A nice Swedish habit…

Posted on Friday, 15 April, 2016 by anmara

…is to never be the first one to take the first or the last piece of cake or chocolate…

A total difference to us “rude” German “breed”, who never have a problem to either start or finish cake or chocolate, or what else there is on offer, regardless whether everybody got a piece or not. A definite advantage for me, since I can almost always be sure to get something of whatever is on offer.

Recent example from work – two boxes of chocolate. Against all common rules, I was not the one opening the chocolate box (although I brought it). However, I was the one taking the last piece ;-). The whole thing can look like this towards the end:

And mind you, during the time of “plundering” the box one actually has to be quick to get the pieces one wants!

Neatly finished, isn’t it? 😀

Happy Friday!

#37 of #blogg100

Geek Girl Meetup 2016 – Better TogetHER!

Posted on Thursday, 14 April, 2016 by anmara

It has been 5 (!) years since I last participated in the big Geek Girl Meetup unconference in Stockholm. No idea why it took me so long to come back, but hey!

This year, I am going to be part of it again, and I will try to blog and tweet directly from the event.

When? 28th – 29th of May
Where? In the Teknikmuseet in Stockholm, which in itself is an awesome location.

Why participate? Meeting likeminded (nerdy!) people and friends , sharing experiences and knowledge, and getting a great boost of energy and inspiration. That should be reasons enough for ANY girl no matter which age to be part of it!

Geek Girl Meetup has grown since it’s early days in 2008/2009, when I first participated in Stockholm. By now there are many similar events locally in Sweden, but also in big cities abroad, like in Copenhagen, London and Berlin.

In Berlin and other places all over the world you also have the Geekettes, a network of women in tech, who regularly meet for exchange of experiences.

What is it all about anyway? Geek Girl Meetup is a huge network of female professionals or to-beprofessionals some day of many different backgrounds. It doesn’t matter whether you are a techie or a business person, a creative spirit, a designer or a law person for that matter. The combination of all the female participants with their knowledge and willingness to share it with each other, makes the event so successful.

It’s a true boost of energy and creativeness being felt during these days. Many new projects and ideas emerged from Geek Girl Meetup’s unconferences.

Let’s bring it on and see what 2016 holds for us! And no matter what, Geek Girls #ftw!

This year’s motto: Better togetHER !

bettertogetHER

Pictures are taken from http://www.ggmif.com/

#36 of #blogg100

Cacti

Posted on Wednesday, 6 April, 2016 by anmara

With interest, I follow the trend of having cacti. Or things designed cacti. There are cacti everywhere! On tea towels, curtains, salt and peppar sets, t-shirts – you name it.

I find it quite fun since I always have been a big fan of that group of plants. They are sturdy, survive holidays and dry periods without any problems whatsoever, and they bloom beautifully if cared for.

Some of the ones I have on my window board I even call “weapons”. One of the cacti has such thin and sharp stings, that they spear a fly instantly when it tries to settle on the plant.

It is even double fun with the cactus trend, since people who regarded them as super ugly now are really into them. For this period at least 😉 .

The advantage is that one can buy right now an awful lot of species that you didn’t see in the shops since years, or not at all. Win!

Well, we’ll see how long this “fly” lasts! 😉

#35 of #blogg100

Long round becomes a morning round

Posted on Tuesday, 5 April, 2016 by anmara

Interesting development that a former long weekend round of just above 5k nowadays is a normal average morning round. Running FTW! IMAG2379

#34 of #blogg100

(Mon)day, Monday…

Posted on Monday, 4 April, 2016 by anmara

Today was combination of…

and

Nett

Loads of coffee and Scrubs were needed as part of the essential survival kit.

The mugs above, you can shop at Grafikwerkstatt!

And tomorrow morning, I will go for a nice run! Just so you know.

Good night. And Good Luck. (Also a great movie for a Monday night.)

#33 of #blogg100

Rhubarb.

Posted on Sunday, 3 April, 2016 by anmara

When inspecting the pre-springtime garden today, I spotted these ones sticking their heads out of the soil:
IMAG2376

And immediately this thought pops into my head, mouth watering:

Rhubarb_pie

Only a few weeks left until then…. mmmmh yummy….

#32 of #blogg100

Rain. Dark.

Posted on Saturday, 2 April, 2016 by anmara

Today it is rainy in a way that it is hard to tell whether it is springtime or autumn. Perfect time for staying inside, doing inside things, like renovating, making nice soup, having tea, watching TV and reading. Happy weekend to you!

#31 of #blogg100

Springtime!

Posted on Friday, 1 April, 2016 by anmara

IMAG2374

After an outburst of true winter with snow in the morning today, the rest of the day looked like this. Sunny and blue Sky. April is definitely here, no joke.

Today’s real blog post you can read in Swedish (or English via the Google Translate Plugin) on Grythyttanstation.com.

Welcome & have a nice weekend!

#30 of #blogg100

Summer is here! Almost.

