Perhaps a fitting title for the time of year?

Peace!
Standing in the Swiss meadow, I take in the tinkling of the sheep's bells, the rhythmic 'dong, dong, dong' of the cowbells as they munch the grass, the twittering of the birds as they go about their business.
The sky is blue and the snow-capped mountains look crisp and beautiful in the morning sun.
Allaa eea eea eeahh!

The serenity of my surroundings is suddenly disturbed by the tinny call of the Mullah as he calls people to prayer from his minaret!



The SVP began one of their usual discriminating campaigns this autumn and called people to vote against the building of minarets in Switzerland. As usual the posters were defaced or ripped from the walls but, surprisingly, the Swiss people went to vote and decided that minarets shouldn't be built here in Switzerland.

Tit for tat you might say, after all, Christians aren't allowed to build their churches in Muslim or Islamic communities, so why should Muslims be allowed to build their houses of worship in Europe?
Well, European constitution stipulates freedom of religion, for one thing!
I'm not quite sure what it was that moved the Swiss to vote as they did. Although I respect the fact that it is [usually] the people that decide what may or may not come to pass in Switzerland, I think the SVP successfully created a vision of minarets being built in Swiss areas of beauty.
That is rather short-sighted. I would expect any Minaret to be built close to a Muslim or Islam community, and I can't see any such community being situated outside the main cities.
Any building erected in Switzerland is, just like anywhere else in Europe, subject to rules and regulations. This means it would not be possible to build a minaret anywhere close to open landscape or living areas where the rules stipulate that no building may be erected that is higher than two stories. This poses quite a restriction, I would say.

I recently visited a Buddhist temple. A marvelous building in bright red and yellow, with a roof of gold.
It sat right next to the Aldi car-park in the middle of Gretzenbach's industrial area.
It is visited by Buddhist from all over Switzerland — it is, after all, the only one in Switzerland.
Why is it the only one? Not, I think, because Swiss Buddhist enjoy traveling between two and four hours to worship, but because building any house-of-worship devours enormous sums of money — almost impossible for small communities.
The Buddhist temple wouldn't be in Switzerland if the King-of-Thailand's-Mom hadn't paid for it to be built.
The same applies, I think to minarets — 4% of the Swiss community is Muslim. Without help from abroad, not too many more mosques (there are 90 already, with and without minarets) are going to jump up in the Swiss mountains.

This time, I think, the Swiss were ill informed before they went to vote and didn't take the time to inform themselves of the present situation ...

They actually finished renovating the north side of the house a few weeks ago!
Watching them at work, it really is no wonder that it took them so long ...
... they nailed up the shingles one at a time!



Really, the guy doing the work nailed a piece of metal to the wall, aligned a shingle to the metal and shot two staples into it. Took the next shingle, aligned it to the metal and shot two staples into it. Took the next shingle ...
Amazing!
After doing this sort of work for over two hundred years, now, you'd think they'd have discovered a swifter way to work. Well, not here.

They say that the Swiss are slow (the Swiss say it's only the people from Basel that are slow, but I beg to differ!). Watching them work makes me fall asleep!
If anybody from the Swiss-Wall-Cladding-Industry wants a tip on how to speed things up - just give me a call ...



At least the shingles are wood, though, before work was started, I was afraid they were going to use the cheaper, asbestos version that some newer houses are clad in.

My Landlady, it would seem, never had the pleasure of living in an Appenzeller farmhouse.
If she had, she would understand why they were built the way they were ...

Remember those romantic pictures you saw, of those Swiss chalets with their shutters?
The Appenzeller were very clever, when they designed their houses – the shutters were designed to be retractable.
They can be lowered or raised, as needed.
The solid wooden blinds can be pulled up to keep out the heat or the cold and can be set to just a slit, to let in fresh air while keeping burglars at bay. They protect the windows against the numerous hail storms we have and, for housewives, there is the interesting fact, that they prevent them from getting dirty when it rains.



As I mentioned, the north side of this house is being renovated. When the old window frames were ripped out, the blinds disappeared with them. I asked why this was the case and was informed that the new windows supply enough insulation to hold the heat during winter ...
When I asked about the fresh air during the summer, I could actually hear the blank stare on the other end of the telephone line!
So now I have windows that keep in the heat, all the year round!



