Washing-machine-trouble

I have lately had some trouble with my washing-machine.

All of a sudden it stopped during so I rang the service company and luckily they had some ideas. So I reset my expensive digital-washing-machine and tried again and nothing happened. So here am I with the machine filled with water and can’t get the machine emptied, or the clothes to dry. Not to mention knowing if they were clean or not?!?

After several phone-calls and several attempts to get the machine going again there finally came some good advice, open the bottom hatch to empty the water, check the sill and see if there are any loose objects stuck into it and clean the sill. Now I could open the door and get the clothes out to dry. Okay, done.

Soaking-wet clothes on a line smelling of washing detergent. Yew!
So as the bathroom-floor was soaking wet I got the clever idea of washing it.

Here my husband could tell you, that whenever I get a clever idea, it always is dangerous and almost certainly ends up in tears, in one way or another. So I began washing the floor, and me and wet floors are a lethal combination, at least to myself that is. Of course I slipped on the floor and fell. I fell with my back on top of the toilet-seat, almost instantly bruised black and blue from my ribs to my pelvis, not being able to bend at all in any direction at all.

I am so glad that my beloved husband did not laugh this time either.
Not until much later, when I laugh at it myself. Much, much later this time.

So the next morning after a long night full of agony and not enough strong painkillers, I get up and ring the service-guy once again asking about the warranty of the machine. Here tells me that it is okay but had I checked the exhaust water pipe yet?

I am so glad I did not have to bend in any direction or get down on my knees to check this out, just washed some residue out of the pipe and got the machine going and put the questionably clean clothes run through the machine one more time just to make sure...

But hey, who said the life of a housewife is easy?

Flight attendants on strike

There probably never is a convenient time for a strike but this one is one of the better suited, this weekend there is a big EU-summit in Lahti, which should get some things stirred up with the flight-attendants and stewards of the national airline Finnair are on strike and the airport aircraft-service personnel supporting them with their own strike.

If it not is enough trouble to be travelling nowadays with all the new flight security regulations.

Now all we need on top of this would be a strike of the customs personnel so nobody gets in and nobody gets out. And a police strike at the same time and havoc will prevail with all the gathering protesters against globalisation or whatever they protest against that always gather around these Top-politician-meetings…

God I am getting depressed, I need a nice cup of tea!

Electricity shortage during the winter?

Last winter there was a shortage of electricity in Finland and the country is preparing by getting reserve Power-plants into stand-by mode to be better prepared than last winter.

There is now even talks about “fining” the industry and ordinary people if they have to use their washing-machines or dishwashers at cold-peaks by having to pay for extra expensive electricity. A kind of a fine when there is a shortage.

Well, how are you supposed to know when it is going to be extra cold if making your Christmas turkey in the oven for hours and hours?

One thing is for sure, the price of electricity has been increasing lately.

Guess we’ll just go bankrupt this year! Or maybe it won't be until next year?

Absolute ruling

Having the opportunity of being able to follow Finnish television as well as other European TV broadcasts and their news is quite interesting, as you notice how differently the same thing is presented the news concerning the eastern neighbour to Finland.

In European news they just say how it is, but here in Finland things are smoothened a bit and not all is said out aloud, things are more hinted at...

So here I go then, the eastern neighbour has been quite aggressive in their foreign policies and statements about their energy politics in summits with the EU, and about the ratifications of borders with some of their neighbours, and with it getting easier granted visas into the EU for their citizens, even talks about abolishing the need of visas into EU.

The army and defence forces of the eastern neighbour are expanding and growing stronger, and Finland is by them considered being "an ally to the NATO forces", and according to their recent statements done by military officials “the neighbouring countries should not fear us but should instead take us in concideration being an opposition to respect”.

Lately there has been a centralization of power in the east like when the Czars used to rule with less democracy for the people. Well, now with only one year to go to the free, democratic elections, and the current president not being eligible anymore in the coming elections, well, time is running out and so they have begun to propose various solutions for this problem already.

With a change of laws, a little reformation of the same and the current president can be elected for a third time, maybe even for more than three times and if also the proposition of extending the length of the time the president stay in power, well then they are going back to the days of the empire with one absolute ruler.

Smoking prohibited on your own balcony!

As it has not been custom for quite some years to smoke indoors in your home here in Finland, the Finns have been going outdoors into the yard or onto their balconies to get their doses of cigarette-smoke. I think that has been quite nice and considerate to take into account all the other people present, not forcing them to be passive smokers. Now there is a building society here in Finland that has banned smoking completely in the building.

Which means that people living in that building are not allowed to smoke on their own balconies!

I always thought that the balcony of an apartment belongs to your home which would mean that you are in the privacy of your home. And nobody could impose restrictions upon what you do in your own privacy. I’d hate anyone to tell me what to cook for dinner tonight!

Well, I am an ex-smoker myself, and find it annoying to have to inhale the smoke someone else just have exhaled when opening a window, but hey, we just inhaled most of Carelia this summer!

Deo-devils and Wax-virgins

Here in Finland there is a strange tendency to take things to the outrage in one way or another. To be subtly balancing on the edge is out of the question. For example, a woman dresses up to kill. Hair done beautifully, make up perfect and here comes the flaw in the picture: no perfume, no deodorant at all, just a pungent smell of sweat!

Then you get the bag-lady type who is not dressed up at all but has a nice scent of expensive perfume surrounding her like a cloud. By the way, I have heard about a man making his million by collecting refundable bottles in the dustbins. I have seen him in town and guess what, the smell is just awful! But, I have been told that when dresses up for going out, nobody recognizes him as the same guy with his suit on.

Then you get the teenagers that are always dressed to kill no matter what time of day it is and have used the whole bottle of perfume or used all the deodorant, a so called deo-devil. Also there is a tendency in the men from more southern areas of the world to exaggerate their use of perfume which is especially noticeable in elevators without any supplement of fresh air. And that’s when the migraine hits you.

Most people here are quite hairless, or at least so I have noticed watching people basking in the sun on the beaches during the summer. The ladies do not always shave their arm-pits, nor their bikini-areas. Guess this is a country full of wax-virgins. And deo-devils in one way or another, deodorant or no deodorant…

Spend more than you can afford

Money, money, money must be funny, in the rich man’s world.
And if you’re not rich, you can borrow some money instantly and spend more than you can afford to!

First, get yourself some credit-cards and charge them full. Then move over to instant-mobile-phone-loans, just a phone-call away instantly into your account, when sitting in a bar and having used all your money and wanting to buy more drinks around.

Even better, take the instant loans in your parents’ names, their friends’ names, or your own friends’ names! You just have to have access to the right mobile-phone and know their social security-numbers and the finance-company deposits the money into your bank-account, instantly. This might sound like a nightmare but is actually happening everyday to some relatives and friends of the teenagers and young adults in this country.

Borrowing mummy’s, daddy’s or friends’ phones without them knowing and getting the money yourself with the loans to pay in their names.

Money, money, money, must be funny, until you get caught!

Money has become so over important in our society that you do just anything to get the right clothes and accessories. As this is not strictly speaking “stealing”, as robbing a bank might be, it probably feels much more easier to do. No pointing of guns at people.

To spend more now with too lightly granted credits, when you still have no job and have to get through your studies with high-rate mortgages and loans to pay? Not to mention getting married, buying a house, supporting a family and paying for their care and needs in the future…

Money makes the world go round, at least for the finance companies.

For the rest of us they can cause misery for years and years to come. Maybe we should just hope for a worldwide complete computer break-down so I can debit my credit-cards to my daddy’s account once again!