E: Double wedding joy

I will once again be a best man. July 12th my very good friend Sathees is to marry his lovely Judina. And I am prompted and have accepted the major honor of making sure they say yes. The joyous event will take place in Bergen. Sathees is from Sri Lanka, but has been in Norway since he was 16, if I remember correctly. I got to know him in high school.


In Dehli, India, not too far northwest of Sri Lanka, there will be another wedding of interest at the end of October or at the beginning of November. My great friend Aditi is tying the knot with her much honorable Parth. I am invited and will not mind going if time, money and opportunity allows. Congratulations anyway. I met Aditi in
Australia, but have visited them in India and they me in Oslo.

PR-kåt reklamebom

I fredagens Dagbladet, hadde jeg en "sterk" mening på trykk. Jeg syntes det var et komisk poeng da jeg skrev til avisen. Selv om ytringen kanskje er noe på kanten, har jeg ingen skrupler med å stå inne for humoren.

Her er innlegget:

PR-kåt reklamebom
IKEA reklamerer i disse dager med at befolkningsveksten starter på soverommet. Det er en utrolig snever og konservativ tankegang både forplantningsmessig og forretningsmessig. Selskapet har jo tross alt et vidt spenn av både kjøkkenbenker, sofaer, stoler, tepper og stiger med mer.

Under følger et knippe andre ytringer, jeg har hatt i hodet i løpet av de siste ukene.

* Er det bare jeg som har usannsynlig god smak, eller kan det være butikkmedarbeiderne setter i verk noen slue salgstriks når de tilsynelatende ALLTID har og/eller selv foretrekker produktet jeg ønsker å kjøpe? Sannsynligheten for at jeg deler interessen med alle selgere er forsvinnende liten, selv om de skulle få all lønn utbetalt i butikkens produkter. Et lite tips: Slutt i alle fall å si at dere OGSÅ selvsagt har det neste produktet jeg ser på, om jeg ikke ønsker å kjøpe det første. Da mister dere all troverdighet.

* Hvor blir det av papiret i det store tørkepapirrullene på flyplasser, restauranter og enkelte andre offentlige steder? Det forsvinner jo bare inn i samme apparatet, og gir en uggen, uhygienisk følelse at papiret bare går i ring og kommer ut igjen et par tørk senere. Det er måte på gjenbruk.

* Hos flyselskaper og leger har kunden sjelden rett. Kommer du veldig tidlig eller for sent, får du ikke sjekket inn. Om flyet eller legen blir forsinket og man selv må vente noen timer, får det ingen konsekvenser for verken legen eller flyselskapet.

En relatert meningsladet sak er teipet sterk mening.

X: Volleyball win/Skolerte gjestene

Friday was time for a 3-0 volleyball win (25-19, 25-11, 25-20), the first match for me in weeks. I came in halfway through the second game, and finished the match as an outside hitter.

Norwegian match report here.

We have played so NOT good this season and won only 3 of 10 regular matches. The humorous part is that due to our performances in the league tournaments and the way the points are calculated, we could potentially win the entire division if we win the final tournament.


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Det ble nokså enkelt 3-0 over Topp Volley Norge på fredag. En noe seig start, og førstesettseier med noen få poeng, ble til stor sifre i de følgende to. Jeg kom inn midtveis i andre sett og gjorde en brukbar match, i alle fall på siste poenget. At jeg ikke fikk starte, ei heller på liberoplass, er jeg ikke helt enig i. Selv om jeg er noe redusert grunnet manglende trening og litt sykdom etter Mali-turen, har jeg prestert greit de siste ukene. Men når treneren har fått mandat til å ta ut og rotere på laget slik han ønsker, er det han som bestemmer.

Les kampreferatet her.

Vi har hatt en elendig sesong med bare 3 seiere på 10 forsøk i vanlig seriespill. Men på grunn av god innsats i serieturneringene og tilsvarende dårlig oppmøte eller resultat for mostanderne, har vi en teoretisk sjanse for å vinne hele serien ved seier i siste turnering i Lier i starten av mars. Se artikkel på Volleymedia.no for detaljer og forklaring.

E: Online clips 26

Need a break? Sunday is a day for resting and worship. I hereby post a few recreational glimpses picked from YouTube.com.

I am a volleyball player, but not so much a fan of watching it. But seeing people like Leonel Marshall in action will amaze anyone – regardless of sporting preference.
Speaking of volleyball, this compilation also have some neat moments.

But humans can impress with other moves as well. "Human jump rope" and a very efficient wheelbarrow swap are two examples. Not so impressive, but fairly humorous, is this guy tripping while attempting to jump higher than he can.
Speed skating is still not as popular as regular ice skating. But it is hard to forget the final lap of the 2002 olympic final.

Finally, an incredible story of a blind teenager’s way of overcoming his lack of sight (i.e. apparently NOT a handicap).

E: Mali visualized

Mali

13 of 14 days in Mali were spent with work. That left little time to snap photos not meant for my magazine. I still managed to press the shutter button a great number of times off work. Some of them are to be seen here. The pics are from random places in or in between the different locations I visited throughout my stay.

E: Divine drip 14

Valentine’s day is a suitable day to be reminded of God’s love. As today is the 14th, it was also convenient to publish the 14th entry in the Divine drip series. It is an illustrative, golden story – about silver.

Malachi 3:3 says:

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.