Wall Street - Justice for All?

This is an interesting and informative read and puts to shame Chris Dodd's proposed financial reform.
It is just refreshing to hear this from a senator.

Check this out!  http://kaufman.senate.gov/press/floor_statements/statement/?id=de804dbb-6dc3-4537-8c5d-81496714ed73

Maybe, just maybe, someday "Truth to Power" will result in "Power held Accountable"

More Frustrations and Pleasant Surprises

As Agneta has said earlier calling a business on the phone does not often result in talking to a real person.  But, if we need to get information from a government agency, we have found that going there in person we can often see and talk to someone in the know.  They are very helpful and you can go up to their offices to get help.  In America you couldn't get past the front desk.  But, it is impossible to contact them on the phone.

A few days ago we went to different pet shop stores to get some goodies for Ralle.  We came across a store where the owner acknowledged our presence, greeted us,  and when we asked some questions he was very helpful, and even in our conversations he said that if we needed something from the store and he was closed he would open for us.  What a pleasant surprise.  Now that is Customer Service.  He had a very nice store.  And his employees in the store were also very nice.

Today the chimney sweeps came and cleaned and inspected our chimney in the storage room.  We are thinking of using it in our business venture.  That to come later.  The two guys who came did a wonderful job and were very customer oriented.  There is hope yet.  We immigrants will change things around in Sweden with regards to entrepreneurship and customer service.  Now there is a loaded word, Immigrants.  That word is loaded with emotions,  and negative connotations.  It brings a different picture to the minds of each person.  There are so many loaded words thru-out history and it is always changing.  George Carlin made a career as a comic with the different meanings of words and how they are used, not used,  and how and why they came to be.  Words are an insight into our societies,  People have to explain themselves often regarding these words and phrases as I am doing now.  We all do it.  Hopefully, if one keeps an open mind, and not take things too seriously, and actually listen to other people, we can get along and not get angry.  Boy, am I dreaming?

Before someone starts saying things like "If you don't like it here go back to where you came from."  I would like to state my position on Patriotism or Love of Country.  I am of Mexican decent and have lived there for about 8 years, I have lived in the USA for the better part of my life, and I now live in Sweden.  I have also travelled throughout Europe.  I was lucky to have been born and live in a non-third world country where the opportunities to make a good life for one's self existed.  I am very grateful for that.

Do I love Mexico, the USA, Europe, Sweden as a country? No.  Somehow love is not the right word.  Do I have a special allegiance to any country? No.  If the country that I am living in is attacked by another country then I will defend it as if it were my home.  Because it is my home.  I do appreciate each country for what it has given me in all aspects.  And in the end I can take the logic even further.  Any country or person that is wronged should be defended.  Each country like people have its positives and its negatives, rights and wrongs.  We live on the planet earth we are all humans deserving of respect and we are all different and speak different languages.  The more languages we all learn to speak the better we can communicate.  But all these differences sometimes/often become the basis of prejudice.  That is were I stand.  Wow that was a mouthful.

We/I are on a roll.

Tired and Kranky

How to start???????  It was a pretty uneventful week, no work for David this week nor last.  Had some nice  outings, took Ralle to Bruces Skog for one.  That is a nice forest with a large enclosed area where you can let your dog run around and have fun, without anyone hanging on to the other end of the leash. A very special "dog park" you might say. Ralle likes it a lot and we do too.

Yet another short trip was to Wallakra Stenkarlsfabrik / Stoneware factory.  We took a lovely walk in the surrounding nature reserve where birds were singing, and spring was almost evident.   We also had a lovely lunch there in an old water mill house.  In the stoneware factory we had a spirited conversation with Åsa the talented woman who has revived the very old factory.  We met some nice chatty people, as we often do when we are out with Ralle.  He is a definite magnet!  The shy, withdrawn, reserved Swedes seem suddenly unable to help themselves, they actually talk to us!  It is hard even for me, the Swedish person that I am, to understand this lack of interest, this desire to never acknowledge, to never have eye contact with  the people you meet, the people you stand in line with at the grocery check out, or rub elbows with on the walking street in Helsingborg for example, or at the shopping center?  No nodding, no Hello, no smiling. It seems so strange to me and I do wonder if I will ever get used to this.  It is far from the camaraderie at Raley's, where most people in line were talking to each other, or at least somehow recognizing the other customers that were standing there.  It is no longer my style to be so anonymous, so of course I  often start up some sort of conversation while I am standing there. The other people then must think  I am on drugs, or a bit weird, when I do that, I am told. So be it!  It seems to me, that these people kind of enjoy it, just as I do. What do I know?

Something else that I would like to talk about because I so wonder about it,  is the enormous lack of service here.  A subject to be covered another time.......

