Thoughts from this world

Meanwhile in Finland

2011-01-07T15:43:00.001+02:00

There really was this red hue outside...

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There is nothing wrong with your reception

2010-12-07T17:40:00.001+02:00

It is snowing. More than can be seen from this vid.

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The Room

2010-12-03T23:37:00.002+02:00

Take a look. One thing, it is cold in this room... Hurr...

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Fox Hotel

2010-12-03T23:33:00.001+02:00

This the door to the hotel room we are staying in. Promising, eh?

Wait till you see the room itself...

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Spotted this at the hull of the airplane

2010-12-03T23:30:00.001+02:00

Well, do you?

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Rushing to wait

2010-12-03T19:02:00.001+02:00

Now that I am "on the road again" I once again noticed how people have a horrific need to rush. "I need to be the first in that plane" was a very general attitude on the gate today.

Why? As if the plane is going to take off five minutes after the gate opens. No, it doesn't, not this time either. This time we are actually sitting tight for about 50 minutes because of the weather in our destination, Copenhagen.

No one is going to take your favourite seat either, these are numbered and the number is in your ticket. If you didn't get the seat you wanted, rushing in doesn't help, the fella who has the seat is going to chase you away anyways. Politely asking could give you the seat though.

Oh well, I have time to wait, I might even nap a little while waiting for takeoff. Or read newspaper, which I haven't done for quite some time. No matter, Copenhagen, I am coming!

((now... where was my hotel located?))

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How about posting a video from Android phone...

2010-12-01T13:40:00.001+02:00

Tumblr seems to have an issue with posting vids.

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On behaviour of people

2010-11-21T16:40:00.001+02:00

I find it a tad amusing how people today have attention span as long as they can hear the warning, if even that.

Today I observed police guiding the traffic on a winter parade street. She had a whistle to attract the attention of pedestrians when she wanted to let a car cross the street. Most of the people reacted well enough to the whistle, one I saw staring at the officer with a puzzled look on his face.

So the officer was able to stop the pedestrians with her whistle and handsignals but as soon as she turned her back the people started walking again, right in front of the car.

Come on people, there is a reason the police wants you to stop... Sheez...

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Microblogging with Android

2010-11-18T12:32:00.001+02:00

Why not give this a try, revive an old blog from the dead with the from Android... Be prepared for some musings, unless Tumblr manages to beat the contest.

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Sleepless again

2010-01-04T10:07:00.001+02:00

I don't know if it is because getting somewhat accustomed to going to bed rather late and now then trying to make it earlier.

I trashed and sighed in my bed for quite long before I had to get up and do something for the sleep just didn't come to me. I was tired yes, but quite wide awake. Alone with my thoughts. Feeling miserable and lonely who knows why.

Any ways, for some reason I was thinking of the lyrics of Just a Gigolo last night, hence the previous post. Where have all of my friends gone? Or is it the case why do I not recognise friends any more besides the ones that have been my friends for a looooong time.

Just a gigolo

2010-01-04T09:50:00.001+02:00

I 'm just a gigolo, and everywhere I go,
People know the part I'm playin'.
Pay for every dance, sellin' each romance,
Ooohh what they're sayin'.

There will come a day, when youth will pass away,
What will they say about me?
When the end comes I know, there was just a gigolo
Life goes on without me.

Chorus:
I ain't got nobody, nobody, cares for me,
Nobody, nobody, cares for me.
I'm so sad and lonely, sad and lonely, sad and lonely
Won't some sweet mama come and take a chance with me?
Cause I ain't so bad.

I'm just a gigolo, and everywhere I go,
People know the part I’m playin'.
Pay for every dance, sellin' each romance (each romance),
Ooohh what they're sayin'.

There will come a day
(There will come a day),
when youth will pass away,
What will they say about me?
When the end comes I know, there was just a gigolo (just agigolo),
Life goes on without me
(what you say'in)).

CHORUS

There will come a day, when youth will pass away,
What will they say about me?
When the end comes I know, there was just a gigolo,
Life goes on without me.(what?)
(Life goes on without me)

CHORUS

Oh those legs of mine

2009-08-25T01:24:00.001+03:00

They still don't let me sleep.

They don't twitch anymore as far as I can tell... But they are still quite restless and a bit achy. But most of all, they itch!

It seems that my legs are going through the whole "falling asleep and waking up" process. Earlier on they felt like a limb does when it has just woken up, very nasty to move around because even the slightest movement send electric jolts though the limb. And when the blood circulation is restored somewhat the feeling of needles comes in.

And the paresthesia is what has been going around for several hours now.

Gah...

And the result are in

2009-08-18T19:50:00.001+03:00

At least one kind of... My hemoglobin level was 10,6 g/dl. No wonder I feel "a bit" weak, tired, disoriented etc.

