Harry Potter Books

Here we are at last. I finally managed to re-read the first 6 Harry Potter books, and yesterday I read the seventh one. I seem to have an affinity for being able to read new books in a day. I have to admit that I am sad the journey is over, but what a wild ride it has been. I really liked the last installment J. K. Rowling put out for all of us. I even cried when characters I loved died, and I was so proud of Neville!! Anyway, just thought I'd post a pic of my book. I think the cover is different in the US, and now I have different sized books. I bought 1-5 in the US, but I have 6 &7 from here, so they are smaller and fat!!! I love'em though! I don't know what to look forward to for the rest of the summer now, but I'm sure I think of something.

I'm having a nephew!

Spoke with Jess on the phone the other night and she said that yes she is having a little boy! It's so exciting. She is due in November, and I would love to be home to see her. I am going to start baby shopping for her here in a few weeks. Buy her some cute little Finnish baby stuff. That'll be one cutely dressed baby when I am finished with him! Of course I will have to get him some Moomin gear!

Bored!

Not a lot going on today. I did the cleaning bit, got the apartment looking nice. The hubby is at a bachelor party so I don't have much to do. Thank God for yahoo messenger and Jennifer being online!

A bit disturbing.

I made not one, but two posts about Harry Potter yesterday. My first one just didn't appear when I went to view my blog, so I decided hey I'll just quickly write another one. Well, it didn't appear either. Is it just me or is my blog just not showing anyone my two posts? When I check my posts it shows them, but not on the actual page! I don't understand that at all! Good Grief!

Harry Potter take 2

Let's try this one more again. I posted about the movie and hit publish and then went to view, and voila no blog! As I said before I was was pleasantly surprised by the movie. There was quite a bit left out but they obviously can't put everthing into it. I think they couldn't have found a more perfect girl to play the part of Luna. She was fabulous. It was pointed out to me by a good friend that several of the other main characters (not D. Radcliffe) did not get nearly as much screentime in this movie, but I still think it was put together quite well. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and now I'm axiously awaiting the book. Come on July 21st!!

Everyone uses Geico!

I somehow came across this cute article the other day and meant to post it earlier and of course forgot. So I am posting it now. It comes from some Timothy McSweeney website. I'm sure Transformers fans out there will appreciate it.



A LETTER TO OPTIMUS PRIME FROM HIS GEICO AUTO INSURANCE AGENT.
BY JOHN FRANK WEAVER
- - - -
Dear Mr. Prime,

We have received your accident-claim reports for the month of June—they total 27. I regret to inform you that GEICO will not be able to reimburse you for any of those repairs. I feel that I have sent the same letter to you once a month for the last six months, and I am now sending it again.

Since becoming a GEICO customer in January of this year, you have reported 131 accidents, requesting reimbursement for repairs necessitated by each one. You have claimed not to be responsible in any of them, usually listing the cause of the accident as either "Sneak attack by Decepticons" or "Unavoidable damage caused by protecting freedom for all sentient beings."

The only repairs for which you were reimbursed were the replacement of a cracked fender and a headlight, required after a Mr. I. Ron Hide backed his van into your truck; these cost $1,286.63. Our own investigation concluded that you were not at fault and that Mr. Hide had been drinking prior to the accident. Though police were unable to test his blood-alcohol level—Mr. Hide claimed that it would be impossible for police to examine his blood-alcohol content with a Breathalyzer, because he "doesn't breathe"—under Washington-state law, refusal to take a Breathalyzer test is equivalent to returning a result above the legal level.
But, I repeat, those were the only repairs for which you have been reimbursed, and it was a very minor accident in comparison to your other claims. I mention a few to illustrate the larger trend:

-$379,431.34 requested reimbursement for repairs to your truck cabin. You claimed the damage was caused by attacking fighter jets.

-$665,789.11 requested reimbursement for repairs to your trailer. You claimed the damage was caused by a giant mechanical scorpion, which I can only assume is some amusement-park ride, although I question the wisdom of bringing your mobile home so close to such dangerous equipment.

-$6,564,239.44 requested reimbursement for repairs to a truck part called the "Autobot Matrix of Leadership." You stated this occurred in "an ultimate confrontation between good and evil," with a Ms. Meg Atron and a Mr. U. Nicron causing the damage in question. Mr. Prime, I have checked every known car- and truck-part catalog published in the United States and have found nothing even resembling that part, never mind any part so expensive. Whatever disagreements you had with Ms. Atron and Mr. Nicron, I suggest that next time you either settle things peaceably or leave your Autobot Matrix of Leadership at home so it doesn't break. GEICO does not cover Autobot Matrix of Leaderships.

And the list goes on. Mr. Prime, I am going to remind you again: Your policy with GEICO only reimburses you for accidents that occur while you are engaged in the reasonable use of your truck and trailer. As I told you when you originally purchased the policy, GEICO does not offer Megatron coverage, Starscream coverage, Soundwave coverage, Decepticon coverage, or Energon-blast coverage. Those are just not the types of damages we would expect from reasonable use.

To sum up, GEICO has been unable to reimburse you for any repairs, but due to the high number of accidents you have been a party to this month, combined with the many accidents you have had in the preceding five months, your premium has increased to $235,567.50 per month. While that may seem like a lot, I remind you that it is a savings of $137 over Progressive and $98 over State Farm. Please have your check into our main office by the end of July.


