Finally Broadband

In Norway, all phone service is metered, like long distance in the US. If you have dial-up internet, you pay by the minute- never mind that it is ridiculously slow. Our broadband fiasco has been solved- and -we have two months free. Currently we have an 8000k line- which is screamingly fast. We will actually have a 2000k line after they sort out our installation issues. We will probably go with a VoIP phone so we can call free to the US. Early next year, this apartment will be connected directly with fiber optics. I remember when 348 was fast in Minneapolis.

I made it out for a ride today. It was wet- like that is any surprise. At least it was relatively warm. I needed lights tonight. I am not sure what I think about all the roundabouts here. I came screaming into one when I realized I was going to be T-boned by a car that had the right of way. Since it was wet I locked up the rear wheel and slithered through. The difficulty is that there are virtually no stop signs, and very few lights- especially for a city this size. Going into a roundabout, you need to yield to any vehicle to your left. This is the opposite of the regular roads at uncontrolled intersections where you yeild to vehicles at your right. A city like Minneapolis has no uncontrolled intersections that I recall- meaning an intersection where neither street has a stop sign, light, or yield sign. Here they are all over, and they favor yield signs for stopsigns. The problem is that it is difficult to tell which vehicle is driving through the roundabout that requires me to yield. Signalling just seems to add to the confusion.

A bit later, when it was dark, I avoided a nasty intersection by taking the bike trail. This trail itself actually had a bike roundabout, if you can believe that. I encountered two other bikes who approached me. These were separate incidents where they insisted on riding on the left side of the road. They didn't look like serious bikers, but they left me confused. I almost hit them head-on.

There are an insane amount of bike trails and paths here. There are all sorts of bike tunnels under major intersections. The trouble is that most roads are very narrow, and I generally do not like riding on bike paths. I will need to make some adjustments.

After I rode home, I decided to explore the neighborhood more. I rode all the way up the hill. I became lost near the NATO headquarters. Everything is vertical toward the top of the hill, with freaky terraced apartments. There is no such thing as a straight road around here, and street names change every few blocks, which explains why almost all addresses are only two digits- rather than the five digit addresses common in the US. Then again, I can't get too lost, since I'm almost surrounded by water.

Did I mention we now have internet? Unfortunately, we were required to have cable TV as well.