“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
No longer any need to use the Internet Explorer or run the Internet Explorer rendering engine. I gave up IE after the introduction of Internet Explorer 11
Page is tested in Fire Fox, Chrome and Safari. Looks like it works OK in all browsers, except the sounds in Safari.
Of course, browsing www.aladdin.st in Safari on an iPad is a different story, nothing looks as it should
Page is tested in Fire Fox, Chrome and Safari. Looks like it works OK in all browsers, except the sounds in Safari.Of course, browsing www.aladdin.st in Safari on an iPad is a different story, nothing looks as it should
Tuesday 7 th of May 2013 and it was a beautiful day when I stepped over the gangway to M/T Richard Maersk. It was nice already when I got out from the airport terminal. Clear and crisp air and I was very comfy walking around in shorts and shirt. They were connecting the cargo arm when
I came aboard and it turned out that they were going to discharge 30,000 MT of low sulphur fuel oil from Donges in France.When I came in to the accommodation I discovered that it was almost the same as aboard Britt Maersk. I ran in to off signing Chief Officer and the third Officer said hello. I recognised him and it turned out that we had been together aboard Maersk Claudia. I had a quick lunch, well, actually I had lunch 2 times. But this is the last time this happens. I met our Cook in the kitchen and he said hello. I had forgotten my glasses and I could see foock all.
We got right on with the bet from Maersk Claudia.
No time to lose if I want to come home with a V-shaped torso
But I recognised him and he had been aboard Maersk Claudia as well. And he remembered my bet so we got right on to it. I had forgot the details, but our Cook will never forget and he reminded
me about the details, especially about the 1000 US $ part.At my first lunch I discovered that we have 2 Cadets from Denmark. They were surprised to see a Swedish Chief Officers, not many Scandinavians left in the company. When they came aboard they had been the only Scandinavians aboard.
And as Captain is Danish we are now 4 Scandinavians aboard. I spent a few hours in the CCR and on deck and at 3 o'clock I went to bed. I was dead tired because by now I had been on the go for 36 hours. Sleep was required, but not too much or I will have to spend the night tossin' and turnin' in bed. I asked 3rd officer to give me a wakeup call at 5. 2 hours of power sleep will do me good and I will
hopefully be able to fall asleep tonight.
Watching the bunker barge
I woke up at 16 thirty but I was soon asleep again and at 5 3rd Officer called. I had a shower and I read the handover notes before going down to the CCR. By now it was 17 thirty and I
discovered that it was time for dinner. So of course, I had some dinner and then I went to the CCR and I spent time with the off signing Chief OfficerTime turned really quick and it was soon 9 o'clock. And still daylight. This is the time of the year to stay in Europe. Arriving to Holland and everything is light green and the
air is very nice.As they say in Thailand “Yen sabai” Not hot and not cold, it is perfect and all the flowers and trees turn your mood in to very good.
I returned to my cabin for a few puffs on my e-cigarette and I took the chance to copy some of my files from Britta Maersk for cargo plans and other important documents.
21:00 LT, Sunset over the port of Rotterdam
21:00 LT, Sunset over the port of Rotterdam
I was soon back in the CCR and it was soon time to strip CT 1 P/S and when we were ready it was 10 o'clock and I was almost sleep walking. So I said “Good night, see you tomorrow” and I
returned to my cabin.Looks like we will be ready tomorrow evening and we will go to load 33,000 MT up to full cargo in Estonia. And it will take us 3 and half day to get there. Time I need to get myself familiarised with the ship. And of course, there are loading plans to do.
But now I need an hour to update my web page and then I will sleep 5 quarters per hour so I'm full of vim tomorrow again.
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Wednesday 8 th
of May 2013
and I was awake when my alarm was supposed to go off. Isn't it 7 thirty yet? I wondered for myself and I checked the clock and it was 20 minutes before 8 and I
realised that I had forgot to put the clock in alarm mode. I bounced out of bed and I had a shower before going for my tea and 2 slices of black bread with cheese. All according to the regulations in our bet.And spring/ summer in Europe. Sunshine when I went to bed and sunshine when I woke up and I'm always in a good mood. I finished my tea and black bread before I went to the CCR where they were about to complete the discharging.
