Broken Record (*And A Bike*)

Hi there!

I'm sorry for the radio silence. I don't have much to say that would be nice, so I haven't felt like posting anything. My stupid foot is still sore and I'm not allowed to walk. I have to rest my foot as much as I can. It really sucks. I sound like a broken record.

And talking about broken... My stupid bike tire got busted this week. My one and only source of getting around the town, and I couldn't use it. You bet I was angry as a bee when I noticed it. Thank goodness Scott is handy with his tools and he was able to fix it. Now my bike has new tires as well as breaks, and it is washed and oiled for the winter ahead. Smooth riding!

I haven't taken much pictures since I'm stuck at home but I have few to share. Enjoy!

Here's me looking pissed at the world. I had to take a bus to get to work because of the flat bike tire.

Old crappy tires.

Brand spanking new tires with reflectors!

I'm not very good with tools, so I took it easy while Scott fixed my bike. The weather has been sunny for few days now, so I laid in the sun for a bit.

 Check out this mini pineapple I found at the store. It was so cute!!

It was super sweet and juicy too. Yummy!

 I was bored, so I did my hair and makeup for fun.

I really hope my foot gets better as soon as possible but according to my doctor (*and my sister who had a similar kind of problem*) this might take awhile. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I'm not a person who likes to stay put for too long. Kisses&hugs!

A Good Day To Be Me

Hello!

I don't want to gloat but I was really happy to be me couple days ago. I was too busy to blog about it then, so here's how my day went.

As soon as I got to work, my boss told me that I had been accepted to an apprenticeship to get a degree in the field of mail communications and logistics. I can work and go to school to get a degree. How awesome is that!! It is a 18 month program, and I'll start next January.


After the news about me becoming a student, I got more great news. I had won two of our sales competitions at work. I got an iPad and a Lumia phone. Since I don't need the phone, I'm going to sell it (*let me know if you want to buy it*). I'm going to keep the iPad. Its picture quality is really good!


Besides my awesome day at work, I also found a great deal on a cabin sized suitcase. My friend and I went to get some groceries and just ran into this superb deal; Benetton's four wheel sleek suitcase for 50% off.
This was exactly what I needed! I have some more traveling to do this fall, and I didn't have a good cabin sized suitcase before but I do now. Happy travels are awaiting me!


To top of the day, I got a big crew of my friends to go to the movies with me. We went to see the movie Rush. It was really good. Probably the best sports movie I have seen for a long time.


Before the movie my friends and I got goofy! I love that I have all these awesome friends that like to let loose and get fancy free every once in a while.






And the fun doesn't stop here. After work today I will take a road trip with Scott and Jinx to Joensuu (*town near by us*). We are visiting a friend whose birthday was this week. I get to enjoy treats, laughs and good times all the way to the end of this week.

Techincal Stuff / Samsung Galaxy S 4

Good Morning!

I'm so excited!! Not only did team Finland beat team Germany in last night's hockey match but I got my new phone in the mail (*double score!!*). I pre-ordered the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 last month and now it is finally here.

I'm already so in love with this phone, it rocks!! It is indeed a life companion like Samsung advertises it. It has all the bells and whistles that you could ask for and it is very light&sleek.

The reason why I wanted a new phone, is because I wanted a phone with a better camera and one with a flash. I haven't had time to test out the camera very well yet but at a first glance it seems to be awesome like the rest of the phone. I did have to a minute to personalize my lock screen though. It is hard to watch a hockey game and play with your new phone at the same time (*giggle*).

Even though S4 is larger than my old S1, it still is easy to use and not too big for small hands. S4 is thinner than S1, and I think that helps a lot. Both of them weigh about the same.

One of the cool features on this phone is definitely Air view/Air gesture. The phone recognizes your eye/hand movement and you can either scroll the page down by nodding your head or even answer your phone with a wave of your hand.
I was bit sceptic about this at first but after trying it out, I think it is pretty cool. It helps to read web pages because you don't have to touch the screen to move the page up/down, you just nod very slightly. 

What can I say... Technology is amazing and I'm in luuuv! I don't have time to write much more right now because I want to go cuddle with my S4. Just kidding! I'll need to organize our apartment a bit because we have guests coming over for tonight's hockey game. So, I'm off to do that right after some breakfast.

Have a nice Saturday everyone!

Technical Stuff / Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

Hi there!

Check out what I won from a sales competition at work; Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0! I have always wanted one but I never had the money. It is a gadget that is not a necessity but is surely a fun piece of technology to have.

I had a choice of all white or sleek black&silver tablet. As you can see, I chose the latter. I haven't bought a cover for it yet but I'll get it soon. I'm not worried that it will scratch easy (*my Samsung Galaxy S1 phone has barely any scratches and I have had it without a cover for years*) but I want to be able to watch movies without holding the tablet myself. I want a cover that flips into a stand.

Since my tablet is the smaller one with 7 inch screen, it is an easy fit to any of my purses (*compared to the 10 inch tablet*). I'm especially excited to take it with me on our trip to the USA. I can watch movies, read magazines&books, play games, listen to music and surf the internet. I'll never be bored again (*giggle*).

Battery life on the tablet is surprisingly good. You can leave it on with wifi over night and it only takes one bar off from your battery bar. 

The only down side I have found so far with the tablet, is the fact that it has only 3 megapixel camera. It won't take very good pictures. But I guess you have your phone and an actual camera for that.

Anyway, I'm off to bed fairly soon, and I'm going to take my tablet with me. It can "read" me a bedtime story (*Grey's anatomy or Revenge perhaps?*).

