Dilbert Widget

This Dilbert Widget has been posted using a Dilbert Widget installed on my Facebook profile. If it is here it worked.

Artist Corner

Tobias has drawn a few monster snakes.

Multiplication

This should help Tobias multiply large numbers.

Olga

Although we are officially out of hurricane season, we have had the remnants of a tropical depression (Olga) passing our way. Pretty feeble remnants if you ask me. Running this morning I had a really fairly strong wind to contend with, but that was nice for a change.
Read more about Olga here.

Pirates in the hood

World's Largest Yacht

One morning you wake up and see this freakin thing practically at your door step.
It is Paul Allen's (Microsoft billionaire) 127m "Octopus", the world's largest yacht. Octopus cost Allen over US$200 million and has a permanent crew of 60, including several former Navy Seals. It has two helicopters, seven boats, a 10 man submarine and a remote controlled vehicle for crawling on the ocean floor. The submarine has the capacity to sleep eight for up to two weeks underwater. It is registered here in Cayman - no doubt for tax reasons.

Centennial Blog Post

This is our centennial blog post since we started more than a year ago. Some pictures of Christoffer helping out in the kitchen to celebrate, click here.

Ugen der gik

Så er den unge hr. Mikkelsen startet i skole. Han har glædet sig meget og han er ikke blevet skuffet. Efter første dag kunne han berette, at han havde erhvervet sig 5 nye venner. Dagen var gået med skiftevis leg og spisning. Det eneste som han syntes var keeeedeligt!! var en times hvile efter frokost. Tobias havde sørget for at holde sig vågen, for sove, det vil han ikke.

Nu har jeg gået hjem fra indre by to gange og det er meget hyggeligt og lokalt. Folk hilser fra deres haver og på den meget smalle vej er bilisterne meget venlige til at holde en god afstand.
Det er Pirates week i denne uge. Jasper har deltaget i 5km svømning og 5km løb og i næste uge skal han løbe 10km. Han vandt til mit held et 3 måneders medlemskab i et motionscenter, som jeg regner med at starte i om en uge.

I næste uge skal Christoffer starte i vuggestue, så den uge kommer til at gå med at køre ham ind og få organiseret aflevering og afhentning af begge unger. Jeg er endnu ikke klar over, hvor strikse de er med tider i Vuggestuen, men som jeg læser det, så er der bestemte tidspunkter, hvor man aflevere og afhenter, som i skolen.

Trafikken hernede er ikke så slem, men lige omkring kl. 8 og kl 15 er det slemt, da mange af skolerne ligger i vores område. Det betyder, at forældre og skolebusser, der aflevere børn, er helt kaotiske på de to tidspunkter.

I torsdags var vi ude at spise ved en af Jaspers kollegaer David, hans kone Monica, deres 2 børn Alexa / Thomas og golden retriver Sandy. Familien skulle til Florida på familiebesøg her i weekenden, så vi passede Sandy indtil idag søndag. Det er en rigtig sød Retriver hvalp på et halvt år, men alligevel var det rart at aflevere hende igen. Det er som at have et ekstra barn inde døre, lidt stressende.

Vi har været ude at kigge lidt under havoverfladen, Tobias og jeg. Her er mange forskellige slags, fisk og det er bare at tage en snorkel på og hoppe i vandet. Jasper har set en rokke og en nurse shark i havet, udefra hvor vi bor. Tobias og jeg bevægede os ikke så langt væk. Vi skal lige vænne os til havet, men regner også med, at nå at få sådanne oplevelser, imens vi er her.

Lige nu nyder vi at være her og vejret er ikke for varmt - lige tilpas. Vi er også over den varmeste og fugtigste periode. Det har ellers lige stået ned i stænger i 2 min. og nu regner det ikke en dråbe. Jasper er taget ud at løbe, men det kan være han har undgået det, da de her skybrud kan være meget lokale.

Jasper kom hjem drivvåd, han havde endda fået to omgange.

Igår så vi en spændende film. Det endte dog med at vi ikke kunne se den sidste ½ time, da det regnede så meget, at signalet forsvandt. Hvis man vil være sikker på at se en film færdig, et det altså er det god ide at tjekke vejrudsigten, :-).

Tobias og mad

Tobias kategoriserer bl.a. sine bedsteforældre efter det, der severes når sulten eller den sødetand melder sig.

