UPS & DOWNS

Yesterday and today were NOT good days for our family finances. We own two cars - an Audi and an Opel Corsa. Yesterday the Audi cost us 10000 Norwegian kroner in new tyres (according to the currency converter that's 1350 euros, 1120 pounds or 1790 US$) - and today when they rang from the garage about my Corsa I was nearly sick with anticipation. The very nice garage man tried to break the news to me gently and ended up talking about everything but the cost of repairing the brakes and shock absorbers, beating around the bush - I mean TOTALLY avoiding it - until I said: "Both you and I know that I am waiting for you to tell me the price, so spit it out please." When he said 18500 very softly and I had to make him repeat it because I thought I had misheard.... then I actually told him I felt nauseous. (2500 euros, 2065 pounds or 3315 US$). "I promise to see what I can do about the price," he said, so there it is until tomorrow, when he'll call me again. And I'm still nauseous.

But I'm good at focusing on the small joys of life, and one of them was watching all three episodes of this wonderful TV-series last night - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1949720/. "Great Expectations" is certainly something I've seen before, and I've read the novel, but any screening of a Charles Dickens novel is compulsory for me. No matter how many times it's been done, no matter how many times I've read the book. And the British actors! They are so incredibly well cast - well, in this one there was in fact an American actress in one of the main parts - Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham.                     http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000096/ She was also in a production of "Bleak House" some years ago - another of Dickens' masterpieces - and her English accent is impeccable. Well, she spent most of her childhood in England, so no wonder really. Remember her from "X Files?"

With husband off to play poker to win some money so that we can pay the garage tomorrow, I'm going to spend a little time now to try and raise my spirits to yet another level. I'm retreating downstairs to the basement room to remove the last of the Christmas decorations (about time!), then I'm going to have a sauna (yes, all Scandinavians have a sauna at home!). I'm sure having a sauna will get rid of the remaining flu that I came down with over Christmas. And please keep fingers crossed for that lovely garage guy to reduce those repair costs!