Good night!

Things I'm Excited About And Things That Suck!

Hi there!

My today's post is about things that bug me at the moment and things that make me smile. I'll start with the things that suck...

1) Hole in your favorite pair of socks. Especially when you are at a party and you realize your sock has a hole (*I hate Finnish parties for the fact that people take their shoes off, you spend the whole party pondering if people are staring at your crappy sock*).

2) Conditioner runs out before shampoo does. Who on earth uses more shampoo than conditioner?!? In my opinion the conditioner bottle should be twice as large as the shampoo. Otherwise your poor shampoo ends up all alone on your bathroom shelf...

3) Funeral. Enough said. I've got one to go to tomorrow (*sad face*).

Moving on to happier things. Here's a list of things that make me smile at the moment...

1) Samsung S4. I just pre-ordered mine. I can't wait to get it! I think this phone is named accurately as Life companion. I love my phone and I couldn't survive too long without it (*giggle*).

2) World Championship Hockey Games. They start soon. May 3rd to be exact. Somehow Finland is once again in the same group with the USA. You know what that means... crazy fans going at it at our Finn-American household.

3) Vappu (*May Day*) is here soon and I have some time off at work around that time. No plans yet but it is exciting to know that I can do anything I want for few days.

4) Our trip to the USA. Only 43 more days before we can fasten our seat belts and take off (*wohoo*).

5) Friday. Enough said. Happy weekend everyone!!

Technical Stuff / Skullcandy Headphones

Hi there!

What's new with you guys? Not much here. I have been just taking it easy this week. I'm actually off work since I had vacation days left and I had to use them up. It has been nice just stay in and read, watch movies and spend time with Scott and Jinx. 

Anyway, I wanted to show you my new headphones. Since I bike/walk to work everyday I listen to music a lot. I also destroy headphones a lot. They always get tangled and/or stuck in my purse and then eventually break. I'm dreaming about buying cordless headphones but they are too pricey for me right now. Since I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on my headphones but I want a good and clear sound, I buy Skullcandy headphones. They are great!

 

I just broke my old pair of headphones about a month ago. It sucked! I hate to bike/walk without music. Luckily my friend David was in the USA, so I asked him to bring me a pair of Skullcandy headphones on his way back to Finland. This low end pair costs about 15 euros in Finland but it is only 10 dollars in the States. So, I saved about a half of the cost by getting them from abroad. Thanks David!!

Even though this is the low end Skullcandy headphones, the sound is still good. They easily have the best bass and over all sound for all the headphones that I have ever used. If I want to pamper myself, I sometimes get the little bit better headphones from Skullcandy, a pair that has a higher frequency response. These only have 20 - 20K hz (*yet thet still sound awesome*).

Another reason why I like Skullcandy is because their ear buds are small. I have tiny ears and I hate how other headphones always hurt my ears but these don't. I can wear Skullcandy headphones as long as I want and they don't hurt at all.

And if you are wondering... I'm not getting any sponsoring or money from Skullcandy. I just really like their headphones and that's why I'm so excited about my new pair. I also like to write posts that others can benefit from. So, if you are looking for good yet affordable headphones, try Skullcandy (*smile*).

Last but not least and nothing to do with technical stuff... Few pictures from the Frog pond near us. It is starting to freeze over. We also got out first snow for this winter (*yuck*). I'm already wearing my down coat and I'm not sure what I can wear when it gets really cold. I guess two down coats (*giggle*).

This week I will be going to go check out the grand opening of Matkus shopping center. It is the first proper mall in Kuopio! It is huge and it has a good selection of stores. I'm most excited about New Yorker because their store in Kuopio is the first one in Finland. How awesome is that?
Oh, and later on this week, I will be heading to Helsinki with friends. That will be a ton of fun! I guess vacations are always fun (*wink*).

Take care and have great Tuesday!!

Technical Stuff / Smart Gloves

Hi there!

What do you do when you are walking outside and your smartphone rings or you need to send a text message. You freeze your hands, that's what you do. At least in Finland because it is so damn cold here.

Couple years ago when I got my Samsung smartphone I quickly realized that I had to take off my gloves each time I wanted to do something with my phone. It sucks really bad during winter months! Then I heard about touchscreen-compatible gloves. They are gloves that work with your smartphone without you taking them off. What a marvelous idea! Too bad I wasn't able to find this type of gloves in Kuopio until finally last weekend.

I'm so excited to find these smartphone gloves!! I bought couple extra just in case I break or lose a pair. The store (*Maksimakasiini*) where I bought these actually had two different kinds of gloves. One is called Smart Gloves and it has three fingers that work with smartphone screen and then the rest of the glove is just a normal glove. Then the other one is called iGloves and their whole glove is compatible with smartphones (not just few finger tips).

 

How do they work then? Gloves with smartphone sensitive fabric often have thin strands of metal (a conductor) sown into them which allow your fingers to interfere with the screen's electrostatic field and record your touch.

You could think that the metal conductor in the gloves would require extra care but it doesn't. Both magic gloves that I bought can be washed normally in a washer, and they come in handy "one size fits most" type of stretch style. They also feel like normal gloves. How awesome is that?

 

These gloves also work well with my Samsung. It is like using my bare fingertips. Definitely a good buy and I give these gloves two thumbs up (* but I was only able to take a picture of one thumb since the other thumb was busy taking the picture, giggle*).

Have a Happy Monday everyone!!