I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. ~Douglas Adams

I was looking for a quote about finishing something, completion etc... found nothing... and then saw the Douglas Adams quote, now that was a fine and strange mind.  


Today was a productive day at work, probably the first all week, I even managed to put in a full day there - no meetings or distractions, even limited time surfing the net.. Amazing.  So I was all pepped up when I got home - went and did some shopping and then came home and cooked a lamb curry.  All my curries are the same - no recipe - just every spice in the cupboard, chili, ginger, garlic, onions, mushrooms, lamb and potatoes... 


I got a surprise guest for dinner - Kristine from Hólar (Swedish head of the tourism studies department), she had to kill some time in S'krók and so decided to come visit - was so happy that she decided to come here - I like the fact that people feel comfortable in coming here and even happier when I can feed them.  The curry was good - the company good, a good day overall... The best bit about today though is that I have finished this task of writing a blog everyday.  I can't understand how people can do this.  But well done them!


So, in other news, this coming weekend I will be all on my lonesome - with the doggy... Olga and Ross are finally having a honeymoon, mum is going to her sisters and Guðný is at her mums... Maggi is coming to dinner tomorrow night so at least I get to feed someone!

Much good work is lost for the lack of a little more. ~Edward H. Harriman

This is so descriptive of today, I tried so hard to do some work, but to no effect.   A break before ten to go to a meeting which finished at lunch, lunch with mum and then back to work to try and finish some returns, I just couldn't concentrate... not good, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.


Wednesday is the day that mum gets a visit from the Jehovah's Witness from Akureyri, I have been sort of tolerant of this, but always worried - as mum says - she is always continually searching for God.  I thought she found Him years ago, but for some reason she feels that she is still wanting in some way.  I haven't worked out what it is.  Tonight just before she left she said that the pressure was on... that she has to give up the state church and be buried from the temple in Akureyri - here at least mum said that she would not agree to that - she wants to be buried from her church here in S'krók.    Why do religions have to be so divisive - why can't they accept and just discuss and have discourse - why does one have to be better or more right than the other?  I think that this is why I don't practice my religion, although I have never found the Lutheran church to be divisive or telling people what to do and how to live their lives... I don't know... need to find a way to get mum back into the general groove of the local church and perhaps I should go with her more often - but religion is a personal thing and you shouldn't need people with you to me it has always been between the individual and the God/spirit/science or whatever they believe in - the important thing is to be tolerant and to allow different ideas and beliefs and give respect.


AAAHHHHHH  ranting - must stop.  You can tell this is the second to last day.....


To my siblings reading this DON'T panic, she hasn't turned - well not yet anyway - she is getting older and she needs us all more than ever, just to know that she is a good person and has lived a good life and has done the best that she could.  She is by no means perfect, but I think she thinks that she has failed us all in one way or another and perhaps this is why she is always looking for some sort of forgiveness and that she will make it to heaven and to her God.  This is just my speculation - and sorry for putting it out their for every man and his dog to read, but this is something I can't deal with on my own.  I was thinking about editing this all out - I still can... but I won't....  I just don't know what to do.  


Still ranting... must stop... but have verbal diarrhea ....


So tomorrow is the last day of this daily posting thing.... am sure that we are all glad that this month in my life is over............


and to end on a better quote


All religions must be tolerated... for... every man must get to heaven his own way.  ~Frederick the Great

Nobody told me there'd be days like these Strange days indeed, strange days indeed... John Lennon

So close to finishing this month of blogging.... why did I not do this in February or even April, still, only a couple of days to go.


In todays news, I went to another meeting in the afternoon - with the culture committee.... it was held in Miðgarð which once upon a time was a place where wild dances were held for the 16+ crowd, it is located in the next village - about 20 mins drive from S'krók.  Now its a menningarhús - a cultural centre.  Which basically means that it has a great stage and sound equipment - can house up to 200 people either for dinners, opera, recitals alls sorts of things. the renovations cost a fortune - but it looks good.  Todays meeting was with the person running the place discussing the problems with low utilisation and high cleaning costs.  Ah the joys of committee work.


I was going to go back to work after the meeting but it went on for a little longer than we had first allowed for... still it was a very informative get together, we were also informed about the current items on the agenda for our archives and local heritage museum.  We really do have great institutions in this little fjord, with directors that work with zeal and enthusiasm.  Then, tonight, I met with the party faithful to discuss the forthcoming political conference in Reykjavík - should be an interesting event - and I am actually going - actually volunteered to go.  Yep, strange things are happening in my life - I am enjoying meetings, I am enjoying being in a political party and am volunteering to go to Rvk.  Strange days indeed......

In thee my soul shall own combined the sister and the friend. ~Catherine Killigrew

I had no idea about what to write about tonight, but after a very long and good conversation with my sister it became obvious.


I have written about her before, she is and always will be my best friend in life.  We have gone through a lot together.   I try to be there for her and she has always been there for me.  I feel at times that we are overlapping shapes in life and we share her children.  Remember those shapes in math in primary school where bits overlap - well that's me and my sis.  I feel that her children are partly mine - I hope she doesn't mind sharing them with me.  I know that my life is that much more enhanced because I have been a part of their lives -whether they feel the same is another story.


I think that sisters have a different relationship to brothers and sisters.... why, I don't know.. I love my brothers dearly and I love their children just as much, I figure that it may have basically been through geography, somehow I have always had more access to my sister's kids than to those of my brothers.  So the dynamics of the relationships changes because of that.  Remember - I bought a house down the road from my sister... I had lived in her house with them before that.... Poor children - they could not get away from me... I was there - a permanent part of their life in their early formative years.... 


To my sister, brother in law and their children - thank you!!!

I like the word "indolence." It makes my laziness seem classy. ~Bern Williams

The quote says it all hence, no post yesterday and a major fail in posting everyday for a month... I almost wasn't going to bother tonight - so much easier to fail at things than to continue on after a relapse...


Last night I went to the annual dinner dance of the local gym... I am NOT a member.... I went with my very good friend Guðný - we use each other as the plus one whenever there's the opportunity.  Was an interesting evening... Lots of very fit bodies and in amongst them some like me - not so fit.  The jokes were a little or rather very much not to my taste, but hey, different strokes... the entertainment was quite amusing though, the instructors made to reach for an ever reducing box of cereal with their mouths.  I was a tad worried about some of them making old sports injuries that much worse, the woman that won so deserved it - has a healthy looking sporty physique, not overly thin and extremely flexible.  Some of the blokes took me by surprise, the most flexible of them was probably the one that had more padding than the others.  


Then came the music, a two man band - in the tradition of dinner music with a few "hits" from the pop world thrown in.....  Guðný had choir practice today so she was on her best behaviour... so it was a fairly early night.  Even though this was the case. today was a very very slack day - very indolent.  I slept late, took the dog for a long walk, made a pie... pies take time..... and am now relaxing and watching the box, with a glass of red... the usual end for the day.


In other news spring has arrived, the snow is melting - we have had two days of plus temps... my tulips are trying to grow... hopefully they survived the snow and will blossom before Easter.


