Halloween II

Quite happy with my purchase for tomorrows party actually. Shows I made an effort. They don't need to know it only cost 15 CHF and took 5 mins to buy.

Selbstandig

Sometimes language can cause unexpected things to happen. I am currently extremely unhappy with my bank, so yesterday I sent an email to another bank saying I would consider moving my assets over to them. Unfortunately this bank only has a website in German (which indeed should make me a bit cautious, don't they want business?). Anyway. One of the questions in the form was "selbstandig" vs not. That means independent. And I thought, I'm very independent so ticked the box. Today a senior corporate advisor called me. Turns out "selbstandig" means having your own business. He probably had a whiff of big money. Imagine his disappointment. HAHAHA. Well, to be continued.

Public transportation

Was quite pissed this morning waiting for the bus 25 min! The bus is supposed to go every 5 min in rush hour, but an apparently unexpected snowfall put a stop to transportation. Big surprise to anybody who hadn't read the weather forecast. So not only was I pissed, I was pissed on. By snowy-rain. Finally at my destination half an hour later than usual I felt a need to write to the Zurich transportation people to express my dissatisfaction. Mind you, I had calmed down a bit before sending the email so didn't really say what I meant (like fuck off you idiots, who cannot predict that more people use public transportation when it's bad weather), but was more inquiring whether they would consider extra buses/trams/trains when weather conditions so indicated. This is the answer: "For the VBZ it is clear, that if the weather is so bad, people use more often public transport. Extra busses were in rush hour, because of the individual car traffic. There were a lot of accidents, too. The public work services as well as the VBZ were not able to do their work because of many reasons. Of course, the VBZ shoult give the passengers all information about the desturbances and this point was not done well. For that we are very sorry. Such bad weather do we have not very often and for that, we cannot buy many new busses, which are just in use one or twko days a year. For the extra busses, we take the old busses, which we have in a high amonut. This day will be discussed by the VBZ and the other puplic transports. All details will we valued and they decide, what has to be done better next time. We hope, in future you will not have such a long time to go to work and we wish you a nice evening. Best Regards. ZVV Contact". This is the moment I go mellow. Somebody who cannot speak English fluently (much less spell it) takes the trouble to answer the same day. I cannot be angry anymore. Communication rules!

People are good? Hmmm maybe different.

It takes all sorts of people to make a world. In Oktoberfest it takes lots more. After 2 liters of beer most people have a change in behaviour, and not always to the better (mind you, in most of the cases with ze Swiss it really is for the better!). And some believe that making a statement is a good thing.

Lizard wine

It's really quite cheap to buy something in Oktoberfest. NB irony! 48 friggin CHF for a bottle of wine! But on the other hand you get a lizard wine, which I vouch for is not tasting bad. At least not after the first two glasses...

13th Zürcher Oktoberfest

I am too easy. Got a phone call this afternoon, "we're going to Booschänzli and the Oktoberfest, you wanna join?". Hmm. Not really, since I had plans to go shop for halloweeny things. Well, shopping is a must that can be fixed quickly, in order to focus on more important things. Like the 13th Zürcher Oktoberfest!

United Arab Emirates

Am planning a longer trip next year, and one of the airline companies we're looking at is the United Arab Emirates (gotta choose one that is not likely to go bankrupt before March next year!). But looking at the stats I'm not certain anymore: Women's suffrage denied or conditioned Brunei — Women (and men) have been denied the right to vote or to stand for election since 1962. Lebanon — Partial suffrage. Proof of elementary education is required for women but not for men. Voting is compulsory for men but optional for women. Saudi Arabia — No suffrage for women. The first local elections ever held in the country occurred in 2005. Women were not given the right to vote or to stand for election, although suffrage may be granted by 2009. United Arab Emirates — Limited, but it will be fully expanded by 2010. Vatican City — No suffrage for women; while most men in the Holy See also lack the vote, all persons with suffrage in Papal conclaves (the Cardinals) are male. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_suffrage

Who's laughing now?

