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  1. #626
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    Mendip's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    ... they have 16 taps of independent ales...
    But do they have cider? I'll have to find out.

    I'll do a recce walk over the weekend and start exploring. I need to get into Göteborg city centre at some point... the old city? It's supposed to be well worth seeing.

    And sorry Lom for being so rude about your home town when I first arrived... I'm starting to settle in now and it seems quite nice!

    I'll try and get a few more pics for you to bring back the memories.

    My main regret is not having Coco and my photographer assistant daughter with me... what a thread we could have made!

  2. #627
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    G.O. SARS

    Watching this ship now operating out of Norway on a discovery mission about those small deep water 'volcanoes' (hydro thermal vent fields) looking at life deep down there.

    My post-lockdown commute back to work-research_vessel_g_o_sars-jpg


    https://www.kongsberg.com/maritime/s...nces/g.o.sars/

    My post-lockdown commute back to work-sars1-jpg



    A walk around the vessel below.

    Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago ...


  3. #628
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Mendip, opening up one country after another to the benefit of our TD audience.

    He'll be travelling on a diplomatic passport next.

    My post-lockdown commute back to work-diplomatic-passport-jpg

    Along with his security/virus sniffing dog Coco.

    My post-lockdown commute back to work-coco-jpg
    Last edited by OhOh; 25-09-2020 at 04:50 PM.

  4. #629
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    10/1 he knocks up Agnetha.

  5. #630
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    ^
    He's saving himself for someone with green fingers I hear.

    Nail varnish is not the same as a bit of Thai soil.

  6. #631
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    And sorry Lom for being so rude about your home town when I first arrived... I'm starting to settle in now and it seems quite nice!
    Eh, you were only a bit miserable after two month on a boat followed by two days in memory lane.
    It was one of those Mondays, we all have them.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    My main regret is not having Coco and my photographer assistant daughter with me... what a thread we could have made!
    and how I finally would be able to get the upper hand over Neverna

  7. #632
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    Mendip, this job is land based for its entirety?

  8. #633
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    Quote Originally Posted by David48atTD View Post
    G.O. SARS

    Watching this ship now operating out of Norway on a discovery mission about those small deep water 'volcanoes' (hydro thermal vent fields) looking at life deep down there.
    Yep... remember those coral mounds a few pages back... hydrothermal vents... you heard it here first!


    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    10/1 he knocks up Agnetha.
    My, I mean the trainee is English from Devon mate... normal name.

    And I'd want better odds than that to take the bet... although she did show a bit of interest in a pint in The Red Lion...

    I've discovered she has a graduate boyfriend who works in Zurich in financials... although what she's doing with some age-appropriate yuppy when she could be sitting at a bar drinking cider and eating steak and kidney pie and chips with me, I don't know. Youngsters these days, hey... Maybe her old man would fancy a pint!

    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    ^
    He's saving himself for someone with green fingers I hear.
    Ha... the first gardener related comment for some time... one small indiscretion...

    But that reminds me, as did Ootai also today, my chickens are overdue for their fowl cholera vaccinations... that falls under the gardener's remit while I'm away.


    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg View Post
    Mendip, this job is land based for its entirety?
    Yes Nid, this is the same company as I was offshore with and I've been tasked with finishing up a load of projects and writing up the reports. Not bad work to be honest, but after 8 weeks on a boat it'll be a struggle...

    But... Covid of course has changed everything. When you can't feasibly get home and I reckon within a couple of weeks the UK will be in lockdown... it kind of changes your outlook. I'd rather be homeless with work and lodgings than just homeless... I'm happy for these guys to throw all the work they have at me.

  9. #634
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    I'm not finding the office particularly friendly... but that's no reflection on the Swedes at all who have all been very welcoming. The area I'm working in has a lot of English staff geos and they're just not interested. There can often be some animosity from staff towards contractors in this industry... but I'm old and ugly enough not to be bothered by that.

    And besides, today was the day... I left work a bit early to head into town and find a wine shop, an ATM and hopefully The Red Lion... although I was alone.

