Fall to sping

With an outside temperature of + 4 C accompanied with with a fresh breeze and rain we're definitely not getting a white Christmas or a winter. I'm still hoping for January that winter will turn up. Between fall and spring there should be a winter somewhere...

White Christmas...again

It looks like we are getting a white Christmas after all =)

White Christmas

It doesn't look like we are getting a white Christmas ora any winter at all

It's here...

About a week ago it started snowing and has snowed ever since. You think we have a full winter now? Well not really, it doesn't snow much, about a centimeter each day. So we now have a snow layer of 5-10 centimeters. I haven't actually shoveled yet but I have begun moving the garden furniture and other things that our children have left on thew lawn into the garage.

Due to the fact that we are in the process of emptying my parents house and there are items that we haven't found buyers for the garage is already filled with some of those items and our own stuff that we don't need right now so we wont have a car in our garage this winter. I actually had to move things around to find room for the garden furniture.

Besides all of this I love the winter...

Oncoming storm

This is a warm winter, for Finland. Right now we are having those autumn storms that usually comes in October, early November. It's rainy, it's dark, it's an oncoming storm that should last up until next week...

It's all for me...

As most if not all bloggers I like readers and I like comments. The fact that they/you take the time of reading my posts and sometimes even making an effort to comment is something I highly appreciate. Thank you.

But I think in order keep the spark alive I need to do this for myself. I think most bloggers are exhibitionists in the sense "Look at me!". Whether it is to show of their writing skills, their clothes, their lifestyle, their kids it comes down to them and their life. I would even refer people who use their blog as a cheap therapist, although their need to be seen has a bit more serious side, to "Look at me!". I know because I wrote one almost a decade ago

For a number of years this blog has been about satisfying you readers. And when you forget yourself and start satisfying others you become self censoring beyond what is reasonable. You're too afraid to offend or bore someone. So you try to make everybody who reads your blog unoffended and unbored. Those of you who are familial with my writing style know I offend very few but it can be very boring when you try to please everybody.

But those who followed my blog about 5 years ago know that I can write very well. I didn't have many readers and most importantly I didn't have any readers among the people I know IRL. I didn't care what people thought because I was writing it all for me, myself and I. But when I got readers and comments from my friends IRL, encouraging comments, but still comments I started thinking about what I was writing. I started self censoring and I lost my spark. My blog posts started to deal with my difficulty to write and the imminent death of the blogosphere.

Well I think I found my spark again. I still care very much what people think of me but I'll try to ignore that trait of my personality here. I did it once and I can do it again. So for the sake of your entertainment I'm doing it all for me ;-P.

About the snow thing...

About the snow thing thing two weeks and blog posts away. it rained away. then we got another centimeter of snow again the other day and it rained away. I think it actually might be possible to mow the lawn in early December. It would be a first and no I'm not worried that my neighbors think I'm crazy. One of them was mowing his lawn while I was changing to winter tires two weeks ago...

Cheap trick?

Would it be a cheap trick to start using popular search word for my post titles? I could also use the names of movies, TV shows, songs, bands, video games...

I realize the number of people who find my blog isn't everything. I would still try to fill it with serious content . But a bit of marketing might attract a few people that actually find my post interesting and that would stick around. Then I also need to start updating more regularly...
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First snow

We got the seasons first snowfall. Not enough to be measured in centimeters or inches. Just enough to turn the ground white in most places...

Paternity leave

I just had my six weeks of paternity leave, the last I could have with the twins and ever again. Yes three kids is enough, trust me =). So I had a few evening shifts and I'm doing the first night shift out of four. It's calm so far but you'll never know.

Anyway we started clearing out my parent's house and realized it's one of those things that will last for years. So it's not for sale yet or will be in the near future.

So that's what I've been doing the last six weeks...

MySpace

I found the creator of MySpace on Facebook and one of his resent updates was this:

People seem very confused why I'm on Facebook. I've had a profile since 2005 and a "fan page" since 2009. FB just created a feature where you can "subscribe" to profiles. They asked me if I wanted to convert my "page" into a simpler profile. Complicated? I suppose. Why am I not on MySpace? Because, I left the company in early 2009, and like most of you, I don't like using it anymore.. not a fan of what the new folks have done with MySpace.

And also another update:

FAQ #2: People often ask me what I think of Facebook? Put simply, I love it. Facebook has accomplished what I wanted to accomplish when I started MySpace--that "everyone" would be online, and "everything" online would get more fun & useful because its social. To me, Facebook just keeps getting better & better. Now when they remove that 500 character limit on posting (rumored this week), I'll be able to say much, much more.

Enough said...