I don't know, but I thought you'd give some thought to a properties construction before starting to renovate, I know I would ...

I've mentioned before that the house I live in was built in seventeen-something.
Obviously it doesn't conform to any ISO Standards regarding insulation.
The northern side of the house was last insulated in 1924.
The insulation in those days consisted of sheets of tar-paper and a coat of shingles.
How do I know it was 1924?
Speculation really. I found a newspaper from that year that had been used to fill in a gap between two beams.

Last November, a chap knocked on the door, saying he'd been sent along to check the insulation.
He looked at the windows, tapped on walls, hmm'd and hah'd, took some notes and some infra-red photographs – both from inside and out.

Eight weeks ago scaffolding appeared on the north side of the house and next day, at six in the morning, I was rudely awoken by banging and tearing sounds and the smell of cigar smoke. There was a guy outside my bathroom window ripping the shingles off the outside wall. He came along at the same time every day for a fortnight and, regardless of the time, hacked away at the wall.
Surprisingly — when he noticed that I had guests staying — he found some quieter pastime until around 09:00. Each time he finished a floor, it was clad in pastic sheeting and, by the end of the fortnight, the whole of the house-front was coated in plastic.

It just so happened that it was the warmest time of this year, so far. The stench of the plastic was terrible and, of course, no air could get in to, or out of the house. It was suffocating!
It took a fortnight for the next team of workers to arrive. They put up a wooden framework and, when they were finished, obviously took measurements for the new window encasements. That was just over six weeks ago. The house has been clad in plastic again ever since.

On Friday the new windows arrived and I had proof of the fact that some form of co-ordination must secretly be taking place. Workers from two different companies climbed the house – one from the inside, one from outside. Those outside ripped out the old window encasements. The one inside ripped out the windows, sawed away at the walls around the windows and began fitting new windows.
I got the shock of my life when I arrived at the scene. Everything within three meters of the window frames was coated in sawdust and wood chippings.



After seeing me, open-mouthed, studying the chaos, the carpenter put down his circular saw and, realising what my problem was, explained — the guys outside had ripped out the window frames without bothering to cover anything up and, seeing the mess, he'd decided it was no longer worth going to the trouble either ...

Pine sawdust is slightly oily. I now have pine sawdust all over the crockery that was stored on shelves next to the windows, in the sugar bowl, the bread bin, in and all over my coffee machine — just everywhere.
When I got up yesterday, even more sawdust had settled and I was at a loss where to start cleaning.
I eventually started with the ceilings and slowly worked my way down. I'm almost finished in the kitchen now; only another six windows to go ...

I'm just watching something called America's got Talent, on the box ...
An elderly gentleman just left the stage after doing an impersonation of Frank Sinatra.
I was surprised that neither the jury nor the audience seemed to notice that he didn't hit his notes a number of times.



The thing that shocked me, though, was the fact that he gave his audience the two-fingers* on four separate occasions, while leaving the stage.

Try that in England and you wouldn't be very welcome on stage again – he, however, gets a chance to travel to Las Vegas!

*For those of you, who have no idea at all, what I am talking about:
Pictures of Sir Winston Churchill often show him giving the 'V' sign - V for victory.
Displaying the 'V' sign the other way round (in my day also known as 'the two fingers') is just about the strongest insult you can make in GB.
Worse, I would say, than the raised middle finger, I learned in Germany.

O.K. to be honest I was very annoyed with Google for blocking my site - it has been blocked for over six weeks now.
I felt discriminated.

This site was hacked on the afternoon of March 27th and within hours, Google hung up a sign to inform my readers that I was distributing malware. In actual fact each of my .html pages had been injected with a Java script which could attack Windows machines.
I took a careful look at my site (because Google told me I should) and discovered hundreds of pages which had been hacked and needed replacing. I did so within three hours of the attack.
Sadly I missed a couple of galleries, I'm afraid.

The problem is, it is impossible to communicate with Google. You send a request for them to rescan a site and get a message that it can take up to several weeks to do so ...
... but you never get an answer or a message to tell you that your site is or (in my case) still isn't o.k.
Then I found a scan result which stated that my site had been scanned last Wednesday and ...
... was distributing malware.

