Living together

In Switzerland it is called wohngemeinschaft (or however it is spelled). You share an apartment, and therefore also the responsibilities that come with running a household. The key word is share. It does not mean that the same person is responsible for: Making sure there is toilet paper. Always wash the shower curtain, bathroom mats and placemats. Filling up on washing powder, soap and cleaning material. Cleaning up after the other has used the kitchen. Always filling up and emptying the dishwasher. Always emptying bins and taking out the trash. It also means that you are considerate regarding noise when one person is sleeping. That you keep the television on lower sound in case you watch during the night. That you keep the other person informed of your comings and goings, without “reporting”. In case you’re for example plan to spend the night elsewhere. That you let the other person know if you plan to have guests. Things in general include to switch off lights when you’re not in the room, not put fire to the kitchen, not leave the ironer on when not using it, same goes for stove. Not leave the door unlocked, when specifically asked not to. You may think this is common sense, and so do I. But apparently it isn’t to everybody. And of course above all, have no problems with me blogging about it :)

Boat problem

Not good news on boat. Shipyard has just now detected the steering problem that was reported to them two weeks ago when they got the boat. So now we're waiting for the electrician to turn up, which means I won't get it back this weekend :( Don't they seem to be a tad unprofessional? Or do I just have too high expectations? In any case I miss my boat...

Pizza

Had a very nice lunch today in an Italian place. Decided to have a pizza which I haven't had for a long time. With spinach, egg and lots of delicious cheese. It was really very good, but huge. No way can I eat that much for lunch. Problem was I did eat more than normal, and ended up being really really tired in the afternoon. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my going out yesterday :)...

US Navy Seals

I just checked the pic provided by John. Oh man...oh men!!

Awake

See? I'm pretending to be awake...

Irresponsible

That's me. So went out tonight. Meeting up with Kissing man and others. "I'm not as bad as you think" Kissing man said. Not having a clue as to what I think, but that's men for you :) And yes, I'll be turning up tomorrow perhaps not bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed but who is? Besides, I am very good in pretending :)

The boys

So the boys did come for dinner, even though they never accepted the invitation. Ok to be honest, this is how it went. Email yesterday to one of them. Today at lunchtime still no answer so sms'd. He claimed he was "just texting me". Yeah right. Anyway, got a call (at a very inconvenient place, since I have this 'oktoberfest' signal) to say he'd be there. Sms'd the other guy to tell him to be there. No time to be polite, more like "18.30-19.00 just show up" kinda sms. Since he's German he didn't answer, just took the instruction. They are used to that, ze Germans :) Anyway, I had like 10 min to prepare dinner. Fine by me. Have a chair in the kitchen, sit the visitors down, get them a drink, and talk to me while I prepare dinner. Excellent. If they are two, they can share the chair :) But responsible as they are, they just left. Which leaves me...the less responsible...

Interesting

So I haven't blogged in a while. Sorry about that. And what I do before I start blogging is to check the visitors stats. Get this. Somebody from "Zurich University of Applied Sciences Winterthur" has viewed 96 pages in 22 min and 11 secs. And this person found my blog through googling "curry zurich". Somebody with a photographic memory being able to read (ok view) 96 pages in that time, ought to do something better than googling for curry :) Which is why I never ever trusts statistics :)

Summer is back

Looking through my window I can see summer is back. Great! So no need to dig up the old winter clothes. Dinner this evening boys?

Just a normal day

So nothing really special happened today. Tired, and will go to bed early. Might have something to do with the weather. All of a sudden it was 12°C and rain...summer come back!

Uniform

I have as you know this thing about men in uniforms. Was walking the street this evening, when I heard something. Turned around, and it just so happened that it was a police van behind me, driving in a street where normally only pedestrians can walk. No probs. I was more than happy to move to the side. Where other people would watch why there were there (going into a pub removing some unwanted person I presume) I looked at the guys. Think my next boyfriend must have a job which requires a uniform...

Sexual harassment

I always thought this was a bonus. It is lotsa talk about sexual harassment, and I think it's all bullshit. What is wrong with flirting? Some touching? At my age, I'm grateful for everything I get. Well, until tonight that is. Was standing at my usual table in my usual place when I got grabbed. My ass. Turned around to see if I got lucky. No such thing. It was a friggin girl! When I told my friendgirl she told me the story of the standing-up cig pack. Apparently if you let your cigarette package stand up, it means that you are lesbian. Oh dear. The subtle signs. I do not speak this language. Guess what i wanted to say, what's wrong with normal flirting? But polleeeze, let it be a man next time :)

Some stuff

When new flatmate announced that he was dropping off "some stuff" today, I didn't realize that he meant a whole car full. A big car. Since old flatmate is still around, the stuff ended up in my bedroom. I now have to criss-cross to get from bed to wardrobe to mirror :). Ah well, it's only a couple of days. But how he's gonna squeeze a desk and a chair into the guest room is beyond me...

Conversion tables

For the non-Europeans here are some conversion tables for you to learn: Fahrenheit to Celsius: http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm Yards to meters and ounces to grams: http://www.fibergypsy.com/cgi-bin/fiberlinkmanager/measurement_converter.cgi Here just about everything: http://www.onlineconversion.com/ Next time I just don't wanna hear "how hot is that?" how much does it weigh?" :) PS. I'm funny. Just realized I wrote conversation tables :)

Guess where

Tomato plant

When was it I planted the tomato plant? A week ago? Perhaps two. Well, so ok I didn't plant it personally but it was planted, you know what I mean.

And look at it now. When bought it was like 1 dm tops. And now, growing like there is no tomorrow. The speed of growing makes me think of something else :)...

Thin hair

I'm a smoker. No news there. But when I do hold a cigarette I tend to hold it close to my hair. Which means that every so often I feel the smell of burnt hair. This is not good, considering that I have typical Scandinavian hair. Very thin. I could use every strand. Ah well, what's wrong with wigs :) ??

