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Winter weather in Redmond

2012-01-18T17:00:00.000-06:00

The last two days have been white, and it doesn't look like it's going to change quickly. Yesterday all road access to Education Hill was barred by police to avoid accidents. Today seems like perfect weather for skiing or even riding snow mobiles.

First snow this year

2012-01-14T15:15:00.004-06:00

Samuel and I on the way to Juantia Aquatic Center for another weekend swim meet. It started snowing when we got here so the game is still on, but who knows about tomorrow.... Samuel didn't have his best day with back and breast and blamed it on a strained muscle from dive practice yesterday. He did ok in 100 Free and 100 IM. On Sun things worked better and he improved several of his times. Well done! (video clip Saturday and video clip Sunday).

Morning celebration

2012-01-13T00:38:00.001-06:00

Abraham turned twelve today and we celebrated traditionally by singing birthday songs and open presents in the morning!

The last of the Jonssons to be sworn in

2012-01-10T20:47:00.007-06:00

Samuel took the afternoon off to attend his naturalization ceremony at USCIS Seattle today. Children from 41 nations were represented at today's N600 ceremony and they all had parents with backgrounds from 21 different nations. Statistics is always fun! When we walked out I asked, "what did you think?" and he said: "I don't know. I always thought I was American"! We continued the celebration on the way home with a no 1 and a milk shake from McDonald's! :)

Day trip to snow!

2012-01-01T19:37:00.005-06:00

We went to Denny Creek at Mt Baker, Snoqualmie on a little day trip to see snow this new years day. Back in Redmond it was around 56F but when we hit the base of the mountain it dropped to 36F and there was enough snow even to make a swede excited!

Hiking the Redmond power line trail

2011-12-31T20:52:00.000-06:00

Today is new years eve but I had almost forgotten about it... The weather has been phenomenal staying in the upper 40s only with occasional rain. This holiday is quickly coming to an end and what is better to start the new years with an early promise to exercise more by going for a long walk! :)

Popcorn Factory

2011-12-28T13:49:00.001-06:00

Lily got a Christmas present from her best friend and it got the whole family creative! :)

Lilys popcorn ball!

Traditional Technology Holiday

2011-12-26T19:23:00.002-06:00

If you were born in the sixties this clip should bring back memories to you, memories from the 80s... I couldn't resist to get my hands dirty this Christmas Holiday with some good old school, and I really mean old school.... hacking. Enjoy.

And here are a few nice songs from that era that I ripped after recording the above video. I'm using the 6581R 1986S (very dark) SID chipset emulation in x64 feeding it through a Yamaha audio interface processing end encoding in audacity without post effects except for stereo mixing. All natural original sound. The productions comes from a group named Wonderland with a hacker musician that went by the alias Danko who I understand nowadays works for DICE! Wonderland Danko Song 1, Wonderland Danko Song 2, Wonderland Danko Song 3, Wonderland Danko Song 4.

Winter Concert 2011

2011-12-13T21:37:00.001-06:00

Samuel has been playing Flute for the past 2.5 years but a few weeks back he decided to take one for the band and switch to Tuba (the band director had been asking for volunteers). And with Abraham on his first semester with the Trombone there has been a lot of learning going on in our house... But they have both proven to be fast learners :) and now master their instruments remarkably well!

Here's Samuel and the Redmond Junior High Symphonic Band performing Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Dec 13, 2011.

Here's a clip from Nov 17 with Abraham performing a solo with his Trombone.

Football, swimming and birthday

2011-10-02T02:19:00.000-05:00

Some days more things come together at the same time than other days. Oct 1 is Emmas birthday and this year on a Sat when Abrahams football team was playing Inglemoor in Kenmore and Samuel later on had his first swim meet in Kirkland. Here's a little footage from Kirklands Juanita High School where Samuels Wave Aquatics and Lake Washington Masters met for a joint swim meet.

Dragon Boat 2011 in Seattle

2011-08-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

Practice for Ericsson and AT&T Dragon Boat 2011 has started. We met this Sat to go through the basics and get a few hours of technique and strength training. This was much tougher than I had ever expected and now 24 hours later my butt, back and arms really hurts! But the weather was great (as usual) and we had a blast!

Dragon Boat 2011

The beginning, moving in...

2011-07-14T23:06:00.000-05:00

Today was the day. We got up around 6.30am and had breakfast before driving up to Redmond. It was raining today, a lot and a little, all day it would turn out. Not the best conditions to move in, but I guess we have to get used to it. Rolando arrived with a small team of two assisting movers and started unloading around 8 am. It was a long day, and very tiresome, and when the day is over you look around you and there's nothing but total chaos. A contributing factor could be that we moved from a house with 3 more rooms 500 more sqft. But anyone who has moved a lot knows that this is perfectly normal and 3 months down the road things will start to feel better again. The move in day is also the day when you start to question your own decision. Where are we? Why did we do this? Who is responsible? But these are again perfect normal psychological reactions for a move in day and experienced as we are we just dug in with a big grin on our faces! Tomorrow we will try to finish enough unboxing to actually sleep our first night in the house. We will be disconnected from the Internet starting tomorrow as we haven't been hooked up with internet, telephony and tv yet. Expect a few days/weeks before we come online again.

Pictures from today are here.

