Forgetting things part II

I’m actually getting a bit worried about myself forgetting things. Lately it has been names on people who I see or talk to every day. For example, last week on the flight to London I sat next tone of the big wigs in the company. We had a very interesting conversation and I tried some of my ideas on him. A little bit later when we were all waiting for the train to Paddington I wanted to tell my other colleague what we had been talking about, but when I’m about to say the big wig’s name my mind goes totally blank. I just starred at both him and my colleague. I had no idea what his name was, even though I had just spent the last two hours with him and knew him from before. My colleague saved me with making a joke wondering how much I had to drink on the plane.

The next day right before leaving the office I was talking to one of the suppliers who had been part of the meeting. I wanted to tell him that we would ask the UK manager, who was standing next to us. But when I was going to say the name of the UK manger my mind went totally blank and instead I was just stuttering some ahs and ums. The supplier helped me out by saying "Don’t worry, I don’t remember his name either. But I know who you’re talking about". Embarrassing!

Yesterday it happened again. I didn’t remember the name of one of my team members. If was going to ask him if had done one of the things we had talked about earlier, but instead I just starred at him going um and ah. Thankfully he made a joke about saying something that he had only been part of the team since August, so no wonder I didn’t remember his name. Myself I just felt so stupid.

I really want to believe that it’s stress and having too much on my mind that causing this, but at the same time I feel little bit worried. I used to remember everything and everybody, now just I’m happy that I remember my own name. Just kidding, it hasn’t gone that far. But I do wonder if it is possible that the brain can get too full. So to remember new more important things it leaves/empties out those less important things. Or am I just getting old and forgetting things?

Something to smile about

I found this in the SAS in-flight magazine going home last week.

"Europeans, like some Americans, drive on the right side of the road, except in England, where they drive on both sides of the road; Italy where they drive on the sidewalks; and France, where if necessary they will follow you right into the hotel lobby."

~ Dave Barry ~

Cold, wet and dark

Not only is it getting dark by 4:30 since we changed the clocks yesterday. Over night it also got cold. Today the temperature managed to get up to +5 and it's been pouring outside most of the day. I’m in sheer misery right now and it’s only going to get worse. Ugh! Why, oh why do I live in a country where it’s cold, dark and wet for more than six months each year?

A good politician

They are a rare species, but they do exist. Johan Norberg writes:

He left parliament voluntarily because he didn’t want to become a professional politician, and I just noticed that he doesn’t want to live on the taxpayers´ expense now that he has left. So perhaps this is the time to confess: For a long time I have thought that Gustav Fridolin - despite his green, anti-growth views - seems like one of Sweden’s most decent, interesting and intellectually honest politicians.

I agree. Gustav Fridolin might be green and I don’t agree with many of his ideas, but I do like a person who is true to his ideals.

High drama in a bar

Watching people is one of my favourite things to do. Especially in airports, train stations etc. Who are they and where are they going? Bars and restaurants are also fun. And with my vivid imagination everything is really possible. On Monday night in London I saw something that still makes me wonder.

After a late meeting and dinner with some colleagues we decided to do the prepping for next day’s meeting in the corner of the hotel bar (where everybody was staying besides me. In rooms that is. Not in the bar…). I’m sure it looked very ambitious with six people squeezing together in front of a small laptop at 10:30 in the evening…

A man and woman were sitting next to us and suddenly the woman starts crying. First very quiet but as time goes it gets louder and louder. The man next to her just sits there being totally calm and unconcerned, even though he goes and gets her another glass of wine. For a while she calms down, but then she starts crying again. I’m the one sitting closest to them and just to be able to concentrate on what we are talking about I turn my back to them. But now instead I can see the whole dram in the mirror in front of me. She cries, calms down, drinks some wine and starts crying again. In between she blows her nose very loud. All the time the man next to her does nothing. Totally numbed for the waterworks besides getting her a third glass of wine. Looking at my colleagues who can’t turn their backs to the drama I notice how they are having a hard time concentrating as well. Suddenly one of them says – Should we give her a sheet? And all of us crack up.

