Yesterday I had my snow tires replaced for regular ones, Barðurinn, a place which specializes in tires only…very busy with 8 bays to receive vehicles. It was filled with organized confusion and plenty of black dirt from all the activity, right down to the desk area where the computer was covered in what appeared a permanent soot. Then I got a call from Dennis and Hjördis, a husband-and-wife architect team, he being half American. Their website (also in English) is http://www.arkhd.is/. They’ve become well established and do all kinds of stuff from homes to schools to embassies. I've known Dennis' mother a long time, now in her mid 80s, and not well. She is friends with Dolly of the same age whom I mentioned earlier, very down-to-earth and no-nonsense. Apparently about 10 years ago Dolly returned home to America with the intent of making a go of living out her remaining years there. She stayed about 6 months and found the overall atmosphere inferior to Iceland and hence returned.

Here it’s not uncommon for young people to do a year or two of college after which they take a break to work for a year or so and then finish off their education. One fellow at the post did two years of college and returns in the autumn. He spent the past year doing menial work unloading trucks out back. The reason given: not to make money but to experience what he terms a lousy job to give himself incentive for a higher education. Quite impressed, really.

This summer is predicted to be the hottest in 100 years, obviously part of global warming. The big fear is retreating glaciers as well as melting in nearby Greenland. Here at the Arctic people are especially sensitive to such matters because it affects them more than other places.