Monthly Archive: August 2015

26
Aug
2015

SALE AWAY

I sold a bike today. It was the first Axis bike I got when I started at the company nearly 11 years ago. Everyone at Axis gets a bike (though I’m not actually sure about employees outside of Lund). And not just any bike either, a fancy, expensive Skeppshult bike. Only, because it’s Axis, they are bright yellow (and nowadays the fork (which I just asked Anders the name of (it’s the part that holds the front tire) is red)) because our logo is yellow and red (and black). And there are Axis logos all over the frame. Mine was...

24
Aug
2015

OH SAY CAN I SEE!

I can see! OMG I CAN SEE EVERYTHING. I knew I was living in a blur, a fuzz, a near clear facsimile of vision, but I had no idea how bad it really was until today when I got my new glasses. I feel like I should look different, because now I look differently. Everything is so crisp and clear and readable. Even the tiniest, smallest print. Why did I wait so long?? For the first 20 minutes or so, I was a bit bothered by the subtle blur at the very corners of my peripheral vision; the edges of...

23
Aug
2015

NOTHING MUCH

It’s been beautiful all weekend, but I sure haven’t done much with it. I’ve mostly been a slug, though I have done the minimum weekend cleaning, and laundry (always, laundry) that is required. Friday night was fun…I was invited to the home of a colleague and friend. She’s English, and had also invited the other 2 Americans on my team, and another colleague who is Swedish but married to an American, and another friend who she is very good friends with that I haven’t seen in ages. So it was a very fun, very English-filled evening. She’s a fantastic cook...

17
Aug
2015

THE BEST KIND OF DISTRACTION

Just like our vacation, which had both good (traveling, sightseeing, relaxing) and bad (John in the hospital) elements, this weekend was the same. My mom called Thursday with the news that my Aunt Kathie had passed away. She was diagnosed at the end of March with an aggressive brain tumor. Even knowing the outcome, I still wasn’t expecting it to happen so fast. I guess if you have to go, fast is the way to do it, but UGH. Cancer sucks. The visitation was yesterday and the funeral today. I was very sad that there was no way I could...

13
Aug
2015

LESSER

The world is a lesser place today because my Aunt Kathie is no longer in it.

09
Aug
2015

GOOD DAYS

There is only one week left of summer vacation for the kids and oh my god I can’t wait until they’re back into regular routines again. No more sleeping until noon, no more playing games all damn day, back to real life! Is it evil of me to be glad that school is starting? I really wish both kids had gotten summer jobs this summer, I feel like it would have made a big difference. Pretty soon we have to start getting serious about Martin’s future: college applications, scholarship searches, financial aid research…aagh! I can’t believe he’s going to be...

07
Aug
2015

TWEENAGER! (DAMMIT)

Edited to say: if my math impairment doesn’t once again trip me up and if that isn’t THE MOST TYPICAL THING I COULD HAVE DONE, I don’t know what is. *sigh* Yesterday, my little Livejournal became a teenager turned 12! That’s right, I’ve been writing here, right here, in this spot for 13 12 years! Back in 2003, blogs were the new and cool thing to do. EVERYONE was blogging. It was Gale, a friend from the AWC, who really got me started. She still blogs too but not so much, and since she moved to Copenhagen years ago, I...

06
Aug
2015

ROSE-COLORED GLASSES

I went to Specsavers yesterday with Karin and looked at frames, and had an eye exam. My eyes have gotten worse in the intervening 6-7 years since I got my current glasses, but not too much and everything looked “good” …or as good as things can look when you can’t see shit without glasses. Specsavers prices are nearly HALF what the other eyeglass places offer. I don’t understand how they can stay in business but they must make up for it by getting twice as many customers as everyone else. Karin kept trying to get me to try different styles,...

04
Aug
2015

OMG SO SCINTILLATING

I am scintillating. Read on and see for yourself. I had so little to do at work today that I went through and cleaned out our two cabinets full of archived marketing materials. Then I came home, put the laundry in the dryer and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up only because the dryer was beeping, just as Anders came home from getting his hair cut. I sat at the kitchen table with my chin in my hands and bemoaned the fact that I didn’t have any ideas for making dinner until Anders caved in and made macaroni...

03
Aug
2015

MIND GAMES

We played a game at dinner tonight, one that Martin originally heard via a podcast. It was fun, even if it’s all a bunch of hooey, so here it is for you to play along: Imagine you are facing a desert. A vast, featureless sand ocean. Now, imagine a cube. Describe your cube. What color is it? What size? What is it made of? Where is it in the desert? With you in the desert is a horse. What is it doing? What color is it? Does it have a saddle or any other trappings? Where is the horse in...