My last blogg entry was when I returned to Hamburg from Egypt, around one month ago.
I only spend one weekend in Hamburg before I flew down to Tripoli in Libya to work there for two weeks. Again I travelled with the three Germans from RWE Dea. Marcus, the project manager, was the only one who had been there before. We basically had no idea where we were going to stay in Tripoli. Our worst fear was that we didn't have any hotel reservation at all, but we also had a faint hope that perhaps we would be staying at the Corinthia hotel, maybe the best hotel in North Africa. We got something in between, a decent hotel called Thobacts. Quite small, very disorganized staff, but brand new and very clean.
Work in Libya was less stressful than in Egypt, but we still had to work almost every day. Over the two weeks we stayed there we managed to take two days off, both of them Fridays. One of the days we spent exploring the old part of Tripoli. It was certainly an experience walking through the narrow streets and looking at all the stuff people were selling in the markets. Some streets were filled with small shops selling various spices. The smell was wonderfully exotic! There were also plenty of shops selling fake stuff. Fake iPhones, fake D&G clothes, fake CAT choes, and so on...
The next Friday we went to Leptis Magna, an incredible place! It's one hour's drive outside Tripoli, and is an old Roman city that was destroyed by earthquakes and villains hundreds of years ago. As the years went by the whole city was covered in a thick layer of sand. But recently the old ruins have been excavated, and the old Roman city has been partly restored. So I was walking through the old streets of a once great city, admiring the great triumph arches, tall columns, and of course - the impressive theater! Sitting in the theater looking down upon the stage I let my thoughts drift and imagined being at an old Roman play, surrounded by soldiers, workers, traveling merchants... It was all very impressive!
We were working in Tripoli most of the time, but of course we had a trip out to a drilling rig to set up the system there. This time the rig was out in the desert. It was not the kind of desert with sand dunes, but a very rocky kind of desert. Me and a local Libyan IT guy flew down there, while the Germans drove by car. An 8 hour drive... The plane departed from Tripoli airport and landed in the middle of the desert, at "Mabrouk oilfield", run by the French company Total. We then drove from the airstrip to the oilrig. We stayed out there for 4 days, working quite hard. There wasn't really much else to do out there than work. I found it quite enjoyable though! The temperature was not too hot during the day, and not too cold during the night. And just being out in the desert for the first time was all quite exciting!
All in all I enjoyed Tripoli quite a lot! I felt very safe when walking around in the streets, and the people I met were very friendly. "Welcome to my country!", "Yes basketball!", "Hello long man!" were examples of what people were saying when they saw me. I did get the impression though, that it takes a long time to do stuff in Tripoli. For example, a year ago the government decided to demolish lots of buildings to build a new highway there. But still they haven't started the construction of the highway, so all the remains of the demolished houses are just laying there in piles... Not very nice to look at. On the other hand, the Libyan government seems to open up a bit more to foreign investors and so on, and I saw many new skyscapers being planned in the next few years.
After Libya I returned to Hamburg again, but I also got to get back to Norway in the weekend, for the first time in two months. My brother was also home from the US that same weekend so it was good timing. Now I'm going to stay in Hamburg until the 19th of December, hopefully not longer, cause I would like to celebrate Christmas at home as usual. I've never spent a Christmas away from my family actually! It will probably happen sooner rather than later, but this year it would be good to be at home, considering I've spent so much time away lately.
tirsdag 2. desember 2008
fredag 31. oktober 2008
Cairo, Egypt
For more than two months I've been working on a project for the German oil company RWE Dea AG. I've mostly been working from Hamburg, but on Saturday 18th of October me and 3 Germans from the oil company flew down to Cairo in Egypt to continue the project there.
Today it's the 31st of October, and I'm returning to Hamburg for the weekend, after two busy and very challenging weeks. But we got the job done in the end, and our computer systems for real-time drilling operations are now up and running. So my stay in Egypt was all in all a success!
