Scientists

I am invited to a party tomorrow. I know, it's a weird day to have a party, but it's a birthday of some sort. Thing is, I saw the invitation list, and apart from me almost all email addresses ended with ethz.ch. That means the university of Zürich.

So not only will the guests all be doctors of some sort (hey, I have nothing against doctors as long as a few of them are medical ditto, can always discuss my shoulder with'm), but most likely they will be x years younger than me.

Can't wait.

Swiss equality - an oxymoron?

As much as I like Switzerland, I gotta admit that equality between the sexes leaves a LOT to be desired. Just received the annual report from REGA, an organization I decided to support, and see to my horror that only one (1!) out of eleven in the management team is a woman. That is disgraceful.

There is a lot of qualified women out there. Why is it so difficult for men to realize that the more diversity you have, the better the result? I don't get it. They seem like little boys, terrified to share their toys.

And while they are at it, throw in some blacks, some homosexuals, some who not wears a suit (after all, how many doctors, nurses and other personnel actually doing the work wears a suit?).

Besides, women are not a minority in this country. As far as I'm aware about half the population in Switzerland is female.

I will still support the REGA, but perhaps a little bit less.

Only in Liechtenstein

Rent a country.

Doomsday

I can feel it creeping up on me, yes it's definitely noticeable, yes it's here. I'm getting older. Ok, so not old you understand, but definitely not 20 anymore. Or even 30 for that matter. No need to go on.

When I choose to stay in on a Friday evening, just because it's dark and only 13°C out there, and I have West Wing on the dvd-player and cinnamon rolls to nibble on, rather than going out, then it's doomsday.

On the other hand it could be just a temporary blip. Yes, that's probably what it is.

And if you think I baked them myself, think again. Got them at Ikea the other day. Frozen. All you gotta do is to stick them in the oven. I can do that. All on my own.

Lovely cats

Was visiting the homeless cats again today, and this time I got the opportunity to talk to them. Ah, they were lovely. Especially the grey one who took a liking to me, and purred when I petted him. He didn't want to let me go. Aaaahhhh.

Cool camel

Took a stroll along the zoo today, and passed this beauty. I like camels. They have a way of looking down at you, being totally cool.

Blue as water

Turns out that fitting a boat cover is a whole science. My boat is parked with the front towards the bridge and the back pointing towards the river. I went in to uncover, and all of a sudden I heard a voice. From the back! I was like, hey, is he swimming or what? Turned out he had a "Challenger 1" with him.

Another 3 weeks and my boat will look like new.

Farting my way through the day

I had pea soup today and I love it, but it has one unfortunate side effect. It's a good thing I'm staying in tonight is all I can say.

Water tap drama

Well drama is exaggerating, but when my water tap in the kitchen started to wiggle I got worried. So called the people who built the house. After all, I have a two year guarantee for stuff that doesn't work. Mostly I was worried that water would be leaking out.

I needn't worry, but it took them three weeks to show up. They called early this morning to ask if I was home in twenty minutes. Yes. In a frenzy I jumped into the shower, just in case it would be a hunk showing up. Half an hour later they called me, saying they were standing outside the house and could I open the door.

I happen to have an intercom incl a screen and didn't see them. Turned out they had the wrong address. They finally showed up one and a half hour later, screwing my day plan up.

And even if they were nice, both of them, they weren't any hunks. But at least they fixed the water tap.

Green fingers

Look! The parsley is coming. I planted seeds a few weeks ago, and they wanna come up and see who gave them life. Gash, I'm good.

Wank train

Haha. According to "Blick am Abend" today the Swiss Railway is introducing a new and more modern technique, making the trains go up to 20 km/h faster than before. They have named it the "Wank-Zug". What possessed them? Does nobody in the SBB management team speak English?

9.95

Why is it that shops still advertise and sell stuff for 1.95, 9.95, and 14.95? Do they think that people are stupid? Plus I hate these 5-rappen coins. Take them away and round it up for chriss' sake.

Even when I bought my fabulous "cat-tree", which btw was set down 100 francs! Had I bought it 2 weeks earlier when I first saw it, I would've been a loser. Now it was "only" 299 instead of 399. But still. Do they think I do not understand that 299 is like 300 and 399 like 400?

Perhaps it's why I just bought the shelf. It was 900. Even.

Shelf

Finally, after searching in many places I found a shelf for my binders. The middle one, not shiny black, but almost. Probably just as well, since I plan to have it in the guestroom. Shiny tends to attract dust quickly, or at least make it visible.