Off signing Chief Officer and I went through the paper work and documents and time turned pretty quick. It was soon time
for him to pack his bags and he left for his cabin. I had brought some of my bags to his cabin earlier in the morning.They were soon starting to strip the tanks and blow the lines and I went to Chief Officer's cabin and I brought my last stuff.
While I was in the cabin there was a guy coming in full uniform and I thought he was lost.
- What the foock do you want? Are you looking for the Captain?
- I'm looking for the new Chief Officer.
- Yeah, here I am
- I'm from Immigration and I need to search you luggage
- Help yourself- Hello Aladdin!
It was my friend from Rotterdam, he is following my adventures on www.aladdin.st and we have never met before. He had been aboard M/T Maersk Cassandra in Rotterdam back in 2012, but I had just signed off in Singapore. And we remember the
information he sent me regarding change in MARPOL regulations and veg oils when I was aboard M/T Britta Maersk.And his visit turned in to an
regular foocking Christmas Eve with gift. I got a tea cup with Aladdin and a box of staples. Staples??Staples, he told me he knew that I had been needing staples on
a ship, long ago, but he didn't remember the story. Well, I was leaving Ek-River to go straight to Ekstar back in the summer of 2010. I had transfer from Ekstar and we didn't have any scissors or staplers onboard.I was going straight to Ekstar from Ek-River and Captain gave me scissors and staplers so I had to last me while onboard Ekstar.
And of course, I had the ceremony with the Captain handing over the stuff documented with pictures on my web page.
I'm at least to say grateful when I get the stuff signing off Ek-River
My friend also brought me a “Port of Rotterdam” cap. Same logo as they have on their uniforms when they do inspections on the ships in Rotterdam.
- Great, my get out of jail free card at next inspection
- Yes, they will ask you where you got the cap from
He also brought out a sign saying “I don't mind to be on Aladdin's website” He has obviously gone
through my web page. I had almost forgotten about the “I don't mind to be on Aladdin's website” sign I made everyone carry onboard M/T Marimba back at the shipyard in China.He had pictures from Maersk Cassandra that he had taken when he was onboard at their last visit in Rotterdam before the ship was sold and delivered in Africa. And I suspect this is the very same inspection the Superintendent was talking about when we delivered Maersk Claudia to the new owners in Hong Kong last year.
He told me that they had come onboard and they had asked them if they didn't wanted to know about the routines. They told them that they knew everything from www.aladdin.st already. So no need to.
Well, anyway, my friend remembered that the Captain on Maersk Cassandra remembered that
he had been working with me when he was 2nd Officer in Broström but otherwise he didn't remember me. Strange, I had just signed off Maersk Cassandra.Hmm, maybe he was nervous about telling the Inspectors that he knew me.He had taken a few pictures of our ship when he came onboard and I copied them to my computer. And just for the fun I will put a picture he took of Maersk Cassandra so you can see the difference in appearance. Richard Maersk looks like new in comparison
Maersk Cassandra in Rotterdam, April 2012
Maersk Cassandra in Rotterdam, April 2012
Richard Maersk in Rotterdam 8th of May 2013
Richard Maersk looks very good and this is the best ship so far, not to say that I like it the best. Maersk Claudia is still a favourite. But who knows, Richard Maersk might grow on me. So far I
like the ship very much and everything seems to be in a good order. And the crew seems to be very good. And our Pump Man seems to be an ass kicker, I have just been aboard for 1 day. But some people you just give you the sense of that this is a good guy.And our Pump Man has started to wear his ear ring. I didn't notice, but off signing Chief Officer called me to have a look at Pump Man.
- Look, he is wearing his ear ring.
- So?
