Ah man, what a wonderful day. Not only has the sun been out the last few days, with a crystal clear blue sky, but it’s been rather warm as well. At the most today, we had a whooping 28 degrees Celsius, which is quite respectable for this time of the year. During summer, we usually average in at around 32 degrees, but that’s come late June, the start of July. And what isn’t better than to be able to work outside under the warm spring sky?

My parents needed some help with getting their terrace fixed, as the old boards were starting to rot and break. This is of course far from aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but even worse, it’s far from safe. I’d hate to see my parents fall through the boards and seriously hurt themselves. And by coincidence, the boards we needed were on sale so there was no time to lose. So after having ordered 300 metres of new board and picking it up yesterday, we started the initial work today. Getting the old boards up proved a bit harder than we expected, but we got a technique going after a while. And when we started to get the first boards up, we really saw that it was due time to replace them.

As I sit here and write this, I’ve gotten a slight sunburn on my shoulders and my nose look somewhat like Rudolf the reindeer’s nose. But it’s been a wonderful day, with pizza and beer out in the sun as a welcome break during the work.

When I went to Thailand earlier this year, I brought my old SLR camera with me and took quite a few pictures. But as it turned out, many of the pictures turned out bad as it turns out the camera house itself is somewhat faulty. The fact that camera house was broken was one thing, but all those ruined pictures was even more devastating. I’ve been on the lookout for a new camera house for some time, but haven’t really found anything to my liking nor price range.

But as luck turned, my father found an almost identical camera house at an online auction. So I’m now a proud owner of the Canon EOS 500. The previous owner said he had been gentle with it, but that was an understatement. The camera looked like it was brand spanking new, with only a few minor non noticeable scratches. I can’t wait to take this baby out for a spin. Now next on my list is to get a dSLR camera house and a couple of other lenses, and I’m all set. I already have a stock 28-80mm (3.5/5.6f) and a 100-300mm (5.6/6.7f) long range lens, which I can do fine with until I get my hands on more equipment.

It’s been a busy month, with work and training and adjusting back to the real world. After having been out on extended sick leave all summer with a back injury I sustained in late March. And there’s been lots and lots of football to watch and attend too, with my local team Strømsgodset fighting for survival in the Norwegian equivalent of the Premier League. They only need one more victory to save themselves from being relegated. And then we have Liverpool, with a packed Premier League program as well as playing in group A of the Champions League, there’s plenty of football to keep up with.

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Yet again, mother nature shows its sheer strength and brutality. And yet again, humans are left behind in awe and despair. Millions are affected as Katrina swept across Louisiana, and New Orleans, the home of my aunt and uncle. Katrina could not have timed her appearance worse, as she came in brutally the same week as my aunt and uncle were supposed to move inland safely away from the unstable weather that comes in on the southern shorelines of the US of A. My dad was coming over too, to help them move and settle in and build the farm they are setting up. Guess they should have done that a week earlier. Well, there is nothing you can do about that is there. Mother nature gives, and mother nature takes. That’s the way of life, always has been that way and will remain so for all eternity.

But it is at times like this that you see the true face of human nature. You see ordinary people become heroes, some turn desperate and become modern day vigilantes, you see people losing all they’ve ever had. Looking at the news reports from down town New Orleans reminds you not of a town that thrives with life during the Mardi Gras festival, or a town with great history, a town with that good jazzy atmosphere. What you’re looking at, is a war zone. No guns were fired, no a-bomb was dropped. No, it was mother nature that showed of her brute force. Mother nature shows of her arsenal, her potential of devastation. She has no mercy, and has no feelings. Even though no guns were fired by her, the victims of this great tragedy is now firing guns like there is no tomorrow. I can’t say that I blame them, they are fighting for their survival. It’s the sheer instinct of getting on to tomorrow, all signs of being civilized and being a moral being plummets like a rock heading from outer space into our atmosphere. It’s destined to fall to the ground. My respects go out to the ones working for the New Orleans police and fire departments, their job is hard in the first place, but the responsibility placed on their shoulders after Katrina did her work is way beyond imagination. Working around the clock for days, without sleep, not knowing where the next bullet may strife. They themselves have lost everything, and yet they stand fort trying to maintain peace and order. Seeing that many police officers have deserted comes as no surprise, most people would have in their position.

