Butterfly in Norway

Sightseeing in India: Delhi's Old Fort, the Lotus Temple, and Akshardham

2012-02-05T13:27:00.002+01:00

We hired a bus to tour some sights New Delhi on Friday. We first drove by this building, which is near our hotel, the Connaught New Delhi. We never got a chance to visit it, but saw it several times.

Here's another local building that we never visited.

At night, it was lit beautifully

The India Gate is the start for the Republic Day parade. At night, it had a flame on top, and the colors of the flag, red, white and green striped across the top in lights.

We wanted to see the Lotus Temple. It is an opening nine-petaled lotus flower, symbol of purity. It is surrounded by nine pools of water. The gardens are beautiful. Zillions of school children were touring, all saying "Hi! How are you?" and trying to shake our hands. No pictures are allowed inside. It's a Baha'i house of worship.

Another contrast of India, the beautiful Lotus temple, and the surrounding neighborhood

Running across the street back to the bus!

Next stop, Old Fort, Purana Quila. Here are May Britt, Mette, Silje, Madelein, Lise and Elna. It's in ruins, but was the seat of administration for many emporors.

The last stop was what we kept calling Azkaban, the wizard prison in Harry Potter. It's actually Akshardham Temple, a magnificent and new Hindu complex. It opened in 2005. We were all blown away by it. It has carvings of peacocks (peace), elephants, and gods or people on every surface. You have to look at the pictures on their website, since no electronic devices are allowed inside, not even cell phones. Click on "Carvings", "Murtis" and "Pillars", in particular.

Here are some other sights, these from the day I arrived. We took a couple of autorickshaws to go see things, but mostly they were closed, because of security on the day before Republic Day.

Lise and May Britt with their favorite autorickshaw driver

The Red Fort behind barricades

Mahatma Ghandi's Memorial through the gates.

Mahatma Ghandi's Museum was open. It was very poignant.

That evening, Vandita met us at Lajpad Nagar, a shopping area that is supposed to be the best place to buy clothes. Below is the picture from the KFC where we ate, looking back the way we came.

We had a great time with Vandita. She and her aunt helped the guys and me pick clothes. The other women had already bought their clothes. Her aunt helped with alterations, too. With their help, we really looked good at both the henna party and at the wedding. Everybody said so!

That's enough blogging. It was a great adventure. I am so glad we all got to go to India and to Vandita's wedding!

Sightseeing in India: the Taj Mahal, and Agra Fort

2012-02-05T12:10:00.003+01:00

You must see the Taj Mahal. If you can't GO, then look at this site. It has great panoramic shots with commentary. Next best after that is to read this blog. (heehee)

First step, divide up by sex and nationality. Here's Silje in the foreign women's line. There were lots fewer foreigners than Indians there. Could be because it was the day before a holiday. Or the fact that it costs about 10 times less to get in if you are Indian.

The absolutely required pictures in front of the gate. Here are Lise and May Britt, and Emil, Silje and Adrian. the 11 little domes are matched by 11 on the back side, one for each year it took to build.

Walk through the gate, and Wow! There it is!
Emporor Shah Jahan's beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died in childbirth in 1631. In 1653, the whole Taj Mahal complex is completed, as a mausoleum and memorial.

This is Madelein, me and a stranger, having our beauty overshadowed. In 2002, the Taj was spruced up with multani mitti, a blend of soil, cereal, milk and lime once used by Indian women to beautify their skin.

Elna, Olav, Lise, Madelein, Emil, me, Silje with Adrian, May Britt. From here on, no videos are allowed.

Dear family, remember all the pictures like this that we took as kids? Such fun.

Semiprecious stones are inlaid seamlessly into the white marble

Our guide showed us the beautifully carved flowers, carved right into the marble

The descendants of the workers are keeping the marble inlay techniques alive.

Blue lapislazuli, orange red cornelian, brown jasper, dark red garnet, green jade. shiny white mother of pearl, dark green malachite, light blue turquoise are used at Marble World Exhibitors.

After lunch, we visited Shah Jahan's final prison, Agra Fort.

In 1658, the Shah's son Aurangzeb killed his brothers and laid siege to his father in his home, the fort. The big problem with the fort was the lack of water, so it didn't take a long siege. Aurangzeb kept his father in part of the fort, overlooking the Taj Mahal, for the next eight years, till he died.

The sandstone is intricately carved

A whisper corner! Whisper here, and your mother can hear you across the room.

Renovating the ceiling moldings

The Shah's view

Beautiful inlay work

After all that beauty, here's the flip side. The air quality in India is the unhealthiest in the world, at least among the countries in this study. You can see, smell and even taste the air in Delhi. I was so happy to get back to Norway, which has the third best air in the world. Even though Bergen was having a bad air alert, it was a relief. Warm sunshine is good! But it is so dry there that the dust is everywhere. Even though all the cars in Delhi use CNG (compressed natural gas), the sheer number of vehicles overwhelm the city.

The other part of the flip side is the traffic! Even out in the country, lanes are ignored while pedestrians, cyclists, autorickshaws, and cars weave around each other. Every vehicle is loaded down with people or loads. Incredible loads! Bicycles can carry more than I would have believed. I thought Norwegian drivers were overboard safety conscious when I got to Bergen, but on the other extreme, I had a hard time not screeching during the drives in India. My so-called friends kept putting me in the front seat, until I got wise and leaped into the taxi first so I could get a back seat.

The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort were a 5 hour drive. Each way! We left at 6 am, and got back at 10 pm. I'll make a separate post about our tourist experiences in Delhi.

Vandita's wedding - the real thing!

2012-02-02T16:40:00.002+01:00

The day started with a helping hand from a maid in thehotel, who draped our saris. She did it more than one way. Silje’s came fromthe back over her shoulder and was spread out emphasizing the embroidery. Therest of us wrapped from the front, over the left shoulder. Some had morecoverage, others less, and some had more safety pins, others less. The mendidn’t need help dressing. ;-) We put on our bling and took a taxi right onschedule to get to the wedding at 11 am.

The seat where the couple will greet their guests

The entrance

Guess what Vandita's favorite color is?

May Britt, me, Elna, Emil, Adrian, Silje, Olav, Mette, Madelein, and Lise in our finery

It was at Tivoli Gardens Resort Hotel,in an outside place with orange and gold draped tables and chairs, canopies,and a couple of “stages”. The area was surrounded by food stations, plus therewas a huge area full of tables under a tent, with many more food stations. Wewere the first ones there. We expected that. We’ve learned about “India time”!The workers were still setting up the big stage with a white fur blanket. Thetraditional Indian band and dancers started up a joyful song. They had bigdrums, horns that had a shape of a gourd near the mouth, and tambourines andhand cymbals. Lots of leaping in the air and spinning around!

Vandita's uncle made us all feel very welcome

Vandita’s uncle (in-law) welcomed us warmly. The boys soonfound friends that they had made on Thursday night. Gaurav, Vandita’s brother,filled me in on the schedule so I would feel comfortable. Everyone complimentedus on our Indian outfits. Most of the men wedding guests were not wearingtraditional outfits. The food servers were everywhere, offering us drinks andsnacks.

Vandita called for us to go to her hotel room and visit. She lookedspectacular! Her outfit was all sparkly and embroidered, with many layers. Shehad on bangles on her wrists with shiny balls hanging about 8 inches. The ballswere behind her, too. She let us lift the skirt to find out how heavy it was –wow! She was so happy.

Back at the garden, Vandita’s male relatives started puttingon pink turbans. The groom arrived! He was greeted with great ceremony. Therewas a red ribbon across the entrance. All his family was outside, all hersinside. But one of her bridesmaids offered him a scissors tied with a red bowso that he could cut the ribbon and come in.

His headdress was as sparkly andlooked as heavy as Vandita’s outfit. He was led up to the loveseat stage formany family photo ops. Then Vandita arrived, protected from the sun by herbrothers shading her with a beautiful cloth.

She was led up to the stage withthe white fur rug, where she met her groom. They exchanged garlands and drankchampagne, smiling from ear to ear.

Then they walked together to the love seat.All the guests lined up to give the couple their best wishes and get theirpictures taken. It was lovely.

Meanwhile, the food was ready and everyone queued up andenjoyed the food, company and sunshine. Pretty soon, the bride and groom andclose relatives were also allowed to eat. Vandita said she was hungry. She hadbutterflies in the stomach before the ceremony, but now – now it was fun.

After lunch, the guests started giving their goodbyes.Vandita and Ankur were still not married, mind you! The marriage ceremony tookplace under a gazebo.

First, the priest had a lot to do withAnkur. Vandita was sitting in front of the gazebo with us and her bridesmaids,but was not allowed to look toward Ankur’s ceremony. When her turn arrived, shesat on the ground next to Ankur. There was a ceremony involving throwingdifferent petals and powders into a fire. Ankur’ sister Minny (sp?) tiedtogether the cloths that they had draped over them. If that knot is anyindication, they will have a strong marriage!

At the end of the serious part,the priest gave them advice. One thing that got a giggle was thathowever much money he made, he had to tell Vandita. They walked around the fire 7 times,sometimes with Vandita in front, sometimes with Ankur in front. When Ankur putsomething on her forehead, everyone applauded. Now they are married!

The sun had gone down, and the fingernail-moon hung over abright planet. It turns out that Neptune, Venus, and Uranus were all lined upunderneath the moon today. I’ll bet that is why the 28^th is anauspicious day, and there were many weddings. Vandita teared up several times,especially during the farewells. There were many moist eyes before they got inthe get-away car.

I've had many teary moments since then. The thing is, one time Vandita told me that after visiting me and Ed, she called Ankur and told him that she wanted what we had. I wish Ankur and Vandita a loving and strong marriage!

Vandita's Wedding in New Delhi, India (pt 1)

2012-02-02T11:58:00.000+01:00

Vandita is now married to Ankur! She was happy, she hadbutterflies in her stomach, she was beautiful, and she was teary. In short, itwas a perfect wedding.

Vandita is a good friend from work, and she invited a bunchof us to be guests for her Hindu wedding in New Delhi on Jan 28^th.Only one of us had ever been to India before, and we were so honored to beinvited that there is no way we would have turned down the adventure. Herwedding included ceremonies for days. We were invited to two: Sangeet andMehandi on the evening of Thusday, the 26^th, and the wedding itselfduring the day on Saturday, the 28^th. Both involved lots of eating,drinking non-alcoholic juices or water or Coke, and dancing. The food wasmostly finger-food, cooked by chefs around the edges of the venues and servedby an army of servers circulating among the guests. There were two types ofdancing: traditional to the beat of drums, or modern to the tunes of DJs.

“The guest is like god” is an oft-repeated Indian saying. Wewere treated as if we could do no wrong. We all know better, and we kept tryingto make no serious blunders. We all went shopping for traditional Indianoutfits with Vandita and her aunt helping us to find not only the mostbeautiful clothes, but the best deals. Her aunt, who has a boutique, alteredthe clothes to fit each of us. She was wonderful!

Emil, Adrian, Olav, Silje, Vandita, May Britt, Madelein, Elna, and Lise at Lajpad Nagar

The event on Thursday evening began with a ceremony. We alltook our new slippers off at the door and sat on mattresses on the floor. Therewas a stage with seven Hindu gods, bowls and platters of fruit and foods, garlandedpictures of Vandita’s deceased parents, and fire bowls. In front of the stagewas a microphone set up which two to four people used to sing and chant. Thedrummers and musicians to the left of the stage accompanied. Vandita and herfamily were there. The groom and his family were not there for this part.

Leaving our hotel, Olav, Adrian, Silje, Emil, me, Elna, Madelein, Lise, and May Britt

Vandita greeted us at the door

Mette, Vandita's boss, and her husband Sverre

Vandita is all smiles

When groups of relatives or friends were asked to come upand dance, someone from the audience would stand, circle the dancers’ headswith paper money, and then put the money in a pile for the bride. We danced, pluswe participated by circling a flame in a platter several times in front of thestage.

Silje and Olav circle the flaming platter

The next part of the party was when the groom and his familycame. Now is the time for eating and dancing. We all practiced our Bollywoodmoves! Great fun.

Vandita, meanwhile, was getting painted. She had intricate traditionaldesigns painted on her arms and legs, down to the fingers and toes. It tookhours.

We women each got to have our hands done. The paint is a henna solution,so your skin is stained brown. While it’s drying, for several hours, you can’ttouch anything. The guys have to feed you and hold things for you. Olav becameeveryone’s beast of burden, since he was our only guy.

We all went home about 3 am, leaving Vandita and the womenwho were singing and drumming to continue all night.

How my hand looked the next morning, with the black crust washed off.

To be continued...

Hamburg over New Year's weekend

2012-01-04T19:02:00.001+01:00

Sometimes it is great to just "go for it"! Shoko, our friend from German lessons a few years ago, now lives in Hamburg, Germany. She asked if I would come visit over New Year's weekend. I waffled and thought about it until all the cheap plane tickets were gone, and then said, "Yes! I want to get a complete change of scenery after the end-of-the-year work deadlines." Right decision!

Hamburg is up in the north of Germany, known for business and shopping. Shoko loves it there. She's been studying German and piano.

I caught her unawares, practicing Chopin

She played for me, and she is amazing.

On New Year's Eve, Shoko had gotten us tickets to see and hear Beethoven's Ninth at the beautiful Brahms Hall. The organ behind the stage was something to see!

I made a short video of the performance, with sound. I hope it plays when you click here.

In the evening, we had dinner by the Elbe River. At midnight, all the boats that were cruising up and down blew their horns, and a gazillion fireworks went up from all over. There were so many people sending up fireworks at the river's edge that the smoke was like fog. Wait! The fog fell just at midnight! I don't know whether the smoke precipitated it or what, but it was pea soup by the time we were heading home.

Fireworks burst behind a transfer of a bag of fireworks to a new owner.

Remnants of the celebrations, the next day.

Lots of expensive fireworks. Watch your step!

On New Year's Day, we took a walking tour. The nice thing about a walking tour on New Year's Day, is that it is a VERY small tour group! We started at the Rathaus - City Hall. The Police Band and the mayor were there, with some folks in costume.

In the 1890s, this was a windowless slum. Cholera wiped out Hamburg - because they let such places exist.

Who built this building? A shipping magnate, of course!

A reminder of war - a ruined church and a lone boy.

Hamburg has lots of interesting history - especially if you're from Bergen. Hanseatic League? It's still alive here. Hansa beer? The word "Hansa" is common.

The tour ended with a pirate story (beheaded pirate saves his men by running headless past them, until the executioner tripped him!) Then Shoko and I went to Miniatur Wunderland, an absolutely amazing model railway. We started in America, progressed through Hamburg to the rest of Germany, up to Scandinavia, over to the Alps, watched a huge complicated airport run, and all the time, firemen were racing to burning buildings, night and day were cycling, and, and, and! Here's a link to their site, and a few of my pictures.

Here's the Sounder train, but how did it get to the American Southwest from Seattle?
Shuttle takes off - no worries about that tornado!

How many alarms WAS this fire? So many trucks.

The big game is on

Surprises are everywhere

Monday, my last day there, Shoko and I went boot shopping. It's a great place to shop. I found lots of choices of boots in my size, and so did she. My feet are too big in Norway, and Shoko normally buys in the children's section. Success!

Touring St Michaelis Church, we found another spectacular organ

Mostly we shopped in malls, but this was a great street

Random chimney

Occupy Hamburg site

Shoko and I had a nice conversation with the folks there, plus we got to pet a dog

Sunset over the town's lake, end of a wonderful weekend, and start of a new year. Best wishes to you all!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T11:39:00.001+01:00

Here it is, Christmas already. My mood is bobbing up and down like a balloon in the breeze. Many people have grief this year. Of course, I have been wrapped up in my own, but I can't forget the others. A colleague who lost her stepdaughter in a helicopter crash on the way to their cabin. A close friend who miscarried their much-loved twins. All the families of the young people who were massacred July 22. We all have a different Christmas this year.

In Bergen, this morning is sunny. My spirits always lift on sunny days. I walked down to Torgallmenningen, where the tree is surrounded by plastic-bagged donations for the Salvation Army, the gingerbread city is inviting us all with Christmas carols, and a busker is playing beautiful music. I stopped in a florist to get myself a Christmas plant. The clerk, wearing a Christmas head-thing, smiled and told me about his plans for this evening. He will eat (hand gesture showing bulging stomach) with his close friend, then spread love (hands flung wide) to everyone.

I have NRK2 on the TV, showing "Hurtigruten minute by minute". It is a slow-moving film taken from the Nordnorge ship as it travels north along the coast. I have Christmas music on the radio. My precious butter is waiting for me to roll out a pie crust for tomorrow's pumpkin pie. Natalia will cook something Russian at her place, then we'll come here for dessert and cappuccinos. I have colored lights in the window. Under the plant are a few presents. I am so grateful for my friends who gave them to me. Christmas morning, I get to open them!

