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I had to look up the meaning of 'pom' - we didn't learn that term in Norwegian schools.
But ... Bryson was born, grew up, and studied in the US of A. So the explanation I found doesn't fit very well!
Anyhow: You make it sound as if you are a cricket player who is offended by anyone not treating your beloved sport with the proper honor and respect - and who has never read books by Bill Bryson! He makes fun of everything and everybody, including himself ("I come from Des Moines. Someone had to.").
He makes fun of my country as well ("According to Time Out magazine, at any moment there are 600,000 people on the Underground, making it both a larger and more interesting place than Oslo.") - and make me laugh. His travel in "Neither here nor there" spends the first three chapters in Norway, making me laugh out loud quite a few times ("The best that can be said for Norwegian television is that it gives you the sensation of a coma without the worry and inconvenience.")
If you really want to be offended by the humor of Bill Bryson, feel free to! I guess that at least half a billion people could find reasons to - he has been writing travel books from all over. But if you sit down to read his books, you will soon see that he really loves all these people. He loves the countries he visits. After having read "Down Under", my immediate reaction was: That sounds like a really great country with a lot of great people - I really should visit it some day!
By the way: He is not 'trying to sell a book' - he is selling truckloads of them. According to Wikipedia, his books have been sold in more than 16 million copies. The Wikipedia article also presents a quite extensive lists of "Awards, positions and honors". I strongly doubt that he received these by being an 'archetypal cynic'.
If you are in a bad mood, why not pick up a Bill Bryson book to brighten you up and give you some laughs?
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I suggest starting with "A Walk in the Woods". I've read it 3 times.
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Noice!
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Happy New Year to you, as well, Chris! Have a safe journey back to the frozen tundra, and watch out for those pesky woolly mammoths roaming up there! Running into one of them can ruin your sled, and scare the daylights out of your dogs! Meanwhile I'll be setting here, suffering through 65°F days and occasional rain...
Will Rogers never met me.
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Happy new year from the old grunt.
Cold weather and old age are bitter enemies.
Lou
>64
Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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theoldfool wrote: Cold weather and old age are bitter enemies.
Not helped by the soaring price of energy. 
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>>Not helped by the soaring price of energy.
Agree, sad state of affairs. 
>64
Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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The good thing about cold weather and runaway electricity prices is that it is cheaper to lit a fire in your open fireplace and enjoy the wonderful radiation heat from burning wood, than any kind of electric heating (including heat pump based). When temperature in my place dropped to -16 to -17C (around 3F to 1F) I loved it, giving me a good excuse for curling up in front of the fireplace. (Other parts of Norway has seen much lower temperatures; my town is by the sea, so it doesn't get that cold.)
(This winter, electricity prices are up to ten times of what we are accustomed to. The majority of Norwegian homes are heated by electricity, either directly or through head pumps.)
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Yes, happy new year to you and yours, Chris.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Not belated at all - the real New Year took place at 16:17 GMT on the fourth of January this year, when our home planet reached perihelion in its orbit around the sun, thus starting a new year! 
Contrary? Moi? 
Anyway, happy new year ![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif) to all those on CP, whenever you celebrate it.
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A happy new year to you from Israel.
I trust that you've laid in plenty of winter supplies for the hamsters (and yourself...). With the news out of China, I doubt that we've seen the end of this.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Wordle 565 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟩🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 565 3/6
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 565 6/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 565 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 565 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Wordle 565 5/6*
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. -Anon
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Was so hoping for a 2 here 
Wordle 565 5/6*
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 565 3/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
🟩⬛🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Wordle 565 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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#Worldle #348 1/6 (100%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr
no map required. Worldle has taught me this area over time.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Short girl upset by gloomy surroundings is told to get out! (9)
Short girl SIS
upset by (anag)
ISS
gloomy DISM AL
surroundings (around)
told to get out!
DISMISSAL
I'm surprised nobody got it ... I'll have to make tomorrow's really simple! 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I'd never have thought of Sis for short girl - short sibling yes but that would have given it away
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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I know it only as a short for sister.
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