My time in Cairo was mostly spent working, but I did have some time to look around in Maadi (the part of Cairo I stayed in), and made a few interesting observations. The first thing that struck me on the way from the airport to the hotel was the traffic. I knew Cairo traffic had reputation of being particularly bad, but now I could see for myself how it was. And it was really bad... Almost all drivers seemed to be only thinking about themselves, and not minding the other cars around them. People were changing lanes at random without any signal, some cars suddenly stopped and went in reverse, some cars drove in the wrong direction, and the most obvious thing - everybody was honking like crazy all the time! I later heard from a Germany woman living in Cairo that some of the honking is done in a code language to communicate in a way.
In the evenings I usually went out to eat with the three Germans from RWE Dea AG. Most of the time we went to TGI Friday's by the river Nile, or Restaurant 55 on Road 9. One thing that made the Egyptian restaurants different than European restaurants was that almost all restaurants were serving "Shisha" - water pipe! This is a big cultural thing in Egypt, and almost everybody smokes it. You get all sorts of flavours - mint, apple, peach, anis, cherry, cappuchino - you name it! My German collegues loved the stuff and smoked it almost every night! I should emphazise that none of them smoked water pipes with hashis or marijuana or anything, only "harmless" tobacco with added flavour.
After setting up our computer systems in the office in Cairo we all headed for the "North-West Khilala" rig site for 4 days to set up the system there. We didn't really know much about what the rig site would be like. We knew it was in the Nile delta, and not in the desert, but we had no clue what the living conditions were going to be like or anything. But whatever expectations I may have had it turned out to be quite different than anything I had imagined! First of all, the drive from Cairo to the rig was a total adventure! The closer we got to the rig, the worse the roads got, and the scenery more and more interesting. We drove by small villages where farmers rode on mules or plowed the fields by hand, or with the help of some bulls. The women were washing clothes in the river, often dressed in a full burka. Kids and animals alike were all bathing in the Nile. It was facinating to see all of this! It was raining most of the day, so the roads got worse and worse. The last distance we drove to get to the rig didn't look much like a road at all!
I had to work almost non-stop at the rig site to get the work done, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, cause there isn't really much to do there. Only watch some TV, or perhaps read a book if you remembered to bring one. My 3 German collegues had brought a "Shisha" from Cairo, so they spent most of the evenings getting it to work, and then smoking it. One problem at the rig site was the cell phone coverage, it was very limited. But we found out that a small area in one corner of the rig site was a little bit better than other places, so we managed to stay in touch with civilization there.
One interesting thing I learned in Cairo was that foreign companies are required to hire 3 Egyptians for every foreign guy they hire. Naturally, for an oil company it may be hard to find 3 qualified petro-physicists or geo-physicists for each foreigner they hire, so instead they hire some Egyptians to walk around serving coffee or drinks to the staff. And also some to work as company drivers (which is very useful to have, since only the local Egyptians know the unwritten rules of Cairo traffic).
My birthday came up during my stay in Cairo, and the 3 Germans had somehow found out about this, so they arranged tickets for a laser show at the Pyramids, and then later a dinner at a superb restaurant at a hotel right next to the Pyramids. It was a big surprise, and a very memorable birthday!
Now I'm trying to have a relaxing weekend in Cairo before heading for Libya on Monday. That will be very intersting, and possible the most challenging job I've done so far...
Today it's the 31st of October, and I'm returning to Hamburg for the weekend, after two busy and very challenging weeks. But we got the job done in the end, and our computer systems for real-time drilling operations are now up and running. So my stay in Egypt was all in all a success!
My time in Cairo was mostly spent working, but I did have some time to look around in Maadi (the part of Cairo I stayed in), and made a few interesting observations. The first thing that struck me on the way from the airport to the hotel was the traffic. I knew Cairo traffic had reputation of being particularly bad, but now I could see for myself how it was. And it was really bad... Almost all drivers seemed to be only thinking about themselves, and not minding the other cars around them. People were changing lanes at random without any signal, some cars suddenly stopped and went in reverse, some cars drove in the wrong direction, and the most obvious thing - everybody was honking like crazy all the time! I later heard from a Germany woman living in Cairo that some of the honking is done in a code language to communicate in a way.
