Excellent! Thanks Blogger

Ah! Blogger have created a spam filter also for comments! I can soon switch of the word verification, that is great! I just have to find the time to read more about the spam filter and then we'll try it out!

Virus

When my dear mother sends me an email in English, with a diet tip, and a link I know there is a virus or something similar...

Brilliant :-)

Weekend so far has been absolutely brilliant: I have had my head up among the clouds. I have a new little project (not going to go into details here) which is going super, and I am so excited.
Also had a lot of fun, with friends and others. OK that I haven't had time to sleep properly during the whole week, but I am running on pure endorphins this weekend. It is very practical though. (And super economic).
Yay!

Where are you? Food culture

IF you ever wake up somewhere, not knowing where you are, you know, like they do in films sometimes, there are a few tricks…

First of all; do you look OK? Can you go out without being arrested? If so, get dressed and go for a walk. When you see a restaurant, go and check the menu. If almost everything has pork in it, you know: You are in Germany. If you aren't totally convinced, order fried potatoes (not fries, just potatoes that have been fried, or sautéed, or whatever you, and if they come with little bits of bacon, it is definitely so, you are in Germany. It works with the sauerkraut too, I have never gotten sauerkraut with bits of bacon outside of Germany, in other countries sauerkraut is just pickled cabbage. Here it is pickled cabbage with bits of bacon.

When it comes to sauerkraut the trick only works one way though. Don't take it for granted that it isn't Germany just because there is no bacon, it doesn't work that way, because in Germany there are at least as many different kinds of Sauerkraut as there are states, probably a lot more…

You used to be able to check the size of the beers as well: Big beers would indicate south of Germany, but nowadays the October fest style beers are served elsewhere as well. However, a huge beer and pork together would indicate that you are in Germany

If you find a place that does "Schnitzeltag" – day of Schnitzel – where they serve some kind of Schnitzel (basically pork covered in crumbs and fried) the same weekday every week, you are also in Germany. This is what our canteen does, on Thursdays. Although to be certain that it is not just a one time occasion you of course have to wait a full week. If there is a reoccurrence of the Schnitzeltag, you know you are in Germany. Especially if the schnitzel is also served with pommes – i.e. with French fries – and a lot of mayonnaise. That is a sure indicator. If the schnitzel is served with capers and lemon you may be in Austria but the fries will give it away...

If, on the other hand, it is a Thursday and you have pea soup and then pancakes for dessert, you know you are in Sweden.

And if there is no lunch at all but sandwiches you know that you are in Norway, at least if everybody is eating sandwiches… If it is just a small portion of the people are eating sandwiches they may be students but if all or close to all are, you are in Norway. And the one or two people who aren't eating sandwiches for lunch are most likely Swedes visiting.

If mayo is served with everything you are for sure in Netherlands.

And if the salami is bright read, the hotdogs even more red and the cheese smelly without being really matured, you are in Denmark. If the smell of cheese goes through triple bags you are definitely in Denmark.

And if the food contains a lot of garlic you might be at my place.

Have complained about Schnitzeltag before - see here. Thursdays are always a challenge... 

Telekom making money

One could almost think that Deutsche Telekom has found a new way of making money. The time until my incoming calls on the mobile now comes in and goes to the answering service/voice mail is ridiculously short. I basically never get to the phone before the call has gone over to the answering service.

On the other hand very few leave messages so I guess it wasn't anything important and we'll talk about it next time I see them.

But still, it's very annoying. And a good way for Telekom to make extra money as they potentially have twice as many calls?

*sigh*

Yes, I'm trying to find out if I can extend the time before it goes to the answering service. No luck so far. If anyone has tips I would be grateful!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

To my horror I just realised I missed the wedding anniversary of my darling parents this year! Shame on me!

Mum and darling extradad:

I love you guys, thanks for showing me what is important in life and thanks for showing me that love is a beautiful thing and having fun together is super important. Thanks for letting me be me and thanks for my wonderful family, my sibillings that I love more than anything in this world.

