My first week... Almost!

Hi!

So! I've spent almost an entire week in Stockholm now being trained for my new profession: Associate Business Consultant at Lawson Software Sweden AB... Man! Am I glad that the weekend is near? Yes, yes I am... I'm still feeling a bit confused and I don't know how everyone else at our trainee programme is feeling, but I am somewhat overwhelmed... It's just so much to keep track off, and our systems are quite complex even though they are very user friendly and easy to use for our customers. I am however confused. Hopefully it will all become a little bit clearer as the trainee programme progresses, and I still have 5 - 6 weeks here in Stockholm before I go back to "my" office in Malmö and start working on real projects. It's a bit scary, but I really look forward to it. I think that will probably be the best way to lear, to be tossed out in to reality.

I miss my darling Christina, and I do feel at times that I haven't really connected with my fellow trainees. I guess it has to be up to me to try to get more connected to them but as I am kind of shy it feels a bit hard. But i'll try to better myself.

In other news: My new camera has arrived! ;D My beloved Nikon D80 arrived yesterday and Christina collected it from the postal office. Unfortunately, I won't be able to play with it for another week as I am staying in this region this weekend. I am going to visit my parents and Christina is coming up to see me as well. But next week; Look out Lund! You'll be in my focal point... ;D

And today my diploma arrived from uni! I am actually 100% a Master of Science in Transport Systems now! It'll have to wait in the posts premices for next week as I have to sign for the letter myself. It feels a bit strange that my formal graduation ceremony will be held in "Hemköp" as I collect the papers... But still. I am what I am and now I have the papers to prove it! ;)

I am leaving you for now with a little tip: check out our (Lawson's) awsome commercial! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpZFZc_zw8I

My life is still confusing, but I am very happy about it!

Things are quite different now from when I last posted. I am now an employee! Hurrah for me! I've just gotten back from my new office where I have signed my contract. I now have the lovely title "Associate Business Consultant at Lawson Software Sweden AB". Isn't it cool? ;D Well I think so... ;)

Anyway, it was quite a fast journey. I had my first interview not even two weeks ago, the Thursday before last, my second interview last Thursday (and incidentally I also had a third interview with Maersk that day) and this Monday I received a call from one of the managers at Lawson, asking me if I wanted to come work for them, which I did! I still do... ;) So today I went to the office and signed my contract and I am now an employed man! I like it! I like it a lot! ;D

So happy times! I start work on the 1st of October and I will be educated in my company's products and work ethics for a month and a half and after that I start my actual job in Malmö. The training and education will mainly occur in Stockholm, which means that I will be separated from my lovely Christina during the weeks, but at least it's temporary and I know that this will make our lives easier in so many ways. Not only will we both bring home salaries (which is quite nice for my self-esteem) but I won't be "stuck" in the apartment all day doing nothing. So life is great and I'm on top of the world!

And the confusing part? Well it hasn't really had time to sink in yet, but I think it will be clearer in a while... ;)

Cheers!

/Matsey

It's time again!

For an update, and it will be an update of what has happened over the last three weeks or so...

I have of course been taking some more photos, but more importantly a lot of stuff has happened on the job front. I think I have to start from the beginning, otherwise this won't make much sense I guess. So let's travel back in time to the 20th of August 2007... ;)

So the 20^th... It was a Monday, and more importantly, it was the day before my dissertation! So I was (unlike every other day?) sitting in front of my computer most of the day, not really working on my dissertation, but going through it and trying to cut unnecessary parts out of it. And then my mobile phone rang… It was the CEO of a company called Optilon which I had applied for a job with the previous Thursday. He was genuinely interested in me and my background, so we spoke for a bit. He is placed in Stockholm but there is an office in Malmö as well, and he said that he would ask the manager of that office to contact me during the next couple of days. I still haven’t heard anything from him, so I have to try to make contact with him pretty soon I guess.

On Tuesday the 21^st I had my dissertation! I was dead nervous before my presentation, and a lot of people came to watch me (not a lot a lot, but I filled a small room at least…) but I did all right… ;) So I was quite pleased with myself, and happy to be done with it.