Final fifth leg toward Seattle

2011-07-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from the last leg. I'm actually a little tired of driving now and can't wait to unite with the rest of the family tonight.

Last leg to Seattle

Day four. Now we are getting close

2011-07-05T19:03:00.000-05:00

Today we passed through 4 states and 1 timezone over almost 10 hours. Left Utah driving through Idaho, cornering Oregon and crossing the boundary to Washington. It's funny how little there is between the cities. Not even cellular coverage! I'm becoming a frequent roamer of Commnet, Unicell and Unknown... But the roads are amazing and fast food is tasting better and better.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Day three. We are starting to get the hang of it now.

2011-07-04T19:18:00.000-05:00

Day three ran from 8am to 3.30pm between Aurora, CO and Ogden, UT. About 540 miles (860km). We work well as a team now and Charlie jumps in and out of the car on command and sleeps well on the road.

My short summary of todays journey is that Wyoming isn't very exciting at all and with very few exceptions just after leaving Colorado and before entering Utah there was nothing at all to see. But Utah was a whole different story with beautiful mountains, lakes and even rivers!

Tomorrow we drive to Richland, WA (600 miles/960km) for a last night at road hotels and then finish with the last 200 miles (320km) to Bellevue, WA on Wed morning.

Album from Day 3

On the road for two days and now in Aurora, CO outside Denver

2011-07-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

We left Dallas on Sat noon and drove up to Salina over 6-7 hours. Ran in to a few storms but in general the weather was good most of the time. The Jedi showed off with 44mpg when driving at 60mph which is just fantastic! When we came to Salina I had problem finding a pet friendly hotel and ended up staying at Quality Inn. Being an elite member at Marriott Quality Inn didn't quite meet my standards, but we did ok. They had a nice bar at the hotel with a kitchen staffed with rednecks flipping burgers. Had a few beers and a burger before I crashed. On day two I drove up to Denver Colorado over about 8 hours and checked in at Residence Inn. Tomorrow I plan to drive to Salt Lake City in Utah and on Tuesday we attempt a 14 hour drive from Salt Lake City all the way to Seattle.

Here are some pictures from the last days.

Seattle trip

Moving to Seattle day one and packing

2011-06-29T16:47:00.001-05:00

It's been a busy day for us and the packers. They showed up at 8am this morning and called it a day at 4pm after packing most of the goods in the house. Tomorrow it's the garage left and then they start loading. We have moved in to a Courtyard at Marriott hotel in Allen and will stay here for 6 nights til Wed Jul 6 when most of the family fly to Seattle. I however will travel with the dog in the new Jetta across America and the longest car journey I have ever made, 2187miles (3500km). I hope to be abl to get there by Wed night (4 days) to meet up with the rest of the family at the airport.

Pictures from day one

Weekend trip to Redmond

2011-03-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted on my blog. Here are some pictures from my weekend trip to Seattle, WA. Was scheduled on the 7.55am flight which means I got up early... But the airplane wasn't working and after almost 3 hours we were finally on our way in a new plane. Arrived to Redmond around 1pm and did the town in what most here would call unusually beautiful weather.

Scenic view

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-19T18:09:00.001-05:00

Mother and sister (grama and aunt) stayed a week over spring break returning to Sweden on Sat. I worked most of the time, but as they say in Sweden, at least we had luck with the weather! :) Here on the picture enjoying Uncle Freds BBQ.

Spring Break 2011

Creativity with cables

2010-12-27T20:45:00.002-06:00

I found this really neat power strip at Fry's yesterday and this got me started with a complete reorg in my switch closet. It turned out so neat I just had to share it with you all!

Trophy Club field trip

2010-12-26T15:36:00.002-06:00

Second trip out to Trophy Club, this time prepared with hot chocolate and vetekaka. I still don't have a bike myself though, but it's on my list of things to do...

Here are some pictures/clips.

Ceremony

2010-11-10T12:46:00.000-06:00

On Oct 18 Emma became a US Citizen and on Nov 10 it was my turn. Mine was a combined Veterans and naturalization ceremony with singer Keith Armstrong performing the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. Federal Judge Don Bush was there as many people had to perform name changes and that's a matter for a federal court. And guest speaker Brigadier General Dalton held a speech and honored a few active soldiers who were there to be naturalized as well. Dallas channel 33 was there recording the event and the whole experience was probably a few notches more spectacular than when Emma did hers a few weeks earlier. As judge said in his introduction: "If you can chose a day to get naturalized, Veterans day is the day."

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T17:34:00.001-05:00

A few photos from our Halloween costumes in 2010. Gudrun was visiting and myself was traveling to New Jersey this evening!

Steelers vs Panthers 20-21

2010-09-11T19:20:00.004-05:00

First game of the season and we played against the Panthers. Despite missing 4 kids due to injuries we held up good and lost 20-21 in overtime. Made a little clip with focus on no 7.

Hi-res version of clip available here.

A tribute to The Andrew Miller's Band of Brothers.

2010-08-15T16:04:00.003-05:00

I little reminder to everybody visiting Austin. On Tue nights Andrew Miller play's at the Spill Martini Bar. This kid is beyond what words can describe.

Should I stay or should I go

2010-06-20T08:19:00.004-05:00

I need to rethink whether I should keep Facebook or my Blog. Having both is hurting the ambition level...