    But bollocks to that, it was pissing it down... a 4km round trip in the rain, no thanks.

    And anyway, it gives my trainee a day to reconsider!



    Instead I headed up to the 7-22 to pick up some provisions, including a 6-pack of Heineken... which at 3.5% is the strongest allowed to be sold in a supermarket. Not a great Friday night in the making, but ya have to make an effort!

    I found a short cut to the shop behind my student digs, and Lom's old stomping ground.

    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    The mess hall, I ate there as young signal corps officer when on a temporary assignment to the navy base. Oh memory lane..
    I'm wondering Lom, could this have been that mess hall? ... a similar looking building with a couple of anchors outside... obviously a naval background... It's just up the hill a bit from the first building, behind the docks. Near a graveyard if you remember that from 20 years ago...



    I followed one of the many cycle tracks and found these... Lom? Old stables maybe? The Navy always needed stuff lugging around. A couple of old-timers were using them as workshops today.



    And this... a bloody great torpedo in a car park... It's got little hooks at the snout, why's that?

    What's going on Lom?


  10. #635
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    It appears you left just in time.

    Farmers' union warns walkers after cows trample man to death

    "NFU urges dog owners to let them off leads if approached by cattle after teacher dies.

    A schoolteacher from North Yorkshire has become at least the second member of the public to be trampled to death by cows in the UK this year, as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) urged walkers to let their dogs off their leads if they are charged by cattle."

    Farmers' union warns walkers after cows trample man to death | UK news | The Guardian

    Mad Cow is back in the isles.

  11. #636
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I'm wondering Lom, could this have been that mess hall? ... a similar looking building with a couple of anchors outside... obviously a naval background... It's just up the hill a bit from the first building, behind the docks. Near a graveyard if you remember that from 20 years ago...
    No, that area was apartments for navy staff and their families.


    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I followed one of the many cycle tracks and found these... Lom? Old stables maybe? The Navy always needed stuff lugging around. A couple of old-timers were using them as workshops today.
    They have the typical look of military storage mews but I don't reckon where they are.

  12. #637
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    ^ They are up behind the Navy staff apartments... storage mews would make sense.

    I like it round here... this morning just as it was getting light I looked out of my window and there were two great big hares trotting across the car park... each easily the size of Coco. The last time I saw a hare was many years ago in that same field the killer cows nearly got me. The harriers and their beagles used to come round every year and kill a load of them... a great shame.

    On the way home from fishing on Blagdon Lake one evening I found a dead hare on the side of the road. It was still warm and limp, so I took it home and made a big potted hare stew. I skinned it to use the fur for tying flies. The 'hare's ear nymph' is a favourite fly in the West Country and I bet that hare's dried out ears are still in the loft of my mum's house, 35 years later. But anyway, I'll try and get a photo of them before I leave this place.

    Tonight was a revelation to me... I discovered the whistling lasagne... what will these Scandinavians think of next. A German girl (it's like the United Nations here) saw me struggling trying to get the top off my evening meal, and advised me how to proceed...

    You just stick it in the microwave... no need to take the top off or even try and translate the microwave times... it bladdy whistles like a kettle when it's ready!



    Anyone could make this.


  13. #638
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    ^whistling lasagna! Who'd have thunk!

    Does your workplace have a cafeteria for its employees? Or a common kitchen (with stoves, knives, etc) aside from microwave? I gather that your room is just sleeping quarters with bathroom and it has no kitchen. Does it have a common/ shared kitchen at the end of the hallway (dormitory style)?

    Cheers!
    Last edited by katie23; 27-09-2020 at 06:57 AM.

  14. #639
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    ^ Katie, no cafeteria at work but I do have what they call a kitchenette in my student bedsit. I boiled some eggs tonight for this week's lunches... it's all pretty shite really.



    There's six other 'apartments' on this building, and there's also a shared kitchen... but it's a bit manky so I've only risked using the microwave so far. I found a whistling spag bol this weekend as well!



