Brown cheese!

What may you ask is brown cheese? Well it is a Norwegian specialty made from the whey of cow, goat and sheep milk. They don't like to waste anything in Norway (stems from livng in a harsh climate I guess!), so the pigs didn't get the whey, cheese was made from it.

It isn't quite cheese as we know it though. The whey is boiled until it thickens and caremelizes, and you end up with a brown, toffee coloured goo, which when it cools down solidifies into brown cheese! It tastes quite sweet, and you eat it thinly sliced on a slice of bread.

Apparently though there is a bit of a problem with brown cheese - it is highly combustive. 6 days ago a truck going through the Brattli tunnel in Nordland, which is 3.6km long, suddenly had a problem with its trailer which had caught fire. So the driver ditched the trailer 300 m from the end and drove out leaving it to burn. What he didn't think through though was the fact that the cheese is full of fat, and he was leaving it - all 27 tons in fact - in an enclosed space with a through draft provided by the fans which keep the air clean in the tunnel.

The fire, after 6 days is just going out. The main problem was that the heat generated by the burning cheese set the tunnel insulation foam alight, causing toxic fumes to be released so firemen couldn't put the fire out!

Wonder whose insurance is going to pick up the bill for that one?!

Winter cold - some thoughts and pictures



Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the snow in the UK! I guess as usual, few have got snow tyres on their cars, and public transport is struggling. The UK I think is going to have to get used to the wet, white stuff - maybe it is climate change I don't know but you sure keep getting it every winter now!

As for Norway, well we haven't had much snow at all here on the west coast, although there is plenty at the ski places further inland.  What we have had though is week after week of freezing temperatures - so cold that all the water seeping out of the rocks freezes, as do massive waterfalls!

Icicles dripping out of the rocks at Hardanger fjord yesterday

Fossatun waterfall frozen solid!

We drove south to Hardanger fjord yesterday (Sunday), as it is usually good weather down there (relatively speaking). Hardanger has a micro climate which means that it can be a tad warmer than out on the coast, and is drier in the winter. What we had forgotten to take into account though is the fact that the sun doesn't really rise at this time of year! The photo below was taken around midday, and after that the sun was rapidly going down behind the nearest mountain!

It didn't take long before parts of the road were in complete shadow, which changes the feel of the pictures totally! I'm pretty impressed with my phone camera though - all the pictures apart from the frozen waterfal were taken with SE Xperia phone, and lightened a bit with Corel Draw!

Fish farming on the fjord - apparently one of the least environmentally friendly industries we have here. Lots of problems with the excess fish feed and waste polluting the water, and the farmed fish escaping and mixing with the wild trout and salmon,

Oh, and by the way according to Forbes, Norway is the happiest country in the world to live in, followed by Denmark and Sweden. Well done!  But according to Forbes 2012, not one of the Scandinavian countries got the accolade of friendliest country - the top ones were Cayman Islands, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Actually, the survey about the happiest country was carried out by the Legatum Institute based in London, and they found it much too difficult to quantify 'happy' so they went for 'properity' instead. That is more interesting really - the richer you are the happier you should be? Only if there is enough democracy, freedom of thought and speech, and decent social services too by the looks of it!

www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelm/2013/01/09/the-worlds-happiest-and-saddest-countries-2/

Bye for now, off to have a thawing cup of tea. Am at work tomorrow, which involves standing outside for at least an hour while three and four year olds run around and keep warm - weather forecast is for -5 to -7 C. Brrrr.

Fjords and ferries!

The fjords of Norway are world famous. They come in many shapes and sizes and are incredibly beautiful. Part of the joy of motoring up the west coast is that every now and then the road stops at the waters edge and you have to wait a little while for the ferry to take you across to the other side. It gives you a very different view of the country. It isn't cheap, but it is a lovely way to break the journey and gives you time for a pit stop and a cup of coffee. Quite romantic in fact! The other option - to drive around the top of the fjord, isn't really an option at all considering the distances involved and the condition of the roads!

However, that's all well and good if you are a tourist with time to spare. From Kristiansand in the south to Trondheim in the middle of the country, a journey of 1,100 km, there are 7 ferry crossings.

