30°

Got up this morning and thermometer showed 30°. But only because it is located in the kitchen that has morning sunshine :). But it looks like it's gonna be a fantastic day. So in the afternoon, Zürichsee here I come!

25°

Tomorrow the weather forecast shows 25° and sunshine in the afternoon. Finally I'll be able to take my own boat out for a spin. I should practise, but since I know myself I know what the trip will be like. Off with clothes (ok, bikini still on), drive out a bit, switch on radio Zürichsee, cork up a bottle of wine and one of water and then sms all my friends who are still in the office :)

Foot fetishist

Yesterday I partied with a foot fetishist. He kept on saying how beautiful feet I have. I first thought he was joking, but he couldn't stop looking at them, touch them and even kiss my right foot. How v. weird.

But apart from this little hang-up he's actually a nice guy.

Hairstyle

Couldn't help laughing at the boat teacher today. It was so windy that his hair was standing straight out to the left. He has pretty long hair, and it just looked funny. Good thing they have no mirrors on the boat, I'm sure I wasn't a pretty sight either :)

Windy

Today it was really windy, which meant that I couldn't speed too much. The boat crashes on the waves and that's not good, even though it's good fun. Teacher made me go into a harbour (why the f... can't they make the openings into the harbour bigger?). It's like trying to get a rope through a needles eye if you ask me. There we practised portside parking and parking via reversing straight towards a wall. It's kinda in the way to have an engine there I can tell you. Plus the wind factor made it pretty difficult. I don't understand how the teachers can be so calm all the time. I'm scared shitless, and they just sit there, ready to take over if I mess up. Which happened once or twice :)

Buoy overboard

New maneuver today. Buoy overboard, which is to symbolize man overboard. Man overboard can only be used for emergency. It's not so easy to just drive up to the buoy. This is how it's done (and in case I get something wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, right boat teacher?). As soon as you hear buoy overboard, go into neutral, turn around to check where the buoy is. Make a loop so that you approach (speed max 3 on the screen, whatever it is that it is showing) from a 45° angle from the wind. Slow down speed and turn the wheel to the left (while a couple of boat lengths from the target), go into neutral and glide into parallell position and stop by making a reverse. Switch off engine, and pick up the buoy on the starboard side. Sounds easy? Well, it's not :)

Never say no

Oh dear. It got MUCH later yesterday than it should've. Bar closed and somebody talked me into joining a group for another drink in yet another bar. Did I say no? Heck no. Of course I joined. Can certainly feel it today...

Nobody noticed

And of course nobody noticed. There I was. All dressed up. Ok, I didn't to be honest, but I did wear new boat pants and a brand new top. Would've thought that at least somebody would've said something. Nah. Until the friend of a participant this evening called. Said "well M you should tell Annika she's looking good to tonight". Hmmm. Guess M doesn't take instructions well :) Good thing there is training...

New outfit

Am having dinner with some fashion-oriented friends tonight. Think I will wear one of my new outfits, and see what they say. Just to test :) Bet it'll be like when I did my hair some time ago. Nobody f...ing noticed anything. And it was VERY different. Here's to eternal hope... PS. Reminds me of my friend the other day. We hooked up and he said "did you leave your belly at home?". Think it was his way of giving me a compliment :)

Austria

Got an sms from Austria from a guy I know briefly. He actually had given me his number before, but every two months or so I go through my list of numbers and delete the ones I haven't heard from in a long time (unless they are long-term friends of course). Anyway, he sent me his number again and said that I can blog about it. I really had to think hard what to blog about but here it is. On request :) Guess I'm known for blogging about everything and nothing!

A kiss

A question for the gay men out there. Would it repulse you to kiss a woman? No tongues, just a normal little kiss. I was just wondering since watching this "Queer as folk". I think it's sexy when men kiss, but I cannot stand when the lesbians do. It's not like I have anything against lesbians, but maybe it's because I'm a woman. I cannot see myself ever kissing a woman on the mouth. Would have no problem kissing a gay man though. Strange? Maybe. What is your opinion?

Extended holiday

Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like my extended holiday is coming to an end. I have really mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I guess it'll be good for me. However, my social life (including the blog) will suffer severe damage. Or maybe not? Perhaps this opportunity will open new doors leading to even bigger and better parties. One can only hope :)

Lots of clothes

So yesterday I ended up with 2 pair of shoes, several pants, one waist jacket and lotsa tops. And it wasn't too expensive. My personal shopper certainly knows what to do. Basically I go and hide in a fitting room, and she brings suggestions and in some cases other sizes. Works fine. And all this only took a couple of hours. Not bad. Including a small trip to the bar of course :)

New look

Have decided it is time for a new look, so am going shopping this evening. Will bring my personal shopper and a bunch of credit cards. Really really really hate shopping, but like coming home with new stuff, so will be interesting to see what we find.