In the evenings I usually went out to eat with the three Germans from RWE Dea AG. Most of the time we went to TGI Friday's by the river Nile, or Restaurant 55 on Road 9. One thing that made the Egyptian restaurants different than European restaurants was that almost all restaurants were serving "Shisha" - water pipe! This is a big cultural thing in Egypt, and almost everybody smokes it. You get all sorts of flavours - mint, apple, peach, anis, cherry, cappuchino - you name it! My German collegues loved the stuff and smoked it almost every night! I should emphazise that none of them smoked water pipes with hashis or marijuana or anything, only "harmless" tobacco with added flavour.
After setting up our computer systems in the office in Cairo we all headed for the "North-West Khilala" rig site for 4 days to set up the system there. We didn't really know much about what the rig site would be like. We knew it was in the Nile delta, and not in the desert, but we had no clue what the living conditions were going to be like or anything. But whatever expectations I may have had it turned out to be quite different than anything I had imagined! First of all, the drive from Cairo to the rig was a total adventure! The closer we got to the rig, the worse the roads got, and the scenery more and more interesting. We drove by small villages where farmers rode on mules or plowed the fields by hand, or with the help of some bulls. The women were washing clothes in the river, often dressed in a full burka. Kids and animals alike were all bathing in the Nile. It was facinating to see all of this! It was raining most of the day, so the roads got worse and worse. The last distance we drove to get to the rig didn't look much like a road at all!
I had to work almost non-stop at the rig site to get the work done, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, cause there isn't really much to do there. Only watch some TV, or perhaps read a book if you remembered to bring one. My 3 German collegues had brought a "Shisha" from Cairo, so they spent most of the evenings getting it to work, and then smoking it. One problem at the rig site was the cell phone coverage, it was very limited. But we found out that a small area in one corner of the rig site was a little bit better than other places, so we managed to stay in touch with civilization there.
One interesting thing I learned in Cairo was that foreign companies are required to hire 3 Egyptians for every foreign guy they hire. Naturally, for an oil company it may be hard to find 3 qualified petro-physicists or geo-physicists for each foreigner they hire, so instead they hire some Egyptians to walk around serving coffee or drinks to the staff. And also some to work as company drivers (which is very useful to have, since only the local Egyptians know the unwritten rules of Cairo traffic).
My birthday came up during my stay in Cairo, and the 3 Germans had somehow found out about this, so they arranged tickets for a laser show at the Pyramids, and then later a dinner at a superb restaurant at a hotel right next to the Pyramids. It was a big surprise, and a very memorable birthday!
Now I'm trying to have a relaxing weekend in Cairo before heading for Libya on Monday. That will be very intersting, and possible the most challenging job I've done so far...
søndag 14. september 2008
Hamburg
The last three weeks I've been working in Hamburg, Germany. The project I'm working on is quite interesting, and will probably also take me to Libya and Egypt soon. I don't want to write too much about work though, so instead I will put down a few words about my expeiences in Hamburg so far.
First I should tell you that I've never really been to Hamburg before. I've driven through on my way down to Krefelt one time, but I never had the chance to stop by and check out the city. So I didn't know too much about it before I got down here. And I must admit Hamburg is a bigger city than I thought it was. With a population of 1,8 million it is Germany's second largest city, only Berlin is larger. Hamburg has also got the second largest harbour area in all of Europe! Only Rotterdam in Holland is larger! It is safe to say that Hamburg's maritime heritage and history of sea trade identifies the city in many ways. We in Norway will be familiar with the Hanseatic Union that Hamburg was a big part of. The city Bergen in Norway is also known for being a part of that.
When talking about Hamburg I guess it is impossible not to mention the Reeperbahn. Arguably Europe's most well known red light district. People come here to visit some of the many clubs and bars in the area, but some also head for the more shady places, like the closed off Herbertstrasse where a women of a certain proffession offer their services to men. I haven't spent too much time in this area of town, but I did notice that a lot of the hookers hang out around Burger King of all places.
