Getting ready to rumble...

it's not that often that it happens. Actually, the last time little Peter was home sick with the flu, was about three years ago. But now, he's been puking is guts out and that pains a mother. So, I'm getting ready to rumble. Having been home alone with the guy this evening, I know what's coming. But there are worse things which I can imagine. Even if I won't think that when I'm in the middle of if.

Pain is temporary

When you've run the marathon, or given birth or almost died from gall bladder infection, you might think that you've conquered all. But then there are children. Who turns older and when they do so, they give parties. And to those parties they invite other children. And voilâ, you have the possibility to experience something really special.

I know, my son loves the events and most parents just drop off their kids by this age but when a mother looks at me and says: you are so welcome to stay, who am I to say no? (I guess they know I'm not the type who just sits around but actually tries to control the kids.)

So, instead of taking it easy for a couple of hours I spend the better part of a Sunday chasing my and other's boys and making sure no one dies or destroys something too valuable. 9 boys at ages 5 thorugh 7 is a little bit too much to enjoy. Combine this with suger and toys and you have hell on earth. Well, I did enjoy myself a little bit too, and the food was wonderful, but yes, hell on earth.

But the fun thing was that when I was leaving the party, I realized that in the room where the boys had had a sound volume of an Iron Maiden concert for three hours, a little 6 months old baby was sound asleep. That is not fair! But, pain is temporary and now I have a week at work to get back on my feet again.

Suddenly Friday

And so, it's finally Friday. This Friday is very welcome. It's been hectic at work and my arms need to rest from the heavy doors at work. And you don't become less tired from staying up too late to watch yesterday's Tour of California. But it's a pure joy to see Armstrong ride again. It's just a shame that in the state of Hollywood, that the TV production is so poor. It kind of interesting to know the gaps between the groups and time differences. But you can't everything and this makes me long even more for summer. But until then I'll just enjoy this weekend.

Softy

The previous week has been a constant run between floors at work. And the other day I woke up with sore arms. It felt like I'd been exercising my upper body. But I hadn't and I couldn't understand what was happening. Was it the flu? Back at work I understood what was going on. The heavy doors at work. My runner's body wasn't used to the weight of them. I've not exercised my upper body since Vasaloppet in 2001. It's rather embarrassing that a person who runs almost 30k a week and gives spinning classes once a week has so poor strength. To my defence, I've been opening those doors at least 20 times a day, which is much more often than the guys who just leaves the rooms for lunch. Being agile at work is affecting me

Jewellery for the smart girl

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

Jewellery is a statement. A statement of religion, taste and wealth. So, if you're a smart girl, why not show it by wearing Etsy wearable art with a statement? An alternative to rocks, minerals and religious symbols.

Welcome back!

It was almost surreal this morning when we watched the recording of yesterday night's Tour of California. Yes, the man is back again in the saddle and he didn´t disappoint me. I'm just glad that I spotted the news that Swedish Eurosport for the first time is broadcasting Tour of California. But who won, besides me who got to see the show again? Fabian Cancellara was a secure winner of the day.

Here are some nice photos and reports from the event which will go on until February 22th.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/feb09/california09/?id=results/california090

NB: And for you who does not have a clue of what I'm talking about: Lance Armstrong is back in the pack again. The objective is to raise even more money to cancer research and to return to Le Tour de France this summer. I hope the hotel in Rhodes has Eurosport...

Absolutely tired of winter

I cannot stop being amazed by the fact that my ancestors took the trouble to walk from the warmth of the south to get here. I hate winter and snow. I guess it's tolerable for a few weeks but now I'm really fed up with bulking up with clothes when running, that it's icy out and that it's just a mess with this winter.

So, I'm dreaming of summer. And warmth. I'm the sort of person who never turns on the air conditioning, even if I'm in Florida in the midth of summer. I guess when it's over 105F, I start to think it's annoying (even if runs are best at about 85-90F). I've just booked the summer vacation. TUI's new resort in Rhodes, our first environmentally friendly!

It's called Blue Village Atlantica Aegean Park and it will be interesting to see we combine a concept with All Inclusive with environmentally sustainable.

