Actually, when I wrote the previous post yesterday I was not aware that Alitalia, six hours earlier, had filed for bankruptcy protection.
Today Simon has:
Listened to the tunes in Guitar Hero
Read nothing yet
Noticed that he looks forward to brushing his teeth properly
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Friday, 29 August 2008
On Everything
Yesterday I used British healthcare for the first time in my life. I had a wisdom tooth extracted at the RVI Dental Hospital. It was very straightforward, and I am actually looking forward to my next appointment in October when another wisdom tooth of mine will be shown the door. As it is now, I have to eat lighter food than usual as chewing is slightly tricky.
American Politics
Barack Obama. That is probably one of the most popular two word combinations in the world right now. Is the hype exaggerated? I do not think I want more hype, but Senator Obama is worth every single moment of attention he get. The Democratic party seems to me more socially aware than ever and they, somehow, manage to get the positive properties out of the descriptor 'liberal'. I can see the British Conservatives take a lot from the Democratic election machine if it turns out to be successful. I personally hope that Senator Obama, together with Joe Biden, will beat the Republican pairing McCain/Palin. I was excited when George Bush was elected the first time. I cannot say that I have been impressed by much during his two terms - apart from that he is extremely charismatic and funny. These two abilities are something that rarely is shown on Swedish television. Censorship at its best.
The Airline Industry
This is an industry which is extremely close to my heart. This morning Sky News greeted me with the headlines that the low fare transatlantic airline Zoom has gone bust. As an airline today, you need plenty of money in the bank. Young airlines as Zoom has rarely a credit worthiness that make lenders jump in sheer excitement. In a book written by Professor Rigas Doganis, who is a former CEO of the Greek flag carrier Olympic Airlines, it is described how the airline industry is highly cyclical. You get roughly seven bad years after seven good years. So I guess that the bad years are ahead.
The next European flag carrier to go bust will, of course, be Alitalia. Air France/KLM is a natural buyer as they are the major carrier in the Skyteam Alliance which Alitalia is a member of. I do not know though if AF/KLM is still interested as Berlusconi clearly has expressed that he would like the airline to remain in italian hands.
The library is closing now, so more later.
Today Simon has:
Listened to the Obama speech again
Read some on svd.se
Noticed that he will spend very little money next week
American Politics
Barack Obama. That is probably one of the most popular two word combinations in the world right now. Is the hype exaggerated? I do not think I want more hype, but Senator Obama is worth every single moment of attention he get. The Democratic party seems to me more socially aware than ever and they, somehow, manage to get the positive properties out of the descriptor 'liberal'. I can see the British Conservatives take a lot from the Democratic election machine if it turns out to be successful. I personally hope that Senator Obama, together with Joe Biden, will beat the Republican pairing McCain/Palin. I was excited when George Bush was elected the first time. I cannot say that I have been impressed by much during his two terms - apart from that he is extremely charismatic and funny. These two abilities are something that rarely is shown on Swedish television. Censorship at its best.
The Airline Industry
This is an industry which is extremely close to my heart. This morning Sky News greeted me with the headlines that the low fare transatlantic airline Zoom has gone bust. As an airline today, you need plenty of money in the bank. Young airlines as Zoom has rarely a credit worthiness that make lenders jump in sheer excitement. In a book written by Professor Rigas Doganis, who is a former CEO of the Greek flag carrier Olympic Airlines, it is described how the airline industry is highly cyclical. You get roughly seven bad years after seven good years. So I guess that the bad years are ahead.
The next European flag carrier to go bust will, of course, be Alitalia. Air France/KLM is a natural buyer as they are the major carrier in the Skyteam Alliance which Alitalia is a member of. I do not know though if AF/KLM is still interested as Berlusconi clearly has expressed that he would like the airline to remain in italian hands.
The library is closing now, so more later.
Today Simon has:
Listened to the Obama speech again
Read some on svd.se
Noticed that he will spend very little money next week
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Laptop for Sale
If you click here you will get some info on what my laptop is about. When I bought it almost two years ago it was Acer's best laptop after the Ferrari series. So it's a full business laptop with a battery time of 3.5 hours. 2 hours if you're playing games.
The laptop is in pristine condition (what else - look at my mobile!) and has one year left of the accidental damage warranty (which I paid extra for). This means that any future repairs will be fully paid for by Acer.
I have made some research. A new Acer TravelMate with roughly the same specs as mine would go for around £550 today. I paid more than twice that amount in late 2006. I reckon a fair price would be £330 or 4000 Swedish Krona. Of course it will be formatted to factory settings before any transaction takes place.
Why am I selling it then? Well I want a Mac before the end of this academic year. And that will make my Acer redundant.
Today Simon has:
Listened to his colleagues during an evaluation session
Read about the Church of Scientology
Noticed that he has now decided for a MacBook Pro.
The laptop is in pristine condition (what else - look at my mobile!) and has one year left of the accidental damage warranty (which I paid extra for). This means that any future repairs will be fully paid for by Acer.
