From the airport

I'm going to have to be very careful. You very nearly got a kind of two dollar word dump that didn't say very much at all. I'm sitting in Stockholm airport, three hours sleep in the hand, two hours in this particular bush, a pit pissed at Time for getting earlier on me - stay still you capricious bastard. Capricious... must maintain vigilence.

***

Back in Helsinki this morning, a vaguely Asian woman was escorted to a desk, where tickets were bought, and then escorted to her gate, by two very matronly female Finnish police officers. It turned out to be my gate. She was standing, looking down the aisle, as we trooped off here in Stockholm, looking like someone without many resources desperately trying to formulate "Plan B". I'm half asleep, so it's all I can do not to project some elaborate deportation scenario onto this person, I wonder what her real story is.

Incidently, "matronly" is not an adjective often used in conjunction with Irish female police officers. Irish police in the line of duty seem to strive to project a kind of guarded menace - Finnish police officers let the large pistol at their sides do that kind of dirty work for them. Actually that's a gross over simplification. There seems more of a respect for authority, and therefore more confidence on the part of authorites. That's an oversimplification too, I guess.

***

My first reaction upon seeing about a dozen heavily armed soldiers huddled in cover positions around the entrance ramp to a downtown carpark late last night was a kind of delight at finding something so novel (I often worry about myself). I had the cameraphone out, and was laughingly trying to take some shots in the dim light before it struck me that a) I had assumed their presence was merely benign, b) things that one points, sights, that make small flashes, in a noisy city, in the dark, might readily be misconstrued. I'm quick like that. I put the camera away, wondering if the guns were loaded, when rather impressively, about half a dozen more sprinted out from some excellent hiding place in the urban jungle to join their squad.

***

I have to do something about these hunger-pangs. Maybe I should put up a sign saying "feed the blogger" - people keep wandering over to inspect the internet kiosks, figure out fares etc, but it's easy to suspect they're oogling me - this strange human-like creature. I'll take my leave.