According to Wikipedia the value should be somewhere between 13,5 to 16,5 g/dl. Congratulations Turkka! You are anemic!

And what are the symptoms of anemia?
Symptoms common to many types of anemia include the following:

Easy fatigue and loss of energy (check)
Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise
Shortness of breath and headache, particularly with exercise (check, at least the headache part)
Difficulty concentrating (check)
Dizziness (check)
Pale skin
Leg cramps (check)
Insomnia (check)

Interestingly enough I have always had quite low level of hemoglobin and I have had lack of energy, dizziness and especialy insomnia for quite some time. Insomnia actually just about as long as I can remember.

I've had my hemoglobin levels checked every now and then (usually with the periodic checkup for my MS medication) and never has it been this low...

Aaand back to bed

2009-08-18T02:55:00.001+03:00

The restlessness has eased up for now if not, unfortunatelly, gone completely away either.

I wish I can sleep now...

I didn't want to sleep in the first place...

2009-08-18T02:24:00.001+03:00

there I was sleeping blissfully away... And all of sudden my left leg decides to twitch. Not just a little but falling short of a kick just barely. I don't know if the leg had been twitching earlier in the night but now I was awake.

Not letting one strong twitch bother me I decided to keep on sleeping. But the leg had oter ideas. It twitched again, twice, thrice... I try keep on sleeping, the leg twitches more.

Ahhh, crap.

Up I am again, feeling tired as hell but also feeling the left knee having signs of restlessness.

So I decided to Google a bit. And through the links I go. Restless Leg Syndrome seems to dominate the results and helpguide.org seemed to be as good a place for studies as any with the article on RLS. Reading through the article however revealed an even more interesting theory for me. Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD). After a bit of reasearch I found that SleepEducation.com has a good article about it. eMedicineHealth provides a long article on PLMD and reading it at the very moment feels like too much work when all I want to do is sleep...

In a nutshell those articles have couple of good points.

One being that there seems to be link with PLMD and MS even if there is not much of data to support this. The other being that some antidepressants are thought to cause PLMS (milder form of PLMD) or making it worse; I quite recently ran out of my SSRI meds.

I'll have to remember to call my doctor to ask for the renewal of the prescription and for a little help and advice on what to do in the meanwhile.

Ah well..

2009-08-17T05:14:00.001+03:00

Back to bed... I am so tired that I am quite sure the restless leg is not going to disturb me that much...

Up at odd hours again

2009-08-17T01:13:00.000+03:00

For couple of days now I have had this strange dizzy feeling. You know the kind that you occasionaly have when getting up too quick. Only that for me this time these dizzy feelings can hit when I am just sitting. Or laying down. Or walking. Or just turning my head.

This worries me and makes me think if my MS is acting up again... If I am hitting a relapse...

And as if that was not enough my left knee decided to start being restless. And aching. I cannot fall asleep. I feel like I need to move my left leg every couple of minutes.

This... Sucks.

Tan lines

2009-07-25T13:39:00.002+03:00

Aren't they nice?

In case the picture is not good enough: I have many, many blisters from the sunburns.

The view from the balcony

2009-07-16T18:32:00.001+03:00

Also, experimenting a little with the panorama picture functionality of my camera:

The first evening and the following morning

2009-07-16T09:03:00.001+03:00

We had a little late night snack yesterday at the Poolside Bar & Restaurant. Such a nice ambience and atmosphere there. Waves crashing to the shore down below and the ambient music played in the speaker system. Ahh, such a relaxation of mind! I do think we will spend quite many evenings/nights there having a mocktail or two before heading to bed.

And today morning we had breakfast at the same place. Tea, omelette, guava juice, fresh fruits and some pancakes. Yummy and my tummy approves!

And here we are

2009-07-15T16:17:00.000+03:00

Arrived safely first to Bangkok and then to Phuket. This hotel we are staying at, Cape Sienna, is quite remarkable. I will attach a couple of pictures here to give you guys some kind of idea:

This is the main room. Nothing much but the bed, sofa and alcove with entry to shower and toilet.

On the balcony then...

Well, okay. The chairs have a nice view to the bay and Kamala Beach, but you will have to wait for the photos of the view until tomorrow, it is too dark already for scenery photography.

But the main thing on the balcony:

A very own jacuzzi! Yay!

P.S. My apologies for the sizes of the photos. I will use jpeg next time.

Next steps

2009-07-14T19:40:00.001+03:00

1) Off to the airport in a short while.
2) 2 weeks of nice and relaxing vacation in Thailand.
3) Back to Finland
4) Sort out how to handle the three weeks of vacation time from this day onwards.

