Went to doc's, and got some anti inflammatory tablets, since it's only some sore muscles. hah. should've done this earlier.
Work is good, the first day of the new merged department went well, still some things left to iron out. Very much looking forward to the future.

Day off. Not enjoying it a lot but it's much needed. The ribs are seriously acting up. It's been almost two weeks of aching now. Still got a sore throat too. Despite all this I went for a longish walk downtown. Managed to walk some sidestreets in the old Easttown that I didn't know existed (Válastígur) Met an old classmate from Hagaskóli (1981-4) and went again with the 'There's really going to be a reunion soon, this autumn even' I keep promising this *grin* I think I'll even manage to organise it.
Going to work soon, gonna get some Excel magics working before the four o'clock meeting of the whole new department, making sure everything is in the right place before tomorrow morning.

Another early-to-bed, early-to-rise. Feeling just a tad grotty with a minor sore throat. Recent events include standing in a queue for 50 minutes and getting a too expensive ticket for a bad seat (no. 1 in the row) in a cinema with bad acoustics to see Dame Kiri te Kanawa. Yay! It's in November, too. Best not lose the ticket.
Monday had the EGMs of the two banks, agreeing to merge, and then the GM of the new merged bank. And yesterday the Financial Supervisory Authority rubber stamped it, so now I work for Kaupthing-Bunadarbanki. Some moving of people between the 2 headquarters started yesterday, but most will be tonight and tomorrow (Ascencion Day, a holiday here). I'll move about 3 metres to a different seat on the other side of the desk (yes, the move makes sense). November 1st is supposed to be the day we move to new headquarters. The cocktail after all those General Meetings was held there, in unfinished and raw surroundings. Will be good when that happens

My wallet, which I lost at the club on Friday was found. So now all I need to do is to get my bank to re-activate them.

Quiet weekend. Friday night there was the reunion. It was much fun. As usual though, having a few drinks was a guarantee for only sleeping less than three hours. Understandably Saturday was quiet *grin*. For Eurovision I went to the Vikingur clubhouse last night. Left as soon as the contest finished, but it looked like things were getting lively, most of the handball teams (men's and women's) were there and ready to have a good time. Good for morale I should think. As for the contest, it was a pretty good result. Would've preferred Belgium to win but Turkey's was v.good. Austria's result was fab, news.bbc still hasn't got that joke and still doesn't understand it's appeal. Poor dumb sods. I liked t.A.T.u's song.
Latest news have it that it's being checked whether the Turkish entry is a plagiarization, and also the introduction by the Norwegian and Swedish commentators. According to the Norwegian the Swedish entry had the charisma of an IKEA bookshelf, and the Swede claimed the Norwegian entry sounded like a hissing bicycle pump. So much for the 'Scandinavian Block'. Anyway TV commentators are now banned from comments that can influence the televoting. Does Terry Wogan know?
Am making good inroads in The Scar and the 6th season of Buffy on DVD. Good to see that in proper quality, as opposed to the downloads. Today I looked in on work as well, and then it was the intra-company indoor football competition. I got to play for a few minutes.

Í gærkvöld var haldið upp á fimmtán ára stúdentsafmælið og var það hin besta skemmtun. (ég týndi reyndar veskinu mínu, en er búinn að láta loka kortunum þannig að það kemur varla neitt verra úr því) Það var auðvitað geysigaman að hitta gömul skólasystkin sem maður hefur ekki séð í fjöldamörg ár sum hver.

A few people have been laid off at the bank. Not me. The merger takes effect on Tuesday.

A List of Shame
These books are currently somewhere in my apartment, living room coffee table, the bookshelf in the hall, on top of the bedroom chest of drawers, on the bedside table... all of them with bookmarks in them. Some bookmarks have been there for more than a year. They're listed in the order I sort of expect them to be finished.

• Redemption Ark-Alastair Reynolds
• The Scar-China Miéville
• The Best Democracy Money Can Buy-Charles Palast
• White Storm-Phil Ball
• The Years of Rice and Salt-Kim Stanley Robinson
• The Neutronium Alchemist-Peter F. Hamilton (re-read)
• Dune Messiah- Frank Herbert (re-read)
• The Currents of Space-Isaac Asimov
• Tesla-Margaret Cheney
• Fortress in the Eye of Time-CJ Cherryh
• Paris after the Liberation-Anthony Beevor and Artemis Cooper
• The First and Last Men-Olaf Stapledon
• Starmaker-Olaf Stapledon
• Gormenghast-Mervyn Peake (the volume so named, ie the 2nd)
• Ludd in the Mist-Hope Mirrlees
• Interface-Stephen Bury (re-read)
• John Maynard Keynes: Hopes Betrayed 1883-1920-Robert Skidelsky
• Inversions-Iain M Banks (re-read)
• Ljósið [QED]-Richard P. Feynman
• Gödel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid-Douglas Hofstadter (five years and counting)

And then there are Ken MacLeod's The Cassini Division and The Sky Road and Anthony Beevor's Berlin, none of which I've started on but will probably be finished long before most of the others on the list.
I may call it a list of shame, but it's also a list of immense pleasures ahead. As long as I get going...
Am watching The Matrix DVD atm, watched The Wicker Man this morning. Very good.

A Cinematic Experience

Black. Green. White. Designer sunglasses. Sculpted cheekbones. Slow mo... sorry, 'Bullet-Time'. Authentic RealWood Acting. Weavings. Carrie Anne Moss. Latex. (one cold shower later). Bigger. Faster. More stylish.
Better

Went to the opthalmologist today, booked an eyelid op for late June. Should fix the irritation the eyelashes are causing. It's no big thing, will hurt a bit for a day or two and give me a black eye for a couple of weeks. Just got yet another book in the mail. I really must stop now for a while.
Tonight's my last golfing lesson, a four lesson course offered by work. It's a bit of a slog, since I'm really bad at it.

So they managed to count all the votes, but due to possible recounts, strike-outs on votes etc and the general closeness of it, the actual MPs aren't 100% certain. Fun for them.
I discovered I really wasn't very bothered with the results. Of the two people I wanted to get in, for personal reasons, only one made it. My old classmate, Birgir Ármannsson is now an MP, which I think we predicted back in 8th grade, which is when I first remember him. Probably earlier for those who've known him longer *grin*. But an old friend of the family, Ísólfur Gylfi is no longer an MP. Commiserations to him.
Magnificent to see the United celebrations this afternoon.

Waking up early after a few... well more than a few... drinks the night before is pretty much a given. Interesting day ahead, Election Day. Also my first golf lesson. And possibly some other things to do. At least one of which I look forward to, and might just result in something nice which I might tell you about later.
And if you're reading this because I told you about this last night, cheers mate!

Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men arrived by post this evening. So that's what I'm reading.

Been a completely uneventful week. Some committee work though. I need to read a bit more, and blog about what I'm reading.

We Are The Champions!
Oh yes we are, oh the happpiness

Arsenal - Leeds United just started. I don't really care much if Arsenal wins, it's still up to us to beat Everton next weekend.
Have gotten a few things done at work this weekend. v.good.
I was in Melabúðin, the local foodshop earlier today, and for some reason reached for a paper to take a look. More coincidentally, it was Friday's paper. And a small item on p.2 caught my eye. Apparantly a two scholarships in Japan are being offered to Icelanders born on April 2nd 1969 or later. How freakish is that?? I mean, what's so special about that day apart from me being born then. Nothing! Is someone trying to tell me something?

Just back from seeing X2, excellent entertainment.

Eitthvað held ég að títtumrætt Feminístafélag hefði eitthvað við almenningshlutafélagið The Daily Planet að athuga.