Daily Dose of Doom

gah, time runs away from me. So much to do and so little time to do it in, and therefore the blogg gets to suffer. Will be better in the new year, promises promises. Right now, not a single thought in my head except for where i can find my next cuppa. kitchen!

I had a computer crash - the kind where you have your hardrive fried, battered and then served up for prosparity- about a year ago. Ended up paying (worth every penny!) 120 something pounds to the lovely guys at Fulham computer Heroes (will find their real name sometime and give them the cread they deserve) for them to save all my images and files and .. well, life to be honest. If I loose my computer I loose not only the will to live but the means to do so as well. So when my computer had a little hickup a couple of seconds ago I reacted as any card-carrying nerd would, I'm now sitting and waiting for safety copy to be done and dusted. And since I cant do anything with my work files since they are beeing processed I'll just spend some time in here, updating people on the mundane reality of my life. Computer computer computer :)
Winter is comming to London though. Now that we're back at actually putting our feet outside the house and walking atleast 2 hours aday again (cheap therapy! ) I'm quickly realizing that my lovely - and worne as close to oblivion as humany possible without creating negative space and sucking the world into a black hole - summer shoes are no longer accepted from my toes point of view (from far down and freezing that is.. the point of view I mean) So now we're back to having to find matching socks again. Buggerit .. I need to invest in simple one-coloured socks again. I have a small addiction to "cute socks"... Since I can't afford (and I'm also biologically unable to.. chubby wide feat do not get to wear fancy girly shoes) a shoe fetish I'm doing the budget variety and buying socks. All colours, varieties and if possible some kind of cute image on there and its mine. This however turns laundry days into the memory game from hell.
Anyway, will stop bitching about laundy (need to do some tomorrow again) and get back to the weather (a very english topic i've noticed) It is cold. As in "pretend your a dragon cos white smoke is comming out of your mouth" kind of cold. WE LIKE!!!!
Nothing better than going out for a good hour at night stalking (or shuffling) around the streets of notting hill and getting your cheaks (the facial type people) all pink and tingly before getting back home to a toasty apartment and dunk a cuppa down while settling down to work. Or in my case, settling down to safety copying.
hope you are all well out there and that life is sweet. I'm gonna get me some more PG tips and spend another half hour wathing the "compleation bar" for the safety thinge. Simple pleasures of life!

Colin Hay – Walk Amongst His Ruins

funny man, working while letting him have a round on spotify (still making my mind up about spotify, good or bad.. hmm... ) and while listening to the lovely mr Hay, sniggering to myself (I do not giggle.. never giggle. I might cackle, laugh out loud, bray, make the "seal shot with automatic weapon, or jettison beverage of choice out my nose, but I do NOT giggle)
anyway.. where was I?
working.. again. Atleast its fun work on a saturday night. Hope you are all well, and that life is good.

My lovely mother in law sent us a pack of "pyssel"... crafts bascially, where you get this pack of things that are supose to be put together in a way that it looks like what's on the front of the box. I did pretty well I think! The rest of the Andersson/willbeck/Nilssons (Loves' side of the family tree) had the annual meeting where they glued, painted and stiched together stuff on one side of skype, while we were left sitting infront of the computer trying to not glue ourselves together to the wooden peggs that was the naked gnome/elf.

The house is now beeing over run by little crafty gnomes. In swedish they are called "tomtar", they used to be part of our storie tellings and mythology. They would live close to humans, usually in the barn or underneath the house, and if you were kind to them they would help you out with choores and keep the home stead safe, if you did not leave the food offerings out on the stoop you'd end up with your cows going sick, having the milk go sour and the chimney colaps.