Panic

Ok, so not a panic attack but yesterday when I got home (and didn't go immediately to bed like some people suggested) I blogged. When doing so I usually put on some music. You know, just to relax before going to bed. Imagine my horror when my semi-new dvd player didn't comply. It played only like 3 sec's and then nothing. Decided at 5.15 in the morning that I couldn't care less, switched it off and went to bed. Was pleasantly surprised this morning when the player decided to work WITH me and not against me and performed beautifully. Got out of bed, yeah ok a tad hangover after less than 6 hours sleep (very good thing I'm still young) but in fairly good shape. Had breakfast watching "Queer as folk". Ouch, gotta have to watch out, otherwise this blog will turn into a "faggy" one :)

Hotmail filter

What is wrong with hotmail these days? There is supposed to be a junkfilter. Just received this: "FROM MR UMAR SULEIMAN. BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPT. BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) OUAGADOUGOU,BURKINA FASO DEAR FRIEND, I am the manager of bill and exchange at the foriegn remittance department of Bank Of Africa (B.O.A). In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of US$13.5 (thirteen million five hundred thousand US dolloars) in an account that belongs to one of our foriegn customer who died along with his entire family in a plane crash that happened in Kenya, East Africa. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless some body applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidlines and laws but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. Please I want you to visit the website below for more information about the Plane Crash and the Deceased DR. GEORGE W. BRUMLEY AND HIS FAMILY:http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and I don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill. I agree that 40% of this money will be for you as a foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foriegn account, and 60% would be for me, There after I will visit yourcountry for disbursement according to the percentage indicated. Therefore, to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged,youmust apply first to the bank as relation or next of kin of the deceasedindicatingyour bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone andfax number for easy and effective communication and location wherein the money will beremitted.Upon the receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application to fill and send to the bank. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is 100% Risk free and you should keep this transaction (TOP SECRET) and this transaction will only take us 14banking days in the exceptance of this proposal because as a banker, I know what to do and move the fund into your account without any delay and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer. You should contact me as soon as you receive this letter . Yours faithfully. MR UMAR SULEIMAN. Bill & Exchange Manager, BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) ". Well, somebody should teach these people to spell for a start. And then maybe tell them that BOA is Bank of America, not Bank of Africa...:)

The kissing man

Was in my usual place tonight. This guy approached. No news there, they always do, until they realize I have a sharp tongue. So he wanted to buy me a glass of wine. Told him that the place is closing around eleven. Only 5 min left. No need. I was going home. Persistent. Even with me convincing him it wasn't a good idea he ordered a whole bottle. Told him that I've seen him many times. He has kissed a friend of mine. Without remembering the next day. Too drunk for my taste. Didn't stop him though. So I felt a bit of responsibility (read pity :) to stay and share at least half of the bottle with him (nothing like a free drink?). And then I left. Just like that. I just don't need idiots in my life...

Prude

Future flatmate came by for dinner today. I have promised not to write about current one, but also said when he's moving out all bets are off. So this is a compromise. He has almost moved out, and I'll write something that refers to him. Not that he reads my blog anyway :) Anyway, turns out my future flatmate is a prude. We had a chat about a week ago about nakedness. I come from Scandinavia, so for me this is not a big deal. Future flatmate now shares a flat with a woman in Germany. Apparently she was walking around in undies and a bra. So?? Today when we had dinner current flatmate walked around in his slippers. These ditto are very loud. Like he cannot lift his feet when walking. Wakes me up every morning. Future flatmate (let's call him M from now on shall we? It's easier) kinda made a joke (I know, being German and all, I'm sure it took a lot :) saying "I'm gonna buy slippers like that before I move in". My answer? "Well, then I'm gonna walk around naked in the flat"... Have a feeling we'll get along just fine. Imagine that? Finding a German with a sense of humour...like the famous needle in the haystack :)

A master in the kitchen

The food was excellent! Which is why I always hire this guy to do the food at my parties...

Accessory

Trust gays to have the right accessory at the right time...

Photos

Nobody objected to having their photos posted here so these are a few snapshots from the evening.

I got a kiss

This is something of an achievement in a gay party. Unfortunately it was a kiss from a dog. Nevertheless, it was nice. It was one of these dogs belonging to a blind person. Well-trained, well-groomed and awfully cute.

Good thing I dressed up :)

I met Brian and Emmett

Ok, so not in real life but two sorta look-alikes. Like Brian and Emmett in "Queer as folk". Emmett was nice, but in a relationship. Gay people are SOOOO boring when they have a partner. Hand-holding, all lovey-dovey all the time. No party animals whatsoever. That's why "Brian" was a saviour tonight. Single, fun and surprisingly talented!

When he got his flute out (ok, not THAT flute, the instrument!) I was impressed. He played like a virtuoso. Turned out he was a teacher in flute-playing. And he gave us a private concert. What a treat!

Fashion

Where to start about this evening? Guess about fashion. There were four of us going in the same car. One of them was an older man who had worked in the fashion business. Well sorta. He thought I was chic. This is certainly a first for me. What I wore? A shocking pink tank top with glitter on the front. Psychedelic LSD-type of pants, also in some sort of pink. A black waist-jacket that I found in the back of my wardrobe, about 15 years old and apparently hip again. He started to talk to me about Prada and Louis Vuitton. He might as well have talked about astrology or the contents of an engine. I wouldn't have a clue. But it was nice to feel hip amongst a gay crowd :)

Dress

Why do I care what I wear when going to a gay party? It's not like anybody is gonna look at me anyway...but I look forward to seeing the flirting that always goes on in those parties. As a gay friend of mine said: "if a girl flirted with me, I wouldn't know what to do". I can sympathize with that. If a girl flirted with me, I wouldn't know what to do either :)

Housewarming

Now I have to recover from yesterdays party, and gear up for the next one tonight. Gay housewarming party. It'll be fun I'm sure. Me and 50 gay people :)...I am really turning into a real fag-hag. In order to prepare myself I will iron a bunch of clothes in front of the telly, watching "Queer as folk"...