I am so happy and proud to be part of our family!

:-)

Just so you know, today is another day and I am happier and less concerned and I am certainly going to stay in Germany (in case you saw my rant yesterday where I was ticked off with Germany; It took about 20 minutes and then all was good again, and besides I had a really nice evening yesterday with a lot of laughs - that is the best vaccine!)

20% price increase

Since I moved offices I haven't been to the local "döner" - kebab - shop for a while. I simply go to the canteen instead, as that is closer. Monday was an exception. So for the first time since May I come down to the place, order the normal food, take up my money. And it isn't enough. Turns out they have raised the prices.

They tell me that "everything has gotten more expensive". Except it hasn't, inflation rate is close to zero, or at least that was the last number I heard. And how much has the prices gone up? Not much in money, perhaps, but the increase is 20 %.

No, I am not going to there again. 20% price increase is against my principles, especially over such a short time. It's not even that good. Why would I pay the same for a Döner, even if it is a "Döner Teller" - Kebab plate - with rice etc when I can get a proper meal next door for the same price? I e a freshly cooked meal with food that I will last much longer on. It doesn't matter if Kebab costs more at other places, I don't compare with other places, I compare with what else I can get for the same money. I can also go into the supermarket and buy my own food that I can heat up or prepare. A lot cheaper than what I pay for the kebab.

You don't increase prices with 20% unless you also add something more; Better quality, spicier sause, what ever, but you have to motivate the increase...

And see, THAT my friends is exactly the problem with setting the price too low to start with.

I can't help but wonder why - a supermarket where photos are banned?

Inside one of the supermarkets here in Düsseldorf, Kaiser's, I am told off when trying to take a photo of one of their products. It is not allowed to photograph in the shop. That is made VERY clear to me.

Now in this case it was a product that had some strange text (to me, the Swede) on it, and yes, I admit I wanted to take a picture of as it translated into something very different in Swedish than what it is in German), but I also use the camera to take photos of things I need to buy or tell others to buy. So sometimes, or most times the shops kind of benefit from the photos I take, and I certainly don't take pictures of people and I also don't take photos to be mean. But yes, it also happens that I take photos of the price tags and other relevant data, like the content of a product. It's not that i can't get it anyhow, it is just quicker to take a photo.

But Kaiser's doesn't allow photos.

And when I am asking the staff why they don't know but again reemphasis that it is not allowed anywhere in the shop.

Unfortunately the only thing I can think is "what have they got to hide". In Sweden there was a food scandal a few years ago, to do with minced meat, and after that some shops banned photos. I can't help but wonder myself why there is a photo ban, especially when the staff doesn't know why. I don't mind rules that are there for a purpose, rules that can be explained. But rules that CAN'T be explained, rules for the sake or rules? Surely there must be some underlying reason. For some reason the purpose of it has not been disclosed to the staff though. That feels very strange.

I leave without buying anything.

And I am not convinced I'll be back.

Ich spreeec -- no, no German today

Speaking German after having been to the dentist and with only half a face working is not easy. Not easy at all. It feels like half my face belongs to someone else, and it seems it is the part of the mouth required to speak German that is gone. So today it is English only.
I am not sure if anyone can actually hear the difference when I speak German but that doesn't matter, I can feel it and that is all that counts.

(OH, and putting lipstick on when the mouth feels like it belongs to someone else is also odd...)

Thing one may find on the balcony

I have a very nice balcony. But it is not just nice, it is also very interesting. I have NO idea how the red plastic football that I found there ended up there. No kids in my house, but a big dog downstairs. Is he the new Sebastian Schweinsteiger? Or the new Maradona, or perhaps Ibrahimovic?

I am starting to suspect that there are neighbours trying to aim at my tomato plants?
Well, it is not the first time things are falling from the sky or at least some floors up here...
And no, I don't take it personally. But I do find it quite amusing when I find odd things up here...

app app app! Did I allow that?