Tobias, hvad får du at spise hos morfar? Bananer og sund mad.
Hvad får du hos mormor? SLIK
Og hos farmor? Kiks

Det passer i øvrigt helt overens med mine egne oplevelser hjemme. Vi havde altid kiks i huset.

First time in a school uniform

Crabs

Tobias spotted some crabs in West Bay yesterday. Amazing colours!

Indtryk efter 6 dage

Nu er der gået endnu et par dage og børnene vågner efterhånden først hen ad 6, dejligt!!

Her i weekenden har vi været lidt rundt på øen. Vi har bl.a set skildpadder. På Cayman opdrætter man skildpadder. Nogle går til fortæring og andre bliver sat ud i naturen. Derudover har vi været på øens mest berømte strand 7-mile beach. Vi har også kørt "øen rundt". Havets farver, blå-turkise, er helt fantastiske og lever fuldstændigt op til de kodakbilleder, som man forventer af Caribien.

See flere billeder på Facebook ved at klikke her.

Et af de områder, hvor mærker, at man er i et mere "afslappet" land, er i trafikken. Vejene er af meget forskellig standard og det som ligner en stor bred vej på kortet, er ikke den store vej, som forventede og ofte i en ringe stand. I nogle kryds hvor der egentlig burde være vigepligt, kan jeg forstå på Jasper, at folk køre på skift istedet, måske fordi at man ellers aldrig ville få fri bane.

Bevoksningen er ret flot. Den er tæt og er i nogle meters højde. Her er oprindeligt meget sump, men det ligner, at man bare fylder den op og bygger ovenpå. Jeg har fået fortalt, at man p.g.a. myg har smidt kemikalier i sumpene, for at slå dem ihjel. Det er ikke en økologisk ø :-)

Vi har så også været i supermarked, 3 af slagsen. Første gang brød jeg sammen i grin. De har de her kæmpe indkøbsvogne med en legetøjsbil foran, hvor begge børn kan sidde. Det betyder at man køre rundt med et monstrum på 2-3 meter, som er meget svær at styre. Lige pludselig føler man sig meget lille, når man skal håndtere sådan en monstervogn. Man kan få de fleste dagligdagsvare. Forskellen hernede er, at man kan få ting op i kæmpe størrelser f.eks. 6 liter skyllemiddel, 1 spand ketchup, 2 kilo smør, et par liter dressing osv.

I weekenden har vi mødt et par stykker af dem som bor her i komplekset. Her er jo mange udlændinge. Vi har hilst på Marius og Buddy (hans hund) fra Canada og så har vi mødt et par, engelske Tess og australske Adam og deres 3 børn, som er flyttet hertil fra Brisbane.

Indtryk efter 4 dage

Børnene og jeg har været på Cayman i 4 dage.

Vi har endnu ikke set så meget af øen, da vi lige har skulle vænne os til tidsforskellen. Ungerne eller især Christoffer har svært ved at omstille sig. Han vågnede kl. halv 2 i forgårs og imorges kl. halv 5, så der er da fremgang.

Igår var vi ude og se skolen hvor Tobias skal gå. Det er almindeligt at skoler og institutioner er tilknyttet en kirke. Ifølge Jasper, som har været rundt at se en del af dem, var der kun en institution, som ikke lagde vægt på religion (kristendommen) og den var der ikke plads i. Det er svært at vænne sig til at religion, er så almindelig en del af samfundet og det at tale om gud osv. er som man taler om pædagogik. I den forbindelse kan jeg fortælle, at den første jeg har mødt her (Patricia) er barnepige og rengøringsdame for underboen. Hun er fra Jamaica og har 4 børn (som stadigvæk er på Jamaica). Hun beundre vores underboer meget for deres stærke tilknytning til kirken og deres store kærlighed til guds hus osv.

Mit umiddelbare indtryk med kun 4 dage på øen er, at det ville være svært at bosætte sig med en anden religiøs baggrund, ikke fordi folk ikke er tolerante, men fordi folk med anden religiøs baggrund måske ikke ville være interesseret i at deres børn igennem skolen bliver opdraget i den kristne tro. Jeg har lige siddet og læst skolens håndbog som bl.a. i forordet skriver:

....becoming totally committed to Christ and His way, ...will help each child to develop his/her full potential, and fulfill his/her God-given pupose.

Skolens motto er:

To grow..in wisdom, and stature, an din favor with god and man.

Ja, det er lidt en anden stil end i DK.

