Prior to departure I checked the weather forecast – minimums of 24 degrees each day, and maximums in the low 30s. Coming from Sweden this could only be described as hot. Upon arrival I was happy with my decision to pack light. I had a heavy jacket to get to the airport, but everything else was summer attire.

The weather during the conference met my expectations – although I was inside windowless air-conditioned rooms all day.

After the conference (Thursday-Friday), I chose to spend the weekend in Orlando before heading back to Sweden. And this is when global warming started to fail me. Saturday I went to Disney World and was quite cool (especially after Splash Mountain), and I started shopping for a jumper after nightfall (but failed to find anything I liked in a size smaller than dooner cover). However, I awoke on Sunday to head to the Kennedy Space Centre to be told by reception that the temperature was the coldest on record in 35 years. It was 10 degrees overnight with 19 as a maximum. Armed only with summer clothes I donned on two t-shirts and headed on my way … past Floridans in scarves, gloves and beanies.

The Kennedy Space Centre was amazing. If you see any job postings for positions of astronaut, please let me know.

The photos are below. I trust you can work out which are from Disney, and which are from the Space Centre.

When this was first announced I was not sure I wanted the vaccine. The statistics suggested to me I was at low risk of succumbing to the risks presented by the media’s hysteria campaign, and the fear of insurance companies to cover health professionals made me think the vaccine was perhaps not as well tested as it should have been.

But Sweden does not take big risks with its able-bodied population. The government decided to test the vaccine on vaccinate children, the high risk and hospital workers first. These early results helped allay my fears. Plus I read an article on how me not getting sick reduces the risk other people won’t get sick, and I guilted myself into accepting the vaccine.

In reality the vaccination program is a very orderly process. The all-knowing government has divided the population into groups based on risk, and those at greatest risk go first.

But early in the roll-out the media’s hysteria campaign got some more fuel. Two woman died shortly after receiving their vaccines. But given they were aged 99 and 108, and both suffered from a list of medical complications longer than my arm, I did not seem to be experiencing the same sense of alarm as the media (or other people I know).

Last week my social security number came up in the vaccine lottery, and I receive a letter in the post giving me a time and place to get vaccinated. I found this odd for a number of reasons:

• I cannot imagine Australia being so organised.
• I have avoided the health system at all cost here – so the fact they had made some assessment as to my risk level and placed me ahead of everyone else I knew was concerning.
• Despite being a government employee, I was assigned a time in the middle of the day 90 km from my office (that said I won’t complain, as the location was conveniently placed one block from my house).

So earlier today I was vaccinated.

I figured as this was a medical issue it was important to understand. I told the first nurse I did not speak much Swedish, but she was confident my Swedish was good enough. It later turned out I had not correctly understood her instructions on filling out the form and [more specifically] throwing certain parts of it away. My excuse is that the form specifically stated I needed to hand the nurse all sheets. But despite the nurse’s disappointment/frustration, the problem was easy enough to resolve.

I was then sat down. Shortly afterwards a second nurse came to collect me, and assigned me to a third nurse. The third nurse checked my ID and paperwork. Double checked I was not allergic to egg, and that I was right handed – then gave me the injection.

What concerned me most came next – the nurse put the plastic cover back over the syringe needle and put it down on the desk with all the other syringes. While I have never worked with needles a number of alarms went off in my head. After every injection I have had in Australia the needle has been placed directly into a biohazard bin, and I thought this would be standard practice for a number of reasons:

• When nurses put the plastic cap back on a syringe they are at risk of a needle stick injury. As the needle has been in the patient, this puts the nurse at risk of contracting something.
• How does the nurse know which syringes have been used and which have not? Specifically, how do I know the syringe used on me was not used on someone else?

With specific regard to the second point I like to think there was a process that I was not aware of as all of this took place in under one minute. But I still worry about the nurses, and feel much more confident with the biohazard bin solution.

