summer is cancelled

This is the view from my office window at noon. It´s been snowing continuously all day!
I checked yr.no before I left my house, and it was only supposed to be snowing for a while... so I took the skinny road bike to work.
May not have been the best decision. You can see it in the second photo, the purple Torpado, with the snow-covered seat.

subway conspiracy

So yesterday I am literally running like an idiot to catch my 8:29 subway to work (I know... I should have taken the bike, long story).
Anyways, it`s already 8:28 and I can see that it hasn`t left yet. I try to stamp my ticket but the machine isnt working. So I fly down the stairs and towards the cabin. As I am pushing the button on the door to let me in, the subway starts to leave!
I am right there, pushing on the door! Let me in!
Incredibly frustrating.

And then today, I figure it`s pointless to run since it was again 8:28. But when I get there at 8:31 it is still there!? And again, as soon as I enter the station, the subway starts to pull away!!

I just know that somebody somewhere is sitting there with a camera, laughing, as they watch me running after the subway, in my pre-coffee half-awake state.
Tomorrow I am taking the bike.

car vs subway vs bike

I never seem to learn... do NOT take the car to work!
Basically I have 3 choices of transport: car, subway or bike.
The subway takes 15 minutes... when it is on time. (an unreliable form of transport at best... and always crammed with people who all seem to be sneezing and coughing... also, they just increased the price).
Bicycling can take anywhere from 15-20 minutes depending on how wet the roads are... or in the winter, how much snow/ice (but with studded tires, it is pretty safe). It gets me fresh air and costs absolutely nothing.
This morning I decided to use my 3rd alternative, the car. How long did it take me to get to work? 35 minutes!! (and that´s AFTER having shoveled the snow away and scraped the ice from the windows)
It´s only a 7 km distance! I could have walked next to my car!

Please... next time I toy with the idea of taking the car to work... come over and kick me in the a**!

email etiquette

The "subject line" is not where you write an entire sentence!

bikes vs cars

It almost happened again.
I am riding my bike to work, still slightly dark and a little bit of rain making it slippery. Coming down the hill from Bryn I am crossing the crosswalk in pretty good speed. I have a blinking light on my handle bars plus reflectors on my legs. Still, this car wants to take a left and cross the crosswalk even though I am now almost halfway over!!
I have to break really hard and start sliding. The car stops and honks in anger. I manage to stop, and continue to ride over in front of the car who has now stopped. My heart is racing and I got pretty scared, and really angry. By the time I turn around he is already gone.
What an idiot.

still seeking tolerance and acceptance

I was simply appalled and amazed after reading the negative reactions that TV2 have received because they have included a gay participant in the "Jakten på Kjærligheten" (Search for Love) show in Norway. The show tries to find a parter for a girl or a guy and has, until now, had heterosexuals on the show. Now that they include a gay man on the show it is causing a stir and people do not wish to watch this on tv.
I would expect this negative reaction (or at least not be surprised) from the southern states in America, the so-called "Christian bible-belt", where they love to pull quotes from the bible about how man is not supposed to be with another man. But I really thought that this sort of prejudism was gone from today`s Norway.
Not long ago it was declared legal for same-sex marriage in Norway, which was a great victory for the gay community. But there is still a lot of gay-related violence (gay bashing) in the streets of Oslo.
I can only imagine how difficult it is to "come out" and accept that one is gay, and how reports like this will make it even more difficult... not just to accept that one is gay, but feel comfortable with it and to feel accepted. I simply do not understand why people still cannot accept a persons sexual preference an instead look for ones inner beauties.
We are all simply looking for love and acceptance. Whether this is with a person of opposite sex or not is irrelevant.

The article, in Norwegian, can be read here. What is even more scary are the reactions written in below the article. The article does not state the number of complaints that were called in to the station... I just hope it is a minute number.

the predictably unreliable transit system

Yesterday I had to take the subway to work, instead of riding my bike, since I was also taking the train up to Gjøvik. It was to be a long day.
After day`s end in Gjøvik, and the 2 hour train back home, I only had the 30 minute subway to take me the last stretch.
But only halfway home, at Bryn station, all the lights went off in the subway car and we were told that there was no electricity on the tracks. Thats it. No other options. Just a nice message that there was an electricity breach.
There were no taxis, so I walked up to Manglerud in hopes of finding one. There were about 6-7 other people in line for the taxis there too, so I walked further to Ryen where I finally found an available taxi.
I did not get home until 21:30, an hour late.

The exact same thing happened 2 weeks ago when I also needed to travel up to Gjøvik. The subway on the way home lost its electricity feed and we had to find other means of transportation.

This morning, as I happily rode my bike to work, I could see the subway platform filled with people waiting in the rain for the subway. It looks like they have not been able to fix the problems.

And people ask me why I ride my bike to work.

naptime

There should be a "mandatory naptime" integrated into the workday.
There`s no way I`m supposed be expected to function after a big lunch.

I urge everyone to sign this petition for a "after-lunch-naptime" so I can send it in to the prime minister.

klageavdelingen

Jeg vil gjerne få lov til å leve resten av mitt liv uten å måtte høre en eneste låt av Alexander Rybak!