Archive for March, 2011

Winter doesn’t stop…

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

I went skiing yesterday and really thought it would be the last time this year (temperatures went up and spring started over a week ago, eh?)…well, it might very well be that there will be some more chances to fly down the slopes this year; it friggin’ started snowing again today (!!), a sweet 10cm layer of fresh white snow no less!!!

Hmm, something tells me that I should have waited with cleaning the veranda… 😉

Hehe, I took this picture late this afternoon, and the big flakes have been falling the entire evening…it’s magical, I LOVE it!

A new car!

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Exactly three weeks after I crashed our ‘old’ bimmer, we picked up the new one… 😉 YESSS!

As I wrote earlier, we bought a superb 2002 BMW X5 3.0D…hehe, when shit hits the fan, it’s best to turn things around and use it as an opportunity! 😉

Hmm, the only thing that I am missing now is my driver’s license…I hope to hear more still this week, fingers crossed!!

Mixed feelings on Libya

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Today four years I left for a short vacation to Libya, a country full of surprising, though not really the place to go these days, eh? 😉
We went there to visit Axel & Beike, who lived there for over two years. An amazing trip filled with lots of culture, old architecture, the Great Leader, his green book, and…a huge farewell party with the theme ‘Pimps & Prostitutes’…haha, I have never seen more alcohol at a party! 😉

How different is the situation in Libya today; as everyone knows, UN resolution 1973 is in effect, what many probably don’t realize is that the resolution seems to be misused to take ‘the Great Leader’ out: I cannot understand that virtually no one questions the bombing of Libyan ground forces, air defenses, one of Gadhafi’s command centers, etc., etc. The resolution clearly describes its mandate: Protection of civilians, establishing a No-fly zone, Enforcement of the arms embargo, and an Asset freeze…be your own judge and read the resolution for yourself. It’s amazing when you realize how ‘easy’ and accepted it apparently is to go to war, covered by a false flag UN resolution using a ‘humanitarian’ reason, while the actual truth is that the Western world is trying to protect its oil interests after Gadhafi decided to go to bed with the Russians and Chinese to exploit his oil…

QOTD March 28 2011

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Erich Fromm: “Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.'”

Oxford English Dictionary adds LOL, but not WTF?

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Wired.com: “The Oxford English Dictionary has announced the latest batch of words and phrases deemed worthy of etymological conservation. From the encyclopedia’s just-released 2011 edition, you’ll see cream crackered, wag and tinfoil hat, as well as internet-era initialisms like LOL and OMG… …“They help to say more in media where there is a limit to a number of characters one may use in a single message,” says principal editor Graeme Diamond on the dictionary’s website. With the rise of concise text messages and 140-character tweets, sometimes less is more. But there’s more to OMG and LOL than just textbox frugality, though, explains Diamond.”

I guess it is too early to add ‘WTF‘, perhaps it is a bit too harsh and not proper ‘queens English’. 😉

At least  the heart symbol (not the <3 emoticon, the actual ♥ graphic) did make it into the latest Oxford English Dictionary edition!

Veranda snow free

Saturday, March 26th, 2011

Weather has been absolutely terrific today, and while the snow around the house *is* melting because of that, I decided to help nature a bit and ‘snow-clean’ the veranda.

A bigger job than I anticipated, but after a couple of hours of plowing through the snow/ice (*in* the sun!), the veranda was snow free…and by that it is ready for spring/summer/bbq, yayyy!!

 

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Hehe, that calls for a beer!! 😉

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TGIF, Song of the Day: Missing

Friday, March 25th, 2011

The Song of this Thank God It’s Friday-Day: Everything But The Girl with ‘Missing‘!

This track brings back goooood memories from the mid 90’s: dancing the night away in clubs all over the country, yay! 😉

The Installation of Love!

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Installing Love on the Human Computer…

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer  disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.”  What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.
Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.

One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool  modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

God/Tech Support: You’re Welcome, Anytime.

(via Aine Belton, Global Love Project)

Two weeks later: same but different

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

The past two days have been almost a repeat of the Tuesday and Wednesday two weeks ago…*almost* a repeat: the same topics (new life, house and car), yet different…

Two weeks ago we had the first ultrasound scan, we received a verbal agreement on the sale of our house and I crashed my car, all in 32 hours. This week, we bought a new car (a superb BMW X5!), the sales contract for the house was signed (now waiting for the buyers to get their mortgage approved!) and we had an amazing second ultrasound scan!

Things are moving in the right direction! 😉

2nd ultrasound scan

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Kissy was in NL today for her second ultrasound scan (obstetric ultrasonography) which is part of the prenatal diagnosis. 12.5 weeks into the pregnancy and the little one was extremely lively and passed all the tests with perfect ‘scores’, yay!

