The train in Spain stays mainly in the plain ...

Some weeks ago I took at trip to Spain to look at tomato harvesting and ketchup production. To get from Barcelona to Zaragoza I and my colleague travelled with the AVE, Spain's high speed train service.

It was breathtaking - home in Norway we have one of the crappiest train services I have ever encountered. And in Spain I travelled at 300km/t and more (I saw 301!).

I sincerely hope that Norway can start investing the profits from the North Sea in infrastructure. That may help the nation when we go back to being a poor country again, when we again depend on wood and fisheries. Nobody uses paper any more, and for how long will it still be advisable to eat fish? But with decent roads, rails, education and so on - who knows, maybe we have a future?

Washing cowberry clean!

I have found a new application of cowberry. In a shop at Fossheim Hotell they sold Cowberry soap (Tyttebærsåpe). I just had to have one. But will it ever be used or will it remain a weird thing to keep?

Anyway, the producer is Alveland (Elf-land).

Recycling a CRT for the third time

Remember my visit to Kenya. Well, one of the things that took place at CFSK was that computer CRT screens were given a third life.

Two lives comes from the use by the original buyer as a computer screen, and then recycling the same screen for kids in schools in Kenya.

But what happens when the circuitry is "burned"? Well, at CFSK they discovered that the CRT tube may still be functional. So they rebuild the screen to a television set. The cost of this can compete with buying a regular TV-set, so there even was an economic incentive!

Juvenile lizard

Isn't this cute? It is a juvenile lizard that fell into a ditch I was digging. I had to help it out, and it either found my hand pleasantly warm or was perfectly terrified. So it stayed in my hand for some time. Maybe I even got a new friend.

I tried to get some android footage, as in this post, but I wasn't any good at operating my mobile with one hand.

This happened at my cabin. They are all over the place when the weather is nice. I have handled adult lizards in the past, as have my kids and their friends, but this small one was a new experience.

Whale in Midsund

Eating whale meat is a matter of controversy. But when I grew up it was a frequent type of meal, it was cheap, nutritious and tasty.

So when on vacation this summer we stumbled across whale meat being served in Midsund, as we were driving from Molde to Ålesund.
My youngest and I tried it, and it was delicious. He liked it and I had flash back from my childhood days.

A can of DDT

I found this can of DDT - and it is full of a clear, water-like liquid. If it is the real stuff, I wonder why it was not used. Maybe the warning "feilaktig bruk av dette preparat kan medføre alvorlige forgiftninger og dødsfall" (wrong use can lead to serious poisoning and death) kept the owner from using it.

Discussing my find with other people I discovered that some younger people do not know DDT and its reputation. To find out more I suggest Wikipedia as a starting point.
As I do not want to remain responsible for this pesticide, I have contacted the proper authorities to find out how to dispose of it. One resource I found while googling suggested burying the stuff, but that was an outdated American approach.

I would like to keep the bottle though - it would look nice in a kitchen!

Architecture for EE-waste

Although ICT may be a cornerstone in our economy, it creates a lot of waste. Loaded with heavy metals, poisonous chemicals etc, this waste should be recycled responsibly to keep the harmful substances to pollute the environment.

On my recent visit to Nairobi I had the pleasure of visiting Computers for Schools Kenya in my capacity as a FAIR board member. CFSK is one of FAIR's partners, receiving shipments of equipment for schools. An important part of FAIR's strategy is to implement a so called take-back system, whereby we import the same amound of EE-waste back to Norway for recycling, as we ship out.

CFSK is also running their own recycling operation, and I was invited on a tour to look at their facilities.

The architecture of the site surprised me initially, but turned out to be an obvious solution. You see, shipping of goods generally uses shipping containers - CFSK receive these with equipment, and FAIR gets their take-back packaged the same way. So why not use these as building blocks to replace bricks and mortar. And as you see from the picture, that is exactly what CFSK did - shipping containers stacked ontop of each other formed the walls of the operation, and they also provided separate rooms inside the house. Add some internal stairways and roofing, and voila - you have a house.