- Jul 12, 2018
- 9,336
Lars Valstad slammed his fist on a glass table in front of him and looked up at the maintenance crew chief standing in front of him. "I don't give a damn what it costs," he said, his own breath turning into a white fog as it floated up from his mouth. "You're going to have this building ready in three hours, and we're going live. Everyone will be watching!" Lars and the maintenance crew chief were standing inside Posthuset, the third tallest building in Oslo. Posthuset housed Aftenposten which was Norway's largest newspaper, along with the headquarters for the Norwegian Postal Service and some other companies. Heating had failed in the building, and the city was still very cold from the brutal Winter of 2012 which had extended into the spring of 2013. By now, it had gone from -50 degrees Celsius in Oslo to -10 Celsius. It was still incredibly cold, but the city could actually function again. Posthuset, however, was cold. A few windows had been broken, including one of the large glass windows in the upper-story conference room they were standing in now. Electricity had been restored to parts of the building, and all of the plumbing issues had been fixed, but power and heating were still a problem.
"Mister Valstad, we're only human. Also, we're union. You're going to need to give us more time," so the unenthusiastic crew chief. Lars, who was an older man with greying hair, was no amused.
"I can't tell the King to wait, Ragnar. I can't tell Norway to wait. You and your boys need to do whatever has to be done - I'll pay for it myself, I'll pay you triple overtime. Whatever it takes. But we need power back in this building, and we need the heat one. We can't go live without it. It's our first broadcast."
Suddenly, the maintenance chief, Ragnar, seemed to perk up at the sound of "triple over-time".
"Well we might be able to work something out..." Ragnar said. He took off his construction hat and scratched his head. "I'll round up the crew," he continued, "and get back to you in an hour... But no matter what, we're getting paid for three hours. Right?"
Lars nodded, "Yes, now get out!"
Ragnar hurried out of the room, nearly running in to two men who were carrying the replacement window for the conference room. Lars took his phone from his pocket and tried to unlock it. Because it was so cold in the room, the phone battery suddenly went down by half and his fingers were too cold for the smart screen to detect it. "Damn thing," the old man grunted. He licked his finger, and then was finally able to unlock it. He typed in a number and put the phone to his ear.
"Rune, this is Lars," he said when the ringing stopped.
"Yeah.. You know I can tell it's you because these phones have caller I.D. You don't have to announce yourself every time you make a call," said Rune who was in his 40s, rather than his 60s like Lars.
"Whatever... Listen, I talked to the maintenance chief. He said they'll have power and heat on in Posthuset before we go live. Get down to Oslo, now."
"Alright, I'll be there in sixty. See you soon." Rune hung up. Lars wondered why no one said "Goodbye" anymore.
After an hour, Rune drove into Oslo and arrived at Posthuset. He was wearing a dark suit with a dark blue tie and pristine white shirt. Lars met him in the lobby and gave him a strong handshake. "Thank God you made it, I didn't want to give NRK the satisfaction of us having to do our first broadcast from Bergen."
Rune patted Lars on the shoulder. He was somewhat taller and had a slightly stronger build. His golden brown hair was combed professionally, one could almost mistake him for an American newsman. "It wouldn't have worked. I would have been live from the street in the snow, using my phone camera. Our only chance to do it is here..." Rune checked his watch. "We're less than two hours to air, are we ready?"
Lars started walking towards the elevator and gestured Rune to follow him. "We're technically ready.. Something you need to see..."
Rune didn't like the sound of that. They made their way up to the broadcast room where there was a desk, several flat screens, and a lot of news equipment around them. All of the screens had "Aftenrapport" on them in bold blue lettering. Rune was satisfied at first, until he saw one of the lights - or what should have been one of the lights. It was hard to miss, considering it had about twenty smartphones taped to it, which were all plugged in and charging.
"What the fuck?" Rune pondered, as he got closer.
"Don't touch it.... It'll fall down again. Look, we were able to fix everything, except for this light. I swear, we sent interns to ten different hardware stores, and couldn't find a bulb. Finally we got the idea to take all of their phones, put them on airplane mode, and turn on the 'flashlights' on them. The lighting is perfect."
