The construction of a new railroad platform

The downside of living in the north of Sweden is bad traffic communications. From Sundsvall (around 170 miles to the south) it gets much better. The daily train traffic from there is a lot more frequent. From Umeå, only like 2 trains a day stop for travelers, with Gothenburg (via Stockholm) as only destination.

However, the plans on the Botnia railway has been around since the late 90's. Now, around ten years later, it has finally started to happen things. I must say this really amazes me. The new "Botnia" line will evidently have at least one additional stop (compared with today's trains, stopping only at Umeå C). The construction work of a whole new platform is fascinating. It's called "Umeå Östra" (Umea East) and will be located just beside the University Hospital. In other words, really not that far away from where I live. As I pass by this spot more or less by daily routine, I can't have escaped the progress of the construction work. I'm so impressed, I've actually started taking photographs of it. Here, I post some of the pictures.



It's truly amazing how they're going to blow up a new tunnel, really not sure where it's going to lead. The preparations seems to lead under the car roundabout which lies between the becoming platform and the hospital. Well, I won't say too much, since I really don't know. Anyways, it's exciting.

Movie: "Mio In The Land Of Faraway" (1987)

Amazing adventure film. I can't remember ever having seen this one as a kid. A real shame, 'cuz I know I would have been really impressed. The first thing that struck me was when "Christian Bale" turned up at the credit roll in the beginning of the film. How funny, another Christian Bale, appearing in a piece of film created after a novel by Astrid Lindgren. It was first when I recognized the [at this time] around ten year old Christian Bale I was truly stunned. Wow. Funny indeed. In the beginning of the film there were a bounce of scenes with skylight view over Stockholm city. I wonder if they actually filmed the "saga stuff" in Sweden, or if the Stockholm from above view was only cut in, whereas the rest of the film was filmed in America, or someplace else. Oh, that's right, Christian Bale is actually not American, but Brittish. He was born in the UK, I read at the IMDb mini-biography. Perhaps not such a big effort getting him across Europe after all. Anyways, the film is great. I will definitely show this film to my children, and I know they will sit there, filled with exitement. So, what was it all about? It's about little Bosse, a young boy who has been placed into a fosterhome since his mother died giving birth to him. His father? He's not around. Life's hard on Bosse. The kids from the block bully him a lot, probably 'cuz his status isn't exactly top ten, being orphan and all. Anyways, suddenly, some sort of magic wind (metaphoricly speaking, see the details for yourself) sweeps over him, taking him to the magic Land of Beyond, where his father holds the kingdom. The only enemy is Kano, the evil ruler over the adjacent kingdom. Kano is [litterarly] a man with a heart of stone. Now, it turns out that Bosse's real name is Mio. His father will (giving the movie it's title) repeatedly call out "Oh, Mio min Mio..", embracing his son. Remarkable. Wonderful.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093543/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mio_min_Mio_(film)

A long walk incl. baby wear shopping

A dull Friday afternoon. The weather wasn't something to count on, and the radio wasn't playing anything interesting in particular. So, what was we to do? Well, we decided to go for a walk downtown. With bicycle, this trip is 10-15 minutes. Walking, however, makes it more about half an hour. Heavy winds as an extra spice, gosh. Well, we made it without any trees falling over us. So, we went to Åhléns and bought some clothes for our unborn baby. It's the second time we do this, it feels really awsome. Here's what we got on yesterday's trip.

A nice brown sweaater.


I personally loved this sweater.


White soft pants to feel comfortable in.


So, I will probably post snapshots on other baby wear later on, as I hadn't really made anything official (other than by burying a post-stamp blog like half a year back in time*) that last time. Anyways. There will be more!

As we got home again, sausage stroganof came as a blessing. Unfortunately, while everything was in the stew, she noticed we were out of mashed tomatoes. Damn, I had to jump on the bike and go back into the cold outdoors. Supermarket ahead. Weeha! However, as the stroganof melted inside my mouth, I felt that it most definitely hadn't been for nothing! ;)

Smile of today! :-)

Movie: "Rain Man" (1988)

Haven't had the great opportunity of watching this classic until now. Strange, really. However, it was beautiful. It's about Charles (played by a young Tom Cruise), a car salesman who runs his own company, but is obviously on his way down the drain. Deals knocking down on him, the DPA failing his imported cars, loan givers being ready to pull back. Everything looks bad.

So, suddenly Charles receives notice that his father has passed away. His first reaction is, well of course a bit chocked, yet it doesn't seem to bother him that much. As his fiancé [riding in the car with him as he receives the news over the 80's-styled car phone] reacts on that he doesn't seem to show the usual emotions, he explains how come the father-son relationship hasn't exactly been all that idyllic.

Anyways, they go for the funeral. It shall be revealed that Charles is more concerned about any possible heritage than the act of mourning. So, he goes there, really just to find out that his father had written a special will leaving him with less than he had thought. Let's say he'd been thrifty with the liquid assets. However, another not yet known factor also comes to Charles knowledge - he has a brother. Not just any brother, but an autistic brother which his/their father had not ever spoken about. So, what's an autistic person like? Well, there are several types of autism. Raymond here is dealing with the savant syndrome, which I personally find really amazing. Savant persons are somewhat a computer system. They do advanced math problems like 2+2. They also have the capacity to store huge amounts of informations in their "hard drive". Like, phone books, history, whatever. However, human emotions and social behavior just doesn't click right. Therefor, savant persons have great difficulties living in a normal society.