    These were on the kitchen table... at first I thought it was a condiment set, but there were no holes. Whatever could these be used for? I've heard rumours about Sweden but the mind boggles...



    The whole set up is pretty shite to be honest... normally for this type of work you'd be put up in a hotel with breakfast provided and a lunch at work. That would leave the per diem for a couple of beers in the evening. But... I'm compromising a lot due to Covid... your attitude changes when you can't get home, and with such an uncertain future it makes sense to earn the money while it's there.

    To make life more bearable I decided to leave work a bit early tonight and head out to find the Systembolaget... this is the government run alcohol shop for anything stronger than 3.5%. My Highland Park evaporated over the weekend and I can't keep drinking tins of Heineken.

    You take your bladdy life in your hands walking along these paths... the cyclists come out of no-where and they don't hang about.



    A view back towards the docks after about 20 minutes walk... looks like a Maersk container ship being unloaded. Oh, and a big red rock.



    I know where to bring my stale bread in the evenings. While it still stays light it looks as though I'll be sitting on the beach feeding the ducks for an hour while sipping a beer... not quite the same as sitting with my dogs.



    Some urban street art for Chitty...



    And now it starts to get proper busy. I have never seen such confusing pavements... they're divided up for the cyclists who seem to be taking over in Sweden.



    In fact Sweden is just full of b@stard cyclists. Everyone is either cycling, jogging, scootering or even skateboarding... and that's grown men, not just kids. I don't know why they can't just walk anywhere. Even the walkers are doing this silly power walking. Everyone in Sweden must be permanently knackered.



    Added to that, on the roads along with cars and buses there's trams zipping about all over the place... I didn't risk crossing the pavement, let alone a road. I've never been on a tram and I have no intention of changing that.



    And finally... my destination. I did risk stepping back across the pavement for this pic and very nearly got flattened by yet another bloody cyclist.



    But all said and done, despite the country being completely fokked up, the Swedes are nice people. The girl in the Systembolaget actually apologised to me (in perfect English) for addressing me in Swedish... although the worrying thing there is that she mistook me for a Swede. I see now why Lom can correct native English speaker's English... these guys are great linguists.

    The girl in the Systenbolaget also recommended me this bladdy organic wine, and she was so nice I ended up sticking it in me basket. I hung around a while longer to try and secretly swap it for something else, but she kept her eye on me so I ended up buying it. Maybe they're not as sweet and innocent as they seem?

    On my way back one of these power walkers actually said hello to me... which caught me by surprise... until I realised it was one of the managers (female of course) from the office. I'm getting that 'they all look the same syndrome'... yet another petite blonde with a mane of long hair. I guess if you're all gonna look the same it's not a bad way to be!

    And dinner... I've found the Heinz beans... if I can only find some decent pies this may not turn out so bad after all!



    And after nearly a week in Sweden, my favourite thing I've found.

    I've always loved a bit of 70s music, as does the wife. That's the souvenirs sorted out!

    Last edited by Mendip; 29-09-2020 at 02:07 AM.

  15. #640
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    ABBA in a tin priceless.

    I recommend you borrow or buy a bike for the duration of your stay there, if you can't beat them join them.
    Plus it'll keep the weight off and keep you fit, the Swedes appear to have a decent cycling set up going there.
    I've lost 8kilos in 7 months through lockdown cycling.

    Is that a full tin of baked beans on your plate? Respeckt
    Cheers for the street art pics, appreciated

    How many cheese doodles can you fit in your mouth without chewing them?
    If they're like wotsits, then I can do a full pack.

    Btw the rumours about Swedes partaking in anal as a national sport I can concur having had a few Swedish girlfriends in the past.
    You are right to give the table decorations a wide berth.

