For the first time this century we went and bought a real christmas tree. We haven't decorated it yet, but it was fun to pick one and take it home in the car.
Congratulations America
I'm 2 weeks into being a foster parent, of a human.
Its hard, but seeing how this girl has changed in just 2 weeks is crazy, and also very very cool to be a part of.
What is up with the live tree rush this year? Prices jumped an easy $30 over last year cause everyone went live this year. Ya'll suck.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
It's snowing! And not just flimsy flurries that fade out after a few hours, but beautiful big flakes covering everything in a winter wonderland.
I'm happy to live in a snow state at Christmastime, during a pandemic. I'm prepared for any disruption and isolation. So glad to have at least one son for company, and his SUV on hand.
Speaking as someone who this past week had to shovel his car out of 30+ cm, count your blessings.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
Completed the big move out of London, and down to Brighton on the south coast. Have lived in London for almost 30 years now, and sad to leave. Particularly our last house in Twickenham, where we really felt a part of the community, with great neighbours who became warm friends.
Times they are a changing though, covid has given us a new perspective. The future will involve more home-working, an hour-long train commute to my office and my wife's in London is manageable once or twice a week at most, which makes Brighton living feasible.
Our town-house has a larger footprint, is close to the centre of town so everything is now within walking distance, and the sea is only 100m away from our front door. My wife particularly is a city-dweller, and she was tiring of suburban life in London. We don't have kiddies, so suburbia made less and less sense to us, where much of life seems to centre around schools and parenting and kids-activities. Brighton is a vibrant and active town, we've always loved visiting. Moving here was very spontaneous - I suggested it almost off-hand to my wife and she straight away said yes. We'd found the house we wanted to buy within a fortnight of that decision. It somehow made sense.
For me proximity to sailing clubs and other boating activities is also a big incentive to move here.
And daily walks with the dog on the shingle is a delight. Blustery, cold and windy December days are lovely. Whatever covid throws at us next year we are damn happy to have made this move.
Congrats mate though I miss city life to an extent, I've come to realize—and slowly accept—that I prefer to visit big cities rather than to live and work in them. Hope pics of your mansion are forthcoming
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Ditto
Congratulations America
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
My daughter unlocked her first adverb today... spontaneously, without us having deliberately taught it to her, she used it with three different actions. She uses a pool of 30 - 40 words on a daily basis now, and over a hundred words over the course of a week. Using more and more Bengali and English words as well, sometimes instead of more difficult-to-pronounce Swedish words, but sometimes just for variety or because she's on Messenger with my mother. Things are happening so quickly I can't keep up, and it feels incredible. I've been on parental leave since this summer, but I'm still just so frickin' happy to be able to be around to see her go through this process. We're approaching the end of my wife's Christmas break, and have thoroughly enjoyed our two week stay in this bubble of love. I've even stayed away from work stuff, instead hanging out, watching shows, playing Guild Wars, just QoL. Starting tomorrow, I'll be wfh for a couple of months, unless I have to cover for someone else. Not really keen on going back to reality quite yet, nor am I happy about the thought of my daughter going back to daycare given recent developments and what I've seen of Swedish families' judgement over the past year... but, right now, I'm pretty happy
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
That tweet cuts off half the punch-line. Biden: "You. He sends his best."
It was a solid and well earned burn on the reporter who asked, but twitter turned it into a flippant non-answer.
It's making me happy now that I can be laughing with my President instead of just at him.
fuckin' abbot
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
I don't understand a single word, but there's something about this song
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Bucs won the Superbowl, absolutely humiliating the chiefs, and we didn't burn down the city during or after the game.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Not a bad sports year for Tampa is it? The Bolts won the Stanley Cup a couple of months back.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
I cannot describe how much I hate Tom Brady. But he is indeed a fine football player, albeit one who feels the need to cheat.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Spring! Our electronics store has been closed due to covid since 26th of January. It has been a struggle to find motivation. The employees are still at work, doing alternative work instead of sales. A warming sun and chance to walk outside in a hoodie is a nicety.
Tomorrow is like an empty canvas that extends endlessly, what should I sketch on it?
In an attempt to deal with the healthcare debt that has been built up over the course of the pandemic, my clinic has offered us the opportunity to shift some of our outpatient visits to evenings/nights and weekends. Because of parental leave and research, almost all my clinical time has been focused on acute care, so yesterday evening was the first time in 8 months that I got to catch up with some of "my" patients, and it was just so nice. They've been doing very well, all things considered. It was a very relaxing way to work, and I'm pretty sure there'll be many more such drives. Very pleasant, very good pay, very good cause. And then, to top it off, my daughter lawyered the hell outta me. She's just recently stopped breastfeeding, but she keeps trying to persuade us to let her "eat booby" (literally). So I told her, the day before yesterday, that she's too big to eat booby now, and that her friends Bosse, Beppe, and Britta have also stopped eating booby. Yesterday, she pinned me with a glare, and then said, very firmly, "Pappa, Bosse eats booby... Beppe eats booby... Britta eats booby... Juno eat booby." Fantastic bluff and an excellent subversion of my argument. 100% bullshit though—she was home so she couldn't possibly have checked this with her friends. But it looks like her fate is sealed.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Experiencing my ER from the patient's perspective for the first time and I just love these people but God damn these rooms are ridiculously cold. A research idea I've been mulling over in my head for a long time might pan out; one part of the puzzle just suddenly clicked the other day, and I think there's enough there to keep me busy for a few years *knocks on wood* A couple of fellow docs have been trying to recruit me to the local social democratic party, and I've been kinda uncomfortable about this, because I think the party sucks... but it turns out they think so too, and there might be some hope for a coordinated internal drive to change the party's politics. Still hesitant, but less so now.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
New episodes of Shtisel
Congratulations America