Study part II

After a late brunch of overnight oats, it's was time to press on with the study. We applied a third and final coat of paint, then tidied up and secured the desk wrap with our old and dear friend duct tape.

Since everything needed time to dry, we headed down to the basement to help sort Nina's storage unit; a timewarp of nostalgia and final resting place of most Christmas gifts I have sent to Nina. It's an interesting development where each flat is provided a self-storage style unit on the lowest basement level. It also includes some communal facilities like the bookable guest rooms, where Ross and I are staying; it strikes me as a neat way to provide for visitors whilst keeping the development compact and economical with resources.

We had an early (and delicious) dinner with Nina's parents. Fom their dinner table we saw a small parade of Bodø Glimpt fans (the local football team) marching to the stadium for the Sunday match.

Nina's dad had kindly used the lathe in his workshop create plugs for the holes left by Nina's old lights. Having collected them, we headed back to fit them via copious sanding and just a dab of frustrated brute strength.

Ross and I have both worked on the wiring in this flat before, but it was only now coming back to us how wacky it is (even before we got to it). The 'special features' left by the original electrician include sockets that are only powered up when the lights are on (Norwegians not sharing the British convention of lights and sockets on separate circuits). When I went to the breaker panel (upgraded since I was last here) I thought my Norwegian was much worse than I had believed - the breakers didn't control what I understood the labels to say. A quick check with my host though reassured me that my Norwegian isn't absent (just awful) and it's the labels that are wrong. We cracked jokes about 'how many lights do you see?' over the echoes of the electricians' spurs and managed to get the new lighting unit fitted.

The now mustard and dark blue study was mostly back together in time for the evening. Only the carpet and a few finishing bits left now.Read more