We finally arrived last night from our latest trip to Norway. What a great trip. We got to spend most of the time with the family, and see now places. We stayed near the Atlantic Ocean, and for the first time I was really able to see how the tide comes in and out.
One of the most exciting things about the trip was the drive home. Matt and the family wanted to see Geiranger because we were up in that area. We’d been there, and decided to split from them when we were waiting for the ferry on RV63. We left them and I was happily driving along the road heading for Andalsnes. Now I had done a lot of research on the area and knew a bit (I thought) about the roads. So we are driving along and come upon a rest stop called Trollstigen. It still didn’t ring a bell until Jane said what’s the Troll’s ladder? Oh no, well, maybe it’s around here somewhere as I’d seen pictures of this road. We stopped, took a break and then decided to drive on. All of a sudden the road said 8% grade. We were headed down the road. I can only say that it was the thrill of the trip, but not one I had planned. Here is a link to one of the descriptions of the road. You know you’re in trouble when their is a vw minibus backing up to let a regular bus go by.
But enough of that. I took pictures and they are finally up. Enjoy.
July 25th, 2009 | Tags: Norway, Traveling, Trollstigen | Category: Norway, Traveling | Comments Off
I’ve been reading about Gov. Palin stepping down as governor of Alaska. I’m amazed that this happened. Then again, not really. How the folks in Alaska ever elected her is beyond me. But then again, I don’t live there so what do I know.
What I do know is that this might or might not be good news. A few reports state that she is leaving politics for good. I find that hard to believe but who knows. Other reports state that she is looking ahead to helping the candidates in 2010 and then running for president in 2012. Now that is worrisome. The Republicans are in bad enough shape as it is and she is going to try to help? She’s one of the big reasons that they are in as bad as shape as they are.
About the funniest posts I did read though was on Huffington Post and the person said “some pit bull she turned out to be”. I almost feel off my chair when I read that. I guess it goes to show you just how good of a hockey mom she was.
Ya betcha.. 
July 4th, 2009 | Tags: Politics, Republican, Sarah Palin, stupidity | Category: Politics | Comments (2)
We’ve finally gotten most of the little things taken care of for our trip this summer. We’ll be going to Norway again to see the grandkids. The nice part of this trip is that the kids will be going with us. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We are going to leave their house and travel up to the Atlantic Road. It’s an 8 kilometer road that goes over several islands and crosses the Atlantic Ocean. From the pictures I’ve seen so far it’s quite breathtaking.
We have other place to see too. We’ll stop in Dombas first, and get to see a bit of the area there. Then it’s on to Alesund. Alesund is a city that is built on three islands. It’s claim to fame is that it was destroyed in 1904 by a fire. After that, the town was rebuilt in Art Nouveau Style. I’ve seen pictures and it’s quite amazing. Hopefully I’ll get to take some more. The last stop is at the far end of the Atlantic road. We’ll be staying in a Rorbu which is the name for a fishing house. The house is right on the ocean, and looks great. Our reservation even says the house comes with a sauna so that will be nice. We get to spend 4 days there and I’ll hopefully get to do some fishing. From what I’ve heard, the fishing is supposed to be good there. We’ll just have to see.
June 23rd, 2009 | Tags: Norway, Traveling | Category: Norway, Traveling | Comments Off
I just read an article in the news that says the Dept. of Interior is going to have free access to the national parks on three weekends this summer. My question is why are we paying for this in the first place? Oh, it’s to clean up the mess that people leave. I find this really strange. In one of the most beautiful countries in the world, Norway, they have free access to all public lands including National Parks. You can read about it here .
I wonder what the difference is. Could it be that Americans don’t respect their country? You can see it day in and day out. Even here. Take a look at the base and then take a look at the towns. I’d bet that you don’t see folks out every Saturday cleaning the sidewalk, and the entrance to their house. But you’ll see it here.
I’ll admit that Norway is much smaller than the U.S.A. but if enough folks really cared, the parks might actually be usable. As it sits right now, I doubt I’ll ever visit them. I’m not paying for something that Mother Nature created.
June 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Norway, Traveling | Category: Norway, Rants | Comments Off
I’m really getting tired of listening to Rush Limbaugh rant about this administration. Just tonight he started going off on the plan for GM and the president hadn’t even finished speaking. What is his problem? Is he so self absorbed that he can’t even listen before running his mouth? If he’s got a better idea on how to fix this, let’s hear it. Come on Rush, put your money where your mouth is.
This man is a total waste. He rants about everything that the current administration is doing, and yet I have yet to hear one thing from him, other than his usual bullshit, about how he would fix things. If he knows so damn much, why doesn’t he run for office? I’ll tell you why. He couldn’t win. He’s an entertainer, a blowhard, and can’t let his drug ridden brain absorb anything. It’s his way or the highway. How many of the republicans have apologized after making a truthful statement about him? Once he starts ranting, they immediately fall back and say that they are sorry. What a joke! I guarantee I’d never do it. I really could care less about him or what he thinks about me. I doubt he’ll ever read this, but I sure wish he would.
