The End....

I hate this feeling. Waking up, realizing that the friends you have made and have spent a lot of time with will no longer be part of your everyday life. The feeling of packing your bags, going out the door and leave the way you have lived your life.
The first time I felt like this was when I finished my National service in Norway. Although it was nice to have completed, it was also sad. And I learnt the first lesson of ends there. You promise to keep in touch and maybe come for a visit. Truth is: you probably won't. The reason is that once you "stop" one life and go on with your next, you can only deal with one of them. You have other friends, a job, maybe education. I have two very good friends from my time up North. I have a chat with them once in a while, which is not bad seven years later.
The second time was when I left Kosovo. Through 18 months we worked closely together, and in the evenings we sat on top of an APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier), smoked a cigar and had a chat while listening to crazy dogs and the random fire of an AK-47. Nice!
The third time was when I left work to start to study. I didn't really think much about it at the time, but I know now that it was a great place to be with great people, and isn't it always like that? You don't know how much you like something until it's gone...
The fourth time was when I left Haugesund to study together with Joakim in Bergen for a year. We were ten persons or so gathering in the cafeteria every day between lessons, chatting and laughing. None of us knew each other before we started studying, but almost all of us had the one thing in common that we had previous work experience. In days where a lot of "fresh" students really couldn't care less about their performance at school, that was refreshing as we all were really motivated for studying. But then Joakim and myself went to Bergen as the University College in Haugesund couldn't provide us with the topics we wanted. Already having a friend in Joakim, the end of the Haugesund study adventure wasn't that tough.
Bergen was fantastic, nothing less. The social life on Gyldenpris where I lived was brilliant, and the city was also very nice. One of my friends there was one of the friends I keep in touch with from the national service. It really sucked to leave them all, as I had a great year. That was the fifth time.
The sixth time is now. I'm not there yet as I leave on Monday, but the end of the semester was yesterday, completed with a big party. It was also the final of the business plan competition, but we didn't win. I congratulate those who won and curse the "Board" for not choosing our project. I still think ours was the best one, but unfortunately I wasn't asked... When we asked of reasons, all we got was that our project was too risky. Sure. Knut pointed out that the Board didn't have the balls to accept our project, which was a popular remark...
While I write about all the "ends" in this post (a post which is growing by the minute), I have to say one thing. This time is different. The first reason is that for the first time in 5 years, I can concentrate on the present. I'm back where I started, and I can finally see my friends during weekdays as well as weekends.
The second and biggest reason is that I return to Elisabeth, and can finally be with her on a permanent basis. I really look forward to that! All the times that I have had "ends" I have left someone permanently. But all the times I have left Haugesund, Elisabeth and my friends and my family to study or work I have known that is has only been temporarily. I look forward to seeing you all again! The third reason that it is different this time is that I have a feeling I will meet a lot of my new friends professionally. Shipping isn't that big a business...

Pain!

Yesterday was the annual football match between the students and the staff, in Hyde Park. We lost 10-6, a result that of course shows that football is an unpredictable game... I haven't played football for a while (or any other sports), so 2*45 minutes in 25 degrees celsius, burning sun and 0.5 litres of water proved to be a tough challenge. Today I'm red as a lobster, and my body hurts as if it has been in a tumble dryer. The pain, the pain!
I've got some pictures, and I will post them soon. After the match we went to a cafè called Lido, which lies on the south side of the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Here we sat and had a couple of beers and a nice evening in total. Great weather, great people, great beer and great conversation. Afterwards we walked through the park to Marble Arch.
But the pain from yesterday's activities were relieved by a message from the school. Previously I wrote about a business plan we have been making, where we will be purchasing two single hull VLCCs and converting them to FPSOs. There were 30 groups in total, and all thirty groups presented their plans. The best four groups would go to a final where professionals from City along with professors from the business school would pick a winner. It appears that our plan was so good that we are one of four finalists in the Moore Stephens Business Plan Competition... GREAT!

