Swimming across Zürichsee?

Was chatting on msn to ex-flatmate who said he'll be swimming across Zürichsee tomorrow. My question is why? Why would anybody want to do that? You have to navigate around gazillions of inexperienced captains (much like myself), large ferries, paddle boats, sailers who don't know where they're going, and stupid young guys who have rented a speed-boat for the day. Well, good luck to him. And since I will be in town tomorrow with the gang of walkers (yes, we're still doing that pedometer thing and I'm up to 14K+ steps today) we shall be watching. From the bar next to the river. Btw, I read in my bible of Swiss news today (20 minuten - free paper) that the Seepolizei (lake police) had a raid last Sunday, catching 24 pleasure boat captains not having enough swimsuits, rescue equipment or whatsit that is necessary according to ze rules here. I am so happy I was hungover enough not to take the boat out then...

Anonymity

One thing I was thinking about was anonymity. For seven years I have lived in a rental flat here in Zürich perfectly anonymous, coming and going at my liking, nobody caring. How will I cope with living in a house with four flats? And with two families in the house next-door attached to our building? Just struck me this evening. I have lived in a bigger city than Zürich in a flat-building that held 28 apartments. We shared a washing-machine room and a sauna downstairs in the building and a garden where we used to meet on Saturdays ending in a big party for most of the tenants. It was fabulous. But in the new flat I will no longer be anonymous. There are good things and bad things attached to this issue. But I guess I made my bed, now I better lie in it...

Drunken bunch

I don't know why only the pic of the karaoke was sharp, and the rest blurry. Think it's because my hand was ever so steady but the people were moving...except for in the end of the evening. And note how elegantly I avoided having my pic taken!

Karaoke

My favourite evening contains going out with women, and home with a man. Both happened last Saturday.

First we met in town for dinner, which was only the basis for what happened next.

Then a visit to the piano bar, where we managed to sing along to the music, making people cover their ears. One of the women (actually we were 6 women and 1 man, but he's regarded metrosexual so he was allowed with) brought this powder we had at Halloween last year, which you mix with vodka in your mouth shaking your head vigorously, then swallow. It's disgusting, but does the trick.

When we annoyed enough people there we decided to continue the evening at a friends place, the one who has a karaoke machine, hurray! On the way there 3 of the women managed to get thrown out of a taxi (I personally think it was because of the singing, what else could it be?) after only 2 minutes ride, but thankfully I was in the other taxi.

There we continued singing until dawn. It was a real good party!

Religious

Haha, I just remembered. Earlier this week when I was meeting with the new neighbours they complained a bit about the architect who is a bit inflexible. Well a lot actually. My standard reply in those situations is always "well, he's Swiss" but this time I caught myself and opted for "well, he's religious". "Oh", neighbour said, "so are we". Oh dear... But they seem nice anyway.

Stoned

Haha, walking in circles. Read the comments, they are hilarious!

Where the f... is Geroldswil?

Geroldswil, can you imagine living in a place with this name? Well seems like there is a party on Saturday. I dunno. Who wants to party outside the city? This'll take some consideration...

Bureaucracy

Good news and bad news. In Switzerland they looove bureaucracy, the more paper and the more old-fashioned post office rubber stamps the better. In the case of smoking in restaurants and bars this actually worked in my favour. Zürich planned to implement smoke-"free" restaurants and bars in October this year, but it's now delayed due to that they forgot to check with the "Bundesrat" or something. We muzn't forget that Switzerland is a democracy and that everybody is entitled to their say. Never mind that ze Swiss voted for representatives. We really cannot expect them to take any decisions, now can we? In this case I love ze Swiss. So now we can keep on smoking at least until next year. Bad news is that Zürich city decided that restaurants/bars less than 80m2 must also be smoke-forbidden. Well, that only means I have to find a new fav place...

Swisscom rocks

They may be slow in answering (like 2 weeks) but today I got an answer I like. It is possible to block phone calls from "Private Caller" by: "Yes, you're right; it's possible to use this service for free. The way to order is: 1. Lift receiver 2. Press * enter 99 and press # 3. Wait for activation to be confirmed a replace receiver." I like very much. Goodbye stupid telemarketers.

