zappo

 Woopsie, it’s already four months since my last post. But I mean to write something every day - and then it’s work work work and I go home to the nice sofa and the brain turns to mush.

Suddenly in late October there was an unforeseen spate of field assignments, followed by hectic report writing. At least the nasty hemmorrhage I was plagued by almost continuously since late May held up for a couple of months so I could actually _do_ field work. For a while there I feared I would have to resign due to not being able to perform required work. But hey, it was just a temporary respite, now it’s back to normal again! So much blood!

Which is pretty much what I would have written every day so just as well I didn’t eh?

Here’s a picture of the 17th century fortress next to my office. I took it at 2am one morning when the alarm went off and the security firm didn’t call back to say all was OK (it was). No one knows what set it off - maybe it was bored or felt unappreciated?

Hm, when I looked in on #lexx yesterday Mira pressganged me into Fallen London. This has the potential of stealing all my time...

And that's pretty much what I feel constantly these days. I'm not driving my own fate, I'm just running to catch up as events unfold ahead of me. Work, Mithlond-fandom-WCT, books: no time to plan and decide, just a headlong rush, stumbling after the finish line. I think, I'll do x when I'm done with y, but before that z, w and alpha have already cropped up, demanding attention.

Bah!

It's probably just this assignment I accepted that needs a gamma-spectrometer that makes me jumpy. I've never used one and I don't quite know where to get hold of one, but you can't say that when ppl ask you to do a job for them. "Yes, we can do anything!" is the proper response. Once I've got a lead on the machine everything will settle down nicely and I can enjoy my Pink Floyd again.

Yesterday I went to see National Theatre's "A Comedy of Errors", starring Lenny Henry. It was set in modern-day London, with the visiting Syracusians being Nigerians. At first it jarred a bit, hearing Shakespeare's words coming from sharply dressed mobsters, but then it became hilarious. Hi-la-ri-our! Many laugh-out-loud moments! If you have the opportunity, go see it.

Speaking of which, they're re-broadcasting "Frankenstein" in June and July, one each as it were. In the one I saw the monster was played by Benedict Cumberbatch so why not see a performance where Johnny Lee Miller is the monster? If you haven't seen that one either, go see it!

***

I just finished watching the old "Tinker, Tailor" TV series, the one with Alec Guinness. I saw it when it was on Swedish TV in 1982 was it? right before they showed "Secret Army", anyway. I don't suppose I got much of it but I thought it was really good. And it still is! Not least because it's got Alec Guinness in it. Ooo! Also a long interview with David Cornwell/John le Carré as extra stuff.

It's remarkable how the same source material, le Carré's book, can produce two radically different screen version. Granted, the TV series is seven 42-minute-episodes long and the recent movie is... movie length, but apart from key plot moments they tell very different stories. Which means I must read the book to see if the screen versions have derived their materials directly from it, that is, if it is twice as much as either of the screen stories.

Oh no, yet another book to read! As if I don't have too many already... I looked in at the library yesterday but gosh darn it, I don't think they even have an English language crime/thriller section. I couldn't find it, anyway. Plus, it's shutting down for refurbishment on Sunday. Also, most material is spread out on the branch libraries so if you want something you'll have to pre-order and then maybe get it in a few days, you can't just go in and hope to find it. D'oh. Maybe I should give that iPad library loan thingy a try.

***

This week I've been out on two field assignments, one up the coast in glorious sunshine and so much heat it got sweaty (yay, spring), the other just around the corner in a former hospital park now largely inhabited by children. I kid you not, therer were little screaming children everywhere! Three schools and two daycares in one small area. Plus dogs galore. Had to hose down my boots afterwards, to clean off the dog shit. Yuck.

Winter solstice! And I'm playing my xmas playlist all day long; it contains goodies like this one, "Scary Solstice" and... The Goodies. Thanks Tribs!

Last night I saw "Sherlock Holmes 2" again, whee. Anything I might say about it would be a spoiler so I won't. Soooo haaaaaard to keep mum! Next up: "Tinker, Tailor". I loved the Alec Guinness TV show though I don't remember much, other than this guy who turned up in another show that Swedish TV sent some time later: Albert in "Secret Army".

There's been so much work lately, all the deadlines piling up together. But then, after the holidays, there will be practically nothing. Our work load in a nutshell! Consultants can't plan ahead more than a month or two because of this ketchup effect. It's the same every year, and somehow we manage to keep ourselves occupied. At least there's no snow this year so we don't have to wait until March to go out and look at the ground.

Speaking of work, last week Mithlond went on a shikar, ie a book hunt. We go to a used book store and hoover it for goodies, and then go to a café or pub and gloat. This year I found an old book called "Bergslagernas Järnvägsaktiebolad 1872-1922", with many of the places I have visited when inspecting railroad rock cuts. Fantastic!

Ooh, and I just saw the "Hobbit" trailer. Also fantastic!