Well, it turned out the new wine salesman was not my type of guy. Not unpleasant or anything, but nobody you could crack a joke and have fun with. Perhaps because he only spoke the lovely "language" Switzedütch? Anyway, he managed to wriggle 500 CHF worth of wine out of me. This better be good! In the meantime, I stick to my housewine white Pinot Grigio for 4.90 a bottle... PS. He gave me a gift in form of a special towel for expensive glasses. Guess I have to go and buy expensive glasses now.

Halloween I

Normally I wouldn't give a rats ass about this so called holiday, but since I'm invited to a party on Friday I have taken the liberty of changing my mind. After all, I am a woman. SBN is invited too, together with Facebook-girl who incidentally is coming back to visit again over the weekend (true love, anyone?). So yesterday he asked if I had any glue. I couldn't possibly work out why he needed glue, but I am very curious as to how he plans to dress up to the party. Myself I have as usual pushed the problem in front of me, but guess I have to go and shop for something tomorrow. I was told "it doesn't have to be a whole costume, but something "halloweeny"". Gee, thanks for the tip. And no, I have no clue as to what to wear.

Teaching men to sit

Normally this is a walk in the park, but with SBN this appears to be a bit more of a difficult task to accomplish. Not that I would like him to sit (except for on the toilet!!), but he doesn't listen. He doesn't take advice, however wellmeaning. When I tell him that coffee is the worst you could drink when you have a stomach flu, guess what he does? Yes exactly. He gears up the coffee machine. When I tell him that if he wants to drink Coke, he should get the bubbles out first, guess what? Yes, he opens the bottle and downs it in one gulp. Secretly I think he likes his stomach flu, and would like to maintain it for as long as possible. Why else wouldn't he listen? PS. Blueberry soup is the best if you have a "nervous stomach". You can get it at the IKEA shop.

First taste, then buy

Think I mentioned before that since my old wine-delivery guy left the company, I have only purchased a little and of wine I knew before. Now it's time to get delivery guy to work, and come over here and offer me a tasting session. Somehow think I will have difficulties in deciding tonight...

My new love

A good friend gave me a present today, Paul Potts "One chance". For those of you who missed his debut, here it is again: Paul, you're a star.

Screw object

Banks, they're all consisting of greedy bastards who try to screw their customers. Trust me on this one, I've had a few. They see a customer as a potential screwing object, and I'm not talking about the good meaning of screw here. I am not referring to the current so called financial crisis (yeah, did companies really do that much worse overnight?...duh). I'm talking about bad advice, and when the shit hits the fan they are not responsible. Guess who is? Me, we, you, the customers. But we only turned to them in the first place because they're supposed to be the experts? Which they incidentally charge us a handsome amount for. I think it's like being a weather forecast person. You're wrong half the time, but you still get paid a lot for it. But this one I'm fighting. And as said, nothing to do with the falling stock market.

Final destination

And of course we ended up where we belong eventually, and I gotta say SBN wasn't at all sad.

Later we met some people who were quite happy too, and yes I did ask them if I could post the photo. Mind you, late at night everybody seems to be very hmmm agreeable. Hehe.

Outing to suburbia

SBN and I were visiting of friend of mine far far away from Zürich on Saturday, in fact so far that we had to go through part of Germany and then back into Switzerland to get there. The downside is that public transportation is scarce, and going back we had to get a lift to the nearest train station. When approaching we saw the train ride away back to civilization. Shoot.

So what to do? Well isn't it obvious? Find the nearest bar. And to our great surprise there actually was one. I think we were the happening of the day. And equally surprising there wasn't an outdoor toilet, but a self-cleaning one! Together with a printed menu (very reasonable prices, and something that Zürich definitely could learn from!) and some what I thought to be plastic flowers, but now on the pic I see water. Great trick!

