My leaving party

Just a quick thanks everybody who came to my last party in Göteborg. It was good to see everybody from Volvo especially. I will miss you all, and i am going to miss Göteborg too. of course you are all welcome to come and visit any time in Södertälje!

the NEW DesignerTechniques

It has taken some time.....but finally the new DesignerTechniques site has launched. With an improved structure, and a fresher look, i am hoping it is going to be very succesfull. It has cost me enough in late nights and coffee!!!

Olgas Party

Another party. Not much to say apart from thank you to Olga! Great party.

Monster Jam Ulevi

Monster Jam came to Sweden at the weekend and i thought it was too cool an event to have missed. I always enjoyed watching it on TV (although i dont think Wayne was so keen). Seeing it live was something else though. Grave digger was the one i went to see, and he didnt let me down...he won. It was interesting to see the cars up close as well though. They really are nothing more than engines with wheels bolted on. The body is nothing but a painted fiberglass dressing. The weather was great as well. In fact it has been in the 30s for the last few days in Göteborg. Nothing to complain about there though!!!

Glider Flying

One of the presents i got for my 30th birthday was the promise from Linus (aerodynamics guy from Volvo trucks) to go Glider flying. Linus has had his license for a fair few years now (otherwise i may not have went). The weather was absolutely fantastic, calm and clear...not to mention very hot. It was a long relaxed day, as we had to wait for our slot in the air...and i have to admit that i was very nervous. When it came our time i put on my parachute...which nobody explained how to use i might add...and up we went. For the whole 5 minutes behind the tow plane i could not open my eyes. I didnt actually expect to be that nervous. Once we were loose though i calmed down (the hyperventilating went away)!! It was absolutely fantastic, and very smooth as well. I managed to stay up for a whole 35 minutes before the sick feeling started. It is a little bit bumpy when you are trying to climb. It was a great day..with a great view. I look forward to doing it again Linus. And perhaps getting my own license in the future???

Now for something new

I guess I can now let everybody know about my other exciting news. I have just recently accepted a new job as a designer for Scania trucks. This will obviously mean leaving Volvo and Gothenburg behind. I will miss both of them a lot (it has been a fantastic four and a half years), but of course I am really looking forward to moving to a new town and starting a new job. For those of you who read www.designertechniques.com this may go some way to explaining why there has been something of a slow down in the updating of the site. I have of course been a little bit busy with arrangements. Hopefully once things settle down however normal service will resume. In the meantime however I am looking forward to a really good leaving party in a couple of weeks. I should also say that this means my old phone number as well as my Volvo e mail address no longer work. The allan@designertechniques.com address is obviously there for those who want to keep in contact though. Was not sure what picture to illustrate this with...so the honours go to my dad on a visit to Volvo trucks. Gothenburg can now sleep easy at night....Stockholm however has to look forward to me touring around in some Scania trucks!!

New Phone

Got myself a new phone a few days back (Sony Ericsson K800i) and it has a realy good camera on it. It is 3.2 megapixels and has full focus as well as a macro focus setting. The really cool part though is its panoramic setting that lets you take some really cool shots. I guess this stuff is all pretty normal these days, but i still find it quite cool. Anyway....here are a couple of shots from it. Hopefully it will mean i will have more to add to the blog in future too.

A few more 30th Birthday Pictures

Got some more pictures of my 30th Birthday party the other day. You have seen it all before I guess....but there are a few of Andrew going a bit mad with the champagne! And Wayne....the hat looks great!

Mustang

I absolutely cannot forget to thank Johan for the loan of his Mustang for the week. It made for a great 30th birthday week.....and probably means that I am going to have to dig into my own pocket soon to buy my own toy car. Cheers buddy. Also thanks for arranging the trip to Åre in the truck. Its not often you can do a 2000km trip in a truck.....especially a tricked out FH16 with custom colours and graphics.

