Thoughts...

I'm away from the internet for a couple of days and everyone on my friendslist has something interesting/sad/funny or just thought provoking to say.
This has made me realize that I really can't have many more friends on my list, not with the kind of relationship I am embracing with my friendslist. I read everything, because, whether I was chosen or chose the lj-friend, whether we know eachoter in real life, through fandom or not at all, there are specific reasons for each and every one that I read. It's all very enriching, but if I want to keep it that way I should not press my limit, because I really love long posts with a lot of thought put into them, or small frequent posting, and I don't want to lose that because of time limits. I would also like to have at least the thinnest thread of "personal contact" with people on my friends list, i.e. time for comments and such...

Yeah, I guess most people on LJ go through these kind of thoughts at some point, I'm probably slower than most.


My summer in the States continues, and this sure is a different country in many ways. Today for instance I talked to a woman who some years ago had the option of either resign from her job or get fired, because she was diagnosed with Cancer!
She had done nothing wrong, she just came down with breast cancer, and her job was not in some sloppy restaurant or anything like that, it was with one of the local school districts.
There are other examples that I recently have encountered where it is not the person best qualified for the job that gets it, where long years of hard work don't give any particular gratitude or protection in return, and where you are mostly alone in your hard struggles - unless you have contacts of course.

All you Scandinavians on my friendslist, don't you just flinch at stories like this?
It's hard to explain to people here, how well protected you often are in Sweden. I know some of our big Unions have many flaws, and that our system isn't perfect...but, I can't help but see all the advantages it still has compared to many other parts of the world.
That woman for instance...she would still have her job after recovering from her breast Cancer, it's not legal to do it in such a way where I'm from.

Yes, I would stay in this country though, if some things worked out. My feelings are certainly strong enough. But I would never give away my Swedish citizenship, even if it meant double citizenship (who am I fooling, It's not even certain that I get an American working Visa!)And if I ever would have a kid, then she/he would have double citizenship as well.
We Swedes must always remember how fortunate we are and be fucking grateful for that...

And still...This country is full of very sweet people as well, well aware and well enlightened, the kind you don't encounter on tourist busses, ploughing through the capitols of Europe in a week.
They are everywhere, so I guess that means that there still is hope.

Lastly I need some of you to know (particularly kejn I suspect) that I have invested in a splendid new laptop!
It's a Toshiba with a DvD burner and the works, certainly no low class plaything for this ragged old Seal!
I excuse myself with the thought that it's an investment for next year, when I'm (Dum-du-duum du-duum) gonna pursue A CAREER. (oh my...how that phrase still scares me..)

And very lastly an old dream seems to be coming true around the 14th of August, as We are probably about to visit Chicago!
I have a whole folder on the Windy City among my papers in Uppsala, photos, maps, books about how it was by gas light, in Capone's days and in modern days, but now...I'll see it for real!