June 1st, 2009 | Tags: Politics, Rush Limbaugh, speech, stupidity | Category: Politics, Rants | Comments Off
I just read an article on the CNN page that Ashton Kutcher is threating to stop twittering if they go ahead with their proposed TV show. Well, I have a thought about that. Ashton, you are a twit!! Yep, you think that you are so damn important that if you stop, the service will die. And if you quit, I hear that Demi will quit too. Big loss. Not really, but who knows.
I guess it’s because he can’t type more than 140 characters without losing his train of thought. That’s how he keeps folks up to date with everything important to him. What a twit. It fits. Twit, Twitter. Same thing. Different spelling. Waste of time.
May 27th, 2009 | Tags: Ashton Kutcher, Social networking, stupidity, Twitter | Category: Happenings, Rants | Comments Off
I was sitting here this past week, and a revelation hit me. On the 9th of May, 1969, I joined the U.S. Air Force. That’s 40 years ago. How things have changed. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine what would happen during these past years. I’ve lived in various places from Texas, to New Mexico, to Colorado, to Thailand, California, Germany, back to Texas, then to the Philippines, and finally to Germany. In going to these places, I’ve seen many different things, and have traveled to other countries as well. I did a few days in Vietnam which was quite an experience. I got to travel to the U.K., and a lot of places in the states while stationed in California. While in the Philippines, I also go to travel to Okinawa, Japan, and Korea.
Now after all these years and all the moves, we’ve actually gotten used to moving. Well, until we got here. Now I’m the dependent, and my wife is the sponsor. It a change, but we have been in Germany for almost 18 years now. Three years were up north in Kalkar, and the rest down here in Ansbach. We’ve gotten so used to it that once Jane retires, it will be hard to get used to living in the states again. It’s been over 20 years since we last lived there and so many things have changed. We aren’t there yet but getting closer every day.
In July, I’ll write another entry about 40 years, but with a bit of a different twist. It will be a fun way to remember things.
May 17th, 2009 | Tags: Military | Category: Fun Stuff, Happenings | Comments Off
I can’t resist. I just read a couple of articles about what our former VP had to say on the Sunday talk show this morning. Dick Cheney is someone I really worry about. He’s a warmonger, plain and simple. He stated that the U.S. didn’t torture folks with waterboarding. Yea right. But when other folks do it, like the Japanese in WWII they get 15 years in jail. How does he justify his statements? The man is a bald-faced liar. “We didn’t torture” because we got some right wing lawyer to write up a memo in such a was as to make it OK for us, but not for them. How is that right? He also stated that thousands of lives were saved with the information that was gathered. That assumes that the information was correct. And he knows this for sure.. Well, in his dreams I’d bet. He just couldn’t figure out a way to get elected again. No one would elect him for president, and no one would have him as the VP again. So now all he does is run his mouth.
His other statements were about General Colin Powell. He made statements that he thought he’d already gone over to the Democrats. Not hardly. Yes, he did endorse President Obama. But that’s not a party switch. Here’s a little hint. Cheney has never served a day in the military. He has no clue what it is like to serve. And at the time he would have been in I doubt he would have lived. Not from the enemy, but from his own folks. He’s just a coward along with all the other Republican blowhards like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and Coulter to name just a few.
As far as I’m concerned, Dick Cheney is FUBAR! Take that Mr. Ex VP. I know you’ll never read this, and I could really care less. And no I won’t go hunting with you.
May 10th, 2009 | Tags: Cheney, news, Politics | Category: Politics, Rants | Comments Off
Well, it’s that time of year again. We are going to go up to Norway again to see Matt, Camilla and the grandkids. The best part is that this time they are going to travel with us. Camilla and I have been plotting the trip and so far things are working out really well. She got us a hotel in Alesund, and I’ve gotten one in Dombas. Both places look really nice. Then after that, we want to go over to the Atlantic Road. Here is a link so that you can see what we are going to be doing and seeing.
I’m trying to reserve a Fisherman’s house up there so that we can stay cheaply for a few days and see some things. In the village of Bud, there is a fortress that was built by the Germans during WWII. I’m really looking forward to seeing this along with the aquarium in Alesund, and lots of other things.
May 10th, 2009 | Tags: Norway, Traveling | Category: Fun Stuff, Norway, Traveling | Comments Off
I wrote about my new phone a while back telling folks how to get MMS working. Since that time I’ve gotten to use it a lot more and really like it. Being about to sync it with Google is nice. I can edit most anything like contacts, or calendar, or email, and the phone is automatically updated. It’s really nice.
A couple of days ago, the firmware was updated to 1.6. This brought quite a few new things. The best one so far is the ability of it to change when you go from vertical to horizontal. It sort of blurs, and then pops up with the right screen. Then if you hit a typing box, an on-screen keyboard comes up. I’ve got big hands, but even I can use this one. When it’s horizontal, it’s even better. I can use both hands as the phone is big enough.
I know there are some other goodies that are available and I’m still trying to find them. Oh, one is Latitude from Google. It’s built into google maps, and you can invite folks to join so that you know where someone is. It’s sort of cool. One of my friends and I are trying it out to see how accurate it is. I’ll let you know later how it goes.
May 9th, 2009 | Tags: Android, G1 | Category: Phone | Comments Off
