That time of the year again - listing all the profanitites performed and items consumed to carry on the capitalist cohorts of the western world... not.
Personally, I think the year has been a bit twofold. At home, things are great. Xinola has submitted her thesis and we're doing really well together, I've never been happier. I just hope she'll find a meaningful job for herself at some point, which I'm sure she will. Patience is a virtue, they say - and boy, are they right.
Workwise, I've been given much more stuff to do this year and it seems that next year comes with a set of new challenges, not that I mind too much. In 2007, I spent on average 2 days a week away from home and now that's come down to 2 days a month. That's a great improvement on it's own! 2008, who knows? Only thing that is for sure is that I'll still need a job and currently the one I have is looking to offer more options than I thought. Maybe next year this time things look totally different. Say no more.
Travelwise, we made a nice little trip to Finland in the beginning of the year. Lots of snow, sunshine and nice time with the family. All good.
In April, it was time for our yearly trip to Mexico. Family was very much in the picture there too, as it should be. Xinola's uncle took us to Taxco for a weekend and we have a little humpback clayman standing guard in our lounge as proof of that trip, together with very nice memories. We also managed to creep in some time on the beach, this time in a nice secluded area of Sontecomapan lagoon. Very nice beach there, snorkling wasn't that hot though... oh well. Great trip overall!
In May, we had visitors from Mexico for a couple of days. Surprisingly, the weather was rubbish and we ended up freezing in rain up in Cambridge for a day. Also in May, Olavi Viimeinen (aka Mick Blogger) made a rush visit which was spent with Mr's Jameson and Carslberg.
Cometh summer (which never did this year by the way) and we received yet another visitor. This one was a little squirrel in the form of Xinola's youngest sister. Our holiday in the summer was a combination of land, sea and air travel - first we flew to Sweden, spent some time in Stockholm (nice city in the summer). Then, we took a little ferry to Finland and ran away from the rain in Helsinki. In Finland, time was spent with the family and at the summer house doing some fishing, going to sauna and eating in excess. All good. I hope the little squirrel enjoyed her first visit to the evil European continent.
I also made a third visit to Finland later this year to get my teeth fixed properly. There was an incident some years ago in England that put me off from going to a dentist in this country - finally my teeth are all good. During this trip I also met up with my old friends which was really great - I have brilliant friends and I'll be ever grateful for that. I also had the pleasure of getting together with Olavi and jUles for one evening which was much appreciated. A lot of deconstructioning of life and its tenets between the UK and Finland - this story will continue... thanks for your thoughts.
So, the second Christmas that Xinola and I spent together without either family arrived. Great food, quality time together and that's it! I'm getting used to the idea of not being pampered by one of our mothers during this time of the year. At least we're learning how to make crackingly good food for the festive season...
Tonight, we're going to receive the new year with some of my colleagues. Could be a bit risky knowing their drinking habits but I'm hopeful that we'll have a good time.
Finally, I hope that all of you will welcome the year 2008 with hope and belief in yourselves. Keep your eyes, ears and minds open (if a bit blurry tonight) and you'll be just fine! I'll try and do the same.
Happy New Year 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas time...
Today, I've been mostly feeling frustrated. Being told that we can go home on the Christmas Eve at around three pm is somewhat annoying seeing that it's half past two now. Nobody's actually doing anything but surfing the web etc. I've been trying to get going for the past two hours but as there's very little momentum behind my movement (read: no management to back me up on this decision) nothing's happened. No surprise there then.
Well, just to burn some of the useless time on my hands, I might as well post something as you've noticed. Christmas and it's meaning, wow, there's a real story lying in there somewhere. I, unfortunately, am not capable of telling this one as it's the one story that I have nothing to add on. What made me really wonder about meaning of this 'festive time of the year' was a story on the news last night about palestinians (christians at that) spending their christmas on the Gaza strip.
These people are on a constant gunpoint and mostly due to their religious beliefs, or is just their traditions, I really dont know. My point here is that I just can not comprehend the need for all this religious nonsense especially when there's a good chance that it's served with a piping hot piece of 7.62mm lead between your eyes from the guy who actully has been made to believe that the way someone else thinks is wrong just because it's different.