I opened up each and every single page that is openly online and checked.
Nothing.
Then I remembered some galleries that are linked to this blog - dormant and unused.
I checked them. They were a writhing mass of bugs!
I spent Thursday evening online checking each and every hidden directory and repaired over a hundred files.

If you feel that your computer has been compromised as a result of visiting my site, I would like offer my humble apologies.
I reacted as soon as I was notified but missed the galleries containing the pictures of the car cemetery, the cows under the trees and a few pages that are, as to date, still unlinked.
If you visited either the cars or the cows between 27th March and 14th May, then please check your (Windows – Macs remain unaffected) computer for malware.

I now have certification that my site is clean again!

On the phone ...

Me: I would like some clarification regarding duties paid on parcel number 'xyz'.
Her: Yes, Sir, how may I help?
Me: I would like to know why I had to pay CHF 99 duties for a used article.
Her: You didn't Sir. That was CHF 65 duties; CHF 18 fees; CHF 10 Storage and
CHF 6 because the parcel had to be opened.
Me: But I never had to pay duties on a used article before!
Her: In that case, Sir, you must have ticked the wrong boxes.
Me: Which boxes?!
Her: Of the customs declaration on the parcel.
Me: Come again – How can I tick boxes on a parcel I haven't received yet?
Her: In that case, the person who sent the parcel made the mistake.
Me: I would like to apply for the return of duties and fees.
Her: The fees can't be returned; you may apply to have the duties returned
but it will cost you CHF 30 in fees.
Me: O.K. Nice joke. Can you set the ball rolling for me?
Her: I'm not joking, you have to pay CHF 30, that leaves you with CHF 35.
You have to apply yourself.
Me: I am myself.
Her: You have to make a written application and return all of the papers.
Me: Look – you have everything you need on your screen at this very moment.
Would you please be kind enough to push the button marked reimburse for me.
Her: I don't have that button, you have to make a written application and
return all of the papers.
Me: But this is ridiculous.
Her: You have to make a written application and return all of the papers.
Me: But ...
Her: You have to make a written application and return all of the papers.
Me: Have you ever heard of rendition of services?
Her: You have to make a written application and return all of the papers.

Oops - I broke the phone, banging it on my desk!

I'm sure you've read numerous reports about [lack of] Swiss hospitality and Customer Service and I'm sure you can remember that some sort of football championships were held here last year.
I told you what the results would be ...
... no, not the football results, but the result that Swiss courtesy would have on tourism – bookings have dropped by twenty percent.
Can that be coincidence?

Yesterday I asked a computer-supermarket-assistant where I might find a USB adapter set.
She shrugged her shoulders and told me she had no idea. Did she call a colleague and ask for help?
No.
I found what I wanted in the end after walking up and down endless rows of computer accessories.
This is just typical of what to expect when you visit Switzerland. Not just in shops but in hotels and restaurants too.
And does it end there?

I ordered three tubes of toothpaste in England. They were sent to me via Royal Mail and cost £14 including postage.
A week later a bill arrived from Swiss cutoms – CHF 60, an equivalent of £35!
I immediately phoned to complain and was informed that customs taxes are calculated by the size of the parcel.
I mentioned the fact that I had a receipt for CHF 20 which already included astronomically high VAT and was informed, in not so many words, that that was my bad luck!
I ordered a screw in the USA. Because it was custom made, it cost $60. Postage also came to $60.
Customs taxes? $60!
$120 for a single (albeit specialised) screw.

I am agog to know the result of my latest strife with Swiss customs.
Three weeks ago I bought a camera lens in an auction on ebay.
After a week, I contacted the guy I purchased from to ask if he'd actually posted the thing off. He assured me he'd sent it off with Royal Mail the same day.
I phoned Swiss Postal services - sorry, without a tracking number, we can't trace a parcel.
Last week I phoned again. No results.
The day before yesterday a letter flattered through my letter box. Swiss Post Customs Services.
A notice that they have a parcel for me which has been declared correctly to be a camera lens.

So my parcel has been sitting on a shelf in Zürich while someone has been trying to decide how to tax it. Due to the size of the parcel, it will probably cost me what – CHF 40? But on the customs label it states camera lens – surely a lens is worth a lot of money?