Munich

Before I moved to Zürich I spent many many moons in a hotel here doing a project. Was stuck together with a couple of Americans, also on the same project, and we ended up touring Switzerland during weekends. As you do, when you're so bored you can tear your head off just so that you'd have something to do. Hotel life really stinks. Anyway, one weekend we took off for Munich. Brought a German aborigine with us to show us the beer gardens, the http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/ and other touristy sights. Now it just so happened that two of them were in looove, couldn't keep their hands off each other. And the fourth one in the group had to leave. So there I was. Stuck with two love birds. It was easy not to laugh. So decided to go back one day early. Meaning I took the car, and drove back on my own to Zürich. Now, sense of direction has never been one of my virtues, so naturally was a bit anxious. But as it turned out, I managed to take all the right turns. It's just funny, the nearest way from Munich to Zürich goes a little bit through Austria. And in Austria you apparently need a little sign on your window to show I don't know. That you paid some kind of motorway tax or similar. I disregarded this, and got lucky. This is the thing when you don't have a car. You just don't care. Suspect it might be the same in Switzerland. But what do I know? I'm a public transportation type of girl :)...and ok, taxi sometimes...

The..hmmm...song is mine

Have just discovered this cd. It is excellent listening. A mix of happy and sad, kinda a bit jazzy at times but not too much. I like to know where the music is going and not having this jamming sessions which I'm sure are fun for the musicians, but not for me. I recommend: http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/2944488/a/Song+Is+Mine.htm

Sweet

It is said that you can never be careful enough in your choice of parents. I think a friend of mine made a wonderful choice. This friend was quite old when he came out as gay, 25 or so. Obviously somebody must have suspected, since he never brought any girls home, but it wasn't out in the open. So one day he decided to come clean. His Mum was doing the dishes, when he suddenly burst out "Mum, I'm gay". She burst into tears, and ran out of the room. Which was a tad distressing to my friend. After about 10 minutes she came back saying "I'm ok now. And I want to meet your boyfriend". Isn't that the sweetest story?

FCZ

Have gotten several cryptic messages the last few days. Apparently Football Club Zürich has won something or another. Excuse me, do I look like a person interested in football??

Lonesome

I have a friend who last week claimed he was so lonesome, and had no friends in Zürich. Today, when I invited him for dinner he claimed he can't since he's meeting up with a friend. In Zürich. ?? Could it be that this particular friend is a bit of a drama queen?

Day off

Today is a day off. Not entirely sure why but surely it has something to do with religion. It usually does. Personally I don't care, but a day off is not to be spat at :) Just too bad it's raining today...

Empty head

Have a bit of an empty head today for some reason. Think it's because I had so many impressions and was so busy last week, that I had an overflow. Can't think of a thing to write about. Anything you want to know??

Finally

So I managed a small party tonight. Ran into 'shooting-animals-because-of-darwin' or something. Survival of the fittest type of thing. The guy from South Africa, remember? Well, he wasn't the only guy around tonight...and now, I bid you goodnight :)

Visitor

Unexpected visitor this evening. Who brought chili's. So now I have one plant on the balcony, and several jars of lovely chili for cooking. I love my friends. And now it's time to go out...

Titanic

Haven't seen this movie in a long while, and looked forward to a nice evening on the couch. Until I realized it was dubbed in French. Huge disappointment. It is just not the same...

A day of rest

Today was a much longed after relaxing day. All week I've been running around like a headless chicken, sleeping too little and always busy. Love the feeling of waking up, having no plans. Slouching around in my pyjama, doing some washing and ironing, admiring and even watering my plants on the balcony, lying on the sofa reading a book. Take-out food and Häagen-Dazs. Life is good. And who knows? I might even go out tonight :)

Perception

People who have only spoken to me on the phone, and not seen me in real life, often think that I am a big girl. Probably because I speak rather loudly. This week I met this guy, who has the sexiest voice. Only he's tiny. Medium tall but skinny. But his voice! Deep and sexy. Would've been better to just talk to him on the phone...

Failure

Yup, failed miserably. Am already home. Ready to go into coma. Had a feeling this would happen, and yes it did. G'night.

Bummer

Here was I thinking TGIF and all ready to go. Until I actually sat down and felt how tired I was. Got home and realized after about an hour that I hadn't even had dinner. That's how tired. So did the remedy cure. Had a banana (eating it thank you very much) and a glass of wine. And now ready for a night in town... Or so I think. If you see me blogging again tonight I failed :)

Hot

This week has been hot. And I mean weatherwise. Between 27-29°C (80-84°F for the lazy American readers) every day. I'm not complaining. Not at all. Just miss my boat... http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm

Austrians

Like the Swiss Austrians are the mini-version of Germans. Only less formal. They still have the inferiority complex of being the smaller country, living in the shadow of the overwhelming 82M+ of Germans but I think they stand up well. However, they are more like the Germans than they would like to think. I think. Just as process-oriented. Brainstorming is not a big thing. They are a bit like the nicer version of Germans. Less formal and less organized. And they like to party. That's good enough for me :)

Here it is

I rest my case.

