Number 80

What happens when you put an easy to please guy into a workplace with free vending machines? I am the victim of some sort of science experiment. It’s like a Big Brother show in there. It started innocently enough with some black tea, light, no sugar. That worked great the first few days, and hey, it’s free. So one day I wanted to try something different so I added a little strength to the tea and some sugar. It was good, different, but little did I know the evil path it lead me on.

There it was… Number 80 Tomato Soup. I thought why not and pressed it with an adventurous joy. In a standard white plastic cup came the sweetest of soups. The red liquid was almost hypnotizing and then I tasted it. Maybe it was something about that day, but it was simply amazing. During the next days there were a few more Number 80 Tomato Soup, and I was happy. Then someone whispered in my ear today: Psst, the soup is different in the various vending machines. My heart stopped for a second. Could it be? More soup delight?

Sure enough, in one vending machine there was Number 80 Vegetable Soup. As I sipped calmly to my Number 80 Vegetable Soup she told me a tale of another vending machine with chicken soup. It was like finding lost gold, does this goodness never ends I thought. The Number 80 Vegetable Soup was a great success and there will be songs of great tales about it. Later that day I had a chance to check out the Number 80 Chicken Soup. It smelled chicken, was a bit lighter in color than the Number 80 Vegetable Soup but it tasted almost the same. A bit disappointed, I thought my soup loving days were over. The same person who told me about the chicken soup came over to me and told me that the quality of the soup varies from machine to machine. Oh joy! And there are like 10 of them there.

Well today I came to a disappointing conclusion. It’s just because it’s free. I’m not really addicted to soup. If they charged me for it, I wouldn’t even touch the stuff.

Plans

Are you the kind of person that plan your days ahead, what you are going to do in the weekend? Does it work for you? I am usually not that structured, but isn’t dreams some sort of plans or is it just wishful thinking? As we grow older, we get new dreams all the time before we make our old dreams come true. I remember one dream I had when I was young. I wanted to be a professional footballer. I was playing football for my local team hoping that a talent scout would come and see what a great footballer I was. Of course that never happened, and I probably wasn’t such a great footballer anyway. Over the years I’ve probably had lots of dreams and I still do. I wonder if any of my dreams came true.

This weekend I actually had a plan and was so excited about it. On Sunday I was going to a beautiful place called Edale with my friend Katy. Unfortunately her back was a mess today and couldn’t go. So I spent today with the people I love instead, not a bad substitute I have to say. I have another plan, but it is more long term. I want to go to Indonesia for a 2 week vacation in August/September to see Kei. In order to make that happen I have to do some serious planning. The biggest issue will be money (isn’t it always). I have just started a new job, so money will have to be saved rigorously during the next months. I have the best reason in the world to do it, so motivation won’t be a problem.

Even more long term I have dreams about more regularity with me and Kei. The how and when isn’t yet planned, but things are going really well at the moment. I bought a web cam on Friday so Kei could see me “live”. She bought a webcam as well today but we had some troubles with the internet connection so I could only see her 20 seconds at a time. I’d rather have 20 seconds than nothing at all. It was fun! Her smile is just amazing.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday both in the UK and Norway so I don’t have to go to work. I have no plans, but that means there’s no chance of failure. I am looking forward to this week as my training is almost over. I have one training day on Wednesday, but then I get to do some real work. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Kei and Jørn's Song

Here's a song I made for me and Kei. Hope you all enjoy it!

The beautiful game

I’ve just seen the game between Liverpool FCand AC Milan in the Champions League final. AC Milan won 2-1 in the end. As some of you know I am a huge Liverpool FC fan, and have been since I was about 10 years old. That’s 20 years of passion, laughter, tears, hope and glory. A lot has happened to both Liverpool FC and myself in the last 20 years. I am disappointed of the result tonight, but I am not down and beaten like I used to be in the old days. Maybe the game is just a game after all.

Overall I would say the last 20 years has been happy years, not so much for Liverpool FC, but for myself. In all my wins and losses I can still see the man in the mirror and praise him of a job well done. I’m proud of that guy. I know that he loses with me and he wins with me, just like all the Liverpool FC fans out there. It’s great to belong to a community, a place where your opinion matters, a place where you can share your joys and woes.

So Liverpool FC lost the final, well its ok. The future is very bright indeed for both Liverpool FC and myself. I have everything I ever wanted, my life is good, really good. My love Kei, my friends, my family, my job, myself. Those are the cold facts if you will, a testament to my happiness. They are all there in my life, to guide me, to help me. How can I be unhappy because of a game of football when I have all that?