Oh dear, it's far too long since I last updated this. I mean, I haven't even been out travelling for almost a month so I can't blame being busy for being non-updatey. Bianca is still MIA. There were reports of a cat like her down in the village, or even down by the beach, but it hasn't been possible to intercept it. Ever tried catching a cat that doesn't want to be found? Cannot be done! Although, the county exterminator was hired a year or two ago to cull the large population of feral cats down in the village. They used some sort of trap and caught 64 cats... Sixty-four! And these are the ultra-wary cats that you never see. Well anyway. When I say I haven't travelled much that was after we had been in Fagersta, that oh-so-boring place between Frövi and Avesta. My colleague almost got stuck in a beaver pond but nothing exciting happened to me. Well, we did pass through old mining communities around Norberg, which [info]nazgman knows all about. There's mu h to see and explore in Sweden! Until last Thursday there wasn't much happening in my calendar but then suddenly bam! I went to Kristinehamn on Tuesday and spent two days looking at the railroad going to Filipstad and Persberg. Hardly any trains on it at all but they're electrifying the first part of it anyway. Brand new posts for electic current ("kontaktledningsstolpar"). The new ones are best, they're labelled "kilometre-sequential", eg "147-12". That would be a post near kilometre 147.5, since they're spaced about 60m apart. Older posts are just labelled with a sequential number, so ypu really have no idea where you are. Especially as the sequences start over at some stations. Pretty geology there, though. Mostly granites with big, rectangular feldspar augen, and then near Persberg and its mines there were vulcanites and weird stuff I'm not sure what it was. But it had big magnetite crystals in it. Right now I'm on the train to Stockholm, about to attend the annualmeeting of SAAM, the foundation that among other things awards the Alvar to deserving members of Swedish science fiction fandom. It will be fun to meet tje others again, haven't seen them since Eurocon in June. Oh and next year's Swecon will be on 5-7 October, don't miss is. It's in Uppsala. I'll be going back to Stockholm on Monday, at oh-too-early o'clock, for a two-hour meeting with a colleague... Why not stay the weekend in that city? - Because there is a tolkienist event near Götevorg on Sunday I want to attend. We'll discuss East European genre literature and ingest food and drinks inspired by that subject. I bought some tins of herring and a bottle of vodka yesterday. That's all you need, right? Also, in this period I've indulged in the Fine Arts: no less than two live broadcast performances from the Met in New York. First Wagner's "Siegfried" which was awesome, and then Philip Glass's "Satyagraha" which was... well awesome too. Glass himself was there too, wow. OK, I'm writing this on my iPad so before I accidentally delete everything I'll post it, typos and all, and go back to reading my "Independence Day" novel. Seeyas!

Boy, it's long since I wrote here! Indeed, it's long since I read my friends-page too, not since I visited [info]tommdroid last month, I think. Too much to do, too much laziness when not working -- or having fun.

There's been railroad inspections around Falun, and last week between Frövi and Skinnskatteberg (pronounced "Skinnsberg" by the locals). On Wednesday we go to Borlänge to inspect railroads around Mora and Malung and whatnot. Next week it's back to Skinnsberg-Fagersta-Avesta.

Inbetween there has been the ambulating Sci-Fi Fair, at which I represented Mithlond (at WCT's table), right next to Robert Englund in fact, although he was separated from us by a big partition. If there had been a whole in it I could have poked him. Two days of being friendly and representative, and buying two Daleks, one of them remote controlled. Yes, I now have a toy that can roll up to you and shout "Exterminate!" and several other offensive phrases!

Also there was Mithlond's big Autumn Feast, with lots of packing, washing-up and drinks. The Saturday started with delicious breakfast, immediately followed by chocolate tasting, whisky tasting and beer tasting. After that, time to be official, ha ha.

Finally some rest this weekend, with cats and parents. I slept till 1100hr on Saturday, I think I was very sleepy.

***

Skinnskatteberg -- I'm certain it was frequently on TV in my childhood. Something to do with workers' rights or women's lib or something generally sociological, probably. I've been meaning to look it up on the 'net but neglected it. Too much Wordfeud. Can anyone else remember?

***

While waiting for pizza in Falun I bought a copy of "Scientific American" to read, and I'm still reading it almost 3 weeks later... But in it there was an article about why bio-fuels won't supplant fossil fuels any time soon, or at all. Fr'instance, replacing fossil fuels consumed in America with corn fuels would take a farm 3 times the size of continental USA. Not feasible.

But I see a flaw in the reasoning: all estimates posit a level of consumption equal to today's. We must _not_, ever ever ever, cut down on our consuming and our spending! The very thought is blasphemous! All economic theories and prognoses need continued growth which equals increasing consumption of, well, everything.

Might it not be better to try to wean ourselves off oil, before the oil-based economy crashes and burns? Explodes, like the fireballs in a Roland Emmerich movie!

On Friday I got hit by a stomach bug or something, plus a really wicked headache. My vision is still screwed up -- all it's good for is watching all sorts of Sherlock Holmeses and really old "Doctor Who". I'm talking 1963-era Who. Interesting mix.

