brain...dead...must...revive

Okay..so I have been brain dead and hella busy lately. Sue me.

Between looking for a flat to buy (holy hell there are some real dumps out there), visiting the dentist twice for fillings, 439064 meetings a day, planning for Italy, visiting the bank and getting an education on how mortgages work here, fighting with the frickin IRS in the States (doesn't bode well I know) and social engagements I am down right over extended!...

Good news: Kristin arrived safe in India. At least I hope so. A blog entry showed up on her blog so I am going to assume it wasn't a random person entering stuff. If it was they need to really get a life and they are so not as cool as she is. I am going to do the safe assumption and believe she is all safe and sound :)..not to mention her IM says she is in Bangalore :)

Another good thing. The West Wing started again in the states! Thank god for an s-video port on my video card (and an s video cable :) )and the internet. Woohoo..back in the mix! Disclaimer: Not that I would EVER download anything from the internet..I have never even seen this magical thing called the world wide web..

Desparate Housewives started again too! - small victories I know.

The Folks are still radically remodeling the house I grew up in. I am afraid when we go for our visit at Christmas that I won't recognize it at all. They have put all new windows and doors, redid both bathrooms (at the same time...note to Papa..not smart disabling both bathrooms at once) and the kitchen. They have repainted the whole thing inside, put a new floor in the kitchen, new carpeting in the living room, a whole new electrical system - got rid of a window and put in sliding doors to a 15x24 deck they are having built off the back....

At least the "guest room" - formerly known as MY room - is still in the same place. Okay..I really need to get over that. I am over 30 and haven't lived there for over 16 years and I still think of it as "my room". Having my giagundo bedroom set from the house I sold when I moved to Finland in that room doesn't help dispell the childish possessive streak I have for that mauve room. Mauve. Yes Mauve. Some people would call it Pink, but don't do it in front of me!
It was the first home "remodeling" project I ever did. Papa taught me how to strip wall paper, spackle and sand until the wall is smooth and how to paint edging and walls without leaving brush stroke marks. We spent a week doing that project together. It was one of the best bonding experiences with my Papa. 13 Years later he beamed with pride when I showed him my first home - completely remodeled by me and by hand. All fresh clean striped walls, spackeld and painted, sanded and poly'd hardwood floors (after ripping out wall to wall orange shag carpeting and finding beautiful solid oak floors beneath which just needed a little love and tenderness), freshly repaired ceilings with recessed lighting, a brand new italian tile floor in the kitchen... I cried when he saw it. So did he. I let him put up my new mailbox (him being a postman and all)... Point..it is probably going to happen all over again here in Finland. Part of me is sad that Papa won't be here to see it done. I am still holding out hope that we can get him and my stepmom on a plane to Helsinki...

right...back to work for me..

Who knew Ellen was to blame...

If it weren't for the huge number of people who look to this man as a spiritual leader I would laugh.

And I quote:

Pat Robertson on Sunday said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s way of expressing its anger at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its selection of Ellen Degeneres to host this year’s Emmy Awards. “By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club” on Sunday. “Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”Robertson also noted that the last time Degeneres hosted the Emmys, in 2001, the September 11 terrorism attacks took place shortly before the ceremony.
“This is the second time in a row that God has invoked a disaster shortly before lesbian Ellen Degeneres hosted the Emmy Awards,” Robertson explained to his approximately one million viewers. “America is waiting for her to apologize for the death and destruction that her sexual deviance has brought onto this great nation.”
Robertson added that other tragedies of the past several years can be linked to Degeneres’ growing national prominence. September, 2003, for example, is both the month that her talk show debuted and when insurgents first gained a foothold in Iraq following the successful March invasion. “Now we know why things took a turn for the worse,” he explained.
In order to avoid further tragedy, Robertson called not only for the Television Academy to find a new heterosexual host, but to bar all homosexuals and bisexuals from taking part in the ceremony.
He said employees at the Christian Broadcasting Network had put together a list of 283 nominees, presenters, and invited guests at the Emmys known to be of sexually deviant persuasions.
“God already allows one awards show to promote the homosexual agenda,” Robertson declared. “But clearly He will not tolerate such sinful behavior to spread beyond the Tonys.”

Only 283 people? Wow, someone was not really doing their job properly. This is Hollywood folks there are more gay people in 2 square miles than that entire list! On a side note it is nice to know that God likes musicals....maybe he is a FOD? Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that :)

FOD= Friend of Dorothy. For all you people not up on the homo lingo that means gay.

