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

Chuck Norris!

As an addition to the series "Anders writes something" comes a little webtip of the day... Chuck Norris, this great (?) actionhero with less expressions in his face than Keanu Reeves. Nice. Starring in series such as Walker: Texas Ranger and Missing in Action, he can at least claim the ability to fight properly. The black belt and world championship title in karate makes sure of that. He is without doubt a cheesy character, and it was with great amusement I read the link given to me by Karl Kristian. Just click the picture below...



Simply hilarious! Otherwise I got another result back today, and it went very well. so I guess I'm on a roll. Hopefully the good feeling will last untll Monday. Even so, I hope I don't do silly mistakes like this then:



The red writing is of course the examiner's. Good thing I don't give away points easy... :) Consumer and producer surplus. That's new stuff to me!

Close to Francis Rowley Court is a small pub / tavern, called Jerusalem.



The best pub in London!

It dates back to 1720, and will without doubt become my favourite pub! They sell beers from St. Peter's Brewery, as the only pub in London. And I must say the beers Winter Ale and Honey Porter were brilliant, most recommended! I liked them so much I ordered 12 bottles of each, delivered here at Francis Rowley. I'll probably get a written verbal warning for taking up space in the reception... I'm loving it! Tomorrow we'll be presented the different electives we might choose for term 3. I think I know which I want to have, but I'd like to hear the presentation before I make up my mind.

Don't worry, George W.!

I read today that a South-East Asian country's intelligence stopped an al-Qaeda terror plot against Los Angeles in 2002. But don't worry!



We'll take good care of LA, Mr. President!

I've seen all seasons of "24", George. And it ends well this time also! It sounds like the 2005 version of "War of the Worlds"...

What is a trainee?

I have, as you may have noticed, started looking for jobs. This might be a bit early by Norwegian standards, but here in England it is quite normal to start the application process early. In addition, the application deadline for different trainee positions are mostly in February. Which brings me to my point. What is a trainee?



Rome wasn't built in a day...

If you take a job search engine like Finn.no or Aetat.no, you may be fooled by the excessive use of the word. Today it appears that trainee, in 90 % of the cases, is a nicer word for telephone salesman. Why?! It is a very time-consuming task to pick the few (in my opinion) GENUINE trainee positions today. No, I don't want to be a telephone meeting booker, or a sales engineer (which is another example of the fact that "engineer" is not a protected title). In my eyes, a trainee is a person who, during a period of time, undergo training in different areas of a company. To be parked behind a desk with a telephone doesn't seem to live up to that...
I had a strange experience today. Searching through my blog, I discovered that a post had disappeared. Vanished. Gone. However, Joakim had the page in his cache, and sent me the link. The page was still there, so I copied the content and published it again. Here it is:
If you find it offensive, please let me know... I guess I've learned my lesson, as I downloaded my entire page today to have the raw data on my local computer as well. I don't want to be too conspiratory minded though, as Blogger has had a lot of trouble throughout the weekend.

The weekend is over again

I checked my mail box today (not the virtual one) and got a nice letter from Charlton Athletic Football Club... I know that Håvard, Tommy, Kjetil and Thomas will like the content!



My K700i once again prove to be an excellent... phone.

I am impressed by Charlton's quick despatch of the tickets, maybe they can't sell them fast enough after they sold Danny Murphy. I look forward to the match against Aston Villa, and the completion of my Premier League London stadiums collection. Also, I saw something strange today.





