Monster building III

 When the time came to protest within the time limit I had been told that the owner of the buildings would "come at me with a bunch of lawyers", so again I took the wrong advice not to protest. I was kind of relying on the neighbours that they would succeed with their protest and stop the madness. Wrong again.

However, I did keep in touch with the guy responsible for the construction, as well as the neighbour and learned that he and his partner had won the fight of moving the border 1,5 meter further away. I thought it would extend to "my" building too. Once again I was wrong. Only from their building. So they didn't manage to stop it at all, just to move it a tiny bit away.

But never give up. I sent an email stating that I was willing to take them to court. I had actually talked to the lawyer that the neighbours used, but he and his whole firm had sign an agreement to say they couldn't be involved in a court case regarding the same buildings. Darn! It would've been good to have a legal representation who already knew the case.

To pay for another lawyer and start from the beginning wasn't an option I saw was viable, because I had already said what I wanted in my first letter. To my surprise they believed that I actually was willing to go to court, and I was offered a bribe. I took it. I knew I had zero chance of winning a court case, so better to accept and shut up. Half the money I donated to a vet student, so at least I did something good for the animals and the environment.

And now I have to "look forward to" at least two years of construction about 10 meters away from my balcony. Life ain't easy.

Monster building II

 In the beginning of this year I learned that you can protest legally, so when it was announced in the 'Tagblatt', the newspaper produced by the city, I sent my protest, claiming loss of greenery in the city (referring to 'Grün Stadt Zürich's website), loss of space for animals and insects as well as noise, dirt and a garage exit about one meter from the border to "my" house.

Unfortunately I had misunderstood (and taken the wrong advice) so the protest was not valid. It was sent too early. You have to wait until the building permit is issued, then you can protest.

However, my letter had been read by both the owner of the plots and the construction guy, so I got a visit from him and the gardener. They presented their plans for planting new trees and bushes after the building had been erected, and promised that it would be beautiful. Right! The fact that they were planning on taking down loads of healthy trees wasn't mentioned.

After that I heard that the new owners of the house above mine also planned to protest, and I felt that maybe we together have a chance after all...

Monster building I

 In the beginning of last year, 2023, I heard that the rich guy who already owns some buildings on "my" street wanted to tear down two beautiful old buildings next to "my" house and put up a monster with 26 flats.

So instead of renovating and keeping the old buildings up to standard, he chose greed. This from a guy who inherited his wealth.

In March last year the renters were moving out after having been duly notified, and the two buildings have been empty since, except for some squatters.

An acquaintance of mine started a petition online and got 422 people to sign. We wanted the construction to stop and keep the green area, which are more rare by the minute in Zürich, despite what 'Grün Stadt Zürich' says on their website. When I was appointed to take over I got two emails from people who wanted to participate and do something. When I answered I never heard back. I guess it's easy to talk, less easy to do.

So the buildings were empty and the large gardens that were beautifully tended to started to look like a jungle.

However, I was still able to enjoy the greenery next door and I was hoping that the greedy guy would change his mind. Yes I know, I'm naive. And I do get it, people need a place to stay, but Switzerland, small as it is as a country, still has a lot of space. If it's as important as 'Grün Stadt Zürich' say to keep green areas in the city, why then not act accordingly?

Restart?

Today I thought about restarting the blog. It's been dormant for quite some time, but why not start up again? Things have happened, not only good ones but there is stuff to share.

I'm thinking the pandemic, the horrible building site next door, an unusual disease and some positive news as well. Hope you're up for it. Let's go!

Fust, really?

I bought a vacuum cleaner and this was my response to their email:

"Dear Fust,

I have received the vacuum cleaner I bought from you, and was delivered the next day, not in the morning like it was said but in the afternoon and I could follow the delivery online. Since then I have received two emails, asking me to give a "Bewertung", a review on my purchase. I have used it once, and cannot with any good conscience give 1 star or 5 stars. If I give 1 star, you are gonna do what? Blame some poorly paid worker? And if I give 5 stars, and the machine stops working just after the warranty time is up, I'm gonna feel like a fool.

The one time I used my new appliance it worked fine, but if you get back to me in 10 years I will be able to give you a reasonable review. I look forward to that."

Their answer: "We regret that your shipment was not delivered as requested. The logistic processes are planned very precisely and of course we also hope for a delivery as punctual as possible, but unfortunately, for planning reasons, but also for natural reasons, there may be a delay.

