Swedes go bottom line

The other day I bought a new shelve for my CDs and DVDs at our beloved Swedish interior designer ("Lebst du schon oder wohnst du noch?"). The reason why I went in the first place was to get a new mattress. I found one but it was too large for my car so I will I have to go back at one point with a van and get it. Anyhow, the shelve is the same to some I already got. While I assembled it I recognized a few things. First, it was made in Sweden. Second, the back-wall (that cardboard thing which you usually have to fix with nails) was in one piece. And third, a few of the fixers were in plastic. Well, all is good except that the others were made in Russia if I remember right. And the cardboard used to be two pieces where both used a fixed part of the shelve as a rest. Finally, the fixers were made of metal, plastic. It wouldn't have been such a great deal (and actually, isn't such a great deal after all) if I had no clue about economics. But it happens to be like this. To cut it short, the interior designer is saving quite a lot of money right now, even in the little shelve I bought. By modifying the mentioned parts in the way just described they save maybe a few pence with each shelve. The manufacturing processes get similar, the pieces are similar (hence, less confusion), and the material is simply cheaper. It wouldn't make much of a difference if one shelve has metal fixers instead of plastic ones. But a million shelves with plastic fixers lower the overall unit cost quite considerably; so does the one piece back wall. It's very post fordian. If you can't create a new market then change the product to yield a higher return. And annoyingly, it will mean more trouble for the customer (plastic is more prone to break; the back walls are harder to assemble and you defo need the nails now). And that thing with "made in...". Well, sure, of course... Whatever you write on it must be true... Yet, after all, I bought the shelve for the price they asked. So what do I complain here?!? As a consumer I do have a choice, and: do I really needed that shelve? Or would have been storage on the floor been sufficient?

One day...

...I'm gonna live in Paris. Or elsewhere. Just one day. Only for the sake of it.

I wanted to sing that song the whole week but I couldnt really remember the lyrics. As usual. So now.



Oh la la, cest champes elysee! Cest magnifique, incredible. I'm going there twice this year, I might have found the fish in the bowl for going to. Ta, pink floyd. Nice job. Or lyrics in that case. And then also going to Lisbon. That's great too. Nothing against Cardiff, but it will be warm, sunny and delicious there. And cheaper. It almost tops last year, even tho last year it was more. Switzland, France, Mexico, Costa Rica, US, Iceland, France, Romania, ... But well, one has to do other things.

I dunno what I wanted to write in the first place. Oh, yes, now I remember. I'm jolly happy. I had my second to last revision class today and bought some icecream for them. It was steaming hot outside (for British conditions) and they had deserved it. They did the exercise more than good, I'm proud of them. And some icecream is always delicious. We did an exercise on theory and history, was quite a lot. All of the major and minor theories there are in the sociological universe but they did rather good. Hail to the sociological phantasy, is all I say. Then also finished something for my supervisor. It had been a bit of a trouble changing him but now we are seeming to get on track. further, and the news he told me about the workers of the world unite sound rather splendid. This was a good thing too; I didn't think we both would get that far with our little statistical exercise as we did. Then also finished marking the statistical assignment which was by and large good as well. Apart from the little upsetting thing with the comparison between 0.067 and 0.050 that resulted in the statement that the former is smaller than the latter... something had gone wrong there in 6th grade. but ok. it was like the racist comment in one of my earlier essays. i see what else is in there. apart from that, there was also a sunshine going up this week. in the form of icecream, a fairy tale (sorry; the one will know when reading this), and a video. at least kind of. i mean after all, this week already had enough surprises and i didnt, nor i anticipated this one. this was almost the cherry on top, and a quite nice one. sixth, im still amazed of how my right fore arm is bigger than the left one. you have to look close but it's visible (apart from the fact that i dont fit into my older t shirts anymore. not because of food but more because of all the losing and winning at squash). i do have a tennis arm, as one would say in germany. is this a good or bad thing? i dont know. but it still makes me wonder and let wander off my thoughts. so, is that all? no. i twisted my ankle quite badly, not to say im in pain. terrible pain (not a men's joke; i am actually). in the regular squash game. i cooled it for the last two days but it still hurts sometimes. i think i go and see a doctor tomorrow. i now remember churchill saying that sports is murder. he was right. not only blood and tears but murder too.
in other words, there are 6 bloody good reasons plus the one about paris and lisbon why im happy. if s.o. can proof me wrong he or she is welcome.

i'm happy to have made friends with the greek and the fairy tale finally (plus the ghost writers!!). they have become important ones. this is, what makes me also happy! (this realisation only came to me after a year or so, but i want to express it). it's really coming together and what im starting to realise only slowly..! in the whole week, there was only one big negative thing when i think about it. the danish is leaving and i couldnt cope with it. i already do miss her and i wished there would be a short way home. she's not completely gone, but she's in a county far, far away. i miss her. and i feel angry that i missed to say it properly. i hope she is coming back soon. if feels so empty, the office.

ok, i leave you now. it is enough of bragging and mourning. i hope you enjoy the reading of my blog and the inner sensation that maybe nothing has changed (this is meant for the ones, who have long gone and will never return). i had a bloody good week and the more i think about, well...

edit: I wrote this post originally on the last day of April, just before midnight. Since then, a few (quite a few actually) things have changed; actually it started about 2 days after I wrote this post. It changed for the better in all respects. Maybe I'm just a bit "sentimental" right now, but sometimes you wake up in the morning thinking it's going to be a day like all others and when you go to bed (at least "geographically") everything has changed. Nothing is as it was in the morning. And you know in that instance, it is for the better. You have the weird feeling (is it weird??) that your fingers will keep on clicking for a while... I finally stopped smoking. I gave up my daily intake of diet cokes. If it's raining the sun shines. If the sun shines I get blinded. And still can see. Whether I might can really blind at one point I don't know. I don't feel like... Anyhow, right now I'm happy. Und Alles ist Bestens. Mit einem breiten Grinsen auf meinen Lippen. I saw black cat, white cat the other day and it certainly sums up one of the morales I learned (and some others, I hope to learn soonish) at the end. That, whatever happens and you do, at the end of the day most things will turn out fine. If something is meant to be (and I heart that quite a lot of times) it will be. And it is.



I only edited a few things in the original post, a few spelling things or else. But nothing substantial. Basically, iubesc, smokina mou.