Learn to control money but do not allow it to control you

Firewalker

Greenbee, I think this is wonderful - a donation to the Naomi House Hospice of £20 will be made later today.

Enjoy your trip as well
Firewalker

thriftyscotslass

Well done Greenbee, a fabulous cause. Wishing you both stress-free, productive trips, Thriftyxxx

savingwannabe

Hello congratulations greenbee twice over. Once for a great entry and secondly for your generous donation too.

Head is a bit wierd (virus still there) so not capable of doing much but will read when headaches stop. FW enjoy Oslo and do have lots of fun too.

It is the weekend. Everyone enjoy.:D

Firewalker

Hi, guys, I am writing from a specious hotel room in Oslo. What a place! Lovely harbour, the smell of riches. It is still difficult to spot the signs of recession here. And the prices! Buying someone a glass of win is like serious commitment.

Now is time to scandalise all my MSE friends. I went to dinner with a colleague and it was not even a vary nice place. How much d yo think we paid? Fifty five pounds each! Excessive, I know but this is the living standard here. If one thinks about the prices one goes mad.

Time to sleep now.

Firewalker

greenbee

Name of the hotel in Oslo please... Our standard hotel there isn't great, and we didn't find anywhere nice to eat either. Chances are I'll be back there sometime soon, so I'd appreciate ideas!

Hope the rest of your trio goes well!

Firewalker

Thon Hotel Vika Atrium. It is near the National Theater.

FW

savingwannabe

Am not scandalised. It is all relative isn't it? When i went the Middle East I saw an arabic gentleman who had diamonds on his clothing rather than buttons. He laughed when i asked him why. He said that is 'what we do'! Still makes me laugh. The world is a bit mad sometimes.

Do have a good day and enjoy yourself too.

Firewalker

Had a lovely walk down the harbour - lovely. It is a bright and crisp day, loads of light and the cold wind biting your cheeks. The kind of weather I like most. It is true that I just spend five pounds on a small bottle of water and a chocolate (a very ordinary one). But this was my lunch given the late breakfast that I had.

Today I have been thinking about signs and co-incidences. Remember that sometime ago I mentioned that I think that learning to meditate is the next thing for me? Well, since then meditation has been everywhere. Last night I was reading Adam Fields' Uncertainty (I'll tell you more about this one when finished) and guess what was the chapter? Yep, on meditation and how it aids creation - both by reducing stress and anxiety, and by changing our brains structurally. Certainly something that we can't explain there - and apparently it doesn't take long to start working; about six days for measurable changes of the brain. So, I decide that I'll get serious about practicing mindfulness in my everyday life. On my walk today I was focusing on walking, reining my random thoughts in like young horses. Then I looked and....

....I was at the sea front next to a statue of a buddist monk standing in from of a lotus flower at the centre of which was fire. How weird! Do we believe in coincidences?

Now it is time for a bit more writing and tonight I am invited to a very posh dinner by the high level people hosting this meeting. Hope the food will be good and the company lively rather than only politicking.

Firewalker

Firewalker

Bye, bye Oslo; good evening home! This is what I was hoping to say last night! Everything yesterday was going fine, you know; I did what I was supposed to do at this workshop; it was great and the reason I know is the reactions of the people at the workshop and then I even managed to walk to the station without getting lost (OK, I did walk with somebody else but frankly he didn’t appear to be more nifty with a map than I am). Everything was going so well that at some point I thought that I should start wearing a Millionaire Maker with a twist: one that I snap when I think how good I am, and how great things are going. Just not to get too complacent, you understand! No need!
At Oslo Airport I checked in, went to the gate and...
...there was no plane; none, not even a tiny teeny one. First rule of air-travel – locate the plane because if there isn’t one you are not flying anywhere. Remembering my short connection time in Frankfurt, how big is the airport, the small matter of being in or out of Schengen and that German efficiency is a myth, I was getting seriously worried.
I was sitting there telling myself that I will be on that plane to Manchester, I will be on that plane to Manchester...
The whole thing was touch and go; in fact I did jump the queue at passport control in Frankfurt a bit (if someone who was there last night at about 21.30 is reading I am sorry; getting back home certainly and decisively won over any moral inhibitions in that respect) and then I was through. Luckily the gate was very near and I went straight onto the Manchester flight. Back home at about 23.30 – too late for a good night sleep.
Today I have been taking it easy and having a restful day. To rest, I turned my attention to money matters and have been doing expense claims that are slightly overdue and things. One has to be really strict with expenses – though these did not add up to as much as I was thinking they will add up to. Reminded my employer that I did a job for them for which they promised to pay me £500 – this was in July and I have still not seen any of this money on my pay check. Hope they realise that the situation is becoming embarrassing for everyone concerned – and that since they have positioned themselves as my employer and this job was clearly beyond what I am employed to do...Well, in brief, casting themselves as employers universities have lost a lot of good will. Couple of years ago I would have not even dreamt of asking for my payment...I would have considered doing this kind of thing as a gift to my community. Not any longer!
Finally, I sent a message to my hosts yesterday to ask how I could claim the expenses – organised or what! After a visit to Scandinavia mind not putting in the expense claim promptly may have devastating consequences for anybody’s finances.
This is it folks. Now I’ll have a bit of planning and thinking time.
Firewalker

Triciaxx

Welcome home, FW. You are quite right to chase for money owing. I wonder if the modern uni culture of seeing themselves as a business is at the root of a lot of their financial problems - they chose not to see all the extras people did when it felt like a community. We hear similar tales from DHs old colleagues. Such a shame.