Parking violations

I'm getting pretty fed up of people parking on spaces regulated for disabled! Today two cars were occupying the spaces outside Elixia Gym. And, as it is a Sunday, no other fascilities were open. Thus these persons were customers of a gym. As they were not able to walk a further 20 metres to the next free space, there's no question about the need for exercising.

If the cars in question had a permit, we are obliged to leave it visible on the dashboard. And none of the cars had any visible adaption that could indicate any special need for parking fascilities. To my knowledge, brain damages are not on the list of valid reasons for obtaining parking permits.....

Securing segregation?

There is a huge discussion in Norway on employees rights to have a secure job. Temporay positions are sought banned to ensure a stable work situation for the individual employee. These arguments sounds out of date to me. The current labour market is much more dynamic than ever before requiring a flexible work force. And further - such legislation - although aimed to protect the employee, may increase the entry barrier for already disadvantaged groups.

My opinion is that an increased flexibility will reduce the companys risk and thus increasing the opportunities for people with a disability to prove competent. The road to success is to sell your competnce, not enforcing employment through legislation!

Challenging experiences

It's now three weeks since I arrived at the final destination of what has been one of my biggest challenges thus far. Our group "Ingen Grenser" had completed 480 kilometres in 30 days through Swedish and some Norwegian wilderness. The distance may not look impressive to all, but bearing in mind that all participants ( apart from the group leader) had some sort of disability, I feel very proud to be a part of this expedition and equally proud of completing the task!

The following links are to the website, which unfortunately is in Norwegian. But pictures can tell more than words. So enjoy!

www.nrk.no/ingengrenser

Climbing the top!

One of my primary goals for this summer, was to go up on the highest mountain near my mother's home in Dovre. Jetta (Blåhø) is 1617 meters above sea level, and 1200 meters higher than my mother's home.

I invited my mother to join me up there, and we started the climb at 9 AM yesterday. We started off patiently to avoid burning off alle the power the first two hourse. The hills are very steep the first part of the track and we needed to portion our energy for the remainder of the walk. And we managed to pace ourself very well. I didn't feel exhausted until I returned home after the complete 14 hour-hike.

On our way up we spotted an elk cow with two kids. They are fascinating animals, and even though being spotted from a 300 meters distance, the experience was memorable.

After 8 1/2 hours we could have a break on the top of the mountain where we could see most of Norway's highest peaks. It was definetly worth the effort! The feeling of obtaining one of my major goals this year gives a great sense of mastery. Not even the massive blisters under my feet could reduce the pleasure of reaching the top!

Photos to come.

Progression on the thesis

Now I have restarted completely the writing process. Much of this is due to an altering of my approach as a consequence of my interviews. It has been a rewarding process.

The restart has also given me the opportunity to do the whole project in English. Hence the thesis will be written in this language. Personally I feel as comfortable with English as I do with Norwegian.

Blogging

I realise it is quite challenging meeting my ambition of blogging daily on this page. My apologies!

Ridderrennet 2009

The story so far...

The day started off quite fine with an all right breakfast. I met my assistant ( compulsary to have one) outside the hotel at 9 AM. She was a fit physiotherapist aiming for Marcia Longa next winter. Also she was outgoing and easy to talk with.

At the stadium I had a couple of glasses of lemonade and a banana before warming up. My starting time was at 10:11, half a minute after the first one in my class. I felt a bit tense, but still positively excited. And despite of a sore throat and a bit of a cold, I felt ready to fight!

I had 22 racers in front of me in the slope. Sixteen of them went 20 kilometres, and the rest went 10 kilometres. Though only one male. 300 metres after the start, I passed my competitor and at 2 kilometres I had passed five or six racers. I felt I gained quite good speed and kept the pace fairly well. I distanced my assistant downhill around 8 kilometres, but she returned a bit later. But the last 200 metres i spurted past her again. It is a pleasure to feel so exhausted that I need a couple of minutes to restitute.

Unfortunately, I did not time myself. But now I know that i won the class in 43:26 (mm:ss). Apparantly I beat number two with 5 minutes! Certainly a great feeling! The winner of the 20 kilometres Norwegian Cup race sitskiing was a lot faster than me, apparantly he did the distance in 1:02 (h:mm). That is awesome and deserves a lot of credit. And the others in this class were also faster than me. Albeit this vast time difference, I am very pleased. He is ranked as one of the three or four best in the world!

My experience from this is that I really feel

The immediate future looks bright

Finally the weather forecast looks a bit better. Tomorrow they are expecting some sun in the morning, which suits me just fine. I'm starting as number 23 eleven munites past ten.

we had a short round on the track today in some snow. I've experienced better conditions, but it doesn't matter now. Tomorrow is the day..!

The day before

I'm surrounded by winners! By that I'm not only referring to the fastest skiiers, but even more the ones that are competing against themselves and their perceived obstacles. These competitors are serving as ideals to many.

Having said that, there are also achievents on a top international here as well. I'm impressed by the performance of completing a 10 kilometer slope in 25 minutes og a sitski!

Still I haven't been assigned my "little helper". Still waiting....

Arrival

Yesterday I arrived here at Beitostølen. Immediately I found some friends and we had a nice time.

Today the weather has changed and we have - 10 C accompanied by snow. This will give us a heavy task tomorrow.

