Still strong in Sweden!

Yup, I'm bad at this. And I didn't read the last post. I'm also using my phone to type this. Just got the app! Woo Hoo! So I don't think I had a job the last time I wrote on this thing. I may have. Too lazy to check. Anyway, I got a job as a consultant Sigma Technology Information as a technical writer and I have my assignment here in lidköping. It takes me about 5 minutes to ride my bike here. Super nice! I've had the job for awhile; over a year now. And things are good.

Sara is still going strong in the military. Has been stationed in Halmstad the last year. But she'll be graduating in November from the school she's attending and then be stationed 30 km outside of town. She's finally moving home!

Anyway, with the app in my pocket I hope to update this thing more. You know, so all of my many followers can keep tabs.

E-cigs - Safe or Not!

Alright. I'm not trying to be an expert on this subject. I don't even own an e-cig. I do, however have brother that invests a bunch of money into his mod. Before he got into that, he would smoke a pack-a-day or something of the like. But since he switched he's been a huge advocate for the use of vaping as a cessation for smoking. When he smoked his normal cigarettes it sucked. His clothes stank, his breath stank, and he looked like he was five years older than he was. Still in his 20's, you could see the old baseball effect on his face. It was gross. Somewhere he heard of e-cigs and made the switch. It didn't take long for him to notice a difference in himself. He had more energy, his friends and family would hug him without wincing, but the biggest thing he noticed was that he could taste food! I don't smoke, but, damn.

Since then I've had a positive outlook on e-cigs and the like. Hell, I sort of thought it was cool. With the mod he had last year when I saw him last, he could do a "dragon effect" where when exhaling, a thick cloud of smoke would be blown out. Cool, huh? My brother even sent me articles to read online about the culture and use, as well as updates to government regulation.

From what I understand the "ejuice" used in these vapes is pretty simple. The formula being fairly simple: a vegetable glycerin/propylene glycol mixture (with the former being the base usually 80-90% of the mixture, with the latter being the thick smoke component, also used in fog machines [which we've all inhaled a little bit a da club. You know what's up], flavoring which is food grade (the same stuff you cook with), pharmaceutical grade nicotine, and sometimes water to dilute the stuff. Also with a shit load of flavors available from cooking supply stores, you might have a hard time deciding which flavor of ejuice to try.

So you stick this juice in your vape mod where the battery operated device heats up the juice with a cartomizer to vaper which is inhaled and exhaled, resulting in a bad-ass behavioral attitude.

The debate is over the safety of vaping. This type of inhalation of nicotine hasn't been around for very long resulting in very few studies. No chance of longitudinal studies for long term results. But the little research that is out there doesn't tell us much. The latest study the New England Journal of Medicine tells us that an unsafe amount of formaldehyde is present, as well as 10 known carcinogens.

I'm not writing this to tell everyone that these things are safe and without risk, but what I'm trying to do is put some information out there so people feel a little informed. The info that I've presented isn't documented very well, but I've read a bunch of articles, and if this information doesn't isn't read by anyone, fine, it's for me to get my thoughts out of my head.

To continue a little bit, cigarettes have 11,000 known toxins, and still a butt-load formaldehyde, and a bunch of other tar and things that get into your lungs. We've known that for a very long time. The few harmful things found in the inhaled vaper, aren't safe, and the trace amounts exposed to the human body have unknown effects. It's a risk. On the packages of cigarettes, they tell us that the cigarettes kill (at least that's what they say in Sweden).

E-cigs aren't currently regulated, but are being pushed to be regulated like tobacco even though there isn't a single ounce of tobacco in it. That's where it's a little bit stoopid. If the legislation comes down to where they are regulated like tobacco in the USA then a lot of rules change the whole market. I assume the cost of the ejuice will rise a ton because of taxes and other nonsense. I'm sure a bunch of providers of ejuice will not be able to continue for the increased overhead costs of abiding to such regulations.

Right now the movement brings about a lot of creativity with ejuice as well as the mods that people are vaping out of. I've known friends that have put down hundreds of dollars for their mods. Many of them end up looking like some kind of phalic light-saber these guys are continually sucking on. But as of now people have the ability do what they want in this non-regulated nicotine trip. That artistic creativity might also be lost to what "the man" might say.

Okay, almost done. Like I said, these things are not completely safe. Neither is fast food. Neither is alcohol, driving, walking down the street, or even risking not to slip while taking a shower. We have the right to choose how we want to live our life. Be informed and take risks to live an awesome life. So go out there and live.

Sara's Gone!

Hey all! Once again it has been awhile since I've updated. Deal with it! So here's my update:

Exciting news! Sara got into a program with the Swedish Military to become an aircraft technician. It all happened super fast. She found the offer and was scheduled for an interview the next week. This was the middle of December when this was happening. Anyway, we drove down to Gothenburg to go through the mental and physical examination to see if she would be fit for the position. She was also battling with a bunch of others for the same job. One thing that really sucked was that both of us were suffering from some pretty severe colds. So the morning of, Sara took a shit loads of meds and we left at 5 in the morning to head down to G-town. The interview stuff started around 8 or so, so we made sure that we were there on time. So basically no sleep (cause who really gets up at 4, and we're both unemployed which means that we're not used to going to bed till like midnight, and our minds were going crazy with excitement for the next day as well as fear for not waking up to our alarms) and pretty sick, we headed off to change our stars.