Is this a good sign; no-one need the service of the company. Or a bad sign; even the emloyment office couldn't make a living here... Well, 50 metres down the road is a nice pizza place called Barbican Express. This must not under any circumstances be mixed with Barbican Grill, London's worst lunch place...
During the exam period before christmas, Leif Olav and myself ordered a lot of pizzas and chicken wings from Barbican Express. Convenient, and very good junk food as well. On Thursday we considered to order some pizzas around midnight. We were however uncertain whether they had closed. They answered the phone, and on the question whether they were closed, the answer was a bit embarassing... "Yes, we're closed. But for you guys, we'll open!" Right... Maybe we should take this as an opportunity to cut down on the junk food consumption?
Otherwise, I'm thrilled to hear that Pogo Pops has decided to start playing together again. Or, as the lead singer and song writer Frank Hammersland put it; "We played our last concert in 1996, and officially we never dissolved the band." Now, they're making a "Best Of"-album, and they are going to have a lot of concerts. Great! I guess London is a bit far off, but if I'm lucky I'll be in Norway when they're playing. I hope... Thanks to Håvard for the link to this great news!
I've spent a lot of time this weekend discussing the recent development in the Mohammed cartoon incident, both with muslims and other parts. It's been very interesting to hear both sides of the story, as only reading Norwegian newspapers and talking with "Westerns" would be a bit biased. And I must say three things.

1. The recent events cannot be called terrorist acts. Not that they aren't criminal or extreme actions, but they simply don't fall under that category. I discussed this with a good friend, Knut, and I must admit I agree with his view. Feel free to comment on that one, the basis of our discussion was the definition of the term "terrorism", which can be read about all over the internet. I suppose the term terrorism is a bit overused, and I fell into that pit myself...

2. The biased focus on THE REACTIONS to the publishing of the pictures has overrun the focus on WHY the pictures where published in Jyllandsposten and Magazinet in the first place. The violent and extreme actions in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey have of course contributed to that... (See, I'm learning!)

3. My (quoted) description of the Norwegian foreign minister was a wrong one, as I think he (and OK, maybe the Prime minister to SOME extent) has dealt with the situation in a far from spineless way. The defence of the freedom of speech and democracy in Norway is a job well done. Now it will be interesting to follow the diplomatic conversations with Syria about their handling (or lack of) of the demonstrations.

I suppose you are all bored of reading all this, and I apologise for that... I guess I am getting a bit carried away with the situation, and I'll try to move over to more trivial events in my daily life in London after this. You all have a nice week!

Logical breach

Today, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damaskus, Syria are burning. This is the latest result of the publishing of the Mohammed cartoon pictures. What a clever confirmation it is!



Since you published pictures of our prophet as a terrorist, we burn down your embassies! How dare you say we commit terrorist acts?! (Now that is clever...)

A Danish friend of mine here in London worked for 6 months at the Danish embassy in Damaskus. Today, he saw pictures of his former working place in flames.
Most imans don't believe that suicide bombers go to heaven where 77 (?) virgins are waiting for them as a reward. This is a way to persuade young, desperate persons to commit the terrible acts. This is the fact behind the caricature of Mohammed in front of the gates of heaven, telling the queue of suicide bombers: "Stop! We're out of virgins!"
OK, maybe the editors shouldn't have published those pictures. Although they had the right to, through the freedom of speech, doesn't necessarily mean they should have. But that is the liberty of the editor. If someone feel offended, they are of course entitled to press charges against them, after which the justice system might react. The blasphemy paragraph in the Norwegian law is a sleeping one. It has been for many years. Basically, the limit of the law about freedom of speech is the threats to commit and the commiting of violent acts. The cartoon pictures are not of that nature. The reactions ARE. The whole situation is turning into a clash between religions and civilisations. The person who said that religion is both cement and explosives was a clever person...

Blasphemy

Religion is a strange, irrational thing. But so are love, beauty, art, friendship, music and spirituality of whatever form. My point is that irrational may be good, but it may also violate the fundation of our society, democracy and freedom of speech. The debate raging all over the world about the Mohammed drawings is an important one. Christians and Jews have kept up with jokes on their behalf for centuries. But this cannot be the case with islam. Oh, no! The pen could be mightier than the sword, but not more frightening...
Honestly, I find the pictures of extremists burning the Norwegian flag quite provocating. But I don't threaten to kill anyone. The raging blind persons burning my nation's flag is taking a huge crap in their own nest. It is just as sophisticated as the blood revenge laws from the Middle Ages. Dante wrote about Mohammed in "Inferno" (A part of "Comedia Divina"), and several artists have painted the scene. Here's Salvador Dalí's contribution, from 1963:



Inferno XXVIII, 19-42.