Chief Officer told me that our Pump Man had seen my diamond and he thought it looked cool. And of course, I asked if it was a real diamond but it was only glass.
- What about yours?
- I don't know, maybe glass, but I paid for a diamond
Yes, what the foock do I know, I can't see the difference. And I was a wee bit tipsy when I bought it. Well, anyway, we were about to complete discharging and my friend form Port of Rotterdam was going to leave, but first some pictures. He told me not to flip the bird. Now it was three fingers for W as in William, the name of Holland's new king.
My friend with the life buoy
2 seconds on the self timer was obviously not enough
Porky is making a run for it but he is not fast enough
Right now, maybe, I say maybe the 2 most handsome guys in Rotterdam
10 seconds on the self timer and Porky made it in time
I hope we have more time next time he comes aboard, I'm new on the ship with only a few face
hours with the off signing Chief Officer. And we're about to get ready so there are plenty paper work to attend to. But I guess that we will be in Rotterdam several times during my time onboard Richard Maersk.We had all paer work completed at 2 o'clock and pilot was booked for 3 o'clock. And it wil be nice to leave Rotterdam behind for
new exciting destinations. And we were lucky, we had just left Rotterdam when the rain started.A beautiful summer day turned in to gloom and grey for as long as I could see. But the bad weather should not last very long at this time of the year, I hope.
I killed an hour in my cabin before going to the bridge for the familiarization. I can't do it when the pilot is onboard and we expect to drop him around 5. So I can kill some time in
my cabin with my Thai Language videos. And as I have installed a virtual PC on my computer running Windows XP I can do my Thai Script CD.I will be foocking fluent when I sign off. Well, I don't think so. Some people just don't understand what I'm saying. I can joke with a few girls and everyone is laughing, except one. She always ask her friends what I'm saying.
So her friends have to explain. And same for me, some people that talk to me and I can't understand anything. But my new Thai Language videos might help out, I hope so.
Well, turned out that I didn't had much time for my Thai language studies in the evening. I had to do some cargo calculations, looks like we will load at 2 places. Estonia and Malmö in Skåne. But I spent almost an hour with my Thai before it was time to go on the bridge. I received an e-mail from my friend the Inspector at Rotterdam port. He attached an MARPOL Q&A and this can be interesting for you to read. So I uploaded the PDF so you have a wee bit to do on tedious nights.
In Off Texel TSS around 10 o'clock in the evening
And while you're reading Frequently asked questions about MARPOL Annex V I'm steaming NE in the Off Texel TSS. Beautiful evening even though there were some grey clouds. I was drinking tea
listening to music and suddenly a song came on and I was instantly thinking about Bangkok Fight Club and the fiasco with the hula-hoopAnd of course, when I was doing the hula-hoop at Bangkok Fight Club I was thinking about this tune. So I can as well put the tune here for all of you to listen to.
สู้ตาย
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 สู้ๆ |
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Thursday 9 th
of May 2013
and we were approaching Elbe Pilot station when I came on the bridge with my 2 slices of black bread at 8 o'clock. It was a beautiful morning, but plenty grey clouds. I enjoyed my tea while doing pre arrival checks and tests and we passed Elbe L/B just after 9 thirty
in the morning and the Pilot was onboard quarter to 10.And we had to drop anchor at the roads of Brunsbüttel to await the locks to be ready. They dropped the anchor just after 12 and I was down from the bridge already.
Our pump man and I had planned to change an electrical part to the remote ballast reader after his lunch break. The original plan was for us to have all crew on deck and instruct them in the use of the emergency hydraulic hand pump for our cargo valves. But as we will be busy in the Kiel Canal we decided to do it tomorrow instead.
And believe me, I have plenty to do in my office and I kept my self busy there during the afternoon. One hand in my office and one hand at the remote ballast reader on deck.
And since I gave up smoking my condition have improved dramatically, I'm flying up and down the stairs and I'm always surprised when I'm reaching the top.
