Oh goody...

It's no big secret. Nor Love nor I know much about cars. In fact, I don't think we've ever even popped the hood open since we got her (not counting the one time Simon checked it).
Well, it's no bloody wonder the oil lamp suddenly lights up, huh?
Good thing I work at a gas station (and am extremely embarrassed by my low standard car knowledge). I tried messuring how much oil there was using that stick-thingy, but couldn't figure it out, so I asked my boss to come look with me. "No wonder you don't get it," he said, "because the oil would be somewhere around here," he continued while making a gesture with one hand several inches below the end of the stick.

Ooops...

And while we were looking under the hood, Love noticed another container where the contents was two centimetres below the minimum mark. Very clever of him, I must say. But what was it? Again, asked boss. Cooling liquid stuff.

Ooops...

Seriously, we shouldn't own a car. It's a wonder that piece of rusting scrap out there even runs! It has started making a weird noise from one of the back wheels when we turn hard to that side too (or was it the other side?). Bah...

Boss lent me a bag full of beginners DIY mechanics to read through. Fairly easy to understand, but it's spooking me. The more I read, the more I go "Oops, I need to do that ASAP!"
I don't want to turn another page, the way it is now. It's too scary, it's so much that has to be done in order for the car to run properly. And for what? How long will it run anyway?
And there's soooo much I need to learn!
And... fuck, engines are DIRTY! And I don't mean that the kinky way.
I cleaned the coffee machine at work today and got coffee goo all over my hands. And just stood there, looking at my dirty hands, not really recognizing them. That's how accustomed to dirt I am! I was going "oooh, look, my hands are... brown? Huh?"
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the girl who will mourn over a broken nail (unless it's a rift that goes into the flesh itself, ouch!) (and besides my nails grow fast and are strong, I never worry about them). I don't mind getting my hair wet if it rains, I don't squirm at the thought of gutting a fish (oh, maybe a little). So I probably won't have a problem with having the dirt on my hands. Unless I can't get it off afterwards, that is... icky!

Well, I'll have a closer look at the rusty piece of shit tomorrow (yes, I am a bit annoyed at the moment). Maybe it isn't that bad. And maybe I'll actually learn something from it? For instance how to remove oily stuff from my hands and do a perfect manicure afterwards?

Cruise, booze and ooops.

Wednesday was Love and I's three year "anniversary", but I was working and he was in Stavanger doing a job, so we didn't get to celebrate it. But it didn't matter, because we had gotten cheap "left-over" tickets for a Oslo-Hirtshals (Denmark) and back cruise from thursday to friday.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not a real cruise boat, it's just a fancy ferry with tax free, restaurants and a tiny swimming pool in the very bottom of the boat. And mostly families with small children going on holiday.
But it was an opportunity to have a little get-away for not that much moolah, so we grabbed the chance we got.

First I have to say we were lucky with our cabin. There's both seaside and ordinary cabins, and the ordinary ones unlocks my claustrophobia, and make me feel absolutely uncomfortable. But we got a seaside one. On deck 6, which was the highest cabin deck. Not too shabby! :)

The most exciting part of these type of trips, is of course the tax free shopping. All the booze, candy and tobacco you can ever dream of. Except I don't smoke, and don't drink much alcohol either. We grabbed a cognac for Love's parents and a tiny Bailey's bottle for me, and that was all of the sinful stuff we bought.
But the candy... oh goodness! First off, it's a lot. Like, a. lot. of. candy. in. jumbo. packages. It's the candy dreamland of any child. Our equivalent of the Harry Potter world's Honeydukes.
And it doesn't go very well with my no-candy policy either.
But we behaved ourselves and didn't splurge like we might have done. We bough Haribo winegum (my favorite!) to take home, and a couple of chocolate bars to eat while on the boat, and that was it.
No perfume and no make up either. Well, perfume wasn't such a big surprise, as I have three different kinds I alternate between, and I don't need another one. Make up? I dunno... I didn't see anything that struck my fancy. I'm not a make up girl. Sure, I know what to do with eye shadows and mascaras, but show me a tube of foundation or some fancy lotion, and I'll blank out completely. I've never gotten used to using foundation, I keep thinking that if I leave my skin alone, it won't get back at me for something I did. Sure, I use lotions, but I don't smear goo on my face unless I have to.