The hotel I'm staying at is called "Hotel Smolka". It's a small hotel, probably no more than 50 rooms, but I really like it! The staff is very friendly, and the location couldn't be much better. I think the area is called Eppendorf (or perhaps Rothenbaum, one of those two definitely), and it's a very upper class neighborhood. The houses and apartment buildings in the area are very classy, and there are also a lot of consulates here. One of the guys working here has been all over the southern part of Norway, even in Spangereid where I grew up!
Most of the time I spend in Hamburg is work. And when I'm done working for the day I don't always have the energy to go out and do a lot. So my exploration of the city has mostly been done in the weekends. Here are some photos I've taken, and a description of what I was doing when I took them:
- Most of the work I do is done in an office in Hamburg, but I've had a few trips to this drilling rig to set up some computer systems.
- These photos are taken from "Miniature Wonderland", the worlds biggest miniature model train exhibition!
- In center of Hamburg you find the "Rathaus" (town hall). It was completely destroyed during a big fire in the 1800's, but was rebuilt and finished in 1896. I had a tour of this building. Quite interesting actually. Hamburg is both a city and a state in Germany, so they have both a city council and a state government. They're both located in the "Rathaus".
- This is St. Michael's church, often regarded as "the symbol of Hamburg". Walking up to the top gives you a brilliant view of Hamburg, in all directions.
- This is one of the oldest houses in Hamburg. It's located in the Rothenbaum area, where they have a law that says you cannot build a house taller than the trees already located on the property...
- The Planitarium is located in Hamburg's Stadtpark (city park). It's actually a movie theatre with a 180 degree screen in the ceiling. So you buy a ticket, lean back in your chair, and watch spectacular space themed movies! In the movie I saw they simulated a hyper-fast space travel from Earth to the closest galaxy (Alpha Centauri). It was really cool actually!
- One Sunday someone arranged a car race for veteran cars. Thousands of people bought tickets to come and see this! I was just walking around in the park when I suddenly heard some loud engine sounds. Naturally I was pulled towards it and was quite excited when I saw what it was! :)
First I should tell you that I've never really been to Hamburg before. I've driven through on my way down to Krefelt one time, but I never had the chance to stop by and check out the city. So I didn't know too much about it before I got down here. And I must admit Hamburg is a bigger city than I thought it was. With a population of 1,8 million it is Germany's second largest city, only Berlin is larger. Hamburg has also got the second largest harbour area in all of Europe! Only Rotterdam in Holland is larger! It is safe to say that Hamburg's maritime heritage and history of sea trade identifies the city in many ways. We in Norway will be familiar with the Hanseatic Union that Hamburg was a big part of. The city Bergen in Norway is also known for being a part of that.
When talking about Hamburg I guess it is impossible not to mention the Reeperbahn. Arguably Europe's most well known red light district. People come here to visit some of the many clubs and bars in the area, but some also head for the more shady places, like the closed off Herbertstrasse where a women of a certain proffession offer their services to men. I haven't spent too much time in this area of town, but I did notice that a lot of the hookers hang out around Burger King of all places.
The hotel I'm staying at is called "Hotel Smolka". It's a small hotel, probably no more than 50 rooms, but I really like it! The staff is very friendly, and the location couldn't be much better. I think the area is called Eppendorf (or perhaps Rothenbaum, one of those two definitely), and it's a very upper class neighborhood. The houses and apartment buildings in the area are very classy, and there are also a lot of consulates here. One of the guys working here has been all over the southern part of Norway, even in Spangereid where I grew up!
Most of the time I spend in Hamburg is work. And when I'm done working for the day I don't always have the energy to go out and do a lot. So my exploration of the city has mostly been done in the weekends. Here are some photos I've taken, and a description of what I was doing when I took them:
- Most of the work I do is done in an office in Hamburg, but I've had a few trips to this drilling rig to set up some computer systems.
- These photos are taken from "Miniature Wonderland", the worlds biggest miniature model train exhibition!
