I just ate Rudolph!

So, I made it to Norway. But my mind has yet to catch up. I left Houston at 7 pm, slept maybe an hour in flight, and arrived in Stavanger, Norway at 5 pm the next day (15 hours in transit). The plane was pretty nice, but those seats are only so comfortable, so no sleep for me.

Surprisingly, the weather is actually quite balmy for December - hovering around 40^oF with rain. I have yet to see the sun, though. Not that I have not been outside in the daytime, or even seen a brightness in the sky that could be called "day" (but only for about 5 hours), it's just that the sun does not rise high enough above the horizon to be seen over the buildings of the town.

My hotel is a cheap one; the "twin" beds are not perceptibly larger than a couch and the shower leaks water all over the floor of the bathroom. A few environmental features are highlighted: first, no bars of soap (to save on packaging), instead there is hand soap; second, the lights in the room only come on once you insert your room key card into a slot by the door (you leave the room, you turn out the lights by necessity).

For some strange reason the dozen or so TV channels I have to choose from are all in Norwegian - I just can't understand that ;~) And speaking of Norwegian, I find that I can read around a third of Norwegian (especially signs) as it is relatively similar to English and logical leaps can be made to translate.

But I digress. Did I mention that over the last 78+ hours, I have only slept six? The ol' brains a little foggy. And I don't want smoked fish for dinner :( Or lunch. Or breakfast!

Other than being tired, though, the business trip is going great. I presented our work this morning, and it was very well received. Now for a little more impromptu work to fill the next day and a half and I'll be off to home, weather permitting.

Oh, I bet you're wondering about the post title "I just ate Rudolph". I had reindeer for dinner. Don't tell Little Euphrony; she'll be crushed. Hey, at least I didn't eat the whale. No joking, here; it's on the menus. They have two notable slogans about their continuing whale hunting. First: "Intelligent food for intelligent people." Second: "If we had dolphins, we'd kill them, too."

Tags: Norway, Stavanger, Travel, Business, Tired, Sleepy, Smoked Fish, Euphrony