It may still be a beautiful game, but not as beautiful as the game of life. Take a thing like love, the love between me and Kei. The beautiful Kei is part of my life, and it’s not a game, it’s real and tangible. Like two attractors, we are pulled towards each other during strange events in the universe. There’s no need to ask the questions, because we already have the answers we need. Tomorrow is another beautiful day. Rise and shine people!

Option A or option B

Today in training, one of the team coaches came to tell us what they did and what they expect of us. One interesting part of his presentation was how to get to where we want to be in the company. He told us an inspiring story of Miriam who had been a helpdesk analyst for 7 months when she got promoted. He really inspired me, and it seemed possible to go places in this company. He mentioned what kind of people they were looking for. He had 11 points, but one point was especially important, pro-active. He went on and on how being pro-active will get us places, getting noticed by the ones in charge. He said there were lots of excellent analysts, but the ones who stood out where the ones who contributed to the company in other ways as well.

I sat there thinking to myself that I can do this, no problem. What kind of worker do I want to be here? I have the option to do really well, get noticed and get a higher position in a huge company or I have the option of just being a ground floor worker. At first the choice was easy, obvious. I wanted to be the best and move up. The more I thought about it, I kind of disliked it. I got a feeling that if I wanted to the top I had to step on some toes, I might have to be a person I wouldn’t like to be. I know for a fact that other people in the company value money and power. If I took that away from them, what kind of person would I be?

Also I don’t know the future, except I need it to be with Kei. If I strive after better positions, I am actively seeking a long career there. I’m not sure how long I will be there. I got a lot of thinking to do. Speaking of thinking. I was no concentrating at all today. Every time I tried, I just felt the presence of Kei. It was powerful. Still the stuff they teach me, I already know, so I can afford to think about my favorite subject. We talked again today, and it turns out that the flowers I ordered to her wasn’t the one that arrived. Normally that would be a bad thing, but I can forgive them in this case. Kei loved the flowers and she will take a picture of them so I can see what they look like, haha.

How’s everybody?

Mondays aren’t so bad…

I thought the weekend was great, and after a great weekend, you kind of look back instead of forward when Monday comes. It turns out, the weekend was just a little teaser of what was to come. Today was a really great day for so many reasons. I got up at 4am, texted Kei that I was awake in hope that she was awake too (We kind of talked into the night yesterday). Moments later she was there on Messenger. I was a bit concerned, because after last night I wondered if she felt better. Luckily she did.

As we were talking, she got a phone call from the florist saying that they had a delivery for her. Hehe, little did she know that last week I had ordered a big flower bouquet for her to be delivered today when she was back from her vacation (The flowers in the pic). She was so happy, and that just said it all. It wasn’t the flowers itself, but that it was from me. What a great start to a great day!

We talked from 4am to about 6.45 when I had to get to work. I kept texting her during the day, and the best was yet to come. You remember how I thought the workplace was a good place to be? It’s phenomenal now because they allow personal calls, even during work hours if it isn’t too busy. So a little after 4pm I called her up from my work phone. We talked, we laughed, we cried (happy tears) and we even sang to each other. I must have been looking like a real idiot since my workmates were still there around me, but it didn’t matter. We were so focused on each other that I didn’t pay attention to the time or that everyone left at some point. We talked for almost 2 hours…

The time flies when you are having fun. I was home at about 6.30pm. It’s been a long day, but it’s been quality all the way. It will probably be long days from now on since I plan to call Kei a lot more from now on. Can Tuesday top this? If it does, I’ll change my middle name to Tuesday :P.

Smashing success

Yesterday morning I got to go the center of Manchester and look around a bit. I was surprised how small everything was. It’s funny how my perception of big/small has changed. I grew up and spent most of my life in a place with about 2000 people. Back then, even my closest city Tromsø with about 40000 people seemed massive. So I went out in the world, Dublin, Shanghai, Beijing and Oslo. I’m happy to have experience with all sorts of places.

From Manchester I bought myself a British sim-card and an international call card so I can call Kei cheaply. Then I took a train to Stoke where Katy picked me up for the barbecue party. After the party officially started, it was fun all the way. We started off by playing some Nintendo Wii. It was so much fun! I had never played on a Wii before. We played the Wii Sports game and I got creamed in boxing and tennis, and my arms hurt a bit today. Definitively have to think about getting a Wii.

After that we went out in the garden, had a wonderful barbecue. The sausages were burnt to coal, but they tasted ok. We also had cool furnace outside and we burnt pieces of fence. Poor Phil got most of the paint fumes; I just got most of the smoke. All in all a smashing success I would say. I Met some wonderful people who I will definitively meet again.

