That’s why I thought this post could contain a bit of information on how we are doing with the whole moving to Sweden thing.

“I wish I had some more information” I’ve been saying this over and over to myself (and others) for the last couple of months. People keep asking if I know anything more about the moving, and my reply has been “Only that we are moving in the end of August“.

However this time I know a bit more! Yesterday I received a mail from one of the people in charge of human resources at our Swedish office, asking what kind of apartment we would like.  If we wanted with 2 rooms or more, how much rent we would be able to pay, and what kind of job Alina might be interested in. I hastily replied that we would love at least a 2 room apartment, with 6500,- NOK as max rent, and Alina would prefer NOT to work with cleaning, children or old people. Other then that she would be cool with more or less anything.

We are yet to receive a reply on this, but I was told they are two people working on finding us an apartment, which means we should be receiving a mail soon about the details. I’m quite excited to see what they find and if we will be able to see photos of it. What would be even better, would if someone from our office in Stockholm would be able to check the place out, and OK it for us.

As for moving our things from Trondheim. We have been informed that they will pay for a moving company to drive all our things to Stockholm. How we will get there, I’m not sure of yet, but I’m guessing it’s by plane, sponsored by the office. If not, we’ll just find some way to get there, all tough plane would probably be the best option.

What’s even cooler, is that our company have started a separate department just for our 1.line support, and it will be located in Överkalix in Northern Sweden, this means I will probably not be taking any more phone calls from old ladies wanting help with their E-Mails accounts anymore. Currently there are 7 new people starting with full 1.line support there, while us in the Stockholm office will be focusing on 2/3.line registry and technical issues. Just the way It’s supposed to be.

As we get close to moving, I can’t stop from feeling a bit sad about it. Moving away from all the people I’ve come to know and love in Trondheim. I have been living here for roughly 6 years now, and gotten to know some amazing people. I’ve grown to love this city and how relaxed and pretty it is, I’ve found a job I enjoy doing and a girl that I would gladly spend the rest of my life with.

Hopefully I might move back some day, and settle here, but for now, I am willing to move where ever I am needed, In order to improve my career. Seeing as my education is rather slim, I need all the experience I can get. Even if it means moving from loved ones.

As some might know by now, me and Alina have moved to an new apartment. It’s about 28square meters (all tough the ad said 38, but It’s big enough for us either way), the rent is at a 6000kr a month + electricity and Internet, and it’s pretty close to town (about 10minute walk). First of all, I’d just like to thank the following people for helping out the Wednesday previous week: Sonja, Stian, Inger-Lise, Helen and Alinas parents. You guys were great and I’m really happy that you could all make it. It would have been hell without you.

Now that we’re a bit more settled, I figured I was calmed enough to actually sit down and write something. It’s still a bit messy here. Things needs to be moved into the attic, there’s still garbage that needs to be taken out, but most of the stuff has now been set up. It still looks a bit “thin” in the living room though, seeing as we still don’t have a couch, but hopefully we’ll get that fixed shortly.
There’s still allot of stuff here that needs to get fixed by the landlord though. The sink is slightly cracked and the pipes are leaking, the washing machine is leaking, the sink in the kitchen is leaking, but thankfully not enough to make it a problem. Hopefully he’ll be able to check it out and fix it soon.

Economy wise, moving has been quite the black hole though. We’ve bought quite allot of stuff after we moved in, and seeing as I’m poor as always, Alina has been loaning me the money so we can buy stuff together. Now I owe her quite allot of money, and we’re going to England… No doubt my next paycheck will also be dried out pretty quick. Still, I’ll manage though, and Alina is so kind and gives me the time I need to pay her back.

