What a day..! What a friggin awesome day! But let me explain why am I writing this while writhing in excruciating agony.
I came to work late, as I didn't have a car, and didn't feel like using public transportation. So I called up my dad, who then, eventually, picked me up. After arriving at work, I decided to deal with a little problem I've been bothered by for a few days already. Thing is, I've grown a weird, presumably pus filled, sack over my partially emerged bottom left wisdom tooth. It hurt. A lot. But I thought it'd go away by itself. And it did sorta dwindle in size during the following few days. But... I did develop a weird pain in my neck, right under the tooth. So, spurned on by my girlfriend, and my parents once they heard about it, I called my dentist, whom I have not seen for about 3 years.
She didn't really have time for me, and told me that the earliest appointment is in a month's time. Then she seemed to remember something, and asked me what the symptoms were. I told her. Then, the weirdest (and scary) thing happened: she practically yelled at me to come over at once, and that she'd move one of todays clients to make space for me, at 17:00. I then asked her what was wrong. She made my day by telling me that I might have already developed septicaemia, or blood poisoning, and would have to show up for antibiotics treatment, and, possibly, oral surgery.
So yeah, I show up there at five, and then, after a quick examination, get a bundle of antibiotic prescriptions, and then a transfer to the nearby Töölö hospital, for wisdom tooth removal. I was getting a little worried... When at hospital, I sat and waited for my x-rays and blood samples to be taken. For about an hour. Reading battered TIME magazines. Then got my x-rays taken by an exciting, if a little unnerving, whirly machine. That probably fried whatever's left of my brain, or gave a kick-start to a lovely tumor. Then another hour, and my blood samples were taken. From the vein. Brr. I hate that. Almost fainted, as always... After all the stuff was done, I was told to go and have something to eat, as the processing would take about 2 hours. Yawn. So I went to Chicos and had what was probably my last proper meal for a few days... It wasn't very good.
The execution started proper when I came back. Oh yeah. I was ushered into a glorified dentist's cabinet, the only difference between it and an ordinary dentist's cabinet being an abundance of some aggressively surgical equipment. My doctors, or a nurse and a surgeon, I think, turned out to be cheerful middle aged women. I love them. How can you not love somebody who giggles and says "whoops!" when she is cutting away at a tumor in your chest, under local anesthetic, and then suddenly takes a nasty swipe at non-anesthetized flesh. Yes, that actually happened to me once, during my second surgery on my chest tumors. I passed out, after a primeval scream, in case you're wondering. But I, once again, digress. Once I nervously sat down into the armchair, they didn't loose much time. I had six shots of anesthetic, all in wonderfully painful locations, such as under the tongue, into the cheek, and, my favorite, into the cartilaginous bits at the top of your mouth! Oh yeah. Thankfully, my mouth started going numb soon after.
And now to the fun bits... The surgeon started by prying my bottom left wisdom tooth up with some sort of a mutated screwdriver... And she was at it, grunting, for at least five minutes, resting her middle-aged bosom on my forehead. She then took a breather, and went back to work. Only this time she was using scary industrial-sized pliers. After a few tugs with those babies, heavy bosom slapping me on the forehead, something said CRACK! I yelped, and she staggered away, triumphantly clutching at a bit of my tooth. I groaned. I knew that meant that they'll have to fish around for the remaining bits, and that could take hours. It would also leave a painful crater the size of the one in Barringer, Arizona. And I was quite right, as it turned out. Plus, I had three roots per wisdom tooth, instead of the common two. Lucky me. The next few hours were spent happily drilling, picking, cutting and pulling away, with the nurse sucking up blood by the bucketful. I even managed to get used to it, making encouraging little noises whenever she fished out another bit. Then, finally, it was over. She was scraping away at something, when she chuckled merrily and said "Oh dear, that's your jawbone I've been scraping! Those marks on it appear to have come from drilling!". I was somewhat alarmed by that statement, and let her know that by an indignant moan. She assured me that I had nothing to be worried about.
luckily, my upper tooth was easier. It just said CRUNCH after a few minutes of tugging, and that was that. They put four stitches on the gaping holes left in my jaws, and stuffed my mouth full of cotton wool. I then asked them for my wisdom tooth, to be kept as a souvenir. It still had bone tissue (is that even normal?) and pieces of my gums on it... I staggered out, my next stop being the pharmacy, where I picked up a cart load of prescription medicine, antibiotics and some crappy (Burana 600 and Panacod) painkillers. I am now waiting for the time I can finally have a drink of water. Still an hour to go...