Christmas is different for many of us at work. We have 31 nationalities there right now. The local newspaper interviewed some of us about what we do for Christmas. Vandita, from India, told about being invited to Christian neighbors' houses for dinner, Choong Wah said that she has no Christmas memories since she's Buddhist, and Alexander told about Russian celebrations being a week later but very similar to ours. I talked about how all the kids would get new bikes and presents on the morning of the 25th, causing lots of running around the neighborhood. The reporter remembered not being allowed to leave the house at all on the 25th, since that day is reserved for being with family. Norwegians have the big meal on Christmas Eve, and open presents afterward. Second Christmas Day, the 26th, is the day for getting together with your friends.

I see that it's been 2 weeks since I updated you. Quick recap:
Vandita's bachelorette party pictures!

She was such a good sport about selling her candy - on the bus, in the liquor store, in the grocery store! She ended up with 1300 kr. We told her she could a) buy us all drinks or b) invite more people to her wedding (already has 400 guests - considered a small wedding).

Then we were downright silly, belly dancing while wearing masks of her fiance'. She'll have nightmares!!

The next party was the Internations Julebord at Wesselstuen. More good food, and good conversation with people from all over who want to learn about other ways to see the world.

Pinnekjøtt

Mountain trout

I wanted something besides lutefisk, pinnekøtt, or svineribbe, all of which I already ate this season. I ordered the mountain trout and a side of gratineed potatoes, and then gave away my boiled potatoes. :-) This worked for me in another way - it was easy to chew on one side of my mouth. I had gum surgery last week. Good diet technique, everyone! Better than the low-carb high-butter diet!

I see lots of funny clips about the Great Norwegian Butter Crisis on YouTube.

This post is going on and on, but there's one more party to talk about. WesternGeco had a Christmas party in Knarvik last Friday night. We had lots of pizza, and it was delicious. We had gifts - and stealing of gifts - based on rolling dice. The most desired gift at our table was the green lace thong. It was stolen around and around the table! I had it for a minute or two. I thought of you, BowlingJoe! But then it was stolen from me. The evening concluded with a quite talented DJ and dancing. Well done, organizing team!

Getting ready for Christmas by eating and partying

2011-12-11T20:22:00.001+01:00

We have Christmas parties all through December. They are called "julebord"s, meaning Yule Tables. Last weekend, the book club, Booked in Bergen and Girlfriends Julebord featured CBHH - cleavage, bling, and high heels. We had some great outfits and a great time.

The necklace ain't got nothin' on the smile for bling!

Nice B and HH all in one!

We had traditional pinnekjøtt and lutefisk, as well as non-Christmas specialties, reindeer and cod.

Pinnekjøtt literally means "stick meat". The mashed kohlrabi or rutabaga is delicious.

I was the only brave soul to order lutefisk. The bacon in the side dish makes the bland fish tasty. The green side is mashed peas.

Reindeer steak

Cod, presented nicely

After the main course, we had the White Elephant gift exchange. It was great fun deciding which present to choose, or whether to steal an already opened present.

Do you want a light-weight present?

Does it rattle?

The WesternGeco Christmas lunch last Friday was a huge affair at the Nordhordlands Sports Hall. We had 300 people there.

Lots of food

Our hard-working serving people

Memories of our 30 YEAR history (one or two original employees are here still)

Memories of coming to Norway from India (many funny contrasts!)

Even the mayor was here

And lastly, we embarrassed Vandita! We brought her up on stage, dressed her up, and handed her a basket of candy to sell to earn money for her wedding. It was a complete surprise. Whee!

She did a fine job selling candy, too.

More on Vandita's party in the next post. We kidnapped her from here.

Bang! Christmas season starts in Bergen!

2011-11-27T16:28:00.001+01:00

No Black Friday here (which from what I read in the news today, is good to not have). We started off with Nattåpent, Lysfest, and Berit. Berit is a storm. Huge low-pressure zone at the same time as higher than normal high tides. This is the first storm with a name that I've heard of. I think the Norwegians just started the naming thing. Here's a picture from my apartment during a sun break today. Check out those white caps breaking against that ship and the dock!

The storm is blowing like crazy. They've had to dock Hurtigruten ships and take people by bus to the next stop. The tide is really high, but we didn't get that much rain, so Bryggen is probably still above water. I don't intend to go see! I'm staying inside today, Sunday, in my cozy living room. I guess I forgot to post a picture of it before, so here you go.

Lysfest, the opening of the Christmas season, went on as it was supposed to, yesterday. Everyone had umbrellas up for the music and lighting of the Christmas tree in the lake. The torches kept getting put out by the wind and rain. When the fireworks started, people folded up their umbrellas for better viewing. Fireworks in horizontal rain- almost like Seattle! The fireworks show was very good. I like the way they shoot off low ones and high ones at the same time, and just cover the sky with sparkles. It's also fun that it's dark at 5 pm, so they shoot off the fireworks then, not late at night as you have to do at lower latitudes.

Backing up to Thursday night, it was Bergen's shopping night. I love seeing all the people out on the streets. There are folding tables set up selling waffles. Groups of carolers are serenading. Most of the stores have good sales, like 25 to 50% off. Unfortunately, none of the electronics stores joined in, so I did not buy myself a DVD player. I made up for it, though. I bought some cleavage and bling for the book club julebord. CBHH required - cleavage, bling, and high heels. Now I own a full-length black dress which I will probably wear once in my lifetime, but it was cheap!

I just reviewed last year's blog here, and there are good pictures of the waffle-tables, and fireworks, and Christmas trees, and good memories. No Thanksgiving turkey this year, but I had a good American style dinner with two Americans visiting WesternGeco. Michael, the guy in this post, hosted me in Penang, and since turn-about is fair play, I hosted him and his girl friend here. They were excellent company.

A visit to southernmost Norway

2011-11-20T20:44:00.001+01:00

Vadim, the boy Ed tutored in English, and his family have moved to the very south of Norway. This weekend they put me up at their new home, which is under renovation. It was so nice to see them again!

I flew into Kristiansand, then took the bus for an hour plus to Fevik, their town. Natasha picked me up and we had homemade pizza. Roger is very good at cooking, as he proved all weekend, with reindeer stew and meatballs the other two nights. He liked to say we were having "Alt for Norge" dinners.

Each morning, we went for walks. Saturday was down to the ocean.

Natasha, Roger, and Maria down by the Strand Hotel

Sunday was into the forest to a small lake.

Vadim on the dock, Roger, Natasha and Maria

Saturday afternoon, Vadim and I explored Grimstad, then we all watched soccer.

WWII memorial

Sunday afternoon there was cross-country relay skiing to watch. The US men came in about 8th or 9th. Roger and Natasha were rooting for Norway and Russia, respectively, and it was getting pretty hot for a while! Norway won. No surprise there. The championships had 4 Norwegian teams and 2 Russian teams. Petter Northug, the Norwegian superstar, is absolutely unbeatable when he turns on the afterburners for the last few hundred meters!

It was a lovely, relaxing weekend. Thanks, Roger, Natasha, and Vadim (and Maria!).

A Beautiful Day

2011-11-13T11:59:00.001+01:00

It was a crisp, clear Saturday, perfect for running a few errands outside. I dropped off some stuff at Fretex (Salvation Army), but couldn't just leave stuff, I had to buy books, of course. I got a couple of Sue Grafton mysteries, and "Waiting to Exhale". I have neither read the latter nor watched the movie yet. The next stop was the cafe in the Stenersens Cafe' in the Bergen Art Museum. Very popular place! Whenever I go there, there's a line at the counter and it's hard to find a seat. No surprise there - the food is good and the mochas are beautiful.

I sat at the counter looking out over Festplassen, and saw lots of tents and flags. That became my next destination. It turns out, there was a small Christmas Market, with booths from all different countries. I bought a table-runner from the French booth. It's Teflon coated, so you can spill red wine on it and it's okay. Nice!

Notice the low angle of the sunlight. This is 1 o'clock. The days are really getting short - 7 hr 47 min yesterday, from 8:30 am to 4:16 pm.

I continued on to the shopping center to buy some pillow covers for my guest bedroom. Guess what! I have cleaned all the stored stuff out, hung the American DVD player and the Oregon Trail painting on the walls, covered the daybed with pillows, and am now ready for company! Any takers?

Last stop was the grocery store to buy ingredients for Tom Kha Gai soup. It's made with coconut milk, chicken, curry, hot and sweet chili sauce, and in this case, shrimp. Turned out good!

I missed sharing the day with Ed. But I'll share it after the fact with you!

Colonial Georgetown in Penang

2011-10-30T22:08:00.000+01:00

Walking around the historic part of Penang on Sunday afternoon. Stumbling on the Deepavali streets of sales and music in the Indian section. Slurping Chinese noodle soup in an open-air "restoran". Admiring "Clan Houses". Staying longer in the Penang Museum than expected in order to enjoy the air-conditioning.

Yap Kongsi Clan House - smell the incense

Close-up of the column in front of the Clan House

Show-and-Tell of living inside Khoo Kongsi Clan House

Khoo Kongsi clan members who succeeded in higher education

Morality tale from the Khoo Kongsi Clan House

From the Penang Museum:

Kongsi or Clan Houses were established by early Chinese immigrants to assist their clansmen from the same district or village in China. Many of these clan houses evolved into rich and powerful associations, providing members with welfare services, emergency funds in times of crisis, as well as financial and educational assitance. The kongsi occasionally adjudicated in settling disputes among members.

Streets full of fun for Deepavali, Hindu Festival of Lights

Colored rice is spread in beautiful designs. Most are very big and surrounded by candles or lights.

St. George's Church

Street scene showing architecture and a trishaw, a pedal-taxi with shade.

Acheen Street Mosque

Cathedral of the Assumption, named for the feast day on which its founders landed here.

Penang is amazing. You can see all the Hindu gods in the temple, smell the incense as you pass the Buddhist temple, experience the call to prayer as you see people bow to Allah, and go to a protestant or Catholic service.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

From the Lonely Planet guide:

Built in the 1880's, the magnificent 38-room, 220-window Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was commissioned by Cheong Fatt Tze, a local Hakka merchant-trader. The future entrepreneur left China as a penniless teenager and eventually established a vast financial empire throughout east Asia, earning himself the dual sobriquets 'Rockefeller of the East' and the 'last Mandarin'.

Back to my hotel to watch the Rugby World Cup, and then on to the airport for the ultra-long flight back.

Penang, Malaysia

2011-10-26T23:14:00.000+02:00

For three days, during the day, our work group worked, and each night, we had fun together. I experienced one of Debbie's favorite things to do in South Korea - a karaoke bar, with a buffet that included kimchi! We got a party room for just us, with a Wii as well as the karaoke. I didn't know hardly any of the songs, but they had interesting music videos. Our group was pretty darn bad, but we made up for it in volume. I found out that I am not a big fan of kimchi. But they had sushi, one of my faves!

It really poured down rain every afternoon. There was a flood in the Penang airport, the building had leaks at work, and we couldn't hear ourselves talk over the pounding. But it was in the 80's, so it was nice for us from the frozen north.

The second evening, we all went bowling. I made a fool of myself, but it was fun to bowl again. Friday was nice. We worked in the morning, reporting out on what we did the first 2 days. Then we spent an hour and a half driving to the beach resort where they had us play teambuilding games. But first, I checked off a new "sea" in my list of which of the Seven Seas I have been in. Here's what Wikipedia says the Seven Seas are:

After the European discovery of America, some people used the term "Seven Seas" to refer to seven of the largest bodies of water in the world: The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

I've been in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, and now Indian. I'm not sure if I was in the Caribbean on our cruise. It might have been the Gulf. I may skip the Arctic!

I cannot believe that our team lost! We won the 4th event, though, which was to make a roll with newspapers and glue that we all stood inside and moved like a caterpillar tread over the finish line. It was fun to win that one. :-)

Bowling with coconuts

After the formal events, we hung out or went swimming at the pool (guess which I did) drinking pina coladas (yes, it was after 5 somewhere, and that somewhere was here) until the people flying back to Norway had to leave.

Saturday, I hung out with the local Lean Six Sigma Champion, Michael. Michael and I walked up 821 m Penang Hill in the suffocating heat. We started among the monkeys at the Botanical Gardens.

Long-tail macaques

It took 2-1/2 hours to go 5 km. The humid heat makes it much harder than hiking in Norway. At the top is a brightly painted Hindu temple, a fairly raggedy mosque, and the Bellevue Hotel.

Michael and the stair-climber trail

Tea stop, using the honor system

Yes, the sign says 30 degrees!

I'm at the top! That says Penang Hill in Malaysian.

Entrance to the Hindu temple

We ate lunch overlooking Georgetown and the bridge, sitting under a pit viper who was sound asleep in the rafters.

Buckminster Fuller stayed here, hence the geodesic dome.

He didn't move the whole time we ate lunch.

We paid for 10 minutes on Segways for the fun of it, and then visited the tropical birds garden.

Silly grin was plastered to my face...

Polly want a ticket to the bird park?

From the temple

We rode the funicular down and took a taxi back to the Botanical Gardens, where we had started.

Michael helped me look for a battery charger for my camera, and then we agreed that the best next step was a shower and a nap, so we said goodbye. We talked about Malaysia and about teaching Lean Six Sigma.

Buying stuff here is a trip. Even in a shopping center, your are supposed to bargain. The battery charger costs $4 on Amazon.com, which would be 13 RM. (There are about 3.2 RM per dollar) The first place that actually had a charger that would work wanted 130 RM! The second place seemed more honest. He wanted 80 RM, and when we showed him Amazon.com on Michael's phone, he said he paid 40 RM for it, so I should buy it from Amazon. I did buy a new battery from him for 90 RM, which is maybe 2/3 of the Amazon price. Then later in the evening, I found another camera store that had the exact same charger, and bargained down to 50 RM. That's the one I bought, and my battery is happily charged now.

Prices for other things than battery chargers are quite cheap. I bought one of each type of curry powder, which totals up to about 1-1/2 kg of the stuff, for only 20 RM. I bought a dress and a skirt for 68 RM.

One last day in Penang, which will be blogged later.

Kuala Lumpur

2011-10-26T20:06:00.000+02:00

A business trip to our new plant in Penang, Malaysia. Life being uncertain, I planned a day in Kuala Lumpur (KL) on the way. I got my first ride on a Boeing 747! It was big - I was in row 44 and only about halfway down the seats. I made it to Kuala Lumpur (KL) on time. But my luggage didn't come out at the end - it was sent on to Penang. I sat around for a couple of hours while they found them. By then the airport transport car had left, and had to come back. So I got checked into the hotel at 11 am after landing at 6 am. Ah well, the joys of travel!
BOY was I jetlagged! After a short nap, I went out to look for the hop-on hop-off bus. I had lunch at a street market along with a million office workers. It was noodles and tasted good. No Montezuma's revenge. Then I stopped at a Wendy's and got a Coke float! Wow, there's a blast from the past! Then I got back on the right road this time to find the bus, bought a ticket and rode around town.

KL is a huge modern city. This is the view from my hotel room.

Lunch! They call these Hawkers. People are very loyal to "their" hawkers.

I got off at the twin towers that were recently the tallest in the world and went shopping for Christmas presents.

This was the view when I walked into the KLCC (the shopping center in the towers). There was a Toyota event below me with quite a few cars, multiple levels above me, and this is just one of the towers.
Afterwards, I got back on the bus after waiting a half hour, and after a further hour, had moved only 4 stops. Man, do they have bad rush-hour traffic here!!! So I got off and walked through the KL Convention Center, which was having a beauty stuff convention, and back to the Crown Plaza. While studying the menus of the two in-hotel restaurants, I joined up with three folks from Sweden. We had dinner together. I was the only one in the restaurant who ordered the Bavarian buffet. When I went back for dessert, they had absconded with the plates and the desserts! I chased them down and made them hand them over. Only after dinner did I allow myself to sleep. Must beat jetlag!

Some of the sights from the bus.

This is one edge of Liberty Park. They've only been independent since 1954, I think it was.

The changing of the guards, which reminds us of their British history.

The National Mosque.

The next day, I took the second half of my hop-on hop-off tour and hopped off at the Islamic Arts Museum.

Quite a museum building!

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Kuala Lumpur and head off to Penang!

Hardanger Fjord and Plateau in Fall

2011-09-25T13:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, some colleagues from work and I went on the Hardangerfjord Sightseeing tour. I have never gone to Hardanger, just east of Bergen, but I look for fruit and vegetables from there at the farmers' markets. The weather was crisp fall temperatures, with a misty morning, and sun breaks in the afternoon. The air smelled of wood smoke. We all took hundreds of pictures. Here are a few.

Morning

Afternoon lighting effects

Norheimsund color

Doctor Who fans - remember the character who was the logical end of face-lifts?

Vøringfossen waterfall

Here's a video of the waterfall in action. Next is a video taken during the morning boat trip as we passed a waterfall.

Looking out of the bus window on the way back to the fjord from the plateau

The boat nudged right up to this waterfall!

On the boat on the way back...

I am so glad that Ravi suggested this trip!