 Or, if you call on the telephone, another source of annoyance.  You either end up "on hold" and are informed of the fact that you are number fifty seven in the phone cue, or you have to press 1 or 2 or 3 etc. etc. depending on you  errand. There is hardly ever an answering machine where one can state ones question and have someone call you back with an answer.  The other day I called a business with a question about a spare part for example.  I was told the "spare parts person " was out to lunch!  I was directed to call back around such and such time.  Could Mr. Spare Part call me, I asked, upon his return? No, it is better that you call back.  Or you call to find out they have "telephone time" between nine thirty am to ten am!  Or, no one is answering the phone due to the fact that everyone is out to lunch!  Crazy as I am,  I wonder why everyone is out to lunch at the same time!  Or, why is there no answering machine where I can leave a message and they can call me back with an answer after lunch?

Today I have been trying to get a hold of a chimney sweep. We would like to have the tall chimney in our storage room checked out by a Pro, to see if it would be usable if we installed a fireplace or an iron stove there?  The first business I called did not answer at all and there was no answering machine. The second business asked me many questions, did I want an inspection, or did I want something else or this or that?  Questions I did not really know how to answer by pushing buttons one, two or six! Or, I was instructed, look at our Web page.

OK the third time was a charm!  I got to talk to a REAL PERSON!!  I tried to explain that we had a chimney that has not been used since time immemorial, we'd like to know it's condition etc. could we have it checked out.  Yes, I can come and have a look at it.  Do you have a ladder to get up on the roof he asked?  So, a person who is in the chimney sweep business does not have a ladder asked David, after I was off the phone?  Can that be so?  Is that the way it is??  Then of course I seem to remember, when I was  a little girl and I would see the chimney sweeps around Uppsala they would be riding their bikes with all those big round brushes and long rolled up wires. They did not have ladders on their bikes. They did have tall hats I recall and I would marvel over how sooty they were.  But today?  Would they not have their own ladder?  Guess we will find out?

I just ran out of steam!  Boy, do I feel tired and cranky!!!!!
Thank you for allowing me the soapbox.

It is 6:30PM and it is still light outside.  Joy.

David's turn next.

History and Dinner Without Andre'

We received two very old pictures of this mill.  We were thrilled to get them.

  

The Mill Today.

Does anyone remember the movie "My Dinner with Andre"?  We saw it twice, found it so "different" and it became a fad of sorts. Wonder if Larry David saw it too, then used it as a model for the Seinfield series and Curb Your Enthusiasm?  You know a show about "nothing".

We did not have a dinner with Andre, but Andreas was here, along with his parents Helena and Lennart and his younger brother Johannes. They live at the very end of our little road. So far we had only waved at each other as they drove by.  It was time to get together I thought,  as I like feeling more connected with  my neighbors,  not so anonymous!

As it happens,  Lennart's brother Magnus is the man who started the renovation of this old mill.  Oh, way back 20-25 years ago or so.   Magnus and his wife Annika lived here as they started their family.  They worked on the renovation, removed mill stones,  removed and replaced rotten beams,  had no running water,  so lugged water up and down stairs.  All this while babies were being born. Their eldest son was born in January, they draped extra tarps around his bed and added an infra red lamp to use when they changed his diapers!  Talk about true grit, true pioneering spirit.  This was all told to us during an evening here, when we shared food and talked for hours............ there was much to learn........ much to cover and I now wished we had more time,  as we have many more questions to ask.

Lennart tells us he purchased his house and also did major renovations!  The roof was caved in and it was a shamble when he bought it.  He lived in one room, chopped wood in the kitchen when it was cold, so he too is one of those hardy souls.  Totally amazing guys!  The two brothers say they learned that work ethic from their Dad, who did room additions, built boats and remodeled houses in his spare time when they were little.  Nothing was impossible, you can do anything you put your mind to, was his motto. It shows what an amazing influence ones parents can have.  Hurrah for "The Power Of Parents"!

At a later date it would be fun to tell more about the history of this old mill.  As pointed out by Magnus, it burned twice and was reconstructed.  How these mills were built in the first place is rather remarkable, some of them three hundred years old.  Built with these heavy timbers, big boulders, heavy millstones, wings and big moving mechanisms.  No blue prints or drawings,  just raw knowledge.

Other historic notes is that 300 years ago yesterday the Battle of Helsingborg was fought.  The Danes came across the sound on ships in the night with 14,000 troops.  One of the bloodiest battles in Swedish - Danish history ensued.  More than 3,000 soldiers lost their lives along with countless horses and many, many more soldiers and horses were wounded.  The Danes lost the battle and returned home.

A 100 years later the Danes tried to take Helsingborg again while Sweden was occupied in a war with Russia,  again without success for the Danish army!  Since then there have not been any such battles. Sweden has not been intrenched in a war like that, for the last 200 years!