Some last minute work on the train to Norrköping

Me strutting my stuff and presenting my work.

The Wednesday was used to try to get to grips with the fact that I have finished my education, I’m done! Well, I was almost done… There were some alterations that I was encouraged to do with my report, and I knocked them out of the park this day as well.

On Thursday the 23^rd I sent my report to Billerud and to the University of Linköping for electronic publishing, so now I can be found online… Also I received a call from the A.P. Moller Maersk group who had previously rejected me. Now they wanted me to come back for a second interview after all and we booked a meeting for the following Wednesday. So I felt that I was on a roll… ;)

Not much more happened during this week, so let’s fast forward to next week… Monday came again, and I was sitting at home, looking for job opportunities… As usual I went to HiQ to fetch Christina after work, and she had a proposition; that I would come to HiQ with her in the morning the following day, to work a for a couple of hours. Apparently they needed some people to do some tests that week, but they couldn’t get any of the “normal” students at this time, as it collided with the start of term for most of them. So I had a job for a couple of days!

So on Tuesday I was working, and not much more happened. On Wednesday the 29^th though, I first went to Malmö to sign a contract with Manpower so that I could actually get paid for the work that I did at HiQ, and then I was off to Maersk in Copenhagen! I had a lovely interview, and I believe I was doing quite well. I increased my score on the logical test, so I went from being part of the upper third to being quite high in the upper third of the people tested. I still haven’t heard back from them, so I choose to take that as a good sign… ;D

On Thursday I was back to HiQ doing some more tests, and my phone rang quite a few times. First from the university to clear a few aspects of the publication of my thesis, but then I was rung by a woman at Lawson, offering me an interview for the position of junior business consultant so I scored another interview! And that interview will happen tomorrow. I can’t wait! I also received an e-mail on this day from the CEO of another company, Consafe Logistics Consultants, offering me a meeting about a position the coming Monday from now, so things are finally starting to happen for me on the job front.

Anyway, Friday the 31^st of August passed without anything really to tell. On the Saturday however, we went to Malmö to go sailing for an hour on the HiQ trimaran! Unfortunately, the wind was not optimal, so we only sailed eight knots or so. The boat used to transport us to the trimaran however, was pushed to 40 knots, so we got some speed at least… But the sailing was lovely, and I really feel like saving up for a smaller catamaran and start sailing again. After this lovely excursion we helped some friends to move from their apartment to their first house. How grown up is that? ;D

The sails of the HiQ trimaran

You do look stylish in sailing clothes, don't you?

I might as well do this week as far as it has gotten, right? On Monday I was back in the saddle again! Or at least in the running track... It had been four weeks (!) and I expected it to be rubbish, but it was one of the best runs I’ve had so far and the exercises afterwards was really good as well. So I was quite content. And I still am!

Tuesday passed without any major events… And we have arrived at today. Wednesday the 5^th of September. So what will happen today? Well, I’m not sure yet, except for that I’m going to class again! Today I am starting a course in project management, and hopefully I’m going to go for a run later on tonight.

So I would like to wish you all a pleasant day and I’ll post you when I’ll post you… And with my track record, that might take a while… ;)

Cheers!

Matsey

As promised!

I did promise yesterday that I would try to become better at updating my blog and to post more photos. This is the third post in less than 15 hours, so you might think that I'm overdoing it now instead... ;) Well, so be it! I used up the entire day yesterday photographing with my Canon Digital IXUS 60 (a compact camera). Of course the photos aren't as good as they could have been with a better camera, say a DSLR-camera (digital single-lens reflex camera). My dream (and plan) is to buy a Nikon D80 in a not too distant future.

Anyway. Here are some of the photos from yesterday.

(All photos are copyright of Mats Janné and may not be used without the consent of the photographer)

I will probably head out again today, snapping away a bit more... Until then!

/Matsey

Hmm...

I just realised that for someone who loves photography, I share very few photos in my blog... I'll try to better myself in this field as well.

/Matsey

Wow...

I’ve been pretty lousy at maintaining this blog, haven't I? For a number of reasons I just haven't been bothered to write anything, but I will try to better myself. Well... Here goes...

