Monday, November 22, 2004
Texas in T minus 26 days. Thank you to Uncle Marvin for his keen scientific insight - my brain has a tendancy to fart every now and then - but from now on T will stand for Texas.
Karoliina and I have been completely ambushed by the stupidity of the markets here in Joensuu. First was last week, when everything was closed for Father's Day. I can understand the need to celebrate the dad, but does everything need to be closed? Don't the dads of Finland want to spend some time on their own that day. You know, breakfast in bed and then a nice long nap while Mom and the kids are out on the town. But not here, everything is closed.
And when the shops are open on the weekend, like this Saturday, they are only open for business until 2pm. Karoliina and I went to a furniture store this Saturday to look for a new light fixture and a new kitchen table and chairs. We arrived at 3pm only to find that all the stores close at 2. What the hell kind of business hours is that? How do they expect to stay in business when they are only open for customers until 5 during the week and 2 on Saturday's and then not at all on Sunday's? That leaves people like us, who don't own a car - a bitch for another occasion - a total of 8 hours a week to get to the store. And when the temperature is at 10 degrees, it really sucks to ride a bike to the store only to go right back home with no break and warm air in between.
Speaking of 10 degrees, I never knew how much warmer 18 degrees is than 8 degrees. This morning, on the way to work it was 8 degrees outside, which was really cold and falls well below my limit for taking the bike to work. But I scheduled a hair cut this morning and needed my bike to get back and forth. At 10am the weather had warmed up to 18 and the difference was amazing. Normally this is something that happens over a longer period of time, like months, but today is was a matter of hours. Pretty soon I will begin keeping my routine very close together, which will eliminate the need for the bike for a few months. This means a limited selection of food, but a warmer ass. Sometimes a trade is necessary.
Karoliina and I have been completely ambushed by the stupidity of the markets here in Joensuu. First was last week, when everything was closed for Father's Day. I can understand the need to celebrate the dad, but does everything need to be closed? Don't the dads of Finland want to spend some time on their own that day. You know, breakfast in bed and then a nice long nap while Mom and the kids are out on the town. But not here, everything is closed.
And when the shops are open on the weekend, like this Saturday, they are only open for business until 2pm. Karoliina and I went to a furniture store this Saturday to look for a new light fixture and a new kitchen table and chairs. We arrived at 3pm only to find that all the stores close at 2. What the hell kind of business hours is that? How do they expect to stay in business when they are only open for customers until 5 during the week and 2 on Saturday's and then not at all on Sunday's? That leaves people like us, who don't own a car - a bitch for another occasion - a total of 8 hours a week to get to the store. And when the temperature is at 10 degrees, it really sucks to ride a bike to the store only to go right back home with no break and warm air in between.
Speaking of 10 degrees, I never knew how much warmer 18 degrees is than 8 degrees. This morning, on the way to work it was 8 degrees outside, which was really cold and falls well below my limit for taking the bike to work. But I scheduled a hair cut this morning and needed my bike to get back and forth. At 10am the weather had warmed up to 18 and the difference was amazing. Normally this is something that happens over a longer period of time, like months, but today is was a matter of hours. Pretty soon I will begin keeping my routine very close together, which will eliminate the need for the bike for a few months. This means a limited selection of food, but a warmer ass. Sometimes a trade is necessary.
// posted by Howard @ 2:20 PM 
