Bergen. Winter. Rain. Snow. Rain. The rain could not melt the packed snow away. It could only turn it into the slickest ice. I tried to balance in the wind, but the wind caught my coat and I felt myself being pushed along – no way to stop, nothing to hold on to. I need […]
Wordless Wednesday
It wasn’t my night last night. The night belonged to two very nice co-workers who were both hired November 1 1984. 50 people enjoyed a lovely meal, speeches, entertainment, conversation, a bit of dancing and a lot of wine. But as their guest until about 2 am, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. And my outfit. […]
Wednesday’s photo was taken from a bus stop at one of Bergen’s main intersections, between our historic, Hanseatic wharf “Bryggen” and our open-air fish market. In the comments, Alice asked me what the building in the middle was, and this was my reply: The building in the middle with the stepped gable used to be […]
Well-meaning people in the US ship me stuff via UPS, FedEx, TNT and the like (hereinafter referred to as Other Delivery Company, or ODC). The latest to do this was Amazon.com. You know what? They all suck. You know why? Because in Norway, you get the best service from our post office. Seriously. Some mail […]
Some days a bit of window shopping gives results. I have wanted a new purse for a while. Not because my current one is bad, but simply because I wanted something a tad smaller, a bit classier – and not black. Like red. As I browsed the handbag and luggage store, I eavesdropped on the […]
No sooner had I rattled on about not blogging, when I discovered a very good use for it: The LaCie disk I use for backups stopped working. I was trying to remember when and where I had purchased it, and searched through my electronic bank account files. Nothing there. I hunted on my hard drive […]
Wordless Wednesday
In Norway, no regular stores are open on Sundays. Restaurants, movie theaters, gas stations and snack bars are, but not regular stores, like clothing stores, grocery stores or hardware stores. Except in December. In December, stores are open on Sundays, for five hours. It used be just one Sunday this month, then it became two. […]
The clerk was already ringing up my groceries when I realized I had no wallet. No cash, no debit card, no credit card. I was asking if the stuff could sit and wait for me, for 20 minutes, because that’s how long it takes me to get home and back. Suddenly, a co-worker who happened […]
Inspiration is just not hitting me. I have truly gone on vacation and that includes the blog. I mean, it’s 3 pm and I’ve hardly just finished breakfast. (Which looked like this today. I couldn’t finish it; I had to have oatmeal. I am simply not someone who can have only fruit for one meal; […]
I am one of those people who thinks 8 am is an ungodly hour and that being up and dressed and finished with breakfast by noon is early enough. At least on weekends. But since I had a coffee date with a friend at noon, I was up and dressed somewhat earlier and at the […]
“It is the little things in life that comfort us, because it is the little things in life that bother us.” —Pascal [1] After a couple of summers of not bothering with flowers on my balcony, I felt inspired this year and bought pansies, which are not only a favorite flower, but also a flower […]
Another haircut, another Saturday in town. I am short-haired and loaded with money because of the generosity of the Norwegian government and so I buy that jewelry box they first displayed last year. It’s back and it’s available. Wait, let me back up. First, let me thank the people who are made my cash flow […]
I went to work today, yesterday being a national holiday in Norway, and the day before being a sick day. So since I last walked to work, the world has exploded into green. It is amazing how green the lawns are, a sharp green, an Irish green. The trees are dabbling in various shades of […]
I woke up feeling good, even though I woke up early on a Saturday. But since I had a hair appointment in town at 10:30, being up and about for a few relaxing hours first was a good thing. Last night I checked a few things online, fiddled with a trial version of Photoshop Elements, […]
People who want to make a positive difference in the world try to do what they can to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. But they’re being made to pay for their choices. Literally. Currently, we in the west are being told all about global warming, carbon footprints and the need […]
Back in the day when England was less expensive and Norwegians less exposed to the good things in life (like more than one kind of toilet paper), we girls were thrilled to find a Boots store when on the opposite side of the North Sea because that meant stocking up on items not easily available […]
In my previous post, I mentioned the antithesis to British queueing: The Norwegian clumping. Norwegians never form a line unless forced to, like at the ATM because they finally got the message about security, or at the grocery store because of the shopping carts. In every other aspect of life, a pedestrian Norwegian will clump. […]
My skin was a huge issue for me, growing up. I got my first blackheads at the age of 8. I was the only kid in school in Norway to have blackheads way before everybody else. In fact, I left Norway at age 15, and so never saw any of my classmates with acne. It […]
A Roll in the Universe 