Which brings me to the federal involvement in this matter. The federal government was slow to deploy the national guard and army to the area. They showed very little interest in doing anything, and good old Bush sat on his picket fence just staring. It took a very long time before the president even bothered to make a statement, to get off his fucking arse. Adding to injury, the sitting administration has cut back on flood protection funds to cover the ever growing expenses for running the war in Iraq. The US has heaps of military personnel abroad, especially in Iraq that should have been dispatched to the disaster area. But no, good old Bush is too occupied fighting the war that his father started. His own pride makes him fail in his own back yard, where it matters the most. The fact that the US was quicker to deploy personnel to the tsunami affected areas than in their own home land also makes me wonder. It puzzles me, makes me speechless. But nothing surprises me anymore, when it comes to the Bush administration. Pack of useless, no good red necks.

Bush is like an untrained sea captain. If you show him a naval chart, he wouldn’t know how to use it. Show him a compass, and he thinks it’s a toy. Ask him to guide the ship by the stars alone, and he’ll laugh at you and say; “No, that’s damned impossible! The stars are only dots sprinkled across the sky by God to entertain us. God bless us, and God bless America!”

The only thing I can say really, is this; My thoughts go out to the flood victims in New Orleans and the surrounding areas.

Update: It seems that the initial reports my aunt and uncle was given was wrong. They’ve now been able to get to their house, who hasn’t been affected by the catastrophe at all. Just minor water damages, that’s it. I just can’t say how pleased I was to hear this.

Or should I say, on my feet again? Well, either one works I guess. Just been in bed since Saturday, was out “cold” with a high fever that knocked me down good. So I had no other option than to crawl in to bed and just play the waiting game. So it’s been a good few days just lying in bed, with vivid fever hallucinations battling everything from small Scottish midgets to green aliens trying to abduct me to conduct strange experiments on me. Thankfully I my light saber tucked away, ready to aid me whenever the situation got to heated, literally.

Late this afternoon, I was able to get my arse out of bed and into the shower and clean up. So now I’m all new shaved, smelling like roses looking like a million bucks. Had some soup, and later on some noodles. Everything needed to get you back on track, nothing beats a winning recipe. My head is even starting to come back to life, to a state where it’s close to “working”, but everyone that knows me that is a statement to be taken with a large pinch of salt. Ah well, none the less; it’s a good to be back! Back in black (or something similar)

Why!? Because I’m starting to become like my mother, that’s why. Recently, I’ve found out that I tend to have quite a bit of energy the day after I’ve been out drinking. In some cases, it’s so extreme that you can compare me to the energizer bunny on speed. Yup, not a pretty picture at all. So what have I done today? Well, I started with scrubbing down the toilet, sink and shower, so now the bathroom looks all shiny and nice. In fact, it sparkles so much that you can get temporarily blinded. :) Then went the turn over to the bedroom, changed the sheets and hung the pillows and duvets out to air. Dusted the whole place down. Then came the living room and kitchen, all made to look it’s best. Even cleaned out the fridge.

Then I took a short break, and made dinner. What was on tonights menu? Tikka masala, a great Indian dish with rice. Though, I was all out of chicken so I had to use pork instead. But personally, I think pork goes better to the tikka masala than chicken does, so I wasn’t really disappointed. Of course, after having done so much work around the apartment, I ate too much. I was barely able to move afterwards, and thus spent quite a bit of time in front of the telly. When things started to return to normal, all I could feel was fear, the fear of the revelation that had come to me earlier on today;

I’m starting to become more and more like my mom! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!

Ah man, last night was wet. Very wet, so wet that the government was close to sending out a flood warning. My cousin came by the bar, it was his first weekend off for quite some time. So after work some of my co-workers joined him for a few beers. Oh how I wish now it was only a few beers, but it wasn’t. It was far too many. And I’ve been suffering all day for it.

I’ve never really been a person that gets hung over, I don’t cease to function like many of my friends do. But today my body has pretty much been like so dead. I’ve never had the flakey nerves, shaky hands and the occasional sweats, but that hasn’t been the case today. By God, today has been hell. If I knew last night that I signed a contract with the devil, I would have ran away from that temptation island faster than lightning itself screaming like a girl calling out for mum.

So with these words I end my day off suffering and pain, heading off to bed hoping that the devil sees mercy on me and lets me start off tomorrow all fresh and fit for fight. Or else I will file for a lawsuit against the devil on the basis that I signed a contract on false grounds, I thought it was all going to be good fun. Hah, I guess he’s sitting in his warm comfortable hole in the ground laughing at me.

