Friday, 06 September 2002<\/p>\n
Good afternoon! Or at least it is afternoon for me. It seems strange, but this is actually only my second Friday outside of the US. I have no idea what I am going to do this weekend. Actually, yes I do. I am going to take a couple of tours of the city over the course of the weekend. I think that I need to do this because I still don’t understand the design of the city. I think getting an understanding of what is where will be a good thing and help me to make sure that I can adjust. I also have my monthly train pass, so I can use the metro system as much as I want. By the way, they call the subway system here the “T”, just like they do back in Boston. That got me missing Boston a bit.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I am not sure if I mentioned it and I am too lazy to check, but last weekend in Norway I lost my sunglasses. These weren’t just any sunglasses, but my Giorgio Armani clear shade UV-coated sunglasses. Talk about being pissed off. I was so angry. I am so angry. I don’t wanna talk about it.<\/p>\n
It’s only Friday afternoon, but it feels like it has been a long week. Trying to get things done has been a challenge, but I am coping. It will be nice when I finally get my own desk, my own telephone, and my own work-authorised mobile phone next week.<\/p>\n
I also have to work on an apartment. I haven’t been lazy in looking for an apartment, but I definately need to make some progress on that. I think that I also need a Swedish social security number or something like that. My understanding is that this number is used for anything important. I will find out how to do this soon enough. In the meantime, I am living in a hotel. I don’t mind staying in a hotel — the one I am at now is quite nice, but it will be good to get into an apartment and do my own cooking again.<\/p>\n
Speaking of food consumption, I was eating at a place called “Sushi King” the other day. I ordered a lot of sushi and while I was eating, a pizza delivery guy came in with an order for hte Sushi King shop owner. Now, I may not be the wisest when it comes to customer service, but I think that if you can’t eat what you sell…I actually tried to find out why they wouldn’t eat sushi, but they laughed at me (as most Japanese do when they are presented with a situation they find potentially embarassing) and then ate their pizza. Strange.<\/p>\n
To understand Sweden it is necessary to understand that it is a place driven by process and by everyone having a distinct role. People wait in lines for fun, and what should take 4 minutes takes 35 minutes if you for one moment fail to follow the process. On the other hand, they are also very imaginative people and inventive — as long as there is a process for this. But so far, everyone I have met has been really nice, so Sweden continues to get high marks.<\/p>\n
Finally, I decided today that I am going back home for the thanksgiving holiday. Out of all of the holidays, that is the one holiday that I do not miss — at all. I don’t mind missing christmas and New Years, but Thanksgiving is the one day all of the family gets together. Now I just have to buy my tickets before the price increases. I am taking American Airlines home — woo hoo! Well…my boss has to approve the vacation time first.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I have to visit the other office today to make some introductions (and one of the people in the other office is helping me to find an apartment). So I will write again later.<\/p>\n
Love you journal,<\/p>\n
Rodney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Friday, 06 September 2002 Good afternoon! Or at least it is afternoon for me. It seems strange, but this is actually only my second Friday outside of the US. I have no idea what I am going to do this weekend. Actually, yes I do. I am going to take a couple of tours of … Continue reading “We are the Borg” or “We wouldn’t eat the garbage we sell to you”<\/span>