On car rental systems / Countryside adventure / Another farawell party

Nice weekend, many different things happening, just personal, private issues - no real time or interest to follow international politics or contemplate anything deep. Here we go.

On car rental systems

Funny notice: Avis has a nice web-based reservation system, which works and is easy to use. Hertz, their main competitor, has a form in the web. The form is easy to fill in, but it is not interactive. Instead, when one clicks on "submit", the form sends an email somewhere and displays a promise to confirm the reservation in 24 hours. well, after 72 hours I had not received any confirmation. So, goodbye Hertz, you just lost a customer.

Countryside adventure

On Saturday, we drove to meet S's uncle and his wife in Valkeala, which is 25 kilometer north-east from Kouvola. Meaning rather far from my comfort zone (which actually ends by the Kulosaari bridge). The uncle is a nice old man, now 72 years old, a farmer. He has excellent memory spanning at least 60 years and he likes to tell silly stories in which he himself is most often the somehow unfortunate protagonist. I never tire to listen these stories - after all, they tell about a world in which I have never lived. I wonder how one could preserve these stories. I hope the uncle writes his memories like many other old men do.

The weather was terrible: raining, some 2 degrees, overcast, dark. Driving in such a weather is not too fun. Fortunately, there are two nice places to visit along the way. Just before Porvoo, there is a small roadside cafe serving freshly baked bun and decent coffee. About 30 kilometers before Kouvola, one can visit "Pukarin Paroni", a private cafe, shop, bakery, gas station, etc. They also sell all kind of second-quality things. Recommended, if you ever have any need to drive to Kouvola from Helsinki.

On the way back, we visited some eastern suburbs of Helsinki. The "Sun beach" of Vuosaari was not so sunny in the winter storm and darkness. But it is a nice place, in which I would not like to live. There are not enough shops, restaurants and other services. Same hold true for Marjaniemi and Laajasalo. We also visited my office in the western suburb of Leppävaara. S found the office really terrible (as it is) and remarked that it is not a place to do creative work productively. But as we know, measuring productivity, not to speak of innovativiness, is not easy. Measuring working hours and rent expenses is too easy. So, companies measure on working hours...

Another farawell party

Leaving is sad, but arranging farawell parties in fun. For this reason, we threw another one today. Participants: Olli, Maritta, Tarmo, Päivi, and Petri. We had some hot wine, lots of cold-smoked salmon, cheeses etc. Before the party, Päivi interview me about money and using it. The interview will come out some afternoon next week in YleQ. Listen if you dare. Petri lent me a mobile phone for USA.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs December 2004".