Phone camera goodness--- so photo quality is a bit questionable. These are taken at Frogner Park. For those who do not know, he is the most famous sculptor from Norway. Gustav Vigeland was exceptionally prolific, having designed hundreds of sculptures--- the vast majority depressing studies of the human condition. Since the advent of Prozac, I highly doubt we will see another Vigeland.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Oslo Photos
Holmenkollen
This is a relatively small ski jump by modern standards. You simply have to see this in person to appreciate how crazy the sport truly is.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Crashing Like a Pro
I was overdue for a bike crash, apparently. This morning I headed out for a nice ride in Sandnes. I had to return home by 8:45 so Lise could go to the university. As I was in downtown Sandnes, in the main roundabout on the main road, I realized that what I had thought was water on the road was not. Before I could think, I went down hard--- in a major slick of cooking grease.
I had the characteristic shot of adrenaline, and was thankful I rode the Bianchi, rather than the Look this morning. My leg and hip ached. As I was pedaling home, I noticed the handlebars were crooked. Off the bike I found that the seat and the rear skewer are scratched up. I have a bit of bloody road rash on my hip and ankle. I am not particularly happy that someone left several liters of grease in the middle of the road, but considering how things might have turned out if there was more traffic, or if I rode my other bike, I really can't complain too much. Still, it is quite a freak accident.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
No Milk Today
Best use of a Herman's Hermit's song in a TV commercial. This commercial is on all the time, and never gets old. Keep in mind, I am allergic to milk, and do not endorse its ingestion.
Perhaps what is most amazing is how this Norwegian commercial is already on YouTube, and so easy to find.
Bike Woe "Resolution"
I pedaled up, then down, to Spinn. Of course they do not carry SRAM Powerlinks, so they offered me a free Tayo (or Tako, or who knows) connector. What could I say? They cost 10nok each--- which is dirt cheap at full price. When I arrived home, I found out why. They are not designed to be reused. They are not tool-less to install or remove. They defeat the purpose of using a quick link. I guess I will shop around for the SRAM and stock up. I am still not fully satisfied.
I made it to work yesterday without the chain pinching, but the shifting is all messed up. I spent some time this morning adjusting the deraileur, but it still isn't perfect. Who knows what they did when they fixed it. There was a massive amount of slack in the cable--- I mean, it was unbelievable. It was as if they merely connected it to the cable clamp with no regard for its performance or utility. I won't let these shop monkeys near my Look.
I made it to work yesterday without the chain pinching, but the shifting is all messed up. I spent some time this morning adjusting the deraileur, but it still isn't perfect. Who knows what they did when they fixed it. There was a massive amount of slack in the cable--- I mean, it was unbelievable. It was as if they merely connected it to the cable clamp with no regard for its performance or utility. I won't let these shop monkeys near my Look.
Norway Ranked Best Nation to Steal a Car
(Ranking providing by filtersweep blog). A little over a year ago, our neighbor's home was broken into. Along with personal belongings, their car keys and later their car was stolen. Like all stupid criminals, they were caught. But here is the kicker: in Norway, apparently, it takes too many resources to prosecute a car thief. No charges are being filed due to "lack of evidence." The police caught the criminals with the car-- what more evidence do they need? A year ago I joked that they would probably receive some windfall for being down and out, drug addicted criminals. Well, this is it. My politics in the US tend to run left of center--- but in Norway, where everything is so liberal, I probably come off like a living version of Charlton Heston. I seriously don't get it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Phone Camera
Julian, as seeing playing in the neighbor's playhouse. We had nice weather, and spent almost all evening outdoors. Not a bad shot for a Nokia phone camera-- and a pretty cool lens flare, considering it really doesn't have much of a lens.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Worst Bike Shop in Norway?
Spinn Sykkelshop?
You be the judge. About two years ago I purchased a mid-level Bianchi mountain bike from the Stavanger Spinn. It was the previous year's model, so I received a very good price, although the seat was nowhere near long enough and I had to pay extra for the right post. A year later I picked up an extra wheelset from the same shop so I could run studded tires on one set, and regular tires on the other.
Early this year, I broke the deraileur hanger "just riding along"--- as in I didn't crash. It took over two month and no word on the replacement. I had called, emailed, called again, stopped by the store, but nobody could tell me what the status was for the order. FinallyI took the entire bike in. It was quickly repaired, even though I only asked for the hanger--- I can fix a bike easily enough myself. I was handed a repair bill of about $80US-- and they replaced some cable housings and who knows what else. All I wanted was the $10 part. But oh well--- it saved me the trouble of fixing it myself.
Yesterday I finally managed to go out of a regular bike ride--- not just a quick commute. The shifting was way off. Today I took a closer look at it, and I found a stuck link. This was odd, considering the chain was brand new--- maybe a week before the hanger broke. I replaced the stock chain with an SRAM, since they are easier to remove with their power link. Today, I could not find the power link anywhere, so I finally broke the chain where the link was stuck. As I was cleaning it, I realized there was no power link (or quick disconnect, or whatever SRAM calls them). I thought that was the whole point in buying SRAM.
Tomorrow I will return to the shop. It will be very interesting to see how this is handled. I am entirely unimpressed with Spinn. Funny how we are planning to buy a kid trailer and a mountain bike for my wife in the very near future. Bike Brothers, anyone?
You be the judge. About two years ago I purchased a mid-level Bianchi mountain bike from the Stavanger Spinn. It was the previous year's model, so I received a very good price, although the seat was nowhere near long enough and I had to pay extra for the right post. A year later I picked up an extra wheelset from the same shop so I could run studded tires on one set, and regular tires on the other.
Early this year, I broke the deraileur hanger "just riding along"--- as in I didn't crash. It took over two month and no word on the replacement. I had called, emailed, called again, stopped by the store, but nobody could tell me what the status was for the order. FinallyI took the entire bike in. It was quickly repaired, even though I only asked for the hanger--- I can fix a bike easily enough myself. I was handed a repair bill of about $80US-- and they replaced some cable housings and who knows what else. All I wanted was the $10 part. But oh well--- it saved me the trouble of fixing it myself.
Yesterday I finally managed to go out of a regular bike ride--- not just a quick commute. The shifting was way off. Today I took a closer look at it, and I found a stuck link. This was odd, considering the chain was brand new--- maybe a week before the hanger broke. I replaced the stock chain with an SRAM, since they are easier to remove with their power link. Today, I could not find the power link anywhere, so I finally broke the chain where the link was stuck. As I was cleaning it, I realized there was no power link (or quick disconnect, or whatever SRAM calls them). I thought that was the whole point in buying SRAM.
Tomorrow I will return to the shop. It will be very interesting to see how this is handled. I am entirely unimpressed with Spinn. Funny how we are planning to buy a kid trailer and a mountain bike for my wife in the very near future. Bike Brothers, anyone?
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
View From Kvitsøy
We spent the day on Kvitsøy so Julian could play with the little lambs. It is odd that being further from the mountains, you can actually see them. In Stavanger, they are blocked by hills. I have no idea what they are doing with the oil platform in the harbor.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
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