For years I automatically took the car for everything I did, or almost. Over the last seven or eight years that habit has changed as I grew used to walking locally, and catching the train to activities. This shift in habits is due to two things.
The first is that I met with people who take trains. If you meet with such people it makes sense to take a train with them.
We are all familiar with it. We get a phone call. “I will be in Nyon in 20 minutes, do you want to meet”. We think, duck, that’s short notice. Do we take the bike? No, because we don’t want to leave it unattended. Do we take the car? No, because then we’d pay for the parking. Do we walk? No, because the meeting is in ten minutes and the walk will take 30 minutes.
Yesterday I finally tested Publibike after years of considering these bikes. There is a paradox. I think nothing of spending three francs, for a coke, rivella, hot chocolate or coffee but the idea of paying 3 CHF to use a bike for a six minute ride is disturbing. I didn’t pay for six minutes, because that was my first ride. I paid 3 CHF for 11 minutes.
In Line With the Price of Coffee When you compare it to the price of a coffee or a coke, or a can of redbull from a vending machine the price is reasonable.
Tomorrow I will be heading to Gruyère. I saw that if I take the train it will take two hours but if I take the car it will take one hour. I am currently toying with the idea of suggesting that I pick up some people in Nyon and others in Fourmi, before going to Gruyère.
There was a time when I would easily have done this. At that time I almost always took the car because that was the default habit.
This weekend I could have gone to Bellevaux for the VF, Thones for the VF, Kandersteg for the VF, and gone to Charmey, Rocher de Naye and one other places for hikes and climbing. I chose to do none of these things. My reason for this is to save money on petrol, after driving quite a bit last week but also to recharge.
I’m Still an Introvert Last week I went for a hike and thought “I wish I had not gone”, until the end, when I was sad that the day was over.
Last year I tried Cloudneo shoes. I paid a monthly fee to use shoes that were made from beans that were processed into ’environmentally friendly recyclable shoes’. In reality this is a con. According to an RTS article the shoes are made from natural products, that are treated in a manner that is dangerous for humans and nature. The shoes themselves, at the time the article was written, are still not recycled.
Yesterday I had to drive from Nyon to Founex to do a favour for someone. Normally I would have used the car but it was in for a tire change. I was switching from winter to summer tires at last.
On the way to Founex I took farm roads as much as possible because they’re less likely to have cars, and I’m less likely to be in the way of those cars.
Yesterday it rained so consistantly that I didn’t leave the house. I stayed indoors the entire day. I wanted to go out but because of the never-ending rain I never set foot outside.
I considered going for a run but by the time I had digested I considered that the rain would be soaking. I don’t like not going out.
I could have gone for a meetup event on Saturday and enjoyed snow, crampons, plenty of climbing and descending, while hiking.
Rain was forecast today. If rain had not been forecast then I would have driven to Ins, near the Lake of Murten near Neuchatel to go around the lake at a slow up. I didn’t go, not because rain was forecast, but because rain was expected although not quantified. I like to drive and do things, sometimes, but if I drive so far, especially to do something in relative solitude I would prefer to do it when the weather is good, rather than rainy.
Yesterday while driving the radio was on. Usually I would turn it off because people usually speak about unimportant things. Yesterday was different. Yesterday someone was speaking about solar power and Switzerland. He said that at the moment just 6 percent of houses have solar panels, when it should be closer to 20-30 percent. He also said that instead of destroying pristine nature we should add solar panels to train stations and other buildings.