Wow, long distance relationships are really hard. I know someone who was in a 3 year ldr, and they are now married. We have to learn from these people. The worst thing is thinking it’s not real; we can’t touch or have a proper conversation. We just have to believe and trust each other. I know that nothing is certain in this world, but I know that I will not give up on something I really want. When I want it I go for it, and I’m determined to get it.

BBQ in Stoke!

I’m thinking about a very good friend of mine who is in trouble. That’s the backside of having friends a million miles away. You can’t really be there for them, give them a hug when needed. Luckily I’m good with words, so I am able to do something to ease their pain. Still, I wish I could do more. Tomorrow I am going to look for some international call cards, because I want to speak to Kei more often, but also talk to my international friends. It’s good to hear a friendly voice once in a while. If I can do that, then I will.

It’s Friday, and my first week at my new job is officially over. It went very well and exceeded my expectations. I can’t wait to see what the next week will bring. Friday in one weeks time I have to go to the DSS office for an interview, because I need a national insurance number to be able to work here. I don’t anticipate any problems, other than finding the place. I’m still new with buses and stuff like that, but tomorrow I get to travel a bit. I will take the bus to the center of Manchester and then a train to Stoke. There my friend Katy will pick me up and we will go to her and her boyfriend’s barbeque party! Yeay, I’m so excited about that. It will be good food, beer, some football and a lot of new people to meet. I hear about 20 people might come, none of which I know. I’ll probably sleep over there and come back home on Sunday.

Sweet Kei came online this morning just before I was going to get to work. She didn’t have much time because she was at the airport waiting for her plane to Kuala Lumpur. She just came online to tell me how much she loved me. Needless to say, I’ve been smiling as much, if not more than the employees at work today. She’s such a sweet girl. I’m so lucky to have her :).

Time

I got up at 4am this morning. I did that for a while when I was in Tromsø. I think I will start again with this routine. Why am I getting up so early you ask? Well, since I have started working now, I have less hours in the day to do whatever I need to do. I have to take the bus at 7.15. Then I take the bus home around 16.15 so I will be home 16.35. That means I lose 9 hours of my precious time at work. So if I go to bed 11pm or midnight it means I will have about 10 hours when I can do what I want. I feel I need that much because the days are really just flying by. The good thing about that is that it’s shorter time until I meet Kei.

No word from Kei today. She can only receive text messaged and not send them out. I sent lots today, just keeping her updated on my daily life. I know she likes that. On Saturday I will buy an international call card so I can call her as often as I like :). For now I can only send her text messages and write these blogs because I know she reads them. Miss you Kei!

What if we all ended up in the same place?

Wouldn’t it be cool? Well there are strange things happening in Manchester. I moved in on Sunday and there was this Brazilian guy here called Fernando. We just said hi a couple of times, but yesterday we got to talk for the first time. He told me: “Hmm, you look familiar”. “Well we both work at Shell” I replied. “Have you been in Dublin, Ireland before?” He asked. “Sure have, I worked for a company called ClientLogic”. Then he laughed and yelled “Me too!” At that point I almost fell down, I swear. And it gets better. It turns out he lived in Carlton Court, the same as me! We both end up in the same little house in some unknown road in Manchester, come on! What are the odds?

My heart suffered a blow today. I wrote something in yesterday’s blog that feels natural for me, but it made Kei worried. In Ireland I lived with two girls, and yesterday I was thinking about moving in with this Norwegian girl and a French guy. It didn’t even occur to me that it is unheard of in Indonesia. Kei got worried, and then I got worried. She said it was ok, but I had to call her. I cried a little and we laughed a bit. If losing her feels just a little bit worse than I felt at the moment that I realized I could lose her, then it is indescribable pain. She told me it was ok, but I can’t make her worried. It pains me too much. This girl is so special to me and I just can’t risk losing her for any reason. So I am going to find a place on my own here in Manchester, and it will be a bit more expensive, but I don’t care. It’s for love, and it’s worth doing. I love you Kei, and I didn’t mean to scare you. As you will learn to know, I am a faithful guy. It’s just hard with a LDR, but we will make it. There’s nothing like having a near death experience, to truly appreciate what you have.

Better become a Norwegian really quickly

Hmm, they must love ice cream here in Manchester, because the ice cream truck is driving by each day. In Norway it was once a week or something like that. Well, not for me… I’ve started a new and moderately healthy lifestyle. I’ve reduced my 1 liter of diet coke a day to a small glass during lunch (it is free so it would be rude to pass that up). Only 1 small cup of coffee every day and tea without sugar. I’ve replaced my diet coke at home with orange juice. I might even think about starting to exercise.