I left the drama a bit before 11 to go to my (very dodgy) hotel, but according to my colleagues it went on for another hour or so when they left. The next day neither of us could stop wondering what could have caused all those tears. Either he was breaking up with her deciding to do it in a public place to avoid a scene. Can’t say it worked… Or she was begging for forgiveness wanting to come back and he was totally cold about it. Didn’t work either… Or maybe they were not even a couple. That’s why he was so unemotional. We will never know.

Books, books, books

While in London I also visited Borders to buy some magazines and of course books. I haven’t finished reading all the books I bought the last time in London, so it wasn’t really like I needed more books. But then on the other hand one can never have too many books… So I left Borders with two quite heavy bags. Something that Philip also noticed being a gentleman and carrying the bags when we were looking for a restaurant. Thank you! I owe you!

Talk to the Hand – Lynne Truss
Where did words like please and thank you go?

Watching the English – Kate Fox
The hidden rules of English behaviour.

How to walk in high heels – Camilla Morton
The girl’s guide to everything.

Having time over at Heathrow the next day I could of course resist not stopping at Books etc. end got two moor books. Now I just need some time off so I can read, read and read.

Left bank – Kate Muir
Life in the most exclusive and elegant neighbourhood of Paris.

Bookends – Jane Green
Two friends and a bookshop.

Italian dinner

Dinner with blogger friend Philip on Tuesday night in London was as usual most enjoyable. After a bit of wandering around in the surprisingly warm evening we decided on Ristorante Sirena on James Street. A classic Italian restaurant with traditional home made cooking. While ordering we nibbled on bread, olives, chopped mozzarella and tomatoes. Having never liked olives I tried again, but no. I do not like olives. Green or black, it doesn’t matter. Olives are just not for me.

For starters we both ordered bruschetta, which turned out to be two big slices of bread filled with loads of fresh tomatoes. One thing was for sure, we ere not going to leave this place hungry. As main course Philip decided on home made ravioli while I went with smoked salmon in creamy sauce with fettuccine. A sauce so creamy I managed to splash Philip’s tie across the table.

Right in the middle of a discussion about WWII and Sweden being neutral or not, six men came downstairs where we were sitting. Pretty fast I realised they were Swedish and after a couple of more minutes I understood that they were from Gothenburg. Thankfully I was sitting with my back to them, but I noticed in a mirror how one of them were listing while we continued talking about the Swedish Minister of Trade who resigned after only eight days as minister. And the Minister of Culture who resigned after ten days. Swedish politicians at their best…

After finishing off the very tasty wine (I don’t remember the name. Just that it was very dark red close to almost purple) we strolled over to a pub for a last drink before saying goodbye. A pub without any Swedes, as far as I noticed. Because for a while there I felt like my countrymen were following me. The barmaid in the pub we went to before dinner was Swedish and then the six men at the restaurant. Not that very unusual really. London has a quite a big Swedish community (around 25000 I think). But when I’m in London I like to be non-Swedish. At least for a while.

Cats at the Opera

Last night it was time to see Cats at the Opera. We bought the tickets right before the summer and back then it felt like an eternity - October 27. Well, it’s now October 28 so time flies…

This version of Cats was slightly different from the original one, which I saw in London probably 15 years ago. All the performances were in Swedish and the set design had been modernised. Something that felt a little bit strange at first, but the music was still the same and so were the classical songs. What impressed me most was all the dancing and acrobatics. The set really WERE cats. All characters were adorable (and I usually don’t like cats...). My favourite cat was a chubby red one who really wasn’t one of the main characters but somehow was on stage most of the time. He or she just played the role so well and if I was suppose to have a cat it would be one exactly like that. (That would never happen since I’m allergic to cats, but still.) The character/cat just got to my heart. Plain adorable.

Home sweet home

After two nights in a dodgy hotel it was very nice be sleep in my own bed last night. As a quite experienced traveller I’ve have stayed in both weird and cheap places over the years. My threshold is usually pretty high before I start complaining, but my latest experience from London was a bit too much.

