The positive side of coronavirus
Thought for the day…”Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Despite all the doom and gloom at the moment, there are some positive sides to coronavirus. Staff in shops and cafes have become noticeably better recently, and are happy to serve you now. Not only that but they have time to help and, with the lack of customers, are actually trying to help out. Shops and cafes have become more polite, with people waiting patiently in spaced-out queues. Cafes have started putting most items in plastic to prevent contamination, hand disinfectant is now common and for the time being, people are being very good at using disinfectants. And another bonus, the enforced free time is giving some of us some a great opportunity to catch up on things that previously we never had time for. So it is not all negative at the moment !! Stay safe.
The southbound Oslo to Kiel ferry passing the coast of Norway at Drobak.
and another photo from the archives….sunrise captured with the Fuji X-T30
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Oslo to Copenhagen ferry
Thought for the day..”Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”
“It is not the strongest of the species which survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” Charles Darwin
Oslo harbour and the ferry which goes between Norway and the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Prices onboard this boat have gone up a lot, and the journey time has also been increased, making the trip now more expensive and also slower. This boat was previously owned by Viking Line, and sailed from Sweden to Finland. Whilst the ferry was previously a good option, with the high prices onboard and also with the improved road connections to Denmark, it is no longer a good option. Quite why the company thought that slowing the trip down was a good idea is a mystery, as is the logic of increasing the prices onboard. Just like the airlines, DFDS have started to charge for things (eg. internet onboard and the bus connections to/from the boat) that used to be included in the ticket price. It appears that nearly all the public seating onboard has also been removed, presumably to try and force people into the bars and restaurants onboard to spend more money. Sad to see the decline in standards on these ferries now, and the need to pay extra for so many things. The kayakkers had a great view of the ferry though……
and another photo…A dramatic sunrise over the hills of Pembroke, New Zealand. Great cloud formations are not unusual on the South Island of New Zealand due to the prevailing winds crossing the Southern Alps, which often leads to banding and wave clouds. Add that to the first sun of the day and the result is a great photo.
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An aviation classic – the Hawker Hurricane
Thought for the day…”I haven’t failed. I just found 10 000 ways that won’t work” Thomas Edison.
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadow falls behind you”.
Wanaka, New Zealand hosts the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow every two years, and was at one time, also home to a number of Warbirds, such as this Hawker Hurricane. This particular aircraft had an interesting history, having flown in 1940 and crashed in Preswick, Scotland, then after a rebuild was damaged several more times before being transferred to the Soviet Air Force in 1941. It crashed again near Murmansk, Russia in 1943 and was recovered around 1990 and partly rebuilt in the UK from 1992 to 1995. It was fully restored in Wanaka and flew again from Christchurch, NZ in January 2000. It was later sold to a French owner based in Cannes. The photo was taken in Wanaka about 2010 prior to the sale to the new owner.
And a photo from Oslo harbour in Norway. The DFDS ferry travels overnight down to Copenhagen, Denmark. Unfortunately, journey times have been increased now and prices onboard are very high, making it much less attractive than previously, especially when the highway down through Sweden is a fast alternative. Why management wanted to slow the trip down is a mystery, as the boat is now much slower and leaves both cities too early to be much use to business travellers or people wanting a full day trip.
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Censorship by Booking.com
Thought for the day…”Chocolate is ground from the beans of happiness.”
“The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.”
Free Speech. Something that is very important, but something that is disappearing fast in Europe. Political correctness has already gone far to far, but now the online travel agency (OTA) Booking.com is also at it.
I recently stayed in some accommodation in Zurich which I booked online via Booking.com The property was not good (badly run, dirty and with poor facilities) with poor security. Not only was the property not clean, but it appeared to have many problems, one of which was what appeared to be asylum seekers in the accommodation. So after my stay, I wrote a TRUTHFUL review to help other people in deciding whether or not to book. One of the things that I wrote in the review was that the property appeared to house asylum seekers. I did not make any statements about the rights or wrongs of this, nor did I mention nationalities, skin colour or race. No references were made to immigration policies or criminality, just a statement that there appeared to be asylum seekers housed in the property.
But Booking.com refused to publish my review because I had used the words ‘asylum seekers’ which they said could cause offense to some some people. I would argue that the words described (truthfully) a situation, and were just reporting what I had seen and experienced. Despite emails to Booking.com the review did not get published. So it seems that Booking.com also want to be politically correct, even if this means distorting the truth.