Hohoho, I am very good at upsetting people at the moment it seems...
I am just not good at sticking to the protocol.

A while ago I wrote about how difficult it is to get companies to email me, they insist on calling.
I also wrote about it upsets me that women have to pay much more for their health insurance here in Germany, compared to men, despite the fact that men make more money and get higher pensions. We are punished in every way for being women. Anyhow.

The background for these posts were that I was looking over some of my contracts, insurances as well as other things (Hello Telekom!).

Today one of the people called. For a contract that I originally had planned to change in a while. Well, anyhow, for this specific thing - doesn't matter what it was - I got hold of a person, got enough info, compared different options, and decided to change sooner than later, it was simply a better deal. So I told the person who called me that I had already made an agreement.

OH MY! HE wasn't happy with me.

So now I know whom not to go to next time it is time to renegotiate these contracts. Seriously? He started questioning me, I thought I as a customer had the right to decide which contracts etc. I want to sign? And when? Seems I was wrong, or what? Really, this guy got angry with me because I didn't go with him, I actally had the GUTS to go and check for myself what I wanted to do, and make my own decision. Horrible horrible me!
I assume he is getting really good provision, normally...

*Sigh*

(Oh yes, it happens in Sweden too, even if not as bad, but there I can dismiss them in my mother tongue. That is a bit easier... )

Hmmm...

Now I am finally losing it. I knew this day would come, and now it is here...

All night my dreams have been in German. Great. Shows that I am starting to get integrated, right? Except my brain used words I didn't know I knew. So when I woke up I had to look them up... I am VERY curious to why I was shouting about shovels - shaufeln - in my dream, for example. I am serious. I don't have a house, I don't even have a shovel where I live now, and no need for it, and I don't recall ever talking about shovels with a German, or in German, and yet, that's one of the words my brain seem to want me to know.

Odd.

Anybody want to buy a brain that seem to have lost its mind? Mine may be for sale. Cheap.

Not so active

Not very active when it comes to blogging at the moment. My dear iPhone, which I use to write many of my posts, doesn't love me any longer, and I don't love it. I often write when I am on the train to and from work, and then just edit at home, before publishing (and sometimes after). But since the move to the new operating system for the iPhone, the old iPhone 3G and I are not really good friends anymore, it keeps crashing and when it doesn't crash completely it just freezes, so everything takes so much longer, which has lead me to slow down on the updates. It is just frustrating so I do something else instead (read, sleep, draw).

When I get a new phone I will try and be more active again. Until then, don't forget me. I WILL continue to write, just not quite as long and not quite as frequently all the time...

(And just like everybody else I write less in the summer, as there are more outdoor activities happening in the summer).

I don't like to be told how to do technical stuff

And especially not when the people are telling me how to pump air into a tire. A BICYCLE TIRE. WITH A BICYCLE TIRE PUMP.

And especially when

a: The pump is the pump that actually came with the bike.
b: The tire is filling up.

When someone in this situation comes and try to tell me that a: It is not working and b: They can fix it I feel like slapping them.

Yes, I tell them off too...

Men who thinks they know better because they are men? Seriously? Aren't we past that now? It would have been one thing if they ASKED if I wanted help but when they come and tell me that it doesn't work despite the tire filling up?

OK, I admit, I did some talking while starting and didn't pay 100% attention so it took a little longer than I had planned, to fill it, but we are talking seconds.

Help me when I ask for help or ask if I want help if I am doing something seemingly complicated but don't insult my inteligence by assuming I am an idiot who can't fill a tire. HUFF!

Hamburg festival - clever!

I really have to say that I was impressed by the organisation of the festival I visited in Hamburg. There were some minor issues when I first arrived, in that the queues were long, for someone from Sweden (for the Germans used to "Stau", traffic jam, I am convinced that it was nothing though).