That concludes my wonderful journey into the zany world of oral surgery. I guess I should give you some links now, to take away the mental images... What better than boobies? Here, take a peek at some Hegre galleries... And then a rather large collection of erotic wallpapers. Oh, you could also play a silly nurse-spanking game. That's it. I shall now stay awake all night and play BF Vietnam. Or something. Can't sleep anyway, too much pain.
The Holy Inquisition will see you now!
One of the buggers. Yummy, huh?
22.05.2005
I finally took Blowfish for a proper sail! It was quite a treat, after a week of working a bit harder than I am normally accustomed to. I must say, though, that the trip was not without its snags, quite literally.
We assembled at the docks, me, Bonus and Z, around 13:30. By 14:00 we were ready to cast off. The cast off was once again a total bitch, since my "trusty" 5hp engine has developed a carburetor malfunction and stalls at a drop of a hat. Will have to take it to the repair shop on Monday.So yeah, after about 15 minutes of furious fumbling, which, I must point out, did not anymore induce feelings of animal panic in me, we were off! The weather forecast promised winds of about 6 to 8 m/s (12 to 16 knots, use this handy wind speed converter), just weak enough to still be able to go out with a full main and a working jib. As it turned out, we were perhaps a bit over-rigged on the way out, and a bit under-rigged on the way back.
Our goal was to reach an island called Eestiluoto, about 8 miles offshore. Here's the route we followed. The island houses an old but impressive watch tower from the days of WWII, and a few family holdings. On the way there, once we passed the closest islands that robbed us of wind, we were flying at with a jaunty heel, kicking up spray as we went. She sails well for a pudgy boat her size, Blowfish does. We had no problem clocking 5,5 knots, and sometimes hit 6. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in sight, although, due to it being mid May in Finland, it was rather chilly out at sea, so we wore jackets, sweaters and hats just to keep comfortable.
We reached Eestiluoto with no problems. Eestiluoto being out in the open sea, we could feel the "proper" swell, giving me a bit of a foretaste of how Blowfish will behave when we'll be making the passage to Sweden later this summer. But I digress. Eestiluoto has mooring points, big iron rings bolted to the cliffs, scattered around the island. So we made for one of those, in the north-eastern part of the Island. I dropped the anchor from the stern, but miscalculated the length of the rope on my "Ankarolina", so the anchor rope ran out about 15m before we reached the shore! Fuck! So we slowly motor backwards, beating against the waves with Blowfish's wide arse, and lift the anchor. As we inch a bit forward, I set the anchor again. This time only a couple of meters separate us from the shore... So it's time to motor backwards again! Painful. This time, though, the anchor does not budge. We pull and strain till bonus breaks the skin on his knuckles, I feel like I'm about to faint, and Z's face resembles a red lantern in color. I cannot adequately describe the amount of swearing and adrenalin in the air... We rested for a sec, and then tried again. This time we came close. The chain, since the anchor is attached to the rope by a few meters of chain, is already visible, but... Through the murky green water I can barely see that something long, thick and rusty red in color is suspended from the anchor. Fuck! We've snagged a fucking cable!
But by directing Blowfish to a different bit of shore we managed to secure her to one of the mooring rings, but not without knocking her badly on the rocks first, largely due to my inept and panicked handling of the outboard. The beer was then dragged ashore, and a pow-wow was held. We decided to try to untangle the anchor by motoring in a different direction when we leave, and, if that failed, to unhook the "Ankarolina" rope from the chain and leave the anchor on the bottom of the bay to rust away for all eternity...