Cactus

A friend of mine has this cactus. What does it make you think of?

Cold and flu

Been having a bad cold the last couple of days, while SBN has developed a stomach flu. Why am I never that lucky? It’s a great way of losing weight, by losing appetite and spend most of your time on the toilet. Heard from a Welsh guy about this tapeworm inducing tablet, which I shall give considerable thought. Only, the bit where you have to remove it doesn’t really appeal to me. I wonder if this is a Welsh thing?

Cuties on the countryside

Care for a drink?

Trouble focusing

Sad Friday

Yesterday I was thinking of myself and SBN as an old married couple. It was a really sad thought. I was lying with a beginning cold on the sofa watching West Wing, while he was taking off for the fitness studio at 9pm. What happened to the young, urban, goodlooking people going out partying on Friday? Seemingly it happened somewhere else. But shame on those who declare themselves defeated. Today we're off to exotic Hallau! Cows, goats, villages, non-urban lifestyle with old houses, cats and a magnificent open fire. And hopefully a tablegrill... Life goes on.

Cheap date

The doctor gave me pills against high blood pressure called Coversum. Since I started I've been very tired, but I don't know whether it is the pills or the beginning of a cold that has caused it. So I googled it to check, and it says that tiredness is indeed a side effect. But it also turns out that one of the substances in the pills increases the effect of alcohol. Hurray! Gentlemen, I am from now on a cheap date!

Insurance pay-back

Really like my insurance company. Just received a letter stating that because I haven't claimed anything the last 3 years, I am getting a payback of around 250 CHF. How very good of them. Will put the money to good use, most possibly in a bar...

Clever Aussies

From the State where drink driving is considered a sport, comes a true story from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a local neighbourhood tavern. Late in the evening the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the car park for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles, the man managed to find his car which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a fine dry night), flicked the indicators on, then off, tooted the horn and then switched on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a few cm, reversed a little and then remained stationary for a few more minutes as some more vehicles left. At last he pulled out of the car park and started to drive slowly down the road. The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over and carried out a Breathalyzer test. To his amazement the Breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man having consumed alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said 'I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police station, this Breathalyzer equipment must be broken.' 'I doubt it,' said the man, 'tonight I'm the designated decoy'.

Enough is enough?

14-decimal man and SBN are coming for dinner (well, as you know SBN actually lives here but anyway). You reckon this is enough for 3 people? The trick with the gorgonzola is something I learned from a friendgirl. You simply put a slice of the mouldy cheese on top of the raclette ditto. It gives it a bit of a bite. Delicious!

Pressure

I'm under high pressure. Blood pressure to be exact. That's why I finally today got around to go see the doctor. My doctor is very cool and nice to talk to. If I didn't know the meter was ticking we could have chatted for hours about anything really. The health issue was covered in about 20 secs: Me: "So it's not dangerous, is it?" Him: "No." Me: "So apart from eating healthier, doing more sports (or any type of sport at all), cutting down on drinking and smoking, there is nothing I can do to reduce the pressure?" Him: "No." Me: "So will you give me the pills now?" Him: "Yes." Clever man.

Lunch box

One thing with my friend who cooked tonight is that he's always over the top. He cooks for like an army. The good thing is that one always gets a doggy-bag, in this case consisting of several plastic containers with left-overs. The funny thing is that SBN always brings a lunch box, and I put all the similar-looking boxes in the fridge when coming home (he was already sleeping). I can only imagine his confusion tomorrow morning when trying to pick the right one! Haha, I'm laughing out loud!

In love with tobacco

Cool lighter!

Happy birthday!

Went to a birthday dinner tonight and got the following. Champagne (Moet, what else?), mussels if not from Brussels the best I've tasted ever, a shrimp and fish dish from Peru that was absolutely delicious, served with various sweet potatotes, and as a finish a homemade apple pie. Really love my friends who can cook!