And of course I'm celebrating 200 years since

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln was born

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.
Charles Darwin

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham Lincoln

New stuff tomorrow

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)
Since not just one but two new colleagues are coming with to my spinning session during the lunch, I hastely decided to change the program completely. One of the guys is probably taking Etapé de Tour this year (riding the worst day of The Tour) and the other guy is riding the Tour of Flanders for not professional riders. Two of the most amazing cycling events for non pro's... So, I'm adding some spice to tomorrow's ride. Hope all goes well.

Just think about it and smile

Hands free

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

www.ted.com is one of my favorite web places for challenging the way I view upon the world. Swedish Lena Maria Klingwall is no exception. With what we would consider 'being born with just one full limb', she has accomplished more than many born without visible handicap. Let's say its telling when she says she was born 'Hands free'.

What is also very telling is that a person referred to as a Swedish mega star was completely unknown to me before reading about her on Ted.

Changing the world - Bill Gates talks about world health and teaching

Bill Gates is always interesting to listen to but here he shows his skill spreading information about the need for a continued struggle for world health and education. Not through antroposofic stupidity but things that really work.

The morning rain

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

When it's in the middle of the Swedish winter and it's snowy outside and it's around six in the morning, you expect that the stuff falling from the sky is snow. But not yesterday. The morning run was performed in a chilly rain on a icy track on the way to work. I was fortunate that I thought it was colder, so I didn't freeze, but the speed was not what I'd wanted.

But anyway, I got going and the good thing about lousy weather and icy roads is that you have things to focus your thoughts on. I didn't even reflect on the longest upcline since I was focusing on stayin on my feet. After that, a small smile spread on my face and the rest was a piece of cake.

Another lesson is that leaving the run for another day does not make it better. Having done all my weekly runs by Friday I could sit this Saturday and just smile at the even rainier and icier outside climate.

PC Suite... Again

When it was time to select a phone for my new job, I selected th E71 from Nokia. Not that I liked it best, it's just that testing using different devices are a good thing and now I have three different devices.

When my first reaction on the UI on the Sony Ericsson i770 was that I liked it and understood it, my reaction to the Nokia was next to horror. How was I supposed to stand this ugly, unintuitive UI? Well, I'm getting used to it.

But now it comes to syncing with my PC and hey, they are using PC Suite. Sweet. At last someone has done some thinking and they're using the same software. You wish. Sony Ericsson uses Sony Ericsson PC Suite (currently version 4.0) and Nokia uses Nokia PC Suite (version 7.1).

So, now I'm installing yet another instance of the software from hell. And now I have to quit. Yes, this is Windows Vista but you have to restart your computer to continue. So, to be continued. Because there is a good chance there is a second part of this story.

Why do you bother?

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

As I covered earlier, I'm taking classes in Informatics this spring. The schedule is tricky, I'm working full time and try to spend as much time as possible with the family and also to have some kind of social life. Studying adds a lot of complexity to this puzzle. But I guess it's self selected.

Since I've been working with Informatics in some form for over ten years and with a previous bachelor's degree, this could probably have been a work in the park doing these basic courses. But then, I cannot help getting involved.

Having worked with training and usability for so many years, I get pretty disappointed at courses in the area of for example usability to present sad examples of just that. The tool that is used for the online course (WebCT, Blackboard) is terrible. I don't know if Mittuniversitet is using a very old version but if this is the best of online training systems of the day, the market should be open for new actors.

Then when it comes to the actual classes, the quality of the small things are so poor. For example, instructions in some cases has been written in one paragraph and is almost impossible to read (if the text is a decimeter in height and 1,5 decimeter in width, separating the text in different paragraphs is a good thing..) Word documents sent out to be used as templates are so poorly built that they are rather a hinderence than help. How someone in an academic environment today can fail in making heading numbers is a mystery. Either they lack basic computer and usability skills or they lack a sense of quality. What pride do you have in your work if you don't bother about these rather simple things? It's no wonder that one of the principles for lean software development is: Build quality in.

So, what do I do? I complain and I discuss. I simply state: this is not good enough! As a customer, I require being respected and presenting poor tools, outdated theories and low usability is showing lack of respect.

My husband wondered why I bother. And the reason is not as simple like I have to complain. I think I have a responsibility too. Yes, my primary objective of the classes was learning something new. But I also have the responsibility that with my experience try to make some changes to the classes. New students have nothing to compare with. But I have, and this is below the standard of what you can expect. And I want to say that both to the teachers and the other students.