During todays run (or maybe jog), I was wondering if I was running or jogging? What is the universal definition for each of these terms and where is the border between them? Can it be based on the pace maybe? and perhaps also in relation to your own pace only? If you run 10 km's as fast as you can = 40 min, then you can probabaly call it a jog when you use +50 min. Hmmm...

That means that I don't run any more. I only go jogging. My pace at the moment is most often around 5.30 min/km, but I can speed up over shorter distances if I really need to. Todays 13 km at Delsjön were very nice, in an easy jogging pace, in a light pre-autumn rain. Wonderful!

Yesterday, I made a comeback jog, after 10 days of abstinence due to a cold. 10 km's with Nellie in the baby-jogger (the actual name of the stroller), so that was definately jogging.

I also managed to get Oliver into running this summer. We ran together around the lake (10 km trail) and also a few times on the asphalt and in the forest tracks. He has some talent for it, but there are always other more fun things to do. I will not push him, only support him and make sure that he enjoys it. Nice to do these kind of things together.

What is happening in the safe haven of Sweden? It used to be rather safe & free from criminal elements. Feel SECURE in Sweden. That's the way my brain has been programmed during my childhood and even later. You should be able to trust people around you and not have to be over-protective. Relaxed at home, but on your guard when you travel abroad. That's not true anymore. I have to change my blue eyes and be much more careful nowadays. That's really ashame and boring development.

Since we moved here in May, there's been some guys destroying the electricity center outside our house, cutting off the power supply to the whole block. I managed to run out and chase them away in the middle of the night. When the police came they just confirmed that these kind of incidents are rather common. It felt to me, like the police force is rather demoralized and is just doing the admin work. Big yaaawn!

I also had someone stealing my MTB bike inside my garage, when I was at home. Now I have to lock the garage port all the time. Boring!

Last weekend, Jörgen had a break-in at his house during night-time while they where sleeping and yesterday David had a break-in into his car. So it's not a one off kind of thing. The frequency is to high to ignore it.

These kind of shit incidents really make me upset and angry.

It creates a suspious and unfriendly society. Why is it like this nowadays?? Some people say it's because we have opened the borders. Hmmm... that had to happen regardless and I don't think this is the basic reason.

There is suddenly some lack of respect in general for other people and other peoples belongings. Perhaps it's due to parents lack of time to teach their kids important life values and what's right & wrong. We are far to busy ... The ethics are going downhill in supersonic speed.

During our 2 years in Asia we had no incidents what so ever, even though we were warned about potential risks in Kuala Lumpur. We had several guards at our condo, so the risk was minimal around there. In Korea we felt very secure. Young people are tought to respect olders and others.

After watching the US Open semifinal between Rafael Nadal & Andy Murray the other night with lots of excellent tennis duels, I was very excited about the final between the Scotsman and Roger Federer. Well it wasn't that much of a fight, Federer was just so much better in relative terms, probably just playing his normal solid game. Murray looked like a loser already from the first shot. I think that he wasn't mentally ready for a Grand Slam Final and he also had a tougher game the day before, beating Nadal. So big difference to watch him in these 2 matches. Federer is a fantastic tennis player, but not as fun to watch as Nadal. To much of a predictable robot, even if he's shown some human weaknesses lately. 5 straight US Open trophies is anyhow mega respect!! Instead I love to watch Nadal playing. Very energetic and powerful. Great biceps for a tennisplayer and he also looks very cool on the court, like coming straight from the beach. It would have been great see him play against King Gustav V (if time machines would work).

It was hard to stay awake when the tennis wasn't on the expected top level. Nothing like the Wimbledon final over 5 sets this summer. Probably the best match I've ever seen.

I joined Jörgen, Janne & Hans for a game of doubles during the evening, acting as a stand-in in their regular set-up. That was the 3rd time during the last month and it is good fun. The ground strokes get better and better for each occasion, but I would need to play some more singles to become more consistent and build up some confidence in my volley.

I also need to have a revenge game with Micke S to put things right again. No friendly merciness this time. Just kill him!

Good to be back doing physical activities again, after a week of flu sickness. Biked 100 km's this morning around the Lake Mjörn together with Jörgen & Kristian. One of us got a bit tired and it wasn't me or the born biker Jörgen, but we had a nice time out there in cruising speed. Probably good for me to not push it to hard. Some rain, almost no wind and an OK arrangement. This was the last road bike trip for the season. Time to clean the bike and give it some oil & grease before winter storage. Good, now I've been writing it, so hopefully I will do it too.