The poets are in the ninth
chasm of the eighth circle, that of the Sowers of
Discord, whose punishment is to be mutilated.
Mahomet shows his entrails to Dante and Virgil
while on the left stands his son Ali, his head cleft
from chin to forelock.

I agree, the Magazinet editor published the pictures to provocate islamic forces. It is really impressive to see him whimper now. The reactions must have been a huge shock to him. Or maybe not. The freedom of speech is a precious thing, and walking in the grey zone between hatred and evil on one side and the right to critizise on the other. Drawings of Muhammed, mocking or not; I find it difficult to see it violating the freedom of speech. Threaten to kill someone, however... That is crossing the line. But the apologies our government and the Danish government has sent mean two things.

We are willing to cross our beliefs

We have surrendered to opponents against freedom of speech

Great job, lads! As another blogger wrote: "We may well have a foreign minister who can do good PR work. I would prefer one who had a bit of a spine."

PS As I'm a coward without a spine as well, I only post a link to pictures of Mohammed throughout time. DS

Eyecandy

As the observant reader might notice, I've changed a couple of things visually on the blog. Since the content in itself is rather useless, it is the visual things that change. However, future employers might take a look at my Curriculum Vitae under "Why I should get a job". I would also say to Maria: Hah! Look at my countdown! It is way past bedtime here in London, but I'll try to be quick, so I don't get a written verbal warning for the tapping i perform when writing this.
Knut and I went to see "Munich" today at the cinema. It was a fairly good movie, two hours disappeared in an instant. Good directing by Spielberg, and good acting by Eric Bana. The message of the film is relevant as always. Bloodshed leads to bloodshed.

Challenged!

Maria has posted a number of "List of four", which she challenges me to continue. As it has been embarrassingly long since I last posted something, it was a good opportunity to reply. At the moment I'm trying to read, but I feel I'm a bit tired. Well, all in all it's been a productive day. So here goes...

Four jobs I have had:

Chemical Process Technician at FMC Biopolymer (earlier Pronova Biopolymer)

Chairman, Bjørgene II Co-operative housing organization (Now we're talking high class... Chairman, wow!)

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Assistant, Kosovo

Strategy Assistant at FMC Biopolymer

Four movies I can se over and over again:

Sin City

Pulp Fiction

Dr. Strangelove

The Godfather II (Close race with the Godfather I)

Four places I've lived:

Haugesund, Norway

Bergen, Norway

Camp Lebane by Pristina, Kosovo

London, England

Four TV-series I like to watch:

The Simpsons

The Family Guy

Lost

The neverending series of Premier League, England

Four favourite food dishes:

Pinnekjøtt (Stick Meat)

Homemade pizza

Tenderloin with gratinated potatoes

Cannibal toast (OK, it isn't as bad a it sounds... There's a place called Naboen (The Neighbour) in Bergen, Norway. In the basement they serve one of the most gastronomic meals I know. Simple, but incredibly tasty!)

Four websites I visit daily:

Haugesunds Avis (I wish it could improve, though...)

VG (Norwegian tabloid, but better than the British equivalent)

Cass Business School (Have to check my mail...)

Finn.no (Always looking for a job!)

Four things to do before I die:

Skydive!

Travel to Mauritius

Roadtrip in the US. Good idea, Maria! :D

Complete my master...

Four persons to pass this on to...:

Joakim

Ragnvald

Robert

Solvor

EDIT

Robert has added a twist to the challenge, by also making a list of the four songs he can listen to over and over again. Well, I hereby present mine:

Four song I could listen to over and over again:

Kissing the lipless - The Shins

Lover, you should've come over - Jeff Buckley

Age of Pamparius - Turbonegro

Everlong - Foo Fighters

Thanks, Robert. I just had to discard 400 songs I love. To all the songs I have let down: sorry!