High School Physics

This made me laugh and reminded me of Physics in high school (not that I provided any creative solutions).

The healthy alternative?

A couple of days ago the Freakonomics blog posted on bicycling safety:

Per kilometer, cyclists are 12 times more likely than car drivers to suffer a fatal accident, according to Rutgers University urban planner John Pucher and Lewis Dijkstra of the European Commission (the same study found traveling by foot to be 23 times more dangerous than driving, per kilometer). To put this finding in perspective, there were 785 bicycling fatalities on American roadways in 2005, compared to 4,881 pedestrian and 43,443 automotive fatalities that same year.

On the other hand, a Danish study found that people who do not bike to work suffer a 39 percent higher mortality rate than those who do. So, assuming you can avoid a fatal accident on the road, biking to work may actually help you live longer.

The risks associated with cycling decrease dramatically when more cyclists are on the road, and especially when those cyclists obey traffic laws...

I cycle often here in Cayman, and I can tell you, it is not for everyone. There are no cycle paths and roads are sometimes very narrow. Many of the local cyclists are also fairly reckless and often don't follow normal traffic rules. My experience, however, is that signaling and taking care to obey traffic laws, earns respect from the motorists, making it much less of a hazardous experience. Had it not been for the heat and humidity, I am sure far more people would cycle to work. The distances here in Cayman are relatively short. But most people prefer their air-conditioned SUVs. Go figure.

To read the Freakonomics post, click here. It contains links to the studies mentioned above.

Build Up #1

Sunday I got early for a build up triathlon event - not to participate (still lacking my tri bike), but to help out and meet some of the people from the Cayman Islands Triathlon Association.

See some pictures from the event here and get an impression of what it was like. There are not many picture of me, but if you do manage to find me you will see I am wearing a white cap, black shorts and a grey t-shirt (and holding a water bottle). There will be two more build up events before the olympic distance triathlon late November.

Ironman Triathlon World Championships

Lately, I have been giving some thought to triathlon training and my goals. One event I am very keen on doing is the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii. The race encompasses a 2.4 mile (3.86 km) ocean swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 km) bike ride in the Hawaiian lava desert and ending with a marathon (42.195 km) along the coast. The event is coming-up this weekend so keep your eye out for media coverage.

Hawaii was host to the first Ironman Triathlon in 1978. If you have triathlon ambitions, Kona is definitely on the list of races you want to participate in. Entrance to Kona is on a qualification only basis. Here there are two main options, a lottery or to participate in a race that allocates slots to Kona.

Of course you could rely on pot luck, but since you want to complete the damn thing and do so in a reasonable time, you might as well try and estimate what the qualification requirements might be. This turns out to be a difficult task because of the way the system works. Luckily there are people out there like Neil Hammond who posted his analysis of qualification times on the internet. Now, Hammond's analysis is far from perfect, but it gives results that seem plausible to me. Indeed by using his analysis I cross-checked my initial thinking and came to more or less the same result.

Without making things too complicated these are the type of times I would need to qualify in the 35-39 age group (+/- 5%). 1:15 for the swim, 5:20 for the bike ride and 3:40 for the run. This adds up to 10:15, add to that 10 minutes in transition and my qualifying time is just under 10.5 hours. +/- 5% gives me a qualifying interval of roughly 10 - 11 hours. Is that possible? I certainly believe it is. Swimming 3.8 km in 1:15 should be fairly easy not least because it is in the beginning of the race. 180 km in 5:20 is just under 34 km/h. While my legs would not be able to cope with that currently, because I haven’t trained on the distance, that can be rectified with purposeful training. The part of the race that causes me most worry is the marathon. I am not sure how my legs or indeed body will react. I got a taste during the Brisbane marathon, but that was without more than 6 hours psychical exertion prior to start. However, as long as I can keep my legs running 3:40 should be possible.

