Split lip

Was thinking of an incident today when I accidentally got caught with the mobile phone cord between my toes. I know, it sounds silly but I was charging the phone, the cord was hanging from the plug on the floor and the phone was on the sofa. I somehow managed to get the wire between my toes and tripped, and in the process tipping the ashtray over on the table. No harm done, a wipe with a wet cloth and everything was back in order. Unlike one time when I was visiting an aunt. The outlet in her kitchen was close to the floor under a TV shelf. I bent down to plug the charger in, standing up too quickly, hit my head on the shelf, and when quickly pulling away hit my mouth on the chair in front. It is difficult to know how one can be so stupid! I ended up with a split lip only from wanting to charge my mobile phone. But then again, isn't every injury a result of stupidity? Especially in sports...don't get me started!

Thursday night out in Z

And later, I met up with some other friends...

Got tickets to a restaurant/pub opening tonight. Free food and free drinks. Who was I to say no?

Persistence

Last time this guy was out with me he was pissed off I didn't put his pic on the blog. Only he didn't bother to check the day after. Ok, so sometimes I don't blog IMMEDIATELY, but a bit later. Here he is, the impatient guy.

Baking

Was just chatting to a friend on msn, and he told me he was baking apple and banana muffins, raspberry shortbread (!) and blueberry muffins. And he's not even gay!

Güggeliman

Haha, the chicken man flirted with me. I passed by the main train station and decided to buy a chicken for dinner, when he smiled and said "such a blonde pretty lady cannot be Swiss". I decided against telling him that I these days have a little help with that. When I left he said "remember, I'm here every Wednesday". Haha, as if. He's old and short. From now on I will have to cook my own chicken.

All time high

I am proud to say I have walked 14,514 steps today, and that without an effort. All I had to do was to go out...

It's a small world

This guy and I were neighbours about 7 years ago, only we didn't find out until tonight. Small world.

I met the devil

Only, if I liked tattoos (which I don't) I would've chosen an evil devil, not a cute one.

Foreign languages and ze Swiss

Few people surprise me, positively I mean, but this morning the phone rang. It was one of the guys who owned the plot of land where my flat is being built. He told me that the exchange of contracts will take place on 31st of August, which I knew, but it didn't matter. I was nice to get a second confirmation. And he did it all in my mother tongue! A Swiss guy! Now I'm really curious to find out why he has bothered to learn a minority language...

Sharks in Zürich

Last week I saw some sharks in the Zürich main station. A bit surprising I thought. Until I learned that the people dressed in the costumes were supposed to look like sardines, protesting against the packed trains in the mornings. I wonder what the Japanese would have to say about that?

Picking up them steps

Never would I've thought that I would blog much under the category "Sport", but whaddayaknow. After a bit of a downday yesterday what with the recovering after Saturday and all I had only 1,000 plus steps, but today, without much effort at all, I'm up over 12,000. Not bad huh?

Melting in Zürich

It's been hot yesterday and today, 32°C and sunny. I think I can actually see my plants growing on the balcony, and they require just about as much water as I do wine :)

Scotland strikes again

Not surprisingly Susan Boyle is in the finals.

Aromat

A friend tells me that Aromat is Swiss. You know that spice that comes in a yellow container, tasting like...well I don't know how to describe it, but really nothing you'd like to eat. Tried to google and wikipedia it but don't find an answer. Is Aromat Swiss? If so, they've got a lot to answer for. I have learned that ze Swiss "invented" muesli, and that's fine. Where I come from we invented the telephone as well as Skype, the dynamite and we furnished the world (Ikea). But who am I to complain? Perhaps ze Swiss "invented" a spice...

Culture exhibition

Zürich is all for culture, this year it's all about flower pots! Big ones.

2nd one out

My friend wants you to know that she was swimming on the 23rd of May for the first time this year. Pah I say. That's nothing. As you know I was swimming already two days ago...

Size matters

I was highly disappointed yesterday when I realized that the radio I purchased last year no longer worked. No Radio Zürichsee on Zürichsee. Darn! So went to buy new batteries, and of course came home with the wrong size. I thought I needed the bigger ones, probably just a typical woman thing ;)

24

Lots of people have recommended this series to me, so today I bit the bullet and bought the first season. Before I buy a whole box, I really want to test it out. PS. Ok, have watched a couple of episodes now and I get it. Each episode covers 1 hour, there are 24 episodes in a box covering 24 hours. But why is each episode just 40 minutes long?

Everything's a competition

Ok, so forget that walking thing. I am never gonna win, so why bother? But I have to say I am a competitive person. Today I was approaching my boat spot when another boat parked two places from mine, so I parked later. It was a couple with a smaller boat, but I packed up my boat before they were finished. Ha!

If you cannot win the big things, you have to settle for small.