The results are ticking in...

I received my two first results today, from the exams I had before christmas. In International Economics I got 72%, where over 70% gives the top mark. The best result was 77%, and I must say I`m thrilled over that one. The other one was in Managerial Accounting. This was the second half of the Accounting course, where I got 90 % on the first one. I knocked in 76%, which gives me 83% on average. Great! I'm relieved right now, I must say!
Tonight we're going on a reception at Radisson SAS Portman hotel, where the Young Professionals in the Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce have their monthly Thursday drinks. Should be nice. I don't think we'll be sitting there all night, though. Too much happening at school at the moment... BUT: It will be a great opportunity to meet Norwegians working in London, to hear about their experiences, and maybe also make some new connections here. All weekend is tied up to school work, and forunately I am totally comfortable with it. Tomorrow we have our first lectures in Advanced Quantitative Methods, which basically will concentrate on multiple regression and forecasting. Also, International Commodity Trade begins tomorrow. That's gonna be very interesting as well!

Case closed

The weekend is over, and a new week awaits. Had a lecture in Shipping Finance today, it was quite good. The weekend was nice, we went to visit Robert in Docklands on Saturday evening. After a home-cooked, delicious pizza complemented by some Stella Artois, we decided to hit the streets and go to No. 5, the hip nightclub at Cavendish Square.



Nice main bar

Leif, Beate and myself drove in one cab, while Robert and Harald drove in another. Halfway there, Anders called (No, I'm no schizophrenic, Anders is a Danish guy who lives at Francis Rowley..) to let us know that the queue outside was alarming. We decided to go to Zeta bar (Hilton Park Lane) to see whether we could avoid 45 minutes in the crispy, cold London air. When we finally arrived with our taxi, Harald called. No. 5 wasn't packed at all, so we should regroup and leave Park Lane. Finally we decided to do so, to Beate's big frustration... So in a taxi again, and off we went.
We arrived at Cavendish Square and went to the nearest ATM. Since No. 5 is a place where a lot of Greeks go (Actually, it is owned by a sheik or something who lives on the top floor(s?). Leif decided to go for the popular phrase "Ela Malaka", which means something like "Hello, w**nker"... The Greek (...) in front of us in the ATM queue turned around, only to stare into three pairs of blue, Nordic eyes. He said to his girlfriend next by: "See, THEY learn themselves Greek!" Nice guy. When we were on our way to the club, Anders came out and said it was packed, way too crowded. Well, what else to do than to return to Francis Rowley... So we waited for an hour to get the bus, as all the taxis were busy... ack at Francis Rowley we got rid of some alcohol before I went to bed at 5.30... Credit to Robert and Anders who were the last men standing!



Here's Harald, drinking white wine like a redneck... :D

We had a coursework that was due today, and I had the pleasant job to join the different parts of it together in the end and make a complete paper of it. On Sunday I woke up around 12, and my plan for the day was to see Man Utd crush Liverpool and complete the coursework. They won 1-0, which is just enough for me... In the afternoon I did my laundry and the dishes, before I started with the coursework around 23.30. Kinda late I must admit, and I was struck by the bloody Pareto principle again. To put a long story short, I went to bed around 5, and got up at 8 to reach the lecture.
Last night I chatted with Toralf, he had finally gotten internet in his apartment in Washington. After I while I remembed that I could call him if he had land-line, as I have one of those 0800 terrorist-sponsored phone cards which price a phone call to 3.2 p from London to the US. Nice! He gave me his number, and I rang. But who answered? "Hello, this is Ellen Vollebæk speaking?" "Oh, sorry! I was trying to reach Toralf." was my response, not quite prepared for the Ambassador wife to answer the phone... Toralf had given me the wrong number by mistake... Well, she seemed like a nice person! (For those who want to know...)
While reading this I checked the website of No 5, and found out they have a Cigar Bar as well! Here, I can sit down with a nice Montecristo or a Hoyo de Monterrey and drink a glass (25 ml) of whisky from 1937, to the cheap price £1,100... Oh, what the heck! I'll take the bottle. After all, what is £31,000!
This evening I have relaxed a bit, seen a movie (A night at the Roxbury's) and tried to be blind IT-support... Not an easy job. As I've written earlier, City University wouldn't allow me to use an IP telephone to phone home (You hear me, E.T.?) for free. Therefore, I sent it back home. Or more precise, Joakim and Karl Kristian brought it with them back to Norway. Thanks! Anyway, there seems to be a problem connecting it back home. I tried to solve it by phone, but it is really not that easy. Hopefully we'll sort it out!
Right now I'm happy I'm using a laptop. I'm sitting in the dark, as the lights just went out. Well, I'm going to sleep anyway! No worries! I saw Joakim had updated his blog about their visit here. Good thing, Joakim! We had a really good time, and I found this picture of Karl "Firm Handshake" Kristian:



Charisma. Pure, simple charisma...

Job: Translator

I am currently writing a CV and application in English why Statoil of course should hire me as a Corporate Trainee this summer. While translating my Norwegian CV, I had problems with translating one of the bullet points.

In Norwegian:

Styreleder Bjørgene Borettslag II

In English:

Chairman, Bjørgene II Co-operative housing organization

Hmm, I'm more and more impressed by English titles! I'm also more and more convinced that the trainee job I'm most interested in is made for me. At least when concidering my proud years as a chemical process technician (There you go again!). Should be a perfect match...
We had the first lecture in Corporate Finance today, and I got the feeling at once that the teacher is really gonna put pressure on us. Great! We will have group presentations, and the groups should be inter-gender, inter-nationality and inter-background oriented. That will be interesting and challenging! tomorrow is the first lecture in Shipping investment & finance, a subject I look forward to!
I'm otherwise quite impressed by the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, or Lånekassen as it is called in Norway. In order to receive this year's loan and scholarship, I had to return an answer sheet. Because I had changed bank since the last time I sent my best regards to the fund, I also had to add a form with my new bank account number. This week I was informed that they hadn't received the answer sheet, which I sent in December. Miraculously however, they have updated my account number on their web pages, information which was sent in the same letter... And since it's not possible to send this answer form abroad, time goes by. So slowly. (Get it, get it?!)

Weekend update

It's Saturday morning, and I've had healthy 6 hours of sleep. Today, my globetrotter friends and myself are going to Camden Markets, followed by Fulham-Newcastle. Yesterday we did some sightseeing, but I was shocked to discover that St Paul's Cathedral have started with 8 pound tickets. I guess they need some for renovation, but hopefully they haven't missed one of the basics in supply and demand. If you double the price, you don't necessarily get twice the income...
It was nice, although our plan to take it easy yesterday backfired over a heap of Mojitos. We also went to Canary Wharf, a place I really like. The architecture is really nice, and the history about the development of the area since the 80s is amazing. To read more about the history of Docklands and Canary Wharf, click here.
Well, gotta go. To sleepyheads at King's Cross are about to get a wake up call in person..

Bird Flu

No, I'm not infected. I just wonder whether journalists are aware of the fact that ALL flus that arrive in our home countries from time to time are bird flus. So the fact that a bird flu is closing in on us is a bit silly. However, the effect of the different ones are varying, and the one this winter, H5N1, is maybe not that healthy for us.



To look behind the paperselling headlines in tabloid newspapers, check this Wikipedia article. I know it's not an encyclopedia to trust 100%, but it gives you a good starting point if you read it with scepticism.
I read a VERY American page to day:



I get the feeling Michael Moore has some good points in Bowling for Columbine, with the media creating a fear and all that... Let me quote:

"The looting in New Orleans is an example of what happens when governments and individuals don’t adequately prepare for a potential crisis."

Right, tell that the poor lot in New Orleans, who never had a home to secure... Sorry, you just prepared badly!

Closer..