  16. #641
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Katie, no cafeteria at work but I do have what they call a kitchenette in my student bedsit. I boiled some eggs tonight for this week's lunches... it's all pretty shite really.
    There are cafeterias and lunch restaurants nearby where you can spend your hard earned.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    The whole set up is pretty shite to be honest... normally for this type of work you'd be put up in a hotel with breakfast provided and a lunch at work.
    and neither did they provide a nanny, maybe they thought they hired a big boy.. Bless that it is only a one month gig.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    My Highland Park evaporated over the weekend and I can't keep drinking tins of Heineken.
    Why? Nowhere to hide the empties?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    . Oh, and a big red rock.
    This part of town is known as Klippan (The Cliff) and Röda Sten (Red Stone) is a sub of it, the square house with graffiti was once the boiler house for hot water to nearby industries but is now an art hall.
    The red brick complex you get to directly afterwards was once a sugar mill and porter brewery.
    Looks like they have torn down parts of it and built modern apartments on the left side.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I've always loved a bit of 70s music, as does the wife. That's the souvenirs sorted out!
    Tuna (or is that tune?) inside.

  17. #642
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    Adobe Organic Wine. Real wine. Better than anything in a box in Isan. At what price though?

  18. #643
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    In fact Sweden is just full of b@stard cyclists. Everyone is either cycling, jogging, scootering or even skateboarding... and that's grown men, not just kids. I don't know why they can't just walk anywhere. Even the walkers are doing this silly power walking
    Quite a change for you in comparison with Thai cities, isn't it?
    Similarly in Holland, Denmark, Germany, etc., the people are not so rich as in Thailand to afford motorised wheels...

  19. #644
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    There are cafeterias and lunch restaurants nearby where you can spend your hard earned.

    ..and neither did they provide a nanny, maybe they thought they hired a big boy.. Bless that it is only a one month gig.
    Yes... both points taken Lom... I don't want to come across like a whinging pom!

    I'm working 11 hour days and don't really want to waste time going out for lunch, and that would mean being social as well. An egg roll will suffice today, but it would be nice to have a proper breakfast...

    ... a one month gig... and a week passed already. It's a really strange situation as usually I'd be looking forward to get the work finished up and get home.

    But, unless something drastically changes with the Thai Covid entry restrictions (very unlikely) and if the UK goes into complete lockdown (very likely) I'm gonna be homeless after this. Maybe I should just wind it in a bit and ne grateful to have a bed at night.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shutree View Post
    Adobe Organic Wine. Real wine. Better than anything in a box in Isan. At what price though?
    The wine cost 228 Swedish Krona... or 20 quid in real money. That would be 800 Baht up in Isaan!

  20. #645
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    The wine cost 228 Swedish Krona... or 20 quid in real money. That would be 800 Baht up in Isaan!
    For 3liter of a 2016 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Was it ok?

  21. #646
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    Not bad at all... I'm limiting myself to 3 glasses a night, and that's not pint glasses. I'll try a different box next week.

    I also got meself a couple of tine of Swedish cider for 17Kr each... I'll try them tonight.

    I've noticed that prices in Sweden are a lot lower than in Norway.

  22. #647
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I've noticed that prices in Sweden are a lot lower than in Norway.
    and so is the monthly paycheck..

    I spend school summer vacation near Norway and we used to pop over the boarder on our mopeds to buy icecream.
    How we laughed at them for their old rusty cars and their narrow bumpy roads. Then they found oil. We don't laugh anymore..

  23. #648
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I also got meself a couple of tine of Swedish cider for 17Kr each... I'll try them tonight.
    I don't expect a positive review of those..

  24. #649
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    I was talking to a Norwegian about just the same thing while on the Havila Subsea.

    He was telling me that all the isolated houses we saw way up in the north of Norway on the remote islands would have basically belonged to a family relying on fishing and subsistence farming, with a couple of sheep and a cow for milk... and this was the case right up to the 70s... and then they struck oil.

    Not many subsistence farmers around now, and today each of those remote islands has a very expensive bridge or tunnel connecting it to the mainland.

    He also told me that salmon farming is worth almost as much to Norway as the oil and gas... which I find hard to believe.

    But one thing is for certain, Norway is an incredibly wealthy country.

  25. #650
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    But one thing is for certain, Norway is an incredibly wealthy country.
    But whenever I speak to a Norwegian he cries about the living costs, especially the taxes...

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