What if.... Ponderings over technology

At work we have a copy machine that you have to sign out of when you are done, by clicking buttons on the Touch screen THREE (3) times.  First, click your name in the upper right corner, then select Log Out from the menu, then a new menu comes up asking: Are you sure you want to Log Out? and then you have to hit yes.   Isn't it amazing that something as simple as logging out is made so convoluted?  They can't blame it on safety. 
     When you drive a car and turn left, nobody stops you and wait for you to confirm once or twice that YES, INDEED, I want to turn left.  Imaging the number of accidents that would happen if you had to confirm every little action while driving a car... and response times would increase as would frustration and road rage.  What a waste of time in front of the printer.

At home we have a printer that stops working as soon as one of the colors is finished, even if there is black ink left and you only want to print in black and white.  It just won't print.  It is on strike until you have bought new, expensive color ink (or photo gloss, or whatever it might be), that you don't need for that particular print job. 
    When you drive a car, and the windshield washer fluid runs dry, the car just doesn't stop working and waiting for you to fill up more of it, regardless of where you are.  That would be inconceivable.

Sometimes when you surf the web and look at stuff, the network gets clogged, or the software slows down, and even sometimes, the program or even the computer just crashes, and you are forced to restart the computer.  
   When you drive a car, it suddenly just doesn't stop randomly or goes at tiny speed because of some outside force field or sluggish connection.  That would be pretty dangerous.

Many times you look around on the web and try to find a good restaurant so you browse their web pages, but when you go to their website you are met by 'the intro' - some awful music, slow things (usually photos) moving across the page, and you have to sit there and waste your time unless you can find the tiny semi-hidden text called 'Skip this intro'.  After that torture and time-waste is over, you can start to look for 1) opening hours, 2) address and directions, and 3) the menu.  You would think those three things are the most important information to get to your potential customers, and that at least 1 and 2 should be listed on the opening page of the home page. Oh no, you often have to guess where it is, maybe under 'Contact Us", or 'About Us', or some other non-direct heading.  And often you have to scroll down because the bottom of the page can't be seen at first sight.  For the menus, those are often under a tab, but many are hidden under headings that are tiny, and on extremely slow-loading pages (including the crashing pdf-format), or just small.
    If you drive a car, it doesn't play unwanted intro music when you start it.  It starts up, then it immediately shows you if anything is wrong with the car on the dashboard (any Check Engine light on? Doors open? No, good!).  All information is right there, ready to check out and react to.  Restaurant web pages are like Lego Men hidden in pizza dough, you can't find them or you find a little piece but you can't see the rest.

Who designs these things?  I thought designers' jobs were to make things that WORK WELL and LOOK GOOD.  The first of those things, i.e. practicality, user-friendliness, and usability is as important as that it looks great.  The funny thing is that often the companies insist that their way of doing things are for our convenience, when in reality these things cause us inconvenience, frustration, or just waste time.  Books never fail to open.  Compasses never run out of batteries. Simplicity and ease-of-use means just that, simplicity. 

Will it take 50-100 years to make the internet, printers, copiers, and computers as user-friendly and reliable as cars?  I hope not.  Of course cars break down at times, but they are far more reliable than most of our other home electronics.  I love things that work and that even if complicated, are easy to use. Don't get me started on the design of remote controls... you would think they get paid by the numbers of buttons they put on them.  How long did it take for cars to enter the phase of user-friendliness?  And maybe cars are now on their way to become less user-friendly again?  I haven't mastered the GPS in PP's car at all, because it is not at all intuitive. 

PS.  OK, you want examples of bad design offenders? Here is one...
Prune Restaurant, New York City   
You have to CLICK to enter their website.  What did they think, that you got to their website by accident and need to confirm with them that you actually want to be there?  And then click on Menu and see if you can see their partial tiny menu in a scrolling window... The prices on the lunch menu are about 4 mm tall on my screen.  That is about half as big as a black pepper corn.  Anybody that can read the ingredients on the Bloody Mary menu online ought to get a free drink, or two. Prune, shape up, and fix your website please...

I think Steve Jobs got it right in this quote:

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

Modern life, with a smartphone in hand...?

