Mogens and Birte Been

I went to go visit Mogens and Birte Been this afternoon. They came to pick me up at 2pm, and then we drove to their home. They live in Bagsværd, which is about 15 km northwest of the center of Copenhagen. They are their own municipality, although I think it is considered part of "Greater Copenhagen". Click here to see their house. They live very close to a large lake. You can zoom out to get an idea of how far it is away from Copenhagen. It is quite close. I guess about a 20 minute ride on the S-train. Or 15 minute car ride.

They both have degrees in electrical engineering from what I understand. Mainly doing work with power electronics. Mogens worked for Phillips for a long time, in the lighting department. Now he does consulting work. He just got back from Serbia for a week, where he was giving advice to a steel girdar manufacturing company (on quality issues, etc). Been Business Development. Birte stopped her regular job a few years ago too, and now owns a small business too. She does work with acoustics and noise reduction in industrial areas, offices, etc.

They have 3 sons. 17, 21, and 25. The youngest just started gymnasium, and is in a rock band. The 21 year old is in the service, doing firefighting type work. The oldest will graduate this year with a Masters doing work in digital image processing.

They were very nice, and we talked for a long time. Mogens is big into kayaking and biking. He also is president of the local theatre association. We had a snack when I got there, and then took a walk around their neighborhood. I got to eat dinner with them too, which was very good. Pork chops, rice, and peas. Their house is not wood at all. Brick, and the walls are more of a cement/plaster/etc. Not sheetrock. Hardwood, brick, or tile floors with big rugs on them. Very cozy furnishings. The lighting is all hung really low, so you can easily see what is on the table, but the higher areas of the room are dimmer. Makes a nice effect in the room. Their main living/dining room has huge windows going outside, so they have lots of natural light as well.

I guess I should be thoughtful what I write in my blog. The whole world can read it. :)

Mogens commented that my accent sounds different than that of George Bush. I thought that was interesting that he noticed that.

Cars have a 180% tax in Denmark. The reason is to provide a disincentive for buying a car (and using public transportation or a bike instead), but they said that was just a convienant reason. Actually the big tax is a large revenue generator to pay for transportation costs, and thats why it sticks around. Same tax on motorcyles too. A Harley might cost 400,000 DKK I think he said. Some younger people are buying homes in southern Sweden now, because they can get a bigger apartment and buy a car cheaply. The bridge costs 235 DKK to cross though. $40. Cheaper if you do it daily. Train ride much cheaper.