A fun thing happened when we were almost out of the Oslofjord. A P&O cruise ship (a real cruise ship *lol*) sailed past us, and this was around... eleven at night, so it was dusk outside. All of a sudden several blitzes went off behind the P&O windows. WTF? Love and I joked about it being the Posh People taking our picture to show their Posh Friends how Poor People do cruises. Well, probably was anyway!

We arrived Hirtshals the next morning around 8.30, after having a lovely breakfast in the buffet restaurant. Good thing we did! Let me explain... The ship would sail back again at 10, so we had a little over an hour to walk into town and have a look. And we decided to go for an ice cream, because it was sunny and absolutely gorgeous out. Well, the kiosk didn't accept visa, so we sniffed out an ATM and tried to get some cash. But only got a message saying that the card had reached its max limit for use that day. WTF? We hadn't used it all day! It was only around 9 still. So, feeling slightly panicky, Love phoned his bank. Oh. Shit. There was no more cash! We were skint! Fuuuuuck!!! So, OK, what did that mean? We had already eaten a great breakfast, so that would last us a couple of hours (me thanking my lucky stars we actually had had that breakfast), but we couldn't live off winegum for an entire day! I mean, I love winegum, but you know there's a limit to how much winegum one can eat before it swells in ones tummy and makes one want to puke ones guts out. So... Besides food, we were actually good, but no food and nothing to drink all day? Bah... Well, I did what I had to do. While cringing at the embarassement of it. Called my mum. Explained the situation and how effing off guard it had caught us, 'cause Love was sure he had enough cash on it. I asked him to check before we left home, but he was so sure... I had that gut feeling I sometimes get when I just... sense something... but it isn't always strong enough to make me actually listen to it. I feel like an idiot... But, at least we got to lend some money to keep us fed for the weekend. Thank goodness payday is coming up!

Well, that naturally put somewhat of a damper on both our spirits for the journey home. Our plan was originally to spoil ourselves rotten the whole trip, and instead of yummy mexican food, we got icky cafeteria dinner on the return trip. Flung on a plate by the ship's equalent to the chef Cookie in the Beetle Bailey comic. Ick! And fries that tasted... Nothing, actually.
But, disregarding the embarrassement of having to desperately beg mum for money (and those tasteless fries!), we had a good trip. I won't say wonderful because the whole skint-issue did ruin a lot for me, but it didn't ruin the experience completely.
It was very nice to get away for a while with Love and just be lovey-dovey, holding hands while walking out on deck, spraying each other with perfume and sniffing in the tax free shop and tap in on that holiday spirit that filled the boat.

And, something else needs to be mentioned. My "anniversary" gift? Love has ordered all the books on my wish list. Even the maybe ones. He's completely bonkers, and I would have preferred that I could have ordered them myself when I got my paycheck, but of course, he's just... adorable. I am exctatic about getting the books, I tell you! But I need to remember not to want something too loudly. Because my generous, but unfortunately not very money-wise (nor am I to be honest!) boyfriend buys it for me, even when he really shouldn't.
But I love him anyway.

Harry Potter fever.

It seems as the whole world has gone Harry Potter gaga these days.
Me included, of course. I boycotted the books for the first three because of all the ruccus around them which I didn't want to be included in. Until I read the first aloud to my sister, who at the time hadn't learnt to read.
But I read the books in English. The Norwegian translation is actually quite good, but the English books are published first. No way I would be able to wait until December to read the new book! *lol*

So... Love had pre-ordered two copies, one of them which arrived on Saturday. We had a little discussion over who would get to read it first, but I won seeing I'm working most of this week so I wouldn't have time to read it now. Which meant I had to read the whole thing this weekend. And I did (actually, finished two books and started on a new one this weekend).

And... I have a few things to say about it.