Currently I'm trying to do a rough calculation on how much porrige I need to make for them to take care of the house work.. hmm... concidering we do not own any livestock, and the need to for a clean chimeney is quite redundant I'm hoping they'll be ok with living on the usual scurvy diet :D

Here's a small note about my family. Above you have pictures of me and my two brothers. Taken on a family vacation (hell) into Denmark. It was that when going into Legoland we all needed photo id on our tickets (good old 80's). I guess it was that just incase we got lost they'd be able to return us to whom-ever.. but anyway. My parents then paraded us over to the local photobooth. Where it turned out that it cost a good deal over 140 Swedish crowns. Per person (3 photos) and my father beeing very cheap (or in his own mind.. brilliant) came up with a solution that would leave some spending cash instead of having 9 pictures of his allready thouroughly documented children (in my parent house there are thousands of pictures of us. Seriously. We're well documentated) any-ooooo.
So he lines us up out side. I'm first ( you can see his arm in the picture to the right) where he's got a good firm grip at the back of my jacket. As soon as the flash goes off out I popp, and in goes brother nr 2 (mattias). Please note the facial expression.
Flash goes off, Mattias is tossed into my mothers waiting arms and in goes junior, (thomas) the baby of the family. Again you can see my fathers arm in the background as well as the drape of the doorway. And ofcourse the face of a very confused child going "what-da-#")¤(=(/&%="..
As you can imagine we we're surounded by lauging danish(es?.. who do you put a plural to danish? the people, not the pastry.)

So thats one family moment worth recalling yes?
I found the compilations of the photos in my parents house a couple of years ago. Turns out my fathers idea did not really save him that much money, since once my mother had stopped laughing and actually got her mitts on the photos, she would not give them up again.

So they joined the multitude of other pictures in drawers, books and cardboard boxes and stowed away for posterity.

Oh and I miss my family.

Might as well introduce my brothers to you as well. I'm the oldest (you can tell by the bossy and over protective nature of me) that i'm used to bullying brothers and ofcourse getting them out of trouble.
My middle brother is Mattias. He's all of 11 months younger then me.
Yes, my parents were dilligent and productive and apparently in love.
Then again the youngest (Thomas) is only 2 years and 2 months younger then me.
So yes... 3 years.
3 births..
Now fastforward (not that birth is not a pretty painfull moment) but imagine having 3 teenagers in the same appartment at the same time. Now cringe!

Anyway, once I got over my (in my mind well founded) wish to kill my brothers and we no longer live in the same house (amazing how much more forgiving you are to others quirks when you dont have to share a bathroom or kitchen with them any more) we get along pretty darned good. We were pretty tight when we were younger too. Not to say we did not fight. Fighting was a passtime excersised at any oppertunity, but noone got to beat on my brothers but me. Not even between themselves.

Anyway. gonna get of the memory lane express, get back to work and back to eating my aspirins. Got that damned cold that just wont go away. Have a lovely evening all and yonder.
Love and snot out of London //

a picture of a sunny street (not the case today.. today its raining cats, dogs and assorted farm animals) and in the background you can see the partition that the gas ppl put up.

The gas ppl that ended up shutting our gas off for 6 days.

No gas means no heated water. no gas means no heating in the house. So in short we've been OD-ing on tea candles (the swedish word is "värme ljus" meaning warming light. .. very fitting I'd say since that's all we've had for warmth now that fall has kicked down the door and entered the premises) also doing dishes in cold water does not compute. Specially since my arthritis gets a kick out of it.
Add that to the fact that I did not get a singe warm bath (mainly my way of actually waking up and beeing able to move at all) I've been a very very grumpy and very very tired person.
And yes.. the work has been plentifull!
go here to see the latest: www.majesty2.com. got 2 more to go that we're doing the last couple of details on but I'll post them up later ;)

So between the work, the boiling of a 1000 tons of water and lighting of tea-candles and grumbling I have horribly neglected my poor blogg.
I have however picked up a new hobby. Harrassing the man (boy really.. ) that's been calling on our door to get the gas shut off, and despite beeing reminded by me, several times, to turn it back on, has been a total numb-nut and "forgotten".. So i've got a nice chilled halibut in my handbag every time I go out now, just in case i feel like smacking him around a bit before beeing on my way.

With that beeing said, i'm now gonna go and enjoy a long warm soak, a long chat with the resident rubber ducks, and after that I need to go get me more tea candles.. Better to be safe than sorry..

Found this on youtube.. its gorgeouse. Even though the singer sometimes gets into notes he should not really be on speaking terms with. But its still beutifull.

I've been sleeping for 13 undisturbed (not even a loo-run) and it was flipping wonderfull! It was magical.. it was fluffy little pink sheep runing over a green medow while humming a lulleby and feeding me prozac. It was magical.. I want to do it again.