Sun morning fun

2010-04-18T12:07:00.004-05:00

After integrating my dirt cheap PC ($97) I got inspired to use Cubase AI 4 again. Here's a little retro track I composed this morning while trying to learn to master step filters and FX tracks.

MP3 Version Of Song

Taking our guests to the airport

2010-04-06T20:19:00.001-05:00

Group picture normal
Originally uploaded by Fredrik Jonsson

12 days have past and now I'm taking dad and Tomas back to DFW again. Here are a few pictures from the Easter.

Winter in McKinney

2010-02-12T12:45:00.003-06:00

After a week in Sweden and possibly one of the worst winters there in a long time I was looking forward coming back to Texas away from the wet and cold. But it's not easy to escape winter this year. Here are some pictures from yesterday and today around our house. Enjoy.

A little Christmas Greeting

2009-12-22T22:17:00.006-06:00

Mine and Emmas 42nd Christmas! Happy Holiday to ya'll!

Technology time travel 30 years back in time!

2009-12-04T21:49:00.007-06:00

Today I did a time trip.... I've been a customer with CountryWide for almost 4 years. That's where I have my mortgage loans. After Bank of America bought Countrywide I've seen lots of information on the website that my CountryWide accounts automatically should show up when I log in to my BoA account, but they never did. So I contacted BoA today about this and got this answer:

"Please be informed that to link the mortgage accounts
NNNNNNNNN and NNNNNNNNN, the name should match with
your account ending in - XXXX. The names with mortgage
accounts and the account ending in - XXXX are not
matching. We ask you to please step into your local
banking center. This will allow us to accurately and
efficiently address your concerns."

I go by Fredrik Jonsson at BoA but by my full legal name at CountryWide (where Fredrik is my middle name) and now they can't match me up. So apparently banks in this country matches accounts by the spelling your name and not by your SSN or something more unique than the name! Could it be possible that anyone producing an ID with a correctly spelled name could go in to BoA and claim the ownership of accounts? Maybe there's substantial justification to spend big bucks on a good shredder after all.

Good and bad on health care reform

2009-11-29T08:46:00.001-06:00

Insightful article on the health care reform.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/11/29/MN3U1AL75B.DTL

Exploring my Hammond Organ style

2009-11-25T12:04:00.003-06:00

Have been struggling with a cough and cold for almost two weeks now but starting to get out of it. Decided to take vacation today to recover more and extend the thanksgiving weekend. But the rest of the family already had plans to visit a park, thus I'm home alone again... which means meditation in front of Cubase...

Hawkeyes vs Steelers 24-8 Frisco Bowl XII 9yo

2009-11-21T21:08:00.000-06:00

We made it to the final and we all thought this would be our game. But it wasn't meant to be this year. We took an early lead with 8-0 but by mid second quarter Hawkeyes had managed to score 3 touch downs and extra points. The second half of the game was a brutal delivery from both teams. Noone wanted to give up any ground and noone managed to take any more points. After the game many cried. But when we met at Gattitown for trophy handouts the boys were in better mood. What a season!! I have a feeling we'll be in the final next year too!

Vikings vs Steelers

2009-11-14T21:37:00.000-06:00

Today it was time to step up in the semi final against the so far undefeated team The Vikings. Around the parking lot every Vikings fan had their car windows painted with messages such as "Vikings Undefeated" to intimidate us. But it'll prove little help. Because even though we lost a touch down due to a questionable block in the back field and even though the Vikings scored a questionable touchdown (running backs knee was down once during the tackle we all thought) we still defeated the Vikings with 12-8. Steelers was backed by a growing and loud crowd (probably hundereds) and it was the most awesome game of the season! I almost didn't have time to take any pictures! After the game we celebrated at Double Dip with ice cream!

Fishing with hotdog as bait

2009-11-08T21:26:00.003-06:00

Our neighbor told us he had success fishing with hotdog bait. So today Abraham had to give it a go. It was a success for him too and here's the proof!

Playoff Steelers vs Sooners 22-14

2009-11-07T21:35:00.002-06:00

This Sat it was time for playoff and we played our first elimination game, the quarter final. The whole team was there (no more flu) and everybody knew what was at stake. To win or to be eliminated! And we started off aggressively taking the lead and recovering the kick-off twice! It was a hard and beautiful game nervbreaking until the last 2 minutes when we managed turn the ball around again. Game ended 22-14 to Steelers thus next Sat we fight in the semi final!

Fun for old people

2009-10-21T12:45:00.002-05:00

This clip was so good I have to post it on my blog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LkyBL8WtQA

Pumkin Patch in Frisco

2009-10-18T16:50:00.003-05:00

We went to Pumpkins on the Prairie in Frisco today to buy pumpkins and have a little fun. 21C/69F and sun makes it a lot more fun to bring along the camera!

Abraham gone fishing...

2009-10-18T11:08:00.006-05:00

Abraham became really interested in fishing this summer and bought himself a fishing pole starter kit. This beautiful morning he decided to go fishing again and I just had to take a picture of this crazy cute fisherman.

Ravens vs Steelers 0-6

2009-10-17T22:15:00.004-05:00

After almost 3 weeks of high humidity and daily rain it was a real treat to come out to Centennial High School for a game with dry air and sunshine! Here are a couple of pictures from today's game which ended 0-6 to our visiting Steelers. The last 3 straight wins now puts us in a good position for the playoffs.

