Daily photo Stockholm - behind the scenes

Derbypassion

2006-09-20T23:40:00.000+02:00

More pictures from the posting at stockholmdailyphoto on the 20th of september. Cracking atmosphere!

The concert house

2006-05-12T07:25:00.000+02:00

Pictures taken on the 11th of may at Hötorget in Stockholm. The concerthouse. Sadly no blue sky = )

More subwayart

2006-05-10T22:28:00.000+02:00

Pictures of Kungsträdgården subwaystation taken on the 10th of may. Main pictures and text can be seen here

Subway art

2006-05-08T22:45:00.000+02:00

Pictures of Solna subwaystation in Stockholm. Taken on the 8th of may.
For the main pictures and article go here =)

Cherry blossom tree

2006-05-07T22:24:00.000+02:00

Pictures taken on the 7th of may in Kungsträdgården Stockholm. Cherry trees in full bloom, not a cloud in the sky and perfect weather = )

Sergel fountain

2006-05-05T17:58:00.000+02:00

Pictures of the Sergel fountain. Taken on the 5th of may in Stockholm. The text and head picture can be read and seen here
All pictures are clickable :-)

Churches

2006-05-04T19:15:00.000+02:00

More pictures from the 4th of may from my Stockholmdailyphotoblog. Hedvig Eleonora Church on Östermalms torg in Stockholm.

Passion - from Stockholmdailyphotoblog

2006-05-04T07:15:00.000+02:00

I am rich!!!

2006-05-01T00:30:00.000+02:00

No, the evening did not end up the same way as this flanelldressed white trashlady who gets her face and obese confidence flatened.

It ended up quite nicely! You see, I am a millionaire now. I am totally economically safe for the rest of my life. Atleast virtually. I just won three million crowns on the "who wants to be a millionaire" contest on dvd at home with a few nice friends.

As you can see they all wanted to be in the photograph... =D

Pity is, that it´s only virtual crowns. So I have decided to give them away to the society for fat people. Weighing in at a enormous weight of 102 kilos it is probably time for me to lose a kilo or two, dont you think Chris? =D

Hail to the chief!

The worlds funniest musicvideo?

2006-04-28T22:33:00.000+02:00

Is this the worlds funniest musicvideo or what?

Surfing google video I bumped into it by accident and Thought I just have to share it with you, funny as hell :-D

One hell of a nice day

2006-04-28T20:11:00.000+02:00

Today has been a easy day... oooooh such a easy day.

Despite being hungover, deprieved of my precious sleep, despite the rain and fog and despite having to do the job I do I was happy.

1) AIK crushed djurgården 3-1. 34 179 spectators, a world class atmosphere, and our first derbywin in four years. Check out a few of the photographs at http://stockholmdailyphoto.blogspot.com

2) I have struck some luck in finding to the world of dailyphotoblogging. Inspired by a few others I have started my own one about Stockholm. Finally something creative stuff to break the dullness. I guess I have´nt been receiptive of creative things lately. But I was now.

To tired to write more :-)

The first battle of 2006

2006-04-27T10:09:00.000+02:00

There is no way in describing it. The sounds and motion from the stand. Several thousand people united by the same belief for 90 minutes. From all different classes and living areas. For 90 minutes they´re not divided by all the boundaries that we human beings set up. For 90 minutes they share the same joy, anger or grief that appears for the passionate fan.

Less than ten hours away from the biggest derby game in Sweden. AIK vs Djurgårdens IF.
I am filled with anxiety as a AIK-supporter. It´s the first derbygame in 18 months after our relegation 2004. We have´nt beaten them since 2002. It´s a top of the table clash.

There will be more than one beer to relief the stressful feelings of a possible humilation...
I have friends who don´t care for football really. And it´s difficult explaining to them about the rush from 35 000 spectators and the war that reigns on the pitch.

Tonights game is more than just a game. It´s a battle between classes. AIK, the team that unifies socialgroups against Djurgården who mainly is a overclass team. It´s a battle between two clubs who together hold more than 210 years of history.

I can´t wait.

Actually quite funny

2006-04-26T10:08:00.000+02:00

Todays joke in the worlds most ineffective workplace was... well... like everything else here totally unbelivable.

With heavy steps and the song "run" by Air going through my mind I was heading for the entrance of my office. I saw it already on the outside, the president, the vice president and their head asskisser where standing there waiting to greet me!

What in the name of god is this? was my first thought.
"congratulations!" they said and shook my hand.
"Fantastic work" they said and clapped my back.
"You are invaluable" they said and hung a chocolate medal around my neck.

Apparantly we have been named the pensioncompany of the year for the fourth year running by some obscure, small economical, magazine. Thing is, you cant read anything about it there, and the reasons to why we are given the prize are pretty foggy to say the least.
And since we dont even get mentioned in bigger more serious magazine or tabloids... Well, it´s probably not so impossible that we buy these kind of awards *wink, wink*.