Why do we bother with religion at all as a species? Is there really a need to have organised religions? Are we so scared of the unknown that we have to let a bunch of fundamentalists wanting to secure their position in power tell us what is right and what is wrong? Do we need these hipocrates telling us about morality or cant we see for ourselves the consequences of our actions?
Rhetoric or not, this really bugs me big time. People die on a minute to minute basis just because they happen to recognise a different set of rules written on a differently named piece of nonsense. Really sad. Just so sad that it's enough to make me want to cry. Aren't we, the human beings, supposed to be the cutting edge of evolution? Will there be a future in which we have finally realised that religions are just as much as products of human imagination as any daily consumer products we use? My earlier feeling of frustration is changing towards anger...
It's the shortest day of the year. There's a thought to hold on to that is actually real. Time to say 'fuck you' to all religions.
This world needs an enema and I might just have an idea where to stick that...
Well, just to burn some of the useless time on my hands, I might as well post something as you've noticed. Christmas and it's meaning, wow, there's a real story lying in there somewhere. I, unfortunately, am not capable of telling this one as it's the one story that I have nothing to add on. What made me really wonder about meaning of this 'festive time of the year' was a story on the news last night about palestinians (christians at that) spending their christmas on the Gaza strip.
These people are on a constant gunpoint and mostly due to their religious beliefs, or is just their traditions, I really dont know. My point here is that I just can not comprehend the need for all this religious nonsense especially when there's a good chance that it's served with a piping hot piece of 7.62mm lead between your eyes from the guy who actully has been made to believe that the way someone else thinks is wrong just because it's different.
Why do we bother with religion at all as a species? Is there really a need to have organised religions? Are we so scared of the unknown that we have to let a bunch of fundamentalists wanting to secure their position in power tell us what is right and what is wrong? Do we need these hipocrates telling us about morality or cant we see for ourselves the consequences of our actions?
Rhetoric or not, this really bugs me big time. People die on a minute to minute basis just because they happen to recognise a different set of rules written on a differently named piece of nonsense. Really sad. Just so sad that it's enough to make me want to cry. Aren't we, the human beings, supposed to be the cutting edge of evolution? Will there be a future in which we have finally realised that religions are just as much as products of human imagination as any daily consumer products we use? My earlier feeling of frustration is changing towards anger...
It's the shortest day of the year. There's a thought to hold on to that is actually real. Time to say 'fuck you' to all religions.
This world needs an enema and I might just have an idea where to stick that...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
I joined facebook, therefore I am... perhaps
The peer pressure just got too much! Well, that's my excuse for joining facebook anyway.
Actually I am sectretly exited about this. I already found a whole bunch of people there who I haven't met in years. What I have to give to them after all these years is a different matter, of course. And there's no guarantee that they want to be my friends, is there?
Another scary aspect of facebook is the way it kind of ranks you according to how many friends you have. There are the super facebookers who have thousands of friends. But what if no one wants to my friend...
Let's see, how many people have I pissed off so badly that they wouldn't want to make their own friend lists bigger? - Quite a few probably, now that I come to think of it.
Maybe this fear of being alone is the secret agenda of facebook, making people nicer to each other in order to gain power and glory. Could it be that facebook is the work of some secret charitable organisation?
What ever it is, it's scaring me a bit. I'll get back with more news after I have steadied my nerves a bit...
Until then, I'm sorry for everything I may or may not have done. Just be nice to me in facebook... please!
Actually I am sectretly exited about this. I already found a whole bunch of people there who I haven't met in years. What I have to give to them after all these years is a different matter, of course. And there's no guarantee that they want to be my friends, is there?
Another scary aspect of facebook is the way it kind of ranks you according to how many friends you have. There are the super facebookers who have thousands of friends. But what if no one wants to my friend...
Let's see, how many people have I pissed off so badly that they wouldn't want to make their own friend lists bigger? - Quite a few probably, now that I come to think of it.
Maybe this fear of being alone is the secret agenda of facebook, making people nicer to each other in order to gain power and glory. Could it be that facebook is the work of some secret charitable organisation?
