Dag König

So much to say, but so little time

I have tried to write my blog in only English the last couple of months. It has been fun but I sometimes have problems to express what I want to say. It takes more time trying to find the right words than to make the content. This is very frustrating for me.

Therefore, I will try to make this blog multi language from now. I will still write articles in English, especially if I want to discuss something in response to things that I have read on a English blog.

For all my English friends out there, why not try to learn a new language? Just kidding.

Each entry will be tagged with the language. In addition, I will try to make an rss feed just for you English reading people out there.

Out for lunch

This month has been rather tough for me. I currently have three different assignments. So I have not had the time to write so much here on my blog. I'm also thinking about doing my blog bilingual again. It's not always easy to write in English and express your thoughts. Put I also like to train my English and to have readers from other countries.

I hope that I soon will have the possibility to have several rss feeds, one for each language.
 

TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Could this be true? I don't think so. I believe that some things are free. I even consider that the best things in life are free. Meditate on it, look around you. In the meantime you could read the definition of the term.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
Despite the claims of rabid science fiction fans, this bit of folk wisdom has been with us since the late 1940s. And the term free lunch is even older.

The term free lunch first appeared in print on 23 November 1854, in Wide West published in San Francisco. It is a reference to the practice of saloons giving free meals to attract clientele. Of course the savings is illusory as the price of the drinks subsidizes the food.

The exact phrase, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, is also first used in the city by the bay in the 1 June 1949 edition of the San Francisco News (although this is claimed to be a reprint of a 1938 editorial so it may be even older, but the original has not been found).

The science fiction fans come into the picture in 1966 with the publication of Robert Heinlein's novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He did much to popularize the phrase, but as we have seen did not coin it. Some claim that he coined the acronym TANSTAAFL. But alas for those science fiction fans, even this is not true. Tanstaafl is found as far back as October 1949, only a few months after the earliest appearance of the phrase.

I found it here.

Cyprus - Only cats allowed

Last week my wife and I had a vacation trip to Cyprus. A week solely for just the two of us. I had no computer and no computer books with me. We had on big thunder storm, but the rest was pleasant. Not so hot but mostly sunny. The sun went down at four and after that it was dark. That's was a bit of surprise for us.

The island is invaded by cats. We saw awfully many of them, but only two dogs. I wonder how the dogs felt. Was it a paradise or a hell for them? How does it sound on the island when it's mating-season?

No breakfast cereal because of robbery

Yesterday our local grocery's store got robbed the second time in three weeks. The first time was not fun, but the second time it got personal. My wife was in the shop when it happened. Don't worry. She did not get injured. But because of the robbery, she could not buy our cereals, which we had to have the next morning. And that's personal. Wars have started on fewer things than that ;-).

Let's get more serious
Our store is only 50 meters from our home and it's not fun when this kind of things happens, especially so near your own home. You start feeling a bit insecure. Last time this happened the store hired a security guard for a week. But what will they do now? Hire a guard for two weeks or what?

Don't touch my grocery, and don't rob me from my cereals.

Är på Kick-Off, vi ses på måndag

Ha en skön helg på er allihopa. Njut av vädret så länge det varar.

Midsommardiskussion kring matbordet

Vad betyder Matjessill?
Detta var en av årets diskussioner kring matbordet. Vi kunde inte lösa det. Jag var tvungen att söka igenom NE och fick svaret. Delar med mig det till er, alla vetgiriga:

matjessill (nederl. maatjesharing, eg. 'jungfrusill', av likabetydande medellågty. madikesherink, vars första led är diminutivform av maget 'ung flicka'), kryddad sill. Svensk matjessill är tillverkad av kryddad sill som mognat flera månader på tunnor, varefter den fileats och lagts på burk. Kryddningen består bl.a. av kanel, kryddpeppar, nejlika, sandelträ och socker. Denna metod ger en smakrik matjessill, som traditionellt förtärs sommartid. I övriga Europa avser matjessill en lättsaltad mindre, fet, icke könsmogen nordsjösill, därav namnet.

Ha en glad, skön och god midsommar

Tillbaka efter semester

Det har varit lite tyst den senaste veckan. Detta har berott på dels resan till Paris och dels att jag har haft semester och spikat på landet. Nu är mina händer fulla av sår. Det är till och med svårt att skriva på tangentbordet ibland. (Men visst känner man sig som en "riktig" karl.)

Mamma är årets Moa Martinsson-stipendiat

I lördags var jag på prisutdelning. Jag måste erkänna att jag känner mig stolt. Mamma sällar sig till andra vinnare, såsom Kersin Thorvall och Marianne Fredriksson.
Det hölls också ett föredrag om Moa's man Harry, ja just det, Martinsson. Vad lite man vet om svensk litteraturhistoria. Vet ni förresten att han begick harakiri, men dog först tre dagar senare.

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