Regards,
Simon FurmanGEICO Agent

Update...

As for my silly little puppy fund...I mentioned that I'd be to 20 euros in no time, and I almost am. I will reach that goal today when I got recycle some bottles. The current total is 19,30. I'll break my 20 euro goal this evening! I love being kind to the environment and making a (small) profit at the same time! Cheers!

Interesting...

I didn't think that anybody from home read my blog. Not that they have been keeping up with it or anything, but I saw that someone from Rockingham dropped by my site and had a look around. Neat! I wonder who it could have been?


Anyway, tomorrow the hubby and I are going to go see Harry Potter! I'm so excited!! As a matter of fact I feel a bit insane. Other than Redwall stories I have never been so obsessed with what is considered 'young adult' reading material. I'm sure that can't be good, right? Well, maybe it can be, and for my sake I hope that it is. I got to see the actors who played Ginny Weasley and Cho Chang at the Finnkino here in Helsinki on Wednesday. I was going to stay for their interview but they were so late in getting there, and I had a lot more on my mind at the time that I didn't. I did get an ok picture of Ginny Weasley from the side as she was getting out of the limo, so it wasn't a total loss. It isn't a great picture of course because I am short and all the tall people thought that they needed to stand in front of me. Beggars can't be choosers though, so I take what I can get and be happy with it. Next Saturday I am going to have to busy myself over to the bookstore in the Center at the Kamppi while Kai is at work and purchase myself the book. I am really looking forward to getting it, although I am resolute not to read it until I have found the 4-6 books at a library someone here and re-read them! That is going to be extremely difficult for me, but I'm bound and determined that this is the way it has to be. I had forgotten so much that had happened in the first three books that when I re-read the books it was like reading them for the first time almost (sounds crazy, huh?). Therefore, the rest of the week and next week will have me on a mission to find those books!!!




The arrival of the limo



The crowd waiting in anticipation

Ginny Weasley's mugshot from the side, and the
back of Cho's head.

Go to the movies!

Just a quick post to say that everyone should be out watching the new Transformers movie. I grew up with the original cartoon as a kid and the live action movie didn't disappointment at all. I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, so I am giving it two thumbs up!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, obviously the Finns do not celebrate the 4th, but that is ok because I still do. There wasn't exactly a whole lot to do but I was treated to dinner at Subway! How more American can you get, huh?

Puppy Fund!

I can't believe that I forgot to mention my Puppy Fund! Ok...so yeah it's a Christmas can with a little homemade sign on it, but it is the idea that counts! The hubby said that he would buy me a puppy, but while we're waiting, I am saving up some spare change to help out. I am currently up to 6 Euros and 80 cent. Not exactly off to a BIG start, but every little bit helps. I got my current puppy fund money from taking bottles to the Siwa and recycling them! It is quite neat really. You just take your bottles to the store and put them on a little conveyer and the machine either gives you 40 cent for the larger bottles or 20 cent for the smaller ones. Once you're done the machine prints you out a little ticket and you can either redeem the money or buy stuff from the store. So I redeemed my cash! Needless to say, I'm a far cry from buying my own puppy, but if I keep this up I'll be to 20 Euros in no time!



My Homemade Puppy Fund Savings Jar! I really
could have used some colored pencils!

New Phone!

I've got a new phone! Well, the phone itself isn't new, but it is new to me. It is a cute little light blue Nokia phone. It is simple and "Stacy proof"! You can't get any better than that! Kai gave it to me so that I can give him a buzz and worry him at work, or whenever I get lost while I am out and about within the inner workings of the city! I do have the occasional blonde moment you know!! Anyway, all we had to do was go to the Sonera store and buy a new chip to go in the phone, and I got to pick my own number! That was kinda cool-ish!


my new phone chip (it's itty bitty)


my "new" phone!






We also went for a nice walk today. It took a whole 2 1/2 hours. Needless to say flipflops were not the footwear of choice for this excursion. While out on our adventure we happened upon the beach here in Helsinki! It is 10 minutes from the apt. A WHOLE 10 MINUTES! I have to admit that it was nice to see people who are just as white as I am! I'm in love with this place!!


The beach picture #1

The beach picture #2

Our New Place??

We are not quite decided yet, and really won't be until after the 17th of July when Susanna returns, but this may be our new apartment. It is in such a nice neighborhood and seems very far removed from the city life, although it is not! We would have a shopping center less than two minutes away walking. I can't wait to see the inside of this building!!!



The building and lower apt. that might possibly be ours!


The bus stop right across the street. It goes straight to the
center of the city. So it takes about 10 minutes to get there!


A little park right across the street down from the bus
stop. Perfect for taking the dog out!

Needless to say, I am very anxious to be checking out the inside of the place! It took Kai and I about 25 minutes to walk there from our current apt. Of course we could have taken the tram but we are all for taking a jaunt to get our exercise. I'm not sure it would have taken as long as it did to get there had I not been stopping periodically to snap shots of wildflowers and the like to send home to Grandma! If we do get the apt. we'll be moving into it in September. Seems like a long wait, but I'm sure the time will just fly by. Do you hear me time? You can start flying by now!!