And for those that didn’t know, yeah we’re going to London this easter! I’m so looking forward to it. We’ll stay at a hostel in town, and be hardcore tourists, seeing the sites, eating the food and just having a great time over there. Hopefully Ste and Kelly will come down from Birmingham and spend the day with us as well. We’ll probably be staying there for about 1 and 1/2 week before we head back, so we’ll have plenty of time to see stuff. I’ll try to keep the blog updated as a sort of travel blog if anyone is interested. Also, we’ll be in Skien for a couple of days as well before we head to London, so if any of the ol’ Skien gang is present, please let me know and we’ll hang :p

Computer wise haven’t been much happening to be honest. I’m dying to get a server up and running, but there’s no point until we got ourself a Internet connection. For now we’re using our dumb neighbors unsecured WLAN net, but we don’t know how long it will last until he figures out there’s about 20 or 30 people on his router at all times, so better wait for our own before setting up anything. I’ve done some scripting though, and done quite allot of changes to the Ninja Monkeys forum. Now it’s got quite allot of hacks and tweaks to make it look pimp. I love setting up stuff like that.

Well, best be off now I guess. I’m hungry as hell, and I really should send a text to Alina and check how her medical examination went. I should also tidy up a bit here and get a shower…

For now, ta ta!

This all means that I finally can rest a little. Not having the thought of having to pay 8500,- by the first of February really eases things up a bit. I still have an electricity bill and a small rent to pay, but all in all, I think I’ve come out of all this pretty good.

Which means, my paycheck the 20th of February will probably be more or less spent in London. Me and Alina are going for a trip to London this easter see, so I need to save up some cash for that. As it seems now, I’m more then covered.
(This means btw, that I’d really like to have a chat with Ste, Kelly and Matt, to know if they want us over for a quick visit. We might be considering taking a trip to Birmingham while we’re over, just to say hello and maybe stay for a couple of days)

So, there’s not much else up these days really. I’m working every day this week, from 15:30 until 21:30, which is as I’ve probably stated in about a dozen other posts, kind of sucky. Still, It’s money, and the work isn’t really that bad, so I managed. And besides, all that work is for a good cause. Going to London, and moving together with Alina :)
Yes, we are moving together in case you didn’t allready know. We’re currently looking for a place, but can’t really move in anywhere until I’m done with my contract at GKV59 and got the deposit money for moving. Once that is settled we’ll start looking for something. Alltough for the moment we are kind of picky as to what we want, so I’m not sure when this will happen :p

Today I’ve tried to get a hold of a counselor, to try and figure out what I need to do, to finish my school stuff. I can’t seem to get a hold of her though, I’ve tried calling several times, but alas. Hopefully I’ll get a hold of her and at least get an appointement. I need to get this done as fast as possible, so I might be able to finish some courses before the summer.
Right now I’m on my laptop at the library, which is kind of cool, seeing as they’ve got power outlets, and an open Internet connection. So I’m downloading, surfing and doing everything I want on the net, for free.

I should probably finish this post of though, seeing as time flies when you’re having fun, and I should try to get a hold of the counselor one more time before I need to get some food and prepare for work.

As I always say, I’ll try to blog more, and as it seems now, I might just do that. Bringing my laptop to the library, and sit here posting was very comfertable, and It’s not that long a walk from Alinas so. See the Internet at her place haven’t worked for 4 days either, and I doubt it will be fixed any time soon.

However, I’d like to just write a bit about how my day with dad turned out. Now to be fair, I was rather nervous before meeting up with him at a bar in Porsgrunn. It’s been so long since I last saw him, and I didn’t quite know how he would be, or react to me wanting to meet up with him, after 2 years of no contact. However, it turned out very good I must say. We got along great, had a couple of beers and talked some more, and before we knew it, 2 hours had passed. And actually, we were even photographed by the local paper for a column called “På by’n”.

I was very happy that we had such a good time, and even more that my kid sister, Marie, really wanted to meet up with me after Christmas and spend the day together. Hopefully we’ll all have a bit better relationship from now on, and at least keep in touch now and then. It made me very happy, and I went home with a smile on my face that day.