Well, with my chocolate medal and a giggling laughter to all the idiocy I take the elevator and walk to my place. There I see the next comical gift of the day. It´s a videotaped message from the president of our company who just greeted me with a "fantastic work" and gave me my chocolate medal.
He stands there, shifting from left to right, right to left all the time, causing me to get slightly seasick and in the background I can hear our companyrestaurant clearing out their dishes. The sound is so weak and eerie that you get the impression of someone reporting from Afghanistan if you shut your eyes.

I start to laugh. I have received my chocolate medal, my videotaped message and all my congratulations.
But none of them know what my name is or what I really do or how totally comical this place is.

Even more unbelivable!!!

2006-04-25T14:10:00.000+02:00

They say we have so much to do at work. So much. Even so, they invent stuff for us to do, like holding a presentation for all the bosses at work.
Just received an e-mail that everyone working with financial advisement (currently eight of us) is to hold a formal pensioninformation for all the bosses. 15 minutes each, after each time we will get a personal good and bad judgement from each of the nine bosses.

American Idol? No, this is even bigger! It´s the "oh, we don´t have a fucking thing to do at work so let´s play reality series jury".
I don´t really give a crap. It´s just a big reminder for me that I am at a place that´s constantly setting new low levels to how a place should work.

Just called another firm about a job. Was a pretty okay call, got a good impression. Let´s just hope that they´ll call me in for a interview...

unbelivable

2006-04-25T10:49:00.000+02:00

Just discovered that a woman at the office, in her thirties but oddly enough a freak mix between a 15 year old and a 70 year old woman, has got a job at one of our competitors.

Really, I dont give a fuck, but I guess I am envious that she´s not going to have to work here anymore. Rumour is that she´s getting a nice wage which makes me even more envious. She´s so slow. When she talks you want to fill in her words before she says them. She can have 45 minute conversations with customer which normally take five minutes.

Fact is that she´s quite lousy at work. She can hardly cope with the pace here and god knows how she will be able to do it at a "real" workplace. How the fuck could they even contemplate hiring her? Jesus!

I am so envious...

Hoorah! Tuesday!

2006-04-25T08:43:00.000+02:00

Tuesday I dont feel a thing... I think that´s one of the lines in The cures "friday".

Yeah, I feel pretty numb today. Should be dead tired after a marathonphonecall with my brother. Since moms death he´s been real eager to realize his and moms thoughts about taking over the family house.
Dad is quite happy about the idea, but at the same time he´s reluctant to sell it for a minimal price. And I can really understand that.

My brother wants it for a reasonable price. My dad wants a reasonable price. Thing is that the difference is around 200 000 crowns ( about 25 000 $).

I feel worried for my dad not getting a good price, I feel worried about Paul not getting the right price and I do feel worried about Pauls constant lack of patience.

Mom died two weeks ago and he´s so eager to fulfil a thought and halfwish from her that he´s forgetting Dads grief right in the middle of everything. I really dont want to think about it so much but you still do.

Jobs boring as usual. 90 minutes into the workday and the primediscussion has been around "arranging a picture" for one of our information sheets. Should be a discussion that concerns and is decided by one or two people. But right now seven or eight people are babbling about it.

I suggested we´d use Thorsten Flink and Shanti Roney as models (they are huge swedish moviestars =D ) but I did´nt get a real response.

Hoorah! Monday!

2006-04-24T09:32:00.000+02:00

It became quite obvious for me just now that I only use this blog to escape from the boredom that dominates my job and hence, my daily life.

Not one entry during the weekend. Did´nt feel the need for it. Well, nothing much to write about. Just relaxed being with mates, the girlfriend and just shutting off everything that makes life a pain rather than something you should be grateful for.

My job is just as usual. Surreal. I have three financial advisement meetings this week. The same goes for my colleagues. Three. And they are all within two hours on friday.
That´s all I´ve got to do. And it´s like... panic here! "Oh my, it´s going to be a busy week, be on your toes" and blah blah blah.

I get filled with disbelief. But at the same time it´s not a burden, even though it´s quite boring. I just sit here watching my screen, making time go by, and try to ignore the fact that I am currently spending a great portion of my life doing something that is contributing nothing to my life.
Or as I just mailed an old colleague of mine:
"I feel a bit slutty, if I can express myself like that. I am doing something that is deeply unstimulating. Yet, I turn up here everyday, for the money"

Sigh

2006-04-21T13:52:00.000+02:00

Christ... just had the most boring hours of the week. Forced into a education room, fed with "You have to get the customer to sign an insurance face to face" and blah blah blah.

More comments and picture later. I am to tired to write now. Just want to go home which I shall even though it´s an half hour left of the day.

Finally friday

2006-04-21T09:35:00.000+02:00

2 575 frozen souls where at the game yesterday. But even if the stadium has a 35 000 capacity there was plenty of noise in a easy 4-0 win.

