Week 45 - Trump, Snow & No Bowling

I don't usually type about politics on this blog, but now that Trump been elected... what's going to happen to the world?! Will it bring about war, chaos, and a collapse of society as we know it... or order and prosperity for all, and a large Mexican wall? So far not much seems to be happening, but it sure is an interesting era to live in! Time will tell if he was all talk and no Trump, or if we stand at the brink of some real changes - for better or... much worse.

I've been following the elections from pretty far on the side, and it wasn't until a few weeks before the election that the idea of Trump winning even seemed plausible to me. I've read so many jokes, and seen so many parodies since he first announced his decision to run, that the whole thing seemed like a joke to me. I guess the joke's on me, huh? Glad the official polls weren't much better at predicting the outcome.

My views on the candidates have been just as shifty as the polls this past week - not so much due to our shifty media coverage, as due to what people I've been speaking to have said, and though I started a firm Hilary supporter... I'm not so sure now. I had a very naive impression of her as a person, maybe because she's a woman and mother, and a much more negative one of Trump - since he's the one everybody's been talking about. Neither party seems like the ideal candidate, but I get the impression Trump talks a lot of shit - but may not be such a shitty leader. His stance on (the lack of) climate change is worrying, but his vocal spontaneity and non-bureaucratic approach is a breath of fresh air in a policial room that's been stagnating more and more over the years.

A while ago the election debate felt far away and unimportant, but now it feels like the result may have far-reaching implications all over the world, and maybe it's a bit late to get educated, but they couldn't have gotten my vote either way. Now that one of the candidates really is present in presidency (un unprecedented leader no less!), it feels all the more relevant to know what they'll go for. And oh, Fore! Maybe for... coath war?

Maybe his leadership will have much broader implications than that - maybe he will affect what leaders are chosen in other countries, and what form of candidates people choose to support. If he does lead the country wisely, then we'll know how wrong we are to keep electing the same old paper-pushers, year in year out, all in the game more for fame and profit than for the necessity of the situation; a dire state in the world that calls for good leadership. Now I'm not sure Trump will be that leader, but I hope some good does come out of this all, and that soon the riots quieten. More on that in some other post, and on the candidates - when maybe I'm better educated.

Even without the elections, I've had an interesting week this week.

On Friday a Pit Bull Terrier (or similar) tried to steal my lunch. I almost slipped down two sets of stone steps. I was going to go bowling, but that didn't happen... and then I came home and wrote three thousand words about it elsewhere, sparing little energy for the blog.

It feels like I'm spending a lot more energy on 750 Words this month, but maybe that's not so strange considering It's NaNoWriMo! The goal's no longer just a mere 750 words each day, but an average of at least 1,666 if I'm not to reach the 50,000 word quota by the end of it. Some days it's easy to write, some days not so, and work days I usually have little time regardless. So far I've just about fulfilled a fourth of my quota, and on the blog far less. Not that word count is at all as relevant here. Nor writing daily. Maybe I should make myself a weekly quota here as well, so I have a goal to strive for? I hear there are plugins that provide similar motivations for writing regularly, as the badges on 750w...

But I am here now, on the blog, at the end of a long Sunday full of Inktober doodling and Father's Day celebration, and as far as Inktober doodles go I am finally done! And almost caught up with my Project 2016 too. You can browse the doodles specifically here.

Those Father's Day celebrations are done too, btw. I wrote a short poem, gave a jar of Amberfish from Riga (it looks beautiful, but the ingredients are still a mystery), some Olive marmalade, and some less interesting consumables. My sister baked a Raw Food cake (that was great), and we had ourselves a little party.

I've sampled some Saint-James, Remy Martin, Grand Marnier, Mandarine Napoleon (a new favorite) and Contreau liquor this week too - embedded in bite-sized chocolate wrapping, and am documenting the names here since I doubt I'll remember them otherwise. Also tried bleaching away grease stains on a shirt with potato flour, and they turned red. Pro tip: if you've used a mixture of butter and coconut oil, potato flower does not work!! Next up: Bicarbonate to remove coconut oil and butter grease stains turned red. I'll keep you posted.

The weather's been snowy, and on Wednesday in particular it was chaos. I spent an hour shoveling snow before I could leave for work, and though the train ride in went better than expected, the trains on the way home were both packed and late. A colleague had to sleep at a friends place since all inner-city buses were shut down, and I heard horror stories on the train home about people waiting 3 hours on a train station, and 2 hours on a highway. People interviewed later on were stuck in jams virtually the entire day, stuck in traffic for as much as eight hours. Imagine eight hours on a public bus with no bathroom...

We were shoveling snow all day both at home and at work, and at the time I left SL's traffic status looked like /img/4/SL-Kaos.png">this. Note that 139 störningar (disturbances) refers only to buses. This only in Stockholm.

I was fortunate to get home no more than 45 minutes after schedule, but then again the snow had stopped falling at the time I left, and things were finally getting under control. And yet 'disturbances due to recent snowstorm' kept playing on the train station signs for the rest of the week. It was not a storm, and not even half a meter snow. Winter came earlier than expected, but as expected: in the South of Sweden people just can't handle a little bit of winter.

It's been an appreciated change of scenery with the winter white this week though, and yesterday the weather was beautifully bright, a fresh coat of snow sparkling over the old, and open water shimmering beyond trees still sheathed with green leaves - just like spring. Today it melts, and the roads are a salty slush, but hopefully the leftover snow will last a few days more at least! Even if they are doing their best to get rid of it.

Btw, if you missed Google's Halloween game it was pretty fun. Check it out here. And if you missed the recent GOG Fall Sale, that ended today, /img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps.png">t/img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-0.png">h/img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-1.png">i/img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-2.png">s is /img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-3.png">w/img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-4.png">h/img/4/GOG-Fall-Sale-2016-Snaps-5.png">at you missed. On the topic of games: I haven't even started yet, but here's a few compelling reasons to keep playing DOOM. Really need to try that game soon...

On the blog I've posted 6 movie reviews, this this this and this. Here's last week. Ciao for now!