Berlin weekend with Deanna doing geeky things

2011-09-20T22:24:00.000+02:00

We did the Reichstag tour Friday - Deanna talked our way past security even though they had not given us a reservation time. Good job, Dee! The people are supposed to be able to watch their representatives from above. The dome is spectacular, and has a mirror-covered column in the middle.

I'm in the orange with the camera, Deanna's to my right.

The representatives are under that glass, governing.

Then we did a 2 hour hop on hop off bus, and hopped off at a Science storefront exhibit that was very cool. It had displays that were holograms, or were like the iPad 2 only on the wall, or that you stood in circles on the floor and waved your arms to control what was on the screen. Max Planck Science Gallery

We hung out at Alexanderplatz for a while - it's like Torgallmenningen. Lots of action there. Saturday we went to KaDeWe, the 2nd largest department store in Europe, and ate on the 6th floor. It's like a gigantic world grocery store, with occasional counters to eat specific things. We ate pasta. Here's Deanna with mustard, mustard, and more mustard.

We didn't buy much. Mainly we wandered through floor after floor of "ooh" and "aah" stuff. Saturday night Deanna performed "Fame" by David Bowie at a cabaret show. She was really funny.

They were in election season in Berlin. Every light pole is plastered with smiling faces. We passed an SPD rally where they were playing that 90's Bangles song, Manic Monday. Interesting choice. The Pirate Party fascinated me and Deanna, and it turns out that they won power in the election! Young, inexperienced people running for free information and privacy, both.

Sunday, it rained. We went to the technical museum, and after looking at all sorts of machines, from knitting to airplanes, our feet were tired. They announced that they had an antique train leaving for Public Transport. "Great!" We hopped on, and ended up at a warehouse full of displays of Public Transport. It was completely enclosed by fences. There was no public transport out of there. Then some antique buses showed up and we paid to ride back to the museum. Just another case of not knowing what the heck is going on.

This is the Z1, a computer from 1938! It had, like modern computers, an arithmetic unit, a memory unit, and input and output units. It used binary numbers and punch-tape programming.

Monday morning, I had to leave. We walked some of the green area around Noldnerplatz, the out-of-the-way residential area where we stayed at the Hotel-Pension Victoria. Berlin is really, really green.

Breakfast under the cat pictures

But wait! Did I forget to mention beer? Patries? Wursts? Oktoberfest?

Don't worry, we did not lose track of our priorities while in Germany!

Getting together with Deanna in Berlin was a wonderful trip.

Pictures to go with the previous post

2011-09-03T23:07:00.000+02:00

My answer to Debbie's comment on the rental van post - pictures!

The bathroom while the tile guy worked.

Lynne, Pat, Natalia and Katarina, the moving crew.

I might, just might, have too much stuff.

Nice bathroom now!

Sink, with light that Arild attached.

What do you think of the dark tile and bright walls?

It's a cozy livig room.

The day bed that I was so glad to sleep in.

The Rental Van

2011-09-01T23:52:00.001+02:00

The move is moving along. Sister-in-law Lynne and her friend Pat have been awesome. They flew from the US to visit and help. I worked their tails off. But first, let me tell the rental van story.

I rented an 11 m² van for the move. I picked it up Friday, between my dental appointment (who has time for a sore tooth during a move?) and meeting Lynne and Pat at the airport. It was taller than I expected, but my fingers had done a lot of walking to find one that was automatic transmission, so I figured it was all good. Until I got to the airport and tried to park. Couldn’t fit under the swinging Max Headroom sign! I parked over at the Clarion hotel and made Lynne and Pat walk, poor things. We then dropped off their suitcases at the old apartment, backing successfully into a parking spot, as Schlumberger teaches. Off to the new apartment, which is right next door to the Kloster Garage. That was where Mr. Van would spend the night – in my dreams. Max Headroom interfered again, earning us a honk from a taxi driver. Found a street spot for a short while, but street parking is by permit only, so we went looking for a taller parking garage. How about the bus station? Drove up to the Max Headroom sign, inched forward, but no, we were too tall. Looked in the rearview mirror, and a car was tucked right up my backside. Looked forward and thought, “I’ll go up the ramp, turn around at the top, and come back out.” Drove up the ramp, with the roof getting lower and lower, until at the top, there is a big hanging electric doohickey – a light or sign or something. Pat hops out and eyes the clearance. No way.

Here’s the layout: one lane going up, one lane that goes either way, and one lane going down. The lanes are separated by curbs. Here’s my plan: turn left over the two curbs, straddling all three lanes, and turn around. With a pretty neat but bumpy three-point turn, we were heading for the exit. Our relief was shortlived. There was another one of those electric things at the bottom! Above both the two-way and the down lane! This time, I turned left, straddled the curb, and drove out the exit diagonally between the electric things. Lynne and Pat were in stitches. At the next stoplight, we had holes drilled through us from the eyes of the woman who had been behind us during that last maneuver. That made me start laughing, too. I’ll bet the security video is posted on YouTube by now.

We got to the new apartment just as the plumber was leaving. He installed the sink and toilet, but didn't connect the light over the sink. It would have been nice if they had told me up front that he couldn't do that! Saturday and Sunday were moving days. We moved in around the tile guy, who was taking twice as long as predicted to tile the bathroom. We moved boxes and more boxes Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we got some help with the furniture from Richard next door, Monica and Trond from the other next door, and Vandita from work. Sunday, Katarina (you've met), Natalia from work and Arild helped carry the couch and bed down the stairs, and push them up the stairs in the new place. Sunday night we slept in the new place, Lynne and Pat on the bed, me on the couch. Monday was unpacking and cleaning up the old place. Tuesday we hit IKEA, then passed the inspection of the old place. Don't tell Thorolf that we used baking soda instead of spackle to hide the picture holes! Tuesday night we shuffled boxes enough to put the day bed together and I got to sleep in a real bed. Loved it!

Lynne and Pat have had a few hours off. They did Norway in a Nutshell yesterday, Floyen and the Hanseatic Museum today. Tomorrow the cable guy is coming in the a.m. to put a connector into a different wall. Saturday is KnarvikMila where I walk to Knarvik and they come by bus. Sunday we'll go have scones at Ingrid's. Monday the washer repair guy comes in the p.m. The brand new clothes-washer has a leaky exhaust hose. Laundry is done with a bucket under the hose! And Tuesday, they leave. I will really miss them.

From ugly wallpaper, to pink, to beautiful green

2011-08-15T19:48:00.000+02:00

The original wallpaper in the living room. You can't see the patches...

We had a "stripping party" this weekend. Blandine is a wonder woman. She steamed ALL the wallpaper off. It took 9 hours. We call her the Duchess of Destruction. Yes, the walls were actually pink under the wallpaper!

Lucas has the patience of a saint with the detail work of getting the little pieces of paper out from the molding, and you should have seen the edges of the tape he applied!

Ingrid was the only one of us who actually knew what we were doing - and yet she showed up!

Sunday morning, the spackle was dry enough to sand. Rolling paint on a big open space is great fun! The color is a green called Natur65. Choong Wah, Vandita, Ingrid and I had the reward of seeing the finished product. The walls look so soft and beautiful!

You can see their pay behind us on the breakfast table - rolls of toilet paper with 1000 kroner bills printed on them.

New apartment comin' up!

2011-08-08T21:37:00.000+02:00

I did it! I have a signed contract and a new mortgage, and those two together mean I will have a new apartment pretty darn soon. Maybe tomorrow. It's right over the top of the Nordnes hill from here. It's on the 5th floor looking northwest, so the balcony gets afternoon sun. It has a living room with an adjoining kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, little cave that will become the guest bedroom, and entryway. The building is only 17 years old, but I get to look out over the little old Bergen houses. The price was the appraised price, and if you use one of those online programs to see how much a place should cost, it cost less than that. So even though it's outrageously expensive (this IS Norway), it's still a good deal.

The wallpaper in the living room is in a bad way. I'm putting on a "stripping" party this weekend, where I bribe my friends with pizza and beer to come tear it down or sand it or whatever, and then paint it a nice green. I've bought a lot of spackle, some assorted tools, and paper to cover the floor.

The kitchen may need some paint on the wooden cabinet, some new paint, and I need to buy a fridge, dishwasher and nuke (microwave). I found this really cool microwave that browns the food and blows hot air. I hope the sales brochure isn't blowing hot air! I also found a half-height dishwasher, so I think I can put the nuke on top of that and save the counter space that a microwave would take.

The master bedroom has a mirrored closet with organizer interior. The door into yellow goes to...

the bathroom! I am leaving the yellow, but toning it down with grey stone tiles on the floor and shower walls, and a new larger sink and mirror. I also need to buy a washer and dryer.

The last room is basically 2.2m x 2.2m with no window. I want to add a ceiling fan-light to give it some air movement, and some mirroring and light paint to open it up. I also hope to take that wall-hung cabinet down. It's just at head-conking height.

Now we're back around to the front door.

That's the little bedroom to the far right and the bath to the near right. Behind the wall on the left is the kitchen. You are standing in the entrance to the living room. There's a symmetrical coat-hanger-and-shoe-rack space to the left, too.

People have been very helpful. Ingrid went with me to the signing meeting, helped with the language, and then trooped over with me and the owner to measure the rooms. Graham drove over here with about 30 boxes from his recent move to Bergen. William has been helping with advice and some of Ed's coin stuff, and promises to help this weekend. Sister-in-law Lynne is bringing her friend Pat at the end of the month to help with the big moving weekend, and the following week. They are bringing their extensive painting, remodeling and crafting knowledge. Now THAT is above and beyond the call of duty, and it will be great fun.

Virtual party, virtual Norwegian lessons, keeping in touch

2011-08-02T22:55:00.000+02:00

Last Friday night, in Phoenix, Arizona, my old (young at heart) high school buddies got together. This is a regular way that we celebrate when someone from out of town comes home. Then we tell the same stories, mix in some new ones, and keep up with everyone's lives. It's pretty special that we've been doing this since - too long ago to mention. This time, I got to attend even though I'm here in Bergen! Skype worked like a champ. Apparently, Glenda set me up in a high chair. I figure that means I've lost weight. It was great fun to be there, seeing and hearing everyone (except Jane, who has a very soft voice). The only problem (no biggie) was that it was 6 am here when it was 9 pm there.

Meanwhile, on this side of the ocean, I am taking Norwegian lessons via Skype. I get one-on-one sessions with lots of practice talking and listening. This is through Skapago, a company I found with a web search. My teacher, Tyra, uses Skype for the audio and Spreed for the chalkboard. She's an excellent language teacher, who is Norwegian, but lives in Munich. One of the best things about learning this way is the flexibility. If I need to miss a night, we just reschedule. While I was taking care of Ed in April and May, I didn't have any lessons, but I didn't fall behind in a classroom. So through the wonders of Skapago, I am taking Norwegian lessons from Munich!

My dad, siblings, and kids all have Skype, so we get to see each other regularly. It's so much better than just phoning. You'd be surprised how much closer you feel when you can see the other person. Plus you can show things to each other. We show the progress on our artistic endeavors. Once Neal and I compared the US vs Norwegian covers of the same movie (big difference, hmmm). Ed and I got to see Neal's houses whenever he moved because he carried the webcam around and showed us. I was showing my high school buddies this place, but going onto the deck knocked out the signal. So they didn't get to see the pedestrian street, bummer.

The world is getting smaller all the time. Back when I was a kid and they hadn't invented dirt yet, we had to send letters on paper, and wait weeks for replies. It's nice to look at real letters, and for important things, they are still the best. But for keeping relationships alive, we have it so much better now. Just for one example, I was contacted by a friend from National Semiconductor who found me on Facebook just last week. I worked and played there in the 80's. Jean posted a picture from one of our bed races. Here is a blast from the past!

I'm on the right, Jean has the clipboard, and Deanna is leaning on the bed on the far corner.

I promise to post a picture of the high school get-together when they e-mail me a digital photo (speaking of changing technologies).

In Memoriam: 22 July, 2011

2011-07-24T12:34:00.000+02:00

Sorrow for the victims of Friday's bomb attack, and murders on Utøya.

We miss the youths who were killed so senselessly. Some were from here. The Blue Stone is covered with candles, flowers, notes, and memorabilia.

Crazy housing market!

2011-07-16T20:05:00.000+02:00

My experience in house-selling in the US is that it takes months. Same with house-buying. Seller gets a realtor, appraisal, and maybe an inspection. Buyer makes an offer. Maybe buyer is pre-approved for a mortgage, but maybe not. Seller makes a counter-offer. Buyer and seller agree on a price, then buyer starts hassling with the mortgage lender, who drags it out a month or so before saying "Nope, can't do it" and the buyer has to go to a different lender.
What would happen if there were lots more buyers than sellers? You'd be in Bergen. The average time on the market for apartments in Bergen this year is 16 days! Seller gets a realtor and appraisal. Realtor prints up glossy brochures and holds a 1 hour or less open house. Buyers flood in. They write their names and phone numbers on a list. Many fill out the offer form, which is legally binding, putting in a bid on the home. The next day at noon, bidding can officially begin, but the buyer must have a signed first bid in with the realtor before being able to bid. Realtor calls or texts everyone on the list at noon, telling them the highest bid and the number of minutes that they have to top that bid or lose out. Bidding goes back and forth until the last bidder standing. The seller accepts the bid, which is almost always higher than the asking or the appraised price. The place is sold the day after the open house.

I've bid on three apartments so far. First one, I bid 10% lower than the asking price, and surprisingly was the only bid. So the seller took it off the market! No counter-offer even. It's supposed to come back on the market after July's vacation lull. Wild.

Second one, there were two of us bidding against each other. We went back and forth 13 times in 1-1/2 hours before I let the other guy win. Like any auction, I had my upper limit set before we started, and I stuck with it, even in the heat of battle.

Third one, several started bidding but there were only two of us for the last hour or two. The other bidder topped my last bid by 5000 kr so I told the realtor (a lawyer in this case), "I lose." She said, "Not necessarily." I was floored! Now they tell me, the seller can reject the highest bid. Another twist. But it turned out that I did lose.

Buyers must have a loan pre-approved. The loan officer needs your last three pay slips, your last year's income tax statement, and your passport. Even to put in a bid, you have to give the name and phone number of your loan agent. If the seller accepts your bid, you are legally bound to buy. There's no "cooling off" period like in the States. Closing is practically instantaneous. When you have a pre-approval, it is apparently as good as done. Perhaps the bank could turn down your loan if there was a huge common debt on the apartment. Common debt is the loan on the whole building, which is being paid off by all the apartment owners. Your bid is still binding, so you should tell your loan agent the listing number before going too far in the bidding.

This is so completely upside-down compared to the US realty business that I just had to blog about it. Crossing fingers that I find a good place that I can win...

Very busy week

2011-07-03T01:40:00.000+02:00

This week I
1) turned in my work visa and permanent residence paperwork
2) applied for a mortgage pre-approval
3) tried to let the Norwegian government know that Ed died
4) put a bid to buy an apartment
5) began 3-times-a-week training to walk from Bergen to Knarvik on Sept 3
6) attended the first ever Bergen Internations get-together
7) cheered Brann, our soccer team, on to victory in person
8) was turned down for the apartment in #4.

#1 should get me out of my semi-illegal-alien status. If it gets done before Aug 16, they will call it a renewal and won't make the clock start over. I was a little distracted in May, when I should have put in the paperwork, and I let my visa expire. Permanent residence was one of Ed's biggest goals. :-(

#2, 4, and 8 are also to achieve one of Ed's goals. He had begun talking about buying an apartment here sometime late last year, but I said no, not with him being so sick. Now that my 3-year rental contract is about to end, I am learning about the real-estate system here. They have never had a banking or housing crisis, and there are more buyers than sellers. The average time in Bergen from listing to selling is 14 days! Most places have bidding wars, even. I'll be attending a couple more open-houses next week.

Internations (#6) is composed of people who are interested in other cultures. I've been a member of the Oslo chapter since moving here, and it is really great that someone volunteered to organize a Bergen chapter. Thank you, Michael!

My name was drawn at work to go to a Brann game (#7), which was another of Ed's and my plans. It was fun! We won! The link is to a video of the game. We're in red, and yes, the other guys are "Odd". Odd Grenland, that is. I was sitting behind the goal that we scored at 2:44 in the video.

Listen to the Brann anthem here. They don't have beer at sports events. The fans drink coffee. No wonder they are so revved up, chanting and singing throughout the game. But the light-rail trip home was quiet. No celebrating the win.

Budapest pictures

2011-06-23T22:17:00.000+02:00

The European Organization for Quality Congress has been very well run. They made sure we enjoyed the beautiful capital of Hungary, and ooh, the food!

Hungarian goulash soup is my absolute favorite food here. The chocolate and fruit desserts are giving the goulash a run for the money, though!

That soup was the start of the dinner at the Lazar Equestrian Park about an hour north of Budapest. But BEFORE dinner, they had a great horse riding show, and we got a carriage ride in the woods, too.

Check out the sidesaddle sidestepping, a la Sissy, the favorite empress in these parts.

This horseman is standing on the haunches of the rear two horses, while controlling the front three!