Game #1 Steelers vs Jets 2009

2009-09-13T10:58:00.003-05:00

We've had thunderstorms for 3 days and the last two practices had to be canceled due to lightning. Today we came to the field and it was soaking wet and raining. But we managed to play well end start the season with win.

Playing with my toys

2009-09-12T12:22:00.004-05:00

Family at SPCA so I'm home alone! Playing with my new toys for the first time. Untamed and uncut, but so fun.

Mall of America last day

2009-08-17T22:27:00.003-05:00

This Mon we had breakfast bagels at Brueggers before going to Mall of America, the greatest mall of them all. To be honest, I didn't expect too much of a shopping mall. But I was completely blown away about this place. It's huge and has everything. A bit like going to Disney World to buy new underwear. If I had only known about this place when I was traveling frequently to Bloomington... We had lunch at Famous Daves in MoA and dinner at Britts Pub. Tomorrow morning we return home to Texas again. Over and out from Doubletree in downtown Minneapolis.

Dalberg family reunion

2009-08-16T21:31:00.003-05:00

It's been 9 years since we met with the Dalbergs the last time, distant cousins on my mothers side. This year we came back to Big Sany Lake in Minnesota for another recreational weekend and reunion with distant cousins that emigrated from Byske some 100 years ago. Here are some pictures:

Shoreline and returning home

2009-07-15T17:39:00.003-05:00

This last day we had breakfast at Starbucks near Hotel de Anza. Then we packed and checked out and went for a little tour in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Shoreline. Right now at the airport uploading a few pictures from today.

San Francisco and Venice Beach

2009-07-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

Today we spent a little time in San Francisco but soon decided to finish this vacation California style, at the beach. Some pictures are here:

Santa Cruz and Big Basin

2009-07-13T13:41:00.003-05:00

This morning I found my camera again. It had been hiding between the seats in the car.... Today with did a big trip down to Santa Cruz for breakfast at the pir and some fun for the kids on the Boardwalk. Stayed there til 3pm when we continued up to the Redwood forest in Big Basin. Came back to San Jose late in the evening and finished off with a superb dinner at Henry's World Famous Steakhouse. Here are some pictures:

Ridge on Sunday

2009-07-12T22:53:00.001-05:00

This Sun we had breakfast downtown San Jose after a good nights sleep at Hotel De Anza (excellent hotel). Unfortunately I misplaced my camera during the breakfast at City Bagel so I didn't have any camera during the day. But I at least managed to take a few pictures with the phone. After breakfast we joined old WebCom friends to scenic wine tasting and lunch at the highest vineyard in the Vallye, Ridge! It's been ten years since we last met and from a philosophical point of view it's quite amazing how friendship can hibernate for decades without aging! Ended the day with a dinner at Gordon Bierch in San Jose. Here are some pictures.

Rancho San Antonio and old friends.

2009-07-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Today we checked out from Embassy Suites in the morning preparing checking in to Hotel De Anza in San Jose later on in the afternoon. So for day activity we decided to hike in Rancho San Antonio. It's a park we've been to many times and also a park I used to fly electric airplanes in. We spent most of the day there, had lunch at Una Mas and later visited the Daniels in Campbell for a pool party. Here are some pictures.

A walk down the memory lane

2009-07-10T19:51:00.005-05:00

Today we met with Little Vikings in Shoup Park Los Altos, had lunch downtown Mountain View, went to the Computer History Museum on Shoreline, saw Abrahams birth hospital and stopped by at Samuels pre-school.

Visiting Dana Street and San Gregorio this Thu

2009-07-09T12:16:00.007-05:00

This first day was a busy day. Managed to upload a few pictures tonight. We took 84 over the mountain to San Gregorio and stayed there 3 hours today. Then we drove back on 92. Here are some pictures.

Retrotrip to our old park.

Touchdown San Diego

2009-07-08T20:56:00.003-05:00

Just touched down in San Diego and the sun is shining and the weather is nice. We will continue to San Jose in a small jet soon. I can't wait to set foot in Silicon Valley again and Abraham is looking forward to coming 'home'.

Vacation plans

2009-06-28T19:51:00.004-05:00

It's funny how it seems to be difficult to plan for vacation. Now I'm almost at the end of June and until yesterday I didn't have a thought or plan for vacation. But today we decided to sit down and take care of business Using frequent flyer miles we booked a week in Silicon Valley in July, a week in Minnesota in August and a week in McKinney in September.

Yesterday Charlie had his birthday (adoption day) and we celebrated with steaks and gyros. Molly who was visiting stayed the night for a sleep over. Here are the two chilling out on the tiles!

A world for the few

2009-06-21T14:57:00.006-05:00

The rules we have created in our society was only created by the few, for the few. The symptoms repeats itself over and over again in everything and proves itself in that no one has yet been truly rewarded by the system without sacrificing the poor and honest. (Becoming a billionaire is a systematic reward in this context)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Israel_III
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Stanford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff

An interesting side effect is that many successful people write books about their success, often about how to profit using lucrative business models creating seemingly legal means to steal and abuse people and communities. And it's perfectly okay! It seems weird though since there are so many other bad things you are not allowed to say or do that cause much less damage to the public.