- In center of Hamburg you find the "Rathaus" (town hall). It was completely destroyed during a big fire in the 1800's, but was rebuilt and finished in 1896. I had a tour of this building. Quite interesting actually. Hamburg is both a city and a state in Germany, so they have both a city council and a state government. They're both located in the "Rathaus".
- This is St. Michael's church, often regarded as "the symbol of Hamburg". Walking up to the top gives you a brilliant view of Hamburg, in all directions.
- This is one of the oldest houses in Hamburg. It's located in the Rothenbaum area, where they have a law that says you cannot build a house taller than the trees already located on the property...
- The Planitarium is located in Hamburg's Stadtpark (city park). It's actually a movie theatre with a 180 degree screen in the ceiling. So you buy a ticket, lean back in your chair, and watch spectacular space themed movies! In the movie I saw they simulated a hyper-fast space travel from Earth to the closest galaxy (Alpha Centauri). It was really cool actually!
- One Sunday someone arranged a car race for veteran cars. Thousands of people bought tickets to come and see this! I was just walking around in the park when I suddenly heard some loud engine sounds. Naturally I was pulled towards it and was quite excited when I saw what it was! :)
fredag 15. august 2008
Hotel booking - musical style!
My friends Yngve and Hannah invited me over for chilli the other day. Afterwards Yngve told me about this incredibly funny radio show he had heard. We spent a few minutes googling and managed to find the show on mp3. I've listened to it a couple of times now, and it really is funny! :)
The radio show is called "O-Fag" (it's Norwegian, it's the name of a school subject kids have in primary school). The hosts of the show are two well known Norwegian commedians, the "Ylvis brothers".
In this particular show one of the Ylvis brothers challenges the other one to call a hotel in London to book a room. But to make it more interesting the whole thing has to be done in the form of a musical!
I can't quite explain it, you have to listen to it yourself. Check out this link (it's in English)!
http://rita.nrk.no/community/o-fag/mp3/uploads/o-fag_hotellbooking.mp3
onsdag 30. juli 2008
Hop on the bus, Gus...
During the last couple of months I've started taking the bus to work almost every day. At some point last Spring I was getting so frustrated with being stuck in traffic every morning, and found out it's a lot more comfortable chillin' in the back of the bus, listening to my iPod, half asleep.
Besides, it's supposed to be good for the environment to take public transportation. Maybe even help stop the global warming stuff going on. But considering my job is to help oil companies find more oil I guess I'm not entitled to brag too much about helping the environment...
Anyway, lately the traffic has been a lot better! It's flowing really smooth all the way to downtown! A lot less cars on the road for some reason! So I could probably start taking the car to work again now, but so far I've been sticking to the bus. I guess I just like it so much.
There is one thing that may get me to take the car again though. The case is that in order to get to work I have to take two buses. First bus nr M2 to downtown, then bus nr 19 to my office. Previously the timing has been perfect! Bus M2 arrives a few minutes before nr 19 leaves. So I practically hop from one bus to another. The last two weeks however, there's been a new bus driver on the M2 bus. And this new driver drives so slow, and makes these looooong stops at every bus stop along the way. So by the time we arrive downtown I can do nothing but watch the 19 bus disappear around a corner. I always miss it! So I either have to walk for 30 minutes to get to work, or wait 15 minutes for the next bus. Either way, it's really frustrating to miss that bus!
I'm going to keep taking the bus for a couple of more weeks, but if this continues I'll probably switch back to the car, even though I may contribute to a little bit of global warming...
Besides, it's supposed to be good for the environment to take public transportation. Maybe even help stop the global warming stuff going on. But considering my job is to help oil companies find more oil I guess I'm not entitled to brag too much about helping the environment...
Anyway, lately the traffic has been a lot better! It's flowing really smooth all the way to downtown! A lot less cars on the road for some reason! So I could probably start taking the car to work again now, but so far I've been sticking to the bus. I guess I just like it so much.
