Please be aware that each person has their own favorite food.

Today was the last day of my vacation, as in days off from work. I have the weekend off anyway, so I am not expected back until Monday. Even so, the ocean of time that lay before me at the beginning of the month has been emptied by the teaspoon of my hobbies.

I took a trip to the city again. Outside rush hours the bus is mostly empty, so there is much less risk of people coughing and sneezing at me. But before I got that far, the doorbell rang. This is strange for two reasons: One, as far as anyone knows who does not read my journal, I would have been at work. Two, I was not sleeping or using the bathroom when the doorbell rang. It turned out to be the chimney sweep (or the modern equivalent thereof, in case the English language has moved on since the age of Dickens.) I was surprised to see him, and he was surprised that I was surprised. He had left a note in my (physical) mailbox, so he expected to be expected. I had either not fetched my mail yesterday, or he had put the note in after I fetched it, I don’t know. Anyway, he wandered off without sweeping the chimney this year either, since I use electricity for heating except for getting rid of cardboard and milk cartons and used tissues (of which there are probably less than most of you imagine, luckily).

Thanks the this sudden interruption, I ran off without my cell phone and umbrella. I had originally planned to make a trip to the Mothhouse, seeing how this was the last chance to see it in daylight until I move there. (Well, I could go really early on Saturday morning, otherwise there are no buses going back. Well, unless I walk an hour or two again. The bus routes over Møll are squarely composed for the commuters, there are nearly no buses at any other time of day, much less night.) Anyway, as usual when I plan to go there, it didn’t happen. This time because I don’t want to go on any 6 hours adventure without my mobile phone. Or an umbrella, in the unstable weather we’ve had this week. It turned out I did not need it, but still.

The trip to the city was not all in vain, though. I knew of a shop selling sheets, pillows, duvets and similar stuff. I am running low on those, so I wanted to buy a little more. I am actually not sure this is the best time to buy anything that I already have above zero of, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. On my way there, however, I suddenly looked to the left and noticed another shop selling the same kind of stuff. And they had bed sets ridiculously cheap, like a quarter of normal price. So I bought a couple there instead. The shop is called Tornerose, which I believe roughly corresponds to your fairy tale of the Sleeping Beauty.

I also stopped by the office of the bus company and was told that I could upgrade my bus card, for less than a doubling of the price, to one that is valid for travels throughout the province of Vest-Agder. This should allow me to travel from Nodeland to Kristiansand in the morning, then to Møll after work, back to Kristiansand in the evening, and finally to Nodeland again for the night. I hope to do this pretty much every workday until I move, bringing with me various stuff from my old home to my new home. It probably won’t have much effect on the time and cost of the actual moving – there is just so much stuff, and so much big stuff – but it should cause me to gradually shift my attachment from the old home to the new. Getting used to thinking of the Mothhouse as home (for a while) and getting used to the fact that I am moving out of here.

Well, it worked last time. Except when I should finally move in, I couldn’t. Hopefully it will go better this time. Moving house is a stressful event even when it is voluntary. I read that it shaves 6 months off your life, although I am not sure it is that much when you are as relaxed regarding your material possessions as I am. Compared to the average American, of course. I am not exactly ready to leave it all and pass on, you know. At least I don’t feel that way.

In the evening I made the best meal in my life, I think. At least so far, but I am not sure I will ever be able to surpass it. Of course, that is the best meal for me, other people’s tastes will vary. My favorite meal is stir-fried pasta. I admit that does not sound like much, but over time I have experimented with a variety of pasta types, cheeses, herbs and other ingredients. Well, the details don’t need to bother you – you have your own favorite foods, I have mine. And for some reason, I got it just right. I was sure I had added too much basil this time, but in the end it worked out perfectly.

So that was a great end to my vacation at least! Now it is a year till next time, I guess, if ever. (For most of the years I can remember, I did not actually take vacation, except for a couple days now and then to visit my friend. I needed most as sick days. This only ended a very few years ago, seemingly at the time we got our new time registration software in which we keep track of our time ourselves without reporting through a middleman. Hmm. Of course it could have other reasons as well.)

Well, this entry has gone on long enough. Bye now!