A happy May Day

May Day, or vappu, in Finland is traditionally celebrated by getting outside into the (hopefully) warm spring weather and getting slightly silly after being cooped up inside all winter. Picnics and parades are common, students get a little rowdy, and people indulge in treats like doughnuts and ice cream. The weather does not always cooperate, but this year it was magnificent: sunny, warm, a little bit windy, but still thoroughly pleasant.

E and I celebrated with a big brunch in the morning, then we went out for an afternoon walk. We enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air, then went looking for ice cream. We were surprised that it took a bit of searching to find an open kiosk! But in the end we got our ice cream cones and kept walking. We made a nice wide circuit south of our home, passing by some familiar landmarks and walking some roads we’ve never walked before.

Apartment affairs

There are two new apartment towers close to us. We’ve been watching them being built over the past three years. Now one is finally open for residents. In the past week we’ve been watching lights come on and stuff appear on balconies. We can’t tell yet how it’s going to feel to have so many new people living so close, but we have started adjusting our window shades to give us a little more privacy.

Earlier this week we had the annual meeting for our apartment building. There was some argument about whether or not we should build a fence along the edge of our property (partly because of the new buildings next door). In the end we decided that the proposal was too vague, so we voted to tell the board to come up with a more concrete plan and bring it back to us for another vote. There was also some heated discussion on an issue that has affected us directly. When the building was under construction, a portion of the money we paid as buyers was supposed to be held back from the construction company until any building faults were fixed. Most of our issues have been addressed, but we and several other apartments still have problems that haven’t been fixed. The board dropped the ball, though, and let the money be released despite the unaddressed issues. We heard some more about what happened and why, and while we’re still not happy about it, it is helpful to know what went wrong.

Robot frustrations

We got a robot vacuum cleaner. We’ve been wanting one for a while, and got good recommendations from family, so we finally ordered one when we saw that one of the Finnish web shops had a sale. Our robot arrived on Tuesday evening, and we were excited to get it set up and start using it. We spent all of Wednesday morning finding a place for the robot and getting it set up. Then we tried to connect it to our phones, but that step just didn’t work. Without the phone connection, we can’t use any of the programming options that make having the robot worthwhile; we can’t schedule cleaning or direct it where to clean. We could turn it on and just let it blunder around the apartment vacuuming up whatever it can find, but that’s not what we want, and it’s not what we paid for.

So far, we haven’t been able to solve the problem. We’ve tried my phone and E’s phone, we’ve restarted and reinstalled everything, we’ve reset the robot to factory specs, charged it, turned it on and off. We’ve read the manual and looked for solutions online. So far nothing. We’ll keep at it, though, and hopefully get it working.

Update: E figured out the problem and got it working! Our new little robot is now happily vacuuming away. It seems to handle larger rugs just fine, but can get tripped up on the edges of lighter rugs. Power cords sometimes stymie it, but it mostly handles them. The great news is it fits under our bed, so it can clear up the dust from under there and make a better atmosphere for us to sleep in.

We have named the robot Wilf, and we are cheering for it as it makes its way around our apartment.

In and out

Nothing big lately, but we’ve had a few small events.

Monday of last week we went and donated blood, because we heard that there’s a particular need for donors around Easter. After our donation session, we went to a Nepalese restaurant and had a very good dinner.

Later last week we had a local locksmith come in to make some improvements to our front door. They installed a peephole, a chain, and an extra metal plate. We’ve wanted these security features for a while. We don’t feel particularly unsafe in this building, but we’d rather have these small things than not.

Monday of this week we took the bus to Ikea to do some shopping for little things around the house. We did such a big purge of stuff for our move, we’ve been reluctant to get new things, but we’ve discovered a few things we do need, so it was good to get them.

Winter has made a last stand in the past week, but it looks like spring is finally here to stay. We had lovely sunshine today, and the snow is melting quickly. I plan to start my balcony garden soon.

Dental visit

I haven’t been to the dentist since we moved to Finland. At first it was exhaustion from the move. Then it was all the other things we had to do to get properly settled in. Then it was confusion with the Finnish health care system. Finally it was sheer inertia and lack of will. But in the end, I took myself by the scruff of the neck, researched local options, and made an appointment.

