Devil Snow!

The picture above is from Wednesday morning on the way to work. Visibility was, as you can see, almost nothing where normally you can see a couple kilometers at least. We are all hoping that the dust will settle down but it does have some benefits. For example, my skin gets exfoliated just walking to the car, ok, not really. It has been less hot that it normally is this time of year so that is good.

Have a good weekend!

The in between times.

So it is the middle of June and not a whole lot is happening. I was sick last week (trust me, you don’t want to know) but am feeling better now. Work is going fine, I finally got a reaction to work that took about 3 weeks to figure out, now I’ll start working on a different system, the desired (but more expensive) system.

I am currently in between trips right now. I have been back from Finland for over 3 weeks but have another 3.5 weeks until I leave for the US. I am excited about going to the States, but it is a mixed blessing. The good things are that I get to see Dad, attend a teacher training, see extended family, and be in the US for about 2 weeks. The bad thing is that because I am going to the US in July I can’t come back in the US until the 14th of December. This is also a mixed blessing because I think I am going to go to Spain before I go home for Christmas. So, good and bad, but I can’t wait to fly business class again. Economy on British Airways isn’t bad, but business class is so much better when someone else is paying!

The weather has been hot and dusty lately. Before you paint a house you can sand blast it to get dirt and any other particles off the sides, I now know how the house feels. The sand has been blowing like crazy for the last couple of days.

Oh, so I should tell everyone about the communication mix up that happened yesterday. A TAMUQ library worker and I went to a restaurant called Turkey Central last night. This is probably my favorite place in Doha to eat out and it is pretty cheap. So when we went there I ordered a kilogram of chicken kofta (like a chicken sausage without the casing) so I could have a bunch to take home for leftovers. Well, when our food came there was a regular order (I get leftovers on this too but I wanted more) so I asked the waiter. He was confused and then told me that a kilogram of chicken kofta is 40 pieces of meat! I had no idea it was that much, so I asked for a regular order (4 pieces). We paid, got our leftovers and headed to the car. I realized that the bag was a little heavy and somehow I came home with 20 pieces, or ½ kilogram, of meat! This is a lot, 2 pieces with bread and fruit is a decent sized meal. Anyway, today when I get home from work I need to separate it out into single serving sized and then freeze it. The good news is, when I am craving Turkey Central, all I have to do is go to the freezer!

Nothing else exciting has been happening really. I finished a baby quilt for one of my coworkers, I like the way it turned out. I am crocheting away on a few things, but I am almost done with another crochet project. Anyway, I should go look up flights for more trips (just kidding Mom!). I hope all of you have a wonderful day!

Tourism

I have worked a variety of jobs in tourism. In fact, I can still fold shirts just like I did in the t-shirt shops. But, for all of my folding and dusting and answering stupid questions, THANK GOD I didn't have to dress up in period costume! I guess folding shirts weren't that bad now that I think about it!

My Ode to the Commode

While I was at the Sea Fortress, Suomenlinna, in Helsinki I found myself rushing to find the closest bathroom available (there weren't a lot of places to hide in the bushes). I found this water closet and stepped inside. I tried to turn around but with my camera bag on I couldn't move without hitting the sides of the stall. So with some quick and very motivated thinking I had to place the camera bage outside the stall with the strap wrapped around my leg. It is the smallest bathroom I have every been in in my life! The tiles that you see in the picture are maybe 6 inches to give you an estmate on size.
This is a picture of the King's Commode at the Turku Castle. (It wasn't on the regular tour.) It doesn't look so bad, in fact, if you put some of the blue foam stuff around the seat it could be one of the best outhouse in Fairbanks!

A little piece of Alaska in Tallinn, Estonia. I think I was the only person who took a picture of the row of outhouses, but how could I resist! I honestly didn't know that the blue was a universal color for an outhouse. I would also like to point out that there is a well worn path to and from the outhouse so somebody is using it.

Actually, this makes me very thankful for the large bathroom that my parents have and the one that I have. Although a well placed bathroom, or water closet, in a time of need is enough to make anyone thankful!

Tallinn, Estonia

This is Tallinn, Estonia. The first picture looks out over the old town and to the dock and then on to the Gulf of Finland. The second is the Russian Orthodox church in the old town. The third is a portion of the tower wall that used to surround the town. The fourth picture is the town square and the view from where I ate dinner but not when I ate dinner. The final photo is of another church and the tulips in the park. The flowers everywhere were so pretty.

Hunter this one is for you!

This is by a kid's playground/park in Turku and when I saw it I thought of my nephew, Hunter. This is an area just for driving trucks off road. Actually, Hunter's Dad would like this area as well. I found it when I was on my way to the train station to go back to Helsinki. I think that some Grandparents on the Sarvela side need to think about an addition to the yard!

Turku

The top photo is of the Handicrafts museum, very cool, and is Turku in about 1827. The second photo is of the river that cuts the town in half and most of the tourist stuff is located on this river. The third picture is of Turku Castle, my first castle ever to be able to visit (beside Disneyland:). The fourth pic is of the flower bed, Abo is the Swedish name of the town, and the red building houses a museum showing what wealthy people's homes were like in contrast to the handicrafts museum. The red building also houses a pharmacy museum with 'old' glassware, I still use some of the glassware on a regular basis. The last picture is from the market and all the flowers that were out. They also sold vegetable and fish in these markets too.

Tampere

Ok, the top picture is of the cathedral in Tampere that I stayed right across the street from, in fact, when I opened the blinds and looked out the window that is what I saw. The second picture is one of me in front of the Sarvela Market, yes, I made it to the town of Sarvela. The picture after this is of a barn close to Sarvela, I thought the roof was funny. The 4th picture proves that they have moose too, although, I didn't see any. The last picture is looking over the bridge in Tampere on the morning I left. The other days I was there add cloud cover and that is it. Two more set of pics to post!

Helsinki pics

These pics are from Helsinki. The top left is looking back on the tourist dock, the top right is on Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress. The vertical picture is from the cathedral in Helsinki with a statue of Czar Alexander II in front. The other two pics are from the Rock Church in Helsinki. It is actually built into the rock and the ceiling, the lower picture, is all copper. More to come