Why the step 4? Well... Due to the economic situation my contract with my current company got terminated. Effective today with one month of notice period. Since I have been one week on the vacation now out of my four weeks it would mean that there are 3 weeks of unspent vacation time. Yes, I will stay "home" for those three weeks but I still have to work out if I am entitled to have them compensated with money. Additionaly the unpent winter vacation and the accumulated vacation days for today.

This is not the end. This is merely a new beginning.

5) Start full blown work to get my own company up and running.

Business plan is there, a clear concept is there, needed partners are there. All that really still needs to be done is to get the company website to be representable and get some customers.

6) Laugh all the way to the bank once the company is properly operational.
7) Have a good life full of laughter, joy, beautiful people and love!

Medical Experiments

2009-07-12T20:55:00.001+03:00

As I am preparing for my vacation trip to Thailand I decided to make a little experiment on my medication schedule. I took my medication today at approximately 13:00 while I usualle take it before going to bed. To my dread the injection timetable stated that it would be stomach injections turn. Stomach injections as I hope have perviously stated cause the worst side effectes for me.

After about an hour of the injections the side effects started to home in in form of drowsiness. I felt soooooo tired and was about to fall asleep every now and then. After about hour and a half the first symptoms of fever started to hit but luckily they weren't so bad, the fever med I took after the injection seem to be helping. After two and a half hours my brain started to feel like it was on a cotton cushion.

Not that bad considering the first time I had my meds waaaaay back the injection was too made into my stomach. Then I had no fever meds to counter the side effects so they hit me really hard then. Also the first time around for the body meant that I hadn't gotten accustomed to the meds yet. Back then the side effect gave me restless feet making me unable to stay still which was very annoying. I do believe I had the feverlike symptoms too but cannot remember for sure.

Anyways the conclusions of this experiment are:
1) I can take my meds early on Tuesday too to avoid the hassle of injection in the accustomed time and the fact of plane departing at about 23.

2) It is not really that necessary for me to take the meds before going to bed. Let us see how I sleep the coming night. Perhaps a little better than usually after the meds?

Stay tuned, I hope to remember to let you know.

Just a thought

2009-07-01T15:42:00.001+03:00

Two weeks from now, I will be in Thailand!

The juggling statue

2009-06-29T18:51:00.003+03:00

Yesterday while strolling around the town I came across this lovely statue. Only that it was not quite ordinary statue. Watch and see!

Scanner of my heart

2009-06-02T15:05:00.001+03:00

Scanner of your heart (Izismile.com)

1. Your choice symbolizes a person whom you could like in real life situations.
Sheep – Obedient, don’t like conflicts.
2. Your choice symbolizes the impression that you want to have on people.
Cat - Elegance, grace.
3. Your choice symbolizes a behavior that would make you finish your relationship with your partner (beloved one).
Crocodile - Cruelty (ruthlessness) of your partner.
4. Your choice symbolizes a type of relationship that you would like to have with your partner (beloved one).
Bird - Your goal - long-term relationship.
5. Your choice shows if you are capable to cheat.
Person - it is unlikely that you cheat.
6. Your choice shows your attitude to marriage.
Bengal tiger- For you, marriage is something very precious, when you get married, you will greatly appreciate your marriage and your other half.
7. Your choice shows your attitude to love.
Lion - you always want to be in love, you are ready to do anything for this.

I hope I don’t have to explain that the test is having a comic aspect, take it with humor

Take the test again!

My 15 minutes of fame

2009-04-21T09:55:00.001+03:00

See if you can spot me and my wife.

The choice is yours

2009-04-06T14:34:00.001+03:00

If I were told (and to be honest I was) a week ago that being happy is a matter of choice I wouldn't have believed. With such a screwed up life I have had and the problematic mental state one just cannot choose to be happy!

Well, I was wrong.

For the past two day I have been practically smiling non-stop. If not always physically at least mentally. I do not quite remember when I have been this happy this long.

I have seen the light and now it truly is up to me if I let that light dim again or not.

My medication 101

2009-03-31T11:17:00.001+03:00

Every now and then I need to explain my medication to friends of mine and every single time I seem to be forgetting to tell something. I try to collect all the relevant info here and add to this "list" when ever I remember more so I can either reference this post or direct people to read this when needed.

My main medication for MS is interferon beta-1a, Rebif of which I use the 44 mg dosage. The medication is administered by sub dermal injection three times a week. The side effects I have are of course the tenderness of the injection area but the most significant one are the flu like symptoms then ensue the injection.

To fight off these I take paracetamol with after the injection. It takes the sharpest edge off. And to manage the symptoms better I inject my medication in the evening before going to bed to allow me to sleep through the symptoms.

