Welcome to Tessa's blog

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Happy New Year!

Sometimes computer systems make me want to say things I can't write here. My web browser was automatically updated and all of a sudden I couldn't post any blogs. The new version wasn't compatible with the blogger system, and as far as it looks it will not be. In order to write this I had to install another web browser.

The Christmas holiday was very nice. It even snowed on Christmas Day and it looked really beautiful outside. It was pretty cold though. This year we had decided only to give the young kids gifts, but somehow I ended up with a few things anyway: ten pairs of socks, a kitchen towel, some tree decorations and a santa my mother had made herself. The kids got tablets so they could play games and they were very busy with this. The other main thing about Christmas is the food. It was great with lots of pickled herring, meatballs, sausages, red beet salad, cheeses, Jansson's Temptation, homemade crispbread and much else.

We also made it to the after-Christmas sales and the two second hand stores that were open. At the second hand stores my mother spotted some bargains for me - a jacket and a brand new pair of jeans, both very cheaply.

I got a pretty bad cold during the holiday. I didn't get it from my sister's kids, which you might think, but from their grandparents. Not much to do about it, just endure. I was supposed to work yesterday and today, but had to call in sick. My boss said there was almost nothing to do at the library, so it was not a problem. I feel a lot better now, but I'm tired.

On a sad note, my grandfather passed away on December 23rd. His health had been failing recently and he was in hospital after contracting pneumonia. It was amazing that he made it to 100 and I'm glad he was well enough to celebrate his birthday in May. It was a milestone in the history of our family.

This will be the last blog post for 2014, so I'm wishing everybody a Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Merry Christmas

Last week was the last proper workweek before Christmas. We were treated to lots of cookies and candy in the spirit of the season. Thursday we got Christmas lunch. I spent most of the week sorting returned books and attending meetings. We are three people working here these two days and we have very few requests. About 50 in total today. We have many books to shelve, however. During my absence there was a minor book moving project started. About 1200 shelfmeters needed to be relocated within the building. A moving company was hired (the same company handled the big book move) and two guys have been busy for a few weeks. It will be finished today (and that's the main reason why I have to work today - I'm their supervisor).

Last Friday evening they tested the renovated sprinkler system and it went again pretty badly. The first message we got said that only a few books had been damaged by the water, but we later learned that it was about 200 books in the older collection. They are now in a freeze storage. If it continues like this, we will hardly have any books left on the shelves. The librarians are very concerned about the situation.

Thank you for the Christmas letters and greetings I have received, both in print and electronically! I have sent out my annual letter by e-mail. If anyone feels neglected, let me know. Tomorrow morning I will go by train to BorĂ¥s, because my sister will host the celebration this year. Merry Christmas to everybody!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Back to work

The last few days before I started work again this Monday were hectic. I tried to do as much research as possible before I would have to go to work to actually work. It doesn't feel that much different, although getting out of bed early is not pleasant. I have taken it easy, we have had some meetings to discuss the future and I have deleted a few hundred e-mail messages. It's fairly slow at the library at this time of year, we mostly have returned books to deal with now.

Last week we had the Christmas party, arranged by the social club. I didn't do much this time, only one meeting prior to it and then decorating the room. We had catering, so it wasn't such hard work for us. It was quite fun and people seemed to enjoy themselves. This year's theme was water and a guy who had dressed himself in a shower curtain won first prize. Others dressed up as a sailor, crab, fisherman and seal. Santa visited also, of course.

Friday the trains were cancelled and the library was closed in the afternoon due to a storm, so I stayed at home and decorated my apartment for Christmas. I brought down the fake tree from the attic and put loads of ornaments on it. It looks pretty good, actually. There is also a star in the window, additional decorations everywhere and I even exchanged the table runners.

The Christmas gift from work is a copper colored thermos. The company who failed to install the sprinkler system correctly has also bribed us with two barrels (over 40 kilos) of candy.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Old letters and photos

I have spent much of my time reading through all the letters my great grandfather wrote to his brother. It's not a complete set, but there are letters from the 1930's to the 1950's. He mentioned, among many other things, that he had written an article about Alsace in a specific newspaper "a couple of years ago". Very disturbing not to get the details, but I actually found it. He had also written down some of his memoirs, mostly relating to his job as a sales director at Swedish Match. He travelled extensively in Europe from 1920 to 1955, and he had friends all over the world. He actually went to the US on business in 1951 and for the first time had a Coca-cola to drink - he liked it. This soft drink didn't make it to Sweden until 1953. It's wonderful to get this much material, but somewhat overwhelming. It requires a lot of research because he mentioned many things; factories, companies, people and places that I know very little about.

I can't explain in words how interesting this project is. This is really my thing - doing research, finding facts and searching for clues in books, newspapers and archive material. If I could have this as a job it would be great. Sadly, there is no money in this kind of work. It's very time consuming.

This past Saturday my father and his girlfriend came to visit. We went to Ikea in Helsingborg. We started out with lunch and then walked through this enormous store. I bought a cabinet to have in the hall. You have to assemble the furniture yourself and my father helped me. I haven't filled it yet, but it's only a matter of time. My father gave me one more box with old photos, so I have been busy scanning them also.

Winter is here. It's fairly cold, just above freezing temperature, dark, cloudy and windy. No snow yet in the south.