From the train station you could have walked but there were shuttle busses that worked really well - and ran often, but what you see on the picture what was really impressed me; You could cycle to the event, and to make sure you felt comfortable leaving your bike, they had brought in a number of fences so that you could lock your bike onto something when going inside to listen to music. Now THAT is what I call service! No wonder I loved being in Hamburg!

HAMBURG

All I can say is:
I WILL come back. Soon!
For now I am however back home - and loving that too. Düsseldorf showed itself from a good side today, despite lack of sunshine, and I got some important stuff done after I got back from my little trip.

And yes, I WILL write some more things about wonderful Hamburg, when I have the time, but not tonight :-)

Books that you get for free

Books that you get for free with the magazine you just bought are often for free for a reason. But they are books so I do now and then give them a chance anyhow.

When the first chapter has all this I find it difficult to continue though:

"Carla Harris stared at the man with the sensual, brooding expression, wishing he would smile, because whenever Dr. Ivan Campbell did smile, it reminded her of pinpoints of sunlight breaking through dark storm clouds."

And then it goes on and on about the interiors in the man's flat and so forth. WAY to many uninteresting - to me - details. It just feels like total stupidity. I am sorry! And maybe I am wrong, maybe this is really a fantastic book, but somehow I don't think so.


When the title is "Man of Fantasy" and the series is called "The Best Men" and the name of the author (Rochellle Alers) is bigger than the name of the book, looking at the front page, and they have had to print "National Bestselling Author" all over the front, I guess I shouldn't have too high expectations, should I.

Reading the back doesn't make it better, let me tell you. Bachelor meets woman of his dream, who doesn't want a relationship, but this time he who never wanted to be serious is the one who wants more and may end up heartbroken.

*Sigh*

And yet, since it is a book and since I have it in my bookcase - I can't throw away books and I can NOT give this specific book away either, someone may think that I recommend it - I may end up reading it sometime, just like you sometimes read horrible gossip magazines when you are at the hairdresser but would never admit it. Scary...

(Yes, I DO understand that there is a market for it, or it wouldn't have been written. It's just not for me, others may well find it fascinating. On the other hand, who knows, maybe some day I will find some books like this amusing. It's just that the life described in these books, and the women described, is something I just can't feel connected to. In any way. )

Sorry, but when it comes to books I am sometimes a snob, I know. I say I read everything but I don't. Not this kind of stuff...

Wish it wasn't so smelly!!!

I really wish German men (no, not everybody, but many) would stop using half the bottle of perfume/after shave every time they dress up. It is kind of weird when you have to change to another part if the train because it smells so strong. And especially now that Fahrenheit seems to be in fashion again. That one was popular in Sweden in the 90-ies and I think we may have all gotten an overdose then...

(A little is nice but don't overdo it, guys, we are just wondering what you are trying to hide. Regardless of perfume. (But only related to perfume). Fresh is good but we are not supposed to get a headache just by sitting close to you...)

Luckily none of my friends is going wild with the perfumes - at least not as far as I have seen (or smelled) but then again I don't see them when they are on their way to work.
 

These guys can get really big

Dúné, from Denmark
Saw them yesterday, in Hamburg, and it was FANTASTIC, they are incredible live!
Saw them before, in Düsseldorf, at Zakk, and that was good, but this was unbelievable, they have a tremendous energy on stage and are so much fun to watch. I kind of lost my voice even...

Going to keep a close look at what is happening with them in the future and whenever they play in the nearby I'll certainly try and see them. This band have potential to get really big, fantastic performers!

The video is from the official site on Vimeo, and is just a link to the site - go there if you want to see or read more about them.  


Heiress Of Valentina (Princess) (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) from Dúné Official on Vimeo.

For the record - Facebook

Just for the record... The screen shot here is from Facebook. Notice the text in the middle: It's free, and always will be.

On a regular basis there are rumours circulating that Facebook are going to start charging for their service. Well, this screenshot is from this week, and I will hold it against them if they change their minds and start charging.

Wouldn't surprise me if they started to charge for certain services some time, but that is a different story, I guess.

