Diary of a loosing mind

5S is a method developed to get rid of all different types of waste, waste of space, time, production, distance, defects and inventory. It consists of 5 steps to take, to improve the efficiency and value of the equipments used in production or in your office. The 5S's are: Sort , get rid of everything that doesn't belong in the working space. Including dirt. Red Tag everything that you feel doesn't belong. Put it in the Red Tag area until you have decided what to do with it. Keep a Red Tag log of anything that don't belong. Set in order , a place for everything and everything on its place. You should be able to see if anything is missing within 5 seconds. Take before and after pictures to encourage the new situation. Shine , bring back the equipment and tools to an "as new condition" state, stop the dirt at the source, prevent things to get dirty, establish a daily cleaning routine, inspect while you clean. Make sure that the cleaning tools are readily a...

My large interest and specialization when I started my career was automation. I worked many years as a Service Engineer for a big Swedish-Swiss company commissioning automation and robotic systems to the industry. My son is now developing apps for iPhone and likes his job very much. Combining our interests and skills to make a family business The other day we were talking about future and possibilities. We realized that if we could combine our interests and skills, we could actually provide good home automation solutions to people. I could do the home automation installation and commissioning and he could customize the app that the home owner will use to get a remote control of the home. We actually chose to use the term home instead of house, because we can do plenty of automation also in a condo or a flat or apartment, not only on a house. What could we then make more automatic or convenient for a home owner with this setup? What could we do? We had a little brainstormin...

In April this year, I visited Sweden to celebrate my 50th birthday. I met all my relatives and we had a great time together. My brother, who is slightly taller than me had reduced his weight very much since I saw him the last time. Which made me wonder how he did it. He explained that he had adopted the LCHF method (Low Carbs High Fat) and that it worked very well for him. I was very impressed with the result and decided to do the same. So now I avoid, all vegetables that grow underground, pasta, bread, rice, sugar, salt and soft drinks. And concentrates on meat, fish, egg and vegetables that grow above ground. Water. Full-fat yoghurts and cheese. The result so far is that I have reduced my blood pressure and my weight. I'm feeling healthier and have more energy. Maybe I'm just fooling myself and having a placebo, but at least for now it feels good. Still to do is to find a form of exercise that I think is funny so I can get a better overall health, not only reduced weigh...

I had it all figured out. The promotion Got an internal promotion to move from Sweden to The Netherlands and start a new Consultancy department. Got a fancy title and my wife also got a job at the same company. She was taking temporary positions and couldn't find a full-time job that she was satisfied with in Sweden. The family were excited to move, our son, 14 at the time, was less excited and I spent some time to make sure he got into a good international school and a place in a good Dutch ice hockey team. Started off in my new position, made a five-year plan together with my team and got it approved by the board of directors. It was a start-up and we had some struggles in the beginning, but slowly and surely, we got contact with the right people addressing their real issues of which we could provide real added value services. The accommodation We moved from our 3 room apartment in a mid-size city in Sweden to one of the larger cities in The Netherlands....

Well, you might wonder why I choose such a title for my new Blog. The reason is that my plan is to use it to jot down my thoughts and reflections from my daily situations to try to get a better organisation and focus on what is going on and what I would want to happen in the future. A way to get a better direction of my dreams and aspirations you might say. Living as a westerner in a strictly Muslim country like Saudi Arabia very often puts my culture and values to its pinpoint. You might see it as a constant battle with my reality now and my past experiences. A slow way of losing my mind in a way. Or maybe better to say to grow my acceptance for differences in culture, religion and values. Both private and professional. My hope is to be able to paint a clearer picture of what is going on in my life and how I can use that to build a better future for the company I'm currently working for, myself and my closest. That said, I'm really interested in your input if ever yo...

I heard about this tree, just a couple of days ago. Decided to go there and check it out myself. It was a very nice experience. In the middle of the sandy desert on a hill, more than 2 miles away from the closest source of water (according to the scientists). There stands this tree, more than 400 years old, full with green soft leaves giving shadow to visitors. Offering its branches to sit on and reflect, rest, say a short prayer. There are many stories about this tree, some say that if you visit it 3 times and say the same prayer, it will come true one day. Some say the reason why it is still alive is that it stands in the lost Garden of Eden with mysterious powers keeping it alive. If you want to read more about this you can check Wikipedia here . People are coming here to get their prayers come true and to offer some water to the tree, wishing it will give them a better life. Let me know what you think. Is this interesting? What do you want me to write about? ...

It is now 8 years ago since I posted my last article. Feels like a lifetime.  Don't really know why I would pick it up again after so long time. Guess I have nothing better to do right now. Wonder if I'll get anyone reading this, but myself? So many things have happened since then: Son moved out, got his own life. Lost my job. And my house. And my wife. That is all history and I've moved on. Found a new job, moved to other culture. Tried to pick up love again, still trying... Having a couple of days off from work. Here they celebrate Eid, so I guess I also do that. At least I'm off. Let's see if I will continue doing this and for how long. Probably just a way for me to sort my thoughts and share with cyberspace. Let me know if you read this, ask me anything, I will try to answer as honestly that I can.