..to completing term 1, by doing the exam on Thursday. The Finance exam went OK, but some administrative blunders didn't quite make my day. Well, we'll se what happens there. It's strange how empty I feel after ding an exam. I spend so much energy in those few hours, and the body seems to need some hours to reload the batteries. Today is Wednesday, and I have the last exam tomorrow. After the exam yesterday I just surfed the internet, spoke with friends on MSN and saw two crappy movies. Daredevil and Transporter 2. Not Bellini or von Trier, just some primitive actionmovies with plots and acting so thin you could see right through them. Perfect for a day like that.
I guess I'll be heading over to Leif (which has now become Leif & Beate, since she has returned from Norway) to pound in the last few thoughts before the exam tomorrow. I think I needed a day off after the exam (considering the fact that it ended 16.30 makes it half a day) and now I'm ready to absorb knowledge! Again.
Other news, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when Karl Kristian and Joakim will arrive, intending to show me how to sightsee a whole weekend in London without using the tube. Bring good shoes, boys! :) I once heard that there only lives 5,000 persons in the City, while 700,000 work there. Talk about commuting! And talk about tubing...

Music tip of the day: Iron & Wine - Cinder And Smoke

Another football post?

Well, sort of. However, I'll try to refrain from commenting to much on events in the matches. Even though Leif and myself was sitting and reading today, we had a pizza break which happened to be at the same time as Leicester-Tottenham. We didn't see that much of the game, the interesting thing was that it was the 3rd round in the FA Cup. That means clashes between teams from lower divisions and Premier League teams.
And there I reach my topic of this post. This is the essence of why the FA Cup is a classic. You have David versus Goliath, amateur players get the opportunity to play against football mega stars. One of the matches today was Burton Albion versus Man Utd. Through heroic fighting during the entire match, they secured a repaly match at Old Trafford. The match ended 0-0, and think of the confidence boost the Burton team must have felt. The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet, against world class strikers such as Ronaldo, Rooney and Solskjær...
After the match, players and the coach of Burton was interviewed. On BBC. The definition of 15 minutes of fame. Pictures from the wardrobe with players celebrating with champagne and a premade (!) banner depicting "WE'RE GOING TO OLD TRAFFORD!" A routine day at the job for the Man Utd players, a memory for life for Burton. And think of the feeling when entering Old Trafford, the largest football stadium in England, and you are about to play a match there...



Also, another funny thing to observe was how important different managers thought the match was. Premiership and Championship managers were interviewed in sweaters, while the managers from lower divisions was dressed up in their finest suits, preferably with the tie in the club colors. Of course, it was a big day for them as well. The Essence.

One day closer...

To the exams waiting in the horizon. Another productive day in Matisse Court (Leif's place) working with Shipping Economics. I'm starting to get the feeling that I have successfully managed to put a lot of information inside my head without it exiting. For now... Now, the challenge is to systemize the knowledge and be able to get the right information out on the exams... time will show!
My return to Haugesund during Easter is bought from Ryanair, more precise I'll be visiting jolly, good old Norway April 12-18. Looking forward to it! However, I have a curricular mountain to climb in the meantime. I may be masochistic, but I look forward to it! Music tip for the day:

The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds

Still going strong!

The weather is grey outside, but I don't care. After all, it's nothing compared to the winter on the Norwegian West Coast. (OK, I'll stop talking about the weather). Leif Olav and myself have spent two whole days working with Shipping Economics, and I feel we have a quite good grasp of the entire curriculum. Today we'll try to sum things up a bit and answer some previous exams along with reading fresh market reports and outlooks to get a grasp what have been and what will be going on.
I wrote a post a couple of days ago, but it miracously disappeared. It was about Christmas and New Year's Eve, and it was of course the best piece of material I have ever written. At least that's what I can say now... Anyway, I'll try to give a short version. First of all, the Christmas holiday had one flaw. It was over WAY too fast. I had a great time with Elisabeth, family and friends, and the food was ten notches above my everyday meals in London. I was well taken care of!
New Year's Eve was celebrated at Anna and Tommy, it was a great party. Although I had seen many of my friends earlier in the holiday, I was fortunate so see all of the that night! I have some great pictures, but due to the fact that I left the camera in Haugesund, none of them will be posted at the moment..
Next weekend, after the exams, Joakim and Karl Kristian will pay me a visit. I suppose I'm required to give them a tour of London, so maybe I'll get tickets on one of those sightseeing buses.. For them of course... On Saturday we're going to Craven Cottage to see Fulham vs Newcastle, and as that stadium is located directly by the Thames, I suggest you bring warm clothes, boys! Karl Kristian is destined to see Camden as well, so beware Gyldenpris! More obscure t-shirts and shorts will arrive shortly!