As for today (or as some claim “yesterday”) there haven’t been much going on. Most of my day I’ve spent at home keeping the fire burning and watching more Heroes. I’m almost done with the season and it pains me to think there’s no more until the next season starts airing. I am however looking forward to it with great pleasure.
I have also managed to get a proper upload system up and running. One that enables me to upload and share files quickly, either by link or email, and it also keeps track on how many downloads each file has had. And a very crude and simple script that gives a more graphic representation of how long the upload takes, how fast it’s going and how much there is left. Both will be available at my dump site shortly. If anyone require a place to quickly upload a file and share it among friends, don’t be afraid to use it. The site is pruned regularly and storage space is not an issue.

I also managed to take a couple of pictures of the incredible winter we’re having down here. It’s simply mesmerizing to go outside and see all the snow crystals covering everything.

And just as a small tidbit at the end. I highly recommend you go check out JibJab.com. It’s a page where you put yourself into movie clips. I had a great time and laughed myself silly watching my friends jumping around :D

And just so it’s been said, yes I miss Alina an awfully lot. We call every day several times a day, and proclaim our longing for each other. I can hardly wait to get back up there and meet her yet again. I love you darling! <3

Onwards to Hamar
Hamar next stop. I’m about an hour on my way now, and I’ve had some food, a drink and read a couple of chapters in my book, world of warcraft: tides of war. I’s really interesting, as it involves how the different alliances were formed, both alliance and horde, and how the war in hillsbrad foothills fared.
Reading these books, I thought I’d get really into gaming again, but it’s not as bad as i thought. I believe it’s much more of a therapy then an agitator, and besides. I love fantasy novels, and the Warcraft world is so vast, with so much going on, that it’s more then enough reading and making oneself a part of the story.
I just realized by the way, I forgot headphones…. Which means I won’t be able to watch movies on my laptop on the train from Hamar to Skien, unless I 1: get some headphones in Hamar, or 2: borrow some headphones from a guy i know that is heading to Skien as well, or 3: that I’ll be alone in the wagon. I’m kind of hoping for the latter :]
Ah well, I still have my books if all else fails.Just one more thing before I’ll be sending this post.
People whom are forcing themselves into being nice towards strangers annoy me! Jeez…

At last, Skien
Or, well partially. I’m on the train towards Skien. I also set up my computer next to this guy I know that’s also heading home, and we’re chatting allot about sci-fi shows. Makes time go allot faster :)
Oh, and we almost lost the train for a second. The train warden blew his whistle and the alarm went off, so I pulled the guy with me in and we continued inside the train instead. Just seconds after the train starts moving and we’re off. Scary :]
And to top it off, my stomach kind of hurts :(
Well, I’m in Oslo now, home soon!

So yeah, I finally got the nerve to rid myself of it today. Here’s how it went:

Early morning, got up around 7 and showered. Nervous level at around -10 to be honest. I was pretty self-confident at this point.
After some breakfast, tea and the opening of various calendars (as of course is common practice within any household during the days of December), I figured it was about time I head towards town and towards my doom.
Now the entire time while I was walking towards town, I wasn’t really worried. I kept persuading myself that the dentist didn’t really have to be as scary as I made it in my own head. I kept telling myself that “dentists are really good these days, and do everything painless”, but that only helps to a certain point. Nervous level climbed to a 5 pretty fast, heading for 25 once I lay my eyes upon Trondheim Torg.

Now comes the part where my fear for dentists really kick in. I enter the hallway, walk up 3 floors and into their office area, tell them I’m available and place myself in the waiting room. At this point my nervous level shoots straight up and my heart starts pounding really fast. I’m at a good 70 at this point (In case you were wondering, a 100 is max :p). I try to watch TV, but everything they say just goes straight trough my head. I try reading the magazines on the wall (not really flicking trough them, just reading the headlines across the room), but alas, my heart pounds faster and faster. At around 90 I finally get called in (even had me wait 10 minutes extra the bastards.)

At this point there’s really no return. I have to face my fears head on and get it over with. Now, the woman calling me in tells me, that she read that I had told the dentist yesterday, whom i made the appointment with, that I was very nervous about today, so she told me that some people like to use headphones and listen to music, which calms people down. As soon as she suggested this, of course I straight to my backpack, got my headphones and connected my mp3-player.