It was nice coming out, seeing Tobias and Sandra. They always cheer me up, whatever the situation. That bond is something I am so grateful for.
So, even though it was pretty cold and even though it´s been tough with everything recently there where plenty of laughs.

Stayed up for a while as usual when I came home. Lisa sleeping tight at bed I chose to watch the latest South Park episode on my computer. Thereafter playing a few games and thereafter reading a book in bed. Everything just to avoid getting caught in roundabout thoughts about mom, about her illness and about the end.

I fell asleep around half past one. Dead tired.

Cramped

2006-04-20T18:05:00.000+02:00

Ah, was hoping for a nice and comfy ride home on the tube (or subway as you american readers call it =) but... no. In Stockholm we have two kinds of trains. One is modern, just a few years old and reliable as hell. The other is old trains from the sixties that are just as reliable as a midwestern lower class home in a tornado.

I caught the nicer train on the way home. Unfortunatly we had not only one, but two old trains infront of us and both received "technical wagon failures" which meant both where taken out of line.
The result was not only a snailslow trip home but also a jampacked one...

Fortunatly I wont experience the same thing at the football game this evening. AIK average about 20 000 fans each game but the swedish cup and the opposition are both highly uninteresting unless you are a hardcore fan. So there will be plenty of legroom... = )

This is not a crybaby blog

2006-04-20T15:43:00.000+02:00

Ah, only 20-30 minutes until I can escape from this place!

Just wanting to make clear. I don´t intend this to be a depressive "Oh my god, she left me, life is painful, everything sucks" blog or diary. It´s just that I am a bit down now after my mothers far to premature death.

Of course normally I am depressed sometimes but then I atleast have the energy to have it in a kind of comical way.

It will be a cool evening, having a beer or two with a few mates while watching our footballteam AIK play in the Swedish cup (for the american reader - soccer). Might skip the beer and take a coffee instead, it´s bloody cold today. Snow in april, the 20th of april!

Going to start checking work advertisments today. The only reason for me not going insane at the moment is my three close workmates and this blog.

It could be a hell of a lot worse

2006-04-20T13:39:00.000+02:00

Another cool day at the office. Nothing in particular to do except making a few financial advisement calls to people. Took a 1 hour 40 minute lunch today. Nobody cared. Was having lunch with Anna, an old colleague of mine.
Our situations are totally different but at the same time very similar. We are both deeply unsatisfied with our jobs, but indifferent from my situation where I have nothing to do she´s got to much to do.

"Is this how it´s always going to be? I guess it takes a year before you grow unsatisfied with what you do, then you just get miserable. Is it me or the work I do?" She asked.

"We´re just unlucky" I answered. It´s a bloody strange world we live in. In one end of the world you have people complaining about the lack of freedom of speech, which in our case is just a few hundred miles away in Belarus. In another you have people that rarely surpass the age of 40 and live in poverty (Zimbabwe).

It´s odd. I try to remember that it could be a hell of a lot worse when I look at my desk.

Two hours until I get to go home. Got to find a new direction in life. This is to cosy and predictable.
I miss mom often, wherever she is I hope she can have a protecting shadow over me. I seem to need it.

Got to go back surfing the net... sorry... work. = )

The office

2006-04-19T14:13:00.000+02:00

My job is like the office. But in my case my boss is the nicest guy in the world. Thing is, he has´nt got a fucking clue what is going on in the office or what people are doing.

I have never had such a contradicting job. My monthly wage has never been higher, yet, I have never done so little. After everything with mom it´s kind of a relief, but in the long run it´s terrible.
I can´t really describe this place. It´s like a twilight zone in a market that´s buzzing with activity.

People at my job say they have sooooo much to do and my boss belives it. At the same time he´s puzzled by how little we produce and sell.

And I feel like a hypocrite, because at the same time as I loath coming here each day I am grateful for not having to use my brain at the moment.

Trying to hit gold

2006-04-19T10:48:00.000+02:00

Work still uninspiring. Instead I occupy myself by trying to work out my new phone, a purchase that I explain as a small comfort to ease the pain of everything recently. My god, with the new tv, the kitchen stuff, the apartment and the media player I am starting to feel like a real capitalist!

I am also trying to find a jackpotfund for dad. In Sweden part of the pensionsystem is based on how you place your pension in different funds. Dad is old so he only has a small part in the new system but he still wants me to "play" with his money.

Even though I work with it I have´nt got a clue what to choose.

Comeback

2006-04-19T08:53:00.000+02:00

Wow... two months since the last entry. Well... going to be a bit bold here... all posts will be in english from now on and the blogging will be shorter.

9:23 am CET-time. Tired as hell. Still have´nt shaken off the eerie feeling of moms death. But on the other hand it´s just been nine days.
Work is totally uninspiring. Nothing to do really. Got to find a new line of work.

Quote of the day which makes me smile is Homer J Simpsons: "I wish god was alive to see this".