Wanna go on a Norwegian coastal cruise from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy?
Now you can.
One Norwegian station is live broadcasting an entire coastal cruise up the length of Norway's west coast on the Hurtigruten. 5 days on a boat, just looking around.
I honestly can't decide if this is brilliant or the most boring thing I have ever heard of. (And are the exhorbitant tv taxes they charge me paying for this?) The fact that it is proving popular also shows that the state of Norwegian national broadcasting might leave something to be desired. But still, an interesting idea. I clicked on it for a while last night. They showed some mountains slowly going by, some shots of the deck, the bridge, and went down into the kitchens to check out what's for dinner. The food looked good.
This might be a really good ad for a Hurtigruten cruise, actually. 5 days non stop advertising!
Still, not every country can do a 5 day live broadcast of its scenery and keep it interesting. Norway, being quite possibly the most gorgeous country on earth, may well be the only one able to carry it off.
If you read this before Tuesday, you can watch the broadcast live, yourself, here.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
oldest pub.jpg
Having drinks in what is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited pub in England. We went on a walking tour of St Albans and it bucketed cold rain all day. Froze my arse off. Nice to be in this warm woody space.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
best coffee ever.jpg
This is the best tasting cup of black coffee I have ever had and I am drinking it now. Ohmygod.
Friday, June 10, 2011
giving you the bird
I met this guy on Tuesday on a boat cruise around the fjord. He just sat there, unconcerned. Pretty sure I could have pet him had I wanted to.
Monday, June 06, 2011
This Is Norway
Bank strike rumoured to start tomorrow.
As of midnight, we are told, all the ATM's will cease to function and you won't be able to use your debit cards anywhere.
Seriously? Bankers go on strike and I cannot get access to MY money? MY money is being held hostage to pay bankers more? Where the hell is MY raise? Don't I pay enough in bank fees to these fuckers already?
Bankers who already give me shitty service when I go to the bank, bankers who work from 9 to 3. Bankers who I have to either go to work late or leave work early to go visit to talk about MY MONEY? Note in the article I linked to the part about 'increasing competence' in the staff. Uh, yeah, as in they suck and maybe they could be more service minded? I always, every time, get pissed off when I have to go to the bank. EVERY TIME.
Excuse me if I have no sympathy.
I hear that tourists who come here will be out of luck also, as they won't be able to get any money. Imagine going on holiday and having no access to your own cash because there is a strike in the country you visit.
Grrrr......
So I am watching a huge queue at the bank outside, people lining up to get their own money out of the bank that employees want to strike to get higher pay so that we can pay more fees to support. Hmm.
As of midnight, we are told, all the ATM's will cease to function and you won't be able to use your debit cards anywhere.
Seriously? Bankers go on strike and I cannot get access to MY money? MY money is being held hostage to pay bankers more? Where the hell is MY raise? Don't I pay enough in bank fees to these fuckers already?
Bankers who already give me shitty service when I go to the bank, bankers who work from 9 to 3. Bankers who I have to either go to work late or leave work early to go visit to talk about MY MONEY? Note in the article I linked to the part about 'increasing competence' in the staff. Uh, yeah, as in they suck and maybe they could be more service minded? I always, every time, get pissed off when I have to go to the bank. EVERY TIME.
Excuse me if I have no sympathy.
I hear that tourists who come here will be out of luck also, as they won't be able to get any money. Imagine going on holiday and having no access to your own cash because there is a strike in the country you visit.
Grrrr......
So I am watching a huge queue at the bank outside, people lining up to get their own money out of the bank that employees want to strike to get higher pay so that we can pay more fees to support. Hmm.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
dinner.jpg
Chicken fajitas. Marinated overnight. Served with fresh homemade guacamole and fresh homemade pico de gallo. Damn I deserve this.
Saturday, June 04, 2011
random photo
This is from our trip to Egypt, the photo info tells me it was in 2004, but I can't believe it was that long go? Anyhow, me at Aswan, 2004. (I just went into my hard drive and picked a random picture...)
We were on a Nile cruise and we had to get up at like, 3am to take a bus to the site. (I have lately found out that a fair percentage of those buses crash and tourists get killed all the time....I do remember the bus driver going REALLY fast in the pitch dark of the Egyptian desert.)