And in further news, I actually went and had a look at Olga, Ross' and Henry's new home... tis really really lovely - so much potential... am looking forward to spending some quality time with them there.  

Don't vote, it only encourages them. ~Author Unknown

Ok so after yesterdays miserable blog I got some rather tough questions....


From Maja, what my take is on our PM´s gaff in the hiring of the senior person in the prime ministers department.  You see what happened was that there were a number of applicant 5 (I think) that were rated equally, only one of these was a woman.  In Iceland there is affirmative action legislation which states when in doubt hire the woman (in order to improve on gender equality within the government bureaucracy).  They hired a bloke, the woman had recourse through the system to challenge the decision, the high court or whoever (sorry, I find this whole thing so silly I haven't really investigated it completely), came down on her side.  That is, according to the law - she should have gotten the job.  What makes matters worse for our PM is that she was rather vocal when a similar situation occurred a few years ago (when she was in opposition) and she asked for the minister in questions resignation. Her stance now is that she felt she could not go against the recommendations of the committee that was set up to sort out the applicants and appoint someone to the job.  Another thing that makes this rather murky is that the woman in question was previously the assistant to the current PM´s former party leader - so who knows what background these two already have.  So, in answer to Maja's question - our PM has yet again proved that she is very good at foot in mouth, seeing the splinter in the other person's eye and also lousy in facing the fact that she fucked up.  I have always admired Jóhanna for her determination and will - now I am starting to think that these positives make her life a misery - I often think that she over compensates for what she sees as her weekness ie a woman in politics... she should be a role model to both the men and the women in this country - be tolerant - not go off ranting and raving and take the hits when they come and be strong enough to stand  up for what she believes in.  If the guy was the best guy for the job then there is something wrong with having affirmative action laws... Maybe these need to be reviewed.  But..... as I am libran I can do buts..... there were 4 women in the selection committee - in my books women have always been their own worst enemies - somehow it seems that women in power often don't like other women around them - they see them as threats, why, I don't know... just through my experience it is unfortunately often the case.  We want equality - but for us - sorry ME, not the other women, who may come in to our area of influence and somehow undermine us.... sorry ME... well thats my rant on that one.


ICESAVE.  hmmmm have been pondering this one a lot.  Over the past months I have often felt that it is my heart that is saying no and my head is saying yes.  My head says yes, because by signing the agreement we are going into the known.  We will know almost (but not really) how much we have to pay and for how many years.  The crux is though - is there any obligation for the Icesave debt to become a sovereign debt.  According to all my very basic and really quite useless knowledge of law (well UK law - which we inherited in Aus) there was always a thing call Buyer Beware or caveat emptor.  This has largely been overriden in consumer law with warranties and consumer protection - so that some shafty salesman can't sell you something useless, however it still exists in business transactions, that it is the duty of the buyer in a business to business transaction to investigate the company from which he is buying from.  Icesave was a bank that promised interest rates many points higher than those of normal high street banks and so attracted a lot of investors with money that wanted to see high returns on their investments.... I again, go back to another common saying - if it seems to good to be true then.....   I again, can only go back to my own experience, shortly after arriving in Iceland I decided to take out extra superannuation... there were a number of options being offered by the bank ranging from low risk internal investments based on government bonds or very high yielding returns with investments in foreign and local shares... my choice, the low risk govt bonds... why - because I did not trust the banking infrastructure in Iceland... on paper they looked brilliant - but rub the surface and you could see that there were a lot of "slight of hand" movements on the balance sheet - re-evaluation of foreign assets, over valuations of shares in other companies (which happened to somehow be connected - Exxon anyone?)  Anyway, getting back to Icesave and my vote, the bank was in a highly risky enterprise - the investments in Britain and Holland were being used to cover debt elsewhere and creating new debt in other places... there was nothing behind it - a child could have seen it - so cavear emptor - you should have bloody known it was dodgy.... anyway, then the banks collapse, Icelandic depositors were covered by government.  Icesave in Holland and Britain was an Icelandic bank - it had not changed it's legal home and entity to a UK or Dutch one... However, the dutch and UK governments intervened and said that they would cover the 20.000 euro maximum that is ensured under EU law... they decided this all on their own... they could have let the depositors chase the money to the Icelandic fund, but that fund was pretty much not able to cope with that many and did not have the money to cover all the depositors....  Now they (the UK and Dutch governments) want this money back with interest, understandable... however... is it right that this should become a sovereign debt - ie that the Icelandic government (read the Icelandic people) should be liable for the risks and gambling undertaken by the Icelandic banks.  To this my heart says NO.  ... and increasingly my head is getting in agreement with my heart.   So what happens if we say no.... well two things... or maybe three... we go back to negotiations, the UK and Dutch governments take Iceland to the European or in our case the EFTA courts ..... or..... nothing.  So if we go to court what then?  A lot of lawyers will be rich, fat and happy (but they already are anyway - and we have a heap of lawyers here... at least three universities that graduate a bundle every year) We may lose, and have to pay the brits and dutch what they paid out and probably with interest (similar to the agreement we are being asked to sign now - or the interest rates may be higher) and if we do lose this means that a precedent has been set for countries taking on the collapse of banks as sovereign debt - is this what the other European countries want???  Governments can not continually be having to bail out banks - Ireland, Portugal, Spain - they are all having problems today - what would have happened in America if the government had bailed out and become liable for the investments in their investment banks???  


Yep so I guess I will be voting no and will live with the repercussions.


In other news I am also against Iceland joining the EU, it's broken and we have nothing to add and nothing from them will add to improving my lot here...


And if you are all still with me then I will do a YOU YOU as Jomamma asked... 


Judith - list three things that you like about Maja and Maria and me and three things that you think that we should do (in your honest opinion) to make life that much more enjoyable....

Seventy percent of success in life is showing up. ~Woody Allen

I can't believe that I am quoting Woody Allen, but honestly I have nothing to write about that I haven't already written about before.  


I had another meeting about waste from the slaughter house and from the farms, again, there is no cut and dried solution.  We will continue to battle on, find an interim solution.  


Again, nothing to write... maybe I should find one of those memememememe thingies


Well, have trolled the meme sites and found nothing - one was interesting - what are three things that people don't know about you?  I thought and thought and thought and realised that my life is an open book and I doubt if there is anything that is a secret anymore...


So having done that I realise that this is the dullest post in march... Will need to ask Olga for inspiration - they went to dinner at Vicki's tonight before Ross and Vicki went to Icelandic class, so I can't ask her now.  


Life on the other hand is good...... hope it's good for you too.

The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize. ~Shigeo Shingo

My life is totally centralised around waste and taxes at the moment... to most not the most riveting of things.  To me - a challenge, that I have to face every day.


Today I met with some folk from down south and the vet in charge of the North of Iceland to discuss future waste disposal of category 1, 2 and 3 waste.  Yep, I can see you falling asleep.  It was an interesting meeting that left us in the same place as we were yesterday, but with a bit of a better feel regarding what future regulations would have in place.


Tomorrow is a meeting with the local health inspector - again to discuss waste management... 


