kids can say the most wonderful things

We are all enjoying our Christmas dinner at my Mom´s in Houston, when my 10 year old nephew Stian raises his glass and says he wants to make a toast. We all raise our glasses and he says "Thank you Bestepappa and Uncle Guy for being here with us for Christmas. I like that you are here".
I got so choked up that I was almost not even able to look back and thank him.

flying to Houston for the holidays

03:15 - My alarm goes off. 

Time to get ready. I did a last minute re-packing… so instead of 2 suitcases I ended up with 1 suitcase and 1 slightly smaller carry-on (plus a backpack), in order to avoid a penalty fee for having 2 suitcases to check in.

04:15 - The car is packed, and Inger Johanne takes me and my Dad to Torp airport in Sandefjord. It is MINUS 21 degrees Celcius outside. The weather has been very bad the past few days, and we´ve been reading about flight cancellations in several cities, including Oslo. Luckily we are further south, and Torp airport has had no problems.

Checking in went smoothly.

06:30 - The airplane is de-iced and we finally leave the cold, freezing landscape. The plane is packed and I could not bring on board my carry-on. No matter, this first leg is only 2 hours.

08:30 - Finally in Schiphol, Amsterdam, probably the cleanest airport I know of. After a bit of shopping and roaming around, we go through another set of scans. This airport had the full body scan that I´ve heard so much about. You stand inside this round elevator/time travel looking thing. I think It´d be cool to wear some sort of message on my underwear so it shows up on their scan. Maybe next year.

This flight is packed as well. And there are delays, because of the problems from the other airports.

12:15 - After sitting in the plane for over an hour, taxiing around the runways, and after the wings are de-iced, we finally take off.

It was to be a boring, uneventful flight… which is actually a good thing. We even had our own tv screen with a remote control, so we could pick from a variety of movies and tv-shows, and even games like tetris and backgammon. Traveling with Dad was nice too and made the flight seem a little faster.

22:15 - Finally, after an almost 10 hour flight, we land in Houston! We are 1 hour late and it is 3:15 pm in Houston, which is 10:15 pm in Norway. Going through customs took another hour, and this time they took me aside to grill me about my re-entry to the states. I hate customs in Houston, because they always make you feel like you´ve done something illegal. But everything was ok, and I was granted entry.

My luggage was waiting for me, and so was Ken who greeted us at the gate.
It is PLUS 26 degrees Celsius here in Houston!

Our arrival was a surprise to my nephew and niece this year, so when we rang the doorbell they were extatic! Both Dad and I greeted them at the door and gave them a big hug.

05:00 - After a nice meal with my Mom and the whole family we finally went to bed around 10 pm, which would make it 5 am in Norway.

We´d been up for 26 hours!

For some reason, both Dad and I still managed to wake up at 4 in the morning, and were wide awake. I guess the jet lag will take a while, but at least this years flight went alot smoother than in previous years. Time to enjoy the holidays with my family and friends.

photo: winter landscape

Taken from my balcony this morning at 8:30 am.

photoshop: rubics cube II

Working further with the Rubics Cube. I might do a whole series of these for IGM´s catalog. Even though it´s not the most original idea, it was such fun to put in the face and logos. The most time consuming is creating the clipping path with the pen tool, but it is SO worth it!

photoshop: rubics cube

In planning our (IGM) next catalog, I got the idea of using my Rubics Cube (which I happened to buy this summer visiting Legoland). It turned out to be really fun getting the different logos in the different places. The Vanishing Point filter was very helpful, as well as lots of masks (about 27 to be exact).

photo shoot tomorrow!

I am very excited. Suddenly I have 2 scheduled photo shoots lined up!
First one is tomorrow, which will be another pregnant shoot. Haven´t done a pregnant shoot since Iselin´s, and that must be 2 years ago.
Then in a week or so I will get to shoot a couple, which I know will be great.

I know I haven´t written as often as I had hoped in here, but I´ve been wanting to keep this a positive blog, and not just alot of complaining... I´ll just leave it at that.
Hopefully, I´ll be able to update with more photos soon.
In the meantime check out my Facebook page, where I just uploaded a few night-time shots.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fotograf-Guy-M-Huste-hustephotocom/144554692257465

video: last bike ride of the season?