Bloody Chelsea

I just had to say it. With the signings of Schevschenko and Ballack they will be too strong next season. And Man Utd still hasn't signed their new midfield boss. Damn! I was hoping that the league would even up a bit.

Discovering an S-curve shift

The first question that probably hits you in the back of the head is: what is an S-curve? To cut down a long story, an S-curve is the illustration of how an implemented technology gradually becomes more efficient until it flattens out. Then comes an S-curve shift, where a new technology rises and replaces the old one. One good example is the shift from sail ships to steam ships, and further on to motor shifts. (Thank you Rudolf Diesel!)
So why am I bothered with this during an Shipping, Trade and Finance master's degree? Well, one of the courses I'm attending at the moment is Shipping Innovation. My grade will be given on the base of a coursework, where I brainstorm and find an S-curve improvement or even better a shift. Aha, the plot thickens... My idea is that since the current propulsion system efficiency used in ships are reaching its limit, a shift in the S-curve will occur somewhere in the future. (And yes, I am raving mad)
So what will the shift be? I have of course no answer to that, but my search for alternatives have given me some fantastic new knowledge about previous hoaxes regarding perpetuum mobiles and brilliant solutions to the world's energy problems. For some strange reasons, all attempts have failed the second someone invest money in them...



I DO believe that the next energy source used for propulsion will be environmentally friendly, abundant in nature and cost efficient. Today, solar power, wind power and wave power gives us two out of three. Wallenius Wilhelmsen has developed a ship design called "Orcelle" which combines all three (along with NO ballast tanks).


The E/S Orcelle as designed

So now, the $10,000 question is: Can you beat this, Anders? Of course I can! All I need is 50 more years of research, and commercially available Fusion power will be available. All that needs to be taken care of is the 10,000,000 degree plasma cloud and the trillions of Watts needed to kick it off... :D
When people hear about nuclear fission energy today they think of Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Dr. Strangelove. During the 1990s, CERN scientists created a much safer nuclear fission power, using Thorium instead of Uranium. Toss in a particle accelerator, injection of the nuclear waste back into the process and the fact that one of the countries in the world with the largest amounts of Thorium being NORWAY, and voila! The successor of oil is here...
Maria Ruggero Santilli is another interesting character. His Curriculum Vitae seems impressive at first, and his two babies Magnegas and Hydrogen Technology Applications Inc. (together with Denny Klein)seems very impressive. That is if you don't understand the high tech chemistry mumbo jumbo. If you do, several of his claims are, to say it nicely, dubious. His findings are discussed critically here, here and not to mention here. Especially the last one has some quite obscure comments by a "Joe Kelley". And as a final warning to those of you who STILL want to invest in some magic free energy invention, here is a link to make you think again.
Now to something completely different. Tonight, Harald and myself went to Angel and saw X-Men 3. Just like MI:3 it provided action and costly special effects. Braindead fun for a Sunday evening, just perfect.
Now, after supplying you all with some crazy reading on Bank Holiday, I quietly retire for the night. I of course would like to hear from you different ship propulsion solutions for the future. (And I especially want you, Karl Kristian, to prove you're worthy for CERN... :D )

Finally, the pictures are here...

OK, I could try to pretend that I lost my camera last week or an ice bear ate it, but the truth is that I just didn't make this post before today... It is busy days at school now, with courseworks in Chartering, Financial Derivatives and Shipping Innovation. In addition we have an exam in Shipping Risk Management, and we have to start preparing our dissertation. Robert, Leif and myself plan to write it together, if God (read: Grammenos, the course Godfather) will. We MIGHT write a dissertation about financing structures for FPSOs, but it may or may not be the case a week from now.
Back to May 17th. The day was a bit rainy, but Leif and Beate gave us a brilliant start with the delicious breakfast. After completing the meal with champagne and strawberries we moved on to Southwark Park, where the Seamen's Church arrangement took place. Kristin Halvorsen, the Norwegian Minister of Finance, held a speech. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't very good. First of all she had a cold or something. Second, a nasal voice combined with harks isn't very pretty. We then moved on to Covent Garden, or more precise the place "Punch & Judy's". This has been the place for celebrating Norwegians for MANY years, and we had a really good time there. When the Champions League Final were approaching we moved on to Henry J. Beans, a pub on Kings Road. The place was packed with Norwegians, and it was quite fun that some of the "foreigners" in our class also showed up. Nice!
After a good time at this pub everyone moved on to Boutique 60, except from ME, I went to Norway the morning after, and was pretty keen on not losing my flight. (and I think I would have, had I continued the party...) Anyway, here's the pictures!