Well put in the chair, music (James Blunt) in ears, the dentist arrives. Now what I feared the most was a gray haired old man, with no manners or time to talk at all, but NO, the guy is about 26-30, dark hair, slight beard and glasses. And he actually takes time to just TALK to me, ask me what it is I fear the most, tells me what he’s going to do and how it probably is going to feel.
I’ve never been more relaxed in my life. I jumped from a good 90 on my nervous level, to a mere 5.

Now the procedure itself was nothing at all really. He put the anesthetic in (which is the only part that hurt a bit), and after a moment he scraped gently on my tooth to check if there was any feeling in it. When we both were assured that it was good to go. I plugged my headphones in, let him go at my tooth, and to my surprise, I was actually slightly amused. The cracking sounds my tooth made when he squeezed it, really sounded creepy and totally crazy.
After about 5-6 seconds, he had the tooth. Now I didn’t even notice, and it wasn’t until he poked me in my arm saying “Hey, we’re done now” I realized it was actually completely gone. He put a pad under my tooth and basically just asked me too bite together.

I was so happy after that, and shook his hand with joy as I left :D

Now, I feel pretty fine, all tough a bit sore it feels good (even though there’s actually one tooth less in my mouth…o_O).

And finally, just to gross you all out, here’s the result:

Yes, I brought it with me, just so I could glare angrily at it and tell it “HAH, IT’S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT SUCKER!”

After dropping off the food at the place we’re meeting up after the ceremony, we head for the church.. We met up with quite allot of family on the parking lot. My Uncle and Aunt, some uncles and aunts of my mom and uncle, and of course, grandpa. I went over, gave my uncle a hug, then after having a chat with one of moms uncles, went over and gave my grandfather a good hug. After some hanging around in the freezing cold, being around 0 degrees and foggy, we decided it would be time to walk inside.

We walk up the aisle, towards my grandmothers coffin, and I get to see all the bouquets from friends and family. I really felt a little lump in my throat already there, and I who was so bashful as to say no thanks to a tissue earlier in the car on our way there, thinking I would probably not get teary eyed, boy was i wrong.
So, we get to our places, my stepfather, mom, grandfather, uncle and aunt in front (in that order), and a brother of my grandma, me and my brother on the next row.

Now this is where I would like to cut in and make a little comment on how incredibly annoying the church is. Thing is, in most cases, when a person dies, of course you should mourn, but at the same time, you shouldn’t really feel horribly bad about not being sad constantly. Death is just as normal as birth, and by being pushed into mourning and depression because you should mourn, is by my views a bit too silly.
Thing is, we sat around waiting for the sermon to start for at least 10 minutes, just sitting there in the silence, waiting for something to happen. After quite some time, the organist starts playing. And even the music is somewhat depressing at times.
I sat there, waiting for the priest to appear, but oh no, there had to be at least 3 songs before he appeared.

Anyway, he held a prayer, read from various parts of the bible and held a rather moving speech about grandma, which i really felt described her in a really wonderful way. I was very touched by this and there were several times I just had to bow down, dry my nose and eyes with my wrist and try not to let it all out. I was not prepared to react like that at all, and it really surprised me. So after the priest had said his stuff, my aunt read a poem and we were called up to carry the coffin.

This part was pretty much a blur, mostly because my eyes were drenched in tears. As we carried the coffin down the aisle, I just kept staring at the floor, trying not to look anyone in the eye, but still seeing enough to be able to not stumble. We carried the coffin outside, and put it on a trolley, then waited for the rest of the people to come out of the church. It was so freezing cold as well, around 0 degrees and slight fog. We rolled the trolley down a gravel road and to the place where she was supposed to lie. Carried the coffin over to the pulley system and put it down on it.
The priest said his final speech, like “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” and so forth, and they lowered the coffin down into the ditch. All the time while this was happening, I was looking at the ground, lump in throat and blurred vision.
Turns out, lots of the family on my fathers side was at the sermon as well, aunts, uncles and even my dad (whom I haven’t talked to for almost 2 years, for personal reasons..), but I was too upset to notice anything and just wanted to get away as fast as possible.