The result of this….I cancelled a lot of future bookings with Booking.com and now try to book direct with hotels etc. where this is possible. I am not going to have Booking.com tell me what I can and cannot say in a review. It also makes me think that the other reviews on their website may also have been edited too. So if you are reading reviews there then be aware that the reviews may have been edited for suitability. George Orwell’s 1984 is here, just a bit late. Booking.com is in the same group as Priceline.com and Agoda.com
Today’s photo comes from Glendhu Bay on the South Island of New Zealand. The valley in the photo was until recently one of the homes of the Canadian country-pop singer, Shania Twain. Nearby is Mt. Aspiring National Park and the Southern Alps.
and another photo from the archives….a SRN-4 hovercraft seen here in Boulogne in France. These hovercraft had a top speed of 154 km/h and crossed the English Channel in as little as 22 minutes. The record is held by the hovercraft in this photo, the Princess Anne.
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Oslo airport OSL does it again
Thought for the day…”If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.”
“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”
Oslo airport does it again…makes it unpleasant for passengers. On Saturday I had the misfortune to use Oslo OSL airport again. Even with their big, new extension, it is still the same unpleasant place as before. Despite have a big new space, there are still almost no seats for passengers waiting to check in (WHY??) and even though they have put in a big new duty free shop (which they conveniently funnel passengers through whether or not you want to buy), they still have not got it right for passengers. Why do their departure gates have seats for about 30 people when the aircraft using them take 170 passengers or more? And can the managers at OSL not count? Why on Saturday were most of the security check-points CLOSED ?, resulting in a long queue of people trying to get through security. The managers at OSL must know how many flights are scheduled to depart, yet they seem unable or unwilling to put enough staff on the security checkpoints. Bad management? Of course, if you pay money then you can go ‘Fast Track’ through security, but this is merely an admission that the normal waiting times at security are too long. And whilst the airport managers may be happy to see more and more (expensive) shops at Oslo airport, they still have not put in enough facilities for passengers. Try finding a water fountain or a working electrical socket. Try finding something to do whilst you are waiting at OSL. And the worst thing……we passengers are actually paying a lot of money to use OSL airport. Because it has a monopoly position then it can take our money without providing good services. Flying from Oslo is not something to look forward to, especially if you have to wait there. Perhaps the train from Oslo is the answer…….
A photo of the SR.N4 hovercraft taken in 1997 in Dover, England, from a scanned slide in my collection. At that time, the SRN4 was the largest hovercraft in the World. Top speed was 154 km/h and they could cross the English Channel in as little as 22 minutes. The noise and vibration inside them was unforgettable, and if you crossed the English Channel on a rough day, then the ride inside them was ‘interesting’ !! But they were a thrilling way to travel over the waves.
and another photo from the archives…by the sea in Cuba.
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Uncovered…what lies beneath.
Thought for the day…”Hope is but the dream of those who wake.”
“You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.”
Ever wondered what the inside of a jet engine looks like? Here is a CFM56 engine uncovered. More than 30 000 of these have been built, but it will set you back around USD 10 million for one. This one is an example from Air New Zealand, and was used in its 737 fleet. At one time, AirNZ was a quality, full service airline (it even had the advertising slogan ‘Pride of the Pacific’ but nowadays it has changed into a budget airline which charges extra for add-ons, and also service levels onboard have fallen. Sad to see a once great airline change so much.
But we customers are lucky to have a choice……I now avoid any flights on airlines that use 10 across seating on their 777s, and I am also checking the seating before making reservations…things like not booking on the newer Lufthansa A320NEO aircraft where they have put seats closer together (with even less legroom than Ryanair) and have removed one galley and toilet to squeeze in even more seats. There is a limit, and some airlines have passed that limit for what is acceptable. And if the airlines think that by making economy class uncomfortable that they will force me to upgrade to premium economy, then that is just not going to work….the answer is to choose another airline. Their loss.
and another photo…Honningsvag in north Norway, high above the Artic Circle.
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Always connected – the digital overload
Thought for the day….”It is not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years”
“Knowledge comes from learning. Wisdom comes from living”
One of the big challenges now is that we are never disconnected. People are now suffering an onslaught of information at all hours of the day, and with tables and mobile phones, this continues even when they are not at work. Internet is available almost everywhere, and the mobile phone means that people are still connected even when they are on the beach or walking in the park. Not only are people able to be online continuously, but there is also an overload of information now. Some scientists are now saying that this constant stream of data is making it hard to concentrate, and is also causing increasing levels of stress. There is also the problem of trying to juggle all the different forms of technology, and to cope with all that information that is now bombarding us. So rather than making life easier for us, this technology is actually making life MORE difficult and stressful. People now believe that they have to answer a mobile phone call immediately, and that the email that has just arrived must be read instantly, whilst at the same time they are still bombarded by information from the internet. Some hotels are now advertising that they do NOT have internet, and also are advertising digital detox breaks. Always connected, and not a good thing.