Thai

Yesterday I was invited out for dinner! I cannot remember last time that happened. We went to a Thai restaurant, where the service is friendly and attempting to be professional and the food is excellent. Had spring rolls with salmon (!) and a crispy fish dish with some good wine. Hadn't seen this particular friend in a while, so we had a lot to catch up on. Good food, good wine, good talk, what else is there to ask for? And of course I dragged him to my usual place in the end. Why change a winning concept?

Some things never change?

Like this evening. Friend was late. Every time we have ever met he's been late. Did that teach me to also be late? Hell no. I am compulsively early. Never mind. We hooked up. 18 min later than agreed. But this guy has changed. Reminded me of Holland. When I bought a bike at four in the morning from this guy who was breahting heavily. I didn't realize at the time, but the bike was most probably stolen (doooh!). That's when my English friend who was visiting at the time said: "gosh, have you changed!". That's the feeling I had today about this friend. He used to be trashed every time I saw him and all of a sudden he's behaving responsibly. What is the world coming to?

Baggage

Was told in boat class today that I have too much baggage in the sense of thinking too much that driving a boat is like driving a car. It is not. For two reasons. First the road doesn't move like water does, and second you have two set of wheels on a car of where one set is driving. It is very different with a boat. But some are good things. You can for example turn 360° in a very small area without problems. It's more fun driving a boat than a car. You can really feel the speed (ok not in my boat but in the boat I use for the lessons). All in all, I would choose a boat over a car anyday... The other trouble I have is that I am usually going too fast and I have little patience. What else is new?

Break

Had my last boat lesson for this week. Now it's a break until Wednesday next week. And gosh, can I use a break. Information overflow this week. Knots, winds, bridges, turns, front-, starboard-, portside and reverse parking, speed limits, distances, angles, you name it, I'm trying to learn all this. Didn't do too badly today, but am far from being assured and collected when I'm doing whatever it is I'm asked to do, and will need more lessons. Ah well, will allow myself a break for a couple of days and then try to study and practice on my boat in case weather permits. Guess I could also dress warmly and go on the boat anyway...

Liplock

Oh dear, think I got a little bit drunk tonight. After the boat lesson with the associated stress I got home. Changed, and went out again. Was introducing new flatmate to my fav place and felt the need to have a drink. Or two. Or three. Anyway, got the last bus home (clever me!) and saw this couple. They were in liplock. I have two stops from the city to go home, and the second stop is pretty far. Like 15 min to walk type of far. Their lips didn't move. They were like just kissing all the time. Lucky them :)...

Inspectors

Apparently these inspectors that I will have to impress for the exam are nasty people. They require you to dress properly (and here was I thinking to impress him...in case it is a him of course...with my new dieted self in bikini) and wear shoes. Ideally you have to wear shoes with light soles which I haven't so far. I still wear my good old sandals that are 10 years old and THE most comfortable I have. Coming to think of it I might have a pair of jogging shoes that I bought a couple of years ago, with the attempt of maybe one day do some type of exercise that doesn't involve a man in your bed, but alas, it hasn't happened yet. Maybe those will do for the exam and finally come to some use?

Help!

Isn't there anybody out there who can devote a few hours to help me with knots? I have such trouble, and cannot practice since I wouldn't know if I do right or wrong. The teacher told me to look at klaobtefmann.de since they have interactive sites where you can practise, but I cannot find the site. HELP!

Crook letter

Once again I am the unfortunate recipient of another crook letter. "UNITED KINGDOM IN COLABRATION WITH GOLD MINING COMPANY. INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD LONDON MILLION INT & NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTION OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO,12th AVENUE KWAME NKRUMAH 01 BP WINNER- REF: LP/26510460037/03. BATCH: 24/00319/IPE... bla bla bla bla bla... You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out Of (850,000.00 Euros)." Yeah right.

My boat

I miss my own boat. I know that the one I'm driving in the lessons is bigger, better and more powerful. But my boat is...MINE. So many nice memories are associated with my boat, and I feel emotionally attached to it. And no time to use it this week. Let's hope Sunday comes with nice sunny weather. The only day I haven't got anything booked. Everybody I talk to about my boat is jealous of my anchoring place. One of the teachers have been waiting 10 years and is still waiting. It's what I suspected all along. It's all about contacts! Good thing I have them :)

Sadomasochism

I must be a bit sadomasochistic. Not that I get any sexual pleasure out of the boat lessons, but still. Why do I put myself through something as this? It was a bit painful today again. Had the same teacher as on Tuesday, and I now realize why I get a little bit stressed. She speaks high German with some accent (yeah Swiss I guess :) and she speaks all the time. Rather than letting me do what I need to do, she keeps on instructing me and I get stressed when I don't understand. But it wasn't as bad as on Tuesday. Actually the portside parking in the end was really well done. She actually told me I did portside, starboard and forward parking well enough for the test. Of course we didn't discuss all the tries I did in between :)

Weather

All of a sudden I'm reading weather reports on a daily basis. The teacher just called to delay my class today to two hours later. And it looks like it's gonna be cloudy in the afternoon with possible thunderstorms. Oh dear. And this is the teacher I had on Tuesday when I did so badly. Getting a bit nervous to be honest. I don't wanna fuck up again.

