Tag Archives: money

New haircut

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My computer was kaputt last night, so even if I had a lot of interesting things to write about, I couldn’t. My weekend is over and it was over way too fast. I wouldn’t have minded another week or so. My Friday was celebrated at Stage Door (a bar) with some of my colleagues. A very nice evening that ended at 1:30am.

Yesterday I woke up at 1pm I think. It was awesome to sleep in that long for once! I had an ambition to study some, but I realized I had lots of time so I decided to do some other necessary things. I called Radiotjänst again and asked them if they could give me back the last 500kr for wrongly charging me for the TV-license. They told me I would have it by the end of the week. The phone call, waiting including, took almost 30 minutes… After that I tried to call Kosmetisk Kirurgi to make an appointment for hair removal. I have two left since 2012 and thought I should get at least one done before I leave again, or hopefully both, but they have vacation now until the beginning of August, so I will have to wait. Not many people know it, but I have been going through some IPL treatments to remove hair under my arms. I am not done, but what an improvement after 6 (I think?) treatments. I can go one or maybe even two weeks without shaving, when I had to do it every day before.

My third call that day was to the hairdresser, they had an appointment just a couple of hours after I called so I took it. I like being spontaneous. I knew my hair was getting pretty damaged, even if it didn’t look too bad. But 6 months since last time, it was needed. It felt kinda stupid afterward though. I paid 400kr and the before and after picture look exactly the same… It feels better though and it definitely is healthier now with no split ends. I wanted to have the hair in the front a bit shorter as well, so there is a little bit of difference actually. I will post the before/after picture just because it’s so silly to pay that much for that little…

Before/after hairdresser
On these pictures it actually looks better on the before picture, probably because I am newly showered and the light is better. And I suck at taking selfies… Tomorrow my hair will look awesome after a shower and a hair mask and when I can style it the way I want.

I walked around in Nordstan (downtown) after that, tried to find a place who could fix my sunglasses. My engineering skills aren’t that good yet. No one could help me so I decided to make one final serious attempt to fix them. I bought thin iron thread and made a new loop and with some glue and tape it actually seems to be working. I just have to be careful and not put them in my purse anymore. If this doesn’t work I’ve actually found a website that sells those spare parts and I will order some if they break again. I know I am stupid for trying so hard to fix a pair of sunglasses that just cost $4, but they are so cool and so me and I love them. I don’t want another pair unless they look the same!

I did some grocery shopping on the way home because I had a very special plan when it came to dinner. Pierogi (according to Google Translate)! I had found a recipe for pierogi with spinach and feta cheese with pink pepper, parsley, hazel nuts and garlic. It wasn’t as perfect as it sounds, but definitely edible and a little more. Probably not the best with vegetarian food for me right now though. I’ve realized I probably don’t get enough proteins anymore. Poor and no time to cook real food have made me a temporary vegetarian. I like vegetarian food, but I think I need to focus on the meat now when I have money again. I have 17 000 right now in my account! But as I’ve said, I am a saver from now on.

Spinach/feta pierogi

And just when I was about to start updating the blog yesterday my computer pretty much died. No, it didn’t, but I couldn’t go to any webpages that required a login, like Facebook or my blog or even Google. It said something about an SSL problem. I googled it on my phone and after a while decided it was time to reinstall it. I probably got some virus… That’s what I did this morning inbetween my study sessions. Now it is working perfectly fine again. I tried the option to reinstall the operative system without removing my personal files (which is stupid when I have a virus, I know, but it worked!). It went’ smoothly and I just had to reinstall some programs.

I studied for a few hours, but I only managed to solve two problems. The easy wooden and steel pillar problems are done and I am now getting myself into the concrete ones. I hate concrete… But it started out pretty okay, I understood what I did and just when I reached for a new paper to continue the problem on, I realized all of them were out. It was raining outside but I was in such a good flow, so I took a break, went to Nordstan (where by the way, hundreds and thousands of million people were!! On a Tuesday afternoon?), bought two notebooks, a new deodorant and went home to continue on the problem. That’s everything I did actually when it comes to studying, but I am trying to understand what I am doing, not just copying the answer key, so it’s okay that it takes time. I will do some more tomorrow before work.