Restaurant

The other day we visited a  all can eat pizza buffet restaurant called Rax that is sort of aimed at students and families. We will not be visiting any restaurant with the whole family soon again. Not that there were anything wrong with their family friendliness but some of our younger family members had a *grumpy throw all the food on the floor and scream like I'm possessed if I can't use my fork and plate as a drum set*-mood...

Look what I can do

I've learnt how to post blog posts from my mobile...

Creation and destruction

I'm feeling a bit philosophical today so let's talk about the big things. You now the universe, reality, God and the grand scheme of things. And then I got stuck playing with my mobile...

Vacation

My 4 week vacation is over for this summer. I'm back in... well work life...

What's your personality?

There's  personality test out there created partly by C G Jung, the creator of analytical psychology. It's commonly called MBTI and it's pretty easy to do. You answer about 70 questions (with yes or no) for example here. Then you get a four letter code which indicates one of 16 personality types witch certain traits. I'm a INTJ or a mastermind. There's page upon pages out there that describes how these different personality types work and I think I actually understand myself better know, why I do certain things the way I do and so on. I found an interesting text on how to handle people like me, masterminds.

***

Here's a concise guide (mostly based on decades of personal observation:-)) on how to survive first contact with an INTJ. Don't take it too seriously but ignore it at your own peril (not a bad disclaimer, he, he).

1. Expect debate. INTJs enjoy tearing things apart to understand them and to prove (or disprove) their worthiness.
2. They will gladly argue a point they don't actually support, just for the sake of argument or to probe things. This bears repeating: an INTJ can easily and persuasively assume a point of view which is wholly contrary to his actual conviction. If in doubt, ask.
3. INTJs do have a strong sense of humour, often dry and quick, but also a bit warped. It can easily take a morbid streak.
4. Expect blunt, honest, sometimes even hurtful answers: if you don't want to hear the truth, you wouldn't ask, would you?
5. INTJs like to do lists, enumerations, pattern sorting and putting things into an ordered state (ordered for them, not necessarily for the rest of the world).
6. Statements you can't back up with either solid facts or solid reasoning will at best be ignored and at worst poked fun at in ways not many people would describe as nice.
7. Try to be both concise and precise. Using 81 woolly words where 18 sharp ones would suffice will not endear you to them.
8. They do love wordplay though: if you can re-package your 81 woolly words in a witty, unexpected, esoteric fashion, they'll appreciate that.
9. Don't expect an INTJ to respect anything you (or some other authorities) say just because you (or some other authorities) say it. INTJs bow to one authority only: rationality.
10. For an INTJ truth is more important than simply being right, so they will readily admit errors or mistakes (once they have been convinced something they said or did was indeed wrong — to convice them may not be easy though). INTJs unfortunately expect others to work likewise (and react bewildered if they don't).
11. Stick to a statement after being proven wrong by facts or reasoning and an INTJ will treat you as an irrational idiot and everything you say as probable nonsense.
12. Try not to be repetitive. It bores them to death.
13. Clumsy attempts at political correctness and similar aberrations will greatly amuse them.
14. Don't be surprised at sarcasm, hyperbole and flippancy. In fact, a non-sarcastic INTJ must be severely ill.
15. Expect punctuality and exactness. They try hard to be on time and they hate unpunctualness, especially of the casual sort: the words obsessive-compulsive come to mind.
16. They tend to be quite forgetful in everyday life, especially for trivial things like car keys, dropped tools or anniversaries.
17. You can't trust that an INTJ takes something, anything for granted. They do take some things for granted, but you'll never know what and what not. The more extreme ones are actually willing to put everything to the test (and I mean everything).
18. Remember that INTJs believe in workable solutions. They are open-minded to all and every possibility, but they will quickly discard any concept they deem unfeasible.
19. Their way of showing that something you say (an idea, a suggestion) has potential or merit is by trying to pull it apart (which shocks those poor souls who instead expected awe or admiration). The ultimate INTJ insult to an idea or suggestion is to ignore it altogether, because that means it's not even interesting enough to deconstruct.
20. INTJs can and will make themselves and everything else (and again, I mean everything) the butt of their jokes, witticisms and deeply nonsensical remarks.
21. Do not expect INTJs to care very much about how you view them. They already know that many people see them as arrogant bastards with a weird sense of humour and they long since got used to it.

***

It's not all entirely correct and I have learned to suppress certain traits that are not that socially acceptable and I do care what people think of me but that's very Finnish.

So who are you?

Did I write that????

I've been going over some of my old blog posts and I have come to realize that I'm actually quite good at English or rather was when I was writing a blog post every second day, back in 2007. Nowadays my updates are somewhat less frequent, last year I wrote a blog post every second week.