In between I will be doing tax returns... Oh joy!  


The highlight of the day was that we had foal curry for dinner and cousin Herdís joined us tonight.. Always good to see her as she has so many ideas for increasing options for tourists visiting our area.  She is so full of drive and new ideas and I know that she will follow them  though.  We are lucky here in this fjord to have people like her with drive and foresight to make changes and develop new ideas.  We take so much for granted here, for instance the number of birds that come here and nest in the summer is extraordinary, it is a bird watchers paradise - do we advertise this - no - why? because for us the birds are always here every summer and so no big deal... for bird watchers it is a big deal.. The idea of a bird watcher is also something that is not really a known phenomenon in Iceland... why watch birds... they are there - well at least at certain times of year - they are just a part of our normal environment.  Yep we have a lot to learn and we do need to grasp the opportunities that are right here, in front of us, so obvious, we just don't see them.


In other news,  I am going to the annual fest of the people that go to the local gym... talk about a fish out of water..... Sundays blog may actually  be interesting.. till then we still have thursday, friday and saturday.... Thankfully March will end next week...... (actually that is not such a good thing - I have a heap of tax returns to do....)

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

Today was a busy day, tax return time at work and meetings on the increase in the town council stuff, today was work, lunch time meeting at the council, more work and a council meeting at 4.  


I did the tax return for one of my clients today and phoned to say it was ready for him to come and sign.  He wasn't home,so I left a message with the guy that answered the phone, just as I was getting ready to leave for my meeting I heard him coming up the stairs.  He was there with a younger person I had never seen before - his daughter.


He is a farmer that has worked hard, has a good farm and is one of the nicest of my clients.  I know everything about his expenses... he gives me every receipt, so I feel as if I know him well, although I only see him maybe three times a year.  Anyway, today when he came in he told me his wife had died yesterday, so she wouldn't be there to sign the return.  I felt a blow to my heart, I could see straight away that he was quite distraught.  All I could do was give him a hug and offer my condolences and then take the time to listen... I had met his wife as often as I met him - three times a year.  She was always quite jolly - they are what you would imagine the "salt of the earth" type people to be.   It was so sad, he talked about the fact that he was there when she died and how he held her hand and could feel her press his in return.  I was almost blubbering... have tears in my eyes now.  To have a love like that is so special, something to be treasured and is so nice to witness - it gives one hope.  To him I send all my love and respect.  To her I send my greatest respect and admiration for having found and had a love so strong.  


The council meeting afterwards was ok, but the reality of life and death makes you realise that the blah blah blah of politics is meaningless if you don't have love and respect for you fellow man as your ultimate priority.


Enjoy life people - you may never know when you don't have it anymore.

"Well, the Ides of March have come", to which the seer replied "Ay, they have come, but they are not gone."

Apparently the Ides of March fall on the 15th of the month... so I am few days late.. This quote came to mind when I realised that I had to continue to blog till the end of the month... not easy.


So today was a day of work and meetings, the meetings were not related to work work but the other work - the council stuff.   You see we are facing an imminent problem here in the fjord.  What to do with animals that die on a farm - in child birth or from other diseases and those bits that come from the abattoir that can not be used in feed for the mink farms...  EU regulations are becoming more and more stringent on these matters.  Now that most of the rubbish that needs to go to landfill goes across the mountain to the fjord to the west (where they have decided not to allow abattoir refuse and dead animals to be landfilled) we need to find a solution.  This morning was a meeting with the abattoir manager and this afternoon with representatives from the farming community.  This is a real problem that needs to be solved and solved quickly.  Our landfill is losing it license to remain open... to keep it open we will be faced with more stringent regulations... What to do????  Yep, my life is full of challenges.  On Wednesday I am having a meeting with representatives from the authority that is in charge of composting - we had a composting station here - now closed down due to debt... the composting station in the next fjord to the east is on the verge of bankruptcy - why? because they can't use any of the produce - or rather they can - but no one can farm the land for 10 years - which basically makes it useless.  They charge people for the refuse that comes to them, but it is not enough to cover start up loans and operating costs... It's a right mess.


In other news we had foal for dinner tonight - and as usual it was yummy... Amazing how tender it is.


And I had my photo taken with the t shirt for Napier Marineland.  There is a T shirt travelling around the world trying to gain attention and to help keep the Napier (NZ) Marineland open.  I donned my ski suit and T shirt and did a snow angel... not good photos... but I figured more politically correct than standing in front of a stuffed polar bear...  


Ah another day, another blog...


But before I go - many thanks to Maja and Anna for all the photos on facebook from my nephews marriage on Saturday... I was going to try and load some photos from their fb pages, but am having technical difficulties... not happy...


will try again tomorrow.  So many great photos of so many very happy people obviously having a wonderful time!  Oh how I wish I had been there....

Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week. ~Joseph Addison

Oh boy, now it starts to get hard.


Today like most Sundays, began with me being woken up by the dog - she cries - especially when the weather outside is nice.... so although I managed to get her to stay calm for an extra half hour snooze, she finally got me to get out of bed and start the day.


As like most other days I went to mums to get my coffee fill, this morning - like all weekends, the coffee from breakfast was finished, so I made a fresh pot, managed to get down one cup before the crying started again.  As I was having folk for a late lunch early dinner I knew I needed to get some extra stuff for the meal and as the weather was actually quite nice (ie no wind) I decided to walk the dog up to the shop on the hill.  In Sauðárkrókur we have two supermarkets, well if you can call them that.  One is a department store (of the very small country variety that sells everything - well, if you can´t get it there you don't need it - as the saying goes) and a smaller store up on the hill - which is basically a food store - but it does sell stockings and socks... 


So, I made a deal with Olga that I would call her when I got up to the store so that she could pick me and the dog up along with the shopping.  The walk was extremely pleasant... nice snowy ground NO wind and sunny.  Freyja enjoyed it immensely.  Called mum's to talk to Olga... busy signal, called Olga, no answer, called Ross - YES win..  (Olga was on the phone to my brother Hilmar.... again congrats on the wonderful wedding)... Olga showed up just as I was at the counter and off we trundled home.


So, next step get the late lunch/dinner going...  and doing basic basic cleaning around the house - afterall I was getting visitors who had never entered my not so clean home. 


All went well, guests arrived, food was eaten and enjoyed.  Actually must say it was a very pleasant and relaxing way to spend a Sunday - I should do these late lunches / early dinners more often, good food, good wine, good conversation - it's the greatest pleasure in life.


In other news Henry was kicking today and Olga asked if I wanted to have a look - I did, saw some movement, then she asked if I wanted a feel..... I did, still not comfortable with this, I feel it is such an infringement on her personal space - also re-affirmed the fact that I find this all a tad strange, there is a definite reason why I never became a mother... Does this make me un-natural as a female being?  I definitely have nothing against "little" people, nor do I have anything against maternity or pregnancy.... hmmm... thoughts to ponder on.

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. ~Jean Paul Richter

We celebrated my aunt Guja's 90th birthday today.  I wasn't as good with the camera as I ought to have been - so you just get a couple of shots of the brothers and sisters...

