Say hello to my new companion: an H-boat from 1974, still going strong (I hope!).
We’ve had 2 weeks (or is it just one?) of sunny and warm weather, and everybody in Sweden talks about the weather, all the time, with everyone. In the UK, people talk about the weather because it’s polite and because it’s safe, but here in Sweden people actually care about the weather. Our weather men and women are true superstars, real A-list celebrities, who publish their own books (about the weather). You wouldn’t offend a Swede by saying that “this weather is so depressing”, but we’d get sad if you didn’t comment on it.
About 2,5 years ago I had an accident with a gocart, and since then I’ve had problems with my back.
I’ve had whiplash, tendinitis, and most recently a pretty ugly case of slipped disk.
I’ve seen a bunch of different doctors and 3 different physio-therapists. I’ve tried pain-killers, the McKenzie method, traditional physio therapy, and a few other patented “miracle cures”.
So far, nothing is doing any real good. A couple of times I’ve been feeling better for a month or two, but at the moment I can’t walk without limping, and I can’t tie my shoes without a struggle. (But I can still function normally and I haven’t been off work a single day, so it could be much worse.)
I’m slowly losing patience and my energy. I hate that there’s no proven treatment for bad backs – some experts say stretching is good for you, others say streching is the worst thing you can do. Some say you should pump your body full of pain-killers and go about as usual, others say you should be careful of signs of pain from your body and don’t do anything that hurts. Some say operations do the trick, others say they don’t really help.
Equally annoying is the fact that I’m far from alone in my state of bad back blues. Bad backs are costing the society a serious sum of money:
“Back pain is the most common reason for sick leave (30% of all sick leave) and early retirement in Sweden. The total cost of back pain is estimated at more than 20 billion SEK per year”.
I have a feeling that there’s a lot of dishonest people in the “bad back business”. As an entrepreneur I can see why – there are millions and millions of relatively rich people all over the world with a desperate demand for a product or service that’s nowhere to be found. It’s easy to sell them a “break-through product”, because people really want to believe. And when you’ve paid good money for something, you don’t want to tell your family and friends it aint working. But most of them don’t.
That said, I’m currently trying out a new type of physio therapy. In short the idea is to activate and strengthen the muscles that are not used properly when we live our lives in front of computers. I got the recommendation from a good friend, and the therapist was convincing, and I really belive in the theory.
If it works, I’ll be the first to sing its praise, and I’ll tell you all about it. But maybe we shouldn’t get our hopes up just yet.
I wasn’t interested in the upcoming elections to the parliament of the European Union until I read an article about one of the candidates – Jesper Odelberg. Besides being from my hometown, he’s a comedian, singer, and has a condition called CP – celebral palsy.
I’ve never seen a politicians with this kind of physical disorder, in Sweden or elsewhere. In fact, I haven’t even seen a politician ever in a wheelchair. I have a feeling that Jesper with his background would do more good than many of the other Swedish politicians. And it would be a nice reply to the US – nobody does minorities like Europe.
I’m reading Thoreau’s Walden right now. Quite often I stop and marvel at his one-liners, such as:
“Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbours have”.
“… instead of studying how to make it worth men’s while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them”.
“I say, beware of all enterprises that requires new clothes”.
It’s like reading my own thoughts from my teenage years, but beautifully expressed by an Harvard-educated American over 100 years ago.
I have this weird hesitation for continuing reading the book… I’ll either be disappointed that it won’t live up to my expectations, or it will make me a hippie again.
In Swedish, the word “makapären” is used to describe a strange device, or a funny looking utility. It doesn’t describe a specific tool. The closest English translation is probably “that thingy”.
But according to the sign below (which I found on a construction site) the “makapär” is indeed a specific thing, and it’s in the blue container.
Does “makapär” really mean something? Is this where the word comes from originally – the construction industry? Or has someone working for this construction company a good sense of humor?
There Are Waves in Sweden!
Published May 7, 2009 sports , surfing , swedish surfers 2 CommentsTags: Åsa, surfing, Sweden
The water is freezing and the spots don’t work that often, but there are waves to be surfed and fun to be had. Picture proof below, from my first session ever in Swedish waters, earlier today. Tonight I’ll dream the dreams of a happy man.
According to Swedish law, all corporations must try to generate a profit. This is to protect suppliers and employees, who would risk not to get paid if the firm went bankrupt.
But according to another law, departments and organizations who are run by the local municipality are not allowed to aim for profit. This is to protect the well-being of the citizens.
I’m now working for Göteborg Energi (a large corporation) which is fully owned by the city of Gothenburg (the local municipality). Which law should I break? Shall I profit, or not?
The Best Song Ever Made
Published April 29, 2009 music Leave a CommentTags: best song ever made, bob dylan
I have what you might call an “obsessive compulsive music disorder”. When I find a new song I like, I listen to it over and over again, until I can’t stand it.
Right now it’s Bob Dylan’s “I was young when I left home.” It’s without a doubt the best song ever made, by anyone, in the history of mankind.
(For Spotify-users – here’s a list of all the best songs ever made.)
I found this short article in yesterday’s paper, under the headline “In Brief”. One example of how a few words sometimes can say more than a thousand pictures.
Playing Kids Killed by A Bomb
Pakistan. 12 childen were killed when they were playing with an object that looked like a football in a small village in North-west Pakistan on Saturday. The object that the children were playing with turned out to be a bomb. TT-AFP-REUTERS, PESHAWAR
