It seems like I only write on weekends, but in fact I have to say during the week. I just forget. It is a result of turning older. I am turning 30 tomorrow.

The past weekend I wasn’t feeling very good and decided to have a soft night inside. Frederick came over and that really cool and nice of him. He’s travelled in Russia and the former USSR. We ate chocolates and drank wine most of the wine. It was just a great and relaxing evening. I hadn’t been that relaxed in a while. How he eats so many chocolates and keeps as fit as it does is a swedish national secret. meanwhile, I walk past a pastry shop and immediately put on a stone. but i have managed to drop 6kg in the last weeks, and I will be ready for the height of beach season by August.

On Saturday Markus made a great dinner. Salmon, potatoes, and asparagus. And I brought over some nice wine. After dinner we went back to my place to hang out and Siussi came over. We drank some and then went to Bunker which was not very crowded. We say Rainer there and some guy who works at IBM too. That was cool. But it was so empty that we went to Lino instead and had a great night. I decided to have an after-party at my place. I got to meet up with Sebastian whom I think is one of the coolest guys ever. I seriously love that guy…he’s always happy and relaxed. There were about 12 of us, and of course I hung out mostly with Markus, min båsta kompis på stockholm. 🙂 Everyone left around 08.00.

I then went to Copenhagen on Sunday afternoon, and when I was there, I just had this yearning to be back at home. So I came back from Copenhagen on Monday evening and that was a great decision. I made a terrific dinner, had some nice wine and a stiff drink, and then went to bed. Today (Tuesday) I worked from home, where I will work from most of the summer (or in town when I need to enter an IBM office).

Being a local employee so far is not so bad. Of couse, they deleted my bank information (don’t yet know how I will be paid), deleted my office phone (no way to reach me), and haven’t delivered on the relocation award money yet. But no matter…I will be visiting the US for some days (using up some of my 30 vacation days).

Tonight I will call my family and let them know I am coming. I have a lot of work during the days, but it should be okay. And of course a trip to Atlanta 🙂

But I just need to get through this week at work. And if Rainer is up to it, we’ll go to the history museum this weekend.

Hugs and kisses to all !:-)

//Rodney

Hola Mi Amigos!

Don’t have much to report on this weekend. Actually I do have a lot to report on, I just don’t know how to report on it all. With Markus in Gävle, I decided that I needed to go out and have some fun. I ended up meeting with Rainer, a guy from Germany who was really cool. It was his first weekend in Stockholm so we agreed to meet for some drinks. We went to Torget and Connection and had a really good time, despite the fact that I am not so crazy about connection. While we were out I ran into various different people from various parts of my life, but it was a great night overall. Rainer spent the night at my place in part because he lives a bit outside of the city and I am really central. The next day since we were both free, I took him on a walking tour of Stockholm. Or put more appropriately, he took me on a “re-discovery” tour. It was nice to see Stockholm through someone else’s eyes seeing the city for the first time. And it helped to remind me why I decided to take a local contract. We went walking and shopping (well he went shopping…lol) and I ran into Sipho who was with his overly quiet friend (I think he talks, not sure). I subsequently learned that his name was Daniel. It was nice to see Markus again though. It’s always nice to see him. Eventually a tired Rainer went back home to Kista. He’s a really cool and smart guy. He’ll be popular here while he stays.

Came back to my place, made dinner (oven-baked lemon-pepper salmon with steamed veggies), and then took a nap. Woke up to the sound of my other friend Markus calling telling me I had 5 minutes to prepare for his arrival. Haha! I love me some Markus. We had some pre-departure drinks at my place and then went out to Lino. Lino had great music and I saw people I hadn’t seen in months. And everyone told me how nice I looked. I was feeling pretty nice about myself yesterday. I mean I have a good degree of self-confidence, but some external validation never hurts.

So for Sunday, I have designated it a chill out day. In terms of work, I won’t do a lot of it, that much is certain. I have to read through my contract and associated forms like health care and the like. It’s all in Swedish so I will spend some time with my dictionary. And I have to run errands and get ready to spend the week in Copenhagen again. Maybe this week I will get to meet up with Rasmus, Kristoffer (who has a job now..yay!), and Chris. Would be nice.

Oh yeah, did I mention that as a local Swedish employee, I have 30 days of vacation this year to take, plus another 5 days of deferred holidays so far this year? How I am going to spend 7 weeks of holiday this year? Any ideas anyone?

Well it is now Sunday (at least in my part of the world anyway), and that means it’s Sunday Morning Jazz. I always say it so I will say it again, it’s a very nice comedown to the week just passed, and a ramp up to the coming week.

Today I woke up at 08.30 in the morning, after going to bed at 05.00. The previous day I went to bed at 05.00 but woke up at 10.00. The extra time was only because I was really drunk, otherwise I would have come to at 08.30 again and not slept in so late.

