Abandon podcasts

Will I never listen to podcasts anymore? No, that’s not the case at all. What I’ve done is to abandon the Apple podcast app. I’ve been a big fan for a very long time. I’ve tried other apps but never thought anything else where good enough.

Until now. The last month I’ve stopped using the Apple podcast app completely. Instead I’ve started listen at podcasts through the Spotify app. I’ve tried it earlier but didn’t get hooked. Now its the only way I could or want to consume podcasts.

What happened? What really happened was Spotifys original content and their podcast Diktatorer which is the Swedish version of the english podcast Dictators. I listen to almost the whole first season of Diktatorer and somewhere along the way I realized how great it is to have podcasts and music in the same app and place on my phone. There is even a decent way to sort out podcast and music even if there possibilities to improve that functionality. As I remember it that funcunallity where that made me leave Spotify earlier when I’ve tried it as a podcast app. However, now it works in a way that I really like.

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New Job!

First three weeks of my new job are done! I’m leaving one of Sweden’s top 5 largest construct companies in order to join a consultancy company with in the construction industry. 5 years as a contractor is over and it’s time for the next chapter in my career. I’m super excused to become a part of this multinational consultancy firm and looking forward to it.

Let’s do this!

Ice cream stop in Dalsland

From time to time we take a boat trip to Köpmannebro in order to have a nice ice cream in a cosy environment. The boat trip there is also a beautiful trip.

My sister in law and here boyfriend takes pretty much all their guests on a boat trip here.

Let me put it this way. If you’re in the area or passing by it’s a nice place to stop by and relax in a cosy environment and have a generous amount of good ice cream to a good price.

The terrace project

It started out with a fence in order to keep my 9 month old son from not falling of the terrace and it ended up as a bit more extensive project than expected. First of all I estimated the amount of material and calculated so I could minimize waste. Then my wife scrubbed the terrace. Then when we new how much materials we needed the entire family drove about and hour to the closes store for the buildings materials we needed and back. After that I rubbed down the terrace surface and after that i oiled it. Then I measured and cut up the materials in the right lengths and my amazing wife built the fence. Took about 3 quite intense days with a kid for us. Super happy with the result.

Work in progress

Done! ✅

Top 3 Non-Alcoholic Beers

I’m a beer enthusiast and since there is not always time for “regular” beer (above 4,2% ABV or even less) I thought I would recommend my top 3 non-alcoholic beers right now.

1. Weird Weather Non-Alcoholic Hazy IPA

This is as close to a hazy New England IPA you get with a non-alcoholic beer. This is hoppy, tropical and is as close to the real thing as you get. Right now this is my favorite in this category. Also an all year beer in my opinion.

2. Special Effect, Brooklyn Brewery

A hoppy lager a bit darker and as so often with non alcoholic beers a bit of sweetness but also the more unexpected roasty character. This works for me and it’s a all season beer. Not only a summer beer as the beers in this category easily can become.

3. Easy Rider Bulldog, Gotlands Bryggeri

Hoppy, Fruity and rather full of taste. Something that stands out among other standard non alcoholic beers such as Carlsberg and Heineken.

Bonus beer! There is quite few alternatives out there nowadays and they are getting better. The brewery that I think is the best producer of non-alcoholic beers is the Danish brewery Mikkeller and they have really made the effort to try different styles. I highly recommend you to try a few of they beers in this category. The bonus beer on this list is Mikkeller’s Drink’in The Sun which is the first non-alcoholic beer that made me realize that there is good non-alcoholic beers.

Drink’in The Sun, Mikkeller

The refreshingly hoppy and fruity wheat beer. I’m not a big fan of wheat beer or Belgium style beer but this so a great summer beer as the name suggests. It’s not an all year around beer in my opinion but works great. It’s replaces the cold lager during this summer days in a good way.

First boat ride

Boat premiere! First time our little family where out with the boat. I’m grew up in the Swedish west coast and even if my family haven’t had its own boat we have almost alway been able to borrow one of relatives. So for me it was quite a moment to get out with the boat and Arvid (my son) for the first time.

It was also the first time me and my wife were out with the boat this year. It’s was nice and we had my sister in law and her boyfriend as company. We drove out to a place called Köpmannebro and bought ice cream and back. Took about two hours in total and proved for me and my wife that we are able to do stuff like this.

Always life jackets on! When near water there is life jackets on for kids. And in the boat not always for the kids but also for the adults. Most drowning accidents happened men with out life jackets that are out with smaller boats in lakes in Sweden. So take care and be safe out there!

Visiting grandmother

Today me and the family have been out on a small trip down to Kungsbacka. The city where I’m from in order to visit my 93 years old grandmother. I’m very close to her and to be able to show her my son Arvid for the second time where pretty amazing. He also charmed the lady living next to my grandmother and older couple we meet when we were out strolling around.

Ordered a new whiskey

Am I a big whiskey drinker? No, especially not since my son was born. Do I like whiskey? Yes, definitely! However, I’ve realized that since I don’t drink much whiskey or often I will buy just a few bottles (one or two) in order to have when I want a small glass from time to time.

Two years ago I visited Backafallsbyn at the Swedish island of Ven. That is a Swedish destillery that produce both whiskey, gin, vodka and aquavit. During my visit at the destillery I went to a tasting it spirits and found some world class products.

So today I’ve ordered one whiskey and I’m on the hunt for another one both from Spirits of Hven. The one I ordered is The Nose malt whiskey. I’m looking forward to try it.

7 Month Parental leave

That’s right! I’m not working with analyzing else than being a dad for the rest of this year. That’s one of the benefits of being a Scandinavian dad. Then you might wonder, how about salary? Yepp, the Swedish government will pay 80% and the construction company I work for will pay 10%. So in total I will have 90% of my ordinary salary every minute the entire time. Not to bad.

To the honest it almost feels like it’s a crime but it’s totally legal. I haven’t been at home for that long since I was a baby’s I mean when I hade vacation form school as a kid I was home 3 months now I will be home 7 months. That feels a bit strange. Off course I realize that I will be home to take care and raise my son but anyway.

Then you might wonder, how about your wife. Haven’t she been at home at parental leave? Yes, she has. She had been home for 10 months.

But the most insane is that we will have parental leave left that we could use until our son is 12 years old.

So how does parental leave work in your country?

Sold Apartment

This Friday we are leaving the the first apartment me and wife ever bought and fully owned. It feels strange after been living here for almost 3 years. But also because I built this apartment. In fact I built the entire building and been involved in the house next to it. I sometimes joke about that some people build there own house while I build my entire block. It’s true that I was working in this construction project which makes it special. I also got to know a lot of new friends on this project and many of them I still hang out with.

We decided to sell the apartment a few months after my son Arvid was born. Much because we have brought a twin house 20 km north of Gothenburg. I’m super excited to move in. The thing is that it’s not ready for us to move in until March 2022. So what will we do until then? Simple, we are homeless. Just kidding. We are moving in with my in-laws and moving to our cottage in the Swedish countryside.

After 15 years in Gothenburg (Sweden’s second largest city) and Oslo (Capital of Norway) are we moving out of the city. Nothing wrong just think it will be very different. In fact I’m looking forward to it.