Reflections on a rainy Tuesday

It's Tuesday evening and it's raining outside. It's pitch black and the days are much shorter now. I remember when I sat in a restaurant a few days after midsummer eve, having a superb dinner with a friend, and I brought this matter up. I told him about the depressing fact that the days were from that point onward getting shorter and shorter. His response was more or less a dismissal of such thoughts. But in the end I guess he was right.

Friday is getting closer and closer. I am glad to be having some prior experience of departures of this stature, but I still feel a little funny about it. I try not to expect too much as I am afraid of being disappointed. I wouldn't want that.

My last Sunday

This is my last Sunday in Sweden for a while. It feels awkward. I've never liked Sundays anyhow (see any random Sunday-dated post in the archive). The weekend is almost over but I am lucky not to be having any anxiety about an early Monday morning at work tomorrow.
The weekend has been nice. I spent yesterday afternoon at my uncle's. Today I went out for some shopping in Stockholm but I didn't manage to find anything (except for a lovely dark blue coat). But I'm not really in need of a dark blue coat right now.

Sweden played against Albania in Tirana in the WC2010 qualification campaign last night and the game ended with a draw. It's a tough group and I sincerely hope that this draw won't turn out to be crucial by the end of the campaign.


Iran tied against Saudi Arabia away in Riyadh last night. The final score was 1-1 and I guess it's a fair result, considering the fact that Saudi Arabia is one of Asia's powerhouses in football. I am not very optimistic about the outcome of Iran's qualification campaign for the World Cup finals in South Africa in a little less than 2 years. Unless players such as Javad Nekounam (the tireless midfielder from Spanish outfits Osasuna who scored the late equalizer last night), Masoud Shojaei (the new Ali Karimi, another creative and technically gifted midfielder who recently joined Osasuna too) and of course, the whole defensive line perform well.
Speaking of Iranian football, a bomb hit the Mid-East. Ali Karimi returns to Tehran to play for his old club Perspolis. He is reaching his thirties and will not improve anymore as a football player physically (perhaps tactically but honestly, that has never been a strength among Iranian footballers). He has already shown the world the talent he holds, but he has at the same time shown the world the lack of professional attitude in his personality, and therefor I don't see why he shouldn't come home. I mean sure, he would probably make more money in Qatar (where he has been playing since after the World Cup finals two years ago) or in the Emirates. But now that he's back in Iran, he can help the domestic football and inspire youngsters to try to reach the same heights as he once did with Bayern München.
One obvious difference now is that he won't have to play before 500 towel heads every week. A Tehran derby attracts some 100000 spectators to Azadi Stadium and was recently listed among the 50 most prestigious games in the world by World Soccer (El Clasíco, the Milan derby and several other big games were also listed there).

Thank you for reading.

Last day at work today. It felt good and I feel well about my work. I reflect upon a job well done. Three months went by so fast.

I leave Sweden for a year of studies in Austria in one week. This is my last week in Sweden for a while. It's the biggest challenge that has aroused in my life this far, and I am enthusiastic about stepping up to it. It is going to be different and interesting at the same time. I careful not to expect too much from this year though. I don't want to be disappointed if it becomes evident that life in Sweden is better than life in Austria.


Whatever. Sweden enter the qualifications for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa tomorrow. An away game against Albania is waiting and I am optimistic about the result. Zlatan is back and Henrik Larsson is the new capitano. I am not convinced that Sweden will make it all the way through the qualification campaign, but I sincerely hope that I am wrong.


It's Friday night and I am planning to just relax and to do nothing. Maybe I'll watch a movie later. I have no urge to go out tonight. I just want to spend my last days in peace and quiet. I want to spend some quality time with friends and family.
Tomorrow I'll start looking for a suitcase...

A few words on laptops

My favorite subject. Those who follow this blog on a regular basis know that I am not a fan of laptops, despite the brilliant mobility they offer.

• They are expensive
• They can easily break
• They are slow

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my $2000 HP laptop (only one year old) died a month ago. It was one of the better models on the market and it offered a lot of features even though it was a portable notebook.

I had to buy myself a new one after the accident (which I still know very little about...), but I had to recalibrate my expectations and requirements. Fine, I can deal with it. After all, I'm not a gamer.

But only a few days after the purchase, this new one starts fucking things up. First of all, the producer came up with the lame and stupid idea to turn all important buttons into touch-screen icons. This means that the volume knob is actually a strip which you have to caress with an almost erotic touch for it to respond properly. What ever happened to NORMAL buttons? I had the same thing on my other laptop and each time I pushed the "button", it gave a corny sound to notify that "hey, you just pushed me". It's like a toy for three-year olds.

Secondly, they decided to have a large window (not a NORMAL indicator like those on TV's) popping up that covers up almost one fourth of the screen. This means that your view is ruined for five seconds each time you want to adjust the volume while watching a movie. I'd like to meet the asshole who came up with this terrific invention.

My problem here is that this pop-up window won't go away, and after several conversations with technicians at HP, I've been advised to install a software update, not only once, but "a couple of times" in order to remove the stupid box. Does it surprise you that it was ineffectual?

Conclusion: Stay away from Hewlett-Packard. This was the last time I ever bought a computer from them. I always regarded them as a fairly priced brand with quality, but now I'm not sure anymore. They come up with horrendous, cosmetic ideas and work on the appearance of the chassi instead of coming up with something that really works. Maybe it's better to spend that extra $200 for a more expensive brand but to see the goddamn thing work properly.