Paperwork

Unfortunately there is lots and lots of paperwork involved when you're buying a flat in Switzerland, so this evening I went to see the previous owners, the ones that are officially selling me the flat. Yes, we have already signed the contract but the paperwork ain't done yet. I was invited and on the way I ran into the other family (two families co-owned the plot) and it felt like I know them already, having only met them once more than a year ago. We all sat down together and compared experiences with the architect and the builders. Fun, fun, fun. Only I must educate them not to offer visitors only mineral water or coffee, but that will come. So now I have another stack of papers I must go through before we finally exchange contracts in August. And I found out that the guy who spoke my mother tongue learned it while sharing a flat with a Scandinavian in Israel some 30 years ago! How the heck does he remember so well? His language skills far exceed my own German skills I tell you, damn him!

Spacious

This room is going to be so cool and where I will hang around the disco kitchen with my bar and my friends...cooking, drinking, joking, talking, and eventually when I get around to buy it, sing to my karaoke machine ;)

Venus is here

Hurray! Today my Venus open fireplace is there, visible for all to see. I love this, progress every day.

And today I took a peek at the other three apartments too. Seems to me that the "Attikawohnung", top floor flat, will have the elevator straight into the apartment. That is fantastically cool, but think would feel a bit unsafe.

But back to Venus. I can feel Venus and I have a future together...

Shower window

A window in the bathroom is a must, I don't care that the guest bathroom doesn't have one, but here is mine.

The view

Ok, so not a view of the lake but this ain't so bad...

Library

Ok, so the floor is not yet in place but at least I got cement! In Switzerland we're grateful for the small things...

Open fire

And I got a foundation for my Venus open fireplace. How cool is that?

Look I've got a floor!

The tile person called me this morning, asking if I could stop by and tell him how I wanted the tiles in the bathrooms and the floor in the living room. So went there this evening. Funny, I told him how busy I was and couldn't make it until 6pm this evening, then coming there smelling of strawberry daiquiris after my afternoon with the Danish friend. Wonder what he thought?

Never mind, it's my flat and I'm deciding. Turned out he was a salesman. I had originally decided to have the granite floor in the living room/kitchen/library evenly spread. He explained to me that flexible (random) spread is better, and more cool. I think it had something to do with it being easier for them, but he sold me. Flexible is in, random I like, structure is out. Can you visualize?

Passing by

A friend who I haven't seen in 4 years (she claims 5, but I argued 4) passed by Zürich this afternoon. It was fun to meet up for a few hours. Unfortunately Zürich decided not to cooperate and it was raining, so we had to spend most of the time in bars. What a shame!

And she brought her kid, but hey as far as kid goes she was alright. Hurray for nintendo who keeps'm busy when the adults talk!

Uneven

Had a brilliant idea when i got home 2-ish last Saturday. My hair was too long, and my hairdresser has moved. Idea was to do it myself. So did. Hold hair on right side, snap, hold hair on left side, snap, hold hair in front, snap. Didn't think much about it yesterday, since I just stayed at home. However, this morning I washed it and then I realized that it wasn't exactly even. But hey, isn't it in with unevenly cut hair?

No more moving

I contemplated tonight how nice it is not having to move again. Well after my next move. Never ever will I have to root again. I am here with my (soon-to-be) flat, my boat, and my life. In Zürich, my adopted city. The best city in the world if you ask me. Screw that Vienna won the contest this time. I mean, who would vote for the Austrians anyway? For me Zürich is the place. My place. The best place. If only they didn't speak Züri-dutch :)

Test

Was in blog-shadow for a few days, like a test. Turned out you didn't care. When I don't get comments, I don't feel obliged to blog every day. Just so that you know.

Bing?

Bing is Microsofts new search engine I'm told. Well I dunno. It comes up in German on my screen, but on the other hand zurilife comes up first when I search. Perhaps not such a bad site after all...

Take-over?

Rumour has it that IKEA takes over GM...

Finishing touches

This is supposed to be finished in 2,5 months. It'll take a miracle! See the wooden plateau in the middle? That's my balcony. The two windows to the left is my living room / kitchen / library.

1st of September, this is where I'll be.

