Genealogy fair

This past week I have watched TV quite a lot. There were a few sport events of interest, mainly athletics and the European championships in equestrian sport. The show jumping event was won by a Swede so that was successful.

The main thing this week was the annual Genealogy Fair, this time in Halmstad. Attending it was one of my goals for the year. I had already started planning for how I could get there by train when I got an e-mail from a colleague asking if I was going to Halmstad. She was going to drive there, and I was very happy to get a ride with her instead. We spent Saturday afternoon at the fair, looking at (and buying some) books, talking to vendors, searching the databases available and checking out what was new (everybody was talking about DNA!). We also attended a lecture on emigrant research. In all, it was a nice day but we were very tired afterwards.

Surprise letter

It has been an incredibly boring week. I have done very little. The side effects from the chemo are not pleasant at all. I have major stomach problems. It's worse than last time. The strange thing is that I'm hungry. To ridiculous levels. Some nights I have to get up and get something to eat because I'm so hungry I can't sleep. The doctor called this Friday to ask how I was doing (I wonder if this is normal, they cannot possibly have time for this). She was surprised to hear that it was worse this time because they had made a mistake and given me a lower dose than she had ordered. Sigh.

There is one thing that has happened worth mentioning and it has nothing to do with illness. Last week my father received a letter from America. We were very surprised. The sender was no one we knew. It turns out that my father's grandmother had several uncles and cousins who emigrated, and one of their descendants had now done research and found my father to be a relative. I have known for quite a while that those relatives emigrated and did locate them in the US (Chicago and Colorado) but never contacted any living relatives. I thought the distance in relationship was too far. The person who wanted to reconnect would be my father's third cousin. We are now exchanging family information by e-mail.

Actual size cars and model trains

Wednesday last week I went to the summerhouse, where my sister and her family also were staying. We did some excursions around Skåne. On the Friday we went to an automobile museum at Simrishamn. There were over 120 cars on display; the oldest a Danish vehicle from 1898 and the newest a dragster from 2014. It was a big place. There were also motorcycles and in separate rooms toys and phonographs. It was quite an interesting museum even for someone who normally wouldn't be into cars.

Another day we went to a model train museum at Hässleholm. It was a rather large display with built-up landscapes and towns with railway lines. It was local towns so we recognized several places. It was a very detailed display with people working on or near the tracks, trucks on the roads, people waiting at stations and trains going by. This was also a nice museum to visit. After a massive brunch at the golf club we continued on to a farm where there was a fishing pond. The kids wanted to go fishing, but the interest faded after a while so the adults took over. There was unfortunately no fish in sight. Instead my father showed us one of his best places to find mushrooms in a nearby forest. We did get some chanterelles that we had on toasted bread later. Very tasty.

Apart from this we mostly took it easy, relaxing in the sun and playing with the kids. The weather is a little better but still there is a fair amount of rain. I returned home yesterday and that was a journey I never want to experience again. There were big problems with the trains. I went on one bus, three trains and one bus. Total time five hours. The issues were not solved this morning so I had to take a bus again. I went to the hospital for blood tests today. Tomorrow it's time for another chemo injection.

Side effects

This new chemo has some weird side effects. I feel rather strange and have stomach problems but it's not at all what they told me. The nurse said that I would not have an appetite, get a headache, get nauseated and possibly vomit. I haven't noticed any of this, which I am grateful for. On the contrary, I am hungry.

Because my immune defense is very low I only made some very short trips outside the apartment the first week. I had to get more food since I had a surprisingly big interest in eating. There is a small convenience store two blocks away so that's where I went. The weather has been terrible with lots of rain. I have enjoyed my balcony only a few times this summer. Needless to say, I have been incredibly bored. There is a limit to how many crosswords I can solve. To keep sane I have started a new research project. It's a list of all the emigrants from a small parish near my home parish. Hopefully this will keep me busy for a while.

This Monday I had to go to the hospital for some blood tests. Afterwards I stopped by at the library to hand in some documents. A few people were on duty and they all asked how I was doing. Even though I tried to give short answers it took a long time to get from the entrance up to my office on the 5th floor. I have very talkative colleagues.