Candlelight party

Ok, it is an oxymoron in itself. Either candlelight (romantic) or party (lotsa people, lotsa fun) I say. Well, was invited to one this evening. It's like a Tupperware party but with candles. Somebody plays hostess (always a woman for some reason) and somebody else comes and presents products that are grossly overpriced (what's wrong with IKEA?). You have to endure a presentation and then place an order preferrably. There is always a sorta free gift involved. If you buy for more than 50 CHF you get this fantastic candle for only 16 CHF kinda thing. I tried to order to get out of there (it seemed impolite not to), but no go. First I had to go through the process of smelling about 600 different scents. I think after about the 3rd all of it smelled the same to me. Was told to smell coffee beans in between getting too many scent impressions, which would apparently refresh my smelling sense. I opted for another glass of wine. Finally, after 2,5 hours and about 100 CHF I was out. After politely declining the kind offer of being the hostess of the next party, claiming all sorts of reasons being busy. All I gotta do now is to pick up the candles when they arrive about 2 weeks from now. PS. You would think that smelling all of these scents that they would have the candles I wanted with those exact scents. Not. Certain candles apparently come with certain scents. A bit like the Swiss :) PPS. http://www.partylight.com/ Check out this supposedly worldwide company. All in German :)

Macho man

First I have to clarify that macho man definitely doesn't come across as macho, rather the opposite. But he told me today that yesterday night he was in bed when his girlfriend got home. She proceeded to the kitchen and started making muttering noises while she was cleaning up. Asked him if he doesn't have a dishwasher. He said "yes, of course I do, but what do you do when it's full?". Hmmm, start it? I cannot believe a woman who doesn't even live with this guy to come there and clean up his shit! 10 points for stupidity for this woman is my vote...

John Wayne never drank latte

Met the typical Swiss guy today. He told me that he would never order a latte macchiato in a cafe, since "John Wayne never drank latte". To be honest, I don't think the term latte existed in the times when John Wayne did, but never mind, that wasn't the point. According to "macho" man it's too gay. Although he admitted that there is nothing wrong with being gay when questioned. However, he told me that at home he would definitely make his own latte. Double standards? Absofuckinglutely!

Slovenia

Guess I've gone through the countries I know best, but there are still a few to go. In Slovenia I know exactly one person, so I sms'd to ask him what's special about this little piece of ex-Yugoslavia. Small nation, only 2M people, always occupied by one or the other. Very proud of themselves, but I cannot figure out why. Still have their own language (why wouldn't they? Everybody else does including the Swiss who officially don't even have one! At least not called Swiss German). They like drinking wine and beer (who doesn't?). And they like music, apparently it is compulsory to play at least one instrument if you come from Slovenia. And from my point of view 100% of the Slovenians are foot fetischists :)

No news is good news

Wrong. Got a phone call from the boat people yesterday. Turns out they are waiting for some engineer to fix the engine so another two weeks. Haven't they seen the weather forecast? I am missing my boat, the lake and everything that goes with it. Thinking I have to find a more understanding shipyard for next maintenance...

Spanish and English

Perhaps I should enhance the fact that this stereotyping is my opinion, but on the other hand this is my blog and I can say what I want. Which I do :) Spanish - Manana mentality of course. Great country with fantastic wine, lovely food, envious weather and nice people. All this despite the fact of a dictatorial history. So ok, the wine, the food and the weather was there before, but it is a country to admire. They have risen to be one of the main retirement spots for lotsa of Europeans who live in less desirable countries. Mind you, it is already a bit overcrowded with "expat" communities of Brits, Scandinavians, Germans etc. In business they are friendly. But not very available. All of August you can reach nobody there. During the business year they are often starting late, taking long lunches, but also working late in the evenings. It is not uncommon to get a business call from a Spanish person at 10 in the evening. Perfectly normal for them, perhaps less common here in Switzerland (read unheard of :). English - Like the Germans very formal. Often travel far to go to work (compare Holland), lots of traffic and suburbia where they live is mostly far away from their offices (which is never downtown London, but surprisingly enough in another suburbia turned into an industrial area). Process-oriented. Until you get them into a pub. Then they transform into Mrs/Mr Jovial. A bit like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Are 1 hour behind everybody else in Europe, but think Europe is out of sync (once there was a flooding between England and France. The headline in the English papers read: "Europe isolated"). Refuse to drive on the right side of the road. And will never change to the metric system. My opinion is that we can keep the pint, and bin all the other measurements :) Btw, nobody can drink a pint as fast as a Brit. Because they are used to the pubs closing at 11 pm. They order last round just before (every pub has a bell that rings just before they close) and down it like a camel. Impressive. Will always keep the GBP, since EUR is for the Europeans. Which they think they are not. Unless they speak to Americans of course :)

Trustworthy

Apparently I am not. Here I was a few days ago saying I will blog less. Looking at the stats I blogged 140 items in April and guess what? It is only 23rd of May and I have already blogged another 140 items. So not to be trusted. Or perhaps I just want to tease you :)

Dutch and Hungarians

Thought I continue to give my view of some more stereotypes. Dutch - Very friend people, always up for a social activity of some kind. Unrealible in business, show up late for meetings, smiling and saying "files", which means traffic jam and makes everybody immediately understand. Holland (which really is the area between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague and not the entire country which is called the Netherlands) is the third most populated country in the world per m2. I believe after Bangladesh and Pakistan, but any google-fan can object here. Stats change. Which means it is really crowded on the roads. But by no means would that mean that the Dutch would leave earlier to be on time. Or take the excellent public transportation for that matter. Dutch people resemble the Danes. And indeed, they are not so far apart. But for a foreign ear, their language sounds more like German. But they are not like the Germans at all. Very far from in fact mentalitywise. I like the Dutch. Have very fond memories from there. Hungarians - There's a totally other ballgame. Eastern Europe. 10+ years ago they were all Communists. Very fast change in those countries. I only have experience from Hungary. And that is not a good one. In business they do not know what to do. Never deliver on time. Are inattentive in meetings (all keep their private mobiles on, and answer when they ring!). Talk behind each others back. Do not understand the word "deadline". Etc etc. Mind you, it was a few years ago I had this experience, and since change is ongoing things may be better now. I will never find out, since I have no interest in ever going back there.