Downside of this is that I tend to sleep badly when having the symptoms. This then, quite obviously, means that I am tired the next day. I could try to ensure to have better nights sleep by taking the injection, say, in the morning. But then it would mean me to suffer the symptoms fully may them be dulled as much as they are. The symptoms however include all the downsides of flu without actually having a flu. Risen body temperature, muscle aches, dizziness, restless leg syndrome and general discomfort just to mention the most obvious ones to me.

This three times a week cycle then limits my free time activities quite considerably. After work I cannot actually go anywhere on the days I am taking my medication to prevent the injection timing to be quite late.

Thank you for your time, I will update the post at later time.

For all what it is worth...

2009-02-21T05:21:00.000+02:00

Depression. Insomnia. Paranoia.

Boy do they get along together well!

The Priorities (Re-Revisited)

2009-02-19T10:31:00.003+02:00

Me
Life (a big part of which is my wife)
-
Work

(Finally got it figured out.

This is where I am:

~~My wife~~
~~My work~~
~~Life~~
~~Myself~~

~~This is where I should be:~~

~~Life~~
~~Myself and my wife~~
~~My friends~~
~~My work~~

~~(Original post was:~~

~~My wife~~
~~My work~~
-
Me

~~I have a feeling that something in there needs to be sorted out a bit differently.))~~

An Educational Trip?

2009-02-11T21:01:00.003+02:00

Some good people, some time and a trip to Khajuraho, India...

My other element

2009-02-10T13:35:00.001+02:00

When I was introduced into scuba diving I really felt like being in my second element. It was oh so effortless to dive, breathe and just to be underwater.

So comfortable actually, that I think I have forgotten the sheer amount of water above my head and the pressure in 16 meter down...

The bottle had gotten warped and I couldn't get the breadcrumbs out so what do you do? Get some air and blow it into the bottle? Nope, tried that, didn't work. Our instructor had a better idea and borrowed my friend's diving knife and cut the bottle open.

I think he has a bit more XP...

There are times when a song seems to tell the things quite right

2009-02-09T12:37:00.001+02:00

On the Facebook usage

2009-02-09T12:26:00.001+02:00

I think I have set my Facebook account in such a way that my blog posts are displayed there somehow. I just am not quite able to see them myself. If anyone sees this post in FB, please drop me a comment here, thank you.

Ahem, yes, had a discontinuation of thought flow here...

I am quite seriously thinking of quitting the Facebook usage. But for now it is the only way for me to keep in contact with couple of my new found friends. I do appreciate those friends too much to drop out of contact all together.

I could keep up the contact with e.g. email, but I do not quite see myself writing emails in the same manner as those short notes in FB. Actually sending such a short messages in email would feel quite awkward.

So I am sort of hoping that maybe those friends I want to keep posted about my going ons would find this blog of mine. And I am hoping that that would also act as an incentive for myself to keep on writing the entries.

"What would you want to remember me by?"

2009-02-09T12:11:00.001+02:00

For some reason this is the question that has been hovering in my mind recently.

I have no idea where it came from since I am not going anywhere.

Oh well, no matter for the reason, it still is quite an interesting question actually. The answer would tell me what people are, sort of, expecting from me. On the other hand it is a question I do not want to have an answer.

I want to make my own way here and do not want to be steered by other peoples expectations, thank you.

Wonders of the fragile human mind

2009-01-14T16:59:00.003+02:00

I know that I am a difficult and contradictory person. Even for myself.

I take my work seriously and take pride from what I am able to contribute. I have had my ~~fair~~ share of recognition too. But if someone as much as hints something negative of my contribution I do get the feeling of being scolded. No matter if I know that the comment was meant as a humorous one.

That just happened to me (again) and even though I am trying to convince myself that it was a joke, I feel bad. I feel like I am not performing well enough. That I do not meet the expectations. That I am no good.

I know my feelings in this case are wrong, but...

I want to cry.

Music for a weary day

2009-01-07T20:40:00.003+02:00

Rune - Calabria

There is also a version for weary eye:

☆ Alex Gaudino - Destination Calabria (HQ Download!) ☆

ScribeFire

2009-01-03T15:36:00.001+02:00

One of the biggest issues for my blogging has been the effort to do so. With ScribeFire this no longer is an issue. With a simple press of F8 I get a editing window for my blog and off I go. Simply genius...

ScribeFire has some nifty features too to easily share the things found on the web in your blog (for example). Never has blogging been this easy for me. Hopefully I am able to get the thing back on the roll again.

Mood swings

2008-11-26T11:56:00.001+02:00

Sleep deprivation can do funny things. It can, for example, mess up your
immune system I read. Also it can, at least in my case, cause mood
swings. For past two days I have been quite happy and very very
depressed. As I am writing this I am the latter. Again. And I hate it.