I got in pretty late on Monday night about 11:00 pm. The receptionist who checked me in didn’t speak much English and got a bit upset when I wasn’t British since he then had to fill out more forms. My room turned out to be a double room so for five minutes I just laid flat on my back relaxing on the big bed. Having kicked off my shoes I later bent down to pick them up two cockroaches ran next to skirting board before disappearing behind a cupboard. Eeek! The threshold between the room and bathroom had probably been dampen by water over the years and two times when I turned on the light I noticed how dark grey oval little things (not silverfishes) sneaked under threshold and carpet. Eeek again!

I usually sleep pretty light the first night in a hotel and by 1 o’clock in the morning I woke up hearing a man and woman outside my door. According to the conversation and noise things were about to get steamy. And yes, five minutes later I could hear the bed squeaking in the room next to mine. I dozed off and was startled by the man shouting "Get the h*** out of there! Here’s you f****** money!" and the door closed with a bang. While I was trying to understand what the man had just said I could hear the woman walk away in the corridor. Five minutes later the phone rang in the other room and a couple of minutes later the man left the room as well. Lying there in bed I felt quite uneasy even though I knew I was safe and sound in my room. After a while I managed to doze off again, but not for long.

Around 3 or 3:30 am the same procedure happened again about. The steamy conversation and noise outside my door, the squeaking bed, the paying off by the door, someone walking down the corridor, a phone ringing and then the other person leaving the room. By then I was really wishing that I were at home in my own bed. I know things like this could happen in any hotel regardless of number of stars, but being on the other side of a very thin door was a bit too much for me. It’s very important for me when I stay alone in a hotel that I feel safe and secure. When travelling for business the hours in the hotel room are needed for relaxation and sleeping. Not for feeling uncomfortable or worried.

The second night I slept like a log. I don’t know if it was from the lack of sleep from the night before or from having had a nice dinner with wine and drinks. Maybe a combo of both. But I did sleep. Even though the pillows where driving me mad for a while. One was too soft and the other one was too hard. So I guess it’s true what they say, there is nothing like your own bed. And another thing is also true. I will never ever stay at this hotel again.

Time for London again

I’m off again to London in a couple of hours. An agenda packed with meetings starting already tonight. The trip was supposed to be a quick one with just job and no fun, in and out in less than 24 hours. But late last week some meetings got changed which meant that I had to stay another night. And another night means that I will get few hours over to visit my favourite bookshops on Charring Cross Rd and then have dinner with a dear friend. So maybe having to stay another day wasn’t that bad after all.

Taking vs. giving

Hugh MacLeod at Gapingvoid has the best explanation of the difference between Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 I’ve come across in a long time. It’s all very simple:

"Dotcom was about 'taking'. Web 2.0 is about 'giving'."

Being part of the Dotcom era (yes, I’ve been around for that long…) I remember how we created things for the users hoping they would use it. The users should just take what we were giving/offering them. No interaction.

Now interaction is a must. We want the customers to be part of what we do and say. We want them to share their thoughts, ideas, photos, video etc. The whole wide world web has turn into a big community where we all give and share most everything. Good or bad, I don’t know. But I do like the feeling of community and being part of something big that we’ve only seen the start of. Giving is here to stay.

Sad, but very true

I almost spit coffee all over my screen reading this. Have someone been reading my mind for the last couple of weeks? I’m right there in the middle of arguing for a new system.

1. We don't need this
2. Who'll pay for it
3. Here's our solution we bought it and people will use it irrespective that it sucks
4. Oh to hell with it let them do what they want

I can only laugh... Otherwise I will never get out of this project still being sane...

Skinny models

Ever since Madrid Fashion Week banned underweight models earlier in September the debate has been raging. What is too skinny? According to supermodel Claudia Schiffer today’s models ARE too thin.

"Fashion looks good on thin models, but when you look at today's models you can not help but think there is something wrong. They are way too thin. It is only bones that stick out."