I'm amazed how good my English was and I used quite complex sentences and grammar back in 2007. I must admit that it's not only the lack of inspiration and three children that is stopping me from updating more often. When it comes to the English language I'm very self critical. I don't want my post to look like a press conference with Mika Häkkinen. "How do you feel about the weather out there today on the track?"; "Yes!" Actually Häkkinen is quite good at English, I guess he didn't like press conferences. I want my posts to look like they were written by someone fluent in English or not posted at all. English is the lingua franca of our time and I think it's a very important language to know, even call it a sign of intelligence to know it.

Experience is very important when it comes to knowledge. Experience gives you the freedom to let your mind concentrate on more complex things while your fingers press the buttons on your keyboard to form a grammatically correct text automatically, expressing your ideas and thoughts in manner that they might even inspire others. That is knowing a language and I need experience to shine.

This is really good

One of my favorite songs, one of my favorite bands and Nina's favorite band. Could it be any better?

It's still winter

We have a competition at work. I could say we have a 5 € bet but that's illegal so we don't have that. The be... competition is about guessing when the bay on the other side of the bridge is free of ice. So far the competitors have placed their bids on around the 20th April but I'm going for the 30th of April. It's been a long and cold winter and ships in the Kvarken Archipelago(the sea area outside Vasa)  can't move without ice breakers and haven't been able to do so for a couple of weeks. The ferry line between Vasa and Umeå is at a standstill. The ice in some areas and 3-4 meters(10-13 feet) thick. The wind has pressed some of ice together and formed ice walls up to 20 meters(60 feet) high. I'm definitely going for late April or early May.

1 feet and then some...

I think almost half the snow that has fallen this winter has fallen the last 24 hours. That means that I got up before eight o'clock this morning (I'm currently working the evening shift) and started shoveling snow. Well actually operating a 5,5 hp snowthrower like this:

I would have removed 1 feet of snow and then some in our yard but the twins had their 6 months check up today and yes they are doing fine. I should be able to clear the rest of the snow with one hour of work tomorrow. This is the best investment we have done in a long time. Shoveling 1 feet of snow of the yard with a snow shovel would probably have occupied me the rest of the week. Now it takes 2-3 hours and it's really not that heavy...

Reinvent your blog

Eventually all bloggers hit the wall, that one made of bricks and concrete. That's when you realize you got nothing to write about anymore. You have written all what you want to write about what your blog is about and it starts slipping silently into the night.

Then it's time to reinvent your blog. Lost your joy of writing? Try writing from a different approach and that joy may find find it's way back to your keyboard. In the beginning I wrote structured and thought out blog posts and some of them where actually quite good, but that's in my past. Now I usually prefer more spontaneous posts because it's more fun but I still do have my moments.

Have you written everything you know about cupcakes? Try writing about hunting.

Your blog about you everyday life is so boring that even you have become bored with it. Create a science fiction character and write about his/her fictional adventures.

The thing about blogs is that everyone isn't a writer but there are many of us out there who enjoy writing and the benefits it gives. Writing maintains and develops my language skills, not only my mother tongue but other languages as well. For other it's like seeing a therapist. Writing about your emotional and other problems for everyone to see can be very liberating and a way to solve or at least to understand your problems. Blogs may not have changed the world but it has changed many lives for the better.

Haircut

I think the las time I got my hair cut was in July. Usually I get my hair cut three months apart but I never got around to it this fall. I have my suspicions why, a happy family life =). But now it's short and it was -24 C outside when I got out of the hair salon. Do you remember those old cold war movies where Russians always wore those big fur hats the size of a small country they've invade... sorry liberated. Well I wore one over my short hair and it prevented me from getting a cold shock ;-P. Well -24 C is really not that bad but 6 months of hair were gone and I didn't want to freeze.

Non-important update

I do many things on the Internet and every now and then, just to pass time I chat on some web chat. I did that last week and this time it was one where Firefox's spell checker didn't work and I sucked. I have been sort of lazy with my blogging lately and I realized that if I don't use it I loose it. So I've sort of made this New Year's resolution that I'm going to update my blog even if I don't have this great post that impresses all my readers.

I'm a big fan of quality but history shows that quantity have a way of beating quality. And if I write more I get experience and that can lead to greater things: It's like taking pictures with a digicam, you may take 50 pictures and get one really great one while the 49 other suck. In the end it will benefit both me and my readers.

Plastic sledge

The other day we did something with our children or actually our oldest daughter Mirelle which we should do a lot more often. We visited the local skiing hill Öjberget. The landscape is very flat around here but Öjberget is part of the the outer rim of a 560 million year old impact crater called Söderfjärden. We left the twins in the car sleeping, we parked our car 20 meters from the sledge hill just in case the twins awoke and brought out the plastic sledge.

She really enjoyed it and there where lots of other kids with their sledges and their parents in the hill. We should definitely do this more often.