Christmas gifts (for myself)

I have just bought six new DVD's of Classic Who for myself. I have still quite a lot to go until I have them all (that are in DVD form). Due to the loss of the episodes there are no season sets that can be bought. Well there is only one season (season 16) that can be bought as a whole. But other classic seasons are in bits linked with the story. This means that watching them in the order of release might not be possible. I might by another gift for myself later, but now I had to jump at the change to get some of the cheaper episodes. Yay!

Galaxy Nexus problems

I have been having problems with my phone lately and I have had to search internet for information on how to fix them. I do not have a phone from any operator, so they cannot help be fix it per se. Also I have had my phone for almost 1,5 years, which means that the guarantee is closed (it was for one year). How am I not surprised that once the guarantee closes the phone starts to break. 

So first problem that I have had for few weeks now maybe closer to month is that one of my chargers (which I use with PC) is not working with my Nexus. It works fine with other phone. So I have had to change the cord; luckily I have three of them. Continuing on this problem few weeks back my phone started to show that it is still charging while it actually was not charging. I had to take my screensaver away as it ate my battery. I have noticed that the phone does still keep coming alive showing my slide to unlock screen; sometimes it comes alive every minute and sometimes once in a while. Don't know what is causing this. 

Second problem is that when I reboot my phone it eats a  lot of battery. I have seen once that it went from about 50% to 11% and I had to recharge it again. Then when I went to see the report [on Battery app] it showed that once I had hooked it up it went up to 50% and continued to charge from there. I was out and about yesterday and my phone went from 100% charged to 0% in about 3,5 hours. The discharging is most likely caused by the first problem or some background process. Online I have found in few places that the reason might be a hardware problem and that you cannot fix it yourself. Some say that you can fix this with an app. Others say that it is because of the mini-usb thingy is a bit loose and you can FIY with a knife. I have tried to jimmy the little tongue up a bit, but it has not brought a definite fix. Maybe slowed down a bit the blinking. So still an ongoing process.

Third problem is that sometimes when I close my phone (shut it down I mean) it restarts by itself. There is no way the phone should be doing this, but somehow it is. I have fixed this by taking the battery out and putting it back in. So my conclusion is that there has been a background process that has forced the phone to open up again. 

Fourth problem is that the phone stays unresponsive. This can happen if I am using the phone or when it has been idle for awhile. The start/close button is useless in these cases and I have to take the battery out to be able to use the phone again. Sometimes it takes time when it has been in idle mode to wake up and even my computer does not recognize the phone. For this I read that someone who had had the same problem had to choose the screen brightness not to be automatic. Something in the automatic process jams the phone. So I have not chosen the half bright option. Lets see if that helps at all.

Fifth problem is that the top area (where the camera is) warms up occasionally. I am not quite sure what causes it. It might be that it is because of the first problem i.e. the flickering screen. Which my phone just started to do again. This time twice a minute. Well almost twice a minute. Just blinking. Oh, now it stopped, no it didn't. Well anyway I think that blinking takes so much energy that it heats up the phone. Usually if I watch something or have been talking with someone for a long time the phone heats up, but it is more that the whole phone is warm. Now only the top part of the phone is warm. *Gosh! Stop blinking already*

Maybe sixth problem. This actually is most likely a problem with the operator and not with the phone. I tried to call my sister and the phone did not carry any voice over to me. My sister however heard me loud and clear. I tried my other phone where I have my finnish connection at the moment, and it did not work with the Wind connection. Bummer. It did work on my work phone, but the same problem still stayed.

So it seems that I might need to buy a new phone. I had hoped that I could use my other phone, but as the Wind connection is not able to use it that option is out. I am just thinking what kind of a phone should I get. I am not happy that the phone only lasted this little while. I am used to keeping my phones for years and not changing them after a year. Oh, well it is a smart phone so I can't expect them to last long. The only thing is that if the phone dies, and I start using my work phone as a backup, then I am not able to use WhatsApp or Line. Annoying to have phone problems. 