To round up my birthday weekend celebrations there was a huge birthday party at my apartment. Between 50 and 60 people came in the end....and a great time was had by all. I have to thank everybody for coming.....as well as for the fantastic presents i got. Pink socks, plenty of alcohol, an invite to dinner at Lottas house, a massage, a USB Midi Keyboard, and invite to go glider flying, flowers, concert ticket vouchers, and much much more. Thank you all very much. It made my transition to old man much easier. On the party side, i also had a great time....although i wish i had remembered to buy chamagne glasses for 60 people. 12 bottles of champagne and only 4 glasses does not work so well. Oh.....and the other thing i forgot was how long it takes to tidy up the next day!! Anyway, you can click on the pictures to see them bigger, and as soon as wayne sends them i should be able to post up some more. Cheers

Folk Race

As part of my 30th birthday weekend I also arranged a Folk Race. Basically this is an old traditional type of race for Sweden. It used to be that you had to buy and old car for very little money...race it against your friends in a field and then sell the car.....at least thats my understanding. What it meant for us though was turning up and being given rear wheel drive beaten up old Volvo cars to race each other round a dirt track. It was great fun...although i didnt win. The weather was great and there were many friends from work and the UK with me. The racing was pretty difficult. You were not allowed to touch the other cars.....AT ALL. With a penalty of being banned from the rest of the days racing. On parts of the track it was so dusty and dirty you could literally not see the other cars which were no more than ten feet from you. It made for some interesting moments. Well done david for holding your monster moment together.....i was sure i was going to get past you!!!

Poker Night

Had another poker night over at my place to help begin my 30th birthday weekend celebrations. Rob and Andrew were also here from the UK, and we had a great night. I hope I nobody minds that i point out that i won for the second time in a row now.....the challenge is down.

Åre trip

Took our yearly department trip to Åre in the north of Sweden this year, and had a great time. We were there to visit a logging truck company (cheers Johan) and see our trucks (and others) in action in the real world. Of course there was plenty of time to enjoy Åre itself as well. We managed to do some Snowboarding, go on some snow scooters, drive an excavator, and drink some beer. All with fantastic fresh Swedish weather. The snow scooters were my favorite part....I managed to get Johans scooter (which was a lot more powerfull than the rented ones) up to 135kmh. Trust me...it was fast. So fast in fact that the wind was lifting my eyelids away from my eyes....under my helmet visor. Great!

Not been doing much!!

Been a bit quiet after new year, with loads of work to do. That and DesignerTechniques have kept me busy (as well as the odd party). I have managed to come across some really cool web sites that I thought I would share though. In no particular order......

Some truly amazing storm photos.
www.tinyvices.com/storms.html

Probably the wierdest site I have ever seen. Its a webcam in some guys apartment.....and you can turn the various lights in the room on and off (you can chat to him whilst you are annoying him too....when he is there)
www.drivemeinsane.com

A strange rabbit. The funny thing is trying to shake him loose once he has grabbed the curser!
www.changar.com/archives/go.html

Some cool kids drawings that have been redrawn by professional artists.
www.drawergeeks.com/Kid_Creatures/Kid_Creatures.html

A really cool idea.
www.instructables.com/id/EOFOYM0RBUEXCFH30A?ALLSTEPS

I guess thats enough for now.....

Cats the musical

Went to see Cats the musical the other night at the Gotebörg Opera House. It was much better than I thought it was going to be (especially since it was all in swedish). We were sat about 10 feet from the stage, and the dancing and singing were just amazing. The dancers at the start of the show were even crawling in amongst the audience! If it was not already sold out I might have tried to see it again.

DesignerTechniques Competition 2 is launched

The second DesignerTechniques competition is now here, and I am pleased to say that the prizes are pretty good. With a Wacom up for the winning as well as a collection of fabulous books, and an art supplies gift voucher, I am hoping for a lot of great entries! The site I am pleased to say is now getting between twenty five and thirty thousand visitors per month, is viewed in over 100 diferent countries, browsed in virtually all the major car companies, and certainly every major transport design school in the world.........and it is still growing. Thanks to all who visit (and to google for the statistics)!!!!

Old pictures found!!

Having been doing a little clearing around the apartment, which led to coming across my old photos drawer. Found these in there, and thought since Dave was showing off his "album kids" pictures i would continue the theme. Ok, thing is, I can come up with first and second names for 6 of the people in the pictures. There are 14 though. Anybody think they can do it?? (obviously this question is only to the people i went to school with). Just click on the pic to make it bigger by the way.

New Year 2007

Spent new year back at my apartment again, and the firework show this year was the best yet. Göteborgs Posten has a huge display at 5pm, and it was really amazing. Hundreds of people were lining the harbour front to watch it.....and it didnt let anybody down. It was setting of car alarms perhaps half a kilometre away!!! Well I am an overgrown child......I think thats cool! For those who dont know, my apartment overlooks the harbour and I have a top floor ringside seat! Yippee!! Åsa, Annika, myself and Wayne then partied and drank champagne until midnight when the second show started. Whilst not one show, the whole horizon was lit with fireworks shows. I am not going to try to describe how amazing it was, and we didnt get any pictures......you will just have to see if you can try to get an invite to my place for next year. The rest of the night is a blur, and my hangover was a complete one the next morning.....but i look forward to doing it all again next year. Scott.....you should join for next year!?

