Wednesday, December 13

 

 

This morning Irma discovered that one of the outdoor sockets had stopped working: the one that she uses to heat the car. She tried the fuses one by one, while I stood outside noting the effects. It turned out the fuses all worked but the socket didn’t.

I left for work along paths of various degrees of slipperiness. I remember that these winter boots do not play nicely with icy surfaces. I remember the first time I almost slip over.

I get to work and hear the familiar strains of Lucia. I have missed the glögg and ginger biscuits but I have time to catch sight of the procession as it leaves the hall. They walk slowly in the special way the Lucia procession demands, and I walk upstairs to start my tasks for the day.

I will type out an English version of an advertisement for Camilla, and send it to Irma. I will then read through a thesis that I will present for examination this afternoon, and begin the (by now tiresome) work of finalising the Nobanet topic that has become mine, after the latest round of comments. I need to finish this before we leave on Sunday.

At 11:20 I will go down to lunch, because today Amica holds the annual Christmas lunch. Naa and I talked about this yesterday, and she has it today as well, which indicates that Amica holds it at all their lunch cafes today. I will have the traditional ham and mustard with sweet potato, turnip, and carrot boxes and peas, and later have a joulutahti from the coffee lounge where, Monica will tell me, huge plates of them cover the tables.

At 13:00 Maria and I will listen to an MA thesis presentation and award it a grade 4. The presentation mixes McLuhan’s ideas with an analysis of thought leadership in an interesting, if slightly odd, way. After this I will help Liisa with some photocopying malarkey, and return to the never ending Nobanet writing.

At 16:23 I will leave for home, desperately hoping that this journey will prove less slippery than this morning’s.

I will arrive home disappointed.