Only drawback is, I have to wait 2 months to get it delivered! I don't understand why it has to take 2 months. Really. Do they have to send a little man out cutting a tree first?

Also saw a carpet that was quite cool. Not a fan of carpets, except for in the bathrooms, but this one got my attention. Wonder why? And perhaps the future cats might like it.

Ikea...hmmm

Went to Ikea yesterday. Thought I'd stroll around, looking for a cabinet for files. Didn't find one, at least not one I liked. Decided to have a cheap meal while I was there. Big huge mistake.

Ok, so the meatballs were cheap-ish, but to eat squeezed in between gazillions of loud kids and their even louder Mums, what a nightmare!

Ended up buying only a wash-bin (gorgeous though, all silvery and fresh), and some food.

It's a good thing I have short memory, 'cause every time I go there I decide never to go back.

Mouldy potato

I have eaten out in more restaurants than I care to remember. These days I much prefer to eat at home, whether it's on my own or cooking for friends.

Yesterday I got reminded why.

Came from the boat, stopped by "my" restaurant to see a friend. Sitting out in the sun didn't hurt. We were hungry and ordered food. The fish was all right, but the much overcooked potatoes tasted like mould. And I had to pay for it.

Yes, you really get what you pay for but considering I could have cooked food for 4 people at home at the same cost, I think I have made the right choice.

I much rather spend a tiny fortune on going out to eat in a really special restaurant, preferably with at least one star in guide Michelin, rather than eating out three mediocre times.

Mouldy potatoes, no more! But I might just have a drink there again...

Almost flawless

The beauty of being my age is that you have come to terms with how you look. When I hear my girlfriends complain about their butt, their hair, their whatever I lean back and feel fabulous. Yes, I know, I'm not perfect but there is no need to point it out.

I feel good about myself. But as strange as it sounds even I have flaws. Some 10 years ago I got a thingie on my foot. Went to the doctor, told her it was a wart, she looked at it and assured me that it was not. Turned out I had worn shoes with a plastic label inside that irritated my skin on the side of my right foot.

Even today I can feel it. So kids remember, nobody is perfect :). But sometimes almost is good enough.

Yes I can stand

Next on the list of my voluntary work is to help prepare dinner for the homeless. The organization I am investigating do this every Wednesday, and in a couple of weeks I will experience first-hand what it is like.

Talked to the guy, and he asked me why I volunteer. Told him I'm writing my testament. Then he asked me if I can stand. Suppose it's not common that people writing their will is as young as I :).

Miauw

Apropos multi-talented. Was just thinking that my future cats will be fluent in three languages. My mother tongue, English and since I even speak German occasionally, they will learn all three.

My cats, multi-talented.

Cat preparation

Everything that cats can ask for. All that is left to do is to find the cats.

Was it Bach?

Was trying to get them to play Tchajkovskij or Vivaldi, but they were "classicly schooled". Ok, but so was Tjeck and Vivaldi, not?

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the private concert.

Especially since I found out that the multi-talented one cannot spell!

Der Witz ist um die Ecke II

Met a German woman tonight, and wanted to show her how much I know about ze Germans. Told her about "Der Witz ist um die Ecke". She had never heard of it.

So apparently this saying of ze Germans is only known in the southern parts. Why try?

Bingowing goodbye

Haha, really funny last week. I have a friend who is tad younger than I am, and when she was lifting her arm waving to somebody I saw flab. Not that she's fat or anything, but when not flexing her muscles it was...soft.

I have now done enough physio to have almost the same muscles as in my left arm. Cannot lift as much, but at least flab is gone. Have learned to always flex muscles when lifting arm. Looks better, and even if I'm...hmmm...not very young anymore...I at least want to look it.

Vain, moi?

Purple mascara

I grew up in a city which was the first on doing post order. You know, in the old days, you got a glossy catalogue displaying all sorts of clothes, cosmetics, shoes and other things you craved when you were young and stupid.

Then you filled in a form, sent it in, and a week later a package showed up in your mailbox. Always, always, making you disappointed. The stuff never looked like in the catalogue. These days you can compare it to McDonald's. Look at the fluffy burger on the ads, then compare to the flat piece of meat you actually get.

This is how I felt when I got the purple mascara the other day. Looks fab when you open it, but on my eyes it just looks black. Good thing I still have that purple glitter I bought about 10 years ago.

Filthy

Outside our house there is a wall between the street and the house. Several times people in the house next door has left garbage bags, leaning on the wall, waiting to be picked up by somebody I'm sure.

A couple of nights ago one of them was. A neighbour in my house saw it from her balcony. Early morning, like six, two large foxes were hungry.