My reasons for not writing for over two months(!):

- It's summer... I know that is a pretty bad excuse, especially since it's been a pretty bad excuse for a summer. It's mainly been raining. In Britain they blamed Rihanna for the rain, due to her number one hit Umbrella. It was also number one in Sweden, so I guess it's her fault? (Just kidding! We all now who's really to blame...?)

- I've been feeling a bit down and out for a while. As you know I have been searching for a job for quite some time now, while trying to finish my thesis. Unfortunately I'm still unemployed, but at least I've finished my thesis. I'm presenting in eight days, so from the 21st of August, I will be able to title myself "Master of Transportation Systems". Cool, huh? ;)

- I have been working on my presentation. It shouldn't have taken this long, but when you're a perfectionist... ;)

- I've been making up reasons for not writing another pointless and boring post, but here I am! ;D

- I have been applying for jobs and trying to convince my lovely Christina to do the same, as she is chronically bored at her own job. I've actually gone on a couple of interviews since the last time and I really, really, really hope to go forth in one of the processes... That job would suit me like a... Suit I guess?

So those are my reasons... They're not good reasons, but they are reasons... ("And the reasons? Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?" - Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting) (Disclaimer: Remember kids, drugs are bad... Don't do them!)

I forgot the greatest reason! (Not great as in Great! but more as in big...) I've been sucked into Facebook! Oh my god! I tried to resist, but I was overpowered by the demons of Facebook who lured me into their midst with promises of wealth, zombies and a widened network... So I got hooked... And that's fine! I "met" quite a few old friends there, and it's nice to get back in touch with people that you haven't seen or heard from in years and years... I've also discovered lots of groups of various importances for the world and me, but that gives me an oddly satisfied feeling... "There are more people like me in the world!" might be an appropriate expression right now... Only today I joined three groups that are all aimed at sharing photos and photo tips with other amateurs and professionals. So it's cool... Just as long as you don't let Facebook dictate your life.

Well... This was just an attempt to make up for lost time and a low posting frequency, but there you go! I hope to see you out on the information highway soon again, but I guess that's up to me? ;) Until I post again!

/Matsey

Long time no see...

Bonjour! (Yeah, I frenchiefied it a bit...)

May 28th. That was when I wrote my last entry... That's more than half a month ago. 22 days to be exact. So what have I been up to? In my last post I told you that I hadn't received word from the third post I was up for, but I did just a couple of days later. Unfortunately, I'm still unemployed.

So what did Matsey do instead? I finished my thesis! Well at least a rough version of it. Last week I sent it to Billerud (for you need in packaging paper!) and I have received an answer from them with a couple of points that I'm now trying to correct. Unfortunately my examiner is no where to be found, or at least he doesn't answer e-mails. To make matters worse, he has resigned from his post at the university so I'm in dire need to come in contact with him. Thore, if you read this, contact me! Please?

Apart from working on my thesis I have also started a summer class. I am now a proud student at the University of Lund where I'm studying Economic History 10 points (or 15 ECTS-credits). Why I hear you scream? Because it's fun! My more than lovely and wonderful girlfriend thinks that I have lost my marbles... She is so bored by anything related to economics, but in my heart I know I should have become an economist instead. But it's never too late... ;) Who knows what the future brings?

I guess that's it... It hasn't been the most eventful couple of weeks, I've just been busting my hump to get the thesis done and now I have... I must admit that I sometimes miss writing it... But it's time to move on and work towards bigger and better things... I just have to correct the report and present it as well... ;)

So back to work with me, and back to work with you! Don't you have anything better to do than to read this???

Peace out!

Work life... When will it begin?

Hello...

I'm sitting here working hard (or hardly working?) on my thesis and I have finally started to see the end... (Yeah right!) It feels as though I soon will be ready to send the first rough copy to my company for them to read it and comment on it... I'm actually dreading the day I get it back from them... Self esteem issues? Me? Noooo...