I went out to photograph a rock cutting out in the docks, well the former docks, earlier today. Boy was it cold! A few minutes out in the wind and my fingers got numb. Hey, it's half February now, it should be Spring. Gimme!

Our beloved boss has now left us. How are we to cope? Boohoo, poor us. This means we'll have to take responsibility ourselves, the horror...

Oh, and I found out the perfect vengeance music for neighbours who insist on playing annoying hiphop-rnb-disco at all hours and at ridiculous volumes: Gamma Ray's album Majestic. Solid wall-to-wall bass drum alternating with drum/bass in shifting patterns. Not only does it throw you off, it is also utterly relentless. Muahaha.

Explosions are good too. Where can I find the 1812 music, hmmmm?

Urgh, glasses. The reason I got contact lenses was so I wouldn't have to have them chafing on my nose and ears. But my eyes got too dry recently and I had to resort to glasses for a while.

In fact, all of me is too dry, nose, skin, everything. Would if help if I drink more? (drink!) I only drink when I'm thirsty. Never subscribed to any "theories" or "diets" or stuff like that, too much trouble.

Anyway, on Monday we (Club Cosmos and WCT) went to the local observatory and looked at a whole lot of moons -- four Jovian ones and one Luna -- and got a nice lecture on exoplanets by egghunter. Everyone seemed satisfied with the event, maybe we'll do it again soon. Let's just hope we're that lucky with the weather again: the rainclouds in the morning blew away during the day and the evening was clear. That almost never happens in Gbg normally!

Next week we'll go see "Harry Potter 7". Or is it "7a"? Whatever; maybe I should see movie no. 6 first...

My mother is doing so-so. The wound on her leg is bothering her much, as it has since June or May. Ever stronger medications and painkillers to keep her level and sleeping at night. At least they didn't have to go to the hospital the latest time she plunged into the black hole.

And I've been out looking at one rock outcrop in Angered, and will soon look at another in Klippan. Actually, that latter one is the same hill on which stands the old fortress Gamla Älvsborgs fästning. Cool. Also, I'll go to a "feedback meeting" regarding the road being built north of Gbg (E45), with lots of rockworks. There was a rock mass fall there earlier this year. The meeting will be on the lines of "why didn't you foresee this and put it into the tender documents?" only we did, but no one wanted to think about large rock falls so it was hushed up. Or something, I wasn't involved in that part of the works then. It will be interesting!

What's this about burning Qu'ran books in the US? Have they gone totally bonkers? Jeez. Have they not read their own Bible, with the "turn the other cheek" and "do unto others" passages? Or is this a church that reads the Bible selectively, only the bits that conform to their set opinions are deemed holy?

Oh wait, isn't that how fundamentalists have always read their holy texts?

Election campaigns are going into the final lap here now. I just passed some center partists at a little pamphlet&coffee table that they had set up smack in the middle of the sidewalk. The bicycles had to swerve around it. But I have already voted so I can ignore them all, muahaha! Very slick operation it was to vote too, lots of election workers shunting ppl along between front desk, voting booths and ballot receptacles.

Now I'll prepare writing material and gear for tomorrow's night work down a mine, smash 72m of drillcores into little bits, and meet&greet some young interns from Trafikverket. Busy day ahead!

Over on that Other site which shall not be mentioned there is some talk about the über-fail of the Israeli armed forces in international waters, and on Swedish media it's the New Big Thing. Here, no one mentions it. Someone suggested it's because American news media won't touch it. Is that so? Amercians, have you seen any news reports on Israel attacking a convoy of relief ships to Gaza and killing nine ppl?

Talking of Israel, I made Mandelbrot for today's 'bring-something-baked' at work. It's at least 8yr since I made some, not since I moved here. And I should make them more often, they're tasty, mmmm!

We also had tasty Indian food yesterday, at a new place just off the liquor store (Systembolaget). First we waited and waited, and then some meagre plates were brought... what, is this all? Then the sneaky proprietor brought the _real_ dish while smiling mischievously. Ooo the rogue! Then the food was so good that we have to go back, soon. Yum.

And speaking of yum, I just realised I won't be able to attend next week's Club Cosmos pub night -- I'll be in Mjölby then. Mjölby! Well, Motala hopefully, we have a whole railroad stretch to do in only two days. I went to Mjölby once, in 1994 or something, on my way home from Vadstena. That's when I learned how to pronounce the name... it's not pretty. Maybe Motala is better.

On the subject of Cosmos, that's a really good TV series. The science I already know but I remember being thrilled by certain concepts and images in that show, like the klepsydra, and that we are star-stuff. To think it is 30yr old! Many of the future missions Sagan talks about in it have now been launched, like Cassini and Mars rovers, but some are still at least 25yr in the future, just like it was then (I'm looking at you, fusion power).

*** Newsflash: just got a surprise mail from amazon.com saying Thank you for your order, which I haven't placed. Not answering that one! Usually it's just stuff I've never even visited that sends me phishing spam but hey, this is too close to home. ***