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Sunday Shopping Becomes Reality | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi November 19, 2009
Sunday Shopping Becomes Reality | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi.
Parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of allowing retailers to open for business on Sundays. Shops will now be permitted to open year round, except on national holidays.
Well the opportunity to create more jobs for those businesses who will be open on Sundays is great considering we are in either recession or depression (no officials have really “announced” the latest “title”)… either way “economical downturn”. But I still strongly hold with an “olden” way of thinking: I believe that these 12.00-18.00 business hours should be on Saturday and that Sunday should see all shops closed outside Christmas holiday season and aside for convenience stores (not I… but some people still need to rush and get milk or what not even on Sunday and just cannot plan ahead!).
I used to boast to my friends back in Canada that Sundays in Finland were actually Sundays. No one was on the streets, no shops were open. There was no urge to even step outside of your house on this day (unless it was one of the holidays that land on Sunday). I doubt I have ever even thought of leaving my house on a Sunday. No, no, that’s wrong. I remember once it was a Sunday afternoon and I had a craving for pizza (a food I rarely eat) and the only shop that was open was Siwa and we had to walk a 3 KM round trip to get pizza from the only store open. So once in 2 years (only counting my time in Kuusankoski) have I needed to go to the store on Sunday. I can still seek silence in my home but when I look out the window or go for my evening walk with my wife and daughter will it be silent? Will the eve own over modern daily life?
Now I guess the shopping streets of Helsinki, Tampere, Lähti, etc. will be bustling as well on Sunday like every other day. Erode the tranquility of Sunday is right. Modern life has no time for rest and this is proof!
Kuusankoski Downtown Photos November 19, 2009
I put in a half morning shift this morning and since the workplace is only a few dozen meters from “downtown” I decided to take the 3 minute longer route home this afternoon and snap some photos of downtown Kuusankoski.
So as promised:
This is the westside of the main street. The older side that hasn’t seen much renovation in recent years (aside for the removal of the R-Kioski and from what I was told a gas station). Behind the bank in the photo is the old S-Market (which I have heard is going to be replaced with something else) and the ever faithful liquor store Alko. This is the side we live on — though about 800 meters still to the west.
I am sure some kind of renovations have will be planned in the future as there is quite a lot of empty space (right in the center of the photo) which is being used at the moment as a unpaved parking lot for the bank. This ridiculous idea has become out-dated as where the R-Kioski used to be is now a new parking lot which would now leave that empty area for some kind of new building that would allow even more business into the area.
But who knows? I have heard of some pretty crazy (and as some would say “outside-the-box”) ideas such as a “warm market-place” which was a giant area for market stands to sell the goods. I guess having a warmed concrete floor would be a good idea if people actually brought their goods to sell. Also something about a arsonist burning the warm market-place down??!
Kuusankoski truly is quite strange…
So here comes the pinnical moment all have been waiting for. The state of Kuusankoski’s main street and new look for the downtown core. So sure, I managed to get photos some days after the snow melted so the natural state of Kuusankoski rears its ugly head but at least the idea is here.
Further down in the photo is a second roundabout which is pretty much looking like this one right now. Just behind this roundabout is a new parking lot which had me a little worried for some time. Why? Well because while they were placing these beautiful bricks and the beautiful pattern came into place I thought for sure it was not a place for cars but a new warm market-place. I thought that if those city council members lost their heads again we would end up with another crazy idea.
Fortunately this was not the case and I was right after all! A beautiful new parking lot to go along with the new building, shops and face lift to the other buildings. It has already turned out quite nice and I look forward to seeing what else they have up their sleeves.
Maybe it is time to step into the ring and bump heads with these fools regarding the management of our little area…. I nominate… MY WIFE!
Kuusankoski: The Brown Stain of Finland November 17, 2009
As most readers probably DON’T know, Kuusankoski downtown has been going through some renovations.
Downtown… well according to www.dictionary.com “downtown” means:
–adverb
| 1. | to or in the main business section of a city. |
–adjective
| 2. | of, pertaining to, or situated in the main business section of a city. |
–noun
| 3. | the main business section of a city. |
Which is absolutely true, thankfully it doesn’t pertain anything regarding the LOOKS of a downtown core.
While Kuusankoski does have a small bustling business district (which could probably use more practical shops so we don’t have to go to Kouvola for certain items) it doesn’t look very nice at all. Since the construction of the newest apartment building (which includes a grocery store, bank, R-Kioski convenience store and a few restaurants) the downtown has picked up and I am sure once spring 2010 rolls around it will really look nice. There used to be two lights along the main road which really caused more trouble than they were worth because they were constantly changing and really holding up only a few cars that went by rather than making things smooth.
I guess city council has grown a few brain cells.
Late summer the city workers unlocked the rusty doors of Kuusankoski’s construction garage, dusted off the machinery and rolled into “downtown” to begin their work. Both sets of lights were quickly removed and replaced with makeshift roundabouts that have since been constructed into full (almost complete) roundabouts. I am sure the construction will slow down during winter (depending on the weather) but will be finished next year.
So onto the reference of the name of this entry:
Kuusankoski really looks like this: a giant creature has wiped his butt along the ground with the main street being the brown stain and either side of the street being the ugly remains. The buildings have really begun to age and the low skyline looks horrible against Fox Hill and Hospital Hill (the two hills in Kuusankoski). Though Finland has a higher living standard than Eastern Europe and ex-Soviet states it is hard to believe just by the looks. My father once said when he visited Finland he wants to go to Russia and see what it looks like. I have never been there but I am truly starting to believe in Sanna’s response. Which was, “there is no reason to go because Finland looks exactly the same”.
I am glad that construction has picked up in the area to give it a facelift as well as give those city workers a chance to make some money during the “economical downturn”.
Now that once side of the brown stain has received its facelift let’s hope city council begins work on the other half.
Photos to follow soon.
Joys of Sleeping In November 12, 2009
So Sanna has been getting up early to go teach her recycling courses to small children around the community. Oh she enjoys it. I too have always liked working with children. Instructing those lacrosse introduction courses in Canada was some of the most fun I ever had with the sport. I wonder if it would be worth it to continue studying into a career of educating small children. I think it would be really suitibg for both Sanna and I. though it is possible that it could look a little strange with a metalhead teaching children how to count to 10!
So anyways I got the pleasure to experience the wonderful moments of having the wife wake up earlier than I and me sleeping in a little longer. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy waking up early. So much more can be accomplished by getting up at 7.00 rather than 10.00. But believe me: even the most efficient people in the world need a few days or weeks break.
I dislike being awoken by the disturbing alarm sound. I’ve tried all the different sounds, baeking dog, doorbell, etc, etc but nothing is better than Sanna getting up for work, Smilla gradually waking up around the same time and I as well. No alarm, no sudden jumping out of bed and rushing to the beat of the second hand. Sitting with the family at the kitchen table, drinking coffee while Smilla eats her breakfast is just the most splendid feeling! I hope in the future I can experience it more than just these past two mornings.
I love technology. I use it to my advantage, expanding my own knowledge through efficient search engines and making life generally simpler with a smart phone and mobile internet. I am not dependant on it. I can go time without any of it and I have. Sometimes I cannot continue writing blogs or keep my status up to date on Facebook. I do not get the itch to see what all my friends are doing at the moment.
It is moments like these mornings when tecgnology is throw out the window and a simple peaceful momebt with the family is enjoyed.
Oh how I long for more simple times.