The weather was cold and rainy, so I spent my day in the mall. Oh, yeah. I gave a few updates then. So the follow up was that the day really sucked. I was stuck there till like 6 in the evening. And during rush hour traffic Sara slowed the car enough for me to jump in while on our way out of town. She told me that it was pretty intense and the lack of sleep and having a cold didn't affect her much. But they were pretty in depth. They told us that we would find out in a couple of weeks. Basically around St. Lucia Day which was the next weekend.

She did it!!! She was at work when she got the email. We were way excited! The next step would be starting from the ground up in the military. On Monday Sara reported for duty. Basic training would be three months in Uppsala, a bit north of Stockholm. After the initial three months she would continue being trained there for a bit longer, till August I think. Then we're not sure where next. Maybe Halmstad, South of Gothenburg. But anyway, she's gone. Doing all this training stuff. So I'm stuck here by myself, living a bachelor's life for now. She'll be able to visit every couple of weeks on the weekends. So I'll see her soon. No problem.

So that's it. We'll see where my next adventure takes me.

Still waiting!!!

So I'm still here in Gothenberg waiting for my Sweet Heart. the rain is coming down pretty steady outside and it's cold. After that last post at McDonalds I basically walked straight to Nordstan and froze my balls off. It was a short walk, but man...not fun. So now I'm stuck in Nordstan which is the big mall in this city. It's not that big, compared to American standards, but, come one, not much is, eh eh? And it sucks here. I've walked around the stores with guy clothes and I'm done. It's loud everywhere and I'm still super tired. 

I've been talking with Sara a little bit. She got a 4 on the physical part of the training, which is high enough to get into the air force, which is where she wants to go. She hasn't gotten the results to the logical written test yet. But everything is still a go and looks really well.  I'm excited for her. After that she's gonna try and find me over here.

Oh, and Mats and Susanne are here somewhere. In Nordstan. I think they're gonna call and try to find me. I'm at the espresso house with a cup of coffee and a slightly sore knee. I wonder if they'll try to find me. 

Anyway, still can't wait to go home.

UPDATE:  Oh my word. Seriously. So I'm still here at Nordstan, the same place from the post above. But get this, there: there are two small tables that are next to each other that provides seating for four people. twice, that's right, twice have a couple come and sat next to me. Both were nice and asked if the other small table was "free" but isn't that very un-Swedish? I don't know. What happens is that a complete stranger listens to your coversation. I'm not really listening, but I have been. The first pair were old, with the most interesting thing happening was the wife nagging to the husband to hold the plate they were eating off of so that it doesn't move around when he cut a piece of the cake. They then  were talking about the lovely things that were happening at home that they were going to do. The other pair that sat next to me are "friends" about high school age. Not really listening, very dull things about school, but they are still here. I'm writing this now as something of an adventure knowing that if they were to look at what I was writing might be familiar, but one wouldn't agknoledge what they saw, for they would be admitting that they were looking at a strangers screen. That would be more rude than anything. They have almost left a few times but ended up staying exactly where they are. Jesus Christ. I didn't know that it would be so hard to have some quiet time by myself without a woman nagging

We did Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!

YaY!!! I cooked Thanksgiving! All by my lonesome. It turned out really good, too. It was a lot of work but I got it done. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean cassarole, stuffing, candied yams, gravy, and pecan pie. We found a turkey farm outside of town and got a nine pounder. It fit perfectly in the small Swedish oven. Oh, and I cooked it way out at Sara's Dad's house, about 20 kilometers outside of Lidkoping. I made sure that I had everything when I went out there the first time, cause there was no running to the store to get anything forgotten. I made the pies the day before and had a good game plan for game day. We celebrated the Saturday before the real Thanksgiving cause they don't get that day off like they do back home. Go fig. But I drove out to the house around noon and kept cooking non stop till it was time to eat. I had the kitchen all to myself, which is how I like it, and with no disasters I got everything done in time, with the turkey coming out absolutely perfect. 

Guests were Mats, Sussane, Jacob, Natalie, Linda (Berto had to watch sick kids at home so he got a doggy bag), Laila, Farmor, Sara, and myself. Most of them showed up at 6 in the evening and had a really nice dinner. Farmor even went back for a second plate, which is the equivelent of an A+. The pie turned out runnier than expected but still really good. We even played board games after the eating. It turned into a really fun evening.

What I miss, though, is how we do it at home. I know that is pretty much impossible, but I'll express my feelings. Back home family would be gathered, people helping in the kitchen with the rest of the people waiting or their holiday favorites. No football on TV here in Sweden. No excitement, not much anyway. It was a nice dinner party where I fed the family food they don't normally eat. That's about it. I'll do it again, but I'll try harder to bring the Thanksgiving holiday magic next time.