The Norwegians sure are fast eaters. I noticed it everywhere I go. In Norway, Dublin and now the UK. They just eat like crazy. I really struggle with that because I’ve always eaten quite slowly. When I was in China, people told me I ate fast. They have noticed that the Norwegians eat fast here, because we only get 30 minutes lunch, while the Dutch get 45 minutes for example. So this means I have to pick up the pace and become a Norwegian or I will go hungry. Mind you, they have free tomato soup in the vending machines, but that is for emergencies only.

I’ve noticed how similar Manchester is to Dublin. I’m not talking city centre because I haven’t been there yet, but the area where I live. It’s strikingly similar to where I lived in Ireland. They even have a “main street” here like I did in Swords with all kinds of stores. I’m surprised that the number of pubs aren’t that many though. In Ireland there were full of pubs everywhere, but here they are sparse.

I’m really tired now. I think it has to do with all the traveling I’ve done in recent month. I don’t know what day it is really. It will take a couple of weeks to get used to it. These last 2 nights, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night. I have some trouble sleeping, partly because it’s a new place, but mostly because I miss Kei. It’s hard to concentrate at work, but I can do both, thinking about her and do the job required. Luckily the training is quite easy for me coming from a call center/IT background, so not much concentrating is needed.

Kei called me again today. She has a great time in Thailand, but she also has trouble sleeping. It’s hard being so far apart. I called her hotel in Thailand later on just to say hi. It became a longer talk than expected. My phone bill will be a bit larger than usual, but it’s worth it just to hear her voice and laughter. She bought us matching watches, one black and one yellow. Can’t wait to see it :D. She has taken over 100 pictures so far, so I have much to look forward too.

Day one…

Yep, the pic is of the house I currently live in. Typical British I would say.

I got to bed at 9pm last night and got up at 5am, ready and excited about my first day at work. I ended up talking to my very good friend Rina, so I managed only to get a shower. Didn’t eat at all, but it was ok. I didn’t know when the bus came by so I stood out in the rain for about 20 minutes. I had an umbrella though, which I need to replace soon, because it’s barely keeping me dry at the moment (The weather was better during the day). The bus came and it cost me £2.50 to get to Wythenshawe bus station which is about 3 minutes away from work in walking distance. £5 per day is a bit expensive, so I bought a weekpass for £9. I can use it on any Arriva bus whenever I want for a whole week so I think it’s a good deal. The bus took about 20 minutes which is ok, but I would like something closer.

Speaking of closer, a Norwegian girl who also is new owns a house 2.2 km away from work. She lives there, but rents out the rooms. She has a couple of rooms available so during the week I will go check it out. If I like it, I might move next week. The rent there is the same as here, 80 GBP a week.

Let me tell you about the job! Well since this was my first day, I can’t really have a clear picture yet, but there are signs… and the signs are really good. Of course I compared this company to my last tech support job and the difference is huge. In my previous company they had absolutely no control, constant PC problems, and no follow-ups. This company has that and more. It feels like a real company. In both my previous jobs, it hasn’t been very inspiring, things didn’t work at all. That is the impression I got from the company.

What also impressed me was how happy everyone who worked there was. Not a sad face around. I thought it was weird. No one is that happy! So I checked around and it turns out that the majority of people there had worked there for 4, 6 or 8 years which is unheard of in a call center environment. There must be something wrong here, maybe they secretly drug the employees?

Just as I was determined to find out something bad about the place, I found it :P. Apparently Wythenshawe is a notorious crime area, the worst in Manchester according to people I spoke to. Don’t go there in the dark they warned me. Well, I guess there had to be something, yet the people there love to work there and since they have stayed so long, I guess nothing bad has ever happened to them.

And then, I’ve saved the best for last. It’s a free-for-all-party at work! Free lunch (which by the way is excellent, 3 warm dishes to choose from, lots of extras, take what you want… free soda. Oh, and the vending machines at work is free, so free tea, free hot chocolate, whatever you want. Crazy people!

Well that’s it for day 1. It can only get worse :P.

Oh, another negative thing about the job. I come home so late, so Kei had just gone offline when I came home. Time zones is an awful thing (sounds familiar). Also she gets my text messages, but I don’t get hers. Well I suppose that’s something :-).

My new place

Yeay, I have internet in my new place!