The next night I went on the optional Danube tour. It was too dark for good pictures, but Budapest becomes so beautiful with the warm lights on the fabulous buildings.

This picture was on the walk to the Danube cruise. That's parliament.

After the conference sessions one day, I took these pictures. The first is looking upward inside a bank building. The security guard told me I couldn't do that - but he was too late.

Outside, it has been hot! But not for these children.

After the final day factory tour, I hopped on the metro, a tram and a bus to get out to the Memorial Park. That's where they decided to put all the Communist statues. The statues were quite strong, I guess is the word. They also had a very interesting film about how secret agents were trained, a collage of many actual training films. Creeepy!

Tomorrow, I fly back to Bergen. I'll miss the over 30 C sunny weather! I am bringing back a bottle of Tokaj white wine and Bull's Blood red wine. Who wants to try them with me?

Hungary - Eger and Budapest

2011-06-19T23:07:00.000+02:00

Bull’s Blood! Great name for a wine. You get it in the Valley of the Beautiful Woman. This is in Hungary, northeast of Budapest a couple of hours by train. Next to my hotel, there is also a thermal pool and a whole series of lovely outdoor pools. Saturday was warm and sunny, the better to enjoy them with! Sunday morning, I sat in the thermal pool and was rained on, but that was still enjoyable.

In the interests of living each day, I went ahead with plans to attend the European Organization for Quality conference June 20-24. It is in Budapest. I’ve never been to a European conference, so am looking forward to comparing and contrasting with the American Society for Quality conferences that I have attended. More about my comparisons afterwards…

Budapest is a huge city, composed of Buda on one side of the Danube, and Pest on the other. It has a modern business district, but also very cool old buildings with fancy decorative touches. Those curlicues and fillips were the sign of a more elegant and slow-moving time. I arrived late Friday night. As the taxi drove over the Danube, the city was lit like a fairy tale. All the old mansion/castle/ornate buildings have warm yellow floodlights, picking them out from the dark tree-covered hills. The Chain Bridge has strings of lights forming parabolas across the dark river.

Saturday morning, I took the bus to the main train station. There is a lot of construction going on around there. Signs of a healthy economy, I think. I took the 2 hour direct train to Eger, then tried to figure out where my hotel was. This is the first trip I’ve taken with no guide book! A woman who was trying to sell me a room to rent was very gracious in telling me how to walk to the hotel. A young beggar followed me most of the way, but I was of no use to him. The walk was through a really lovely park, with a bride and groom getting their pictures taken in front of a fountain. There was another park full of pools and fountains right in front of the Hunguest Hotel Flora. Lovely, airy hotel. Out back were the series of pools that I spent the afternoon enjoying.

After dinner, I walked through town and out to the vineyards. There was going to be a big music event in the middle of Eger, I saw, and sure enough, later in the night there were fireworks. The wine cellars in the Valley of the Beautiful Woman are pretty commercialized. Many young people walk out there and set up picnics around fire pits. They buy a mixture of wine and pop in large plastic bottles. I agree – yuck! The wine cellar where I drank a glass of Cuvee also supplies huge pots of goulash that are made to hang over the fire pits, complete with the necessary bowls and spoons. I asked a couple of guys if I could take their picture stirring the goulash and got an invitation to join them later when it was done. Since they spoke virtually no English, I wasn’t sure. I went back around the loop of wine cellars, bought some Bull’s Blood, and came back with it. They already had beer, so didn’t want any. That was enough to discourage me, though I think it was totally wonderful that they invited me. I took a taxi back to the Flora.

After nearly 12 hours of sleep, Sunday morning was dedicated to sitting in the mineral spring pool, in the rain. Now I am writing this on the train back to Budapest, and the conference.

Postscript: Sunday afternoon, I hired a bicycle taxi to take me out to Varosligehet, the city park. He gave me a tour all the way out there, to the restaurant Neal recommended. It's called Paprika. Neal said it would have delicious food and bad service. Unfortunately, he was wrong. It had delicious food and good service! The evening was a folklore show, featuring gypsy music and dancing. I love gypsy music. It is so emotional!

Traditional Norwegian wedding, "something old and something new"

2011-06-14T12:21:00.000+02:00

The Stalheim Hotel was in a rare moment of calm, with no tour busses outside. The clatter of the helicopter brought us out the door. Hotel cameras were brought out into the parking lot. The copter touched down on the lawn beside the hotel, and out stepped two men and two women in full Voss bunads, complete with a top hat for the groom, and a gold glittery and embroidered head-dress for the bride. The bride was laughing and waving up at us in the parking lot, while the groom was much more conscious of the spinning blades overhead. The four of them stood to one side as the helicopter took off. The wind nearly lifted their hats and skirts right off!

The bridal party had just flown from the wedding at the 11th-century church in Voss, at which they had arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, I understand. Talk about "something old and something new"! While they waited for their guests to drive up, they let me take their picture with my cell phone. They were so radiant! When the guests arrived, there were nearly 40 bunad-wearing, cake-bearing couples. At the same time as the guests arrived, a busload of Japanese tourists showed up, so there was much posing and picture taking. Lots of fun.

The wedding reception involved opening gifts, a sit-down dinner, and speeches, as all receptions must. Ingrid and I were waiting outside the room, enjoying the evening while making sure we could admire the guests whenever the doors opened. After a couple of hours, the doors opened and everyone spilled out into the public area. Most of the bunads were from Voss, so they had a lot of similarity. Some were the winter version, which is darker and has a fitted jacket. Most were the summer version, with a white apron and white blouse displayed under the bodice. There were quite a few Bergen dresses, while there was one from the eastern part of the country, near Oslo. (I asked her where it was from, since it looked different).

After a while, the guests went back into the room, but there was a man warming up a Hardanger fiddle outside. It was intricately decorated, and had the extra strings behind the usual violin strings that give the Hardanger fiddle a tonal quality all its own. (listen here) I was delighted to talk with him about it, but only had a moment. He had to lead the bride and groom into the reception. Not too long after, they did the polonaise, which meant that the fiddler led the bride and groom out of the room, and they were followed by all the other guests, two-by-two. They walked out in this stately, smiling parade, into the fog beyond the building doors, made a loop back inside, and then... the bride and groom held their hands in a bridge so that the second couple could duck under, and form a bridge. The third couple ducks under the two bridges and forms their own bridge. This goes on until every couple is forming a bridge. Then the bride and groom go under all the bridges, followed by the other couples in order until all the bridges are released. Then they went back into the ballroom for the first dance. It was a traditional folk dance, which the bride and groom danced wonderfully. The guests soon joined in. The following songs mixed traditional folk dances, Elvis Presley, country-western, and some oldies. They had some good dancers! (You see that they forgot to close the doors!)

Late in the evening, they had more food, and 30 cakes brought by the guests. The music went on till 2 am, but it was a well-behaved occasion. The proof of that is that the guests were all up and cheerful at the breakfast buffet Sunday morning! That was when the bride told me it would be okay for me to blog about their beautiful wedding. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and went just perfectly! If the couple is reading this, please accept my best wishes for a long and happy life together.

Remembering Ed with friends in Norway

2011-06-05T20:54:00.000+02:00

This is such a great DVD - the Concert for George, from November 29, 2002. As I recall, Deanna gave it to me. I watch it every few months. I get something new out of it every time. Right now, this is the song that calls to my heart.

Today, two dozen people came over to our apartment here in Bergen to remember Ed. They were coin collectors, hikers, or neighbors, but all remember Ed's smile and joy in life. It was a beautiful sunny day, the first whole day of sun since I got back to Norway. They brought finger food and stories of Ed. I played the slide show DVD of pictures of Ed, and the CD of the jazz music he loved. I read a couple of memories that were shared at the May 7 celebration/memorial, and then it was their turn. Thank you everyone who came and made this special. Ed will always live in our memories.

The memory book, the cards, and the mini-urn with some of Ed's ashes, as well as his wedding ring.

Ed's celebration/memorial (May 7)

2011-05-24T21:03:00.000+02:00

Here is the posting I wrote but never finished after our celebration and memorial of Ed's life.

The urn with Ed's ashes has a pattern like our wedding rings

Our son and daughter came as soon as we could get them here, and brought healthy laughter with them. Bob Ziegler, Ed's friend from high school, is manager of a new funeral home, and Ed wanted us to use his services. Bob and his funeral director, Holly, were very helpful. Holly and Deanna worked together on the www.MeM.com slideshow and tribute page that is part of the funeral arrangements.

It was a good way to grieve, putting together the slideshow. With contributions from everyone, we ended up with over 150 pictures. The music that goes with the slideshow was not our playlist. Neal, Deanna, and I made a playlist of jazz music that Ed liked, mostly with no vocals so that it could be played while people talked together. The music and slideshow played throughout Surprise Funeral Care the whole afternoon of Saturday, May 7th. The slideshow played behind the speakers, all Ed's close friends, who offered reminiscences about Ed from his many different aspects. Ken Jones was MC and childhood friend. Ed Murphy also spoke as childhood friend and read an e-mail from Marty Banks, who knew Ed in graduate school. Dan Bailey gave a wonderful lesson in copper coin-collecting terminology and ended with a description of Ed using those words. Terry Harvey talked about not just baseball, but their personal connection even though they disagreed on just about everything. Leon Khalsa-Maulen discussed Pierce College and their close friendship as Psychology faculty. Bob Ziegler finished with a benediction, and an invitation to stay for snacks and more talking. Neal, Deanna, and I ordered Mexican food, Ed's favorite, to be catered. The kitchen at Surprise Funeral Care was filled with people and conversation.

Thanks to everyone who made the day special. I am glad so many of you could come.

Little c was a tougher pitcher than we thought...

2011-04-29T22:50:00.000+02:00

Here is the letter I sent to our friends and family yesterday.
Dear friends and family,

My sweetheart has died. He won the first few innings of his battle with esophagus cancer, but the opposing team came back to take the game on April 28th, 2011 at 7:40 am. We were visiting Ed’s sister Lynne and brother-in-law Russ at their home in Phoenix, AZ, when he took a sudden turn for the worse.
His life was all about relationships. He made sure that our children, Neal and Deanna, grew up to be the caring, wonderful people that they are. His school friends from Washington High School are still in touch and meet whenever they can. His professional life as a psychology faculty member at Pierce College was filled with deep and lasting friendships as well. Our marriage lasted nearly 39 years, starting in an outdoor ceremony in Papago Park near Phoenix, AZ on June 12, 1972. I can’t imagine the life that stretches ahead of me without us side-by- side.

Ed and I met when he was my Physics lab instructor in 1969 at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Green appointed me lab assistant for Freshman Physics even though I had not yet taken the course. That meant that Ed had to tutor me through the experiments that the class would do on the weekend before the class got to that experiment. We discovered that we were both from the Phoenix area, and attended rival high schools. We began sharing rides to and from Phoenix at Christmas breaks. Our first date was to the San Antonio Zoo, where we tried to sing Simon and Garfunkel’s “At the Zoo” together. We were kindred spirits!

Ed was a passionate collector. He started as a child, with popsicle sticks. His coin collection was the result of collecting for his paper route. His baseball memorabilia collection began with his love of baseball. He could recite baseball statistics as well as any of his friends. He always said it was learning about the objects that made collecting so fascinating.

Deanna is creating a virtual memorial to which all our friends and family can contribute memories. The URL is http://edward.leitner.muchloved.com/. The site is a not-for-profit group.

http://www.muchloved.com/

Ed and I have been lifelong supporters of Planned Parenthood, and he asked that people donate to them in lieu of flowers. If that is a problem for anyone, please donate to any animal support group.

We will be having a celebration of Ed’s life at Surprise Funeral Care in the next week.
Keep smiling,

Pilla

Phoenix - down in ashes and rising again

2011-04-25T21:22:00.000+02:00

This last week in Phoenix has really been like its name. When we got here on Sunday, Ed was so weak that he had to be lifted into and out of his airplane seat, and getting him home to his sister Lynne's house was really scary. He lost his strength so fast! Monday, my parents and his mom came to dinner, but he was having chest pains and trouble breathing, so we called the paramedics. We took some pictures of the joined families before giving in to the pain.

Ed's mom is on the left, followed by my stepmom Lea and my dad, me and Ed.

Ed ended up being admitted to John C Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital. They gave him 4 units of blood, 2 units of platelets, and a bag each of potassium and phosphorus. The staff at the hospital was genuinely caring. He had his own small room, and I just stayed there with him most of the time. Tuesday evening, though, I got together with my high school group. We've been getting together regularly forEVER. Now it's even more important to be together, and share what's been going on for the last year or so.

Connie, Carolyn, Jane, Leonard, Ellen, Rosie, and Glenda are standing behind me in more than just the literal sense. I really appreciate them!

After 3 days of treatment, Ed was stabilized enough to be released. I was petrified! How could we manage to take care of him when he could not even roll over in bed by himself? I contacted the hospital social worker, who set hospice in motion. The goal of hospice organizations is to make sure that terminally ill people are cared for in comfortable settings, such as their own homes, and have no pain or worries. We selected Hospice of the Valley as soon as we met their representative at 12:30 on Thursday. By 3:30 Thursday, they had delivered a hospital bed and oxygen concentrator to Lynne's house and set up ambulette service to get Ed home while still in a bed. The ride home and move into the wheelchair was easy. Thursday evening, an intake nurse came and evaluated our needs, supplying most of them from the back of her vehicle. A pharmacy delivered medicines right to our door at 9:30 at night! The speed and efficiency, while being caring and cheerful, was astounding.

Ed was naturally very anxious after all this. He was up every 2 hours during the night, and at 4:30 am, I called hospice for advice. The on-duty nurse walked me through trouble-shooting and we fixed Ed right up within a half hour. Friday, our regular nurse and our regular social worker came. They brought more information, more supplies, and more cheerfulness. Even more cheerfulness was brought by Ed's high school friends, from as far away as Iowa, when they came over with pizza and beer.

In the back are Sue, Mary, Bob, Roger, Judy, Ed, Linda, Ken, and Janet. In the front are Pat, Larry, and, of course, Ed. Ken is the mastermind of this wonderful get-together!

Friday night, Ed slept much better, and therefore, so did I! Saturday, a nurse assistant came and bathed Ed. A hospice nurse called to see how Ed was doing. Ed had a relaxing day, opening all his eBay purchases that have been shipped to the US.

Easter Sunday was our best day in ages. Ed was happy as could be. We had a family day with a ham dinner and hamming it up. We also Skyped our daughter Deanna, and laughed at her mermaid makeup. Shall we say that San Francisco celebrates Easter differently? Such a pleasant day leads you to almost believe in miracles, and that he will regain his strength and walk on to the plane back to Norway.

Brother-in-law Russ, Ed's mom, Ed, Ed's sister Lynne, and nephew Erik. Lynne and Russ have been absolute gems, taking us in and caring for Ed with love and compassion.

Here is Ed, rising from the ashes in Phoenix! We took two steps forward, then one back. Monday, he has been pretty much knocked flat. There's no telling what happens next...

except that our return to Norway is delayed indefinitely. I am very grateful that we are here with our families and friends for this journey.

Seattle, Washington, written April 16

2011-04-24T02:04:00.000+02:00

The point of this trip is to connect with our friends and family, and Ed and I are doing just that. Great visits continue! Cindi and Ron, of the Oregon Trail 150th anniversary re-enactment wagon train, brought memories and new stories.

Cindi and I worked together at Boeing and share an interest in history. When the opportunity came to walk from Eastern Washington, over the mountains, to Western Washington, along the route of the Oregon Trail northern branch, we reved up our sewing machines, made pioneer dresses and bonnets, and jumped into the wagon train. The first night, as we were looking for a place to set up our tent, this man told us, "No, you can't camp there. That's where the water buffalo goes." Ookaay, water buffalo? Didn't they use oxen on the Oregon Trail? The man was Ron, and he was talking about the truck that carried the drinking water. Umpteen years later, he's still with Cindi living in West Seattle. Not a water buffalo in sight.

When Ed and I first moved to Washington in 1983, we enrolled the kids in a cooperative nursery school sponsored by Pierce College department of Early Childhood Education. That was the beginning of Ed and Judy's friendship. Judy came over with Mary, another of Ed's good friends from Pierce.

Mary and I had never met, but both felt we knew the other through Ed's stories.

Thursday evening was another brain dead moment - we had the camera but we didn't take pictures of Jim and Judy! They are collector friends from way back. Or maybe I should say, they are collectors and good friends from way back. We've had many fun dinners after coin shows around the Northwest.

Friday was "Pierce College day". Midday, we got to see Bret and his wife, Gail. I remember their wedding, which was one of the more emotionally satisfying weddings I've ever attended. They were so clearly in love, and all the guests were made to feel welcome and part of the event. Now their little boy is 21, yet he's still knee high in my mind's eye.

Later was an open house for folks from Pierce College. There was reminiscing and lots of laughing. It was fun to see people that I haven't seen much of since the early 90's, but have heard so much about over the years from Ed.