Push and pull

My job as a friend is to know when to push and pull. When one of my friends is down my first job is to pull her or him back by being supportive, listen and just be there when necessary. This can be repeated many times. But my job as a friend is also to push when I think I heard enough of the same problem. Then my task is to push friend forward so that she or he can move on. Suggest solutions to the problem, give my opinion, get the person to view the problem from another angle. This is equally important as pulling. How do you know when to do what? Gut feeling I suppose. It is ever so difficult. Human relationships is something you will never learn to 100%, which is why it's so interesting! And it make us keep on trying...and trying...and trying :)

0,5 cm

Completely different topic. Met M this evening. He said he wanted to lose weight and wants to go on a more tight (so to speak) regime regarding food intake. Told him that to me it doesn't look like he has to. He then pulled up his shirt, showing the the half cm of fat that he with difficulty pulled out from his belly. Pah! I said, look at this, dragging out a handful from my own stomach. To his defense I must say he commented that I am a woman, and therefore different. Thanks for that (and as it turned out he hadn't read the previous blog item on me complaining about this). Nevertheless, I get jealous of men sometimes. It's so easy for them to lose weight and we women have to work hard on it. And now when I lost every kg I wanted, I keep on losing because I don't have time to eat. And I lose on my bum, not on the belly where I need it most. Life is f...ing unfair :)

Elaboration

Ok, so maybe Scandinavians aren’t perfect. If you look a little bit closer, this may be it: Norwegians – Love their “hytte” which is a cabin somewhere on a mountain. Preferably with no toilet and no other hygiene facilities. They loooove their country life they say, which is funny considering how many people who live in the cities. Always leave the office at 4 pm, no matter what. Family and friends are more important than work. Strangely enough they are more efficient-working than most nationalities I have come across. Difficult to open up, men once they do they become lifetime friends. A bit like the Swiss. Danish – Individualists. Workwise you can sit in a meeting and agree on whatever. Then everybody goes off and does something completely different. Refreshing and frustrating at the same time. Danish people certainly know how to enjoy life. No ban on ciggies or alcohol there. No ban on anything in fact. And when something doesn’t suit a Dane, they parade about it in best case, or more often, go on strike. Charming people. Swedes – Conformists. Have lived with a social democratic government for 50 years. Complain but never loud. And never so that anybody who’s in a position to change anything hears it. “It always worked so well in the past” is something you often hear, which means just because it worked before the Swedes think it will also in the future. Not big on changes. Strangely enough the Swedes think that everything is better managed in Sweden than anywhere else. Perhaps it’s why they are so far from the rest of Europe. Redeeming factor: the Stockholm archipelago. It’s gorgeous.

I don't like to mix with queers

Which is a tad funny coming from a gay guy :)

Stereotypes

I love to stereotype. And just as clichés often are true, so are stereotypes. Here's my list: Americans - Hardworking people, mainly because of risk of being fired which can easily happen "over there". No party animals. Can speak the CBS lingo fluently. Are less skilled in enjoying life's little things. Direct and to the point. Often think Europe is one country. Germans - Rigid and correct. Speak English with heavy accent. Always out of the charter hotel at 4 in the morning to put their towel on the sunbed to mark it occupied. Trustworthy. No sense of humour (at least none that anybody non-German can understand :). Love papers, the more documentation the better. Oldfashioned and use the formal Sie-form a lot. Organize their electronic telephone book in surname order (hey M, try to live dangerously!...and if you ever put my surname in your phone book you're out :). Swiss - A bit slow but thorough. Like to follow processes. Not as timely as you would think. A little bit of sense of humour. Good people in general - once you get to know them which may take a while. Like festivals and parades where they can dress up and pretend to be somebody else and not being recognized. Live in the most beautiful country there is. And take it for granted. Don't like to see it invaded by "foreigners". Italians - Very much for surface and artificiality. Italien men must have a flashy car, brand clothes, a Rolex and all the paraphernalia for any activity. All while they are 35 years old and still live with mama at home. Very good sense for design. All catholic and actually believe they are. All while they are having at least one mistress. It is said that the Italian women all stay home with the 11 children, but who is it then the Italian men are unfaithful with? Scandinavians - Perfect :)

Exhausted

I was absolutely exhausted yesterday! Too much to do at the same time I guess. Anyway, I fell asleep at eleven. Don't know when that happened last time...

A new fan

Apparently I have a new fan of my blog. Got an sms this morning from somebody who "couldn't stop reading"...very nice to hear. I know I don't write litterary pieces that would win a Pulitzer price exactly, but it is nevertheless very nice to hear that some people like it. Just wish new fan would learn how to comment :)

Young and pretty

Today was a good day. Got an email from somebody who saw the pic on the blog saying I was "pretty". Had another comment from a bartender (on a Monday!) referring to me as the "young lady". Ain't bad for a Monday...I'm just thinking of how beautiful I will be on Friday :)

Look what I got

Aren't they beautiful?

Less is more?

Ok, so from now on it's gonna be less blogging for me. Something has come up and will require my attention, at least for a good while. Hope that you will continue reading once in a while anyway. I know I have a few loyal readers, so please stay. I might get some time now and then...

Unmade

Hmmm, M showed me pics today from where he had been over the weekend. This was the bed. Hmmm again. And this guy is moving in with me? Not having learned to make a bed...;)

Obsession

Was out in Zürich city with an American the other day. Turns out he has a somewhat...hmmm...unnatural obsession with Smart cars. I say unnatural because who in their right mind would be interested in a car like this?

Once

Once in a lifetime you will see a pic of me on this blog. Actually that is not true, posted one long time ago and then deleted the next day. Which is exactly what will happen with this pic. But in the meantime, enjoy. I certainly did :)...next to two gorgeous guys.

