It's time to close the blog

After 14 years and 1,435 posts, I think it's time to close the blog. When I started, blogging was a new thing. Linking to albums on the web was about the only way to share pictures widely. Today, technology has moved way past these humble beginnings.

The house is all complete, I don't have any more building projects; we are just enjoying our life on Aspö. Since I retired, we've also moved into a set schedule; summers in Aspö and winters in Florida. I don't want to fill a blog with the social calendar of a retired couple.

I've had a great time working on this house and this blog. We've literally built ourselves a new life on a beautiful little island. Thank you for being along for the ride.

Marathon day!

It was a perfect day for a run, the weather was good and I had a great support team in Sooz and Marcia. The number of runners were a bit smaller than usual because of the change in date. But it was plenty busy, believe me!

I finished in 4:26 which was pretty good for being 62 years old, although, to be honest, I was trying for 10 minutes quicker than that. I was on track but faded a bit towards the end. I am definitely feeling it in my legs today!

Running around Aspö and going to Nämdö on the weekends was a great experience. I definitely know both islands and my neighbors a lot better because of my training runs.

That makes 4 Stockholm marathons for me. My next one will be in June 2029, so mark your calendars now!

A quick running update

I've found a great alternative for my long weekend training runs. On Saturday mornings, I can take the Waxholms boat (or our own boat) to Nämdö and run there. 

There's a gravel road that runs most of the length of the island, so it's easy to run a few laps to put in the miles. As a bonus, I can stop at the little grocery on my way home and pick up whatever Sooz needs for the weekend!

Although the boat trip is an extra complication, the run is much smoother and faster than going around Aspö and its construction.

Strandbaren Idöborg

 

One of the new additions to our archipelago is Strandbaren restaurant at neighboring Idobörg.

The restaurant is part of an expanded facility which has recently been redeveloped. The food and service are excellent!

Wednesdays are "jazz nights" in which local combos entertain the diners. We've been quite impressed with the skill of the young musicians. They've all been different but all very good.

The Waxholm boat allows us to sail over for dinner easily, although we like to take our own boat as it is just a five minute jaunt away.

The Migrations Agency

 

The biggest personal impact of Brexit on us was our loss of citizenship in the EU. We were able to stay in Sweden for up to 180 days with no issues as UK citizens. However, since the UK made the decision to leave the EU, we can stay only 90 days.

Fortunately, there is a way to apply for a longer stay through the Migration Agency. 

Sooz and I completed an online form and paid an application fee earlier this month. Last week, we had an interview in Stockholm with the Migrationsverket. Essentially, the Swedish government wants us to show that we have a reason for staying longer than 90 days, and that we have the means to take care of ourselves while we're here. Thankfully, we are able to pass those tests early. 

The interview itself was quick and professional. The department is obviously very efficient because we received a letter in the mail today, saying we had permission to stay! We both even received an official card showing our status as long-term visitors. Very cool.

I'm not yet sure if we have to go through this every year, but even if we do, it's a pretty simple process to complete.

The Stockholm Marathon

The Stockholm marathon is typically run at the end of May every year. I ran it in 1990, 2000, and 2012. I had entered to run it in 2020, but the race was cancelled along with pretty much every thing else last year.

It has been rescheduled for this October, in the anticipation that covid restrictions would be lifted in time for the race. 

I've kept my place in this year's race, and I am starting to train in earnest. It is proving a bit harder than I had thought, however. My age has something to do with it, of course; I'm well over 60 these days.

The biggest problem is the state of the island's path. Over the past 18 months, Vattenfall, the electricity provider, has completed a project to remove all of the 70 year old electricity poles from the island and instead bury the electrical cables. This will make our service more reliable and less costly in the long run. However, in the short run, our little path has become a construction site with lots of damage and wear from all of the machinery needed.

The good news is our path is being rebuilt, and the completed stretches are in great shape. The bad news is that lots of work remains to be done, and I find myself running laps over an active construction zone. I am going to have to manage this the best I can in order to be in shape for the race!

Home Sweet Home

We've made it to our house, and on Midsummer Day, too! I'm happy to report that everything here is in excellent shape. You could hardly tell that we hadn't been home for over 20 months; a bit of vacuuming, window cleaning, replacing of batteries, and we were all set.

I can also report that our fiber internet is up and running. I had made an account with Net At Once because they were willing to send me a monthly invoice. All I had to do was plug in my router, and I had an amazingly fast connection in 10 minutes. Bliss!

We made it!

Our welcoming committee!

It was a long journey, with lots of moving parts: flights from Florida to Dallas to Paris to Stockholm, covid tests in Texas and Paris, wearing a mask for 24 hours straight, and most unnervingly, getting through immigration control twice!

But everything worked out perfectly, and we made it smoothly and safely to Marcia and Rutger's house. We will head to our house on Monday. We can't wait! 

A change in fortune?

Even though Sweden is still keeping its borders closed for non-EU travelers, other countries in the bloc have opened up to vaccinated Americans. At the urging of a friend, I decided to write the Swedish consulate in Miami about permission to travel, and received an unexpected answer.

We were told by the consulate that we could enter the EU via a country open to Americans, get a covid test in that country, and then travel onward to Sweden from there! That seems like a pretty big loophole to me, but I have it in writing from the consulate.

So... we've decided to give it a try. We are going to fly to Paris this Saturday, and then onward to Sweden. Stay tuned!

Not good at all.

I've avoided posting about Sweden's response to the coronavirus over these past months. Suffice it to say that it's been much more relaxed than its nordic neighbors, which has caused comparatively more deaths:

The news in the US has had many stories about the "Swedish model." Those news outlets against public health restrictions applaud Sweden's relative lack of rules and mandates, and the freedom it affords. Others point out the much higher death toll as compared to its neighbors and lament the additional deaths caused. It pains me to see Sweden used as a political football.

To add insult to injury, Sweden announced that the travel restrictions in place until May 31 will now be extended to August 31. This is a real body blow. I was really pinning my hopes on a change in the travel policy today. As things stand, we won't be able to get to Sweden for there more months—assuming we could travel even then!

Not looking great

The vaccine rollout is continuing but much more slowly than any of us would like. Sooz got her second dose on time but I am still waiting for mine. Sweden has just barely started its vaccination program:

The summer season is only a couple of months away, and there's no clarity at all about traveling. Well I take that back, there is clarity: we would not be able to travel to Sweden today. Let's hope things move quickly over the next few months!

Sooz has her vaccine

 

With a little bit of luck and perseverance, Sooz was able to get an early appointment for the coronavirus vaccine. I'll have to wait a while longer myself as I don't yet meet the age cutoff. 

Things are still very new, but so far, so good. We were impressed with our county health authorities. 

Let's hope this is the change we all need and we'll all be back to normal soon!

UPDATE: It's the next day and Sooz feels good with no side effects. Sadly, it appears this day is going to be remembered for something far more serious.