Beautiful English

Don't you just love it when a translation from one language to another is done word by word without any understanding of the new language?

I wonder how you are supposed to bring the elevator with you to the fireplace. I mean... sure this winter has been colder than usual...but how do you move it? The elevator...? Cause surely they have had problems with it since they tell people not to...? Perhaps they have superhero-guests at this hotel in Bergen.

Finding a job

It has been almost a year since I finished my Master degree. In fact, I believe that March 1st will be my 1 year anniversary. Or, at least it will at that date be one year since I handed in my thesis. The exam came a little later. Either way its odd how quickly time goes by.

When I finished, I decided to give myself some time off before I started prowling the job market. Mostly because I had, at the time, been swimming against the current for a full year, before I was able to get the proper equipment for my laboratory work, and thus finish my degree.

So I took the time off. I relaxed in the sun, I exercised, I wrote. And I loved every second. I loved every second of 3 months, before I started checking out the available jobs out there… Taking those 3 months off was probably a strike of genius, cause the minute I started actively looking for a job, I realized how few available jobs there were out there. And at this point in time people were starting to ask me; what do you do now? Do you have a job? Where do you work? Have you found a job yet?

In the beginning, saying “No” to these questions is not a problem. People don’t expect you to find a job right away, but once you are pushing the 6 months-mark (which in reality for me was a 3-month mark due to my time off) people are starting to get impatient. And worst of all, they are starting to give you that “Oh, I’m sorry”-look that people tend to give the unemployed.

Now, I was far from unemployed. I had my job at the supermarket where I’ve been working the past 9 years, and I was working as a laboratory assistant at the university. But a supermarket job is, in the eyes of “master degree”-educated individuals, not a proper job. Nor is a project-based laboratory assistant position. (Some people can never be satisfied, and to tell you the truth, I predict few jobs are as hard as that of a supermarket employee).

But the constant questions were starting to get uncomfortable. I was essentially having 3 jobs; supermarket, laboratory assistant and writing. I was writing my story which I am still working on, and writing takes time, effort and creativity. But I couldn’t tell people this, mostly because writing will not be a job unless you make money off of it (which you won’t unless you sell it to a publisher). But none of these three jobs were providing my wallet with a comfortable stack of currency. Hence the sad eyes on everyone.

Perhaps people were asking me out of care. Out of concern for me as a person. I know some were asking out of desperation, simply because they too find themselves in the same situation as me. But they seem to forget that nothing comes easily. Very few people on the planet find a job before they have finished their education. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but microbiologists are not part of that lucky group. In fact, in Norway the average newly educated person is unemployed up to a year before finding their first job.

And now it has been a year. And I have found a job.

I have found a great job that I am really excited about, and I know that my writing, my patience, my loyalty to the supermarket I’ve been working at for so long, all have been contributing factors to the job I have now been offered. People seem to forget that seemingly unimportant events and details can lead to something important in life. They seem to forget that there is more to a person than the job they hold. Isn’t it a fact that the first thing we ask a new person we meet is: “What do you do?” as in “what do you do for a living?” I used to say “I work in a supermarket” and people would look sadly at me and say “oh”. Now I give them the name of my new employer and they say “how?”

How? Patience.

So the moral, if there is one, is: Stop harassing people with questions about their work. Jobs will come to those who are patient, hardworking and who take initiative. Lets hope the financial crisis ends soon too, so that it gets a little easier and requires a little less patience.

Oh, and any job no matter how low in status, is better than sitting on your ass doing nothing. Supermarket employees should be saluted on a daily basis… that job is tough.

The two of us...

...On a lunch date

Mayday...

I think my blog needs resuscitation.

I had plans of reviving it a while back, and I sort of did, although only halfhearted. It is not because I have anything against it. In fact I think very dearly of this blog, but I have not had much to report.