 Here are the brothers and sisters, the eldest brother Egill passed on before I came to live in Iceland, Guja, for those not en famille is the one on the far right... yep she's 90, mum next to her is 83 the sister next to her Maja, is 78 and Disa on the far left is 76 this year.  Amazing... is all I can say.  The boys in the front row - Andres on the left is the youngest by far - from my granddads second marriage so he comes in at 56 Stebbi next to him is 77, Mundi 85 and Þóri 88.... 

Today was all about meeting people closely related - but never ever met before... or well not since childhood, this is mum with Gujas eldest daughter Ásdís you can really see Henry here.

A nice photo of my uncles Þóri and Stebbi... 

Today was also the day that my wonderful nephew Dorian Magnus married his wonderful Jacqueline... Maja put some photos on facebook - for which we are very grateful!   Looks like it was a really beautiful wedding and we really missed out on a good time.... but we were there in spirit and are so looking forward to seeing them in June when they come to spend a week here on the rock.  


I am so full... so many cakes, far too much coffee and we  had fish curry and sweet and sour fish - ie battered fish with sweet chili sauce... not bad and so I ofcourse ate far too much...


Which as mum says with all the red wine drinking I am probably ruining all my opportunities to be as good looking as she and her sisters when I reach their age....  oh well, we can't all be gordjöss.

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot. ~Ashleigh Brilliant

I was trying to work out what to write about today... then I went to quote garden and found the quote for the day.


This is so true... my life has a superb cast and I really can not figure out the plot. I am sure that there is one there somewhere, maybe one that other folks can see - but me looking from the inside out have no idea.


So, while you have been having to read my daily dribble from my past life, things have been happening here on the rock.  My niece and her hubby have put in an offer on a house and will be my neighbours - which is so nice.   


Japan has suffered and continues to suffer and one can only pray that they can circumvent further catastrophe in the nuclear power plant...   Makes me yet again realise how lucky I am to live in a country with hydro and geothermal power... These too have negative sides, but nothing like nuclear, coal or oil generated power stations.  I often wonder whether our "green/environmentalists" that are demonstrating against the building of dams are actually thinking about what the other options are.  I do not believe in building power stations and daming every river in the country just so that Alcoa can build another aluminium smelter - that will never ever be anything that I will condone. However, I do realise that we are a power hungry human race and none of us are willing to be without electricity - we are just so used to it.  We are so used to having computers, mobile phones, televisions and light bulbs, all our documents and photos are becoming digital... if suddenly there is no power then we have no way of retrieving those things that we have hoarded within the power hungry technology.  


This reminds me so much of the original movie based on the book about the time machine by hg wells.  Scary stuff.  In particular one scene that struck me the most which was based in the future where "our hero" was in what seemed to be a library and the books turned to dust when he touched them.  Which means that they weren't being renewed.. they were relics of the past.  With kindle and electronic books - there might be the chance that we don´t have real proper paper books anymore....  in the future of HG Wells, the paper books might be as dust - but without power the kindle books would not exist....  I don't like that thought at all.


This has been a bit of a ramble... but hey... my life is superb and has a superb cast and if any of you have figured out the plot - can you let me know - 'twould be nice to know what I am all about.....  


Have a great weekend!

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. ~John Ed Pearce

After I bought the house in Iceland, I knew that that was where I was heading, when was uncertain but it was definitely on the cards.


During visits to Iceland I had met the head of Hólaskóli - a semi university, not yet with uni status but was heading that way.  Once I knew I would be  going back and the cousins back in the fjord knew as well the networking began.   On one of the later visits I met up with Skúli again and told him of my plans, by mid march I was having a telephone interview for a job.  He also phoned Bernd, my friend and ex boss.... So, by the time I got on the plane to leave Hamburg I knew I had a job at Hólar.  The job description was quite vague - but that did not worry me too much - it was just good to know that I had a job to go to.  So I arrived in Sauðárkrókur on the 21st of June - I went North by bus and thought perhaps mum would have come or sent someone to meet me in Varmahlíð - nope no one there.  Not to worry took the shuttle bus to Sauðárkrók and got to mums - opened the door - shouted hallo.... no answer, walked in and saw a note on the stairs - the weather was really good - the note said - gone fishing with Jón..... back soon.  Ummmm... ok. so no fan fare - no major hey how wonderful to see you and know that you are home. 


I laughed.  What else was there to do - and Yes the weather was wonderful.  So I took my bag up the stairs and got myself settled in in mums house.  My house is just behind hers... I could see it out the window... I went over to check things out.  My cousin and nephew had pulled another wall down within the house, (under my instructions), and so the place looked like a demolition site.  Still I knew that it would all be fine in the end.  The plumbing had all been redone.  I knew that I needed to pull out the carpets, get rid of more walls, redo the wiring, get supports in the cellar, new parketry or flooring of some sort, a lot of painting and  be ready for the container with all my worldly goods.  


I started work in the first week of July, so I had just over 10 days to buy a car and start the home renovations...  I got the car on the saturday before work started... it took half an hour to buy the car - a grey coloured subaru impressa... good car - still going strong... 


I got my cousin to come in and take down some walls and put in supports in the basement and re-do the floor in the house - putting masonite  on top of the old floor boards... which would have been really rustic to have - but they had major cracks....  and so would have let in a lot of cold air... the current flooring is also quite cool on those frosty days.. 


Around the middle of July I got my dog.... my Freyja, my wonderful little companion.  So she was there during all the renovation delights, painting walls, putting down the new flooring, her dog hairs are an intricate part of this house.... Somewhere on my flickr are lots of photos of all the renovation stages.... 


I think I moved in sometime in August... I really can't remember the dates... during all this time I was working full time at Hólar... the job ended up being as an accounts data entry type thing... with added bits including putting together a mission vision statement for the uni, doing the student records and ordering books and doing whatever... the drive to Holar started at 35 minutes, by the time I eventually left I was doing it in around 20.... it was a beautiful drive.  Hólar is such an amazing place, but I have blogged on this before.  


My sister came to Iceland to celebrate her 50th birthday in the September of my first year - and my house was done so we could have her party here.... So good!


So that was the journey that started on the 1st of March where the question was asked where were you born and where do you live now and how did you get there......


Oh dear - finally something different to blog about - not just me me me moi and myself... yay!!!!

A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are for. ~John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic

Needless to say that through all these reminiscings I have also left out a lot...... but that is not the point - half the point is to prove to myself that I can blog everyday - the other is to remind myself of all the good things that have happened in my life - with them came some bad things.. but generally it was all well worth it.


As I touched on in my previous post my Sydney years were my worst.  I was so close to a breakdown, physically, mentally and spiritually... yet now I can look back and see the good things in the those years.  Hey, I lived in Sydney for 2 years in a nice flat in a nice neighborhood, went with mum to the Great Barrier Reef, saw the rehearsals for the opening ceremony, went to the closing ceremony of the para-olympics, saw some track and field events, got to host some excellent people from Iceland (all athletics freaks) drank some excellent Hunter Valley Wine, ah the Aunts Shiraz... brilliant.  Imagined myself in love... realised that I was bluffing both myself and the other party...  Had a car that I did not have to pay for in any respect... had a well earning job, met some great people and really really really learnt a lot about human nature and all my limitations.


