Kids sure come in handy!

We discover new uses for our kid every day! Like a Swiss-Army knife! He he...

I told you!

I am a bit of a tech freak. And I like a fast download. As it is now we have BrightHouse cable access. Since I use the awesome Lingo for VoIP (nobody else can beat them with their free calls to Sweden, and after 6 years of excellent service I am NOT switching), I am excluded from BrightHouse's fastest Internet option, which is 15 Mbps. You have to have cable TV, Internet AND VoIP with them to get that. Grrr....

So I have 10 Mbps. Well, I have noticed using various speed tests lately that I am not even close to getting up to 10 Mbps, more like 5. I have optimized my machine, and I have run diagnostics, which shows they are providing the service they say they are. Hmmm. So something is not right, but I still felt a bit stupid calling for help about this. I always heard you never really get the speed that is advertised, but half that speed?

So the technician came and stayed for a few hours yesterday. He was impressed that I had provided him with all the diagnostics, which saved him some time. It turns out I was right. Something IS wrong! And pretty bad too! The outside cable is apparently so damaged it is barely hanging in there, so it has to be replaced (could be a lightning strike, we have had a direct hit and a few close ones), and the cables from the outside that goes inside our attic were pretty bad too. So tomorrow a team is coming over to replace those. And I will be surfing at double the speed in no time. So I guess it can be good to speak up if you think something is off.

But I am still going to switch to Verizon FiOS when we get a new TV; they offer 20 Mbps at the same price we are paying for 10 Mbps now, the fiber optics should also give a super crisp picture on the TV as well. Verizon actually offer up to 30 Mbps, but we will start with 20 I think. After all, that will be 4 times faster than what I have right now...

If you want to check if your service provider is supplying you with the speed they say they are, or to see if you have a potential problem on your side, run your own test. There are tons of them out there, just Google speedtest+ broadband. I can recommend the US government's excellent Diagnostic Server at Argonne. It only serves one user at a time, so it is very accurate, and it also gives you a lot of additional information about your system that can be helpful to know, but it is not always accessible, so be patient.

I am so jealous of my cousin back home on Gotland. He is soon to get a 100 Mbps connection!

Galet!

En snabbis, har mycket jobb denna vecka...

Sitter just nu och lyssnar på svenska radiostationen Energy, och hickade till lite över en reklamsnutt. Att Sverige är klart överlägset USA vad gäller utvecklingen inom vissa områden är ju klart. Till exempel vad gäller banker och SMS. Men utvecklingen har en del baksidor dessutom. Som kunde anas av denna reklam. Om du är i behov av lite extra pengar kan du smidigt skicka ett SMS till ett speciellt nummer, och du får låna 2000-4000 kr som omedlebart förs in på ditt bankkonto. Det är ju kanske bra, men det låter lite farligt tycker jag. Lite för "lätt", man kan nog rätt lätt fastna i det där. Vad tycker ni?

Uppdatering: Hörde just en till reklam, denna uppmanade en att gå till Lätta Lån och låna några tusenlappar för att köpa det du vill ha... Verkar vara samma företag!

Ha en bra dag!

Ahm...

Sarah has for a while been nagging us that she want this special Imaginext Fire Breathing Dragon. The thing cost $20, and I told her she would have to save up herself. Today she told me she "had lots and lots of coins" so we took her savings to the local supermarket to have them counted. She netted $24, not bad!

So, she could get her dragon. We decided to go over to Wal Mart, since it is just 2 minutes from our house, and I really didn't feel like traveling around town just for this dragon. I really don't like Wal Mart at all. They don't treat their employees or the communities they barge into right. Not to mention the people that work there often can be very hard to deal with.

We picked up the dragon and a couple of other things and proceeded to the self checkout. I scanned the merchandise and it came out to $29 and some cents. I had Sarah's $24 plus $10 I got from selling Sarah's old tricycle on Craigslist.org yesterday, so I fed the machine the $20 and the $10 I had. Immediately after putting in the $10 I knew there was a problem. The machine only saw the $10 bill as a $1! I was so pissed! I use the self check out since it is usually speedier than having to deal with a human. So now I had to call the attendant over, and she had no idea of what was going on. I told her to just open the machine and she could see the money I had put in. She obviously had no clue what she was doing, and soon the manager of that area was called in. She continued the same fruitless steps as the previous lady. I was getting very frustrated.