The evaluation serves to improve us. So we ask you to be so honest and critical so that we can improve in the best possible way.

We are looking forward to your review and wish you a nice day."

Oh dear, is it a real person who has copy-pasted or a robot? Your guess is as good as mine.

Prepping

Scary times, this is. And I'm not a prepping person, even though I experienced losing all my frozen food some years ago when my food center stopped working in the middle of the hot summer. But it was just to go to the shop and buy food every day, and that was it.

Strangely enough we have a bunker in our house, apparently it was a rule when the house was built. But I can tell you one thing, if I were to bring my two cats and share it with six adults and three children, with one toilet and two mattresses, and all this on 12 square meters, I would rather meet the enemy face to face.

Not making fun of the situation, all sane people are on the right side of this "war", if there is a right side in any war. Let's just hope it's over soon, and we can all live in peace, which I'm sure 99.9% of all of us want.

New modem installed!

Had a sleep-in this morning but as soon as I switched on my beloved very old telephone (without internet connection) it rang. First I didn't hear anything since the coffee machine was doing its grinding noise, and I also had two cats swirling around my legs waiting impatiently for their breakfast. Yes, we have our routines.

First step was to connect the phone to electricity, since it has a battery time equal to...well...my patience with technology.

Second step was to realize it was the person from the internet provider who called and asked how it went with the new modem. Ha, I hadn't unpacked it and the old one was disconnected. Disaster! I need my morning coffee and a cig while reading up on news and stuff on the net. I'm afraid I was a bit rude to her.

So we agreed she would call back in 15 minutes. She called back in about 3 hours, hmmm. But in the meantime I connected the new modem all by myself, tap on shoulder. Both computers connected without much problem, but the tiny little new telephone didn't cooperate. Tiny telephone, and no thick fingers, but a password as long as my arm, switching between capital letters, numbers and whatsit. But after almost having thrown out the telephone from the window (not really, I'm too cheap for that) I managed to get it right.

Then she called back again from the provider, asking if I wanted to switch to glass fiber, that thing I didn't know about before but now had found and sent the number through. The thing is, that if things work, why change it? I was told that they needed to send some gadget, but free of charge, and then I would have to do the installation again. This is when I halted and after she checked how much bandwidth I have with the current new modem, we agreed on that it's fine and more than enough for my usage. I also apologized for my rudeness this morning.

The last thing that I needed to do was to send back the 5-year-old modem (I so wonder what they are gonna use it for?), so I packed it up together with all the cabling, adapters and what-have-you in the carton box in which they sent the new one in, complete with tape around in, address and something called a "RMA-No" (Return of Modem Ancient?) and went to the post office. I was surprised to learn it only cost 7 francs. I was expecting to see some of the rebate I negotiated vanish into thin air, but for a new modem and apparently better connection, I was happy to pay.

All is well that ends well.

Modem or router?

 Yesterday my internet provider called me, saying that my current service would no longer be available. Apparently I have 10 of something now, and in the future they will offer me 50 of the same something. I don't know why, since everything is working now, but hey, if they want to give me something better who am I to refuse?

But of course there was a catch. Three more francs per month. But being as I am, I asked very politely if it wasn't worth something (something for something?) that I have been a loyal customer for 13 years always paying my bills on time. After having conferred with her manager, I not only get two months free service (which amounts to almost three years with the same price) but also a free modem/router (am I supposed to know the difference?) if I return the old one.

At the ungodly time of 8.30 am this morning the modem/router was delivered. I was rudely woken up, had to go down to the entrance and sign for it, with my hair on end and in sleeping gear. Charming!

I was also asked if I have glass fiber installed. I do remember the street outside being dug up some five-six years ago for this purpose, but I had no clue if it was "installed" in my apartment. Having asked the other three in the house, they were all as clueless as me. It was only when I talked to one who previously lived in the house I realized that I do. We all do. Have glass fiber. It's some little gadget on the electricity switch board with a number on.

I love new technique, I use it daily, but I don't want to know why and how it works. It just should! So the next big challenge is to install the new modem/router when it's activated, which they said in a letter would be in five days. Stay tuned!

Scary voice

While neighbours are away I look after their apartments. Taking in the mail, watering plants and making sure nobody broke in during the night. Yesterday I noticed that the timer on the lamp the neighbour currently away on holiday and who usually has on during the evening wasn't working, and I realized that their cleaning person had unplugged the timer during the day.