Quite a healthy attitude, even though looking at Ms Schiffer’s stats one can’t wonder if being 1.82 metres (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighing 58 kg (128 lb) is healthy. I personally also wonder how it feels to be that skinny. Would it be wonderful? Or would it be awful? Something to ponder on…

Anyone up for Scrabble?

Stephen Reed Industrial Design just installed these cool Scrabble benches and pillows in the office of Bloomberg London. I like. Very much.

Too much of everything

Too much wine. Too much chocolate. I just realised that I’m being destructive. Seems like if I don’t go to the gym I act like I’m free to do what ever I like to when it comes to eating and drinking. A good way to dampen all those feelings and thoughts that keep buzzing around in my mind. Today I had lunch with one of my favourite colleagues at work. Telling him what the heck is going on made me feel quite good. For a while at least. But just before leaving work one our consultants called and the race was on again. Asking if I was strong enough to hold off against my boss. My answer was that I’m probably already a nuance, so another thing won’t matter. The Iron Lady is becoming quite difficult. Do I want to be difficult? Not, really. It’s just that I don’t know when to keep quiet. Why do I have to be so darn opinionated? Why can’t I just shut up like everybody else? I know my colleague is supporting me and some other people as well, but I can’t help wondering how long I will be able to go on like this. I just want someone to tell me that I’m good. That what I’m doing is OK. Is that too much to ask for?

RED iPod

Never would I think the day would come when I was actually thinking about buying an iPod, but the day is here. It’s not because I’ve fallen deeply in love with products from Apple. (I haven’t lost all of my marbles yet…) No, the reason is behind this strange change of heart is that iPod have gone RED. Red as in colour but most important RED as designed to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

I’ve written about RED before and the importance of abolishing AIDS in Africa. A continent is slowly dieing with the rest of the world as bystanders. We need to act now, and buying RED products is an easy way to contribute. So take a stand. Buy RED! I know I will.

Quote to like

If reality contradicts your thoughts, that's delusion. If your thoughts contradict your actions, that's madness. If reality contradicts your actions, that's defeat, frustration, self-destruction. And no sane being wants delusion, madness and destruction.

Via Samizdata

Oops. Big oops

Accidents do happen. Ask casino magnate Steve Wynn who accidentally gave a multimillion-dollar canvas by Picasso an elbow.

Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called "Le Reve" (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.

Guess one could only say oops. Big oops.

French white wines

The theme of tonight’s wine testing was French white wines. Since French winemaking is the role model and mother of all winemaking this is a subject one could talk a lot about, and drink a lot of too of course.

We started off with Champagne de Pompadour. A bit of a bargain when it comes champagnes, but still a very good one. Quite sparkling with big bubbles, which increase the festivities of drinking champagne. The taste was pretty dry with hints of flowers and citrus. But I also found some almonds and nuts in the after taste.

Next wine was Sancerre Les Baronnes 2005 form the Loire Valley. The first taste came off a pretty weak, but then more or less exploded with strong aromas a tropical fruits and nettles. I have a feeling this wine would go very well with seafood as scallops, shrimps and white fishes.

As number 3 we tried Chassagne-Montrachet 2004. A Bourgogne with lot of oak, mineral and yellow plums. The taste also had some hints of dried fruits as apricot and apples. This turned out to be my favourite tonight. That because of the oak and minerals. One can never go wrong with those tastes.

Number 4 of the 5 wines we tried was Gustave Lorentz Gewurtztraminer Réserve 2004 from Alsace. A typical Gewurtztraminer in my opion. Quite yellow with a smell of roses and perfume. The taste was pretty dry and sweet with the smell of roses and perfume coming back. Probably q perfect wine to cheeses like taleggio and munster.

The last wine was Château Fontebride Sauternes 2002 from Bordeaux. A golden yellow colour with a strong smell of honey and dried fruit. Maybe also a hint of coconut. The taste was like all Sauternes quite sweet and again the smell and taste of honey was pretty dominant. One wouldn’t like to drink a lot of Sauternes since it’s such a special wine but together with some nice and strong cheeses it’s a perfect end of a meal.