I'd like to scream out loud, shout for help. But what good would that
do? I think nothing. I just am so tired. Wish I could snap my fingers
and wake up in perfect world, don't we all? I am quite lost on what to do...

I have troubles concentrating. I have severe lack of motivation. I feel
unneeded, unvalued for some reason. I feel guilt for slacking at the
work, which makes me even more depressed feeds my feeling of
unworthiness. Which eats out the motivation, which feeds the guilt and
there we have a vicious cycle feeding itself.

Please, someone, help me make it stop!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

What am I even writing this for, no one reads my blogs. That is the main
reason I haven't actually posted anything in any of them for quite some
while. What is the point to share the photos with empty audience? What
is the point of sharing my thoughts for empty group?

First commission abroad

2008-11-16T21:09:00.003+02:00

And in Cyprus. Not bad...

Internet connection here at hotel is 6 € per hour, so I try to keep this short and provide some photos.

And of course they didn't upload... Maybe I should take a risk and try to upload them tomorrow from customer site.

----

Well, better late than never:

It was wee bit cloudy in Frankfurt.

On the border of the occupied territory.

Fresh fruits in old town

A reminder that the traffic culture is quite different from the Finnish one: "Cross with care"

Long Time No Posting

2008-08-07T11:41:00.002+03:00

The return to work from the vacation has been quite rough for me.

I just read an article about a study made by Finnish Institute of Occupational Health that the benefits of even a successful vacation can be undone in a month at work. The the employee is not allowed to have a so called soft landing back to work the relaxing and energizing effects of the vacation are pretty soon used up.

What does this have to do with me? Well, I had the best vacation I've ever had. Returning to home was rough in itself (I would have loved to stay at Philippines) but th return to work was an chapter of its own. In a nutshell I had about two days to get reaquinted to the work. And after that our QA manager started her vacation and her testing manager tasks fell for me. So much for the soft landing. I already feel like I have spent the energy and relaxation gained on the vacation.

Guh.

Manila, Day 2

2008-07-16T21:39:00.003+03:00

Or rather day 1, if you count full days spent here. It rained, no wonder since the typhoon Helen is still relatively close. Moving away though but it'll affect the rains here for couple of more days. Tough luck, but so what?

Took a ride in jeepney today and went to a shopping mall complex. Boy was that place huge! And to my amazement the Canon lenses seem to be quite darn cheap here. (Speaking of which I have to check the price in Finland) Ok, not so cheap as I thought but still, the lens I was looking for is almost half the price here. Good to know.

We also made some culinary expeditions today and and dined at McDonalds. That was cheap. Big (double cheese burger) meal was like 1,5 euros. Damn.

On a side note we also stopped by at Ring Side Bar watched female and midget boxing. That was ... different. Had a shoulder massage there from a pretty girl. Which reminds me we did get a proper massage during the day too. Cost 200 pesos, which is about 3 euros. Not a bad price.

The clock here is about 3 am, so Manilla signing out.

Good night!

Manila

2008-07-15T17:09:00.002+03:00

Flight from Shanghai to Manila was yet again uneventful one. A bit of turbulences on the way but nothing major. When we arrived at the airport in Manila we just walked out of the plane, then to the passport control, then to the luggage claim, only to wait for the bags on the wrong line. There was no mention of from which flight the luggage was from. Oh well... After the luggage claim the was one more stamping stuff and aftr the next door we were out.

Oh wait a second. Out? From the capital's international airport? Damn that was a small one...

In the plane Jarkko had discussed with one of the stuartesses and she had promised to show us a great hotel we lost her after the luggage claim. Oh well... We the decided to take Taxi to the hotel we were recommended: City Garden. Little did we know that there are two City Gardens here. The taxi took us to the wrong one. After a small hassle at the hotel we were able to get a hold of the right one, which was fully booked. Yay! Well, on with the calling spree and finaly we found rooms for us at the Great Eastern Hotel.

Now we shall go and get something to eat and tomorrow we have to make some decisions on how to proceed.

Shanghai, beibe!

2008-07-15T04:33:00.004+03:00

So, Shanghai... Now what?

Couple of hours of time to spend before we have to head back to the airport for our flight to Manila.

The flight from Helsinki to Shanghai was quite uneventful. Night flight so I tried to get some sleep. Those of you who have slept in a car know how it is like.

Now I am at "The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf" sipping mango juice and fruit cocktail. Temperature outside is about 30 degrees centigrade and air humidity is ... well high.

So this is China. Burger King and Starbucks spotted already. I was actually quite astonished at the size of the buildings here. My mind tries to convince me that the building are of same size as those back in Helsinki. Only that the buildings are about 30 stories or so high. No wonder they look like miniature buildings until I get close.

Oh, and a pic of my first step to the Chinese soil. Pavement. What ever.