The letter invited me to state honestly (they are kidding, surely) the value of the contents and to provide proof in form of a receipt.
If I am unable to provide proof within five days, the parcel will be returned to sender.
I posted off the PayPal receipt the same day underlining the words 'USED LENS'.
I wonder how long I shall have to wait, when I might receive my parcel and which costs might be added for the unexpected act of actually having to handle a parcel.

Keep this up you wonderful Swiss and you won't just be losing tourists, you'll be losing tax-payers too ...

Tag: Mumblings, very definitely Mumblings, today!

If you've made it thus far, today, you are very brave — very brave indeed.
Or you are using an outdated browser ...

My site has been blacklisted by Google, King of the Universe.
Actually, it is very kind of Google to inform me that my web pages have been compromised but, hello-oo, it's the weekend, I get the most traffic at a weekend, you can take that bloody sign down again now!

My site was attacked on Friday afternoon; all of the .html pages on the site were hacked and a Java script inserted. The script contained an iFrame, an invisible frame that, in this case, whisks your computer off to a site in China that distributes malware.
I have been unable to find out, yet, whether it is my hosts server or just my pages that have been hacked.

I spent a couple of hours replacing each and every .html document on this sub domain and the main domain it is hosted on — this blog alone contains 395 .html pages, then there are my galleries etc. — a lot of work, I can tell you.
Anyway, I did my homework and informed Google of the fact.

Google was very quick in putting up the sign to inform everyone that I am actively supplying malware it took them just a few hours. When I informed them that the danger has been removed, I got a message that they will check my site again in due time, but this might take a while ...
... not good, not good at all — this is costing me traffic and a lot of those visitors won't return again!
Please take that sign down ...



Of course, I also had to change all the passwords that allowed people to access my sites and had to check my computers for trojans (to my knowledge there are no confirmed virus for the Mac OS X, last count there were 140'000 or so for that other operating system) or keystroke loggers. There were none, so I must presume that the passwords for access to my web site were too easy to guess.

If you visited this site between 15:00 and 24:00 on Friday and were not warned about doing so, please check your computer for malware!

Since Christmas I've been unable to access our server at work from home.
We got a new firewall at work for Christmas and, even though my firewall is the same brand, they seemed to be unable to communicate with each other.

I mentioned it to one of our techies and he got me to check this and that, experiment here and there and crash my machine a number of times. At long last, after checking both firewalls, he decided it was time to update the software on mine.
"Not a big deal," he said "only takes a couple of minutes."

So, yesterday morning he logged on to my machine – online – downloaded the new software, installed it – and was gone.
No, he wasn't finished, he was just gone.
His supposed update had flushed my firewall's ROM and disconnected me from the Internet.
No Firewall, no techie, nothing. A blank screen, so to speak.
Well, there was nothing else for it but to bundle up my firewall under my arm and take it to Techie.
Luckily I pass his office on my way to work, so it was only a short detour.

Round about 16:00 he phoned to say I could collect my firewall again, newly configured a ready to take me online.
"I've just made a few alterations which mean you'll have to reconfigure your modem."

Of course, there's nothing easier than reconfiguring a modem – I do it almost every day – great, thanks!

So I connected my computer directly to the modem, sorted out its IP-address and password, quickly reconfigured it and re-set-up my account with Swisscom, who, of course, didn't recognise me any more.
It didn't take more than an hour.
But then, I'd got nothing better to do with my Friday evening anyway, had I?
When I was finished, I plugged in the firewall, connected it between the computer and the modem and went online.
Well, at least, I tried to. Nothing; a blank screen.
I sorted out the passwords etc. and logged in to the firewall. There I was greeted by large red letters stating "The firewall has not been configured"!
Not having done it before, it took me about two hours to figure out how a firewall is configured but, in the end, I actually got back online.
As you can see.


This morning Techie phoned and asked cheerfully "Everything all right?"
He can consider himself lucky that he lives in Austria ...

In Zürich recently, I saw sign in a restaurant advertising, if I remember rightly, "Kuddla" which I recognised to be Kutteln – tripe ...

I know that offal is not to everyones taste, but I've eaten tripe in a couple of different countries – and always enjoyed it.