So... from Sydney the direction was heading North.  My ex boss from Melbourne (my hero) asked me to come work for him in Hamburg Germany... What an excellent city that is!   I joked with them that I was the rent a friend - I kid, well I hope I kid, I hope that he got me to Germany, not only because he knew how unhappy I was but also because I might be an ok employee up there - but I have my doubts.  Nepotism exists, I know, and I should not kid myself, but I did try to be a good "controller"  and given the fact that he went south after a year and I had two bosses in Germany after him I suspect that I wasn't just there for my good looks and good humour...  


I loved my time in Hamburg and seriously thought about accepting the offer to stay there after my "delegation" was over (I was on loan from Australia for 3 years), during my time  there I was entitled to one home visit per year (ie home to Aus) I never took them up on this - instead most of my holidays were spent in Iceland - or with Narelle who was in London, or with Bernd and Amanda somewhere in Germany... While there I was also able to play host to my nieces and nephews that were travelling around Europe or living in Iceland.  Again, I had a great flat, only six minutes by train to the office, a half hour walk into central Hamburg.  I also made a lot of great friends in Hamburg through work.... the Germans are reserved like Icelanders, so it takes time to let them get to know you.  They are not "over the top" friendly - but when they do become your friends they remain so.  Which reminds me - I really need to get in touch.  


On one of my holidays in Iceland, whilst in Hamburg, I heard that the house that I lived in before coming to Australia was for sale.... well, what else was there to do but buy it - and at a bargain price... most of the relatives here thought I was crazy.  The house was really badly run down and required a lot of work.  But hey, why not.....  I sold my house in Australia, finally putting that part of my life to rest, and waited for the future to happen... Next step, closing the circle begun in 1968 and moving back to the house that I lived the first 5 years of my life in.


I miss Hamburg, I miss my friends in Germany - but I know that I will be back again..........

If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change. ~John A. Simone, Sr.

So, the Sydney years traumatic, fun, exciting, challenging... all those things plus more.


As previously mentioned I was commuting between Sydney and Melbourne for over 6 months, had my flat in Melbourne with all my stuff and a furnished flat in Sydney.  The move meant a pay rise, career rise and extra extra work and stress and pressure.  At first it was great and actually it was great for the most part, the problem was one of not being able to be as honest  with everyone as I wanted to be.  I never want to ever be in that situation again.


But... we shall not talk work - we shall talk about Sydney.  It is an amazingly beautiful place, the waterways in and around all of Sydney and its outlying suburbs make it a tourists dream - so many good photo opportunities.  The shopping is excellent, the restaurants are excellent, the beaches are almost as good as those in Perth (ok, they might be better - but I have to vote for the home side).  It doesn't take a long time to get out of the city feel and into another place... going north to the wine acres takes only a couple of hours - it takes three from Perth to get to Margaret river.... the Hunter Valley - home of Rosemount and oh so many other better wine makers... is a beautiful place - one I went to visit often - often on my own.  I did a lot of travel on my own in Sydney - but it was fine - there was so much to see and do.  The Blue Mountains - west of Sydney - again only 2 hours drive - is an amazing place, such wilderness and yet not... great restaurants - great views - great wildlife - remember Skippy on TV.... all in the Blue Mountains. South of Sydney is Wollongong and more great beaches.  


After the first six months I got a flat of my own, got my stuff moved up from Melbourne and settled into the suburb of Five Dock, half way between Sydney city and my work in Villawood... (have to note here that Villawood is where the main immigration centre was in Australia - most new migrants came here first, went to school and learnt english and had a half way house before entering Australian society - thankfully we didn't come here - we had people to meet us in Perth and get us "into" the society, this "immigration camp" was next to the factory where I was working.  When I was in Sydney it was being turned into an internment camp for illegal immigrants.  Anywho, Five Dock was up river from the main harbour in Sydney - and was at one stage in the history of the city a fairly important dock area.  The next suburb inland was an area of heavy industry - this waste land would become the home of the Olympics.  Five Dock was mainly settled by folk of italian origin... hence lots of really great shops and restaurants of the Italian variety - the next suburb towards the city was settled by Greeks, so - lots of great Greek restaurants and shops.  Sydney seemed to me to be very much like this - little pockets of groups of people of different ethnic backgrounds.  Around Villawood (further inland towards the west) were the "newer" migrants - vietnamese, thai, palistinian communities... all in little pockets.. Quite strange, my experience of Perth was that there were not these concentrations of ethnic communities - they were probably there but did not seem as pronounced. 


Like I say - Sydney - great place to visit, but in my experience - not a place I really wanted to live in.  I met a lot of people, thought that I had become friends with lots of nice people, found that this friendship, like the beauty of Sydney - is only skin deep and can not take a bump or a bruise.   Scratch the surface, and it is a dirty and sad and sorry place - but again. Like everything in this blog - it is only my opinion.  I was lucky enough to be in Sydney during the Olympics in 2000, an amazing experience and I did make some good friends - the ones I stay in touch with are from Germany......


So, obviously not being happy with Sydney I started letting folk know that I wasn't happy and basically to tell the absolute truth - I was having a melt down and really really really needed to get out of their to save my sanity.... Who came to the rescue - none other than my wonderful friends in Germany.... my old boss from Melbourne threw me a life raft and asked me if I would like to come to Germany... my then bosses in Melbourne - bless them- gave their seal of approval and let me go.... 

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. ~Arnold Toynbee

Ahhhh Melbourne, oh how I miss you.  Well, at least miss the Melbourne that I was in from 1995 to 1998...

Melbourne, unlike most cities in Australia seemed to have more of a history, I don't know why this is - maybe because of the architecture, the town planning or the fact that they still had trams as a basic and very important part of the transportation system.

The company that I was working for had it's head office in a suburb on the outskirts of the city centre, so my first accommodation whilst finding permanent housing was in a neighboring suburb... all of ten minutes walk from work.  This made it natural that I would also look for permanent accommodation in the area.  I found a nice little flat on Caroline st, just up from the Yarra river, which meant that my ten minute walk to work was along the banks of the river, across a bridge and all of two blocks before reaching the office.  Magic!

A short walk from my flat were the Botanical gardens - one of the most beautiful pieces of green to be found in any city anywhere in the world.  The city centre was a half hour walk along the banks of the Yarra.  This was heaven.  I love not having a car - I love being in walking distance to all those things that you need to live - shops, restaurants, pubs, green fields, water and wild life.  Amazing.  I recommend to anyone who has not been there - go to Melbourne - get a self contained apartment in Sth Yarra and just enjoy....