Anyway... As you know, I'm currently searching high and low (well not that low) for a job opening in my field and preferably in the near geographical region... And as you might know, I have had a bunch of interviews for three companies that were all very interesting and also interested in me. I received an offer from one of them last Monday, but on Wednesday I turned them down... I feel like such a spoiled brat, 'cause I turned them down on the account of a bad offer. And I didn't give them that reason. Instead I told them that I had received an offer from another company and that the job description there was slightly more interesting. This was not entirely truthful, but hopefully they will never know. They offered me 18% less than I demanded a month, so I still fell that I did the right thing.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday of last week, the company that had the most interesting job opportunity called me at around 7 p.m. and kindly turned me down... ); They were however very nice and the guy who had interviewed me told me that he thought that I had been a very good subject and that he hoped that he would see another application from me in the future. So why did they turn me down? Well... Lack of experience. The guy they went for in the end had already worked for five years within the company and they felt that they needed to take care of his experience. The fun thing was that this was an internal recruitment and out of 18 people applying for the position, I was the only external applicant. And I was so close. I was the last to be cut from the recruiting process, so I still feel very good about that. Yay me! ;D

And the third? Well I was there for a third interview last Thursday to meet the team in which I might work. I still haven't found out. We are (as far as I know) still two applicants competing for this position so now I'm sitting here, a nervous wreck. Oh can they please just give me a call? I don't even care if I get the job anymore; I just want to know... Well that's a lie... Of course I want the job! I applied for it, didn't I?

So, that's what's been up... I better get back to my (very) nervous writing now...

Ciao!

SOF and bigger adventures

I had me such a great time this weekend. As I told you all in an earlier post, I went back to my "old" university town for an amazing little party called SOF (Student Orchestra Festival) that draws a couple of thousand students from Europe who likes to drink beer and listen to student orchestras...

For me it has a lot to do with meeting my old friends who organised the festival four years ago with me, our predecessors and the wee ones who came after us... ;D Little did I know when I left on Friday that I had missed them all this much and that it would be this much fun... I had a smashing time! And I also realised (since I am searching for a job) that it was great time to network with people... So I basically had a good time and re-connected with people who might be able to sort me out with a first step in my career...

My Friday was a bit hectic though... I had booked a ticket to leave Lund at 14:28 but first I had an interview at Kastrup at 10 o'clock. I thought it would take about an hour as interviews normally do, but I left the office at Kastrup at 11:45, slightly panic stricken... Would I make it on time? Would I have time to eat lunch? Yes and no. I did make the train, but I didn't get to eat until I was on the train... But all in all, despite the stress on Friday, I had one of the best weekends in a while...

So my little panic on Friday... Is that really such a big deal? I stumbled over another blog just as I was going to write this post. It's this woman, Samantha Larson, who did Everest this year... Now that might lead to things to panic about! Check her blog out at http://samanthalarson.blogspot.com/. It's worth it!

Another adventure (I'm a bit of a sucker for adventures and adrenaline filled sports) that I also would like to recommend is Ewan McGregor's and Charley Boorman's new epic adventure "The long way down". The two actors did a trip around the world on the back of motorcycles in 2004, going east from London to New York through Europe, central Asia, and Siberia and of course North America. It must have been quite a trip, or at least it seems to have been when you read the book or look at the DVD. Any who... I would like to promote their latest adventure, and you can find more on the trip at www.longwaydown.com and also at www.bbc.co.uk/longwaydown. Check it out, and enjoy the trip with them.

So maybe (hopefully) my next adventure will be more like one of the ones mentioned above... I think I would like that... ;D

Cheers!

Phew...

So! A quick little update, far earlier than I had planned...

I went running yesterday evening... This was the first time I exercised in over one year! And I realised that even though round is a shape, I'm out of it... My lovely Christina forced me out in the track and we took one lap around the park here in Lund... I was literally beaten by it and we went slowly homewards after that... When I had the brilliant idea to run a bit more, even though I was as tired as one man can be... But we went for another run, just a couple of blocks close by our apartment... It was mortifying but good... After that a couple of stomach crunches and push-ups and some stretching... Needless to say, I fell asleep like a log after that. I'm a little sore today, but the worst will come tomorrow... And tomorrow it's time again for another session... ;D

Peace out!