Micke S called me from Bordeaux last night after completing the Medoc Marathon together with Monkan. He was over the top enthusiastic about the event and their extremely positive experience there. I mean, he's always very positive, but last night he was super duper euphoric. Perhaps they had made the most of the wine drinking part of the event. Yeah, he was for sure high on something more than endorphins. For me, having paid for a start number etc to this exclusive event (hard to get a place in Medoc), it made me feel really rotten to miss such an opportunity. Bad timing for me considering us having a baby around this time, so I just had to cancel it. I should be happy to have such an understanding wife, that allows me and supports me, doing lots of these activities otherwise. Don't push my luck!

So instead of a fantastic 4 days event in southwestern France with run, fun & sun, I've been biking in the rain around lake Mjörn. Nice contrast!

Tomorrow, we are going to my home village, Kvänum. It's an official return-back-home day for people like me, who grew up there and then have moved somewhere else. So the community, school, local companies, etc have organized lots of activities. It will be fun to see some old faces from the past and of course also visit Mum & Dad. Since we now are 6 in the family, we have a small problem going in the Volvo all of us. No, it's not an XC90 7-seater, only a tiny V50, soon to be upgraded to a V70. Still not big enough for all of us together. So, I decided to buy a van or minibus. Found one that we liked and made a quick deal and suddenly we are cruising around in a big Canadian Plymouth (Chrysler) Grand Voyager. Very spacious. Nellie likes it already and I'm sure that Elvira & Oliver will love it when they see it tomorrow morning. I got some scooby dooby doo feelings already tonight and I'm sure it will take us out for new adventures. It will be the Claesson clan's Mystery Machine. Watch out ...

10 days off from work for fathers to be around home after your new baby is born, is a fantastic benefit. Very Swedish and I must admit that I like it, because there are lots of small things to support with, especially when it's not the only child in the house. Anyhow, I have quite a relaxing time, still not free from the flu, so I can't do any training yet.

Jim is a very nice & clever boy (6 days old). After these 2 weeks at home, I hope that I have managed to teach him everything I know. Right now we are going through Assembler programming ...

School's out forever
School's out for summer
School's out with fever
School's out completely

School is NEVER out for me. During last nights parent meeting for Oliver's class, another parent/friend congratulated me to our newborn son and told me some interesting facts that I haven't really thought much about. In school new kids & parents come & go all the time, but I will keep coming back over and over again until long after I'm retired ... Still lots of parent meetings in school to attend. Hmmm... true and it's not really my favourite activity, even though it's very important to take part. Last night for example, we discussed the quality of the boiled potatoes during the first couple of weeks of the new school year. One mother expressed major worries, due to that her son's braces had gone loose, probably due to not properly cooked potatoes. My god, that's serious!! Hopefully I will be able to use my old wisdom to raise the level of discussions and importance of the topics over time. You get some distance to things by age and also by moving around here & there on this globe. There are for sure problems bigger than the potatoes at Öjersjö Storegård school.

I can't say that I've been especially active with involvement at Elvira & Oliver's school here in Öjersjö. The only thing that I'm proud of is that I managed to stop a bunch of parents in Elvira's class during her first year, who wanted the school to fill up a small pond next to the school yard, so their kids wouldn't get their clothes wet etc during playing there. I argued strongely against it and claimed that we should keep the natural environment as much as possible and that our kids need to get used to small dangers, before they move on bla bla bla. The nature up here is one of the main reasons why people live here, so why turn it into some concrete suburb.

I'm happy to still see that the pond still remains the same, almost 10 years later.

Totally knocked out today due to a very very strong cold/flu. I feel useless. I'm supposed to be home on parental leave to help Misia and get to know our little new family member, but I'm more of burden and can't really touch Jim, since I'm afraid that he's catching my flu.

I watched the football derby between IFK Göteborg and GAIS (0-1) on TV and I was astonished by the low level of entertainment. I haven't seen a Swedish league game for a long long time, instead I have followed the English premier league a lot during our time in Asia. What a difference!! The lack of professional attitude was so obvious at Ullevi. It felt like junior level football. You have to be a true fan of the winning team to get any pleasure from a game like this. Crap!

I feel a bit miserable due to my sick condition. Can't really do anything, but resting. No fun. Anyhow, I'm happy for our new little son. He's so perfect!