Nothing like a free meal

Yesterday I had a light meal in a restaurant before boat class. Sat outside, read a book and glanced occasionally at a cute guy. It was nice. Even nicer when the restaurant presented me with strawberries and cream. On the house! I have never set foot in this place before, and I didn't spend a lot on the meal so I thought it was a really nice gesture. Things like this will certainly make me go back...

Arm

Funny that...I thought for sure that somebody would ask whos arm it was on the pic with the hanging knot. Nobody. Aren't you people paying attention :) ? So in case you wonder it was the ex. We hooked up after all. Yesterday. And now he's on his way... Good thing I have this week off and only have to get up for boat class at 2 pm...

Dealbreaker

Don't think it's a dealbreaker as such, but new flatmate is picky with food. This I do not like. He doesn't eat fish. Or mushrooms. Am sure there are more things. What worries me is that people who are difficult with food, can also be difficult with other things. Allergies are one thing, but not liking food is like not liking life. Am I wrong? There are very few things I do not eat (i.e. when I allow myself to eat at all :)...diet is on hold a bit but not forgotten). I'm not keen on...and here I was gonna write something but cannot think of anything I do not eat. Of course there are things I like less but I eat everything that is served. Ok I know, once I was sick and my ex did flour soup (mehlsuppe) that was supposedly good for you. That was really disgusting. The smell and the taste, yuk! Ok, so not a dealbreaker. Fortunately flour soup is seldom on the menu :)

Sucking up

Me like. Very much. My motto is "flattery will get you anywhere". This is what I got from future flatmate today. Keep it up, and we'll get along just fine :)

New flatmate

Seems like I'll have a new flatmate from June 1. The current one is moving on and the new one will join me about a month from now. He has no problems with me blogging about him (remember the dinner last week?) so you can expect some of my views of him later. A friend and new flatmate were here for dinner this evening. Very nice. Have a good feeling that this will turn out good. Perhaps too good? Since he asked how often he is expected to clean. Told him about Putz-Peter coming about once a month to do it all. He looked startled. And I knew exactly what he was thinking. Doesn't she clean the toilet more than once a month? The answer of course is no. I'm a clean person. And everybody who visits me is required to sit down and pee. Whass the problem?

Practice makes perfect

Also practised what I learned before. Parking coming in from 45° angle, parking alongside the bridge on the left side, on the right side, and also reversing in towards the bridge. Last one is the easiest actually. Almost like parking a car. Then we did three types of knots again. I will NEVER learn that. Today the teacher told me a story about one of the knots. Make a lake with the rope, have the frog jump out of the lake, go around a tree and then jump in the lake again. Clear as crystal? NOT.

Anchoring

Did much better in boat class today. Guess the teacher has some influence on performance, and today I had a guy who was very calm and very reassuring. I did well. And I feel so much better than yesterday. Practised anchoring today. I thought it was just to drop the anchor, and that's it. Turns out it is more to it than that. At least if you anchor at a bridge. But it went well. It's like the teacher said yesterday, women are better in estimating distances :)

Hanging

Ok, so I couldn't keep my mouth shut re the boat lessons. And especially not regarding the knots. This is what my usual place presented me with. Hmmm...

Promise

Ok, last one for a while. I am busy woman. Have to go out. And this one is not about boats. Was walking into town today in order to get to my ok boat lesson when I got an sms from the ex. He wanted to hook up for something to drink and eat. Read hangover. Fine, told him I had one hour before I needed to go. We agreed to meet up quickly. So went to Starbucks and had a too expensive coffee, and waited. And waited. And waited. Fortunately a friendgirl of a friendgirl I hadn't seen in a long time showed up unexpected. Nice chat. Ex finally calls. Ok, so the buses didn't go in the afternoon today due to demonstrations. No problem, good excuse for once. So met up really quickly in the central station before I had to go. Agreed to meet up when I got back. Told him that it wouldn't work since he never answers his sms's or calls. He promised and shook my hand. HAHAHAHAHA! Sent an sms when I was leaving boat place. This is now about 4 hours ago...and I'm still waiting for a response. Anybody wonders why we broke up?

Size matters?

When I was doing badly today I thought I might as well ask. “Are men in general better in driving boats than women?” (kinda taking the bull by the horns). The answer was to my great relief no actually the opposite. Turns out women are better in estimating distances…so why did that surprise me? Guess I just felt low at the time. I say only one thing. Zwanzig centimeter (20 cm)… PS. I know that the headline may not exactly match, but still thought it was appropriate for some reason…HAHA!

Reverse

Realize it's gonna be a lot of boat talk but since I'm living with it right now, you just have to deal with it. Today I learned that it is not ok to reverse with any speed with a boat. Apparently not good for the engine. It's only to be used for "corrections" as they call it. To adjust the location, to back out slowly or similar. On my (tiny) engine it says do not put reverse in when you are speeding forward (like I can with my boat?!?) which is fine. I can understand that. But why not if you start from standstill? I have so many questions and so few answers...