No retirement just yet

Ok, so I got the +number right on Swisslotto, but managed to get only one right out of six and zero out of six. Isn't there a price for being wrong?

The view

This is the view I have opted to have for the rest of my life. Isn't it beautiful? The colour of the lake, the mountains in the background, the beauty of it all. This is my life.

Oh, and if you're a man you might focus on the mountains in the foreground but E won't mind, at least I don't think so...

40+ million

I am not a big player when it comes to games. But this week it is 40+ million Swissies in the pot, and I thought it was a good idea to at least be a contender in the Swisslotto. Only it was a new feature on the form, something called +. In short, it meant that if I win 40+ million and have another number right I can add 7 mill to my winnings. Now, if I win 40+ million Swiss francs it is easy to argue another 7 mill won't matter, but the sucker I am I ticked the box, so tomorrow I might be 47+ mill richer. What are the odds?

Never say no

No nay never, no never no more or however the Irish song goes. Was thinking of that tonight because I contemplated turning an invite down. Glad I didn't.

But people remember, partying with Brits can be lethal. They are relentless, which I guess makes a nice change from ze Swiss. It is unusual when I have to say that I'm going home before the party is over...

SBN is back

...and he's hungry. Remember SBN? He's the ex-flatmate who lived here some time ago and is now back. Only for a week or so though, but it's a pleasure to have him here. However, and there is always a however, he's getting into his old habit of preparing a midnight snack of about 1 kg spaghetti. Only because he feels that a "bite" before going to bed is a good thing. I really hate that. You know what would happen if I ate a kilo of spaghetti before going to bed? I think you can guess. Would end up looking like an American... PS. He really is a non-smoker. At least most of the time...

Cat talk

How they act. And what they mean.

4th best

It does surprise me to see that Zurich airport is voted the 4th best in the world, and the absolute best in Europe. In the time I was travelling I always thought Copenhagen was the best airport. It had great shops, reasonable distances to the gates and it was cozy. It might have helped that I in those days had a Eurobonus goldcard and had access to the fancy lounge, the one upstairs with better wine and better food than in the normal business lounge. And it was my "home airport" for 3 years. Also Schiphol in Amsterdam qualifies for spot number 8, although I liked it better before they expanded. Nevertheless, 4th best in the world is not to be spat at. I really hope that Heathrow, Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle weren't even mentioned in top 50 list.

Carpets

I am unfortunate enough to have carpets in my bedrooms, so in order to help the new tenant out I reckoned I'd talk to the owner about exchanging them for laminate floors when I leave. This morning the owner and the maintenance guy came to inspect the flat. When I asked in my best German "Was wollen Sie sehen?" (What would you like to see?) the sweet landlord responded "Wir wollen Sie sehen" (We would like to see you) when all I meant was to ask what they wanted to inspect. Was he making fun of my German, or was he being nice? I choose to think the latter. Turned out I had taken too good care of the carpets, and they were in such good shape that it wasn't in their opinion financially viable to exchange them for a floor. Tuff luck new tenant, but I tried! And now I have to waste 100 francs on cleaning them...

Orange

Orange called me the other day to ask some questions. One of these surveys you know where they claim they want your opinion. But I gotta say after answering 5 questions I was offered either 30 extra mms's or 30 minutes talk time. Generous! PS. Obviously I chose 30 min talk time, since I haven't even bothered to enable my phone for mms's. This is purely for self-preservation reasons. Who wants to wake up in the morning realizing you sent a pic of yourself drunk the night before?

Europride pics

Europride

Todays activity: Marching in support of the sisters.

Payback

I have a bit of mixed feelings tonight. I was invited to attend a student party in my home country with lotsa relatives and other dubious people, about 80 of them I was told. It just didn't work out that I could be there, but it's not an excuse. If I would've wanted it bad enough I would've made it happen, but anyway. I was a bit emotional. But I talked to my cousins daughter, who was the one graduating and she was full of life, having great plans and talking about Barcelona. For a split second I was jealous, but then I landed on my feet again. No way do I want to change, but I can still appreciate the anticipation of life. Everything is open, anything can happen. What a fantastic feeling! And I wanted to tell her that that feeling never goes away...at least not for some people :) Then I talked to my brother and asked him what gift he gave her. Money he said and mentioned the amount. Me: "that's a lot!". Him: "well you gave me half of that some 15 years ago so I figured that was the going rate". Damn me for being so generous! Joke.

