Flight Training

Twice a year we have to complete and pass a simulator training program. I was scheduled for this last weekend in Stockholm. This semesters scenario was a bomb threat with proximity aircraft, decompression, loss of all generators, emergency descend and landing at an enroute airport. We also trained the usual engine failures, fires, windshears and other items. All of which hopefully never will be experienced in real life.

I was also scheduled for my ground training two days later, so I stayed in Stockholm for the day in between. There I went to a movie, and looked for some Christmas gifts. Did not find much in the city, but the money "got legs to run on" when I visited the duty free on my way back to Norway.

Car Accident

Last week I was in a small car accident. I was in my Subaru waiting as number two at a crossing when I got smashed into from behind, and thrown into the car in front of me.
I saw the car in my rear-view mirror when it approached. The driver was looking down to her right and did not notice the cars in front of her until it was too late.
Luckily nor I, who was prepared, or anyone else got any personal injury. My car hook (is that what it’s called in English) took most of the smash from behind – and then my front bumper took the hit in front.
I had to file two reports - one with each car. And then I had to take my car to the shop to get an insurance assessment.
Although the blame was easy to fix the they told me that it would probably take a long time to get it settled since three insurance companies had to write each other back and forth for a while.

Spiderman

I have just watched Spiderman 2. I am impressed. It was so much better than the first. The plot, the characters, and the filming. It did not seem like a kids movie anymore.

Norway vs Russia 34-31

I am not a sport fan at all, but yesterday the Norwegian National Women’s Handball team played Russia in a tournament in Bodø. We got tickets to a full stadium and enjoyed a match where Norway won by 3 goals.

The Next Week

We had a nice time and we stayed at several different beaches. We went snorkeling every day and we saw beautiful fish and corals. We also got to meet many wonderful people from Thailand and other places of the world. Thank you all!!!
We ate plenty of good food and basically had a wonderful vacation.

Because we visited the water several times a day the camera mainly stayed indoors. But below are some of the few photos we took:

Koh Samed

Ferry boat captain

Out of focus

K with coconut

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Beach

K

Winter in Thailand

Thai house

Fresh "fish" (?) for dinner

From the boat between Ban Phe and Koh Samed.
If you are planning on visiting Samed Island please contact me on mail for tips.

Me and K

Thursday, November 11, 2004

When we woke up we decided to skip breakfast at the hotel and go straight for the bus stop and get something to eat there.
We checked out and got a taxi to drive us the 10 min drive to the bus stop. It was a nice new Toyota with AC and safety belts. The thought of getting out in the heat and start looking for a bus, maybe having to wait for an hour, did not seem too compelling. I bargained with the driver and got him to drive us all the way to Ban Phe, from where we would take a ferry out to Koh Samed. (Koh = Island)

The drive took about 2 ½ hours. Nice and easy. When we got there we went to the pier and jumped on the first boat to Koh Samed. The fare is 50B one way, but they will always try to sell you roundtrip fares with their company. Children are free.


Ban Phe Pier

The trip to the main pier at Koh Samed took about 30 minutes.

Having gotten our things well on land and looking around the pier I saw a familiar face. It was a good friend of mine from work. She, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend had just arrived.
They had been travelling Vietnam for a month and this was their first stop in Thailand. It is truly a small world. We arranged to meet later.

Cab

K and I then took a Taxi, or rather a pick up with seats on the back, and drove to a beach a bit further south. The roads don’t really deserve to be called roads at this island. Except from a few hundred yards close to the main pier they are more like dirt paths.

We ended up at Ao Vong Duan Beach where we got a nice new bungalow with air-condition and hot/cold water for 1500 bath.

We quickly changed into bathing suits and headed for the water. So incredibly nice and warm. One could stay in forever. And everything framed by green jungle and blue sky and ocean.


Vong Deuan

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Arrived at the airport in BKK at 6 am. After passing the immigration where we got our 30 day visa, we continued to the baggage claim only to find a man with my name on a paper. They had forgotten to load our luggage in Stockholm, and it would arrive on the next plane later the same day.
Only having the clothes we had on it did not seem to tempting to continue out in 30C+ without changing, so I phoned our crew hotel in BKK – the Rembrandt Hotel - and got a room there to wait for our luggage to arrive.
Then we grabbed a taxi outside the terminal that brought us straight to the hotel. It was a young male driver. He spoke some English, but not enough to make any long conversations. At one time I believe he thought that I wanted to marry him, so after clearing that up I figured that I better not ask any more questions. However I did learn from him that the taxis carry a price list of destinations outside of BKK (where they don’t use their meters). The price to Koh Samed was listed at 1800 Bath.