These folks have been on every kind of team together, from softball to union negotiating. Ed has strong bonds with all of them.

Saturday, the neighbor from our big house in Puyallup (only long-time residents can pronounce it) brought BBQ and updates on life in the old neighborhood. Dave "Zoom" and his wife Lenny have a B&B called "A View With A Room". The view is our own Mt. Rainier, over the Orting Valley. Lenny and Zoom think that Mt. Rainier is theirs. Maybe it's big enough for all of us. The room is in the remodeled downstairs of Dave's house. The breakfast is home-made by Lenny.

The ten days in Tacoma were jam-packed with good friends. Thanks to each of you who made time in your busy days for a visit. Some of you had long drives, some may have played hooky from work, and we appreciate all of you!

Seattle, Washington, trip

2011-04-14T02:53:00.000+02:00

First, I have to post my brag picture. I finished my sweater! Ta-daa! Knitted in the round, "without no seams or needlework".

It barely dried from the blocking before I packed it for our trip. The 24 hours in the air, Copenhagen, Washington DC, and in the shuttle to Tacoma was adventureful. Is that a word? The suitcase did not accompany us. The TSA in Dulles made Ed get out of the wheelchair and WALK through the metal detector. He fell, and they picked him up in such a way that he was screaming, and the following five hour flight was spent in pain. I tell you. Welcome back to the good ole US of A.

Leon had set up a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment with wheelchair ramps for us. He allowed us the run of the living room and kitchen to have all our friends over for the whole week. He is the best friend ever.

The next morning, Ed felt okay again. Our carefully choreographed visits with friends and family could begin. First was my sister Debbie, fresh from her TRAPEZE LESSON, with her sweetie Steve and our cousin Carla.

Check out Leon's house in the background. It is a masterpiece of fixing up and remodeling. Friday was the PNNA coin show, the REAL reason for our trip to Seattle. Ed and his coin buddies, Doug and Dan, had an absolute blast.

They came over Saturday after the show for even more fun looking at coins. Doug's wife Dana, and Dan's son Logan came too. Dana is the artist friend from Sweden who paints, say, trolls or other traditional themes. She and I had a great evening while the guys played.

Leon and Ed's friend Nancy came over. I haven't spent much small-group time with her, and Ed truly wanted us to meet. It was a pleasure indeed.

My former Boeing friends and their spouses came: Michael and Janet, Anastasia and Steve. Anastasia brought Burmese noodle soup, home-made. What a treat!

Here she is in Leon's fancy new kitchen, putting together the finishing touches. Another day, I got to catch up with Anastasia one-on-one. She took the ferry from Vashon, got me, back to Vashon, visiting all the way, then back to Leon's. Thank you for thinking of offering that, Anastasia. It was a beautiful sunny day to admire Mt. Rainier from the ferry Rhododendron, too.

I am chagrined to say that the camera was forgotten when Terry came over. That was Ed's chance to catch up on baseball, and the fantasy league that he was in for 20 years. They just had their 27th annual draft! That is longer than loads of marriages. These guys really care for each other.

Will and Jeanette came over on the way to their hotel. The next day, they were to teach a bunch of OSHA people, and it worked out that they could stop in. They are our oldest Washington friends. Our kids grew up together, and we alternated houses for Thanksgiving dinner for all those years. We got to swap stories about kids. Will regaled us with tales of planning for their son's wedding.

We hired Sam's Ambulette Service to get us up to our old Renton condo and visit the whole gang. Sam is the same man who got us to the PNNA. He's a very good wheelchair van owner/driver, if anyone needs one in Puget Sound.

What fun it was to see everyone again! The lobby there has been the scene of many memorable pot-lucks. A few folks are absent, but mostly, all the neighbors are still together.

We'll get by with a little help from our friends

2011-04-03T22:21:00.000+02:00

It has been threatening to be spring here. Bergensers declared spring yesterday with what was called "byLørdag" or City Saturday. It didn't matter one whit that it was cloudy, windy and spitting rain. There was "shaving with a straight razor" on Gågaten,

and "dancing to Ethiopian drums" at the Ethiopian shop on Markeveien,

and, a sure sign of spring, the Buekorps Boys marching and rat-tat-tatting their drums. (The link is to my 2009 post about them.)

I was out shopping in preparation for our trip to the US, which starts next Wednesday. We are very excited about the chance to visit Seattle and Phoenix to see family and friends. The logistics are daunting. This is our first experience with traveling as a handicapped person, since Ed will be in a wheelchair. The airlines are required to provide assistance, so I have requested it. We will use a wheelchair-accessible taxi to get to and from airports. Our friend Leon in Tacoma is going above and beyond to accommodate Ed, even installing handicap ramps! Ed's sister in Phoenix had a head start because their mom needed those health aids while living with her, and even bought an electric bed. The challenge yesterday for me was getting enough pain killers for 3 weeks. Each pharmacy has only 1 or 2 boxes of it, so I was sent from hither to yon, and by the time I reached the last one, ready to get the last box, it was closed. Can you believe that this pharmacy's Saturday closing time is 2 pm? I should be used to it after nearly 3 years here. I'll try again Monday.

There's another way that we're getting ready for seeing everyone. Ed is trying out husbanding his energy as if running a marathon, by taking rests between every activity. Today that worked well, as we had a very nice day. We had a great visit from Vadim and his family last evening. Ed tutored Vadim in English when he first came to Norway from Russia, you may remember. Vadim has a brand new baby sister, Maria, who is really precious. Maria brought along her mom Natasha, grandmom, and stepfather Roger. Today Ed and I worked on US taxes, then rewarded ourselves with kebabs from Facil's. Our next door neighbors rang our bell and came in briefly, and friend Ingrid dropped by for a visit. We are beginning to get the hang of our "new normal". Easy, it's not, but we will work through it, with a little help from our friends.

Good company brings spring weather

2011-03-20T12:10:00.000+01:00

Do you like our kimonos? Our friend Shoko sent them to us when Ed was first diagnosed, and this weekend, she visited us in Bergen. She brought the obi, the blue belt on mine, and showed me how to wear the kimono. Left closes over right - I wonder what signal I was sending when I closed it right over left? Also, make sure the back of the neck doesn't hang down, unless you are "available". Tying the bow on the belt is done just so as well. It was so wonderful of Shoko to give them to us. Ed wears his every day.

Shoko brought good weather. Friday afternoon I took her all over town, and Saturday we went up on Floyen. The sun shone, the snow melted off the firs, the ice layer on top of the snow crunched underfoot, and a busload of tourists oohed and aahed over the view. What more can you ask as proof that spring will come?

Friday night Shoko and I went to the symphony playing Bruckner's 9th in Grieg Hall, and Saturday evening we took her to dinner at Wesselstuen. This restaurant has an interesting ambience, with traditional Norwegian food at not-outrageous prices. The waitress took good care of us.

Ed's learning to conserve his energy. He picks one event to aim for and rests up for it. This dinner was it, and it went well. It helped that the taxi stand was right outside the door! The other day, when Ingrid and Ed and I bought his sandals, we took a picture that I have just uploaded. Here are our two street muggers. If anyone gets in their way, they have the weapons to knock them down. Ingrid, at least, is showing the appropriate attitude!

Next week we should get a different kind of visit - from the home health care nurses and the Sunniva consultant. We are eligible for aids to help Ed get around in the house better. For example, the walker is provided by the official health care system. Hopefully, they'll give us valuable tips, plus check in on Ed while I'm at work. The doctor says that our US trip next month is still a go, even though the tumors are popping up in more bones. We look forward to seeing "old" friends and visiting family.

Scary couple of weeks

2011-03-12T09:11:00.000+01:00

The doctor called us Sunday afternoon, Feb 27th. She is amazingly dedicated, but we were surprised to hear from her on a Sunday. She wanted Ed to come in right away, after seeing the results of his MRI. By that time, he had no use of his left leg. Couldn't lift the leg, turn the foot, or anything. He dropped from getting around with a cane to having trouble even with the walker in a week. It's scary how fast things went downhill!

The word was that the metastasis in the hip had also spread to the lumbar vetebrae, and one of the tumors was pushing on the nerve that controls his left leg, causing it to go "dead". They lined Ed up for a fresh round of radiation. He started 12 daily shots on Tuesday the 1st. Within the week, he could lift his leg and turn his foot! After 9 shots, he is moving his leg more freely still, plus he has cut down on the morphine. He's happily tooling around on his walker, which has been a real boon to mobility. This journey is still a wild roller coaster. Every day, there is something new. After the radiation, he will get a new chemotherapy regimen, probably EOX. He keeps on smiling.

He had fun at the coin club meeting Thursday night, but sat on the most uncomfortable chair in the world! It's Saturday, and we hope to get down to the store that sells health supplies. Maybe they will have sandals that are big enough to fit his poor swollen feet. They probably also have other cool toys that we just have to have.

We are looking forward to visiting friends. March17th, our friend from Japan is coming. The tsunami was awful there! She is okay (shaken, you might say). She is still trying to contact people near Sendai. I just made a donation to Redd Barna (Save the Children). I hope you all provide whatever help you can...

Excursion to Bergen Farmers' Market

2011-02-27T14:39:00.000+01:00

I was supposed to buy lamb sausage and lingonberry jam at the monthly farmers' market. Ingrid and I went together, she on the longest expedition since her bionic knee implant, and me to get out and enjoy the not-rainy day. It was cloudy, but the rain was not actively falling, so we counted it as good weather. Mighty few farmers braved the February weather to sell their wares. I found lingonberry jam, though, plus strawberry-rhubarb jam AND carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Ingrid was doing so well on her crutches, that we made it up and down the stairs to the meat bazaar to buy those lamb sausages that they didn't have at the farmers' market this month. We wandered up and down Shoemaker Street popping into boutiques, topping it off with an exciting visit to the coin shop. Okay, since Ed wasn't there, it wasn't all that exciting, but we had a good time talking to Jeff, who gave Ingrid some 500,000 and 250,000 notes from Turkey. She likes to give them in fancy cash envelopes to kids for presents, so they can say, "I got 500,000 for my christening/birthday/fill in the blank!" Ingrid made our excursion pain free. Great success!

Ed didn't get to join us because he has had a terrible week for mobility. His hip/back pain has dramatically increased, and his ability to stand or walk for any amount of time has dramatically decreased. We will be getting assertive Monday. We need to know what's going on here!

Headlight hiking

2011-02-19T20:58:00.000+01:00

We met at the top of the Floybanen at 6:30 pm. The day was sub-freezing with no precipitation and no wind, hurrah! We were eight adults and a dog. At the rate the days are getting longer, this was our last chance to hike with headlights. The sky was deep purple as we started. As a Girl Scout, I remember how spooky/fun flashlight hikes were. As a mountain climber, I remember one beautiful night watching a line of headlights twist and turn down the snow-covered mountainside to camp. I suggested this hike and lots of people were interested. What if I led them into injury? I brought Ed's headlight and shoe spike attachments for anyone else to use, my first aid kit of course, and a thermos of hot chocolate. The hot chocolate would stave off disaster.

After saying hello to the troll in the playground, off we walked, up the snow-covered way toward Brushytten. The trail is wide and has lights, so we didn't even turn on our headlights for most of the hike. We had to avoid a couple of cross-country skiers, but mostly we walked several abreast, enjoying the night and the company. The snow seemed to glow in the darkness, with black holes where trees or rocks were. When we got to the hut, Brushytten, we stopped for snacks and drinks. While we were walking back again, one of the hikers' husband texted her to see if we had made it to our destination, or did he have to send a search party? The views of the golden city lights from above could have been from a fairy tale. We got back to the start point by 8 pm. I was so happy that it was a great hike.

Ed was disappointed that he doesn't have the breath or the leg strength for Floyen any more. He has had his struggles with side effects! Right after the great oncologist news Jan 14th, he ended up back in the hospital since he couldn't catch his breath. He had to miss out on his trip to the world's biggest coin show in Berlin. It was an inflammation of his lungs, a late-appearing side effect of the radiation. The doctor says it will go away by the end of February, and it is, very slowly, going away. The leg muscles have been attacked by the steroids, which are needed to treat the inflammation. We have been waiting for physical therapy for him to help build his legs up. Pain management is a constant balancing act, but he's getting pretty good at it. Great news! He had his PEG tube removed Thursday. Never needed to use it, and it was annoying. The little hole is already closed up. Quality of life is looking up.

Today was a good day. We got out of the apartment for over three hours, taking a trip to IKEA. We bought stools, and chairs that are high enough that they will be easier to get out of. IKEA already delivered them, we assembled them, and are sitting on them! They are going to be great, we can tell.

Horses!

2011-02-05T22:57:00.000+01:00

"Hey!"
"Hay's for horses!"
We used to think that was really funny when I was a kid. I always wanted to have a horse. We could keep it in the backyard, it would eat grass, and it wouldn't be any trouble at all. As I got a little older, I loved riding horses with various youth groups. Today, I was back in the saddle with the Leisure Club from work. Believe it or not, after an hour and a half, I had JUMPED on my Fjord horse. Admittedly, it was about a foot high jump, and a Fjord horse is short and steady, but wow! I jumped! And I didn't fall off!

This is us with the painted horse that Joanna rode, before the lesson. After this, I was busy holding on, so there are no action shots. I posted an action shot of feeding grass to a Fjord horse at this same farm last July 14th at the end of the Veten Hike posting. Very nice people at Sætregården.

How could I be 60?

2011-01-16T11:44:00.000+01:00

Ed arranged a party for my 60th birthday with friends at Lille Escalon tapas restaurant. We had so much fun! Everyone celebrated Ed's great news, as much as my veteran status.

Janne and Natalia came to help celebrate. We had three hours at the restaurant for the dozen of us. Ten tapas is Ed's and my special favorite, so that's what we ordered for everyone to share. Yumm!

Little Emil charmed Ed, Ingrid and his papa Robert! Good company all around.

Look at this awesome chocolate birthday cake! It was covered with mint leaves, strawberries (in January?!), blueberries, and that fruit that looks like a kiwi, only not green. The sheets of dark chocolate are not just around the edges, they are in the filling, too. Young Dominika helped me blow out the candles. Couldn't have earned my wish without her.
It was a wonderful evening. Thank you, Ed, for arranging it! Thank you, friends, for making it special.

Celebrate!

2011-01-14T18:00:00.000+01:00

We just got back from the oncologist's, and we are all smiles! The aggressive treatment that Ed got has been as successful as it could have been. The tumor around the esophagus is too small to measure, and the ones in the lymph nodes are much smaller. The TH-5 vertebra tumor is very small, there is no more pressure on the spinal cord, and the bone is even growing back in the vertebra. The tumor in the left hip didn't shrink, but it is stabilized. The best news of all is that there are no new tumors - no metastases! The liver and lungs are clear.

Thank you all for all the crossed fingers and toes. The positive energy you sent really helped us both.

Now we can breathe again. He will work on reducing his steroids and pain pills. Every 2 months, we will hold our breaths again as he gets a new CT scan looking for new outbreaks. In the meantime, it's time to do exercises to get his strength back up. He isn't thrilled about that, but the hospital has an exercise program. They will design something for him. But I found a more fun way! We are going to take ballroom dancing on Tuesday nights. It is a class for "veterans", a euphemism for "old people". We even have our ballroom dancing shoes from the Boeing Big Band Dance Club with us here. Can't wait!

The future looks longer now. :) The home team is ahead in this game.

One day later - what a change!

2011-01-09T12:22:00.000+01:00

The wind is blowing sideways in sheets, past the dancing streetlights. The snow is now slushy puddles. More knitting...

I have started my first sweater, believe it or not! Here is what the pattern looks like, but I'm using rust instead of black for the stars. I had trouble starting it, because I couldn't get gauge right (correct number of rows and columns per centimeter). I called for help, and the designer herself answered the phone and helped me out. Magda Johnson is a nice lady. Now that I've posted this, I really have to finish it!

Enjoyable Saturday

2011-01-08T15:46:00.000+01:00

I took a walk today with camera in hand. It had just finished snowing, and getting outside to enjoy it was totally necessary!

This playground slide might get your bottom cold, even though it looks like a nice fluffy blanket.

Looking down from the playground at some of Bergen's small wooden houses

Wandering down a narrow alley, I found this cosy view.

Now it's time to stay inside with my knitting and a cup of tea.

Det snør det snør (It snows, it snows, tiddely boom)

2010-12-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

Winnie the Pooh (Ole Brum in Norway) sings about snow on his toes and how cold it is. I really liked this song when we learned it in Norwegian class. It's snowing here, as anyone who is reading about Christmas air travel woes in Europe knows. It's so beautiful, though!

