A working life
Archive for December, 2009
END OF THE SEMESTER
Dec 20th
Finally I’m on my way home, currently on the train, trying out the WordPress application for iPhone. One of many cool apps I haven’t had time to try out due to the past 4 weeks of intense working.
The semester is over, but my work isn’t. However, I’m going to have a well deserved Christmas holiday before work continues. My work isn’t over? You say. Well that’s because I wasn’t able to finish my project report due to several delays related to malfunctioning machinery. Most is done, I just need to get in touch with my supervisor, currently in India, and discuss my results with him. This has been harder than expected, thus the delay in handing in the report.
Off-school things: Øystein and I have played Call of Duty: Modern warfare 2 on xbox360. Incredible game! Special ops. two player is a magnificent time spender :D
I’ve also discovered Fast Flip from Google Labs, a neat way of serving news from different sources. It’s really useful on the iPhone! Worth a try!
Merry Christmas to you all!
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Dec 7th
Today, the Climate Change Conference starts in Copenhagen, Denmark. COP15, as it is so nicely called is a United Nations conference, the 15th of the so-called Conference of Parties.
Barack Obama and the Norwegian primeminister, Jens Stoltenberg, will attend the conference along with over 60 other world leaders and discuss how to reduce emissions that harm our climate. A lot is expected for this climate meeting, but is there a lot to hope for? Everyone seems to be willing, but keep the cards close to their chest, so in the end it will be hard to get anywhere.
Barack Obama is the world leader with the biggest pressure on his shoulders. During the eight years of Bush administration, the United States didn’t contribute to an active climate policy. Now it’s up to Obama to show that he can contribute actively to the change we need. Unfortunately, Obama has met a lot of resistance back home, where republicans are pushing hard, saying the climate changes aren’t man made and where surveys show that Americans don’t really care about the climate change.
The COP15 conference will probably not end with spectacular agreements in emission cuts, but it’s a step in the right direction. Most countries agree that action is needed in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the important discussion is the time perspective. What we can expect is agreements on principles and time schedules.
A lot more was expected from the COP15 conference. Many countries, including Norway, hoped for a legally binding agreement to reduce climate change. Now, most of these hopes have been abandoned, partly because the US Senate didn’t pass Barack Obama’s climate bill earlier this fall.
I’m confused. The entire COP15 conference is hard to understand for us outsiders. All the participants are willing to contribute, but unwilling to sacrifice too much. The game has begun, let’s see what it brings.
Please comment:
What do you expect from the COP15 conference?
What do you hope for?
What achievements are realistic?
COMMERCIAL PARODIES
Dec 5th
I would simply like to share with you some funny Youtube parodies I came across yesterday. They worked as a medicine for my bad project day yesterday, when all of my samples got ruined due to a gold thinfilm that wouldn’t lift-off as it should. Anyways, here’s a few videos, I hope you like them too!
The first, a friend of mine, Tarjei, posted on Facebook. Andreas found the second after I showed him the first.
THE SEARCH FOR CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
Dec 3rd
If you’re a student like me, you know Christmas spirit is hard to come by during December (specially here in Norway, where all the exams are before Christmas). I’m currently drowning in project work, spending nothing but 14-15 hour days at school.
Therefore, as my last post suggested, I’m really not in a Christmas mood. Luckily, I have some fantastic flatmates that help a lot on that front. Specially Ellen entrepeneur when it comes to finding Christmas spirit. (Andreas is like me, very busy at school, so he is benefitting from Ellen’s “Christmas spirit project” as well).
Here’s a list of Ellen’s Christmas spirit strategies, I encourage everyone to try them out – it really works!
1. Christmas decorations! We don’t have many of them, but they are good reminders that Christmas is just around the corner. I doubt that Andreas and I would have taken ourselves time to put them up.
2. Scented candles! Another simple, but really good idea. The smell that welcomes you after a long day at school really boosts my mood, almost inspiring.
3. Ginger-snap! Ellen and Andreas made ginger-snap yesterday! It’s nothing more “Christmasy” than ginger-snap, and we had a great time decorating them while watching Love Actually (the elephant above is mine *proud*).
4. Christmas Calendar! Ellen suggested we should make our own calendar, so we did. Every day, one of us gets to an encouraging gift to open before school. This is also a tradition I’ve had throughout my childhood, so it truly makes Christmas spirit come around!