Mock Bush

An oldie but a goodie: Stephen Colbert

Coffee and schnapps

Kafi-Schnapps I blogged about before. Brilliant place for brunch. Yummy!

Strawberry colada

Never had this drink before, but yesterday all dressed up (at least one of us! And since you might've guessed it wasn't me :) we went to a posh place for drinks. A posh place calls for fancy drinks. This was it.

SBN in the kitchen

Cooking together in this household means SBN doing the onions, and I'm doing the rest in order to produce meatballs. No problem with that.

Later we were preparing the potatoes, which we decided were gonna be roasted in the oven with salt and rosemary. I asked him to pick the herbs from the balcony.

Yeah right. Normally you'd pick the leaves, not a whole friggin branch of it! He claims it's like trimming a hedge, which I have serious doubt that he knows anything about.

But all is well that ends well, and the dinner was delish!

Venus and my friendgirl

I am so incredibly proud of my friend who sang in Hallenstadion to Venus Williams, who won a tennis match. She was fabulous! Singing "Simply the best" with a special text to Venus. In her future concerts I am expecting back-stage passes :) But first she will be singing at my housewarming party next year. My friend, the star!

West wing

Apart from watching my friend this afternoon on telly, I will spend another 112 hours watching a favourite series thanks to a present from my brother. Love you!

TV star

A friend of mine will be on television today! It's so exciting. She will sing in Hallenstadion to celebrate the winner of some sports, think it was tennis. Never mind, I'm so proud of her. Will be glued to the tv set this afternoon.

The Zürich opera

Had the pleasure of watching Aida at the Zürich opera house tonight. The basic story is that Aida, the slave girl, and her mistress Amneris are both in love with Radamès, captain of the Guards. Amneris is the daughter of the Pharaoh. But Radamès only have eyes for Aida, and in passing he accidentally betrays his country and is condemned to be buried alive. Aida cannot stand being without him, and sneaks into the tomb, where they await death together. The end. The thing I don't get though is why they could build the Zürich opera house in 15 months in the end of the 1800's, but these days it'll take more than that to build an apartment building with 4 flats!

It takes all sorts

Was out shopping in the Langstrasse neighbourhood. Certainly not my favourite part of the city, especially when I saw this guy in clothes that probably hadn't been washed the last decade, fondling a rat! All the while he was drinking red wine straight out of the bottle. Charming. NOT!

Healthcare

Finally gotten around to call the doctor to check on my blood pressure. Love the healthcare system in Switzerland. Called Thursday afternoon and asked for an appointment. "Nine o'clock tomorrow morning?" the nurse asked. That's what I call service. Unfortunately I couldn't clear my calendar that quickly so now it's next week. In countries where the healthcare is supposed to be covered by high taxes, you can wait and wait and wait for an appointment. If you're so unlucky you need an operation you have to wait for years, unless it's life-threatening. Privatization, hurray!

Tattoo lip

Met an acquaintance this evening who had tattood her lips. Duuuh! But ok, I guess everything is allowed these days. However, when it's obvious, it's not pretty. That's my opinion.

Casablanca revival

I have a small wound on my wrist, which I was wiping blood off with a napkin. Facebook girl: "what happened?". Me: "I was ironing". Her: "you need a servant to do that for you" while looking at SBN. I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Idol

A friend of mine has young girl as a favourite: 6-year-old whereas this is mine: operaman

Annika - pigeons 1-0

Went to check on the boat today, since it was raining heavily yesterday. Almost high-fived myself when I found out that my trick with isolation tape fastening the back portion of the cover had actually worked! Mind you, it didn't stop them from cosying up on the roof and shit all over the cover, but that I can live with. Well, a couple of years ago we tried putting up cd's to scare them off, but all that happened was that the cd's were hard to fasten and blew away. Never again do I wish to clean the boat out of 2,000 bird shits!