2 o'clock and the sun has sunk behind the mountains on winter solstice

Western Norwegian Christmas food! Ed took a big plunge this year, and cooked pinnekjøtt, literally "stick meat". It is dried mutton ribs, and you buy the whole side of mutton. Get the individual ribs sliced apart. He soaked them all day, even changed the water out once, to soften them up and remove the salt. Next come the "sticks" criss-crossed in the bottom of the pot, covered in water. Now place the ribs above the water, cover, and steam for 3 to 5 hours. Simple! But details are fiercely debated among western Norwegians. Should the ribs be smoked or not? Should you end with a brief stint in the oven to crisp them, or are they better juicier from the steambath? Leon, our company and guinea pig, agrees with us - smoked and only steamed. Meanwhile, I got to prepare the side dish, kålerabbistappe (mashed kohlrabi, also known as rutabaga). Made like mashed potatoes, with butter and cream, it is delish! The details to debate are whether or not to add a carrot for color, add a potato to smooth out the sharpness, or season with nutmeg. We went with "yes, no, no" and really liked the result.

Leon, from Pierce College, is spending a week with us, and Ed and he are having the time of their lives!

Bryggen, Ed and Leon from our roof

Ed has various side effects to deal with. His back gives him trouble, and discomfort even wraps around to the front sometimes. He's doing a balancing act between the steroid that keeps the swelling down and the pain killers that attack the symptom of the swelling. Each of those have their own set of side effects. We now have an appointment for his follow-up scans to see how well the radiation and chemo worked. It's Jan 7, and the doctor visit with results is Jan 14. Fingers crossed!

It snowed when we should have been watching the lunar eclipse. But 24 hours later, Ed took this picture of moon-rise over Floyen with a cloud floating above. Fabulous!

The sailors are home for Christmas

2010-12-12T16:47:00.000+01:00

Statsraad Lemkuhl glided into the harbor this week, with the sailors all standing on the masts singing!

Ed was lucky enough to spot them, grab the camera and immortalize the return. What fun it must be to train aboard this tall ship!

It seems that they just got back from sailing to Norfolk, Virginia! From a Google search,
"The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is sailed by the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy's first year officer cadets, who are participating in leadership training and teambuilding during the trip. The cadets also get a strong foundation of basic seamanship during their weeks onboard. Stripped of modern communication technology, the students are forced to work together to overcome the timeless challenges and dangers of travelling the seas by sail."
Read the rest of the story here.

Other than that, I have no pictures of the last couple of weeks to post. The Booked in Bergen group had a julebord with Thai food last Saturday, with lots of CBHH! Ingrid and I tried to figure out what that meant on the bus ride there, and we almost got it. It's "cleavage, bling, and high heels"! Spread the acronym across the world.

It's been Bergen winter weather, only colder. It was -6 degrees C here for what seems like forever, and when I landed in Oslo for a business trip, it was -22 degrees! Wow! a new record low for me. Now it's back above freezing, with rain, here. It will get very cold again this week. This is the first time since I've been here that they've allowed people to walk ON the lake by Festplassen. I have pictures on my cell phone of people walking out to the middle of the lake where the Christmas tree is. Today was sunny, so Ed and I enjoyed a nice walk up by the University in Bergen. There's a street up there that really reminds us of San Francisco's painted Victorians. We stopped at a deli to pick up some dessert for tonight - carrot cake for him, rice cream for me. The sunset over the mountain tops was beautiful. The sunlight on the white snowtopped Rundemann behind the dark forested nearer mountains, and a plane reflecting the sunset...

Together

2010-11-29T05:54:00.000+01:00

Memories of a family reunion week, our first Thanksgiving together since the first kid headed for college 15 years ago...

Monday, Deanna arrived. Ed was not feeling well enough to get her at the airport, so I skipped the last session of my coping class at the cancer association and picked her up. Plane on time, luggage here, all is good. Pampered ourselves with a taxi rather than bus home. Deanna brought lots of goodies for us: Ghirardelli chocolate chips, Nestle's semisweet chocolate chips, Neutrogena Rainbath Shower Gel, plus Ed's eBay purchases. I promptly used the Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips for making Lenny's View With A Room B&B choco chip muffins. Thank you, Lenny, for sharing your delish recipe!

Tuesday, Ed finally bought new pants. His waist size has shrunk from 38 to 34, and he has had to punch 4 holes in his belts. His pants have 3 pleats in the back where he has cinched the belts, but they were still falling off of him. He really does look slim and trim now. He keeps losing weight, which is not good, but he keeps eating all the time, which is good. He has lost 40 pounds since the beginning of the summer. The first 20 were on purpose.

At the Bergen airport International Arrivals door

Neal arrived on the same time schedule as Deanna, only one day later. Ed was at the hospital for his daily radiation, which had been shifted to afternoon from the normal 8:45 am, so Deanna and I bussed to the airport. Plane on time, luggage here, wow, two in a row! Another luxurious taxi ride home. Neal was surprised at how good Ed looks and feels. We later found out that his platelet count is low, which probably accounts for his tiring and his extreme susceptibility to cold. And it is very cold here! It's been in the low 20's F, or negative 6 C for days. But sunny! and not too windy!

Wednesday was walk around town day. Ed had his radiation later than usual again, plus he had a blood test. We had pizza, the Norwegian national dish, for lunch. In the evening, we called Ed's family, who were all together for Thanksgiving, on Skype. Then we went to see La Cage aux Folles at The National Scene. It was performed in Norwegian, but we knew the story, and it is, after all, a musical, so we enjoyed it.

Thursday was our big Thanksgiving dinner. We invited Ingrid over, and fixed a traditional turkey dinner. We had an organic turkey from Hardanger. Ingrid brought delicious stuffing. we had green beans with mushrooms in white sauce and baked sweet potatoes. It was all washed down with red and white wines. We topped it with a two-pie dessert, apple-cherry and pumpkin, both made with Norwegian butterdeig for crust, the pumpkin with whipped cream on top. This pumpkin was not smuggled in from the US, like previous pumpkin. We found pumpkin at one store here - it is from France, and contains organically grown Japanese pumpkins, believe it or not! Then we had a picture taking session. We tried to reproduce the last family portrait we had.

Christmas store window display

Ingrid, Neal, and a pair of waffle sellers

It was Nattåpent, meaning the streets were full of shoppers taking advantage of all the stores staying open till midnight, the street decorations were lit, students were selling waffles, and we bought a waffle iron. We joke about pizza being the Norwegian national dish, but waffles are the real national dish. They are sold at half-time of sports events, they are sold for fund-raisers, we have them every Wednesday lunch at work, they are everywhere! I guess we're going native. We have a waffle iron. On the other hand, maybe we're not really going native. We ate them for breakfast the next day instead of for lunch or snack.

A crowd celebrates the lighting of the tree

Kids under the tree after the lighting

Friday evening was the lighting of the Christmas tree on Torgallmenningen. Ed couldn't take the cold, but the rest of us went to watch. It almost didn't light up! The announcer repeated, "Now, the tree will light" a couple of times, and then suggested that if we all sang, maybe it would light. Before it came to that, the tree burst into light!

Neal, Deanna and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Ed was too tired, so he went to bed. After the movie, I dropped Neal and Deanna off at a bar, and started for the company get-together at a bar on the Torget. I had two SMS's from co-workers saying to bring my kids! So I turned around, talked my way past the bouncer at the bar where I'd dropped them, and went upstairs to find them. Neal said, "Thank God!" when he saw me. They had picked a real dud of a bar, and neither one could remember where I said I was going. We had a great time for a couple of hours with the crowd from work, and when we got home at 2 am, Ed was awake. He asked, "What are you doing all together?" What kind of adult kids go to the same bar as their mom? I felt lucky that they wanted to come with me, and they felt lucky that they got to go someplace with action. My coworkers seemed to really like them, too.

Ed's sleep cycle has been 1-1/2 hour chunks, followed by getting up for a bathroom and eating break. The 2 am time was one of his wake-up breaks. He thinks he's doing well if he gets 4 sleep cycles in. This week, he has cut his steroids in half, but he is still flying pretty high. He has the shakes, which we think is from the steroids, and his back pain has moved to his lower back and his neck. He's enjoying the week with Neal and Deanna a lot. He and Deanna are setting up an eBay business! The first step was to create a Google account: The2Leitners (get it?).

Youth dare the frigid water and race down Vågen

Saturday we hung around, basically. There was a sailboat race outside our window. We meant to go to the Gingerbread City, but it was closed earlier in the day, and the line was a mile long later in the day. Neal and Ed tried to get reservations for a traditional Norwegian julebord (Christmas meal), but you have to book that months in advance. Neal and I walked over to Bryggen, the old harbor front, and discovered that a Farmer's Market was happening! We bought all sorts of Norwegian foods and brought them home to cook and eat. We had villsau for an appetizer. Villsau is mutton or lamb from the sheep that range over the mountains. I've been wanting to try it for over a year, since finding out it is a local specialty that you can't get elsewhere in the world. It is leaner than normal lamb, and we all enjoyed it. The main dish was reindeer patties, organic carrots, plus (non-Norwegian) cranberry sauce. We also had rømmegrøt, a main-dish pudding, with sour cream. For dessert, we had lefse, like a sweet tortilla, with butter and cinnamon sugar.

Saturday night was Lysfest, Festival of Lights, down on Festplassen. The whole town surrounds the small town lake, carrying torches. They set up a Christmas tree in the middle of the lake, have a huge stage with Yule music, and top it off with a truly spectacular firework show! Neal and I went, with a thermos of gløgg, mulled wine. We did not freeze, because the people were packed around us with torches and we had hot drinks, but Ed and Deanna stayed in the nice warm apartment and took pictures of the tops of the fireworks through two panes of glass.

A gingerbread oil platform at the world's largest gingerbread city

Sunday, we toured Pepperkakebyen, the gingerbread city. All the school children in the community build gingnerbread houses, ships, busses, oil platforms, and anything else. It is put together as a city, and everyone enjoys it.

Neal and I visit the troll on Fløien

After that, we went up the funicular to have lunch at the restaurant at the top of Fløyen. They have awesome hot chocolate. Outside the restaurant, they lit the first Advent candle, and there were lots of nisse, Christmas elves, in the forest helping kids have fun.

Second week of chemo down

2010-11-21T18:57:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note. I don't even have any pictures to share this week. How could the week be gone already, anyway? I guess time flies when you are racing between work and home and hospital, sigh. Ed done good again. Little c still hasn't come up with a pitch he can't hit. This week, he refused the anti-nausea medicine that caused so much constipation last time, and paid for it with a lost meal, but won in the long term. He lost 5 pounds but has gained 1 back in the day he's been home. His skin is dry and flaky on his hands, his mouth is very sensitive to acids and chocolate (why chocolate, for heaven's sake?), but his back is feeling better and his swallowing is better. Hooray! The doctor that he talked with this week was as optimistic as the doctor he talked with before. It looks as if he is responding to treatment very well.

This week, I got to see the radiation machine and the control room. What fun! It's a big machine, with X-ray and radiation arms that rotate around the table. The table position is adjusted from the control room while looking at a screen divided into 4 parts. The images are of the X-ray image from the original alignment and the X-ray that was taken that session. The controller moves the table around until the new X-ray image lines up with the original alignment. She hits the Start button, and the radiation arms, which are full of collimated sources, move to 5 locations and irradiate the cancer. Since there are multiple sources, the highest amount of radiation goes to where the tumor is biggest, and less goes to smaller areas, avoiding the healthy tissues. From the control room, the pictures are taken from the perspectives of the arms, so it's enough to make you dizzy watching it. Incongruously, one of the images is of the waiting room outside!

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone. We have lots to be thankful for. Not least is that Neal and Deanna are on their way here.

Halfway there!

2010-11-14T10:02:00.000+01:00

Ed's halfway through his five weeks of chemo and radiation. First day was Oct 25th, last day will be Nov 29th, if all continues to go as planned.

Hyper, hyper, hyper! That's Ed. The steroid that he's taking for the swelling of his spine tumor has a really amazing affect on his mood, activity level, and appetite. He's making me tired just watching him bounce around. We have had a great social calendar this week. Wednesday night was "dinner and a movie" with Ingrid. Ed cooked filet mignon, and we watched Julie & Julia on DVD while we ate. We definitely need to do that again! Friday, Ed was seduced by a chocolate-frosted cake at the bakery, and we shared it with friends Natalia and Arild. They brought roses and a card. The card had the most heartfelt message. It will be treasured forever. The cake was as delicious as it promised, too. Surprisingly, it was peanut inside.

Saturday night, we went to a birthday party at Joanna and Krzystoff's new house. Joanna cooked all day, and to say it was delicious would be shortchanging her. Ed and I ate and ate, and even brought some home with us. Sunday morning, Ed was up two pounds, to 176. That means he has gained nearly 6 pounds since finishing the first chemo round. The docs like that. Sunday we can't wait to share the second half of the cake with friends from work, Janne and Vandita.

It is so great to have such wonderful friends. Ed is looking forward to being pretty much confined to one spot next week. He promises to answer everyone's e-mails! He has been so busy these last two weeks, running around being happy, buying a new lens for the camera and taking pictures with it, organizing and documenting his collectibles, and walking, walking, walking since it makes his back hurt less, that he has fallen behind.

The new lens gives great telephoto shots, like this one across the harbor from our place. The fall colors are mostly over, but they were awfully nice while they lasted.

The funicular (Fløibanen) up Floyen from our place shows the sprinkling of snow we got. Pretty soon, they'll put the giant candles up there, getting ready for Christmas. We'll have to post a new picture then.

Ed in his "Batter's circle getting ready for little c" clothes. Next round of chemo is this week.

Thanks for sending cards! Ed got a very nice one from Neal, and he really loved the letter from his mom.

MAMMA MIA! What a weekend.

2010-11-07T21:50:00.000+01:00

Ed and I had a great evening Friday night. We saw Mamma Mia! at Vestlandshallen, a sports arena about the size of the Tacoma Dome. It was a great show. ABBA songs are so much fun!
Afterwards, we went out to eat fajitas at the Harbor restaurant. They were very delicious. Ed's appetite is just fine, thank you. There are a few things he can't eat anymore, but nothing serious. He is still cooking great meals, and keeping his weight steady. For a miracle, my weight is holding steady, too!

The North Sea Trail

Sunday, we took the bus back to the North Sea Trail and the museum at Tælavåg. All the way out there, the weather gods were fighting, so we got snow, rain, sun, and again snow, rain, and sun. When we walked up the drive to the museum, it was snowing on us, but that's the last we saw of that stuff! After a lunch break, it was wonderful hiking weather, crisp with the sharp winter sun picking out the colors in the rocks, ground cover, and houses. Ingrid came with us, and she laughed the whole time at how we determine which way to go. Once, Deanna told me that we argue all the time, but Ed and I have never felt that. We just challenge each other all the time. We finally got out to the sea, taking pictures all the way. Not only that, but we found our way back in time to catch the return bus. What more can you ask?

The North Sea Traffic Museum

Ingrid and I make our way back to civilization

The views all the way were the sort that remind us why we love it here in Norway.

A lovely, fun weekend. Keep smiling!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T13:59:00.000+01:00

Our long-time friends know that Ed always wears a baseball uniform for Halloween. Here he is with his baseball jersey from Louisville, Kentucky and his new best friend, Z-Rod!

The first week of the big series against little c is done, and Ed came out very well. We got out of the hospital Saturday about noon, and he was so happy to be home. That first shower was wonderful! I see he has a bald stripe down the middle of his back, but that seems to be all. He is still eating well, especially ice cream. His left hip feels better. At breakfast, he noticed that he had curled his left leg onto his chair like he used to, without even thinking about it. We took a long walk to the emergency room this morning to get him a shot to stimulate his bone marrow, and he said he could take full strides again. WooHoo!

He loved having the laptop in the hospital room. He could follow the play-by-plays of the World Series games from 2 am to 5 am, he could write and receive e-mails, and he could follow the news. (I hope he does better at sleeping between 2 am and 5 am next month when he does this again.) Next is 2 weeks of daily radiation. It takes only about 15 minutes per session. He's VERY impressed with the machine. His spirits are still high. Keep smiling!

The first two days of treatment - and the World Series begins!

2010-10-27T21:32:00.001+02:00

Ed’s first day of treatment is past, hooray! This morning we talked, and he is chipper and full of energy. He slept about 9 hours last night (in chunks). The nausea he had yesterday is gone now. He says he is going to revise his breakfast order to add more food.

Here is what he wrote this morning about day one. Bear in mind that he has one of his baseball jerseys with him in the hospital.

Hello Friends,

Ed = 1 and "c" = 0 after the first day of treatment.

