Tagged: thedayjob

02
Apr
2024

APRIL?! APRIL SHOWERS AND APRIL HOURS

Holy rabbits, Batman, how can it be April already? Yesterday was a holiday here in Sweden since it was Easter Monday, which was a shame, because it meant we couldn’t pull April Fool’s pranks on our colleagues in the office. One of the big Swedish newspapers had an excellent joke article on their main page, mentioning that Ven, the island off the coast of southern Sweden, was going to have to lose 500 meters worth of land in order to accommodate NATO warships. I saw some funny ones after the fact today. One worth mentioning was Dulux Paints Instagram post...

02
Mar
2024

IT’S A LOT RIGHT NOW

I just hung up the artwork that John and his kids made for me, for Christmas. It’s two flowers made of sliced up, painted pinecones, mounted on a wooden board. I’ve been debating where to put it, and originally thought of putting it out on the porch, but the walls out there are stucco, so not only does Anders not want to put a nail in them, but there’s no good way to mount anything at all on them. I couldn’t even use a CommandStrip, which is what I’ve now used to hang them on the tile wall in the...

02
Feb
2024

AT LEAST I WON’T SWALLOW YOU WHOLE

Oops, missed writing a blog post on the first of the month or saying “Rabbit Rabbit”. Do you do that? I can’t remember when I first heard about that tradition, but it’s been around for a long time, apparently. It was definitely after I moved to Sweden, though, which is weird, since it’s not something Swedes do. If you click on that link and scroll down to the section titled Other Traditions, it talks about saying “Rabbits Rabbits” to get the smoke from a fire to move away from you. THAT one I’ve done since I can remember, probably all...

03
Sep
2023

THE BUSY STARTS NOW*

Hello September! It’s the start of a new AIC season and the busiest time of both our AIC year and work, so things are a little crazy at the moment. We kicked off the new AIC season with a monthly meeting that wasn’t really a meeting at all: mini-golf at Ribersborg in Malmö. We had a lovely evening for it, sunny and warm, and a decent turn-out of 17 people, which included the manager of the golf venue and kiosk. I can’t remember the last time I actually played mini-golf. I suck at it, but it was fun, and surprisingly,...

27
Jul
2023

SLOW DOWN YOU MOVE TOO FAST

Tomorrow is Friday, the end of my second week back at work and guess what? Still stress-free! I expect it to last until about mid-August when everyone is back and things ramp up and the crazy hits the fan again. Best things about working in July in Sweden (when you’ve already had your vacation): NO traffic on the highway NO cars in the parking lot NO people in the office (mostly) NO STRESS about the amount of work coming in Today, there were 4 of us on the entire floor. Technically, we’re not supposed to even be there, because they...

16
May
2023

UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS

Work is crazy right now. Which makes me laugh, because when is work ever not crazy? Work is ALWAYS crazy. The stream of incoming work is always equal to or bigger than the stream of finished, closed work each day. Even though I truly love my job, and what I do, sometimes it’s a lot. Sometimes you just want to take a breath and sit back for a minute. Sometimes you just want to be able to really concentrate on designing something excellent, instead of putting out fires and scrambling to get things done as quickly as possible because you’ve...

30
Mar
2023

HOME-ISH

I’ve been in the US for nearly 2 weeks, and it’s mostly weird to be here. I don’t know if that’s because I’m in the Carolinas instead of Michigan or because I’ve been away from the US for so long. I’ve read that it only takes about 5 years for someone who has moved abroad to find things have changed so much in their home country that when they return it’s like coming to a foreign country. One that SHOULD feel like home, SHOULD smell like home, SHOULD behave like home, but doesn’t. I’ve not been back for 4.5 years,...

14
Mar
2023

HOMEBODY

There seems to be a fundamental battle shaping up after the pandemic, between employers and employees, in regards to working from home. Before the pandemic, we all basically worked in the office (at least those of us with white-collar office jobs). Now, three-plus years later, we’ve learned, adapted, and adjusted to the hybrid reality of post-pandemic work. My company began sending people home part-time fairly quickly once the pandemic became a known issue, and we went home full-time before the end of 2020. We worked from home for nearly 2.5 years, with lots of benefits and help with materials and...

06
Feb
2023

RESUMÉ

Three men seen at the same time, at the same crosswalk, in Malmö: one wearing a full dress tuxedo tails riding a bicycle standing on the pedals with flowers in the front basket one walking, wearing a bright green tracksuit, holding a large globe of the Earth one leaning on a bike, waiting for the light to turn, with a HUGE blonde afro (at least a foot out from his head or more) and a ginger beard When we were at our friends’ Mats’ birthday party some weeks ago, his nephew Jon, who is now 32 but whom we’ve known...

14
Jul
2022

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN*

I’ve got the house to myself. I would say that is just how I like it, but that’s not always the case. I wonder if all parents secretly wish their kids were at home just so they knew where they were and that they were okay. I have one in Detroit (visiting friends) and one in Gothenburg (took the day off to go to Liseberg amusement park…and drove the Tesla there). Anders is on an overnight trip with work…with his NEW JOB. I think what I like is that 1) it’s quiet and 2) it’s clean and 3) I can...

April 2024
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