Once ashore, we found a thick bundle of cables emerging from the sea and snaking away into the woods... We cast away our gloomy thoughts for a while, though. We went off to explore the island! Having seen the mark of a look-out tower on the charts, we decided to find it. It turned out to be easy, the island being less than a kilometer across. But it did turn out to be one impressive tower! Too bad it was locked with a padlock the size of my head... We then finished our beers and were off, back to the shore and on the boat.
We started motoring off in a direction different from the one we set the anchor from, with Z pulling on the rope. Suddenly, something went TWANG! and the boat shuddered! The anchor, however, did not let go quite yet. We motored on, when suddenly Z started vigorously pulling the rope up, and hey! There was the chain, and a few seconds later, to our loud cheers, the anchor was back in the cockpit! I felt like a weight fell off my shoulders... We then set sail, and coasted our way back to the harbor, the wind behind our backs. An awesome trip, all in all. However, I shall have to inspect the damage to the bows, later, when the water is even remotely diveable...
Anyway, now that the tale is told, let's share the links... First of all, check out what the rest of Europe thinks of the French! Heh. Serves them right, the smug bastards! Then check out this guys awesome card tricks. I wish I had that guy's moves... Oh, and here's a funny piece of "news"! "Baghdad Mosque Closings Spark Weapons Shortage"..! Right. I'll go for a quick spin with Blowfish now.
Anchored at Eestiluoto.
WWII Fortifications.
19.05.2005
Ah, Children of ze night! Vot a mess they make! This particular "chillun", our black cat called Slinky, has made a very stinky mess indeed. This time, the blanket, that has been messed on before, had to go... Capital punishment was not dealt out, since the crime has already been committed, without witnesses, and little kitty brains lack any time-scale comprehension. Oh, and our little chihuahua, Nuni, has finally graduated from her mini concentration camp. I.e. she can now be left alone in the living room, not fenced in, while we are gone. And then, when we come home, Nuni leaks urine all over the place. Because she's so happy to see us, you see.
I have no idea why I started this post with a description of blanket desecration. I have much more serious problems than defecating animals. Like the bloody 1003,00 Eur bill that came from KELA, the social insurance institution, for my student grant money... Or the 12 m/s + (25 knots) of wind that has been blowing for a week now, pretty effectively stopping me from sailing.
But it ain't all depressing stuff like that. Um, let me think... Well, the vet said that Nuni is growing fine, weighed her (1300g) and gave her all the rest of her shots. And I got myself a working printer, finally! And what about that Canon BJC 50 that Dad brought me a month ago? Well, it lacked a parallel cable, as I recall. A special kind of parallel cable that isn't manufactured anymore and that even the official importer of Canon in Finland failed to obtain. So now I just got myself an Epson Stylus C46 for 59,00 Eur. Plus, I finally hooked up my scanner, a Canon CanoScan N 640P. Both are working mighty fine, and are producing wonderful results. Why, just today I forged (photoshopped) some checks for my Dad, using my spanking new scanner, printer and a pirated copy of Photoshop CS! Ah, the joy of modern technology...
That just about sums everything up. Oh, I forgot! We, as in me and girlie, watched "Alexander" (picture of the day is from a poster we have hanging on our wall) some time ago! What an intensely homoerotic experience that was! Must be seen to be believed, truly. At first it makes you squirm, because, unless you secretly watch gay porn (and I know you do), it is a tad uncomfortable to see two grown men holding hands and saying sweet nothings to each other. Then you gradually get used to it. I mean, come on, if I had Hephaestion professing his undying love for me, I just might reconsider my sexual orientation. Anyway, towards the end of the movie I was already secretly (and not that secretly) throwing dirty looks towards my old faithful hag, trying to understand why the hell was I still with her, instead of out there, enjoying the platonic (and perhaps, ahem, not so platonic) aspects of true, manly love. Sigh. But where would I find my Hephaestion? I think they all died out already in Alexander's time...
Right, now, where was I? Anyway, play Castle Attack 2. Great graphics, interesting gameplay (I scored 116562 points, plus 135 Gold, 59 Silver and 34 Bronze coins)... Oh, and this you've gotta see and hear. An Islamic cleric reading a Friday sermon live on Palestinian Authority TV in Palestine. And some people wonder whence the hatred! Brrr. Fucking monsters. Oh, just to change the theme, check out the 50 worst haircuts ever...