Posted on Thursday, 31 March, 2016 by anmara

Now it will soon be Swedish summer! Never mind that it was again 3 centigrades plus with rain and sunshine shifting, even that can be considered Swedish summer at times. Summer is approaching, because now, summer seating areas are built on the Swedish market places in every town. The best indication for that the brighter side of the year officially has started!

Example: Linköping. See picture below. And the crew at Twingly still seemed to be working, one always has to check their windows (at least!) when in town 😉 .

#29 of #blogg100

Comparing countries. Today: Bicycles on public transport

Posted on Wednesday, 30 March, 2016 by anmara

Having spent about a week in the motherland Germany, one notices once again that bicycles are a very important part of daily transport. Not only in town, but also between towns.

Provided that there is enough space on the train, people are allowed to take their bicycles with them, in a carriage with a zone for bicycles. Lots of people make use of this option for example when they are out for a longer Sunday tour, or holidays by bike.

In town the same applies to trams – if there is space, you can take the bike with you on board.

This is also the case in the UK, like i. e. in London and suburbs.

Surprisingly enough, in Sweden, you are not allowed to take your bike on board of a train or tram. Not even on the local commuter trains between towns. And that although these trains are far from being crowded even during “rush hour” in comparison to German or British trains.

I wonder why the Swedes didn’t plan for this? It would be an ideal country with ideal conditions for bike-train-travelling. During summer, more bike travelling tourists could take this opportunity and discover even more of this beautiful country, and fill the otherwise at this time rather empty trains.

So, why not, traffic planners and public transport authorities? Shouldn’t we give this a go?

On Nordwestbahn in Northern Germany (Line between Wilhelmshaven and Osnabrück, and Oldenburg – Bremen.)

#28 of #blogg100

City elk

Posted on Tuesday, 29 March, 2016 by anmara

On the way back home today, we met this cute little elk lady at the airport in Bremen. The loved one’s comment (who also discovered her, by the way): “See what becomes of these when they live too close to civilisation?!”

Well, as you can guess, she got a new home back in Sweden. Hope she likes it, despite being a German elk, from Rudolf Schaffer Collection.

IMAG2369

She definitely likes travelling, and flowers. She said that these here are especially tasty…

IMAG2370

Oh, her name is Helga, by the way.

#27 of #blogg100

Homerun

Posted on Monday, 28 March, 2016 by anmara

Today I took one of the routes as a run that I used to walk with my parents (and still do sometimes). Just over 5k, a relaxed and nice morning run in sunshine, with moderate wind. Now it is grey weather with strong winds. Welcome to Northern Germany!

Quite popular in Wilhelmshaven seem to be the small power distribution houses (or what they are called) which are painted in 3D graffitti to look like real small houses. A great idea, and much more fun to look at than their dull grey relatives. This one I found on my route this morning:

IMAG2367

Happy Easter Monday!

#26 of #blogg100

Glad Påsk!

Posted on Sunday, 27 March, 2016 by anmara

Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter! Bonnes Pâques!

Glad Påsk in Grythyttan.

Frohe Ostern in Quakenbrück….

…. in Wilhelmshaven….

….and in Grafschaft!

And of course one has to say Thank You to these chicks and their relatives for eggs and everything else they contribute to Easter – these lovely ladies live in Grafschaft, close to Wilhelmshaven in Northern Germany:

#25 of #blogg100

The interweb is kaputt!

Posted on Saturday, 26 March, 2016 by anmara

Sometimes life is tricky. For example when the interweb is kaputt. Especially when you participate in a blogging competition like #blogg100. And you are forced to a life totally offline due to unforeseen circumstances!!! 😉

You come home to your parents’ place on the night before Good Friday, all shops of course already closed, and some of the first information you get is “Anja, the lights on this box stopped working. And the computer does not want to work either anymore”.

Right. Tonight’s and tomorrows blogposts one can safely forget about, since there is no way to buy new equipment on red days. A thorough check of the installation showed that the cable and volt-converter to the router decided to die. Like two weeks ago.

So, best case, only the cable is broken, and not the actual router box. We were lucky, so it was, the router was alive! We took the opportunity to check the local shops with IT-equipment, and to our positive surprise, there was capable and knowledgable staff in all of them! Unlike in Sweden sometimes, where all people seem to be able to do is selling, but not necessarily giving great service and good advice.

Now the machinery is working again! To the best and to the worst. Cos now there are new questions to solve. Such as “Anja, how does this work again when I want to write an email? And why does it take such long time for the computer to load?” 😉

However, great parents I have, who endeavour the internet at the age of over 70 and 80!

#24 of #blogg100

Direct recycling

Posted on Wednesday, 23 March, 2016 by anmara

The other day we got a letter from Germany, in an envelope that looks like a topographical map. The thing is, looking at it closer, it really seems to have been a topographical map!

Next step is looking the manufacturer up on the web, and really, the suspicion got confirmed – they use maps and other paper again, directly, and make them into new paper products. A great idea, especially when it comes to envelopes, which will be thrown into the non-recycle-box anyway, because of their adhesive.

Read more on Direktrecycling’s website.

This is what it looks like:

IMAG2360