I booked myself a dental cleaning appointment with a hygienist at one of the private health services, because the wait for care through the public system is long (and they only operate on the phone, while the private services offer online booking). The office is near where we do our grocery shopping, so it was an easy walk away. My hygienist was ready for me right on time. By my request, we spoke English in the appointment, since, although my general Finnish is pretty good these days, I have never learned dental vocabulary.

She gave my mouth a checking over, cleaned my teeth, and gave me a fluoride treatment. She said that my teeth are in good shape, no visible problems, and to keep up whatever I’m doing to care for them and come back in 18 months. So, that’s what I’ll do.

Sick

E got sick on our trip back from Oulu. Seems like a typical cold: sore throat and cough mostly. I managed to stay healthy until late last week, but now I’ve come down with the same thing. I took a covid home test yesterday just to be sure, and it was negative. So we’re hunkering down for the week, going to just stay home and rest. I have a Dungeons & Dragons game scheduled with my group for Saturday, and I’m hoping to be well enough to play by then.

To Oulu and back

Last week we were in Oulu for a few days. There was some paperwork to take care of with E’s father’s estate, and the family gathered to deposit his ashes.

We took the train up, as usual. Our timing was lucky, because last week there were widespread strikes in protest of the current government’s labor policies. Long-distance transport and public transit were two of the affected industries, but fortunately we got to Oulu before the strikes started, and we returned the day after they ended, so we managed our travel.

We stayed in a new-to-us hotel. We usually stay in a place near the market square on the fore, but we chose a hotel closer to the train station and to some offices where we had business. We were not pleased with the choice. The hotel was old and worn out–no complaints about cleanliness, at least, but it was not very comfortable. We’re not students any more, and we’ve decided that at our age we can afford to prioritize having a comfortable place to sleep. One day we walked through town to time how long of a walk it was to our regular hotel, and found that it wasn’t actually all that far. Even if we have business at the same places again in the future, I think we’ll return to our usual hotel.

We got to spend some time with E’s sister and see the rest of her family, which is always nice. We had good clear weather for the deposition of the ashes, in between snowy days. It was a simple ceremony, but touching, with most of the family gathered.

Our train back from Oulu was delayed half an hour getting out of the station because the train driver was late getting to work. We didn’t hear if that was strike related or just bad luck, but it was the most disruption we had to our travel.

Since getting back to Espoo, E has gotten sick. Not sure yet if it’s flu, covid, or just a cold, but I’m doing my best to take care of her and hopefully stay healthy myself.

Norovirus

I had a very successful week in the US teaching at my old university, but a rather unpleasant return. A day after getting back to Finland, I started to have an upset stomach. I suspect I picked up a norovirus infection at the airport on my way home. It started to come on last Monday afternoon. By the evening, I was purging my digestive system both front and back. It took five hours all told before everything was out. In between bouts on the toilet, I was curled up on the bathroom floor alternately feverish and shivering.

E took very good care of me through it all. She helped me clean up, wiped me down when I was hot, wrapped me up when I was cold, and kept me company through the worst of it all. I slept poorly Monday night and was exhausted on Tuesday. Since then I have been slowly recovering my energy and getting my body reaccustomed to the idea of eating food.

We had hoped that E would escape getting the same, but it was not to be. On Wednesday she started having the same symptoms. Her case was less intense than mine, but lasted longer. She and I are both now in recovery at different stages. We’ve spent a few days just lying on the sofa nibbling at a little apple sauce or rice porridge, whatever our bodies seem willing to tolerate. Since I’m a couple of days ahead of her in recovery, I’ve tried to take care of things like washing dishes and hanging laundry, but we’re both still very low on energy.

Cold new year

We’ve had a cold snap in the past few days. The outside temperature has been around -16 C / 3 F for a high. Fortunately we have such excellent insulation and good floor heat, so we’ve stayed comfortable inside. We’ve gone out for a couple little walks today and yesterday, though, and we’ve really felt the cold then.

The nice thing about this burst of cold weather is that it comes with clear skies. We got to enjoy watching folks set off rockets all around us all evening yesterday on New Year’s Eve, with stars in the sky above.

Happy New Year all around!

Christmas tree

Here’s our Christmas tree for this year. We didn’t get it fully decorated until just today, but that’s still in time for Christmas.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday and a peaceful new year.