Thankful Thursday

 

 

Hydrangea, also known as hortensia, on a stone wall in the cemetery

Yesterday was the first day of the new policy of locked entrance doors 24/7 where I live; and today was my first experience of putting new routines for receiving the home deliveries from my supermarket to the test - the locked entrance making it even more important than before for me to keep track of their ETA (expected time of arrival) and watch out for the actual arrival, as I now also have to go downstairs to open the entrance for them - and just have to hope that they'll still understand that I also need help carrying the bags up to my flat. 

Thankfully, when entering my digital order (on Tuesday), after some "head-scratching" I did finally manage to find a space to enter extra notes concerning deliveries. I had feared there would only be room for an entrance pincode - which would be no help in my case, since my building does not have that system. But they had actually allowed enough space for a somehwat longer message.

So everything went smoothly, after all. I kept checking ETA on my phone, looked out for the van, and was able to go down and open while the guy got the bags out. The guy also turned out to be of the "angelic" kind (writing that with a wink to Sandra). He was nice and polite and had probably read my instructions, as he obviously had no problem understanding that I needed help all the way up to my flat. - Before I opened the entrance I had also pressed the button for the lift, so that was already on the ground floor, and we both smoothly went up with that, and he waited for me to open my own door, and carried the bags into the hall for me. I told him on the way up that the locked entrance is a new routine and he just said something like well, probably safer that way - one never knows these days!

So I guess I can now relax a bit about future deliveries probably continuing to work out, too; and for that I'm thankful, as I really don't know how I'd cope without them! (I've been using this service for over ten years by now, twice a month - and it's literally "a huge weight off my shoulders"...) 

 

Woes and Worries

The past weekend was one of woes and worries. The worries mostly in my own head, but that doesn't really help...

The worries started when I was going out for my Friday afternoon walk. A message from the landlord's office had been put up on the inside of the entrance door, telling us that from 25th June, that door will be locked around the clock (while over the 17 years I've lived here, it's only been locked during the night). The reason: Lately people with no right to be there seems to frequently have been found hanging out inside buildings in the area, causing worries for (some) tenants. 

That was all the info. For my own part, I have not noticed anything of that kind. Actually I've even found my immediate surroundings unusually peaceful lately! So I can only assume that this must have been happening in some buildings; but worrying enough to extend a new locked doors policy to the whole neighbourhood. 

This had my head spinning the whole rest of the weekend, and of course it also totally clashed with the relaxation and "presence" (noticing details in nature etc) that I usually connect with my walks.

As I myself have not noticed any strange strangers sneaking about, my own immediate reaction was/is instead to worry about the consequences of locked doors (with no entrance code system attached). 

The first thing that jumped to mind was my regular food delieveries from the supermarket. So far (over 10 years now) the drivers have been able to just walk right in and deliver to my own door - actually, to inside my hall. Which is what I need, as I can't lift/carry heavy bags myself. 

Now I shall have to be even more alert to watch out for the delivery van arriving outside, and not only open my own door, but hurry downstairs to open the front door for them. And even if that might work, I still worry about perhaps having to explain each time that they still need to help me carry the bags upstairs. Is it possible to include those instructions on my order? And even if it is (I've still not checked) can I trust that they'll read them?? Etc etc. (I think at least some of my fellow bloggers will be able to imagine even more "what ifs" buzzing...)

Over the weekend I took some time to google; and for a while, Google AI gave me hope that it might not be all that complicated after all, because AI claimed that my landlord (a municipal housing company) uses a lock system that allows for some digital solutions - even including food deliveries.

So I calmed down and wrote an email to ask about that. They answered promply on Monday morning (today); but alas not with the answer I wanted. The only way to get in is by key. So from now on (and who knows for how long) I shall indeed have to go down and let delivery guys (or other visitors) in manually. 

Head spinning again - and imagining even worse predicaments than how to cope with  deliveries... (Not having any family in town, and no trusted friend living really close, it's not practical to let any one person keep an extra key.) 

Inventing worst case scenarions not helped by yesterday also receiving news of the death of an old friend of mine, from cancer. I knew she's been ill, and while in the beginning she was bravely sharing about it on FB, it's been a long time now since her last post there - until now, and now it was not heself writing, but her daughter informing friends about her death, and time and place for the funeral. (A long way from here, so I won't be going, just sending a greeting to the family, and a donation to a cancer fund.) 

It's sad enough when friends older than oneself pass away - but even sadder when they're younger; and my friend had only just turned 62. Our friendship goes back to when we were in the same youth gospel choir, up in Karlstad - where I had then recently moved to study, and ended up living for ten years. So when I first got to know Ulla, I was 20, but she still only 12, and one of the very youngest members in that choir. (She was very talented, and ended up a music teacher - whereas I was never really much of a singer. But that choir was of the kind that welcomed everyone.) We remained friends (with many mutual friends) through her teens and beyond. I attended her wedding, and I visited her and her husband when their children were little; and the whole family also visited me in Borås after I moved here (the children still small, and their visit included a rainy visit to our zoo). And the last fifteen years or so we've kept in touch via Facebook, where she posted quite frequently - even through her "cancer journey", for as long as she was able to. But now all I can do is send a last wish out into the Final Beyond: Rest in Peace, my friend...