Callos - Spanish tripe (meaning it is probably pork and not that of a Spaniard) with chick-peas, red peppers and pork suasage-meat similar to black-pudding.
Pakal-Pörkölt - A spicy Hungarian stew with tripe and red peppers.
Iskembe - A Turkish tripe dish similar to Swabian kutteln, but with garlic.
Saure Kutteln - A Swabian (Southern Germany) tripe dish soured with vinegar and/or lemon juice.
Trippa alla livornese - An Italian version of tripe with tomato sauce (what else?!) garlic and parmesan cheese.
Trippa alla Romana - Italian again, with – wait for it – tomato sauce, white wine and (who'd have guessed?) permesan.
Tripes - The French version of tripe and onions
'our' own, British version of tripe and onions, of course. And not forgetting:
Haggis which is a Scottish pudding with oatmeal, suet, all sorts of offal, wrapped up in a sheep's stomach and served with turnip and potatoes. (And best washed down with a wee dram!)

I'd never eaten tripe in Switzerland before, so I decided to give it a go.
However, not wanting any surprises, I asked the waiter, who was also the bartender and presumably the owner,
'Wie werden Kutteln ind dieser Gegend zubereitet?'
'How do you prepare tripe in this part of the world?'

He gave me an angry stare at the audacity of my question, and replied:
'So wie Chuddla eben gemacht wäret!' (He almost choked on the 'ch')
'Exactly the way Kutteln are prepared!'

I couldn't quite make up my mind whether to get up and leave or order, so he immediately prompted me
'Wönt ör jetzt öppis, oder nit?'
Do you want to order something or not.

This is the point where I should have got up and left, but, knowing that Swiss hospitality is the same just about everywhere and given that I was hungry, I ordered a beer and Kuddla.

For anyone unsure how tripe is cooked in Zürich – I would say it is somewhere between between livornese and Romana but without the white wine, garlic or parmesan cheese.
To be honest with you I found it rather bland; rather like Swiss hospitality.*

*Disclaimer: I refer here, not to the Swiss in general (although there are unfriendly people all over the world) but to the Swiss gastronomy and hotel business.

You're going to say it's my own fault, I did choose to live here, after all.
I suppose you're right, I did choose to live here, but why, damn it, do the Swiss try to make me feel so uncomfortable with my choice?!

I am aware of the fact that I am a foreigner and that I shall remain a foreigner — always.
I was a foreigner in Germany too, but no-one tried to point it out to me every day.
The Swiss do:



This placard greets me wherever I go at the moment. It has exactly the same theme as last time, but this time round we have crows ripping poor old Switzerland apart instead of the multi coloured hands grabbing for passports.
The text has been translated in various news articles as "Free Passports for all? No" But it can also mean "free passage" and "not being held responsible for actions taken". In this case there is a tiny text that is overseen when you drive past the sign that says "Freedom of movement and residence for Rumania and Bulgaria NO" so I take it to mean "free passage".

This is another obscene example of Swiss Xenophobia being exploited by the Socialist Peoples Party.
Since the Schengen cooperation was introduced a few years ago, Switzerland has been forced to watch a flood of French, Germans, Latvians, Poles etc. stream into the country, oh, and myself of course! Same rights for all! Things are getting out of hand.

The Swiss borders have now been opened and the Customs Officers no longer check visitors entering or leaving the country – they only check for goods and then check the passports. Boils down to the same thing as previously actually ...
... but in theory unwanted strangers can now pass our borders unchecked – as in the rest of Europe.
Except, that is, Rumania and Bulgaria.

These are two of the countries that have signed a step-by-step-Schengen agreement (just like Switzerland) and haven't opened their borders for free passage yet. They can, however move freely around Europe.

Now we can't have that, can we!
It's bad enough that we have Brits here, without Rumanians too ...

Dear SVP get your act together and change your politics – there are no second-class-citizens!

… Just as the sun was ri-ising …

I was lucky on Thursday.
We were not woken by the sound of the snow plough and there was no eerie silence after switching the alarm clock off.
A glance outside showed that no fresh snow had fallen –
life could commence as usual.

They have promised us a hard winter this time round. I don't know what that is supposed to mean, but I might have an inkling:
When I went to climb into the car to go to work, it was covered with a thick screen of ice. The temperature was minus ten degrees!

Not a great deal by Siberian standards, but we are in Switzerland and it is only November. The cold months don't arrive until February!