Next month the theme is going to be red wines from the old and new world. Something to look forward since I always have liked South African and Australian wines.

He was flirting

I’m still having a hard time believing that someone would actually flirt with me. Tonight at the gym I suddenly realised how guy was looking at me and smiling every time I was done with my reps. I noticed him when he walked in because he was pretty tall, but after that I didn’t pay much attention on what he was doing. At first I felt a bit embarrassed and looked away when he was smiling, but after a while it became sport looking at him to see if he was going to smile. And he was. Every single time. I'm so silly, but it was fun and felt good. Guess a woman can never get too much attention...

Forgetting things

I don’t know if it’s old age or me just being stressed, but over the last week or so I’ve noticed that I forget things. I’ve always been able to keep million things in my head. Now I forget everything that’s not written down. Seems like there is no room left in my head. Today a supplier called at work asking if we could have that meeting we talked about two weeks ago. Apparently I had agreed on calling back to set a date. I felt so stupid not remembering. On Friday I totally forgot about a meeting, even though I had looked in my calendar earlier just to check if I had any meetings. So embarrassing! Not only am I getting grey hairs, now I’m forgetting things... Please tell me it’s not only downhill from here…

No husband, no babies

It’s been a while since someone commented on me still being single and not having any children, but on Friday it was time again. I wasn’t really expecting to get that question so I just stuttered the same old things about not having found Mr Right yet. Besides that I like I like being single. It’s a full time job taking care of just myself. I could never be able to take care of a husband and babies. I’m just too egocentric… When I was done the person asking looked at me and said: “Nice speech, but why don’t you have a boyfriend or any kids?” Then I said something that it just hasn’t happened. It takes two to tango…

I know this person pretty well so I was quite surprise that he went on like this. Thinking about it now I feel kind of hurt. Am I lesser woman just because I’m single and don’t have any children? Why is it so important in society to be twosome?

A flash from the past

The last two days I’ve managed to run into four old colleagues from when I worked at BingoLotto. It’s getting close to 2½ years now since I left the company, or really got made redundant. So meeting those people truly felt like flash from the past. Especially since they all still work there. When I had to leave they were of course the lucky ones in my opinion, but now I’m not sure. I don’t even want to think about how things would be if I still worked there… Probably pretty unbearable…

Only one of then sounded truly happy and congratulated me when I said that I’m now a manager with my own staff. One of them actually laughed and joked around implying between the lines that I must have gotten that job because of something else. Not because of my qualifications and experience. And yes, I too read between the lines and caught a hint of jealousy. But still…

I know I’ve changed and grown a lot the last couple of years. No more timid little grey mouse trying to please everybody… So meeting people who knew me back then feels a bit like being caught up with my past. I don’t mind my past. It has made me who I am today, and deep inside I’m still the same Cathy. Just a bit bolder, stronger and more opinionated. It just shows that people do change.

So true

I’m been fighting the less is more and the user-friendly fight for more than four months now at work. I feel like a broken record from most of the time. Things will never be a success if we believe that the customers think just like us. This pic says is all…

It was bound to happen

"The day blogs bring down a member of the parliament (Riksdag) or a Minister, then the blog has become established". Johan Norberg, Bloggforum 2004.

On Saturday Minister of Trade Maria Borelius resigned after only eight days as minister. It all started with blogger Magnus Ljungkvist's post about her and her husband’s income during the 1990’s. According to Borelius they couldn’t afford paying taxes for the nanny so they paid her under the table. Only one slight problem though, which Magnus Ljungkvist reviled in his post, the couple’s income during those years where close to 16 million SEK.

