I saw this waiting for my bus on Kungsgatan yesterday. It said 6 minutes. I waited 15 minutes. It then said “now”. I waited 5 minutes. It then said 6 minutes. I waited 10. At some bus stops later I also glimpsed the software information and versions instead of the bus times. A lot more weird experiences will have to be left untold because they bore me out. Conclusion is, SL/SJ are out of excuses.

Just wanted to make a mental note of the worst winter since 1986, according to SMHI. Or best winter depending on your angle. For me, it’s definitely the worst though. I’m a summer person. I do like a snowy climate for Christmas and skiing, but I don’t need 5 months of north pole acclimatization. Where is this oh so debated global warming? Whatever’s getting warmer it can certainly not be found in Sweden. At least the mood now is right for crawling up the couch to watch the Olympics.

Decorating the dinner

My group Gandhi, containing the letters ‘hi’ as many other groups within HiQ, went out last night to socialize and to learn how to prepare a shellfish dinner. Some of the pros at Melander’s Fisk taught us how to slice lobster, open oysters and cook mussels. It was my last night with my colleagues and the mood was really good.

I will miss them of course, but, that leads my thoughts to one of the reasons I quit. In my experience as a consultant, I’ve never really had colleagues on a long term basis. I come and go, which itself has been a great experience and good in many other ways. But it’s time for something new.

Anyway, I’m a bit reluctant  when it comes to shellfish. For some reason I often doubt its quality and origins. But when everything is this fresh, and even partly made by myself, I can’t mistrust and of course I had a bit of everything. Swedish oyster, French oyster, crabstick, mussels, Skagen, Västerbottencheese and lots more. It was good, it really was. But, you just can’t compare any food to a bloody piece of meat.

Heavy gray sky and mild rain.  The view from our train as I’m writing this makes me realize it’s probably the perfect weather for this occasion – leaving Italy yet again. If it had been clear blue skies, snow and wind still, as it has up until this point, we wouldn’t be strong enough to leave.

Jovi invited us to stay in his family’s house in Ivrea. 40 minutes north of Turin and 40 minutes south of Aosta – a great starting point for the Italian Alps. Simon, Maria and I gladly accepted and landed in Bergamo on the Thursday and spent the day in Milan and Turin while awaiting Jovi.

We decided to try Pila. A relatively big skiing resort with a cabin lift departing right from Valle D’Aosta. It turned out to be so good so we decided not to risk our second and last day trying a new place so we went back. I made the safe choice to rent a snowboard the first day, but the second day I rented skis which actually worked out much better than expected. It was fun and definitely not a one-time thing.

Breakfasts were consumed each morning in the quaint village of Ivrea. There was a big carnival this weekend and you could tell the whole town was preparing for it. The climax of the carnival was going to be the great orange fight, why they were covering buildings in plastic. Unfortunately we were going to miss this spectacle since it would be saved until last when we already would have left for Stockholm.

But on the Saturday evening we did go to see the parade where the two teams in the orange fight tried to show who was strongest and could put the most fear into the enemy by making different noises, wearing colored clothes and acting randomly. Actually, after a while, we realized everything seemed pretty random and we were beginning to think the seemingly intended unsynchronized show was not so intended after all, but just genuine Italian unorganization.

Fortunately, I was warmed in the cold winter night by Vin Brulé, which is the Italian label for glögg.

The parade was ended by a spectacular firework show which also kind of put the ending dot into the magical sentence that constituted this trip.

Sweden has been so dark and cold for the past few weeks. This trip has been extremely refreshing, and thank you Jovi for taking care of us. E ringrazi I tuoi genoriti. We are very thankful. For me, next milestone is Switzerland and Andermatt.

Hardy watching his boys

There’s been _lots_ of work lately. Intense days at Handelsbanken but also pretty intense evenings with Nordic Bake Off. But, all in all it’s been pretty exciting work and not very outstretched in time. Nothing that couldn’t be handled. Yesterday and today were the most important days though, and they both went satisfactory. Worst should be over.

Looking forward the trip to the alps and Italy lie closest in time. Simon is coming with us of course and Jovi will guide our way. It’s going to be a pretty short vacation but not less awaited.

Looking a bit backwards Simon and I went to see DIF and Foppa’s Modo on the Saturday. A pretty safe 4-1 win for DIF and we both could return home in good mood watching Blade Runner final cut. Pretty cool movie by the way. Although opinions varied like Maria’s “this is the worst shit I’ve ever seen”. But democracy wins 2-1.

I finally decided to not get a surround system and instead buy two good active front speakers. This was the best I could find, both according to what reviews have said performance-wise, and to my personal preference in design. I’ll have to wait until tonight though before  plugging these beauties in.

d'feldt audioengine 5

I lived in this house from my birth in 1983, until my second semester at KTH in January 2004. So, for about 21 years. It was a great house and I’ve always liked it. Big, a nice garden, pool, (very) close to school, gym, sauna etc. And also very famous in school as the Swedish flag.

Now the time has come to sell it. And don’t get me wrong. I think my parents selling the house is the right thing to do. They don’t fill it anymore. Even André moved out a couple of months ago.

I guess it will be kind of weird to see another family live there though. And yes I’m pretty sure we will drive by once in a while, considering the rest of the Lindbergs still live in the neighborhood. Actually Maria and I are the only ones resisting the force of the mäl-side.

So, for the second year in a row, Maria and I were given a free all-inclusive trip to Egypt. Coincidence? Not completely I guess. I did mention to mom and dad that our last year’s trip with Rolf and Kajsa was a success. And so became this.

We were 16 people in total pushing our way through crowded restaurants and occupied sun chairs. The trip overlapped New Year’s Eve which was spent at the neighboring hotel, which included entertainment with acrobatic dwarfs and magicians. And on top of that, sun and 27 degrees for a week was a perfect contrast to the Swedish horrific weather. Mom and dad, if you read this, thank you a thousand times for this adventure. We will never forget it!

Now, I’m back, and eager as ever for the new year.  Two trips two the alps are already planned, and a new job begins in March. And who knows what else?

Finally. Christmas break is here! Happy I was clever enough to save some vacation for dark days like these. Might be my only chance to catch some daylight. So, from today until the 7th of Januari I’m free like a bird. And in less than two weeks we’re leaving for Egypt!

Lots of stuff is going on as usual. Some which I can’t speak of right now. This is one of the great downsides of writing a blog – all the kinky details you have to leave out. What is not a secret but a shame is our lost in the final game in the Quake 2 league yesterday! Sad, but it was still much fun!

Pretty tired today though. The game kept on until quite late and today I had one of those killer workouts in the 5×5 program I’m doing right now.

And as for Maria, she’s on a shopping spree in London with Lisa – home alone! Yay! No but seriously, it’s good because she’s helping me out with the Christmas shopping.

Well, off to Nicklas to chill out with some FIFA and maybe a beer or two.

Taken on Barnhusbron with my SonyEricsson W995 (plus some discreet touchups :)) while walking home from the gym with Johan and Maria. The past week I’ve been introducing Johan to the HST gym routine. Or to be correct, gym overall :) I hope it’s not killing him. He needs to survive to spot me the last killer week of the routine. Although I haven’t told him that yet. I have to say that this far I like the Max-OT program better. But I haven’t even done a third of the HST program yet so it’s too early to be definite about it.

Barnhusbron with W995