Luckily I'd thought to put one of those Aluminium blankets over my windscreen so that, at least, was free of ice.
I was, however unable to see out of the side windows.
Well, I sprayed the side windows and rear screen with ice remover (I don't even want to know what's in those bottles) and went back inside for a cup of coffee.

A few minutes later, I removed the sludge from the side windows with a squeegee and set off for work.
I arrived at work just ten minutes later than I had intended.
When I went to lift the hatch to get something out of the boot, it wouldn't lift on its own – there was a centimetre thick sheet of ice across the whole of it, except for the deep hole, where the wiper had been working.

Quite cold, I'd say …

Something I really enjoy is Asian food.
Japanese sushi;
Chinese stir-fries;
Vietnamese Pho (noodle soup);
Philippine chicken;
Indian lentils.
But best of all is Thai Cuisine because it is the spiciest...



I really enjoy spicy food, so why is it that so many restaurants refuse to serve it?
There is/was an Indian restaurant in Ludwigsburg that offered three choices of meal:
Mild, Hot or Normal.
Mild is, well, mild.
Hot is spicy – German spicy.
Normal is spicy – Indian style!
Why can't they all do it like that?

I went for a Thai meal the other day.
You could choose meals with zero, one, two or three chilli peppers from the menu.
I ordered a meal with three.

When my meal arrived, I was certain they had brought the wrong plate to our table. I'm quite sure even the most coddled Swiss person would'nt have found it spicy.
I called the waitress and complained. "Oh, but that is the spicy one", she assured me.
"In that case, I need chilli", I said.
"We no have Chilli,“ she said "only fish sauce"
"Then I need the fish sauce", I replied.
(Fish sauce is fish extract with raw chilli peppers)
She called something into the kitchen and I recognised the word 'Farang' which means 'Long-Nose' denoting a European/American.
The fish sauce arrived but there was hardly any chilli in it. By the time a portion of the food was anywhere near 'hot', it was too salty to eat.
I gave up and ate my meal as it was.

This happens to me all the time – even if I visit a restaurant with Thai friends who will tell the waiter/waitress "He can eat as 'hot' as we can!"
The waiter invariably scoffs and I get a watered-down version of what I ordered.

Good to have Thai friends – I get invited to dinner every now and then and am served the normal version.
Yummy!

Autumn and winter are my favourite times of the year. Autumn, of course, mainly because of the colours but also because of the fog and mist and the marvelous skies and…

This year, it seems to me, the colours have been even more intense than usual and it has annoyed me that I haven't had an opportunity to take any photographs.
A fortnight ago I snapped off a couple of shots from my office window (which I do quite regularly) and was happy to have captured some of the Autumn colours 'on film' at last.



Last week, though, looking out of the same window, I was presented with a palette even more abundant in colour, I dropped everything and grabbed a camera.
The difference a week can make!



I do like Autumn…

I just spent a couple of days in hospital as I needed an operation on my foot...
... the right foot.

When I arrived at the hospital, they messed around taking blood samples asking questions and so on and generally 'preparing' me for the OP. One of the questions was 'left or right?'
I answered that it was the right foot. An indelible marker was produced and the right shin was marked with an X.
After starving me for twelve hours, they came along to test my memory. Again, I told them it was the right foot. The marker appeared and an O was drawn around the X!

My bed was wheeled down to the operating area and while I was moved from my bed to the operating table I was again asked, if I could remember which foot was to operated on. Well, you can't trick me that easily! 'The right foot', I told them.
I was then maneuvered into a smaller room, where I was to be prepared for the OP.
A pretty young lady appeared with the magic question and I informed her too that it was the right foot.
She tucked my right arm away under my body with some wedges, attached an arm-rest for my left arm and then an anesthetist appeared. Once more the magic question was asked and correctly answered. I was rewarded with a deep sleep...

I'm sure you know by now where this is leading.
After I had been awake for a while the surgeon arrived at my bedside and asked how I was. He then informed me that he had some good news and some bad news...


... I now have a cut on my left foot with twelve stitches in it.
Oh, he'd realised immediately, of course, that something was amiss.
He was standing right next to a drip which got in his way - most unusual...
... so he too asked the magic question!

Supposedly the operation was a success.
I'll spare you the pictures for this post...

There was a moody sky when I arrived home this evening.
Strangely it didn’t rain and everything is back to normal now.



