life

Day-to-day events and activities.

Lazy bones

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In more ways than one. Nearly 2 weeks since I went running and I haven’t done much other exercise. I can feel the flab and shame creeping up on me.

My excuse is that I’ve been entertaining guests and Marika. What a good person I am. It’s also still too windy for a little boy like me to be charging around and letting my hair get all frizzled.

We’ve been having nice folks staying with us lately and shitloads are from Australia, of course. It’s a much nicer environment in the hostel without all these big fucking groups that stick to themselves.

Drunk staff members help with the fun, too.

I’ve been thinking for quite some time about writing a book about my time in the hostel, the people I’ve met and the funny stories that come along with it. Just for fun. Unfortunately I don’t really (or at least haven’t yet) take any notes, so if I do ever end up putting something out there it could very likely be considered semi-fictional. That’s alright though, since it feels like my life here is anyway.

palmy wants me to make a blog on his site for his girlfriend. I’m doing it because I like configuring things from scratch. I could be doing something else, like kicking the arse of 5 countries at the same time in Medieval 2: Total War but this will do for now.  She even wants the same theme I use! Jesus.

They’re coming over to visit in July, apparently. Hmm.

I saw Indiana Jones 4 the other day. It was alright. Not brilliant, but fun enough. I won’t go into any kind of review because there’s already shitloads out there. Ford looks in pretty good shape for his age, I have to admit.

So, time for coffee with Pilly.

I want to ride a bicycle

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I’m writing this whilst lying down on a couch near a few windows where I slept in until midday. It’s a beautiful warm day (the first we’ve had in a while), I’m feeling very relaxed, almost everything is done, I should have a lot of free time today to do whatever I want. I can hear Freddy Mercury playing on the stereo and he’s asking “who wants to live forever?”

It would be quite ironic if it wasn’t for the fact that all I want to do is go back to sleep.

That’s irony, right?

Is it ironic to talk about irony without knowing what the definition of irony is? Yes, I know, Alanis Morrisette is always used as an example.

Whatever. I’m rambling. I drank a lot of wine last night and now I’m dazed. Maybe that’s why I find the weather so good.

It’s not like I haven’t seen nice weather before. I’ve probably seen too much, probably, if you think of all the years I’ve spent in Australia. Nowadays if I want to feel warm and enjoy the sunshine I just sit in the shade with my laptop heating my legs. It’s a much more comfortable experience.

Itchy noggin'

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I need to wash my hair again, methinks.

I’ve spent a few hours the last few days plodding through my old LiveJournal posts that I imported to this blog. Basically I’ve decided to categorise all of them. I don’t know why. I just feel like I should. It’s nice taking a trip down memory lane. There’s only 120 entries left to do. No problem.

For some reason I’ve been feeling really, really tired this last week. Maybe it’s because I’m eating shitty food. I’m not sure. Maybe a little bit of me has died inside since my beloved tofu left Estonia. Maybe it’s because we have a big group of students staying in the hostel for 2 weeks. I really don’t know. It’s nice to curl up and nap, though.

Marika has exams. Lots of exams. I hope she passes them all. I’m sure she does, too. Maybe I’ll get a chance to go down to Tartu with Tim in the next week or two. That would be nice. He’s drinking like a maniac lately. I can’t keep up. It hurts.

So, instead, I think I’ll go running tomorrow and yes, wash my hair. I like the route I take. I run around the outside of Old Town, through the park and up the hill to Toompea then back down and through the Old Town itself. It’s fun jogging over cobblestones. It’s not fun jogging up the bloody hill.

I forgot to mention I won a foosball tournament that the kids organised here. I was in a team with Thomas. He was mainly inspired to play because apparently there was 500 EEK in prize money. In the end we weren’t awarded that, but I was happy anyway. It wasn’t really a fair competition, we were all over them. I’d have felt embarrassed if ended up taking money from them. I don’t think Tom was too impressed, however.

They did, however, give us funny little gold medals. A nice souvenir.

I got drunk last night and fell down some stairs after Bella (new girl volunteering at Monk’s Bunk) asked me if I had a bed while I was walking around in the dark. It sounded like a proposition but it was only intended innocently. I realised this at the time but it didn’t stop me giggling at the situation. Falling on my arse down three stairs only made it worse.

We were drinking what I call White Estonians. It’s like a White Russian, but with Vana Tallinn instead of Kahlua. Potent stuff. Quite tasty when done right. Nearly lethal, too.

The other day I read through The Watchmen. It was cool. I should read it a second time but I’m probably too lazy to get around to it. I also have a shitload of e-books to read that I haven’t even started yet. Not to mention I got all three series of Arrested Development again so I can show people how good it is. Now that I just googled for that link, I see I could have just watched streaming versions. Fuck. Oh well.

Frosties are a fucking awesome breakfast cereal.

They're grrrrrrrreat!

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I just had a bowl of Frosties. With milk. Fuck yeah!

Tim introduced me to the brilliant concept of Vana Tallinn cream with tea. Very nice. I named it “Tallinn tea”, in a weak attempt to link towards something like Irish coffee.

