Pictures from Tunisia

After a long while i've managed to clear out the duplicates, fix the colours and upload the whole lot to a Picasa Webalbum.

Julklappslista

Japp, då var det dags att göra släkten nöjd så de slipper ringa och tjata. Här kommer den nya, uppgraderade, ännu mer detaljerade och helt otroligt ner i minsta detalj finslipade....*trumvirvel*...önskelista!

• Kläder
• Slim-fit skjortor
• Fler jeans som sitter lika bra som de jenny valde ut
• Snygga t-shirts och tröjor
• Böcker
• Eric Hoffer - The True Believer : Thoughts on the nature of mass movement(valfri utgåva)
  
• Lars Huldén - Kalevala - Finlands nationalepos (ISBN 9174860534)
• Philip Ball - Critical Mass : How One Thing Leads to Another
• Njals Saga (ISBN 978-91-7353-134-4)
• Idrottsnutrition (ISBN 978-91-85433-27-8)
• Idrottens träningslära (ISBN 91-88940-14-4)
• Nausicaää - Valley of the Wind(en manga), delarna och deras ISBN
• 1) 1569310963
• 2) 1569310874
• 3) 1569311110
• 4) 1569312117
• En bra utgåva med riktigt gamla versioner av Grimm-sagorna eller andra nordiska/nordeuropeiska/europeiska sagor. Tänk brutalt övervåld(vanligt förekommande i väldigt gamla sagor).
  
• Blandat
• En sån där bra konservöppnare som familjen har hemhemma.
• Gymkort
  

Varför?

GAH!

Varför gör jag alltid så här jävla klantiga misstag.

Hade mycket under första halvan av terminen, ville vila ut till andra halvan men vilade för länge och nu håller hela min förbannade skitplanering på att kollapsa helt. Har fått ställa in middagar, besök och andra saker till höger o vänster.

GAH!

New bond

On sunday I went to see the new Bond movie...damn that was a big misstake. I really liked the previous movie, Casino Royale, for once had they updated both the character and not just the toys. A more raw than previous bond characters.

Now on the other hand he was more like Pierce Brosnan, a bit on the slimy side for some periods of the movie. Didn't like the new bond character at all.

And they had completely ruined the movie by cutting all the action scenes into shreds. Probably to give the viewer a feeling of everything happening fast and at once, but it just meant that I didn't have a clue what was going on, the scene in the building rig could give anybody an epilepsy attack...

Edit
I found a blog post about the new bond movie that's worth a read; http://www.juancole.com/2008/11/quantum-of-anti-imperialism.html

I hadn't really tought of it that way, for me the US tend to be the bad guys in the real world quite often. But then there aren't alot of good guys in the real world.

Guerrilla

Was talking to Anders today and he mentioned that he had started some developing for the Android-OS(the Google phone). This got me thinking, apparently it has built-in GPS and fair support for google maps.

Combine the data from google maps with some simple shape-recognition software or even metadata from another source and the basis for the game is set; The game is based on the real world, on real maps, but puts you in the position of a guerrilla commander. Simple storyline goes something like "blabla after a terror attac the goverment went completely crazy blabla no rights blabla police state". I have yet to figure out the exact point of the game, possible just collecting points for putting up anti-state propaganda, attacking police squads and similar things. Not the most politically correct game but since I think it might be fun. Even more fun if several players live in the same area and can coordinate atacks on goverment assets. The goverment would be run on a central server which means the each goverment action apply to all players in an area.

Another project I'll probably never finish...doubt I'll even begin this one ;)

Information: push or pull?

I've thought a bit about why advertisements annoy me so much, in my book the high treason of advertisements is delivery through the post to my front door. When I get ads this way I don't react with "hmm, this seems interesting", no instead I think "bloody buggers, one reason to never ever shop at their place". Might seem a bit radical but I hate being force-fed information about some random store and their current sales.

One possible reason has to do with this whole information-society we've got going now, every minute of every day we are fed information from lots of sources; magasines, blogs, podcasts, news and so on. The list just goes on and on. We have to establish filters to keep sane at all and these advertisements that get delivered to my home is harder to ignore, they try to force themselves through the filters and that gives me an ill feeling. And few postal officers seem to care about the "no advertisements please"-sign above my post box. But I do have a new sign in the works that might work better. Pictures coming up when done.

Advertisements notwithstanding, local news is apparently a big thing here. I receive not one but 2-3 local newspapers, without asking and they simply won't stop delivering them. I DO NOT CARE about local news. It's so small scale, I'm having trouble caring about some of the stuff in the national papers. People get riled in weird ways. Kill 3 000 civilians in africa and nobody raised an eyebrow, because everybody know people in africa die, kill 3000 civilians in the us and the whole world gets turned around. Kidnap a kid in asia and nobody notices. Kidnap a kid in south east asia and nobody cares. Kidnap a kid in Portugal or wherever it was and the papers write about it for bloody weeks.

Shell idea

I was plowing along in school today and had an idea for a shell replacement. What do you usually store in folders? Files related to a project, happening or another common denominator. Wouldn't it be nice if these folders were dynamic, if you put a file in "Project A" and it automatically adds it to related "Project B" and your "This weeks todo"-list.

The basic principle are these
- Files have a number of tags
- The desktop contains a number of searches for a combination of tags
So if you had a number of files tagged "Essay about X" and then a search for the tag "Essay for X" those files shows up in the box. The files themselves are shown as either iconss or small thumbnails.

Random side-ideas
- A new file type for quick notes, originally called "Note". Basicly it's a mix of a document file and an image file with support for quick squibbles. Can be converted to either document or image once one has decided
- Zoom. Searches can contain sub-searches and the user can zoom out to get a good overview or zoom in to see further sub-sub-searches.
- Concurrency. Multiple people can work on different parts of the same desktop, giving project managers or other leaders quick and easy overview of how it's progressing.
- Color coding of both searches and files. Color coding can be read any way the user wants, one way would be to see color as how close the project or file is to deadline, shifting through green->yellow->red as deadline approaches.
- Opacity. Can be seen as how finished the document is.
- Drag'n'Drop between searches, drag a file to add it to the other. Not sure how the search should be modified though.
- Program files can be tagged by name and version by the installer to easily see which files belong to a program.
- Time related parameters to searches, give you files related to this week and similar things.