A few drinks

Was out having a few drinks with two younger males tonight. One didn't want to join in for tapas; "I have cucumber sticks in my bag" (!!) and the other one had to go home at 20.30 "because I feel drunk and I'm tired". What is it with the so called youth of today? Ok, so I feel old if I go "in my day" but hey!?! In my day we partied, and some of us still do...

Stroke

Rang my 97-year-old friend this evening. He told me he had a stroke about a month ago, and had to spend 2 weeks in hospital. He sounded like his old self, except for that he spoke a bit more slowly. He now has help coming in every morning since he needs therapy, they help him out so that he can move around. The rest he takes care of himself including cooking. When he describes what he cooks, I really want to visit and I get hungry. This man, who I'd like to point out is 97 years old, is now applying for a place in an elderly home where he would get assistance on a daily basis. When I asked him how he felt about moving after 65 years in the same apartment he said "I feel fine". He doesn't mind change, which is a lot more than I can say about some other and much younger people. A lot to learn there...

Deal

Turned out to be a piece of cake to get rid of old flat. Today they phoned me from the maintenance company to say the Swiss guy will be approved and can have the flat. He is very very happy, and it's a nice feeling that it'll go to somebody who appreciates it. It's a good flat and a nice neighbourhood. Congrats to B!

Steueramt

Today I got a letter from the tax authority, it's never welcome and always makes me feel like I've done something wrong, even though I haven't. Seems to be a reconciliation of taxes I paid in 2007 vs what I should have paid. It only takes ze Swiss 1,5 years to produce this!! Anyway, seems like the difference is 26.25 CHF (we muzn't forget ze rappen!) but I'm not sure whether they owe me or I them. My guess is the latter. I wonder how much they would've saved not having to produce the letter to me, send a bill which will come under separate cover, and then monitor that I pay? A bit more than 26.25 is my guess. But then we wouldn't have followed ze rules...

Good listener

Yes, good listener. I can be at times. Spoke to my brother today, and after me telling him all the updates since last time we spoke (last time was about 2 days ago and I spoke for roughly 10 mins) I asked him what was new in his life. "Nothing". Hmmm. He's on holiday in our home country, meeting old friends and relatives, and he has nothing to say? Go figure...

The things people tell you

Went out for a quick drink tonight. Met an old(er) man who turned out to live in the same neighbourhood as I. In less than an hour he told me that he has a child with a woman he met when he was young, and that his daugher is married and lives a good life in St Gallen. He told me about his first wife to whom he was married 11 years and now has no contact with. His second and current marriage is with a black woman who lives in Paris. He lives as said in my neighbourhood in Zürich. Why do people share these things? I have absolutely no idea, except for that maybe I'm a good listener and not afraid of asking questions...

Two contestants

So there were two guys looking at the flat tonight. One is American and a friend of a friend type of person. He was curiously interested in ceilings, how high they were. I had to measure in cm's which he later would convert to inches. If it would've been me, I would just have looked at the ceilings. He didn't seem overly interested though, but I gave him a form anyway. The other guy was Swiss, and had been looking for a flat for a long time. He came recommended from the maintenance company, and after the initial impression (a bit nerdy) he actually turned out to be nice. And very very interested. He asked me not to put the flat on homegate. I have a feeling he really wants the place. He even offered me to stay another few weeks, and if this wasn't Switzerland I would considering being bribed. And there were lots of people looking at the other flat in the building tonight. I was told any flat put on the market attracs 50-200 potential customers. Ain't bad huh?