Tomorrow I’m getting interviewed by some students about how I, as a manager, deal with international customers. It’s scheduled at 9:30 AM. I don’t know whether to wake up drunk for it or not, as although I’d be more interesting I’d also say a lot of bullshit or something inflammatory. Both, probably.

The only requirement was that I have underwear and a tie, I think it was. I’m not sure I can produce either. The good news is that they want to conduct it in the hostel, so I can literally do it from my bed on the couch.

Summer’s starting to look interesting: we have lots of slaves/workers coming to help. There’s nothing better than having a shitload of people to boss around in summer while they’re all drunk and looking for a place to sleep… and that’s just the staff. Still, my policy is the more the merrier and it also means there’s more time for everyone to go out and enjoy the summer season and its festivities.

It’s nice to feel the buzz that kicks in during the sunnier, warmer months. Especially after putting up with the shit that is winter (although it is beautiful when everything is covered in snow). I don’t think I really noticed the difference so much back home, as it was typically warm and sunny 47 weeks of the year. Now that I see the contrast (vividly), it’s much more exciting.

I’m looking forward to going to Viljandi again this year. I’m just worried I won’t be able to find a tent. Showers are already a write-off, as is any concept of sensible behaviour, diet and hygiene.

Speaking of hippies, Bob Dylan’s playing here next month. I already have tickets to go with Marika and Egle. Lou Reed is coming soon, too. Perhaps I’ll go see him before he dies as well. I’ve already seen Iggy Pop, so I just need to catch up with David Bowie and that’ll round out the threesome (right?).

In the swing

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I’ve been jogging. Well, three times. Only once a week so far (but I didn’t go last week, tofu distracted me). Tomorrow I think I shall. Indeed.

Yes, tofu came to visit! That was nice. I seem to have a lot of friends that want to come over here and see me. Not bad for a guy that doesn’t really use MSN or Facebook or email people. I guess my personality is just too attractive.

The only negative side of his stay was the fact that I ended up eating pizza with him nearly every day, because he wouldn’t eat anything else. Picky bastard. Well, he did have two pancakes. Still. That, combined with no real exercise didn’t really help my fitness routine. Never mind, there’s still time to look great for summer and not go to the beach anyway.

My cooking hasn’t really progressed at all. I have expanded my repertoire though by attempting to perfect a “big breakfast”. It’s pretty good, actually. Definitely big enough. Definitely unhealthy enough. I suppose that isn’t really doing much for my attempted health kick, either.

Marika’s not going to be in town for a while due to exams. That sucks because now no one will make coffee for me all the time. I guess you can’t win them all.

We opened a new hostel called The Monk’s Bunk at the end of April. Tim’s been running it. So far it’s doing quite well. It’s a funny little place and in my opinion rather quirky, but certainly not without its charms. I’ve got a feeling it’ll be quite popular over summer.

I think I’ll try to start posting more, about random shit, like dumb ideas I’m having. These update posts are getting a bit boring, even for me.

A little bit "meh"

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I feel kind of underwhelmed, or something, at the moment. There’s a real Sunday night vibe here tonight (although it’s Monday), which I’ve always hated.

I don’t know why, really. I should be quite happy as I’ve had a rather fun week. I think I’m just tired. Lack of sleep is catching up to me, but at least it means summer must be coming soon.

First things first: my iPod was finally replaced. Now I’ve replaced most of the music on it, too. Unfortunately, I did lose my TISM albums, but they’re coming back to me at a trickling pace.

I went to Tartu with Steve on Wednesday. We stayed at Marika’s apartment. It was nice to get out of Tallinn again for a few days. I actually went out to a few different bars for once and believe it or not, I was fairly impressed.

I came back on Saturday night, via the scenic route. I can now tick off Vändra and Rapla from my tourist book. I didn’t stay long in either place, but so what, right?

Our new building, the Monk’s Bunk (that’s what we named it) is underway. Tim’s going to be taking care of it. Today I was very useless at building beds (as usual), so I bought everyone lunch instead. The place should be fun when it’s ready. I’ll doubtlessly be setting up all the computers in there soon enough, so that should make up for my lack of laboring skills. It’d better.

Tomorrow we’re going shopping for it, oh goody! More bed screws and work that I really don’t trust myself with. I wonder what other toys we’ll find. I can’t wait to visit the electronics shop. Woo. Yes, I’m a sad sack.

I’ve been wearing shirts lately. Special Sundays is the typical occasion. It’s not really that special, I just get bored. I forgot I even had most of the clothes that are packed in my bag. Perhaps I should work through a new rotation. Definitely.

I want ice cream. :(

Fucktronics

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It’s been over 5 weeks and my iPod still hasn’t returned. I called for the third time yesterday and finally found out that Apple’s “repair policy” (the headphone jack is a bit faulty, but otherwise works fine) is to simply replace the entire iPod without transferring the data, as that’s “not under warranty”. Cunts. It’s not so bad, as I like starting fresh, but the main annoyance is that Apple still hasn’t sent the replacement one to the repair service.