It's raining deadlines

Been a while since i posted anything here and it has it's reasons. My schedule is just plain chaos at the moment. Taking four courses and the examiner/planner in two of them doesn't seem to grasp the fact that I take other courses at all. A friend of mine calculated the workload for one course during the first two weeks, 35 hours per week. Out of a total of 40 hours per week, add three other courses to that and you got my current situation.

Some of the courses actually might have been interesting or even fun if I didn't have to quickly mash something together just to not get left too far behind. And I'm behind in at least two of the courses, spending the weekend studying to not get left behind in the other two as well.

Haven't really partied for about a month now and it'll probably be another month, haven't got the time to have a hangover since i have to spend the weekends studying. Once I get all my points for all four courses registered I'm going to get paleolithic on a bottle of jäger.

Hopes and dreams

When hopes and dreams are loose in the streets, it is well for the timid to lock dorrs, shutter windows and lie low until the wrath has passed.

The True Believer : Thoughts on the nature of mass movements

The old Rabbi

An old Rabbi who once asked his disciples how they could tell when the night had ended and the day began. The disciples thoughtfully considered the Rabbi’s question.

“Could it be,” asked one student, “when you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?”

“No,” replied the Rabbi.

“Could it be,” another asked, “when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?”

“No,” said the Rabbi again.

“Well then, when is it?” his pupils demanded to know.

“It is when you can look at the face of any man or any woman and see that he is your brother or she is your sister. Because if you cannot do this, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.”

Are you a you or a we?

A couple of weeks ago I had a discussion with a friend and she told me I was one of few people that hadn't remarked on her particular chosen career, a girl working as a tester. We kept going and ended up talking about how a person identifies herself, if it were by how she behaves and thinks, or what groups she consider herself to be a part of.

I'm so very tired of being identified as a geek; quiet, boring, only talks about computers and since that was more or less the only group I considered myself a part of I now consider myself kind of groupless, and quite skeptical of becoming part of a new group. C never really became "my group", I like to just be me, lately I've begun to like being me, it's kinda nice.

Anyway, to the point. I, or we, don't remember, have a theory that people that don't identify who they are through a group have it much easier to accept people that stick out, don't conform to the normal patterns. Girls working as programmers, guys working as nurses.

It has begun

Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war.

A vision

I recently got some not very good news and decided to spin a little tale from a couple of years ahead.

"It's an early august morning, the grass still moist from dew and the sun only recently risen above the rooftops. The Zeroes is gathering, nervously eyeing their clothes and each other, each of them had received stern notes about the risk of clothing that might insult, annoy or in any other way affect another person. It was many years since you last saw a guy or girl in a tight t-shirt, showing off their body in all of well cared for glory. If another person had stern religious beliefs they might get bothered and the university couldn't risk that.

After a long day in school full of new knowledge of all the regulations and rules concerning life at the university the zeroes eye the evenings festivities, "Study session 19-22". In the past some students had had trouble keeping up and had dropped out. The university couldn't risk that, students not completely happy might leave angry notes and would mean less money from the state, and had therefore put the mentors and older students in charge of making sure they kept up. The zeroes wasn't too excited about studying even more during the evening, except Tom that seemed to be excited about everything.

So the zeroes called up one of their mentors
- Hi, it's Emma. Me and a few others here wasn't too excited about studying for another few hours and was wondering if any of you had other plans.
- Hello, well there might be another parallell activity. Be behind BK 3 at 19.20 and somebody will meet you there.

The older students had to be cautious these days, letting the zeroes drink alcohol was a major violation and if somebody saw them and reported it they would get yelled at, reported and possibly barred from the rest of the reception activites. If the zeroes drank they might *shudder* get affected. The fact that all these new rules and regulations had done was push the drinking into the shadows where the mentors didn't have control or could keep the ones that seemed to be getting a bit too..festive...in control was a fact the university didn't seem particularly interested in."

But i'm not bitter...

The Moon

A little piece i composed on the way home from a friend, not quite happy with it but it'll do for now.

One should strive to be more like the moon

The sun burns hot
The stars are cold and distant
The clouds darken the sky
Nobody ever complains about the moon

We dance in the moonlight
shining into the dark corners
Telling untold stories

Edit: The last verse sucked, removed

A tribute

Found this nice little piece on a group at Facebook, aptly named "A Tribute to the nice guys". Alot of it fits me regardless of how hard I try not to be too nice.

Here goes:
"This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage of them once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars and parties as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is just fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. Many girls claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date" or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me" or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!" or “you’re more like a brother to me" or the most frustrating of all: “no, that could ruin our friendship." Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, and your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you."

Personality type ENTP

I recently found a personaliy type test(swedish) online that was quite spot on. I got ENTP and one part really made me think "hey, it's me they're writing about here

"Following through on the implementation of an idea is usually a chore to the ENTP. For some ENTPs, this results in the habit of never finishing what they start. The ENTP who has not developed their Thinking process will have problems with jumping enthusiastically from idea to idea, without following through on their plans."

I usually have like 3-4 new cool projects i almost can't wait to get started on so when I've done, at most, a proof-of-concept or something like it I move on to the next one.

Screw fate

My previous motto in life has been "You should feel that you'r alive" but that's kind of defeatist, don't know if that's a word, if it isn't it should be. It is a good motto when the world seem to have decided to make your life a bit more hellish than for the rest, a roll-with-the-punches-motto. However these last months I've been feeling really good and I think it might be time to change it to something better, more positive. A while ago I spoke to Anders on a bus and he said something that has stuck with me ever since, "Don't live with broken windows". It's more of a fixer motto that seems more suitable to the "new" me so I'm now officially changing :)

That doesn't have that much to do with fate, a little but not the main reason i chose that title for this post. I've had a falling out with a previously very good friend of mine, sad but I felt like "if he/she doesn't want to spend time with me, it's his/hers loss" and spent my time with other people. It kept hanging around at the back of my head even though I tried getting rid of it so in the new "dutt the fixer"-style I decided to do something about it instead of just feeling sad about loosing a friend. It was a real eye opener to see it from the other persons side, after we had talked about it for a quite a while it turned out to be quite different reasons than I imaged was the cause of the split. When the talk was coming to and end it felt good and I hope we can pick it up again, he/she is a cool person I really enjoyed hanging out with before we had our falling out. I felt that justified the chosen title :)

That's leading me to another point, my stuttering has shaped me (...of course it has, we are formed by our experiences) but It's only this last year or so I've begun to realise another part of how it makes me different from other people. When you have been scared half to death to speak at all for most of your life it simply can't get that much worse so I don't feel particularly worried about talking about tough things like breaking up with somebody or confronting a person about what they actually feel and think about a subject that is very personal to both me and them. This doesn't apply to other persons, I'm still trying to build a kind of mental model how other people view talking about these subjects because it's alot different from my own, I can't guess their reaction based on what I think would be my own which makes it harder. Another thing I've come to realise is that I don't know squat about myself and how I really react when it comes down to it. I've stopped guessing how I'm going to react in hard situations because so far most of my guesses about my own behaviour have been wrong anyway.

