Pimp Your Garage Door

If you have been looking at a boring garage door for too long, this might be the thing for you! You can select an image from a pretty good selection - or use a picture of your own, and print an image on the door. Then just sit back and enjoy the faces of the people passing by...

Here are some of my favorites.

To order yours, go to the German company's site http://www.style-your-garage.com/ , prices are quite reasonable. They seem to deliver also to US and all over Europe. You can also get prints for the doors in the house.

And again; IT'S YOUR CHOICE as the sign says...

Have a great weekend!!!

Yes-yes-yes, the winter is still here!

We have had now in Southern Finland winter since last Thursday. As I told earlier, I got to prepare for the snow by clearing the backyard but unfortunately I didn't take care of it all; the big grill is still there but I don't see that as a problem. Neither that my Mexican clay oven is there, even if I'd rather keep it in dry and warm - and use it for the main purpose.

Some weathermen have seen the light - they estimate -22C for next week, let's wait and see if it happens. I guess I should start polishing my skis to get myself to the slopes.

Tonight I was too lazy to heat up the sauna so I settled for a warm shower after a work out, but wanted to freshen up still outside. These are fresh images from few moments ago, I know some of you have seen something similar from last winter.

The profile pic where I'm covered with snow is from last winter - same place though as these pics...

Wanna fly with style?

If you wish to fly with style - and can afford it, there are many ways to do it. One option you can find from here;
http://www.787firstflight.newairplane.com/

We have come quite a long way in 100 years... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroplane

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Yesterday morning I had a niiiice wake-up but horrible morning traffic here and there. We had about 10 cm fresh snow during the night and at 0630 when I started the car it was quite nice to play again with the car in the empty, snowy roads.

I gotta say that I would very much need to find the button that turns the traction control off from the car. I know the symbol but I simply have not found such. Same thing was with the previous, temporary car that I had.

Anyways, soon the traffic became quite bad mainly due to trucks and buses that are not obliged to have winter tyres and hence got stuck in the hills - blocking a lane and causing kilometers of queues. In one of these I was trying to get further for an hour this morning. After I had passed the 2nd truck that was stuck, the ring road was clear for the next 20 kilometers.

When I left the office in the evening, all roads were wet and temp was around 0 C so when the temp dropped over night, it was a killer weather in the night...

For some pics from the snow day (no, not snow day like school-is-closed), scroll pics in here.


PS Finland won the EuroCup qualification game against San Marino 8-0 so don't expect daily blogs ;o)
Here a pic from http://www.yle.fi/ where Jari Litmanen finishes a penalty goal and becomes the eldest player who scores in EuroCup qualifications

Rakkaudella Suomesta - From Finland with Love

I recommend this book to everyone dealing with Finns - as well as for Finnish people who interact with people outside their own little village! 

I am a Finn myself and have shared this book with many friends representing different nationalities from Swedish to Americans. They all loved it and now understand us a bit better... For us, Finnish people, it gives a perspective to the facts of our differences to others. Yes, we are different in many ways and we should understand and accept it.

The book is written both in Finnish and in English in same covers and I must say I really enjoyed reading both versions.

You can get it from Amazon, both in UK and in US.
I recommend it to everyone dealing with Finns - business or leisure! And to all who are interested to do so...!

Short comment about the book from here.

...few words about football;

Tomorrow the football EuroCup 2012 qualifications continue and Finland is playing against a team that is in the last(!) position in FIFA ranking. Yep, the very last with only one (1) single win in the history of the local national team. The win came from a game against ... Lichtenstein.

San Marino, welcome to Finland!

Our team is already out of the games and we sacked our Scottish manager (coach), so I can promise that in case Finland does NOT win the game, I will write a blog every single day until Christmas.

Team Finland, you should step up the game - or you might need to consider changing into Lichtenstein passports ;o)

Finland - San Marino at Helsinki Olympic Stadium tomorrow 16 November 2010 at 18:30. It might be the last chance to see soon-to-be-40-years-old Jari Litmanen playing for Finland. Not bad, he started his career in the national team at 1989 so he has played for the team in 4 different decades. And in between won the Champions League with Ajax at 1995 and had Barcelone # 10 shirt...

Suomi - San Marino Helsingin Olympiastadionilla huomenna 16 marraskuuta 2010 kello 18:30. Otteluinfo ja liput täältä. Mahdollisesti Litin viimeinen maaottelu. Ei hassumpaa, pelannut maajoukkueessa neljällä vuosikymmenellä.

Go Finland!!!

Happy Father's Day - Hyvää Isänpäivää!!!

Today is Father's Day in Finland and what would be a better way to start it than sleeping until 1030 for the first time in months!

Wife and kids have been there to hug you before leaving for soccer practice, then your daughter comes in to ask if she could bake something. Soccer groups come back and we prepare a fantastic brunch with caviar, bacon, different cheeses including manchego and Iberico-ham - Spanish delicacies.

Desserts with fresh pineapple, freshly made white chocolate mousse and a meringue cake. And one should not forget the bubbles :o)

In Belgium the Father's Day is celebrated on 3rd Sunday of June and I gotta say it was a bit surprising when the kids came from the school with cards & gifts at the first year in Belgium.

Hyvää Isänpäivää - Happy Father's Day! I will have a talk with my father at some point today - it has been only 2 years since he passed away.

