{"id":42188,"date":"2025-01-06T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/?p=42188"},"modified":"2025-08-02T13:35:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:35:58","slug":"the-thirteenth-new-job-social-gatherings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/the-thirteenth-new-job-social-gatherings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thirteenth \/ New Job \/ Social Gatherings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Photos taken 06 – 15 January 2025, posted online 02 August 2025. This is a big travel weekend in Iceland, as Monday is a public holiday, and so far it’s been very heavy rain and high winds.<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With our US visitors gone, the house was suddenly very empty and quiet. We put all the decorations away, and the following day I started a new job!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life then resumed, with the addition of social gatherings which snuck onto the calendar in large numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday 06 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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This was my last day of unemployment, as I would start a new job the following day. Of course I started the day at my usual cafe, which had a cheerful “Happy New Year” sign, and some tasty tasting bits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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This day is called “the thirteenth<\/a>” as it’s the 13th and last day of Christmas. We used the opportunity and packed Christmas away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Our baubles. We’d discovered they were mostly sort of blah-colored, and that we “needed” more strong-colored ones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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I made a quick run to the grocery store, only to nearly wade into a flock of geese!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Uhhh, what are you guys doing here? I managed to sneak past them and into the store, as they moved closer to the parking lot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Love the big trunk area of my medium-sized car!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Thank you for your service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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To be vacuumed…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Fireworks-debris had its own container.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Afterwards I visited a nearby store that had a sale on Christmas decorations… Oh, look! More pastel-colored baubles…. Booooring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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After scouring the aisles I finally scrounged up 9 colorful baubles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Yet another batch of horns being made, this time for the Thirteenth afternoon-cafe at Finnur’s parents’ place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was amazingly awesome to spend an hour at the gym, seemingly squeezing crystallized holiday-sugar out of my joints.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Afternoon-cafe time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A mild traffic jam as guests were leaving.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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My phone found some northern lights in the sky. In “night mode” it’s more sensitive than my eyes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 07 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The entryway to my new job at Varist<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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That night, it was time to crush the ginger-bread house, admittedly a day late.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma managed to punch a size-able hole in the roof.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A roof portion flying to the side as Bjarki finished the job. Thus endeth Yule!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 08 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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My company’s offices are, somewhat unusually, nestled inside a bigger company, called OK<\/a>, as it owns some part of it. It means that for a small company, the space comes with the perks of a bigger one, such as a lounge, and…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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… seemingly perpetually filled containers of nuts, and cookies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A hook broke on Emma’s orthodontics… always good to start a job while needing to attend to life-stuff at the same time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was another clear night, but nothing exciting seemed to be going on outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thursday 09 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The car-issues kept on coming, as the big car got hard to charge because the locking-pin inside the charge-port kept getting stuck. It got a little adventurous, not necessarily in a good way.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sneaky, sneaky… Finnur bought this thinking it was virgin olive oil, but it wasn’t at all. Instead it was some inferior mix, in a pretty bottle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma building the Lego kit she’d gotten for Christmas. She likes to just build and display them. I feel a bit like I failed as a parent at that…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Friday 10 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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January, somewhat ominously, was jam-packed with social gatherings. This is taken downtown, as I searched for the restaurant where my old EE undergrad group was meeting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Art on a wall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Quite cozy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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There’s some fish hidden under there…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A somewhat bizarre sink arrangement by the toilets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Dessert! Yum!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Table one…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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… and Table 2!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Fake plants are still all the rage as interior recorations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Once outside, we noticed santa’s clothes strung hilariously outside a house!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Saturday 11 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The big annual sewing club party was that evening, so I ventured out in search of a dress on sale. Was tempted to buy this shirt, but decided I wasn’t quite that loud.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Us oldies. The party theme was “hats”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Seating assignments were done by matching people with stuff they’d said. It wasn’t always easy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Good lighting is hard to find!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sunday 12 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Picking mom up from the airport, after she’d spent a month in Sweden, welcoming yet another grandchild!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Anna whipped up some pancakes for some sustenance as mom opened her Christmas presents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Mom also brought presents from Sweden, which were a big hit!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Monday 13 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The gym is within easy walking distance from my new work. And yes, we were down a car due to repairs, yet again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Note to self, check out the folf course there in summer!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The only Christmas cards we get anymore are from the US, as all of Iceland has essentially transitioned to sending greetings out on social media. They’re still very welcome though!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 14 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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After-work meetup with a good friend. The weather suggested hot chocolate as a good idea!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 15 January 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Two days later and all the ice had melted, as I again walked to the gym after work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Photos taken 06 – 15 January 2025, posted online 02 August 2025. This is a big travel weekend in Iceland, as Monday is a public holiday, and so far it’s been very heavy rain and high winds.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

With our US visitors gone, the house was suddenly very empty and quiet. We put all the decorations away, and the following day I started a new job!<\/p>\n

Life then resumed, with the addition of social gatherings which snuck onto the calendar in large numbers.<\/p>\n

Monday 06 January 2025<\/h2>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
This was my last day of unemployment, as I would start a new job the following day. Of course I started the day at my usual cafe, which had a cheerful “Happy New Year” sign, and some tasty tasting bits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us","post-container col-md-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42238,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42188\/revisions\/42238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}