I love finding the Friday Five notify e-mail in my inbox – it convinces me that it really is Friday.

1. What’s the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?
Well, Arvika this weekend… It’s Sweden, after all.

2. What’s the most bizarre/unusual thing that’s ever happened to you while traveling?
I’ll get back to you, too early in the morning to think… Well, ok, we had a pretty weird time of it when arriving in Ireland a few weeks ago, and since I haven’t told you that story yet, I might as well sneak it in here…

We’d been down to Worthing to see my old pals and so we’d had to get up at five in the morning to catch the bus to Stansted. There had been an accident on the motorway, which meant we arrived late and had to wait for the next flight – five hours later… So by the time we arrived at Shannon we were rather looking forward to getting to the hostel and relaxing. However, at this point the fates (or whatever) decided to demonstrate to us why Ireland has a reputation for being slow-moving and running to it’s own rules.

Our flight landed at ten to seven – on time. Everything went fairly speedily inside the airport, so we were outside looking for a bus at a quarter past seven. Now, Shannon is not exactly a big airport. In fact, it’s tiny. I have no idea how many flights arrive there every day, but it can’t be very many. It certainly seemed more or less shut down for the night when we arrived, and this was an ordinary weeknight. The bus to Limerick leaves every hour or so, but we wanted to go to Ennis, and the bus there runs less frequently. So, we get to the bus stop and look at the time table. The bus left at seven. The next bus is at nine. I would very much have liked to know how many passengers the bus at seven had – I somehow have a hard time believing it could have been anywhere near full. No one ever thought of making the buses correspond with the arrival times of flights, obviously.

Anyway, we shrug and head back to the terminal to see if it would be possible to get a taxi. There are certainly no taxis outside, but since we’re the only passengers left that’s not terribly surprising. So I go in and find the taxi desk (the only thing still open – all the shops and cafes are shut for the night, at seven pm…) and the lady says she’ll get us a taxi and we can wait outside if we want. So we wait. And wait. And wait some more. A taxi arrives. It passes us and parks in an employees only carpark. The driver disappears inside the terminal. We wait some more. Another taxi arrives and actually draws up in front of us. The driver gets out and asks if we’re waiting for a taxi. I confirm that we are, indeed, waiting for a taxi, this is why we’re sitting waiting at the taxi rank. He says that it’s the other one we’re supposed to have. I tell him the other driver has disappeared inside. He says he’ll go get him. He disappears inside. We wait some more. The first driver comes out and waves to us. We take this as a sign that he might just possibly be persuaded to drive us to Ennis, so we lug our bags over. He looks a bit surprised at our request but opens the trunk and heaves our bags inside and we get in and he actually drives off, gets us to Ennis and takes our money like a perfectly normal taxi driver, which leaves us wondering whether we might not have imagined it all…

Interestingly, none of the taxis we saw in Ennis had taxi-signs on the roof of the car. They had the taxi-signs all right, those plastic things that normally has a light inside them to signal that the taxi is free, but they all had the plastic thing inside the car, up under the windscreen. We figured it was better not to ask…

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?
No object, eh? Well, one thing I’ve always wanted to do, but which is somewhat unrealistic due to the money/time aspects, is circumnavigate the world without the help of airplanes – just rail and boat, preferably. I want to feel for myself how big it really is.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?
Plane for convenience – you get there quicker. I like trains as well, though, and I have no objection to cars, either. I just love travelling, really…

5. What’s the next place on your list to visit?
Well, Scotland in September. Been there before, though. Next place on the ‘places I’ve never seen before’ list is probably Vienna, seeing as A is going to be there for a year.

Voice in my head: Billy Joel – For the Longest Time

I am sorry, but polyphonic ring tones has to be one of the most annoying inventions ever (closely following such things as the atomic bomb, biological weapons, spambots and broken-down escalators). Two of the guys at the next ‘desk island’ have them and any time one of their phones rings (usually when the owner is away from his desk) I feel like screaming.

I’m glad to see someone agrees.

You know how I feel about guys in kilt, right? (If you don’t, “Delish” pretty much sums it up.) Well, how do you think I’d feel about a boyfriend in kilt? Pretty damn delighted, that’s what.

I used to be somewhat ambivalent on the subject of “Do you need to be a Scot to wear a kilt?” but I find that the prospect of seeing M in one has pushed me firmly over to the “Who the heck cares?” camp.

Voice in my head: some guy singing “Just a gigolo” for some reason known only to himself

Addendum: two hours later and the gigolo guy has been joined by Shakira singing Underneath Your Clothes, which makes for a very odd and disjointed sort of duet, I assure you.

This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays. (Though on the whole, Thursdays have been pretty good days lately.)