Finally she opened the freaking machine, but she could only see the $20. Apparently the last bill put in sits "inside" the machinery until the next bill is put in. Sigh. Now I was really pissed! Now they only had my word to go by. She brought me over to a different station and called her supervisor. I could tell by the conversation they really thought I was a confused woman, but I didn't say anything. After all, I knew I came in with $34 in total, and I sure only had a few dollar bills left in my wallet. It was taking a looong time, but finally the manager told me to go over to yet another station, where she told the first lady to ring me up as if I had handed her $30, and she made it clear she did not agree with her supervisor's decision on that.

I was happy the situation was cleared, after all, I would have been pretty pissed loosing $9 because of their dumb machine. No more cash for me in the future, I will stick to my Debit Card!

When I finally got home I counted the $1 bills in my wallet. Weird. It was only 3 left. I had $34 to start, and $30 was put into the machine, so I should have had 4 $1 bills left. Unless... I looked on top of our TV. There was the $10 bill I received from the tricycle sale yesterday. Ooops...

Recipes

I decided to keep all my recipes separate - so I created a blog for just that. It is mostly meant for myself so I won't forget or misplace my favorite recipes.

Check it out here if you need some meal ideas.

Garage Makeover Extravaganza!

Igår var det en sådan där dag då man inte känner för något alls... Jag gick mest omkring och deppade. Hela huset stökigt, mannen jobbar sent och ingen ork för något. Och fortfarande ont i bihålorna...

Suck ja.

Idag har hittils varit toppen! Jag var uppe före 6:30, fixade iordning Sarah och skickade henne till skolan med Ken, som fyller år idag, 42. Ja jisses vad tiden går! Kan knappt fatta att jag själv ska bli 34 den 11 februari... Knas...

Sedan var det tänkt att jag skulel städa vårat garage. Det har varit en härdsmälta av saker huller om buller ett bra tag nu. Jag har försökt fixa det, men sakerna som behöver fixas är mestadels Kens, och jag har ingen aning om vad jag ska göra med alla pryttlarna. Så igår storhandlade jag plastförvaringsbackar av olika de slag och storlekar.

Två och en halv timme senare var det klart! Ett under har skett, vi har vårat garage tillbaka! Som tur var höll det sig dimmigt och svalt på runt 17 grader, annars hade det nog blivit en svettfest... Körde två stora lass till Godwill för donation. Vissa grejjer som Ken vill spara på fick helt enkelt sparken idag. Va fasiken ska vi med en monstruös luftavfuktningsmaskin till? Den har ju stått där i 5 år nu.. Bort med den! En Ab Roller maskin? Ja DEN har ju vi ju fått STOR användning av i huset... Så den dammsamlare fick dra den med. Och sedan fick jag till slut iväg min stora gamla datorskärm. Kunde knappt lyfta den, så tung var den! Lite skillnad på de plattslärmar man hur numera...

Och säckar med kläder och leksaker och annat som inte längre används: borta. Skööönt!
'
Garagestädandet är min födelsedagspresent till Ken. Han får sig nog en liten chock i kväll när han kör in i garaget. Man kan parkera tom TVÅ bilar därinne nu! Och det bästa av allt är ju att jag vet vart allt finns. Sorterat och organiserat.

Så nu gör det ont i kroppen efter allt släpande och lyftande, det blir duschen nästa. Och sedan ska jag nog tackla köket och alla leksaker som ligger spridda över hela huset.

Måste komma på något gott till middag ikväll, födelsedagsbarnet ska nog få sig en mysig middag med!

Ombytta bullar på G

Har haft ett sug att börja skriva bloggen mest på svenska på sistonde. Anledningen att den är på engelska är ju så att maken och hans släkt plus kompisar här ska kunna läsa med. Men det finns ju ingen LAG på att de måste kunna läsa... Det de verkligen vill ha är ju bilder. Eller rättare sagt: bilder på Sarah. Så. Lite mer på svenska blir det nog allt.

Vi har haft det rejält kallt ett tag, men nu har det vänt. Synd bara att jag dricker Diet Coke med massor av is. Mina händer är stela, vita och iskalla. Ska nog ta en dusch och värma up mig lite. Men idag är en sådan där slö dag då jag knappt orkar bry mig om nått.

Men jag måste ner till the Parent Information Center för vår kommuns skolsystem för att lämna in Sarahs ansökan om att få gå på en annan skola än vad hon "tillhör" i höst. Mest så att hon ska slippa ha uniform.

Ja. Det gick ju bra med svenska. Nu kommer det ett bud med någon sorts leverans, så det får bli det. Ha det bra!

Variety show!

Today there have been a lot on the menu:

I talked to my sister, and it sure looks like we will be getting a Swedish visit in June! Yay!

I discovered something that is almost exactly like Swedish Falukorv. Boar's Head Bologna, available at for instance Publix. I am in heaven...