Six men in their best age!


The breakfast table 1/3


The breakfast table 2/3


The breakfast table 3/3


Leif had brought with him a "whistle", and Robert fell in love with it at once...


Blow, Robert, blow!


Knut, the responsible one, figured out it was time to get CLASSY


Knut, Robert, Harald and Thomas outside Leif & Beate's apartment


Harald as Cobra, the only things missing are a motorcycle and Brigitte Nielsen


Therese, Michael, Bjørn Andreas (B.A.), Henrik (nearest to the camera), Robert (standing up) and Petter (sitting) All are enjoying park life, under a huge oak.


It's not May 17th without ice cream. A lot of ice cream...


The previously mentioned Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen, trying to shed light on a rainy day. We were not impressed, but nice that she could make it!


Petter gives the words "sleazy flowerboy" a new meaning (I'm not sure what the old meaning was)


Finally we get som beers at Punch & Judy's, Beate to the left, Leif unable to prevent his funnyface


Celebration time!


Balloons in red, white and blue, "Gratulerer med dagen" and a happy cameraspotting Knut in the centre


Leif trying to be important. Well, you can stop it. We all know you're just holding the TV remote control... Harald happy as always


Robert is exhausted trying to keep up appearences, and drops his guard; thus revealing his normal face.


Find one error in this picture. No? OK, then: Why am I happy if my beer is empty? (probably a new one on the table)


Leif finally understands he's not holding a water pipe


A picture speaks a thousand words...


This is a really funny picture! All the Norwegians celebrating and singing, while all the tourists are watching from above, taking pictures. Picture title: Don't feed the Norwegians! We really are in a zoo down there...


Morten Bakke, a previous Cass shipping student. He has celebrated May 17th 9 times in London, and was the lead singer of "Ja, vi elsker". You can see his mother in the lower left corner of the picture.


All in all we had a nice day! This Monday, before I went back to London, I had a small meeting with my new boss. I will start in my new job during the summer, and I will get an office where I can sit and write my dissertation. Great!

May 17th

Sorry for the lousy updates! I'm in Haugesund this weekend, but I promise to post pictures from the celebration when I return on Monday. Have a nice weekend!

Decision time!

I have finally decided where I will be working after my Master. The place is:



in Haugesund, where I in the beginning will have a portfolio of shipping clients which I will provide all the financial services they need such as granting loans, risk management etc. I really look forward to starting in the job, and the reasons are many:

I will return to Elisabeth and stop living in paperboard boxes and suitcases

Finally I can see my friends and family on a more regular basis...

I will finally be able to use the skills I have obtained through my education

I will be able to work with SHIPPING

Our beautiful house on Risøy will finally get the attention it deserves!

Today Harald, Knut and myself will take a trip up to Angel to drink coffee. After that I will have a look at some of the subjects we have this semester. I feel like I'm getting a cold, and I don't want to make it worse by going out drinking today. Not more than one pint, at least. Or two... Have a nice weekend, all!

Looks like I'm going to Haugesund

The question now is: Should I accept SR-Bank's or Nordea's offer? I think this must be the ultimate luxury question... I am a lucky person, that's for sure! Well, the prodigal son will return to Haugesund once again..