The Day of Departure

2008-07-14T08:02:00.002+03:00

So they day has finally come.

Funnily enough I am completely calm, just like it would be perfectly ordinary morning. We shall see how long it is going to take to really hit me that we are really truly going!

The plan is to go and stop by the airport during this morning and leave our luggage there. We will also fill in the boarding pass stuff so we can choose the best seats. After that we will come back to downtown and try to chill for a while. The flight is scheduled to depart at 17:10 sp there is still plenty of time to get myself all hyped up about the trip...

Vacation!

2008-07-04T16:39:00.002+03:00

It starts now!

One week Finland. Then flight to Shanghai -> Manila, then to... Puerto Galera? Angeles City? Who knows. Only thing that is certain is that we are going. The tickets have been booked and paid and the visa to China has been applied. What ever happens between the flights remains to be seen...

It Has Been Quite A While

2008-06-30T18:38:00.002+03:00

There has been a bunch of issues that I have meant to mention here. But have I done so? Noooooo siree. Of course I could make it seem like that I had posted all the things a while ago by fiddling with the post timestamps. But can't be bothered.

So what was I supposed to blog about?

Windows is one. I finally decided to format my hard drive and start from the clean slate. All the stuff that had piled up in the corners of Windows had started to slow it down drastically. But did Windows want to be reinstalled? No.

When I put in the installation CD all when fine all the way until the installation itself was supposed to start. Nice try but all I got was a Blue Screen of Death (because of unaccessible boot device). Gee thanks. Retried a couple of times with the same result.

So this way we get to the secon part of what I was supposed to blog about; Linux. I had the intention of making a dualboot for Windows and Ubuntu. That way I would have played the games on Windows and use Ubuntu for all the rest. But as it turned out I now have only Ubuntu installed. To the very same HD Windows installer claimed to be inaccessible. Go figure. I still have every intention to install the Windows. Maybe next week when my vacation starts?

One more thing. I bought the Asus eeePC. This is all fun and games, but I got bored pretty quickly to the over simplified Xandros. So after a little digging around the net I found out that somebody had already made a solution to my problems: Ubuntu eee. Thank you.

Asus eee PC

2008-06-06T16:24:00.002+03:00

Got mine.

Charged the battery.

Did the initial configuration.

Enjoying the computer.

The very first impression: So darn cute!

Second one while writing this: the buttons require some getting used to. These are so much smaller than on your regular keyboard.

But I am not complaining. Compared to other laptops that I have used, this is truly portable where as the others are more like draggable.

Regarding the Public Transport in Helsinki

2008-05-23T11:58:00.002+03:00

More often than not the 110/110T/110TA bus line has been late in the morning. Usually when the bus is late the driver drives the bus straight to the platform and drops the passenger off there, instead of dropping the passengers off at the official unloading platform, picks up new passengers and gets going.

This morning however the driver dropped the people off at the loading platform as usual in this kind of situation. While the passengers were stepping off the bus and walking through the door leading to/from the docking are to the bus station the would be passenger kindly waited for the previous passengers to come out. As is polite.

After the stream of people coming from the bus ended I entered the platform area, as a second person to do so, and realized that the bus was already backing off the platform...

So he apparently didn't want to take on the passengers that had patiently waited for the delayed bus to arrive. Oh no. Luckily I managed to get in though but a dozen or so people weren't so lucky.

No More Fittings

2008-05-17T22:15:00.002+03:00

For two weeks at least. Since I have the stitches in my leg and back, (heavy) exercise is not the best idea. And it shows.

Today morning was the first time I woke up with a headache since we bought the Wii Fit. The exercise has prevented my muscles from getting stiff, but not that I am not allowed to exercise any more, I seem to be paying the price.

Well, better a headache today than even a possible melanoma tomorrow.

One of These Days

2008-05-15T22:22:00.000+03:00

During noon, I got three birthmarks removed. With local anesthesia.

During afternoon, I had some dental work done. With local anesthesia.

In the evening, I took my medication. Without local anesthesia, but as an injection.

As a careful estimate I got stuck by a needle couple of dozen time. Lucky me I am not afraid of needles.

Part(s) of Me is Missing

2008-05-15T15:08:00.003+03:00

Got three birthmarks removed today. Two bigger ones and one small one that I have scratched open a couple of times. Not a big operation. Snitch, stitch 'n' patch and off I go. Got three stitches to the one in the back and four to the one on the leg. No sauna for two weeks after when the stitches are removed. No hard exercise either I'd wager.

No biggies. Except that the stitch buggers itch!

People Like Statues

2008-05-14T22:46:00.004+03:00

We spent a day in Tallinn last weekend. Did really nothing special, just strolled around, looked around, you know, chilled. At a small park a friend of mine spotted this statue portraying a man and a woman embracing eachother and the friend of mine pointed at the butt of the girl and commented "Now that's some butt! Wonder if anyone has quite one like that" (Free translation, just to get the spirit of things). Just for gags I pointed my cam at the statues butt and snapped a shot.