Yes, that is the happy line score with Ed taking an early lead in this ballgame. My good buddy Bret inspired the idea of a line score and insisted that cancer be identified with a little "c", not big "C".. You got it Bret.
No doubt wearing Pilla's lovingly knitted Recovery Socks worked well. As I am more than inclined to baseball superstition, you can be sure I will wear my Recovery Socks everyday.
My chemo plan is such that the first day is the hardest as it included a massive dose of Cisplatin, a nasty chemical to esophagus cancer that messes with the cells' DNA. After 4 hours of Cisplatin, I am now getting a chemical called 5-FU (Fluorouracil), that interferes with an enzyme that the cancer cells need to live and grow. The Cisplatin did cause me a couple of light rounds of throwing up, but that ended soon after I was off of it and on to 5-FU.
I also had the first of 25 planned radiation treatments yesterday. The hospital has state of the art equipment. It is Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with a machine that has collimated beams of radiation, each able to vary in dosage and angle of presentation. This allows the strength of radiation to be matched to the extent and thickness of each tumor. I get radiation from five angles: front, two each at slightly different angles from the left and right back sides. Each of the five radiation exposures is brief, about 10 to 15 seconds, but high intensity.
I feel great this morning. You know how wonderful normal can feel after a bit of sickness. Well I do feel wonderful and mentally ready to follow through with the entire treatment plan. After day one, I have a very concrete understanding of treatment and I am more than ready, I am excited about the prospects and optimistic about the outcome. Pilla and I are both very optimistic about the decision to use the most aggressive treatment approach possible.
Pilla was at the hospital with me all of day one. Her presence made ALL the difference for me. True love is very, very powerful stuff!!
Our positive attitude and hearts are truly lifted by our many supporting friends and family. The many positive messages, encouragement, and love that have come our way from you is deeply appreciated and touching for Pilla and me. Thanks for being such fantastic caring friends. Suddenly I am viewing the computer screen through moist eyes. Good thing I am still in the on deck circle for my second radiation treatment. I will be clear eyed for that, as I wish to add to my line score lead.
Pilla and I thank you each again for your tremendously generous showing of support and love for us. I have a big smile on my face now and I ask each of you to - -
Keep Smiling.

Ed

Ed has a new goal today. He wants to be able to burp "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Is the world ready for this?
Oookay, I found a YouTube video of two girls doing it.

Lovely weekend

2010-10-24T14:21:00.000+02:00

Bergen has had early snowfall, followed by a beautiful weekend. Ed and I took the camera out today, thanks to David's nudge. Here's snow-capped Ulriken, with Floyen on the left. If you can zoom in on the pedestrian street on the lower right, you see strings of pink bras hung like Christmas decorations. That's from the cancer association, for breast cancer awareness month.

The cold snap wasn't deep enough or long enough to really bring out the colors yet, but the snap in the air, the rustle of leaves underfoot, and the occasional colorful tree made for a great outing.

On the way to Nordnes Park, with the other walkers, both 2 and 4-legged.

Ed has a task to do today. He has to measure his urine output. I'm not laughing, honest! Yesterday we bought a measuring beaker, but the trick was going to be remembering to use it when his eyes weren't even open yet first thing in the morning. Here's his solution.

Dear Norwegian friends, this is NOT a political statement. It's a handy brightly-colored eye-opener. It worked, too.

Hugs for his feet

2010-10-22T20:41:00.000+02:00

Here are Ed's recovery socks that I knit for him. Nice comfy wool, promised way back in the summer, and worked on in secret on the bus commutes, until the last night before he went in for his surgery, when I stayed up and finished them.

They are hugs for his feet while he's in the hospital. The multiple colors are not due to my knitting skill. The yarn is multicolored. But what is very cool is that the two socks have the same pattern of stripes. I am so impressed. :) Ed loves them.

He's needing those hugs this week. The PET scan showed that the cancer has spread to his left hip. This means that they can't beat it, just delay it. It is amazing that between Sept 15th and Oct 20th it has moved that far. We talked to the oncologist on Thursday and got to see the scan on his monitor. It's an amazing 3D image with colored organs, that can be rotated with the mouse. But spots are now glowing on the esophagus, spine, and hip. We have a treatment plan, that we call plan A - the aggressive one. Ed will have 5 weeks of radiation daily, with weeks 1 and 4 adding chemotherapy. The chemo is cisplatin by IV drip for 4 hours, then 92 hours of 5-FU drip. They will also give him steroids to keep down the swelling in the spinal tumor. After these 5 weeks, he gets 5 weeks off before re-evaluation to see how well it worked. The radiation and chemo continue working for some weeks after the treatment stops. At that time, we decide next steps.

This week, Bergen got quite a bit of earlier-than-normal snow, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. We will head to IKEA to get a guest bed. We are really looking forward to seeing son and daughter Neal and Deanna on Thanksgiving week! Ed will probably not be feeling too well, since that will be week 5 of treatment, and their visit will be a definite boost.

I got into the Livslyst course at the cancer association. It is about coping, and starts next Wednesday. Friends here and at work have been helping me find the support resources and showing they care. My bosses have been very understanding, too. I want to say thank you again, for your e-mails. Keep them coming!

Fourth week report

2010-10-17T10:33:00.000+02:00

It is hard to believe that we have only been four weeks since the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. We've sure packed in a lot of ups and downs, learning and changes. This week was the start of treatment. Ed can now be a two-fisted eater. He has a feeding tube into his stomach, bypassing his esophagus. It's a backup in case the radiation treatment causes his throat to be too sore to swallow, or constricts the esophagus. He says he can shove food into his mouth and his stomach at the same time!

We went into Haukelands Hospital on Wednesday morning, strongly requesting a conference with the oncologist and / or surgeon. We had not heard results of the biopsy of the spine, or details of the treatment plan. No contact happened before surgery prep. The surgeon sat down and talked with Ed for about a half-hour when Ed told him that he was very happy to be there, starting the treatment, but that he still didn't know what the treatment plan was. More about that in a minute. The surgery went like clockwork, and Ed came back to tell me that the biopsy had come back negative, hooray. Wednesday night was a happy time. But the doctors all think the tumor on his vertebra is cancer, nonetheless. They are doing a reslicing of the biopsy, and he is getting another biopsy next week. So Thursday morning was back down on the roller coaster.

The surgeon was not happy to hear about the lack of communication. He stepped in and things have started happening. The oncologist came around Thursday, and talked to both of us. He seemed to dread the interview. His handshakes were cold and clammy. But he stood up to our grilling very well, answering all our questions. We've done a lot of homework, and wanted to know the logic tree of treatment decisions as well as the names of the chemotherapy medicines and about the radiation choices. The cancer is most likely inoperable, but we have a slim hope still that the tumor in the spine is benign, and that the coming CT and PET scans of the lungs and liver show that the cancer hasn't metastasized to either of those places. If there is no spread past the esophagus and nearby lymph nodes, they could still beat this disease. Otherwise, no.

Thursday night, after visiting hours, the nurses came around and said it was a pretty slow night. Did anyone want a fried egg on buttered bread? They actually cooked eggs to order for everyone who wanted one. The nursing staff has been wonderful. In spite of that, Ed broke out on Friday. When the doctor came around Friday morning, she said, "I hear you want to go home today." He answered, "No, I want to go home NOW." She said he could go, so he started getting dressed. They stopped him long enough to take out his IV tube and give him a bandage package "to go". That bed is still his, they emphasized. It will be there for him all weekend, in case he needs to come back. Monday morning he has to go back to be discharged. We love how the system works!

Ed doesn't need to deal with pain, only discomfort. He also can still swallow very well. They want him to quit losing weight. I have my 1972 cookbook from when we got married, way before low-fat diets. Yesterday, I fixed fish soup with trout and added creme fraiche (what a difference that makes compared to skim milk!) and a Spanish ham covered with cherry sauce. The cherry sauce used the can of pie filling I smuggled in from my May trip to the US. I thought it was going to be way too much sauce for two of us. But we did a great job of attacking it! I found more cherry pie filling - new import - in the grocery store that has more American food than any others here, so we can do it again. Then after watching a DVD, we topped it off with ice cream. I figure he'll stop losing and I'll start blimping out. But what a way to go!

Our friends and families have been wonderful. Being more involved with old (oh, excuse me, long-time) friends' lives is great. Our Japanese friend, who we met while taking German in Vienna a few years back, even sent us kimonos! They comfort her, she says, and they are wonderful. Thank you, Shoko. Skype has been added to the repertoire of a couple of friends, too, so we get to see them. My colleague from the Boeing Leadership Center was just diagnosed with tongue cancer and had surgery last week. Good luck, Jeff and Cheryl! Another colleague from Boeing Employees Coin Club has just died after a brief battle with esophageal cancer. That was a shock. It also emphasizes that we have to be prepared to lose while still being optimistic. Hugs to all of you, and thanks for your good wishes.

Hike to Fight Breast Cancer

2010-10-10T20:28:00.000+02:00

Ed and I had a wonderful 5k hike up on Mt. Floyen today, supporting the fight against breast cancer. The atmosphere was family-friendly. You could pick 2k, 5k, or 10k routes, and along the route you could rock-climb, row, or do a run cross-country with time stations.

At the turn-around point for the 5k, there is a snack hut with ice cream bars. Ice cream is one of the best foods for Ed these days. Of course, I have to eat one, too!

As our reward, we got pink ribbon pins at the end. But the real reward was a beautiful fall day in the forest!

Post Number 101: The Road Turns

2010-10-10T09:01:00.000+02:00

This is my 101st post on Butterfly in Norway. How time flies! Ed and I have had over two years of our grand expat adventure. We have visited 40 European cities, and we have the map with push-pins to prove it! This last month the road took a turn in a strange and frightening direction. On September 20th, we found out Ed has esophageal cancer. It's fairly rare, but also pretty deadly. We have optimism because we have lots of things going for us. We have each other - very important. We have great family and friends who have offered support and advice and help, and we really appreciate all of them. We have the hospital that is the center for all esophageal cancer in Norway. They have all the latest diagnostic equipment, and they are not afraid to use it! We hear that Europe is a great place to be if you have cancer. Can't say I wanted to find that out, or any of the other things we've had to learn, but it is good news.

It all started out slowly, with a biopsy to check whether his rising PSA numbers were prostate cancer. That was in August, and yes, they were. No big deal. After we got back from vacation, they wanted him to have a PET scan of his skeleton, since prostate cancer can spread to bone. When they wheeled him out, they asked what he had done to his back. Then they wheeled him back in for a PET and CT scan of his back and chest. Wham! they wanted him to have a gastroscopy with biopsies of his esophagus the next Monday. That was the 20th, when the kick in the stomach part of the roller coaster ride started. The gastroscopy showed 7 cm of cancer on the lower part of his esophagus. Since then, he has had a CT scan with barium swallow, an ultrasound endoscopy, and a biopsy of his spine. The second kick in the stomach was that the ultrasound showed that it has gone through the wall of the esophagus and affected some lymph nodes. Next week on Wednesday, he starts treatment. The whole plan has not been determined, since there hasn't been time for the results of the biopsy of his spine yet. They are leaning toward radiation first. We will be talking to the head doctor early in the week, and hopefully we'll meet the whole team.

There is a cancer association right down the street, staffed by volunteer nurses, who hold classes and facilitate meetings for patients and caregivers. We talked to a nurse there, and Ed felt good about that connection. I found an online community in the UK called Macmillan that has been a big help, emotionally. That is where I met David, the author of the blog You Win Again. Ed's sister, Lynne, has been to a support group meeting in Phoenix and put us in contact with Jerry, an esophageal cancer survivor and member of FightEC.org, another good source and helpful person.

October is breast cancer awareness month and tomorrow is going to be a sunny day. We are going up on Floyen to hike for the fight against breast cancer. Then we will have our new next-door-neighbors over for coffee. It will be a good day.

Neal and Deanna, our son and daughter, will be coming out for Thanksgiving week. That's the end of November, for readers not from the US. ;) We are really looking forward to seeing them. If you can't come visit, Skype and e-mail are wonderful ways to keep in touch. We both love hearing from you all.

It's dark and rainy, so get some hiking pictures up!

2010-10-04T21:44:00.000+02:00

We had 10 beautiful days here, weather-wise, before Bergen's famous rain got revenge for being held off so long. Ed and his friend Jan climbed Lyderhorn, and I got to go to Kvamskogen to the company cabin for a team event.

Little kindergarteners out for a hike at lunch. No wonder thousands of people sign up to hike 7 mountains in 1 day every spring. They are wrenched from their TVs and PCs at an early age.

Top of the world. Ed couldn't find a bench on which to have his picture taken, unfortunately. Walkin' on the wild side!

Taking a break from our meeting, we got some much-appreciated fresh air.

A sunny day in fall!

Beautiful day

2010-09-27T00:10:00.002+02:00

Saturday, end of September, and the most beautiful day of the summer, I swear! We could see all the way out into the North Sea, and we like to think all the way south to Hardanger Fjord. Ed and our friend Katarina hiked up Rundeman, taking our time and enjoying the benches. Ed and I needed that fresh air and wide open nature. After we got past the crush of hikers, Katarina enjoyed it a lot more, too.

Grasses and leaves are turning colors

Looking toward the North Sea

We spent quite a while enjoying this bench

After getting up, I saw the dedication sign. It says "Love is our lives' greatest joy and our lives' greatest sorrow. Thats' life."

I've added a new favorite blog to my reading list: You Win Again. It's the story of one man's journey with cancer, and quite a source of inspiration.

Croatia vacation

2010-09-19T12:19:00.000+02:00

We spent the first 2 weeks of September in beautiful, sunny, warm, Croatia with a final few days in beautiful, sunny, less-warm, Vienna. Ed did a great job booking our places, with Rick Steves' help. It was a relaxing vacation, with afternoon naps or reading and lots of cafe' sitting. We love looking at historical sights, so we did a lot of that, too. Now, we're back in reality = rainy Bergen with work and doctor appointments. We had no way to upload pictures while we were gone, so I'll take you on the 2 week trip in one quick tour today...

Dubrovnik, Croatia is on the Dalmatian Coast, on the Adriatic section of the Mediterranean, east of Italy. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The environment is a lot like Phoenix, Arizona. The plants are drought-tolerant, and the day to night temperature drop is sudden and huge. It looks like the pictures you see of the Italian country, with stone buildings baking in the sun.

Dubrovnik was hit very hard (stunning video) during the 1991-1992 war of independence that broke up Yugoslavia. In the picture above, you can see an old roof in the front. That was one that survived intact. The new red roofs are all new since the siege.

We stayed in a room on a narrow street in the Old Town. The town was built in the 13th century, with a massive wall that tourists can walk around. There are bars perched on the rocks outside the wall, and we spent some time at this one 25 meters from our room.

The water is sooo blue and clear! You could climb down into the sea from the bar, but the waves were pretty fierce. We spent one afternoon on a beach with lots of sand over rocks.

And another on this "beach" of concrete with a ladder into the water.

During the walk on the wall, Ed got to make his own coin - a dukat!

We took a day tour to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mostar used to be known as a successful example of Christians and Muslims living together, separated or joined, depending on your point of view, by a single bridge. The bridge was destroyed during the war, but has been rebuilt using the old methods, and the town welcomes tourists. We toured a mosque, a Turkish house and a street market.

Back to Croatia, and their wonderful seafood! We loved Red Scorpionfish, and not just because it has a cool name. It turns out to be Red Snapper, which we already knew we liked. We also loved, believe it or not, Octopus Salad. Rick Steves said you had to try it even if you thought you wouldn't like it. Rick was right again.

Our last night there, we went to a folk dancing show that was really fun! The costumes and dances were from all over Croatia.

Our next stop was Korčula, an island we reached by a 3 hour car ferry ride that was very enjoyable itself. The č is pronounced "ch". We spent even more time on a little strip of pebbles that we treated as our private beach right across the street from our room. The water was warm and shallow, still beautiful blue and green.

Right above "our beach" was a small cafe'

Next stop - Split, Croatia. We took a catamaran to get there. The high point of Split was Diocletian's Palace. It is one of the cooler sights we've seen. It was built between 295 and 305 AD as a retirement house for a Roman emporer. Then in the 7th century the neighbors fled into the walled palace to get away from the invading Slavs, and built houses and shops inside. In the Middle Ages, the palace was lived in, built up, and the basement was used for garbage, an archeologist's dream. It is still being built in and used. For instance, there's this glass-walled bank right in the middle, and looking through the glass, you see the edge of the Roman road with one of the columns. Wandering through a coffee shop, the mix of ancient and modern is really striking. They say that constant use is why the palace is still standing.

On Wednesday, we walked up the Marjan Peninsula, following the signs to the zoo and botanical gardens. The botanical gardens are total ruins and the zoo is very sad. No money, we guess.

Back in 2007, Ed and I spent the last week of August and first week of September in Vienna, Austria taking German lessons. That's when we fell in love with Vienna, and decided to retire there. Since then, the opportunity to move to Norway changed our plans. But we wanted to see if we still loved Vienna. We spent the last weekend of the vacation there, and the answer is, yes, we still love Vienna. We had such a good time, visiting with one of my classmates and our favorite cafe', and following Rick Steves' tour suggestions, and for sure, revisiting the farmers' market.

Phil Moran, my German classmate, immigrated to Vienna from Wales this last year. Ed and I spent hours having great wide-ranging conversations with him, over Physics, Psychology, and living as an expat. The food in Vienna is completely and totally awesome. Goulash is probably my favorite single dish, and we bought the seasonings for it at the farmers' market. (Along with dates, stuffed peppers, and sturm - wine that's not really ready yet.) We had Tafelspitz one night at Plachutta, which is an experience in itself. They even bring you an instruction sheet on the right order to eat it! Then there's the heuriger experience... This means you go to a vineyard that has tables and a garden, serves you the latest year's wine, and some food. I got us reservations at a tourist-trap one with a singing and dancing show to go with the food and wine, and we enjoyed it even though it's touristy.