Weekend back home

I was home this weekend, and it was hectic as always... The second I landed on Norwegian soil I went to an interview at SR Bank in Haugesund. It went very well! Saturday was a bit more relaxing, with a couple of beers at Glenn's place. On Sunday we celebrated Silje's confirmation. It was a successful event, nice speeches, nice songs (the pink song, everybody!) and of course enormous amounts of food. Just what I need...
Today, Monday, I went to another interview at Nordea, Haugesund. It was... interesting... Always a bit terrifying with four persons "interrogating" you, but I think it went OK.



Oh, by the way..

I was also offered the job at SR Bank today :D

Last exam in my life (?)

As I haven't written on this page for a month or so, I will recap the last month:

Going home...
I went back to Haugesund for Easter after the final lecture. The original plan was that Elisabeth would arrive here the weekend before Easter, and we could have a weekend together in London before relaxing back home. As I was getting a bit fed up with the confined pigeon hole some might call a room here at Francis Rowley Court, along with wanting to see Elisabeth of course, I went back home ten days before Elisabeth would travel here to stay with me. That created a challenge. Who would Elisabeth go to visit? As the frequent flyer I am, I travelled with her.

Weekend in London
As Francis Rowley Court best can be described as a two star hotel (without room service), I was secretly toying with the idea to book a hotel room. However, Leif and Beates return to Bergen (and Porsgrunn) for Easter gave me another idea... I mean, it would be terrible of me to let their poor little apartment in Featherstone Street spend the weekend all by itself, now wouldn't it? When I close my eyes I can still picture Elisabeth's surprised face when I unlocked the front door there... :D We had a very nice weekend, watching Chicago and Ice Age II (Musical and cinema, respectively). At daytime, I read and she tried to find the ONE shop in Oxford street she still hadn't been to. After being absolutely certain our luggage was way too heavy not to cost us a small fortune, we checked in with 5 kilos to spare...

Easter in Haugesund
The best time of year to read a book is at Easter. I love crime novels, so sitting and reading about Shipping Finance Credit Analysis and International Commodity Trade was not that great. On Friday 14th we drove to Vågslid and visited Elisabeth's familiy in their amazing lodge. In fact, let's just call it the house. After a week with fantastic food I went back to read, read and maybe read a bit in the end.

Reading time
In only 6 days, Leif, Harald, Knut, Robert and myself increased our knowledge about various topics like Financial Markets (Swaps, Bonds, Futures, Forwards, Options etc.), International Commodity Trade (Tradeflows, supply/demand determinants and taxonomy of major commodity groups like Iron ore, copper, aluminium, grains, sugar, coffee, cocoa, rubber, oil and gas) and Corporate Finance (IPOs, WACC, DCF, APV, NAV and other funny letter combinations).

Hell week
Last week we had exams on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Pretty exhausting, but I think we all did a pretty good job. Of course I can only speak for myself, but it appears to me that the others are quite happy with their performances as well. After the exam on Friday we blowed some steam and had a couple of beers and Gin Tonics. It is always a great feeling to just relax after several exams, not feeling guilty for not reading.

The final one
It is now Monday, May 1st. As millions of people have demonstrated in London about free beer and a longer Premiership season (or maybe not) we are preparing for our last and final exam this semester. Next term consists of five small subjects, of which some may be concluded with small tests. Of the major exams though, the one we have on Wednesday may possibly be the last. Ever. I think the last four years as a student has been great, but I sincerely look forward to starting a working career. I have heard a lot of people saying that they miss the student years. I'm sure I will sometimes, but I suppose that will be due to the human defence mechanism to always remember the good days. And it has been many!
I think this exam will be the most demanding I have ever had, and it counts for 1/9 of my entire Master's Degree. I hope we all will be able to put in a good effort and feel we did our best.

One to go!

The last two weeks have been incredibly fast, with courseworks and hand-ins all the time! Yesterday evening we handed in our International Commodity Trade coursework. The task was to create a business plan about a self-defined shipping, energy or logistics business. We chose to purchase 2 VLCCs and convert them to FPSOs. For questions, ask Wikipedia... I'll post a picture of the concept nevertheless



The picture is of Berge Helene, an Bergesen Worldwide Offshore FPSO.

