And I'm Leaving, On a Jet Plane (Pt. 1)

As promised, I'll start updating. I'll pick up from where I left off.

The following weekend was the party at Christian's. I invited S. to come up on Friday after work and spend the weekend. We'd go to Christian's on Saturday, then either spend the night at his place or back at mine. On Friday night, we were on the couch late together. One thing lead to another, but it didn't go "all the way". We did sleep in the same bed that night, though. It was really nice to have someone beside me again. Particularly with someone who likes to cuddle and doesn't complain about my arm wrapped around them.

The next day we went to Christian's. Had fun. Christian made us play pool with him before we left. He was so trashed he didn't even notice how bad we were cheating. We got back to my place and just went to sleep that night. The next morning she had to head home and I had to head to Maryland, but, it was a very nice weekend together before that.

Did a crabcake run on the day I came back from Maryland. Traffic was HORRIBLE. 7 hours to do a trip which normally takes me 4 hours, loaded with $1000 worth of crabcakes in the seat behind me and several thousand dollars worth of hardware, which proceeded to scrape up the back of my car. More on that in another blog.

Eventually got back to the office around 7 that night, then just went over to S.'s place. We made some of the crabcakes for dinner (there were 6 of us for dinner), then S. and I vegged on the couch for a while afterward. Left there late, went home and got some sleep.

The next day at work was uneventful. Got my ducks in a row and prepped everything for vacation. Went out with S. again that night. Went shopping for some jeans for Fieldstar's kids, then back to her place where we had dinner with Mom. Nice evening.

Friday I came by the office to make sure everything was cool, then S. dropped me off at the Park and Ride to head to the airport. Didn't really want to leave her.

I packed HEAVY for Sweden. Two bags, a garment bag and my laptop. Took a pill and drank a beer before getting on the plane, hoping it would knock me out - no go.

Spent 7.5 hours being drowsy and not able to sleep. Ended up in an aisle (I prefer the window - gives me something to rest my head against) about 6 rows from the bathroom. High traffic. Blech.

The chicken meal on the plane sucked. Gave me bad gas pains. Went through that for 6 hours before getting to Stockholm. When I got my bags, I couldn't leave them to use the facilities, so I sat in agony until Torak showed up.

We recognized each other immediately.

We killed some time at a coffee house at the airport before getting on the train to Stockholm proper. Once we got to Stockholm, we had to find the right train to take us to Linköping (pronounced something like "lin shau ping"). Then the fun began from the sleep deprivation.

I had the garment bag strapped to my large suitcase. I needed to stow the case up above, but there was no space above Torak and me, so I went to put it across the aisle. This is where the sleep deprivation really started to kick in. As I'm heaving it up (with the garment bag strapped to it), my hands are full. And it is heavy. And the woman I'm right behind has no clue that certain death is lingering over her head.

Luckily, only the garment bag swung free and REPEATEDLY HIT HER IN THE HEAD! All I could do was keep saying "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh, God, I'm sorry!" because I couldn't let go of the suitcase without crushing her under it. Reminder that I'm in Sweden speaking in English here.

I finally got it into place (while getting many, many dirty looks from her - can't say I blame her), then sat back down with Torak. A little bit later, I realized I could use the restroom finally. Even though my colon was back under control, my bladder really needed some release, so, into the bathroom I went.

Couldn't figure out the damn lock on the door. I fiddled with it for a minute before I finally shrugged and hoped I had done it right so I could relieve myself.

I was just about to zipper up when a woman opened the door, stared at me wide eyed, then quickly closed the door again.

I was so tired at this point I just shrugged and started chuckling to myself.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. We got to Linköping a little while later where we met up with Siryn, Shrike and Fieldstar. It sounds odd, but it's a great feeling to meet friends for the first time. I've known these people for years without actually meeting. It's a wonderful experience.

We went back to Shrike's place where we got to know each other in person and started drinking beer. We eventually got up and went into the town proper to find dinner. We ended up at this place which was really hot and the service was slow. Torak had only had 2 hours of sleep before flying to Stockholm and I was over the 30 hour mark myself, so, we're all waiting and the two of us were nodding off.

After dinner, we all played in a fountain (someone [not us] had thrown a bottle of dish liquid in it) and ran around acting like idiots. It was around 11 PM at this point. For those who have never been in the northern climes, it is a bit odd to have that much light at night. The darkest it ever got all week was a kind of twilight - around 3 in the morning. We walked back to Shrike's place, where we drank some more beer, then I went to sleep.

The next morning (morning is a relative term, btw - it became whenever we all got up, which was typically around 2 or 3 in the afternoon at the end of the week) we walked into town again to pick up a few groceries, then we started drinking again. I arranged to meet an old friend of mine who lives in Linköping from when I used to play NannyMUD, Brom.

The five of us killed some time throughout the day, then went into town to meet up with Brom. We went to a sushi restaurant (I ate raw fish and kind of liked it - weird) then to a theater and watched Sin City. It was a little odd for me at first - they were speaking in English but the subtitles were in Swedish.

By the end of the movie I realized how "American" I am. Particularly with the violence. Torak and I were laughing at the violence because it was so exaggerated and, yes, fun. We were the only ones in the theater really enjoying it on that level.

After the movie we bid farewell to Brom, then Shrike needed to head off to work - poor bastard.

He works in a yoghurt factory.
On second shift.
As a taste tester.

Poor bastard.

Well, the four of us that remained (Torak, Siryn, Fieldstar and myself) went to the bar next door where I drank a few white russians and the others drank their drinks of choice. When they were closing we went to this other bar next door. They had some gambling downstairs and a pool table.

Torak, for all his skills as a dealer at a casino, really sucked at playing the odds. I gave him money and he lost that too.

That's okay - I love him.

Did I mention that I named him as an Honorary American while we were buying movie tickets? He likes violence, so, what the hell.

Siryn and I started playing pool, then Fieldstar joined us. These guys came in and started hitting on Siryn. I noticed her distress, then the four of us migrated upstairs to drink some more.

We got toasty.
I wore lipstick.
I kissed the guys on the cheeks.
Siryn got hit on again.

At that point, I rounded up the guys and we left to call a cab.

While waiting for the cab, I stole a poster for a band.

Hey, it's cheap (as in free to me), somewhat easy to transport and it's something I can have fun with.

So, the four of us head back to Shrike's place, all of us drunk, and having one hell of a night.

When we got in, we were hungry, so, we ate, had a couple more beers, then off to bed.

It's now Monday morning - 7 AM. There's construction behind Shrike's place. They've started working. I'm sleeping in the same room with Fieldstar who snores like he's sawing through a log. Luckily, we're both exhausted, so, we just dose back off to the sound of jackhammers.

When we finally got up we cleaned ourselves up and head into town for some lunch then some shopping. Things are actually a lot more expensive than in the US, which surprised me. The day was mostly uneventful.

After Shrike left for work (again, poor bastard) the rest of us made some kind of mashed potatoes and ate herring.

Okay. I liked the sushi the other day. I didn't like the herring.

Oh, well.

The next day, (Tuesday, July 5 for those who want to know) was my brother's birthday.

But, enough about him.

This was another day of not doing much. We went to see Gamla Linköping (Old Linköping), but everything was closed. So, we went to a coffee shop. I recorded everyone saying "We hate the USA." It was pretty funny.

Guess you had to be there.

Anyway, we didn't do much that day.

On Wednesday we drove to Sundsvall. It was a long, long drive.

And Torak got us lost. Had us going west instead of north for an hour.

And now, my fingers are cramping and I'm tired of typing. I guess I'll write some more tomorrow.

Night, night.