Lesson in humility

In all personality tests I've done (and there's been a few during the years) I have come out very strong on self confidence. So I guess it's a good thing that these boat lessons are teaching me a bit of humility. And not so little coming to think of it. I really don't like feeling stupid like today. It puts a lot of stress on me, and I get angry with myself which in turn causes me to be even more stressed. Over-achiever, is that the word? In theory I understand these things, to slow down and realize that all of these things are new to me and it is all right to feel stupid and be stressed at times. Just don't like the feeling of not being perfect :)

Palstek

This look easy to you? http://www.yachting-power.ch/palstek2.htm It sure doesn't to me...

Sense of direction

I am lacking this particular gene and apparently this is another thing to learn. If the inspector says I have to go back to the home harbour or any other harbour in the neighbourhood, I have to know where I'm going. Why? I always find my way back to Zürich city :) This will cause trouble since I never know where I am (you know what I mean). They always point out a building or something so you can learn. See this yellow building? Yes, and 20 more like it. See that church? Yes, and three more. That type of thing. This together with the knots will probably be my downfall. The teacher today gave me a tip. Said that four knots you really have to learn, but if the inspector thinks you did only so-so on the test he or she will probably test you on the other five knots as well. Gee, thanks. Only nine left to learn :)

Speed

Well, once out there on the lake 300m from shore you can really speed. I have no clue how fast this boat goes, but with 80 horsepowers I can tell you it's fast. And soooo cool! Unfortunately I don't think this will be part of the test. I really speeded full gas today, but since it was a bit of waves I was told to slow down. If the waves bang too much on the bottom of the boat it can do damage. Well, I'm insured and it was fun so what did I care :) PS. I did slow down, ok?

How long is a piece of string?

When you leave the harbour you must do so in a straight line out in the lake for 300m. Nothing I have experience from since I park in the middle of Zürich city, where you have to navigate through swimmers, paddle boats, canoes, rowing boats, ferries, sail boats and other motor boats. The only time I think birds are clever, because they always take a turn when you come too close. How long then is 300m on water? Well, they tell you to look at the church clock. When the clock reaches the horizon it's 300m. At least in the home harbour of this particular boat. I guess with experience you can tell, but it ain't easy I can assure you. Why straight line? After all it's water. But apparently this is important. At least for the test :)

This is the one

The boat I'm driving during the lessons. The fun part is to get out on the lake and SPEEEED :)

Manoeuvre

Another manoeuvre that went fine yesterday didn't go so well today (I wish I didn't have to change teacher every day, the one yesterday was easier to understand + she spoke a bit of English). Anyway, I had to drive towards a bridge at a 45° angle, slowly. Then go into neutral and float. A boatlength from the bridge you turn the boat so that the boat side is alongside the bridge. To do so you have to speed forward a bit after having turned the steering wheel. Then be patient (and here is always where I fail for some reason :) before you go into neutral again. Glide. And then reverse, while making sure the steering wheel is in 0° (engine must be straight). Boat in standstill. Got it? Well, today I had to do it four times before I got it right. And of course you can expect no help from other people. You must be able to do it on your own, like you were alone in the boat. I'm beginning to already dread the test...

Catastrophe

As I suspected it didn't go so well today in boat class. Yesterday I thought I was doing fine, but today was SOOOOOO difficult. Ok, there were some more waves but still. I fucked up. Several times. Almost cried when I got back. Pictures this: two buoys with about 100 m in between. I was supposed to drive towards one of them, stop 1 m before (complete standstill) and then reverse in a straight line back to the other. How difficult can it be? The answer is extremely difficult. I am used to driving with a stick from the rear of the boat. Here I'm driving with a steering wheel, and I have yet to figure out which way I need to turn for the boat to go where I want it to go. Also, to understand all commands the teacher is giving in German ain't easy. All new words. Excuses, excuses, but the truth is: I fucked up. But as Scarlett say, tomorrow is another day. And a new boat lesson :)

Vocabulary

Yesterday I learned that Steuerbord is to the right (well I knew that actually) and has a green light, whereas Backbord is consequently to the left and has a red light. Considering that the lights on my boat is out of order I had no clue. Remember the time I took it out at night without lights? Oh dear, not good. Der Bug is the front of the boat (bow) and das Heck is the back (stern). Didn't even know those words in English to be honest, had to look them up. Tried practising the knots, but oh so difficult. They don't have a proper description, just a picture of the ready-made knot. Heck (ha! pun intended) if I know what to do.

No prisoners

Yesterday when I was exercising parking the boat I was told that first time is beginners luck. Second time is pure luck. Third time it is skill. Needless to say she made me park the boat three times. Every time. It certainly is a lot to learn, but it is so much fun. Isn't it afternoon soon?

Seychelles

Spoke to a friendgirl yesterday. She has changed jobs and now work for a firm selling fish, which is far from what she did before. Ok, so she doesn't actually handle the fish herself plus this particular company has one huge advantage. They have production based in the Seychelles. She may have to travel there. The things you do for your job :)

Internationale Solidarität

Expect to hear those words on the streets of Zürich today. But don't think it'll be a huge demonstration. After all, this is Switzerland, one of the richest countries on earth. Best thing is, I will hear it from the lake. Second lesson coming up this afternoon. Hurray! But first I've gotta practice those knots :(

Knots

I've gotta learn to do proper knots. This is extremely difficult for me. And 9 different ones. I who have trouble putting IKEA furniture together. Yikes.