I arrived in Manchester today at 10.30 UK time, took a taxi from the airport to my new place. It’s a nice old English house. Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside is where the action is. I would take a pic from outside the house if it wasn’t raining so much, that’s right, raining. Now I was told by reliable sources that it “never” rains in Manchester. Pfff.

Anyway can’t let that get me down. Pretty excited about tomorrow, my new workday. Who will I meet, what will I do, Will I make it there in time? All will be revealed!

Kei called me from Thailand yesterday. I didn’t expect that at all. She never stops surprising me! Unfortunately the text messaging system doesn’t work, so we can’t send messages to each other with really sucks.

I felt a bit sad once I got here realizing I had no friends here, but then something happened. Katy, my Facebook friend sent me a text message to wish me welcome. She will call me today or tomorrow and we will figure out something to do.

So that’s my first day here. I’m extremely tired so I will go to sleep early tonight. My workday starts at 7.30 so I have to take the bus 6.30 or 7.00.

My last day in Norway

So this is it, goodbye snow, goodbye brown cheese, goodbye ridiculously expensive food and stuff, goodbye lutefisk (will definitively not miss you), goodbye king and queen. The weather is nice today so I took a picture showing the Norwegian scenery in the background. Beautiful is it. Will miss that.

Ah, but I am not sad, rather excited. When I woke up today I was worried, but a few words with my good friend Rina fixed me up. If she was my therapist, she would be a rich woman for sure. Also I feel a bit sick, some would say lovesick. Miss Kei a lot and I know I can’t chat with her for about a week. I missed her voice so I called her last night. Her laugh is so wonderful, the best sound in the world.

At this time tomorrow I will be in my new place in Manchester. I wish I knew how the internet situation is, not that I am addicted or anything (yeah right…). Why do I never bother to check these end-of-the-world-important things? Just lazy I guess. So the same deal applies as when I went to China. I don’t know when I will be online again and I hope it will be sooner than later. Have to keep writing and have to keep taking pictures. Mind you, I don’t need internet for that but still.

Yes, Monday will be exciting, my first day at my new job. I’ve been told the dress code is casual but smart at Shell, which is good, because that’s how I usually dress. What it really means is no sweat pants, baggy pants or clothes with holes in them. The first two weeks will be mainly training, and that’s cool. It’s great that they take time to train their employees. I mean I know how to do the job, the technical side, but I need to learn their routines and regulations.

So see you when I see you!

Committed

I really don’t know what to write about today. I’m sure I will think of something to tell while I write this. I spoke to my buddy Knut today. He’s currently in Xi’an in China teaching English. Me and him used to work together in Ireland, but we haven’t had much time to talk recently. I’ve noticed that I haven’t been able to keep close contact with my real-life friends for more than maybe a year or so. Of course, maybe if I hadn’t moved around so much in recent years, then maybe I would have kept them closer. I wonder if my online friends will outlast my real life friends? Some of my real-life friends have now become my online friends. It’s kind of funny how much closer I am to my online friends than real-life friends; maybe it’s just a phase.

Tomorrow Kei will leave for Thailand for a vacation and I will leave for England to work on Sunday. Our picture project will continue in our respective countries though. It will just be new places, but we’ll stay the same, committed to each other. Just hope the cell phones work in these countries so we can text each other. I don’t know what my internet situation will be when I get to England, but I hope it’s immediately available. I wish to keep on blogging on a daily basis.

I have nothing more to write, really.

“You make me want to be a better man.”

Today I got another phone call from Manchester. This time from the umbrella company I chose. I do still not understand this 100%, but I guess I will in time. Also, Rolf, the house owner contacted me and I can rent a room in his house. 70 pounds a week for the small room and 80 pounds a week for the big room, ell expenses included. There lives a Brazilian in the house at the moment. Rolf will sell the house in a couple of months, so I have to find something else.

What he said about the company is amazing. They really take care of you there. The training is really excellent with great tools, and they sometimes send you to courses worldwide. He was sent to Russia, Iceland, Japan and Norway among others. He said that there is a lot to learn and it’s extremely challenging. How well I do is completely up to myself as they are very result based. That suits me fine, since it was the same deal in Ireland. He told me that maybe after a year you will get the hang of things, so it is really a challenge. I love it!

In the meantime I spend the days talking to Kei a lot. She will be leaving for Thailand at the time I will be leaving for England. I just hope our phones work in these countries. I have never met someone like her. It’s like in that movie “As Good As It Gets”. There is a scene there with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt where he says: “You make me want to be a better man.” I feel a little like that, not that I am anything like the character Jack played. I am a good person, I know that, but I want to be even better.

