UTÖ

So Utö was cool and no one was sacrificed. That I know of. Two of the dudes that work at Bromma have boats so we took those to the island. Oh, this is after two hours of meetings in Swedish. The best part for me was the discussion of optical strain gauges, since it was in English and I actually knew what was going on for 20 minutes or so. Anyway, after those we loaded onto the boats (about noon) and immediately after leaving the marina (like literally 3 seconds out) beers were cracked. Leaving the marina:


That's my boss Anders on the left and my buddy Kjell-Åke on the right, he's awesome. Note the Staropramens in hand.

After a short 25 or so minute boat ride we pulled into a small island and ate lunch:


Benny is in the foreground with Christopher and Gerry over his right shoulder, with Jerker over his left, and that's Petter tying the boat to the dock. Quite the seaman! Note the Swedish flag. Those things are EVERYWHERE here, and without the slightest hint of nationalism. I really appreciate that.

Anyway for lunch there were these AWESOME sandwiches, with like three kinds of meat, cheese, and condiments all arranged somehow so as to magically create like three sandwiches from one. ‘Twas amazing. This included my favorite sandwich topping: CURRY CHICKEN. SO GOOD. Us eating lunch:

After that there was an impromptu soccer match with coffee and bulle (basically cinnamon rolls), then it was off to Utö. The other boat next to us on the way to Utö:

As soon as we got to Utö we checked in at the main area, had more beers, then walked down to the local football pitch for more soccer. I played on the “skins” team of course, all though in my case it was more of the “sparetirefurjackets” (GET IT? I’M FAT AND HAIRY). They tried their best to get me the ball so I could score but I was way too shitty. I did make a couple tight steals and and maybe one decent pass though, and nobody went easy on me that I could tell, which was cool. I’da been pissed if they just let me score er something. After that it was more beer and I was invited to the sauna. I politely declined as from what I understand that usually means nudity, and with no chicks in sight I was less than eager. I’m not sure who went but I don’t think it was many. Then came dinner. We got what was apparently some special Belgian beer:

When did they start brewing that Bud you’re drinking? 150 Years ago? That’s cool:

THEY STARTED BREWIN’ MY SHIT IN 1074! IN A MONK ABBEY! PROBLY WITH DRAGON TEARS! OR SOMETHING EXPENSIVE I DON’T KNOW! THEMS MONKS! THEYS RICH!!! It was quite a good beer though. We talked about someplace downtown that has like 100 types of really rare beers. One of them you could only get buy putting your name in with the appropriate people (after the matter of finding them), waiting in line, getting a ticket mailed to you, driving to the brewery in France or some shit, paying exorbitant amounts, and then only being allowed to get a 12 pack at most, er something. But this bar supposedly has it on tap, which I’m told is some kind of amazing feat. I was good and buzzed at dinner. My boss all but forced me to take a vacation this summer (unpaid... which wasn't mentioned really) because everyone else will be gone for two to three weeks for the next, er, two to three weeks. I respectfully declined. I will take a day or two off to go to Piteå, but that is a “non-issue” to him. I said I only started in June, so I don’t need to “recharge my battery” yet as he claimed. He countered with “but you had school before that” to which I cleverly replied “YES! But now I have evenings and weekends free, which is LIKE a vacation, EVERY WEEK!” He still wants me to take time off but fuck it.

Anyway long story short I was drunk so I went home early (despite the protestations and offerings of libation from nearly everyone) so as to not get shitfaced on my first outing with co-workers. Others did not. Apparently one guy who shall remain nameless woke up at 4am. On a rock. In the woods. And had to find his way home. I hear this is common behavior for work parties here. PATTY LIKEY

Sorry for the cut and paste style here... I cutted and pasted all this : ( Oh and Tana, I'm taking all these pics on my cell phone, so that's as good as they get until I get a proper camera, which I have no plans to do anytime soon. Sorry!