Jogging

These last few weeks I've begun jogging 5km almost everyday and it's incredibly relaxing for the mind, it's a form of meditation that suits me. Occupying the body with some repetetive task so the mind is free to wander. Yesterday I had to catch up on flexitime, I overslept on wednesday so I lost 3 hours, which meant I ended up working 12 hours straight. After that my brain felt kind of like something run over by a bulldozer but when I had finished my 5km it was almost back to normal again, I felt quite good.

I feel I'm getting the hang of this climbing thing, my fingers doesn't get tired after five minutes anymore, now I can climb up and down a few times, getting the hang of the basic technique. Still loads of fun :)

Later this summer/autumn I think i'm going to take up real yoga, went a few times before but had to stop because of lack of time, but now I've got some time again so I think i'll take it up, it's incredibly relaxing, they used to have it on saturdays 11-12 and I don't think I know a better way to start a weekend.

Tunisia

Day 1 - Arrival at Monastir
My flight got in at around 0200, through passport control at around 0300(they're not incredibly efficient down there). Had to fill out a form with lots of different details, felt kinda weird but nothing very special.

After I'd found an ATM and caught a cab to my hotel I crashed in the, kinda weird smelling, bed, I was glad i actually booked the first night before, looking for a hotel at 4 in the morning wouldn't have been fun. I paid the cab 40 dinar(one dinar,1 TD, is about 6 SEK) for a ride that in daylight i could have walked in about...oh, 3 minutes or so. good start.

Day 2 - To Sousse and onwards to Douz
After about four hours of sleep i wasn't exactly runnig out of bed, but hey. You can sleep at home, at this being the first day of my trip I was quite excited so it wasn't very difficult :)

I thought about taking a swim but the water turned out to be quite cold and the weather was cloudy so I skipped it and took the train to Sousse. When I read "Sousse.SUD" on the sign I got off the train...in the middle of nowhere, turned out to be a suburb-station. But I met some nice old men that tought be some basic arabic :)

At this point I hadn't really decided on how my trip would go but when I got to Sousse i caught a taxi to the bus station to see when the busses left, which was really lucky since the bus to Douz only left 2 times a day and it was supposed to leave, a very different time than when it actually leaves in tunisia, was just 5 minutes later. So I decided to start in the south.

The cab ride to the bus stop was a quite interesting experience. If you have ever ridden a cab in Thailand or a similar blood-curling, life-flashes-before-your-eyes ride you know the kind I'm talking about. Once when our lane was blocked he simply crossed over into the opposite lane and I think we were like 2m from the car going in the other direction when he had got past the queue and got back into the right lane. A...memorable...experience.

It was quite noticable that most turists that come to Tunisia do not take the bus, it was just me and alot of Tunisians. A little girl in the seat in front of my stared wide-eyed at me for quite a while until her mother probably told her to stop bother the weird white guy ;)

At one of the stops during the 7 hour bus ride to Douz I decided to try their Mint-tea they serve almost everywhere. It was very good, one of the best i had during the entire journey. Not like any other tea i've tried anywhere else in the world. It was murkier with a much smoother taste, and always served in very small glasses which if you wanted to you could probably gulp down the entire serving in one or two mouthfulls, but that didn't really matter, when they cost 300m (about 2 SEK) they can be small as long as they taste great :)

They journey south continued in a not very timely fashion with stops for tea and a smoke for the rest, almost everybody in Tunisia smokes, very annoying.

Once I arrived in Douz I walked about for a bit until I found a place to grab something to eat. While I sat there eating my first, of later to be a large number, harissa, a guy walked up and said I should take a look at his hotel, I took a look at what The Book (my lonely planet-guide, wouldn't have gotten 5 meters without it...) said and since the hotel sounded alright I walked with the owner once i had finished my dinner. Now, for those of you who has never tried harissa. It's chili, ground down and mixed with oil and some other things to make a paste that can start a minor firestorm in anybodys mouth. I'm not weak when it comes to hot food but a few times I got a little much and..well, i started sweating a bit, more :) Back to why I started the rant about the hotel, the room looked alright so I took it and after a short while the owner came back and asked if I wanted to take a trip into the desert. Since seeing the desert was kinda the reason I got over there in the first place I wasn't too hard to convince.

After that I went to a local café, ordered a glass of tea and settled down to watch a football game from the european championship. Since I got on the bus in Sousse I have yet to see another westerner, a quite nice feeling but at the sime time a bit weird.

Day 3 - Shopping in Douz and Ksar-Ghalein
The car to didn't leave until noon so I had some time to walk around and see at least a bit of Douz. I went to the market (souq) and bought a few things. After my first round of haggling I walked away a turban richer and 5 TD poorer, haggled the price down from 12 to 5 TD which was fun :) Also bought some spices, 100g of saffron costs about 18SEK down here although then you just get the leaves raw dried leaves. One of the shop owners told me about a swedish Marie/Maria that apparently arranges trips into the desert. Shame I didn't have time to find her, might have been able to arrange a better trip.

Then it was time for the trip out to Ksar-Ghalein, an oasis about 150km south of Douz, so it's on the edge of the real desert, dunes as far as the eye can see and the whole deal. My guide was a tunisian that hardly spoke any english so we had some trouble keeping the conversation alive. The hotel could have got me an english-speaking guide...

On the way out to Ksar-Ghalein we saw a nice sign, "Danger: Dromedaries crossing" :) (Once I find my camera again i'll put up a picture). And the Tarzan-café. In the middle of nowhere there was a café consisting of two simple single-room circular houses. The guy living there probably got quite lonely, but he apparently had an internet connection ;)

Conversation was a general problem in Tunisia, generally I had to rely on the five english words they knew, the five french words i know, the ten german words we both knew and general sounds and body language. Didn't really bother me at first but it got old quite fast. My next country will be one where the population speaks english, i think one would get alot more out of Tunisia if you speak french.