And I'd like to add that the trophy was won with the team "Annika's angels"...

Faulty pedometer?

That friggin pedometer is playing tricks on me. It doesn't record all steps I take at home, since I've gotten used to tread lightly living in a flat with people underneath. And it didn't help with a "friend" who said she sat on a plane and a train all day and was up to 7,000 steps in the early afternoon, and 17,000 this evening. I want her pedometer! Also, another so called friend told me his 74-year-old mother is up to 8,000 a day! After walking more than normal (mind you on a day off!) I can report a measly 5,964 steps today. Which kinda reminds me off when I was little and was losing a game (any game) I was always changing the rules or blaming something. It ain't my fault!

Zürichsee today

28°C and no wind...I was swimming the first time this year!

Pedometer

I finally learned what that walking measurer thingy is called: pedometer. And today is the day to start. For 125 days I shall be wearing the pedometer. Already have I walked 199 steps today. From the bed to the coffee machine, from the coffee machine to the computer and around in the flat to test. It seems to work. But it nearly didn't. Yesterday morning we had not received the pedometers (see how I learn?) and the rucksack (pretty cool one actually), a water bottle and a cap. Apparently the packages were held up in Swiss customs. Reason? Absolutely no bloody clue. Perhaps ze Swiss thought the pedometers were bombs? Finally in the afternoon the packages arrived, and now I'm ready to walk. I cannot believe I'm doing this...

Quote

Companies have different ways of approaching customers. No news there, but interesting to see. I have sent a couple of emails to companies that move a flat for you. Not the flat per se, but the stuff. One sent a quote immediately, based on the email where I stated from and to, the size and whether there were lifts. Another one is coming tomorrow morning at 7.30 (!) to inspect, before they can give a quote. The third one is through a flyer I got in the mailbox giving 15% discount. Not sure for what, but they don't seem to have a website...hmmm. No matter who I choose, this'll cost me.

071 555 0844

This is probably THE most stupid telemarketing firm in the world. Their number shows on the display and on tel.search.ch you find: Call Center CallWorld Telemarketing AG Heiligkreuzstrasse 2, 9008 St. Gallen/SG071 555 08 00 Not only that. They call me on a daily basis, I know because I have recorded their number. I have answered twice, and told them that I don't speak German (I only do when it suits me) and not to bother me again. Doesn't stop them from trying for something like 4 weeks now. And sure enough, I looked them up on their website. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but hello! Would you buy a used car from these people?

Party-time

I have a few friends who are really really really old, like 50. Well, I have two and both of them are going to throw parties. Excellent. However, one of them has decided to have her party in an obscure never-heard-of-village in Sweden! What is wrong with her? She lives in Copenhagen, one of the coolest cities in the world. Just the trip there would include flight, airport bus and another bus just to get there! Hmm, not sure about that one. The other one is in Switzerland, but only just. It also includes extensive travel (anything outside the city of Zürich is almost unacceptable!) for like an hour and a half. But I will go, since this guy is dear to me. I just don't get why people want to be outside a city!?!

Credit Suisse sucks - part 388

Finally Credit Suisse reimbursed me in accordance with my complaint, which I sent on Feb 13. The acknowledgement of receipt was dated Feb 17. Another letter was sent from them on March 2 to advise me of a delay. The final letter they sent on Apr 22 and I quote "We will credit this amount to your private account in the next few days". The money came into my account on May 11. The next few days my ass. I was googling the CEO and a speech he made some time ago. I think the word customer appeared somewhere on the bottom, but I can be mistaken. Well now all is well and dandy in the country of Switzerland, and my new bank has been nice so far.

A blurry Saturday night

To my defense I took the pics with my mobile...and unless both I and the object are really still pics come out like this, but I'm not sure whether I was moving or them...

We were joined by a family who thought it was a good idea to teach the children to drink early. Naturally they were from the French part of Switzerland, and the man presented himself as James Bon.

We muzt follow ze rules

If you want to travel in Zürich at night with tram, bus or train you must pay an additional fee of something like 5 francs. This is of course not advertised, so this is something you must know. Ex-flatmate SBN didn't. Or forgot. Or was too drunk. Any of those are possible... The cost for this oversight is around 80 francs and honest as he is he went to the nearest ticket booth to pay up. That was a no-go. "We muzt follow ze rules", meaning his ticket needs to be processed through the system and a bill must be sent for him to pay. Only he's out of the country for a month and has no address in Switzerland, which is why I ended up with a post-it note with his name on it on my mailbox. It's been sitting there for weeks now, and no sight of any bill although I have no doubt that it will appear. Ze Swiss don't forget.

Congratulations Norway

What a sweetie! And happy 17th May to you.

Shopping time

A little something for the foot fetichist. Seriously, don't you think those shoes look summery?