SPOILER ALERT, M!(I dunno if you're done yet, you said you would savour it.)
I don't think Snape has re-joined the death eaters. There must be a reason to why Dumbledore wanted Harry to fetch Snape, not Madame Pomfrey. Like, the unbreakable vow Snape made with Narcissa. Dumbledore knew about it, I'm sure. Snape had vowed to do "it" for Draco if Draco couldn't himself, thus sparing his life. And by letting Snape do what he did, Dumbledore not only spared Draco's life, but Snape's also because he didn't break his vow (which, if he did, would have killed him). After all, Snape could have used a "crueler" spell, something that inflicted more pain than the Avada Kedavra. It seemed very "a shot in the head and you're dead" kind of execution. And I'm not sure it would be possible to save Dumbledore anyway, that potion he drank was vile.
But, I think Snape will come in handy in the end. And there must be more behind it to make Dumbledore trust him. To just say Snape regrets what he's done, that's too easy. Well, we'll see.

Oh, and another thing. Harry needs to look through all the items in Sirius' house. I think he will find something there. Something like... Slytherin's locket?

You think you got it bad?

Think again. Read this article about gas prices in Norway. It's... crazy!

Mmmm... sniff sniff

On our trip today, we came over some wonderful scented candles from Kingsmark Candles. I've looked online for them, but they don't have a web page, so I can't show you what I mean.
But the package has 12 scented candles of 4 different types. Toasted Hazelnut, Orange & Cinnamon, Winter Spice and Spiced Fig & Date.
They all smell absolutely amazing. I've been sniffing them all the way home, and I can't possibly decide which scent I love more. But they're all just... Mmmmmmm!

The things they say...

Love and I went to Fredrikstad today. It's a town on the other side of the fjord that has its own "old town" with older houses, cobbled streets and old fashioned shops.
Absolutely worth spending a day on!

But in the car on our way back, we had a somewhat interesting conversation. We were talking about our relationship (nothing scary and serious), when I say:
"But if Legolas knocks on our door, you're in serious trouble" (joke between us. I don't fancy many celebs at all, but Tolkien's Legolas, as in the elf, not the actor Orlando Bloom, I would of course boink)
Love replies "Well, he won't be looking pretty after his rendevous with Sting from Pakistan!" (I have a Sting sword replica, with the letters Pakistan ingraved on the blade)
Me: "You would jump attack an elf with a blunt sword from Pakistan?" (me thinking Love had some serious Black Knight syndrome going on. The Black Knight always triumphs!)
Love: "Well, many good things have come out of Pakistan, you know."
Me: "Oh really? Name one!"
Love: "..."
Me: "See?"
Love, still thinking: "Well, I can't think of anything right now! Oh wait! Bombers!" (Love displaying a rather sick sense of humour)
Me: "Errr... what?"
Love: "Well, not really. But they have interesting shops!"
Me: "What kind of shops?"
Love: "You know... pakistani shops! In Oslo!"
Me: "Yeah, sure..."
Love, realizing he's being riddiculous, ends the discussion there, while I sit quietly to remember the whole silly conversation so that I can type it up in my blog the minute I get home.


(BTW, he did manage to tape Gilmore Girls for me, so crisis averted.)

Wow, she writes!

One would think, having both thursday and friday off that I would manage to squeeze in an entry, but noo.
OK, thursday is understandable. We decided to pay my mum a visit, since dad and sis (together with grandma who lives down the street from them and is very attention-needy) are visiting some distant relations. As in seriously distant relations (they live one days drive away from my parents). Not that I know any of them. They all seem like rabbits to me, too many to keep track of.
Anyway, mum was thrilled that we were coming. And although we didn't do much, just sit around on the porch munching on strawberries and cherries, it was worth driving all the way.

But it seems as we've been hit by a heat wave. Since thursday the shadow temperature has been around 30-34 C. And very humid on top of that! Whoa...
So, my plan for friday didn't work out the way I wanted it to. I really just wanted to bring my book and lay on some beach all day. It was too hot! We did the neccessary shopping and such, and fled back to the cave which is our apartment (it's halfway down in the ground, a basement apartment, but with large windows). It's, fortunately for us, chilled in the summer and usually, unless extreme cold outside, warm in the winter. So right now, I'm really loving the apartment. Even with the ants in it (hey, squashing them isn't that hard).