Now the garbage is spread all over our plants. It is filthy and disgusting. And of course I complained, since nobody else in the house seems to have the guts. Or rather, they are so used to me reacting first, they rely on me :). Yes, that's how it is.

No pic

Every time I post pics on the blog I tell people that if they do not like it, they should tell me and I'll delete the pic. That goes for text too, if somebody feels I hanged them out.

The other day I was asked to delete a guy, even though the pic was blurry and you couldn't really see. Think this has more to do with prestige than anything else, since he when we first met told me he didn't want to appear on internet.

Now considering posting a link to when he was on tv. Haha.

Rabbits

When working with the druggies yesterday I got some gifts. One of them was a rabbit, which I saved in order to offer it to my friends at todays party. None of them wanted to touch it, not knowing what was in it. Ha, that thought didn't even struck my mind.

But then we started to play around. And depending how dirty your mind is...

Concert

I really like intelligent people, but I am very wary about multi-talented ditto. Makes me feel inferior. Have a neighbour who has a PhD in what might be biology. At least she's very good with plants, and she tells me about these experiments in a lab where a 50% success rate is considered good, which immediately makes me think how good can she be? And makes me feel better.

But then it turns out she's musical too. Hmmm. And she's got a purple box for her cello. Yes, she's accepted. Plus she can play.

Good Friday apero

...and nobody wanted to appear on a pic.

On another planet

Had a very interesting day yesterday. Spent the day with former drug-abusers. They reside in a home quite far away from the city. To a great extent they are self-supporting with their own bakery and a pasta machine, their own pigs, cats and even a llama. The two latter more for company is my guess. They have a book printing lab, where they print everything for the organization they belong to, but also for industries, as well as a workshop.

They organize apero food, so think I'm gonna place my order there for my party coming up in October.

The daily routine is quite strict. Things that for us "normal" people is common, is for them sometimes difficult, like keeping time and appointments, organize your day, clean, cook and sleep at night.

They have a program in 4 steps, where they their first month are not allowed to leave the premises alone, then ending up leaving after up to a year to start out their new life in an apartment they share with others in the same predicament.

They work daily on a rotating basis, a couple of months in the bakery, a couple of months in the kitchen, a couple of months in the, rather large, garden and so forth. They go to the doctor, the dentist, a therapist and they have all access to "trust person", somebody they can confide in and discuss difficult things with.

The home has existed for 20 years, so the people working there have a lot of experience.

I had the pleasure of cooking lunch with them yesterday. We made pizzas. Thursdays are pizza day. Again, routine.

The only drug allowed in the house is nicotine, they have even got their own cig machine in the basement.

Sometimes they have sports day, the week coming up they will do a theater. Once a year they travel and go skiing. I was amazed about all the activities they arrange.

Yes, this is definitely another organization I will support.

Solar cell lights

One of my aunts is a very sweet person. She sends me packages with books, dvd's and the occasional gift. Like solar cell lights. Those you can put on the balcony and they get charged by the sun and they lit up at night.

She has no reason to, she does this just because she's a good person. I am fortunate to still have some good relatives.

I'm cute!

For some reason a friend of mine had shown my pic to her boss, who thought I was cute. The fact that he's a 49-year-old fat fart is not gonna take away the joy for me. I'm cute! On the record.

Quote

"I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it." Ha, love it. Said by somebody I've never heard of, Ray Bradbury.

If I could just stop the time now, I would. Life doesn't get any better than this. Or does it?

Colour samples

So got the colour samples for the boat cover today. This company and I will have a serious discussion when he comes to fit the cover. I don't think he's got that also women can own a boat. How boring colours are these?

I will make him promise that in 10 years when it's time to buy a new one, he can offer at least pink and purple too.

A day on the lake

Spent the day on the lake. Not many boats out, but those who were were mainly from the lake police. One of them saluted us. Two women in bikinis. Haha.

My friend was swimming, well, swimming is stretching it, but she jumped in. 12°C. Think it helped when I asked if she was a woman or a wimp.

For a while we had company of some men. Not the same species, but still.

3 bad things about Switzerland

I have been accused of praising Switzerland, and in particular Zürich too much, so I was trying to come up with 3 bad things about my new home country.

1. Ze language/s. Obviously.

2. The bureaucracy, or rather bureaucrazy. Ok, I agree after several phone calls, gazillions of forms filled in and a fair number of stamps it actually works. But still, this is the year of 2011, and you would think that internet would have reached also the government here. But no.

3. Still thinking.

Disco lights

Hard to tell from the pic, but during the weekend my disco lights were installed. Same light as in my guest room shelf, it can blink, flash or smoothly go from one colour to the other. I have only one word. Fabulous!

