Mane

My birthday. I am now 36-years old. It is rather much. I am getting old, but not tired. Sirkku gave me a book about Stalin . I was and still am so happy about the book. I can hardly wait reading it. Maybe I should take a weeks vacation just to read it - but only after I receive my other books from China - I need some reference material. We drove to Joutseno to meet OlliFinni and his family. Olli is a master cook and we ate some delicious smoked and fried fish. Some beer too! Again, we stayed up quite, too late. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

The workshop in the morning. We rented a Smart and drove to Valkeala. The Smart Forfour is really nice car. If I would buy a car, I would buy it. Salmon-suop etc in Valkeala. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

It was still raining, even worse than on Wed. I tooks train to office. I worked on MattiOnProblemSolving (see also HzSeMinutes2004x07x30xTaskStartingNotKnowingWs). I joined (with my own money) INCOSE and read their material. I also started SeLibrary , which I hope will become quite popular later. In the evening I read INCOSE material at home. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Rain, 14C, thunder. I took train to the office. In the evening we visited Mr Tero Norkola, a literary agent or something. He is also a decent cook and we had nice squid etc. Some drinks too much and definitely too late. Chaos. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Sunshine, about 23C when I cycled to the office after 8.30 am. Only 105.5 kg. Strange. I went to the gym for the first time since I broke my shoulder in China. Now the shoulder is OK but my level of fitness is not OK. Getting better, though. I have managed to sell my extra (old) bicycles and my extra mirrow. I managed to install and use XNA in/on my Zaurus. The MIT-interview went well in the late evening. I am quite confident that they will accept my application. Pat Hale, the interview (a director there), said that my ideas and motivation are exactly in line with the whole idea of SDM@MIT. We also discussed at lenght on military history and how knowing the history helps also in business. Some worrying issues: it seems that I really must brush up my mathematical skill before going to MIT. This will be a tought autumn after all. We had a couple of beers in Bullman restaurant with Päivi Nikkilä, a radio journalist. Some nasty gossipping! Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Di...

Still sunshine. So, I cycled some 50 minutes. I have already lost 2 kg. Not bad. Now only 106kg - I still have opinions... Others are returning to office. SDM@MIT wants to interview me. Excellent. I am excited. The interview will be tomorrow, on Tuesday. The interviewer will be Pat Hale. In the morning I chatted with JyrkiInnanen, TapioPehkonen, JouniSaukko and Heikki Koskinen. In the afternoon I chatted (at least) with Matti Palo, Kisu Lagus, Eero Kauria, Sami Tilander etc. Fun to have other people here too. Oh, I almost forgot Tero Peltola. Funny how fast one can sell stuff in the net. I posted an ad about one large mirrow and got first reply in 2 minutes. Another ad about 2 bicycles got 4 replies in 2 hours. Maybe the low price has something to do with this. I like to give my unnecessary stuff away with just nominal prices. The new Sonic Youth DVD rocks almost too much. I get goosepimples when listening to it. No, I am not watching so much during working hours. It is time ...

We borrowed a van and brought some stuff from Tampere to Helsink with my brother. Sun was shining. In the evening, I read Harward International review (an interview with Paul Krugman), The American Heritage of Invention and technology (interesting article about WWII D-DAY technology), Helsingin sanomat (poor newspaper, I will subscribe to International Herald Tribune instead) etc. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Sailing trip to Porvoo by motorship King ( www.royalline.fi ). The Helsinki archipelago is nicer than I have imagined. In Porvoo, we had coffee and drank a bottle of sparkling wine by the riverside. Really nice. On the way back the sun was shining and I got sunburnt. I took the 1830 Pendolino to Tampere. It takes only 87 minutes. Nice. Markku picked me up from the station and we went to his garage to have a beer and talk bullshit, which is fun thing to do, sometimes. Sailing trip to Porvoo by motorship King (www.royalline.fi). The Helsinki archipelago is nicer than I have imagined. In Porvoo, we had coffee and drank a bottle of sparkling wine by the riverside. Really nice. On the way back the sun was shining and I got sunburnt. I took the 1830 Pendolino to Tampere. It takes only 87 minutes. Nice. Markku picked me up from the station and we went to his garage to have a beer and talk bullshit, which is fun thing to do, sometimes. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003...

I continued planning my work for the fall period. It is progressing well. I am really looking for having some workmates here and really begin working. It was raining in the afternoon when I cycled home. We visited the Diacor lab in the morning. In the evening, I fixed Sirkku´s bicycle, which actually was not even broken. The front tyre was somehow misplace. I have never seen such thing to happnen earlier. I intended to take the tram and ride around Helsinki late in the evening, but somehow I turned into a couch potatoe and could not leave home even for a short trip. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

I visited the nurse. She said that (after 1.5 years in China) I seems to be OK except that a) I am too fat (I knew it) and b) my blood pressure is too high (again). The remedies are trivial: less food, more exercise, less alcohol and less stress. Let's try that for some months and see if it helps. I should lose at least some 13 kg, preferable some 20kg. Not too easy, but after losing 20kg I would as light as I was when joining Nokia back in 1997. Working in Nokia is making me fat. Or is it just working Twiki was broker again. Now it is not. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

