Tag Archives: Ramses

First day at my first job

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Today was the beginning of my new life. I have worked the first day at my first real office job! As of today, I am an assisting project manager at WSP here in Gothenburg and I still find that kind of hard to believe. I have spent the whole day setting up my desk with computer and phone and done e-courses on the company. Today was basically just about getting comfortable in a easy way. We had a department meeting where I got to introduce myself to everyone and everyone was so welcome and warm and friendly! Some people I knew from school, one even was my parents’ old friend whom I hadn’t seen in probably more than 15 years. The world is a small place.

I had a great first day. Many new expressions, everything completely new. And of course, I couldn’t fall asleep yesterday and might have gotten a little bit too little sleep. Now I have a full weekend to absorb all of this, gather more energy and work a full 40-hour week next week.

I can’t express how excited I am about this, this is the dream job. And I got it right after graduation! I couldn’t be more happy. I am actually hoping that this weekend will go fast so I can go back to my desk and doing important stuff. SOO EXCITED!

 

I also have to write quickly about the weather today. When I got out of the office building this afternoon, it was almost summer. It was hot! Then I voted in the Church Election and bought dinner and by the time I came out, the sky was a very very dark grey. The raindrops were so heavy and big that I felt them on my skin, THROUGH MY JACKET! And then of course, to make it even nastier, there was hail mixed in it. And of course some lightning and thunder. Fun times. What’s really sweet though is that a girl on the bus stop offered to share her umbrella with me. So super sweet! It was just for a couple of minutes until the bus arrived, but still, that probably saved me a lot more soaked clothes.

And one last thing. Yesterday, Jesper and I went to the gym. The first time for me since April. Last year! It hurts today and beach volleyball will be painful tomorrow morning. I really look forward to getting some routine to my life again with this 40 hour per week job and no uncomfortable hours. Once again, I can’t express how happy I am about this!

And here comes a picture of Ramses, the ever so photogenic floof!

A mix of pics

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img_20170112_111629  Not too long again the river that runs next to our neighborhoos was very very flooded!img_20170112_111424 img_20170117_083105  One morning on my way to school, this beautiful sunrise took place!img_20170117_083421 img_20170117_222618  It took a while for Ramses to get used to the new drinking fountain, at first he was afraid of it, then he slowly started to get near it, then he drank the spillwater Cleo had played with and now he is drinking from the running water like nothing.snapchat-453455119 We redid our hall, looks much nicer now. And Cleo approves!snapchat-646737467 img_20170119_163036 The same week as the sunrise (it might even have been the day after), we had an incredible sunset.

One day in Denmark

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This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my travels. This full post can be found here.

Today, Jesper and I did the most spontaneous trip abroad ever. We went to Denmark today and we decided it late last night. We have decided to do more stuff together this year and it has started well so far. Yesterday, even though Jesper was hungover like an egg, we went out for dinner last night and then went Pokemon hunting after spending the day on the couch watching Storks and Secret Life of Pets. It was a good day.

Also, New Years Eve was fun. We had some people over for dinner and games. And for the first time since my 24th birthday I actually had a little to drink. And I didn’t feel sick, so three 4% ciders works. Good to know. It got late, but it was a really fun evening.

So, back to today. We took the ferry at 8 am over to Fredrikshamn in northern Denmark. Three hours on a ferry actually made me a bit seasick. It was a relief to get out on the ground where we did a little bit of shopping. They had some fun home decoration shops. We drink a lot of tea, so we bought some tea, and a cute teabag plate. We also got an ice cream scoop, some small glass bottles for sand from future beaches. We then had a fika at a café which was also close to a Pokéstop and from those 40 minutes we learned that Fredrikshamn is full of electric Pokémons, weird I have to say.

We actually only stayed in Denmark for two hours, but now we get to scrape another country on our scratch map. Stena Line is by the way very cheap right now, so we barely paid anything for our tickets. What cost a little bit was the buffet on the ferry back. We had the best seats with an ocean view and it was a nice dinner.

Now we are both very tired, it has been two eventful days in this new year so far.

img_20170102_114909 img_20170102_115351 screenshot_20170102-125053 img_20170102_122331 img_20170102_133222 img_20170102_154041 img_20161230_235433 And here is a picture of my two cats doing this exact thing again. Ramses opens the book shelf, jumps in and Cleo is outside and very jealous.