At the hotel I quickly fell asleep. Not having slept for 24 hours it felt quite nice.
I woke up in the late afternoon, and one our later our bag arrived. Now, I was ready to explore the city, but K, being 8 years old, had quite different plans. She insisted of going swimming in the hotel pool instead. Having this a father daughter vacation – I had to give in.
The next two hours we spent swimming, while the sun settled and the city lights came on.

The girls had left when I arrived.

Later we took the Skytrain towards the PanTipPlaza which I just had to visit. PanTip is one of the world’s largest electronic shopping malls. The shops just started closing when we arrived so I did not get to spend much time there this time. I guess K was happy though.

We then walked the BKK streets for some time. Incredible how cheap things are over here.
K became very hot and tired of all the smells and pollution. I was thinking about staying one more day in the city, but seeing her made me change my mind, and I decided that we were going to the Island tomorrow.
We ended up late at our hotel where we had a late dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Bangkok

We were lucky and got the last two seats out of Stockholm. Have arrived at Koh Samed and I am sitting in the seabreeze writing this. Lovely.

Thailand - again

K and I are leaving for Thailand early tomorrow. It will be a long day (and night). We leave at 7.25 in the morning, traveling via Oslo and Stockholm. Hopefully we will get on the first flight which will take us to Bangkok at midnight Norwegian time. Otherwise we shall have to travel on via Copenhagen and arrive 10 hours later.

We might stay for one night in Bangkok - or we travel directly to Kho Samed. Time will show.

Doom

Doom III

For the last three days I have been playing Doom 3 on my PC. The first hour I sat on the front of my chair and jumped up every time a new creature or loud noise appeared. Now, I have achieved the more relaxed attitude of a veteran. Actually the whole thing has started to bore me a bit, but I have to finish it.

Astronomy

Saturn

The other day K and I went to a 90 min lecture in Astronomy at the Norwegian Aviation Museum.

It was held by Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard. He has been a lot in the Norwegian media the last two years due to an unusual amount of “space happenings”

It was fun and interesting for both K and me. Knut Ødegaard has a childish enthusiasm when he talks. He even made an attempt on the chicken dance as he explained how storms got started at Mars.

The auditorium was fully booked. I actually had to stand in the doorway to watch – and several people were rejected at the entry.

In my earlier days I attended a 48 hour evening course in astronomy.

Dear Americans

When you go out to vote tomorrow - please vote to bring the US back into the world!

Remember: If you are not paying attention - shit happens!

Best of luck with your elections!

Thailand

Koh Samed

I am thinking about going to Thailand at the beginning of November.
I have the whole month off and think I will spend about two weeks there together with my daughter.
The picture above was taken on my last visit.

K & O

This photo was taken earlier this week. We are taking care of my parents dog for a week while they are away at Gran Canaria. His name is Odin.
Odin was the main Norse God in the Nordic countries back when the Vikings made Europe somewhat unsafe.

The colors look a bit strange - but the light of the sun just above the horizon actually made them look like this.

Trip 

Aircraft I have piloted B737 NG

Credits for the pictures goes to the photographers mentioned in the lower left corner of the frames and airliner.net.


Boeing 737-600/700/800 The one I am flying now.

Aircraft I have piloted MD 80

MD 80/81/87

Aircraft I have piloted DC 9

DC 9-21/41

Aircraft I have piloted DHC 6

DHC 6 Twin Otter

TODAY...

..I have been running errands and doing my laundry. I got a nice pay check from the Norwegian IRS and had to visit the bank. Did you know that we pay well over 50% of our earnings in taxes when we pass a limit?
I do not complain. We get a lot back.

YESTERDAY...

..I spent inside an aircraft. Woke up at 4.15am. Lifted off from Karlstad at 5.50am. Then it went on to Stockholm, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo and Bodo where I finally got to leave that metal tube at 6.30pm.
Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this…

THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY…

…I spent in Karlstad, Sweden. Arrived early (9.30 am) at the hotel and after changing into my civilian clothes I went out to explore Karlstad city.
Karlstad has a population of about 80 000 and got its name in 1584. The city is placed on the northern shore of Lake Vänern and is the capital of Värmland County. And as I learned during the day - the treaty ending the union of Sweden and Norway was signed here in 1905.