PS. Note the shiny nails :)

A few pics from my beloved country

Panic attack

Oh the horror of not being able to access the net. Just happened to me. May have been because a friend sent an 9Mb email...I don't know. Might have been just anything. Restarting the computer didn't help. So called Swisscom. "Welcome to Swisscom. For password problems please press 1. For internet access problems please press 2." So did. "We are not available right now. Please call again between 7-20 (or something) on Monday". Right. Gee thanks. Very helpful on a Sunday at 23.00. Got a phone call the other day from Cablecom (todays Jehovas witnesses) who harass you by a monthly letter, monthly phone calls and even ringing your door once in a while. Told them at once I wasn't interested. Woman asks "may I ask why?". I responded because I heard of their shitty customer services. Now thinking, is Swisscom really better? Anyway, did the Norwegian restart meaning shutting off the computer completely. Checking all the cables (they were connected thank you very much...I might be blond but not completely stupid). And then starting up again. And here I am...

As good as it gets

Met this guy tonight who resembled the gay guy in "As good as it gets". Funnily enough I couldn't remember the English title. All I thought about was "Besser geht es nicht". I should be shot. I'm too swissified. Nicht gut :) Anyway, not sure he was too pleased about the remark :) but what the heck, it was true...and I wasn't interested in him anyway.

Stats

I know it's not very interesting to you readers but sometimes I check the statistics on my readers. This is from today. I am always amazed over the outcome, since I can understand people from Switzerland having a certain interest, my friends across the world, but the rest? It is a mystery...

Pfungen

Was sms'ing with a friendgirl this afternoon asking her if she was going out tonight. Her reply was "sorry, I'm off to Pfungen". ??? So asked her where the f... is that? Apparently near Winterthur. To me it sounded like a disease...

Second thoughts

Told you before that M (future flatmate, last time I tell you who he is...you're not slow learners, are you:)?) is very particular with food. Tomorrow I have invited him and friend for dinner. It's like cruising with a big boat between swimmers, ferries, pedalling devices, canoes, motor and sail boats and so forth choosing a menu for this guy. He doesn't eat fish, mushrooms, celery, seafood etc etc etc. It's a steep learning curve I tell you. Ok, so it did help that he told me. Meatloaf. With bacon I asked. Bacon? He said. A novel idea apparently. But he agreed. Starter? Won't tell you, since I know he will read this before dinner tomorrow. And they promised to bring dessert. Well guys, anything including either Häagen-Dazs or chocolate will do :) PS. No not really second thoughts about him moving in. Think we'll be very happy together :)

Red

So promised not to blog about American's lack of geography knowledge. Which made me think of red. Tell somebody to think about everything else but red. What do you think they think about? Well, not green or blue that's for sure. Funny that. The mind works in mysterious ways...

Albuquerque

Read in the news about this bear who took a stroll into a hospital in Albuquerque. Since he didn't have an appointment they shot him with a tranquillizer. Which made me think. Where the f... is Albuquerque? Sounds Canadian to me, but a google-search shows New Mexico. Ok, so new search. East of Arizona. Hmmm, so will never again complain about the Americans lack of geography. Well, not very soon anyway :)

Comments

I love to get comments on my blog. This is just a recommendation for new readers. I cannot see which item you are commenting on, so to help me please state the headline (title) of the item you are commenting on in the comment itself. Then it's easier for me to find and respond. Just a recommendation. Either way, I love comments.

Me miss boat

I do so miss my boat. Especially today when it's 26°C, bright sunshine and ok, friggin birds singing but I can ignore that. Haven't heard from the shipyard, which makes me think that there is more to do on the boat than I thought. Actually I expected that, since I don't think it's ever been in on renovation before. Boat built 1999. Go figure. And indeed, my friend told me there was a remark when he delivered it for me "oh, this boat hasn't been seen to for a while". Right. On top of this I have decided to postpone my boat classes. Especially the theory :). From next week I will have no time. That's too bad. Thought I was doing pretty well (right boat teacher?). So even if I want to do everything at the same time, I know my limits. Perhaps I'm not superwoman after all :) ??

Balcony

I loooove my balcony. In the summer (or like today) I can have the balcony doors open to create a sense of a bigger living room. I can go out there, and enjoy all my plants. It is stunning out there right now. The vine (which will eventually make wine I hope :), the geraniums, the basil, the rosemary, the orchid, the tomato plant, the porcelain flower and plants I don't know the name of. I know, my balcony is only 4 m2 and not much to write home about, but I just adore it. If only I could get that strange neighbour across to go away...

Razor blades

Oops. Just had a bit of a bloodbath in the bathroom. I should've known better than to use brand new razorblades when shaving my legs. I am now having no less than three bandaids on my shins. Thought about waxing but after having seen "What women want" I decided against it :) Besides, I'm not as furry as Mel Gibson...

Criticism

After having gone through my diet quite successfully and lost most of the weight I wanted I have noticed that people start criticizing. So when you are overweight nobody says a thing. As soon as you start looking like you want, people all of a sudden have comments on your body. It just so happens that I am a woman, and therefore have a somewhat protruding belly. Which I now have been criticized for. No word on how much better I look in general, or how much I lost. Just that I have a belly. It's not fair, is it? Strangely enough this from people who are no beauties themselves. So even if some people (thanks true friends!) have commented favourably, it is the negative comments that stick to my mind. Sad, isn't it?

Done

Ok, so I'm done with being quiet. And as luck would have it, it is Saturday today. Hurray! The party goes on...

Quiet

Just a quiet evening home tonight. Felt like a change. Second Harry Potter movie was on. Early to bed. See? Sometimes even I can be good...

Tomato plant

I am now the proud owner of a tomato plant. I have learned that they have to have a lot of sun, water twice a week and no rain directly on the plant. So put it along the house wall, where I hope it'll be very happy. And generate lotsa tomatoes of course.

Sms

This morning when I switched on my phone I got this message "hi, this is X and Y partying in Chicago, USA". What? Did they think I don't know where Chicago is located :)??

