We now own a large house in the village of Lunda, 55Km north of Stockholm. We met late 1992 and were married October 1993 in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates. Christianity is illegal in Saudi so we had to travel to find a church. We found St. Christophers cathedral, Manama, Bahrain.
These photos were taken in the grounds of the Hilton hotel, Manama, during the wedding reception. We are absolutely 100% devoted to each other and take great pride in pleasing each other whenever possible. This includes breakfast in bed for Maj-Lis, every weekend. Every Friday we celebrate with a nice bottle of German wine and a fine meal fit for a king.
We used to have just one cat called Beethoven, so named because he was so calm and composed when we got him! He even waited for his own breakfast tray on Saturday and Sunday mornings which he ate on our bed with us. I am sure he is the first cat who really likes me (nothing to do with the cream or tuna-fish/sardines/salmon he had on his plate? ;-).
Since then we have adopted two more cats; Smulan (Swedish for "the crumb"), and Ginger. We only got Ginger in 2003 so he is quite young, but he is a bit of a terror when it comes to interfacing with Smulan and Beethoven. Unfortunately Beethoven has grown out of the breakfast in bed, but Ginger is now the one. Only problem is that it must be boiled ham.
Maj-Lis is Swedish and was the chief nurse for a private doctor. Her hobby is cooking, which probably explains why I am a rotund 92Kg. What Maj-Lis can do in the kitchen almost defies the imagination, but pleases the palate no-end. Please, NO comments about the "swedish chef".
Maj-Lis is also quite traditional when it comes to both food and celebrations; pre-Christmas and Easter are times for lengthy preparations in the kitchen. She never uses a tin-opener, but what cook (other than English housewives) would? Maj-Lis is very house-proud and spends a great deal of effort in making our home like a pallace. She is very fond of eastern and oriental things, such as silk carpets and clothes. Maj.Lis is fluent in English and she often corrects my spelling and grammar.
One has to experience ill health in order to appreciate good health. At the moment Maj-Lis is ill. She has two debilitating illneses for which there is no cure; SLE and Sjögrens Syndrome. She is now unable to work and is visiting the local hospitals almost weekly. In the future we can only expect her health to get slowly worse. Twisted intestine, hernias, a few cycts and crushed ankle have only added to the list of ailments. In spite of this she is happy and taking as much pleasure as she can.
I worked for Ericsson Radio in Stockholm where I wrote manuals for modern wireless equipment, then became a project manager. Now I have become a star of both stage and screen. I am in the movie-making business. My English voice and 25-years of radio installation experience are ideal for training videos. My genius has at last been recognised! (modesty gets you nowhere). Of course, I am trying to learn Swedish but I only know enough to communicate (and get into trouble); there is a big difference between "nubbe" and "nuppa", even if they do sound the same. Men, jultiden är mycket mer intressant med lite nuppa på julbordet!
I have never dabbled with the stock market, until recently. Ericsson shares fell for SEK201 each to just SEK45, so I bought 1000 of them. As the price fell I bought even more. Later that year they fell to just SEK4 each ($0.5) and I was made redundant in the bargain. I now work for Semcon AB where I work in the same office, in the same building as before, and doing the same job, but for a little less money! I now own loads of shares in Ericsson, so YOU should buy more Ericsson telephones :-)
I met wireless in 1964 when I was caught sticking pins in cable Redifusion wireless cables. Soon after this I built my first radio transmitter which operated in the middle of the MW band. I wasn't actually caught with the MW transmitter, but a detector van did come to the house they searched for a transmitter. They didn't find one though. Perhaps they expected a box with "ILLEGAL TRANSMITTER" written on the side instead of a lonely 807 laying on it's side with its cathode grinding red-hot to the musical strains of Cilla Black (remember, this was a few years ago!!).
I then graduated to HF and assumed the callsign "EL84" on the "Echo Charlie" pirate radio band (6.5 - 6.7 MHz). I chose EL84 for my first callsign during my first ever contact. When the guy at the other end asked me for a callsign I desperately looked round the room for inspiration, then my eyes fell on my TX output valve (yes, the EL84 does work very well on the short wave bands). I became legal in the 70's as G8TGL, later to become G4VVJ and now SM0VPO. Well, that's about all I will admit to. I hope that you have fun with my radio circuits. If you decide to build some of the transmitters, then please spare a thought for your neighbours; use open-wire feeder as close to their TV antenna possible! (only kidding).
73s de HARRY.