My nef Flipp (philip really... he's allready god a nick-name though). I'm getting updates and all but I've still got to meet him. The poor mite got my brothers pointy ears (i've always claimed him - my brother, that is - to be a changeling, this just proves it!) and bubbly apple cheeks, a very small copy of the baby brother I tried to kill for the best part of my first 10 years. (didnt work, my mum has reflexes like a fox). He's also been blessed with my lovely sister in laws temperament so this one will be a little warrior for sure :D

We've been working our proverbial tails (wouldent it be cool to have a real one?) off, but we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and its not a train this time! Wohoo! that beeing said we must have the best job in the world since we get to do stuff we like.I only wish we got more sleep. Right now i'm at the end of another 24 hour rush, and i'm heading of to headbutt the pillow into submission in an hour or so. Sleep will never have been this good ever. At least tomorrow i'll join the world of the living (and function like a normal *cough* human beeing) during normal office hours again. This week has run away, wearing those magical seven mile boots (is there any english version to that fairytale? or is it swedish and not a single person except for the family will get that reference?) anyway, half way through the week and all is well.
Cherrios (tomorrow they'll be served with milk and a cuppa PG tips) and take care, over and out.

the last week or two as been diabolical when it comes to lack of sleep and the endless fun of coding stuff into different servers. Im sporting a headache that puts me in grizzly-mode.
So mainly i've been working. And working.. and sleeping in 4 hour intervalls before working some more.
Love has been bombarded by water beads (as featured here) and is dealing with beutifully (I'm still alive! :D)

anyway, hope you are all doing well, that life is sweet, and as soon as i get me hoofs underneath me again i'll post some good stuff (just need to go out and get something else to talk about then MySQL servers and databases.. its not all that riveting.. really... )
lottsa love

me and Love decided to actually venture outside our own areas, meaning we actually went all the way over to st Pauls cathedral, took the foot bridge over to the southside and walked along the river front, enjoying the mischief and warm up for the Thames Festival. Since we're hard at work we wont be able to go tomorrow, but it looks to be a good one.. the way it is every year :7

Found this man.. he's put up some kind of water instalation, where he's done basically a giganting water mill, really quite beutifull in a rusted and grotty way (the instalation, not the man, he was quite clean)

he was still tweaking some of the tilt mechanisms, so I amused myself into guessing just what those pretty water boulbs were.

Well if you havent guessed yet, you're as blond as me.

Their rubbers. It took me a little time to clock that one. First I though they were glass, but then one thumped against the rigg and did not break.

See, they do have multible functionalities!

Their actually even quite pretty like that, instead of way you usually get to see them in public (usually half hidden behind a bush and really not pretty at all.. quite discussting actually)

Anyway, some more water related stuff. I bought this little sashet of multicoloured beads, the size of sand grain. The thing is that when you put them in water they swell into these gorgeouse bubbles of gell. Their Great!

You can use them as amo around the house, they bounce wildely and you can also destress by simply putting your hand in the jar (where I keep them.. their actuall use is to hydrate cut flowers. bugger flowers, their my de-stress-finger toys !) and ofcourse.. amo..

Love does not like them as much as I do..

This post will be a reply to lovely PP, while enabeling me to show of the gorgeouse pixies of my dogs (both sadly enough gone now) and to explain the whole stinky, drooly, dirty part of beeing a dog owner. PP (Peoples Photographer, not wee or urin.. simply a shortent version of his bloggy name, since his name is his to share) has the really rather sweet missconception that any dog of mine would be farting rosescented potpuri while beeing demure enough to keep their faces out of their own bums.

Hades, the German Shepherd / Boarder mix. Weighed in at 55 kg's, ate like a horse and molted a small dogs bodyweight in furr every day for a couple of weeks every spring and fall. He also had the charming ability of all German Shepherds to accumulate moisture. Meaning he would smell quite .. uhm.. musky. This of course beeing a joy to us since we spent quite some time camping with this monster in the same tent. And as good as he was at keeping moose, beavers and assorted drunk youngsters away from the tent he also keept us out most of the time as well (Sweden is quite the rain forest anytime I had vacation)

Now this gorgeouse boy, who was Nozem, was as you can see, a very stately bloodhound, pure breed and with several of his kin appearing more then once in his family trees (not a good thing) sadly never got passed his 2nd birthday. He suffered Bloat, which is a problem with their bowels turning and locking themselves up.