I cycled to the office. Nice weather, about 20C, sunny. Aggio-sport has moved away from Haaga. I cannot find their store anywhere. Too bad, because I need nyw cycling shorts and shoes. Long discussions with MaunuHolma. This Twiki does not work properly after some reconfiguration of the server atmweb. I fixed some problems, but some remain still. It seems that Twiki is too vulnerable to some changes in the environment. Luckily the problems are easy to fix. I stayed in the office until 6pm as I wanted to see how Tour de France, stage 16 turned out. Lance won, surprise Sirkku and her sister were selling some old things in the Hietalahti flea market . The things were not so good, but they did manage to break even. Normal pasta-dinner, an English drama from TV and some books. Normal evening. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Migraine, I stayed at home. I got better in the afternoon, so I did some new things I vacuum-cleaned our flat. It takes only 10 minutes, so I think Sirkku was right when she insisted not to buy a Trilibyte . I also visited the public library (15 metres from our home) for the firts time in years. I bought a new library card and borrowed a few books. I even managed to read Veren Vimma by Leena Lehtolainen . It was more or less waste of time - I have read much better crime books earlier. Leena is getting better, though. This books is much better than her first one. New potatoes for dinner. Really Finnish. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

I bought a new bike from Velosport . The bike was not too cheap but it feels good! The new gear/axis-system has two rubber-cushions, which make some noise when I drive. Strange. Even lubricating them does not help. We had some pasta for dinner. It is rather nice to cook. I read "Power and womanhood" by Yrsa Stenius in Finnish. It is an important book to read for anyone. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Idling at home. Later we visited Linnanmäki again and ate pizzas for dinner in Manala . The pizzas were terrible. Do not go to Manala for pizzas. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

I took it extremely easy until 4 pm. I visited the surroundings of Tuska-festivaali . There I could see some nice Gothic-youngsters and feel myself so old and wasted. I bought two books: an anthology of Joseph Brodsky and a book on mathematics and stock markets. We visited Mikael and his family in the evening in Tapanila. Nice evening. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Nothing worth mentioning at work. Still waiting for something to turn up and light my motivation. It will come, soon, I am sure. I went to the Linnanmäki amusement park to play some pinball. My current favourite is Gofers . It is quite easy one to play, but it requires fast reflexes and total concentration. In the evening I went to see my friend in Kuusiluoto island. It is nice place - a piece of pure nature in the middle of Helsinki. We grilled some food and had a few beers there. There are also some nice sheep there - they are really friendly towards anyone who has food to offer. Some Russian men were fishing by the bay in the middle of the night. They said "Kuha, hjyva". Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

20C, mostly sunny It is still hard for me to really start working here in Helsinki. I came to work, sent a letter to the Copenhagen police station (they have my mobile phone there and I want them to send it back to me; it is my 4th phone within one year...), read "3G training material" and were thinking about "RNC tools strategy" as a part of more general strategy of developing systems like RNC and MGW. No lunch today, just a couple of sandwiches. I know a way to crash Opera and the whole Windows 2000 Professional. Go to the page http://aikataulut.ytv.fi/reittiopas/fi/line/?line=50&type=1 and click the blue point next to text "Sörnäinen". It will crash your computer. Too bad! From my office window I can only see trees (a forest) and clouds. It is hard to believe that I am really looking at the 2nd biggest city in Finland. Looks too much like countryside to me. I walked from Pajamäki to Säterinportti (I took the bus 50 from Sörnäinen to Pajamäki....

Nothing special at the office today. I am still trying out different ways of getting to the office. Today I took the tram and train to Leppävaara and then bus 23 to Säterinportti. Not fun at all. I visited Aaro Koskinen in Hiomotie 30. We went to the centre of Helsinki and had a couple (really, just 2) pints. I do not know the most hip-places anymore, but luckily Aaro does. The furniture shop had delivered out sofa. Now we have already beds, sofa and one table (with 3 chairs) at home. We have also managed to put all the books on the shelves, so our place starts to look like a home. I cooked some pasta for dinner. I have to start cooking with pasta - it is about 1.5. years since I have had to cook myself... Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

Today I took tram and train to Mäkkylä and walked from there to the office. It takes 22 minutes to walk from Mäkkylä, which makes it a decent morning walk for a fat guy like me. Nothing special at work. Reading, planning. I worked on the floor plan for out next office in C5. I went to the grocery shop for the first time since coming back from China (and of course I did not visit them too often in China either). I found it surprisingly easy to buy something to eat and even something for cooking. It all cost 37 euros, which I consider cheap. I may be mistaken here. Wine is cheap here. I bought a bottle of Italian Prosecco for 6 euros. We drank it almost too fast. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".

First real working day here in Finland. I took it easy, tried to get used to the view from my new office and trying to catch up emails etc. Everyone else is on vacation, which makes me feel lonely here in the office all alone. I do not like this kind of solitude - I need to be in a group, I need to discuss with someone. It is rather hard for me to work alone. I cannot help it at all. I walk to and from Mäkkylä station. I also brought my new tax card to payroll service in Mäkkylä. Now I only (!) have to pay some 30% tax... We bought a new sofa. It took 2 minutes. At home we were arranging our books and other stuff. Petri Griinari visited us. Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".