Sildajazz 2005 when Karl Kristian and myself decided to supply our hawaii shorts with fresh air.

Also, I'm applying for a trainee job in Statoil nowadays as well. It's gonna be a very hectic semester with lectures (which require a LOT of reading before and after each), group and individual assignments along with applying for jobs. What can I say? I LOVE it!

Winter?

The weather is something we cannot change, but still we discuss it every day. And in our modern times it really doesn't affect us much, does it? I mean. The only difference in my day if the weather is freezing instead of warm is the clothes I put on. What's the rush? Is it because we don't have anything else to talk about, an icebreaker? Or am I wrong, it does affect us all. Naturally a storm will change our behaviour to some extent, but it is temporarly and not that big a deal! Of course, hurricanes, tsunamis and other extreme weather conditions have a huge impact on people's lives, but they are rare.
As I come to think of it, shipping is a weather-dependent business, and I suppose agriculture is as well... So that will probably mean that people working in shipping or agriculture will be very concerned about the weather. As I come to think even more about it, the theory of trading with weather options are becoming more and more central as well... Think about it. Hedging against weather risk! The one who came up with that one must be one clever person!
Hmmm... I now face two choices: To edit the entire post and pretend that I always have thought of weather as the thing that moves our world, or to leave the post as it is. I think I'll choose the latter (otherwise you wouldn't have known. Or would you? Sorry, I won't get metaphysical here...) At least this proves that my brain functions to SOME extent at 1.30 AM...



"No way I'm stopping to ask for directions. The last time I did that, I lost all my reindeers in poker!"

I will take this opportunity to wish all my relatives, friends and people I don't know a brilliant Christmas, and an even better New Year! You're all great! I won't mention ANY names, because I would be guaranteed to forget someone... You know who you are! And Elisabeth, your present is behind this link. No sneak peeks! ;)

Home, sweet home!

After a quite fascinating night in London after the final exam, I'm back home in Haugesund. Directly after the last exam we all rushed down to All Bar One to remove all sensible thoughts from our heads.



Amer, Kyriacos and Fredrik seems quite happy..

I think we stayed there from 12.30 PM to 8 PM. Then I figured out I needed a rest, so I went back home to Francis Rowley to take a power-nap. 10 PM I woke up, half confused, half drunk. I phoned Robert, and found out they were on their way to Hilton Park Lane. So I grabbed a cab and hit the road. The place was called Zeta, and it has been written about it:

In its chic Park Lane location, Zeta bar is one of London's most stylish bars. Famous for its classic contemporary cocktails and exquisite bar-bites, its Feng Shui decor, neutral shades and materials, Zeta Bar is amongst the trendiest nights out in London.

We were all having a great time, I look forward seeing all you guys after christmas! I went to bed around 5 AM, after a shabby hamburger and banana milkshake at Tinseltown. Big mistake...
9 in the morning I had to rise and shine, fresh and ready to take the Stansted Express and finally Ryan Air flight 2254 to Haugesund. That was without a shadow of a doubt my worst flight ever...
So here I am in Haugesund, and it finally dawns for me that christmas is approaching! In 20 minutes I'll go out to play Snooker with Kjetil. That's gonna be great, for some reason I haven't played in England. I really have to find someone to play snooker with there. Robert is a self declared Snooker/Pool disaster, so that's one down. Anyone volunteering? :)