I think you have misunderstood Řistein's posting. Let's all try to remember that English is the second language of many visitors to this forum. I am absolutely positive that no offence was intended here, Řistein is not like that at all. He has simply translated a Norwegian sentence into English. When said in Norwegian it sounds perfectly friendly and polite.



To illustrate how a language barrier can easily cause misunderstandings, I can give you an example involving my own mother. She was visiting America and my mother in law for the fisrt time. My mother in law had spent two days cooking a meal with turkey and all the trimmings, which my mom had never tasted before. When asked what she thought of it, my mother said it "tasted very strange". I knew perfectly well what she meant - she had translated the word "fremmed", which can mean "a stranger" or "strange", but it can also mean "foreign", or in this case "unusual", in other words unlike anything she had tasted before. I thought my mother in law was going to have a fit at the idea that her food tasted strange, and my mom couldn' understand why she was so upset (until I explained).



Like you, Řistein has also written a book on ships, and I greatly value the help I personally, and others who come here with their questions, receive from knowledgable people like you both, and from other visitors to this forum.



Best wishes



Siri