I had another pierogi for dinner and then played a few hours of Guild Wars 2 before I noticed the late hour. Time just flies when playing that. What’s so awesome about GW2 is that they are always updating the game. They release new seasons of the game with new storylines and map changing quests. The first season I missed because I was in California. It was a fun one I’ve heard, maybe it is possible to go through it by reading about it or something. I know the biggest thing that happened, and that was that the biggest city on the map got completely wiped out. I was so surprised when I logged in after a year and saw it and had no idea what happened. This time though I am playing through season 2 from the start. Today the second part of it was released and it turns out that another big-ass dragon is awaking! So much fun! I love this game, it’s not just the same thing over and over, but they are always changing it, good job, ArenaNet, you have really succeeded in making a great game!

Host family reunion

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It was more than six months since I last said goodbye to them in San Diego. I knew I was gonna see them again so that goodbye wasn’t too hard, but seeing them again today made me realized I’ve missed them more than I thought. Living so close with people for a year makes you really fond of them. It was a bit bad timing of them coming here on the day I worked 10 hours, but it was okay, I was so glad for the rest of the day because of those 30 minutes on my first break of the day. Everyone was there except my hostdad and they all got huge hugs! We didn’t talk about anything in particular, it was just a happy reunion. I am so glad I have a Swedish hostfamily who goes to Sweden now and then. And I am also glad that I will be moving back to California in two months exactly and will be seeing them a few times.

They had grown but still looked the same. Six months isn’t that much even if it feels like a long time. That’s what happens when you’re busy all the time.

It was still extremely hot and so sticky and sweaty all day. No problem walking home in shorts and a tank top in the middle of the night, it is still 25C outside. Crazy weather! I am jealous of my friends who could hang out by the ocean today. It was a very nice day still and my happiness from seeing my angels again got me through the whole day! I even got through my food coma/sunstroke without any difficulties.

I got my salary specification today and I was very surprised! Almost 24 000 sek before taxes!! That means 16 000 after and that is way more than I expected. I am rich! But I will be smart and save, I know what kind of goals I have in the upcoming year.

I really need to go to bed now, it’s past midnight and I start working at 11am tomorrow.

Broken sunglasses again
My awesome sunglasses broke again. Last time I lost the screw, but this time the screw is still there but the thing holding the screw broke. I didn’t know how to fix it, but there is nothing duct (electrical) tape can’t fix :).

Friday 13th

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* On my first two days at work, more than two weeks, I had a pair of shoes on that I probably shouldn’t have worn. Because now a third of my big toe nail is completely blue/black. It’s gone so bad now that I couldn’t stand it and painted all of the nails dark blue. I guess I will have painted toenails for a while now. Mom says it can take up to a year to get it all away. Crap.

* I’ve learned that if you work at Liseberg you can get free candy, and chocolate in particular. You just give the guest with a star prize a look that says it looks really good or just say it. Most of the time, depending on what type of person it is, that person offers you a piece or two or three. Last week I got some Plopp on Uppswinget and Toblerone on Lisebershjulet. Today at AtmosFear I got another Plopp but without “asking”. I am not complaining.

* Another thing I’ve learned after more than two weeks at Liseberg is that people on the attractions AtmosFear, Höjdskräcken and Spin Rock like to dangle their legs which results in me being kicked when I check their safety belts. It is starting to get a little annoying.

* I now have 7 attractions at Liseberg; Lisebergshjulet, AtmosFear, Höjdskräcken, Kristallsalongen, Spin Rock, Uppswinget and Ponnykarusellen. Technically I am still in training on Ponnykarusellen (which I really don’t understand why because it is just two buttons to press and there are no reocurring errors) and Uppswinget. I was supposed to have the test today at Uppswinget, but I guess I was needed somewhere else.

* Yesterday I got my first paycheck. I was disappointed, 304kr. Apparently Liseberg doesn’t count from the first of the month to the last, but the 25th of the month before to the 25th of the current month. And we get the money on the 15th. This month it totally sucked because I neeed money. I have pretty much nothing. 1500kr until July 15h! It will be a challenge.