As we were pondering the physical possibility of such an butt even excisting along came Polly. There she walked hand in hand with some guy, stopped at the statue, pointed the butt, said something, both of them laughed a bit and turned to move on. Her profile seemed to match the one of the statue. So, hastily I snapped a picture of her too.

So it seems that there is plenty of truth in the statue...

Customer's Office

2008-05-14T17:30:00.002+03:00

It is a dangerous place.

Today I had the opportunity to visit the offices of a luxury car dealer. Boy, oh boy, did I want to take the red car out for a spin. Didn't have the time though.

And that is a good luck, since I might have wanted to buy the thing and it ain't the cheapest one of the bunch!

Not Yoga Alone

2008-05-05T16:05:00.002+03:00

Apparently taking some 30 minutes of yoga with Wii Fit in the morning is not enough. The backache and headache are trying to make comeback. Well, my good feeling did last a record long time of approximately one and a half weeks.

I skipped the muscle exercises almost totally during the weekend, so I cannot really say if the "yoga in the morning, muscle training in the evening" -routine was that efficient. The sheer fact that after the work I just don't want to make the exercises quite effectively shoots down the whole concept.

Tough luck. I'll take a longer session in the morning then with more comprehensive workout.

And the First Results Are In

2008-04-29T21:06:00.004+03:00

Just after five days of exercise (out of which the first day was more like a trial run) with Wii Fit I already see the first results. These are actually the second results from the workouts because the first ones were the great feeling I have had for the last five day (coincidence? I think not!).

The visible results then? I have had a nasty bulge at my lower abdomen which together with stooped back have given me a bad posture. The stooped back I have been able to more or less correct even before buying Wii Fit, but the lower abdomen bulge that I haven't been able to tackle.

Well, now that I have done jackknives for couple of days and some parallel stretches for the past two days my deep abdominal muscles have been reawakened and the bulge is just about all but gone.

Man I feel so good! Even the slight headache I had yesterday felt distinctively different from those I have had for couple of years more or less most of the time.

On a side note: My wife is doing her exercise there now. Where as my training has consisted of morning yoga and evening muscle workout her's includes aerobic exercises with a little yoga and muscle workout on top.

Right now she is doing the freestyle rhythmic steps which is pretty good for all of you who do not want to miss your favourite tv-show! Just start the exercise, switch to tv-channel and keep working, all the instructions are told via wii motes speaker as well as the rhythmic tic tic sound.

Never Felt Better

2008-04-27T23:27:00.002+03:00

Well, maybe I have but I can't remember when.

Because of combination of many things (my work, hobbies, health condition etc.) I tend to have stiff shoulders/neck/back and these tensions tend to give me horrendous headaches. For the last two day however I have had stiffness none what so ever. I have felt really good.

So what has changed?

My morning workouts. Yesterday morning I had a 42 minute workout and today just a little over half an hour. From both of these about ⅓ has been yoga and the remaining ⅔ has been muscle workout. Compared to the couple of minutes of swaying hands like a windmill the difference has obviously been tremendous.

Let us see what happens during the workdays when I plan to split the workout for morning yoga and afternoon muscle training. I hope the yoga can help me keep my back and shoulder open for the day and the muscle training will give me to physical workout I need for good nights sleep.

For now, I really truly love our Wii Fit.

I, Streethawk

2008-04-27T17:56:00.001+03:00

Memory Expansion

2008-04-26T23:18:00.002+03:00

Every now and then we all have issues with our memory. We just don't seem to be able to remember all the things we should. For that there are, some people say, little pieces of paper and such to scribble notes on. Well...

I don't like those little notes. They are hard to keep organized in your pocket. In case of misspelling correcting the error is a pain even at it's easiest, when you don't need to note any more you toss it away creating waste. Etcetera, etcetera. Therefore I would like to have an electronic memo. All the thing written down in one place, easy to organise (I hope), easy to rewrite and reusable.

So what could come to my aid? I dug up my old Nokia 9210 Communicator but it doesn't work any more. I thought of buying a new one but the price tag of ~800 € isn't that tempting. Buying any other electronic device ain't that much cheaper either. I would prefer something that I already own.

Nintendo DS to the rescue! For that device is versatile, Opera web browser has proven that much to me. That could work as a notepad for me, since it has rather good system to recognize handwriting. But alas, it doesn't quite work offline! So something else is needed. And when there is a will there is a way.

Homebrew software is the answer. There are already some txt editors for DS and on a brief search I found this: TxtWriter. Now I just have to figure out what, from where and how much.