The form I had earlier completed said I would be given two injections – 21 days apart. I asked the third nurse about the second injection, but she told me that it seemed people only needed one. If I need a second injection I will receive a letter in the mail.

(It seems to me they need to reprint the forms.)

I was then told to sit in the room next door for 15 minutes to make sure I was okay (they provided coffee and cake), before being sent on my way.

The timetable for the remaining vaccinations is based on age (at least in Skane). The Region Skåne website had information about the vaccination programme in Skåne in English and other languages.

I came into Athens on bus from Patras. There was little evidence of the
fires that lashed the edges of the city along the route that we took. But I was on the bus as the train was not running. What surprised me most was how much the back streets of Athens felt like Mexico City in their chaos, design and materials used.

The hotel was a very pleasant surprise. On the roof there was a pool with views to the Acropolis and other surrounding mountains. Coming from Sweden the mid-afternoons were far too hot. So we were able to spend this time poolside, and still feel apart of the city.

Our other great experience in Athens was courtesy of our Swedish student IDs. These got us into every architectural site and museum for free. This also meant we were able to skip to the front of the queues, and flash our IDs like we were part of some sort of police operation.

And the sites where everywhere. Not to the same degree as Rome, but there is a definite feel that the city has just grown up around its ancient history.

Coming from Sweden we found Athens relatively cheap. Even in the tourist areas. Taxis were affordable, and public transport was ridiculously cheap.

It was also wonderful to have some good food. While I do enjoy my köttbullar, I do begin to crave other [authentic] offerings. And I had enough lamb to keep me going for some time at least.

This conference joins two groups – people interested in the software management issues, and people interested in technical hardware issues. I fit into the former group, but in my opinion all of the keynote speakers fitted into the latter group. However, the research paper sessions were much more enjoyable.

I got some great feedback. But as it turns out this is a tangent explored as part of my PhD studies that I will not be exploring further.

I was joined by some of my friends from Blekinge Institute of Technology, who were also at the conference. This helped make for a very nice experience. Especially as one brought her family.

It was lovely to be on the Mediterranean (as you can see from the photos). But the conference and conference related activities were inconveniently placed during the beach-worthy times of day, but I suppose that is not what work paid for. But I did manage to swim before/after the conference each day.

As this was Oziel’s first time in London, so we did more of the touristy things. Except queue. The English are known for their ability to queue, but we did not appreciate how busy London was with tourists in the summer. So we saved up some of the things for next time.

We also caught up with Matthew and Anthony, and James (who all managed to avoid our photos).

Cancún itself is a strip of resorts along white sand beaches. We used this as our hub to see the Yucatan Peninsula. This took us to Chichen Itza (a Mayan pyramid), Merida, [a tropical cyclone in] Tulúm (another Mayan pyramid), and Isla Mujeres.

No self respecting Mexican child (or adult) would accept the archival paper mache donkey. Piñata has moved with the times and you need to have your favourite cartoon character – be it Elmo, Buzz Lightyear or Lightning McQueen – albeit to severely bash. I bought Sponge Bob to bash-up for for Oziel’s birthday.

There are stores and markets dedicated to the sale of piñata. There are even stores and markets dedicated to the fillings to put in the piñata. These are a lot of fun.

In turns each person is then blindfolded, spun around, handed a large heavy stick and sent to work. In our case the heavy stick was a kendo sword, but more traditionally one could use an axe handle.

The next part was new for me. There is a song that is sung while the person tries to beat-the-crap out of the beloved cartoon character. Once this song is over the persons turn is up, and the next person gets their go. Oziel’s friends kindly sang slower for me.

Despite a blindfolded person wielding a sword in an attempt to kill a moving object, the group of grown, mature adults though it prudent to run in and try and grab what they could of the falling innards before anyone else got them. While there were several moments that looked like they could turn to tears (and broken ribs), everyone survived the piñata in one piece. Everyone, except Sponge Bob.