Friday, January 30, 2004
[22:44]
Bored to tears. Waiting patiently to go and pick up Ruth from her school ball. Went skiing earlier on the evening with Nathan and his pal Henrik. I managed to fall and bang my cheek off the front of the ski so now have a nice bruise forming - luckily it will be hidden by my beard. Nathan was born to snowboard it appears. He is really good. He fell a few times but he could control his turning and speed etc. pretty well after an hour or two. Still snowing away like mad here so it looks like I'll be going into work tomorrow to clear snow. Have been browsing the immigration sites for Australia but not sure what to do as yet. Still fancy going back to Scotland (north) or Ireland (south) but it seems that interesting jobs are in short supply. Have no intention of going from one dead end job to another.
Thursday, January 29, 2004
[20:09]
Wow. Superdad tonight. Nathan is 13 on Saturday so today B. and I bought him a snowboard package. That is boots, binding and board. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to give it to him. He was out skiing so I hid the various bits all over the house. Made the mistake of hiding the board in his bed and making the bed afterwards - dead giveaway! He is sooooo excited that he wants to go snowboarding now 20:15 our time. He will have to wait until tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
[16:43]
What a day. Snowed and snowed. Every thing looks nice and white but some poor git had to clear it all away all day :-(
Absolutely done in. I'm now going to eat my dinner (chicken something or other) and have a snooze.
Monday, January 26, 2004
[21:32]
Lots and lots of lovely snow. Will take pic from work tomorrow.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
[15:43]
Try this
http://test3.thespark.com/person/person.cgi
I'm an experimenter
Saturday, January 24, 2004
[22:47]
Just had a teenager telling ME to turn down my radio 2 programme on the computer - she couldn't sleep???????? What is the world coming to?
[22:37]
Have had a remarkable day. Woken up at 8 am with rescue helicopters going around all over the place looking for a local woman missing since Thursday. Gyda, my dog, was barking as the search dogs went through our garden on the way up the mountain. Since I was awake early I decided to go skiing. Snow was a bit slushy but ok. Now very sore as cross country skiing takes a lot of getting used to. Have uploaded a pic of me taken today.
Friday, January 23, 2004
[20:55]
Meeting went very well. Got lots of praise from the head forestry officer. Generally a good day today. Getting ready for skiing tomorrow.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
[15:38]
Really strange day at work today. Had my first full blown argument in Norwegian - brilliant! So there I was working away at thinning out a piece of woodland when the head of the environmental protection agency for the county comes up and tells me to stop. He says the wood is protected. I stopped of course but had to ring around to about 7 other departments to get confirmation that it was indeed protected. Turns out this guy was talking rubbish. The wood is not even listed by anyone as being remotely interesting. I had no intention other than light thinning, but we have a meeting tomorrow with these various peoples to see what the craic is. 2 hours with a chainsaw and 3 on the 'phone!!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
[22:38]
Better day at work today. Got lots done and feeling tired now, but a good tired. Looking forward to the weekend.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
[22:28]
Boring evening. Watched one episode of CSI. Patiently waiting for the next in 15 mins.
Terrible boat tragedy here yesterday. Cargo ship capsized and 18 people died. The ship capsized in a matter of seconds and can clearly be seen from my workplace. The boat to England had to go past it about 5 hours after it capsized. Horrible sight when one is going to cross the North Sea.
On a lighter note am now well enough to go skiing at the weekend. Tend to go a ski run about 10 mins drive from the house. No ski lift but then that takes away part of the fun so it's ok with me. Have to try and persuade my son to come with me but he thinks snowboarding is cooler.
Monday, January 19, 2004
[20:48]
Totally cheesed off. Back at work today, spent the entire morning cleaning up snow and putting down salt/sand. This afternoon a mate of mine came for a visit so that was at least a chance to skive for an hour talking about forest regeneration and other crap.
Looks like it is going to be very cold tonight -8 already so will no doubt have to scrape the car in the morning ugh!
Treated myself to a steel thermal coffee cup that allows you to fill up with newly filtered coffee at any Statoil garage in Norway as many times as you like over the entire year. Went to work early so that I had time to get some coffee before starting. Wonderful idea :-)
Sunday, January 18, 2004
[14:51]
Really strange weather here for the moment. Went out with the dog this morning in a howling blizzard. Storm force winds and bloody cold. Then after about 1/2 an hour there was a huge clap of thunder and then the wind stopped almost at once. Wind direction has now change to the opposite it was earlier and it is raining.
Saturday, January 17, 2004
[21:10]
Have downloaded another pic that I took this morning whilst walking the dog. Having a relaxing evening. B. Ruth and I are in the living-room watching "Below". Nathan and his mate Skage are watching "Stargate" in the kitchen.
[16:16]
Whew! Thoroughly done in now. Been out shopping all day and then had to come home to chop wood for the fire as my son "forgot" to do it. B. is very kindly making me sausage, bacon and eggs as a wee treat. mmmm.