- Already here??!!And this ship has as many decks as Britta Maersk and aboard Britta Maersk I was half dead when I reached bridge deck. And when I went to pick up the pilot this morning I ended up at the bottom
of the ship. I was flying down the stairs and I didn't realised that I had gone too far until I stepped in to someone's cabin. I ripped open the door expecting to come out on deck. Instead I ripped open someone else’s door and I was half way in to his cabin before I realised that I was on the wrong deck.- What the
?I was in my cabin, fresh out of the shower with my ears full of shaving foam when we entered the
lock in Brunsbüttel. Need to shave even when on the ship, and especially now
when I'm in the middle of a successful diet, important to look good. Cannot run around look like the Yeti with my soon to be obtained V-shaped torso.I got dressed and I went to the bridge and I discovered a gorgeous afternoon when I stepped out on the bridge wing. Sunshine and 25°C and one of our Danish Cadets was enjoying the sunshine on the bridge wing. I told him that the spring time is fantastic even though I have been living in Bangkok the last few years. They say that you must have to go through the winter to be able to appreciate the spring. BULLSHIT!!!
I really appreciate the almost 24/7 sunshine and as I said to our Cadet.
- I always want to go sit drink beer and listen to music in the spring time.
And he agreed, sitting in a park or an outdoor bar is fantastic in the spring time, and always a party feeling in the air because people are happy.
The lock in Brunsbüttel
And we can see that they repair the other lock and thus the delays in the transit
Pilot is saying hello to our Cadet the second time
The Pilot came on the bridge and he came out to say hello to us on the bridge wing. I never had
time to get my camera when he said hello to our Cadet and I
asked him to do it again so we could get a picture.I had a chat with the Cadet for 10 minutes or so before it was time to leave the lock and enter the Canal. During our chat I found out that the beer cases I remember from when I was young is gone in Denmark. Yes, we were talking about spring and drinking beer.
I told him that my favourite beer case was the Danish contain 12 bottles with a handle in the middle. Easy to carry around and if you wanted to sit down you used the case to sit on. And when the case was empty you just changed it for a full one at the supermarket.
But those are gone, exchanged for something not so good according to our Cadet. He also liked the old beer cases with 12 bottles. Back in the days they had 2 different cases, one with 30 bottles and one with 12 bottles.
So I returned to my cabin and my web page and I had about 30 minutes to go before it was time for dinner. And as our Cook wrote on the white board “Special dinner” I went to the kitchen to
investigate.
- What's the foocking special dinner about? Then our bet is not valid! Valid during normal circumstances, and not during any foocking “Special dinner”I had been in such a good mood because I was really kicking arse with my diet so the darn “Special dinner” was nothing I was looking forward to. And I scolded our Cook in the kitchen.
- YOU DO REALISE THAT YOU'RE FOOCKING UP MY DIET?Captain's birthday and I discovered 2 or 3 cakes and the mess room was full of food. But I took it very easy even though I had my “Eat as much as you want for free” card. It would have been a
perfect dinner if it wouldn't
have been for the fresh bread and cake.Can't say that I was flying back up the stairs to my cabin. It was more like
rolling up the stairs to my tooth brush
and my Thai books and videos. And as I spent almost an hour at the dinner table I won't be able to finish my books before my watch at 8. No time, well, right now I have the FUNKIEST of the funky music on full blast and I just can't turn it off to turn on my Thai video.Well, just for the fun of it, I throw in the tune here for you to listen to, and now you understand why I can't turn on my Thai video. Well, I can but I won’t! YEAH!! IT IS FUNKY!!
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Of course, turn the
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I discovered a gorgeous evening when I came on the bridge at 8 o'clock. I also discovered plenty people, 2 ABs on watch and a German helmsman and 1 pilot. I started by preparing a jug of tea, I
have a stainless steel jug that I nicked in the kitchen yesterday.
And I will have to use this until I can find a “normal” size tea cup.I was enjoying my tea while watching the scenery passing by.
