Well the park thing was a bit of a wash-out. It had all the ingredients pictured (park, sun, book and me), but I had forgotten two little details: A. I still don’t know what it is I am allergic to, but it is pollenating at the moment. B. I don’t like little green flying things that decide to sit on me.

I lasted all of 10 minutes, then went and sat in the basement where the nmwl meets instead.

Yeah summer…! I think.

Music in my head: None. All music deafened by vicious killer headache.

It’s sunny again. I wish it would rain for a few days more. Oh, well.

In two and a half hours the whisky society is meeting, so there is no point in going home. However, I can’t quite see the point of sitting here, either. Maybe I should go find a park and read Hornblower. That sounds like a good idea to me.

Music in my head: I only want to be with you (Vonda Shepard)

I get the weirdest spam. I have been invited to attend, maybe even to exhibit at Zhongshan International Casual Wear Fair & China Casual Wear Expo… And I quote:

“Zhongshan International Casual Wear Fair & China Casual Wear Expo is co-organized by Zhongshan Municipal People’s Government, China National Garment Association and China Fashion Designers Association.
Successfully holding the two casual wear fairs in 2000 and 2001, The 2002 zhongshan International Casual Wear Fair & China Casual Wear Expo will be held again in Shaxi- China’s renowned city of garment production and China’s important casual wear production base, from October 25-28, 2002.

With the theme of “Take a leading role in casual wear, Create business opportunities”. ZSIC 2002 is an important international casual wear expo after China’s entry into WTO. The event is receiving wide attention from the casual wear business circle at home and abroad for its professionalism, large scale, and internationalism.

ZSIC 2002 will provide such services as exhibiting, ordering, business negotiating and information exchange. It will create a wider market for the broad businessmen, based on the achievements of the last two events which have accommodated over 1,600 business exhibitors from more than 20 countries, Hong Kong and Macao SARs, and Taiwan Region.

Come to ZSIC 2002 for more business opportunities and a prosperous future!”

Apart from noting that “broad businessmen” may, indeed, require casual wear, I can’t help wondering what this spam is meant to achieve. I can normally see the point (sort of) of spam. I mean, all the invitations to have my penis enlarged are a bit pointless (100% – guaranteed – of 0 is still 0), but the spambots can’t be expected to know that I’m a woman, and someone out there might bite if the mail is sent to enough people. But surely, if this is a serious event, they would not really want just anyone to show up, would they? Or maybe they would. Maybe I’m just expecting people, against all odds, to behave rationally and sensibly and conduct their business likewise.

Music in my head: Any man of mine (Shania Twain)

We have rain!

After a few weeks of really lovely weather, but just a mite too hot for my taste (25 degrees C upwards), thank you very much, we had a couple of stifling days, and then yesterday evening the skies opened. A proper thunderstorm! So I did the only sensible thing, I went out for a walk to get soaking wet and revel in the thunder and lightning.

I miss the beach at Worthing, there is no good place to stand and get wet outside where I live now. And, of course, no waves to splash about in with your wellies on. Though there is a decent place to sit and get wet – some steps on the lawn outside where you have a sort of a view of the fjord. (Ok, so maybe you’re wondering why I can’t just stand by the steps if I can sit there? Well, I dunno, it’s not as good.)

Why do I find it so much easier to think when it rains?

I have thus found yet one more item for the list of requirements for Mr. Right: He really cannot be afraid of thunderstorms. If he is he will have a miserable time of it, as I will actively seek them out, preferably climbing to the top of a hill or walking in as big an open space as possible. I have yet to be hit by lightening, though. I unconsciously note how far away the storm actually is, anyway, if it got close, I suppose I might seek shelter (no, not under a tree).

Music in my head: New York, New York (ta-da-damtadum, ta-da-damtadum…)

Did I mention that I hate interviews?

In a way, it’s almost worse when I feel things are going well, as it makes it so much harder to prepare for a negative. If an interview goes badly I can shrug my shoulders and think “Well, that’s that then, better luck next time”, but when things looking up I have to resort to hoping that everyone I’m up against are complete idiots and to try and make myself believe that that can not possibly be the case so that if I do get a negative I won’t feel too bad about it.

And I really do want this job. I don’t think I’ve wanted a specific job this much before, ever. It would be such a challenge at the same time as I am quite sure I’d be able to rise to it. And there’s a lot of familiar ground as well, so I won’t be going in blindfolded. And the people I’d have to work with all seem really nice.

The waiting is the worst part. At least they are aiming to have a decision quickly, so I should hear something in just a few days. In the meantime, I will try not to obsess about it (all right, all right, I said TRY – don’t expect me to be successful all at once here).

Oh, in case you started wondering earlier, as I did, what the Seven Wonders of the world actually were (well, can you name them?) – here’s a list:

The Pyramid of Giza
The Colossus if Rhodes
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Temple of Arthemis at Ephesus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Music in my head: Luka (Susanne Vega – seeing her at the Norwegian Wood festival this weekend, actually)

Ok, so this morning the jukebox in my head has been playing a line from one of the Eurovision entries this year: “He’s got the makings of my seventh wonder.” It is a line that begs one of two questions. Either “So, who were the other six?” or “So which of the seven wonders of the world are you discarding to make room for him?” Methinks the songwriter got his metaphors muddled. These pesky numbers, it’s hard to remember when it’s 7th and when it’s 8th. Here’s an easy rule for you: 7 and heaven rhyme. 7 and wonder do not rhyme.