 " Everywhere I looked people were detached from everything around them.  From the beautiful produce, the delightful pastries, the never-before-in-the-history-of-man selections of great wines and cheeses.  The guys were not "checking out" the plethora of beautiful girls flowing like spring water thru the aisles.  The women weren't even noticing the displays of chocolate.  Instead, they did the "thorazine shuffle" with their carts aimlessly navigated with one hand and the rest of their being concentrated either on staring like zombies at the screens of their iPhones or Blackberries, or wandering without a compass while listening to something at the other end of their cell connection, eyes staring off into the middle distance.  "  [by Kirk Tuck]

From this fantastic blogpost, read the rest of it, it is worth at least 5 minutes of your time. The blog is called Visual Science Lab and is written by Kirk Tuck. Lots of great thoughts there! (and thanks PP for sending the link to me)

This is so true.  And as an owner of an iPhone, which can be incredibly useful at times, I am happy to admit that and I use it more often than necessary, I also see the horrible addiction possibilities.  I often think that it is the software opportunities, apps, and 'things' on the technologies that pull people in, more than the technology per se - things like texting (instant), Facebook (instant), twitter (instant), and the need to be connected, to whatever that might be - the instant feed of stuff you haven't asked for.  I am sure there are situations where these instant feeds can be a good thing, but if 95% of it isn't, then it is a problem. And it just pushes more people just to think about me-me-me or superficial snapshot moments, instead of less self-focused things with deeper reflections.

One of my students said 'I have to check Facebook all the time, I might miss out on something otherwise'.  What that something might be, was less important.  I think this me-me-me generation that is growing up now (and that includes people of my age too), are actually horribly afraid of being alone, being unimportant, or being self-sufficient without input from other people.  To lay in a sofa and read a book during a Saturday is considered weird.  Go for a walk?  Weird.  Try to produce something thoughtful or beautiful over a longer time, not an instant opinion or just reaction to something, is unusual. 

Life in the internet and wi-fi age has turned into fast, fragmented, and furious.  My best thinking time and planning time is the early morning walks, just me, a friend, and a quiet morning with hammering woodpeckers, sunrise in dewy grass, and right now, shining white flowering dogwoods in the forests.  No interruption, just one hour of walking and talking and thinking and figuring it all out.  Without any digital technology, but the iPhone is in the pocket if a photo is needed, but usually the photos turn out so bad on it, that it isn't worth taking one.  My old digital camera is a lot better, but heavier, so it stays home. 

Stamp of the day: boat with little outboard motor

This Swedish stamp from 2002 invokes many Swedish summer memories for me.  A simple wooden boat, with oars for slow moving and fishing, and then the little engine for the times when you have to get home for dinner or the wind is in your face and you need some extra help.  Our sailing boat had a slightly larger version than this, a 7.5 hp Mercury outboard motor, and when it was stormy you really hoped it would start.  It did, because it had replaced an older, smaller engine that was not so reliable.  Maybe that was an Evinrude, I don't remember.  But most of the time we sailed in our 18-foot sailing boat with 5 people and two dogs for weeks... the outboard engine was just for storms, when the wind was wrong, or when you had to get through locks or under bridges. 

This is your computer when sick...

oh boy, defragmentation needed, originally uploaded by Vilseskogen.

No wonder this computer was underperforming.

On the terror of leaf blowers

(Photo by Jennanana on Flickr, 'Rakes', Creative Commons license)

There seems to be a type of people that can't stand fall.  They can't enjoy the gorgeous beauty of fallen leaves, transitions of seasons, and to let fall be fall.  Instead, they bring out their noisy, polluting, gasoline-monster leaf blowers and destroy the whole feeling of fall.

'Leaves are evil. Leaves have to go away. Leaves are ugly, dirty, nasty, and germy piles of nature's rubbish'. That is what their actions seem to say.   I think this is just another rendition of the common fear of nature.

Dear neighbors, park managers, and landscaping companies, leaves are meant to fall in the fall.  That is what nature is.  It is part of the natural circle.  But I guess you think nature is bad.  Everything has to be organized, controlled, squeaky clean, and then, in effect, artificial and unsustainable.