1. If you were running for governor of your state, what personal information would you refuse to discuss with journalists?
I don’t have that many secrets, and I believe that if you’re running for something like governor almost everything concerning you as a person is relevant information to the voters. I suppose there are questions I’d prefer not to answer, mostly as regards personal relationships – partly out of consideration to the other people involved.

2. How do your business ethics and personal ethics differ, if at all? Do you think you have a better reputation in your business dealings or your personal ones?
They don’t differ much, and I think my reputation reflects that, though I admit more readily to procrastination outside of work…

3. Everyone hears discussions they consider boring. What topic puts you to sleep faster than any other?
Most discussions about sport, especially football (soccer). I can work up an interest on almost any subject, however, even football, if I make an effort, which has saved me a lot of boredom.

The fire alarm has gone off three time this morning. Well, when I say ‘gone off’ I may be exaggerating a bit. First it rang twice, then stopped. Then shortly after it rang once, then went quiet again. Twenty minutes later, a short while ago, it repeated the trick.

It is, quite frankly, rather annoying.

As it’s Wednesday, I could do the Wednesday What Ifs, however, M has done them already and since he’s pretty much said exactly what I’d have said (isn’t it sweet how we agree? – Everybody say: “Aaaaw”) you might as well go read his entry.

Instead I’ll point you to a site where you can test your instincts: Harmless nerd or the sort of person who eats kids for breakfast? (via Melissa)

And since I’m sure you’re all dying to know, I got 9 out of 10 correct. Cheered me up, that did (not that I was depressed or anything, but it is early morning at work, after all).

Voice in my head: Robbie Williams – Rock DJ

Power Rangers Movie!

What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Note: I got Say Anything at first, but went back and chose just one alternative per question which gave me this – seems a little more appropriate.

Voice in my head: Christina Aguilera (according to the quiz) – What a Girl Wants

You come from the Middle Ages. Your soul came from
a time when dragons, knights, war and
Princesses ruled the land.

Where Did Your Soul Originate?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hm. A somewhat silly quiz, as the result seems to be determined by the answer to where you want to live. I want to live in a castle by the sea, which isn’t an option, ‘A castle’ gave me the above result, ‘By the sea’ gave me ‘the ocean’. Well, ok, so my soul comes from the ocean of the middle ages, or what? Now I’m feeling old. (Via M, who got the ocean – what’s the bet he said ‘by the sea’ too?)

1. When you take a vacation, do you ever suffer from Internet withdrawal? Or maybe the nagging urge to blog or read blogs? Or are you glad to be away?
Glad to be away? Are you mad?

2. Have you ever been “furloughed” (told to take time off work without pay) or laid off? How did that impact your family dynamics? Your finances? If not to you, have you seen it happen to anyone you know? How did they handle it?
The company I first worked for in Oslo basically asked all of us to leave voluntarily last summer, which was not entirely unexpected and probably just as well as the majority of us had been thinking about leaving anyway. Had I not got a new job immediately, I dare say I would have been less happy about it, but as it was I was delighted.

3. If you fell on hard times, what is are some non-essential reoccurring luxury expenses (cable TV, TiVo subscription, cigarettes, high-speed net connection, newspaper, daily Starbucks coffee, etc.) you would give up to save money?
Most of those. I’d think long and hard about the cable/broadband (they’re one package at the moment), but it’s not as if I couldn’t live without tv (I have done) and I get internet at work… I’d have to drink less whisky, I suppose – or drink other people’s whisky (seems like a better option, doesn’t it?).

4. On the same thought, what is the one non-essential expense you would NOT give up?
Uhm. Buying books.

5. Would you ever ask your family (parents, in-laws, relatives) for financial assistance? What would be some of your concerns about asking for help? Have you ever asked for it before? Did it go well?
I would ask my parents. I’d not be happy about it, though, my mother gets this exasperated look whenever we get on the subject of my finances, and I’d hate them to know how badly I’d messed it up…

6. Has a friend or relative ever borrowed money from you? Who were they and how much did they want? Did you ever get paid back, or did it matter? Did you feel compelled to keep an eye on them to see if they spent it wisely?
Not large sums. My brother owes me money right now, but to be honest I’m not too bothered. He’s not spending them wisely, but I approve anyway.

7. Imagine you won a tax-free gift of $7,000. The only stipulation on the gift is that it must not be invested or saved, and must be spent before 2004. How would you use the money?
Ok, I’ve got a kitchen that needs refubishing. I don’t think you’d have to give me more than a month, really… Oh, and a quick (or not so quick) shopping trip to Scotland wouldn’t go amiss, either.

Actually, give me a weekend in Hay-on-Wye and we’ll see how much is left…