Damn bastard!

I’m not Christian, I’m not religious but sometimes I do wonder if there is a puppeteer that sits and controls the fate of my life, because currently my life sucks! This whole year in general has been one big disappointment. And once you think you’ve hit rock bottom, guess what happens then? You get screwed over once again. Ah man, if there’s a God he sure likes to bitch slap me from here until fucking eternity.

My year starts up fairly well, job is moving along nicely and I’m somewhat content. Good friends, good life, good everything. Then I decide it’s time to get back to the IT industry, and work with the field of expertise I have (and my education lies). All good, until the day an acquaintance of mine shows up with a job offering. The job is going down to Mallorca, Spain to work there in a hotel. I’m promised this and that, and go down there with a big smile on my face. Who wouldn’t, knowing that you would be working in the sun for the next seven months? I get down there, nice apartment and lovely scenery. Then the whole thing starts to fall apart, and once the first domino chip falls the rest falls by itself. I spend half my wages getting back and forth to work, I work only nights, just barely get one day off per week, had to bicker and argue with management to get paid and have no social life at all, cause all my flatmate’s works different hours than me. Result, I flee the country and head back home.

I get back home, start working a few shifts at the place I used to work prior to me going to Spain. Life is somewhat good, it’s good being back with your loved ones and with people that care for you. But then what happens? Yeah, my lung collapses and leave me in the hospital for two weeks and handicapped for nearly four weeks. On the positive note, I finally quit smoking after having smoked for the last ten years.

Then after two straight blows in my face, I start to get back to life and start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. A friend of mine asks me nicely if I can pull a shift for her, since she’s busy getting the stuff out of her apartment before she heads off to Dubai to study there for four years. Well, guess what happens then? Well, a man comes in to the bar and asks if my boss is there, and since he’s gone for the day I say no. He then asks if I can call him up, and I say sure. I lift up the receiver, dial the number and give this guy the phone. I stand right next to him, and eaves in on the conversation. He introduces himself as a person from a nightclub right next to our restaurant, and he’s wondering if he can borrow some money cause he’s broken the key to his office safe. From what I can hear of the conversation, they agree that this is ok so I give him the money. This not being the first time a friend of my boss has come to the restaurant for favours, I don’t hesitate at all. Give him the money, and he says he’ll be back within the evening with the money. Well, guess who called me today and said that this guy didn’t show up? My boss, asking me where the money was. As it turns out, this guy just hung up the phone that I dialed and faked the whole conversation. Result, I have to pay back this money as it was my fault and for being an idiot. Fuck, how gullible can one person be? God surely hates me.

Is there any better way of finishing a weekend of partying than going fishing with your best friend? I don’t think so. But what pisses me off, is this; We went fishing at around 8pm, knowing that we would have a rather good chance of getting something. We get to the river, and there’s heap of activity. Myself, I’ve never seen the river sizzle with so much life. During the six hours we were there, we’ve seen at least 40 fish surfacing just to show they were there. But did we get any? No, I’m pretty sure the fish just swam right in front of us, looking at us and making fun of us. Damn bastards! The end result, what might possibly have been the last trip of the year with zero fish caught. Better luck next year is all I can say. Ah well, birthday boy. Time to get some well earned rest. And my thoughts go out to my friend Scott, I hope the hurricane Ivan dies out quickly so that he can get home to his girlfriend and spend some quality time with her. You hear that Ivan, stop being such an arse!

Ah, it’s good to finally be able to function somewhat after my visit to hospital two weeks ago. Since I came out of hospital last week, I’ve been slowly recovering from a collapsed lung. The medical condition is called pneumothorax and supposedly only strikes tall, slim males such as myself. It’s quite rare too, only happening to nine out of a hundred thousand. Finally it’s been proved that I’m special! :) So last night I went to the doctor to take an x-ray to check up on the surgery that was performed, and it turned out it was all good. Because of this good news, I had to celebrate. As it turned out, luck smiled on my face as my sister was throwing a girls only party and I was rooster invited. So that meant it was time for some beers and firing up the barbecue. Beer has never been that good. But today I suffer somewhat from my choices last night; being a bit hungover on a hot summer day isn’t a good thing. Ah well, you have to sacrifice some things in life to have fun. Without taking some risks, life itself becomes a bit dull. And yes, it was worth it even though I went home as I did, single. I’ll get myself a fish next time!