Today I have just relaxed, and I'll probably just clean my room and wash some clothes this evening. Tomorrow we aim to complete our last coursework this term, about handling a bond portfolio for two weeks. In my eyes a bit stupid task, since bonds aren't really the financial securities that fluctuate the most on a two week basis...
I'm going home to Haugesund on Tuesday, and I'm staying home until April 8th. Then Elisabeth and I will have a couple of days in London before we spend Easter in Norway, Finally, I'll return to London on April 18th. Right now I'm just sorry that Ryan Air don't have a Frequent Flyer program. I would surely have had a Platinum card by the end of Easter.
On Wednesday we managed to fit into the schedule a panel discussion with persons in the Shipping industry who previously took a Cass MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance. Very interesting! After that some of us went to a shipping dinner put together by Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce and Acergy (Stolt Offshore previously). The food was very good, the presentations were OK and the people we met were great! For those of you who have it available, Tradewinds wrote a piece about it this week.
Other news this week is that Statoil have considered all the Norwegian shipping and energy students to be lightweighters. In other words, I've received rejections on all the positions I applied for there. I can't really do anything about it, but I've heard of applicants holding only a Bachelor's degree with no abroad experience who got an interview. So I guess the bottom line is that I'm VERY disappointed. It's their loss, though...
I've got a couple of other jobs I have applied for where I still await response, and I cross my fingers and check my mail every day. So maybe I'm lucky there.

I'm still alive!

If some persons think I have disappeared from the surface of the planet, I can comfort you: That rumour is slightly exaggerated. The last weeks have been very busy with several courseworks along with the normal lectures. Also, Elisabeth, her mother and father came for a visit. I was lucky enough to live with Elisabeth on Selfridges Hotel for three nights. I must also admit that since her parents also were there, my hours with shopping was drastically reduced...
I have promised some pictures from the weekend with the boys, and here goes. I guess you regret your interesting grimace on the Valley now, Tommy... :)



All Bar One, Friday evening. Beer in the hand saves the day!




Knut seems to have something fascinating to say. Håvard is a bit sceptic...




Portobello Road, Saturday around 12.30. In about one hour we'll be sitting in a taxi who drives like he has stolen both the car and the petrol. Well, we made it to the stadium in time!




Håvard in front of the world's (?) only Mexican-Polish bistro...




The match. Aston Villa has the corner kick, and you can se Charlton's Norwegian Thomas Myhre as number 36. The match ended 0-0, and Myhre had a good match.




Here are the boys, after watching an unforgettable match between eh... well... two English teams.


Now I'm off to see Man Utd with Robert while having breakfast at Printworks. Then it's coursework all the way. Have a nice day!

Another list here...

Ragnvald put a list on his blog that I do not wish to copy... However, I saw an interesting experiment on Maria's blog. So here is a naked, unedited version of random 20 songs on my iTunes playlist:

Little Miss Strange - Jimi Hendrix (Electric Ladyland)

She's The One - Ramones (Anthology)

Heropsychodreamer - Live (Secret Samadhi)

Geigerteller - Xploding Plastix (The Donca Matic Singalongs)

Put You Down - Alice In Chains (Facelift)

Is Yesterday, Tomorrow, Today? - Stereophonics (Performance And Cocktails)

All You Want - Dido (No Angel)

Joy To The World - Three Dog Night (Forrest Gump soundtrack)

There's a place - The Beatles (Please Please Me)

Upside Down and Inside Out - Broder Daniel (Broder Daniel)

The Shadowlands - Ryan Adams (Love is Hell)

An Unkind - Soundgarden (Down On The Upside)

The End Of Medicine - The New Pornographers (Electric Version)

Good Night - The Beatles (White Album)

Topanga - Euroboys (Soft Focus)