Christmas at Ingrids Mums

Had a great time at Ingrids mums place over the christmas vacation. There was me, Ingrid, Taras, Leah and Maya. As well as Ingrids sister, husband and three kids. It was one of those vacations where everything centres around food....and lots of it. The kids got loads of presents from santa on christmas eve.....(swedish rules) and everybody had a great time. I got a cool manga style figure that you had to construct yourself. It was from Taras, and came from Japan, and you would not believe how well moulded it was!!! The funniest thing about the whole trip though was coming back and stopping at MAX burger. They were giving away these free whoopee cushions.....I had forgotten just how funny these can be!!

Radio Controlled Helicopter

Just got a new radio controlled helicopter to go with my aeroplane. Its pretty cool, and i can fly it in the house which is not possible with the plane. Its a bit hard to control though and really the plane is a bit more fun, especially in the park. For only 20 quid though you cant really complain. www.silverlit.com if you want one.

Johns Surprise 30th Party

Travelled to germany to visit some friends, and to surprise john for his 30th birthday. Must say thanks to Andrew, Melissa and "Mads" for putting up with me and Paul for a couple of days. And for letting us have a key so that we could come back from johns party at 8 in the morning. Paul, i dont think anything will ever beat our 4.5 hour journey home from that party!!! After the party went down to Pauls place and visited his new baby, Lucy. Also got to see Pauls flash new house. Unfortunatly I didnt get any pictures since i spent most of my time relaxing and sleeping in until way past noon. Thanks for letting me do that Carmen. It was a lovely time, and i look forward to coming back in the warmer weather. I may even help Paul with a bit of digging in the garden if he is lucky!! You will have to send me some pictures of the house, see if I can do an "artists" impression of what it could look like. Give you something to aim for Paul. Finally, thanks to Sue for arranging the surprise party.....and not getting too annoyed at my efforts to blow out the candles on Johns cake. Now.......who is going to arrange my surprise brthday party?? April 5th for those who have forgotten!! I hope though that nobody has to endure the length of journey it took to get back. Paul, it was a 12 hour journey back from your place. Two trains, a bus, a plane, a bus, a tram and then a walk. There must be an easier way?!

Teaching in Umeå

Went teaching again, this time in Umeå. Some really talented students up there, and I am hoping that I can persuade some of them to take a little time from their studies to write some tutorials for DesignerTechniques. Aside from the teaching, one of the students also had the coolest little electric scooter ever. Really cheap as well....although you have to import them from Korea. Perhaps something I am going to have to buy early next year. I will certainly let you know if i get one!!! By the way, cheers to Linnea again....I didnt take any pictures in Umeå either. Actually, i really must buy a digital camera!

Short break in Scotland

Went back to scotland for a few days. Nothing to interesting to report.....apart from I missed my flight back. I did come across this rather amusing picture of my dad though (the one on the right). Its from back in his army days, and I just thought it would be nice to post it up here for the whole world to see. Dad....your now famous!

Teaching in Luleå

Spent an interesting couple of days in Luleå (very northern Sweden). Actually had to lecture to just over 100 students, and then run a sketching workshop with about 30 students. Talking in front of 100 people was a bit of a new experience for me, but it went really well. I actually went over time...with no complaints. The students were not actually training to be designers, more studio engineers. It was good to try to show how important the role of studio engineering is in matching the designers ideas to engineering led production reality. Hopefully these two days lecturing will lead to more, as I had a great time running them. By the way, the picture is here is actually from a few hours I spent teaching at HDK in Göteborg. I didnt take any pictures at Lueleå. Everybody say hi to Linnea.

The end of an era

After just short of three years of sharing an apartment, Wayne has finally took the plunge and quit his job...and Sweden. There have been a lot of fun times and I wish they could continue, but now I must find a new flat mate to share my apartment with. I only hope he proves to be as good at making tea as wayne was....and cooking. I hope everything goes great Wayne and I look forward to seeing you back here from time to time. There will be plenty more parties happening and you are always welcome. After all, who else is going to supply the champagne??

