Reading list 2024

Below listed the 23 books that I have read since publishing my previous list. I have highlighted 5 books which stood out the most in my opinion.

Bregman, Rutger - Humankind: A hopeful history

Casanova, Giacomo - Elämäni tarina 7 - 8

Diaz, Hernan - Luotto

Epstein, David - Range how generalists triumph in specialized world

Foster Wallace, David - Tennisesseet

Herrera, Yuri - Kartellin trubaduuri

Ibrahimović, Zlatan - Adrenaliini: ennenkuulemattomat tarinani

Itkonen, Juha - Ihmettä kaikki

Itkonen, Juha - Teoriani perheestä

Kahneman, Daniel - Noise: A flaw in human judgement

Kwik, Jim - Rajoittamaton: päivitä aivosi, opi nopeammin

Manson, Mark - Kaikki menee päin helvettiä: nurinkurinen kirja toivosta

Manson, Mark - Will

Mykkänen, Erkka - Sellainen mies

Pilecki, Witold - Vapaaehtoisena Auschwitziin: vastarintaliikkeen solouttautujan uskomaton tarina

Pulkkinen, Riikka - Raja

Pöppönen, Hannu - Nippu pesoja ja muita kertomuksia Argentiinasta

Saahko, Lotta-Sofia - Koti kulttuurien välissä

Siltala, Juha - Keskiluokan nousu, lasku ja pelot

Torkki, Juhana - Dion prusalainen onnellisuudesta

Torkki, Juhana - Plutarkhos mielen tyyneydestä

Vahvanen, Pekka - Kone kaikkivaltias: Kuinka digitalisaatio tuhoaa kaiken meille arvokkaan

Ypi, Lea - Vapaa: kuinka kasvoin aikuiseksi maailman luhistuessa

The previous list from 2023

The king's oak and The great field

Street view from Kuninkaantammi

I have visited recently two new neighbourhoods in the capital area of Finland. the one in Helsinki is called Kuninkaantammi in English The King's oak. and in Espoo Suurpelto in English The great field. Both neighbourhoods have been criticized for being isolated because there is no short distance train or metro connection, lack of parking space, lack of services nearby and empty plots which are still under development. The positive sides are schools and day care centres for families. Moving inside the both neighbourhoods is designed for walking or cycling. I liked a lot the overall look and atmosphere of Kunikaantammi, the round shapes, green areas and the architecture gives vibes from the medieval cities. As Suurpelto is more like typical square blocks with modern buildings. Though Suurpelto is attractive for English speakers because there is an international school where studies are in English. You can also find one of the three Angry Birds playgrounds in Suurpelto.

The most expensive house of Kauniainen

Listed house

My home city Kauniainen is known as a city where wealthy people live in Finland. I moved here 4 years ago. In Kauniainen you can find many very nice and expensive private houses but also regular apartment buildings. Recently I spotted that probably the most expensive house of Kauniainen is on sale for 5,7 million euros. The house is built 2021 and the only house in Kauniainen with a private beach by a small lake. The price of the house is not actually very high if you compare to other western countries but for a house in Finland it is very expensive. 

Lunch or beer

In Finland having a lunch buffet during the workweek is common practice. Emploeyrs are allowed to give a lunch benefit of 13,5 euros per workday for their employees which often determines the price of the lunch. The lunch price also includes also a drink but if you want to have a beer with your lunch which is not common in Finland you have to pay for the beer almost 10 euros. For example celebrity cook Kape Aihinen has critized the buffet culture because serving lunch doesn't bring much income to his restaurants. He explained that main reason for him to serve the lunch is to be able to offer work for his employees also during the day and keep them that way more satisfied. Aihinen mentioned also that a great sommelier is very valuable for a restaurant. My conclusion is that lunch is cheap and beer is expensive for the consumer. Which makes selling alcohol profitable business and selling lunch very low margin profit business.