Anyway, I have surrendered to irrationality and greed. I need to start reading these books and take them seriously myself. Again, only the truly successful will be appreciated by the system.

Football season coming up....

2009-06-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's only a few months left so I've added another blog and group to host the 2009 football season. Go to friscosteelers2009.blogspot.com for more info and more links.

Graduation

2009-06-04T13:29:00.003-05:00

Today Samuel graduated from 5th grade and Ashley elementary school and next semester he starts in middle school! Abraham graduated from 3rd grade. More pictures coming later.

Beautiful Sunday

2009-05-17T22:53:00.005-05:00

Now in May for my 15th anniversary at Ericsson I received a Fujifilm Finepix J20 digital camera as a reward. Decided to try it out taking some pictures from our park today. Abraham is flying his new kite, Samuel is reading another Rick Riordan book that we picked up at Barnes and Nobles in the morning.

Vacation

2009-05-02T21:45:00.005-05:00

Where dreams come true! In 1991 me and Emma were in Orlando and Disney World for the first time. Now 18 years and 3 kids later we return! Frisco ISD schools are closed on Mon and we have planned for a short weekend vacation for a while, leaving early on Fri morning coming back on Mon night. Instead of staying at a Disney World resort we arranged with an apartment (3bd 2ba) at Cane Island. No hotel service, but with 3 kids who cares. The 3 bedrooms will beat anything! :) And now after two days of visiting we have noticed that we sleep most of the time when we're in the room.... Here are a few pictures from the first two days at Epcot Center and Animal Kingdom.

From Disney World May 1-4 2009

Six Flags

2009-03-22T14:31:00.006-05:00

Some pictures from our visit to Six Flags.

Hilton Bloomington

2009-02-15T23:36:00.003-06:00

Lunch at Pacific Rim

2009-02-12T12:06:00.008-06:00

The last 12 years me and Emma has had lunch together without the kids 3 times, once in Sweden and twice here in USA. So today was indeed a significant day as we yet again found time to entertain each other for a forth time! Pacific Rim is my favorite Asian restaurant here in north Dallas.

One of the reasons we found time to have lunch today was that I had to catch up with months worth of mail as a result of extensive traveling, so I decided to stay home today. I think the picture speaks for itself!

Sorting the mail, paying bills and getting started with my tax return took until 5pm this afternoon and it's still not fully organized. I wish there was an easy way to save more trees.... On Sun evening I leave again, to Minneapolis.

Home sweet home Dallas

2009-02-07T17:24:00.003-06:00

My American Airlines flight back to Dallas took an unexpected turn this Sat morning when my first leg to London was canceled. But after standing in line for a while I was given a new set of tickets with SAS/United Airlines via Chicago to Dallas. I made it home just in time for the sunset. The picture below is from Dallas.

Farewell Linköping

2009-02-06T11:59:00.005-06:00

Eventually I show up at a picture too! On this Thu evening friends from the office meet up for a last dinner and a farewell party before I return to the USA. Dinner at Yogi followed by coffee and dessert at Coffeehouse by George. The picture is taken with a Canon 350D which probably explains the sudden improvement in quality. I've included some more pictures taken on Fri morning to show what kind of weather it was in Linköping. I'm not the photographer though....

Recommendations when in Linköping

2009-01-27T12:51:00.006-06:00

For the record I'm making this short list of restaurants that I have enjoyed in Linköping lately:

Sukothai/Nangs Kitchen charming family restaurant serving great classic Thai cusine that I enjoy every time. Their menu also offers some more authentic Thai dishes that you don't always find at mainstream Thai restaurants. This is a tiny restaurant with great food.

Yogi Indian Restaurant is an excellent place to eat at. Lots of servers feels like luxury when you've been in Sweden for a while. But not only is the service good, but the food is simply excellent and just as good as any of your favourite Indian restaurants in London.

Bishops Arms is one of the most popular pubs in Linköping and so it is very crowded most days of the week. But not only is this a great pub to hang out at after work, but this place has a kitchen that is worth visiting on it's own. Superb dishes I've had here include the Fish And Chips, the Bishops Toast, Wallenbergare and Bishops Special.

Kikkobar is a Thai & Sushi fusion restaurant that I have been to three times. This restaurant is warm and welcoming and has private booth seating so you don't have to feel stressed when enjoying your dinner. The food it's mostly ok and it will satisfy your Asian cravings without standing out. But on the bad side are a few things to stay away from, like their $4.50 1/3 cup Miso soup which is the worst Miso soup I have ever tasted, and since I normally love Miso soup that's quite a turnoff. The peanut sauce served with their Chicken skewers lacks both peanut flavours and sweetness (i.e. tasteless brown sauce). The Tempura is served pre wet rather than with a bowl of broth on the side to dip it in, and that is just plain stupid. The Bento box comes without soy tray, and when I asked for one I was told they didn't have any but offered to poor soy over the ginger to create a soy ginger mud pond... So, you go figure. But despite some fundamental short comings in their attempt to be a Sushi/Thai restaurant the service is at least reasonable (polite and responsive) for the limited staff available.