Via Media Culpa

TGIF

Or Thursday night… It’s been another looooong week and I’m so happy it’s Friday tomorrow. So what are my plans for the weekend? As little as possible, to be honest. I just want to lie on the sofa and do nothing. Maybe watch some TV, but most of all just relax. To be able turn off the brain from problem solving mode and don’t care about anything. I guess that I at some point have to do some cooking and tidying up, but I’m going to ignore that feeling as long as possible. Of course I also hope that I finally can do some proper blogging again. Without being so sleepy it’s hard finding the right keys on the keyboard. I have a couple of things I really want to write abou nowt. Especial a Social Media breakfast meeting/discussion I went to this morning. Very interesting and fascinating from many different angels. So more to come. Now it’s time to spend some quality time with my lovely friend the bed.

Old but new

I know this photo has been around for a while and I’ve seen it before, but it’s a good one. We all get to that point when we realise that we are not going to be that famous rock star, footballer or tennis player... We are just going to have to live with it...

Via Londonist

Google + YouTube

Anybody surprised this happened? After the rumour started by TechCrunch last week it was just a matter of time. If you pay enough things will eventually become yours…

Google Inc announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

Lets hope that’s true because I would hate to see YouTube being swallowed big the big giant Google. The idea of YouTube was just brilliant when it started, so please lets keep it that way.

Pompidou goes East

On of my favourite modern art museums Pompidou Centre in Paris is going to open branch in Shanghai by the end of 2007.

The Paris-based centre, which is Europe's biggest contemporary art museum, told AFP it could confirm that "discussions were very advanced on setting up in Shanghai".

Interesting. Mixing eastern culture with contemporary art could only mean – fascination and cool. Just like the Pompidou.

Cold Feet

A while back I bought Cold Feet - The Complete Collection DVD box and this weekend I finally got around watching it. One and half disc later I can only say that Cold Feet is even better than I remember. Love, drama and humour in a perfect mix. No wonder it won Best TV Comedy Drama in the British Comedy Awards in 1999 and 2000, and Best Drama Series at the British Academy Television Awards 2002.

James Nesbitt’s character Adam makes me laugh out loud over and over again. What a guy! The scene with Adam naked serenading Rachel. Which woman wouldn’t marry a man who did something like that? He and Rachel is my favourite couple through out the series. A love affair that started and ended with a car crash. Well, I shouldn’t talk about the end yet. I have eight more discs to go through before I have to say goodbye to my Manchester friends. A lot of feel good moments await me.

Irritating web site

Gerry McGovern at Marketing Profs Daily Fix has written a rather amusing post about the Scandinavian Airlines web site – The Most Irritating Web Site in the World.

As a frequent SAS flyer (there isn’t much choice if you live in Sweden) I can just agree. Their web site and booking system isn’t very good, but compared to how it used to be, this is good…

A side from being amusing the posts points out two very important things that all too often are forgotten when working with content.

Nobody cares
What sort of vacuous vanity allows any organization to believe for one nanosecond that the customer has any remote Outer Mongolian desire to go on a journey and "take a look at the things we've done"?
…
The Web customer is always, always, always in a hurry
The Web is the land of attention deficit syndrome. People are improperly impatient.

Two truths that might hurt for some companies, but after all isn’t a web site made for the customers and not for the company's own enjoyment?!

First PT session

I had my first PT session at Friday lunch. Something that turned out to be quite relaxing compared to the madness gong on at work, even though I’m still store today two days later. So I guess the PT did his work… I’m not sure what I think about the PT though. He seemed quite stressed and was "too much on" in my taste. It’s nothing wrong with being enthusiastic and pushing me out of my comfort zone. But he was close to becoming gushing with all his cheerful comments and that’s something I can’t take. We will meet again next Saturday afternoon and until then I have to work out at least two times. I also promised him to keep walking even though it gets darker, colder and wetter for each day.

I could probably thank all my walking for scoring one point from very fit in the fitness test. Stepping on the scale wasn’t as much fun. We decided that losing 1-2 kilos before the Christmas season begins wouldn’t be that unrealistic. Just by planning what to eat all week and not only the first days of the week would probably help a lot. Something else that would of course also help is to stop feeding the stress monster with chocolate and candy. Hm, wonder if the stress monster likes rice crackers and sunflower seeds?!