The Day of the Doctor 2D, second viewing

I watched the 50th anniversary show again just a moments ago online (legally). I have to say that to me the second time around was much better. Although I missed the goofs in the beginning of the movie, as they were not shown now, the show itself seemed to be much entertaining. I think I might need to see it the third time soon (if I haven't gone over my 10 G limit for this month) as I was not able to get enough. I am glad I watched it again, as now few of the words I missed the first time due to clapping and cheers from the audience, I hear them clearly. I was very proud of myself that I did not wake up my landlord and her family, as it is indeed in middle of the night as I am writing this. I will postdate this another day, so that my blog won't be filled with posts everyday. 

Anyway, still missed Eccleston. I think it would not have harmed him anyway to be in this. I did see him in Thor, so now I can try to combine these two movies. I also confirm few mishaps or cuts in the movie. No-one is perfect right! It is an annoying when you see something big go wrong as it does break the magic a bit. Luckily there was no big mistakes in this one. I refuse to say there are any big mistakes. Anyhow, I strike the earlier comment that the episode was not perfect and that it was slow at times. I say it is good. It is all good! I can't wait till the Christmas episode comes out!  

The difficulty of writing a blog post

It is easy to write when you have certain topic in front of you. But as I usually write something that happens to me or what I have done, writing is a bit more dreadful. As you can see from the blog I have started to write about things that I have an opinion on. Just random stuff that I have seen somewhere and instead of talking about it there, I have decided to use my blog. Just because when you write something on a forum there is usually someone who does not agree with you, and then attacks your comment. I am not trying to convey others that I am right, I am just writing what I think. There is a big difference there. It would be really easy, if I would be provided a list of topics of which to write. That would be so superb. 

Death: what is your reaction to it?

I know how I react to it. To my surprise not many have actually thought about it. Some how the nowadays way of living lets people think that death is not a part of it. It is so funny! Really people! Wake up! Death is as natural as giving birth. We are all going to die at some point. Some of us will die by their own hand, some by accident, some of disease and others by old age. I am lucky to have seen people die of old age, with some disease with them, but ultimately the reason has been the old age. I have also seen people die because of some disease, usually cancer, and being bed ridden for many months before dying. I have also seen dead people, as in my religion it is custom that the casket is open during funeral. 

I have followed couple of discussion lately and they have this fear of death part of it. Mainly I blame the current society for it. People are not spending time with their elderly, and have "forgotten" that getting old and dying is part of life. In US there is this trend that people go to have some nip tuck when they feel they are getting old. I remember the many talks that I had with my grandmother about what she wanted to do before dying and what her funeral should be like. Unfortunately she did not write those down, and I was not listened to, so her funeral was not what she wanted. Basically I already know that if I want to have certain type of funeral I need to write very specific instructions and have them allocated to a person who can follow through. 

These discussions and the fact that I have visited my grandparents regularly has kept my feet in the ground and I am very well aware what awaits me when I get old. Well how about a sudden accident or disease? Those are something that people can't that well be prepared for. I might be a bit different as I have already from very early on been able to imagine myself and my family members in situations like these. They are not pleasant things to be thinking about, but my imagination has kept me very well prepared. So if a family member or a friend would suddenly die for some reason, I would not be shocked. If I would get the news that I would die soon, I would not be shocked. I just hope that it won't happen, but most likely before I die I will have attended to a funeral or two. 

I know that most people do have this healthy reaction and awareness of death, but since it has been made to be this big tabu, people are not talking about it. I have talked about it with my Aunt and she has told me that her then husband was really uncomfortable with the death discussion. To us it is very important discussion that needs to be had if you are in a relationship. But it is something that if I see people are not comfortable or willing to talk about death, I will not force it. I just wish that people would be more open about it. Maybe then assisted suicide i.e. euthanasia would be more acceptable.  

