Thank you!

My wife and I recently moved from our home for 38 years in Solrød Strand to a smaller house in Præstø. The main criteria were: one floor (we are both 70+), close to water, easy to maintain, and with a price label enabling the longest living to stay without having to worry about the economy.

I have been working with project management all my professional life, so I of course was fully aware, that with those rather strict limitations, all the secondary and tertiary criteria could not necessarily be fulfilled. 

We ended at Vibevej 1 in Præstø, a few hundred meters from my wife’s childhood home (where her brother and sister-in-law reside today), close to the water, close to the forest, close to central city with a wide range of shops. 

It has been possible to collect an unimaginable number of things for 38 years, things you don’t notice in everyday life, but become very visible when you must move, and make countless binary choices: should it be kept, or should it be discarded? And if the latter: how can we get rid of it? A hard process, but also, I think a mentally healthy process. 

The picture at the top is used with the permission of Camilla, who works as a teacher in a youth club. She received a lot of frames and art supplies, from us, and some days ago sent us some pictures showing how the things were used. The frames have been painted and the children encouraged to continue painting on the old paintings. Stickers have been placed with questions for the children, to stimulate curiosity and creativity. I was very happy receiving this unexpected thank you; it felt good that something we just wanted to throw away could be used in a meaningful way. 

There is a lot going on in Præstø, I look forward to becoming part of the local community. Even before the move, I had contact with Anker, chairman of Bio Bernhard, which is a cinema and culture centre very centrally located on Adelgade. We met Monday, and my ideas have been received very positively; today I have sent a draft of a film quiz, which will hopefully end up being a recurring event in Bio Bernhard. 

2023 has indeed been a year with lots of changes in my life, to mention some major ones:

• A successful surgery for spinal stenosis
• Resigning from being chairman of the DKK Rally Committee and later leaving the committee, and leaving the FCI and the NKU rally committees
• Moving from Solrød to Præstø
• Finally, being pensioned. 

 I became an engineer in 1976. My first job was at Sparekassen SDS (now part of Nordea). My last job is with Nets, where I have my last working day Monday 6 November, after 47 years on the labour market. I have written some details about the 47 years in this blog post (in Danish). 

13 years as an employee, 10 years employed in consulting companies, 15 years with my own company and the last 9 years employed in PBS/Nets/Nexi. Always jobs with focus on project management. 

I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of fantastic people on a wide range of exciting projects. The easiest would be to write none mentioned, none forgotten. 

But why choose the easy solution! Some projects have impressed me in ways, so I still recall them very clearly, not least because of the people I worked together with. 

In 1991, I was working as a consultant at PBS, and Kenneth Bjerregaard showed Jimmy Rose, Martin Kristensen, and me enormous trust - which we acknowledged with a brilliantly executed project OPUS. Where, in addition to a successful process and outcome, I was the “bad guy” who made it necessary to introduce a flag regulation; I had asked the flag to be raised to celebrate one of our deliveries; it was, but someone had complained, the flag should be reserved for more important occasions … 

I remember a project in 2010-2011 where, with reference to Henrik Slagslunde, I was given responsibility for a major moving project, with many special memories. Among other thing visiting the new location with baby Max, who joined me for work one day, and was looked after by Rikke. A terrific storm with a flooded basement. A very strenuous kitchen project, with a very expensive stainless steel table top that was measured incorrectly. I also remember that we found a Norwegian flag and marked the Utøya massacre with 1 minute of silence. And and … 

I remember a project in 2017 where I very suddenly had to assist Maria Liljenberg with some project management tasks and where we had a very successful go live. Maria felt bad about being on holiday during the go live period, but prioritized correctly, and on the day, she got the above picture on Facebook. 

I remember several projects where I, together with Claus Nielsen, Charlotte Massé and Annette Vraa Jensen helped bring about major changes. 

I remember one project that I very suddenly got involved in end 2019, getting to work with Lisa Reinhardt from AlixPartners, one of the very best consultants I've worked with. 

I am very thankful having a wonderful working life, with many highly qualified colleagues and customers. 

What now? 

In terms of work, well, if a good offer comes along, I certainly won't turn down an assignment with a clear horizon. 

But I feel very well prepared for retirement. 

I have mentioned that something is starting to happen on the film front, an old love that has not rusted. 

Although I have resigned from three committees in rally context, I still have been asked to support the DKK Rally committee on consultant basis. 

Because of the move, I am now in another district (Kreds) in DKK, and Sydkystens Hundeskole has formally moved from Solrød to Vordingborg municipality. I have launched several activities in the southern part of Zealand and Lolland. 

The dog training has been severely reduced, but I must tell you about the process Otto, and I have been through. I have previously written about a Nose Work one-hour session at PowerDog, where, based on Otto's licking behaviour when finding sources, we identified areas that could be worked on. 

Lise Sørensen, during three one-on-one lessons and a lot of training in between, has guided me and Otto, this has resulted in a dramatic development. Otto’s stress level has reduced dramatically when we work, due to a controlled start-up process. Various exercises where he must use his nose to push/mark, with the one criterion that the tongue must not lick. He has developed exceptionally well. We are continuing the good work, working to generalize his touch markings, and gradually introducing NW sources into the work. 

I am very happy and thankful that Lise gave us this opportunity, and I look forward to having her assist in the further development. The aim is to be able to debut in NW2 without having to worry about licking behaviour. 

And a lot of other things will happen as well, I'm sure. 

I am looking forward to becoming a pensioner. I am well prepared and have lots of energy, ambitions, and dreams.