New Foreign Minister

On Friday Sweden got a new government lead by PM Fredrik Reinfeldt. My favourite political blogger and former PM Carl Bildt was appointed Foreign Minster. Jyllands Posten ran the news already on Thursday night quoting an inside source, which on Friday morning turned out to be true. The appointment caught most people by surprise since Carl Bildt on the election night said that he didn’t wanted to be part of the government. He was an old PM and to have old PMs in a new government is not good.

But Sweden, as a small country, doesn’t have that many persons with great knowledge on what goes on in the world and a network of contacts that the rest of us just dream about. Probably just resigning Foreign Minster Jan Eliasson, who was a diplomat most of his life before becoming the President of the United Nations General Assembly and then by March this year Foreign Minister. So they exist, but they are rare breed. And no wonder are wanted in the govermnet.

Silences

Sometimes it’s just nice to be quiet. I haven’t read any blogs or thought about posting at my own blog since Thursday night. Hopefully the last two days of silence has recharged my blogging batteries. We shall see…

Iron Lady going grey

At work on Monday we started the implementation phase of the new Internet booking dialogue. Three days down the line all I can say is that I will probably go grey before this project is over. To start with, we are implementing a system that hasn’t been thought through from start to finish. Already now we are creating workarounds to get things working properly. All through the project people have heard about how bad the system is, so of course they are upset and annoyed. And guess who has to deal with all that? Me, of course, and I haven’t even been close to seeing the spec. But I work with the Internet… OK, I’m the Internet Manager so I do understand, but sometimes one just have to realise this is what we are getting lets do the best of the situation. Another manager and I are more or less bending over backwards to help and solve all problems, but no matter what we do people don’t like it. Also if we fix one problem another one occur because of what we just did. It is a loser system, but what else is there to do?

Since I’ve only been on the job for four months (it feels soooo much longer) I don’t know where to go every time and who to ask when it comes to finding solutions. Quite naturally in my opinion, I ask my boss. He’s been in the company for there three years and knows whom I should ask and if I should go higher up. But all he says is "I don’t know. I don’t understand what your mean". I would understand if he was busy, but his workload has decreased a lot since I arrived. Poor leadership at at it best... Or is it worse?!

So I just keeping going and going. Pulling every thread there is, hoping that things will work out. I’m aware of that I can come off as quite cocky wanting decisions and things to happen now. Not tomorrow or next week. Now! Especially in this project where everything has to be done by October 31. To my surprise I get called Iron Lady when I act like this. I’ve been called both Iron Lady and Ice Queen before in other jobs, but still I feel a bit hurt and wonder what the hech I’m doing wrong. If I were a man nobody would have comment on me being though and wanting actions. That’s the way a man should be. So how come when a woman act like a man she gets called names? What’s so scary? All my working life I’ve worked in very male dominated areas, something one has to take when working with computer and Internet, so of course I have adapted a few male traits. But still I’m a woman and always will. I learned a long time not to take things personal, but it’s hard not to when I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Or if I am doing something wrong. But I’m very stubborn and over the years I’ve also learnt how to stand strong and never give up, so I won’t quit this time either. I am Superwoman after all...

Come to Stockholm

Visit Sweden is trying new ways of marketing. I have to admit that this video is quite catchy and probably makes you want to go to Stockholm. The video has it all, blonds, meatballs, folk music, singing and dancing. Everything that people connects with Sweden.

The story goes on

Right before the elections here a month ago there was bit of scandal with the Liberal Party logging into the Social Democrats’ internal network. Some heads rolled at the Liberal Party and the police started an investigation. Well, now it actually looks like the Social Democrats were part of the scandal.

A member of the Social Democrats' youth movement, SSU, has admitted handing over login details to the party's internal computer network to the Liberal Party. In return, he was given secret login details to the Liberals' internal network.

So who is the bad guy now? It is of course very bad when a party login to another party’s network to get hold of confidential information. But from my point of view this is a bit ironic since is the Social Democrats has kept saying that nobody could have been able to come over the login details. To me it seems like they never thought about the easiest way. Somebody from inside the organisation handed over it.