What ever it is, it's scaring me a bit. I'll get back with more news after I have steadied my nerves a bit...
Until then, I'm sorry for everything I may or may not have done. Just be nice to me in facebook... please!
Friday, December 07, 2007
LAWYERWARE as in Kitchenware
Within the absolute numbness that accompanies my job, I have to check the backgrounds of loads and loads of lawyers from around the English speaking world. This means that I have to request references from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and NZ on a constant basis. However, every now and then i have to contact India as well.
In case you have not been fortunate enough to ever contact India for information, you may have to know that it sucks! Their telephones never work, or have changed, people are not keen to inform, never reply to requests, and when they do they take months and months. Yes, it is terribly frustrating to open a file and see that the checks that have to be carried out are only to be done in Indian schools, universities and companies of all sorts.
India is well known to have many IT companies, as well as trillions of '.com' based enterprises. Many of those trillions of companies have the same bloody name, which makes it quite difficult to find out the specific one to contact... I cannot begin to nag about this, and i will not even get into the complaint because, well, it's pointless.
What i wanted to present this time to our blog is one fascinating thing that I came accross with a little while ago. This is called: LAWYERWARE. What the hell!!!! When i was browsing the website of the Bombay Bas Association, i was looking on the side menu and found a link with that tittle. Geeee.... i had to click in to check it out. It has exactly what it says in the tin: gadgets for lawyers (like blackberries, on the go mobile printers, etc).
When i saw that i was honestly laughing my guts out. Was thinking on the brain that came up with the notion in order to frame the idiocity of presenting information to lawyers about the latest available technology in the market that may suit their work better. How did this happen? Were a bunch of lawyers' think tank sitting on a round table wondering about the difficulties that solicitors and paralegals have on a daily basis when dealing with their jobs?
Then, my naivity was stroke when i found that there is actually a whole world of lawyerware that is very much legitimised...on the internet. Actual computer programs for lawyers? Games for lawyers? Spellcheck programs? I know auditing and doing some mathematical stuff can be very much aided with different software... But just not getting into much detail, simply sounds funny. I want to keep it like this, in a very, very supereficial manner.
Screensavers, anyone?
In case you have not been fortunate enough to ever contact India for information, you may have to know that it sucks! Their telephones never work, or have changed, people are not keen to inform, never reply to requests, and when they do they take months and months. Yes, it is terribly frustrating to open a file and see that the checks that have to be carried out are only to be done in Indian schools, universities and companies of all sorts.
India is well known to have many IT companies, as well as trillions of '.com' based enterprises. Many of those trillions of companies have the same bloody name, which makes it quite difficult to find out the specific one to contact... I cannot begin to nag about this, and i will not even get into the complaint because, well, it's pointless.
What i wanted to present this time to our blog is one fascinating thing that I came accross with a little while ago. This is called: LAWYERWARE. What the hell!!!! When i was browsing the website of the Bombay Bas Association, i was looking on the side menu and found a link with that tittle. Geeee.... i had to click in to check it out. It has exactly what it says in the tin: gadgets for lawyers (like blackberries, on the go mobile printers, etc).
When i saw that i was honestly laughing my guts out. Was thinking on the brain that came up with the notion in order to frame the idiocity of presenting information to lawyers about the latest available technology in the market that may suit their work better. How did this happen? Were a bunch of lawyers' think tank sitting on a round table wondering about the difficulties that solicitors and paralegals have on a daily basis when dealing with their jobs?
Then, my naivity was stroke when i found that there is actually a whole world of lawyerware that is very much legitimised...on the internet. Actual computer programs for lawyers? Games for lawyers? Spellcheck programs? I know auditing and doing some mathematical stuff can be very much aided with different software... But just not getting into much detail, simply sounds funny. I want to keep it like this, in a very, very supereficial manner.
Screensavers, anyone?
Cross-eyed
Today, I've been mostly feeling warm. You know, that cosy sensation that makes you somewhat sleepy and calm. The only minor drawback to this is that I need to spend a good 8 hours of my day stuck in the office and I actually really feel sleepy. Need sleep.
