Heisan fra Trondheim

Hello friends! It has been a while, hasn't it? Let me be the first to send greetings from the far-away and exotic land of Norway! How exotic, you ask? Let me give you an example: 7-Eleven bakes their own fresh whole-wheat bread! And it's freaking awesome. Also, the "erotic film" section is dispayed right next to the "drama" at the video rental stand at the local convenience store. Cheap wine costs the equivalent of $14. And... well... heck, otherwise it's really not that different, when it comes down to it: you can get an Old El Paso taco dinner pack at the supermarket. Minimal culture shock for K, so far. (Of course, to M this is coming home.)
For those of you who are wondering, yes, it is dark much of the day here, but it's not that bad. It gets light around 8, and it gets dark around 3:30. And it's cold, but not Minnesota cold. They don't salt the roads and sidewalks here, just gravel, if that, so we've learned the art of shoe-skating to the store and back.

So yes, we are still alive and well. Let's summarize the boring details: we got to Berkeley, moved in with K's parents, and K locked himself in the bedroom to try to finish up his self-initiated personal transportation research project that he hoped would be his ticket to his Ph.D dream. Two repetitive-strain injured wrists later, he finally looked online and learned how desparate Norway is for Ph.D candidates -- in fact, any engineers. So a couple weeks later he found himself the top candidate for a project on deep-sea offshore wind turbines, with a start-date in January.

In the meantime, Mariann was busy working on the boat and getting it looking good for the next leg. But with a severely distracted and uninterested Captain, she was finally persuaded to give up on warm-weather cruising for the present. Yes, she is a little dissappointed, but consoled herself with the fact that 6 weeks of cruising is better than none, and that a relocation to Trondheim, Norway, would be the start of a new adventure of a different kind. By the way, if you're looking to buy a top-class cruising boat, contact Dave Wolff at Pacific Yacht Imports, Alameda, CA.

We've got some photos to share. First, proof that Seattlites can thrive in the milder climes of the San Francisco Bay Area. (Sorry, Jay, Julie, and Laurel, but I don't think we took any photos with our camera when you were in town.)




Next, some initial sights from Trondheim. We're renting a 1-bedroom apartment right next to the downtown area. We hope to buy a house by the summer, at which point you should all start planning your visits to the far North.

Here my finger is pointing to the place where we live.

M in tha house, y'all.