Today’s photo comes from the lakefront in Pembroke, New Zealand, where there is also internet. Who needs it though with a view like this?
and another photo, the waterfront at Picton, South Island, New Zealand. From here ferries depart for the 3.5 hour trip to the North Island.
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Unbelievable Norway – summer comes early to the north
Thought for the day…”If you obey all the rules, you miss all of the fun” (Katharine Hepburn)
North Norway has been enjoying some unusually warm temperatures recently, not to mention some fantastic summer weather. Temperatures in the far north of Norway have reached over 18 degrees in April (plus degrees that is), along with clear blue skies, windless days and warm sunshine. At times it has been hard to believe that it is Norway, especially when the sea has been incredibly clear and such a wonderful blue colour. If this is all due to global warming, then I vote for more of it !!! The first photo is of the Hurtigruten ship “Kong Harald” in Alesund harbour.
Every day of the year, one of the Hurtigruten ships leaves from Bergen to sail all the way up to the coast of Norway to Kirkenes, just a few kilometres from the Russian border. Officially, the radar domes in the second photo from Vardo, are part of the European Space Junk monitoring programe, however, a few years ago the covers blew off the radar domes, and a Norwegian newspaper revealed that the radars were not pointing upwards towards space, but were actually pointing across the bay towards Russia. No doubt there are also radars on the Russian side of the bay pointing towards Norway !!! Curiously, Vardo, in the second photo, actually lies further east than Istanbul or Kiev, even though it is Norway.
All photos were taken with the Fuji X-T10 camera, which is proving to be a joy to use, and with the 18-55mm standard kit lens (also a joy to use).
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Lofoten Islands & Hurtigruten boats.
Thought for the day….” When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not with your brain” (Mark Twain).
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work” (Thomas Edison).
Two photos from the Lofoten Islands in artic Norway…both with the Hurtigruten ships in them. One of these boats leaves Bergen every day of the year for the 5.5 day journey up the coast all the way to Kirkenes, near the Russian border. Lofoten Islands are about half way up Norway, at about 67 degrees north (so north of the Artic circle). Fishing has been important here for over 1000 years, now tourism is also important during the very short summer season. The islands have the midnight sun from 25th May until 17th July. In the photos, the Hurtigruten boat ms Trollfjord passes another Hurtigruten boat, ms Finnmarken. Fuji X-E1 camera again, and the 18-55mm kit lens, a great combination. As others have said, the Fuji X-E1 camera makes you want to take photos again.
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Airline etiquette or bad behavior.
Thought for the day….” Follow your heart, but take your brain with you”.
“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines”.
There cannot be many people in the western world who have not flown, so I assume that most people know the etiquette of flying. Even if they do not, then common sense and good manners is enough. But recently I experienced the worst passengers that I have ever had the misfortune to sit next to (and misfortune was the word.). Bad enough that there were 300+ passengers on the aircraft, but what are the odds of ending up sitting next to the worst passengers possible??? These two passengers had a screaming baby, bad enough on any flight but on an 11 hour night flight then obviously VERY unpopular with a lot of passengers. Not only that, but the parents wanted to get up out of their seats. Not just a few times, but an excessive number of times. Even when the meal was served, they decided that they wanted to get out (same thing at breakfast too, trays down and the food there, but they still wanted to get out immediately). The man on my left seemed to be unaware that he did not have a god-given right to put his legs and feet into my leg rest. When I was not fast enough at moving to let them out, they simply climbed over me, regardless of whether I was getting up to let them out or not. 11 hours sitting next to the worst ever passengers. I wish that I had taken a photo of them, not just to shame them but to warn others that this couple had a gold medal in inconsideration. And even on arrival, the man decided that he wanted to be first off the aircraft and was going to try to push past everybody else like a rugby scrum. I hope that these two particular passengers end up on a no-fly list due to their total lack of consideration.
On a happier note….a photo of the Interislander ferry sailing up the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand. The route through the sounds, which takes about 1 hour, is extremely scenic. During the winter months, the 3 hour crossing between the North and South Islands of New Zealand can be extremely rough in the middle section, so passengers will be relieved once they enter the sheltered waters of the Sounds. The ferry is seen near its final destination of Picton, top of the South Island, New Zealand
and another photo from the archives….a Malawian boy……
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Sunshine in Stockholm, Sweden
Thought for the day…” Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” (Einstein)
” Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts”.