Once I get arrived at the oasis I walked out in the desert for a while and got completely sandblasted. After a while I gave up and walked back to the tent to get my turban, it's worth its (very light) weight in gold when you'r walking about in a mild sandstorm. After about half an hour of getting less sandblasted it was time to ride dromedary which was an interesting experience. When they rise up from lying down the begin with the hind legs so you sit slanting forward at a quite steep angle until they decide it's time to get level again.

At the break during the ride the berber-guide leading us out into the desert walked to a dune that look like 300 other dunes within sight, but when he had dug in only a decimeter the sand was all wet. Impressive.

After the ride we stood and watched the sun set, it's an incredibly beautiful view. One feels incredibly...temporary. The desert is probably one of the few places mankind would have to try to screw up.

Day 4 - Berbers and Matmata
After waking up covered in a fine layer of sand and the usual worthless breakfast we left for Matmata. On the way there we stopped in Tamizret, a berber village up in the mountains of south-east Tunisia. The berbers lived kind of like Luke's father in the first Star Wars, houses holed out into the hills themselves.

Out here in the nowhere of nowhere hardly anybody means even fewer people speak any english at all. Once I had managed to get a room without speaking any of the language i bought my souvernier from this trip. A little bottle of sand with different colours shaped like a camel, for only 6SEK it was quite good value :)

Later at the hotel I met an american and we started talking, it felt great to actually talk to somebody again. "conversation! wohoo!". He had also been travelling around alone for a while and felt the same so it wasn't really any long silences :)

Day 5 - Sfax
After a morning of talking to the american it was time to leave for Gabés and then Sfax. The bus was supposed to leave at 1400 so I walked up to the stop around 1330...and saw the bus leave. The busses here didn't really seem to run on any real schedule. The driver left when he got bored, which could be an hour early or an hour late. When you wait for the bus, after five they can say "5 minutes". Five minutes later it's "oh, it's here in half an hour", "It's probably here in an hour or so". It get's you relaxed but I have no idea how people there keep schedules.

I took a shared cab, a "louage", to Gabés and then the train to Sfax. I hadn't really decided where to go next when I got on the train but when the it arrived the plan was set. Sfax, Tunis, Kairouan and then directly the airport and home.

After arriving in Sfax and finding a hotel I walked about the medina(market) for a while and then sat in a café to grab a glass of tea, it was quite good and then a local boy that looked about 14-ish waved me over and asked if I wanted to share his waterpipe, sheesha. The usual language complications was present but after a while he started talking about sex...but later he started talking about sex, so I left but he followed and asked me for money. After alot of questions and denials later I figured he thought he had sold himself to me when I left. I got quite shocked and walked away, he started bothering me when he figured out I wasn't interested but after completely ignoring him for a while he gave up. A quite shocking experience, he looked normal, if he had walked around in rags it would have been less of a shock. That took quite a while to shake off but I managed and walked away to get dinner.

After having a good pizza I found a café and saw the game Sweden - Greece at a bar. I was probably the only guy watching the game, the rest was busy drinking the local beer, and alot of it. The bar had a guy that seemed to have replacing empty bottles with full and keeping tabs as his sole job, was probably a big money maker since the customers didn't have to get up from their tables to keep drinking.

Day 6 - Tunis
After hardly sleeping at all I got up and walked to the train station and got to Tunis. The environment clearly changed when I got further north, aloot greener. There was actually quite alot of plants beside the tracks, got a bit shocked after almost seeing none in the south. After finding a hotel it was shopping time. I have been looking for a good chess game and found one made out of olive wood. After haggling the price down from 52 to 30 I bought it. I also got a new pair of sunglasses, he started at 45 so I said 5, we ended at 10 so I was quite pleased, haggling was fun :) Something less fun was a technique some of the sellers used. They put their hand out as if to greet you, but doesn't let go if you don't get into their shop. Which I didn't out of general principle.

Alot of eye shopping later I found this really nice café deep into the medina that had one of the best teas i drank during the entire journey.

More window-shopping later I walked around town for a bit, grabbed dinner and then found a really great café with I spent the rest of the evening reading and people watching.

Day 7 - Kairouan
After alot of walking around being confused I found the bus to Kairouan, leaving 1½ hour later than specified, a classic case of the phenomena I quite quickly named "tunisian time".

The plan was to walk around Kairouan, see the mosque and the town. But that didn't work out, at all. When I got to Kairouan I first met a couple that when I asked for the way to the medina they offered to show the way, nice. Turned out to work at a hotel, so I thought they would expect me to live at their hotel later, and then they dragged me into some kind of stuffy hotel that had higher entrance fee than some of the hotels I stayed at. Later they thought we should get a cab to the next place but I didn't really think comfortable with them any more so I said I didn't have any money for the cab and then they quickly lost all interest.

The next guy I asked to point the way also offered to show the way, now I had the general direction we should be walking in and when he turned into an empty side street I didn't want to follow and said thanks and goodbye, then he tried to kiss me after licking my shin. I had some trouble not punching him.

Third guy later actually showed me the right way but then came the empty alley and at this point I didn't trust anybody. Well, I didn't trust anybody from the start but now I was quite unfriendly in general to people. He tried something about "No mafia here", riiiight.

When I arrived at the medina at around 15 I found out the mosque closed at 14 and the medina at 16, at this point I was mostly pissed at the place in general so i grabbed lunch and then started walking toward the bus stop to get away. On the way there two other guys started walking with me, they spoke incredibly good english for tunisians, which is to say a bit below average. But after a while came "We're all brothers and sisters, I help you you help me." and similar things. After that it was mostly a question of time and later the very expected "we have a problem, we have no money"...being a cash cow for people gets old really fast.

So I went back to Sousse, had dinner and then on to Monastir and a hotel close to the airport.

Packing

Time to plan what to pack in my new shiny backpack

Stuff

• Earplugs, in case i have to sleep at loud places
  
• Sarong, in case i have to sleep at not very clean places, borrow from Anders.
  
• LED flashlight
  
• Towel
  
• Plastic bags, good for either dirty clothes or things i don't want wet/sandy, got it.
  
