my move to finland

i am moving to finland where my wife spent the first 20 years of her life. it is the place where things can be found such as ice sailing, reindeer, and the manufacturing town of nokia. i have any number of reasons to move there, but no really good excuse. consideration for my wife's love of her country combined with the attraction for me of some place exciting and strange is enough draw me over the arctic to a new land.

i will seek employment in accounting, possibly with a small creative firm that practices engineering or architecture. my plane departs monday morning. we'll see what happens!

how to injure your back for life

yesterday i helped a friend move his hot tub onto a trailer. it weighed about a thousand pounds. it took four guys to lift it and another two to spot and guide us from the back yard to the trailer in the driveway. we used two truck straps with big loops tied at the ends. each loop went over the shoulder of a weight-bearing individual. each strap went under the tub so that all we had to do was straighten our knees to lift the tub.

we had to stand the tub on one side to get it through the narrow space at the side of the house, so balance was key. really, six guys was not enough because the tub received some cosmetic damage from all the dragging. i am sincerely glad that the heavy tub injured no backs or knees, although i am sure that some soreness followed.

the strap left a big raspberry across my shoulder and back, which i did not notice until today. some other schmoe had a similar experience.