Spring time and I could hear the birds chirp and there were several swans
swimming around in the Canal. And the Canal was lined with light green trees and spring flowers. So yes, I enjoyed my watch while we were
approaching the Pilot station where we will change our Pilot.We change Pilot about halfway through the Canal, but we have two helmsmen and they stay during the whole transit. We changed Pilot 35 minutes past 8 and now we have a few hours to go to Holtenau, of course depending on the traffic. Our new Pilot thought that we would be in Holtenau around
23:30. A very good time, we will be out of here around midnight and I can go to bed.Hopefully that is, never knows what happening here in the Kiel Canal.We approached Rendsburg and when we passed Rendsburg there
were a lot of people drinking along the Canal. Pretty much everyone we saw was carrying some alcoholic beverage in their hand. And of course, a lot of
screaming. So I had to ask or Pilot if it was a holiday in Germany, and yes, it was.And we saw some beautiful girl and I went in to get a
binocular and it didn't take long before our Cadet took the binocular and he kept himself busy watching girls in Rendsburg.Our other Cadet was soon joining him on the bridge wing. By now it was 9 thirty and it was soon
getting dark and a wee
bit chilli. Even though it was chilli in the evening we saw many caravans along the Canal. Yeah, they really like camping in Germany. But it must be very cold in the night.As I told the cadets: If I can't afford a hotel room on my holiday I will stay home. And to live in a caravan or tent, I would have had to be dead
drunk all the time. Would have had to be drunk all the time
And people were sitting outside eating and drinking. Too cold for me, imagine sleeping in this cold. And many of the caravans and house cars had satellite dishes on the roof. God forbid to be without
the TV for a day or two. Instead of sitting home in
a comfy sofa watching TV they move out in the nature with a cold caravan to
watch the same stupid TV shows.We passed Rendsburg and it was soon dark and the Cadets left the bridge. Kiel Canal after dark is not all that exciting. So I understand that they left, but one of them came back for some “middle of the night action”when we approached Holtenau on the Kiel side of the Canal
Steaming towards Holtenau locks in the dark
The guys waiting for the tug boat on the poop deck
The guys waiting for the tug boat on the poop deck
The guys waiting for the tug boat on the poop deck
The guys waiting for the tug boat on the poop deck
The tug boat is connected
Approaching the lock in Holtenau
ABs pondering over their hard lifes
Boatman with the heaving line ready to take our mooring lines
Sending ashore our mooring lines
It was around midnight when we entered the lock in Holtenau. I left the bridge 20 minutes before midnight to be on the poop deck to instruct the crew on connecting the tug boat.
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Friday 10 th
of May 2013
and we were North bound in the Kadett renden when I came on my watch at 8 in the morning. 25 Minutes later I changed course to ENE towards Bornholm just SE of
Skåne. I was steaming towards Bornholm when Karsten Maersk called us on the VHF. It was a Cadet asking for our Cadets, they are obviously from the same school in Denmark.- Do you have the Cadets on the bridge?
- They are in the engine room
- Can you call them
- They ar busy working.
- I want to talk with them
- Do they want to talk with you?
I had to ask, what if the Cadets are coming all the way up to the bridge and then they don't want to speak with the guy. Well, I called them in the engine room and they were soon on the bridge.
Stainless tea jug
My watch was soon coming to an end and I went for lunch, a very quick salad before I went to my office to continue with my cargo plan binder. The deck crew came to my office at 1 so we could do
the test of the emergency hydraulic hand pump for our remote controlled cargo valves. This is something everyone should know how to do in case of an emergency.Yet another day passed very quickly and it was almost time for dinner when I finished in my office for the day. A quick salad and I will be off to my cabin and I will
hopefully have time to finish my Thai studies today.When I was back in my cabin after the lock in Holtenau this morning I was tired and I never finished my books. But today...
Sun is setting over Skåne
We were approaching Ölands Södra Grund when I came on my watch and I was in a good mood, I had managed to finish all most all my Thai studies, only a little remaining. And if I'm not too tired I will do it when I go to bed. But the videos are quite good, I can do other stuff while listening.