No cats yet

Saw an ad today for two black female kittens. I called, but I wasn't exactly the first one so they were taken. Thing was, they resided in Bern and not sure I want kittens not born in Zürich. Besides, who wants slow cats anyway? Nah, I'm waiting.

Unbalanced scorecard

My friend who was just visiting over the weekend, the control freak, never throws anything away. That includes documents on the computer.

Some 15 years ago when we were working together our company wanted us to develop a balanced scorecard to measure profitability, value-add and whatsit. We did so, as well as doing some private ones. This was my doing.

Actually, I think it's still funny.

Falling over

In the place I'm usually going to when going out, you are allowed to stand on the chairs, singing along to the music and clapping your hands. It's much more fun than it sounds.

On Friday there was a guy in front of us who had some trouble keeping the balance. He kept on swaying in a way that made us worried, so we moved away a little while watching him. When nothing happened we started chatting again, but about 2 minutes later it was time. He fell straight on his back over glasses of beer and wine, crashing everything, splashing liquid mostly over my friend fortunately. I got away with a few drops on my legs.

Drunk as he was he didn't hurt himself, and he was really sheepishly apologetic. Got us new drinks and apologized profusely. Later it turned out that my wine bottle had survived the crash, so I even got a few drinks for free. Not a bad night.

Shoe praise

I got a friend who is really into her shoes. It's like she has a love affair with all 60 pairs of them.

I, on the other hand, usually walk around in flip-flops or sandals, or whatever shoes I find in the closet, not caring the least.

Yesterday on the tram I got asked by a woman where I bought my sandals. She thought they were beautiful. And my friend was wearing another pair of her beloved stilettos. HAHAHA.

Boat cover

Left a message last week with the people who sells boat covers, and they never called me back. Turns out they got my number wrong, possibly my German, hehe. So now we are friends again, and they are really helpful.

They gonna send me colour samples (gosh, I'm hoping they have purple!), then they will come to the boat and fit the cover. Ain't gonna be cheap, but what is in Switzerland? And my boat is worth it.

Belated apology

Email today:

"So I owe you an apology.
I hereby withdraw any negative statement, joke, or snide comment made about you cutting in to your own hand to remove the phantom thingy inside.

I can now completely and utterly sympathise with you as the very same thingy is now in the back of my hand, and I am so tempted to make a small incision."

Ha! If people could only learn to listen to me.

Travel...hmmm...something

In the bar toilet they sell strange things. My friend had seen a product called "TravelPussy" and chose to spend 7 francs on finding out what it was.

Turned out to be a plastic bag looking like one of those that you use for making ice, but with the shape of a, rather impressive I must admit, well penis. These are the instructions:

1. Open up TravelPussy.
2. Pour a very small amount of TravelPussy-Gel into the "vagina" and spread it.
3. Turn TravelPussy upside down and fill gently with warm water or simply blow air into it. IMPORTANT: make sure the water is not too hot, check with your finger!
4. Place some TravelPussy-Gel on your penis and you are ready for a wonderful experience.
5. After use, empty TravelPussy and leave it to domestic waste (not in toilet).

I don't know where to begin to comment on this! And why they would sell it in the womens toilet is beyond me!

But my friend and I have a cunning plan. We're gonna place it in the luggage of my visiting friend, then keep our fingers crossed that he will be stopped in customs. HAHAHAHAHA!

Sue Ellen and I

This afternoon was the time for my transformation. I had a hitleresque friend commanding me to sit in a chair, close my eyes while she was dabbing god knows what, and might I add, took friggin forever. First she did what in my days was called "brown creme" and is now named foundation.

Then it was something called baseline or similar. In my world baseline is the starting point of a process in IT.

Eyeliner was something she did as well, and it was liquid and the whole evening it kept on leaking into my eye and made me look like I had feelings. My left eye was kinda crying the whole eve, like Sue Ellen in Dallas. She was the one with cow's eyes who was constantly crying.

Then it was something else I cannot remember, and finally I was allowed to put mascara on myself. I simply couldn't handle her pointing a brush to my eye.

In my youth I sometimes spent an extra minute putting on eye-shadow and then mascara. And to be perfectly honest I think I looked better then. But ok, I was 20+ years younger which might have added to the natural beauty I possess :).

Like my friend was saying, "you don't need whatever-it-was-called-something-around-the-lips", cause you have perfect shape of your lips. I know. It looked like I had eczema around my mouth.

