Voicy does Norway

[Voicy]

Did your vellies keep your feet warm in there?

Haha tsek! I actually bought leather boots this weekend with wool interior.

It looks like you're having such an adventure up there Voicy. I'm beyond jealous, apart from the cold of course!

Thanks man. I'm obviously only showing the nicer parts. Right now is the worst time because it's not snowing yet but temps fall to around -1 / -2 during the night which means that you spend a good 20mins every morning scraping ice off your car windows.

Most people just start their cars and leave them running for 15mins or so in the mornings, but the SA in me refuses to leave my car running outside with the key in the ignition while I'm indoors.

I also got confirmation today that I'll be going back to Svalbard at the end of the month for another job on the satellite station. It should be something. It'll also be permanently dark so not sure how much I'll be able to take photos of.

 

[Voicy]

So I headed north this week for a big job where I'll have to program 3x 1MW generators together onto the same line. It's my biggest job yet so I'm a bit nervous but keen to get it up and running.

It's also been "a little chilly" outside even though it hasn't started snowing at sea level yet.

 

[LaraC]

You call -20 a little chilly? I'd say it's freezing.

 

[Voicy]

Hi friends,

So I've been on the road for 3 weeks getting various things up and running. It also saw me back on Svalbard for 2 weeks, where I drove past the Seed Vault twice every day. I took a pic of it at night time, but I must also add that even though we don't see the sun for 2 months of the year, up in Svalbard it's pitch black outside 24-7. That, tied with -21DegC weather and howling winds plus the stress of the job kinda got to me a bit.



Unfortunately I'm not allowed to elaborate on the details of the job nor was I allowed to take any pictures up there, but the place is a satellite station with customers like NASA etc. and we had to get their backup generator power upgraded in time for satellite launches this week, without any power interruptions, so that's been one of my most stressful jobs to date.

I also met one or 2 of the guys who were in the BBC "Svalbard Life on the Edge" documentary and had to give them the runaround of the new system.

Here's a google image of the place:



The funniest part of this whole thing is that this station also does the tracking, telemetry etc. for all of NASA's "P.O.E.S." project. :crylaugh:

Which stands for Polar Operational Environmental Satellites...Apparently.

 

[HavocXphere]

Haha Nasa po.es

Sounds like interesting work Voicy

 

[FarligOpptreden]

That scenery is gorgeous. I honestly wish I could make my way up to northern Europe and make a living in a small cabin on a mountain. I'd die the happiest person on earth.

 

[exacerbated]

Haven't read all 28 pages but how are the woman Voicy? Always loved high cheek boned nordic woman with matching you know what.

 

[Voicy]

Today my life reached a new low.

 

[Mortymoose]

Seriously? What happened to that global warming thingy?

 

[spiderz]

You must be able to overclock you PC sooo much!

 

[Patrick_Hockstetter]

Hows the migrants crises over there?

 

[Voicy]

You must be able to overclock you PC sooo much!

Ha! Houses here are much warmer inside than in SA though, so that won't help much...sadly.

Hows the migrants crises over there?

It's actually not a big issue here. Norway isn't part of the EU and they're turning back asylum seekers quite a lot now. They've been quite active in making the country less attractive for "asylum shoppers" who prefer just going to Sweden instead.

 

[ponder]

Did you get married? Long time no update here.

 

[SkippyRamirez]

Hey Voicy, do you know Leo?

 

[Drifter]

-30C, ouch, coldest I ever experienced was -13C. You should import and sell OBS, will make a killing.

 

[Creag]

-30C ... Yikes! Sipping whisky neat would be a far nicer alternative to OBs. Closer to import it from Scotland too

 

[Voicy]

Hi friends, sorry for the downtime. Been busy at work and hibernating.

Last month saw me doing a job in Kirkenes which is literally a stone throw from the russian border, but considering it's the russian border, I thought it'd be best not to throw anything their way.

We've had a fair share of snow this season and the mercury eventually dropped to -35C at my own job. That kind of cold changes a man's soul.

Here's another one of the bigger gens we've been installing and which I have to program to run in synch with the mains network.



My work bakkie being a poser.



Since the snow season is officially over, everyone is switching back to summer tyres and have to do so by 1st of May unless there's still snow on the roads. The ones we use are studded tyres to help with black ice and the likes. Apparently if you drive with studded tyres in Oslo after snow season you get fined...per stud. :/



There are often random reindeer and moose next to the road so you have to keep an eye out.



It's also been dark until well into February with the sun only becoming visible above the horizon after 11 weeks. Soon we'll have permanent sun even at "midnight" again. Strange place this. I took this pic during midday at the one site I did an install at.

 

[Voicy]

For some more "everyday" type pics I've included these. I can't remember if I've posted them before so I apologize in advance for reposts.

There are no "baggers" working in the shops, everyone packs their own groceries and they make use of this sliding divider to separate people's wares. I doubt it'd work very well in SA due to the risk of slipping someone else's stuff into your bags or vice versa. They also don't man the tills for the entirety of their shifts. Only 1 person is on till duty and then radios for assistance if the queue gets too long, then a 2nd person opens a till and then when it's quiet they go back to restocking shelves or whatever they do behind those motorized curtains.



You can also take your empties back to the shop for a deposit by chucking it into this plastic bottle and can crusher, which then spews out a receipt which is your discount at the same shop, or you can press a button to forego your deposit and play the red cross lottery or some such. Last month I had 3 black bags full of empty pepsi cans. It took a while.



I also mentioned earlier how we pump our own petrol. No attendants. You just use your debit or credit card like it's an ATM right on the pump itself and you can even buy antifreeze, window cleaner or high pressure selfwashes from the same screen.

 

[Voicy]

Here's some bonus pics of the last snow we had before the end of the season:

Here's the local ski slope in Mrs Voicy's town.



My town's tiny slope does the job.



Finally "summer days" from my pad.




A bonus bonus pic of the frozen lake in Riksgrensen on the Swedish border where they did that one Top Gear episode in the Tuareg vs the snowmobiles way back when.

 

[Voicy]

I'm heading back up to Svalbard next week for the 3rd time for work so lemme know if there are any pics or anything in particular you guys would like to see.