Keep on walking

I am just back from my walk this morning. There is something very relaxing and meditative about walking. There is nothing better then walking in nature and mulling things/problems around in your head. Any problem doesn't seem nearly as bad as after you've thought about it during a walk. Me and James have our best discussions during walks. I'm sure there is some scientific explanation to it all but I don't need that to know that a walk is good for you. Not only for your health but also for your mind. I'd like to go on a hike somewhere scenic before the really warm summer sets in. Got to ask James if he wants to do something before we go visit Al in late may.

In other news:
We now got a quote from the window people or rather two, one with windows and one with just the patio door. It is scary but not too bad. We also had a third company come by early this morning to have a look. He did the quote while talking to me so we now know more about what ballpark we are talking about. This guy is a local one that the window person recommended and got in touch with for us. We still have another one coming on Monday but then that's it, we have to make a decision or else we will be really late into autumn before they can start build! At the moment it looks like any of them cant start build until mid July anyway. But it is our own fault, we started looking too late really.

Spring is sprung

Ah what a lovely day! And it is my day off as well. We've had a bit of rain during the night so the air was all fresh and lovely when I went out to pick up the newspaper. Just one of those things you realize you've missed during winter. A fresh spring morning...

Well another thing I haven't missed is just how stressful it is to hire someone to do a job for you. We've had 2 builders here to have a look and give us an estimate of how much our decking plans would cost. I am still not sure who to give it to so we've called a third company and they are coming next Monday to have a look. Also we have a man coming here today to give us an estimate about new windows and a new patio door. There is just so much to think about, what you want, when you want it, how much is the topp end cost we can afford or want to afford. But mostly, who will do a good job?

Let me introduce the contenders. First guy drew a very nice first draft on his computer when here to see what we wanted. He's now come back with a more detailed draft that we said was what we would like so he is going to come back to us this week with a quote. We can call him Baldy (because he was, completely).

Second guy is more of a jack of all trades kind of guy. He came by on Sunday and had a quick measure up and came back with an offer later on same day which we were surprised about since we thought he would be a cheaper option. Maybe he is since we haven't got any others yet to compare with. We can call him Jack.

Third guy was very VERY nice on the phone but we haven't seen him yet. But I got to say that someone who has manners over the phone has an advantage.

I hate talking to builders, plumbers or whoever who cant see past the fact that yes I am a woman and yes it is me you will have to deal with since James thinks his Swedish still is too poor for such contacts. And I will NEVER EVER hire anyone who talks past me or treats me like an imbecile just because of my gender.

I'll keep you posted.

Stalkers...

I've just learned I have a follower.... Yes I haven't been blogging much and I have recently come back to blogger after a short visit to live journal but I have just seen that I have 1 (one) follower. Thank you Eleanor for making my day :o)

At one point this blog had quite few followers but then I got slack and didn't blog much and now most of them have gone away... boohoo.. People today haven't got any staying power! They should have stayed around because I do blog, just not that often anymore... well.. not at all looking at my record of the last 2 years actually... Oh well but there might just be a change in that. Pigs can fly now cant they?

Seriously though, I once took great pleasure in blogging but there is just so much you can talk about when you are a bit limited in the language. I am playing around with the thought of writing in Swedish but then no one of my followers would understand.. erh..follower. I am actually a bit miffed I don't have more followers! Me brilliant young woman(cough yes young) deserve a wider audience then I have at the moment.

My stereo have decided to pack it in. Did you notice the very abrupt change of subjects? Cunning isn't it...Now read on. Its just been to be repaired since it stopped spinning up but the nice man at the shop said there are no replacement parts made to my kind of stereo anymore so all he could do was clean and re-oil the wheel that spins the cd and tell me that when it breaks again it will be the last of it plus he charged me 400kr for looking at it. And it just went. Sigh. I really liked my stereo. The sound was outstanding for being such a cheap one bought at half price at a sale ages ago. And now I suppose I have to look at these space machine looking things they call a stereo today. Me don't like one bit! I like sleek, clean, easy-to-use, very good sound, preferably black stereos if there is a color choice. I DO NOT like these bombastic, gadget filled, blinking both here and there for no purpose kind of stereos whit speakers the size and shape of Gods know what I have been seeing lately. I know there are my kind of stereos out there as well but usually they are way out of my price range. I am going to be grumpy for a while now. Excuse me.

Going wireless

Thanks to Jamie and a little bit of hinting from me we now have a laptop and wireless internet. We went and bought the wireless router today and Jamie started to set it up but got stuck so I helped him out with the few tweaks that was needed so now I am sitting downstairs in our lounge and blogging a bit and surfing just because I can . It is a bit of getting used to having a laptop. But I can see the appeal of being wireless compared to a stationery computer. It still feels like a toy though, the new computer that is. It is small and the keyboard is nice to type with but am not used to the cramped style of the keyboard. Not to talk about the touchpad. I am still finding it hard to make the cursor go where I want it to without opening everything it is hovering over for a bit too long.

The main reason for us going wireless is so we can get rid of the big desk we got upstairs in the little hallway where we got our stationery computer at the moment and free up some space for a nice little reading corner with an armchair a small table and lamp. If I was able to do exactly what I wanted I would take away the little closet as well and make the hall twice its size for a really nice minilounge.And put in a door where the window is now and make a balcony to sit on top of our porch which is directly under the window. But considering the amount of work to be done to do said things I don't think I can convince Jamie that this is a GOOD idea...well maybe not this year since we have decided to get our decking done this year and putting in a double door( depending on cost) from the lounge out onto the decking. We have someone coming in 2 weeks to give us an estimate of what the door would cost and as well what it would cost to replace our windows to new high spec insulating ones. That will probably be a project for next year but it is always good to know how much pain it includes when paying for it.