The snow has been melting in "rapido" speed!  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, people are out riding horses and bikes (not that they ever quit doing that even with the snow and /or the rain) on this lovely day with almost +45 degrees F.  According to predictions it should snow again within the next 

couple of days!  But, spring is getting closer, we can feel it!

OUR 30th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Today to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary we went on a picnic.  As you can see in the pictures there was a lot of snow.  The Winter here in Southern Sweden hasn't been this Wintery since 1980.  So the locals tell us.  Neta and I went on our Honeymoon to the wine country in Napa.  We remember that it was an unusually wet winter.  The rain was so heavy and furious that it was difficult to drive in.  So it is fitting that the weather has followed us here thirty years later.  It is an exciting time.

Söderåsen National Park at Skäralid

The lake is frozen and covered with snow.

Ralle also had fun.

 

I couldn't find a spot close enough to take a timed picture.

I tried a few times.  I just sneaked in on this one.

It was a fun time.

Ralle snuck in for a snack too.

It was an adventure.

Tonight we are celebrating with grilled salmon, saffron rice, and creamed spinach.  And we will raise a glass of bubbly.  Looking forward to thirty more.

Photos of Our Roundabouts

Sunds Square in Helsingborg

Inside Dunkers Culture Center

Dunkers view of Sunds Torget

Sofiero Castle

Sofiero Grounds

Sofiero Grounds with Danish Castle across the Sound

View from Top of Our Mill Facing East (Our Neighbors Home)

We thought we would share some photos of our local roundabouts. 

Is Life like a box of chocolates or more like a Casserole?

February, WOW!  The month when light returns in earnest to this region.  An hour and 42 minutes per day will be added this month,  I read in the paper today.  As severe cold has held Scandinavia and large parts of Europe in a tight grip for some time now, it will be a welcome sign of change.  This, they say, has been the coldest winter in Helsingborg in 30 some years.  In Linkoping, where my cousin Gunn lives ( a 2 1/2 to 3 hr. drive north of here) the temps have dipped to -29 degrees C.   It has not been like that since 1942!!  Way up north in Sweden, well, you can imagine.

David has become obsessed with sorting photos!  We came here with boxes and bins, shoe cartons and folders, loaded with our history in pictures.  It has been fun to look back at some of the various stages of our life.  David also unearthed a "lost" cookbook of mine. This simple little spiral bound book was a gift from my early days in Oklee, Minnesota.  A collection of recipes put together by the women in the Oklee Chapter of the American Legion Auxiliary.  And that in itself is a mouthful!  The book was shuffled in with some photo albums during our move from San Jose to Mariposa.  During the 16 1/2 years running and growing the Oakhurst Feed & Supply Store I did not take the time to look for it,  even though there were many occasions when I missed it a lot.

Rediscovering this little jewel,  I realized how much more than recipes this book contained!  There is for example a handwritten recipe for Mandel Brod,  given to me by Florence Katz,  a customer of ours at The VIP Beauty Salon in Minneapolis,  where I worked.  Florence Katz is the woman who was instrumental in getting me the job at KQXL Radio,  doing the Scandinavian Music Hour.  She herself stood for the weekly Jewish program.

Then there is the recipe for Raisin Chess Pie from Carol Springer,  she was a neighbor in Windsor Green.  We always had this "Oh So Good Desert" at Thanksgiving.  This was always Francis Bradleys favorite!  Francis is my long time childhood friends husband.  There are recipes such as the "hot dish" made with Chow Mein Noodles,  ground beef,   tomato and mushroom soup, onion,  celery etc.  A dish the kids just loved!  The Deluxe Lemon Yellow Cake made with lemon Jello.  Mona Botes' recipe for Quiche Lorraine, given to me on my trip back to Sweden the year John turned one and learned to walk!

Then there was the Waldorf Red Cake.  A peculiar cake very popular long ago.  Black Beans in Tomato Vinaigrette,  another favorite of mine,  a recipe torn out of a newspaper, while Maria and I sat in the waiting room at the doctors office,  after Janice's horse broke Marias nose!

My children have doodled on almost every page in this book!  There are folded sheets of paper of drawings stuck in between the pages.  A pencil drawing of a picture of a horse with the words "eat a good breakfast and you will be glad-if you don't you will be sad-because you will be hungry" written in a balloon from the horses mouth............etc. etc.

You have no idea to what culinary highs one could bring a can of pork and beans?  Glorified pork and beans with sliced  Spam and a side of Tater Tots anyone???

What a journey through history.  Who would have imagined that this little book could bring forth all those memories!  Seegers Hardware Store,  Johnson's Jeweler,  Oklee, Minnessota,  Tunberg Ford & Mercury,  Thief River Falls,  where a few business'  that supported the  cook book.  Oh my!

Is life like a box of chocolates or more like a Casserole?