Hewlett-Packard, start making computers, not scientific gadgets.

Club loyalty

This guy seems to be a nice guy. Take a close look at him. His eyes are innocent, his teeth are white (and not yellow), his cap is a piece of modern fashion and his look is humble.

This is Robinho, one of the latest players on the international scene to bite the hand that feeds him. That's gratitude.

He said himself that he wanted to play for Chelsea (don't ask me why). He said at a press conference that he couldn't think about anything else but Chelsea. He ended up in Manchester City. I guess their offer was better than Chelsea's but this is exactly the point I am trying to hit, there is no love for the badge anymore, no loyalty in modern football. Those who love their clubs and who stay irregardless of the stature are getting less and less. The likes of Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Carles Puyol, Javier Zanetti and Raúl Gonzales are rare.


We all witnessed Cristiano Ronaldo's cry for a club change earlier this summer. And all this after one of the most mighty achievements in the Premiership, more than 40 scored goals, a league title and a Champions League title (after a dramatic win over the fierce rivals Chelsea). Sir Alex handpicked Ronaldo from Portugal after the David Bekham sale, and Sir Alex made him the star he is today. Now the crybaby wants to leave Old Trafford. That's gratitude.

The tragic thing is that this behavior exists even in Swedish football. Youngsters are so eager to leave the country for a better paycheck that they piss on the club, the fans and the country in order to get themselves out of there. Talented youngsters such as Dusan Djuric (a clown who thought the world of himself and eventually ended up in Zürich...) and Dulee Johnson (another clown that played for AIK and was sold to an Israeli club a few weeks ago) have made asses out of themselves on this unimportant and pathetic football scene.
All this for 15 minutes of fame and a few bucks to buy a lifestyle with.

Quaresma joins Inter

Today, on the first day of September, on the first day of the week, on the last day of the international transfer window, Inter finally signed Ricardo Quaresma. He will hold jersey no. 77 and
I am slightly optimistic about this transfer. I think he can do well at Meazza the coming seasons.

Campioni di Super Coppa Italiana

We won. I admit that I thought that it was over and finished when Balotelli finally scored the 2-1 goal in the 83rd minute of the game, but Vucinic's corner kick extended the game with 45 more minutes. Despite the somehow unnecessary drama, it was an entertaining game, and most importantly, it was very interesting to see Mourinho's impact on the team and the game. Zlatan, great to see you on the pitch again!

The Italian Super Cup is actually not a prestigious trophy, but it does nevertheless feel good to see the team win cups and tournaments, irregardless of their status and reputation. That's one more cup for the trophy room.

Winning over AS Roma is prestigious though, and it means much after the thrilling title race between Roma and Inter last season.

It's pretty late and I have to go to bed. I have to get up early in the morning tomorrow, as it is Monday and a few hours of work. I have one thing to look forward to and it is (as I have mentioned in my earlier posts) the derby game between AIK and Hammarby. I have longed for the atmosphere at Råsunda stadium for some time now.

The weekend has been great, probably one of the better ones of this summer. I've spent time with friends and family and I have done lots of things (oh well...) and slept too little. In the beginning of the summer, when my exams were over and when I had left the student union board, this was what I was longing for. It feels good. I am satisfied.

Thank you for reading. Good night.

The Dark Knight

And so I finally got to see one of the most hyped movies of the year. The latest Batman movie was better than any of the other ones I have seen before, but I am still not convinced and fully impressed. This was a good movie, no doubts, but I have seen better (the last 6 James Bond movies for instance). Heath Ledger was absolutely brilliant in his role, Christian Bale made a more heroic impression this time with morale sermons and pure (mortal) love. Katie Holmes absence ruined that character.

Speaking of James Bond, I saw the trailer for the first time today and I am very curious to see what they have come up with this time. Casino Royale was one of the best productions this far and I think it will be hard to overshine it with something new. I hope I'm wrong.

It's three weeks left till my departure for Austria. The coming weeks are stuffed with farewells, reunions and "fuckoff's". I am looking forward to a derby game between AIK and Hammarby, which I actually know that AIK will be losing. No big deal. I'm there for the atmosphere (for the last time in a while) and to socialize with friends.

August 2008, where do we go from here?

Nine weeks just disappeared. I can't believe it. I really can't. I started working nine weeks ago, and the semester was over a few days earlier. Here we are, at the end of the summer, the beginning of year three.

I am lucky to see my summer extended by a few weeks. My 5th semester at the university will kick off i early October. But all my friends are already tied up.

I don't want to think that the summer is over, but I guess it is. We're slowly approaching the fall and the darker half of the year. Pretty soon we're exchanging Christmas gifts.

It's been a good summer. A calm and refreshing one. I visited Linköping earlier today for an exam, and I took some time to see some friends who returned these days in order to prepare themselves for the coming year. I couldn't stop myself from visiting the first board meeting of the student association. That's when I realized that the summer was over and that it was time to start looking forward.

Burnt

And so it happened. My $2000 laptop is dead, a year after the purchasing date. It is as if it was cursed, destined to happen. I've been warning people about the fragile chassi of laptops, telling people about their expensiveness, complaining about the fact that they become obsolete after only a couple of months. And all these factors still hit back at myself. I really didn't need this to happen right now.

It's the last day of July and the summer is almost over (oh well...). I have a little more than a month before I'll see some action. I have a few obstacles left on the way, but I am hopeful to see the remaining days of this summer as good ones.