Work was also very good, I had the best of bosses....  I worked hard and I think well - and mostly long hours - but most days were so much fun - I loved the challenge - I loved the quickness of his mind, the fact that times were tough and not all things were going our way made it that much more important to put in more of an effort.  I learnt so much doing this job.  As I said before this boss and his wife are my closest friends today, I am their sons Godmother, one of many - but hey - still a major honour... and I love him dearly too!   Life in Melbourne as I say was good, very good.  I had lots of visits from friends and relations - including mum and my niece Anna, I started having dinner parties then too - and boy did I enjoy them - I already knew that I enjoyed having people around me and feeding them... this was my chance to take it to another level.  Narelle and I became even firmer friends as well, without her, the boss and his wife these years in Melbourne would not have been half as good.... Again, I am so thankful.

Ofcourse the boss being the bright spark that he was would not stay in Australia forever, bigger and brighter things were awaiting him in Germany.  He and Amanda got married (best wedding EVER... well, until Ross and Olga's) and left.... so what was there for me to do... the company was moving offices to the outskirts of Melbourne - I would need to buy a car....  So, I went for a job interview with Siemens in ..... Canada..... what a week that was - I flew off and had an interview - checked out the situation and the fact that I would no longer have 4 weeks holiday per year.... came back and voila - got offered another job with Siemens - but this time in Sydney..... I spent six months commuting between Sydney and Melbourne, had my flat in Sth Yarra and another one near central Sydney - the bonus was that when I was in Melbourne the company got me a hire car.... so I could get to work.   My new bosses in Melbourne were also excellent, they gave me the opportunity to try out being a boss...... more on that in the next post.

Ah Melbourne - I do miss you - but it will never be the same.......

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland

The next years are a bit fuzzy, timelines and details have all become blurred, I continued to work for the electrical contractors - during the times that they had lots of work there were lots of people working there, in lean times it went down to six of us in the office plus a core group of around 10 electricians.  When the big projects were happening there were over 12 in the office and 100 on the payroll, as electricians or TA's .  This company was well known in the contracting game especially in mining, it had contacts.  They expanded and grew and moved locations to Fremantle, went into commercial jobs in the city and seemed to be going in the right direction.  It was however, a family business... then along came Siemens... they decided that this company would be their chance to get into the electrical field in WA.  In many respects they were right - but join a small family "cowboy" company to a large multinational with a "german" mentality then things were really bound to go wrong.  I ofcourse, was super happy with this development.  


I had started an MBA, thinking that I really could not see myself staying in the highs and lows of the family business - sometimes things were very precarious, often we weren't sure if there would be enough for the payroll - this wasn't my problem to deal with - but you were always aware of the situation. 


So with Siemens came the inevitable clash of wills and ways of doing things.  I also met one of my closest friends Narelle, she came over to teach me how to do the payroll in the Siemens system... little did we know where we would end up in 15 years time.  At the same time it did not help that things weren't going the right way in the head office in Melbourne, so as a result of problems within the big company and the clashes with the small... the company in WA was no more.  I, however, survived.... maybe I was a sellout... maybe I was just pragmatic and realised the way things were heading and knew who was paying my salary.  Anyway, I ended up in a small space in the Siemens office in another suburb, cleaning up the rest of the projects and generally spending time on my studies. 


Then, came the moment when I realised that I am not an island and was not really happy with being in a corner basically doing nothing for my pay other than doing my assignments for Uni.  So, I put a bit of pressure on the powers that be in Melbourne, they took me over for a month and were not really sure what to do with me.   The new head of the department whom I had met a couple of times in Perth lent me to a guy that was there from Germany to assist with a job in "controlling" - this was a job that was all about having an overview of all the projects and sub sections within the department - semi business analysis.  This was my big break.... I was sent back to Perth, but within a few short months I was offered a transfer to Melbourne to work as the controller... Yippee!!!!  


The new boss was to become one of the most important people in my life - he and his wife  are my best friends - they have had such a huge impact on my life - and as usual I have probably not shown enough gratitude or returned the favours.... Again, on reflection I can only say that I have been truly blessed in my life with the things that have happened - at the time both good and bad - that have all resulted in me getting to know the nicest of people that would remain true friends forever.


So... for the first time in my life removalists came in and packed up all my worldly goods to send them off to Melbourne... I left heaps of things in the house and found someone to rent it - not a good idea to handle your own rental arrangements - yep despite the fact that they got a fridge and furniture and a great house with a pool for a great price - they still didn't pay the rent and went under the cover of darkness - with the fridge and the furniture - but hey... Karma has probably taken care of them.


So as I was heading off to Melbourne - my bestest friend Tracy was coming back to Perth - such is life.... My sister and family had moved out of the street and up to Roleystone - in the hills where they were back in the natural environment that they loved... This was the right thing to do and at the right time.


During those "fuzzy" years my nephew came over from Iceland and stayed with me and saw a lot of Australia - we became friends, mum also came and was there for a year. Cousins came from Iceland and I celebrated my 30th birthday...  Friends got married, some had kids, others separated, some had "marriage difficulties" and I remained single.


So next... the Melbourne years.

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

I have to make up for my not posting yesterday.


The year that mum and dad spent in Aus is one that I think we all as siblings will remember.  Unnur took most of the brunt of having to face the illness that dad had, she went with him to the doctors and was probably more aware than any of us of how badly he was.  I was in total denial..  Until the time that I had to take him to the hospital with a blood nose that would not go away... He ended up at Royal Perth for a few days... I think that this was when I realised that he would not live forever - funny how when you are young you are sure that your parents will always be there for you.


Dad got a little better and after the year they went back home to Iceland - I went with them.  That Christmas in Iceland was one of those that is both the best of times and the worst of times.  Dad was really really sick.  Our Christmas Eve meal was spent at his bedside.  Mum and I went to different church services, we did not want to leave him home alone.  I really can't remember how long this trip to Iceland was, nor what I did or where I went... I just remember facing the fact that this might be the last time that I would see my dad.  


I went back to Aus and life continued as before - news from Iceland was that dad was getting better, friends from Aus visited and noted how good he looked, plans were made for another visit to Australia, tickets were booked.... mum and dad then went on a trip with my brother on the ship he was captaining around Iceland... all photos show a very fit and lively dad... then.. just as they were finishing the trip he suddenly became very ill.   Within a month, he was no more.  This was the hardest time of my life, but I wasn't alone in my grief... my sister, brothers and mother were all losing a most remarkable man.  How do you cope?  I had the advantage in that I had said my goodbyes in Iceland - but I had also been looking forward to seeing him and mum in just a few weeks time.  What do you do when you live on the other side of the world... what should you do?   


I am so thankful for the fact that my brothers were all there with mum.  Maybe Unnur and I should have been there too.. Who knows, would it have made any difference - maybe, maybe not - we can all look in hindsight and think that had things been different then things would be different today - but like I always say - you can't undo what is done and there is no need to have regrets.  What is done is done. An amazing and wonderful man died too young, but I am forever grateful for the fact that he was my dad and made me the person that I am today... 


Enough

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work. ~John G. Pollard

Seems quite facile to be writing these blogs when things are happening with Mother Nature...  but I set out to do this and finish it I will.


We left Iceland between Christmas and New Year.  I was to start school in February...  My cousins Herdís and Gýgja came with me on this adventure.... and it was fun!