I can do that, no problem...
16.05.2005
Well, kittlings. It has been decided, by the Powers That Be, that I am indeed a valuable asset to the Finnish Army, even with my, ahem, multitude of flaws (feet, eyes, psyche...). So, mein lieblings, I shall be depriving you of my delightful company and going north to preform my patriotic duty.
Ack, relax. I'll have to report to the barracks in Vekaranjärvi, 137Km from Helsinki, where the Karelian Brigade's HQ is located, on 9th of January, 2006 only. By 18:00. So yeah... About half a year to go yet. Thank goodness all my summer plans are thus safe. I just hope that my army experience isn't going to be too hard or too boring. Although I received a B-Class serviceman classification, which means that after the initial few months of training I will not have to do overtly strenuous stuff. Like 27km marches with full combat load. So that will probably mean that I'll be an errand boy for the brass if I'm really lucky, some sort of an IT person if less lucky, or just a cleaner/cook/technical maintenance guy if not that lucky. So it shouldn't be that hard. And besides, I can always use the mental instability card to get home if I really feel like it.
But now it looks like I should head off to bed. Have to go to work again tomorrow, as early as possible. Have to make money for the summer, see? And besides, sailing has been, so far, a very expensive hobby. And I broke my glasses... But here, great links await thee! Click on this guy's face. Nicely done. I'd gladly do something similar with my face if I had the knowhow. After that have a relaxing New York City walk. Damn I wanna see the place with my own two eyes after that photo essay... As a bonus, here's a page about derelict, abandoned metro stations under New York. Surreal.
Meh...
15.05.2005
Wow. Look at the time fly. It's already the 15th of May. That makes it, what, 8 days since the last update? Be as it may, it is way too long a time. I think I've had longer blogging breaks in the past though. So far the record is 15 days sans an update, I think.
Why? Ah heck, "why not" seems to be the most appropriate answer. I grew tired of updating, it has happened before. I just suddenly didn't feel like writing anything down, even though plenty of interesting stuff happened that I could have written about.
Lately the writing process became somewhat mechanical and stilted. No longer mine. Just a way to record events, and not so much the intangibles anymore. I found myself slavishly dotting down stuff that was not at all necessary to include, for me. In other words, I found myself writing for other people instead of myself. Writing the blog has suddenly become a chore. So, what's in store for the blog in the future? Not shut down, at least. Not quite yet. Just a return to the roots, so to speak.
So. The recent events... I did manage to take Blowfish out for her maiden sail. On Friday the 13th. In about 10-12 m/s (about 25 knots) of wind. And lived. There's also, obviously, been a lot of general pottering around with the boats in my spare time. We launched Mr.Z's boat yesterday, and sailed it to Katajannokka, badly over-canvased. Exhilarating stuff, that. Tried taking Blowfish out today with Z and his girlfriend, but the 15 m/s (30 knot) wind persuaded us otherwise.
Oh yeah, I've also taken to watching hockey of late. At least when the Russian team plays... I am actually enjoying it, feeling absorbed by the game, and emotional about its outcome. What the hell is going on with me?! Oh, and I have a re-examination of my "army service viability" tomorrow. I think I'll do the whole army thing next winter. What the hell, it's not as if I have anything important to do, plus it's a unique experience. If they'll have me, what with my prescription psych medicine... That I haven't taken for a long while. Heh. Uh...
And then, finally, the links. I offer you a chance to find your inner Pope. His name, specifically. And straight after that, a gallery of all kinds of handcuffs. Then enjoy these marvelous penny structures. What a waste of time, eh? You can waste some more by comparing your height to that of celebrities. I am rather short, at 5'7"... Oh, and this linkdump session was actually a thinly veiled backlog clean-up operation. Ta ta!
Our intrepid defenders.
07.05.2005
Ah Man, what an uncharacteristically busy day this has been. I must have aged a year or two in the process, as well, and I think I've sprouted a few gray hairs, too. You see, watching your boat hanging ten feet off the ground, swaying gently in the breeze, is not a sight for those faint of heart. Especially if your boat is uninsured, like mine...
