Exploration Sunday
After I posted my last entry, I headed out to Bishop's Arms, the local outlet of a Sweden-wide British Pub chain. Take a look at that tap lineup (actual picture of the local establishment; I typically sit off to right near the window)! Well, the hour was still too early so I continued on, determined to experience a new restaurant. A few blocks later, I passed by Coffeehouse By George. For anyone else from the UW, you understand why this particular one stands out from the rest of the cafes that encircle Folke Filbyter square. The By George cafe is a landmark in Seattle's University District for the statue of George Washington out front.
With a chai tea and a salmon-spinach pie (souffle, really), I pondered over thoughts of becoming settled in my host country. These focused on routines such as working, exercising, eating, and sleeping and hobbies (more on that later). Routines develop with ease, but it is important that a life routine is balanced--particularly because my situation is one with substantial solitude. I don't mean to give an impression of sadness or loneliness, but rather to reference the fact that 98% (I love random statistics!) of my Seattle life is swept away, absent in its tendency to temper and stabilize my behavior and psyche.
~
On the way back from the cafe, there were a few points along that path that grabbed my attention including Lustgarden and a fetishist's dream shoe store. There was also the image to the right. I did a little research on it; it is a (recently successful) campaign by Greenpeace to influence a Swedish oil company to cease using palm oil to produce diesel fuel. The text says "Palm Oil Unthinkable. No Rain Forest in My Tank." To find out why, you'll have to read the article (and form your own opinion).
~
Exploration Tuesday
I received a call from a friend and colleague about going out for a drive to the town of Motala for the purpose of picking up "a package, if I wasn't busy." It was to be ~90 km round-trip so, "Sure, why not." It was an enjoyable drive with good company, but after 4 PM now you won't see much of the countryside except for reflectors and house lights.
One notable fact about Motala is that it is located in the middle of the straight line between Stockholm and Göteborg--Sweden's two largest cities. This was deemed a prime location to construct a longwave (191 khz) broadcast station for radio programs. Two free-standing towers supported a single antenna, spanning the distance between their tops >100 m above the ground. Now that the site has been shut down, you can pay to climb one of the towers, with a guide via a ladder, to the very top.
Hobbies
One of the few items I brought with me to Sweden was a book on electronics theory. At nearly 1,000 pages and thorough as it is technical, I'm sure I won't finish it before I return home--unless I stop working entirely. Couple this book with my recent, favorite website, hackaday.com, I'm inspired to fry some capacitors, ignite a few resistors, and tempt the fate of band-aids and aloe vera by inducting myself (pun intended) in to the world of electronic circuit design and fabrication.
The aforementioned friend and colleague has lent me a soldering iron and digital multimeter--two items that I did not have the forethought to pack with me. I visited Elfa, which serves the function Radio Shack used to, providing discrete electronic devices/components (yes, that's right Radio Shack I said USED TO!). However, they should not be confused with Lustgarden which provides electronic devices discreetly.
So it has begun...with a USB plug hacked up and re-purposed. For the details of this project, you'll have to come back soon (but not too soon).
Someone asked for a recent picture of me. Sure, why not? You can see I've stopped shaving my goatee. Small, sharp scissors keep the mustache under control (and out of my kaffe).
No comments:
Post a Comment