Still living on this one - it made my day

I was in a very good mood yesterday, and walking through Altstadt in Düsseldorf I smiled broadly - I often do, but this time even more than usual, thinking about how good life is.
And then a woman stops me, tells me that I have a beautiful smile, wishes me a great day, and continues her walk.

I LOVE this city. If you just greet it with the right attitude it will greet you back just as nicely!

Tågstationer - train stations

I LOVE train stations, when I am out travelling I always try and stop by the train station too. Train stations are hope for me, hope about something different, about change.

And then I get the link below, and to my excitement I have been to several of the top 10 rail stations!

http://www.tourism-review.com/top-10-amazing-railway-stations-news2211

The one in Kuala Lumpur is absolutely beautiful, but not very practical, in fact very little in that city is, the motorways are criss crossing and blocking off blocks, so you may well walk down one road only to discover that no, you can't get through there but have to go all the way back and around instead, from that point of view Bangkok was considerably better (but Bangkok train station didn't make it to the top list though. Nor do their trains...)

Atocha in Madrid, Spain is another station I really enjoyed.

But Australia I have yet to discover,

Antwerpen, Belgium is there, just like St Pancras i London - both two stations that I really like.

But what I miss on the list, what I really miss on the list is my top train station: Grand Central Station in New York City. Although I must admit that one of the reasons I really love that place is the fantastic oysters, I always tend to stop by Grand Central Station and the Oyster Bar there, for a little lunch feast when I am in the city, and that is what makes Grand Central station so special...

Design

So I am working on a little design thing, and I decide to give Microsoft Publisher a try, after all I have the software so why not use it. At least check it out.

OK, I know, I know, I know. Where we have stag nights and who knows what US are using different terminologies and have other names for things. And other events too. I can't help but smile when I under the templates for "Invitation Cards" see "Shower".

I am sorry, but I am not going to invite someone to my shower, and if I DO, an invitation card will not be needed... I'll just tell him face to face.

Word Verification

I removed the Word verification for comments yesterday, before going to bed. This morning I had spam waiting for me. So the word verification is on again, I really don't want spam comments. I love other comments but spam from unknown resources I don't want to see.

Update: The last spam message I received during that short time when I switched off the word verification contained 21 different links to everything from Energy drinks to banking info. I don't want a commercial blog and even if I wanted I want to decide what to advertise. So there is no way I will let spam through. I have however switched of the approval function to see if it works for a while. But the word verification has to stay, I'm afraid.
I know most of the spam is coming from mail robots, they can't read the word verification...

We all want different things

On the way to the concert I stop at the food shop. The kids are getting vodka, the old people are getting beer.

I'm getting two bananas...

She loves you?

She loves me, she loves me not...

You are darn right, she loves you not if you are a smoker, cigarette smoke is the biggest turn-off I can imagine and I'm sure that's the same with many others, unless they are smokers themselves.

Seriously, how stupid does cigarette commercials get?

Worst thing is that they obviously work because this country is full of smokers! And that goes especially for Nordrhein Westfalen - "my state"...

And I on purpose cut out the cigarette brand, yes. 

I am really surprised that it is legal to advertise the way the tobacco companies do here in Germany, to be completely honest...

Home sick

I step of the tram in the area I lived in then I first moved to Düsseldorf, and then and there it hits me. I almost feel like crying. The home sickness. This is the missing part. I love Düsseldorf but this part if Düsseldorf, the part that I first landed in, where the journey towards finding my way back to myself really started, this is it, this area I don't just love, this area represents so much for me.

The little furnitured flat I had, on the top floor, with crooked book cases, crayfish party decorations in the windows, the shower from hell that tried hard to scald me every morning - or froze me - the tiny and now very comfortable sofa and the big kitchen table and fantastic painting of a crab on the wall in the bedroom.