(ha ha, check out those paws... he was a bit over 60 kg's when he died, so those lion paws were not just for show :)

PS: oh yeah.. by the way PP, my dogs did not eat pooo.. I draw the line with my puppy raising and indulgence when it comes to eating poo and groin sniffing. Gotta set a standard right? :)

DS:

Went to Holland Park.
We needed a bit of a boost so we decided brakefast not involving wholegrain slices of toast would be a nice change to things . Instead it was the roasted vegetables and goat cheese that started my day, and I'm a very happy woman with a small pooh-bear tummy filled with latte and roasted foccacia (spelling is optional)

Me and Love then took a walk around the park and then decided to sit down our ikea pleather officechair formed bumms on a hard bench and enjoy the indian summer sun and the lack of artificial light from a computer screen. Its nice to just sit, watch ppl, and hold hands while talking about where we want to be in a year, where we want to live (right now Brighton is on top of the wish-list).. and ofcourse having a discussion just how many dogs we are going to alowe into the house we eventually will be able to buy (or rather, where Loves braking point is.. he claims 1, but I'm pretty sure I can talk him into atleast 3 more.. )
And yes, puppy talk is way more interesting than the baby version, we've allready been told what we're to expect. One boy one girl (yes, we are sure about that, we've got it from a very good source :)

here's for wishing for another 50 years, atleast, of sitting and bumming on park benches while clasping paws and talking.

... just never work out huh?
we ended up with sleeping in this morning, and since I did the mistake of turning on my computer (I'm on automatic in the morning, no matter when I wake up) I ended on taking on work and we decided that the day off will have to wait. Not a bad thing as such, since we do live for work and we need it, but still..
I'm having a slight starbucks withdrawl syndrom, my empty hand clawing in the air after a sugerloaded and frothy latte.. grrr..
Our walkabout instead went the short round to the library, where I realized, standing amongst to many books and too many choices, just how much Love does to make me happy.
He remembers my favourite autors, does his best to remember if i've allready read or bought a copy of any of the afformentioned athors (its quite a long list) and he then does his very best to find stuff that I'll like.
It could possibly also be said that he just wants a big of peace and quiet from the eartugging, snuggle mauling and general full body tackling that I concider to be signs of affection, since when I'm in a book I'm practically incommunicato.. but still. Its sweet..
So, 10 min walk to the library, getting the surivival kit for today (CC light and some peanuts for snacks) and back to work it is.
Walkabout will be done some other day.
And long before that happens Love will be rewarded for making every other man on the planet look bad (my brother actually agrees on this, since he's had to listen to my sister in law going "why can't you ever do that for me?".. Allthough he only promises to hurt Love, not award him anything... wonder why.. *grins*)

Now then, back to work. atleast now i've got some really cool projects to keep me busy over the weekend :)

Today was the grownup version of Notting Hill Carnival (yesturday was for the kids supposedly) and it went with a bang. Currently listening (somewhat strained though.. my eardrums are a bit slacked off) to the police chopper thats hovering over our street. In fact it woke us up this morning. I woke up with a start having horrible flashbacks of apocalyps now - the movie.. Not a plesant way to start the day. but it got better

Me and Love took the camera for a little walk about (about 50 meters.. then we just claimed a space and then just let the floats go by.

Posting some pixies from today, starting with pretty in pink:

Man on stilts... or daddy-long-legs in person..

Body paint and feathers...

Goooooood carnival! :D

Big big costumes.. I got smothered in green when this batch when through, but it was worth it damned it! *picking out greenery from between my teeth*

Today has been a day of rest for most part, with a sprinkle of agression (more about that later), we're going to get back into the grove of work again tomorrow, as well as having a run around the Notting Hill Festival. Always a good day to catch the elusive shaking feathered baredback bird on film (or pixel memory anyway) :)

The house has actually been prepared for the mayhem by someone putting up a playwood gate, with wired on handle, for barakading out the unwashed masses from our steps and front court of the house, so I'm thinking thats setting the tone of what kind of pain in the lump this will be.