Love birds

So spending the coming 4 days with 2 love birds, SBN and Facebook-girl. Not that I'd know of course, since they haven't dared coming home yet. Probably waiting for me to go to bed...hehe.

Exit and Dignitas

There are two organizations in Switzerland that help people die. This is controversial in most of the world, but I'm all for it. Mostly because you cannot choose to be born, but it is everybodys right to die when you want to. Mind you, these organizations don't kill people. They help those who have a deadly disease or who are very old to go with dignity. They deserve our respect I think. The issue lately is that they have spread the ashes in Zürichsee. I have no problem with that. In fact, the day I have to go I wish they would do it with me. The problem being that the ashes weren't only ashes but bones and teeth as well. Human bones have been found in the lake. And this is precisely when they cross the limit. This is not on. Until they choose to act with the dignity they claim they represent I won't be a member.

Doing the dishes

SBN has this thing as I mentioned before that he cleanes the dishes manually. What I failed to mention was that once done, he leaves them. I actually don't think it takes 4 days for a plate to dry, but flexible as I am I haven't commented on it. I should have, because if I don't it's finally become an issue. So did. Yeah, great idea to bring it up when being a bit "on-the-go" (suppose some people would call it drunk :). This is the view I'm usually met with in the kitchen.

A Swiss elk

Just to show I'm not lying.

7 friggin francs

There are lots of things you can get for 7 francs. Like a daycard travelling around Zürich, a really good sandwich, a small coffee from Starbucks, a wine drink in a posh place, or a whole dinner should you care to shop in Migros or Coop and cook it yourself. This is what you get in Oktoberfest in Bahnhof.

Züriwiesn

Ze Swiss are difficult. But it made me think about the item I posted on how to spell. Ze Swiss spell how they see fit, which is perhaps not always a bad idea. Fuck rules. Oxymoron in itself since ze Swiss love rules. Anyway.

Point being (I am pretty certain there was one!) is that I learned today that "Wiesn" being the code word for Oktoberfest has nothing to do with Weissbier but means lawn. Huh? Like grass on a football field you know. Why? Apparently inherited from Münich where the "real" Oktoberfest is.

Never got an answer to why that is though. Ze Swiss remain a mystery to me, which is probably why I love them so much!

Oktoberfest - again

I am kinda happy it's only once a year. Met up with a friendgirl in the evening for Oktoberfest. I have in no particular order experienced: an elk polonaising, having had an obese Swiss singing in my ear, pushed off an eager guy trying the oldest line in the world "where do you come from?" (to which I answered Zürich and that I only wanted to practise my English, which actually shut him up...but then he was whispering to his friend "where is the other girl coming from?". Switzerland would've been the answer had he had the balls to continue the conversation).

Anyway, it was fun and I had the questionable pleasure of sitting next to a guy (in Oktoberfest you share, you sit on wooden (were they really wooden? I wonder since my ass got all sweaty) benches with hair in his face. I really don't like hair in the face. Good thing I didn't have to kiss him.

Boxing

Not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign, but seemingly SBN has started with boxing. I choose to interprete this as a good thing, since it means if I get into trouble I can always call on him to defend me. HAHAHA. Just hit me (pun intended!) that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. "I don't need no mans". On the other hand they come in handy when it comes to put things on shelves I cannot reach, open cans, as a bug remover, warm you at night, that type of thing. Yeah, I think perhaps we women need'm. At least sometimes...

Facebook sucks and blogs live forever

When I first registered in a fake name at Facebook I realized that it wasn't something for me. First, the people I want to communicate with I already know and have email, msn-names, phone numbers and addresses to. Second, it's impossible to de-register, to cancel an account. The news just reported it, but it's always been like that. They want to have all sorts of personal details from me, and then keep it. Sorry guys, this is not on. At the same time I notice that I have still about one reader a day on my old blog that I stopped blogging on December 2006. How weird is that? I guess one could say that blogs are here to stay (and so is apparently Facebook as sad as it is). How long before free providers realize how much space it takes up and when they start to impose charges for blogs no longer in use? I wish I knew how to put in a counter on this blog...