I switched on the lamp, but having a very short fuse when it comes to technical things, I didn't manage to re-set the timer. It was dark in the corner where the lamp stood and I couldn't see the tiny, little, almost invisible arrow that pointed to the time, so I left it overnight.

Early this morning I went back, bringing a torch and without any problems I managed to set the clock and plugged the lamp back in. Then I heard a voice!

First I was confused, not being able to locate where the voice came from. I knew it wasn't from my apartment, but was it from any of the other two? Nope, walking towards the sound I realized it was from their bedroom. They keep that door closed, but I opened it hesitantly and found...a radio! Jeez, I guess they have it on as a wake-up call.

Heart attack avoided!

Cat sand

Ok, time to blog again. It's been a while, but hey, never too late to make a comeback!

I am old fashioned. Yes, it is time to admit it. I like being able to pay with cash, I like talking to people in real life, I like to communicate seeing the other person, I like to know that the person behind the counter, the desk or similar is a person who looks me in the eye.

Unfortunately, that is the way we are moving away from. Nowadays, everything is digital. When I walk to my nearby store to buy food I see people walking on the street looking at the telephone, if they are not driving one of those e-bike monsters or whatever they are called. Nobody looks around, and nobody realizes that we live at the most trafficked road with 56,000 vehicles per day. Haha, miss it and you'll be as flat as a pancake.

Despite what I said, once a year I buy cat sand online. I am against buying things online but sorry, I cannot carry 14 kg bags of sand and I don't have a car. Yesterday I was rudely awaken at 9.30 (yeah ok, don't judge me, I was in bed at 4), and I started my day with carrying 140 kg of cat sand into my basement. I don't understand why they are putting two bags of sand into one carton, 28 kg. The bags are already in plastic with a handle. But at least this time they delivered all five cartons at the same time. Last time it was delivered over three days, one carton here, one carton there. Logistics, people, logistics!

So yes, I'm sorry I pollute the environment by buying cat sand once a year, but considering all the weekly packages I bring into our house for the neighbours every week I figure I'm pretty good after all saving the environment for all of you who have been inconsiderate enough to bring more children into the world.

Now, I have read about all the hate that people get online, and in my previous 10 years of blogging I only got one hate-comment. Gimme more if you're so inclined, and I'll answer.

Screw people over

Ten years ago I worked for an insurance company here in Zürich and they had a generous policy, invest a number of K a year, the company will double it, and ten years later you can cash in. I worked there for three years, and I invested in the most risky fund. It is now ten years later and my own investments have gone up 40-60% whereas their fund had until last year lost money. How is that possible? When I recently contacted them, I all of a sudden got a statement saying that the fund has increased with 6%. In ten years! Friggin amateurs. My feeling is that they’re screwing former employees.

I base this on the fact that I bought my apartment back in 2009 and signed a mortgage with the same insurance company. They presented themselves as being “like a bank” at the time. When I quit I got a badly written letter saying that they wanted their money back. It wasn’t said how or when. Fortunately my bank laughed at them and promptly gave me better conditions on my mortgage and took it over.

So fuck you Zurich insurance!

Airbnb experience

Since June I’m a host on Airbnb, and so far I’ve had 20 guests. Sometimes one, sometimes two, almost always pleasant people. The best one was an Italian guy from the US who booked and paid for nine nights and never showed up! But seriously, most of the people are really interesting and mindful that they stay in a private home.

Some of them keep to themselves and only want a bed for the night, but many of them want to chat a bit and I always learn something new. They come from all over the world, so far I’ve had people from India, UK, Germany, Qatar, US, Holland, Austria, Israel and even Switzerland.

I only had one bad experience, and that was when I was in hospital and got a booking late afternoon for the next day, and I have had one checking out the same morning. No way could I clean and make the room and bathroom ready for the next day, so I had to tell him no. The money had gone through though, so when he didn’t want a bank transfer for me to pay him back I had to send cash in an envelope and that didn’t arrive (at least he said).

Now I have updated my profile to say that you have to book at least two days in advance, or I have to approve the booking.

But all in all, it’s a pleasant experience and a way to utilize my guest room and meet some interesting people on the way.

The good and the bad (nothing ugly)

Lately I’ve been good and bad.