Spring on the balcony

I love sunshine, flowers and the anticipation of a whole long summer...

Zürich on a Thursday night

And he didn't want to appear on the blog...

Me, me and me

Annika! I'm not completely wild about being a minor planet, a main belt asteroid sounds better...

Idiot!

I got shouted at today in a meeting for 1,5 hours. I can honestly tell you, that I'm not that fond of being shouted at, but I've become better at hiding my rage inside. But what a friggin idiot, every time I tried to explain, he switched to another direction and in the end I was accused of conflicting things. You should have zigged when you zagged, but on the other hand when you zagged you should have zigged. On and on about something irrelevant. Needless I tried to tell him to be professional, and use the word please once in a while but to no avail. Sorry, cannot be more specific, but need I point out that he's Swiss? I do love ze Swiss to bits most of the time, but once in a while they drive me up the wall! Gonna have a drink now and calm down...

The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009

Switzerland on place number 2. Hard to believe US is in the first place, but I guess Switzerland loses on the bureaucracy or should I say bureaucrazy? We also have a fair number of rules and regulations in place, which should be ditched, but other than that, Switzerland is number 1 for me!

Kuhfell

I always wanted a cow skin on my floor, you know a real one with head and all. I know this is not easy to get, but I was looking on my holiday where they did indeed sell a lot of animal skins. Only I didn't want zebra, I wanted something closer to home. When I was in New Zealand some years ago I brought home a sheep skin, only to realize that they just started to sell'm in IKEA here outside Zürich. And whaddayaknow...here it is. But no head = no business.

How to sit on your ass and get rich

When I signed the contract to buy my apartment it wasn't yet decided whether the Uetlibergtunnel project would really go through. At least not so that it would benefit my location. But last week it did. The tunnel will channel most of the heavy traffic so that they do not have to drive through the street next to my new flat. This must've raised the value of my place surely. So not that I get money in my pocket, but I sleep well at night knowing that I haven't invested in a bad place. Not that it ever was a bad place in my eyes, but it's nice to know it'll be more sought after now...

Wildlife

I didn't know we had lizards in Zürich!

Surfing the...hmmm...Zürichsee

Some people say we have the best surfing in the world. It's the same people who talks about the need for a navy in Switzerland (which for the uneducated Americans is a joke since Switzerland is surrounded by other countries and have no sea line).

This is what's on offer in Zürich...

Petting

These two cuties live together, but I cannot say they're really friends. The cat teases the dog, who is too kind to do anything but it's funny to watch. Dog lies down having a snooze, cat walks by "accidentally" stroking his tail and wakes dog up. I guess you can say they are like cat and dog.

2-in-1

Before my holiday I did a little enhancement of my hair colour, which turned out nicely, and so I decided to do it again. Last time I kept the mix in my hair for about 20 mins, but thought it wouldn't hurt to keep it in another few mins this time. After all, it was such a success. So did. Started to wash it out in the shower, and GAAAAHHHHH! Hair much shorter! The fucker had actually burned my hair. And it's not exactly like i have thick shiny hair to start with. In fact, I need all the hair I can get. I was so shocked I'm still shaking a bit. What if I had left it in for another 5 mins? Would I be bald? I know, there are worse things in the world, but not much in my world. Now eagerly waiting for it to dry, hoping to get confirmation that it'll at least look semi-normal.

Zürich a Friday afternoon

Two women having a drink, mentally preparing for the weekend, talking about...hmmm...men?

Strawberry daiquiri

Yes, we have'm in Zürich too.

SBN wants to come back

Remember SBN? The flatmate I had some time ago. He has now asked me if he can move back in. I guess it finally dawned on him that you get what you pay for, and that he got tired of moving every two months from one cheapo place to the other. Since he's toilet-trained I think I will allow him....

Re-make

Friend visited today, but I hardly recognized her. From very very curly hair she showed up looking the complete opposite. Looking 10 years younger in the process. Now I don't know whether I should hate her, or join her. Only when I had curly hair I looked like a friggin poodle.

She's looking good!

Present

Flowers from my friends last weekend. Still Easter?

31.08.2009

Keep this date in mind people. This is when my new flat officially will be mine. I am happy, happy, happy. Not long ago it looked like this...

Plan B

This is my plan B. Whenever I need a man to cover for me, this is my guy. Like if somebody is coming on to me, and I need a face to cover for me, this is him. He promised to be my cover, and I will be his if need be. It's good with friends like that. I don't even care that he sells coffee...

PS. Note the tacky poster!

Scraping the bottom

This is what happens when you've got nothing to blog about. But I just love my slippers from Cape Town. They are cuddly, cute and look how big they are! When it gets too hot, I can just put my foot on top of it and use it as a soft footrest.

Oh please, somebody give me inspiration for a more interesting blog item!