i'm back!

not all the way back, but at least back in sweden. i'm staying with the parents for a few days, and on friday or saturday the pup and i will go back home by train. we found out we can't go to sandviken with the a-b and her girls, as you're not allowed to go to dog shows when you've met coughing dogs. and we have.

the conference trip to riga was interesting. i decided to get a bad cold just in time for the trip, to make sure i wouldn't be able to sleep or think or talk straight for a few days. a man in our company was robbed, the food was bad (this might not be an accurate judgement, as pretty much all food is bad when you ask me), people smelled of cheese and looked angry (except for the girl who closed mc donald's just when we reached the door and wanted coca cola. she smiled and looked happy), when we had a few hours to go shopping my nose started bleeding, and i had to spend precious shopping time in a toilet with an angry woman, and on our way home there was a storm so i was seasick.

but apart from a few minor not-very-fun elements the trip was nice. i have wonderfully fun colleagues! i wonder how so many nice people always seem to end up working with me...

and i learned that parties with more than 90% men doesn't necessarily mean standing around tables drinking beer all night (as i thought after the last conference), under the right circumstances parties with mainly men can mean much more dancing than parties with all girls. on the boat to riga they mixed old rock with more modern music and waltz. a cool mixture, that turned out to bring out the best of the male colleagues :)

now i have to go and make some more tea. i'm still dying.  ¶ 10:51 AM

  i am dying! my mean horrible colleague gave me a mean horrible cold :(

my life the next few days:
this afternoon: off to the parents in tierp, to leave the pup in their care
tomorrow morning: off to riga
friday all day: conference
saturday day: do whatever i want in riga
saturday afternoon: off to sweden
sunday afternoon/evening: back in tierp
rest of the week: work from tierp
saturday i-don't-know-when: meet the a-b and her girls, maybe go to a cottage in sandviken
sunday probably-all-day: dog show in sandviken with the a-b, her girls and sasoh
sunday evening/night: back home  ¶ 1:53 PM

  my colleagues won the kubb-tournament!

  ¶ 8:23 AM

  i just came from the most wonderfully depressed discussion in the coffee room. it started with displeased remarks on insurance costs for mopeds, which turned into angry comments on insurance costs in general, which lead to upset exclamations about the swedish government and the world as a whole. after that everyone seemed to realise what a shitty world we live in, and went quiet and sad for a while.

the discussion ended with this wonderful conclusion: "the people in stockholm don't understand what it's like here. they have buses and subways, so they can start drinking wine at two pm. the nice people at lidingö..."

aren't they just wonderfull? :)  ¶ 2:22 PM

  we play kubb at least an hour every day at work, to practice for the big tournament saturday. i guess they think it's worth it, because if we win we'll get 10 000 sekr. unfortunately i have to celebrate that my parents in law have been married 100 years on saturday, so i can't go. and so far we're only two who have made it to the elite team! so i'm going to suggest that we practice at least two hours tomorrow.  ¶ 1:50 PM

  present status:

* the computer, the modem and the phones were killed by the thunder (or lightning, or whichever it is that kills things) a few days ago.

* there's a "new" car in the family. he lives in umeå until next weekend, though.

* there's a new mixer in the family too. thanks to å, who introduced us to smoothies :)

* the pup turned into a young man, and then back to a baby again. he now can't be alone without thinking he's going to diiiiiiiiie.

* i have a head ache.

* i'm good at kubb! who would have thought that?? unfortunately i found out too late; i'm allready booked for an anniversary this weekend, so even though i was singled out to the elite-team in the big kubb championship i can't go. that sucks.

* i missed the coffee break this afternoon, because i went outside to lie in the grass with the pup. (do you think it's ok if i have a cup now instead?)  ¶ 2:32 PM

  the pup has one of the other office-pups over to play.

  ¶ 3:10 PM

    ¶ 2:35 PM

  the pup has a nickname at work: ratata (the swedish version of ran-tan-plan). they say they are identical. but isn't ratata known to be the stupidest dog in the world?

  ¶ 11:29 AM

  how do you climb up and down the roof of a BV 206 in a skirt? i tried today, and i wasn't good at it. i mean, i got up and down all right, but not without showing parts of my body that were supposed to be covered by the skirt.

i normally avoid wearing skirts or dresses to work, as i might have to climb something or crawl under something, but now i've been working exclusively on a web based information system for weeks, so i thought it would be pretty safe. so, of course i had to go bandvagns-climbing all afternoon. in extreme heat, too.

to make my day even better i was told the pup had been howling and peeing since i left. stupid bandvagn. stupid skirt. stupid sun. stupid dog. stupid everything!  ¶ 3:43 PM

  i'm off to watch ernst on the balcony. pilutta er!

  ¶ 7:55 PM

  watched pshycho 2 with the husband, the oldest little brother and the pup yesterday. but i fell asleep and missed the best part :(  ¶ 1:20 PM