Commuting, skiing, baking and agility

My plan for the new job was to commute by train. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do this. The train takes about an hour. Usually I have wait 15 minutes for the next bus, which takes 15 minutes to get to the hospital, leaving me with 5 minutes to change. This turns out to be a little short, as it takes a full 5 minutes to walk from the bus stop down the full length of the corridor and to my locker at the far end of the locker room, even if I don't have to stand in line to get clothes. Alternatively I can take an earlier train. To the morning shift I have no choice. The first train goes at 5 am and I was changed and ready to work at 6:35, though the shift didn't begin until 7:30. The second train, however is too late. :(

Husband putting stud tires on my bike.

My train home usually departs an hour and 20 minutes after the end of the shift, giving me plenty of time to change and get the bus to the train station. I actually enjoy travelling by train. I can read, blog, surf the net (the train has free wifi), eat breakfast or whatever, using the iPad that I bought for this purpose. Also today, I discovered a "velferd" room at the hospital, with massage chairs, sofa's and fancy coffee machine. It doesn't seem to be much used, and provides a nice area to just relax when having a lengthy wait for public transport.

Since I spend so many hours travelling and working, there is the question of fresh air and exercise. For this purpose I aquired stud tires for my bike thinking I could ride the 2 miles to the train station. I did so last tuesday. It really takes no longer than to take the car, as the parking lot is clear on the other side of the station, and you still have to go under the underpass to get to the right track. Also, it seems I can transfer to a lokal train in Lillestrøm to a station that is only a mile from the hospital, instead of takiking the bus. The local train is much cheaper than the bus, and I would get a nice walk out of it as well. Next month I plan to try it out.

Our house on a crisp winter morning.

Last week, I was so revved up about the new job that I had trouble sleeping. I kept waking up a couple hours earlier than the alarm (which was set for 5 or even 4:15 am), so that by the time I got home after my third day, I could hardly keep my eyes open. So it sure was nice to go to bed early knowing that I had 4 days off to look forward to.

On Saturday I went skiing with Lucy for over 2 hours. We got onto the track where it passes about 50 yards from the front door, but instead of heading up into the woods, we followed it west over the fields toward the lake, turning north and passing behind Stange Church, and then east again over the fields towards the village of Stange, until we arrived back home. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too cold, and no wind.

Lucy watching from behind the registration table

Sunday I had been asked to help out at a dog agility competition. I tolk Lucy along, figuring it would be good for her to just watch from a corner. She needs to be exposed to new environments, strange dogs and people as much as possible. I found a place near the registration table under a stair. My job was to watch 4 or 5 hurdles. Staightening out the "sack" and picking up the jumps when they got knocked down. There were fruit, sandwiches and soda for the volonteers so we didn't go hungry. I worked for 6 straight hours after which I was exhausted. But it was fun, and I learned a lot about competition rules. Lucy lay flat out for the rest of the evening after we had returned home. She had indeed, taken in a lot of impressions.

Other projects this weekend were baking a Mississippi mud pie, and homemade "knekkebrød" (crackers)