Her mother joined her and got the first hand experience too; it is truly amazing how much they can see and measure in this still early stage…all was good, so our Ode to Life is well on schedule, sweet!

Spring has started, on March 21!

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Spring is in the air, yayyy!

Besides the sunny weather these days that add up to the ‘spring fever’ feeling, it is also March 21, so yes, spring *did* really start today! And that in itself turns out to be quite special…

Spring starts at the moment that the sun ‘exactly’ reached the equator while ‘moving’ further North, making the day and night both even in length worldwide. This phenomenon is called Vernal equinox.

Even though we all grew up knowing that spring starts on March 21, that ‘fact’ is nowadays more exception than rule…you might think: ‘Huh?’, but it is true: in the past 100 years, a start of spring on March 21 occurred only 1/3 of the years (roughly) while it mostly started on March 20!

The reason for this has to do with the (slight) inaccuracy of the Gregorian Calendar that we have chosen to use, as well as the fact that the Earth’s elliptical orbit is changing its orientation relative to the Sun. Space.com has a more in depth analysis from some years ago.

For Europe it means that the actual start of spring will be on March 20 for decades to come (in 2044 it will even be on March 19!)…so it would make sense to change the start of spring from March 21 to March 20, ah? 😉

Hmm, I didn’t know this, did you?

How to impress your future girlfriend

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Wow, this is one of the most original and ‘up to 2011 standards’ ways to impress your future girlfriend (haha, no way she will say ‘no’ after a Chatroullete speed-date like this!! 😉 )

A great day in the snow

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

We had terrific time ‘on the mountain’ today; weather was amazing, snow like powder, no queue at the lifts, both downhill and cross-country…life is great!!
Oh, and since there are enough woman in da house, there is a solid stock of chocolate!! Me like… 😉

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QOTD March 18 2011

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Harvey Fierstein: “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”

Ski weekend

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

We planned a ski weekend with friends already months ago, and it now turns out that coming weekend comes exactly at the right moment (don’t you love how the cosmos works? 😉 ): after the past weeks I’m really looking forward to a weekend of relaxing, skiing, enjoying good food and drinks, some more relaxing and having a great time with friends in the cozy atmosphere of the cottage below!

Skeikampen it is, and it is gonna be good!! 😉

Being happy shortens your life?!?

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

ScienceDaily: “Cheer up. Stop worrying. Don’t work so hard. Good advice for a long life? As it turns out, no. In a groundbreaking study of personality as a predictor of longevity, University of California, Riverside researchers found just the opposite… …One of the findings that really astounds people, including us, is that the Longevity Project participants who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful and joking. It was the most prudent and persistent individuals who stayed healthiest and lived the longest.”

Uhh, well I don’t really believe this and just so you know; I’m not letting this ‘research’ impact my happiness…I’d rather live a tad shorter and enjoy life to the max, then a little longer yet cutting down on having FUN in life! 😉

“Mom’s” Birthday

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

My ‘second mom’ has her 62nd Birthday today, so: HAPPY BIRTHDAY mom!

I’ll take a piece of the virtual cake tonight (actually I might change that to a piece of Kissy’s homemade ‘Dutch style’ apple-pie, yummm! 😉 )

Getting used to public transport…

Monday, March 14th, 2011

OK, I’ve had it…traveling to work using public transport is not for me!! It’s one of the (actually the only!) downside of living just out of North East Oslo (some say Sweden 😉 ) and working West of Oslo: took me nearly 2 hours this morning to get to work and again nearly 2 hours this evening to get back home. 🙁 The commute-time itself is not my biggest issue…no, it’s more that I don’t know where to put my legs, that I overheat because of a ‘heater-gone-crazy’ and that I can’t use my laptop, so I can’t use the time as ‘workday-in-commute’.

Oh well, being ‘forced’ to sit still, think about nothing and listen music (actually the No Agenda podcast, most on that later this week) ain’t all that bad actually. It’s pity that I have to switch buses in Oslo center, otherwise I could get some extra sleep! 😉

I have to get used to it, and by now have already accepted it: the police took my driver’s license, pending their investigation, after last weeks accident (a standard procedure which can take up to three weeks!)…AND uhh, we don’t have a car anyway! (searching for one though!! 😉 )

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami: before and after

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

ABC News: “Aerial photos taken over Japan have revealed the scale of devastation across dozens of suburbs and tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Hover over each satellite photo to view the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.”

Yuriage in Natori

Click pic to view the photos and
move the sliders to view before and after versions

Ten Rules for Being Human

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

Since important things may be repeated, here they are once more: the Ten Rules for Being Human!!

  1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
  2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
  3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
  4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
  5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
  6. “There” is no better a place than “here”. When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
  7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
  8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
  9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
  10. You will forget all this.

(by Cherie Carter-Scott)