This week has been very crazy and busy. I was in Finland from Sunday to Wednesday to participate in an audit. And then when I left on Wednesday, I had a feeling that we needed to work on some of the challenges and that my direct involvement was necessary. So I flew back on Friday morning and stayed the day.

Socially, I am on the brink of expanding and withdrawing at the same time. Some nights I go out and realise why I should stay in. This past weekend was one of those experiences where I might have been better served just to have a weekend in. My weekend-of-fun was topped off a dental visit that went better than I thought, but for which she did not finish like I had hoped while I still have my US insurance. So it just means that I will have to pay the dental work out of pocket. But on the flip side, it will also mean that I might take a deduction on it later in the year.

Two highlights of the weekend:
First was dinner with Sait. He’s a really nice guy and it was great to chat and just catch up. I owed him dinner because he made me dinner 2 weeks ago. So I made “Rodney’s Standard Meal” *lol* Since he had never had the honey-baked chicken I make, I made that, a homemade ceasar salad, along with a asparagus, mushroom, and tomato risotto with fresh lemon. We washed it down with a Rawson’s Creek Reisling and some long island iced teas. Since I was running late (for those who think I sleep too little, I managed to take a nap from 16.30 – 17.45), I skipped dessert, but I had some nice coffee and godiva chocolates lying around the house.

Second was seeing Chris, a good friend from Canada who moved to Göteborg last year. He was in town with his family this weekend. I saw him out at Lino and after a few minutes, I realised just how much I miss having him around. Easy and relaxed to talk to about whatever. We ended up chatting and excluding our friends for a bit of time, but then I had to leave Lino early due too much drama. And then he called me later on in the night and we chatted for like another hour. I actually really truly miss having an ally in Stockholm…someone in my inner circle…especially since I have been feeling islolated lately for reasons I can’t put down into words.

I also decided that I am going to visit the US in June. I think I will give midsummer a miss here and instead spend it in Boston and Atlanta. After all, I am an official employee of IBM Sweden in a few days, and that gives me 25-30 days of vacation every year. Have to use it!

Hope everyone is doing well and lots of hugs to everyone!

Well my apologies….I basically have went into radio silence mode for the past couple of weeks. Probably even more like a month. Things have just been super busy which is a somewhat lame excuse because I am sure that each day I could have found 5 minutes to post.

Anyway, since last posted on 21ss of May, I have been to Helsinki and back. And next week I will be in Copenhagen for 2 weeks (traveling back on the weekends). And then after that I am probably going to go to the USA for a week, but that hasn’t been confirmed. There is so much to do and everything is so very confusing and busy right now.

My brain is becoming all mushy. I need to lie down. My overall condition isn’t getting better health-wise, meaning that I am still highly stressed.

Hopefully I will get some relation time this weekend, but with my flying at 07.00 tomorrow (meaning I wake up at 05.00), a root canal treatment on saturday, and then going to copenhagen on sunday…i hope to be able to relax sometime in the end of June or July for a few days.

My Stupid Mouth
John Mayer

My stupid mouth,
Has got me in trouble.
I said too much again.
To a date over dinner yesterday
And I could see she was offended.
She said well anyway…
Just dying for a subject change.

Oh, its another social casualty
Score one more for me
How could I forget?
Mama said think before speaking
No filter in my head.
Oh, whats a boy to do?
I guess he better find one soon

We bit our lips. she looked out the window
Rolling tiny balls of napkin paper
I played a quick game of chess with the
Salt and pepper shaker.
And I could see clearly
An indelible line was drawn
Between what was good, what just
Slipped out and what went wrong.

Oh, the way she feels about me has changed.
Thanks for playing, try again.

How could I forget?

Mama said think before speaking
No filter in my head.
Oh, whats a boy to do?
I guess he better find one.

Im never speaking up again. it only hurts me.
Id rather be a mystery than she desert me.

Oh Im never speaking up again.
Starting now

One more thing.
Why is it my fault?
So maybe I try too hard
But its all because of this desire
I just wanna be liked, I just wanna be funny.
Looks like the jokes on me
So call me captain backfire

Im never speaking up again it only hurts me.
Id rather be a mystery than she desert me.

Oh Im never speaking up again
Starting now

This is fast becoming one of my favourites parts of the week. Some jazz and a nice brunch. except yesterday i made dinner for Markus and I since we both dislike Schlager and the Eurovision Song Contest. I made honey-glazed chicken, ceasar salad, and a wild mushroom risotto. All served with a reisling wine. I had also made baked lemon and goat cheese canapes on crustini with anchovi, but I burned the goat cheese in the oven because the setting was a bit high. 🙁 but i will get it right next time.

the point of describing dinner was to say that i am so full that today will be only jazz music and no brunch. maybe a glass of afternoon wine and nice walk around the city. I go to Helsinki tonight through Wednesday. And then in Stockholm for the rest of the week.

And I also feel like I need a holiday somewhere. Not only have I done a good job at work, but I passed by CISSP certification and I have yet to reward myself. Maybe I am running at capacity.