A new telephone!

My previous telephone broke down, which meant that I had to get a new one. Buying a new telephone is a serious matter; you'll have to consider all the possible options well before making a decision. Why? Because your phone is your constant companion these days, and if you're stuck with a model you don't like, it makes your everyday life a lot more difficult every day.

For instance, if the logic of different functions in your new phone is incomprehensible to you, it's nerve wrecking to always face the same problem: Where do I find..? How do I ..? In comparison, if all the functions and applications you need are easily found and used, your life with your phone is easy, effortless, comfortable. Especially people like me (who are not particularly fond of technology, we just want gadgets to work!) can't stand situations where we have to spend time and, through trial and error, find the means to use the alarm clock, delete a name from your address book, add a new application, find a good ringtone etc.

This story has a happy end. I was able to find a new phone that seems to meet all my demands, and is understandable to me. It's also good-looking, the size is suitable for me, and it wasn't terribly expensive either. I've had this new phone for a couple of weeks now, and I can say that I'm compeletely satisfied. I have a feeling that this will be "the beginning of a beautiful friendship"....

I believe, therefore it's true

During the last few days I've given a lot of thought about the powerful effect of our minds. I mean, it is a known fact that if we believe something to be true, it is true to us. The placebo effect is surprisingly strong  with different kinds of medication, and I just read somewhere that the same effect has been found in for instance knee operations!

Our daughter was infected with stomach flu on Friday, and since it's very contagious, the rest of the family has been afraid of catching the same virus. We've been washing our hands and using hand sanitizing lotion fiercely, but still we've been dreading for the unpleasant virus to strike at any moment. I've noticed the placebo effect in myself: since I am aware that this virus is difficult to avoid, I've felt nauseous all weekend even though I've actually been healthy. It must be my mind that is playing tricks with me, and since I believe that I'm just about to start throwing up, I feel exactly like that. Thank goodness it seems that our daughter is on the mend, which will probably mean that also I'll get rid of this icky feeling!

Shopping online

I like new clothes, shoes and jewellery as much as the next girl, but I can't stand going shopping. I hate going to the shops, because when I go shopping I usually end up feeling tired, hot, hungry and upset after spending an entire day running from one place to the next feeling tired, hot and hungry, queueing to fitting rooms and finding out that I didn't find anything useful after all. Besides, the mirrors and lights in the fitting rooms make you look absolutely dreadful! Anyone I've ever talked to say the same thing: when you're in the fitting room looking yourself in the mirror, you feel so depressed and shocked ("Is this really what I look like?!")  that you wouldn't want to show your face anywhere in public again! At least for me this kind of feeling doesn't inspire buying more clothes. Quite the opposite; it just makes me feel like quitting shopping and going home.

Online shopping is definitely for me. I like to leaf through brochures or surf on the Internet, and then place my order in the comfort of my own home. Also waiting for the package to arrive is a nice thrill, and I find it nice that I can try on new clothes at home. I've also purchased other things via the Internet than just clothes; tickets to concerts and to the cinema, jewellery, bed clothes, tablewear, carpets, curtains, and even cloth diapers for the kids when they were smaller. Just a few weeks ago I bought tickets to the Sagrada Família in advance, and it's good that I did! The queues outside La Sagrada Família were enormous, and had we not had tickets, it would have taken us many hours to get inside the church. Now it took for about twenty minutes to get through the gates, thanks to the ticktes I had bought online.

Refreshing winter holiday!

Last week we had our winter holiday, and we went to Barcelona. As I expected, the weather was better and warmer than in Finland, but actually not terribly warm, yet. Sunglasses were useful, but so was a warm coat as well, since it was quite windy when we were there. The windy weather didn't bother us, though; there was so much to see and do there.

La Sagrada Família was even more gorgeous than I had expected. The basilica is pretty amazing on the outside, but the interior is absolutely breathtaking! Also La Ramblas(s) is very charming, and the market hall La Boqueria sells all kinds of things fresh, and all the items are laid very beautifully and invitingly. If you visit La Boqueria hungry, you will probably feel like buying everything you see there!

On our way back in the airplane, I thought of what kinds of tips I could give to people travelling abroad. One thing that instantly came to mind was that if it's possible, you should always buy tickets for tourist attractions in advance. Fortunately, we had purchased online tickets both to La Sagrada Família and to the Picasso Museum, and it was difinitely worth it! We saved a huge amount of time (and nerves) when we didn't have to queue for hours and hours.

Secondly: if it's possible, try to walk to places as much as possible. In my opinion, you see much more when you go to places on foot instead of using public transport or a taxi. And thirdly: if you intend to walk a lot, make sure you're wearing comfortable shoes!

Gold for Finland!

Finland had a great day in the Sochi Winter Olympics on Wednesday when we got two medals on the same day! For a small country like Finland that kind of thing doesn't happen all the time; in fact, hardly ever. This time, however, both men and women got medals from cross-country skiing; women got silver and men gold!

It was great to hear the Finnish national anthem, Maamme, after a long period of time, and it was wonderful to see the joy in the athletes. Even though the extensive use of doping has -unfortunately- cast a permanent shadow on sports, it still is rousing to be involved in a major sporting event such as the Olympics. The spectators really feel involved, and the excitement is often very intense indeed. I guess those are the fundamental things in sports; to compete, to support, to feel excited, to feel exhilarated or to be really disappointed.

Today there is an exciting day for us Finns again, when the Finnish ice hockey team, Leijonat, is fighting against Sweden. The stakes are high: the winner gets to compete for the gold medal, whereas the loser will fight for positions three and four. Actually, the game is about to start as we speak, and if I hurry up, I just might catch a glimpse of the 3rd period when I get home...