Uh. Left my mobile at home today, so don’t try to phone me.

Actually got around to going to the cinema yesterday, after having been sort of planning to go to various shows since Easter… Major achievement.

Anyway, saw The Iron Ladies – tagged – reasonably accurately, as it happens – as a “thai feel-good comedy about a transsexual volleyball team”. It was great. Uhm, let me modify that. As a film it was not great. It was basically Cool Runnings with cross-dressers. And though I have no idea whether the west has actually gotten further tolerance-wise than eastern Asia, western art has certainly moved on a bit. The treatment of the issues was heavy-handed, to say the least. Though I suspect any subtelty they may have achieved would have been lost in the translation (the trouble with Thai is that even the tone and intonation is foreign to me, and so I have to rely more or less solely on subtitles that were worse than usual, the translator seemed to be in a muddle over the rules of volleyball for one thing, mixing such terms as “game” and “set” throughout). But the characters are delightful enough to make the film worth watching anyhow. Highly recommended.

Music in the room: Love is All Around – The Troggs

Well, this is the height of irony… I’m on an assignment in Stavanger for one of the large energy suppliers in western Norway, and guess what? The electricity supply is out. And I mean OUT. In the whole of south Rogaland. And how much work with computers can you do with no electricity. The answer is Not A Lot. I’ve just about got enough power for this, and what with the mobile connection to the internet I don’t need the server here (the one I use is in Oslo).

Sounds like we might be returning to Oslo early, I say.

Music in my head: Something Stupid

I’ve been working too hard. How can I tell? My arms hurt. My left wrist and elbow have been complaining for a while and my right wrist has just chimed in. It all comes of sitting bunched up over the laptop. Quite possibly reading in bed doesn’t help, but I prefer to blame work…

I did, in fact, go to the gym on Tuesday. I worked out for all of, ah, 30 minutes, I think. Anyway, I’m sure it’s better than nothing. I might go back tonight. Only part of the reason I didn’t stay longer was that A. I didn’t like their cross-trainers (I found it impossible to get a smooth movement on them, it could just be me, of course) and B. they don’t seem to have a Pace room (I like Pace). So maybe I should make an effort to go this weekend instead, when I’m back in Oslo.

I’ve been called back for a second interview for a job that I really, really want. Did I mention that I hate interviews? I’m sure they’re character building, but who wants a character? I like me the way I am.

Music in my head: Escape (Yes; Enrique Iglesias. I need help.)

Still in Stavanger. Or, rather, back in Stavanger, as I’ve been in Oslo for the weekend. A bit of an all outer, with people from work meeting up at BarBeint on Friday and Ingun and Øystein having a housewarming on Saturday. Alchohol was consumed, and not just by me, either. It struck me, yet again, how my tendency to try to avoid making assumptions leaves me out of the gossip-mill. At least, there might be gossip about me, but I’ll be the last person to catch on to any gossip about other people. Take Ingun and Øystein – colleagues of mine, met at work and obviously somehow got it together to the extent that they have now moved in and are having a housewarming. And did I have an inkling? Nope. Not even when the invite landed in my mailbox. “Oh, so they’re having a party together. How nice. Well, since they’re both leaving at about the same time I suppose it makes sense…” Not a smidget of an inkling. Until someone said something about it that was completely unambiguous. And a lot of things suddenly clicked into place. Not the first time that sort of thing has happened either. So, a bit of advice to y’all: I don’t mind being on a need to know basis, but please don’t assume that I have guessed at what’s going on. Odds are I haven’t.

Anyway, back to Stavanger. Nice town. The centre is nice and compact, so it’s a nice short walk from the hotel to the harbour where there are loads of restaurants and places to have a pint or two in the sun. My colleagues do not approve of the local beer (Tou), which is served almost everywhere and sometimes exclusively, but I don’t care, because A. I don’t drink beer and B. Skagen Brygge Hotel has a mile-long list of single malts on the menu. Besides, I’m broke.

Thought I’d get around to going to the gym today – can go to any branch in Norway, theoretically – as I haven’t been for weeks, now, and I really do need some excercise. And my the front wheel on my bike’s been flat for weeks, too (ok, so I should’ve fixed it, but I only got round to it this weekend), so I haven’t even been cycling to work (or back, which is more to the point, as that’s all up-hill).

On a different note: I hate interviews. I realise the necessity, but I do wish I could be let off. Especially for jobs that I really want, and I’m sure I could do well. Couldn’t they just take my word for it? Ok, maybe not. I’ll probably be so sick of interviews so quickly that I’ll just jump at the first job that offers, even if it’s the check-out at the local supermarket. I will try to restrain myself, though, as this whole situation is really something I ought to view as an opportunity to search for “the perfect job”. Unless the present prospect actually comes through (which seems unlikely from the sheer point of Too Good To Be True), I think I’ll get a paper round. I could do with the excercise. Maybe it’d take away the tension from all these interviews.

Music in my head: Head over Feet – Alanis Morisette (v.g. compared to yesterday when I managed to get the “Slå på ring” stuck in my head for hours, I nearly went mad – or at least madder)