Thomas in Karlskrona Sweden 2001-2009

It all started when NKT Cables stopped producing High Voltage submarine cables, and didn't think they could keep me in an other position at NKT - and I presume they where right. And then I got my eyes on this cable factory.

Click here for some atmosphere while you read.

(Latest subjected topics at the top, date indicates latest update)

Karlskrona is a city in the southeast corner of Sweden, only 260 km from the centre of Copenhagen crossing the new bridge over Øresund. 30.000 people live in the city and 60.000 in the commune of Karlskrona (a "commune" or rather: a "kommune" is the smallest administrative division of the Scandinavian countries)

And then there also came a guest cabin 28.08.2008

http://www.kvarts.net/thomas/hus/gaestehus/

Renovating the Kitchen 2007

http://www.kvarts.net/thomas/hus/kokken/

The boat to Karlskrona 01.04.2005

I have gotten a bridge space for my boat in Karlskrona, and now when only half the boat team is still in Copenhagen since Claus and Lydia moved to Jylland, I have bought out the others and taken over Malik and sailed her to Karlskrona in the fall of 2004, and I'm now looking forward to sailing around in the beautiful Swedish skärgård.

For now, however, she is standing in the garden.

Saudi Arabia 2 06.01.2005

The Saudi project is over, and the 50 km of 115 kV AC submarine power cable is under voltage. I had another two month down there, which got a bit to exiting in the end, when hostages was taken on a compound just down the street from our office. But it was an experience to get on the cable laying vessel Skagerrak and seeing the cable being installed. Skagerrak is one of the few vessels in the world that are capable of such an operation. Our cable was aprox. 4300 ton and since we had other cables with us the turntable was topped up for real.

Saudi Arabia 11.02.2004

I have now for more than a year worked as technical responsible for a big cable project in Saudi Arabia, and was down there at our office in Al-Khobare for almost 2 month this fall (2003)

It took some time 06.05.2003

Well the fall 2002I was send to Samsø to lay a cable for a offshore windfarm, and since it keept blowing, I was stuck there in a sommerhouse with a couple of installtion guys whatchin Video, while the frost got a good grep in my piles of durt piles So it wernt till just after easter that Jalles guys got back wiht their machines and filled the holes again. *{:-) And at the same ocation I got them to put stabel material on the runway, so the little yellow one doesn't have to bounce and dance all the way up, and so that even my friends with coole lowered cars can get up too the house.

Then there's a sewer to be dug  03.11.2002

I knew it from I bought the house (more than a year)  -I had to DIG a big hole in the middle of my nice garden, to connect the house the sewer in the road with approved plastic pipes instead of the perfectly good 10-20 years old ceramic pipes that where already there, form when we had a small common three chamber sewer for the houses in the area. But while the where at it I had them dig around a part of the house getting proper draining around the base of the house, and separate pipes for the rain water from the roof.

And what is this for a country I have moved to?? There is NO SOIL - IT IS ALL STONES!! A LOT OF STONES, it was just barley that the digging machine was able to pick them up.

Work  02.11.2002

I have finally been out travelling a bit for my work and was a short trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai in United Arab Emirates, where I amongst other got the chance to go out shop for some local close.  

I was also in BRANDE!!! (a small city in the Danish country side) Where I was with on a test installation of the cables in a muck-up tower of a offshore wind-turbine at BONUS, and it was actually nice to get a bit dirty wile working again. But the coolest thing there was actually "their" Stork. It is a lot of years since I saw one last. But there it was standing freeing in the rain just at their logo on a corner of a building, as if it was sponsored by BONUS.

Horses next door   02.11.2002

It shows out that some summers there are someone next door who have some horses on the filed across the street. The picture is taken from my front stairs. By the way behind the field that are "hyld" a plant where you can make a great lemonade of the flowers - great for a drink called the floor is calling.... If you follow the road to the right, its only about 2 km to a small lake at Harstorp where the is a public bathing bridge, and a place to make fires.

The House    02.11.2002

After the first intense time after I got the house, I have now relaxed a bit and there is a lot of minor details I haven't fixed yet, but I did get all the floors sanded, and painted all walls. When I hang up some lamps in the kitchen I was crawling around on the addict and found a lot of strange things up there from the previous owners. I'll try to get around to do that some day, also the kitchen needs to be dealt with some day, since I never came around to do anything out either, apart from the floor which is could still need some work.