/a beaten and sore Matsey

Time for another post I believe... (Long overdue!)

Servus! (That's hello my friend in Austrian... ;D)

So it's been a while since I updated my blog. My last post told you about having my girlfriends' family coming to stay with us, and they were here and it was fun... We drank alot of wine, hung out, went sight-seeing in our new home region but most interesting of all we went to Copenhagen to be tourists there. It's only about an hours travel by train from here, and it's quite a different feeling to it. It feels more... International or continental if you please... I can really recommend a trip to Copenhagen if you are close by (that's not a prerequisite, just go there!) as it is really nice.

We went on a canal tour when we were there, and that was money well spent. We got to see the major sites of the town and it was nice not having to walk the entire day... ;D Below is a little picture from Nyhavn (New harbour) taken from the canal boat... It had a very nice atmosphere, it was nice and warm and people were drinking beer and enjoying themselves.
















So what else is new? My report still isn't finished but I am writing on it as we speak... Or at least as I post here... I'm multi-tasking! ;D But it's been so-so with the progress of my beloved thesis... [insert roll-eyes smilie here] At least I'm trying my best at the moment...

And on the job front? Much better than the thesis front! As I have written earlier, I went to three interviews in a week... Since then I have gone to an interview for a fourth job. And here's the kicker; I have been called back for a second interview for all these jobs! So at the moment I'm still in the running for no less then four jobs!!! I love Skåne and the work climate here... ;D I do however keep telling myself that I shouldn't get my hopes up to much, but as long as I haven't heard anything to contradict it, I'll keep believing that I am about to be employed by some company... ;D

So that is pretty much what's been up... Touristing, writing and being interviewed... This week I'm going to interview 2 on the big transport company located at Kastrup, and after that I'm heading up to Linköping/Norrköping for the bi-annual Student Orchestra Festival (SOF) that I helped arranging four years ago... Beer, friends and crazy student orchestras... Sounds like a nice weekend to me... ;D Unfortunately my better half (yeah, my girlfriend) can't come with me, her company is going to a conferance in Greece... I'm not jelaous... I will ofcourse update next week again don't hold your breath) after the festival...

Until I post again,

Such a busy week!

Really! It's been busy!

This week I have gone to no less than three interviews, and all of them are related to my "professional" experience... Or at least to my studies... ;) To start from the beginning... I am desperately looking for a job in my new geographic surrounding and I'm quite a picky guy! I don't really want to take a job just for the sake of having a job, I'd rather have a job that means something to me and that is related to my area of expertise. So two weeks ago I was offered an interview for a global distribution company at the Danish airport Kastrup (the one were SAS had a major strike this week). Last Thursday I was first contacted by another company right here in Lund (a smaller company, but still a global leader in surveillance cameras) and they asked me to come to see them on Tuesday... Finally last Friday, I received a call from one of the largest mobile phone companies in the world (also situated here in Lund) and today (Friday) I went on an interview with them. So, when it rains it pours...

Anyway, even though it's nice to feel wanted, it also puts me in quite a predicament. Now I have to choose... Assuming I get offered all three positions... Each job has its own advantages and of course also its own disadvantages... For instance, if I get the job at Kastrup I will have a forty minute train ride plus a twentyfive minute walk to my office... Both the jobs here in Lund are roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes from my apartment by foot. The jobs here in Lund will not however give me as good a salary as the one at Kastrup, but they do not interfere as much with my leisure time...

All three jobs are rather interesting, but I think that I have managed to prioritise them a bit regarding the work tasks degree of interest:
1. Kastrup - Find and improve bottle necks in the operations
2. Large mobile phone company - Forecasting of components
3. Leading surveillance camera company - Distribution planning

So now I only hope that they find me interesting in the same order as I find their jobs... ;) I know that I should feel privileged that three companies are interested in me, and I do! Don't get me wrong! But it would be so much easier to choose if there were only two offers... I know, I'm taking it all out in advance (none of the companies has actually offered me a position yet) but I think it's only natural to start thinking about it before I have to make a decision... Woe is me! ;)

In other news. My mother in law is visiting us this weekend along with my girlfriend’s brothers... Booyah! There will be wine to drink, and things to do! It's a nice break from the everyday happenings that make up my week... Writing my report (yeah right!), daydreaming, going on interviews and re-watching all the Scrubs episodes on www.sharpiesscrubs.tk. So that's good!