• Hostel International card, get from STF for 125:-
• Photo copy of my passport and plane ticket, leave one of each at home too.
• Note with important phone numbers, takes a short while to write each down
  
• Knife
  
• VISA card
  
• first aid kit
  
• Passport
• Plane ticket
• Travel Guide (Lonely Planet)
  
• Hygiene-related things
  
• Toothbrush
• Compeed
  
• Travel tissue packs
  
• Wet wipe tissues
• Toothpaste
• Deodorant
• Pincer
• Alvdeon
• Hairwax
• Solid soap
• Sun block
• Sun balm, in case i get burned
  
• Spork
  
• Pens & Paper, always good to have
  
• Neckerchief, this can double as sunprotection for the head. Though i will need to buy sunglasses anyway.
• A good book, will buy this at Pocket shop at either Stockholm Central Station or Arlanda.
  

Clothes

• 3 shirts
• 3 t-shirts
• Sandals, got it
• 1 warm shirt, the desert gets bloody cold at night
  
• Bathing shorts, can be used as regular shorts too near the beach but i heard that short pants are unmanly so i should mostly use a pair of long pants.
• A pair of long loose pants
  
• 3 underpants
  
• Two pair of socks, shouldn't need more since i plan on spending most of the time in sandals.
  

Things i haven't yet got

• Note with important numbers
  

Tunisia - Preparations pt 1

During the entire spring I've been harassing my friends about taking a trip somewhere, they didn't want to or didnt' have the time/money. I was whining about it to two friends yesterday and they convinced me to go alone, seemed like a pretty good idea, Lately I've been looking around for a new laptop, my current have begun acting up and it's over 2½ years old, which in my 3-year change schedule means it's time to start looking for a new one. But these new SSD discs that have recently begun popping up all over the place, I want one. However I don't want to pay current prices. So I switched a new laptop for a travel to Tunisia. So later yesterday evening I called dad and asked if he could come up with any good reason why I shouldn't go and since he couldn't I bought plane tickets to and from Tunisia. I leave during the evening of June 6 and return late June 13. I'm flying to and from Monastir, a small-ish town near Sousse. Apparently it only takes 20min by cab to Sousse.

Since I only decided yesterday there have been quite a lot to do in preparations. Currently I have bought plane tickets, a backpack good for travelling (50 litres in the big with a attachable smaller 5 litre bag), got my vaccination done and bought a travel guide (Lonely Planet - Tunisia).

Current expenses:
Plane tickets: 2899:-
Vaccines: 600:-
Backpack and lock: 1249:- (this doesn't really count for this trip since I'll be using it for, hopefully, lots of other trips too)
Travel guide: 188:-

Total so far: 4936:- with pack, 3687:- without.
Not too high so far and Tunisia is supposed to be a quite cheap country to live in. Totalling this trip around 10k shouldn't be that hard.

I've begun looking around for what to visit and it seems a southern town, Douz, is quite nice. I really look forward to seeing a desert again. I've seen pictures of what seems to be a very very beautiful mausoleum in Monastir which I look forward to seeing.

Next; what to pack?

Boiling water, try #14

Some days your brain just isn't up to speed on reality. I put water in the waterboiler to make rice, when it's hot I poured it into the saucepan, only to half-way think that i have to measure it. So i think "I'll just pour it out and measure some of what's left in the boiler"...and begin pouring the water from the saucepan and the boiler. So I pour some new water into the boiler to start over and some rice in the saucepan. Then I somehow forget the water in the boiler and pour some cold water from the pipes into the saucepan with the rice in it. So I decide to skip the whole waterboiler entierly and let the water boil on the stove. Only to five minutes later discover that I turned on the wrong plate...not my brightest moment.

Sketch på nya regler

Midgård
Brädet består av ett antal kvadratiska rutor som slumpas ut i början på samma sätt som i Settlers. Det finns några olika typer av brickor Äng, Skog och Vatten. Förflyttning sker rutvis och en ruta kan bara ägas av en spelare, levande pluppar från två spelare kan inte samsas på en ruta. Vissa rutor innehåller gårdar, i början så väljer varje spelare en gård och sedan är det kamp om de resterande. Jag velar lite över vatten, då är tanken att att man kan förflytta sig Äng<->Skog utan problem, men man behöver stå i en ruta med skog för att kunna förflytta sig ut på vatten, utan trä kan man inte bygga skepp. Det är dock problem med detta då skepp inte var något man byggde i en handvändning direkt så jag funderar på att strunta i terrängtyper helt och hållet.

Varje spelare kontrollerar ett antal pluppar som representerar kämpar, när en enhet dör så förvandlas den till en död plupp för den spelare som ägde enheten när den levde.

En tanke som slog mig nu var att man kan representera terräng och sådant ganska tydligt genom att ha "Ut-pilar" på brickorna. Om det finns en ut-pil åt ett håll så är det fritt fram att förflytta enheterna till nästa bricka, är det två pilar så tar det två rundor(bergig terräng som tar längre tid att ta sig igenom eller något sådant). Simpelt och då spelplanen slumpas ut så borde det innebära lite mer strategi hoppas jag.

Rankingen ("Odins hall"?)
Brädet består av en relativ ranking mellan spelarna och den avgörs av hur många döda pluppar spelaren äger. Desto fler döda pluppar man har desto högre upp i rankingen hamnar man, detta leder förhoppningsvis till att om man har motgångar på ena spelplanen så går man upp i rankingen och har chans att återta lite med sina nyvunna krafter. Vad man ska få för att man ligger högt upp på rankingen är jag osäker över, för nuvarande lutar det åt något sånt här:
1: Har möjlighet att trolla 3 ggr för högst 6 döda pluppar
2: Har möjlighet att trolla 2 ggr för högst 4 döda pluppar
3: Har möjlighet att trolla 1 ggr för högst 2 döda pluppar
4: Får inte trolla alls

Som trollformler tänker jag mig varelser, en ovanligt stor varg(tänk Garm) för 2 pluppar eller något sådant.

Strid
Striden går till ungefär likadant men med tillägget att man bara har 30 sek på sig att göra ett drag, har man inte bestämt sig före tiden har gått ut anses det att man velar och den andra spelaren får göra ännu ett drag. Spelare kommer förhoppningsvis inte vara övernitiska med tidsgränsen, har man börjat flytta en pjäs och tiden går ut så får man göra draget iaf. Striderna i orginalet gick alldeles för långsamt, det var som schack. Skillnaden är att det är okej om ett parti schack tar 1½ timme, Myt innehåller en hel hög med strider och en hel del annat som ska göras också, då måste striderna kortas ner.

