Mattress Porn

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Otava seems to have come down with a cold in the past few days as he coughs occasionally, seems worn out and has a gunky nose. It's damned hard to nearly impossible to find a vet in the office in July which strikes me as utterly bizarre. What, one vet couldn't stay in the clinic through the month of July to see all the unfortunate pets who happen to get sick while the entire country is on holiday? It could be a case of Bordetella, a.k.a. kennel cough, which he had an immunization shot for but, like the flu shot for humans, it's not 100% effective in warding off all strains of the virus. This means, of course, that one of the dogs in the puppy park has been contagious with an oblivious owner. There was a bout of nasal ticks going around earlier this year which we were fortunately warned about early enough but, damn, why are people so stupid to bring their pets to common spaces when they shouldn't? From the aggressive dogs who try to eat Otava to bitches in season being brought to the park and various ailments being spread, I'm starting to wonder if we have a particularly stupid population of pet owners near our park. Once we have confirmed that he does have Bordetella, I think we'll post a very strongly worded notice at the park and keep him away from the park, again, for few weeks. Fucking hell, I'm pissed off.

Jarkko caught a bit of the home improvement bug after seeing a few friends' new homes recently and we suffered a bit of domestic shopping on Sunday hunting for a new bed since neither of us sleep very well and my back has gone straight to hell in the past few years. After looking through a few shops we arrived at one where, as soon as I walked in, I knew I wanted one of their beds. We tried a few of them and my conviction was complete. I have always had a 'gift' for choosing the most expensive object when given a selection with a wide range in prices which I affectionately call "SPENDAR", but nothing could have quite prepared me for the sticker shock on the prices of these beds. I had never heard of Hästens before Sunday but they are apparently legendary around here as hand-made Swedish beds. The 2000T, the top of the line non-motorized bed, will set you back a mere 17000 euro in the 180x210cm configuration. The not-quite-so-assrapingly-priced Superia model is only 4000 euro. Uh. Now, I'm willing to concede that we spend a third of our lives on this thing we call a mattress, but once I've given them an arm and maybe a leg or two, I won't be needing such a large bed anymore. I can't wait to receive the DVD and catalogue that I requested from the website as I'm counting on watching pure, unadulterated mattress porn for a few hours to hopefully put me off the idea. I must admit that the vision of the mattress industry teaming up with the porn industry to make mattress porn videos to vividly illustrate the virtues of boxed springs amuses me quite much. At least it would be honest advertising that got straight to the point. :)

And, geez, people are sure in a huff about Chirac's stupid quip about food...

You can't trust people who cook as badly as that [UK]. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food.

Having come from the collision of the possibly two most bland cuisines in the world, British and German, everything on the planet looks more interesting and edible than much of what is traditional in either country. With the exception of the still appealing haggis pakoras somewhere in Scotland, traditional British food is simple, hearty, not very frilly food. German and Finnish food are no different, really. Everything I know about French food I learned from Julia Child and French food seems to be the exact opposite of simple and hearty. But, either way, who cares if Jaques Chirac is being a typical snob about French food. There is an old saying about French cars that might apply to the food as well. If it isn't drowning in a sauce, it ain't French. :)

The French, they copy no one, then again, no one copies the French.