So it's a good thing that in this picture I have the hat and the scarf, because I was looking rough that day.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Things i have put in my ear in the past week
- My finger
- q tips (DON'T tell me how bad that is, I KNOW NOW!)
- My elbow (they say never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.)
- Water
- Olive oil
- Norwegian ear cleaning spray
- US ear cleaning stuff
- British ear cleaning stuff
- Norwegian antibiotic/steroid drops, doctor prescribed
- Vodka (Yes. Really.)
- Hydrogen Peroxide. (Felt like ANTS in my BRAIN! ANTS! BRAIN!)
- Vinegar
- More (different) Norwegian ear cleaning stuff
- A squeezy rubber bulb to 'earigate' my ear.
My ears are still a bit clogged, especially the right one, but I am loth to put anything else in there for fear of it falling off or something.
Kids, don't get ear infections/impacted ear wax/whatever the fuck this is, as an adult. I've had a really shitty week.
Friday, May 27, 2011
deaf as a post
Ear infection! Ear infection! I'm all grandpa up in here what with the 'WHAT?" and the "huh?" and the "ow!".
This sucks.
This sucks.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
restless like the wind
I'm in a funny mood.
The weather in Oslo has become very windy and very chilly, it feels like the onset of fall. Dark scuddering clouds rush by, with fitful sun here and there, but the wind is so strong and chill that any warmth the sun creates is blown away. it rains intermittently, just enough to get you damp and cold, but it's too windy for an umbrella.
I'm restless and cranky. Goddmmit, this is supposed to be SUMMER. I'm supposed to be warm. I'm wearing the dresses and the sandals, I'm following the calendar, can't the weather follow suit? I feel so stressed, I see my three months of warmth (June, July and August (only until the 24th, as that seems to be when fall starts every year)) getting pissed away by this shitty weather and I resent it. The weather page online right now tells me that with the wind it feels like +4C outside. People, that is NOT warm. That is not even close.
Rich has 'man flu', and, poor bugger, when he has a cold life in our apartment goes on standby. I don't get much sleep because he's snoring (I know, I know, he can't help it) and I've been trying to use ear plugs but they seem to be doing nothing more than blocking my ears and now I can't hear bugger all. My ears hurt and are clogged and that is pissing me off. I can't sleep, and it's also really cold in our flat because our building has central heat, which is turned off at the end of April. Considering that it is in the 40's at night, it gets bloody cold in the apartment, so even if I wanted to sleep on the sofa to get some shut eye, I can't because I just can't get warm. I'm pretty warm natured, so for me to put on socks and sweats means it's COLD in that apartment.
I keep seeing all the press about this awful tornado and weather in Joplin MO and that is quite close to my parents, so I am obsessively watching the radar in their area, worrying that they are next. I'd really like to go home nad be with them, but when i was there in April, the weather was as bad as it is here right now. I swear, I feel like the weather is just closing in on me and I can't escape it.
I'm doing this diet thing and I just want some dang results but I guess my metabolism is slower than I thought, because, seriously, three weeks of this shit now, shouldn't I see more than the possible 3 lbs I think I have lost, though it's hard to tell with my wobbly and moody scale? It changes 5 lbs or more depending on which direction I lean, so I sort of have to pick a number in the middle somewhere. I'm exercising! I'm moving! I'm cutting back! I'M NOT DRINKING FRIGGING ROSE FOR THIS SHIT! I need results, and I need them now. Or I am just gonna start drinking again.
I want out of here. Can I go back to Jordan or Tunisia? Please?
Oh yeah, the fucking Icelandic volcano is starting up again. So, of course, that means that travel could be bunged up and guess who will be in the UK not long from now? If that trip gets cancelled, I don't know what I will do. All I know is, Iceland better take better care of their volcanos, manage them better, appease them somehow (maybe toss in a few virgins?) cuz, really, this is getting ridiculous.
The weather in Oslo has become very windy and very chilly, it feels like the onset of fall. Dark scuddering clouds rush by, with fitful sun here and there, but the wind is so strong and chill that any warmth the sun creates is blown away. it rains intermittently, just enough to get you damp and cold, but it's too windy for an umbrella.