The Day of the Doctor 3D

Just to be sure that I would get a good seat, I went to the theater about three hours early. Just to be sure to get a good seat. I also bought some snacks so that I would be able to sit the five hours in one place. I did not take too much to drink, as I knew I might not be able to go to the toilet as I did not want to loose my seat. I was not the first person to arrive there, nor were there a line. Surprisingly the theater had decided to not show anything else in that hall/showing room what ever, and let everybody in as they came. Good decision as now people just came in and choose the seats. Depending on the size of the group, some would go then to pick up food while others reserved the seats. So very good for them. I probably could have gone if I just had left my jacket and snacks there, but I didn't want to take the risk, that there would be some idiot changing my seat. Don't really think any proper whovian would do so, but there were newbies in the audience. I heard people say that they have started watching the series since the fourth i.e. beginning of Matt's and have not bothered to watch the earlier once "because they are not as good". So not a proper whovian. 

But to the movie itself now. OMG. Not as good as hyped, but unbelievable still. It was a bit more slow than I would have thought when it was advertised as this big war thing. Well there was a war no denying it, but it was playing the third fiddle. Second fiddle was played by the sub plot between the 10th and the Elisabeth I. Main was the three doctors or should I say two doctors and a warrior. As it has been said before that the numbering will not change, so we cannot say that Hurt would be the Doctor. He has been said to be the Warrior by eight and the war doctor by Moffat. I think I will just call him the Warrior as then there is no confusion of who we are talking about.

All doctors did get their own little snippet in the movie, cut from their original time i.e. shown as they are remembered excluding of course 10 and 11 who were there to film their own parts. So sad that Eccleston did not want to portray the ninth, as he is my favorite. At least there was the cut of him from his original time. There were certain things that were put in the movie as a commemorative to the classic seasons and the now gone companions. There was a first in this movie, but I will not say what it was. I am just glad I saw this in the theater as now I did not have to applaud by myself. Really there were more than once that everybody applauded. It was so good. Can't wait till Christmas to see the final episode of Matt and get to know the new doctor. 

Break-ups and divorces

I have no idea what is going on! So many couples that I know have broken up. There are two divorces that are going on at the moment, one separation or a "time-out" and two have broken up with their boyfriends. All this in the last six months. Weird! Two of the couples I know have children and one couple had talked about getting married before the break up. Of course I know that people break up and divorce daily, but people that I know don't usually do it at the same time. 

I am just hoping all the best for my friends and hope that their life is going to be a bit more sunny now. For some I know that the decision was a good one, as the partner was not a very trustworthy (so the break-up is because of something they did). Me and one of my friends talked about this, as her co-worker also said that they know quite many people as well who have broken up. We wondered what the hell is wrong with men, because in most cases it is how they behave that has lead to the end result. I can't say of all the break ups as I do not know the details, but so far it is not looking good for men. 

Travel check list

I got news that my flight won't happen like planned. So I okey'd the change (like I had any other choice) and got a new a later flight. So now I will be spending three hours at Atlanta airport. I could go to downtown, but I am just a little bit worried that it is not enough time. I need to go through the security check and then travel to the correct gate, also I would need to take a subway to the downtown. So I think it would take at least 1,5 hours just to do that, closer to two hours with a return trip as I would be going during the rush hour. So I would have an hour to eat somewhere and then go back. Undecided about it at the moment.

But to the check list:

Update Esta: check

Inform friend of the flight change: check

Ask about Christmas plan: not done yet

Get Christmas presents: not done yet

Buy luggage spot: not done yet

I am thinking if I should just give them money as Christmas present... I am not sure. 

Thor: The dark world

I saw it last Tuesday! Yay! Very good movie for a superhero movie. Complimented the universe that it is in very well. For those who are not so interested in it, or have just seen the first Thor, this movie might not be as good. Well those who are not interested in this, probably did not even go to see it. But if you did not see the Avengers movie, you might miss few of the jokes. For those who are following the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series, do not worry  you are not missing anything if you do not watch the movie. The "crossover" episode is not quite up to the hype if you ask me. I do like the series otherwise. 

Back to the movie in question. There were few  reasons why I decided to watch it in the theater. One being that it is an avenger movie and another being that ninth doctor is in it! Yay! So I can say I have seen the doctors from 8 to 11 on screen :)) Well the eight will be only on my laptop because it was a prequel to the movie, but anyway. 