Here are some stats from Kona for a comparison:

2006 WINNERS:
Normann Stadler - S 54:05, B 4:18:23, R 2:55:03, Total 8:11:56
Michellie Jones - S 54:29, B 5:06:09, R 3:13:08, Total 9:18:31

COURSE RECORDS:
1996 – Luc Van Lierde (BEL) 8:04:08
1992 – Paula Newby-Fraser (ZIM) 8:55:28

FASTEST COURSE TIMES:
Swim
1998 – Lars Jorgensen (USA) – 46:41
1999 – Jodi Jackson (USA) – 48:43
Bike
2006 – Normann Stadler (GER) – 4:18:23
1993 – Paula Newby-Fraser (ZIM) – 4:48:30
Run
1989 – Mark Allen (USA) – 2:40:04
1999 – Lori Bowden (CAN) – 2:59:16

I would of course not compete with the elite but in the age groups. The men’s division records are:

Age Record Name Age Year
18-24 8:55:02 Vassilis Krommidas 24 1994
25-29 8:41:02 Maximilian Longree 25 2006
30-34 8:45:59 Igor Kogoj 34 1993
35-39 8:47:02 Jim Beuselinck 39 2006
40-44 8:58:55 Bent Andersen 42 2006
45-49 9:11:56 Brian Keast 45 2005
50-54 9:26:23 Kevin Moats 51 2006
55-59 9:47:29 Reinhold Humbold 57 2005
60-64 10:40:49 Takahisa Mitsumori 62 2005
65-69 11:29:45 Milos Kostic 65 2006
70-74 12:59:02 Bob Scott 71 2001
75-79 13:27:50 Bob Scott 75 2005
80+ 16:21:55 Robert McKeague 80 2005

Robert McKeague is amazing. 80 years old and doing an Ironman. I wonder if Bob Scott will try to beat his record in 2010.

First things first though. Step one is to successfully complete the distance, if that can result in qualification to Kona that would be exceptional, but more likely a second attempt will be necessary. My timeframe is 3 years.

Anyway, you don’t get any faster writing blogs. Better to do some training instead! This video provides some good motivation.

Map of Internet

Ever seen a map of the internet? The Chris Harrison project has created a series of maps that show the geographical structure and distribution of the Internet.

South Sound Run

In a previous post I mentioned MapMyRun.com. The website enables users are to visualize their training progress through the use of maps, workout logs, fitness calculators/tools etc. Personally, I just use it to set distance markers and because it gives me a good overview of the course.

I have added my latest run to the webiste, click here. Note that you will have to turn on the satellite image to better appreciate the run. Google does not have road maps covering Grand Cayman. The run starts and ends at where we live.

Negative feedback

This issue of melting ice caps and global warming continues to worry me. Recent changes to the Artic and ices of Greenland are of particular concern. It seems to me that changes to our planet induced by melting ice might be one of most costly and yet still underappreciated factors in the global warming debate. A recent report in the NY times, emphasizing the role of vicious circles or negative feedback, provides some more food for thought:

Each summer over the past six years, global warming has trimmed this ice’s total area a little more, and each winter the ice’s recovery has been a little less robust. These trends alarmed climate scientists, but most thought that sea ice wouldn’t disappear completely in the Arctic summer before 2040 at the earliest.

But this past summer sent scientists scrambling to redo their estimates. Week by week, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., reported the trend: from 2.23 million square miles of ice remaining on Aug. 8 to 1.6 million square miles on Sept. 16, an astonishing drop from the previous low of 2.05 million square miles, reached in 2005.

The loss of Arctic sea ice won’t be the last abrupt change in earth’s climate, because of feedbacks. One of the climate’s most important destabilizing feedbacks involves Arctic ice. It works like this: our release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases around the planet causes some initial warming that melts some ice. Melting ice leaves behind open ocean water that has a much lower reflectivity (or albedo) than that of ice. Open ocean water absorbs about 80 percent more solar radiation than sea ice does. And so as the sun warms the ocean, even more ice melts, in a vicious circle. This ice-albedo feedback is one of the main reasons warming is happening far faster in the high north, where there are vast stretches of sea ice, than anywhere else on Earth.

There are other destabilizing feedbacks in the carbon cycle that involve the oceans. Each year, the oceans absorb about half the carbon dioxide that humans emit into the atmosphere. But as oceans warm, they will absorb less carbon dioxide, partly because the gas dissolves less readily in warmer water, and partly because warming will reduce the mixing between deep and surface waters that provides nutrients to plankton that absorb carbon dioxide. And when oceans take up less carbon dioxide, warming worsens.

Scientists have done a good job incorporating some feedbacks into their climate models, especially those, like the ice-albedo feedback, that operate directly on the temperature of air or water. But they haven’t incorporated as well feedbacks that operate on the atmosphere’s concentrations of greenhouse gases or that affect the cycle of carbon among air, land, oceans and organisms. Yet these may be the most important feedbacks of all.

Read the rest of the article here.