Three days left

This morning I handed in my skis for waxing. Tomorrow they should be professionally waxed and ready for the event of the year.

I looked at the starting list, which looked interesting. Todays biathlon was interesting reading as well. I am not sure of my form compared to the others, but I am really excited now.

Now I need to focus on getting enough rest. That wil be my main challenge!

Methodology

Today I skimmed through an interesting book on qualitative research in Entrepreneurship. But I do not feel very stisfied on my own progression with the writing of my thesis. I can see that I need to restructure this thesis fundamentally, which will involve a lot of work. But the result is far more important than my workload!

I also received a mailing list for the intermediary sector today. Probably I will make an initial questionaire to obtain some background information before contacting some for a deeper interview.

Sitski racing!

In 96 hours I should have finished one of my main targets for this year. 10 kilometers cross country skiing at Beitostølen. I am really looking forward to this event. Today I went through a self-composed session at Elixia, and the next days wil be more restitutional.

I feel a bit nervous and very excited!!

Research

I might face a challenge in collecting interviews. This far I have predominantly amputee respondents. So I would need representatives from other groups as well. Additionally, I need to find more entrepreneurs who have been in touch with the intermediary organisations. Hopefully somebody can help me to search for people who meet these criteria.

Interviews

Last week I finished three interviews on my Master thesis. I gathered some interesting stories which can aler some of my private hypothesis. However, thus far I have been in touch with a quite narrow segment, and I need to find persons with other impairments to display a variety.

My target to finish this round before Easter is proving impossible, though I do not find this very problematic. There are plenty of tasks within this project that can be performed parallel to the empirical studies.

Preparations for Ridderrennet

Today I finished my last round on the sitski before Ridderrennet. Last weekend was not the best in terms of preparations to the competition, but given my ambitions this year I hope to fullfill my goals.

I'm aiming for a better result than two years ago. Then I finished 6th. Hopefully my time will improve and my ambitions are to fight for a medal. That will require a top performance on my behalf. And I am still hoping for good weather, as I don't trust myself able to compete on strength..

Today I did not pusk myself hard. There is no point in tearing on my form now. I need to build up. But my former trips indicates that I do have my 40 minute barrier within reach.

Attitudes

I got this link on Facebook. This young man represents a winners attitude and is an inspiration to watch. He illustrated personally how to overcome obstacles!

Finish Strong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqantZJ6WwM

WC Ski Jumping

WC Ski Jumping is a valuable event for Lillehammer. And for the first time in many years I managed to get there to watch the competition.

We had VIP passes that ensured excellent view of the competitors throwing themself out in 90 km/h accompanied by some alcoholic fluids for some. I was driving, which enabled me to follow the main event thoroughly! Fascinating in one way, and a confirmation of my suspicion that these young men seem fearless...

The Norwegians fell through and eventually a Finn won, followed by a Russian. Some of the spectators seemed to enjoy the beer more than the sport event, but the atmosphere was good.

I'll be back next year!

Progression

I must admit that I feel a bit frustrated at times regarding the progression of the Master thesis. But at least, now I have finally started my search for candidates that I can interview. I need around ten entrepreneurs with a disability and also some respondents representing intermediary organisations. If you know anyone, please don't hesitate posting me a line or two!

Venture cup

Så var den lokale finaleni Venture Cup gjennomført. Det ble en god finale, selv om deltakelsen var minimal. Det er i alle fall noen som vil stå fram med idéene sine.

Jeg håper denne konkurransen blir bedre forankret i institusjonen HiL. De trenger noe slikt for å promotere unge, engasjerte entreprenører!

Takk til gode og seriøse dommere og gratulerer til vinnerne!

Late night comment on studies

The intensions are normally good, but often the proposed policies of integration fail. Still an medical system approach is widely effected when introducing people with disability to working life rather than putting the stuctural shortcomings of the labour market on the agenda. This forms some thoughts around an approach for my Master Project.

On disability; mark I

When reading literature on disability and definitions surrounding the state, I find many interesting positions. Clearly our Western ideology of perfection relative to a perceived normality as a human being has disabled a vast number of people. By this I do not limit the understanding to what we "normally" define as disabled. Still biologigal and physiological variances are often diagnosed as disabilities whether they represent any functional disadvantage or not.

It's late at night now, so I need to reflect more upon the various approaches to the theme. But I am certain even at this point that a social approach which enlightens the barriers produced by our social structure represents a stance for further work on my behalf. Still, I am equally certain that we as "disabled" need to address our challenges in a motivating manner to gain understanding and respect.

On language..

I wonder whether to write my blog in English or Norwegian. Many of my subjects and thoughts should have an international interest. At least that is what I aim for. On the other hand I probably still express myself better in my native tongue. thus this blog may become a mix of languages depending on the subject. Hopefully you will accept such a format.

Velkommen!

Jeg opprettet denne bloggen av flere årsaker. En grunn er at jeg skal skrive en masteroppgave. Og denne siden kan være et fora for å kunne få gode innspill på mine tanker. En annen grunn er å kunne formidle mer generelle idéer. Mer kommer om dette senere. Og så er en grunn selvsagt at det er spennende å se effekten av slike fora.

Jeg håper det blir moro, spennende, utfordrende og utviklende. Kanskje til og med for andre enn meg!