PS! About the pic. I took it this morning as part of me and Kei’s project (Read previous blog). I look so tired here, haha.

Umbrella?

Today I got a phone call from Manchester. It turns out, there is a lot more I have to do before I go there. The nice woman at the other end explained to me that I won’t be paid by Shell directly… Apparently Shell pays her company, and they pay another company which in turn pays me. So am I now working for 3 companies? Time will tell. She told me that I had to choose an umbrella company to pay my wages and she gave me a list. “Pick the one who pays the most” she said. Fair enough, so tonight I will go over the companies and see who pays the most.

I still haven’t gotten hold of the guy who has my apartment in Manchester which worried me a bit. Because of that I haven’t ordered a ticket yet, but I think I better do it anyway because I am leaving on Sunday. I’m supposed to start Monday at 7.30am so I better get things sorted out before then. Oh I just found a great thing; my pay will increase every 6 months. I didn’t know that. I thought my wage would increase after 6 months and then on a yearly basis. Needless to say, this is much better!

Kei, my better half, came up with a wonderful idea. Every day we will take a picture of ourselves and send each other. That way it’ like we get to see each other every day. I just loved that idea! Thanks Kei! For long distance relationships, that idea is golden! Things are going really well for me these days. Just need to stay grounded so I don’t fly away.

I will be judged and criticized…

…for what I am doing now. Some people have recently been overly critical of my behavior, but most have been very happy for me. The thing I am talking about is my new relationship with Kei. The thing I am attacked for is that it’s so quickly after Amy. Well I am not master of all things, I am real and I listen to my heart and my emotions. Sometimes it gets me into trouble, but it is who I am. I won’t apologize for being me, for having feelings. I know I am not a bad person.

The thing with Amy is that for me, it ended in the beginning of December. I remember crying a lot and asking why it happened. It was like a real break up. I mentally prepared for it, because I knew it was coming. I have been discussing it with a lot of people and they all say it wasn’t really love what we had, but an infatuation and obsession. We came to the point that we would rather die than be apart, and I know that was wrong and dangerous. I lost control. I’m sorry I’m not perfect, I’m sorry for being human. So judge and criticize me all you want, it won’t change who I am and it certainly won’t affect my situation because I see a long term future with this girl.

Now for the part you all want to hear ;). Her name is Kemala, she is 26 and Indonesian. We have been talking on and off for a while and in the last couple of days we have told each other what we really feel. We share the same passions, dreams and interests and the “connection” as I like to call it in lack of better words. She runs her own event planning, programs for TV business. Yes, it’s another long distance relationship. I can only imagine what you reading this must be thinking. “Not again! Don’t you ever learn?” Well I am not in a position to decide who I fall for, at least not emotionally.

So I am officially in a relationship, not single anymore, and I plan to stay that way thank you very much! Besides, I do have some experience in long distance relationship, and I know it can work as long as we both care for each other enough. I am of course afraid that I will be hurt again, but I put that aside and trust this girl 100%. When I go into a relationship I am 100% committed to it, and I don’t want it any other way. I will follow my heart and I believe it will lead me to happiness. It will be hard. I just got a new job and I’m moving to England, but we plan to meet, maybe already this year if possible.

So there you have it. This is me, and that’s the way it gonna be :).

A new beginning

Well today marks the start of a new beginning in my life. I choose to look at it like that, a new start, not that my last 30 years has been any bad, but there’s something exciting about a new start. That’s right, for those of you who don’t know, today is my 30^th birthday and I have to tell you that it has started wonderfully. I woke up with a big smile on my face. Everything is going really good right now, in fact it’s amazing. I have a new job that I will start in a week from now, I am moving to a new exciting country, I am done with the 20s (wohooo) and get this… I have a new girlfriend (It’s official as of today, hehe). It’s pretty new so I’ll tell you about it later…

Yep, I am a big believer in karma, and the good stuff is raining down on me right now. After all I have been through lately the universe owes me and so far it has not disappointed. In other great news, I have been invited to a BBQ in the south of Manchester on May 19^th. How cool is that? I simply started looking for friendly people in Manchester on Facebook and there it was. I’m really looking forward to that. I get to eat great food, drink beers, have fun and most importantly, meet new interesting people.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

The final party

Yesterday, I attended my birthday party. The mood was unmistakable a happy one, but at the back of my head I realized that this is the last night out with “the gang”. In a few days I will move to England, and meet new friends and have new parties. I guess that’s the way it goes, at least for me.