I started out exploring the city centre. It had is usual line up of shops and small malls. After a while I expanded my area and was surprised to find a lovely river, the Klara River, running through town. There also were a lot of nice and lovely old buildings spread around. I think the oldest I found dated back to the early 15th century.
I then took a small walk up along the Klara River. It is wide and slow floating. A nice weather and fall colors made it a nice walk.
Returning I went to the library where I spent an hour or so reading through some of their magazines. After that I took to the Värmlands Museum.
The Museum consists of two buildings. Both quite different and interesting - architectonical wise. The oldest one built in 1928, and the newest one in 1998. They had a display taking me through the history of the region from 8000BC until present time. They also had a part of the museum which somewhat reminded me of my parents basement. Things from the 60s and 70s were thrown together on different displays and shelves without any further explanation.
What I remember best from their exhibitions? Hats! It’s incredible what kind of creations people have worn on their heads.
There also was an art exhibition with paintings for sale. Their fall exhibition I think. I really liked two of the paintings there. They were of the same artist and were painted collages of a white horse. Unfortunally parts of them was made up of newspapers and I don’t think they will take the time and wear of the years to come too well.

I also got to visit Karlstads Cathedral. There was no one else in there and it was nice and quiet inside. There came a man and closed the doors just as I was leaving.

The First Snow

The day before yesterday it happened. The first snow. We were in Luleaa in Sweden, and were on our way to take a late dinner when the first flakes came floating down. They melted as soon as they touched the ground.
We hurried on and ended up at a Thai restaurant where we enjoyed a good pizza and a banana split for dessert.

However, last night we had a layover in Kiruna, a small mining-town in the far North of Sweden. The temperature was -6C/25F. And there was snow on the ground. We landed just before the sun settled at 5 pm. I got checked in on my room as the last lights faded over the hills and the city lights switched on. It was a magical polar light.

I am writing this at a short groundstop in Stockholm. The wake up call came at 4.30am this morning. It is 9 am now and I am still in the process of waking. I do not understand why these Swedes need to get up and fly somewhere at that time of day.
This afternoon I shall end up in Malmö, close to Copenhagen. I am due for another early morning tomorrow so I am guessing it will be an easy and quiet evening tonight.

Fall

Fall

Time passes quickly. I was hoping to publish more often - but the time just seems to fly. I still have a few days off before I return to work on Friday evening. I have been assigned a Swedish sling this time. Five days of flying Swedish domestic routes. I have not had any nightstops in Sweden lately so it shall be nice to visit some of those towns again.

The picture above is of my daughter. It was taken yesterday. In the far back you can see over to the Lofoten Islands. It was a nice day - but a cold wind made us search for lower terrain after a while.

Profile

Summer

July This picture was actually supposed to show up under my profile - but it ended up here. It is me in July during a small trip at Botn, Saltdal.

Ivan, Jeanne and other hurricanes

A few days ago I got this mail in my inbox.. I do hope you all are able to see the black humor in this as the bad weather right now is destroying and ruining the lives of a lot of people.

"With all the news on TV lately about the extreme weather Conditions affecting the East Coast of the US, the mud slides in the Middle East and South America, the flood that made it's mark on Southern England, along with the dire predictions made by such films as The Day After Tomorrow, we shouldn't forget that Norway has its share of devastating weather too.
I've attached a photo illustrating the damage caused to my home from a storm that passed through South-Western Norway last week. It really makes you cherish what you have, and reminds us not to take things for granted."


You can watch the enclosed picture below......
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Storm

The First One

Hi Everybody,

This is my first one!

The first one - and not quite knowing where to start...
Luckily, I have always been a keen reader so I guess I will figure this one out as well :-)
As the observant reader you are, you have probably noticed that I am not of English nor American heritage - so my written English is, well - probably not the best there is.

My native language is Norwegian, which again is close to Swedish and Danish. I command some German as well in addition to this English attempt.

So what is it all about?
I guess i should write down some serious deep slogan here, but I think I shall just leave it open for now. Then it can only go one way - up.

I hope to be able to put down some of my thoughts and experiences as the days go by. If there is anyone out there who feels like sending me a line - please do so. I am quite friendly....

Here I go - the first one is being sent.