Lastly she was doing my hair. I had warned her that my baby-hair is not easily tamed. I gave up many moons ago, since whatever I do it doesn't last. Think you would need cement to make my hair stay in any shape.

Her attitude was "I'm gonna make you fabulous". Ha. Didn't work. Still looked like me. But I gotta give her points for trying.

PS. And no, no pics were taken.

I have a way with men

Was out this eve with some friends, and a guy sitting at the next table had been communicating, kinda showing interest. When he left he took my hand, kissed it, and I said "it was a pleasure meeting you". "A pleasure for you I mean".

He laughed. And left.

Iceland

Was out having a fag and ran into this guy, who I could tell was not a German/Swiss. Turned out he came from...Iceland! As far as I know there are 300,000 people living there (how many polar bears?) and I only met one of them before. Used to work with a guy from there in Oslo.

Just saying it was unexpected. When you meet people you can usually guess what part of the world they are from. But Iceland is kinda wild card. And he wasn't even from Reykjavik, but from some village I cannot remember. How rare is that?

Oh so subtle

The new neighbours picked up the subtle hint of "well, in this house you have to invite the neighbours to be accepted" very well. This afternoon we were all invited, and most of the neighbours showed up. It's good to see them, because even if we live in the same house we have different timing and do not cross paths very often.

And when I gently suggested that the new neighbours would come with us to the city this eve, they were delighted. So they have now seen my bar/restaurant in town, and even though I'm not sure it'll be their second living room, I'm pretty sure they think that this is unique.

Hard work

Some days are just hard work. You know, you have to wake up, then show your visiting friend around, and just make an effort. Walking up the hill, passing these allotments with friggin flowers, walking all the way up the hill to get to the top. Then have to sit down at the restaurant, enduring a glass (or several actually) of wine and a cheese plate. Life is tuff.

Aussie coming to visit

On my way to the airport in a little while to pick up an old friend. Cannot say we have had close contact over the years, but when we met in Holland some 16 years ago we experienced some things together that we'll never forget. Being stuck in a foreign country, working with people who wouldn't listen, made us connect.

During the years we did other stuff together like I was visiting him in Australia to celebrate the millenium, we shared an interesting long weekend in Orange County and we spent a holiday together in Cook Islands.

One of the things I remember with him, is that he is THE control freak. We were in Sydney once, planning to go up the coast the next day where a group of us have rented a beach house. Unfortunately there were forest fires, and the roads were closed.

I didn't panic, figuring we were in Sydney close to Bondi beach, what was the issue of waiting one day? Whereas my friend completely freaked out. The forest fires messed with his plans. So while I was spending the day at Bondi, he was busy planning how to get out of Sydney.

But still, we are allowed to be different, and since we haven't met since like 2004, I do look forward.

From one bed to the other

Had another idea while sitting on the bus on the way home. I have now gotten my new (and might I add fab) shelf for my guest room. I am planning to put the thingie for the cats in there. Am also planning to buy an old peoples bed, one of those where you can move the head and foot on the bed by buzzing a remote.

Haha, remember first time I slept in a bed like that in a hotel. Thought it was so funny so I spent quite some time moving up and down, until I looked like a V.

Anyway, my thought was that perhaps I move into the current guest room and make it into my room, and leave the bigger of the two bedrooms for guests, an office, washhanging and storage. Just a thought.

Means I have to go down from a bed of 1.60 to 1.40 but even if my BMI is 25 I think it would be enough. Besides, it's cozy to cuddle up in a smaller bed, no?

Home sweet home

Then I came home and saw lights on in the house. Not hard to guess my windows, but please note, it's not purple ;).

Lederhosen

Saw this guy tonight. Think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Cat paraphernalia

Went to a pet shop today in order to browse what's available these days. The time I had cats was...hmmm...quite a few years ago.

And yes, did they have everything. Little cute feeding bowls. Black and shiny with stainless steel that would fit perfectly in my flat. A cat toilet in purple (hurray!). A transportation cage, which seemed a bit plastic but was cheap and how often do I need to use that? And the best of all. Dunno how to describe it, but it was a combo of scratching poles to sharpen their little claws on, shelves to lie comfortably on and a little "house" where they can hide. It was a rather big construction, but in shiny black fur. And what is 400 francs if it makes my future cats happy?

Shake your ass baby

I love my bar. Yesterday when the band was playing a sorta marching music a rather old guy stood up, like they were playing a national anthem, saluting. Then when the band was changing into rock, he started to wiggle his, rather large, ass.

Only in that place my friends.

Pretty balcony

Half price at Coop for geraniums. This is gonna be so pretty when they start growing a bit more.