11:00 am Sunday morning, the phone rings and it is Øyvind. "Get on your bike gear, we are going out for a ride in this wonderful fall weather".
I scurried around my apartment to find all my bike clothing and other bike stuff, plus dusted off my Cannondale which has sadly been neglected this year.
Thank you Øyvind for getting me out in the sun!

new facebook photo page

I´ve made a new photo page on my Facebook site.
Not sure if this will work, but this should be a link.

video technology - gain weight and muscle

I have found out how I can gain some weight ;-)
Click on the video link name to be able to watch it in full size.

photo: autumn wallpaper

Photo taken during my drive home from Imingfjell this Sunday.
I have posted a size that is 1680 x 1050 px and may be a nice wallpaper for your computer. If you would like a different size then let me know :-)

photo Imingfjell 7:30 am

The Norseman Crew is having our yearly meeting to plan for next years´ event. This year we are at the Imingfjell Tourist Hotell. This was the view out of my window at 7:30 in the morning.

Photo for CD cover: digging through my archives

Searching through my earlier designs, I came across one of the CD covers that I designed for my Dad back in 2001. He asked me if I could burn a CD for him with "the best" of Yello, knowing I had a bunch of their music. I couldn´t just give him a CD in a sleeve (you know me better than that)... and I saw a perfect opportunity for me to design my own CD cover.
I had some photos of an antique car, taken in Houston, and took it from there.
I loved seeing these photos again... plus, looking through my CD rack, I noticed that I never even printed out a CD cover for myself.

photo as wallpaper

I received a request for one of my photos to be used to wallpaper a room. Very exciting! This was a shot from the 2008 Norseman, so it was fun just to see the photo again, and to edit it some more.
I don´t know when it will happen, or if it will... but I will take a picture of the room if it happens.

video conference II

Thanks to Skype I was able to celebrate Stian´s 10th birthday yesterday. My nephew´s new fascination seems to be Halo. I would have loved to be there, but it was pretty cool sitting in Oslo singing Happy Birthday together with my family in Houston.

lier mental hospital VII

Building E

lier mental hospital VI

lier mental hospital V

Lier Mental Hospital revisited. A self-portrait assisted by Nina Holtan :-)

photomission: Jean Michel Jarre: fighting the elements

Last night, August 28, was a chance to see one of my favorite electronic gurus, Jean Michel Jarre. I saw him in concert when he was in Oslo several years ago, but it was an inside show, so the experience was missing something. Jarre should be experienced outside.
I had a couple of friends who wanted me to buy a ticket... but I opted to prioritize photography. This was a chance to take some superb photos... I hoped.
The elements would be challenging however, as it was raining almost all night long. So in addition to the cold weather, I was trying to balance an umbrella over my camera while focusing and adjusting the camera.
I am glad I prioritized taking pictures. I could hear Mr Jarres music perfectly from the other side of the Akershus Fortress walls, plus I could move around freely to compose my shots. At 11:30 pm I ran from the concert arena to the other side of Aker Pier to get a perfect view of the Fortress lit up with laser beams and fireworks!
I was not home until 2 am, cold and wet... but a nice hot shower, and a hot cup of cocoa warmed me right up as I started loading up the over 200 shots from the long night.

gaustatoppen panorama

This is 4 photos spliced together. Taken Saturday at 7 pm.
A breathtaking view!

oslo grand prix 2010

Thor Hushovd invited his friends back to Oslo for the second annual Oslo Grand Prix, to raise awareness and money for the Cancer Foundation. A great sight to see all these famous cyclists in downtown Oslo. I even managed to get autographs from Kurt Asle Arvesen and Steffen Kjærsgaard :-)
I posted these on Facebook... but here you can see them larger.

panorama Eidfjord

No matter how many photos I splice together, it`s nearly impossible to get the grandeur on "film".

rainbow over Eidfjord

A beautiful rainbow greeted us this Saturday morning.

back in Eidfjord II

The pier in Eidfjord.

back in Eidfjord

Thursday evening. The Norseman Crew is packed into the Bergslien hotel. It is nice to be back.
Photo was taken right at sunset... around 10:30 pm to be exact.

back in green!