Come to think of it, I’m a bit moody myself. Apple has gone and fixed something that wasn’t broken. They took their Dot Mac services and converted them to MobileMe.
It starts with the name - it sounds really inspiring, as if it jumped right out of Windows.

All sorts of claims were made about the service, such as 'Exchange for the rest of us' and 'Push technology'. There are no references to either now.
With Dot Mac I had syncing for my Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, and no end of other info between all of my Macs. With MobileMe I still have that, plus my data is 'pushed' (what am I supposed to call it now I'm not allowed to call it 'push'?) out over the air to my iPhone.
Wow! If I make a change on my Mac (or PC), the change automatically syncs to the MobileMe server, where I can view it on the MobileMe website or 15 minutes later on my iPhone - uuhm, if I had one...
If I alter something on the web or on my non-existant iPhone, within 15 minutes the change happens on my Macs. This is the sort of technological improvement, I greet with open arms, I just hope the service gets extended to similar mobile phones, because at the moment there's no way I'm going to purchase a Phone that can't do half of what my current phone can do!

My Calendar is online and I can access it from anywhere in the world without having to publish it - but do I get a choice of which sets of entries I get to synchronise?
It's all or nothing, I'm afraid. So now my personal dates are online, my work dates, my boss's dates, German holidays, Swiss holidays, British holidays, Birthdays...

You are supposed to take the good with the bad, they say...
Gone are my online bookmarks - I'm no longer able to access them from any computer, anywhere in the world.
Gone are iCards and - for some reason - gone is my mail!!
No mail at all has reached my Mailbox for the last two days!!

I'm sure Apple is working on it, but to be without mail during a working week is rather a problem.
To charge for the service (and it's not cheep) is rather a cheek!
Steve - if you're reading this - please switch my mail-account back on...

On a fairly regular basis, I check to see how many visitors my site is getting. It is always a thrill when I get more than two visitors a day and when it is obvious that those visitors didn't reach my site by mistake...

The last few weeks, however, have seen a rise in visitors that is rather disquieting.
40 to 60 visitors a day is quite an achievement for my lowly blog - especially as I don't update it at regular intervals.
In normal circumstances I would feel proud of myself, but checking online activity shows that a majority of those visitors arrive from 'the other side of the world' and head straight for a post that is exactly twelve months old.

I removed more than half of that post yesterday - it makes me feel safer.
The post was not only attracting too many visitors but also some very obscene comments.
I am sure that those regular readers, who read the original post, will agree with me that it contained nothing racially or religiously discriminating and was in no way derogative.
Nevertheless, depending on what you google, you will find said post at postion number one! In this case, I don't take it to be a tribute to my writing!

My visit to google today produced surprising results.
The swimsuit for Muslim women that I mentioned in said post (I hope you'll forgive me for not mentioning the name of this fashion article, this time round) has been prohibited in some Dutch pools and the Swiss Democrats in Zurich want to have it banned from their swimming baths and from the River Limat which flows through their city!
Both Dutch and Swiss officials allege that the swimsuits are a provocation by a culture refusing to conform with their [chosen] surroundings. At the same time the Swiss state that the swimsuits are unhygienic.

As the swimsuits are made of the same material as conventional/western swimsuits, I can't see that they are less hygienic, so what it boils down to is discrimination.
The Muslims wish to abide by the Quoran and put as little of their bodies on display as possible, which, as far as I am concerned, is their good right. The Europeans don't wish to be forced to look at something they are not used to seeing. After all - we don't eat anything we've never tried before either, do we?!

I always knew that the Swiss are ultra conservative - I wouldn't have thought the same of the Dutch...

It looks as if I might have to remove an earlier post from this column...

Apparently I am disturbing people on the other side of the world and the post is attracting a number of offending comments.
(I have removed and shall continue to remove the most insulting of them)
The problem is connected to religion and religion, for some reason, always seems to be connected to violence and radicalism.
The Koran, The Bible and the teachings of Buddha all tell us to respect others [beliefs] and to live in peace and yet, for over 2000 years people have been crucified for being Christians, or cut down by the sword for not being Christian.

In more recent times it is not even enough to be of Christian faith (and I suppose other religions have similar problems) people have been beheaded or bombed to death for being Protestant or Catholic and whole Cantons [Appenzell inner and outer Rhoden] and countries have been divided by faith.