One-nighter

Was out tonight. Saw this guy, thought he was gorgeous, and he winked at me. But he looked strangely familiar. So kept looking at him once in a while, you know, not staring, but kinda glancing his way. Then he left. And just as he did I realized I had actually slept with him. Oh dear. That's not good, is it? Not remembering straight away. It's like I sleep around all the time. Which is not true. And he came back, so went up to him, saying hello. "We slept together". Which of course he remembered ;) PS. End of story, nothing happened.

Handsome and Cute

I know this gay couple. One of the guys is handsome, and the other one cute. And whaddaya know. When introduced with this concept handsome guy says (in a kinda wheenie voice) "I wanna be cute too". Answer from his boyfriend "well, I guess you're stuck with handsome, handsome". Tells me nobody is ever satisfied... PS. Personally I would settle for beautiful...and I'm still waiting ;)

Rearranging

Was just sorting through clean wash when I got this novel idea. Why don't I put all pants on one side in the wardrobe, and all tops on the other? Brilliant. And now done. No more going through all clothes trying to locate a certain piece. It was a nice heureka-moment :)

Norway

Today it is Norways national day. Big celebration. I know, since I spent a couple of 17th May's there. http://www.norway.go.tz/culture/17+May+celebrations.htm

Grrr

Today I'm angry. Just lost my temper. Angry with a certain person, who is f...ing ignorant and always asking for favours without giving nothing in return. I've had it with this person. Enough is enough.

I blame somebody else

Oops, change of plan. Ok, this is what happened. Sent an sms to a friendgirl about what time to meet. She didn't know yet exactly. So decided to have a little bite to eat. All of a sudden got very sleepy, so thought a small nap would be a good idea before hitting town. Just woke up. Here was I relying on somebody sms'ing to wake me up. No go. So guess I won't be going out tonight :) Ah well, perhaps 4 nights in a row is enough...

Australian kiss

Do you know what an "Australian Kiss" is? It's like a French kiss, but Down under :)

Apropos nothing

Reverse parking

I just don't understand why they make you do reverse parking. Who in their right mind would park a boat with the friggin 80 horsepowers huge engine pointing towards the bridge? The engine prevents you from going close to the bridge, and then you won't be able to step onto the bridge. Why, why, why? But apparently this is one of the exercises you have to perform in order to get the license. I just cannot think of one good reason for it...

Reading between lines

I try very hard not to laugh when people try to speak other languages, since I know how difficult it can be. But sometimes they just don't get it right. And for the record, I'm one of them. Like today. I was talking to somebody saying I am really tired and I need to take a nap before going out tonight. His answer was "I would like to join you". Well for the English speaking audience this would mean that he was hitting on me, right? But since I know he isn't fluent I knew he just meant that he would like to take a nap too. Not necessarily together. It is hard sometimes not to laugh, but I managed today. It's all about reading between the lines...

Boatophobia

This is what I have according to one of my boat teachers. But ok, listen to this. You drive a big and powerful boat into a harbour. On both sides of the harbour there are big and expensive yachts parked. Remember I told you about the tiny space in the harbours? Well, this is why I always try to steer my boat in the middle. So I won't damage the other boats. Only problem is when they ask you to park the darn thing. If you're parking with the front towards the bridge on the right (in an assigned parking space) you're supposed to go with one third of the space to your right and two thirds to the left. Then drive up towards the space so that your side is parallell to the spot. The go forward, go back, go forward (or was it the other way around?...boat teacher, help!). And all the time all these big yachts are there staring at you (or so it feels). I am so afraid I'm gonna do some damage. And yes, I know that I am insured and that boat teachers will take over if I do something terribly wrong, but I just cannot help myself. This is when boat teacher told me I have boatophobia. Too afraid of other boats. That is not a good thing when you're trying to get a license :) PS. Very funny when boat teacher told me why the openings are so small (to protect boats from wind if you didn't get it). Yes I knew that, was just exaggerating a bit for the blog :)...sometimes I wonder if there is a thing like Swiss sense of humour :)

It ain't over until the fat lady sings

Oh gee, long day and it ain't over yet. First up in the wee hours for boat class. Then picking up new friend for lunch. Well, as it turned out we didn't go straight for food, more for walking and drinking but not at the same time. Took a stroll through lovely Zürich. And as all my visitors, he was impressed. Well, what's not to be impressed about? Great afternoon. Just hanging out. Doing the tourist guide kinda thing, pointing out places and sites. Then eventually had lunch. Ended up at my place talking, talking, talking. Great fun. Love meeting new people.

Awake

Barely but still. Cooooffffeeeee...

I shouldn't have

Probably I shouldn't have booked a boat class at 9.15 tomorrow morning. In suburbia half an hour train drive from my beloved Zürich. It seemed a good idea at the time, as it usually does. Oh fuck, have to go to bed...:)

Call

I then got a call from M, saying that his friend would like to meet me. Would I be in my usual place later? Of course. Need you ask :)? So M and friend came by. Which was indeed very funny since M just kinda like the place, not being over the moon exactly, whereas his friend really appreciated the music. I could see M, tapping his foot in irritation, and at the same time his friend was enjoying it immensely. Told M that I would love to take care of his friend this week while he's visiting (at which time M looked very annoyed :) and that we would spend every evening there. His friend said "yes, and they have food here too". You just have to love meeting a soulmate...sorry M ;) PS. You can take a joke, right??

Active social life

That's what I'm having right now. Being out every night. Today I met up with a friendgirl from the suburbs. We had a drink (as you do) and then went for dinner in a place new to me. I'm gonna blame my gay guy here since it's close to where he lives, and he has never introduced me to this particular restaurant. Shame on you! It was very good. And cheap. CHF 59 for two main courses, a couple of beers, and ok no smiling service but what the hell. For that price you cannot expect more. Food was excellent. And to be honest, their website leaves a few things to be desired :) http://www.lilys.ch

Dancing men

I always get a little bit surprised how attractive men become when they can dance. A guy I wouldn't even look at normally, all of a sudden is seen in a new light and I'm thinking gosh, he's goodlooking. And all because he can dance. Weird, isn't it?