This time my brother Jon and his wife Lóa filled in the breech and let us stay with them, and loaned us a car so we could get out and about in Perth - I loved that renault!  To them I owe more eternal thanks.


We went to Sydney - by bus - to visit with my brother Hilmar and his wife Sandra... they too were super amazing hosts... had a ball.


They (the cousins) left shortly before I started school, I had found a place to live - in Maylands with friends that I worked with at DVA.  This was the house from hell, it should have been condemned but we paid extreme rent to share a house with rats in the roof, dead cats under floorboards and a high rise block of flats in the back garden.  Tragic.


The school was a fair distance from where we lived - so I got to know the Perth public transport system quite well.... I also worked at the Tenants advice service and for the Alumni at UWA.  As a result I stopped receiving benefits from the government and had to pay back the money that I had received.... how you were meant to live off this I will never know... Still the school bit was fine and life was generally good - apart from the house,  so I did a very bad thing, when the tenants left my sister's house I moved in.... there were still a few months before Unnur and Thor's return - but was I thinking of their loss of rent - nah..... I just needed to get out and be on my own for a bit.  I slept on a mattress on the floor - had no fridge and had to travel for 2 hours to get to uni..... did that matter - nah...  as you can tell I was totally self obsessed.


I managed to finish this course with a fairly good result - but finding work was a lot harder - I had my two part time jobs and applied and applied and applied for anything and everything, I had a degree as a super executive assistant... something I wasn´t sure that I wanted to be - all I wanted was a job and to stop being a leech on the family.


After Unnur and Thor came home I stayed on at their place - not asking - just expecting that they would put up with me.  On their return from Iceland they had 3 kids... Anna being born in Iceland in the August - with them came cousin Guðný's daughter Magga - so there we were 6 of us living in my childhood home in Maddington, Thor must be one of the most patient men in the world.... it could not have been easy having me and Magga there.  


I ended up getting a job, buying a car and moving out - I think all with a couple of months. Mum and Dad helped with the deposit on the house, and where was the house??? four doors down from my sisters..... I bought a house in the street that I was brought up in.  A great house - only two bedrooms - enough for a single girl, a huge garden and a swimming pool.... I loved that house and I loved being so close to my sister.


A year later mum and dad came and stayed with me in the house for a year - the best - time to be with dad, who by now was quite ill and we were not sure how long he would be with us.  My brother Hilmar moved from the East coast and bought a house in the next suburb.  We had some wonderful times that year - I loved having all the family over for dinner on a Sunday.  So nice.  Such good times.

There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway. ~Mark Burnett

So, having decided to quit my "career"  in Public Service, I let the relatives know about my impending arrival in Iceland.  My cousin Kristín, who had taken me in the last time I was there  "fixed" things and had arranged a job for me at the bank where she worked  - they needed someone in the international exchange department.  On arrival I show up for work - still unsure of the language and gjaldkeri and gjaldeyri  sound pretty much the same to me - one means cashier the other means foreign exchange -  a bit of a difference.


I start work and then later go and meet the head of HR for the bank - she was NOT impressed with the way in which my recruitment took place (ie she had no say in it).  I had a great time at the bank!  Such nice people - a great workplace and everyday was different - there were always different people coming to us - foreigners exchanging real money for Icelandic kroners, Icelanders on their way overseas getting their allocated amount (at the time there were heavy restrictions on how much foreign currency people could get).  Companies getting bank coverage for the stuff that they were importing etc etc.  Was brilliant.


I first stayed with my cousins and shared a room with one of them in the southern municipality of Seltjarnanes... on the coast with a view of the Snæfells glacier - way way in the North.   I lived with them for just over six months and then they all got jobs in the north - back home in Skagafjordur... During this time I was in a choir - me the tone deaf one - yeh, they were really really patient with me.   I ended up making a lot of changes that Christmas... I applied for a part time position at the British Embassy - and got it - managed to get the bank to give me a full time job that started at 1pm and found a really really small flat in the heart of Rvk...   one bedroom/lounge, kitchen and very small toilet - the shower was in the basement where all the other residents had their washing machines. - you had to walk outside and go around the back to get into the shower area.  Not ideal - but hey it was my place.


Mum and dad moved to Iceland in 1987 - dad packed up all my stuff from Aus and brought it with their stuff.... such cost... but it was nice to be in my place and have my stuff from Aus.  


The job at the British Embassy was as the assistant to the Consul, so I got to write in the registry of births deaths and marriages with an ink pen and ink well.... none of this new fangled stuff - no not for the brits... I met one of my bff's here - Evelyn - brilliant girl from Aberdeen, who was the Ambassadors secretary....   As part of my job I also learnt to use the telex machine..... dot dot dash dash - such fun..


I stayed in my little flat for little over 7 months, then one summer night someone decided to bash in the window... not nice... so the embassy team got together and helped me get a flat in the same building that Evelyn lived in - as I had very little furniture the Ambassador gave me free reign in his basement to take whatever I could use... Sooooo good.  


My job at the bank was in the behind the scenes data entry and "reading" cheques... it was fine.. worked from 1 to around 7 most nights - sometimes longer at the end of the month.... was really good, there was a shop across the road that I would often visit on these late shifts to get a coke or a hot dog - so got to know the owner quite well... 


So as these things progress I ended up having an extra job at the shop too... worked the late shift and closed up at 11:30 at night...   At this time I used to go swimming on the way home as well - after the bank shift I would walk home past the indoor pool so eventually it just made sense to stop in there and swim a kilometre before going home... those were the days when I had so much energy - I can not imagine being able to do this today. 


Every weekend was action packed - going out with other expats that were working at the hospital - nurses, radiographers and other medical professionals that came to  Iceland as there was plenty of work and the money was good.  So much fun - so many good times.


My job at the Embassy ended up being full time.  I took over the receptionist duties, the place was closed after lunch so really no need for a receptionist - they just needed someone to answer the phone... so I did the assistant job in the afternoon and was the receptionist in the morning... made just so much sense.


Then, it was time to think about the future - the job at the embassy made me realise that my typing skills were non existent and that it would be a good idea to add some skills to the arts degree and other life skills that I had - I knew of a glorified secretarial degree in Aus where you got a Graduate Diploma in Business - so you had to have a degree - but really it was just a school for secretaries.... learn to type, do shorthand and other stuff... made sense... I applied and got accepted... Two of my cousins were keen on going back with me to Aus, so tickets were booked... I wasn't convinced - so in a last ditch effort I came to S'krók looking for a job - I really wanted to move back home and be close to ma and pa.... I applied at the bank and was rejected... Dad said he would rather that I went back to Aus and studied more.... my sister was living in S'krók then - but she also said that she and the family would be coming back to Aus .... so reluctantly and yet happily I went back home to Perth to go back to school and try and get some skills that would make me employable...........