It is not normal to have a green lawn without a leaf on it in October. It is abnormal. It is not normal to run a leaf blower for 2.5 hours straight on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It is bad, both for the Earth and your health.  If the leaves bother you, get the rakes out and get some exercise at the same, in the nice quiet sounds of nature, such as swishing vulture wings, woodpecker's hole-making drumming, and screeching blue jays.  Spare me the leaf blower terror, please, please....

(It turns out I am not alone.  Los Angeles have banned leaf blowers, and here is a link to some more information about leaf blower terror in the US.)

Stamp of the day: piston, flywheel, and cylinder

Germany has some really nicely designed stamps, clean and simple.  Here is an engine piston (I think).  Maybe PP can interpret it better?  Looks like a flywheel with gears and a cylinder with a piston inside.  I am not sure if this is from a steam engine, gas engine, or what...

UPDATE: Our friend BV just sent me this, which explains the stamp in detail (thanks!!!!):

If PP hasn't let you know, the engine pictured on the stamp is a Otto
Langen Free Piston Atmospheric Engine, circa 1867.

A small flame, like a pilot light on a stove was at the base of the cylinder.
I do not know the starting procedure, but as the engine was running, if
the wheel started to slow down, a gas, like natural or coal gas, was
admitted into the bottom of the cylinder, and a little trap door would
open next to the base.  The flame would be drawn into the base, igniting
the gas, and drive the piston upward.  This would push the vertical rack
gear attached to the piston and engage the gear on the flywheel shaft,
increasing the speed of the wheel. The inertial energy would be stored in
the rotating wheel, which drove a load attached to it.  As the flywheel
slowed down to a certain speed, a governing mechanism would start the
process over again to keep the engine running until the fuel supply was
removed.

You can see one at the Rough & Tumble Museum at Kinzer, PA.
It is run for exhibition days.

A new steam boat!

Igår hade vi celebert besök i Södertälje. [Translation by LS: Yesterday we have a famous visit in Södertälje.]

Ångbåten Eric Nordevall (II) är en kopia av en båt som trafikerade Göta kanal ( Stockholm-Göteborg) från 1837 till 1856 då hon sjönk. Det var en av Sveriges första ångbåtar.
[Steam boat Eric Nordevall (II) is a copy of a ship that once toured Göta kanal ( Stockholm-Göteborg) from 1837 to 1856 until it sank.]

Eric Nordevall is letting the steam whistle blow to salute another boat.
Below: Södertäljes own steam boat, Edjern on the way back to the Baltic sea through the #sluss#.
[sluss = lock in English]

Inside the hot machine room with the impressive steam engines visible left and right.

Eric Nordevall from back, below the deck are the passenger cabins.

Vraket hittades på 45 meters djup i Vättern i närheten av Vadstena 1980 och har väckt intresse då det är en hjulångare med sidohjul, med två separata ångmaskiner på vardera 7 hk. Forsviks bruk startade ett projekt att bygga en kopia och den är nu klar och ska döpas av HKM kronprinsessan Victoria på måndag i Stockholm. På fartygets dopresa har de angjort ett flertal hamnar och kom igenom Södertälje igår. Vill du se filmer så finns de här.

[The wreck of this boat was found at 45 m depth in Lake Vättern nerar Vadstena in 1980 and created a lot of interest since it is a paddle wheel steam boat with two separate steam engines of 7 horsepowers each.  Forsviks Bruk started the project to produce a copy of this boat, which is not finished, and it will be christened by Crown Prinsess Victoria on Monday in Stockholm.  During the ship's virgin trip they have stopped at several places and passed through Södertälje yesterday. If you want to see some movies of it, they are here .]

Vi klev ombord och intrycken var många. Det luktade nytt trä, ved, ångmaskinsolja, vedrök, tjära, nyoljade relingar. I pannrummet var det varmt, som i en vedeldad bastu och nytt och fräscht. Nordevall kan bara eldas med ved, 1 kubikmeter i timmen vid 5 knops fart. På däck låg vedtravar redo. Båten ger både intryck av att vara gammal och vara ny, då den är byggd enligt de gamla ritningarna. Ångmaskinen, båtens hjärta, är byggd av Motala verkstad, precis som den som en gång fanns på den första Eric Nordevall. Det är en lågtrycksbalansångmaskin med kondensering. Bilder finns här.