Anyway, today on our way to wormwood scrubs (minor.. , theres the bigger version a bit futher down) we walk into a side street where a small kid was running tward us with 3 bigger kids behind. Me, with my natural instinct of loathing - seriously, who ever coined "the innocents of children" did NOT have any idea of the nature of the little beasts - soon proved itself right when the smaller one was grabben by the biggest and twirled around to the other antagonizer.

Since they were stupid enough to do this right infront of our noses I stepped in to the back of the big bully while shoving him away and pulling the kid out while giving a nice little growl in to his ear. My reaction to bullying is usually quite severe, I tend to want to see teeth on the pavement and possibly someone begging. But since these were kids (the bullies around 13-15, the kid around 12 I think.. hard to tell though) it was all I could to to keep my inner bitch on a leash when nimbwitts nr 2 retaliated with "shut up man!"

One.. I'm clearly not a man.. Secondly, thats just plain rude.

Ended up with steping into him asking him "or what?". Seriously. I've never been so close to hitting a kid befor..
I've been brought up with parents that, except for one slap to the back of my brothers head after calling me a very ugly very word at dinner after som severe teasing, never hit us.
They just never needed too. We knew who the boss was (mum.. and like any alpha female, she never needed to bare her teeth to get us to do what we were told) .

But at this moment I'm doing everything I can not to thump this obnoxiouse kid in the face while going "thats ma'm to you". And I'm the first to admit, I do have the fuse of a rabid she-bear, but I never thought my temper would flare up like that against a kid.

Anyway.. the kid has enough self preservation to look down and step out of my way, keeping his mouth shut while the little one is getting his legs under him and hitting the road.
Like any true animal the little bullies dont mind ganging up on smaller and easier prey but as soon as they get stuck up against someone bigger (and yes.. very much meaner) they always coward out. It almost hurt me that he did actually... with me turning around to walk away with my fists clenching and unclenching and trying to get my temper down.
It took me the better part of 2 hours.

I really dont like kids...
truly I dont...

Anyway, tomorrow begins the festivities... and as sure as the sky is far above, the fighting, rioting (quite severe ones last year) and other fun will be the order of the day. I truly hate any kind of agression (unless I'm passing it out.. as any big sister - I belive myself to be the only one fit to give judgement on any whalloping ) and since drinking usually does not bring out the best in ppl I tend to have a hard time keeping out of trouble.

Love believes me to have a superman (or wonderwoman) complex. With cape and everything... since I do not let things go unpassed or rectified. And ofcourse this has landed me in uncounted fights in bars where men have decided to slap their girlfriend around or gang up on someone drunk and dumb enough to show weakness. (I'm not saying I don't get beaten up for it, only that I can't let it rest)

So tomorrow, except for a couple of hours out in the daylight we are gonna be at home, enjoying the braying of fights and drunkards comming thru the window and me sitting safely at home trying to ignore it.

My lovely sister in law is currently waiting for the "start up pill" to work, and for the bauta baby to come to the world. Meaning me and the rest of the family are waiting too..

most of them though are probably waiting with a bit more style.
Me, I surf youtube..
and then found this:




points to the boy for the self distance enough to actualy embrace the puss filled reality and having a good laugh about it.
and letting us have a cringing, chuckling snicker as well.
It's goood to get old :)

Some rather bad pictures of the family (half of it.. Loves half anyway :) )
There was a cray-fish evening "kräft fest", where swedes (i'm not included in this group, to much work with shelling them and I refuse to suck on the belly of what is a glorified water spider that eats waterlogged cropses.. no-sir-eee.. not me.. ) go compleatly nuts about red boiled cray fish (dont know if i'm spelling that right)

As traditions states it is always held at the Nilssons house. They've got the huge grassy slopes perfect for games (throwing balls at eachother, wrestling and football.. the european kind, where you dont use your hands) Oh and quizzes, usually put together by Irre, the queen of tricky questions :)

This time we attended over Skype..

Getting to watch everyone, included the newest addition to the family (below) Emily. She was borne while we decided to stake our claims on London. Cute as a button :)

And this is Tilde (tongue girl, she caught on quickly about the computer not beeing the usual tv show and that the person - me - would do anything she did.. I'm pretty sure we've just ruined her for life. No childrens channel will ever be as good again.. I'm pretty sure sessamy street does not do interaction just yet.)

Anyway.

Apparently there was sun.. there were cray fish (Malin even waved one at the camera) and there was family. And we were here.