Good in going jogging 3-4 times a week, enjoying seeing deer, squirrels and other so called wildlife. Fortunately no bears, elks or other dangerous species, which makes it even more enjoyable.

Bad with regards to reducing smoking. I go jogging in the morning, and on the way back I go and buy a pack of cigs. Which doesn’t always last the whole day. But I’m trying.

Sun in Zürich

We have fantastic weather for the season here in Zürich and today I took a stroll up the mountain.

Was sitting on a bench enjoying the sun and the view, sipping on a glass of wine. An approx. 3-year-old came up to me demanding to know what was in my glass, and I responded ice tea. Ha, he said, “that is wine, yikes”. I so wonder how he would know!

Cat story IV

So there I was, with half my arm in plaster, some considerable pain and totally confused over the day’s events. Since then I’ve been back twice for check-ups and after the first day I refused the plaster and was only having a bandage. I also decided day two to have a tetanus shot (which I refused the first day). Somehow I thought I had a lifelong protection, but after using google I realized it was wise to have another go.

I had to take antibiotics for a week and my thumb is not 100%, still a bit swollen and not totally mobile, but it’s getting better every day. And my cats are fine J.

The culprit!

Cat story III

After my tall cat was safely back (and acted like nothing happened) I realized that my thumb was twice the size it normally is and I had a red stripe moving from my wrist up my arm. My friend who lent me the cage and apparently is much wiser than I when it comes to cat wounds, told me to go straight to the hospital. And this time I decided to listen to her. Normally I don’t go running to the doctor unless absolutely necessary.

At the ER they took it much more seriously than I did. I was rushed in there, they applied iodine, gave me an antibiotics drip, a shot to numb the thumb (rhymes!), took a biopsy, gave me a plaster and I don’t know what. I guess I was in a bit of a shock and complained over the fuss they were making.

Then a really authoritative doctor came into the room and said “it’s voluntary to be here, you can leave at any time, but you should know you could lose your hand”. Oops. I then decided it was a good time to shut up. It is seldom that happens!

Cat story II

So two days later I was preparing the cage again. My friend who was to transport her to the vet arrived a little early, and I hadn’t put the cat in there yet. She’s very shy and hides every time somebody comes into the flat, even though that particular friend comes every week. So I grabbed her from under the duvet where she was hiding and I am not sure if it was because she saw my friend or the cage, but she totally panicked. She was fighting for her life.

I would estimate it to have lasted about 20 seconds, and I managed to get her into the cage but afterwards I found six claws and a bit of a tooth on the floor. And I had about 20 bite marks and scratches on my hand, both arms and one leg. Poor darling. I was shaking so much I decided to stay home.

By the time she got back about six hours later it turned out that she didn’t need the operation at all, the bad tooth had come out in the struggle with me in the morning! So why she had to stay at the vets for six hours I still don’t know.

Cat story I

Some weeks ago I decided to take my two cats to the vet for a check-up. They have been healthy for the six years that have passed since they were castrated. It was due to the fact that I had watched too many tv-programs about vets, and they always look into the mouths of the animals they are treating. I never did, which made me feel like a bad person.

So then I did and I could see that the little one had a bad tooth in the corner of the mouth, but since the kitties have never been apart I decided to take the big one too. She’s not actually big, she’s just taller. And it’s funny, the little one weighs 4.45 kg’s and the “big” one 4.5 kg’s. 50 grams apart.

I borrowed a cage from a friend (last time they were small enough to fit into one) and surprised them both. That went fine apart from the miaowing during transportation that nearly broke my heart.

So off we went to see the same vet as six years ago. That went ok, they are used to handle all sorts of smaller pets, so even though my cats are extremely shy (especially the big one) they managed it.

The little one had such a bad tooth (oh deary me, what a bad cat-owner I am!) that it came out almost immediately when the vet fiddled about in her mouth. However, the taller cat got an appointment two days later. One of her teeth had grown abnormally long and had an infection going so she was scheduled to have it out. That’s when the problems began.

Double rainbow!

Unbelievable

It's not a good morning for most people today. It's like another Brexit. Predictions showed a clear majority for Hillary, and what does America get? A crazy powerhungry man who wants to build a wall between Mexico and US, and who doesn't believe in free trade. And he thinks that Putin is a nice guy.

Interesting times ahead. And scary.