So yeah, we launched Blowfish, my Helmsman 23, today, as you might have guessed already. I got up a bit after 8am, picked up Mr. Z at 9:30, and was at the boat around 10am. That gave us some time to test the engine and do other necessary preparations. Finally, at 11am, the boatlifter's truck pulled into the driveway. And that's where the fun began in earnest.
They lifted little Blowfish high up onto the truck. That was scary enough. What if a line, or some fitting, snaps? The boat might be only a foot off the ground by then, but it would still sustain some severe structural damage! It does weight a ton and a half, after all. And I'm not even talking about the boat dropping off from the truck, when the truck's at speed or standing still, the damage would be simply catastrophic in that case... These thoughts cheered me up to no end as the boat dangled her way onto the truck. After the she was properly placed and secured, we drove to the marina ahead of the truck. I had no particular desire to drive, or rather crawl, behind the truck, waiting for the boat to topple over any second, and holding my breath every time we went under a bridge.
It took the truck driver about 45min to get there. I already started getting rather worried, my mind painting vivid pictures of complete devastation, and kicking myself for not getting that insurance in time. However, it all turned out just fine. The truck pulled in on the jetty, with the boat intact. There was still a lot to do ahead of us, though. Lowering the boat on the water was a straightforward process, after all the horrors of lifting it on the truck. The fun started when it was time to step the mast... Let us just say that I/we sunk a few things, and had a few "creative differences" when it came to untangling & attaching the rigging. After a lot of swearing and various misunderstandings the mast was finally up and capable of staying that way unsupported. What a piece of work, that... The truck driver was fidgeting nervously all through our bumblings, and was eventually given an royal extra tenner for his trouble.
After all was hooked up and tightened we had to motor the boat to her designated berth. Except for one snag: I still didn't have the key I needed to access the pier. So I hopped into my car and flew off to the nearest locksmith, made two keys to the specifications kindly provided to me on a separate bit of paper by the Helsinki Department of Sports, and was back before the two numbnuts I left behind managed to sink the boat. When I got back I saw that Blowfish was making somewhat unsteady progress towards the pier, with her little ancient outboard stuttering and coughing. That was the de facto maiden voyage of the Blowfish, and I wasn't even on board... Sigh.
When I got on to the pier to show the guys where to moor the boat, I discovered that berth number 87 that was stated on the piece of paper given to me by the city authorities did not, in fact, even exist! The pier ended with berth number 81... I was much disconcerted, oh yes. In the end we just tied her off at the end of the pier, praying that nobody would claim the place we took and cast me adrift before I managed to sort the whole mess out (I did sort it out in the end, since I later, already at home, found the original rent agreement that stated the correct berth number).
That took care of my boat for the day. We still had to wash, wax and paint Mr. Z's H-Boat. That was surprisingly easy, especially after a trip to the local ironmonger, where Mr. Z bought a hard-core Kärcher steam cleaner. He's lucky his gelcoat, dinky as it is, is still on!
Anyway, I think it's time I wrapped this up. I am dead tired, and I should get up at a decent time tomorrow. It's mother's day, and I should visit mine... Ideally I should shower her with gifts and bribes of all kinds, just to thank her for simply standing me all these years, not to mention loving. As it is, though, I will give her some very modest presents. Ah well, still better than nothing.
So hey, tomorrow is another boatsy day. Will refit Mr. Z's outboard, try to fix mine, and generally muck about on the boats. You, however, should try out some new games... Like this "Storm the House" one. Yes, horrible name. It's good though. I lasted 'till day 9, on my first try. That was the only game for today, I'm afraid. But hey, check out the crème de la crème of Orlando prostitutes. Miaow! And hey, how about some Hobbits? You'll find some rather unusual images of the cast of LOTR here... I found it all rather cute! But yawn. Yawn. Have to go.
Oh, the horror!
Blowfish, finally afloat.