Restaurant Stångågrillen in Linköping

2009-01-21T12:08:00.004-06:00

Possibly the Best Hamburger in Sweden!! It's not the first time I find my way down to this little diamond for a late evening snack. Juicy handbeat and seasoned patties on a tasty bun with a classic hamburger dressing, lettuce, onion and tomato topped with your choice of twist (taco, gorgonzola, feta cheese, bacon, pineapple and many other). Perfect fries every time and a varity selection of side orders, here served with extra dressing and gorgonzola (ädelost). It doesn't get much better than this! Yummy.

Tooth chipping

2009-01-17T17:14:00.006-06:00

Three hours before I leave to the airport Abraham manage to slam his front teeth into the media table while playing the XBox360, shortening both teeth by about 2mm. But I managed to get him fixed up within the hour thanks to a seemingly infinity supply of doctors and dentists (google:"emergency dentist mckinney"). When lost, google!

From one side to the other

2009-01-16T13:02:00.005-06:00

Visiting Scottsdale, AZ again this week in business and I'm enjoying 22C/72F dessert weather. If there is one thing that struck me during this trip it's got to be the clear sky. The city and the surrounding mountains appears with remarkable vibrant colors and when I was driving 202 back to the airport it almost felt I was watching a painted version of the city. Visibility is also amazing and I can clearly picture mountains that must be 100 miles away. I stayed at Holiday Inn in Mesa. The hotel rooms had recently been fully renovated and I enjoyed one of the cleanest rooms I've ever stayed at in Mesa in a long time. On Sat evening I'll be heading over to the other side visiting the Swedish winter again for a few weeks. Nothing beats scraping frosty car windows early in the morning!

Media Room and XBox 360 for Christmas

2008-12-28T22:27:00.004-06:00

Finished the media room with a new piece of furniture from Ikea to hide all cables and devices. Also installed a dimmer to be able to adjust the light optimally in the room.

Some final pictures with the kids playing on the XBox 360.

And a little Christmas greeting from sunny Dallas.

Joy and hypocracy

2008-12-15T13:13:00.011-06:00

Some highlights from the stay in Linköping! One night I stopped by at Hemköp to find something good to enjoy over a movie at home and came across a frozen Cappuccino mousse from Glenn Strömberg. This is possibly the creamiest and most delicious little dessert I have ever bought at a grocery store in my entire life and it deserves my highest recommendations. Since that night I have now enjoyed 12 of these mousse cups...

The other day on the way to lunch I was reminded about how bright it can be outside as soon as the landscape is covered with a little bit of snow. Notice my cloths, my golf hat!, a rain coat given to me while sailing a sunny day in Baltimore and a pair of 12 year old gloves barely keeping it together. But I'm a happy camper anyway. And it's a good thing I have mighty hairy legs or I would probably freeze like a dog under those thin golf pants I usually wear in Scottsdale, AZ when it's 45C outside.

The pictures above show me and some colleges on the way to lunch. Lunch starts at 73:- in Sweden (almost $10) and the price is the same in Lappland as well as on the West Coast. If it wasn't the same price everywhere Riks Kuponger wouldn't work (it's a way to prepay 10 lunches at anyplace where they accept Riks Kuponger. Well, at least almost, it's the general idea). A little like rental appartments in Sweden costs the same whereever you live. I suspect the idea with same price everywhere is that all should feel equal. However, for a people who won't even drive the car two days after they had a beer (if they drive at all since most nowadays thinks driving is a cardinal crime to the nature) it is quite surprisingly to be served light beer for lunch at every place. A friend at the office actually said, I quote: "I don't eat at MacDonalds anymore since they stopped serving Lättöl". What, demanding drive-through and beer?? These Swedes are quite some hypocrites if you ask me. It is after all 1.8% alcohol in a light beer, thus a third of a regular beer.

But I should not complain because the Lättöl (light beer) has become my moment of joy every day and I don't won't them to take it away. But they will remove it if they (the government) can link light beer to a statistical invariance in traffic accidents after regular lunch hours.

Bussiness trip to Linköping Sweden

2008-12-06T16:51:00.010-06:00

Spending three weeks in Linköping now in Dec. And I can't help noticing the small things in day to day stuff that must have changed over the last 10 years. Swedes don't like cars at all and they make a point out of it if you start to ask. But riding a bicycle on frosty roads with your baby sitting on the back is ok if you wear a helmet, for saftey. Whenever I pay with a credit card I get to hear this surprised question, "what is this, a credit card?". Apparently almost nobody have a credit card in Sweden but instead pay with "bank card" using a pin code and picture id, for saftey. Flat screen TVs are common in hotel rooms, but typically smaller than 17". But with only 8 channels that doesn't matter so much, specially since 6 of them seem to be left wing social engineeing channels. I can only watch CNN and Canal+ First without becoming completely depressed about what people learn from TV. So I walk a lot instead.

But not all is bad here. Last night I went to L'Orient and saw Blues Impact play some pretty good guitar blues. And if I closed my eyes, let some of that good Export Beer fill my mouth I almost felt like I was back in the US of A again.

Average Joe here is fit indeed, that is true. But then again who wouldn't be if they took your car and your money and your TV away from you. Conclusion: poor and sick people are often skinny, now you know.

It's midnight and I have yet again to make it through a long night. For 5 nights straight I have failed to sleep. Is it because of jet lag, the swedish "fresh" air or this God damned country? You tell me.