Sarah has stumbled into the world of WebKinz (Annika knows exactly what I am talking about here...) I thought she might be a bit too young still, but she saw and fell in love with one of the critters at a store. I explained that if you buy one, you have to take care of it "virtually". She was sold!

We spent most of yesterday setting her up and having fun! She has been taking real computer classes for over two years now, and she is getting very good at maneuvering the computer, so I think she is ready for this. I can see how it can be kind of addictive! We have two more on order...

I am still battling a stubborn cold, mostly in the sinuses. And last night I discovered I have viral pink eye. Ouch.


So a little bit of everything today!

Gearing up

I am a member of the American Translators Association, and each year they have one big annual conference. They spread the locations out pretty good, and I try to attend whenever it happens to be close to my vicinity. So far I have went to Atlanta, GA and here in Florida. The conference is always held in the first week of November, so lucky for me they like to have it often in Florida!

This year it is time again for Florida to host, Orlando to be more specific. My very first ATA conference was actually also in Orlando, 8 years ago. It is a huge conference with attendees from all over the world. A chance to meet some of the people I work with regularly in person. I usually skip the dinner and dance they have at the end, it is a very stuffy shindig with mostly old OLD people shuffling around the floor doing the foxtrot. They do have a Salsa-dancing night too, but dancing is so not my thing... It is difficult just having to mingle, I don't particularly like small talk with people I don't really know. Well, you know!

It is usually difficult to get a room at the actual hotel where the conference will take place, but I have also found that it is better to be off site, just nice to be able to completely relax after a full day.

This year I am only attending one day, since that is usually all it takes to make the necessary connections. And believe me, I always get a huge upswing in business after having marketed myself at this conference!

I already booked the hotel, a nice Radission Resort, and Ken and Sarah will come with me. I am planning on attending all Friday, and then the three of us can go to a Disney park on Saturday.

And it doesn't hurt I will be staying close to IKEA as well! So that will be great! A little something to look forward to in the fall...

Blä!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I keep feeling under the weather, like that cold never really went away. My head hurts, I am congested and just feel run down. Plus I worked a LOT this week, which was great! Love love the money! But since school here was out yesterday and on Monday, I am taking 4 days off to. Just have no energy for much.

It has been raining a lot here, feels cold and gray (well, can't really call it cold when it is around 70-75F (20-24C)! So have been doing laundry and watching Swedish movies. Yesterday I had a 5 hour marathon watching Talismanen, a pretty OK movie written by Jan Guillot and Henning Mankell.

We are about to head out to a great Mexican place in about a half hour.

I only have one task for tomorrow and that is to clean the kitchen. Then just the couch, or the computer for some more Swedish movies. Anything that does not require much brain power...

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Celebrity helper

I had the weirdest dream last night; I dreamed I came to see Britney Spears, and I was very serious. I told her I could help her turn her life around, to get her kids back. I held her shoulders and looked her in the eye. I told her; you have to do everything I tell you to do, no questions asked.

She somehow realized I was her ticket out of her mess and agreed. My first move was to move her out of Hollywood, out of California. Completely out of the limelight. Then I set her up with a very good psychologist. I also made sure she only drank and ate very healthy food. She started to get better almost right away.

THAT my friends, is one of the oddest dreams I ever had! Britney has been in the media relentlessly lately, but I never usually think much about her. Hmmm. Maybe she should give me a call?

Och beslutet blir...

Maken sa igår att han skulle skaffa en 32 tummare. Han kände inte för att gå igenom att skaffa en större TV och i och med det behöva byta TV-möbel. Så jag beslutade mig för att jag ska köpa en större TV själv och byta ut möbeln. Men det får vänta tills lite senare, ska betala studielånet i februari, nästan $2 000... men jag har ett par stora projekt på G, så det smarta kanske vore att göra bytet i samband med att vi lägger nytt golv i april, då ska ju ändå huset tömmas på allt! Alltid kul att ha något roligt att se fram emot dessutom.

Andra goda nyheter är att min syster jobbar på att försöka ta sig hit så fort skolorna slutar i juni i Sverige. Hon ska dessutom ta med sig sin fästman och min kära systerdotter i så fall! Gud vad kul det skulel vara! Min systerdotter har aldrig varit här, och det är alltid superkul att visa runt en "florida virgin". Dessutom är hon 16, supertrevlig och alltid så glad, så det skulle vara härligt att bara HA dem här! Vi får väl se hur det blir. Dollarn är ju så oerhört svag nu att man kan få reguljärbiljetter för 5 000 SEK hit från Arlanda, skitbilligt!

Hmmm...