Waynes BurstaBubble site

Since he has not written a new article for DesignerTechniques I have been unable to plug Waynes new site so far. Then I thought why not put it on here. For those of you who dont know, Wayne is my current flat mate in sweden (he is leaving soon....but more on that later). He started his website at around the same time as I started DesignerTechniques. He will hate me for saying this...but whilst my site has grown to the point of getting 15000 to 20000 visits per month, his has had a grand total of about 500 since it launched!! I get more than that in a day (cue big cheesy grin from Allan!). Anyway. Its a pretty cool site and idea. I wont try to explain it.......its best you just go and visit the site. I have already ordered a pair of jiffy pants! Cant wait till they get here! ANYWAY....GO AND LOOK AT HIS SITE NOW! Just click the link at the top or look under links over on the right of the page.

FH16 ROADSHOW days five to ten

Well, I have been trying to remember what we did everyday since day four....and to be honest it is all a big jumble in my head. There was so much going on that all the days have rolled into one. If only I had remembered to update my blog every day like I planned. Because I cant remember I have decided to finish my FH16 tour update by just putting up a few more pictures. The rest of the journey did have a lot of excitement though. Some things that come to mind? Well we bought Johan a radio controlled helicopter for his birthday (although we could not get it to work). We did an all night drive from Austria to Germany (plenty of red bull and loud music). We drove on some very narrow roads (you can see this below), and we managed to fit in a few party nights. There was also the highlight in Austria of seeing a truck being driven rather poorly...and into another truck.....this you can also see below. I think it is fair to say that I had an awesome 10 tens and would gladly do it all again. Getting back home was nice though....a good nights sleep was the first order of the day! Thanks to all of you who were involved in the tour.

FH16 ROADSHOW day four

With some spare time in hand this morning...and since i spent so long laughing at Linus yesterday, I decided to try my hand at the dolly trailer. Crap....its not easy. You have to steer in the same direction as you want to go....as if you have NO trailer! I would love to see you have a go at this dad. Anyway, after shaming myself for half an hour we hit the road and headed to our first stop. I didnt get too many pictures of this event. It was a small service station and we didnt have much space. The weather was good though....and I even found time to contemplate the Imperial ambitions of the USA and the Bush dynasty!!

During the day we also managed to take some time out to drive over to Vienna. I have never been here before and it is a pretty place. We went on a horsey ride, saw Mozart covered in gold?? and ate the biggest schnitzels we have ever seen. I even found time to buy a new pair of jeans!!

FH16 ROADSHOW day three

Well, I finally found out what truck I will be driving. ONLY THE COOLEST ONE (the one above which was the only fully chromed one on the tour)!! Or at least I thought that it was the coolest until everybody else unanimously decided that it was indeed the gayest truck. Never mind. I am still pretty sure that you dad will be very jealous. You can see in these pictures as well, the sheer size of our convoy. In fact, in these two pictures you can see no more than 6 trucks at a time. The convoy was actually nine. Factor in a safe driving seperation and that makes a half a kilometer roadtrain! We did make a bit of traffic chaos!

Anyway, the plan was that only the lead truck knows the way.....everybody else just knows their place in the queue and follows the guy in front. This in general seemed to work very well....until. When the guy at the front of the queue gets lost and starts pulling into petrol stations to ask directions, general chaos can result behind him. This is exactly what happened as we tried to drive through rush hour Bratislavia. Throughout the entire time though I had the windows open....the sterio up loud...and the biggest grin ever!

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventfull and we eventually reached our first destination. A Volvo dealership where we could park up the trucks for the night. The one small amusement at this first stop was I did get to watch Linus attempt to reverse park his truck. To explain to those in the know reading in Britain. Although his truck looked like a regular trailer and drag....its not. It actually has a short bogey attached the rear trailer. In short this means that it bends in two places. Go away and think about that for a moment. Uncle alec...I am talking to you here!

FH16 ROADSHOW day one and two

Did not sleep much the night before.....I have been looking forward to this journey SOOO much. Anyway, it was an early flight, so we were in the airport at about 7.30ish. Johans observation is very true; it doesnt matter what time it is.....people drink beer in airports. Would these people have a beer at 7.30 in the morning at home?? Anyway, we met up with Linus on the way and arrived in Bratislavia at about mid day. First impression it made on me was how much it feels like Russia. Although the other curious thing I noticed was how many advertising bill boards line the side of the road. Didnt get any pictures because I was just too tired, but will try to get some before I leave.

