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ovs
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Stachel meets Paarma in Finland
Well, another chapter in the lives of 2 OFF Devs has been written. I had the pleasure of meeting up with Arto (aka Paarma) in Helsinki, Finland this past weekend.
What a great meeting we had. Paarma took the time to educate me all about Finland and how it gained it's independece in 1918, then fought to protect it it against the Soviets in 1939-40. Unfortunately the weather was crummy that night, but it didn't stop us, nor any of the other Finns in Helsinki.
After first shaking hands at the Train Station, we stepped right into the converstaion as if we had seen each other yesterday. My wife being amazed again at how this could be, seeing that we live on the opposite side of the planet some 7 hours away from each other. But once again, as she did when I met Terry, she got an education about what it's like to have common interests, no matter how far away.
Paarma took us around the City Center and pointed out some great monuments and highlights of his City. It's a really nice place, bustling with a very young crowd of Finns walking around and looking very technical with today's latest hand-held gadgets. It's a clean city, and very well lit with signs and places to go. Me being from NY and often going to Manhattan, I'm used to the city atmosphere and the unknown dangers it can hold, but in Helsinki, I felt very safe and relaxed.
We stopped at of all things, a Southern-style American resturant and sat down for dinner. The food was great, and the conversation flowed. We had a lot to learn about and from each other. It's great being from a free society. Paarma explained his love of WWI aviation, and how he came to the team, and I did the same, much to my wife and daughter's suprise. It was funny to look at them listen to us. Here we have never met each other in person, but we knew a lot of each other and had a common historical interest. By the way... the Finnish beer was VERY good.
We finished up and went for a nice walk. Again, with Paarma pointing out what each building was and what we should see before we went home the next day.
It was a good time, and for me, a chance to learn more about another country in our world. Paarma gave me a book as a friendship gift, which was very nice. The book was entitled The Winter War, which described in very good detail the plight of the Finns when the Soviets attempted to take them over. I read it on the plane, I could not put it down. It was a great book. I learned that the Finns are some tough ***'s and no doubt, love their land and country, an aspect any true patriot can understand.
It unfortunately was a short meeting as we were only in town one night and we started late, but none-the-less, it was a good one. We enjoyed his company and Paarma left a very good impression on us of the people of Finland... very nice, and very accomodating as we experienced wherever we went in Finland.
Thanks Paarma, it was a great time, and no doubt a highlight in this crazy book I am writing called life.
Hope to see you at Terry's for the OFF Dev Team clam bake and beach bash sometime soon.
All the best,
OvS
View attachment 65674
James (OvS) and Arto (Paarma) in Helsinki
Well, another chapter in the lives of 2 OFF Devs has been written. I had the pleasure of meeting up with Arto (aka Paarma) in Helsinki, Finland this past weekend.
What a great meeting we had. Paarma took the time to educate me all about Finland and how it gained it's independece in 1918, then fought to protect it it against the Soviets in 1939-40. Unfortunately the weather was crummy that night, but it didn't stop us, nor any of the other Finns in Helsinki.
After first shaking hands at the Train Station, we stepped right into the converstaion as if we had seen each other yesterday. My wife being amazed again at how this could be, seeing that we live on the opposite side of the planet some 7 hours away from each other. But once again, as she did when I met Terry, she got an education about what it's like to have common interests, no matter how far away.
Paarma took us around the City Center and pointed out some great monuments and highlights of his City. It's a really nice place, bustling with a very young crowd of Finns walking around and looking very technical with today's latest hand-held gadgets. It's a clean city, and very well lit with signs and places to go. Me being from NY and often going to Manhattan, I'm used to the city atmosphere and the unknown dangers it can hold, but in Helsinki, I felt very safe and relaxed.
We stopped at of all things, a Southern-style American resturant and sat down for dinner. The food was great, and the conversation flowed. We had a lot to learn about and from each other. It's great being from a free society. Paarma explained his love of WWI aviation, and how he came to the team, and I did the same, much to my wife and daughter's suprise. It was funny to look at them listen to us. Here we have never met each other in person, but we knew a lot of each other and had a common historical interest. By the way... the Finnish beer was VERY good.
We finished up and went for a nice walk. Again, with Paarma pointing out what each building was and what we should see before we went home the next day.
It was a good time, and for me, a chance to learn more about another country in our world. Paarma gave me a book as a friendship gift, which was very nice. The book was entitled The Winter War, which described in very good detail the plight of the Finns when the Soviets attempted to take them over. I read it on the plane, I could not put it down. It was a great book. I learned that the Finns are some tough ***'s and no doubt, love their land and country, an aspect any true patriot can understand.
It unfortunately was a short meeting as we were only in town one night and we started late, but none-the-less, it was a good one. We enjoyed his company and Paarma left a very good impression on us of the people of Finland... very nice, and very accomodating as we experienced wherever we went in Finland.
Thanks Paarma, it was a great time, and no doubt a highlight in this crazy book I am writing called life.
Hope to see you at Terry's for the OFF Dev Team clam bake and beach bash sometime soon.
All the best,
OvS
View attachment 65674
James (OvS) and Arto (Paarma) in Helsinki