However, it will get obvious that Charles isn't the most caring brother at first. His company is on the edge of falling, and he needs to think of a way to get his hands on the three million dollars of liquid assets that his father had left behind. However, a interesting journey begins from here. Towards the end, things will look somewhat different.

A great movie, that everyone should go see. Dustin Hoffman makes a great role as Raymond, the autistic brother. Like I've said before, it has to be a real struggle to fit into a role as mentally otherwise. This is the second time I see this (the first one I mentioned was Sigourney Weaver in 'Snow Cake'). However, really great film. Go see this one, if you haven't already.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095953/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Man

The Ecologist

Yesterday took a warm turn in environmental movement.

When me and my fiancé were at the hypermarket, I noticed they had sales on Low-Energy light bulbs. I've considered changing my light bulbs for a long time, it just hasn't happened. This was a good time. So, I picked the 11 watt lamp, which is equivalent to a 60 watt environment-hazardous bulb, and my excitement began to rise within me.



I [of course] changed the light bulb first thing as we stepped inside. Then hitting the switch, and tada, the warm light increasing by degrees. Amazing. After less than a minute, the light felt just as usual; consuming only ~1/6 the power resources. You really start doubting why this change isn't enforced by the government. The next generation will think of us as real madmen, gaining light from these [obviously over-devouring] pieces of vacuum content. Feels great to be on the track. Today, I will go buy more LE light bulbs; I would not be able to sleep with myself if I left a E27 light bulb socket with a environmental risk. Not a chance!

I must also [like I marked out like half a year ago already] point out that I'm recycling all garbage since I moved in here. Hard plastic, glass, pasteboard, sheet metal. Everything in it's assigned container. Gosh, I get the creeps when I think a couple of years ago, living in my first apartment. I mashed everything(!) down in the garbage can, and threw the bags directly into the container for inflammable stuff. Not a very smart way of taking care of ones waste disposal, now is it? One thing is for certain, I will never let my kids hear about that. How could I have lived with myself, acting like I had no respect at all for our next-coming generations?



Hail the environment.
Together we can make things happen!

Dear old workstation.

Gash, yesterday was a real hassle. I can tell you that much. It started early in the morning when I turned on my computer. Due to some minor inconveniences I decided to enter the BIOS. So, I made my adjustments and saved for reboot. Ka-blaam! I got stuck at the POST phase. The last line I read was the CPU identification, no quick memory testing, no possibility for hitting DEL. Stuck! This wasn't what I was expecting. After a couple of minutes I realized the seriousness of this matter. I was stuck. I had to fetch some ancient computer at some 2nd hand store, just to fetch the floppy drive and re-flash the BIOS, 'cuz I couldn't get into the operating system. Then it hit me, I would not even be able to re-write BIOS data through a floppy drive, since I was stuck at nowhere land. Oh no!

I hoped for a minor circuit flaw that a JP1 reset would correct. So, I popped the hood and flipped the jumper back and forth. Reboot. Same old lock-down screen. I started feeling blue. This was not fun. Fortunately, my photos and other precious data wouldn't be harmed, since they were on the hard drive. Anyways, it is not fun being all shutdown like this. We went to my fiancé's apartment where I hooked up with Google. After some reading, I began to suspect that my PLCC chip (chief over the BIOS program) had been physically injured. These things could evidently happen. Damn. Of course, what had I expected? My workstation is a couple of years old, not exactly a shining new Lamborghini, and it's been through a lot. Of course it was time for memorial service. This was only a matter of acceptance right now. Anyways, I couldn't go there, not just yet. I ran into a computer shop downtown, and explained my issue, and asked them how much it would cost me to have them finding a new (fitting) PLCC chip, plus mounting it (a solder task). They told me I could count on ending up on around 700 SEK (72.12€ / 103.36$).

"Oh. That doesn't sound all that bad. Let me think it over, then I'll get back to you"

As I left the store, I thought to my self, "Not a chance on earth, not with today's budget". Besides, for only like twice that amount, I would probably get a brand new (modern) ShuttleX chassis, no longer being bound to an old motherboard running Socket 478 CPU's, which are no longer manufactured. I'd just let it be for now. So I went home again. Made a final attempt to reset the CMOS through that pin jumper. Guess if I gave a happy smile when the good old lad booted up..? You bet!



You see, I don't need a top of the line computer. I'm happy with this machinery. Just look at it, the front is like a bathroom mirror, fully equipped with a 6-in-1 card reader, plus audio as well as USB(2.0) ports. It's a knight in shining armor. Wow, I was so happy. Later on the day, I celebrated this victory by eating lunch on McDonald's. I also went into a electronics shop and bought a PCI card providing 4+1 additional USB(2.0) ports. Up until now, I had used my (only) PCI slot for a dumb ass WAN adapter, an old 54MBit model that is. So, I figured that with additional USB ports, I could plug a WAN dongle in whenever I felt like it. Anyways, right now there's no need, since I've desist from being connected at home. Anyways, these ports were good for just about anything. I mean, everything goes through USB nowadays. We're foremost the USB nation, aren't we?

Just thought I'd share this happy story with y'all!