J Balvin in Helsinki

Encore

Colombian Reggeaton artist J Balvin held a concert in Ice hockey arena of Helsinki and drew a crowd of 5200 people. J Balvin started the concert with his hit song "Mi Gente" and the people sitting on the benches stood up and started to dance like the people on the floor in front the stage. The people danced through the whole concert. The atmosphere flattened when the end was approaching and J Balvin was asking people to request their fevourite songs. Also the reporter of Helsingin Sanomat made the same remark. There wasn't a clear answer from the crowd and I was wondering does he usually get a clear response from the crowd. The atmosphere went up again for the encore ending with song "In Da Ghetto". Four years ago Maluma held also a concert in Helsinki and attracted about same size crowd. The big reggeaton artists cannot yet attract as big crowds as the popular Finnish artists who have sold out 30 000 people stadium concerts.

Returning winter

April 20th in Espoo

Winter turns to Spring slowly in Finland. Last night the snow covered the landscape for the second time this spring also known as "takatalvi" in Finnish. When the warmer spring weather is delayed you often wish to be in a warmer country. Though the winter darkness is already gone and the bright days are long. 

Investing in real estate occupied by squatters in Spain

I listened a podcast episode by Wall Street Wolverine where real estate investor Pau Antó explains how he deals with squatters also know as "okupas" in Spain. Many people consider owning property very risky in Spain because the local law protects the habitants of the residence. I wrote for example blog post about it called "how to live for free in Spain". Still Antó has invested in real estate properties which were occupied by squatters. He classified squatters in three categories: squatters who see occupying a residence as a right, squatters who do business by occupying residences and squatters who do it because they don't have any other way to find a roof on top of their head.

Antó explained how you have to negotiate with the squatters before you invest in the property. Often you need to pay the squatters some thousands of euros to make a deal with them. You have to be able to trust their word, because legal contracts don't weigh much in their case. In Barcelona there is a valued neighborhood with good location called Grácia, where some buildings have been occupied for years and would interest investors. Still reaching a deal with squatters has been impossible and the buildings remain occupied. For example buildings where there are living squatters from different ethnic groups makes negotiating complicated. For the landlards Antó adivces to always have an insurance in case the tenant doesn't pay the rent.

Does eating in a lunch buffet help muscle gain?

Last year on March I went to InBody body composition analysis. 9 months later on December, I went to the same analysis to see the results. I kept my training regime the same as before the 1st analysis but I started to eat more by eating in the lunch buffet 3 times a week. Eating enough to gain mass has been a challange for me. The result was that I gained weight 2,5 KG. My muscle mass increased 0,6 KG and fat mass increased 1,7 KG. Which means that the rest of the difference was water. During the 9 month period I would have liked to have longer training sessions. I felt that it would be nice to train more. Basically I ate too much or I should have trained more in order to avoid gaining fat mass. My conclusion is that gaining muscle mass is tough.

Lack of workforce

In the Finnish media there is a discussion going on how workforce is needed in Finland. Many politicians say that Finland needs more immigrants but in the same time there are educated immigrants in Finland who say that how difficult it is to get a job in Finland. Often the lack of fluency in Finnish leanguage makes entering the workforce difficult, especially in the white collar jobs. Reasons what I have not seen discussed in media why Finland is not attracting highly educated and skilled workforce is progressive income taxation and comparatevily low income level. If you are a top earner in Finland you take care of your own house work for example take care of the garden in the summer, clean the snow in the winter, clean your house, take care of your kids etc. In India or in Colombia you might get paid about the same in similar level job but you can afford to pay someone else to take care of these kind of things. One with high level of income can think is it nicer live with benefits of a society with low income level differences or in a society with high income level differences.

Winter cycling

Winter road home

The landscape has been covered with snow the whole December in my sourroundings but I have been still cycling to work regularly. Though I have had to walk to work few times because the snow had not been cleaned from the roads due a heavy snowing during the night. Some people change for the winter tires with spikes but I cycle through the winter with the same hybrid bike and summer tires. As I go throug the streets of Kauniainen and Espoo regularly I have noticed how the streets of Kauniainen are maintained in better condition during the winter months. That might change in the future because Kauniainen is looking for savings as the health care system change led Kauniainen in financial trouble.