I do write a lot. I pretty much write every day. I have now written 200 pages of a story I am working on. A story I started working on mostly for fun, and to complete a goal I set for myself when I was roughly 12 years old. The story is not finished... and as long as I am working on it, it is difficult to find additional creativity for this blog. I have had to choose between the blog or the story, and as the blog will continue to be here even if I leave it be for a while, I chose the story. Mainly due to the fact that the story will vanish if I dont get it down on paper.

So thats what Im working on... getting it down on paper. Whether or not it is something worth sharing some day, only time will tell... But for now I am enjoying the new form of creativity which comes with playing with words... with imagination... Creating characters and situations for them to overcome.

So untill then, I am afraid this blog will only be updated once in a while... when I feel a little extra creativity pushing through. Either way, I am having fun.

Weather yakk

I was sitting here in front of the computer, trying to come up with something to write. I tried to open up the 'new post' feature in hopes that the white, empty box was going to inspire me to start writing. 'Cause sometimes, thats what happens...sometimes. Not this time...

So I was staring at this white, empty section of the computer screen, wondering what to fill it with. I checked plinky.com, but they wanted me to write about something that makes me want to be a kid again...which I guess is an ok topic. Ok, but not inspiring. I dont want to write about being a kid again. I am a kid. At heart, and sometimes mind too, it seems.

Then I started writing a few lines about the weather. Simply because people expect you to talk about the weather during awkward silent moments. Not that the moment was awkward...lets face it, Im the only one staring at the white box. But it got me thinking about this whole concept of awkward moments, about silences between two people talking. Why do we always fill them with weather talk? Why the weather? Why not politics, or personal opinions about topics. In stead of saying: "Oh, boy, it sure rains today." Why not go for: "Oh boy, I wish the bus tickets were cheaper."... Personally I would have skipped the "Oh, boy", though...

Perhaps people talk about the weather because it is safe. There are few people in this world who prefers a cold, rainy day over sunshine (and yes Beat, I know you are the exception), and few who would be offended if you said you hated "that annoying wind". Which means that you can express your opinions about the weather without irritating anyone. This is obviously in contrast to talking politics, where the potential provocation is so much higher. You say Obama sucks and the guy you talk to plants his fist in the middle of your face.

That just doesnt happen with the weather. The weather sucks! And everyone agrees. Personally I understand the safety of it, and the peacekeeping qualities that it holds...But it truly is boring. It truly is coward.

Next time someone brings up the weather during a quiet moment, I will start talking about chopsticks. It makes just as much sense.

Where do flies go when it rains?

Im back in the lab (where Im usually at when I update this blog) and noticed a tiny fly buzzing around the window...desperate to get out. Normally I would let the poor creature out and let it fly, "fly up and away"...back into the freedom of the wilderness. However, it is raining cats and dogs outside today, and I figured it was safer for the bug to stay indoors (Yes, I made that executive decision).

But this tiny winged animal had me wondering...where are all the flies when its raining? Do they gather up in special caves? Do they hide somewhere? First I thought of rocks and places they could crawl under...But everytime its raining, the rocks get flooded...right? So the bugs would drown underneath them. I mean...this is why worms crawl up and out of the soil during rain, cause the tunnels get flooded.

Then I thought about leaves. Perhaps they sit underneath the leaves on the trees...which I guess could be possible. There are still leaves on the trees, although they will probably fall off pretty soon...but what about the wind? Rain usually comes with a great deal of wind (like today)...so...won't the bugs fall off? Or at least get wet? And if their wings get wet, wont they drown?

You may be reading this (if you havent left the page already) and wonder why the heck you should keep reading this...and I wont blame you for leaving...I just seriously want to know the answer. So if you are a zoologist (Im afraid Im only a biologist...ecologist...and microbiologist) or just have a general deep facination for bugs, please give me a shoutout.

Cause the way I see it...Rain may suck balls some times, and we get irritated and annoyed by the need to walk around with an umbrella, or a raincoat...
But for a fly...Rain is Armageddon.