There is one thing that may get me to take the car again though. The case is that in order to get to work I have to take two buses. First bus nr M2 to downtown, then bus nr 19 to my office. Previously the timing has been perfect! Bus M2 arrives a few minutes before nr 19 leaves. So I practically hop from one bus to another. The last two weeks however, there's been a new bus driver on the M2 bus. And this new driver drives so slow, and makes these looooong stops at every bus stop along the way. So by the time we arrive downtown I can do nothing but watch the 19 bus disappear around a corner. I always miss it! So I either have to walk for 30 minutes to get to work, or wait 15 minutes for the next bus. Either way, it's really frustrating to miss that bus!
I'm going to keep taking the bus for a couple of more weeks, but if this continues I'll probably switch back to the car, even though I may contribute to a little bit of global warming...
torsdag 17. juli 2008
Going to Qatar.... NOT!
On Saturday morning I'm leaving for Qatar! I'm going to be working there for 3 weeks, until 13th of August. I didn't know I was going until yesterday, and a two days notice is kind of short when you're going away for three weeks... But it's fine, I don't mind going!
It's going to be hot down there this time of year, temperatures will be in the 110°F region, that is around 45°C. So I plan on spending most of my time indoors.
Anyway, I'll try to share some of my experiences and pictures from my trip on this blog once I get down there!
UPDATE!!!!
NOT GOING AFTERALL!
The kind of job I have is fairly unpredictable. Yesterday I received confirmation from our customer that they absolutely wanted me in Qatar for three weeks. So I booked tickets and started updating myself on our operations down there. Still I knew there was always a possibility of the whole thing being cancelled. Things can happen very fast in this industry. So I didn't bother to start packing, decided to delay it until the evening before I was about to go. That turned out to be a wise decission...
Today, at around noon we got a call back from our customer. Now they wanted to renegotiate the deal, and didn't feel comfortable with the rates we had agreed on. So the whole trip got cancelled, at least for now.
It's going to be hot down there this time of year, temperatures will be in the 110°F region, that is around 45°C. So I plan on spending most of my time indoors.
Anyway, I'll try to share some of my experiences and pictures from my trip on this blog once I get down there!
UPDATE!!!!
NOT GOING AFTERALL!
The kind of job I have is fairly unpredictable. Yesterday I received confirmation from our customer that they absolutely wanted me in Qatar for three weeks. So I booked tickets and started updating myself on our operations down there. Still I knew there was always a possibility of the whole thing being cancelled. Things can happen very fast in this industry. So I didn't bother to start packing, decided to delay it until the evening before I was about to go. That turned out to be a wise decission...
Today, at around noon we got a call back from our customer. Now they wanted to renegotiate the deal, and didn't feel comfortable with the rates we had agreed on. So the whole trip got cancelled, at least for now.
søndag 6. juli 2008
New A/V receiver
For a while now I've been in the possession of 5 surround speakers. I bought them maybe two years ago for just 100 NOK ($20). The packaging had been slightly damaged by water, so the store couldn't sell them for the full price and needed to get rid of them, so they sold them very cheaply.
Anyway, I've had these surround speakers set up in my apartment since October. They look really nice. The only problem? I haven't had anything to connect them to! The speakers sure look pretty, they're tall and elegant, but without an amplifier or receiver to connect them to they really haven't fulfilled their purpose yet.
So last Thursday I decided to go downtown to look for an audio/video receiver! This was by coincidence the official "shopping day" in Kristiansand. One day every year all the stores in the downtown area get together to arrange a "shopping day" with all sorts of discounted prices and good bargains. The city was packed with bargain hunting shopaholics! I turned a blind eye to all of this though, my only thought was to find an electronics store selling hifi stuff.
"30% discount on all shoes", "take 3 shirts, pay for 2!", "buy a lawnmower, get a free first-aid kit!". I discarded all of these fantastic bargains. I was on my way to "HiFi-Klubben", one of the best sources of hifi equipment in town.
I'm really not big on shopping on impulse. Usually I spend a lot of time on the Internet, trying to find out all I can about a product before deciding whether to buy it or not. This time though, I was ready to trust the store staff and listen to their recommendations. This is pretty much how it went down:
Staff: "Hello, how can I help you today?"
Me: "Hi, I have a TV, 5 surround speakers, but nothing to connect the speakers to. What do I need?"
