I don't see dead people. I hear crickets.

The time difference between Europe and the States sure makes for a quiet social mediasphere in the middle of my day. In Scandinavia, I'm 7 hours ahead of those in the Mid-west. Now that I've been here for a week (from Oslo to Stockholm to Oslo and back to Stockholm again), I'm missing the quick hits that I normally get in my workday that give my mind a second to reset while I reply to a tweet on Twitter or a comment on Facebook.

Image by Jonatan Ortega via FlickrAnd, I just don't understand why a few of you fools aren't staying up all night to entertain me and make me more productive. #Weaksauce.

Last night, Pia and I realized that I can tether (use her iPhone as a wifi hotspot) with her phone. In the States we can't tether our iPhones, but it's all good in Sweden. This makes me feel better about our coming trip to the islands on the west coast of the country. You know... a freelancer doesn't get any paid vacation, yo!

Notes:

• I think I had the most expensive beer I've ever had in my life while in Norway: $92 NOK, or about USD $15.
• ICEBAR at the ICEHOTEL is cold, but the drinks are terrible.
• Being in Scandinavia isn't "in your face" foreign like many other countries that I've been in: nice cars, hardly see poverty, you can even buy Doritos.
• I suck at posting pictures and I know that when I'm out of memory and must post pictures of my South America trip earlier this year that I will confuse the crap out of everyone and you'll all ask, "I thought you went to Europe?"
• Deal with it.
• Norwegian Airlines has been the least expensive carrier... strike that, "cheapest" carrier. When you select your seat, you pay extra. If you want a drink, you pay extra. #Weaksauce. However, a brand new 737 sure looks pretty... pretty obvious that you have to charge for everything to pay it off.
• After one week, leaning more toward the blondes of Scandinavia than the brunettes of South America--same beauty/less attitude, more outdoorsy/less clubby. Now, about whether I prefer Norwegian women or Swedish women? Hmmm.
  

Skol!

Välkommen till Sverige!

My trek to Sweden was a bit longer than planned, but I made it! Due to the weather in Chicago, my plane left a half hour late. This made us land a half hour later in Amsterdam and left me a mere 20 minutes to make my next flight. Now, have you ever gone through customs in Miami when returning to the United States? You have to walk about 2 miles to get through customs and back to the domestic flights. The same thing exists in the Amsterdam airport. Knowing this, the United agents met me as I disembarked and handed me my new ticket for a later flight--one that didn't fly directly to Stockholm, but to Oslo first. All in all it added about 4 hours to my travel, from 14 and a half hours to 18 and a half.

On the other hand, it allowed my good, long-time friend in Sweden to pick me up on her way home from work instead of my having to take the bus into town... so that worked out! And, United put me on SAS in first class for the last two legs! I could drink like a Swede! (I had one glass of wine and that was it for me--too tired--not much like a Swede at all.)

So...

• 4 airplanes
• 5 airports
• 3 customs check points
• 2 security screens (I accidentally exited the Oslo airport looking for my connecting flight. You get to keep your shoes on here.)
  
• 2 glasses of wine
  

Staying just southwest of Stockholm in a 'burb called Bromma, which is about 4 miles from the downtown area. Had a nice walk last night and a longer run this morning in the area. It sidles up to the water and has many great hiking and biking trails. Also home to Mats Sundin for you hockey fans.

More later...