Journal of Tormod Haugen

Today the local newspaper wrote a piece about my favorite local coffee bar. It was really positive, as it well as it should be.

The coffee bar is run by the Pioneer church, a liberal Christian congregation. They have a passion for God, coffee and culture, and is something I as an agnostic really appreciate in a church. Not sure what you belive? Come to us, we won’t pressure you. is what they say, and even then the coffee bar is even more open. It’s just a regular place with jazz, pop, rock and classical music in the air, mingling with the sweet smell of coffees and food.

Not all who seek are comfortable with the brand of Christian, and that’s ok; it isn’t really the point. You choose your own way when seeking God. Call yourself whatever you want!

But then again; (almost) all who meet at Totalen, for that is the name of the building of old, love and enjoy coffee. Or the company. Isn’t then coffee almost it’s own religion? Or just a gateway leading to people that seek the same as you do?

If you drop by Haugesund and have time for a cup, why not drop by? Just ask anyone where Totalen lies. They’ll know.

I feel different about different types of public transport. It all starts with the bus. The bus is something that might or might not be on time. If I am early, it will probably be late, and if I’m a bit late it will be on time, disappearing down the road as I’m running for the ’stop.

The bus to Bergen is different. It is relaxed. It only goes every other hour, and takes three hours to reach it’s destination. I have to plan ahead to get on it, because I probably need to sleep over before heading home again. Well, I don’t take it much now, and earlier it was the other way around. I mean, I took it down to Haugesund, then back (home) to Bergen later - over the weekend or something.

I can read on that bus. When going downtown, a 15 minutes ride, I have to look out for my stop so I don’t overshoot it. It doesn’t matter that much, distances aren’t that great once I arrive, but I don’t trust those buses. It is easier now; there is a loudspeaker and a sign informing of the next stop in almost every city bus.

The bus company is called Kolumbus, and are based in Stavanger. Stavanger is the next city south of Haugesund, and thus the loudspeaker woman has got an accent (She says Gadå instead of Gata - street). The woman on the picture was spotted on the bus this weekend. She was probably heading downtown to listen to the jazz - Haugesund hosts the Sildajazz festival each year (celebrating the herring. Nope, not the red one…).

Trains are better. Night trains between Bergen and Hønefoss(Hen (water)Falls - don’t ask me why) is nice. In the same way as the Express busses, these are plannable, and forces you to be on time. And they are even more precisely on time when you are at (or near) one of the ends. Lots of time to read or work if you take the train by day, and not so much time lost if you sleep on it by night.

Planes on the third hand are a hassle. You have to get to the airport. Check in luggage an get through the security station. Wait. Actually, wait some more - because you had to wait earlier as a consequence of being early. The airways companies require you to be there earlier than you want to. And then you board. And find your seat. And wait. And wait. And you’ll probably have to switch planes at the next airport; and if one of your flights were international you’ll collect your luggage and check it in again. And wait. And get away from the airport.

I like trains, but we don’t have one here.

My bike is better than all - for shorter distances. Don’t want to use it for international travels, though. And it isn’t much fun in the rain. Or strong headwinds. And it hasn’t got fuzzy hair in front of me.

We’ve bought a house!

It is a small, one story house in a quiet part of Haugesund, and soon it will be ours. Well; we’ll have to wait until May in order to move in, as the previous owner need some time to get her new place up to shape, or something. Also; we had to go quite a bit over asking price - it seems to be the norm in Haugesund these days to pay a couple of hundred thousand Norwegian kroner extra.

On a lighter note - here’s a picture of our house taken earlier this winter:

I were traveling back north to Bergen today, and as I got on the bus in Haugesund, 06:15 local time, someone talked at me and pulled my arm. Aaand, I’d forgotten that he was going north for a quick trip today. We spent most of the 3.5 hour bus ride talking, and were relieved to find that the new LNG ferry were quite stable in the high seas. (There has been storm(s) hitting the area throughout the weekend.)

Still no strong mustard, though. We went for a pancake and a cup of coffee each.

Also: There was one interesting part from my trip south Friday. There are some new speed bumps through Sveio. Not I nor the driver had experienced them before. The driver was going just a bit too fast, and I - being positioned over the rear axle of the bus were lifted from my seat during the event. Guess he knows about it now.

I travelled with one of the new LNG Ferries when going to Haugesund and back again yesterday/this morning. They really are big, and thus aren’t as affected by bad weather as the old ones. We didn’t get to experience the speed of this monster, as there are currently only one running. It wouldn’t do to have to wait 30 minutes for the last ferry to catch up, lay to and take off again…

Only thing I didn’t like… they didn’t have strong mustard in the cafeteria.