Maken har faktiskt varit mycket saklig i denna TV-fråga. Jag har faktiskt oroat mig över risken med en gammal TV (fast en skinande ny HD-TV är ju en stor anledning till att jag vill ha en ny TV såklart).

Han frågade en massa om de TV-apparater som jag presenterade för honom i ett mail. Han åkte från jobbet för ett bra tag sedan nu. Skulle inte förvåna mig om han kommer hem med en TV redan nu ikväll... Känns liksom nästan lite anti-klimax över det hela om det nu är fallet! Vi får väl se...

Första steget...

Jag spelade lite på det här med att TVn vi har kanske inte är så säker, sa att det ju faktiskt har luktat lite bränt (det har det faktiskt men det var länge sedan). Jag gjorde dessutom lite forskning och jämförde betygsättningar av olika varianter osv. med priserna på Sam's Club, som verkar vara bäst gällande priser.

Tyvärr upptäckte jag att de flesta TV-apparater är ganska breda numera, och med öppningen i vårt TV-skåp går det bara in en 32-tummare! Det känns alldeles för litet tycker jag. Jag har dessutom aldrig gillat TV-möbeln, så detta vore ju läge att byta ut den med. Så jag presenterade två val, det ena en 32-tums Samsung som hade fått toppbetyg för $899, eller en kanonbetygsatt Philips på 47 tum för $1492 PLUS ett nytt "TV-bord" for ca $200 (de hade en hel del snygga hos Sam's med).

Så vi får väl se hur han reagerar när han läst mitt mail. Han vet att vi behöver en nya TV, och jag vet att han själv gärna vill ha en större. Dessutom uppskattar han alltid om jag fixar allt det praktiska runt omkring, så kanske, kanske...

Fast han har tusen och en saker i skallen just nu. Deklarationssäsongen har börjat, och med det en period tills mitten på april då vi inte lär se röken av honom speciellt mycket. I år har han ju i alla fall 4 kanonbra anställda som är redo att hjälpa till, så det är ju en enorm förbättring gentemot förra årets fiasko gällande anställda.

Nu har jag fått det här med ny TV på hjärnan, och jag är som en liten ilsken terrier, släpper helst inte taget förens jag får som jag vill... :-)

Hemligt uppdrag :-)

Vi tar det här på svenska så att inte maken råkar läsa detta...

Vi har bara en TV. Jag tycker det är onödigt med en TV i sovrummet, till största del eftersom jag inte alls gillar att somna till TVn. Så en Tv funkar bra för oss. Men. Den börjar bli redigt gammal och trött.

Vi har sagt att vi ska köpa en ny innan februari 2009, då det analoga TV-nätet släcks här i USA. Vi har visserligen redan digital TV eftersom vi får det via vår kabelservice, så det är ju inget som påverkar oss alls.

Vår nuvarande TV är dessutom ganska liten, ca 26 tum. Jag skulle gissa att TVn är minst 15 år gammal. Jag tycker att det har börjat flimra i bilden då och då. Det skulle inte skada med en ny redan nu alltså.

Dessutom skulle jag gärna vilja hänga på High Definition-svängen. Jag tycker skillnaden ungefär kan jämföras som att titta med suddiga ögon jämfört med den klara HD-bilden. Vi har dessutom sagt att vi ska ha en 41-tums platt-TV, det är det största som får plats i vår nuvarande TV-möbel.

Jag tycker priserna dessutom har kommit ner drastiskt, och man kan få en jäkligt bra märkes-TV för väl under 1500 dollar.

Men. Jag är ju gift med en revisor. Som håller hårt i slantarna innan han spenderar dem. Han är ju inte dum, lägger mycket hellre ut mer pengar för bra kvalitet och så, men det kan ta ett bra tag innan man kan övertyga honom att spendera något, case in point är ju vårt hus. Det tog många år att övertala honom att det var rätt tidpunkt att köpa. Vi var redo i flera år innan. Som tur var köpte vi bara några månader innan marknaden sköt upp som en raket i pris!

Så nu annonserar jag Operation TV. Planen är att börja så smått bearbeta maken till att gå med på ett TV-inköp detta år, desto tidigare desto bättre. Men det funkar inte att pressa honom, man måste få honom att liksom tro det är hans egen idé, annars slår han lätt bakut. Så önska mig lycka till!

We were just a bit bored... :-)

Stimulating day

I just feel stimulated all around today. Finally after trying for years (awful that it had to be like that) I got a recycling bin from the City of Bradenton. I always cringed every time I had to throw out an aluminum can or a newspaper. The Swedish recycling is so effective, and it is really instilled in my very fiber: recycle what you can!