I brought a Chinese girl, a Swiss girl and a Japanese guy to the party to make it an international one. I haven’t laughed so much in a long while. It was especially fun to go out with one of my best friends growing up. I really have missed that. It’s funny how we still have these inside jokes that works every time.

We went to this hip place called “The Tea Lounge”. I had never been there before, and I met a lot of new people. The music was kind of old-school 80s, and the atmosphere was great! I had a few beers, a mojito and a smoothie. There was even cake, made by the Swiss girl.

We all got safely home, and I’m happy to report that only a minor hangover is troubling me today. Oh, and I got this great gift my Chinese friend. A calligraphy pen with no need for an ink refill and she made this wonderful card with a picture of her. On the back it said: Dear Jørn, if the bounds between heaven and earth are broke. Prayer is not enough. Only a story can mend it. Keep going your writer’s dream!

The LOVE charts

So I had nothing to do while I was waiting for important phone calls. Here’s what I did. I took the top 25 tracks in the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country and Modern Rock for the years 1985, 1995 and 2005 and checked how many times the word “love” occurs in the lyrics during those years. What I found was interesting. Ok, enough talk, here’s the numbers

So we see here that in the normal mainstream chart Hot 100, it almost hasn’t changed at all! It’s weird though that it is so similar. Has nothing changed in music? Just for comparison, I did 1975 too and it got 64 (3 of the songs were instrumentals). Ok, let’s go to Country:

The same pattern is here as well; almost the same, but we see a slight decline. In 2015 it should be 41 times. I’ll post an update then to see if I was right :P. What is interesting though is that there is about 15% less love in countryland. Or maybe it is too much love there, so they sing about something else. Right, then how about the rockers?

Now here we see some real changes and might I add disturbing changes. By this rate there will soon be no love anymore. What will they be singing about? Well the tendency is scary. They sing about pain 13 times in 2005, so pain is apparently better than love when it comes to us music conscious buyers. Pain was only used once in 1995 and that was in the song “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” from “The Smashing Pumpkins”.

So to the grand finale. What about me? What about my top 25 songs for each year. Brace yourself ladies and gentlemen; you are in for a shock (as was I).

I was all lovin’ in 85, and look what happened? I was way above the charts; in fact I must have been the poster boy for love. I was 8 for crying out loud! I must have been a very disturbed kid back then running around with flowers in my hair looking like a cross between Freddy Fender and Mother Theresa which would be something like this: I can’t blame my sister either, because she used to blast hard rock in my ears. In 95 I was down to Hot 100 level, but in 2005 I was worse than the country charts. I’ll report back in 2015 when I have gotten married and my 5 kids Joe, Zoe, Lacey, Casey and Monty are selling drugs in the backyard with uncle Frank.

It’s looking good!

Here’s what I listened to in 1985 (Sorted alphabetically): A Ha - Take On Me, Alphaville - Forever Young, Autograph - Turn Up The Radio, Bon Jovi - In & Out Of Love, Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA, Bryan Adams – Somebody, Bryan Adams - Summer Of '69, Chicago - You're The Inspiration, Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer, Duran Duran - A View To A Kill, Foreigner - I Wanna Know What Love Is, Heart – Never, Heart - What About Love, Hooters - And We Danced, Huey Lewis & The News - The Power Of Love, John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion), Kiss - Tears Are Falling, Limahl - Never Ending Story, Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me, Madonna - Crazy For You, Paul Young - Everytime You Go Away, REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling, Simple Minds - Alive And Kicking, Starship - We Built This City, USA For Africa - We Are The World

Here’s what I listened to in 1995 (Sorted alphabetically , I am embarrassed by a few songs here): 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This, Alanis Morissette - Hand In My Pocket, Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing At All, Annie Lennox - No More I Love You's, Blessid Union Of Souls - I Believe, Bon Jovi - Something For The Pain, Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden, Corona - The Rhythm Of The Night, The Corrs – Runaway, Des'ree - You Gotta Be, Diana King - Shy Guy, Dr. Dre - Keep Their Heads Ringin', Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You, Elton John – Blessed, Foreigner - Until The End Of Time, The Human League - Tell Me When, Jamie Walters - Hold On, Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone, Pearl Jam – Jeremy, Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe, Shaggy – Boombastic, Sheryl Crow - Strong Enough, Skee-Lo - I Wish, Take That - Back For Good, Tina Turner – Goldeneye