Gobbledygook

Fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

At your service

In this household you get treated the way you treat me. Which is why I don't mind helping SBN now and then, since he's really helpful back. So little tips from me like "aren't you gonna wash your sheets now when facebook-girl is coming to visit?" and the likes I'm more than happy to provide. But never would I have guessed that I had to help shave him!

RTFM*

Yesterday I received one of those yellow paper slips in my mailbox, stating they were ringing the door and I wasn't home. Due to this I took a different route going home this evening, having to first see an empty bus pass by (why, oh why when 100 people were waiting?) taking the much delayed next one and hop off at the post office bus stop. In the queue I realized that the friggin slip didn't say post.ch but DHL.ch. Fucketyfuck. All this wasted time for nothing! Good thing is I could register for the delivery tomorrow to my mailbox, without having to be home. Always something. *Read The Fucking Manual!

Fuck marriage

This is the guy I would have invited home, had he not mentioned a family and kids...

Beam or no beam

Turns out SBN chose no beam. Meaning he didn't try to climb over it. Well, not everybody is daring but on the other hand I think SBN was influenced by pointy-finger-man...

No life

Ok so now it's official. I have no life. Was told so by SBN, since all I do is blog about him. What can I say? Not enough interesting things happen in my life. BUT. The night is young...

Football or facebook

Who would've thought? A man who prefers to talk on the phone instead of being down the pub watching football? I am utterly confused. But then again, maybe not. The power than we women have over men... ...should be used more often!

Fetish

I have a new fetish. It might be a bit unusual, but I promise it doesn't involve latex, shit, whips or anything in that area. My new love is towels. But not any towels. The small hand-towels you can buy in Migros. Love'm. Feels good every time I've been to the toilet and dry my hands on them. They are pretty, fluffy and oh so soft. Unfortunately they only come in two colours that I like. One pale yellow-golden and one sky-light-blue. They are fabulous, and will look gorgeous in my new flat. Anything that looks gorgeous in the current one, will look even better in the new one. Me weird? But of course.

Integrity and invasion of privacy

Where does integrity stop and invasion of privacy begin? This a thin line to walk when sharing an apartment when you're not together. For me it starts when somebody goes through my things. Or if somebody so much as touches my computer when I haven't allowed it. You leave me and my private things alone and you have nothing to worry about. However. I have always washed together with my flatmates. To fill up the machine you know. But what happens when you are alone at home when the machine is finished? Do you hang the other persons wash? I have no problems with somebody else hanging my wash, so today I took a chance and hanged SBN's wash up. After all, he wasn't home and to keep wet wash lying around is not good. I'm a little worried, since he handed me my washed underwear the other day, holding it like it was a plague-ridden piece of rat (hey, it was newly washed!) but since I'm all for taking chances I decided to do it. It's not like I will blog about his type of underwear (although I'm dying to! Hehe).

Metabolism

I have finally found out a trait that I hate with SBN. The man can eat like a horse, often and a lot, and not gain an ounce or a kilogram for that matter. I really hate people like this. Me, I look at a dessert and gain a kilo. He eats breakfast, a cooked lunch, dinner and often a meal just before he goes to bed. I drool, and try to not notice. Ok, so I eat enough not to have hunger pains but I love to eat in the evenings. That's when I'm just dying to get my hands (mouth) on sweets, chocolate, sandwiches what have you. Life is not fair in case you hadn't notice!

My favourite day

Love Saturdays. Especially like today when I had a nice sleep-in, have already been food-shopping for next week and the whole of today and tomorrow lies before me without any plans. Why isn't every day like this? Yes I know, then I wouldn't appreciate it as much. Nevertheless, I'm gonna have a glass of wine and think about the possibilities...

Look at that!

