An Almost Walkless Week

Last week, the only time a proper walk was possible for me was on Thursday. The rest of the week was either full with appointments or the weather was inclement, or both.

On Monday (19 January), my trains back from Offenburg were on time, but on the first train, my booked seat was taken. The man who sat there showed me his ticket and it looked genuine - I was in no mood for a discussion and decided to spend the hour and 20 minutes or so standing with my weekend suitcase by the door, looking out and having my peace and quiet. With a desk job, I spend too much time sitting around anyway; I was only a little angry at having paid money for the seat and then not been able to use it.

I took this picture from my kitchen window as soon as I came home on Monday. It's not snow, just frost.

In the afternoon, my boss from my secondary employment arrived. The company laptop I have been using for years has reached the end of its life in terms of security updates and support, and since our work is about information security and data protection, we can't risk using outdated equipment that is not properly protected. Therefore, my boss took the old laptop and set up a newer one for me - not brand new, but with another couple of years to go. All went well.

Tuesday (20 January) was the first pub quiz in 2026 for our team, The Corner Shop. We weren't doing too badly in the first half, but blundered some answers in the second half. Never mind; we still had a fun night with our friends, and I paid the first round of drinks in celebration of my engagement.

The day had been sunny and cold, but apart from going to the Day Spa for 25 minutes of back and shoulders massage for my lunch break I didn't benefit from the good weather - it was of course dark by the time I left for the pub.

Another sunny but cold day, Wednesday (21 January) I spent at the office. The usual chaotic situation with our local trains meant I arrived a bit later at work than I had intended to, but still in time for the first meeting of the day. 

Then it was Thursday (22 January), and like on the Wednesday of the previous week, I was scheduled to give a basic training about Data Protection and AI at a company in Stuttgart. This time, we were to start at 9:00 am, and I chose a local train that would take me into the city with 35 minutes to spare - generous planning, considering that walking from the nearest station to the company only takes about ten minutes, and I didn't have to prepare anything.

The train was on time in Ludwigsburg. Everybody got on. The train pulled off. Then, the speakers crackled - usually not a good sign, and we were right: "Sorry, folks, this train has to end in Kornwestheim" - just the next stop after Ludwigsburg, instead of six more to where I (and doubtless numerous other people) wanted to get to. But we had no choice in the matter, and everyone got off the train, trekking across a long, long stretch of normally unused platform to reach the regular platfrom where trains to Stuttgart depart from.

It wasn't a long wait for the next train that was supposed to go where I needed to, and I was still confident I was going to make it to the training before 9:00. However, once aboard the train, it was soon clear that while this one was going to Stuttgart alright, it was stopping at the Main Station, where long distance trains come and go. Still, it was better than being stuck in Kornwestheim, and so I travelled into the city. I rang the person who had organised the training to tell them that I was coming in later, and since everybody in the Stuttgart area knows how bad our local trains are, he was fine about it, promising to tell everyone. And as I was the one to give the training, they could not start without me anyway...

In the end, I walked as quickly as I could from Main Station to the company, a distance of about 1.8 km / 1.1 miles, delaying me by about 15 minutes. The training went well, and for my way back to Ludwigsburg, I simply got on the next train at the nearest stop and arrived there well ahead of the lunch time I had arranged with my Mum at her place.

We had a delicious meal, finished with a coffee, and I worked the afternoon from home.

Just a bit before 4:00 pm, I left for the only proper walk I had all week - my standard route to Benningen. It was cold, but of course I was dressed accordingly, and really enjoyed the 1 hour 45 minutes it took me to get there.

Again, no problem with the local train back to Ludwigsburg; why can't it always be like that?

Nothing unusual on Friday (23 January); I worked from home, did my cleaning, packed my weekend suitcase and was on my usual train to Stuttgart and from there on the long distance one to Offenburg, where O.K. picked me up a little after 8:30 pm.

For Saturday (24 January), O.K. had planned to cut the ivy growing on his Mum's house. The previous Saturday he had cut the climber (we don't know what that plant is called) on the other side of the house, and I was chilled to the bone from holding the metal ladder and not moving for hours. This time, I was wiser and wore my hiking boots - their sole is much thicker than any other pair of shoes I own, and I was wearing several layers of clothes on all parts of my body. Also, I was able to do a bit more than just hold the ladder, and moving about to gather the cut off branches helped keeping me at a tolerable temperature in spite of the day never getting warmer than 4C/39F and the sun not reaching properly where we were working.

For the evening, we dressed reaonably nice, and O.K. drove us the short distance to Diersburg where we had dinner at a traditional restaurant. We enjoyed our food and the fact that after the day's work we didn't need to cook and clear the kitchen afterwards.

O.K.'s Mum is still at the clinic until the middle of next week, and therefore we went to visit her again on Sunday (25 January) just like we did last Sunday. This time, the weather was less walk-friendly than the previous week, and from the parking lot we went straight to the clinic. Coffee and cake at the VERY busy cafeteria was good, and we caught up with what had been going on during the week.

The day ended the same as most Sunday evenings when we're up at 5:15 the next morning; a meal, a bit of TV or reading, and early to bed.