* And speaking of money, today I found out that I will get 519kr back from Radiotjänst. I don’t know when though. Today in the court it was decided that computers/tablets/smart phones aren’t recievers for a TV signal which Radiotjänst interpreted that they were a year and a half ago. So they have charged people without a TV but with a computer. That is not fair. I am one of those people. But I am glad I’ve only paid the fee for three months instead of a year. 519kr instead of 2000 something. I paid my last bill for the upcoming three months yesterday and called them today to cancel my TV license agreement because I don’t have a TV, only a computer. And because the bill covered a time that has not yet began they told me I will get those 519kr back. Awesome!!

* Yesterday I played beach volleyball again. Outside, in the extreme wind. I wasn’t too excited because I had just found out that I failed the structural engineering class again. For the third time. And I didn’t wanna spend money on something I wouldn’t enjoy. But it wasn’t as hard as I thought. It worked out and I got some sun for once! I played with Ina, Joanne and Zandra.

* I had lunch with Chad today, we won’t have much time to hang out this week since I get off work at 10 or 11pm every night. I checked my mailbox before going there and had two letters. One was my passport with new visa inside and the other was the results of my PAP smear I did a month ago. I had completely forgotten about it and wasn’t very happy when I read what it had to say. It said I have minor cell changes and there was no sign of cancer at this point. But I was too upset to read that properly. So I’ve spent this whole day being extremely sad and haven’t been able to get the idea of cervical cancer out of my mind. Now, after a lot of reading I’ve figured out that it isn’t as bad as I thought. And I wish those fuckers who wrote that letter could write a letter so everyone understands. I had no idea what cell changes meant more than it can be a prestage to cancer. After reading online I now know that about 5 out of 100 PAP smears give these results and that about 1 out of 4 have to get it treated. And that is done with minor surgery that removes a small piece of the thing that is affected and that is it. The worst that could happen is that the person who gets it removed will give birth too early, but at least that person will get pregnant. I so wish they could have added an extra paper in that letter with that information. It would have saved me a whole day of worrying!!
What it also said was that I need to come back for more and thorough tests in like four months. But my problem is that I won’t be in Sweden then. So I need to call them on Monday and tell them about my situation and ask them what I should do, come in earlier, do all this in the USA or wait a year. If they want me to get it looked at as soon as possible and I have to remove it, it will be tight with time since I am leaving the country in 90 days. The reason they want to wait four months is to wait and see what happens to the cells, if the heal automatically, if they stay the same or get worse.
I am seriously pissed that they made me this upset today!!

* Last thing I want to write about today is that I’ve found a new TV show that I after one episode think seems great; The 100. It’s a futuristic setting where Earth has been completely wiped out after a nuclear attack of some sort. A few people survived up on space stations and now, 97 years after, they are sending down 100 prisoners to make sure the Earth is inhabitable again after all the radiation. I like it so far. I want to watch another episode, but it is getting late and I have a 10 hour day ahead of me.

LisebergshjuletIt was an amazing sunset today. I am in love with beautiful sunsets and today I couldn’t stop watching it while I helped people in and out of the gondolas on Lisebergshjulet. Full moon over Liseberg southIt was also a full moon tonight, and it was a huuge moon! Way prettier in real life.

Stress

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I wish I could fastfoward my life three weeks, maybe four just to be sure all of this is over. I have so much going on and it’s not doing me any good. This stupid test on Monday for one. It’s Friday tomorrow and I just started… It doesn’t feel too bad though when I did half a test today. A lot comes back when I reread the old exams and theory questions. But I am still not expecting a grade.

The thesis is not going so well. Our examinator and supervisor at Chalmers are very negative towards our report and seriously can’t say anything good about it, except that it was a bit better since the first draft. It sucks! I hate this project. We got confirmed that we can have our presentation at Chalmers on June 3rd though at 2pm. That’s something. Now we just have to book a room and talk to Veidekke and ask them if we can give the presentation in the morning the same day.

My visa application is confusing. I have a very nice picture that would look good in my passport but today I got paranoid, what if it isn’t and I go to the embassy with it and get neglected? I took this photo myself, but I seriously don’t want to pay a fortune to go to a photographer. I am concerned about the small shadows in the background and they might go away in photoshop. So will try that and then go to a photo store and ask them if it is an okay photo for a US visa. It hopefully is, I am looking straight forward, I have a neutral and not an exxagerated expression, white background. But slanting shoulders and small shadows in the background. I don’t think the shoulders should be a problem, what if I looked like that? Maybe I have to walk crookedly at the embassy. And then there’s the problem of when I should go to Stockholm. I need to book the appointment very soon in case the spots run out. I want to talk to my brother and see if he works on SJ a day when I am off work. I am not sure he knows in advance when he works. But I will ask him. Otherwise paying a shitload of money on a regular train or taking a car and stay the night with my uncle and cousins. Or convince my dad to come with me again. Unfortunately I can’t get it with a weekend this time since I am working. Complicated! I also have to make 100% sure what I need to bring to the embassy. It can get nasty otherwise…

My new visa picture(?) to the left, and old one to the right (taken by a photographer).
AlexandraBemmVisa 2013
I think this should be okay with a lighter background and no shadows.

