One for the road

Long time and nothing? Not really, I've been busy as hell lately. Work has been crazy in both good and bad ways. I really started to feel the stress level again and really tried to get out of office as soon as I could, which proved to be a lot harder than it sounds... But on the good side I got to go to Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil for a workshop. It sure as hell was nice to get away from the cold Swedish winter for a few days.


Ok, it was mainly work all the time but still as free it was possible to go outside and enjoy the heat for a few minutes. We were a bit out of luck with the weather though, no sun and mostly rain and a serious humidity level... But it was still so nice.

Chapirinah's are perhaps even tastier in the sun but I can't complain about the taste or feeling after sinking one! I wonder how good it is to drink a cup of booze with sugar really, ok a lot of lime too but I don't think that weighs it up the bad things. No matter what, it tasted good and felt really nice.

The pool area was quite empty, we tried to sit outside with our Chapirinah's but the bartender looked a little funny at us and just shook his head... So what, it wasn't raining at the moment. The Novotel also featured a gym which I went to EVERY morning of the stay. I'm really impressed with myself.

After the Chapirinah we went shopping. It gets more fun that way. I'm not really a shopoholic unless we're talking about records so I didn't buy much. Just some Cachaca to make my own Chapirinah's at home, snacks and sweets. That's the most fun thing to do, to go to the supermarket and just watch local stuff. The fruit section of this one smelled amazing, mango's, papayas and a lot more...

Maria and Jocke bought Hawaianas (flip-flops) for their friends and families. I thought of it too but I've hated those all my life. Don't like the strap between my toes. All I shopped for, except the snacks and booze was some scrunchies since I forgot all of them at home.

Then one of the nights we were invited to a traditional Brazilian dinnerparty, Churrascaria. A walking meat buffet really. The waiters come to your table and offer you different pieces of the cow (there's a "map" on the table so you know what you get), chicken hearts, pork ribs, long ribs, fish... Very nice meat but damn I got stuffed as hell.

After dinner it was time for desert. I'm not too much for sweet cakes and such things and since I was full already I tried to say no but I got my Papaya Cream anyway. The Brazilians said it was good for digestion. Damn that was nice, vanilla icecream and fresh Papaya with a touch of Cassis Cream Liqueur, extremely tasty.

That was about all we had time for... A few hectic days but really good. I learned a lot and got some energy back to work when I got home. It's also nice when you start to see other sides than the professional ones from your workmates. So it was a nice trip.

Though it felt a little bad going home without seeing anything but the office... On the other hand, that area provided one Hummingbird and some crazy flowers. A fig-infested tree and more. A lot of things to look at and the locals probably thought we were crazy. But what the hell...

The nature seems so amazing. It would be so cool to go to a trip through Amazonas, see all the creepy crawly's and vagitation. So hopefully this wasn't the last trip for me, maybe next time some sightseeing can be arranged too.

Then it was time to go back home again. On the way out I had the worst imaginable seat, couldn't move for 11 hours. That SUCKED!!! I took the opportunity to get myself a window seat which was, according to the blueprint of the plane, a bad one... Still it was 1000 times better than the first one. So the trip home was so much better, an no running from one gate to the other at the Frankfurt Airport either.

But then, arriving in Gothenburg again I realized my bag had been searched. Some things were stolen even, like all the snacks and sweets, a bottle of cachaca, my perfume and facecream and a little more. Sucks big time!

But at home I had some nice packages of records waiting for me. My plan was to pick it all up and have a pile of unopened boxes when Peter arrived. But first the luggage and then I was fooled (so I don't find my way around here yet) to let one of my colleagues off first, took almost 2 hours to get from the Airport and home instead of 30 minutes that's normal. Didn't want to do anything after that.

Devildriver, Onslaught, Darkest Era, Destruction, Fact,

Hellhound, Procession, Paul Chain, Vortex, Cauldron, Elixir,

Villain, Jaguar, Strider, Scheepers, MSG & Vicious Rumors

So then it was back to work for a few days before the REAL adventure started!

Cheers

E

NP: Martyr - For The Universe

Last day of winter

Well, I guess it's too much to say that the winter is over but at least it was for a few days for me... But more on that later.
Last weekend me and Peter visited my parents in Sandviken. Damn they still had A LOT of snow up there still. But I really think I prefer that compared to the ice skating streets we have here. It sure is a pain to walk when the streets are covered with ice.

But I managed to get to the station on time for the train Friday afternoon and everything seemed fine. No delays or anything. I partied away, celebrating pay-day and bought myself a Pondus comic book. It's really funny that magazine. Can be a bit embarrasing from time to time when I can't keep myself from laughing out loud reading it. Hilarious that comic, Pondus.

Friday treatment

Everything went smooth with my trainride but I didn't get any updates from Peter, he was flying instead since it's a little tricky and far more expensive to go by train from Malmö to Sandviken. He was scheduled to arrive in Gävle at a quarter to nine in the evening so I went there hoping everything was ok. It was and he turned up, apparently he'd forgotten the code to his cellphone and couldn't really start it again after the flight.

Mio the Cat sure is a cutie

Well at my parents place it was time for dinner and a glass of wine. Just a nice and relaxing evening. I needed that after all hard work during the week before. Then, when it was time to sleep, Mio the Cat had already occupied my bed. That is one of his favorite spots to sleep on. I tried to push him alway gently but he just stretched out a little more looking even more comfortable. It felt really mean to lift him up and carry him to another of his spots but I had no choise really. Then he just stood there and looked really surprised.

Sleeping the days away

The next morning he was meowing outside the door wanting to get into my bed again. But with me and Peter in a 90cm bed there's really no space for a big cat. So he had to wait until we got up before he could reclaim the bed.

After breakfast we took the opportunity to go to Gävle for a short trip. I had a few things to purchase and it's always nice to look through some records. Especially since there's NO recordstores what so ever in Borås. Ok, Skivlagret (which when bankrupt a few weeks ago) but no second hand or so anymore. We didn't do any real catches but found a few cheap ones at least. The cult store Petter & Lottas had sadly enough a closing sale but most was gone already. I bought some studbelts but they turned out to be really bad and the first one broke after just one day's use. Lucky they were really cheap!

Then Peter has an idea of collecting signs with his name on. Well, him in a picture with the sign that is. In Gävle there's a store named just as his cat, Strumpan... Right in the middle of payday Saturday with loads of people out on town we took the opportunity to shoot a pic. People were looking a little and Peter's comment was... Well, it felt ok until I realized there was ladies underwear in the window behind him!

Absolutely normal

But it was nice to be back in Sandviken for a while. Not that I miss it particularly much but it felt nice to be "home" and it felt just as good to travel away after a weekend. I miss the spontanious visits to my parents though.

Sunday lunch we took the train to Arlanda together. We had enough time to have a nice dinner and a fruity smoothie before our flights, Peter going back to Malmö and I'm heading really far west. I had a business trip to Sao Jose Dos Campos on my schedule. Need I say Peter was a little jealous of me getting away from winter even if it was just for a week.

A lemon flu fighter was nice

Even if I was thrilled about going to Brazil, the flight over the pond didn't lure a lot. 12 hours on a flight is hard...

Cheers

E

NP: Villain - Only Time Will Tell