Lorindól

Yes! I bought mine in 2004, it was the only proper steel string guitar that I could afford at the time. And it is a really good guitar. There has been zero need for any adjustments, the only replaced part (excluding strings, of course) is a single tuning peg. I was drunk and slipped while I was playing, the guitar hit the floor first but miraculously there was no other damage.

A friend of mine was a guitar tech/roadie for Dio and Metallica in his youth and when he tried the F310 his opinion was that “This isn’t a bad guitar at all, actually it sounds a lot like my own Martin back home. You really might want to hold on to this one.”

Living in the same latitudes I could only take it as a compliment.

“You fucking Alaskan!”

I laughed uncontrollably for several minutes after receiving this compliment. Wrong continent, buddy.

Parkside’s value-for-money quality has been astonishing these past few years. I took the risk with them maybe 4-5 years ago and not one power tool from their lineup has had any problems yet. Today I just set up their quiet compressor at my garage, and the damn thing really is so silent that you can even have a discussion using your normal voice when it’s running.

I remain baffled by this. But since I can barely differentiate red and green in optimal lighting conditions, it does not come as a surprise.

We X’s were born into the analog world and grew up as the digital age started to emerge. We have the luxury of knowing both.

Finnish legislation strictly forbids storing nukes inside our borders, even transporting them via our territory is a no-no. But laws can be changed.

Putin’s whining about nuking Finland is ridiculous. Most of the time the prevailing winds here blow to the general eastern direction, detonating a nuke or few above our capital would nicely contaminate both St.Petersburg and the Finnish Gulf right in front of it. And using tactical/strategic nukes against our defences would happen near the Karelian border, which would irradiate Putin’s and his cronies precious dachas located in the stolen Karelia.

So they most likely won’t be doing that. But on the other hand Russia has clearly demonstrated that their actions are not based on rational thinking, so it remains to be seen.

My older daughter looked exactly the like her mother at the same age when she was 3-6 years old. When I compare their childhood photos it would be hard to tell which is which, if not for the hideous fashion of the 80’s being a a clear tell for mother.

After the age of 7 my daughter quickly grew into her own look, but when she makes certain faces the resemblance is still striking.

This is the true question. Also, do we still love lamp?

1kg per month sounds about right for what I drink at home.

But if I add the 2-4 daily large cups at work and a few “social visit cups” per month, I’d say that my personal total comes closer to 2kg/month.

Sweden and Finland will be among the last in Europe to decriminalize/legalize.

“Drugs are bad because drugs are bad” is too deeply ingrained into the older population. It will take years to change this attitude, even if the results of legalization in other countries will be positive.

“It just would not work here” is the eternal argument. And the only one.

No magic tricks or diet fads.

Eat less, move more.

Eat more vegetables and salad, cut down bread and meat.

Stop drinking sodas and juices with extra sugar in them and learn to quench your thirst with water.

Limit eating candy or cookies to one day per a week, if you can’t let them go entirely.

This. Learn basic economics at a young age and compound interest shall serve you well.

I live in the Nordics and my house is prrimarily heated by a geothermal heat pump. The temperature here has been between -20C and -30C for the last week, the pump can easily keep the room temperatures at +19C until the outside temperatures drop under -25C, after that the electric resistor kicks in to provide assistance.

The secondary heat source is the giant baking oven, which i heat every other day if gets this cold. The fully heated oven alone raises the room temperatures by 5-6C, which helps a lot to take the load of the heating pump and keeps the electric bill smaller.

I have been planning to install air/air-water heat pumps to both floors, they would be a good backup during these cold spells and would also provide cooling during the summer. And if I install a smart control system, I can have the air units do extra heating/cooling automatically when the electricity is cheap.

I just haven’t had the time to do the research where it would be best to install them and the prices rose steeply after Russia attacked Ukraine. So I’ll wait for a while before I’ll get those.

It’s getting harder every year.

I remember well the constant fear of nuclear war in the 1980’s.

I remember the wonder we felt when the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet Union collapsed. A hope of a tomorrow free of fear.

I remember the dreadful recession of the early 1990’s and the steep economical rise that followed it.

I remember the amazing advancements in technology and the standard of living in the late 1990’s. And at the same time, it felt like the world was coming to it’s senses.

I was 21 in the year 2000. The world was full of promise, technological advancements were just pouring in, old mortal enemies were finding common ground and it seemed that we were slowly heading towards a Star Trek - like post scarcity utopia.

This age of hope eneded by the finance crisis of 2007-2008. Russia tried the waters with the war in Georgia. The general atmosphere of the world turned towards gloom again. And the downward spiral just seems to keeps going and going…

Yet I continue the work I started when I chose teaching as my profession in those golden years of hope. The kids are very different today, any class from 20 years ago would be a piece of cake compared with the problems they have now. But if a change for the better is to come, it will come from the kids. My generation is hopelessly lost in consumer greed and watching mindless “reality” shows that they somehow feel more important than real life.

I alone cannot be the change we need, but I CAN educate a few hundred kids and with good luck, maybe a dozen or few of them will have a some effect for a better future.

I have a a working box camera from 1930’s. Or it would work, if I could still find film for it at a semi-decent price.

My Sansui 1000X - receiver amp is in daily use and was made in 1971, it’s in near mint condition in every way. I did a complete internal cleanup and replaced a few electrolytic capasitors just to be sure to avoid any problems in the future. I believe the unit may well outlive me. I love the silverface-teak cabinet aesthetics. It’s paired with a Lenco - L75 turntable from the early 70’s and AR-7x speakers from the same decade, together they sound pretty much perfect to my ears.

And I also have my great-aunt’s windable table clock. It’s ~100-120 years old, but still works if only I remembered to wind it every other day.

Yes, cruiseboats in the Finland-Sweden route might be considered. But it’s still far from Vegas.

Few days ago I was talking with my wife about groceries, reminded her about buying more cat food. My daughter was sitting next to me, playing some game on her Android phone. Then she chirped “I got a cat food ad! I’ve never gotten a cat food ad before, ever! It’s like the phone heard what you just said, dad!”

Yep. VPN and Adguard are now installed to every single mobile device in my household.

Physical. I read a lot and a real book won’t run out of battery.

I strongly dislike reading from a tablet but I’ve been meaning to buy a Kindle for some time. Unfortunately they are still ridiculously high priced in my country, so I haven’t bit the bullet yet.

This is the way.