“Aren’t you going to ask where the alarm clock went?”

I had swapped our clock radio for my iPad. We used to sleep in a room partly illuminated by the nearly-nuclear green glow of a Sony clock radio. We used to awaken to the news on MPR.

Now we sleep in a slightly darker room. We awaken to a song personally selected by me each evening, from my MP3 collection; the above song was one of the first ones I picked when we started this, about a month ago. Surprisingly, I don’t miss the news that we used to get via the alarm clock. Besides, I now have a long enough commute that I can get the news while driving in to work. That is, if I’m not tuned into a podcast: I’m loving “Serial” and “Criminal” lately, and still enjoying various The Moth, RadioLab and Freakonomics episodes.

So: hi! I haven’t posted in awhile. In fact, I started this post way, way back before I started my new job. A lot has happened in that mere three weeks and I’m sorry that these posts haven’t been very frequent. Rest assured that you haven’t missed much in the travelog department, aside from last weekend’s annual pilgrimage up to Hayward to get a few racers onto the Birkie trail for another battle in that enormous race.

Fancy cabin snacks

If that trip were to have its own post, here’s a summary: Ten of us enjoyed our stay, again, at Mystic Moose Cabins. It was mighty cold but also beautiful out. We enjoyed spectating, though preferred it indoors (watching the dots progress on the athlete tracker site) to outdoors. Our friend Jon toiled valiantly on the course, though the course won, this year (he’s fine). Once again we over-planned for food. Though we had plenty of it for eating solely at the cabin, the cold and our thirst for adventure got us into a few more Hayward pubs than usual: Good fun, good beer, and … good curds.

I experienced two surprising side effects of the Birkie trip this year: 1) a few of us opted for the much shorter and completely non-competitive “family fun ski” event, the afternoon prior to the big races. It was the first time I’d skied in a year and I enjoyed it more than I’d thought I would. In fact, we drove back up yesterday, to put in a few more kilometers on those waxless skis. And 2) I’m feeling more pull than usual to go back up for a summer visit. Or maybe in the fall – the Birkie trail marathon is in late September; that could be fun!

Visit 2 to Urgent Care in the past month

The new job is the main reason for all my distraction from this site lately. Lots about it very strange and new, though the work itself is fascinating and really kind of irresistible for me. I’m digging it, though the commute, while not particularly long, is 20+ minutes longer each way than my old commute. It’s surprising how big of a chunk of the day the driving now takes. I was spoiled, by living so close to the office, especially in the last 8 years. Perhaps once we’re out of the dark of winter and I’ve gotten used to a few more things, it’ll seem like nothing at all (aside from a bit more gas to buy).

Also keeping me busy: a few minor injures. A slip on some ice on a trail run, a week before my new job started (five stitches on my arm and a very mild concussion), then a nasty paper cut last week. Somebody up there is checking to make sure I’m awake. As if! What a February.

That’s it for the update. We’re excited to head to Utah next weekend for some mountain skiing and a visit with family!