“ice is evil”

ice is nice

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Immediately after writing about the price of ice and similarly critical matters, I was seated on a plane next to a woman with whom I had a remarkable amount in common. She expressed worry that she would not be able to satisfy her constant need for ice in the UK (or anywhere else in Europe). I reassured her. Ice may not be as popular or as desired in massive quantities by Europeans as it is by Americans, but it is nevertheless widely available.

It’s strange to meet people who haven’t traveled much. It’s easy to forget how unknown so many basic things really are for people who haven’t ventured outside their own countries. With globalization, things don’t tend to be that different, even in very different countries, until you dig under the surface. Spending five or ten days in the UK won’t likely cause major culture shock for an American tourist, even if there are obvious differences, such as driving on the other side of the road. Or in other parts of Europe, there are different languages to account for – but even that isn’t such a barrier to a brief visitor.

It takes time and familiarity to find the real divides, even if superficial ones are plentiful.

 

Val Kilmer is Still Alive & Perilous Winter Commutes

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I am not psychic. Evidence of this: Val Kilmer is still alive.

That said, I have some common sense (sometimes). I did not need to be psychic to know that I was going to have to take a longer route to work to ensure a safer route to work.

During the weekend, the weather turned to the typical cold, snowy Swedish winter one expects. Coming off a vacation and not really wanting to go back (I live about three hours by car from where I work and commute in on Monday mornings, leaving on Thursday afternoons), I envisioned the horrible road conditions on the road I normally take (a road I don’t like in ideal conditions). It winds and twists, is hilly, and wild animals, especially gigantic moose, pop out suddenly at every turn. In warm, decent weather, this is dangerous enough. In the middle of the night, at -7C with snow and ice covering the ground, a recipe for disaster. I also did not imagine that anyone cleared that highway – so I drove a good 100 kms out of my way so I could take Norwegian roads. You read that right. I crossed from Sweden into Norway, drove about 150 kms, and crossed back into Sweden to the south. Most of the drive, this way, was motorway that had been cleared and ultimately only tacked one hour onto the overall drive – although one hour is one hour. A train might have been doable but really not the best option this week.

Beyond that, “ice is evil” according to some dude named Doug.

And now, during my vacation, my work network password expired, so I can’t log in. Right now it is not important since I am sitting in the parking lot of the office waiting for it to open. Really need to rethink this nonsense.