Although not very tall, the City Hall Tower in the centre of Stockholm does give great views of the Gamla Stan (Old Town) in the Swedish captal of Stockholm. Stockholm is home to about 900 000 people, and lies at 59 degrees north and has daily ferry links to Finland, Estonia and Latvia. Visible in the photo is the island of Riddarholmen (which means Knights Island) with its pointed church, and behind that, the Gamla Stan (Old Town), and in the harbour behind, the ferries to Finland (and a couple of visiting cruise ships too). Despite its image as a modern, Scandinavian centre, areas of the city such as Tensta and Rinkeby in the suburbs suffer from high crime and racial problems (including some riots not long back). Stockholm, in a similar way to London, suffered a great plague. It has over 100 museums, including the ABBA museum. The photo shows Stockholm on a summers day, but summer here is very short, and for much of the year it is cold and dark, which the sea freezing during the winter months. Not a place for a winter holiday !!
And another photo out of the archives….a hard day in Tallinn, Estonia…..
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Facing forward – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…..” Follow your heart, but take your brain with you”.
” Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day”.
Did you know that the human face has 43 muscles in it? Or that it takes 17 muscles to smile whereas it needs 43 to frown? The face also contains the hardest part of our bodies (the teeth), the hardest bone in our bodies (the jawbone). The strongest muscle in our bodies (in relation to its size) is the human tongue. Humans are also the only animals to produce emotional tears. And also amazing is that the human brain is consuming about 20% of the total oxygen used in the human body. And on average, the skin is replaced every 27 days.
So here is a photo of a human face, a passenger in evening sunlight onboard a ferry. Bright sunlight and also light reflecting from the surrounding white surfaces gave great conditions for this photo. The wind from the moving ferry has produced an interesting hair style though !!
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Color Magic inside – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” Today is tomorrow’s yesterday, so make it count !”
” Time is the longest distance between two places”.
Some magic for the photo today, and the interior of the Colorline ‘Color Magic’ ferry, which sails between Oslo (Norway) and Kiel (Germany) in around 20 hours. The ferry is Norwegian registered, and is the largest ferry in the world, weighing in at 75 156 tons and carrying 2700 passengers. It has 15 decks, and a long promenade, as pictured below. The 223m long ferry was built in Finland (as many of them are) and has a top speed of about 41kmh/25mph. It can carry about 550 cars. Although it is the world’s largest ferry, it is still small when compared to the world’s largest cruise ship, the Allure of the Seas, which weighs in at 225 000 tons, and is capable of carrying over 6290 passengers.
Not easy to get the white balance correct in this photo, as there were so many different lighting sources, but the Panasonic camera has done a good job to balance them all out. The photo was handheld and without flash.
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Another beautiful morning, Picton, New Zealand – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” It takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow” ” The secret of getting ahead is getting started”
New Zealand is home to the longest place name in the world…
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu
It became independent from Great Britain in 1907, and unusually, has 2 national anthems. Wellington, which is the capital (although Auckland is the largest city), is the southernmost capital city in the world. New Zealand also has one of the highest numbers of golf courses per capita in the world. You will not find any nuclear power stations or snakes in NZ, as NZ is snake and nuclear free. And in the far south, you may find the tuatara, the world’s oldest reptile, which is largely unchanged for the last 200 million years.
Too many tourists rush through the New Zealand town of Picton, which is situated at the top of the South Island. Many tourists only see it as the ferry port when they arrive on the 3 hour ferry trip from Wellington on the North Island. But this small town of about 4000 residents is a great holiday base, offering watersports (sailing, fishing, kayakking, diving), cycling and also the famous nearby Great Walk, the Queen Charlotte Track. And the famous Marlborough vineyards, including such famous wines as Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, are only a short drive away. Some fine small cafes, wonderful fish & chips (a New Zealand tradition) and excellent accommodation make this an ideal stop on a tour around New Zealand.
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Environmentally UNfriendly, no common sense – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day….” Taxes could be worse. Suppose we had to pay what we think we are worth”
” The greater the struggle, the greater the victory”. ” It does not have to glitter to be gold”
An amazingly stupid story on the TV news last night about Fjordline, which runs ferries between Hirtshals (Denmark) and Stavanger and Bergen (Norway). They have recently taken delivery of a new LNG (gas) powered ferry. The new ferry had already won a prize for energy efficiency and with stricter controls on ferry emissions, then LNG was seen as the way to go. BUT having just started, Fjordline now have a big problem. Norwegian law does not allow them to refuel the gas with passengers onboard, and the ship is only in port for a short time. So, after all the hype about saving the environment and energy efficiency, they are now sending 10 trucks by road each week, from Stavanger, Norway, via Sweden, then across to Denmark, to refuel there. The distance that the trucks have to drive is around 1600km, leaving from almost the same place as the ferry (Stavanger) and then driving 1600km to meet it in Denmark, where the ships refuels with LNG and sails back to Norway, where the gas came from in the first place. Very environmnentally UNfriendly. And also rather stupid.