Me, my step dad and brother went straight to the place we were going to eat and greeted the guests. There was of course allot of old people, everyone saying “oh you’ve become so grown-up!” and there was the usual questions “What are you doing these days?”, “Where do you live?”, “Do you have a girlfriend?”. Great fun -_-;

So we had some food, I talked some with my granddad and uncle, but most of the time it was me and my brother just being bored and having sword fights with tiny cocktail swords. Was nice though, food was good, and so was cake.

After we were all done, and the rest of the guests had left, we went back home, got out of our good clothing and just relaxed. We talked a bit about how we thought it went and were all quite happy it was over.

So my first funeral, and I can’t really say I enjoyed it. I sure hope it’s a long time until the next one…

After some rather painful minutes of walking, we end up at the station 08:24, run to the train and jump on. Turns out the train was 5 minutes delayed however, so we got some time to catch our breath and say our goodbyes.
So, catching the train was one thing, finding my seat an entirely different matter. I stumble around the the train trying to find my seat, and after a while find it. Turns out there’s this woman sitting in my seat, she excuses herself of course and scuttles along down the corridor to her assigned seat. After sitting there for a while, a new woman appears, claiming that the window seat is her seat. As the gentleman I am, I of course let her have the seat. Just for the hell of it, I check my ticket again. 69 window it says. Anyway, I’m not the one to quarrel, so I let her have it.

Well, sitting around bored on trains is really not my thing, so I wanted to know if there was any comfort seats available (That’s the ones with extra comfy seats, a power outlet and some coffee), but alas no, they were all taken. And I had even brought my computer and everything…ah well. So I end up sitting next to previously mentioned lady and twiddle thumbs. After a while I fall asleep, and wake up 2 hours later. Great! First time in ever I’ve actually managed to sleep on a train.

With some good sleep to my eyes, I want to read something. So i finish up my “The Invisibles” comic, then start on the “Stardust” book by Neil Gaiman. After quite some hours, totally mesmerized in the book, it´s finished! Woah, I mean the start was pretty slow, but the last part, oh joy! I can’t wait to watch the movie now. Actually, I even started reading it a second time on the train from Oslo to Skien, just because it was that good.

And this has to be said, the trains between Oslo and Skien are getting worse and worse by the year! I mean, the train I went with today must have been pre-WW2!, it was in army green and beige inside, with horrible seats and the toilets was old as dust. It’s only a matter of years before they simply close down that line completely. Makes kind of sense though, the last hour before I came into Skien, I was the only one on the train…

So, now I´m at my mom and step dads place. They set in a new bed which is twice the size of the old one, and twice as comfy. We have ironed our shirts and pants, and we’re all ready to go around 9:30 tomorrow for the funeral.
Apparently I’m the one waling in from, carrying the casket with my uncle.. Hope I don´t screw it up :s

Now I really need to get some sleep. Horribly tired and getting up fairly early tomorrow. I’ll probably post a new post tomorrow evening after we’re all done.

Rest in peace Grandma’

And I loved it! I really felt that it was written about me when i was at that age. Yes, I was quite the little fatty when I was younger, and I was crap at P.E, AND I’d much rather sit on my computer all day. The best part about this strip is, the little boy has the same name as me! :D
After some intense searching I stumbled upon the strip in some obscure torrent so i could put it out and share it with the rest of you.
As for you English speaking guys that might be reading this blog (all tough I’m not quite sure if you’re reading it anymore), here’s an translation:

Frame 1:
Fat boy: I hate P.E. P.E is retarded.
Woman: Everyone needs to move a little, you too Johnny.
Frame 2:
Fat boy: Yeah right, I’m going to work with computers. I don’t need to learn how to throw a lame ball into a lame basket.
Woman: It’s about keeping in shape. A little exercise will do you good. I hope you understand that…
Frame 3:
Woman: YOU FAT LITTLE BUN!
Frame 4:
Man: Did you REALLY say that?
Woman: No, but I really wanted to.

I’m easily amused :)