Spontaneous book purchase

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img_20161208_191832It was not my intention to go to Science Fiction bokhandeln (Sci-fi bookstore), but I tagged a long when my boyfriend wanted to go there. I ended up buying Siri Pettersen’s book Odinsbarn, the first in the trilogy called Ravneringene. It was originally written in Norwegian in 2013 and has a pretty high rating on Goodreads. I have also heard a lot of good words from people and reviews, so I am really excited to read it soon.

 

Other than that, my life is a mess right now. The end of the quarter is coming up and I really feel like I am done with school now. I have been enrolled at Chalmers since 2010. I am ready to move on. It just feels rotten that I don’t enjoy the end of my last two classes ever because both of them are group projects. One is going fine and we are on schedule. The other one though, the really fun one is not going so well. We have to send it in on Wednesday and we are not close to done. I am done with my part, so next step is to put our four different files together and create the space between the houses, and make the presentation for Thursday. We don’t really have time and I feel stressed. The project is to create a neighborhood in Revit, a 3D CAD program. It is really fun and I have learned a lot. But it is sad that my experience in this class falls on other people. It is also sad that I had limited time so I couldn’t do everything the way I wanted. Much of this took so long, and I would have loved to make it better. I might continue to make it better after it is done.

1This is what my part for the project looks like. This is not a rendered picture so the materials aren’t really visible. Maybe I will do one of those tomorrow and post it. The  ground was almost black today for some reason, maybe it was some setting on that specific computer, I don’t know.

I haven’t posted any pictures of my cats lately, so here’s two cute ones!

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And I finish this post with a picture from work last weekend. Liseberg might not be as fun as it was before, but it sure is pretty!

Promotion, surgery, and lots of other things

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I honestly want to write more often, but I have been so busy. My first year as a master student at Chalmers is done, and I think I passed everything. The last two grades haven’t been registered yet, but I have a good feeling about it. The last assignment we did in International Projects was really interesting. We acted as consultants for a company who wanted to build a pharmaceutical plant in Uganda, so we did a full analysis of the process and I would love to do that as a living in the future if I am lucky enough.

And speaking of school, I have decided to stay at home in Sweden this fall. I have done the whole studying abroad thing, and I really feel like being home this fall will be nice and easier. It just feels more right to stay at home.

Another big thing that happened was that I got promoted at work. A few weeks ago I got the surprising news that I will be an operator at Helix, which means that I won’t just check the restraints, I will actually be the one in charge of the whole attraction. Lots of responsibility, but I am so excited! The training for the position will start on Monday and I will be done on Midsummer Eve. This does not only mean that I will get a much higher salary, but I will be stuck on the Mountain and not be in the pool anymore. I won’t be at the Balderado area where I am stuck with two attractions. This whole spring I have been mostly there and have actually gotten pretty badly injured because of the monotone work I did there. My hip and knee is all broken. According to my new schedule I will be in the pool this fall again, but hopefully they will fix it so I am only on the Mountain then too.

The only other Liseberg-related thing I can think about, is that one day last week when I was heading down to lunch, a pigeon flew into my face, that was kind of weird.

And speaking of other jobs, today I got two more! First today I tried to work in an Yves Rocher store downtown. They thought I did a good job and I will start working there as soon as I have time and they need me, yay! Right after that I was at an interview for a company where students act as substitutes in schools on different levels. I got that job directly after the interview was done. That will be so exciting! But since school is done for this academic year, I will start in August with that.

Hmm, anything else? Oh right! I recently did a new PAP-test, which I do every three months since the cell changes won’t go away. And they still haven’t. So now they have decided that it has taken long enough time that it is time to remove it. I got an appointment for surgery next Friday. I am a little nervous, but not too much, I am sure it will be fine. I am glad they are finally going to do something about it and hope it will go away for good.

Everything is also fine with Cleo and Ramses. We made some big changes around here about three weeks ago and Cleo seems to be feeling a lot better now and hasn’t peed in the bed since then. Every morning, Ramses is so cuddly and sleeps by our faces, and some mornings Cleo does it too. He is still scared and doesn’t like to be hold when he doesn’t want to. But I love them both.