T-shirt

Saw this guy the other day wearing a T-shirt saying "National Organisation of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood". What the f... does that mean?

36 3/4

One thing that is irritating with losing a bit of weight is that the feet also get smaller. I have now the very strange size of 36 3/4 instead of my normal 37. So all my shoes have suddenly become just that little bit too big. I suppose it is to be regarded as a tiny problem, but thought you'd want to know :)

M

Have invited M (future flatmate) and a friend for dinner on Sunday. Turns out that he is very particular with food. So there's gonna be meatloaf on demand. Here I had a whole menu planned, but if meatloaf is what is required, then meatloaf it'll be... See? I'm very...hmmm...accommodating :)

Aussiebum

Well, if you're like me you wouldn't know what Aussiebum means. But apparently in the gay crowd this is essential. Like tonight. Went to my gay friends place for dinner. He told me he had something to show me (at the same time cupping his balls. Hmm, felt like too much information.) Anyway, it's a brand of underwear which has a supporting thingie for the penis. Making it look bigger than it actually is. Like a package. Very nice I must say having inspected it myself :)... PS. Especially nice together with a jeans brand called G-star. Or so I'm told.

A little joke

A Greek and an Italian were drinking coffee one day discussing who had the superior culture. Over triple lattes the Greek guy says, "Well, we have the Parthenon". Arching his eyebrows the Italian replies, "We have the Coliseum." The Greek retorts, "We Greeks gave birth to advanced mathematics." The Italian, nodding in agreement, says, "But we built the Roman Empire." And so on and so on until the Greek comes up with what he thinks will end the discussion. With a flourish of finality he says, "We invented sex!" The Italian replies, "That is true, but it was the Italians who introduced it to women."

Berlin

Some of the people I partied with yesterday came all the way from Berlin just to hear this particular band play. Wow. I guess they were really fans. And nice people too. They told me I was speaking very good German...it is like I always suspected. I speak much better after a few glasses of wine :)

Rich bitch

Well, after that relaxing day I thought I'd make a trip into town. Walked off that Häagen-Dazs. And then ended up with a few friends. Friends with bad influence on me (twist my arm, and yes, there I go again). Met an interesting woman though. She was young, from a rich family, and had refused to do what they asked her. She works as a waitress, never having taken money from her family. Good for her. She had very clear thoughts about what she wanted to do with her life. I admire people like that. Perhaps because I can identify? Apart from the fact that my parents never had money... Good evening though. Lotsa laughs. And I was the first one to leave...imagine that?!?

Home delivery

I love places where you can order on the net, and they just bring whatever you order to your doorstep. Did that today. Häagen-Dazs strawberry and Häagen-Dazs chocolate chip. A movie in the afternoon and icecream. Then just falling asleep then and there. A nice relaxing day. Exactly what I needed.

Rabbit

Rabbit is quite often on the menu here in Switzerland, and I have come to like it. Been told by an older relative back in Scandinavia that rabbit was eaten a lot during the WWII due to food shortage. But I like it, and will cook it today. For you who hasn't tasted it, it's kinda like a mix between chicken and pork.

Beauty sleep

That's what I gonna try right now...(and pls refrain from witty remarks here :)

Shoes

So I wore new shoes tonight. Almost made the foot fetischist come all over me. Compliments to my personal shopper :) Which made me look at his shoes. It's easy to criticize other people, isn't it? But he got the message. No butt I said? Well, what about yours? Now I only have to hint 5 cm...;)

Self confidence

It is extremely good for ones self confidence when the "bad metabolism girls club" is out (read fat girls). I felt good tonight. And I told the "no butt"-guy off. Told him he wasn't perfect either. So he showed me how perfect he is by making a measurement between thumb and pointing finger. 5 cm tops. HAHAHA!

Serbia

Apparently Serbia with the lesbian won. It wasn't so difficult to guess. It was Eastern Europeans turn (and anybody who thinks it's about music have to think again :) and of course the most outstanding band won. Last year it was monsters from Finland. I am not at all surprised. So over and out. All the gays reading this blog have to get that it's all about politics. Also in ESC :)

No English

Apart from the guys in the class, who I spoke to in the breaks, I've spent 8 hours listening to a combination of Switzedutch and high German (the Swiss all say they speak high German...HAHAHA...and this teacher in particular is very bad...bad in the sense of not being able to speak high German i.e.). At the same time learning something that is completely new to me. V. tiring. And since this ESC doesn't come in English in any channel I have I now listen to it on the Italian channel. At least it's a change from Switzedutch :)

Diet update

Diet has been going well actually, and I've gotten into a kinda pattern eating less and at least slightly more regular. But after the butt comment I thought I'd make a break and eat a bit more, meaning treating myself to some Häagen-Dazs strawberry. As well as some other stuff yesterday. For lunch today I had spaghetti bolognese, which still bothers me or at least my stomach. Have I gotten intolerant to "normal" food?. Heartburn, farting and burping. This is not good. Especially not on a Saturday night :)

ESC

The initiated (read the gays) know that this means Eurovision Song Contest, and it seems to be a neverending interest in the gay community about this somewhat deflated "competition". I am currently trying to muster some interest and listen to the so called music, but it is difficult. If you ask me it might as well have been some songs from last year, or the year before that. Don't they all sound sorta the same? And this coming from me, who just love my place where they always play the same sorta songs...ironic, isn't it? Think the difference is the live version is always better...which coming to think of it goes for men too :)

Kopfschlag

Apparently I am very weird. I took the opportunity to ask the teacher today to show me some of the knots. There is one (out of 9) I find very easy. It's called kopfschlag (I know, it's a tongue-twister, easier to say when drunk). Nevertheless, they say this is one of the most difficult and I can do it in my sleep. My problem is the other 8. For my life I just cannot learn them...