My last stress thing is that I start working on Wednesday and I will work every day until our presentation. That will be fun. Long nights or early mornings at Chalmers!

The awesome summer weather is making sitting inside all day miserable. This morning at 7am it was 20C outside, that is ridiculous!! And by the afternoon it was way warmer. I really hope it will be a nice summer.

I have tried to study today, but procrastinating is at its best during exam times. I have calculated an estimated sum of what I will earn this summer and it’s not too bad. The total for three months will be about 60 000 SEK, which is what I earned during the whole 2013. But the taxes are much higher here. But I won’t have any trouble with rent or living expenses at least. Great!

 

I need to go to bed now, read a little fiction, and get up early to continue with this nightmare of studying I am living right now…

Cortége beer tent

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The spring weather just goes on and on. Blue sky and sun all day, but it was windy today, which wasn’t too much of a problem though since I’ve been inside all day…

At 8 this morning I was in school and finished the Excel file for the thesis. We emailed it to Veidekke and is now waiting for their response. Tomorrow we have a meeting with our supervisor at Chalmers about the content in our report. So from now on it is 100% writing.

While I was in the computer room working I got a phone call from Akademisk Omtanke which is a company in Sweden who provide childcare services from part time nannies to homework help. I applied this weekend and got a phone interview today. It was just for five minutes and I think I did okay. It might not be to my advantage that I will be going to California in four months. But I hope I have the right requirements to become a part time nanny for the summer. I miss kids, and especially my sweet hostkids…

I also got an email from mom telling me that one of her friends offered to lend me some money so I can pay rent (both in Sweden and the US), flight tickets, visa and stuff like that. I can’t express my gratitude, it is so extremely kind of him!!

I had lunch outside by the pond outside of the V-department and it wasn’t too cold with a hoodie on. After lunch I had 45minutes of class and almost fell asleep during it so I actually got home after that and skipped the last part where we solve problems on our own. I took a three hour nap and was up and running lagom for a nice night in the beer tent on campus. During the ten days of building Cortége there is a big beer tent right in the middle of campus. They serve grilled food and drinks. I was disappointed the ciders were out after a while and I could only have one. After that I actually had a beer. It was okay in the beginning, but then it was just too much.

I was there with Chad and Koit, ate a baked potato with feta/sun dried tomato sauce and had a great time!

Tomorrow I can have a sleep in until 11am, I really look forward to it!!

Thursday

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I got woken up today at noon because ComHem called me at noon and offered a digital box with all their TV channels for free for three months. I didn’t say no to that. Even if I don’t watch TV, a lot of extra channels could be fun.

After that my day was very lazy again. And I am definitely not complaining, I like it! I watched some episodes of Arrow and booked a full body massage on April 6th. 200kr for one hour is pretty awesome!

Yesterday I got a mail from Försäkringskassan telling me that I will get money to help me pay rent, 600kr/month, that’s not too bad! I will get it at the end of the month and every month until I’m leaving.

Tonight was my second au pair information meeting and I told the future au pairs about my year and it went really well! I was nervous before, but it was no biggie at all when I was done. Two interviews, one guy actually, and I was home by 9pm.

I’ve paied the next three months rent and I’ve finished the interview forms and now I think I will take place in the couch and watch some more Arrows. Tomorrow I have to be home the whole day. My last painting, the one of San Diego skyline, is being delivered between 8am and 5pm… Stupid DHL who can’t give me a more specific time! I hope they get here early so I can go out for a walk in the hopefully beautiful weather.

Project Management Course

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Wow, what an eventful day! I don’t even remember what I did this morning. I guess I started on that library information online course thingy, ate breakfast, talked to friends abroad on FB and showered.