Here’s what I listened to in 2005 (Sorted alphabetically): Avril Lavigne - Nobody's Home, Backstreet Boys – Incomplete, Coldplay - Fix You, Foo Fighters - Best Of You, Gavin Degraw - I Don't Want To Be, Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days, Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends, Gwen Stefani – Cool, Howie Day – Collide, Jason Mraz – Wordplay, Jay-Z & Linkin Park - Numb-Encore, Keane - Somewhere Only We Know, Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes, Korn - Twisted Transistor, Lifehouse - You And Me, Mario - Let Me Love You, Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop - Lose Control, Nickelback – Photograph, Papa Roach – Scars, Rascal Flatts - Bless The Broken Road, Sara Evans - A Real Fine Place To Start, Simple Plan - Untitled (How Can This Happen To Me), Sugarland - Baby Girl, Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying, Tommy Lee - Good Times

My next blog will probably be Sunday because I will be partying tomorrow celebrating my 30^th
birthday! It’s officially on Monday, but partying on Monday isn’t so cool. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

2146 unread messages

I have a confession to make. I love RSS. I am addicted to it really. I want to know what’s happening in the world and if I miss something, I don’t know what would happen. If you don’t know what RSS is you should check it out. Every major newspaper and sites have RSS-feeds, even your own Yahoo 360 blog. The advantages by using RSS is that whenever a site get’s updated, you will know it immediately. I use a program called Snarfer which is free and does the job great.

Right now I subscribe to Digg, Fark, AskShane, Blogbash, Converstations, Copyblogger, Dailyblogtips, Northxeast, Problogger, Selfmademinds, Comingsoon, Ain’t it cool news, Buzzfeed, Cinematical, KVR news, Apple movie trailers, Mashable, PSP updates, Scorereviews, Soundtracknet, Thefutoncritic, Trektoday, TV Squad, Wayodd, Dumb little man, Lifehacker, Zen Habits + a lot of Norwegian newspapers and sites.

The thing about RSS though, is that you can’t be lazy about it. If you are, like I am, then you get the situation as titled in my topic. Right now I have 2155 unread messages which means it increases as I write this. The good thing about having so much unread messages is that whenever I am bored I can just go into Snarfer and check out a lot of stuff I haven’t read before.

So who here uses RSS and why?

The decision is…

Well it has been another exciting day, especially around 3pm when they called me from England. I was really happy that they offered me the job. That meant I had two options. Option 1: Stay here in Oslo, Norway or option 2: Move to Manchester, England.

It was a really hard decision to make. I put up lists and consulted friends and family, but in the end, the decision was mine. I chose Manchester, England. Some were disappointed by my decision, and some were delighted. I think I have made the right choice. The positive thing about the job in Norway was:

- Higher wages
- Safety/Security
- Pension points
- Don’t need to move
- Job is probably more varied and exciting
- Close to family and friends

The positive things about England was:

- Location (Only 1 hour from my favorite football team Liverpool)
- Possibilities (They have a nice office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that is a possibility for me)
- Low taxes (22-25%)
- Low living cost
- Huge company (Shell has hundred thousands of employees worldwide, they’re not going bankrupt anytime soon)
- Climate (Much warmer than Oslo and also much less rain)

I think it was the climate thing that tipped it over and also because my team Liverpool won the semifinal of the Champions League yesterday. To be in Liverpool when the final is playing will be amazing. The final is in Athens, but they will probably show it outside on big screens with thousands of people.

So my new employer is Shell in Manchester, England. The new adventures of my life is starting soon. I will move there sometime within the next two weeks. I am so excited and happy right now! It’s a great decision on my part and I will love it!

England or Norway?

Yesterday after my exciting day I didn’t get to sleep until 5am this morning, and I woke up at 8am so I’m pretty tired. Today was also an exciting day. I had a phone interview at 2pm with the people from England. The interview went great and they will let me know tomorrow if I get the job or not. Personally I think it’s mine, and that puts me in quite a dilemma. Tomorrow is the deadline, and I have to make a decision. I really don’t know what I’ll do. I have changed my mind so many times since the phone call, and the day is still young.

And another thing, I have never had to turn down a job before, I have never been in that position. It’s great and scary at the same time. The choice I will make will be permanent and I have to live with it for quite some time. But I’d rather have the choice than none at all. Well, one thing doesn’t stop and that’s time, so no matter what a choice will be made tomorrow.

I have tried to put up a pros/cons list, but it doesn’t work for me, and I have seen at rent prices, living costs and so on. There are so many factors that ultimately will sway me in one way or the other. I just wish the path ahead was a little clearer, but I’ve been here before, at the crossroads. Anyway, back to my interesting dilemma of the day: Pint or Brown cheese