I was drinking tea like there was no tomorrow enjoying Trip Hop and the nice evening. And after a
while my nose started to run, it was like open a tap. Eyes itching and I was sneezing all the
time. And this morning it was much much worse and I had not had a Diet MAX
for a very long time. I was wondering what was going on and I got scared when I realized that it might be the
e-cigarette. I'm down to almost ZERO snus per day and I willhopefully soon be able to give up the e-cigarette as well.So giving up tobacco is going according to plan and I'm also on track with the diet. Salad for lunch and dinner and 2 slices of black bread for breakfast. V-shaped torso, here I come!
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Saturday 11 th
of May 2013
and it was a glorious morning when I came up on the bridge at 8
o'clock. Today I brought my 2 slices of bread that I had prepared yesterday. I usually forget the bread and I don't have the time to prepare my breakfast in the morning. I prefer to spend the extra time in the shower. Well, anyway, I was soon munching
on my black bread with cheese enjoying a Baltic Sea that looked like a mirror. And a pot of tea, sunshine and an e-cigarette ( no running nose or sneezing today) on top of that and you understand I was in an excellent mood.But it was still cold, 10°C on port side and 26°C on stb side in the sun. Seawater temperature is
only 7°C so it will be a few weeks before the Baltic Sea has got in to “swimming”
temperature. Maybe at the end of June, maybe that is. A very BIG maybe!I spent the afternoon in the CCR making the loading plan for tomorrow and I didn't left my office until 4 thirty in the afternoon. Soon time for dinner and as it is Saturday I'm pretty
excited as ALL bets are off during Saturday evening.But I had time for a few Thai videos and my Thai Script CD. Well, it didn't take long for the Thai Script CD to run in to the wall. The consonants part of the program works well, but the vowels make the computer go crazy after a while.
I went to my office to pick up my new Aladdin mug that I got from my friend in Rotterdam. Our Mess Man is preparing a thermos
with tea for me at lunch and dinner. A very service minded guy. I started with a
steak and it was very good. Imagine a steak after a week (well, almost, it was the special dinner the other evening) with salad only.I had a plate of French Fries and some bread and when I finished I discovered that someone had put a plate with ice cream at my place.
- What theAnd it was not a small helping, and on top of all the ice cream someone had sprayed a cubic ton of whipped cream. No one stepped forward to take the responsibility so I had to step in.
I finished the ice cream and we had a few laughs about the size of the helping. Yes, the spirit was high, well, at least until I discovered
a second helping. This time the whipped cream was covered in chocolate sauce.- Who the?OK, this isn't fun anymore I screamed. Now I was angry.
- SABOTAGE!!!!
Well, what to do? Eat the darn ice cream? Yes, I got right on with it, I'm only allowed to eat once a week. And my agony grew worse by every spoon of ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I was seriously thinking about removing the “Saturday night free for all” from the bet.
Hmm, I will have a serious thought about it tonight. Well, anyway, I was off to my cabin and my Thai books before 2 plates of ice cream turned in to 3 plates in order to save the day from going in to a total disaster.
22:00 Entering Gulf of Finland, and the sun is setting over Sweden in the West
22:00 Entering Gulf of Finland, and the sun is setting over Sweden in the West
And I came to a decision during the evening, I will remove ice cream and cakes etc from my “Saturday allowance” list on our bet. So no more ice cream, as I told our Cadet:
- You feel like a foocking million while eating the ice cream. But as soon as you're finished with the ice cream you have agony and feel like shit.
Well, the sky was still orange when I left the bridge at midnight and that is 01:00 local time. We will arrive to Sillamae tomorrow and that is a new adventure for us. And if you click the link you
won't miss a second of it. Not a single dull moment in front of the computer while we're in Sillamae kicking behinds so make sure you can handle the excitements.OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it
be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page. Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
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