Reality Check (Courtesy of Nintendo)

2008-04-25T22:31:00.004+03:00

Two words: Wii Fit. Couple of more words: I am in stinky shape. Both literally and imaginatively.

We bought one today and naturally it needed to be tested. My wife and I created a a profile for each and performed the initial body test. We both scored 41, which is +9 years for her and +11 years for me. Again, I am in stinky shape.

Next we tried some of the activities, she tried out the aerobics for half an hour. Got sweaty and enjoyed. Then I tried muscle exercises and yoga for about 45 minutes (out of which 22 minutes was active workout, the rest was spent watching tutorials and browsing through the menus). Got sweaty and enjoyed. My balance is all over the place, so the yoga poses proved a bit difficult for me, but I genuinely believe that the Wii Fit will help me regain my balance.

I can see me doing the yoga poses on daily basis to keep my headaches cause by stiff muscles at bay. I think I will revisit this topic later on.

Favours for Friends

2008-04-24T23:38:00.004+03:00

After giving a careful thought or two regarding friends I came to conclusion that I am more than willing to give up my own comfort to do a favour for a true friend.

Being an engineer I had to break this to pieces and figure out why. While this is still an ongoing process I have found several reasons. These reasons, not quite surprisingly, depend on the person I am doing the favour for. The most general rule however is that if slight addition of discomfort for me means that the friend of mine gets some load off their back I am willing to do so.

Simply because the slight addition of discomfort to my state of well being doesn't really mean that much since most of the time I feel like crap to begin with. So the relative decline in my well being is a small one compared to the potential positive effect to be had for the friend in need.

Luckily(?) for me, there aren't that many friends that I count into the category of true friends. There are couple of friends that are on transition from "mere" friend to true friend and for these friends I am more likely than not to do these favours.

Signs of Summer

2008-04-23T11:29:00.005+03:00

There is an old Finnish proverb:

"Kuu kiurusta kesään,
Puoli kuuta peipposesta,
Västäräkistä vähäsen,
Pääskysestä ei päivääkään."

A rough translation could be:

"In a month of lark's arrival comes the summer
Half a month after chaffinch
Only a while from wagtail
Not a day from swallow"

During last week a saw a couple of wagtails, so the summer is practically around the corner.

What other signs of summer might there be? Especially for a urban person who might see the migratory birds, not to mention recognize them.

First signs of the summer are the skateboarders. They appear to the street as soon as the snow has melted. After that hem of the coats start getting shorter, especially for the ladies. Around the same time first roller skaters brave the streets that are still covered with sand.

Then follows a period of time when no significant change seems to happen, but if ones pays attention one can notice that actually them hem of the skirts starts getting shorter. First miniskirts appear to the street view when the spring is well on its way, although some thick pantyhose are still worn. During this period of time the coats worn start getting lighter.

Given a little more time the pantyhose get thinner and soon vanish all together from the miniskirt ladies. That is a definite sign that summer is practically here. But the surefire sign of summer still seems to be the rollerbabes in their skimpy shirts and tight hotpants.

The Man Behind the Cam

2008-04-18T16:42:00.004+03:00

A brief introduction then. Look to the left, there's a profile!

Haha, just kidding, I'll make the introduction a bit longer than that.

I was born November the 2nd 1977 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Despite my birthplace I am a Finn by nationality, even though I have gotten my fair share of Swedish jokes. First three or so years of my life we lived in Sweden but moved to Finland when my big brother was due to start in elementary school. I have no memories from my time spent in Sweden, my first memories are from Finland.

As with the most male children I got of influences from my father, hopefully more of the good than of the bad. One of the influences was that of photography. I remember many dark winter nights being spent looking at slides my father had taken. Until my teenage I didn't really truly handle a camera (sure I played with a broken one, but I don't count that one). During my teenage though I borrowed one of my dad's compact point and shoot cameras for a trip to Rhodes. That, I think, kickstarted my photography hobby. A lot of gear has come and gone over the years and the photography as a hobby has had its active and passive phases.

Besides photography I am an active videogamer, roleplaying gamer, employee, husband and owner of a turtle born in summer 2006. I don't have much of an social life outside of work and family and I really don't feel that I'd need any more. I am quite confident having two best friends (and being married to the female one of those) and a bunch of buddies I see at work.

That's it for now.

This one is signing out.

Third Blog's the Charm!

2008-04-17T23:23:00.000+03:00

Posting personal non photo related texts in my photoblog didn't somehow feel quite right, so I decided to start up a more personal kind of blog. I did (and still do) have a rant blog but it is for the gloomy side of me, too restricted in a way.

So it felt only logical to create yet another blog were I can allow myself to speak freely about just about anything I feel like to talk. I suppose a proper introduction is in order...