The Hulsunds

The
Hulsunds.

Andreas, Rachel, Jayden and Olivia. Four of us, two countries: Melhus in Trøndelag most of the year, Florida whenever we can get there. Football on weekends, something smoking in the backyard, and a boat and an Airstream still on the wish list.

Home in Melhus since 2023, after years on the US East Coast

Two sets of grandparents, two sets of friends

Runs on coffee, cold beer and whoever is in charge of dessert

Four of us.

Dad

Andreas

Engineer, founder, lagleder, grill cook. Most of what follows on this page is his doing.

Off the clock →

Mom

Rachel

Rakel at home, Rachel in Florida. The one who keeps four calendars, two countries and one household in sync.

Born 2013

Jayden

A true Florida boy who loves the outdoors, usually with a rod in his hand. Gifted-class student with years of straight A's. Plays football for Melhus G2013, after an earlier stint in flag football.

Born 2016

Olivia

Plays football, dances and takes acting class. Just placed first overall in fifth-grade math, and is still in charge of dessert.

The four of us in a beach selfie taken from below — Beach day

Andreas and Olivia roasting marshmallows over a campfire at night — Marshmallow duty

Jayden and Olivia mid-air, jumping into a pool — Pool, no hesitation

Andreas walking down a Florida sidewalk holding hands with Olivia, Jayden alongside — Florida sidewalk

Andreas, Olivia and Jayden sitting by the water at night with lights and a roller coaster behind — Orlando at night

Andreas and Rachel in front of a painted I-Drive postcard mural — The two of us

Jayden in a Bass Pro Shops cap at the wheel of a side-by-side, Olivia in the back seat — Test drive

Jayden seen from behind at the wheel, looking at boats and flags outside Bass Pro Shops — Bass Pro Shops, Fourth of July

What I'd rather be doing.

I spend the working week keeping industrial equipment running. Everything below is what the rest of the time is for, roughly in the order it wins.

Sidelines

Football

I'm the lagleder for Melhus G2013, Jayden's team. The coaches run the sessions. I keep everything around them moving.

Melhus Fotball G2013 · lagleder

On the water

Boats and fishing

Salmon in the Gaula, which runs right past town, and saltwater whenever I'm in Florida. No boat of our own yet. A boat and an Airstream are on the list. The caricature has it all at once: Navy cap, headset, cooler, rod and the flag.

Gaula · one of Norway's big salmon rivers, on my doorstep

Caricature of Andreas at a boat wheel with a fishing rod, headset, Navy cap and a cooler of cold beer

Soundtrack

Country music

In the shop, on the water, in the truck. The Florida years did that, and Norway has not managed to undo it. The playlist is public, so press play.

Open the playlist on Spotify →

Tinkering

Home automation

Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi tying together Elko Living and IHC wiring, Matter devices, LIFX lighting and sensors on anything that moves. The office network at the hub, with more VLANs than a building strictly needs, is my design too.

Home Assistant · IHC · Elko Living · Matter · LIFX · UniFi

Sawdust

Woodworking

Adirondack chairs, including a giant one you need a step to climb into. Built from plans I keep refining, finished to survive Norwegian winters.

Adirondack Norway · footrest rev. 0, chair rev. 5, giant rev. 1

Andreas at a mitre saw cutting a board, ear defenders on

Andreas screwing together an Adirondack chair frame in the driveway

Where it started

Navy days

Ensign on missile torpedo boats, in charge of the seamen and everything above deck. Checklists and inspection rounds stuck with me. So did the cap.

22nd MTB Squadron, Royal Norwegian Navy

Around town

The rink on the town square

There was never a rink here when I grew up. What the US years taught me is how much a town can do for itself, and Markedsplassen outside Melhustorget sat empty all winter. So in 2024 I started one, with Melhus kommune, Leik IL, the school band, Kirkens Bymisjon's Skattkammer lending out skates for free, and the local bank paying for it. The first winter lost to mild weather and uneven ground. Last winter it opened for real, and the ice was excellent. It comes back this winter, and we are now working on cooling under the ice so it holds from December to Easter.

Opening day on Facebook → · Trønderbladet, Nov 2024 · the barracks piece, Mar 2023 · before that, Solsidan Aktivitetsforening 2012–2019, a neighbourhood club for sharing and renting out gear

Kids skating on the rink outside Melhustorget at dusk

Andreas Hulsund and Kristin Aune Welschinger beside the rink while it is being set up

Right: with Kristin Aune Welschinger. Photo: Trønderbladet.

Trøndelag and Florida.

Norwegian by birth, Floridian by heart, and now back in Norway with a company on each side of the Atlantic.

Home

Melhus, Trøndelag

Small town on the Gaula river, twenty minutes south of Trondheim. School, football pitch, salmon river and the office within a short drive of each other.

Office: Jernbanevegen 12, at the station
Season: Grill all year, skates when the rink is up

Second home

Florida

Where the barbecue, the country music and the saltwater fishing come from. Bluestream's US company lives here, and so does a good part of our story.

Company: Bluestream LLC, Miami
Season: Fishing all year, grill in the shade

Andreas, the short version.

Maintenance and reliability engineer, CMRP. Twenty-five years of keeping industrial assets running, from the Navy through oil and gas and salmon farming to the systems that plan the maintenance.

Bluestream

Founder. Maintenance engineering practice in Norway and the US.

Sprint 365

Technical Architect for Dynamics 365 Asset Management, through Bluestream AS.

Melhus Tech Hub

Co-founder. Office community for small tech and engineering companies in Melhus.

Full professional profile at Bluestream →

The
Hulsunds.