Under the duvet

The rain is pouring outside and it’s been thundering on and off all night, so I guess there is just one place to go, bed. To curl up under the duvet and listen to the rain and thunder. It’s those little things in life that makes a difference.

Email is old

Believe it or not, but email is getting old. Chronicle of Higher Education reports:

Teenagers preferred new technology, like instant messaging or text messaging, for talking to friends and use e-mail to communicate with “old people.”

Meeting with a consultant last week he told me that we are the email generation. During a day we send and receive about 50 emails. No wonder the in-box is always full…

He’s back

One of my favourite bloggers Brian Micklethwait is back after a brief hiatus. Now I can once again read highly enjoyable posts about history, politics, cricket, Billion Monkey photos, architecture classical music and daily life in Waterloo. Wonderful!

Pink ribbon gala

Breast cancer awareness month kicked off tonight at the Concert Hall with a benefit gala. About 400 women (and some men) mixed and mingled while watching the latest autumn fashion. Later on we all sat down for two hours of entertainment from the crème de la crop of artist and entertainers in Gothenburg. Quite a spectacular show mixing both humour and sensitivity about such a hard topic as cancer. At the end 400 000 SEK was given to the Swedish Cancer Society. Money that had been raised by tickets and pink ribbons. A pretty good result for just one night.

Through out the show I couldn’t help feeling a bit melancholic and think about those in my surroundings that have been diagnosed with cancer of some sort. All them have fought a very brave fight, but sadly enough not all have made it through. So to me supporting cancer awareness and research is something very important. Because in a perfect world there isn’t any cancer and people don’t have to see anybody suffer from this horrendous disease. And with our continuing support and money this might become true one day.

What the…?!

Excuse me, but which idiot came up with this idea?!

A new TV show will challenge women to crash diet down to a size zero. The Channel 4 documentary is a "super-skinny" version of Super Size Me, in which a film-maker spent 30 days eating junk food. The female volunteers will employ "extreme weight loss methods" to slim down.

According to a C4 spokesperson this is going to expose the health dangers behind radical weight loss. Yeah, sure thing…Challenge women to crash diet down to size zero… It’s just plain disgusting!

Tension headache

Anybody out there who has good cure for tension headache? For the last week or so it has been getting worse for each day and today it’s just driving me mad. It feels like I have a hooded cape over my head that drapes down over the shoulders. My scalp, neck and shoulders all ache and are very tender. It just hurts and makes me miserable and quite irritable. Ugh!

I know painkiller is just a temporary relief so I try to stay away from them as much as possible. Taking a hot bath or shower usually helps, but not this time. The same goes for massaging my poor muscles, but they just won’t give in. So what else can I do? I know some part is to blame on the lack of exercise the last month(s). Work is probably to blame too. Too many projects going on that need my attention as well as being new in the manager role. Being a manager full time is different than being a "working" manager. Just going from meeting to meeting and not producing anything (than paper) takes time getting use to. It’s not that I don't like it. It’s just very different from what I’m used to. And as usual I also put a lot pressure on myself. I have to succeed! So I guess what I need most of all is to learn how to relax and don’t take things too seriously. After all... tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O’Hara used to say.

Royal blog

Thai Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn launched on Saturday the country's first royal blog. The aim is to make the Thai citizens embrace English more.

"We have witnessed in this past century that English has become a global language without much understanding of the process," she wrote. "Nor can we say that we really know the extent of its influence and status as the global language. But we can be sure of one thing: English can be used as a key to better understanding."

A pretty good idea in my opinion, but at as always when starting a blog it need to be updated on a regular basis. And I’m not sure that is job suited for a princess. At least not a Thai princess. The blog is part of the British Council website so maybe they will keep it updated. Anyhow having a member of the Thai royal family, who very seldom communicate directly with the people, has for sure brought a lot more light on the project. Which probably was one of the major ideas when getting the princess involved in the first place.