havin' a heat waaave, a tropical heat waaave....

Ah yes, it's the hot days. We usually have a few of them every year, and these are them.

It's bloody warm out. We have all the windows open to catch every delicious breeze. (And it's a bit annoying when the workmen who are working on the building SMOKE right outside the bedroom window, thus ruining the sweet smell of summer wafting in...do I close the window to keep the smell out of the bedroom, and swelter, or keep it open and have the house smell like a bar? I think they are smoking hand rolled cigarettes, too, which are even stinkier than normal ones.)

I love the hot weather, though, except when I am sleeping. Then, it's a bit hard, because not only is it LIGHT outside, but I am also a ball of sticky sweat, flopping around in bed like a dying gasping fish with NO AIR. Rich, lying next to me, is like having my own personal man heater which I can't turn off, so he adds to the general sweatiness of the atmosphere. ARg. Let's just say, the sheets are getting changed with great regularity this week.

I had my first full day back at work yesterday (I work for the same people, but they farm me to different companies as need arises). It's always hard going back to work, especially when the weather says "Go outside! Pretty sunlight! Go outside!". But the job seems like it will turn out to be fairly interesting. At first it looked pretty horrible, but they are shifting my duties (after I told them that what they wanted me to do was patently NOT an area I knew anything about nor had any skills in achieving!) into an area more suited to my talents, so that's a great sign for their corporate structure that they LISTEN to the folks who work there. So I'll be doing more writing and less paper pushing, woo! And I have an office! With a desk, chair and computer! And my own window.....

After work I met up with a Texan friend who might be moving here. (I'm sort of the Austin Ambassador to Norway. I take care of Texans.) I showed him the $30 roasting chickens and the $20 small bag of dog food (they have two big dogs, and crap, I had NO idea DOG food was so expensive). We ate at a cheap (!) and cheerful curry house, called Curry and Ketchup (no ketchup in sight, don't know why they named it that). He seems fairly certain they will come here, but I will say that I also have to give the hard talk about money and expenses. Before we moved here, people told me it was expensive, but I thought "How expensive can it be?", and then was flummoxed when I saw just how expensive it can be! However, it seems he and his wife would be well suited for living here. He likes to walk and she's an independent sort who likes her quality time at home, so they seem ideal for the Norwegian lifestyle.

He's on a flight back home right now. He's carrying some brunost, the sweet brown cheese made from goat's milk. I'll be interested to see how folks at home like it.....I kind of do, it reminds me of peanut butter. But then, if I want peanut butter, I just eat peanut butter.

I also had to remind him that yes it is warm out, right now, but this is NOT normal. In fact, it's kind of like those random ice storms we would have in Austin.....once a year, quick and done. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Me? I'm going out to lie on the hammock. Gotta get that hammock time in now, while the gettin's good.