Vadslagning i strid introduceras för att ge de två andra spelarna som för närvarande inte slåss något att göra. När striden inleds så kan de bestämma sig för att satsa ett antal pluppar var och om de satsat på vinnaren så får de plupparna den andre satsade. Enbart detta skulle nog antagligen bara leda till att spelare satsar i enbart solklara strider och då vill båda satsa på den starka. Därför tänker jag mig även att man kan hjälpa till, just nu går stridsystemet till ungefär så här. Spelaren Abel har enhet A som står brevid Baal enhet B och A är riktad mot B, då sänks B's hälsa med samma siffra som A's styrka, om B's hälsa blir eller hamnar under 0 så dör B, annars händer ingenting. Detta gör att om A inte kan döda B själv så behöver A hjälp av en annan enhet, A2. Jag tänkte mig dock att Cain och Damien som inte är med i striden själva kan betala pluppar för att sänka hälsopoäng(2 hp per plupp eller något), så att A kan besegra B utan att ta hjälp. Detta tillsammans med vadslagningen gör förhoppningsvis strider lite intressantare för alla.

Tema
Allt det här måste tematiseras ganska grovt, jag har lite idéer. Levande pluppar kan representera kämpar och döda pluppar blir då einherjar(eller hur nu plural av einherjer blir), kämparna som slogs i odens hall. Detta ger dock problemet att det bara var två gudar som hade kämpar, Oden och Freja, vilket lämnar två spelare utan. Just nu så står jag lite handfallen, vet inte riktigt hur jag ska få ihop det.

Trolla fram varelser kan, om man kör på kämpar/einherjer, ses som att det tar ett visst antal einherjer för varelse att anse sig besegrad och spelaren värdig att ge varelsen order i strid.

Jag har funderat en del över spelslutet, just nu massakrerar jag mytologin ganska grovt. Nästan gudar ska dö och bara två människor överleva, men om man väljer gudarna som överlever, t.ex. Odens söner Vidar och Vali samt Tors sönder Magni och Modi. Då skulle iofs man kunna motivera att einherjer följer dem för att de gjort sig förtjänta av det genom att vara bra på kamp, måste undersökas.

Övrigt
Det kommer bli en hel del flyttande av pluppar fram och tillbaks men jag har blivit lite förtjust i mekaniken efter att ha funderat ett tag. Jag oroar mig lite för att Midgård kommer bli översvämmat av pluppar så jag funderar på att dra ner antalet ganska kraftigt, men om man har någolunda stora(några cm per sida) rutor så borde det lösa sig.

Jag har hittat ett verktyg för att skapa digitala versioner av brädspel, jag kommer antagligen att skapa en enklare version av Myt i det här för att enklare kunna ordna testspel.

Funderingar kring Myt

Jag har under en tid funderat och klurat kring ett brädspel baserat på nordisk mytologi och har efter en del arbete samt hjälp från vänner(hinz skrev om det rejält till mer läsbar form) kommit fram till en version av reglerna som jag ansåg kanske var spelbar(finns här, inledningen skriven av hinz :) ).

Efter lite tjat fick jag med mig Alex, Åsa och Linus på en provomgång och...det visade sig inte vara ens i närheten av spelbart, vi spelade en halvtimme och resten av tiden satt jag och Alex och diskuterade hur man skulle kunna förändra reglerna medan Åsa halvsov och Linus såg förvirrad ut. Jag skrev ner en samling saker som behöver ändras och några förslag på hur man kan ändra dem. De stora problemen som upptäcktes var att saker tog för lång tid. Striderna tog för lång tid, de som inte stred höll på att somna. De två huvudspelplanerna var för lika, blev lite tårta på tårta, och båda tog för lång tid innan något hände, innan själva spelet faktiskt drog igång. Spelet lider även av ett problem som är väldigt vanligt med lite äldre spel, spelarna vars tur det inte är kan knappt göra ett smack.

Under tågfärden hemhem idag så funderade jag en del och kom på några förslag.

• Asgård görs om helt. Det blir istället en relativ ranking mellan de fyra gudarna som avgörs efter hur många pluppar(jobbar på namn :) ). Man får fler pluppar när ens enheter dör(eller något annat bra sätt) och kan spendera dem på att ge sig själv eller någon annan temporär hjälp i strid. Jag velar lite över vad ordningen ska avgöra. Det ska dels ge något bra under själva spelet samt något bra när Ragnarök väl inträffar. Just nu funderar jag på att det ska finnas fyra olika bonusar som gäller hela rundan, så att varje gud alltid får en, och att ordningen man liger i är ordningen man får välja i.
• Midgård görs betydligt enklare geometriskt. Dumpar den fasta spelplanen och gör om det till ett nät av lösa rutor. Vissa rutor innehåller byar, andra skog etc. Gör varje omgång lite intressantare, jag tänkte mig ett rutnät på kanske 12-16 rutor totalt. Vissa rutor hjälper spelaren på vissa sätt, detta borde göra att varje omgång blir ganska annorlunda strategiskt sett. Man kan inte röra sig från alla till alla rutor heller, tror jag. Skog->Vatten går bra för då kan man bygga en båt, Äng->Vatten går inte pga just trädbrist. De mytologiska varelserna som tidigare fanns i Asgård förflyttas till Midgård, jag funderar på om man ska kunna framkalla dem mot pluppar, lite som Magic: The Gathering. Funderar också på om jag ska göra pluppar till en generell grej, i Midgård är pluppar enheter, sedan är de "metafysiska-guda-pluppar"(ja, bättre namn...). När man skickar ut en armé så tar man ett antal pluppar ur enhetsplupphögen och sätter på ett numrerat kort, sedan tar man en numrerad bricka med samma nummer och knatar omkring på spelplanen med. Jag velar lite över om antalet pluppar i armén ska vara dolt eller inte. Lite krångel om det ska var dolt men det kanske ger ett extra spänningsmoment.
  
• Stridsplanen får ett timglas som rinner genom på 30sek, har man inte gjort sitt drag på 30 sek så tappar man draget. De andra spelarna som inte slåss har möjlighet att satsa pluppar på hur striden slutar, om den andra som inte slåss antar vadet så har de båda möjlighet att påverka striden genom att offra plupar för bonusar("ritualer"?). Jag tror på själva stridssystemet, lite schacklikt för er som inte orkat läsa reglerna, behöver bara snabbas upp.