[We stepped onboard and the impressions were abundant.  It smelled like fresh wood, firewood, steam engine oil, woodsmoke, tar, newly oiled railings.  In the boiler room it was hot, like a woodfired sauna, and new and clean.  Nordevall can only be fired with firewood, 1 cubic meter per hour at 5 knots speed.  On the deck was heaps with firewood ready to be used.  The ship gives both the impression of old and new, since it is built using the original drawings.  The steam boiler, the heart of the ship, was built by Motala works (verkstad), just like the original steam boiler in the first Eric Nordevall ship. It is a low pressure balance steam engine with condensation (not sure if I translated that correctly, PP can correct in the comments).  More pictures are here. ]

Vi besökte Forsvik för ett antal år sedan och såg redan då bygget, därför var det extra roligt att möta upp båten här i Södertälje. Vi hoppas kunna resa ett stycke med denna båt i framtiden.

[We visited Forsvik a few years ago and saw this ship being built, so therefore it was extra fun to meet this ship in Södertälje. We hope to be passengers on this boat for real at some point in the future.]

Quote from the news: Tools for kids

From today's New York Times, about girls at Gadget Camp:

“Not letting your children learn the hands-on component of the theory of science is killing us as a nation,” Ms. Sharris said. “You have to stop giving kids books and start giving them tools.” (source)

 I agree.  Is is nothing bad with books, not at all, but when books replace the real things like carving a stick with a knife, make and tend a fire, drill a hole, cut a plank, fill up a gas tank, and dig a hole, then kids get lost.  We need books and tools.  And skills.  Reading a book is just one skill.  If you can do all the things listed above, then you have six more life skills and you will also be more confident and independent.

Stamp of the Day: Espresso

In honor of our new machine in the kitchen! Swedish stamps of Italian espressos.  Yummy!

We are working on the railroad...

.. all night and day - 3 1/2 days in fact, around the clock.  This is a timelapse video for DH and others who like machines (thanks PP for the link)


Church and 30th St. San Francisco MUNI Construction from Ken Murphy on Vimeo.

When times get tough, go back to the old stuff

Sweden has had a winter with more snow and cold temperatures than in a long, long time, with many railroad problems because of this. On the old suburban train Roslagsbanan, the railroad company SL, finally resorted to ask the local railorad museum (Roslagsbanans Veterantågsförening) for help, and they brought back the oldies, a 1934 railcar (X3p 35) with a 1909 track cleaner attached to it. The track cleaner (spårrensare) was originally a box car. It is the only X3p 35 left in the world (photo here).Photos:
One here
going through Stockholms' suburbs 100 years later (one more photo here)

These oldies could do what the modern trains couldn't. Apparently Sweden used to have 20 snowplow trains, but there are none (or maybe only 2) left. This winter, some major routes have had all their trains cancelled during several days, because of all the snow. I don't think that is so strange, I think it is more strange with all the Swedes that think trains should run ALL the time, even when there is catastrophic weather. But I love the old dependable tools and trains, and love the fact that they brought out this old railroad car.

Symmetry and asymmetry...

This is the most beautiful thing I have seen today. Dissected flowers reassembled using digital art by Macoto Murayama, and there is more here in a WIRED article. Isn't it gorgeous. It reminds me of the xray photos of flowers by Steven Meyers.

“There’s an overwhelming charm in the detailed drawings of both plants and machines,” Murayama says. “Machines have an organic side, while plants have a mechanical side.”

Can you see the axle of a fly wheel in the flower?

OK Snapshot: Human resources?

Seen in a store in Stockholm called Blås&Knåda (blow and knead) for glas
and clay sculptures. The name of this one was The Alchemist (Alkemisten).
Photo by OK.

Mining down in history - a visit to Falu Gruva

Falun Historical Mine (Falu gruva) in Falun and the province of Dalarna in Sweden is a great place to get a sense of many things, such as history, hard work, darkness, and the power of minerals. It is also called Stora Kopparberg (Great Copper Mountain, and the company Stora started in 1288, must be one of the oldest in the world). We went there during our roadtrip to descend into the areas of the mine that was mined in the 1700s and 1800s. First they used fire and water to get the copper ore out (fire mining), then gunpowder, and finally, thanks to Nobel, dynamite. The 45 min tour took us through low tunnels, dripping walls and ceilings (thanks for the hats and raincoats!), and large open rooms inside the mine. Down at 67 meters we saw a living Christmas tree, green and fresh, but it hadn't been watered for 4 years. It had been totally preserved by the minerals in the water in the mine. (More photos from Falun on Flickr.)