Here we go again

So once again we here in Sweden, this time in Gothenberg. Sara is off to do her tests to join the military. Over here joining the military is more of a job than a status symbol like it is in the states. I'm not sure if I mean "status symbol" but the view of it as more of a job is much more accurate. In the states I think of it more like how I would view a police officer, where both are separated from the general population in a sense. Joining here is also not quite the same as the states either. Right now Sara is taking the written and physical tests and depending on how well she does is where they will offer her a job. For example, if she does really shitty she will be offered a position as a soldier where all she has to do is learn to fight and be ready to do that, I guess. But if you're smarter you get offered more of the thinking positions. Sara really wants to be part of HR for the special forces. If not that, she wants to be a weapons technician or something cool like that. She needs to score pretty high for those types of positions so we're really wishing her luck right now.

But these tests couldn't have come at a worse time. Let me explain: today is the last day that one can take these tests to be in the running for these jobs. We found out about these deadlines  a few days ago. We also were blessed with some severe colds as well. Sara even tried to postpone the tests for a later date, but the only positions that she wants need to have the tests completed today. So that sucks. We had to get here early as well. It's 9:30 right now, in the a.m. and she had me drive. Jacob and Natalie were kind enough to offer their car. Yeah, it's a manual, but I'm getting better at it. I really hate driving in the dark though, and it's dark here in the mornings. I had a little bit of a melt down driving over here, but we made it. We're okay.  Another thing. because we're both unemployed we have sleeping patterns that don't coincide with a normal working schedule. But we tried to go to bed early last night with very little success. I must have slept only a couple hours last night with Sara doing about the same, maybe less. So right now Sara is starting the tests that will determine her career for the rest of her life with almost no sleep and a strong cold.  We're really wishing her all the luck we can muster.

So while she is doing that I'm here in Gothenberg to do whatever I can to pass the day. Of course I found a McDonalds for the free internet. It took me about 2 hours of walking to find it. Because we only have one smart phone in the family, Sara has it so she could navigate to the army base. I tried to follow the light rail tracks into the center of town. I made some wrong turns but eventually found it. Damn, I gotta get a real phone. So here I am. I have no idea how long I'm going to be but I'm damn tired and mostly want to go home and sleep. And of course it's a rainy day here. The rainiest city in Sweden, am I right? 

One thing that I really want to do is find a brewery place that sells stuff to brew. The problem is that I can find it on the net, but finding in real life is a whole other thing. Thinking about it, I could probably leave it on the screen here and do my best. We'll see. I really want to get some cider yeast so I can brew some hard cider. At some point I'd like to get a nice set to start brewing beer but that'll have to wait till we find a more perminent place to live. Sara thinks she'll be stationed in Halmstad which I think is a couple hours south of here. So she's started applying for apartments here. I think she's applied for five of them so far. I think they're in really good parts of the town. We got the lure in, let's see what bites.

And I'm still lookinf for work as well. There was a position for admin assistant to some yoga place that I applied for that might be fun. They're just starting out here from the UK. It's a small job, just a few hours a day, 5 days a week. But it sounds fun. I sent them an email and they asked for my CV and stuff, which is at least an answer. I don't get many of those from the emails that I send out. We'll see.

Anyway, you're just about up to date. Oh, the next post I'll let you know how Thanksgiving went here.

Me brewin stuff

Okay, if you've talked to me face to face and we're friends you might know that there is a hobby that I've been wanting to break into, and that's the world of home brewing. A couple of reasons I want to do this is, first, it's cool to make stuff. I love cooking and looking up recipies and pouring effort into something that I can really enjoy. Another reason is from my older brother's example. He and his bestie have assembled this bad ass brewery that's worth over ten grand. Those buds are serious for beer. They also made some damn good beer too. Reason number three is that alcohol is stoopid expensive here in the nordic. The wife and I were bicycling around Europe for awhile and the stuff is way cheaper in other countries. The Swedish government loves to tax things, and while living here is pretty great, you can hardly pee without getting taxed for it (although most public toilets make you pay before you pee, but that's a whole other rage topic). So I'm ready to jump in. The first road block is needing the stuff to start. I don't having anything like that in my kitchen, and the closest home brewing store is in Gothenberg. The fact that I don't have a car doesn't help with that either. Some day.

In the meantime I've starting with something other than beer, well, it's ginger beer! way different than normal beer. Technically it's more of a ginger wine, I think. Anyway here is what it looks like:

It didn't ferment very long cause I was just experimenting. This was my first attempt at making a fermented beverage and I wanted it to go as low risk as I could. And you know what? It was awesome. All it was was shredding ginger and throw it in a pot. Add water and suger, and I think some baking powder. Boil. And when it cooled down a bit, you add some yeast and stick it in a 2 liter soda bottle. It sat there a few days and got all bubbly. It seriously took like five minutes to be able to open the cap all the way without it exploding out. But it tasted great, and I'm excited to try something else. Ginger beer was good, but I want something a little less new mom hipster. Which means I'm going back alley hobo and try making hard cider. I just need to get my hands on some cider or wine yeast.  Wish me luck!