I'm restless and cranky. Goddmmit, this is supposed to be SUMMER. I'm supposed to be warm. I'm wearing the dresses and the sandals, I'm following the calendar, can't the weather follow suit? I feel so stressed, I see my three months of warmth (June, July and August (only until the 24th, as that seems to be when fall starts every year)) getting pissed away by this shitty weather and I resent it. The weather page online right now tells me that with the wind it feels like +4C outside. People, that is NOT warm. That is not even close.
Rich has 'man flu', and, poor bugger, when he has a cold life in our apartment goes on standby. I don't get much sleep because he's snoring (I know, I know, he can't help it) and I've been trying to use ear plugs but they seem to be doing nothing more than blocking my ears and now I can't hear bugger all. My ears hurt and are clogged and that is pissing me off. I can't sleep, and it's also really cold in our flat because our building has central heat, which is turned off at the end of April. Considering that it is in the 40's at night, it gets bloody cold in the apartment, so even if I wanted to sleep on the sofa to get some shut eye, I can't because I just can't get warm. I'm pretty warm natured, so for me to put on socks and sweats means it's COLD in that apartment.
I keep seeing all the press about this awful tornado and weather in Joplin MO and that is quite close to my parents, so I am obsessively watching the radar in their area, worrying that they are next. I'd really like to go home nad be with them, but when i was there in April, the weather was as bad as it is here right now. I swear, I feel like the weather is just closing in on me and I can't escape it.
I'm doing this diet thing and I just want some dang results but I guess my metabolism is slower than I thought, because, seriously, three weeks of this shit now, shouldn't I see more than the possible 3 lbs I think I have lost, though it's hard to tell with my wobbly and moody scale? It changes 5 lbs or more depending on which direction I lean, so I sort of have to pick a number in the middle somewhere. I'm exercising! I'm moving! I'm cutting back! I'M NOT DRINKING FRIGGING ROSE FOR THIS SHIT! I need results, and I need them now. Or I am just gonna start drinking again.
I want out of here. Can I go back to Jordan or Tunisia? Please?
Oh yeah, the fucking Icelandic volcano is starting up again. So, of course, that means that travel could be bunged up and guess who will be in the UK not long from now? If that trip gets cancelled, I don't know what I will do. All I know is, Iceland better take better care of their volcanos, manage them better, appease them somehow (maybe toss in a few virgins?) cuz, really, this is getting ridiculous.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
oslo shop window.jpg
You sure don't get windows like *this* in the States. (Also I agree with the asshole sentiment).
Friday, May 20, 2011
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Someone on a forum on my LoseIt website posted this. Too funny. Happy Rapture, I guess Norway will be pretty unscathed. Or whatever. (Click on the picture to bigify.)
In other news, if the Rapture don't take me, riding my bike in Oslo on a Friday will. Damn, I don't think I will ride my bike to work on Fridays anymore.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Rapture...I'm hoping for empty grocery stores
Apparently the Rapture is coming on Saturday. If so, will that get me out of work on Monday, and, will it mean the stores won't be so crowded on weekends? If so I am all for it. For those of you with pets, there is a solution so that your pets won't be left alone after you Meet Your Maker.I'm totally looking forward to it. Though I'm pretty sure I won't make the cut to go Upstairs, because, you know, evil.
If you are wondering about the picture, above, I just posted it because I liked it, no other reason. It's one of a gallery of images from a really hilarious and creative artist. It's the captions that get me.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May 17th
17 May (Norway's National Day, like July 4th) on tv. Getting ready to go out in it. Shame the US doesn't have a national costume tradition like Norway, because the bunader sure are pretty. Everyone looks so elegant and olde worlde in their outfits, it adds a certain old school charm to Oslo. Women walk better in full skirts than they do in tight mini-skirts, more assured and almost swaggery. Nice to see.
Even nicer are the men in tight bucksin trousers.
I love 17 Mai!
Friday, May 13, 2011
blog babes.jpg
Out for girls night with my blog pals, Tressa, Corinne and Karen (the blogless Scot).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What I've been up to lately
I've been doing this.
I SUCK at diets, but I decided spur of the moment, upon re-entry into Norway from the US, that this little belly I am sporting in my doddering old age is just NOT acceptable and it must go.
Now, I'm realistic about myself. I'm tall, curvy and I have never been skinny. I've always been rather shapely, I guess, and while I have always had an ass and jiggly thighs, my belly always stayed firm and fairly flat. This new me, this me with a little belly, is uncomfortable as I don't know how to dress this me and I don't know how to handle this me.