Preparing for the winter

This weekend has included some work to prepare for the winter. Yesterday I installed a net in the patio, to keep both birds and neighbour's cat away. Funny enough, one would imagine the cat would have kept the birds in control but no, there has been too much bird poo so I had to take actions.

Biltema, a shop with all technical stuff with reasonable prices, had a roll of net for less than 10 Euros. Got that earlier this week and it was only waiting for installation - and that was yesterday. Now we only need to clean the bird poo and we can again enjoy the freezing winter patio!

Today I had to clean and organize the shed at the backyard. That was required to make space for some stuff from the backyard, that needed to be cleared while preparing for the winter. Naturally some gardening was part of the pack; clean the leeves from the grass, cut some summer flowers, collect the dead apples from the ground etc.

They have estimated a snow bliz also for the south, Helsinki area, for Tuesday. I felt soooo good for the job done as in the afternoon we got snow! Early wake-up and out already at 0930 was awarded :o)

We are going towards even darker times so some snow is indeed appreciated to bring the light. When we hit the winter solstice on Dec 22nd, in Helsinki the sun is above the horizon only for 5 hours 49 minutes. And as I have mentioned earlier, up north in Lapland the sun stays below the horizon all day long... But now they already have permanent snow for this winter. Road camera images from here, click "Lapin lääni" on the left hand map and then select a camera.

In the graph below, you can see the sunrise and sunset times in Helsinki, Sourthern Finland.

Winter is coming, slowly but firmly, so I guess it is time to change winter tires for the second car too - don't wanna loose the grip...

Back to the ferry...

Apologies, I forgot that I have been in Sweden for about +/-20 times and I should not forget a fantastic ski trip to Åre, more or less (as much that we have the capacity in the Nordics) the Nordics Alps, or a business + pleasure event in Sälen...

The food is big part of the fun onboard the ferries. In addition to multiple restaurants from bar/cafe food to high class à la carte restaurants, there is an eat-all-you-can buffet. The selection of starters, main courses, desserts and all necessary goodies are there.

When you have somewhat recovered from the night clubs that naturally follow the dinner, it is time for a breakfast. Again you have an option for a buffet. Eat yourself full, roll out from the ferry and fight through the tiredness to the city. Hmmmm, I remember also some trips where I've enjoyed the fancier option of the buffet, the one with lots of bubbles - what could be more fun than few Mimosas with caviar for b-fast...?

That's all for tonight, let's see when I will have the time to write about cities of Turku and Maarianhamina that also have stops for the ferries. Have a fantastic weekend!

PS Now I have had visitors from 80 different countries - WOW! How the heck all you people find your way here...?

The Crown Jewels of Sweden

I guess I have been in Stockholm, Sweden 30-40 times. First it was both football and basketball tournaments as a youngster, then for fun with friends, even before we were 18. That is the magic age when you are allowed to drink alcohol in Finland and Sweden.

The most amusing way - and practically the standard way - is to take a ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm. If you fly, the funny thing is that normally your landing time is earlier than the take off time: 50 minutes flight and 1 hour time difference.

If you take the ferry, they leave from Helsinki at around 5 pm, sails all night and is in Stockholm at 9 am. Then you have the day to enjoy the city, before you head back home at 5 pm. Again, you are in Helsinki at about 9. Good time for you to go home to recover - and for the people who came onboard from Stockholm to enjoy Helsinki.

From the City of Turku at South-Western Finland there are also ferries that depart in the morning and arrive in the evening.

Actually the ferries go via Mariehamn, Åland. It is an island between Finland and Sweden that has managed to keep a tax-free right. That means the shopping onboard can be made more attractive vs Finland and Sweden. This applies particularly to alcohol and tobacco that are heavily taxed in both countries.

Both Helsinki and Stockholm are beautiful cities especially at summer time, but when you have been there several times you always need to come up with something sensible to do. You can always spend the day in the bars but at some point it becomes a bit too long trip if that is your only activity. Even if it is an ice bar.

Or as I learnt from a Swedish colleague, "activity" is actually "activitivity" ;o)

Also your priorities for the trip are a bit different depending if you travel with kids or with a bunch of friends...

When the kids were younger, we went to Junibacken, a playful building around Astrid Lindgren's characters and stories. You can meet there Pippi Longstocking - or Pippi Långstrump / Peppi Pitkätossu, visit her house, sit on her horse Lilla Gubbe, take a ride through her stories and see the characters like Karlsson på Taket / Katto Kassinen and others that I can't even remember. If you are in the city with kids, go and check it out.

At summer time also a cruise in the archipelago is good, or if you wish to get more action, go to the amusement park. These both apply also to Helsinki.
Then of course you have all sorts of museums, also one that has got a ship that had been in the bottom of the sea for 100+ years.

Shopping is always a must at some level, my favorite way to do it is in the small shops while walking through the alleys in the old town. Some shops have stuff you can not get from anywhere else. There is also several fantastic places to stop for a coffee and cinnemon roll - kanellbulla / korvapuusti.

If you are staying over night, it is also a very good option for dinner. Many good places to choose from.

More to come in the next episode, when we go back to the ferry...

PS The crown princess has not called so I guess she has got a Sony-Ericsson phone that has ran out of battery ;o)