Now I should probably go to bed, I have a 10 hour day at Liseberg tomorrow. Here are some random pictures from the last month:

IMG_20160428_223135 Ramses got neutered but couldn’t stop licking himself, so he had this cone on for a few days. It was not super nice waking up early in the morning when he wanted to cuddle and we got that big thing up in our faces, haha.IMG_20160505_172747 I played a tournament in the beginning of May with Miriam, and we actually came in third in the B-finals. Not bad at all 😀IMG_20160603_130029 My oldest cousin graduated high school last week and in two weeks she is moving to USA to be an au pair. She will have an awesome year.IMG_20160606_011832 Snapchat-8112670172041546400 Snapchat-188308449409090793 Västtrafik has out in new signs in the trams to thank everyone from different backgrounds that go together on the public transit, and this sign shows a man holding his phone. I thought it was funny.Snapchat-852208972403862835 Cleo wanted to come with me to school.Snapchat-948429071981086324 Ramses as well.Snapchat-1703309277350215155 Snapchat-4100581541482897188 This is Cleo every time I take a shower. He literally uses his paw to withdraw the curtain to make sure that I am still alive, haha!Snapchat-5124638439512272159 Snapchat-5924934381872954482 Snapchat-7432288314644794058

Northumbria or Chalmers?

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When I applied for this master program late last summer I didn’t expect to get in, the name of the program sounded interesting, it could be a good back-up plan if I didn’t get a job, which I didn’t. So it turned out great. I had no idea what it meant to pursue an MSc degree, and even less what International Project Management meant. It basically means that I prolonged getting a job with two years and being part of a class of around 40 people where a big majority of them are foreigners. It also means that, to get international experience, one semester abroad at another university is an option. That semester is coming up and I have no idea what to do. I know from experience that writing it down can help, and also some help from my few readers perhaps? The university abroad is called Northumbria and is located in Newcastle, England and I would spend 3 months there (mid-September to mid-December).

Here are the pros and cons I can think of at this moment.

NORTHUMBRIA
+ If I go and then do my master thesis on my own I will get 2 MSc degrees.
+ I will get more experience
+ It will hopefully be fun (I have heard that there are lots of drinking going on there and since I don’t drink I am afraid that I will feel left out).
+ It is only 3 months away from home.
+ Jesper and I can scratch more countries on our Scratch Map if he comes and visit me (England is close to Sweden and it is rather cheap to fly there).
– I have signed a contract for Liseberg until mid-October.
– It will be expensive and I would have to take extra student loans.
– I will be away from Jesper for 3 months.
– I will be away from Cleo for 3 months (I am pretty much the only one he really likes).
– I won’t be able to play any beach volleyball (and just as I was getting started with it again…).
– The courses don’t seem too interesting and I can’t change them:
Research skills and methods of inquiry
Project, Programme and Portfolio Management
Risk and Value Management
Project Sustainability

CHALMERS
+ I can transfer the German credits I got at Cal Poly so I can study 50%, work more and make more money.
+ I can choose whatever classes I want to. And I can choose to take either 2 or 4 depending on if I want to transfer the German credits:
Urban Metabolism
Managing Stakeholders for Sustainable Development
Project, Simulation and Modeling in Urban Planning
Quality Management
Environmental Impact Assessment
+ I can start early on my master thesis if I want to.
+ I can save money.
+ I don’t have to quit my job at Liseberg.
+ I don’t have to be away from Jesper nor Cleo.
+ I can play lots of beach volleyball.
– I will only get 1 MSc degree.
– No abroad experience.

I have already figured out where I want to live if I go, so that’s not a stress element. I made a brief budget and with the extra student loan, after both rent back home and in Newcastle, I will have about 6500 SEK per month to spend on food, cell phone and stuff. And that is without the money I will be able to save after working at Liseberg all summer.

It would be so nice to continue my good life here at home and only study 50% this fall and take it a little chill. But at the same time, 2 master degrees and a semester abroad sounds like fun. I don’t know what to do. Last day I have to decide is June 1st, so I have a little more time. But before May 10th, I have to pick classes for Chalmers for the fall and I have to apply for university housing in Newcastle as soon as possible… Decisions.

 

And here are some random pictures:

IMG_4991 Jesper’s new baby sister Joeli. Such a cutie! She didn’t make a sound during the whole time we visited. And Benji, the proud big brother couldn’t let go of Youtube.IMG_20160419_160238 IMG_20160416_164317 Family birthday party, Ramses is of course in the middle of it all.IMG_20160417_003122 Having two cats means always being observed.20160411_140139 Snapchat-6750850421073615381 Snapchat-7488611384848060388 Cleo and Ramses had a party when Jesper accidently spilled food.Snapchat-8163901968016079105 Ramses sleeping in the sink.1460969454128 My new background on my phone.