We were collected from the airport by the hotel taxi and then it was a 45minute drive to the town of Piestany. After dropping off our things we went directly to the event and straight away realised that this is going to be a LOT of fun. As you can see there are even dancing girls!!. The trucks are awesome, and everybody has been really friendly since we arrived (not just saying that in case they read this by the way). Spent the day just soaking up the atmosphere and checking out all the trucks and trailers. I also managed to have a go on a hovercraft! Anyway, at the end of the day we all went back to the hotel, and since sunday is a day off (it is illegal to drive a truck on sunday), we all had a nice evening dinner with plenty of wine. Johan, Linus and myself then went into town to try out one of the local nightclubs. It was pretty good and the prices are very cheap. Many people speak good engllish here (better then in germany) so managed to meet a few interesteing people.

After a little lounge in bed on sunday morning I decided to take a cycle through the town . Its a very grey place.....and it seems to be a country with not a lot of money. All the buildings and apartments seem very run down, although in the centre of town things seem better. I didnt once see what you would describe as even a middle class house though. They do have a famous spa here though that was interesting. Either way, it was nice to have a cycle round and work up an appetite. It will be early to bed tonight though (perhaps after a sauna) as we leave early monday morning for Austria. I have posted some other pictures underneath for you all to take a look at. Enjoy. Oh...and would everybody at work please leave some comments!!! I want to here what you all think of my adventures.


Did not take too many pictures at the show as i was too busy wandering round. The trucks are awesome though, and i cant wait to get me grubby little hands on one. I did have a wander around the next day after the show to take some pictures though. The building below was actually right next door to our hotel. I just thought it was really interesting looking. I have no idea what it is, what happened to it, and why it is still there. It was pretty spooky anyway.

Press Truck

Wanted to get a bit of training in at driving an artic before the FH16 tour (where everybody would be watching) so me and Johan (well just Johan actually) managed to borrow this brand new FH16 Press fleet truck. I managed to take a few people out in it from the studio, including Yeom and Klara...although I am sure Yeom was sure that I could nt actually drive it!! Me and Johan then took it on a 300Km round trip, where we concluded we didnt actually like the handling...although it was very windy to be fair. I also managed to practice a bit of blind side reversing in a huge empty yard where nobody was looking. I id fine, but was glad I got a shot at it out of prying eyes first though. We also managed to fully park it inside the viewing garden at design. i dont think anybody has ever put a full size semi fully in there before. And we have the photos to prove it!!!

Comments

I have now modified my comments section. I have taken off the moderation as it was just to much of a pain to check. So dont be too rude, and leave your thoughts.

Peter Guthrie

Had an enjoyable weekend just gone, having both a house party and a visit from an old school friend Peter Guthrie (for those interested he is the second in from the right in the back row). The house party was pretty good with about 25 people...and nothing got broken. Had many...many beers and woke up with a huge hangover. Hope your weekend was good Peter, perhaps we will see you over here again. Say hi to Tina. Oh, and dont forget to write an article or tutorial for www.designertechniques.com

Really Cool Website

Came across this a little while back and thought I would share it. I dont get what the point is, and it is completely useless. It is however the most addictive thing ever. I wont even try to explain, just take a look.

www.sodaplay.com/

London Motor Show

Decided I was going to try out the London Motor show this year. Although the show doesnt have the big vehicle launches like Geneva, Paris and Frankfurt, there was enough happening to convince me to have a look. For instance they had a stunt driving arena, an off road course, a demo driving area and even a rock concert in the evening. I also managed to take a shot at the Mazda Zoom Challenge. Three laps in both a MX5 and an RX8 round a tight handling circuit. I am disapointed to say that my time was only average. Was really impressed with the MX5 though. Its a really cool car, and the folding hard top may force me to consider one (pay rise required however)!

The standard part of the show was pretty much as you would expect. A large car showroom. With the only launch of real significance being the new Vauxhall Corsa (and perhaps the new folding hard top MX5). Not much point in putting my pics up here as there are plenty on the net if you want to see.

I also took some time to head to Designers Night as well. I have only been to one of these before, but it was fun, as was this one. Got a little too drunk, met a lot of people I had not seen in a while, and generally had good fun. By the way, sorry Jez for beating you (was it 4 times in a row) on the Playstation racing game.

In amongst all this, the day I chose to go to the show also turned out to be one of the hottest days ever. 36 degrees if I remember correct. It meant the tube was pretty warm anyway!