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. ~José Narosky

During my third year at uni I went and sat the commonwealth public service exam.  This exam was used as the recruitment process for future public servants.  I must have done ok as I was offered a job before the end of the year - The Department of Veterans' Affairs was growing as a result of the fact that old soldiers don´t always die... they just get old and become eligible for pensions - old age pensions and disability pensions.  The department was also bringing in a new benefits computer system and wanted young bright things to help implement it..... So on December 23rd I had my first day at work... we had a 2 week induction - where 14 of us taken into a classroom and taught all there was to know for base level service pension officers.


I was with the Department for 3 and a half years - I met an amazing bunch of people - and made friends that would remain with me till today.  I also fell in love, so traumatic.  


I started as a base level clerk class 1 quickly got up to a 2/3 and I think that I had become a 4 just before I left.... I had applied for a level 6 job - and didn´t get it - got a tad pissed off.... even though I was told that I should not expect to get such a big promotion in less than three years of working in the PS.  Whilst there I was secretary of the social club - boy did I enjoy that!  That's when I realised how much I enjoy having fun and helping other people have fun.... as Perth is so remote from the rest of Australia our branch hardly ever took part in the interstate sports carnival.... During my time as secretary we set up a netball team (which was actually an offspring of our mixed team called DV8) we sold nuts and raisins, had quiz nights, bake sales and all sorts of other fund raising activities in order to help us make it to the carnival - which was being held in Adelaide in SA (the state next to ours - please note: for non Australians Adelaide is around 2.000kms away from Perth).  What a blast that was!!!!


Other fun things included the job itself - our clientelle ranged from veterans of the first world war (it was 1983)  WWII, the korea/malaya conflicts and the vietnam war.  As well as having one position which was a liaison officer for the British War Pensions Office - a job that I often got to sub in, whenever the British Pensions officer went on break I took on his job - lots of fun... the Brits really know all there is to know about public service and paper work....   The vietnam vets were a special bunch of people - finally a database was being set up especially for them due to the disability claims that were being lodged - the effects of agent orange were being recognised, IBS - irritable bowel syndrome was a recognised disability related to war stress and so many other conditions that I never knew existed.  


The disability payments went from 10% to TPI - totally and permanently incapacitated - these TPI people could be either physically or mentally damaged  - all disability pensions were tax free - as were war widow pensions (you became a war widow if on your husbands death he was a TPI)  children of TPI and war widows could get special grants and pensions from the department to pay for their education - also tax free.  The delegates that handled the claims were non medical - but got advice from doctors - both departmental and external about whether what was being claimed could be attributable to the war service of that particular individual... they had to prove without a reasonable doubt that the injury/condition was not attributable... hence the onus was on the department to prove that the condition could not be attributed to war service - you can imagine that this is a difficult thing to do.  I really really liked this system... ofcourse there may have been people milking the system - but as far as I am concerned - if you have to take up arms (the draft was in place for most wars that Australia participated in), you deserve to be paid well - especially if you have something that you think is because of your service.


Sometimes the clients were a tad upset (especially when the assets test came in for the old age pensioners), but most of the time they were really really nice and did appreciate the fact that they were with the DVA and not with the Department of Social Security.  Our service was much more personalised and as we kept the same initials in our client base - I think mine was N-T or something like that.  So, you started to get to know a few of them quite well.  The waiting room was also like a bit of a reunion centre for the diggers.... they would come into the office to fix something or report something about their current situation - meet other mates and then head off down to the pub... 


Good times.... I left DVA in July 1986.... I had had enough - (didn't get the promotion I wanted, the lover thing wasn't going in the way I wanted it to and basically I needed a change)... where did I go and what did I do....Go back to Iceland ofcourse - to the loving arms of my cousins and a job in the Agricultural bank of Iceland - Austurbæjarútibú to be exact.......

A liberal-arts education is supposed to provide you with a value system, a standard, a set of ideas, not a job. ~Caroline Bird

After returning from Iceland the road led towards university.  We arrived in October so I had to find work and make some money until school started in the following february.  The mighty Coles took me back and so I worked in the toy department - twas mighty fine fun.  If I remember rightly my nieces and nephews got mega presents that Christmas... 


So off to University I went - and did an arts degree... Why arts - why politics, sociology and anthropology - well, because I knew that I would get an early offer straight out of high school and that it would be easy to defer the acceptance for a year - I have always been very pragmatic in my choices... never taken too many great risks... 


My uni days were both good and bad, lots of fun, quite a bit of work, and as I did not have my drivers license during the first two years - a lot of travelling by bus and walking in sweltering heat.... Yep it was really good for me.  I loved studying politics, it made me realise what a bunch of assholes actually decide to make a career out of it.  Ideology goes out the window as soon as some power comes to play - no one - no matter how ideological they are, or how great a thinker, idealist, humanist a person is - power does always ultimately corrupt in one way or another...  History was fine - but again, I learnt that history is just an interpretation of what happened in the past - we all know that when we write letters or try and document things that we all self edit.  History is and always has been edited and usually by men.  When women have attempted to make their mark on historical contributions then they are usually labelled as feminists and unfortunately their views discounted by this label.  Men are never labelled in the same way - but boy should they be - we are all human - we all have preconceived ideas and hence try and mold our view of the past into something that fits our current values.  Anthropology was interesting, always good to know about Homo Habilis and australophithicus africanus and homo sapien as opposed to homo sapien sapien... still there were a lot of gaps, then Australian anthropology, again I learnt a lot about the indigenous people of Australia, however, again interpretations by the various scholars in the field were a reflection of their political mores and values... Sociolinguistics was by far the most interesting of all - the study of language and of whether language is a reflection of the environment or helps shape the ideas of the environment - I think that this subject is probably very closely related to philosophy, what came first the hen or the egg, why do eskimos have so many names for snow, how do children learn language, how do we as adults learn a language, what is language???? So complex, so much fun - twas a pity that I only ever took one unit - it was only available during my final year.... Had I a chance to do it all again I would have majored in linguistics... a fascinating subject.  Oh, that reminds me - my major - Sociology.... so diverse, so much to take in - so confusing.... I joined a marxist reading group... oh yeh, I think das Capital has been as well researched and written about as the bible....... at the time it was the definitive theory on capitalism (from the lefts point of view anyway) the other theories were by economists hence were taught in economics... not in sociology.... (that might be a very liberal take on matters.... sorry - but that is how it seemed at the time).  I think though that the BA taught me to think if nothing else, it taught me never to take things at face value and never believe an expert just because he is labelled as one.   Life is just far to varied and has so many variables.


So after three years of deliberating whether this degree would ever be worth anything or whether I should just quit and join the job market I finished and graduated.... To my graduation I wore the shoes that my brother had bought for my mother on his first ship journey to Holland, they were the best and still are - stilletoes with a slim pointy toe, black suede and leather.... The shoes were 20 years old... great that they got to go on the big stage at the concert hall... they still exist and are awaiting the great granddaughters graduation.. am sure one of them will love to wear them!


Ofcourse during uni I collected more friends - that remain my friends today - well one in particular and with her her best friend - to Iris and Alison - thanks for making uni such a great time and thanks for still being here for me.... To mum and dad thanks for putting up with me during this time, the loans of money, car and other stuff.... too good!