I have made some research. A new Acer TravelMate with roughly the same specs as mine would go for around £550 today. I paid more than twice that amount in late 2006. I reckon a fair price would be £330 or 4000 Swedish Krona. Of course it will be formatted to factory settings before any transaction takes place.
Why am I selling it then? Well I want a Mac before the end of this academic year. And that will make my Acer redundant.
Today Simon has:
Listened to his colleagues during an evaluation session
Read about the Church of Scientology
Noticed that he has now decided for a MacBook Pro.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Lapplandsväck
The annual Christian summer conference is underway - and I am not there. Well, I attended it for a day on Saturday - but that was it. Anyway, it was good fun to meet a wide range of friends during my brief guest appearance.
The other day I spoke to a UK friend over the phone for a while, interesting to hear how my English gets even slower (yes, it is possible) just because I haven't used it for virtually a month. Fortunately, my English improves year on year. So I should be even better by graduation. In the best of worlds; I am good enough to get onto a good grad scheme.
An agency has helped me to get a new flat in Newcastle. This obviously means that I have decided to skip the placement year. I will live across the street from the Centre of L. So it should be no more than a 20 minute walk to uni.
And now to something completely different. Robert Mugabe, one is really wondering how a rather promising leader 28 years ago has turned into something very in- and un-human. I hope that the African Union can sort something out. If not it should be inevitable for neighbouring African countries to intervene. And if they do not intervene I will upset, but nowhere near as upset as I would be finding European countries and the US resisting an armed intervention to restore democracy in Zimbabwe. However, if we are lucky the old dictator will just die all by himself. BUT - that would probably not be the fairest solution.
Today Simon has:
Listened to XM Radio Online
Read The Economist and Svenska Dagbladet
Noticed that it is a grey day
The other day I spoke to a UK friend over the phone for a while, interesting to hear how my English gets even slower (yes, it is possible) just because I haven't used it for virtually a month. Fortunately, my English improves year on year. So I should be even better by graduation. In the best of worlds; I am good enough to get onto a good grad scheme.
An agency has helped me to get a new flat in Newcastle. This obviously means that I have decided to skip the placement year. I will live across the street from the Centre of L. So it should be no more than a 20 minute walk to uni.
And now to something completely different. Robert Mugabe, one is really wondering how a rather promising leader 28 years ago has turned into something very in- and un-human. I hope that the African Union can sort something out. If not it should be inevitable for neighbouring African countries to intervene. And if they do not intervene I will upset, but nowhere near as upset as I would be finding European countries and the US resisting an armed intervention to restore democracy in Zimbabwe. However, if we are lucky the old dictator will just die all by himself. BUT - that would probably not be the fairest solution.
Today Simon has:
Listened to XM Radio Online
Read The Economist and Svenska Dagbladet
Noticed that it is a grey day
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Where are the Tourists? / Time for a Degree
I am now just one day away from fulfilling two working weeks at the tourist information centre in Åsele. The workload is pretty uneven - right now it is most answering the phone and replying to email enquiries from tourists. It is a great job though, but I have to say I look forward to the more stressful days.
But where are all the tourists? Potentially they all are in the US as you get more money for your money as a European. Most likely it is just because their holiday period has not begun yet.
I went to the local gym yesterday. A nice place which sadly has not performed well enough financially. Rumour has it that it will be sold to the owner of a local supermarked who will re-open it in the town centre.
Placement
I will be very surprised if I am anywhere but Northumbria when university starts in September. I am really looking forward to finish my degree off, and as I have good and valid work experience from my life before the UK - it might be as well to save one year by not doing a placement.
Another enlighting experience is that I probably match graduate requirements better than placement requirements. One respected tutor at the university told me that I would probably get bored on a placement. A well respected Dutch multinational rang and told me that I was "very interesting" and that they wanted me to re-apply after graduation.
There is still hope.
Today Simon has:
Listened to BBC 6 Music
Read some in Marketing Management by Kotler and Keller
Noticed that this may well be a confusing summer
But where are all the tourists? Potentially they all are in the US as you get more money for your money as a European. Most likely it is just because their holiday period has not begun yet.
I went to the local gym yesterday. A nice place which sadly has not performed well enough financially. Rumour has it that it will be sold to the owner of a local supermarked who will re-open it in the town centre.
Placement
I will be very surprised if I am anywhere but Northumbria when university starts in September. I am really looking forward to finish my degree off, and as I have good and valid work experience from my life before the UK - it might be as well to save one year by not doing a placement.
Another enlighting experience is that I probably match graduate requirements better than placement requirements. One respected tutor at the university told me that I would probably get bored on a placement. A well respected Dutch multinational rang and told me that I was "very interesting" and that they wanted me to re-apply after graduation.
There is still hope.
Today Simon has:
Listened to BBC 6 Music
Read some in Marketing Management by Kotler and Keller
Noticed that this may well be a confusing summer
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