Thor Hushovd is back in the green jersey after an impressive show in yesterdays mountain stage. He now has 191 points... only 4 points ahead of Petacchi.
Anything can happen though, so it´s going to be exciting to watch the final stages.

lightning show

Sometimes it pays to stay up late. Right after midnight the sky started to light up.
I used 30-60 second exposures.

lier mental hospital IV

lier mental hospital III

lier mental hospital II

I have called this one "Split Personality"
From the series taken at the abandoned mental hospital in Lier, building C.

lier mentalt sykehus

Enda et bilde fra Lier Mentalt Sykehus, bygning C.
Modellen er Silje, pluss et spøkelse som dukket frem.

midnight moon over Husøy, Tønsberg

Actually it was about 1:30 am.
This was about a 1 minute exposure time.

sankthans: summer solstice

Celebrating summer solstice in Husøy, Tønsberg.

wallpaper: cycling in denmark

Free download for your computer moniter, in 3 different sizes.
1440 x 900 px - 1600 x 900 px and 1680 x 1050 px.
If you would like it in a different size then let me know :-)

 

video: tunnelløpet 2010

Video credit unknown, but you can see the original link on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dk6NzhR6CI
I run past the video camera right at 45 seconds :-)


Also: check out the article and photos from www.kondis.no
http://www.kondis.no/trivsel-i-og-utenfor-tunnelene.4792583-127676.html

tunnelløpet: the tunnel run

This was a new one. A 10 km run that went through a tunnel. It´s the new tunnel in Oslo that has not been opened to the cars yet. So this is another one of those "one time only" runs.
My running has been pathetic this year, so I had no goal other than to have a good time and to maybe meet a few friends. And I did both. I met Joachim at the starting line. And then during the run, actually right at the 5 km mark, I met Trond as he camly and steadily passed me after exchanging a few words. I tried to keep up with him, but there was nothing more for me to give.
I was doing pretty good for the first half, and I thought I could finish in 42 minutes... but my time would be 45:20. Oh well.
It was still a pretty cool run, and I even brought my camera with me so I could get some shots during the run.

Running inside the tunnel was pretty strange. I was expecting it to be cold, which is why I wore the long sleeved thermal. It was actually pretty warm in there, and strangely quiet except for the fans in the ceiling. At the 5 km mark, inside the tunnel, there was a drinking station.

photoshoot: in a mental hospital

One of the most fun and at the same time scary photoshoots I´ve done in ... ever! This was taken at the Lier Mental hospital, in one of the abandoned buildings. This is the end result which we used for the poster, which I also designed.

Nøklevann - statusrapport

Jeg sykla opp til Nøklevann i går og målte temperaturen. Det er 13 grader i vannet!
Det er vel kun fuglene som syntes dette er varmt nok, så vi får vel vente litt til før vi begynner med svømmetreningen?

triathlon training camp: denmark - day 4

Monday: «Take the long way home.»

It turned out that it wasn´t me who would collapse after a 3-day training camp... it was my Honda Civic!

The little yellow light came on when I was driving home from Casa Grande on Sunday. There is an oil leak somewhere, and it is not recommended that I drive it for a long distance. Hmmm... I´m in Denmark!

I called the NAF people (Norway´s AAA) to find out my options. I don´t have a local number, so I have to call the number in Norway. They service all of Europe. Good news for me. I try to explain to her that I´m taking the ferry back to Norway on Monday. She will relay this info to her people in Denmark.

Good, I think... so I wait for a phone call.
3 hours later a guy from NAF is outside my room ready to pick up my car!
Huh?
He wonders why I have not been answering my calls. He had been calling my home phone number in Oslo. How intelligent is that?
He looks at my car and agrees with me that it should not be driven very far. I ask if he can come back tomorrow, but he says I have to call NAF to place an order. But... you are here now! You see me stranded here... just come back tomorrow.
No.
So I call back NAF to explain my situation again. She says that I need to call back in the morning to order a car.
But... I know that I need a tow tomorrow! And I know that it is an hour to drive, and that the ferry leaves at 12:45!
Well, we can´t take a reservation... you need to call back in the morning. I recommend you call early.
Thank you!

Monday morning:
I call NAF at 6:45 and explain the whole story again, this time to a guy who is not that pleasant.
«I see that you have already used your 2 free pickups this year»
«No, I have only used 1 this year back in January»
«I dont have the dates here... I just see that you have used our services twice»
«If you count yesterdays little mishap then it does not count since I did not order it»
«Ok? Hmm...»

I finally convince him, and he says he will send the info back to Denmark so they can send a car. I have no idea when he will get there, so I skip the swim practice in order to empty my room and pack up my car.
At 8:00 there is still no car, so I join the others for breakfast.
At 9:00 there is still no car, so I call back to make sure the order went through. I get the classic «I´m sure he will be there soon».
«Well, can´t you check? Is there a way you can find out where he is?»
«No, but I see that you called us a little before 7 this morning so I´m sure he will be there soon»
«Thank you»

I need to leave no later than 10:30 in order to make the ferry, so at this point the other people in my group are starting to figure out other solutions. We put my bike and my bag in one of the other cars. Also, Kristoffer´s stuff (the guy who rode with me) was put in yet another car. Trond suggested that he could tow me to the ferry since we were taking the same ferry back, which was incredibly nice of him. I even had an elastic rope in my car!