Gotta go back soon.

Specially since I'm most probably gonna be an "aunty" by monday. My brother (or rather my favourite sister in law - i've only got the one so far -) is getting things started on monday... hmm..

Aunty...

And the very weird part, my baby brother's going to be a dad.. or rather a "Dad"..

ha, thats a couple more of those "free-grown-up-points" cashed in :D

Okej, gotta get back to work.

ugh... More info tomorrow, with possible news of my new aunty-hood.

Wonder if its a boy or girl..

Today is another scorcher, we've got work to do and I'm in need of coffee.

Just popping a little aquarell pen drawing I made for marvelouse Malin (the Nilsson alpha female) after their visit to London. Had the joy of talking to her and Marcus (the prodgidal son, theirs, not ours) over skype yesturday night, over webcam on skype.
Lets put it this way: I remember a time when I was spending my parents hard earned cash on phone bills to Poland (since thats where I spent most of my time, bf's tended to still be there when I went home to school.. for the few months I had to that.. hmm.. beeing a kid was good when you come to think of it.. )
anyway, back then, they only had one phone in the village (and no gays.. and if you havent seen "little brittan" that joke just sounds baaad) anyway so we'd have to book time, where he would be on the phone in the office of the stables (I used to work with braking horses in - and arms.. and legs.. and head.. the later 3 were my own, not the horses)
anyway... hundreds and thousands of pounds (or dollars) were spent on the phone.
When later the modem came even more money would be spent on chatting with ppl from just about anywhere.. just cos we could!!

Sitting in my room with an old modem doing the
beep-beep-beeep-cchzzzzzzzzzzz-zzzzz-din-ding-brszzzzch-kzzzzrzzrzzz ding-ding- kschzzzzzzzz
and then sitting up at all hours with a chat that would only upload if you refreshed the window..
Then having to get up at 6 am, to catch the buss to the other side of the city (stockholm) to go to collage and skipp classes to sitt on their broadband connection .. hmm..

And now adays, with my lovely virgin connection that costs me all of 7 pounds a month, i can cruize anywhere on the web, call friends in other countries for free, and even video chat.

Technology is amazing..
specially when you get to see the smiles of your friends and family

While Loves Mother was here we went for a treck (as always with the duracell woman of might) of 12 hours at Kew Gardens. I've been living here for over a year now but we've never been there.
We were on our way there once in winter but ended up kissing the door handle and turning around since we arrived just about an hour before they closed.

Now let me start by saying it is bliss.
I was scrambling around with my nose in the air and my eyes closed just sniffing the trees, bushes and bamboo, with a healthy mix of airplane fuel (its right underneath the flightpath to Heathrow.. so ever 60 sec you have birds of the most imence wingspan thundering down over your head.. lets just be happy they do not dump...)



Kew Gardens is celebrating its 250'th year now. Meaning there are plenty of things to see, ontop of the vast amount of standard exibits.
It started out as a summer house *cough* for Henry the 7th. And since royalty rarely do things half-arsed (except when it comes to chins) it soon ended up beeing one of the hubs of power amongst the rose bushes (there's plenty of those too)

You can find almost any kind of vegetation or even remotely resembling a plant here. And the best part is that someone really frantic about naming and taging has taken the time to pin signs to each and every one of them.

This place is 300 acers... now imagine going around pinning lables on everything.. just take a minute with that thought..



Anyway.. Its gorgeouse.. its green (with splaches of colour and spikes and even some rather weird animals) and it will keep you busy for a day..
We're planing on getting a year-card.. there are so many places where you just want to spread out a blanket and enjoy a good book, some cold drink (for the first hour.. before the sun gets to it) and greenery. As long as you manage to ignore the airplanes (next time I'm taking my earphones with me.. radio is much more restive to listen to) all is good.









This is the Palm House..
All made of glass and very very hot and very very humid. and when the light hits it, just so, you can see the palms growing on the inside.
If your feeling really brave you can take the walk way around the top to get a feel of life as a monkey or bird.

Simply stranded.. much like me trying to get back to sitting behind the computer after enjoying the pebbles and sunshine..
















with the colours and bright lights. Lets put it this way, you'll walk away with what is essentially a c-vitamin kick to the head. Its lovely.