Don't jinx it.

I have previously written here that my tax report and returns over 2006 turned into a nightmare. It started with a long, long wait to actually get the necessary forms. Then I made a mistake, they made several, I filed a complaint about the decision, they never got that, I sent another one, they called me back a few times, then no more, and now, today, after spending considerable time on the phone explaining the situation, I was contacted by the department handling my request that they have successfully located my forms, copied the (hopefully) right figures into their system, and I can expect a new tax statement within weeks! If my parents are reading this: yes, that means I should be able to pay you back :)

Where one governmental institution fails, others will follow. However, I did not expect the curse to jump political borders: today once again the people in high places laid out their plans to disband my institute at the start of next year. There goes a 90-year old institute for marine research.. many of us are worried about the lack of political support for this field, which has actually proven a reliable source of knowledge on how to deal with actual problems in the Baltic Sea, on which this country so heavily relies. Current jobs and projects are carried forward by the environmental centre and the meteorological institute, both of which have no clear marine research objectives in their terms of reference. Selfishly I hope that by the time my project is over (assuming that I'll have access to current facilities for the duration, which is not entirely certain at this point), a new government will help turn the tide, but a loss like this is more likely to set back the capacity for marine research in this country by a decade or so. A week before moving our belongings here, this feels even more awkward: what are we going to do when this job runs out, does it even make sense to move those boxes this way?

Well, to end with a positive note. In two hours time I will witness the opening of the Finnish baseball season, as my first-ever live presence in any sports stadium. As of now I do not yet know what the difference with normal baseball is. I hope it's not similar to the difference between football and Gaelic football or Football and American Soccer, or Spaghetti and Noodles, which I fail to comprehend. I am almost certain that beer, beetroot and sausages will be involved.