Tecken

Inatt hade jag en mardröm om kapsyler som jagade och försökte äta upp mig, vaknade med ett ryck och slog omkring mig. Kan ju tydas som att jag kanske behöver en vit helg ;)

Hobbyprojekt

Jag är en ganska kreativ person men tiden räcker aldrig till. Jag kan bli intresserad av mer eller mindre vad som helst känns det som men intresset är ganska flyktigt, jag får en idé till ett projekt som vore jäkligt kul att genomföra men jag hinner ganska sällan mer än börja.

Gensimulator
Ett program som skulle börja på aminosyror för att sedan bygga ihop dem till gener, sedan proteiner och till slut celler med alla sina delar. Jag visste dock inget om hur allt det här hängde ihop men som tur är känner jag en biolog så jag frågade först henne en jäkla massa frågor och läste på Wikipedia för en grundläggande bild, sedan fastnade jag och lånade "Human Molecular Genetics" av henne. Det här projektet gled dock delvis över i nästa.

Artificiellt Liv
För ett par år, någon gång under högstadiet, sedan så hittade jag Tierra, det första riktigt lyckade projektet inom artificiellt liv. Jag blev väldigt inspirerad och har sedan dess varit rätt intresserad av AI/AL men aldrig tagit tag i det, en av anledningarna är att jag inte tror det finns pengar inom AL. Men när jag kikat en del på gensimulatorn så blev jag mer sugen på att skriva en egen variant av Tierra fast med ett högnivåspråk istället för assemblerkod. Det här vore en cool bas för projektet som följer.

Artificiella Kulturer
Jag kikade en del på det här och hittade en jäkligt intressant bok inom ämnet. Det ligger på en betydligt högre nivå, man har regler som styr hur individer reagerar och ser hur slutresultat blir. Ganska stora likheter med cellulära automata. Det vore jäkligt coolt om man fick ihop något sånt här ovanpå det ovanstående projektet.

Brädspelet
Jag har under de senaste 3 åren till och från knappat på ett brädspel baserat på nordisk mytologi. Förra våren fick jag ihop ett första speltest vilket var riktigt kul fast själva testet gick åt helvete. Spelet var knappt spelbart ö.h.t och reglerna behöver revideras ganska kraftigt men det var väntat. Främst så måste spelet snabbas upp. Nordisk mytologi och sagor är ett ganska stort sidointresse och jag tror att det går att få till ett bra spel av reglerna om jag väl får ordning på dem tills de går att speltesta igen.

Politik och religion
Internationella relationer är ett annat sidointresse, jag tycker det är intressant att se hur olika länder interagerar och försöka förstå och förutspå händelser. Har varit sugen på att läsa några kurser i statsvetenskap för att få lite djupare förståelse. Religion är i många fall ganska tätt invänt med politiken, speciellt om man tar sig till mellanöstern eller afrika, och jag tycker religion som verktyg för att kontrollera folkmassor är jäkligt intressant. Det faktum att många religioner/mytologier har väldigt vackra sagor gör det inte sämre.

Modelllandskap
Det här är egentligen planen för när jag blir pensionär, men under senaste sommaren så blev jag utråkad och bestämde mig för att börja titta lite på det, jag kom aldrig igång men jag fick ett par idéer. Jag vill inte bygga modeller av farkoster, personer eller något sådant utan för hand bygga upp landskap. Vore kul att ge det ett par ordentliga försök...någon gång när tiden finns. Jag har alltid gillat att pilla med små saker och det går att få till riktigt vackra landskap.

Tälja
Att ta en träklump och sakta men säkert forma den till något annat är en väldigt avslappnande upplevelse. Har dock knappt blivit av alls de senaste månaderna vilket är tråkigt. Om tiden finns, som vanligt, så ska jag försöka tälja lite under våren/sommaren.

Mamma och syrran, eller mamma och pappa, minns inte vilk, var i frankrike någon gång för några år sedan och då såg de en man som hade täljt ut rosor ur rotfrukter och sålde. Detta gav mig idén att även om jag inte har tid att tälja trä så kan jag tälja ur grönsaker så det har det blivit en del av. Ganska kul present när man är bortbjuden, gav en kompis en morots-cthulhu när hon fyllde år vilket var mycket uppskattat :) En annan kompis fick en potatis-pirat inkl. skattkista med små majskorn i.

Sniffer-ramverk
Nätverksprogrammering är ett annat litet sidointresse och en helg i höstas så började jag på ett ramverk för att skriva sniffers som kan lyssna av nätverkstrafik och sedan behandla denna på lite olika sätt.

Jag tror att jag kommer börja klättra, har kört en 3 ggr nu och det är riktigt kul. Jag önskar jag hade mer tid för matlagning, joggning, vore kul att börja träna kampsport igen men det har jag gett upp tills mitt liv klarar av iaf en schemalagd aktivitet. Hade varit kul att börja simma nån gång i veckan igen också.

Väldigt många intressen, väldigt lite tid över för varje.

Filmgenrer

Dags att reda ut lite oklarheter med hur actionfilmer kategoriseras. Beroende på hur bra en film är så finns det några olika nivåer de kan hamna i.

• Riktigt bra filmer, seriösa actionfilmer som lyckas vara seriösa eller oseriösa filmer som gör det bra("Shoot 'em up")
  
• Bra filmer men man minns den knappt, inget speciellt
• Dåliga filmer, man blir mest bara utråkad av dem, "Independence Day", de flesta svenska actionfilmer hamnar här.
  
• Dåliga filmer som är så pass dåliga att de blir roliga. Ska dock ses med vänner, en skål chips och läsk/öl, "xXx"
• Dåliga filmer som är för dåliga för att hamna i nivån ovanför, "Catwoman" eller "xXx 2". Undviks mer än pesten, står valet mellan att se dem och dö en plågsam död så är det faktiskt värt en funderare.
  
• Dåliga filmer som sjunker nedanför ovanstående kategori och blir roliga på nytt, detta kräver dock antingen en gravt bristande budget eller oanade kunskaper i hur man inte gör film. "Dracula 3000", "Legend of the Crocodile" eller "Rottweiler". Ses med vänner som vet vad som väntas. Det var under en sådan film som "Kuddfaktorn" uppfanns. Sådana här filmer blir ibland smärtsamma att titta på så man har en kudde man håller för ansiktet. Antalet gånger man måste göra detta blir filmens kuddfaktor, och det är lite ju högre desto bättre för att det blir en sämre film.
• Ett hedersomnämnande ska även göras, det finns en film som lyckats med konststycket att ta det ännu en nivå lägre. "Alone in the Dark", filmen som egentligen borde heta "Together in the Light". Det går nog inte att med ord beskriva precis hur dålig denna film är. Bland annat finns världens mest omotiverade sexscen, de flesta porrfilmer slås med hästlängder, i detta mästerverk i brist på filmkunskap.
  