To make it more annoying, I spilt beer on my keyboard a few days ago and thought I’d buggered it up completely. If I’d only waited longer before I pulled the machine apart I probably wouldn’t have damaged my E key, which now is a bit sticky and temperamental. Although, it was an informative lesson in laptop deconstruction.

Actually, I would have done the same with my iPod if I’d had a replacement headphone connector. There are videos online showing how to do it in under 5 minutes. :(

Some good news in the world of geek interests: I upgraded to WordPress 2.5. So far, so good. I also tried out the new Firefox 3 Beta 5. It didn’t seem to different to use, from a browsing sense, but I’m sure it’s juicy and fun in many other as-yet-unused-by-me aspects.

We have some new country-girl Estonians volunteering here now, from Raapina. Apparently it’s tiny. Awesome. There’s another young one starting on the weekend, too. It’s nice to get some more locals around.

More hostel news: we’re expanding into Müürivahe street for summer. Looks like Tim is going to be running it. It should be up and running by the end of the month. It’s exciting, but it also means we’re gonna have to build more fucking beds. It also means I’m going to have to set up more fucking PCs and wireless networks, I’m sure.

My cooking isn’t really progressing. I have been experimenting here and there, but not having my own kitchen and only usually having 1 person to cook for is holding me back, I think. The trouble is that I don’t want to cook for a big group, yet. I probably should just bite the bullet.

I did make a funny creamy chicken pasta with garlic sauce. Wasn’t bad. I tried baking bananas filled with chocolate but it didn’t work. I tried twice, anyway.

By the way, I’m trying to take a few weeks off playing foosball. I’ve lost my edge.

That is all.

P.S. Marika.

The white stuff… or goods.

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It’s snowing! After winter! Yay? Yay!

It only took since November, but finally Tallinn is covered in a thick white blanket. I’d take photographs but I’m lazy. Well, I’m not that lazy, I’ve worked some wonders on the hostel recently. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

Cooking has become my passion, unfortunately I’m shit at it. Still, I can’t get enough of it. I always enjoyed watching cooking shows before, now I just lurk on cooking forums and recipe websites and watch any videos I can download to do with cooking. I’ve actually been making too much food for myself and it feels like I’ve put on a little bit of weight.

The desire to lose weight is the reason I decided to start running a few weeks ago. I still haven’t actually done it, but I did decide to. One step at a time. I am a procrastinator, after all.

Looks like the Tartu hostel might be soon underway, as the owners are going to sign the papers next month in order to buy the building. From what I’ve seen it looks pretty cool and pretty well located. Woo.

Maris and Britt left in a rather underwhelming farewell. No tears or anything. Just a goodbye and off they went. Suits me, really. Long goodbyes are never nice. By the way, I’d kill for an ice cream.

I think I’ll enroll in a cooking class, then run to each lesson. Then run home. I hope that’s possible. Then again, I don’t know if Estonian cuisine is something I really want to learn. Hopefully they can just teach me the basics of food preparation and cooking techniques.

Perhaps it’s just time I got a life.

Sleepy but searching

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It’s 4:15 AM and I’ve been looking for new electronic (as always) music for the past four hours. It’s ok, though, because I had a 4 hour nap before I started. I think it was four hours.

Anyway. So far so… potentially good? I’ve only been hearing samples so far, but soon I should have some tracks to check out properly. Jolly good. I needed to add some stuff to my iPod, anyway.

Unfortunately I’m a real anal prick when it comes to organising my iPod. Really, really anal. I can’t help it. I can’t stand seeing lower case names and unformatted ID3 tags. There’s just something criminal about it. I think Media Monkey might make it a bit easier, but I’m yet to try it properly. I do like it, however, as a general media player. It’s like a more power-user-friendly version of iTunes (not that I like iTunes that much, it’s just convenient).

The last couple of weeks have been pretty standard. I made it back down to Tartu for the first time in months, then got rather sick for the whole time I was there. Jolly good. It wasn’t until I had to leave that I started feeling better. Perhaps it’s an omen. I hope not.

Lots of old time slaves and staff are leaving the hostel, or have already left. Fortunately we have two more who’ve just signed aboard recently. Tim the Englishman and Thomas the Belgian. Maris and Britt are leaving at the end of next month, so we’ll need some lovely, talented cleaners to replace them or all hell could break loose. Fingers crossed.

I still want to increase the Internet speed here. There’s quite a few laptops floating around and they all suck up the bandwidth rather effectively. Besides, it’s nice to have fast speeds, ain’t it?

My credit card expires next month. I have to get it replaced ASAP. Ahhhhhhh.

Oh yeah, I didn’t read anything about the Oscars. Maybe I should now. When is the Olympics, by the way?

Olevimägi is our new home

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Yes, here we are at our new hostel building.

It really is very nice. Too bad there’s no Internet yet. Never mind. There are ways.

Almost everything has been moved here, except the foosball table and some speakers. They will come. Unfortunately the foosball table won’t come until I can find an allen key big enough to take the legs off the bastard. It’s so big we can’t get it out the door.

Anyway, most of the settling in and unpacking is done. Most of it. The place is already feeling very homely and cozy. Good stuff.