There was a bit more on my mind when I started writing this post, but it's getting late, so I'll save that for another day (perhaps), and just finish off with a couple of quotes I've kept reminding myself about more or less constantly ever since my own teenage years...

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27)

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

A Brief Glimpse of Normality

I don't think that I've ever before in my life experienced a time when the News actually kept changing almost every hour, like it is doing just now - with the corona virus pandemic and all its widespread consequences in focus.

The Weather of course keeps changing, too - but that we're used to!

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a welcome break in between storms, rain and snow -  a whole day of sunshine and blue sky, a little bit of snow still left on the ground, but streets and walkways mostly bare. So I took advantage of that in the afternoon and went for a longer walk (i.e. not just round the nearest block or two). As I like walking along the river when I can, I decided to actually walk into town, even if I did not intend to go into any shops.

(The big white thing is a sculpture. Made of stone, not ice!)

There were a few people sitting outdoors at the cafés and on  benches etc along the waterside - but I think not as many as on a "normal" sunny Saturday this time of year. 

Passing by a florist's shop, there were lots of gorgeous tulips on display outside... And when I looked in, there was no crowd or queue. So I decided that in this case, clearly it was my duty to support the commercial life! I grabbed a bouquet, stepped in, the sales girl wrapped them up for me - and I  'blipped' my card to pay (contactless payment /Wikipedia). I think that was perhaps the first time I fully appreciated this new (-ish) technology. Not because it's quicker, but because it suddenly struck me that it's also hygienic!

Tulips from Sweden

Today, we're back to grey skies, with another storm on its way inland from the coast. Probably bringing more rain than snow - but that remains to be seen. 

Well, whatever happens next, at least I've got some nice tulips to look at indoors for a few days...

        

Monday Mutterings

Weather and walkability

The photo is from last Thursday when it was still icy cold. Since then we had a rise in temperature, snowfall and wind and thaw and rain… I stayed in for three days; until this afternoon, when it seemed streets and walkways looked fairly walkable again (with most of the snow gone). Actually they were mostly walkable again – except here and there.

There’s a lot of “here and there” stuff going on in winter because each property owner is responsible for the pavement outside their own house or yard. And not everyone takes the responsibility equally serious.

Anyway I managed to get myself to a mailbox and a nearby store and back home again without accidents.

Dilemma solved

Maybe someone is curious how I ended up treating the dilemma presented in a previous post? After giving the matter a lot more thought than it was worth, I sent a printed Christmas postcard with no room for extra messages. (Why can’t I just make that kind of decisions straight away? It would make life so much simpler…)

A frustratingly slow Sunday

Yesterday was a very frustrating day because I had constant trouble with my computer or broadband or one or more internet servers, and I wasn’t able to pinpoint where the fault might be – until in the evening, when the broadband gave up completely. Then I decided that had probably been responsible  for all the trouble the whole day (even though at times it seemed to be working) and went to bed with my Kindle and The Lewis Man (the book!)

Again, it would have been wiser of me to give up the internet much earlier in the day and just do something else with my time instead of keep trying to check every five minutes if perhaps...

This morning I slept late and after breakfast found myself in touch with the world again at normal speed.

New worries. Or not.

So it was not until the mail dropped in late in the afternoon that I needed to start worrying again…
(Bear with me, or stop reading here.)

No, nothing to do with Christmas cards this time.
The cause of worry was a letter from the landlord (=The City), giving a very complicated explanation (if it can be called that) of the expected procedure when next year they are going to install a new optic fibre cable in the building, to give us new options for broadband and TV and phones. This will probably be good once it’s all fixed; but my first reaction after reading the letter was PANIC, as it seemed that I may have to move lots of heavy furniture, like bookcases full of books. Which first of all I can’t do, and second of all, there’d be nowhere to put it all without it still being in the way.

Taking deep breaths, reading the letter again… It just makes no sense. Installing a new box in the hall, yes, that bit I understand. And it’s doable. But if they’re going to draw the cables from that box in the hall… Why on earth would they want to draw it (as they say their intention is) to the same place where my old cable socket is? – which means all around the living room, to a spot by the window, which is not a place where most people would want to have their TV anyway. (Well – at least I don’t, which is why I have extension cables from there and half way round the room to a place much closer to the hall…)

Next the letter says they’re also going to put an extra socket in the room next to the living room - which means the one I use as study. They don’t specify which wall in that room, but again it does not seem to make any sense to draw the cable across the room.

What would make sense, to me, would be to put both the new cable sockets next to the door between the livingroom and the study (which is quite close the hall, and also the same wall where I have the TV). That would involve a minimum of cable-drawing – and, as it happens, in my flat no need to move any furniture.

So… I think I shall try to put off worrying until I find out what it is they really mean to do…??