SBN was amazed...we pointed him in the direction of the fun and just look at him!

Oktoberfest

Of course I had to show SBN what Zürich is made of.

Helsinki by night

The Finns are almost as thankful to joke with as the Americans! Out yesterday

Luzern or Lausanne

SBN: "Do you know Luzern?". Me: "Of course I do. They have a really nice wooden bridge". SBN: "They speak French there". Me: "No, they speak German". After a brief fight it turned out he meant Lausanne. Foreigners!

Oktoberfest in Bahnhof

From today it's rockin' in Zürich for a whole month. Much, much better than that eurochampionshit that was going on in the summer. Bauschänzli or Bahnhof, tuff choice.

This is what I saw at Bahnhof today outside the beer tent. I wonder if they can give me a ride (haha!) home?

Lehman protest

Lehman Bank employees stage a protest by blockading the entrance to the Bank's Headquarters.

To make it happen

Having a birthday coming up I suggested to SBN that perhaps we have a dinner or something that day. It wasn't met with fireworks enthusiasm exactly, more like "yeah ok". Hmmm. Decided more drastic measures needed to be taken so sent an sms to the ex: "Yes thank you very much for inviting me for a birthday dinner. I would like to come". Smiley. Emphasis on come in case you didn't get it. It took him about 2 seconds from when I pressed 'send' to call me. So now I'm invited for a birthday dinner. Funny that how things can happen if you just push a little bit...

The Finnish trait

Remember facebook-girl that SBN hooked up with? Well, as it turns out she's coming to visit in a couple of weeks. I look forward to meet her. However, if she's like most Finnish people she won't say much. Or about as much as she comments on this blog that I know that she reads. I.e. nada. But that's a known trait amongst the Finnish, they don't speak. Period. Picture this: two men sitting next to each other. One of them raises his glass to the other and says "Cheers". 10 minutes the other one responds saying "do you wanna speak or do wanna drink?". Like that. This can be a really interesting weekend... I'm not lying: The Finnish sorrow.

Communication a la 2008

...is when SBN and I start to communicate via MSN. And this when he's in his bedroom and I'm in the living room. In the same flat.

In vino veritas

Last weekend it was a wine exhibition that I was invited to but missed. Today my wine deliverer called to ask why I did a no-show. "Oh, I was busy" I said, not very convincing. But when he tried to sell me the same wine as I bought before I suggested he'd come over to show me some new stuff = free wine tasting.

Oh, I'm sure it'll cost me a bundle because I know I won't be able to resist buying but hey, free wine is always free wine.

House buying

Got a friend who's in the market to buy a house. Amazing that something that I only a year ago would have just faked an interest in, now really perks me up. I want to know everything, location, when was it built, what type of design, is there a terrace or a garden, cost, renovation need, how many floors, open fire, kitchen standard etc etc. It's funny how one changes.

Geneva rules

Not that I've ever been to Geneva (only been in Switzerland 6 years!), but when reading an article today I think I must go. Geneva implemented the non-smoking policy in bars and restaurants some half year ago. However, it turned out to be not strictly according to protocol. Some minor flaw in the legalese, and too short time for places to have a chance to implement. Therefore they have now gone back to good ol' smoking again. Before they can implement it once more, they have to do another vote and again give time to bars and restaurants to prepare. Next time it'll be smoke-forbidden is around 2011. I tell ya. Geneva rules!

Marinello

There is a shop called Marinello, conveniently located in the main station area. It's a bit posh and I don't really like it there, but today I thought what the heck. As said, it's a good location that one passes anyway. But fukkin hell. 7.90 CHF for a cauliflower? That's robbery. What did they do to it? Talk to it while it was growing? Pet it? Sprinkle it in gold? No way I'm ever shopping there again! PS. I even ignored the Häagen-Dazs that had my name on it!