So this new me is going to go back to being the old me. The old me with the tiny waist and the flat belly. I think I can do it with just 10-20 lbs. I'd be more than happy with 10, but 20 would be absolutely fantastic (but could entail me cutting parts of me off.)
The bummer of it all is that I have never needed much food. Maybe I have a slow metabolism? Maybe, though I have the body of a large bird of prey, or possibly more like a dodo, I actually only have the metabolism of a sparrow? So, anyhow, diets don't work too well for me because a 1500 calorie per day diet is not low enough for me to actually lose weight, as that is probably all I need to actually maintain weight or even (gasp) gain. The doc here on my recent check up thought my thyroid might be a bit low, so I am also taking some kelp to give my thyroid a boost naturally. He's gonna retest in a few weeks to see if it is too low or if that test was a fluke.
Since diets aren't usually successful for me, I need to exercise too. (Shit.) Because, I know from past experience, exercise DOES work. I'm riding my bike, walking, bouncing on my rebounder, and when I get the first hint of results, I bet I will start weight lifting too. (Weightlifting is really the only thing that actually works for me, I build muscle well and quickly.) The bike riding certainly is giving me a workout, I'm looking forward to when the ride home from work is not quite as painful as it is now. What, me, out of shape? Nahhh.....(yes. Hell yes).
So this website I'm using, LoseIt, has ways for you to track your food and your exercise. It's cool because it syncs with my iTouch so I can do it on the fly and never feel like I am falling behind. It's also kind of fun to track your progress and see where you might cut back (goodbye buttered olive bread at work.) I've been very diligent with it and I hope that I get some results soon. It better, because I've also given up drinking rosé in the evenings and THAT my friends, is the ultimate sacrifice and shows just how serious I am about this. You don't get between a girl and her vino without some really good reason!
I SUCK at diets, but I decided spur of the moment, upon re-entry into Norway from the US, that this little belly I am sporting in my doddering old age is just NOT acceptable and it must go.
Now, I'm realistic about myself. I'm tall, curvy and I have never been skinny. I've always been rather shapely, I guess, and while I have always had an ass and jiggly thighs, my belly always stayed firm and fairly flat. This new me, this me with a little belly, is uncomfortable as I don't know how to dress this me and I don't know how to handle this me.
So this new me is going to go back to being the old me. The old me with the tiny waist and the flat belly. I think I can do it with just 10-20 lbs. I'd be more than happy with 10, but 20 would be absolutely fantastic (but could entail me cutting parts of me off.)
The bummer of it all is that I have never needed much food. Maybe I have a slow metabolism? Maybe, though I have the body of a large bird of prey, or possibly more like a dodo, I actually only have the metabolism of a sparrow? So, anyhow, diets don't work too well for me because a 1500 calorie per day diet is not low enough for me to actually lose weight, as that is probably all I need to actually maintain weight or even (gasp) gain. The doc here on my recent check up thought my thyroid might be a bit low, so I am also taking some kelp to give my thyroid a boost naturally. He's gonna retest in a few weeks to see if it is too low or if that test was a fluke.
Since diets aren't usually successful for me, I need to exercise too. (Shit.) Because, I know from past experience, exercise DOES work. I'm riding my bike, walking, bouncing on my rebounder, and when I get the first hint of results, I bet I will start weight lifting too. (Weightlifting is really the only thing that actually works for me, I build muscle well and quickly.) The bike riding certainly is giving me a workout, I'm looking forward to when the ride home from work is not quite as painful as it is now. What, me, out of shape? Nahhh.....(yes. Hell yes).
So this website I'm using, LoseIt, has ways for you to track your food and your exercise. It's cool because it syncs with my iTouch so I can do it on the fly and never feel like I am falling behind. It's also kind of fun to track your progress and see where you might cut back (goodbye buttered olive bread at work.) I've been very diligent with it and I hope that I get some results soon. It better, because I've also given up drinking rosé in the evenings and THAT my friends, is the ultimate sacrifice and shows just how serious I am about this. You don't get between a girl and her vino without some really good reason!
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Saturday, May 07, 2011
crossing.jpg
Well shit. Looks like I picked the wrong place to try and cross the street! Some road race has shut down Oslo. I'm stuck on the wrong side of my house for what looks like a while!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
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