Staff: "Are the speakers really huge and powerful?"
Me: "No, not really, they're nothing fancy, pretty average I guess"
Staff: "Then get the NAD T754! It's the best thing since sliced bread!"
He went on to explain all the great features of the unit, and told me he never had received any complaints about it. We talked a few minutes more before I decided I would go for it! 5000 NOK ($1000), a lot of money, but I felt lucky.
Back home I connected everything. The first tests I ran were promising. I got the menu up on the TV and quickly went through the initial configuration. It was almost too easy! But of course, I had to run into some problems. The final test I ran was to test the sound on each individual speaker. That's when I discovered it! There was no sound on the front left speaker!
I went from being happy, to confused, to extreeeemely frustrated, then even more frustrated, then threw the whole receiver out the window! Well, actually I didn't throw it, but think I was contemplating doing it. Eventually I resigned and sat back... I had tried everything, but nothing would bring any sound on the front left speaker... I realized I wouldn't be able to get this thing working on my own, so I decided to bring the NAD T754 back to the store and get them to test it there.
Now, I had spent more than an hour trying to figure out what was wrong, maybe two hours! So when the guy at the store found out what the problem was after 30 seconds I didn't feel too smart. It was just a tiny little thing missing at the back of the receiver. he plugged it back in and everything was working.
So back at my apartment I connected everything again, and sure enough, now everything was working perfectly! I was happy again, just like I was when I first thought everything was working!
Anyway, after 8 months living in my new apartment I've now finally been able to put my surround speakers to use! I still need to get some new cables to connect the DVD player and stuff like that, but as far as the sound quality is concerned I've got no complaints!
Anyway, I've had these surround speakers set up in my apartment since October. They look really nice. The only problem? I haven't had anything to connect them to! The speakers sure look pretty, they're tall and elegant, but without an amplifier or receiver to connect them to they really haven't fulfilled their purpose yet.
So last Thursday I decided to go downtown to look for an audio/video receiver! This was by coincidence the official "shopping day" in Kristiansand. One day every year all the stores in the downtown area get together to arrange a "shopping day" with all sorts of discounted prices and good bargains. The city was packed with bargain hunting shopaholics! I turned a blind eye to all of this though, my only thought was to find an electronics store selling hifi stuff.
"30% discount on all shoes", "take 3 shirts, pay for 2!", "buy a lawnmower, get a free first-aid kit!". I discarded all of these fantastic bargains. I was on my way to "HiFi-Klubben", one of the best sources of hifi equipment in town.
I'm really not big on shopping on impulse. Usually I spend a lot of time on the Internet, trying to find out all I can about a product before deciding whether to buy it or not. This time though, I was ready to trust the store staff and listen to their recommendations. This is pretty much how it went down:
Staff: "Hello, how can I help you today?"
Me: "Hi, I have a TV, 5 surround speakers, but nothing to connect the speakers to. What do I need?"
Staff: "Are the speakers really huge and powerful?"
Me: "No, not really, they're nothing fancy, pretty average I guess"
Staff: "Then get the NAD T754! It's the best thing since sliced bread!"
He went on to explain all the great features of the unit, and told me he never had received any complaints about it. We talked a few minutes more before I decided I would go for it! 5000 NOK ($1000), a lot of money, but I felt lucky.
Back home I connected everything. The first tests I ran were promising. I got the menu up on the TV and quickly went through the initial configuration. It was almost too easy! But of course, I had to run into some problems. The final test I ran was to test the sound on each individual speaker. That's when I discovered it! There was no sound on the front left speaker! I went from being happy, to confused, to extreeeemely frustrated, then even more frustrated, then threw the whole receiver out the window! Well, actually I didn't throw it, but think I was contemplating doing it. Eventually I resigned and sat back... I had tried everything, but nothing would bring any sound on the front left speaker... I realized I wouldn't be able to get this thing working on my own, so I decided to bring the NAD T754 back to the store and get them to test it there.