Guilty Pleasures and Shite

Right..so I have this guilty pleasure. I can't help myself...but I have to watch Footballers Wive$. It is complete trash TV..but I am addicted. I also have to watch Bad Girls. I know it is also complete trash, but without my 800 channels of cable that I used to get in the States there are few options for me to feed my TV Addiction with. I already read 4 books a month and play squash and am beginning my Finnish classes at the University again..so don't even start with the "get a hobby" crap. TV is my de-res time. I miss 800 channels.. Okay I don't miss 800 channels... I miss the Discovery Channel, TCM, E, Bravo, NBC, ABC, and Comedy Central. I also miss Showtime... Damn it! I want to be able to see REAL TIME, the West Wing, Inside the Actor's Studio, 20/20, The Daily Show, The L Word, random comedy specials with stand-ups that make you spit out your diet coke from laughing so hard.

I am not going to say Finnish TV is complete Shite, because it has its share of social porn (Cheaters anyone?) and imported British TV as well as US TV (albeit 2 seasons behind). If it wasn't for the net, I would be HOPELESSLY behind on the whole Jimmy Smits running for the Pres thing. Last season's West Wing is running now..at 11:15 in the frickin evening! S-video cable and a video card to the rescue thank goodness...

Maybe it is a good thing I can't watch so much TV? Nah... Screw that shite, I love TV!

cough..hack..sneeze..sniffle..BASTARD!!..and the radio

Okay so as I posted earlier - I have a WICKED chest/head cold. I am up all hours of the night coughing and hacking up disgusting icky yuckiness out of my lungs and my sinuses are so full I feel like I am walking around with an extra 10lbs just in my head. Let's not go anywhere near the amount of extra weight I am carrying in other places - I am a cranky yank right now - Not to mention that with the stuffed sinuses comes the inability to hear anything which isn't shouted or roared at me. note to self: look both ways 3 times before crossing the street/train tracks/etc until I can hear properly again

I spent the last 3 days on a Certification course which my employer requires I pass. I took the exam and now have to wait for 3 weeks or so for the results. Three days of a very nice man droning on and on about BS 7925-1 and 2..IEEE 829..all the technical mumbo jumbo. The whole while I am hacking up what remains of my lungs, single handedly depleating the national supply of nose tissues and infecting the entire air space with my germs from hell. I would have much rather stayed home in bed with a nice cup of tea and some chicken soup, but my employer paid a large amount of money for me to be there. -Holy hell I miss Campbell's or Progresso Chicken Soup - As Mira has noted in humor, the common cold, broken bones, the plague - all are cured by Chicken Soup from an American point of view. DAMN RIGHT! - Chicken Noodle, Chicken and Stars, Chicken and Rice...yum. A bit overly salty, but very yummy for those people (like myself) who have extreem difficulty tasting ANYTHING because of completely blocked sinuses. Not only was I at this course, but I had to return to my office each night to do work because one of the projects I am on is at a critical milestone today. Not a fun week. I think it is sweats, tea and a dvd with a nice beef stew for dinner. - and before you even ask I make my OWN from scratch...I might have time constraints so I am not so sure on the stew at this point..watery beef stew is icky..and a good one takes hours of stewing.

Onto the BASTARD part. One word: VETO. Frickin Arnold "Itty Bitty Balls" Schwarzenegger is going to veto the law that the California Legislature just passed which would make marriage between "2 persons". I can't stand this crap. If the conservative right wing blinder wearin mo-fo's don't want gays to "marry" then don't use the frickin word! Let's face it..marriage is not a secular word..never has been. Call it "Flying Purple Elephants" for all I care! Every time the word marriage is used, the religious nutters pull a huge hissy fit. The US is supposed to be all about equality and abhorring discrimination. Oh wait..right..that is only if you are white and straight. Sorry my bad.

Bastard part 2... I arrived home at 8 last night from work to find a letter in my mail. It was from the Helsingin Kaupunki Terveyskeskus (Helsinkiy City Health Center). Now, I speak Finnish and I read Finnish and I can even write in Finnish (albeit slowly with spelling mistakes as I pointed out earlier..spell check and re-reading 3 times before hitting send or snail mailing is important still) so I was not overly put off by the letter being in Finnish. As stated earlier, I have Lesbian Cooties (thanks Dr. Kristin for giving it a name!). The whole reaaaaaaaaaaaaaly high white blood cell count thing (seriously outside the "standard deviation"..whatever that means). Anywhoo..Dr and I have been trying to figure out what the hell it is. Without going into the loooooooong version here is the deal: She is at a loss. She referred my case to the University Hospital - because I have to see a hemotologist, an internal medicine specialist and if necessary an endocrinologist. - Back to the Letter - The letter is NOT from the University hospital but the city. They have reserved 3 appointments for me:

1.) go get stuck with needles again - thankfully not Vampyrella this time..although I must wait and see if THIS person is a far-sighted vampyre too -
2.) Ultrasound on my tummy - goopy stuff and a black and white image..although why my tummy I have no idea...
3.) Actual consultation with the Dr.(s) who will be trying to determine what kind of Lesbian Cooties I actually have...

