A tightly packed week is not yet at its end.
Most all of it has been good, but it began rather … uncomfortably. On Saturday last week I took the train to Stockholm, helped my brother and his family move and spent the night on their couch. On Sunday I walked over to Stockholm Waterfront conference centre, checked into the hotel and started getting in the swing of participating in Internetdagarna, a two-day conference about - yes! - the internet and how it affects us. I had been invited as 33 percent of Kodsnack to attend and broadcast our impressions to the world. Good times we thought and jumped at the opportunity.
And good it started. I met up with Kristoffer and the people behind the scenes, walking around and seeing everything being set up. Then we headed out into the much too dark early evening for some great beers, a great burger and triple-fried fries at the Flying elk.
But later that evening, Bed Time happened. With that came a diffuse feeling of unease, possibly originating somewhere deep in my stomach.
…
Well, let's skip the details. The system emptied itself well into the morning, leaving me completely wrung out and rather stuck in bed all Monday.
The hotel was just great. As things … erupted … they fixed a different room for Kristoffer and brought me some much appreciated supplies - including a bucket - all in what felt like five minutes at about four in the morning. So, plenty of kudos to Radisson blu waterfront for being a great place to stay with great service.
Tuesday I woke up feeling surprisingly normal. Completely without apetite but completely able to sit, walk and talk without discomfort. I could probably have handled attending the conference in person for at least a while, but we wanted to take no risks about spreading whatever I had to others. Instead I remained in my room, recording a bit and following the conference by live streams somewhat chopped up by temperamental (or should I say sluggish?) hotel wi-fi.
Eventually, I felt good enough - and restless enough - to brave a trip into the great unknown beyond the room door. Having looked at the room service menu and felt a certain appeal from the chili burger I decided to be brave, bold and stupid and break my fast in style. Thus, I checked my maps and set off into the cold evening to Flippin' burgers one of (the?) first high quality burger places in Sweden. I have thought about going there every time I have set foot in Stockholm since they opened, but it just never happened. I was not going to let an uneasy stomach stop me now that the opportunity was so easy to grasp.
Fate smiled upon me - and rewarded me for coming alone - and I got a seat within ten minutes of arrival. At most fifteen minutes after that I also had my meal: burger (the Flippin'), fries and a strawberry cheesecake shake.
The fries were well made and plentiful but unexciting. Next time I will skip them. The shake was topped with cream and a jelly raspberry and great in a dessert kind of way. The burger, though, was fantastic. So good the shake paled. The two together were also filling enough that I managed to leave a good amount of fries behind, a very unusual act of self-preserverence for me. I constantly watched for stomach grumbles, and set out back to the hotel rather quickly just to be on the safe side if anything was to happen. I did feel a bit ill, simply overeaten, and cold. I got back, crawled straight into bed under dual covers and went comatose for a while. Having recovered somewhat, the evening ended nice and calm with empty TV calories in good company.
Wednesday was some more recording, checking out, nice dumplings at Holy monkey at the central station and some quick playing with a Playstation 4 before the train left for home. Octodad: deadliest catch is clearly what gaming (and physics simulation) has been evolving toward.
But even Wednesday was not out of new experiences yet! I spent the evening attending a super compressed presentation by one Jonas Colting on exercise, ultra triathlons, health and running and just a wee bit too much on various bits and pieces and ideas and fads on eating well. It was entertaining, it made me want to run more and it also made me miss Fivefingers more than in a long time. In short: a solid win despite some of those food bits.
By comparison, Thursday and Friday may look rather dull. But being back at work has a sort of new shine too after being away for a few days. No less so when you have fun new stuff to make progress on. Plus, a whole host of final details around my apartment sale and move have fallen into place. Provided nothing derails completely, by tomorrow evening all the even remotely hard or demanding activities will be finished.
I am already wondering what my brain will latch on to feeling frenzied about next. Christmas presents and plans, I would guess.
Oh, I have managed to buy the first Christmas present too. But do not tell, it is a secret!