The miners had it hard, they had to descend on long stairs or by riding the ore bucket down and jump off at the right tunnel entrance, the bucket didn't stop. More miners apparently died from missing the jump, than in other accidents in the mine. The mining started already in the 1300s, and this area has been the center for the mining and metal industry in Sweden since then. One wall is a guestbook with signatures from many of the kings and queens of Scandinavia. The all so common red paint on Swedish buildings also comes from this mine and is called 'Falu rödfärg' (Falu red paint). It was a mining byproduct and was the cheapest paint available, so it became very popular.

Linneaus visited the mine in the 1700s as part of his travels in Dalarna and was horrified by the conditions and drinking habit of the mine workers.
'Linnaeus had the opinion that the people of Dalarna lived a sober and healthy life apart from those in Falun connected with the mine. The miners often died of stone dust in their lungs. These miners also used to drink great quantities of ale. A new guest was expected to drink, without pausing, two or three great tankards of ale when he arrived and Linnaeus wrote: "your belly might burst, your head crack open and your health, the joy of all life, be abandoned." '

Linneaus was on the trip as the world's first ethnobotanist and noted that: "when there was a shortage of flour, trees were chopped down and the bark ground to eke out the flour. Linnaeus thought the people should grow potatoes instead, but many were still skeptical as to this new-fangled vegetable."
People didn't understand that you could only eat the tubers and not the leaves of the potatoes, so rumors that it was a deadly plant abound. (link to more Linnaeus information)




























Outside the mine there were other historical things to look at. The Swedish Ferguson Tractor organization had its local meet with about 5 old grey beasts on display. Inside the Mining Center, you could admire some classic motorcycles, including an old American Indian, an iceracing bike (with nasty dubbs on the tires), and the bike that Sweden won VM in Speedway with. An old Swedish SJ railroad boxcar was displayed on the plaza, painted in the ubiquitous red of course with white lettering and a white royal crown. I have always wondered what all the numbers on the box cars mean. There were also prominently displayed posts with dog poop bags on the plaza - in Sweden the owner is always responsible to 'pick up after your dog'.



















PS. Falun is a World Heritage site. The mining stopped in 1992.

Why I don't like some modern things...

The image on the left is from this article that is really worth reading.

When the computer, car, iPod, digital camera, router, squeezebox, fridge, freezer, microwave, gas stove, sump pump, bike gears, cell phone, battery charger, etc. breaks down I don't know how to repair them. Things have gotten too complicated and unexplanatory, and especially those things that have micro chips and data code in them are impossible to repair yourself.

Our battery charger died about 8 months after we bought it - I guess we have to throw it out.

Our freezer has repeated problems with water leaks, and to get to the drainage pan you have to turn off and defrost the fridge for 2 days, then remove the whole ice maker which include about ten parts and 40 screws, and then you see the pan. Bad design.

When our SAAB in the 1990s had some mice living in its engine while parked outside, they chewed on the cable that had the microchip in it, of course. It was the most expensive cable in the car to replace, of course. And no warranty to cover things like that. Who knew that rodents like rubber? I bet many knew, but didn't care.

Computer problems are the worst, at least if you work with Windows-based systems. We are all supposed to be anti-viral, spyware scanning experts, and fix all their problems. We have seven computers in the house (I know, overkill, but some are old and not much used), and the only ones that never have problems are the Macs. Printers - we have three, only one that work. What happened to making things that last, things that you can understand and fix? I can service my sewing machine, change a tire on a bike, and build a raised bed, but I can't do anything if my cell phone breaks down or if the printer stops printing. Things are getting out of hand, and I miss the simplicity of easy, well-made things. I think so much of frustration in society is because of this, the lack of power of things we use.