Now..I have been going through this since the beginning of July. I am really sick of being prodded and havin people in white lab coats go "hmmm...mmmm..hmmm" and then not being able to tell me what is wrong. These 3 appointments are for fricking OCTOBER! The blood stuff - October 6th. The Dr consult October fricking 24th..and the UltraSound 17th of October. BASTARDS!!!! I am in Italy from 15-22 Oct!!! Now I have to 1.) call my Dr and find out of the Helsinki City Health Center is the place she had my stuff sent to and NOT the University like she said. and 2.) Reschedule the ultrasound for a date before I go to Italy - which I am not sure will be possible..which will then move my actual Dr. consultation even further... Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick.. I mean seriously..it will be 4 months of this crap by the time I see the Hemotologist/Internal Medicine Specialist/Endocrinologist..

Radio:
My workmate/friend/political debate punching bag Phil has a "radio show" here in Finland. Okay not a radio show but a podcast from Radio Free Finland. He has approached me about being a guest on his show. An hour long discussion about lesbians in Finland(from a foreigner's point of view). There are several issues I can see popping up with this. Among them are that he and I are hot heads when it comes to politics. He is a Libertarian...nuff said. I am a die-hard bleeding heart liberal (those Log Cabin Republicans are just big fat liars..to themselves and the gay community)... We have some seriously good old fashioned shirt sleeves rolled up debates (arguments) about politics. - not so sure if it won't spiral down to me giving him a verbal spanking on US Law and the Constitution for an hour regarding gay rights, gun laws and the war on drugs..not to mention education, social programs, the welfare system, social security and health care... Should be interesting... or a complete blood bath...

Horrors..and a bright note

Okay. The news (american) has been saturated with coverage of the disaster in the Gulf Coast of the US. I have avoided posting on it and tried to keep my shock and horror to myself about the behaviour of some of the citizenry and the government of the US in respect to this disaster. I have failed. I was a victim of my political outrage at a fellow foreigner here in Finland. Phil got my goat and got it good.

So I am going on record: The Federal, State and Local governments as well as the emergency relief organizations and agencies failed the people of New Orleans. The behavior of roving armed gangs is abhorent and no amount of "gun control laws" - as Phil likes to think is responsible for this - would have stopped this. People broke into stores and stole the guns. Simple as that. The relief organization, strategy and execution has failed. Mr.director of FEMA has not done his job. People are dead and more continue to die. It is devestating and horrible. Shame on the government, shame on FEMA.

There I said it.


On a bright note, I saw the Northern Lights for the first time this weekend while away at cottage. It was breathtaking. I have also developed a horrible chest cold...

ahhhhhhhhhh

It says NY is 3.5 back :)


I am off to cottage again this weekend for the "crab" party. They aren't really crabs, and they aren't really crayfish...they look like miniture Lobsters... Anyway...lots of them and drinking..and reading a good book along with going to Sauna :)

Moo..

There is an old saying the French use to describe most non-french speaking their language "Vous parlez le français comme une vache espagnole" which means: "You speak French like a Spanish Cow". I have heard this once or 400 times in my life. I speak French well enough to offend an entire country. And when it comes to the French, merely being NOT French offends them. Of course I am half French (thanks Dad) so I am only 1/2 as despised. That is until they find out exactly how poorly I speak French (again Thanks Dad) and then it is even worse. Having a French papa should mean that I speak French well. Right? Wrong.

Anywho..there is a point to this. I was writing an email in Finnish this morning requesting information about something. The sentence I was writing referenced "in the mornings". Example "I like to exercise in the morning". Finnish makes you pluralize it (don't even get me started on the difference between partative, plural and plural partative..it will give you a headache) so it comes out "in the mornings" meaning every morning or some mornings.

Simple examples are the best I can give you. If you want something happens 1 time (today or tomorrow) there is a specific way to write it by conjugating the word. The same goes for something that happens many times or during specific time frames (like weekends or in the mornings). There are many many rules in Finnish, and to give you all the permiations of this would hurt MY brain and ruin the fun.

So this is what happened:

I wanted to ask "Does it fit if we could come in the mornings?"

I wrote: Sopiiko jos voisimme tulla ammuisin?

Spelling counts folks. By missing one "a" and adding an "m", what I actually wrote was: "Does it fit if we could come I would moo?"

Apparently I speak Finnish like a cow too! Moooooooooooo

for your edification:

aamuisin - in the mornings
ammuisin - I would MOOO