The American economy

Engineer my ass

I have a pair of pants that has a string in a sort of a tunnel around the waistline. Unfortunately one of the string-ends has crept up into the tunnel and won't come out. The opening is very narrow and having absolutely no patience at all, I turned to the engineer in the household. You know, engineers build things, they mend machines, some even invent things and they are supposed to be creative in problem-solving. Nah! What a bunch of bollocks. I guess the string has to stay where it is.

Red sox

What can I say? SBN is in touch with his gay feelings...

Replace one problem with another

Despite my age I get acne once in a while. You know, one of these big ugly things that protrude, preferrably in your face (and no, I'm sure it has nothing to do with chocolate :). My cure has always been to drown it in soap to dry it out, and usually it's gone in a couple of days. Last time however I took too drastic measures and drowned it in too much soap, which resulted in half my cheek being really dried-out. I can now scrape dead skin off my face. Oh so sexy. I see only one resolution really. Alcohol. And to be clear here, alcohol in me, not on me.

Why not repeat a success?

SBN liked the raclette, so does a friend of mine. So tonight we're on it again. Might as well stink the place in properly before I move. From middle of next year on there won't be any tablegrills done indoors. Apart from my fabulous Venus fire of course! PS. Venus is the name of my fireplace in case you had dirty fantasies.

Violence

20 minutes the other day suggested that "safe houses" should be available for men who have been abused by women. Somehow I think the other way around is more common. Have you ever heard of a man being abused physically by a woman? But this is typical. If it happens once to a man, then measures need to be taken. What about all the hundreds of thousands of women who are abused by men? Mind you, if a man ever laid a hand on me, I would walk away immediately, and it is actually beyond me why other women don't. But hey, not everybody is as tuff as me. Apparently. But "safe houses" for men? Duuuhhhh. Gimme a break.

SBN cooks

Yesterday SBN was tasked to do the dinner, since I was gonna be a bit late. This caused a bit of worry on his side, leading to a long exchange of emails on exactly when, which spices and how hot the oven needed to be. However, results turned out to be excellent, in fact there wasn’t enough of the food, even though he didn’t know the difference between rosemary and basil, hehe. The boy has potential.

Brick shithouse

Met a guy tonight, built like a brick shithouse. This is my type of guy. The bigger the better. Asked him if he wanted to be my bodyguard (like I need one!?!) and he agreed. That was just before he left.

But hey, a girl can still dream, right?

Jägermeister

I just hate the shit, can't take it. But apparently some people can.

SBN saves the situation

Had agreed to meet up with SBN at Bahnhof this evening in order to go shopping for heavy stuff (read wine and other drinks). Need I say there was a no-show? Turned out he had sms'd me in the afternoon (do we really believe this?) that he couldn't be there. I never received the message. So called. Wanted actually to scream "I've fukkin waited for you 20 minutes" but instead I was civilized telling him I bought the sms-story. He suggested we instead meet up in front of the shop. Fine. And he carried most of it home. Nice save. Especially since he carried two bags with empty bottles to the glass bank just now. Mind you, he was going to the gym anyway. This is the part I don't understand. Why do people pay a lot of money to go to a gym and use a stair machine? When you can just skip the elevator and walk in real stairs. As it turns out we have very disparate interests. While he's pumping away (hehe) in the gym, I'm off to the bar...

SBN hangup

Ha! I've discovered SBN's hangup. It's really weird but every time he's been cooking or fixing in the kitchen he does the dishes. Manually. What is wrong with using a dishwasher? I cannot get my head around doing something that doesn't need to be done. Once again, proof that nobody's perfect.

Zürich is safe

Well I guess on a scale it is, but there is evidence that buying a bike is not a good idea in this city. Mind you, why anybody would like to exercise is beyond me but still.

Familiar face

...eh hand. Imagine my surprise when I went out on Saturday after the gay dinner, and ran into pointy finger man who decided my fav place is the place to be. Smart man, but not too convinced about the white rubber band...