From the inside...

It's been more than 6 months since my last blog post, and that's very close to neglect!

I'm still working with Opera Mini, but I'm also taking over as a project manager for another project that is related to Opera Mini on many levels. I'm not going to hang around as much in the Opera Mini forum as I've used to, but I will try to keep up to speed (at a certain level). There will be others taking over for me, though.

So... I'm still at Opera, and still involved in Opera Mini, but when I have some spare time, I usually don't spend it in here.

My photos will still be on My Opera, though.

I got this e-mail earlier today, and I liked it!

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It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?". He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is...".

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life". True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

I hope you share this with someone you care about.

"Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!"
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Thanks to the person who sent it to me. You know who you are, but you probably don't read my blog...

I had a great vacation this summer!

First I went on a sailing trip in the Caribbean, going from St. Maarten to Martinique. It was great! There are some photos coming soon. Photos in my album section. We spent 11 days on the sea, and we saw a lot of interesting things. People are so great on the islands! We also got to dive some, and during the dives we saw barracuda, stingrays and sea turtles, among other things. I also got to eat barracuda. It was very tasty! Unfortunately (?) there were no anywhere... We always kept a bottle of Rum in the boat, just in case Captain Jack Sparrow would show up.

I came back to Norway, and after about 12 hours at home, I went to the southern part of Norway to visit family and friends. The weather was wonderful all the time, and I got to enjoy more sea life, bbq'ing, sea food, and a lot of time spent with people I care about. Really great!

Now I'm back in Oslo, and Opera, trying to catch up with work. It's hard returning to work after such a great vacation, but I'll have to manage.

I suddenly realized I'm a terrible blogger! I never write anything!

Well, as many of you, I'm on Facebook, and lately there have been a lot of fan pages popping up everywhere. I just want to encourage you all to become a fan of
Opera: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Opera/7669659561?ref=s
Opera Mini: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Opera-Mini/6085213943?ref=s

Wow, I'm really bad at blogging! It's been over two months... I'll try a quick recap:

I had four weeks of vacation this summer, and went back to my hometown, Mandal (as far south as you can come in Norway). It was great, but the weather was horrible! Rain almost every day. Either way, it was great spending time with friends and family. I had plans for intense snorkeling, as I had signed up for a diving course after my vacation. The only time I wore a mask and snorkel, was in my cousin's swimming pool (just to practice some stuff). This didn't look good!

I came back to Oslo, started working on Opera Mini 4 beta 2. I then started my PADI Open Water Diver course. I soon found out that diving really requires the right equipment, and I had some problems at the beginning. After a while I found the right suit, and things went better. I took the course with Eva, a good friend of mine. We managed to get the licence, and felt pretty good about ourselves! In Norway, the rules are a bit different than in the rest of the world. We have 4 dives in a swimming pool, and then 6 dives in the sea. The last two, Eva and I did alone. The visibility really sucked some places, but we managed, somehow. We took the course in a town outside of Oslo called Drøbak, and where we dived, there's actually a wreck lying at about 12-14 meters.

A few days after we finished the course, my dear brother got married. It was a really happy day for everyone. A while back he called me, and asked me to sing in the church. His wife to be had written her own Norwegian version of "You raise me up", dedicated to my brother. I was nervous about this, as singing when your emotional can end terribly. Luckily it went pretty well, but I'm far from Josh Groban!

The day after my brother's wedding, I left for a new week of vacation. This time to Egypt. I've always wanted to see the pyramids, and snorkel in the Red Sea. I got to do both, but it was extremely hot at this time of year. It would be as hot as 36 celsius late at night... I have no idea how hot it was in the daytime, but whenever I got out of the water, I laid down in the shade. Of course, I didn't get tanned, but my back got pretty red for a while! I also got to do a dive there. It was really beautiful! The visibility was great! We even saw a stonefish. I couldn't see it until it opened it's gigantic mouth. When I was diving, the water held 29 degrees (C). I was diving in my bikini!

So, what's next? In a week, I'll be in our Linköping office, catching up with my colleagues there, and meeting those I still haven't met. I haven't been in Linköping since December (I think) last year, so it's about time. There are three new QA people working with Opera Mini I've only talked to over the phone, so I'm looking forward to it.