Now, I had spent more than an hour trying to figure out what was wrong, maybe two hours! So when the guy at the store found out what the problem was after 30 seconds I didn't feel too smart. It was just a tiny little thing missing at the back of the receiver. he plugged it back in and everything was working.
So back at my apartment I connected everything again, and sure enough, now everything was working perfectly! I was happy again, just like I was when I first thought everything was working!
Anyway, after 8 months living in my new apartment I've now finally been able to put my surround speakers to use! I still need to get some new cables to connect the DVD player and stuff like that, but as far as the sound quality is concerned I've got no complaints!
mandag 30. juni 2008
N.Y. and Philly
I returned from the US five hours ago, at 12:20 local Norwegian time.
The jet lag is messing up my head. My eyes want to sleep, but my body wants to stay awake. I can't decide if I'm hungry or not. I think maybe a little bit. I'll grab a snack later. The time difference is six hours. Sleeping on the airplane is near impossible. Especially when you're 6'8" and have longer legs than usual...
This was my third summer vacation in a row that I spent in the US. It's quickly becoming a tradition. I probably wouldn't have gone over there this year if my sister Hilde hadn't convinced me to go with her. But I'm glad she did! It was a great trip!
My brother Arne lives in Philly, so our main motivation of going to the US was to visit him. Me and my other brother Johannes went over to visit him there last year as well, but since then he has bought a new apartment, so I was eager to see what it looked like. We didn't go to Philly right away though. My brother was on a business trip to Las Vegas the first week, so me and my sister stayed in New York the first 4 days, and then later took the Amtrak down to Philly to meed up with Arne there.
I've been to New York twice before, but never as long as 4 days. The extra time was nice to have, cause then we didn't have to rush around Manhattan in order to see everything. We did the usual touristy stuff like visiting the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Time Square and so on. We also went to see "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway. I had always wanted to see that musical, so even thought we had to wait in line for one hour to get tickets it was a great experience! The hotel we stayed at was the Skyline hotel in Hell's Kitchen. It was just a couple of blocks away from Time Square, so no complaints there. The service was also good. We were upgraded from a normal hotel room to a suite for some reason. On the bad side there was no breakfast included. And also there was some restoration work going on in the elevators so they were often unavailable. A little bit annoying. I wouldn't mind staying at the hotel again though!
In Philly I saw my brothers apartment for the first time. It was a very nice place! Very central, and a very interesting layout. The apartment was spread out on three floors. Sitting room and kitchen on 1st floor, bedroom and bathroom on 2nd floor, and another room on the 3rd floor with access to the roof! A friend of my brother's also teamed up with us in Philly and stayed with us the whole week. So the apartment was a little crowded with all 4 of us staying there, but it worked out quite fine! From Philly we had day trips out to the Amish country, Washington DC and Nazareth (Martin Guitar Co). We also had plenty of time to check out the historical district in Philly. I saw a lot of it last year, but didn't mind refreshing my memory. The Art Museum, Constitution Center, Liberty Bell and Penn's landing were just a few of the tings we saw. We also went to the Eastern State Penitentiary. That was incredible and can be recommended to everyone who ever visits Philly! Al Capone is one of the prisoners who have been in there. It was the first Penitentiary ever built and served as the model for more than 300 other prisons world wide. Originally the prisoners would be isolated and not allowed to talk to each other. The purpose of this was so the prisoners could think about the crime they had committed and develop a feeling of guilt and regret.
Now I have decided that I am in fact hungry, so I'll wrap this up.
The bottom line is that my vacation in the US was a great success! The weather was great most of the time, and my sister was a great traveling companion! I'll try to add some pictures later.
Blogg kick-off!
The Internet is already flooding over with all sorts of blogs. Travel-blogs, fashion-blogs, sports-blogs, celebrity-blogs, food-blogs... you name it!
So this simple little blogg will just be a small drop in the big blogg-ocean. But I don't know, maybe some people out there will somehow find it interesting to read about my observations and experiences as I travel the world.
So this simple little blogg will just be a small drop in the big blogg-ocean. But I don't know, maybe some people out there will somehow find it interesting to read about my observations and experiences as I travel the world.
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