Rune rubbed his face and laughed.
::::::::::
One of the interns sighed as she looked over at her phone, which was taped to a light fixture that was now illuminating Rune Isberg, Anchor for Aftenrapport. Aftenposten, the newspaper, wasn't accepting internships this semester, but their new evening news program, Aftenrapport, was in need of labor. She watched at the Director of News, Lars Valstad, walked into the producers room and said, "Alright, we're ready."
This evening was going to be the first broadcast of Aftenrapport, "The Evening Report."
"Mister Valstad, we're only human. Also, we're union. You're going to need to give us more time," so the unenthusiastic crew chief. Lars, who was an older man with greying hair, was no amused.
"I can't tell the King to wait, Ragnar. I can't tell Norway to wait. You and your boys need to do whatever has to be done - I'll pay for it myself, I'll pay you triple overtime. Whatever it takes. But we need power back in this building, and we need the heat one. We can't go live without it. It's our first broadcast."
Suddenly, the maintenance chief, Ragnar, seemed to perk up at the sound of "triple over-time".
"Well we might be able to work something out..." Ragnar said. He took off his construction hat and scratched his head. "I'll round up the crew," he continued, "and get back to you in an hour... But no matter what, we're getting paid for three hours. Right?"
Lars nodded, "Yes, now get out!"
Ragnar hurried out of the room, nearly running in to two men who were carrying the replacement window for the conference room. Lars took his phone from his pocket and tried to unlock it. Because it was so cold in the room, the phone battery suddenly went down by half and his fingers were too cold for the smart screen to detect it. "Damn thing," the old man grunted. He licked his finger, and then was finally able to unlock it. He typed in a number and put the phone to his ear.
"Rune, this is Lars," he said when the ringing stopped.
"Yeah.. You know I can tell it's you because these phones have caller I.D. You don't have to announce yourself every time you make a call," said Rune who was in his 40s, rather than his 60s like Lars.
"Whatever... Listen, I talked to the maintenance chief. He said they'll have power and heat on in Posthuset before we go live. Get down to Oslo, now."
"Alright, I'll be there in sixty. See you soon." Rune hung up. Lars wondered why no one said "Goodbye" anymore.
After an hour, Rune drove into Oslo and arrived at Posthuset. He was wearing a dark suit with a dark blue tie and pristine white shirt. Lars met him in the lobby and gave him a strong handshake. "Thank God you made it, I didn't want to give NRK the satisfaction of us having to do our first broadcast from Bergen."
Rune patted Lars on the shoulder. He was somewhat taller and had a slightly stronger build. His golden brown hair was combed professionally, one could almost mistake him for an American newsman. "It wouldn't have worked. I would have been live from the street in the snow, using my phone camera. Our only chance to do it is here..." Rune checked his watch. "We're less than two hours to air, are we ready?"
Lars started walking towards the elevator and gestured Rune to follow him. "We're technically ready.. Something you need to see..."
Rune didn't like the sound of that. They made their way up to the broadcast room where there was a desk, several flat screens, and a lot of news equipment around them. All of the screens had "Aftenrapport" on them in bold blue lettering. Rune was satisfied at first, until he saw one of the lights - or what should have been one of the lights. It was hard to miss, considering it had about twenty smartphones taped to it, which were all plugged in and charging.
"What the fuck?" Rune pondered, as he got closer.
"Don't touch it.... It'll fall down again. Look, we were able to fix everything, except for this light. I swear, we sent interns to ten different hardware stores, and couldn't find a bulb. Finally we got the idea to take all of their phones, put them on airplane mode, and turn on the 'flashlights' on them. The lighting is perfect."
Rune rubbed his face and laughed.
::::::::::
One of the interns sighed as she looked over at her phone, which was taped to a light fixture that was now illuminating Rune Isberg, Anchor for Aftenrapport. Aftenposten, the newspaper, wasn't accepting internships this semester, but their new evening news program, Aftenrapport, was in need of labor. She watched at the Director of News, Lars Valstad, walked into the producers room and said, "Alright, we're ready."
This evening was going to be the first broadcast of Aftenrapport, "The Evening Report."