A quarter century!

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So, 25 years ago I was born. Twenty-five years! It is a big number and definitely a milestone. It’s crazy, but I can’t do anything about it than thank everyone for their happy-birthday-wishes today. I had a wonderful day, it was the most beautiful spring day ever! Not a single cloud anywhere to be seen and it was warm in the sun. Sure, I guess it could have been any other day than a Monday and a school day, but it was still okay. I didn’t do much, went to class, went grocery shopping, cleaned the apartment, played a little on my new Wii U (that Jesper gave me yesterday) and waited for Jesper to come home from work. Soon after that mom came over and we made dinner; tacos. And for dessert; princess cake! Doesn’t matter how old I am, there should always be a princess cake, haha!

It’s been a long time ago since I updated, and not because not many fun things have happened, I just kinda lost my will to write. So here comes a bunch of photos from the last three months instead (sorry, but many of them are of the cats).

Snapchat-5707624776733512754 RamsesSnapchat-5810324255267391196 There was a period when the cats pooped shapes, here was a cat!Snapchat-5971708935792197947 Snapchat-6281412214506013341 Snapchat-6625471852755381294 Cleo is sit-sleeping. Snapchat-8367736236117518819 You can’t go to the bathroom alone.Snapchat-311050361588944317 They removed the soles from my shoes not once, but twice!! Snapchat-778843254324361477 They got a new active toy which they love, blinking balls on a rollercoaster.Snapchat-1863879408636719822 This is the cutest picture ever. I did not put them like this,they fell asleep like it!Snapchat-2467392393892331450 They always sleep along my legs or on them when I am sitting on the couch!Snapchat-2755412171376574423 Never alone.Snapchat-3008962028462712662 Even if they fight a lot, they still seem to like each other.Snapchat-4619855813923631677 Ramses is very chill!Screenshot_2016-02-27-12-34-03 20160229_174001 We had some very pretty sunset the past months.IMG_20160203_223705 IMG_20160209_195354 Semla mudpieIMG_20160217_143337 IMG_20160320_183418 20160303_213048 Ramses the chill.IMG_20160317_144645 IMG_20160317_205648 St. Patricks Day.Screenshot_2016-03-17-13-36-33 IMG_20160325_132959 PANO_20160329_160817 IMG_20160401_192251Jesper and I went up to my cousins in Nynäshamn a week ago. We had a great time up there, played a lot of cards, walked around in the harbor, enjoyed their new hot tub with an ocean view and just hung out.IMG_20160402_122203 IMG_20160403_11243520160409_203531 I got new toys for the cats, and it did not take long before one of them was in its natural habitat. Now it is completely gone!20160411_140139 Cleo is such a beautiful cat! IMG_20160409_134334 Rachel (for those who don’t know, to the right, and my former roommate in California) came here with her friend Elyse to visit for a few days.  We went out to the archipelago and enjoyed the amazing Swedish spring on the west coast.IMG_20160409_142730 IMG_20160409_155340 IMG_20160409_161016 IMG_20160409_142128

Here is a link to google maps where I uploaded a sphere picture taken at Öckerö after my 17-year old cousin told me about it, haha! (I am getting old):

 

Other than what I have taken pictures of, I am doing well in school. I am almost done with my first year in grad school, one more to go. Last quarter I took a class called Leadership & Communication and the home exam I wrote with another girl was super interesting: Why do people follow destructive leaders? We brought up Hitler and Trump as examples and it was the easiest finals week ever. I haven’t gotten the grade for it yet, but it should arrive very soon.Then we had three days in school and then two weeks off. I needed it, just relax for a bit. Today was the first day back after the break and on Wednesday we have a presentation. A few more weeks and then the summer is here and lots of work at Liseberg (where I actually start in two weeks already, but not full time until the last week of May).

I have also been reading, but haven’t finished anything new in a while since I am reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and it is long. The new ereader (Kobo GLO) is working perfectly!

I have also played a lot of beach volleyball and have already have many ups and downs. I hope I will have time to play this summer as well, even with lots of work at Liseberg (or maybe SKANSKA if they will contact me about my application I sent in a month ago).

I should probably go to bed now, I am not as young as I was yesterday and I have a lecture tomorrow at 9am. I can’t make any promises about more frequent posts, but I can almost say that the next one won’t take three months.