Kleifarvatn Hiking, Yule-Outings & 7 Habits
[Photos taken 03 – 10 December 2022, posted online 27 July 2023. Been a cloudy few days, very low energy, possibly due to volcano smog permeating my brain. Finally have blue skies again today.]
And then it was December, again!
There was one more organized hike left in the year, this time around Kleifarvatn (lake). It was a super still day, and it was really nice to see the sun come up.
The social calendar filled up with all sorts of yule-related outings, like concerts & buffets, as I also attended a two-day “7 habits” seminar/workshop at work, and two kids played at musical school concerts.
Saturday 03 December 2022
Misty Hiking, Delayed Confirmation Party, & Northern Lights
[Photos taken 12 – 30 November 2022, posted online 21 July 2023. Gosh, darnit, my eyesight is changing really fast these days, I get the feeling that in the olden times I should be dead by now!]
Tearing me out of my “just started a new job” stupor was a day hike to Stardalshnúkur & Þríhnúkar on a rainy-misty day, but the clouds cleared at good moments, and good memories were made.
We attended a covid-delayed confirmation party, I tried to find a new gym/work balance, Finnur took photos of northern lights, yule-tide outside lights were put up as the darkness grew, yule-tide shopping began, and life kind of went on as usual.
Saturday 12 November 2022
Hello Controlant!
[Photos taken 01 – 11 November 2022, posted online 19 July 2023. The weather finally turned summer-like in July, and I’m officially on summer vacation, whoohoo!]
I started working for Controlant on 1st November. It’s an Icelandic startup from 2007 that was in the right place, with the right connections, at the right time, when Covid-19 hit, and Pfizer needed a way to monitor in near-real-time the temperature of the covid-vaccine that needed to stay below -80°C / -112 F at all times, before use.
The Contolant logger and monitoring-platform was chosen, and delivered great results, coming close to eliminating transport losses due to temperature issues, which generally hover in the 20-30% range (!!!).
I’d had my eye on the company for a while, and actually remember speaking to one of the founders briefly about it in the teacher’s lounge when I was teaching at the University of Iceland some 10 years ago, and he was still a graduate student!
Anyway, when I joined I was employee number 4-hundred-and-something, and now it’s up to 5-hundred-and-something. It’s interesting times!
As a side effect, my brain was completely fried for a while, as I tried to learn a lot of new things, and I barely took any photos besides of me going to and from work, it seems!
Tuesday 01 November 2022
Do. All. The. Things. Part. Halloween.
[Photos taken 27 – 31 October 2022, posted online 02 July 2023. Seems like we’re about to get a whole week of no rain!]
Learning from last year’s fiasco of no-pumpkins-left-on-the-day-before-Halloween, I went out and got some a few days earlier. Finnur returned from the UK, Hannah Gadsby’s show finally happened, we went to the summer house with guests, and then had a lot of fun cutting designs into our pumpkins.
My upcoming new workplace sent a message asking for a profile photo, and I got to set up my work account a few days early and start poking around. I quite liked that.
Sadly, the Do. All. The. Things. mania petered out with a whimper, and I found myself returning a chunk of stuff back into the closet with the doors, having exhausted my decision muscle. But, some stuff got done, and I could finally cross it off my chronically ridiculously-long to-do list.
Thursday 27 October 2022
Do. All. The. Things. Part. England
[Photos taken 22 – 26 October 2022, posted online 01 July 2023. After a mostly miserable and fall-like June, we might get a week of nice weather starting tomorrow.]
The younger kids got two days of winter-break towards the end of October, so we decided to journey to England and say hi to (grand)dad, Shirley, and Anthony.
I made the unilateral decision that Anna would not be traveling with us, since she was busy at university (they have four 12-week courses, followed by one 3-week group-work-course). Thus this was the first trip abroad with just Emma and Bjarki tagging along.
Saturday 22 October 2022
Do. All. The. Things. Part 3
[Photos taken 15 – 21 October 2022, posted online 24 June 2023. Perpetual clouds covering our area these days. Thankfully it’s fairly warm out.]
By the third week of my in-between-jobs month, I began to run out of Do. All. The. Things. steam.
We did manage to invite my immedate family up to the summer house for an overnight stay, and had a nice time. Getting back to town took longer than anticipated, but all went well.
I kept up failing at interior designing, went on an evening hike, started working my way through our very out-of-date CD pile (not to mention the floppy disks!), windows got cleaned, gym was visited, and Anna occasionally got a little help with her university homework.
Saturday 15 October 2022
Do. All. The. Things. Part. 1.
[Photos taken 01 – 09 October 2022, posted online 11 June 2023. Have just returned from a fantastic whirlwind visit to California.]
I had accepted a new job, that would be starting on 01 November. I therefore had a month to Do. All. The. Things. The first thing on the agenda was getting a new computer (as my old one kept flaking out), and attending a birthday party.
Saturday 01 October 2022
Goodbye Marel!
[Photos taken 24 – 30 September 2022, posted online 27 May 2023. We have clear skies for a bit for the first time in what feels like three weeks or more. May’s been weirdly wet and windy…]
When I resigned at the end of July, I fully expected to keep working there for three months (in Iceland you get three months of salary if you’re fired, and also can be asked to work three months after resigning) but as projects got finished it seemed silly to start doing new things.
So, we came to an agreement that my last day would be Friday 30 September, or about a week after the much-covid-delayed annual ball!
Saturday 24 September 2022
Ok Hiking, Tire Troubles & Autumn Colors
[Photos taken 17 – 23 September 2022, posted online 21 May 2023. It’s wet and windy outside. ]
The hiking group was back in action, and this time the target was Ok, the ex-glacier (aka The canary in the coal mine of our collective doom).
The hike was “demanding” with endless stretches of rocks in all shapes, orientation, sizes, and colors. On the drive back I then somehow managed to bust not one, but two (!!) tires of the car, needing to get rescued by our guide, and then organize a pick-up truck to go fetch it.
The remainder of the week was spent in mild survival mode as I’d come to an agreement with work to end my employment at the end of the month.
Saturday 17 September 2022
End-of-Summer Deck-Building & Biking-to-work
[Photos taken 02 – 16 September 2022, posted online 20 May 2023. Rainy and windy days, but at least it’s rather warm.]
The weather in September was surprisingly nice, almost Indian-summer-like. This prompted us to finally buy an outside couch for the summer-house, as there was no good way to congregate on the deck otherwise.
Back in town, Finnur put this summer’s deck-building-with-his-dad to good use by helping my brother build a deck at their place. Thankfully the weather co-operated, and they could work long into the evening, as the days were still fairly long.
I found biking to work to be a nice thing to do, and began working slightly shorter days as my work was winding down, having resigned a month prior.
Friday 02 September 2022