Well, that's what's been up... C ya!

Two weeks in one post...

What up G-money?

So I'm sitting here in my new apartment (which by the way rocks) trying to write my thesis but there is just too much other things on my mind... Like the fact that I haven't written my blog in a while and that kind of makes me feel like a naughty schoolboy who hasn't turned in his book report on time... So now I'm giving it a go... This of course sends me in to a shame spiral since I haven’t really worked on my thesis for one and a half week either and I really should finish it soon... Again; naughty school boy = me!

But I've kept busy. You just can't believe the amount of crap that you gather in an apartment over just a couple of years. I tossed a lot of stuff when I moved, but still we had problems fitting everything in to the new apartment. A problem is of course that we don't have a storage room worth mentioning in our building... But thanks to my massive knowledge in logistics and packing, we have managed pretty well to get most of stuff tucked away in the apartment. (Yep! Boasting a bit, but hey! It's nice to pretend... ;D) Also, the weather has been great here so I haven't really felt like sitting inside writing, when I could sit outside on the balcony drinking cappuccino... Tough choice? Nah, not really! ;D

So what else has been up? I've applied for a bunch of jobs, gotten an interview in Copenhagen next Monday, and of course I've been appalled by the shootings at V Tec the other day... My mind is just baffled over how a young guy can take such a wrong turn in life and drag so many people with him... It pisses me off... In the words of Eddie Izzard (one of the greatest stand ups ever) "Guns don't kill people, people kill people... And monkeys do too! [If they have a gun]..." ;)

Anyway... I'm not going to moralise over the weapons legislation in the U.S. and I'm definitely not going to speak my mind of the same legislation... That would be moralising. I believe that there is a time and place for everything and right now the time has come to pay my respect to innocent victims and there families. I feel for you, I really do. It's all such a shame...

I know this won't help, but people, please! Think twice before you screw anyone else’s life up...

My two cents...

Mixed emotions

Hello again!

My big move to Lund is coming closer and me and my lovely girlfriend is trying hard to pimp our apartment. It's a lot of fun, but unfortunately it's not free... But you have to make sacrifices to stay on top! ;D This weekend we went to the almighty, all knowing shrine of "cheap" interior decorating, IKEA! It wasn't all that bad... We left IKEA with a new book shelf, a coffee table, a new rug, another shelf, some lighting and some "good to have" stuff and we weren't set back too much...

Our new furniture of course means that we have a lot of old furniture that we don't want or need for that matter. So how to solve this dilemma? Well there are a couple of options... We could try to sell it, we could just toss it or we could give it to charity.

Selling it would have been preferable; 'cause that would have meant that we could spend the money from the sale on new stuff... In the words of Borat, "it niiiiice!” Well, the thing is... I'm too lazy to get around to posting for sale notes and I can't really be bothered to stay at home to show of the stuff... So no sale!

Our second option was to throw it all away... Now, that would have been a shame really... I'm basically too much of a cheapskate to just throw furniture away... So again, no go.

I think you know where this is going... Yep! We gave it away to charity! (Hence the good feeling today.) This morning (well not really, I received the call at 8 am) I was brutally awoken by the Salvation Army who was to come and collect our furniture. They were to arrive in ten minutes time and there I was, fast asleep... Well, I jumped up from the bed and made myself a nutritious breakfast (I made coffee) and dressed rather quickly. Unfortunately the guys from the Salvation Army, who by the way were both native Norrköping residents, were lost... They tried very hard to find my street (one of the largest in this area) but they just kept on going to the wrong street...