05.05.2005
Another somewhat dreary day. Not too dreary, mind you, just dreary enough to be mundane and dreary. A really crappy combination. But what can you do. At least I had a day off. It's Ascension day, a day when Jesus (Man, am I the only one that thinks he's really hot in that pic?) was beamed back up to the mother ship, his mission completed. Apparently a couple of his buddies, Mr. Enoch and Mr. Elijah, were beamed up as well.
Anyway, I didn't relish the day off. I mean, not that I would have liked to wake up at 8 and take the buses to work, but it's not as if I had anything to do at home either. And that's alarming. I always have something to do at home. I read, play my computer games, nap, watch telly, wank, daydream, drink beer... The possibilities are limitless, infinite! But instead I felt restless and agitated. I have lost my peace of mind. Not that I ordinarily have much of it in any case, mind you. And I'm out of my meds, so that might have something to do with it. Might also explain my voracious appetite, come to think of it. Whatever the cause, my peace of mind deserted me today. Didn't feel like doing anything, but did want to do something. One thing that shows the general level of procrastination and indecision is the fact that I've been trying to write this bloody blog entry for an astonishing 5 or 6 hours already.
So hey, I think I'll end this torture now, although I do feel a bit whiny still. I'll go read my new book, "the Third World War", by Gen. Sir John Hackett (and others). Riveting stuff.
As for links... Well. I failed to collect any, but let's see.. Since on this day Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops, here's a gallery of some "Then and now" pictures and photos from Auschwitz. A friend of mine is there right now, taking part in the March of Living.
Huge billboard advertising Star Wars III. So not looking forward to it...
02.05.2005
Oh boy. This is it. I'm officially 25 now. 25, and with a killer of a hangover still hanging over me. Sorry for not updating the blog for a while, didn't really feel like it. And if you don't feel like it, don't do it. That's my motto.
In any case, I still don't quite feel like writing now, so I will try to make it short and more or less to the point. Just sketch it out, sort of, for my own future benefit. As you've probably gathered, I had my 25 birthday on Sunday... It was a sad, sad occasion. Would have been a totally useless day, if it wasn't for the wonderful presents I've received. I got a set of nautical signal flags from a group of friends (thanks guys!), and a new camera, Konica Minolta Dimage Xg! Quite an improvement compared to my old Dimage X21. I think I broke it already, since that little lens cover doesn't go down all that well anymore... One thing I don't like about the new camera is that you can't use it with ordinary batteries. It has this little battery pack that you are supposed to charge in a separate charger. Extremely inconvenient for a man on the go, like me... And where the fuck am I going to plug the charger in on the boat?!
Oh, and talking about the boat... I finally washed, waxed and painted (in the second picture of the day, the waterline only appears to be uneven because the masking tape is still on!). it, with Mr. Z's very generous help. Yay! The thing positively sparkles now. Well, almost. We put in about 6 hours of work, 4 of them just washing it, and I will still have to do at least as much washing and general cleaning up on the water. Interestingly enough, despite it being overcast and cold, I really enjoyed the whole boat maintenance thing. The fact that I now own a yacht is finally beginning to slowly sink in. I think I will launch her this weekend... Oh, and I have thought up of a name, too! This one seems to be a winner. Ready? "Blowfish"! Good, huh? I think it fits better than, for instance, "Luthien" does.
But back to the birthday... I didn't do much. Visited mum in the morning, had girly's mum and sister over at noon, and went to dad's cabin in the evening for a spot of shashlik and some vodka... Both were good. That didn't stop there, as when I came home I went on drinking with my girlfriend and a friend. I got totally shit faced. The neighbors complained, even twice, I think. But they just had to live with it, since it was my birthday, and May Day, after all. The next day, work was obviously out of the question...
So we had ourselves a "movie day". We rented "The Pianist", "White Chicks", and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason", and had a ton of unhealthy food... The movies? Good, all of them, even "White Chicks", in a stupid way. Although please note that I am not comparing "The Pianist" with "White Chicks", lord forbid.
That's it. Will try to be more active with my updates from now on, but am not promising anything! Here, play "Prince of Persia" in flash while "eagerly" waiting for the next update. Done with that? Try "Sniper School". Or check out 100 coolest cars ever... Cheerio then.
Lamb Shashlik!
There she is, the beauty!