. i wish there was a way to keep smells...  ¶ 8:21 PM

  the winter jacket is now out of the closet. which means another step in the direction of winter. i guess next step (long underpants) will be taken some day soon too...  ¶ 7:38 PM

  i think i have to throw away my shoes :(
i'm really sad, cause they are my great and fun and ugly-looking black clown shoes. and i love them. but their soles are now getting so torn my feet ache when i've used them for a dog walk. and they make lots of different weird sounds, so they're beginning to embarrass me at work. but i really really don't want them to die :(  ¶ 7:01 PM

  my oldest little sister has moved to her own flat. and bought a sofa for 10 000 sekr. among other things. the only piece of furniture i've ever bough (ever!) is a desk. i don't remember when i bought it, but it was at least 10 years ago (maybe as much as 15). and it was at a second hand store. but i still have it, and i like it. i don't think i'll ever by a piece of furniture that costs 10 000... does that mean my little sister is more grown up than me?  ¶ 9:04 PM

  the weekend:
saturday: rain
sunday: colleague/friend + her family over for coffee and home made cake. cinema

weekends are much too short...  ¶ 8:29 PM