February

So this month has its fair share of interesting events. One of them was that we had a break in in our car the other day. They took the stereo, the speakers, the seat covers and the fire extinguisher. All in all they could probably get the impressive sum of something like $50 for all this on the black market. I am just making that sum up since I have no connection what so ever with the Santa Maria Black Market...for real. But really, why would someone take the seat covers?

I thought the car was safe with its very advanced anti-break in system. The universal anti-break in system of being all banged up and pretty old. Who would find it worth the effort to steal something from that car? But I was wrong.

Now you might wonder, why the fire extinguisher? Well, the car has been smelling pretty funky, with this smoke, so we thought it was best to have the fire extinguisher in the car, just to be safe. But no more fire extinguisher.

Short update

Hi all! Things are good. Lots of work. We like our new house. Yesterday someone crashed into a fire hydrant outside our office, the water must have sprayed around 15 meters up in the air.

I hope you are all doing well!

A photo

Last Saturday I went down to LA, with a few colleagues, to watch the US-Sweden football game. I'm adding a photo here. Not much to say. Sweden lost with 2-0. But it was fun to see some live sport.

Weekend at the new house

Ok, so it's been some time since my lost update. But here it is!

Things have been quite busy for us here for a while. I started my new job on the 3rd of December in Santa Maria. It's been good but a new job usually takes a lot of energy, and so does this one. It's an interesting place to work with a lot of things to learn. It's with a Swedish company and I am almost daily using Swedish at work, either in writing or speaking. There is around 12 of us at the office in Santa Maria but the company has about 200 employees in Scandinavia. The product we are selling is a Student Information System and I am working as a Developer/Application Systems Analyst.

The second thing that has happened is that we have moved in to our new house in Santa Maria. This means that I do not have to commute back and forth from Lompoc anymore, which is great! Our house is even withing walking/biking distance. This feels like a real luxury in California! This is our first real weekend in our new home and we are tinkering about getting things in order. It's an old house, built in the 1920s, with lots of character (which involves some quirks, but that is part of the character bit).

The third news is that Autumn has also started her new job. She is currently going through the training in Los Olivos but she will work out of Santa Maria. Her job will involve a bit of driving, but she will mostly be going to places in Santa Maria. She will be working for the Santa Barbara County Education with a project that involves helping families with newborn babies.

In short, there has been a lot of good change. We are very thankful for all this and for all the support from friends and family throughout this rather tumultuous year.

Pictures of the house will be posted in the near future. Oh, we do have a guest room now, so you will have a room of your own when you come visit!

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Lompoc!

Sunday evening

On Thursday I passed my driver's test, so my California license will arrive in the mail within 30 days.

But even better than that: I am starting my new job tomorrow in Santa Maria! Santa Maria is a city about 25 minutes to the north of here. At the moment we are considering moving there but nothing is decided yet.

The weather is getting a bit colder here even though it is still sunny. I hope you all had a nice weekend and that your week will be a good one!

Sunday evening

This Thursday the driver's test for my Californian driver's license is taking place. Up until then they have given me a temporary license. I am glad they did since it is rather difficult to get around here without a car. There are some bicycle lanes but this entire state is built around the car. But I have taken the family mountain bike out for a few airings. Not that long ago I rode down to the almost completely dried up river bed where there is a dirt track. People drive down there with there dirt bikes and ATVs, but part of the track is hard packed enough for a mountain bike. So far no accidents or falls. In the riverbed are these old car skeletons that give the place a bit of a half-life feel.

I hope all of you will have a good week!

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the house is already filled with the smells of orange, cranberry and spices. Linda is making her own cranberry sauce and chicken broth. It smells like Christmas. The Thanksgiving holiday reminds me a bit of the Christmas holiday, maybe it is the similarities in the food, or maybe it is all the preparation for tomorrow when the family is coming over.

It's sunny and warm outside, with the birds singing. If anyone is looking for a book to read I can very much recommend "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. That's all for now.

November

It's November and it's sunny and warm. Shorts-warm. In November. That's nice.

Today I drove to Santa Maria for a job interview for a temporary holiday job. The drive is around 30 minutes. Speaking of driving, I'm thinking that it's time to get my California driver's license. I'll see if I can get that done this week. Compared to the mega-undertaking that it is to get a license in Sweden this seems to be a much shorter process. And a lot cheaper. It will cost me all of $27. Unless I fail the driver's test, in which case I will have to pay...$5...for each new try. And then the Department of Motor Vehicles gives me a brand new Audi. Well, last part about the Audi not true, but the rest is.

Sunny greetings!