Well, finally they found the right way, and they came up to my apartment and had a look at the furniture. At first they thought that they wouldn't be able to take the sofa and my desk, but at least I convinced them that the desk would be possible to sell. Unfortunately I'm still stuck with my sofa... So now we have three sofas in total, and this poor guy that I'm sitting in at the moment, is doomed for the rubbish pile... And it's been a really good sofa, my parents had it for a long time before me, and it has withstood the wear and tear of three children growing up with it (me and my siblings). But now it is finally going to meet its maker... So long dear sofa, it's been a wild ride... ;(

In loving memory of Sofa 1970 - 2007

A slow day at the office...

Monday... What a wonderful day!

Too bad I haven't been able to get much work done today... So I've been at my office at the paper mill where I do my thesis work. As I mentioned in my first post, my office is in the basement (yeah, it's mentioned in the first post as an excuse why I haven't finished my thesis yet). It's not as bad as it sounds; I have a window... ;)

But anyway, it's been a slow day and it's not over yet! So far I have mostly just edited the layout of my thesis report and added a couple of paragraphs to clarify stuff in later chapters... It might sound as though I've made progress, and in a way I guess I have... This stuff has to be done as well. It's just that I really want it done. Now!

I actually don't have a clue as to why everything is this slow right now, it might be that it's spring, it might be that I'm moving soon (a re-occurring daydream of mine) or it might be that I haven't gained access to the ERP-system that my thesis partly involves. Oh yeah! I haven't written what my thesis is all about... The company that I'm writing my thesis for is currently re-organising their IT systems, and my "job" is to see what current working practices can be used in the new system, and what working practices are needed in the next revision of the new system... All this in order to lower the differences in calculated and actual transport costs.

So what have I been doing except for the layout changes and writing small paragraphs? The usual... What everyone does at work but is not willing to talk too much about... Surfing the World Wide Web! And checking personal e-mails... I have done some useful things as well; I have gotten insurance for the new apartment and cancelled the insurance of the old one... It had to be done! And now I've spent a couple of minutes writing this post... ;D

Well, it's time to get my act together so it's back to work for me.

Enjoy spring!

First time around... (Or the great escape)

So... Hello!

This is my first time ever blogging or keeping any form of journal for that matter... It might be interesting... ;)

So why did I start this blog and why now? And what's with the name? To tell you truth, I'm escaping. I am trying to push what I know I must finally do far off into the future... The problem is that the future is coming nearer all the time. It has a filthy habit of doing that... So that's actually the answer to the two why questions: I felt the need to escape! And the name of my blog? Well, I'm a bit confused at the moment, aren't you?

One might wonder why I feel the need of escaping like this and with all right! I am after all telling anyone who wants to read it what I am doing. Right now I'm trying to escape my thesis and the packing up of my apartment. I'm moving in two and a half weeks! ;D Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to moving away from this town and to go live with my girlfriend again, it's just the packing that I dread... It's dead boring, and the fact that my girlfriend moved three months before me means one thing: I need to do most of the packing! I'm not blaming her in any way, I blame my self... I am always doing things at the last possible time and that isn't the greatest quality I guess... It is actually the one thing I mention as my bad quality to potential employers when I am on interviews. Now kids, you shouldn't lie, but there is nothing wrong in tweaking the truth a little bit... Right?

I also mentioned that I wanted to escape my thesis and I do! I really, really do... I've been working on it for... Well a lot of weeks, I started it in November -06 and now we're in late March -07... *Counting on my fingers* 21 weeks! I should have been done by now! It's only supposed to take 20 weeks, and I have just recently started to feel that I am nearing the end... To my defence (I can't believe I'm defending myself against myself) I was working part time in the beginning and I had a break over X-mas and I have been sick and my office is located in the basement and... Feel free to use any of these excuses; they are kind of universal... ;D

Well... Unfortunately escaping might not be the answer to all hard times in life... (Hard!? Yeah right! I'm privileged to be able to whine online and to be allowed to study… Not all people get this opportunity!) So I guess it's time to act my age (nearing 30) and just get on with it... After all, life is to short for sitting around moping... So my advice to you is to set a goal, then ignore it and go out in the sun/rain/snow/weather and enjoy your day... After all, today it's all about escaping... ;)

Cheers!

P.S. I managed to escape for 52 minutes, setting up this blog and writing my first post... D.S.