I Still haven't regretted buying the house right away, it is great to be able to go out in the garden in the summer when you get home from work, and to be able to have room for guests from back home in the basement.

Garden and Sewage 02.11.2002

It turned out that is will not last long till I will be forced to connect to the city's sewage, and that I had to provide a new approved connection to the main line in the road my self, but the city sewage pipe has not "passed by" in the road yet. So instead I have done a little in the garden, such as cutting down trees, planting stuff where the stuff that came up where boring or just plane weeds. It has been an exciting first year checking out what would come up, in this previously (I suspect) quite well taken care of garden. Who would had thought that in the brink of my (tiny) pine forest would be crawling with anemones.

Fall-Chanterelles  02.11.2002

2001 turned out to be a fabulous mushroom year, it revealed itself later in the fall when I figured out that the darker fall or trumpet Chanterelles could be eaten as well and that there where loads of them just a few steps into the woods behind the house. In total I have picked 14 kg this fall, which I dried or froze and still eating of from time to time. In 2002 the late of the summer and fall was very dry and I haven't seen a single mushroom.

Chanterelles 17.10.2001

I have found my first Chanterelles, Kenneth Hoffman was visiting a weekend, and basically we just went out in the back yard, passed the mountain and continued a bit into the woods, where loads of the most perfect Chanterelles, and after just one hour we came out of the woods (not the place we expected since we got a bit lost) with enough Chanterelles to be our only dinner that evening. It was rather cool, to just go into the woods and gather your dinner, now all I need is a cow and a pig, and I'll newer have to come down from my mountain.

Put out some new pictures of my house and mountain!   16.09.2001

See them here!

Swedish 02.10.01 

I maybe should tell the readers of this page that Swedish and Danish are not that far apart but there a some real differences but if you grow up in like Copenhagen where it is possible to watch Swedish television it is possible for me to understand Swedish very well, if spoken clearly and without too much slang or too many wired expressions, in this part of Sweden the opposite is not the case since it is not possible to see Danish television in Karlskrona or in Blekinge* for that matter. So I have to learn not only to understand Swedish but to be able to talk it as well, and this is new for me - but I'll get there

* Blekinge is the larger "landscape" in which Karlskrona is the largest city.

It's tough to have a house 30.09.01

Now I have got the house and mountain for one month, and found out that it's tough job, every day I have had to rush home from work and sand the floors, treat the floors paint and move around on furniture's, and I haven't even started to fix up the garden or build a stairway up the mountain. But I have lost 5 kg in this first month as a house owner. Now, however, I have gotten so far that it is possible to move in and get up on my mountain and have a quiet beer once in a while (imported from Denmark since believe it or not I have voluntarily moved to a country with expensive and restricted beer sale.

New pictures of house and mountain has been put out! 16.09.2001

See them here!

I have gotten a normal phone: 30.09.01

(+46) 455 22 005  

(in Sweden 0455 22 005 or just 22 005 in the Karlskrona area)

Started in high school - again  30.09.01

Here I am some 10 years after my high school graduation, sitting on the school bench again, this time on Swedish, luckily I'm only going to the Swedish classes, so that I hopefully can get the hang of the language.

It is a quite tough schedule with classes 3 times a week for 3 month plus homework - even a coble of essays and all - But I hate to admit it but I guess it is good for me. So far there have been a lot of grammar and and boring stuff, but we are also reading 2 books and you know me - I find that very nice. 

I'm a bit terrified for the written work for to my big surprise I spell Swedish even worse than Danish and English. Quite often I doesn't have a clue where to begin even with simple word, and the spelling check on the computer can't help me and can only look up the words trough a Danish-Swedish dictionary. 

It's sort of an adult class I'm in so there are students in all ages, from normal high school age to the girl next to me who is at least 70+. So I'm not a wired old on (of that reason), but I'm the only Dane and we are no more than 3-4 foreigners.

House  20.08.01

I have bought a house in Allatorp just north of Karlskrona - 10 km from the centre of the city.

Flying Glider  25.06.01

I started flying glider, and last Sunday I got 3 starts 2 with realy good termike on 28 minutes, and everyone said it was the best day they had all year. It was qutie dificutltel to be pulled up with plain towing even compaired to wire pulling, but i was nice to get a good bit higher up in the pull and it won't cost more to get a certificate then in Denmark - rather the contray. Blekinge Flygklubb

The next bit is not trancelated yet but go further down....