Speaking of food, this time we did NOT forget to put our vinegar in the checked luggage, so it did not get confiscated at the airport. Vinegar, you ask? The Gegenbauer vinegar booth at the farmers' market is a must-see. They have casks of vinegar aged up to 10 years, of 4 kinds: fruit, wine, balsamic, and drinking. They let you smell a dropper-bottle of each type, lick a drop off of your hand, and try to not buy one of each.

Another destination that we missed last time was the Hundertwasserhaus, a fun architectural oddity.

We tripped over a fall fair at the Hofburg Palace, with lots of fruits and vegies, beer, games for the kids, and booths about lots of farm and outdoor things.

Austria has great eating! Yet Ed is still losing weight, amazingly enough.
Now we are back in Bergen, where it is definitely not summer any more!

Random Weekend Fun

2010-08-30T21:34:00.000+02:00

This last weekend was so much fun here in Bergen! In the middle of Torgallmenningen, the main square, there were something like 250,000 Legos. Anyone and everyone was invited to build Oleanna. Besides being a Pete Seeger song on that link, Oleanna was Ole Bull's dream town in the US. It failed, and is now Ole Bull State Park in Pennsylvania. Backing up further, Ole Bull was a great violin player from Norway who toured the world and helped create the Norwegian musical identity right before they became a nation. The Legos were to honor Ole Bull's 200th birthday. Children of all ages got involved and spent hours sitting on the square. It was great fun for everyone.

We could see this large crowd on the other side of the harbor from us, paying close attention for hours to something we couldn't see from our angle. Come to find out, it was a Bergen version of "Take the Chance", which is run from the ski jumps in Oslo at the end of every summer. The link above is great - DO click on it! This link is to pictures of the Bergen "Take the Chance". Teams build "boats" in whatever shape they want. These are slid down a ramp into the water, where they may or may not actually float. The "boat people" have to get to a floating bell and ring it. It looks like a great family event.

Then there was the spiral of old shoes filled with flowers out on Festplassen. Schoolkids had donated old shoes, filled them with florist-donated flowers, and for every pair of shoes the city and the Gardening Association donated 20 kr to a fund to plant trees in Africa. This stunt celebrates the Gardening Association's 100th anniversary.

Living in the center of town - the only way to go!

Bumper Boats

2010-08-19T21:12:00.000+02:00

When Doug and Dana came to visit us in Bergen, we had some entertainment out our window. First, the background. This old wooden ship called the Stavenes was out in the harbor by our place for a week or two, being restored by volunteers. They painted and polished it wonderfully. Painting the smokestack was done with the help of an antique firetruck! These guys worked like crazy, and got it beautiful in time for the antique boat regatta - sort of. Apparently, it has no engine, steam or diesel. They are retrofitting it back to its former steam engine glory. (That's our apartment building you see behind the smokestack.)

All went well, and all the restored boats took off for their regatta, with our Stavenes being towed by a tugboat. We were all sitting around after dinner a couple of days later when she was tugged back home.

Note the fishing boat and sailboat on the left. The tug, Vulcanus, wanted to bring the Stavenes to dock on the right.

Just swing her around and she'll nestle up to the dock, right?

Riiight. You should have seen the men in those two boats hop out!

Meanwhile, momentum being one of those pesky things that just keeps on going, the Stavenes continues to spin.

Can you believe that bystander? He's pushing the ship away from the dock. And now comes the test of how strong a fishing boat's hull is...

They are totally wedged in there. Two guys are pushing the stern of the Stavenes. The rope from the Vulcanus is wrapped around the bow. It won't be long before the sailor drags his ship forward. The fisherman can just watch.

Okay, guys, do-over!

No, no! Don't do-over the fishing boat hull stress test!

At this point, we thought the Vulcanus was fleeing the scene. Bystanders had managed to get a line from the Stavenes' bow to the shore, maybe they could pull it in?

But the Vulcanus turned around and backed up to push the Stavenes to shore. Meanwhile, a little truck has arrived, and the bus that usually parks there overnight pulled up.

I sure hope they didn't scrape that new paint!

NOW the Vulcanus leaves the scene. His work is done. I guess.

Now the shore party takes over. They tie a rope to the little truck, get the bus out of the way, and pull the Stavenes in. Who needs TV when you can just look out the window?

"Swedish" friends - to Stockholm to see them

2010-08-14T18:07:00.000+02:00

A Romantic Weekend in Stockholm

Sitting on the edge of the lake, watching the sun set while sipping a rose' with my sweetie. That's how the weekend began on Friday night, July 30. We were at Mälarpaviljongen in Stockholm, Sweden. After a week apart, me in Oslo, Ed in Bergen, we met for a weekend in Stockholm, the huge capital city of another new-to-us country, Sweden. We walked through the City Hall courtyard to the lakefront, admired the different designs of the different faces of the courtyard and then turned right. The wind had died down some, the rainclouds were fleeing the scene, and everyone was out at the lakefront restaurants and bars. Taking Rick Steves' advice, we passed several of those to reach the restaurant and bar with a western view.

We ordered cheeseburgers and fries. What, no Swedish food? Well, they sounded good, what can I say! I had a rose' and Ed had a beer. Blankets were scattered around the seats for the evening chill. The sunset was not spectacular. But it was just wonderful to sit there and enjoy each other's company and the scene.

Saturday morning, again on Rick's advice, we took a tour of the Stockholm Archipelago on a boat that reminded me of a Puget Sound ferry, with nice woodwork, and a nice choice of light lunches. The Archipelago is 30,000 islands near Stockholm. It looks like every one of them has a residence or more. There are adorable red cottages with white trim, huge yellow mansions with large glass windows, and boats, boats, oats. Ed went crazy with the camera.

We came back to the hotel to meet Doug and Dana, from Seattle. Doug is one of Ed's best coin-collecting friends. Dana has family just north of Stockholm, and they just had a big 70th birthday party for one of her brothers. The four of us walked around the Old Town, Gamle Stan. The goal was (drumroll) the Royal Coin Cabinet and Swedish Economy Museum. It was very well done. The guys went gaga over the early American coins, and the Swedish plate money. Sweden had little gold and silver, and lots of copper. So they made money out of huge, heavy, sheets of copper for a while. Imagine carrying that to the grocery store!

Next stop was the gnarliest dragon-head in Europe in Storkyrkan, the Big Church. This head is attached to the dragon being slain by St. George. It has real elk antlers!

Yes, that's a copper coin!

After that, we had wonderful food and beer at the first acceptable restaurant we passed. This time, Ed and I had Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries (IKEA food). And a Belgian beer and a German hefeweizen, or two. Dana had mushroom-cheese-toast and Doug had mussels, and a Czech beer and another German beer. The restaurant food in Sweden has been cheaper than in Norway, a little more than in the US. The alcohol is still expensive, like in Norway.

It was a big weekend in Stockholm - Pride Parade. One of the lime-shirted volunteers said they expected 50,000 participants and half a million watchers! The parts that we saw were fun. Lots of walkers, and large trucks with the beds full of dancing people, not so much costumed as in the US. There were signs about political power at the next election on many trucks. We also saw some scattered counter-paraders being closely watched by the police.

An observation I made about Stockholm, was that the density of coffee shops is higher than in Puget Sound. They are everywhere! And not chains, either. They all seem to be independent. They say that Sweden has the highest consumption of coffee per capita in the world. Probably true.

Ed and I stayed in the Nordic Sea Hotel, site of the Ice Bar Stockholm. It is made of ice. The bar, the glasses, the tip jar, the decor - all ice from northern Sweden up in Lapland. Bundled up in parkas and gloves, the throng enters through an airlock into a scene like a submarine. The design changes every six months, but today it's a submarine. Everyone snaps pictures. Everyone lines up at the bar to order vodka drinks in ice glasses. Ed had a Baltic Sea made of vodka, OJ, apple juice, and cinnamon. I had an East, which was totally clear, and I can't remember what was in it besides vodka. Then everybody drinks and wanders around taking more pictures. Then they kick us out and let in the next batch. Great fun for tourists.

Ed found a bench to add to his collection of benches sat upon!

To be continued... the next weekend they came to visit us in Bergen.

Veten hike

2010-07-14T20:03:00.000+02:00

While sitting in the canteen at lunchtime, we can look out the window at this mountain on the other side of the water. It calls us to the summit! It's called Veten. Ed went up it with his hiking friends earlier this summer and couldn't stop raving about the view from the summit. Last weekend, our hiking group went. Originally, we said no kids, since it is too difficult. But the next thing you know, we had more kids than on any hike so far! Plus, two moms carrying babies on their backs, one for the first time.

At the start of the hike, we're already pretty high. We parked near a farm.

We started in a very pretty forest, but soon got out above the trees. There were plenty of boggy places.

Marco Polo leading the way...

The summit! We sign the book, and have lunch. Wow, was it windy!

I made this extra large so you can see where I work. Look at the top of the red and white post, then just left. See the blue building? That's WesternGeco. At the bottom of the red and white post is Eko. Silje's brother borrows him from a neighbor for our hikes. See his ears blowing?

King of the Mountain!

All that hiking sure was tough!

Another bench for Ed to add to his collection, along the Trondheim Post Road.

Almost to the end of the hike, the farm with Norwegian ponies (fjording). Naturally, we had to give them some grass. I'm sure they'd starve otherwise.

The rain held off till we were off the mountain. Hooray!

N 66 degrees, E 8 degrees -almost to the Arctic Circle

2010-07-02T20:18:00.000+02:00

A great adventure! I got to help audit the Western Monarch, one of WesternGeco's vessels that pulls the equipment that our factory builds, in order to map out the geophysics of the sea floor. Then our customers decide what's going on with the oil and gas fields, and what to do next.

To get to the Monarch, we started at Brønnøysund, Norway. That is 500 miles north of Bergen, along the Norwegian Sea coast. It was sunny with gorgeous blue-green water and white sand beaches. So much beauty that you almost can understand living up that far north! (But not quite.) The link is to some beautiful pictures.

In the morning, we four auditors showed up at the heliport at 6:30 am, as instructed. It was closed. We called the agent at 7 am and woke him up, so he could call heliport people and wake them up! A little communication problem there. But we got checked in, watched the helicopter safety video, got into our survival suits, and climbed aboard the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter. Norway's helicopter safety rules are very tight, so we weren't sure whether the trip would even start. The Monarch helipad was outside of the spec limit for movement. But we finally lifted off. It was so gentle! Then the helicopter started forward, out west north west.

19 seats in this helicopter. It's really big.

Me in my survival suit with my earphones. They had semi-decent music to listen to during the 50 minute flight. The zipper pull by my left ear was the only uncomfortable thing about this stylish outfit.

The view out my window as we left Brønnøysund. See how calm it is, with the reflections?

There's the Monarch! You can sort of see the streamer spread that they are pulling. It is 8 streamers wide by 3.2 km long. (Link about the vessels)

The Norne production and storage vessel. The Monarch is surveying the oil and gas field that the Norne is drilling. Is it not amazing that a ship can stay still enough to drill undersea?

The picture is during a close pass, which is tricky. Ocean currents are unpredictable, and different depths have different currents. Wrapping a streamer around underwater parts of the Norne would NOT make the customer happy. Of course, our wonderful crew handled it like pros.

The vessel has roughly 50 crew on board from roughly 20 countries. They're almost all men. The audit team talked to more than half of the crewmembers. We also got to observe a reconfiguration from 8 streamers to 6. They had done a workshop earlier this year to make this process leaner. I saw very little wasted motion, and the back deck and instrument deck worked well together. It took a full day from last shot with 8 streamers to first shot with 6. With less streamers, they can get even closer to the Norne. The crew works 12 hour days, 7 days a week, for 5 weeks in a row, then they get off 5 weeks while the alternate crew takes over.

Oh, I should show you the cabin and gym!

This is a 2-man cabin with bunkbeds. I had it to myself. The bathroom is shared with the next cabin.

I slept like a baby with the rocking of the cradle - sorry, the ship. Part of it was probably the working hours though. The first day we worked from 8 am to after 9 pm. The second day was 8 am to after 11 pm. The third day was from 8 am to after midnight. 45 hours in 3 days! Monday and Friday, travel days, we had team meetings, too. We had to rush off the vessel because bad weather was predicted, shortening our schedule by 7 hours. We didn't want to be stuck because the helicopter couldn't land.

What were we auditing? We asked questions about how they know how to do their jobs, what are the processes for dealing with quality problems, do they get personnel reviews regularly, what was the last safety drill about, and that kind of thing. They did well. The engine room was clean enough to eat in. People were happy and cooperative. I am really glad I got to see what customers do with the stuff our factory builds!

Celebrating the longest days of the year

2010-06-26T23:47:00.000+02:00

Sunset after 11 pm

We may not be in the land of the midnight sun, but we are in the land of the midnight twilight! Last weekend, we took a midnight hike with Katarina, up Floyen on a path I hadn't taken before. We left at 9 pm and got back after midnight. It was lovely, but really windy.

The troll in the Floyen playground is back! He had a runny nose.

Then Wednesday, the 23rd, we went to watch the barrel burning for St. Hans eve. Norwegians used to burn bonfires on midsummer night, but the church decided that pagan celebration had to stop. In the manner of the church over the centuries, they looked for someor thing from the Bible to substitute for the pagan fun. John the Baptist, that's it! His birthday was supposed to be June 24th, darn close to the solstice. So there you have it.

4-story tall pile of barrels, with partying on land and sea while it burns

Ed's a hot-head!

Market Day and our wedding anniversary, June 12th

2010-06-14T21:53:00.000+02:00

Saturday was our 38th anniversary. It was windy and blustery. Was it a sign? Naah!

Bergen had a fun event - Torgdagen. (Couldn't find an English link, but this one has pictures and a map.)That's where the ship people invade the town, show off their restored wooden boats, play accordian music and sing, wear old-fashioned clothes, have games for the kids, and cook traditional Norwegian food for sale. What a way to celebrate our anniversary!

The Lions International boat had a tank of cod.

It took a lot of shoveling and sweeping, but this puddle was history!

Coffee, anyone?

A couple of the boats let us see the engine rooms. An engine from 1931, for instance. This one had openings on opposite sides of the engines so we could look over them at each other. How romantic!

Ed got to try bacalao, which is salted, dried cod stew. Surprise! It was quite good!

You couldn't ask for more accordions! They were everywhere.

Everyone got to dress up and everyone had fun.

We made it through another year together, and I am really glad to have married Ed. We've been a great match.

Phoenix vs Bergen spring pictures

2010-06-09T21:16:00.000+02:00

While I was celebrating all my high school friends getting old at my 40th reunion ;), Ed was celebrating cherry blossoms, so I have two sets of pictures. The first is from Phoenix, which is, of course, the desert, but they had a wetter than normal spring, so the cactus were in bloom like I never remember seeing them. The second set is from a photo tour Ed and friend Ingrid took, looking for the prettiest cherry trees in Bergen. Bergen had a colder spring than usual, so when the flowers popped, they popped big time!

My driving teacher in Norway was curious about how kids get to school and what the rules are for drivers in the US. So I took a couple of pictures in the morning before school opened. First, there's a solar-powered crosswalk signal which flashes lights in the street and talks in English and Spanish to the kids telling them to step near the edge of the road so the drivers know they want to cross, then look both ways and cross when it's safe. There are at least 5 lanes to cross here. Also in the picture is a school bus. In the US, kids ride separate busses, and drivers must stop for them when the busses stop. There is no passing of stopped school busses if it's a 2 lane road. If there are 4 lanes of traffic, and the car is coming toward the stopped bus, it can proceed with caution. In Norway, kids ride public busses and cars are allowed to pass stopped busses.

Another traffic rule is that cars must go slow in a school zone when school is in session. Slow means 15 miles per hour, or 25 kilometers per hour, and since the normal speed is 50 mph (83 kph) on that street, getting drivers to slow down is a job for Supervolunteer! When he sees a kid coming to the crosswalk, he wades out into traffic with his vest and stop sign. Hooray for the volunteers! In Norway, there are very few places in the whole country where you can go over 80 kph. In towns, you have to be able to stop within a very short distance in case someone steps into the street. Pedestrians are king here!

It was nice to visit Phoenix and thaw out, and it was nice to come home to Bergen and cool off!

Glendale High Reunion, 1969 and 1970

2010-05-23T19:32:00.000+02:00

Pictures of the reunion are on Snapfish. It has really been fun. I'll upload a couple here, but won't put people's names on the Internet without permission, so if you are one of them, you can put your name on by commenting!

We had a pool party Friday night where we said "And you are...?" to lots of people, but some you just knew right away.

The usual gang got together Saturday afternoon. Everybody's doing well and it was so good to see them!

And here's my old high school friend that I haven't seen since high school, Bill! I absolutely loved catching up and meeting his wife.

I am so thankful for all the effort that everyone put into this.