Vroooom

Gosh it was fun on the boat course. The boat was a beauty and had 80 horsepowers compared to my 8. Perhaps there is something to speed after all. Unfortunately most of my 2 hours today was spent trying to park the boat in narrow harbours, which I managed rather well if I say so myself. So not only do I have to learn all of these new things, I also have to do it in German. There's a whole new vocabulary, but more on that later. The only downside was that the teacher today was a woman. I was expecting some blond hunk with big muscles and a leathery face after spending much time on water. Ah well, you cannot have everything. Cannot wait for next lesson tomorrow!

Flint

Had the pleasure to watch The big one tonight by Michael Moore with a guy who actually comes from Flint, Michigan. As does Michael Moore. This place has apparently approx 150K inhabitants. Basically a village. Every 5 minutes he pointed out "I've been there", "I was there" or "there's where I went to university". Endearing. No matter how much we like (or in my case dislike) our home towns they hold certain values to us. Whatever they are :)...

Air mattress

Am about to go to bed, considering I have to get up at 6 in the morning! Boat school remember? Anyway, when we got home from the lake I asked my friend to help with my air mattress. He has an automatic pump. Good. Tiny problem was that it was connected to his car battery (lack of adapter-problem) but we solved it through having him bring the air mattress to the car. Easy. So there he was. Pumping. It took some time but finally it worked. Imagine our disappointment when we 2 hours later realized air was seeping out somewhere. Located the problem (or so we think!) to one of the plugs. Friend suggested to manually pump it up again and asked me to step on the mattress to check. I giggled rather loudly. Only to realize flatmate is sleeping. Ouch. Friend said: "he probably wonders what we do". Told him that I would tell him the true. We're just pumping away...

Quickie

Just a quickie to tell you I'm still here. Was out yesterday until the wee hours, and spent today brunching and then going on the lake. Tight schedule. Will be back next week with more...

Fun

This'll be fun. A new friend of mine will come to Zürich over the weekend. The guy who got green in the face on the boat, remember? And tomorrow we'll be on the lake again. Bet he's praying that there'll be no wind :)

Americans cont'd

Thinking about Americans reminded me of when I was working in Norway. The company I was working for was having a really important presentation for one of Norways biggest banks. So important so that a few Americans from HQ were flying in to attend. Now, since Norwegians are (rightfully :) sceptical of Americans the Scandinavian team had made clear that they were doing the presentation, and the Americans were to sit in and keep their mouths shut. About 5 min into the presentation one of the Americans flew up from his chair, grabbed a pen and started to scribble on the whiteboard. Or so he thought. Turned about to be an extremely expensive painting called "Snow". It was beyond repair. And needless to say we didn't get the business...

Change

When I told my aunt about the good-looking gay guy I met the other evening she asked if I couldn't change him into being hetero. HAHAHAHAHA! Good thing I don't belong to the "older generation" (and pls refrain from witty remarks here :). Let's just say I don't want to waste my energy on battles that cannot be won...

American mentality

With the risk of being called judgmental I throw you this bone. Americans are different. And fairly easy to predict. Like in a meeting with an American (if you want to make an impression) all you gotta do is to keep your mouth shut, let them talk, throw in a few clever remarks and they'll love you. What they don't realize is that you learn much more about them than they about you. Americans don't like silence. Anybody who has ever watched CNN knows that :)

Ping

I'm a user of computers. That means I don't know shit about what is going on behind the screen I see, and I would like to keep it that way. However, this ping thing I would like to know more about. I know that at least one of my readers have ping on me, since I can see that one reader always goes on my blog as soon as I posted an item. Can this reader please tell me how you do? I would like to recommend that to others...and increase my visit stats :)

Mamma Mia

Hurray! We have tickets for Mamma Mia. Only have to wait until September! I remember being in London on business. Had hinted to my boss that tickets for Mamma Mia would be a good entertainment for our team. Turned out that he thought it was too expensive and had therefore booked us tickets for the Comedy Store (I think it was called). This was also fun, but the thing was it was located opposite of where Mamma Mia was playing. So at least I've been outside :) This time I will see it in Zürich. I only hope they are not translating the songs to Züridutch!!!

Time flies...

when you're having fun it is said. Guess that's why I haven't been blogging as much as before. Been busy. But here's a question for you apropos that I was having a discussion with a friendgirl of mine. She's smaller than me. Although she claimed that she has gained weight and I have lost a bit, and therefore we are the same size. Wrong. But in order to win the conversation (competitive as always :) I claimed that bigger bodies have bigger personalities. Right or wrong?

New bridge

Remember the letter from the authorities re maintenance? Turns out we're getting a new bridge where I have my boat. It is really cool (but only half-finished, and they were supposed to be done by now!). It is not really wood, it's some other material which I've never seen before. Good thing I plan to do some renovation on the boat. We can't have old dilapidated boat at a new bridge!

Faithful

Ok, so have to come up with some topics under the new category. Here's a question for you. Are hetero's more faithful than gays? I'm ambivalent re the answer, but think it depends rather on the person than their sexuality. Comments?

Dinner

So the three of us had dinner. Normally I meet my gay friend once a week for dinner and gossip. And equally normally we don't drink much, we just catch up. Tonight though we had a few more drinks than normal. Saw lotsa pics from the boyfriend who lives in NY and it was kinda a get-to-know-each-other-type-of-evening. Different. Made me think of that as soon as you introduce a new person into a group (even if it's only a group of two) you change the setting. I like. Change is a good thing. And you always learn something new...