Sådär, nu vet ni hur ni ska behandla actionfilmer i fortsättningen.

Edit:
Har fått in ett tips på hur dåliga filmer kan göras bättre: "Sätt att göra dåliga filmer bättre: Hitta en sak som händer ofta. En replik som upprepas, eller när någon gör en viss pose (steven segal funkar för den). Allt som sker ofta funkar. Varje gång det sker måste man dricka någon form av sprit". Detta skall prövas av undertecknad.

Visdomsord

Igår fick jag en länk av en kompis med en riktigt bra text jag tänkte lägga upp här också.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

IT-Support

Jag har, som säkerligen flera andra c:are, blivit utnämnd till släktens it-support. Förut när jag var intresserad av det och tyckte det var coolt så var det smickrande, "tänk, jag kan det här. de frågar mig". Nu bryr jag mig inte om att jag kan datorer, de är ett verktyg som vilket annat som helst, är mest jobbigt att alla ringer mig..."Hej, du som kan det här med data".

När jag försöker lösa ett problem så är general-lösningen "klicka runt tills jag hittar något som ser ut att vara bra och ändra lite saker där", repetera tills det förhoppningsvis fungerar. Tror det stora felet är att folk är rädda för att ändra saker, "men tänk om jag förstör något". Om man inte ger sig fan på att förstöra så går det nästan alltid att återställa allting genom att bara göra samma sak baklänges. Datorer börjar inte brinna för att man ändrar en inställning i operativsystemet.

Har börjat delegera jobb till riktiga supportavdelningar, jag orkar inte, BBB:s support för nätproblem etc. Stackars satar som har det här som jobb.

Saalbach

Bättre sent än aldrig som man brukar säga...jag var i saalbach 12-19 januari med några gamla kompisar och en ny(en kompis kompis). Vi flög ned och hem vilket var riktigt bekvämt jämfört att spendera 20h på en buss. Kom ner lördag eftermdidag och checkade in, hyrde skidor gjorde alla förberedelser. Söndag var vår första skiddag, upp vid 8 för frukost o sen ge oss iväg för pistvisningen. Helt underbart väder i fyra dagar; några få minusgrader, ingen till lätt vind, strålande solsken. Första dagen hade jag underställ, tröja och skaljacka och höll på att koka ihjäl, resten av veckan körde jag bara underställ och skaljacka vilket var ganska lagom. Sedan under torsdagen(5:e dagen) så kompenserade vädret genom plusgrader och regn så vi var på rummet hela dagen. Vi tog en promenad för att ha något att göra alls men byn var helt död dagtid, fanns ingenting att göra så det var en jäkligt lång dag. Fredagen så var det tungåkt men helt okej så det blev nästan en heldag då med.

Kvällarna så tog vi det ganska lugnt, det blev lite dricka på söndagen så vi åkte bakfulla hela måndagen, det var ganska hemskt så vi blev lite avskräckta och tog det lugnare resten av veckan. En kväll åt vi revbensspjäll tills vi inte fick in några mer vilket jag tyckte var ganska snålt av restaurangen men var en kul kväll. En annan kväll var det fondy vilket var gott, lite smaklös buljong och enkla ingredienser men goda såser och trevligt sällskap gjorde det till en bra kväll iaf.

Österrikisk öl är hemsk. Blaskig och smaklös, alla märken smakar likadant. Vi hade teorier om att det var samma bryggeri som sedan bara satte på en slumpmässigt vald etikett.

Det var tråkigt var att två blev sjuka mot slutet av veckan och inte kunde åka eller äta fondy på fredagen, men sånt som händer.

Totalt sett en väldigt härlig vecka. Trevligt folk och härliga backar för en helt okej peng.

Mot Saalbach

Japp, blir en skidsemester för mig med i år. Jag och fyra till kommer flyga mot österrike och saalbach om ungefär 2½ timme. Halv sju är verkligen traumatiskt tidigt att gå upp en lördag men och andra sidan så sov jag verkligen uruselt inatt. Somnade först vid tolv-halv ett och vaknade sissådär en gång i timmen av drömmar om att jag försov mig och missade allt, drömmar om exploderande plan, krashande plan, krashande jag på skidor etc etc...ni ser mönstret. Så...ingen trevlig natt och nu är jag helt otroligt trött, lär däcka på planet.

Önskelista 2

På släktens begäran kommer här önskelistan för födelsedagen:

• stil-/etikettbok för män (generell, inte bara senaste modet)
• ostkupa/plastbehållare att ha saker i kylen i
  
• calvin & hobbes the complete collection
  
• ISBN: 0740748475
  
• http://bok.compricer.se/0740748475
• axelväska
• whiskey/drinkglas
• rymlig ryggsäck som passar att resa med, t.ex. Everest Travel BP 70L
  

Nyår

Så var 2007 slut, blev rätt god middag och sedan fest hos mange med trevligt folk. Fick förvarningar om att det inte skulle komma så många men när vi väl kom dit så var det ändå en del folk där, totalt kanske 20-25 pers eller något sådant. Jag hade riktigt trevligt, trodde jag skulle bli trött ganska tidigt då jag sov för lite natten innan men festen var rolig så när några av ursprungliga sällskapet ville åka hem vid två-tre var vi fyra stycken som stannade kvar och sen flög tiden iväg så vi tog första bussen hem, kom väl hem vid sju-halv åtta eller så. Var ett tag sedan jag var ute så länge på en fest, var skoj tills fem, efter det var jag mest seg och halvsov i en soffa.

Sov tokdåligt inatt, vaknade flera gånger och vid tio-tiden gav jag upp sovandet och släpade mig till duschen. Lär slå rejält ikväll.

Har funderat lite och det blir några försenade nyårslöften

• Städa bättre
• Gnälla mindre
• Bli mer självsäker
• Sluta behöva prata om allt med en del personer

Har funderat på en sak, många verkar uppfatta mig som mesig för att jag gör saker för folk när jag egentligen inte direkt bryr mig. Ser ingen anledning att inte göra det om det inte är alltför jobbigt. Det stör mig. Kan jag hjälpa någon genom att göra något som inte diret kostar mig någonting så är det mesigt...