So, staying on the subject of boats, here is a colourful photo of some fishing boats in Africa. Good light and bright colours make this photo.
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Photo of the day Wednesday 26th June 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” A pat on the back is only a few centimetres from a kick in the butt.”
” If it was not for the last minute, then nothing would get done”.
” Change is inevitable, except from vending machines”.
One of the complaints that you hear from foreign tourists in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is about the cost of public toilets. Not only are there not enough of them, but when you do find one, then you can pay up to 10 SEK (=1.15 euros) for the priviledge. It is a similar story in Oslo, Norway and Helsinki, Finland, the public toilets are not so common and are expensive. But in Japan at least some of the public toilets now have Sega Toylet, a urine controlled computer game which is affected by the users aim and the flow of liquid. The world’s largest public toilet is reported to be in Chonquing, China, which can relieve 1000 people simultaneously. This building has an Egyptian theme (even though it is in China) and also music and TV screens to entertain users.
Almost back in its home port of Stockholm, Viking Line ‘Cinderella’ is just a few kilometres from the terminal in this recent shot from Stockholm, Sweden. The ship carries 2500 passengers, mainly on short 22 trips to Finland for dancing and drinking.
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Photo of the Day Tuesday 21st May 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Today is the oldest that you have ever been, and the youngest that you will ever be again”
” If you cannot convince them, confuse them” Harry S. Truman
I read a very interesting article on the net about an experiment performed by some Danish school girls who discovered that cress seeds would not germinate in a room which had internet routers turned on. No problem for the seeds in the room without the routers, so it appeared that the radiation from the routers was preventing the seeds from germinating. More research is now going to be done on this surprising discovery by the schoolgirls, but again it raises the question of radiation levels. Mobile phones and their radiation levels have been investigated several years but now it appears that routers may also be suspect. More details about this story here;
The photo today is from the archipeligo outside of Stockholm, and shows the village of Furusund, near the edge of the archipeligo.
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Happy not to be working at the Quality Spa Resort, Norefjell.
Photo of the Day Sunday 5th May 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life”.
A photo from the Baltic Sea today and the Tallink Galaxy boat, which travels between Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. Although originally owned by Silja Line, the company was taken over by the Estonian Tallink Line. Although once it was a pleasant way to cross the Baltic, now prices are higher, and customer service lower. And if you are onboard with a lot of drunk Swedish or Finnish passengers (they go mad on buying the tax-free onboard) then the crossing can be far from pleasant. The boat is seen here heading towards Stockholm, near Oxdjupet,.
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Photo of the day Thursday 7th February 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…”If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
”Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”
Yesterday, 6th February was Waitangi Day in New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year to celebrate the signing of the famous Waitangi treaty, which made New Zealand part of the British Empire. There is still a lot of argument over the true translation of the treaty, and the celebrations at Waitangi have often been accompanied with minor troubles and protests. Waitangi Day is also the same date as Bob Marley’s birthday. As Waitangi Day falls in the hottest part of summer in New Zealand, then many people use the extra public holiday to visit the beach.
Some winter sunshine in the photo today of the Silja Symphony boat arriving in Helsinki Finland. The temperature was around -15 degrees at the time.
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Photo of the Day Saturday 26 January 2013 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the day…” Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine’.
“Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.”
“We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is disappearing.”
I am still waiting on a reply from KLM/Air France, from their ‘customer service’ section. They just ignore email after email, and do not want to sort things out. The good thing is that they will lose out, as no further bookings will be made with them until they do sort it out. Bad customer service drives customers away, precisely what KLM/Air France are doing. I look forward to reading about them in the bankruptcy courts. I will vote with my money.
A cold day in Helsinki, Finland for the photo today, and photo of the Tallink Silja (an Estonia company) Silja Symphony arriving through the ice. Sea water freezes at between -2 and -4 degrees, depending on how much salt there is in the water. The ship (built in 1991) is 58 377 tons and carries up to 2852 passengers between Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland, and has a top speed of about 43 km/h.
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Photo of the Day Friday 30th November 2012 – Not the Quality Spa Resort Hotel, Norefjell.
Thought for the Day….” The more time you spend thinking about things that could make you happy, the less time you have to actually do the things you already know will make you happy.”
A photo from the Oslo fjord today, and the Color Line ship Color Fantasy heading for Oslo. The ship sails between Oslo and Kiel. Built in 2004, it weighs 74 500 tons and can take over 2700 passengers.
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