It is such a waste. I just ordered a recycling package for my old cellphone so it won't end up in a landfill and will be given as a 911 phone to some needy senior or woman suffering from domestic violence. But why aren't these things done by default? Why do we have to seek them out? Why doesn't companies in New Jersey need to recycle? Why aren't regular batteries recycled? Things are too cheap, it is not worth to repair and recycle, or things are not made to last if they are expensive. Slit-och-släng (Wear and throw away) is back again. That is my rant for today.

As PP says "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." (an expression from the Depression in the 1930s)

Day 6: These boots were made for walking, and swimming...

Another day in the Swedish Arctic from OK's iphone diary/camera (posted and translated by LS):

Idag tog vi bilen västerut till Kopparåsen, där jag klev av och mamma fortsatte med bilen för att hitta ställen att skåda och måla på.

(Today we took the car to the east to Kopparåsen (= The Copper Ridge), where I got off and mom continued with the car to find some nice places where she could bird watch and paint. )

Kopparåsen heter inte så utan skäl, på berget Koukkel inmutades 1897 en stor yta för brytning av just koppar. Detta var innan järnvägsförbindelsen mellan Kiruna och Narvik var byggd, men planerna var storstilade trots detta. Man planerade brytning och viss anrikning på plats vilket skulle ge arbete åt 500 man, och transporten ned fram fjället skulle ske med linbana.

The Copper Ridge isn't named that without reason, sine a large area was claimed on the mountain Koukkel in 1897 for mining of said copper. This was before there was a railroad between Kiruna and Narvik was built, but the plans were grandiose regardless. They planned mining and some concentrating right there which should give jobs for 500 men, and the transportation down from the mountain should be done with a cableway. )

Man kan på många ställen se var de brutit i grunda dagbrott, och invid har de staplat malmen i snygga rätblock. Detta gjorde man för att mäta hur mycket malm som brutits, lönen var nämligen 4,50 kronor per kubikmeter.

(You can see in many places where they mined in shallow open areas, and next to each pit they have stacked the ore in nice cubes. They did this to measure how much ore they had collected, since the wage was 4.50 Swedish kronor per cubic meter).

Det hus som gruvadministrationen använde finns kvar, med fin snickarglädje och strålande utsikt. Idag var dock molnen ganska låga och när jag fortsatte stigen norrut mot Vadvetjåkka nationalpark så gick jag upp i molnen och regnet. Molnen lättade efter ett slag och plötsligt fick jag en strålande vy mot udalen mellan Vadvetjåkka och Njunjes. Tog fikarast på en kulle nära Njuoraluspi.

(The house that the mining administration used still exists, with nice gingerbread work and gorgeous views. The clouds were a bit low today and when I continued the trail north towards Vadvetjåkka National Park I walked up into the clouds and the rain. The clouds eased up after a while and suddenly a fantastic view opened up showing the U-shaped glacial valley between Vadvatjåkka and Njunjes. I took a break on a little hill near Njuoraluspi.)

Vände åter i mina fotspår på den måttligt använda stigen, de enda skoavtrycken jag såg var mina egna. Stigen var trots bra rösning svår att hitta bitvis då den gick genom snölegor och över hällar ristade av isen. Per telefon avtalade jag med mamma att mötas vid Björkstugan, men stigen ned dit visade sig vara mycket vag och svår att följa. Väl nere i dalen fann jag bara brofästen men ingen bro över den forsande jåkken som jag behövde passera för att komma till E10:an.

(I turned back into my own foot tracks on the ligthly worn trail, and the only tracks i saw where my own. The trail was hard to find despite good stone markers [those stone mounds in the photos], since it partly went through snow and over large rockslabs engraved by the ice age glaciers. By phone I talked to Mom and we decided to meet at Björkstugan (The Birch House), but the trail down to there turned out to be very vague and hard to follow. When I finally got down into the valley I only found the remnants of the foundations of the bridge but no bridge over the rushing stream that I need to cross to get to road E10.)