So I am going to buy the movie when I have the chance, just because I want to have all the avenger movies. I already have the two Hulk and Ironman movies, so you see I am a bit behind. One day I will look all of them in order... 

What I find interesting: History

Here is a small video of Karelian history: http://youtu.be/eAGT6IQTB4Q

Illuminati Toronto 2013

Christmas: the budget killer

You remember how I said I had the bare minimum saved for Jan and Feb. Well...someone forgot that the Christmas presents have to be bought this month and also sent this month to make it in time. Also I need to send one Birthday present, and that I need to send within few days. Luckily I have savings so I am not worried.  Also I have my credit card that I can use next year if I need to.

Forgetting the password

Argh! I got paid today (hopefully), and I was supposed to transfer the rent and some expenses here today. But no. I know the password but apparently I am not writing it right. I tried it that many times, that the password attempt has been locked. So now I have to wait until it is Monday in Finland as the bank is closed already. Argh I tell ya!

Hope is not all lost, as if I would transfer the money now, it still would not be processed until Monday. It just annoys me so much that I cannot do it now. I totally forgot that today was payday, so once I remembered it I wanted to take care of the thing right away. Also I would have liked to check that I indeed have been paid. Not knowing is the worst. 

I am under too much stress at the moment. Going back to hit my head on the wall i.e. to work.

Picture update

Crocheting roses

Christmas is here

See, there is Santa

Elfs

Eaton Center's Christmas decoration

They are really big!

Earlier production (only been doing these for a month now)

I baked these. I took these to my friend as she was a bit ill. We put half to the freezer, so that she can offer some to the friends that come visit her later. 

Baking and visiting friends

Last night I baked two tiger cakes and two apple pies. Now before you think I was being super active, I made the same amount of dough that I normally would in Finland. The plates, the things, what ever they are called, were too small so I had to divide the dough in two to make it all. I'll upload a picture later.

Today I went to see a friend in another city with another friend. We took some food with us, as the friend we were going to meet had had some back problems and had been to hospital. So we decided to make the visit really easy for her (and her baby) by bringing our own food. 

We had a really nice day speaking Finnish the whole day :) We also made some plans for future baking and visits. If we are lucky we will be able to have a finnish baking day before Christmas :)

School worries

So today I had my class again. Today we received feedback on our papers. OMG, the teachers were so brutal at times. I tried not to listen too much when they were just saying this is not good, that is not good. I was so worried that I barely slept last night. I woke up before the alarm clock rang. Then just waited till the school started. Sat and waited. Crocheted yet another flour. 

Finally when it was my turn, I gave a pre-emptying strike! I told that I am well aware that my paper is not what it is supposed to be based on the feedback I received yesterday. Hah! In your face teachers. So they were more nice to me, because I already said I was bad. They are still worried about the size of my case company... I haven't told them yet that I will be out of work soon. 

12 years a slave

What a movie! A bit too long for my taste, but very good snapshot of slavery. Amazing actors and acting, sometimes this is not the case. In some parts, that were especially taunting, you could hear the audience shuffle. Sure signs of a good movie. I think you all have already heard of what the movie is about and who the actors are, so I am not going to write a wrong post about it. I am not a movie blogger, you see. Good movie to see in theater, but also good movie to see at home. If you are sensitive, you might want to see it at home as then you can pause the movie if needed. Definitely a must see movie.

Argh! Part very many

Just read a feedback on my thesis (it is very early version) and it is really bad. I thought I had improved on it, but apparently not. So motivation, the little I had of it, just flew out. Tomorrow in class I am supposed to listen the other two teachers ram it down too. Really don't want to go to the class. Because of that I don't want work either. It's just because at the moment the school tasks and work is just the same thing. It sucks!

Argh! I want to get rid of this work and the school! I need to find a motivation and I need to find something that will keep me in class tomorrow. Hopefully they won't ask me to speak, because I have no idea what I could say. Nay I have very good idea what I might say and it is not good. My head is exploding!

How to spend money?

