Yearly Archives: 2020

Merry Christmas 2020

Merry Christmas. It has been a great Christmas this year. I know that many of you haven't had a 'normal' Christmas, but my Christmas has been like it always is. We are a small family, and we didn't have to choose which family members to invite for Christmas - that would have been a difficult choice. This year I've decorated the house the way I wanted. Last year was a bit chaotic.

This year I went all-in with artificial Christmas things. My parents and I have had an artificial Christmas tree for several years, but my parents wanted to get a new one because the tree was too big for them to handle. An artificial tree that has a height of 210 cm is heavy even though it is in three parts. Last year they donated their old tree to charity, and this year I was sent out to hunt for a new smaller tree. I was in several stores, but they only had the cheap trees with four branches and three needles. That looks pathetic.

On the UK version of Amazon, I had noticed a tree with snow, berries, pine cones, and lighting. For fun, I sent the link to my parents. I never imagined that they would buy a tree without being able to see it first, but they did. I do understand why they bought it, considering the selection of trees in Denmark being so lousy. You simply have to take a chance.

Luckily, they were very satisfied with the tree they received. It has a height of 150 cm, so it is small compared to the old tree, but they are happy that they can handle the new tree themselves. One small disadvantage is the LED fairy light on the tree. My dad is sensitive to light like me, and the lighting is too bright in the evening. At daytime, it is ok, but he wants to be able to dim the light. That is not possible, so I've started to look for new lighting that is less bright and can fit on the tree. That way, they can use one lighting in the day and the other in the evening.

The artificial Christmas decorations have also been a huge success. It's a great pleasure to see that the fir branches are not collapsing after a week. The needles are not falling off, and my parents don't have to worry about the decoration being placed too close to the fire stove. Furthermore, I've used an artificial advent candle which means there is no fire hazard.

Overall a great Christmas, and there is only one thing left to say:

Merry Christmas

Christmas tree

Chair doesn't work

I haven't been that lucky when it comes to the purchase of my chair. Firstly, the delivery time was extended because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and I had to wait several months before I received the chair. When the chair was delivered, I discovered that the base frame was crooked. Luckily, it didn't take long to get a new base frame from Germany.

Then it took some time getting used to sitting in the chair, but today I can't live without it. And what doesn't work this evening? The footstool. And what is the one thing I can't do without? The footstool. There's nothing else to do than to call the business where I bought the chair and report the problem. I hope that it is possible to fix the footstool before Christmas, but I don't think it's realistic. I'll cross my fingers... and toes :-)

Christmas mat

Christmas hand towels

They made it home in time for Christmas. Yes, I'm talking about the hand towels. I had gotten the idea that it would be nice to have good quality hand towels with Christmas motives. Many years ago, I bought some cheap hand towels of poor quality, and because of that, I never use them. And guess what I found on Amazon? Christmas hand towels :-)

I started searching Amazon for different Christmas towels. Quickly I discovered that it wasn't easy to find any that they would send to Denmark. I think it was because of copyright on the motive. As an alternative, I found a homepage where I could choose towels in a lot of different colors and qualities. Furthermore, it was possible to have text printed on the towels. And I could choose between different fonts and colors.

I started putting towels in the basket, and according to the estimated delivery date, I wouldn't receive the towels in time for Christmas. I ordered them anyway and crossed my fingers. It must have helped because I'm now holding my new hand towels. I bought two different qualities, in two different colors, with text written in different fonts and colors. The photo below shows the result.

I want more towels for Christmas, and now I know which versions I want. I like the quality of the red towel the best. I also like the font on the red towel the best but I don't like the color - it should be gold colored instead. It is too late to order them, so I'll wait till next year.

Christmas Towels

Poinsettias

I had bought two mini-poinsettias, which I placed on a window sill, and I had agreed with myself that I would take really good care of them. They are beautiful and spread cheer this time of year. Normally, I'm very good at taking care of flowers but, lately, I've given up, because mini-plants are difficult when the home is warm. They need constant watering, and when I have migraines, several days can pass without watering. But I want these two plants to survive past Christmas.

Despite the fact that I constantly checked on the plants, one died within a week. It made me a little cranky, which made me search the internet for artificial poinsettias. I found some, and the pictures looked promising so I ordered some.

When they arrived, I was very pleased with my choice. Also, the other real poinsettia died within another week, and all of a sudden I was very happy that I ordered the artificial plants.

Artificial poinsettia

Yamaha YDS-150

Yaaayyyyy - a new toy. I'm really in need of something new on the musical front. It hasn't been a year with a lot of musical gigs. I missed the first four gigs because I was sick, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I've missed additional six gigs. To be honest, it was not difficult to convince me that I needed to spoil myself - just a little bit :-)

Last year I purchased my first wind synthesizer, which was a Roland Aerophone AE-10. I'm very satisfied with it, and I love the trumpet sound, but I would like it better if the keys were placed better.

A new wind synthesizer has come to the market. This wind synthesizer is produced by Yamaha and is meant as an alternative to a saxophone. It has a lot of different saxophone sounds, but it doesn't have a lot of other sounds in it. You won't find a trumpet a clarinet sound.

The keys are more similar to a saxophone than the Aerophone. The mouthpiece is also a 'real' saxophone mouthpiece, and it is sensitive to how hard you blow. It doesn't respond to pressure on the reed as the Aerophone does. The price for both instruments is similar, but the audience is different.