FFL 2008 in my mind

2008-11-26T10:14:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite pictures from this season was during the individual photo session. Another team is facing Abraham in the back as he stands down for having his picture taken. The other team were, if I don't recall incorrectly, from the 12 year old league and I can't help believing I see fear in their eyes looking at 8yo Abe! :)

Bad weather in Stockholm

2008-11-22T00:19:00.003-06:00

This morning returning to the USA with the 9.10am connection over London Heathrow. But the weather is turning nasty on me as I try to get out to the Arlanda airport. Heavy snowing and poor visibility, traffic lanes closed and 4 in of wet snow on the highway. I barely made it on time.

Sooners vs Steelers

2008-10-18T15:38:00.003-05:00

Steelers up 0-14 as we go in to 3rd quarter this sunny day on Bachus! Game eventually ends 0-21 to Steelers.

4 hours of sailing

2008-10-16T17:20:00.004-05:00

Our instructor Gary was a funny old fart, teacher, lawyer, sailor. I told him that for a lawyer he was a real good guy but quite frankly he had qualities often only found in senior teachers at Universities and we all had a blast. The crew on this ship included the instructor Gary, me, Eric and Robin.

Motivational speech

2008-10-16T11:02:00.002-05:00

Motivational speaker Steve from Chicago was a treat as well, delivering common sense about team work and efficiency mixed with a lot of humor, probably partly inspired by George Carlin. We seemed to miss one or two people in the morning, but by the time we got started all showed up, yes, looking a bit tired from last nights social gathering...

Thu 6.30am leaving for breakfast

2008-10-16T05:44:00.002-05:00

It's dark and cold this morning, and I like it! I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who felt a bit tired this morning....

Everybody will attempt to get on this bus for transportation to breakfast. It hurts this time of the day...

On the bus to Baltimore!

2008-10-15T15:31:00.002-05:00

Here we are, leaving the BWI airport heading towards Cheasapeak!

Only in America

2008-10-05T20:25:00.003-05:00

Today at noon our dog Charlie graduated from PetSmart! I'm not going to go through his curriculum but instead just post some pictures.

Bulldogs vs Steelers 12-20

2008-10-04T16:30:00.003-05:00

This beautiful Sun, slightly windy but with a clear sky and in the mid eigthies, Steelers met Bulldogs at the Warren Sport Complex, field two. And Steelers dominated with a very strong defense and with a reliable offensive line. After taking the lead early with 6+2 (pass play for extra 2 point) we kept the lead throughout the game. Below are some action photos, but especially have a closer look at the first picture with no 7 Abraham mid air chasing the Bulldogs running back and with a promise from dad to buy a Wii if he would tackle him.

Steelers vs Jets

2008-09-27T18:36:00.001-05:00

This sunny Saturday we played against the Jets at 3pm. Even though we fumbled the ball too many times, gave away a touchdown during a kick play and had a few other annoying mistakes, today we crushed the other team. The final score ended at 19-7 to Steelers. Abraham got a chance to fill the defense line a couple of plays and did good there too breaking though every run. But in his tackle position he dominated more than usual. It was beautiful and exciting and I almost didn't find time to take any pictures! But here are a few.

Ericsson T28 World

2008-09-13T22:25:00.002-05:00

Last evening I met this dude who was still using an Ericsson T28 World phone! I found it so exciting I had to take picture.

Media Room Operational

2008-09-11T22:31:00.001-05:00

Tonight I hooked the projector up. Yeah! But unfortunately I put the projector about 1ft too far back, because I wasn't able to completely reduce the picture size to fit it on the screen...

Home Theater Project

2008-09-10T23:27:00.004-05:00

I started a home theater project two weeks ago, painting and fixing and installing a YAMAHA YHT-390BL receiver and speaker system. Tonight I finished the most risky part of the project when I installed 35ft component and HDMI cables from the media projector to the lower part of the front wall. The attic space in this house, access to the media room and space over the media room, was very sparse... I barely made it, but two hours of work eventually paid of. Tomorrow should the Mitsubishi projector arrive with UPS! Here are my new connectors/wall plates and the corner of my 88in (220cm) cinema screen.

Fun stuff

2008-08-31T19:40:00.007-05:00

Even though I thought the stock Mustang GT performed pretty well with it's 300hp I eventually couldn't resist to make it even more fun. Last week I ordered an Airaid cool air intake and a Diablo Sport tuner/programmer (combo package from Concourse Direct in CA) and installed it on Fri. I took the MVT out of the intake to maximize the airflow and tuned it with the AirAid Firm Shift custom tune for 93 premium gas, no other modifications. And what's the result? At lower speeds and with little throttle it's really no difference except from the firm shift that reminds you that something is coming. At medium throttle and at rpms around 1800-2800rpm a distict increase in torque is noticable as well as a new roar that gently builds up, with a distinct deep baritone resonance. At top gear and 2300rpm going 80mph that torque really makes a difference as I now gently can increase the throttle and pass cars in a swift without forcing a kickdown. But the real difference is at 3500rpm-5500rpm at full throttle. The roaring from the intake is remarkably powerful and goes well with the added torque/hp that now creates squeky shifts even from 3rd gear. Overall I'm very happy with the result. Here are two pictures after the installation. It's a HUGE intake!

