Tuesday 17 October 2000

Pic of the day: Slippers! Well, more like house shoes actually; but they both go under the same name in Norwegian.

Slippers, soup & stuff

I clocked out from work a bit earlier than usual (but well after closing time) to go buy the house shoes. It was either that or start turning on the heat cables in the floor. The room is actually warm enough, only the floor is uncomfortably cold. This is a ground floor - actually, more like a cellar. The floor is resting directly on the ground, and at this time of the year the ground is getting cold. But the daylight and the fridge is still enough to heat the room much of the day. (And when that's not enough, I can always play The Sims and make the portable radiate heat aplenty.)

I found pretty much exactly the shoes I wanted, and not too expensive. Kr 399, just over $40. The only downside was that even the largest size (46) is just a bit tight. It doesn't exactly hurt, but they hug my feet very tightly.

On my way from the shoes shop to the grocery, I was stopped by a guy with really huge glasses who wanted to talk to me about the Bible. Yes, it was one of Jehovahs Witnesses. I don't see them too often, so I took some time to talk with him. (You may remember that during the Easter, my appointment with two of them was foiled by minor illness on my part.) This one wasn't nearly as bright, and had a certain brain-washed aura about him. But at least he wasn't a total zombie. He could answer questions that were not in his preformatted speech. That is always good. But "blind faith" is a pretty good description, yes.

I honestly am curious about these people. They - or their founding fathers - have obviously read the Bible without the usual theology. They have arrived at some rather obvious results that most churches don't like to mention, and taken the opposite side in some spots where the Bible cheerfully contradicts itself. (For instance, the Earth is going to last forever and is also going to be burnt and replaced with a new one. Does it really matter, unless you happen to be on it right then?)

But how come that so many of Jehovahs Witnesses act scaringly like zombies? Does the doctrine attract people who are allergic to common sense, or is something done to them after they join? And if so, why is there one now and again that seems to think for himself?

***

Since I spent an hour with the Witness, I had to just beeline for the bus rather than stop to buy milk and yoghurt. So I had very little milk left this afternoon, and no yoghurt. In the evening, I started to feel a little peckish, so I cooked a liter of fruit soup. (Perhaps I've been influenced by the online comic Soup?) Anyway, tasting it I found that I was more thirsty than hungry, so I found a drinking straw and put into the soup. Shortly thereafter, I had drunk nearly one liter of fruit soup. Oh, this can not be healthy. At least most of the actual fruit is left.

Score one for gluttony. And now I can feel the sloth coming...

***

You people remember that the crown prince (heir to the throne) of Norway has this live-in girlfriend here from Kristiansand? Much to the worry of the bishops, who'd like to continue to condemn the whole cohabitation thing that's gradually replacing formal marriages around the western world. (They should start to speak up against capitalism instead, if they are so worried. The fission of the nuclear family is a natural transition in the ever increased mobility of the workforce, which is egged on by the economic incentives inherent in the system. But get a priest to speak up against Mammon? You try it.)

Anyway, yesterday the royal staff held a press conference, in which crown prince Haakon Magnus in the vaguest of terms hinted that he would probably formally engage in a betrothal with Mette-Marit, the live-in, sometime in the unspecified future. This of course filled the front pages of the major newspapers all over the country today. And much of the news broadcasts too. (Though we did get a direct report from the end of the Middle East summit.) If the two of them actually get engaged, please postpone any world wars, as there will be no room in our newspapers for the next few weeks.

Actually, I think it sounds fun to get engaged. Or betrothed, as I think would be the right word for royalty and saints. For years I have held the opinion that it would be fun to try, as long as it did not bring any new responsibilities. Sadly, it seems to not be possible without mushy stuff. You know, kissing and stuff. Blech. :)