Friday, January 16, 2004
[23:39]
Link added to the first of the photo galleries -------->
I'm sure more will follow
dino
[23:26]
Taking B. out for some drinks tomorrow night to the jazz and blues club in town. She has had a very hectic few months and needs a bit of time out. We have had a wee bit of wine and are now on the grins and chronics. Relaxing now that Roisin has gone home to mummy, daddy and wee brother.
Was a bit skeptic of blogging to start with but is really easy after a while and good to get the feelings out.
[18:06]
Yippeee. After a complete absence of 3 weeks the sun has come back to Ytre Arna. It was so low it couldn't get over the horizon (some high mntns here). Snow and frosty weather, grandson came home today good news. Feeling a bit better too.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
[22:29]
Shona and Veli (new baby boy) are getting home tomorrow so there is hope for me to get to see them over the weekend. Loads of snow today and freezing outside. Good skiing weather.
Intended to get a lot of writing done this week on various projects but managed to do bugger all. Ah well there is always next week.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
[19:09]
Getting sick of the racism that is creeping into Norway. Our kids can't go to the shops without something being said to them. What do the parents of these other children teach them - hate!! Whatever happened to tolerance? My youngest daughter who is 14 and having problems of her own is constantly picked on by these other kids. Her friends, many of whom are from other cultures, do not go out after school as they are afraid. It is difficult to teach tolerance when it is not apparent in the society around you.
Anyway hopefully won't be here too much longer.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
[19:10]
Managed to get connected to ADSL and have lots of fun listening to BBC radio 2. Now baby sitting Roisin-Elif who is desperate for me go to the teletubbies website. I am resisting, but as they say resistance is futile. Here come the teletubbies .......
Monday, January 12, 2004
[07:25]
Feeling a wee bit better this morning. Got to speak to Shona last night and she is up and about and may possibly get to have the baby with her today. Her "husband" Kenan took some great photo's of the wee man so we're well chuffed. Just chased the two youngest off to school. Always a bit of a fight on Mondays but I'm not too clever in the mornings either. Poor souls leave here at 7 to get into town for 8.15 school start, luckily it is now mild again and snow is gone from the low areas. We have Roisin our granddaughter staying with us while mummy and daddy get to play with her wee brother. Really strange to wake up with a wee finger either up your nose or in your ear. But then she has a gorgeous smile :-)
Sunday, January 11, 2004
[16:25]
I would like to correct the previous statement about going to bed to die. The problem is getting to bed to die quietly. Funny how when you are well no-one needs you and when you are sick or feel shitty everyone makes demands on your time. Maybe they want me around for a wee while longer. Not allowed to go and see Shona or my new grandson for obvious reasons. Totally scunnered :-(
Saturday, January 10, 2004
[21:06]
New arrival this morning at 03:19. Weighing 1,8kg and 48cm long. My new grandson is called Veli James Kaya. He was 8 weeks early, but is doing well so far.
Friday, January 09, 2004
[16:43]
That's the problem with getting older! The flu develops into pneumonia :-(( Going back to bed to die quietly.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
[19:47]
Still feeling a bit groggy with the flu so will take tomorrow off as well. Need to try and relax a bit, chill out and get better. Shona is going to stay in hospital until the baby is born and that could be weeks away or tomorrow. She is very stressed and is missing her daughter really badly.
Took a photo of the view from our living room window today. Snow on the mountains, clear blue skies and the fjord glistening - should have been a poet you know.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
[22:26]
Just booked two weeks in Crete for 2 weeks in July/August. Already planning the mountain walks (on my own needless to say) whilst the rest of them sun themselves on the beach.
[20:32]
Off work today with the flu. Can't taste or smell anything and feel bloody awfully. Weather here is changing all the time. After 3 days of snow it rained today and is milder. No wonder the flu is on the go. Shona has gone into the hospital with high blood pressure and pains. She is due to have her baby soon and so they are not taking any chances. Her daughter Roisin-Elif is staying with us for the moment as her daddy can't get time off work to look after her during the evening when he works. All happening here. I once said to Dino that I had a boring life - I wish to hell I did have!
Sunday, January 04, 2004
[22:07]
HELP! Girls in the kitchen sorting out baby clothes. Grandchild in the living room watching the teletubbies. Would go to the pub but there isn't one in the village. Think I'll take the dog out again!
Saturday, January 03, 2004
[20:55]
Now an official blizzard here. Snowploughs working overtime. Luckily they are well prepared here. Have to go out and drive my daughter home so it should be good fun. Will probably have to go in to work tomorrow morning and clear away some snow before everybody starts arriving for church. Will take some photo's to upload at a further date.
[10:37]
Just crawled out of my bed to a wonderful white view from the bedroom window. Everywhere is deep in snow. Have a bit of a hangover so I wonder if they could tune down the brightness a bit! Going to take the dog out now and she hates snow.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
[22:50]
Forgot to say. The winner of the pop idol contest comes from our village here (Ytre Arna). Not overly impressed.
[22:45]
Happy New Year! Party last night went well and the pinnekjøtt was not too bad, bit salty but OK. Had a wee bit of a party tonight but I'm the designated driver for my daughter - Just in case she pops.
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