Freeze drying laundry

Sublimation - a word that I recently learnt which means ice is vaporised by skipping the liquid phase. This is a concept I learnt as I attempted to freeze dry my clothes when the temperature dipped to less than -5 degrees. I tried this twice where I had the laundry on the balcony for a whole day but my clothes were not dried when I brought them in. They were hard and had a shape but the shape loosened and the clothes became damp after 1 minute of being indoors. I had to put the laundry rack into the bathroom to dry them as there is underfloor heating. I still do not understand how others managed to get their laundry dried. The clothes smell good, though.

Defrosting the freezer

This is my first time defrosting a freezer. It was -10 degrees this evening on 30 January 2021. So, we took this opportunity to defrost the freezer. We put the frozen items on the balcony, switched off the freezer, put pots of hot water in the freezer, and placed a type of absorbing cloth at the bottom of the freezer. We hastened the process by putting a fan in front of the freezer to circulate the steam from the boiling water, around the freezer. Of course, one has to replace the boiling water several times as it cools down.

The defrosting process took about 1.5 hours. It is now easier to slide in and out the containers from the freezer, without the ice looming above the roof of each compartment. Which means I can stock up the freezer!

Raining snow!

16 January 2021

I just needed to post a photo of me with raining snow. We kicked a tree and all the snow fell on me. It was so fun! It was a short walk through the winter white nature reserve today and I never get tired by the white surroundings. 

First snowracer ride!

11 January 2021

It is snowing and I see kids sliding down snowy hills and slopes with their snowracer or pulka (English = sledge) or a rubber seat. I am envious. 

I got lucky today as we got to borrow a snowracer! A snowracer can be maneuvered but it was difficult for me to do that. Somehow, I just find myself racing down uncontrollably. It feels dangerous and fun! Well, it cannot be dangerous if the kids are doing it too. Here is a photo of me on a snowracer. Unfortunately, I am unable to upload a video of me sliding down. 

Job opportunity as a consultant / freelancer

I just realised how wide the job opportunities one have in Sweden to freelance. One is able to freelance easily because of the society's rational of different types of leave. To be a freelance, it is very easy - Open your own company, be your own employee i.e. a consultant and advertise yourself by joining an association for your profession or contact a recruiter. 

Leave 1 - Parental leave

In Sweden, an employee is able to take long parental leave, approximately 480 days shared between both parents until the child is 8 years old. During the leave, the employer looks for a substitute and this is where a consultant comes in. The employee gets their income from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, but only 80% of their earned income with a maximum amount of SEK1012 per day. By the way, if you are unemployed, you still can get parental income from the agency but at a minimal amount of SEK250 per day. One can read this from the agency's website. 

Leave 2 - Sick leave

If you apply for a long sick leave, the employer can look for a substitute.

Leave 3 - Service leave

This type of leave is great. An employee can take leave from its job to study, try another job or take care of a family member (this is limited to 100 days). I think it is great that an employee is given an opportunity to study or try another job and still come back to its old job. This is subject to the employee working with the employer for at least 6 months. And with this kind of leave, the employer will look for a substitute i.e. a consultant. However, with this leave, you are not paid. 

Temporary replacement

This is not a leave. A temporary person (a consultant) is hired to take a place of someone who has left the company until a permanent person is recruited. 

See! Is it not amazing? I was a bit confused, initially, by the term 'consultant' when I came here. To me, a consultant is someone who knows a lot and works in a huge company. But here, the term 'consultant' can be also referred to someone who freelances. 

The benefit of working as a consultant is that you get to try different assignments, and leave once the contract is up, but if you are really good, you can be hired instead or reassign to another position in the company. 

Cool, huh!