Business has other ideas. In fact, the newest plan to improve the road network on the west coast is not to enlarge and improve already existing roads or to build a high speed rail link - no it is to get rid of the ferries and build bridges and tunnels across or under the fjords so you can drive all the way to Trondheim from Kristiansand in 13 hours as opposed to the present 20 plus hours!

It would only cost a thousand milliard kroner (double that maybe - you need a large contingency fund here for building projects, especially state ones!). It would take 20 or so years to build, and the hope is it would encourage more companies to set up on the est coast as traffic links would be easier.

Even if it does happen, I wonder how it will help business. Sure construction will be looked after for quite a while, also building new homes and factories, but once the building is done which companies will move up there. Recent figures from the Chamber of Commerce show that the only businesses booming in Norway at present are those linked to oil and power production, everything else is either stagnating or going under. Norway has few easily obtainable natureal resources (apart from fish, water, oil and iron ore), so industrial production of any kind has to import many raw materials to make their products. Since costs across the boarad are so high here, they have gradually priced themselves out of the market, unless they have a niche product.

However, there is one more thing - this is an election year. Wonder which parties and politicians will jump on this band wagon  to ingratiate themselves with the voters!

Audit report from Deloittes - oops Bergen could do (alot) better

Well a thick fog might be clouding our views from our flat – but it hasn’t stopped the auditing firm Deloittes from taking a fine tooth comb to the state of Bergen council’s finances and services!

Their end of year report makes for gloomy reading. It appears that the town is failing on several fronts – again! It is not the first time departments within the council such as IT, buildings maintenance or mental health care have been reported on negatively, but this time Bergens Tidende (our local newspaper) needs to do some serious investigative journalism and start pointing fingers of blame. In the UK heads would roll if this came to light there! Ah well, time will tell! Apologies if you sense a hint of sarcasm in this post – investigative journalism is a town in China as far as Norway is concerned, they really need something or someone to come and shake off the complacency!

Anyway these are some of the points from the auditors’ report. Don’t forget that this is a town of 250,000 or so people so not that big and there is a lot of oil money around. If they can’t get it right what chance do large cities in other countries have with budgets pared to the bone and long queues at the social services office?

-        Papers are not being filed correctly. This means that if you ask for information about a case you will not get the full information you are entitled to (planning applications, disability support cases, etc.). Also means that your personal information can float around various offices for quite some time as no-one knows what to do with it!

-        Because there is no internal communication between departments the left hand has no idea about what the right hand is doing. Not unusual I suppose in the public sector. Unfortunately though if you feel something is really wrong whistleblowing is actively discouraged within the council as it is seen as being disloyal to the consensus already established. So unusual or unacceptable conditions are swept under the carpet and risk analyses (if performed) are often perfunctory and biased affecting the quality and delivery of services.

-        There are the usual problems of procurement by a state body, as no-one has responsibility and the system is ridiculously complicated! As a result the value and quality of goods procured is not checked and is often way more expensive than it should be.

-        Budgets are not kept and projects consistently fail to materialise within agreed timescales.

-        Lack of IT security around personal information in all areas

-        Buildings maintenance is poorly managed, and many public buildings (schools and hospitals) have areas which are unfit for public use. The council is breaking the law in some areas.

-        Although there is an increased demand for social housing and help for those with mental health issues, there is a lack of control in this area. Coordination between departments is non-existent and no responsibility is taken. The legal rights of clients are compromised on a daily basis. Family welfare and child protection are suffering.

-        Planning permission – lack of internal control and possible bias

-        Support to sport and culture is not going to the areas that need it and there is a possible link to personal bias in grant allocations

-        Time off for sick leave has increased for staff in council run kindergardens, schools and homes for the elderly but manager’s do not have a budget post to employ supply teachers or assistants. Since ratios are ‘advisory’ it doesn’t seem to matter.

-        Increase in special educational needs support is not being met due to lack of budget.

-        Lack of resources to follow up on patients discharged from hospital.

-        Child protection services are affected by a post code lottery.

-        Foster care has been increasing, but there is a lack of follow up in the foster homes after placement and little support for the children once placed

-        Homes for the elderly have a very lose set of rules to keep to. Lack of inspection and control

Interesting reading! We might, in the UK complain about the checks and balances applied to schools, nurseries, hospitals etc., but at least there are some, and generally people are not afraid of saying something if the system is failing. Hopefully, something positive will come out of this and changes will start to happen.