So the other day when the city was distributed new garbage cans to be used with their new streamlined automated garbage collection system, I went out to talk to the delivery people. Turned out I hit the jackpot! The guy I talked to was the superintendent for the refuse department of the city, he was out there doing some dirty work himself. I explained my dilemma of having called and asked for a recycling bin for years now. I had one within 12 hours. So that makes me feel a lot better, knowing I can recycle some plastic, metal and paper now.

Blue is for recycling, green for regular trash

I have been off work more or less while Sarah was off school, but now I am back with a bang! Today I am working on very varied projects. One is a very boring research about constant proportion portfolio insurance strategies from the Swedish National Economical Institution at Uppsala University. The other is software strings for a "shoot them up " game for the Wii game console. So lots of variety today!

Better get back to work now... Have a great day!

I give you... Super Mailbox!

This is one of the toughest mailboxes on the market. It is made out of really hard steel, feels like wrought iron. It has several safety features to ensure the safe delivery of our bills. Overkill? You bet! But you don't mess with Ken... :-)

Crashing an event

Time has really flown by fast. I am amazed that Sarah actually will be starting Kindergarten this fall! Here in the US the kids start a year earlier than in Sweden.

The elementary school that is in our school "zone" is OK. It has a great academic track record. But, there are other aspects of it that Ken and I don't like. For instance, the buildings are looking really worn out and tired. I think it is important to have a nice environment to enjoy school. I worry that this place might have mold hidden in the walls. And they use portables, portable classrooms (like trailers) because they have run out of classroom space.

But the biggest negative about this school is the uniform requirement. We both dislike the idea of uniforms. I think practically it is a hinder, not to mention it stifles kids' individualities. Sure, it might make the turf more equal, but kids have to deal with peer pressure anyway.

A few years back our county started having an open school pick. You, as a parent, can pick any school in the district you would like. There is no guarantee that you will get your pick, but you have a chance at least. This enables kids with certain advantages and disadvantages to benefit from what another school have to offer. We have for instance, several so called magnet schools in our district. So if you have a daughter that is into drama, it might be a huge benefit to have her go to the arts magnet school.

We decided to go ahead and try to get another school for Sarah. There is one only 5 minutes away from us that will fit the bill. It was opened in 2003, does not have portables, and have no uniform requirement. And it is A-rated.

Yesterday we were out driving and decided to go by this school, since it is tucked away from the street and you really can't see it unless you drive right up to it. When we got up there we saw a lot of activity. It turned out a community church use the school on Sundays. We saw this as a great opportunity to check out Sarah's (hopefully) new school. We "crashed" the church function...

Their sermon was over, and people were walking all over the school, so we blended right in. It was awesome! We got to see the entire school, even the actual classrooms where Sarah would be in. The cafeteria, the playgrounds etc. The school is so nice and seems to be ideal for what we need.

When we were leaving the people at the front door practically made us stop for coffee, and we mingled a bit, talking to the nice church people. All of a sudden we were having Dunkin Donuts! We didn't intend to intrude, but we got kind of sucked into it. I am the least religious person I know, so it was a bit weird. But we got a great "open house" all to our selves. And Sarah is now super excited about going there. Hopefully she doesn't think they will serve donuts every day of school!

New mailbox

We have this handyman company that we hire when stuff needs to be done around the office, and we asked the owner to help us out installing the new mailbox. Ken bought the toughest mailbox he could find, as vandal proof as possible. The old one has been torn out, and the post for the new one is in. The concrete is setting, and we will have to wait until at least tomorrow until the actual mailbox is put on. Ken almost want some kid to try and take a swing at it. They might break an arm...

On another note, I think I have the cutest most wonderful daughter possible, How did I get so lucky?

Cold snap!

Florida rarely see much cold during the winter, so it is BIG news anytime the temperature dips. We actually had freezing temperatures over night! Florida houses are not very well insulated (if at all) so we brought out the down comforters and turned our heat on. Too bad it won't last that long, it is supposed to go up to the 80s here soon again...

I finally put away the last of the Christmas decorations. All left now is the actual tree that needs to be dismantled, and a large lighted wreath high up on the wall.

Everyone is well over the stomach bug, but Ken is still battling that awful chest cold he got. He is coughing so the windows rattle! Unfortunately I started to have a very sore throat last night, and today it is even worse. It looks like I am next up for that cold! Bummer!

Now when Sarah is off school I haven't worked much at all. It is the slowest time of the year for me anyway. I have been watching all kinds of Swedish movies; if you got any good tips, let me know! I like a good suspense movie. Swedish movies are often very good, go Sweden!