New category

Somehow I feel the need to introduce a new category...gay. Already told you about my education watching "Queer as folk", which I loved. Was very funny. And I cannot believe they left a cliffhanger with Justin. Yes I know why, to make me watch the second season of course but still. I would've anyway. So as you may understand I had dinner with gay friends tonight. My "usual" gay :) and a new friend. New friend just has to learn not to walk into the room wearing a suit and tie, and looking all straight :) Goodlooking guy and seem to be nice too. Deadly combination, which is scarcely uncommon amongst straight people. Just my luck :) But he was nice. I think we really got along. And best of all, he doesn't mind if I blog about him!

Partner

Got an email today from a guy. His work email. And you know with work email you have a signature that automatically comes with your mail. His said Partner. Of course along with company, address, tel etc etc. I responded with "Annika, No partner". HAHAHA! Sometimes I'm really funny.

Multi-purpose bucket

Was on the lake this afternoon. Fu...fantastic weather. According to Radio Zürichsee "sachtzundzwansk" grad, which in normal language means 26°C. Very few boats out (why?) and practically no waves. Fab! But of course with no food on the boat, just drinks, you have to do the deed once in a while. I have a bucket on the boat which has followed me since at least 25 years. It used to be a wine-making bucket back in the days when I couldn't afford to buy alcohol. The stuff we made was more like sherry, a sweet kinda alcoholic drink. Quite disgusting actually. But cheap :) Then the bucket has been used for cleaning (not by me obviously) and storing things in. Right now it is used as a peeing bucket. And for cooling wine. If this is not multi-purpose, I don't know what is?

Course

Very proud of myself. Have now booked a course to take that boat certificate and get a license. And did the booking over the phone all in German. By myself! Monday next week I start... Extra plus is that this license will give me the right to drive boats in all of Switzerland, not just in Zürichsee. Excellent!

How is it possible?

How is it possible to not like to communicate? Ok, any men reading this blog can stop reading now. Unless you're gay :) For the rest of us, how is it possible not to want to say what you think? To express feelings? To want to know what is going on? To want to dissect topics? To share? To understand that shared pain is half pain, and shared joy is double joy? I just don't understand...

Topless

Gotta admit I'm not a natural when it comes to going topless (despite coming from Scandinavia), but with women and gays I'm comfortable. So last weekend on the boat me and my friendgirl went topless. Bikini top off. We wanted to tan. Only problem on Zürichsee is that there is lotsa traffic. So we solved the problem by covering up when boats passed. No biggie. But when this little speed boat with three youngsters approached there really was no time. So arms covering what needed to be covered. They actually drove around the boat taking pics. Bastards. Asian guys, who probably haven't seen anything naked before. So if you see two (gorgeous) women on the internet covering their breasts, it's probably us :)

Skin

Have a friend who's not exactly in love, but more in lust. He has his eyes on this girl. Told him that she looks a lot like a common friend of ours. His reply was yes, but she's much more cuddly. At the same time he was pinching my arm. Hmmm. My interpretation is that men like cuddly women with some flesh on their bones, and not dieted to almost death skinny ones...but that may just be me and my wishful thinking :) PS. Since I never had any complaints, I (again) think I'm right!

Föhn and Bise

What I learned on the lake is that there are two kinds of winds here in Zürich. Föhn and Bise. Checked the spelling in the dictionary which was fine with the Föhn. Bise however has 394 similar results. Go figure. http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ Anyway, Föhn is the nice southern warm wind. Bise is the evil one. Cold and not boat-friendly. Guess which one I like?

Leck mich am Arsch

It is sometimes very interesting to live in Zürich. Only the other week I was told I was a fucking bitch. Today I came across this extremely drunk guy who wanted to start a conversation. I kept cool and aloof to show him that I couldn't fucking care less. But I said "sorry, ich verstehe keine Switzedütch" - I don't understand what you say. You would've thought that would give him a hint. Five minutes later he came back. Wanted to talk about my suntan for some reason. He asked me if I was angry with him. I was still polite and said no, but please leave me alone. That's when I got the "Leck mich am Arsch" statement. Lick my ass. Thought no, you lick my ass, or maybe not. Lotsa polite people around in Zürich. Just not tonight :) PS. I bet there is a German language polizei out there, who's gonna tell me I spelled it wrong or something :)

Tired in Germany

Apparently this guy was on his way home from a round in town after a few beers when he got very tired. Decided to have a little nap in the 24/7 open bank foyer. And since he didn't find a parking place for his pony (!) he brought it inside with him. Nice of him not to let the animal freeze.

Not so stupid

Did an IQ-test and got 126! So am not so stupid after all :)

Histrionics

Once again a word on http://owad.de/ that I didn't know. Means emotional behaviour. But THAT I know what it is...

Boat letter

Was out 6 hours on the lake yesterday. It was the hottest day in the year, around 25°C and sunny. Today I got a confusing letter from the authorities regarding my anchor place. Didn't quite catch it all so had to consult German-speaking friend. Turned out that they are doing some maintenance work on the rail leading to the bridge, and they apologize in advance for difficulties to get to the boat. Phew. I thought I might have to move it or something.