Recently, I've had mixed feelings about my life as it is. I enjoy living in the UK to some extent and I think Xinola'll agree with me. We like the little things like the good selection of cheeses available, people being polite (when sober) and the fact that we can be what ever we feel like being without being scrutinised to the dot. There's nothing that I really despise here, but I miss things from Finland that I'm not sure I can even try to explain to anyone else.
I made a quick visit to see my oldest and best friends last weekend and I have to say, my confusion just got worse. The sense of comfort that I experienced from being with the people I spent my teenage years with was something ridiculous. Not to mention the emotion of warmth that overtook me when I hung my towel to dry in my parents sauna after a shower.
These are still just emotions and as such not enough to justify any drastic moves or decisions to be made. That much I realise. However, the idea of a possibility to move and work in Finland at some point is intriguing. In UK, people probably have somewhat better purchasing power and a wider selection of consumables available, sometimes even at a reasonable price. This, nevertheless, still seems to me like that's all there is in this country. Yes, there are the lakes up North and the coast and Scotland and yahdi-yah. Yet, there is no forest right there out of your doorstep, no cross sountry ski tracks starting from your rear garden, not tens of thousands of lakes into which you can jump in the summer and from which you can fish throughout the year, no saunas in your friends houses, and perhaps most importantly, no sensation of connection to the surrounding nature.
To some, I'm sure that the above paragraph reads like a provocative piece of poor argumentation but for me, it is becoming more evident that I am actually missing to fulfill some of the most basic needs that I have when living in the UK. Maybe I just cant escape the Finnishness I have in me as well as I've thought? Or maybe, the idea of a possibility of moving back there at some point is making me think these things differently? Who knows really. All I'm interested in is to have a good life-work balance (in that order) as it's quite difficult to manage in this world without a job but it's even more difficult to manage in this world if all you do is work. Whether this balance is more easily achieved in Finland or Britain, remains to be seen.
On another note, it's really windy out there today. Christmas is coming but I have no real feelings for that apart from spending a couple of nice days with Xinola, eating well.
I'll get me coat.
Recently, I've had mixed feelings about my life as it is. I enjoy living in the UK to some extent and I think Xinola'll agree with me. We like the little things like the good selection of cheeses available, people being polite (when sober) and the fact that we can be what ever we feel like being without being scrutinised to the dot. There's nothing that I really despise here, but I miss things from Finland that I'm not sure I can even try to explain to anyone else.
I made a quick visit to see my oldest and best friends last weekend and I have to say, my confusion just got worse. The sense of comfort that I experienced from being with the people I spent my teenage years with was something ridiculous. Not to mention the emotion of warmth that overtook me when I hung my towel to dry in my parents sauna after a shower.
These are still just emotions and as such not enough to justify any drastic moves or decisions to be made. That much I realise. However, the idea of a possibility to move and work in Finland at some point is intriguing. In UK, people probably have somewhat better purchasing power and a wider selection of consumables available, sometimes even at a reasonable price. This, nevertheless, still seems to me like that's all there is in this country. Yes, there are the lakes up North and the coast and Scotland and yahdi-yah. Yet, there is no forest right there out of your doorstep, no cross sountry ski tracks starting from your rear garden, not tens of thousands of lakes into which you can jump in the summer and from which you can fish throughout the year, no saunas in your friends houses, and perhaps most importantly, no sensation of connection to the surrounding nature.
To some, I'm sure that the above paragraph reads like a provocative piece of poor argumentation but for me, it is becoming more evident that I am actually missing to fulfill some of the most basic needs that I have when living in the UK. Maybe I just cant escape the Finnishness I have in me as well as I've thought? Or maybe, the idea of a possibility of moving back there at some point is making me think these things differently? Who knows really. All I'm interested in is to have a good life-work balance (in that order) as it's quite difficult to manage in this world without a job but it's even more difficult to manage in this world if all you do is work. Whether this balance is more easily achieved in Finland or Britain, remains to be seen.
On another note, it's really windy out there today. Christmas is coming but I have no real feelings for that apart from spending a couple of nice days with Xinola, eating well.
I'll get me coat.
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