This weekend is all about work. Yesterday (saturday) and today. Yesterday was a quiet day at the gas station, which suited me well, it turned out. My tummy decided to revolt because of the heat! Yay... What to do when you're at work and should be chained to a toilet? Call Love and plea for pills... I always keep pain killers in my purse, but I think I'll start keeping Imodium there as well.
That's another thing: my purse is my survival kit. Tissues, pain killers, tampons, chapstick, box of lotion for sore hands, you name it! Never leave home without it.

Anyway, not looking forward to working today. Sundays are the busiest day of the week. Because we have a small selection of groceries, half of the town suddenly realises they need something on Sundays. Hey people? Normal, non-hell-expensive grocery stores keep open six days a week. Some of them even until eleven at night on saturdays (ask me and I'll tell you which one). One would think it was possible to do the shopping during those six days, huh?
It still puzzles me... why would anyone pay twice the amount for ordinary food? Bah... stupid people.
And another thing, today they air the last episode of Gilmore Girls for the season. And I'm not home! *hysteric fit of crying*
OK, so it's not that big of a crisis. Simon lent us his VCR (we don't have one) and Love will tape it for me. Oh, and I was very sneaky, I didn't tell Simon why I needed it. 'Cause he would never lend us it for something as silly as that, I'm sure. (Uh-oh... Suddenly realized something... Love and technical things? It'll be very exciting to see if he actually manages to tape it! *crossing fingers*)

Silly Kjersti fact #1: she'll crave gingerbread cookies in July and sniff out some from the most amazing places.
(Visiting mum on thursday, I discovered a whole box of the cookies I bakes for Yule. Almost un-touched. Besides being terribly insulted, I discovered that they tasted just as yummy and kidnapped the whole box. Funny, 'cause I had been craving those things for a week or so *lol*)

Silly Kjersti fact #2: She's nicked her dad's Haynes instruction manual on 83 - 89 Ford Fiesta's and actually believes she can manage some of the repairs that Pea need.
(Dad refused to give me the book when we picked up Pea. Claimed he still needed it. For what car? Mum's brand new Ford Ka? Or his old Nissan? Nuh-uh!
Anyway, since he wasn't there, mum said I could just take it which I did. I don't understand a word of it though...)

Blablablog.

Not much to report these days. I'm working mid-shifts, meaning I'm away all day (instead of starting at the crack of dawn and being home at dinner time).
My back is starting to ache somewhat from standing upright most of the day, and that worries me a lot. If it gets worse, I dunno if I can continue to work there. And that would suck big time, considering how I: a- finally found a job after a year's drought, b- I'm actually enjoying working there.

On amore positive note, I have two days off now and will try to do something fun with Love. Dunno what yet, but maybe a road trip.

It's been raining most of the afternoon today. Which is just lovely. The last three days it's been very humid and.. sticky out. It wasn't a total "cut a knife through" air, but certainly poke-able air. Now it's much fresher outside. Mmmm...

Oh, and the big lay off candy season has started again for me. So yesterday I munched on strawberries and cherries instead. Yummm!

Money... my prrrrecioussss.

So much for having Thursday off. Around noon I got a call from my boss. Seems my colleague had been puking all over the place (well, not really, just in the restroom) and he asked me if I was available to step in for the puker. Hearing his baby daughter in the background, I assumed it was one of his rare days off and he deserves that. So I said, sure, I'll step in (I've had the rest of the week off as well, so it was no problem really.)
And I didn't mind! At the last place I worked, I would have declined such a request with a lame excuse, 'cause I disliked working there.
But it's not that bad working at the gas station. There's always something to do, so you don't get bored. And most customers are really nice. :)
Oh, and extra shifts means extra money... I mean, who doesn't want extra cash? It'll come in handy soon enough. I have one goal now, and that's to have my drivers liscence within a year. Which means, by July 1st next year, I will be driving Pea around! :D