Abstinence

And of course since I wasn't out yesterday evening I have to go out today. There is no getting around it :) After 4 hours sleep last night, a very full indeed day I now have to gear up, open a bottle of wine, possibly eat something (usually a good idea before going on the piss :) and get myself ready. There is just no rest for the busy...

Renovation

So my boat went into a shipyard today for renovation. I was a bit worried since a friend who is even less experienced than I am was taking my boat there. Had my mobile on the whole morning, but heard nothing. At last we had a break (after more than 2 hours class without a smoking break! And this with a teacher who is a smoker. What is wrong with her?) and I phoned. Turns out all went well. Even though it was windy this morning. I so wonder if he told me the whole story though :)

Phew

What a day! Boat theory from 8.00-16.30. Then a ride on the lake for an hour (the best part of my day :). Theory is a lot. I've now got two books, one leaflet and one cd which I have to learn if I want to try the test with the authorities. You have to have 56 right out of 60. It ain't easy. Especially since they include lotsa stuff on sail boats, which interest me about as much as...hmm...kissing a woman on the mouth I suppose. Also, because this is Switzerland, they have different rules for different lakes. The cantons can never agree on ONE standard. And I have to learn them all. When will I have time? But it was kinda fun despite all the theory. There were five students, whereof 3 were guys. Of those 2 were cute, even though a bit too young for me (since when did that stop me :) ?). Lastly we took a ride on the same boat I have used in my lessons. Only 2 students, the other one of the cute guys. He was driving a boat for the first time in his life, and you could clearly see how much fun he had. I know the feeling. And he did good. We did a couple of buoy overboard exercises and one round in one of the harbours. Plus some speeding on the lake of course :)...my absolute favourite!

A typical Saturday morning

Up, showered, dressed and a cup of coffee at 6.15 in the morning. Just your typical Saturday morning for me :) Yeah, right.

A typical Friday night

I am gonna stay in and watch Harry Potter which is shown on SF2. Have actually not seen any of these movies, but read the books. They are rather good. What I am saying? Staying in a Friday night? Ah well, have to get up at 6 tomorrow morning for this boat course. The things I do...

No butt

As I so kindly were informed yesterday I have no butt. Which I think is highly unfair. I do have a butt, but it's smaller than before due to weight loss thank you very much. I'm telling you, there is no pleasing men. They want breasts, butt and a belly that has no fat on it. How is that possible without a surgeons knife? Ok, if you're 20 maybe, but for the rest of us? Good thing I like myself...

Hand

So tonight got a little bit out of hand I must admit. Long story including the boat, meeting up with M and friend, going home listening to ESC against my will, going out, meeting up with foot fetishist again and on and on and on... I really have to work on my beauty sleep :)

12 things

There are twelve things you have to have on a boat if the engine is over 30 ps. One in particular is essential if you ask me. The bucket. Because you can pee in it :) The others are an anchor, documents, rescue equipment, flag, oar etc etc...f if I can remember...

Message

Yesterday when having a boat lesson my phone rang. Again. Ignored it and got a voice mail. In friggin Swiss german. Didn't understand one word (well not enough to understand what it was about). Thanks for number display. Looked it up (http://www.directories.ch/) when I got home and it was my boat school. Called back. They wanted to ask me if I wanted an extra lesson. On Saturday. Said that I unfortunately have a theory lesson the whole day, and cannot make it. Thinking: you should know, since it's your company. Guess it's like one of the boat teachers said: the school is consisting of amateurs who do this for fun. Computers? Ever heard of it :) ??

ESC

Sometimes I think I mix too much with gay people. All they talk about these days is the Eurovision Song Contest. Like I care. Well, just home quickly to change and get ready for another party in town. Forced to listen to it on telly. And must say Israel is not bad. Cool song. And not with a gay friend. With somebody who has un unhealthy (ok, so shoot me) interest in music :)...

Men in uniform

I have a thing with men in uniform. Every time I take the boat out I see the "Seepolizei". Every time I hope they're gonna drive up to me and check my...hmmm...documents :) But I guess it's a good thing they never do...they may make me do the breath test :)

Promille

Discussion about what promille is in English. It's apparently 'per thousand'. Means I found a word that doesn't exist in English! Hurray. Anyway, there was an article in 20 min (a Swiss free newspaper) about the Swiss voting for keeping the 0.8 promille (per thousand for the slow readers:) limit on the lake. Last week I asked one of my boat teachers what that really means. She said about 2 glasses of wine. Oh dear. From my expression she tried to explain that if you eat something it may be more. Fortunately I can still park MY boat under the influence :)

Fucking birds

Again, the friggin birds shat in my boat. Not only that. They built a friggin nest again, and laid two eggs. Which made me think about a project I did some years ago. We were sharing a house with four bedrooms. Which the company paid for. Much better than staying in a hotel, considering we spent months and months there. Anyway, there was this guy who was even more of a "morgenmuffel" (read extremely tired in the morning) than I. We were all ready to go, and he had just started to cook breakfast. Told him that if you want a ride to the office, NOW is the time. He then laughed and said "operation aborted" meaning breakfast preparation. It was very funny at the time... PS. Guess the bird eggs are now aborted too. I threw them in Limmat!

What is wrong with this picture?

A pedalling boat. A man in front, leaning back, drinking a beer. A woman pedalling. Well, in case you didn't get it. EVERYTHING is wrong with this picture :)

Air balloon

Isn't it friggin typical? Here I get invited to go on an air balloon for free, and what do I do? I go (semi-voluntarily) on a boat theory day. Seems like on Saturday everything is happening at once. I go on doing boat theory, my boat goes into renovation (with the kind help of a friend) and I miss the air balloon ride. Sometimes there isn't enough time for all the things I want to do...

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 :(