We roll out my car and start hooking up the rope. It is now 10:00.
At 10:05 the NAF car arrives!
I am very relieved! Now my car can sit on a bed instead of being towed at a much slower speed.

So... car is on the bed, and we are finally off! I´m in the NAF car while Trond is driving Andreas and Kristoffer.

We get to the ferry at 11:00. Plenty of time to load the cars. The ferry people are obviously used to this scenario and just tow me onto the ferry. There´s even another guy in the same predicament with a broken car. I´m just relieved that I made the ferry. The next one doesn´t leave until 8 pm, and I´m not even sure that the tickets can be transferred.

While on the ferry the four of us (Trond, Andreas, Kristoffer and I) were able to talk some more triathlon stuff before getting back to the real world.  Trond is explaining the "handicap" test that you can take in the pool. Something I haven´t talked about in years.

Back to the Honda situation:
Half-way over to Norway I start calling NAF again, explaining that I need someone to pull me out of the ferry and to a local mechanics place.

«When do you arrive in Larvik?»
«In about an hour»
«Well you have to call back when you dock. We cant risk you being late»
«But the ferry arrives at 4:30! The weather is perfect and there is no reason for delay»
«You have to call back when you arrive»
«Thank you»

4:15 pm. I call back, getting yet another new teller on the phone, explaining the situation again. She says that I have used up my 2 freebies and that I will have to pay a small fee. This time she is sort of right, except that it is still the same day and I was hoping that all of this would count as one service.

No.

It was worth a try.

Thank you though!

I send Kristoffer, and the stuff that he had in my car, into the other car so that he could at least get back to Oslo.
As the gate opens, and the cars drive out, I am left behind in a now very large and empty car ferry. A sort of surreal feeling.

Hello?

A few minutes later a big NAF car drives in, towards my car... passes my car and goes straight to the other car to pick him up. I guess he picked the longest straw.

I wait some more.

Finally a car comes to pull me out. This was not a NAF guy, just a guy from the ferry crew.

He pulls me out to the parking lot where I wait some more.
Finally I see the NAF guy again. He drives towards me... and then passes me. Again!?
Fucker!
Does this town only have one NAF guy?
5 minutes later he calls me up and explains that he has to drive that car to Sandefjord and was wondering where I was headed.
«I was hoping you could drive me to the train station after getting my car to a mechanic»
«I can drive you to the train station right now, then come back for your car after this delivery»
«Ok, thank you»

Turns out there were 3 cars on the ferry that needed towing! Is this normal? No, it is quite rare that we even have 1 car. Great, just my luck.
He also thought it was strange that the NAF people kept making me wait in order to put in the order. If he had gotten it earlier, he might have picked me up first.
Oh well... either way, I make it to the station at 6 pm. The train to Oslo leaves at 6:20. Very nice. But I did not exactly enjoy having to leave my car on the dock, and hand my keys over to this guy who promises to drive it to the mechanic. But I really did not have a choice, unless I wanted to wait another couple of hours.

Luckily I had brought with me a couple of sandwiches from breakfast. It´s a 2 hour train ride to Oslo. Then I have a 30 minute ride with the subway before I can finally get home!

There were quite a lot of people who were helping me out through all of this. Several of the guys were helping me with the car Sunday evening, trying to figure out the problem with my car. On Monday, Marit put my bike and bag in her car, and Espen offered to have it at his place since he lives closest to me. Lars Arvid took Kristoffers bike in his car. Trond offered to tow me to the ferry, plus he took Kristoffer in his car back to Oslo. I felt really bad that I had to involve all of these people, my friends. I´ve been so used to trying to solve all of my problems by myself lately that I´ve almost forgotten how to ask for help. But suddenly they were just offering to help me. I am really grateful for their help, and all of the others who were helping me along the way.

Back in Oslo it is raining and cold again. The sunny days in Sæby, Denmark went over way too fast. But again, for the 3rd year in a row, I have a ton of great memories, plus a funny story to tell about the really long trip home.

Well... maybe tomorrow it will be funny.