STOP
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Did I mention that I was going to Sweden and Italy? No? Well carry on reading if details of that trip interest you…
Day 1
Sweden from really high up.
Arrive in Stockholm at Arlanda International Airport. It is a bustling place, I suppose, by Swedish standards, but seemed rather quiet. It was, however, exceptionally clean, and the security staff was quite friendly (if not a little bored). Family was waiting for us there, outside of baggage claim. One of our host, Jan, my mom, and my older sister Karen.
Our first official act in Sweden? We hit a cash machine.
I have to tell you, if you are traveling to a foreign country, think long and hard about your first cash transaction. By no means just walk up and start pushing buttons. It’s a very easy mistake to make. And the machines are quite simple to use, so you’d think there is nothing to fear. But since you are likely to be dealing with an exchange rate, and math RIGHT OFF THE PLANE, it probably behooves you to take a moment, and think about it. You know that familiar range of quick cash options? Like $20, $40, $80, and $100? What does it mean if, instead, it says 100kr, 500kr, 1000kr and 2000kr? I mean is it really the same? How do you make that “how much is too much” decision? Do you know? I sure didn’t. 500kr seemed too high at first, but then I second guessed it. I was sure that there were people watching the stupid tourist getting his first taste of Swedish culture, and were waiting to see how stupid he could be. That’s when I overhear my mother telling my sister that the exchange rate has gone up today. “Oh,” says my sister, “so it’s worse today, almost six!” By “six” she meant six dollars U.S. to each equivalent Swedish Krona amount. Which turns out to be 100kr, and not 1 Krona, like you might assume. I think. Pretty sure. Aww crap.
Fantastic interview on Philebrity (it’s a great Philly-based destination, don’tchaknow). When people get together to create something cool, it’s great. When it really solves a “problem”, that’s even better. But when it can actually make my life SUCK less? That’s just pure gold.
Never mind that it took an amateur developer (that is, unpaid for their services) to create the product, or that they did it in the same amount of time that it probably took someone at SEPTA to design that kaleidoscopic means-of-transportation nightmare JPEG on their front page. What is really impressive is how functional iSepta is—begging us to wonder: Could a public utility ever be this organized on their own?”
I take the train to work, and I love being in the city. What I HATE about being in the city (now that I live outside of it), is that regional rail schedules are so hard to access on my nifty neato-keen new phone. DO I have 10 minutes to make the next train, or 40 minutes? When is the LAST train out tonight? Why should that be so HARD to discover?
That is exactly the kind of interview I hope I give, if I’m ever in that situation. It’s a great example of how a simple idea, executed well, can seem so… well, obvious in retrospect. And the message is exactly what it should be: don’t just gripe, make it better. More of us should be doing just that.
There is a monster in my house. And I let it in.
It’s all tooth and piss and energy. Its ruddy coat is the color of rust and autumn leaves. It leaps and calls and RUNS MY LIFE. It demands, and I acquiesce. It is a young thing yet, and when it matures, I don’t know what I will do. And when I caged it, it growled and howled such that I had to cover my ears and cower in my bedroom. Sleeping was difficult.
It arrived without any fanfare. No warning. This isn’t some misdirection or clever euphemism, this is a real, breathing, voracious, animal. It stalks, and bounds, and sleeps, implacable in it’s dominion over it’s surroundings. Or at least oblivious to my attempts at control. Of course, my wife has some say in this: I am not alone in this struggle. She was as surprised by this development as I. When we opened the door, we had no way to know what expect. But neither am I completely alone in culpability. We accepted this intruder together.
And despite it all, I have few regrets. Maybe that sounds crazy. Maybe these last few days have worn me down, I don’t know. I do know that feeding and caring for a monster has become our daily obsession. I do know that I could never stop, now that I know what I know. My life is forever changed, and I am getting used to it.
We call this monster “Peanut’.
I blame my sister.
So here I am in Austin. I certainly didn’t expect to be here this year, yet here I am. I can write more later, but this whole things is taking up a decent amount of mind-share.
Two quick things I observed:
Ubiquitous wifi is AWESOME. Don’t underestimate the usefulness of constant access, anywhere.
Austin is NOT Texas. It’s a whole new place, in part during (or perhaps because of) this show.
More later.
