Åj åj åj, brrrrrr....

Home sweet home? Or home cold home? What happened? Where did the
summer go?
Sitting in the plane in Malaga, ready to push back from the gate, the
Captain welcomes us to this flight to Oslo, it will take 3 h and 40
min, and in Oslo it is heavy rain and 11 degrees. What! Can I please
get off the plane and back to 35+?
Well well, in 6 weeks time I will be back! Gives me something to look
forward to, when I sit here in my livingroom in Oslo freezing and
debating if I should put on the heating, but it is still August...

Last day in the sun!

Our last day in Spain has come, driving to the airport tomorrow before
noon. Today I had a relaxing day on the terrasse reading a book and
enjoying the heat! The book actually melted.. Marianne said it was too
hot, so she was inside washing and fixing! It was pretty hot, but when
you know it is 14 degrees and rain in Oslo, a hot day on the terrasse
is just perfect! Warm up the core and hope the body will store it for
a week until I go back down to + 35-40 in Kz.

Spain again!

If you choose a week in Spain in August you are guaranteed hot and
sunny days! Not a cloud in sight! But the sad truth is that we have
not been to the pool or the beach all week. We have been inside
building ikea furniture, taken care of an electrician, a plumber and a
lock smith, cleaned and organized. Result after 5 days: great! All is
fixed except the hot water! Hoping the last two days will be more
relaxing! Maybe even a swim or two?!

Late summer in Oslo

Summer in the city is not bad. Loving the fresh tasty fruit and the
light summer nights. On Thursday Kristoffer started school. Big day
for a small boy, 6 years is not much life experiance! Good luck with
13++ years or so of school!

Less wise?

A 30 min ordeal at the oral surgeon left me with one wisdomtooth in a see-through envelope, but still one experience wiser! Life with less wisdom seems good so far (yes, still taking the drugs...)

Home sweet home!

Åj åj åj! Hooooome! Sunny, beautiful Oslo! And my very own bed! What
more can you wish for!

Good old Amsterdam!

Made it to Amsterdam and the lounge! Had a good flight, slept almost
all the way! Now 4 hours of hanging around! Time for cava, fresh
rolls, coffee, then some sushi, and flower shopping on the way to the
gate! Great day in the western world!

Back on "dry-land"

So good to be back! Not that I did not have a good time offshore, but it is too hot and humid offshore!! We had a nice helicopter flight in. Burning hot and hazy, in two layers of clothing…. but still great to see the whole island from above, and also fly up the Ural river and get a good view of the town. When we landed in Atyrau airport, it was 42 degrees! Hot, but dry, much easier to handle!! A loooong shower in the apartment before going to work was great! Had an urge to put on a summer dress, so I did! Strange thing that, after a week in coveralls!

La Isla Bonita

Life on the Island is a little different this time. Usually I stay on a vessel with lost of Aker people, and you have plenty of people to talk to at breakfast, lunch and dinner. But this time I am on a vessel with only one other Aker expat. So I find myself sitting" alone" for just about every meal. But I am by no means alone! I have made lots of new friends! The vessel if full of Agip (the Client) personnel, and Italians are as Italians are; very friendly and talkative, at least to me….! Yesterday I found myself in a bizarre situation. I got personally invited to an Italian special pasta dinner. Mess hall (after closing) at 20, Special Pasta Genovese! So at 20 I show up to a room full of Italians! Two of my "new friends" come and talk to me right away, so I do not have to "hang around" alone, puuhh! And after 10 min or so a man shows up at the table with a hairnet and apron, with a huge kettle of fantastic-smelling pasta. Plates are filled, and I get served first, nice! And then the senior managers, and then the rest. The "chef" sits down next to me. We have a great pasta dinner with extra parmesan and olive oil, and nice conversation! I am not the best with remembering names, they are all called Giorgio, Luigi, Franco, Claudio, and Roberto… how I am supposed to know that the guy in the hair-net next to me is the big boss?? Well well, that I found out later, after playing with a "home-made phone" and singing karaoke with the guys...! I had a great unexpected "dinner and games" on the Shkotov! This beautiful picture was sent to me by one of the guys...! No comment needed....!

I even have a sofa!

Just had to add a picture of my sofa! I have my very own sofa!! Nice!

Pretty happy with my cabin!

And this is my bathroom. It all work perfectly! All I can complain about is that the big towel does not really work, it just pushes that water around. But the small towel works, and it is so warm anyway, that you dry up eventually! No problemo!

My home for the week!

I got pretty lucky this time! My room at the Caspian was taken!! So sad...! So after a 1 hour wait in the hallway outside the "lobby" on the Caspian, I got the good news that Mira had fixed me a room, a single room even! And on the Shkotov! It is basically the "Italian boat"! They have the best breakfast and the best coffee! At least according to my breakfast needs. I do not prefer sausage and bacon, I prefer toast and cheese, yoghurt, muesli and fruit! And I must add that sometimes life is sweet as a blond girl on the Italian boat... need I say more!

The view out my window! Straight into a Pipe Rack!

Hot hot hot!!! Island in the Sun!

Made it out to the Island again. Life here is pretty ok. Except it is hot, hot, hot. You can not move without sweating. And out here it is even humid (not like in the city where it is superdry), so you just end up soaked right though! But I am the lucky borrower of Kristin's coveralls as well, so I can hand in one to the laundry lady, and have one clean one to wear! Pretty nice! I found a good trick though, just make sure that when you stop to investigate something or to talk to someone, make sure you stand "in the middle off" your coveralls, and preferably rest your hands on your waist, then you get some ventilation and most of the moisture ends up in your socks, clever! Let's just say, I am happy I brought plenty of socks with me!

Who needs elevators!?

Åj åj åj! After a nice huge "Mexican" dinner at a indian/mexican/burger restaurant called Nomad, we arrived home to this note on both our elevators. Hmmm, 16 floors on a super full stomach. Great!
But as young healthy Norwegians, we made our way up the approx 400 steps. The best tip is not to stop, just keep on walking… slow down if you need to, but keep on walking!! I was so happy that I had bought my 5 litres of water the day before...