I'm looking forward to becoming more familiar with the Yamaha because, as with all instruments, you have to practice to be good at playing on it.

Yamaha YDS-150

New masseuse

Normally, I'm getting treated with acupuncture and a massage every three weeks. Because of the shutdown of the country in the spring, I couldn't continue with the treatments, and I haven't heard anything from my masseuse since. I think that I've gotten by pretty good, but now I think it's time to start getting treatments again. But who should I choose as a masseuse when my old masseuse has closed her business?

Preferably, I would like to find someone in the nearest city, but I also want someone who can do other things than just give a massage. I didn't succeed in finding someone who fit those criteria. I chose someone a little farther away, and she does the treatments a lot differently than I'm used to, but that is good. And she can do so much more than only acupuncture and massage, so I'm looking forward to my next treatment.

By the way, I'm very proud of myself. I've been busy creating Christmas decorations. I thought that I would need several trial runs before I got something useful, but I succeeded on my first try. Pictures of the decorations can be seen below. Next year I just have to decide whether or not to use the same decorations or if I want to create new ones.

Christmas decoration
The first decoration (for my parents)
Christmas decoration
The second decoration (for me)
Christmas decoration
A smaller decoration for my dining table

Work weekend

I've never worked that many hours during a weekend. I worked 39 hours in total this weekend, and I still had to work today. Hopefully, I can go home early because I'm beat and extremely tired.

I had to move the data on a file server cluster to new cluster servers. Additionally, I had to review all permissions and correct any errors. I corrected a fair amount of errors, and I implemented more restrictive permissions. Therefore there was a chance that I had overlooked something which would result in users that didn't have access to their data.

We didn't get a single support case regarding the file servers or access to data which must categorize the work weekend as a success. Today it's Monday at noon, and I've just taken the rest of the day off. I can hardly keep myself together, but I'm not allowed to go to sleep because then I can't sleep tonight. However, I'm happy that the work is done.

Now I look forward to starting my new project at the end of the week. I've taken a couple of days off, and I'm planning to create Christmas decorations from artificial things. I would have preferred to have seen and bought the things in Denmark, but that was not possible. Instead, I bought a lot of different things on Amazon, and I bought extra things in case some of the things weren't useful. Luckily, I was satisfied with most of the things I received, and I'm now looking forward to getting started.

Artificial decoration things
The ingredients for artificial Christmas decorations

Virtual Saxophone Workshop 2020

Earlier this year, I participated in a Virtual Jazz Workshop, and the content was, as expected, not exactly to my likings. There was a lot of content about improvisation and theory about chords. I'm never going to be able to improvise by looking at the chords because I don't have the patience to learn it. Still, I was happy that I had participated because there were sessions that were very educational. I also realized that virtual workshops are a good way for me to get new information. And it so easy when it's virtual.

Therefore, I didn't hesitate when the same organizer invited me to a virtual saxophone workshop. Immediately I signed up for the event and I also noticed, that these sessions were more relevant to me. I already knew that this type of workshop would suit me well, and since I also knew that the skill level was high, I knew that it wouldn't be a waste of money - and it wasn't.

I can only repeat myself - I think there is a lot of great new things being developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, the pandemic is a tragedy, but I enjoy all the virtual arrangements that are being held. I live in a country where these kinds of things aren't being held. Also, professional musicians don't create events for hobbyists, so it is great that international musicians want to do things like this.

I thrive on learning new things and being inspired by others, which increases the quality of my playing. And then it is much more fun to play.

Christmas light
Peeping tom

Delicious salmon

Once upon a time, there was a store called Metro. Each time I shopped there, there were two things a bought - lamb and salmon. Generally, they had a lot of delicious fish, and their whole salmon filets were popular. Their other fish products were, of course, also popular. The store is closed, and I have for some time only ordered fish from internet stores.

It has been ok, but it has never been quality nearly as good as the one from Metro. I've also had difficulties finding fish fillets of a decent quality. I haven't given up on finding good fish again, but I must admit that I wasn't optimistic when I tried to buy salmon at a fish truck by the local supermarket.

I was positively surprised, and now I have found a place to buy good salmon. My mom tried to purchase salmon from a fish truck at her local supermarket. She was told that it wasn't cheap but that the flavor was exceptional because the salmon was Faroese.

She invited me for dinner, and I didn't think the salmon could be better than the one I bought, but I was very wrong. And now I'm wondering why it is so difficult to get good quality food in Denmark. I will always prefer quality over quantity.

Garden
The last picture of my walnut tree (it will be cut down in the spring)
Front garden
Front garden

Fall decorations

When I was in Germany last year, I realized that the Germans kind of celebrate fall by decorating their homes. I'm always listening to Danes talk about how depressing the fall is because the days get shorter, it always rains, that the weather is boring, and so on. Why not change that and bring the colors of fall inside.

I think that the colors in the fall are exciting. There are a lot of nuances of green, brown, orange, and yellow, which are all warm colors. I think that a forest in its fall colors is very beautiful.

Last year I bought window decorations, and this year I purchased things that I can put on my dining table. I also couldn't stop myself from buying some lighting and a garland. I love the result.

Fall decoration
Lighting and garland in the daytime
Fall decoration
Lighting and garland in the evening