Street Spirit - Radiohead (The Bends)

It Must Be Summer - Fountains of Wayne (Utopia Parkway)

The Grand Duel (Parte Prima) - Luis Bacalov (Kill Bill Soundtrack)

Feel Good Hit Of The Summer - Queens of The Stone Age (R)

I Get Around - The Beach Boys (Best Of The Beach Boys)

Well, that wasn't so bad... Robert and I have a competition nowadays. Who are most frustrated over the lack of job offers? I think we have a draw at the moment. I hope I'll at least go to ONE interview among all the jobs I have applied for. Rejections from employers you really want to work for are extremely frustrating. But what else can I say but: THEIR LOSS! I know I will do one hell of a job wherever I finally get one. So please: bring it on!

Gyldenpris

I saw on the webpages for BT, a newspaper from Bergen, that a truck crashed into a car on the Puddefjord bridge. This is the same bridge I crossed more or less every day last year, on my way to the University of Bergen or just a coffee. My first thought (of course after hoping no one got seriuosly injured) was whether I might be able to see student house "Gyldenpris" in the background. You might say I got a glimpse...



Gyldenpris, with a crashed car on a bridge in front. My good old flat, 402, is circled out. Joakim lives next door to the right.

I've spent the weekend with good friends from Norway, who didn't come for me. They came for the incredibly interesting match Charlton Athletic vs Aston Villa. The match ended 0-0, and was just as cold and eventless as only a February mid-table clash in London can be. More information and pictures will follow...

Firealarm, exam and things to do on Sundays

During the last weeks, my reading rythm has been severely damaged by the frequent fire alarms here at Francis Rowley Court. To my extreme pleasure, I discovered last night at 0.30 at the new alarm system implemented in our rooms is a local one. The result was that when someone, somewhere lit a cigarette, smoke came into my room (I couldn't sense a thing). the alarm went off, in our flat only. So now we have two different systems that are capable of annoyance... Great! Well, at least we'll notice a fire. Or will we...? I seriously considered to ignore the alarm Sunday morning and take a shower instead. I'll probably do so next time. So much for safety, I guess!
In a break on Sunday, Leif and I went to the Old Spitafield Market and Brick Lane. It was really nice, take a look at the pictures below!


Above:I walk past this mosaic every day on my way to school. Really nice!


Above: Brick Lane on a Sunday


Above: In Spitafield market, Leif and I suddenly walked into a concept car exhibition. Cool!


Above: The Wool and fruit exchange


Above: One of the more obscure street musicians I've ever seen...


Above: Leif doesn't seem too unhappy when Beate (in the background) is cooking. Please ignore the wine glass...


Above: Artillery Arms, conveniently located between Leif's apartment and Cass.


Above: I guess I HAD to show a red phone booth sooner or later...


Above: Nice contrast between new and old buldings


Above: Mr Crepes, right....


Above: View from 3rd floor at school. The library can be spotted on 1st floor, and our beloved tables on 2nd.


Above: "Two for a fiver, two flowers for a fiver!"


Above: The Smithfield meat market. According to the legend, the spot where you see a blue car is the place they tortured and killed William "Braveheart" Wallace (FREEDOOOOOM!!!, quote Mel Gibson)


Above: Due to annoyance level at Francis Rowley, other living quarters are considered...


Above: Something tells me this is a multicultural neighbourhood (Brick Lane)


Above: England's tallest living quarters; Barbican Tower


Above: For some reason, I HAVE to walk through this park before every exam... (superstitious, ME??) This is also the location of the mosaic in the first picture.

I had an exam in Shipping Investment and Finance today. I think it went fairly well. I never really know before they return it... Anyway I won't fail, which means that another brick in the wall is in place. Jej! I seriously look forward to having a job again. I miss the days when I could turn off my brain when I return from the job (OK, I guess I'll never be fully able to do that...), and to have weekends without feeling I ought to be reading. Oh, glorious September! :D