Telefontakster til Sverige  30.09.01

Det er ikke så dyrt at ringe mellem Danmark og Sverige mere, her er taksterne fra Teledanmarks hjemmeside den 23. juni 2001:

Døgnpriser Fastnet til fastnetnumre: 0,55 DKr/min.

Døgnpriser Fastnet til mobilnumre. 2,50 DKr/min.

Hotell Conrad  17.06.01

Jeg fik ikke en hotellejlighed på Hotell Conrad med det samme, så de førte 14 dage i Karlskrona har jeg boet på et almindeligt hotelværelse. Men nu har jeg fået en kraftig tilskyndelse til at finde et et ordentligt sted at bo, for en hotellejlighed på Hotell Conrad er kun et enkelt trin op fra at bo på gaden, men der er et lille køkken og jeg har endelig kunnet tømme min bil, så jeg ikke skulle køre rundt med alt mit skrammel.

NORD-IS 01 i Stockholm  17.06.01

Den 11.-13. juni var jeg til Nordic Insulation Symposium på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan i Stockholm, hvor jeg skulle fremlægge et paper jeg havde skrevet sammen med min eksamensprojekt vejleder og to af hans efterfølgende projektstuderende. Jeg tog af sted i god tid, så jeg kunne se lidt af "min nye hovedstad". Jeg fik gået lidt rundt i Gamla Stan og sejlet ud til Drotningsholm om søndagen før konferencen.

Det var også spændene at være på symposiet: Det er første gang jeg har været sammen med så mange "stærkstrømmer" på en gang. Der var en meget rar stemning og symposie-middagen blev holdt på Vasa museet, Det var en helt fantastisk oplevelse, jeg sad netop under bov- spydet med et par af mine gamle lærere fra Eltek og nogle studie- kammerater og spiste elgsteg og kunne sidde og se lige ud over det dunkelt oplyse skib. 

I started working in Karlskrona June 5th (The National day of Denmark)

I had my first day at work at ABB High Voltage Cables monday the 5th of June 2001. You inmediatly notice that its a big coporation, with a producures for to controle stuf, when you get a letter with when and wheres... and who is to be mentor for you the first time. And a schedule for with meeting/tours of other departments.

Housing 17.06.01

Stille haven't found anywhre to live, but they ordered a hotelerpartment for me untill I find somethin. It might be good to live a little in the city before I rusch out an buy a little red house in the woods (for almost no money) where you can have the guys over visiting, or figure out if I should live more comfortable in an appratment in the city.

Barcelona    02.06.01     

Torsdag den 17. tager jeg lige en uge til Barcelona og forsøge at koble lidt fra så jeg kan starte på en frisk i Karlskrona den 5. juni - efter pinse. Det er Kenneth Hoffman og jeg der skal ned og besøge Steff som er dernede i forbindelse med sin Ph.D. Det var en kanon tur! Barcelona er en utroligt spændene by. Steff havde et gæsteværelse i sin lejlighed lige i nærheden af Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's endnu ikke færdige kirke) så vi havde et fint sted at bo, og han har været dernede i godt et år så han kendte byen godt så vi prøvet nattelivet godt, men alligevel fik vi set det man nu bør se i Barcelona om dagen, endelig har vi selvfølgelig også slentret ned af Ramblaen og har siddet på små hyggelige steder rundt omkring i hele byen og fået et glas et eller andet. 

Last day on NKT   16.05.01

Tuesday the 15 of May, I had my last day at NKT and had small reception to say good by to the people I've worked with for 3½ year.

It was a nice afternoon (thanks for the wine, the Swedish-Danish dictionary and Swedish travel guide)

Samtale    16.05.01     

I løbet af april kom jeg til samtale hvor jeg fik lov til at snakke en time alene med forskellige af dem jeg skal arbejde sammen med og da jeg kom hjem blev vi enige om lønnen. Jeg kom i god tid så jeg fik også set området og selve Karlskrona som er utrolig flot.

Job match     16.05.01    

Sidst i Marts så jeg min jobbeskrivelse ordret i en stillingsannonce på nette, fristen var overskredet så jeg skyndte mig at sende en mail med et tillempet standard CV vi var blevet bedt om at lave på NKT. Jeg skrev at det var jo netop mig de søgte og samme dag skrev de tilbage at det havde jeg jo ret i så jeg nok hellere måtte til samtale i Sverige. 

Latest update of the pageen: 14-03-2009