Flat showing

The other funny thing is that I found another flat in the same building on homegate, and they have a showing tonight! So from seven I'm gonna see how many people walk in and out of here. That'll give me a pretty good insight on how popular my current flat is. My hunch is very popular, and although I won't benefit from it since this is a rental, my new flat is also in the same area. Popular = increased value. Keep your fingers crossed! PS. I was thinking of just opening my door saying "here it is" when they're on the way up to the top floor :)

Prep work

So I've started some of the preparations needed before my move. Like I contacted several moving companies and have as of yet received two offers. One is 226% higher in price than the other. How do these companies count? Both of them have been here, and seen the place. Pretty sure I made up my mind of which one it's gonna be... The other thing I learned yesterday was that I am responsible for finding a new tenant for my old flat. In Switzerland if you do not move on 1st of April or 1st of October and give notice like 4 months in advance, it is your responsibility. This is an old rule, which means "everybody" is moving on the exact same dates. Imagine what that does to the moving companies? Told the maintenance company people that I had an understanding with the landlord and owner, who I told more than a year ago about my move, and he told me that it wouldn't be difficult at all to locate a new tenant. As a maintenance company to many, many flat buildings I thought they had a list. They didn't. However, today the woman called back after having checked with the landlord so now they're sending somebody to have a look. I also found a guy, so there are two this evening. And I ain't moving until September. Is this good planning or is this good planning?

Towel hangers

When I ordered interiors for the two new bathrooms I decided not to order towel hangers. My thoughts at the time was because I might opt for electric heated ones. Over time I realized that second you take a towel off the hanger the heat is gone, and it's only needed over winter really. So decided to be eco-friendly, and go for normal hangers. Anyway. So went to the same place. Of course they had changed order system, and could no longer locate my order (not yet delivered mind you) in their system. While the guy was busy trying I went around the show-room and found two really nice hangers, one 80cm and one 60cm. Surprisingly enough they were half the price of the ones I thought of ordering a year ago! Good thing I waited, but makes me wonder if I could have profited of waiting for the other and more expensive stuff too?

24 follow-up

I now have had two people telling me why each episode on the TV series 24 is only 40 minutes. Apparently in the US of A they have 20 minutes of commercials every hour, therefore the episode can only be 40 minutes. Kinda takes the edge off when you watch it on DVD. Both of the people telling me are men. What does that tell you about male communication skills? The point with a blog is errmmm, COMMUNICATION. Yes, it would be preferable if you commented on the blog instead of told me directly. It's one of the points with a blog. How else would you know 0815?

Men

I have two friends. They are gay and together, yet they don't like to be bundled into a group like gays only. Hey, I'm bundled together with women all the time but do I complain? Ok, so maybe I do but that's because most women are stupid. Stupid enough to rely on and trust a man. Big mistake. Huge mistake. A mistake like Julia pointed out in "Pretty Woman" to the ladies on Sunset boulevard. A point to this? Only that it's not so bad being part of a group. Makes you feel wanted, and at home.

728 steps my ass

I am having some serious doubts about these pedometers. Today my pedometer shows 728 steps, and I've been running around like a crazy packing up old clothes, bags and shoes to be picked up by whoever does that on the street on Friday. Doing a lot of paper clean-up. Being in town meeting some friends, and walking home from at least 2,000 steps from where I live. Yet the pedometer shows 728 steps. I am no longer being honest what I register. These pedometers suck! And to prove it I wore both of them yesterday, one showed about the half of the other. So why would I trust'm?

A little nerdy

Ok, so I keep spreadsheets with my blood pressure and the steps I'm making in the competition (actually quite neat with diastolic and systolic pressure in graphs!) and because I'm so excited about the new place I decided to measure my current place. I know, this is probably something I should've done before I decided to buy a terribly expensive new place, but never too late, right? So bedrooms will be slightly smaller, I'll get two bathrooms instead of one (mind you, now I have one toilet and one shower/bath separately, but anyway), but the main thing is the living room/kitchen/"library", all in one. It's gonna be one room about 50m2. It's a big mingling place with plenty of room for parties. And it's got an open fireplace, just in case I forgot to mention that the other 50 times I blogged about it! Plus a balcony 4 times the size of my current. Ok, so still not extremely big but enough for BBQ's and for the parties to spread out. I cannot wait!

Homing pigeon

I'm becoming a homing pigeon. Mind you, not homing in on current place where I live, but to the new one. I don't think I'll ever leave it once I've moved, unless it's with feet first. I am so excited that it's "only" 3 months left. 1st of September is the date. Hurray!