Jazz

Was out last Thursday and by accident ran into a live jazz band that was playing outdoors in the middle of the city. We were lucky enough to get a seat at a bar, and enjoyed an hour of pretty good jazz. Now, I'm certainly not a jazz fan but live music is different. And they played more rock jazz than jazz jazz. Pretty cool. Even cooler to know that they'll play every Thursday throughout the summer.

I.I.

Bet you don't know what this means? Well, I didn't either. It stands for Intellectual Intercourse. Chew on that one for a bit. Apparently it means when you are so connected to another person you know what they will say before they say it. I have only experienced this with people who are very old and married for like forever. A friendgirl of mine claims she had this with her teenage boyfriend. I doubt it though. How can you when you're young (and possibly a bit stupid and filled with hormones)? But I like the expression. Intellectual Intercourse. Again, chew on it. And remember where you heard it first :)...

Ulterior motive

Got an sms today regarding "can you send me the English alphabet?". Huh? Sent back that the alphabet is the same in English as in German, apart from the funny letters in German. To me this reads "will you sleep with me?", especially since it came from the ex. Imagine my disappointment when he told me it means he needs to learn the pronounciation of the English alphabet...

Excusez moi

It's been very busy this weekend, so sorry for not blogging all the time. Spent 6 hours on the lake today. I cannot believe I'm tanned already considering it's 22 (well actually 23) April. And I swam today! Ah ok, maybe not swimming. It went like this. Need to pee. It's either the bucket or the lake. Got the idea to maybe try the water. I knew it was cold, I just didn't know exactly how FUCKING COLD! So stepped in with my little feet, ah fuck. But didn't want to be considered a wimp so continued. Legs. Butt. And once there, I thought ahhhhh, nice to pee. And funnily enough the water felt a bit warmer :) Then I hung around the ladder for a bit, and WHAM big wave came. Friggin other boats. Which meant I was as good as wet all over anyway so dipped. Nearly had a heart attack. Assumption is around 15°C. And I never used to swim unless the water was at least 25°C. How people change...how I have changed! PS. When my friend later wanted to swim he dipped a toe, and then quickly decided against it. Wimp :)

Racism

In the party yesterday we talked about racism. I find it difficult to believe that the Swiss can really be as racist as they are, since they have four official languages and are used to people with a different mentality, but yet they are. Others were saying that it even extends to people coming from another city than themselves. And as it turned out it was only one person there who actually grew up in Zürich. And she was born in Turkey! It's a good thing that I have non-racist friends.

Dick

When I wrote the last piece I was thinking of which category to put it in, and finally chose "sex". As it turned out after having watched two episodes now, the first one was about how often men think of sex. Every 28 seconds was the answer. If you're straight. If you're gay it's every 9 secs. See? I'm a good fag-hag, choosing the right category. A funny saying though: "gays have dick on their minds from womb to tomb". PS. It must mean they think of sex ALL the time. When one thought is finished the next one comes. How tiring! Good thing I'm a woman :)

Queer as folk

Well, actually the "me"-time involves watching a series called Queer as folk. My gay friend lent it to me for educational purposes. 1,018 minutes of it! Apparently it's a series from the US about gay and lesbian people. And equally apparently I need to be educated about their type of life. And here was I thinking that I'm already a good fag-hag :)

Birthday party

Have lots to write about and have made notes, but need some "me"-time. But so that you don't think I've forgotten about my blog I give you the birthday party from today. I can recommend going to a party with 9 people, 2 men and 7 women, ALL of them bigger than me. So even though I've been slipping on a daily basis in my diet I didn't have to worry about that today. It felt really weird when my friend brought up my diet. It is difficult to discuss things like "less carbs" with people who weigh close to a deciton. One thing I say though. They know how to provide food. Nibbles, starter, dinner etc. These people certainly know how to cook. The starter was spring rolls bought from Migros. I have to say they were delish. Why haven't I discovered those before? The dinner was a curry made from scratch, yum. And I was good enough to stay away from the rice, only had cucumber salad. Lastly, Swiss timing, pah! We were invited for four o'clock. And Swiss as we are (well you know) we showed up on time. The hostess was still preparing both herself and the food. The next guest arrived 2,5!!! hours later. Why invite people for four o'clock and then not expect them to show up until MUCH later? And these people call themselves Swiss...

License

Was thinking of taking some lessons to get a proper certificate for the boat, even though I don't need it for the tiny engine I have. Fairly expensive though, but is probably a good idea. They have intensive courses over 10 days and then you make a test to get the license. Besides, after 10 days on the lake think of the tan!

Bizzy

Just a short note to say I've been very busy the last few days, hence no blogging. But do not despair, I will be back with lots to write about. Just not now :)

Big brother

http://www.sat-gps-locate.com

Mishap

Had prepared everything for dinner this evening before friend arrived. And I mean everything. All veggies sliced, pots on stove, table set, only the cooking remained. Takes like 20 min so no point in cooking before. Has to be fresh. So first the "apero" with guess what? Prosecco. And a small bite. Then instruction to friend to either remain in living room or join me in the kitchen keeping mouth shut. Is there anything more annoying than people who instruct you, when you have done all the planning, buying and preparation? Anyway, placed accommodating friend in kitchen with the glass of Prosecco (remember the "champagne glasses" without foot? They were inaugurated today). And put the stove on, started to cook. With only the occasional glance to the recipe. Only when it started to smell burned I realized I forgot to put water in the cauliflower pan :). Ok, small mishap and nothing that couldn't be corrected...