The local shops where people soon started to recognised me (my first Turkish fruit and vegetable shop in Düsseldorf, where I felt like a local, the only place I could get PROPER yoghurt, not the sweet stuff that the Germans are crazy about), the grill just opposite, where they have terrific souvlakis but nowhere to sit, except a little smoked-in corner, and where they sold - sell - beer to go, something you don't have in Sweden but everywhere here, I have learned now, the walk to the tram in the morning, me getting kind of lost trying to discover the new area - no iPhone then, map was a paper map - me mistaking the light switch for the neighbours door bell in the middle of the night - not just once but many times - getting to know some of the people that I now consider to be close friends, and more important, finding out that once I had time to be alone I really enjoyed the company. I started to really discover what is important to me and that I need to prioritise myself - if I am not happy with myself I can not be happy with other people - and this is where I first fell in love with Düsseldorf.
I love this city, I love this country - even if I can get frustrated with it ever so often - I love being in a place where I don't fit in completely and where that is actually OK and expected, and I love and adore this specific little area just north of the city centre. I will always feel a bit home sick when I come here.
 
And yet I know that it's just like with other things in life: I could never go back and find all that I found then. Things have changed and I am also not the same. And I would miss the area where I live now terribly too, if I left it. I have gotten all and more in my current area and I just have to remember that.

I also have to realise that I romanticise my first time in Düsseldorf, and the first area I lived in - and enjoy the memories but not try to find my way back, because it will not be possible.. Part of being homesick or longing for something is obviously also the mere knowledge that one can never find it back... At least not completely, because people and places change too, and you change, and hence your perception of the people and places. Luckily...?

A quote - but I don't remember from whom

I saw a photo exhibition where I read the following - sorry if it is not directly quoted:

"I don't think I ever asked anyone to smile on a photo. Quite the opposite, a smile always hides something".

The quote was very strong, and I want to find out more about the artist - but my problem is I can't remember who he was and where I saw it, I have been to so many art exhibitions and museums lately that I am mixing them all up, when I haven't written it down. Just in Stockholm I did Fotografiska (see the Lennart Nilsson exhibition but especially the Annie Liebovitz exhibition), Moderna Museet (Ed Ruscha was interesting, very, but Keren Cytter did nothing for me - and the permanent collection is great), Nationalmuseum (can recommend the free exhibition about the Bernadotte family, by the way), a number of galleries, Sjöhistoriska (really nice staff by the way!), and a couple of other things. And then we have all the other places I go to as well, in various cities.

But if someone happens to stumble in here and recognize the quote, and possibly knows who said it, and can tell me who it was I'd be very grateful!

The post that never was

I wrote this long post on the way to work today, about some people try and play the "guilty concious card" against you and how life is short and you shouldn't waste your energy on such things and on such people.
And then I decided not to post that because I want my blog to be a positive blog, with strange and odd observations and not a forum for whining. So I deleted the post - and wish you all a great week instead :-)

That's what they are for

I love being single. Fits me like hand in glove - you can probably figure out why when you read my blog, there is so much going on all the time, so much fun stuff to do and so many trips to make and people to meet in this world. Being single I don't have to adjust to anyone, except the people I visit, and I can do things on an impulse. But now I found out why it would be good to have a man in my life:

IKEA furniture. OH MY GOD, building (or more assembling) IKEA furniture is utterly boring. Being single you HAVE to do it yourself, you can't trade a nice "I will mown the lawn /clean the bathroom/do the taxes/change tires on the car for "If you build the IKEA furniture". It is not very difficult to build, unless it is big and heavy, in which case you need someone to help you lifting things, but it is SO boring. I had forgotten HOW boring, I was in a relationship for too long...

But OK, I don't need any furniture so I can just happily stay single. :-)

(And anyhow I am pretty sure I have some good friends who would help me if I really needed it. Got the best friends.)

I don't have a bed anymore

My bed is no longer a bed, it is a just a pillow stand. The German pillows are so big that I can hardly see the bed anymore, and hardly fit into it myself. It's like when you are a child and you want to have all the teddy bears in the bed at the same time...

(OK, I may be exaggerating slightly. But just slightly)