At 1pm I had to be at Lindholmen for something. To be honest I didn’t know what. So I was surprised to learn that I was gonna participate in a Project Management Course. I managed to keep myself awake the whole four hours, but my mind wandered so I had a hard time focusing. But I didn’t expect anything else, I’ve been having a hang-loose-lifestyle for the past 13 months. It’s gonna take some time getting used to this type of life again. Halfway through we had fika and I’ve really missed that. I think it’s time to get to downtown and have a fika pretty soon!

When I was going back home I thought I was gonna go to Försäkrsingskassan and ask about the financial aid I can get for my rent. It’s so complicated online so I wanted to ask someone. And they were very helpful, they gave me a form and told me exactly what numbers to put where. The hard part at home was to estimate how much I will earn this summer. It’s pretty hard when you don’t have a job yet. It felt better anyway when mom told me that I can always change those numbers as soon as I get them if they are wrong. According to the preliminary calculation I did online with those numbers I will get 500kr a month! That would be so awesome!! 1300 would be better, but I’m not complaining, my life is pretty good right now anyway. Like when I woke up this morning I had a notification from my Internet Bank. I got my study financial aid!! And in two weeks I will get it again and I will be rich!!

On my way to that office Cultural Care called me and gave me specific information about what it means to be an ex-au pair at the information meetings for future au pairs. So on Feb 25th I will be attending my first meeting, mostly observing and maybe have one interview of my own. So the deal is that I will hold a presentation about my year like every third meeting (which is held once or twice per month), and afterward, interview the future au pairs. That sounds like so much fun!

Back home I had the rest of the papers I needed for the last scholarship I wanted to apply for. But then we noticed that one paper was missing anyway. So I will be able to send it in on Monday.

 

And the last big thing I did this busy day was to fill in my application to CalPoly. It’s weird that we have to send in another application when Chalmers already accepted us into the exchange program. A lot of unnecessary work. But it was fun. I added the two other people going from Chalmers and I have been talking to one of them the whole night. He apparently had talked to his counselor and had a lot of information about all the documents we need to send In and so on. So he helped me a lot. The part that took the longest time was to find courses so I had 12 credits per quarter. Some of the courses I chose in my application to Chalmers were in wrong quarters so I had to find new ones. And then that guy tells me that we can choose 4 credits per quarter (tree quarters) that has nothing to do with our area of study. So I chose German step 2 and 3 in the second and third quarter and in the first quarter I didn’t take anything special. It is so much fun to choose my own courses. And it was a bit of work choosing the right ones so they fit. But now I have a set of courses that I really will enjoy taking next year! It’s a lot of environmental and infrastructure courses which is relevant to building and civil engineering. I look forward to next year so much!! And I am glad that I’m sharing it with two other students.

I am done with my application now, except that I have to ask to my counselor if those courses are okay, but I’m sure they are.

 

Now it’s super late and I’ve been seeing double since 8pm… Tomorrow I will sleep in and then visit my old work place, the city library! And I should finish that stupid library information search course thingy. And in the evening there is a student meeting at my department at Chalmers and after a big party! I’ve missed Chalmers’ parties so much, I’m really excited. Today I went to the attic and unpacked my overall (and all my books for the course I will redo in March, so many heavy books… anyway, I will start studying before it starts so I will be prepared, I don’t have too much to do nowadays)!

The dentist

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I’ve been waiting for this day since October. I didn’t have my wisdom teeth pulled today, but I will be sent to the odontology specialist within a few weeks. Without any questions about it. I guess they understood how badly I needed this after my mom called in October and asked for this appointment. It is a bit scary though. What if that nerve gets in the way and I will have a lazy jaw for the rest of my life? Is it gonna hurt? Will I look stupid as a chipmunk?

I was inside the rest of the day because of the famous Gothenburg weather. Rain. Not much most of the day, but enough to not want to be outside. I didn’t start with that online course I have to take, but I will do it this weekend. Instead I applied for two scholarships and will apply for a third tomorrow and in the next few months two more will be applyable. I need every penny I can get.

The level of this blog sank a lot since I came back to Sweden, it’s not as interesting anymore because Sweden is simply put a boring country most of the times. But I will start with the preparations for my next big adventure pretty soon. It will be so much fun going back to Cali to study :).