Rant warning. Just watched a tv show called till debt do us part. It is about couples who do not know how to handle their money or more precisely debt. I do have to say that we are lucky in Finland with the free education, so the student loan does not rise to the amounts that were in question in the show. Still there are many ways to increase the debt like was shown in the show. 

So basically it showed the couple who had lots of debt and no plan to pay it back. They were both in good income job, but still were able live so that it was not enough. First they were asked to write down what do they think they spend money on (credit card, rent, food, utility,etc.). They got the credit card debt correct, but were wrong about the interest. They only calculated the informed amount, and did not consider the other fees to be part of it. The thing to remember is that the fees do not decrease the debt, so if you pay just the fees and interest, you will still have the same debt. They also thought they did not spent as much money in cash, while the reality was that most of their expenses was made with cash. 

Really? It just seems that people have lost the focus on how to use money. The couple in the show spent closer to six thousand dollars per month, and that includes the interest and fees for the debt but not real down payment. Then they were given the budget of 1700 dollars for a month and specific instructions on what can they use the money. They had the budget divided per week installments. So in that one month they already saved about four thousand dollars towards their debts. As a reward for doing all the tasks and following the program they got a reward of five thousand dollars toward their debt. 

Now it is difficult for me to say what to do when one has larger amount of debt like the couple had, as I only have one credit card debt with the lowest amount it can be. I think it is that because I am used to not having that much money, that I can handle my own situation. So maybe it is that when you have that kind of an income that you can just buy anything that you forget that there actually is a limit. Especially if you just trust that the other person does the calculation on what is spent and where. 

The show gave the option of using only cash for the month, and cut all the credit cards and debit card. It is a good idea, as it will stop you from using the credit cards. I don't quite understand cutting the debit card though. It is good idea to have cash for the week. Not too much cash, and it has to last for the week. What I do is that I transfer most of my income into savings account and then transfer certain amount for the week into the checking account. I also go to the store two times a week and to movies or to other amusement thing once a week. Now I am saving to have living expenses for the few first months of the next year. So far so good, I have already saved the bare minimum I need, so all the rest is just extra. Also it helps that now I don't need to calculate that much how much I spent on the xmas presents for the kids.

Work stress

Argh! It is just so stressful to work, when your boss does not answer any of your questions. I see how things are going... I send him ton of email and he only replies when he needs something. But for me to do my work properly, I would need the constant feedback from him about how things are going. But no! Nothing! I have reported him that I receive these error messages, but he does not reply or acknowledge the problem at all. 

Only thing I am thinking is that I need to survive few more months and then I'll know when my job ends. The stress is just building up now, that there is no communication between me and my boss. On top of all that I am trying to do my thesis... 

When things don't go as planned

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night for no reason. I tried to fall asleep, but it was not easy. Then of course I was not able to wake up when I was supposed to, but I slept till noon. So half of my day was ruined already. Now I have tried to do my work, but it seems that my messages are not sent out. So it feels not useful to do anything. I am also supposed to write my thesis, but at the moment there is so much work, that I am not sure I have energy for it. I was supposed to go the library early in the morning, but still I am at home. 

Argh, don't you just hate it, when things don't go as planned!

Halloween

So for Halloween I went out for a walk. Yeah, I know crazy me! I wanted to see if people would actually go out. Indeed, I was not disappointed. There were quite many children in their costumes walking around almost door to door asking for candy. Well the correct term I believe is Trick or Treat. I was surprised that not that many houses were decorated. There were a pumpkin on half of the houses (either as a lantern or a picture in the window), but really decorated ones were rare. 

Also it was quite dark to see some of the decorations, because there was no light directed at them. There was one house where they used lights to show the decorations. Also it might be that because it was a bit rainy, that many decided not to bother. I'm sorry that there will be no pictures in this post, but as I said it was quite dark. The pictures did not come out at all. 

I did not dress up when I went out. I did have my skull bag with me so I wasn't that out of character. What else halloweeny have I done.. Oh, I have eaten a ton of candy. Well not a ton, but my fare share of it. I just simply love Candy Corn (the specific kind).