Med hjälp av telefonens GPS visade det sig att jag kommit ned en km för långt österut och fick ta mig zick-zackandes genom tät vide och krokiga björkar till den bro västerut som faktiskt skulle finnas. Nästan framme hade jag nästa lilla äventyr, jag skulle kliva ned mot en forsande bäck för att sedan passera den. Då brast min vadringsstav och jag fann mig strax sittandes mitt i bäcken med vatten över naveln! Tur i oturen så klarade kamera, telefon, karta och annat inte så vattentåligt sig precis över vattnet. Numera vet jag att sarekstövlar rymmer mycket vatten! :)

(With the help of the phone's GPS I found out that I had come down one kilometer too far to the east, and had to get myself to the west zig-zaging through thick willow shrubs and gnarly birches to the bridge that actually should exist. Nearly there I had my next little adventure. I should step down into a little streaming creak to cross it, when my hiking pole broke and I found myself sitting in the middle of the creek with water up to my belly button! Lucky for me, the camera, map, and other not so waterproof things kept themselves right above the water. Now I know that Swedish Sarek rubber boots can contain a lot of water. )

Jag hittade rätt bro strax därefter och mötte mamma, som fick bistå mig att med stor ansträngning dra av mina stövlar. Väl hemma igen åt vi en välförtjänt middag bestående av renskavsgryta smasatt med messmör och färskpotatis.

(I found the right bridge soon thereafter and met Mom, who had to help with all her force to pull off my boots. Back home in the cottage we ate a well-deserved dinner consisting of reindeer stew with 'messmör" and new potatoes.)

Vy mot Tornehamn från Koukkel. (View towards Tornehamn from Koukkel.)
Historien om Kopparåsens koppargruva. (The history of the mine [LS note: Sorry, I won't translate it all])
Snyggt och prydligt staplat. (Beautifully and neatly arranged.)
Ett lite djupare brott, med snö på botten. (A little deeper mine, with snow at the bottom.)
Gruvhuset. (The mining house. [LS note: Try to locate this at coordinates 68.4166718, 18.4833336, it is out in nowhere])
Kopparmalm. (Copper ore.)
Veranda med snickarglädje och fin vindflöjel som sig bör. (Porch with gingerbread work and nice weathervane, just like it should be.)
Vy från trappen. (View from the porch.)
Tjohoo, jag hittade rost idag! Rester efter decauvillebanan. Det var länge sen nån smörjde dragbanan. :) (Yipee, I found rust today! Remains of the Decauville cableway. It was a long time ago since anyone oiled the gears.)
"Näfveqvarn 1270 kilo" ("Näfveqvarn 1270 kg")
Fjällbjörken håller en låg profil. (The birch is keeping a low profile. [LS note: Det är en liten dvärgbjörk, inte fjällbjörk :) )
Mot Vadvetjåkka! (Towards Vadvetjåkka!
Gammal snö. (Old snow.)
Uppklarnande mot Vadvetjåkka. (Nicer weather towards Vadvetjåkka.)
I de många småsjöarna fanns vigg, sjöorre och alfågel. (In the many small lakes were Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, and Long-tailed Duck.)
Fint flyttblock. (Nice boulder.)
Finare udal än Lapporten? Vadvetjåkka nationalpark. (Nicer u-shaped glacial valley than the Lap Portal? Vadvetjåkka Nnational Park.
Jag trampade nästan på en ruvande alfågel, vi blev nog lika förskräckta båda två. (I nearly stepped on a nesting Long-Tailed duck, we probably got equally scared both of us.)
Grönt te i det gröna. (Green tea in the green.)
Snön kalvar. (The snow is making babies in the lake.)
"Vintage Lapsang Souchong". Det var te i burken. Eller om det var en sten. Svårt att säga... :) ("Vintage Lapsang Souchong". It was tea in the jar. Or maybe a rock. It was hard to tell... :) [LS note: Definitely vintage!]
Rosling. Särskilt för LS. (Bog rosemary. Especially for LS. [LS note: Thanks! I love this wonderful plant in the blueberry family. Its Latin name is Andromeda polifolia. It must be a treat for a plant to have such a nice star-like name as Andromeda.)
Vy mot Tornehamn på nedvägen. (View towards Tornehamn on the way back.)
Någon sorts lav. (Some kind of lichen.)
Var är bron??? E10 är så nära men ändå inte. (Where is the bridge??? E10 is so close and still far away.)
Här är bron! Och telefonen fungerar fortfarande efter mitt mindre frivilliga bad. (Here is the bridge. And the phone still works after my unplanned bath.)
Louktatjåkka.