Abrahams haircut

2008-08-04T23:07:00.004-05:00

I've been cutting the hair of myself and our kids for as long as I can remember. But the last year we've let both Abraham and Samuel grow their hair really long. Tonight was however the end of that as we have to start getting him ready for football season. Here are the before and after pictures... Enjoy.

Puppy

2008-07-04T20:53:00.004-05:00

After almost a year of negotiation and nagging I eventually gave in to Abrahams wish to buy a puppy. We were browsing dogs yet again at SPCA when I saw this dog that seemed to have a personality that I can appreciate (read: intelligence). Without further negotiation with Emma (I'm sure she would have objected) I just decided to buy it, not only to silence Abraham, but also to give the kids a chance to develop their empathic skills. A roughly 2-4 month old Sheppard/Lab mix, that we now have had for a week. The fact that it is a German Sheppard has some universal coincidental value, as I now just realized that as a 4 year old I was seconds away from being killed by one. Anyway, Abraham decided our new dog Charlie. And he's very adorable, intelligent and submissive. The first 4 days were however VERY frustrating as the dog suffered from both a severe cold and aggressive diarrhea and had to go potty every 2 hours, atleast... Charlie was also not potty trained so we've had a few accidents. A rough start with little to no sleep for me.... (not exactly what I had had in mind), but about on day 6 it all started to turn around as his stomach seems to be good again. He still suffers from a bit of sneezing and coughing, but much less than in the beginning. (Picked up two antibiotics yesterday and they are starting to show result). Considering the rough start I'm very impressed with the progress of just about everything about Charlie. He has indeed already showed signs of intelligence, just as I suspected, and has already become a family member. Here are a few pictures.

Elvis Lives

2008-06-12T16:18:00.003-05:00

Visitors from Sweden and a trip to Graceland. Rented a Infinity G35 plus our Durango and headed east towards Memphis the seven of us. Lucky seven? Who knows. Stayed two nights at Embassy Suites and made a whole day tour to Graceland on Tuesday. Also took the time to add another great restaurant to my resume, Corkys BBQ. Here are some pictures from the tour.

Plano Swim Meet

2008-05-31T22:23:00.004-05:00

Today Samuel attended his 2nd Swim Meet. We were there for 6 hours and he was swimming 5 events, 100m IM, 50m freestyle, 50m back stroke, 100m breast stroke and 50m butterfly. Compiled a little video clip with Windows Movie Maker after converting the .MOV files to AVI. Videos shot with basic video function in a digital camera and quality is maybe not the best. See the clip here. Tomorrow morning it continues at 8am!

Upgrade

2008-05-03T22:58:00.004-05:00

Today I did what every man has to do sooner or later... bought a Mustang GT Convertible. I feel atleast 20 years younger again!

Dallas Zoo

2008-04-20T20:40:00.006-05:00

Abrahams genuine interest for animals took *the boys* on another tour to the Dallas Zoo today.

Giants vs Red Sox and a loss 0-1

2008-04-19T20:58:00.003-05:00

Abrahams baseball *The Giants* team haven't had a great lot of luck with the weather this year. Many games have rained out... But today the sun is shining again this beautiful Sat morning when we're playing the Red Sox on Warren.

Samuels first Swimathon

2008-04-05T20:33:00.010-05:00

Samuel joined Frisco Aquatics 2 months ago and have been practicing 3-4 times a week since then. This Sat the team was raising money in a Swim-athon with the attempt to swim 200 x 25 meter in less than 2 hours. We left home early this morning arriving at the Lewisville Natatorium only to find out that we were an hour early. But head coach Jennifer let Samuel join the bigger guys warm up and drilled him for 45 minutes before the main event. At 10am the Swim-athon started and Samuel would swim constantly for 2 hours making an astonishing 185 laps (4.6km) which I think was the winning score in his lane of 7 kids. At 25c a lap that means he had raised $46.25 for his team (and the old man is going to have to cough that up next week). The pictures below do not really illustrate the incredible effort Samuel endured today. Afterwards he was soar and hungry and I gave him a quick fix at On The Border on the way home! :)

26-0 to Steelers this wonderful day. Steelers vs Dolphins

2007-10-13T20:02:00.001-05:00

Nothing like being a winner! Our defense kept the Dophins
struggling to move their 1st downs. Our offense demonstrated
strength and speed as they scored one touch down after the
other. It was a spectacular show! GO STEELERS!!

Steelers vs Sooners

2007-10-06T19:58:00.001-05:00

Another close call.... but yet a loss.
But now we're scoring good every game.

Steelers vs Bruins

2007-09-29T19:51:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure it's the football or the weather that keeps Lily happy! :)

Even game Steelers vs Eagles, 3rd game

2007-09-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

On Sat Steelers played the Eagles in a tough even game where our team scored 4 touchdowns out of 9. The game ended 32-26. Most importantly we broke the 0 and everybody have started believing victory is around the corner. Next Sat we're playing Bruins and then it will happen. Abraham did really good this game not letting anyone through and it was his turn to be rewarded MVP (Most Valued Player) at the end of the game. See the picture below where the couch gives him the medal.

Live from the game with my cellphone

2007-09-22T13:55:00.001-05:00

3rd game Steelers vs Eagles, live with cellphone

2007-09-22T12:41:00.001-05:00

Group photo at Frisco High

2007-09-22T12:39:00.001-05:00