Going out partying tonight…going to Helsinki in the afternoon…talk about exciting…

ALL NIGHT (Don’t Stop)
Janet Jackson

This is sick

“Attention it’s time to dance…”

CHORUS:
WORK IT LIKE YOU’RE WORKING A POLE
SHAKE IT TIL YOU’RE SHAKING THE FLOOR
POP IT LIKE YOU’RE POPPIN’ A CORK
Don’t stop, Don’t stop
JERK It LIKE YOU’RE MAKING IT CHOKE
BREAK It LIKE YOU’RE BREAKIN’ A CODE
DROP IT TIL YOU’RE TAKING IT LOWER

Drop it, drop it….

Verse 1
This is serious
I’m delirious
So oblivious
I could dance all night

With you

As long as it funky
This rhythm just makes me high
I’m like a junkie

I could dance all night

CHORUS

Verse 2
So intoxicated
I’m so stimulated
Feel so X-rated
I could dance all night

As long as it’s funky
This rhythm just makes me high
I’m like a junkie

I could dance all night

CHORUS

Bridge
Everybody on the floor (Let’s go)
Let’s get hardcore (Get low)
Make my sweat pour (Oh no)
Don’t stop (Gimmee some more)
Ooh my body’s yours (spank that)
Spank that back door (like that)
Drive me like a Porsche (yea)

I could dance All Night

Can we take this party higher?

Now just put your hands to the sky and

Clap, clap, clap, clap

I could dance all night

CHORUS (repeat)

In a few news reports I have seen, when a company through negligence causes an accident and kills people, they don’t seem to have to pay very much for their crimes.

Example 1: A few years ago, a nightclub burned down with kids trapped inside. After several years, they determined that the life of each kid was work about 50,000 Swedish Krona (approximately US$7000 – 8000). In another instance, when Anna Lindh (the former Swedish Prime Minister) died, her estate only managed to receive a very small sum, relative to her age, and her present and potential earning power.

It is in sharp contract to the multi-millions that US families and estates can receive when companies or even private individuals are found to be negligent.

Now whilst I woluldn’t call the US legal system an absolute model to be followed, it seems like Sweden is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Going back to the club example, assume that 20 kids died. 20 kids at 50,000 Swedish Krona a piece is still only 1 million Swedish Krona (US$140,000 – US$150,000). Something that their insurance can probably cover, or by simply having a few months of belt tightening can correct.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to feel like Sweden has any given any real value to life. I agree that life is not measured in monetary terms, but when you lose a loved one, it’s also fair to say that one ought to be compensated appropriately for that loss. What is the person killed was the breadwinner and the survivor a stay-at-home parent? Are they expected to increase their skill level and then re-enter the workforce?

Or maybe I just misunderstand something…

So me and Robin ( Robphi ) decided that we would go to London in July….he already has the week off in his schedule and it is easy enough for me to take the time off. We will arrive there on a Thursday night and leave on a Monday morning. Best of all Steve ( sjneedham ) will be there as well, and we can make a party of it.

The trip for us will be super-cheap, because we are using a free voucher for €300 that Robin received and because we are booking so early, both of our tickets together are less than that. And Steve, since he will be there for work…we can just crash at his hotel (although we might have to pay for a night prior to his arrival). But even so, the weekend for about US$200 including hotel and airfare (the ground transport will be a whole different story…hahaha) is not a bad deal. I have been saving my Swedish coins since I have been here and when I turned them in yesterday, it was SEK 4391 ($568 /£319), which I will now immediately put towards the “London Fund”. And if I double that by the end of June, I am hoping that we will be okay.

I can’t wait for London again…last time was so much fun!

Oh yeah, and I lost a kilo since yesterday…the SBD is starting to pay off in it’s own way.

So I’ve started on the South Beach Diet. Which seems rather interesting. I think what I like most about it is that there is no special food to buy, that I can enjoy the things I have eaten before (let’s face it, I am not going to give them up forever) as long as it’s in moderation, and I am learning to enjoy some new foods that I might have otherwise not enjoyed.

I have to lose 18kg/39lbs more by the end of the summer, which should be possible. BUT, I have to lose 8kg/18lbs of that by the end of June, which is going to be challenging and aggressive. But then again, I waited so long to get serious that I will just have t suffer the consequences.

I don’t know how true any of this is, but if it is true, then I am glad to be 27 (28 years old soon), but most importantly, it shows just how urgently we needs to get Bush out of the White House, and his cronies out of Congress and every other place his roaches have managed to snake a place into.

Mandatory Draft

So Robphi wants to buy a new tea pot. It looks as follows.

Tea Pot Pictures

Yeah so everyone is really busy…as am I…and we all have loads to do. So I apologise for not updating for some time. But then again, if I have been too busy to update and you have been too busy to read, then I guess we are about square 🙂

Anyway, last I spoke (I think) at the end of April, Robin and I went to Queen’s Day in Amsterdam and it was so much fun. We ran into Darren and Andre and the town was so awesome as usual. Robin and I went to the Supper Club, but the fact that we didn’t get a bed made the whole experience not as good as I know that I was capable of being.

Then this past weekend I was in London for the day attending a conference and today is Steve’s birthday, so he is in London and I will be joining him, Brett, and Ronnie in London for the weekend.

All things considered, besides just a lot of work and a new job role at IBM in the Nordics (I get new jobs and responsibilities and I can’t see to rid myself of the old ones, things are going rather swimmingly.

Anyway, hope everyone is ok. And just for your amusement, here is a pic of Ronald McDonald going to jail.

Well everyone take care and I will update on my weekend after I get back!

Hugs, Rodney