The past few years have seen heated arguments about headscarves in schools and universities - What happened to acceptance?
If Catholic nuns are allowed to wear their habits in Hospitals and (admittedly, Catholic) schools, why shouldn't Muslim maids be allowed to cover their heads as required of them by their faith.

I can't see anything insulting in last years post about the accepted attire and the resulting hygiene problems in European swimming baths, in fact I am sure that other posts I have written have been very much harder on my Swiss neighbours.
I was commenting on facts, not passing judgement.

Please try to accept the fact that I am only commenting (if ironically) on my surroundings and please refrain from posting insulting comments.

The Swiss are unable to concentrate for longer than 45 minutes!

For the first time in yonks, I went to the cinema yesterday.
I was sitting there engrossed in the film when all of a sudden, with no prior warning, the screen went blank and the lights came on.
Unperturbed, people got up and stretched, went for a pee, or a smoke, or went to get a drink, or whatever...

They do it every time and every time it takes me by surprise!

I remember, when I was young, cinemas the whole world over had the same problem. Films were on two reels. When the first came to an end, it had to be changed before the film could continue.
A sign would appear on the screen 'Intermission'.
This was a welcome sign for children, because it meant that an usherette would appear from nowhere, to sell ice-cream.
Better cinemas worked around the problem by setting up two projectors - when the first reel neared its end, it tripped a switch and automatically started the second projector. The break often went unnoticed - the film could be watched in its entirety.

In this age of digital technology, there is no need to interrupt a film at all.
Unless, that is, your audience starts to fidget and loose interest.
I suppose that is what happens in Switzerland.

Whatever - be prepared if you ever think of visiting a Swiss cinema.
After approximately 45 minutes the lights will suddenly be flicked on and you will be forced to sit around for ten minutes wondering what to do with yourself...

Switzerland is among the 191 nations that met in Bonn, Germany, last week to discuss what can be done to stem the "unprecedented" loss of the world's biodiversity.

United Nations experts have warned that human activity, including global warming and the shooting of 'problem bears', threatens to cause the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago.

Thomas Kolly, head of the Swiss delegation to Bonn, told swissinfo:
"Unfortunately, I have to say that it is quite obvious that we will not meet the goal of lowering flora and fauna loss by 2010".

While he was talking, there were more illegal immigrants on their way from Italy...
... the bears have obviously heard about the bear-proof bins that have been dispersed throughout Grisons (Graubünden) and want to try them for size - we are to expect more arrivals this year.

At least the authorities have stated that they may have to 'rethink' their approach to bears and might even have to redefine what actually constitutes a 'problem bear'.

I'm sorry Mr. Bear, but I did say so!

The brown bear known as JJ3 (what a sweet name for a bear) became a problem-bear and was shot on Monday in the canton of Grisons (Graubünden).
While foraging for food, he got too close to humans. Not that he was ever aggressive, mind you, just not afraid enough of mankind.

They did try to scare the bear off by firing rubber bullets at him but apparently he just moved on to the next village. So, instead of trying to find a more appropriate solution, the local government had the animal shot.

The problem now, though, is that the bear had an Italian passport. The Italians are up in arms, threatening to put a boycot on Swiss goods and on travel to Switzerland.

Anyway, the authorities in Grisons are just in the process of distributing bear-proof bins?!
So if any other bears wish to try their luck, they are welcome.
They just need to mind their manners.

Just because we shoot bad-mannered bears, doesn't mean that Switzerland can't provide a habitat for them...

On the advent of the European Football Championships the SVP (Swiss Peoples Party) seem determined to present Switzerland to our 600,00 foreign guests in poor light.
If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll remember the black sheep of last August...
Well now the SVP has revived a four-year-old campaign to show our guests just how discriminating the Swiss are - racially discriminating, that is.
'Go home, foreigners!'

The campaign is aimed at the prevention of mass-nationalisation.
Now mass-nationalisation really does sound bad - I agree with you!
Just envisage those millions and millions of criminal Africans and Asians* lining up to pick up a free, red passport.
That, however, is not what it's all about! It is about people who were born here in Switzerland.

There are a few foreign families here that stuck it out long enough to have produced a third generation.
What does that mean?
... well, it means that Grandma and Grandad originally came from Italy or Germany, their kids were born here and, in the meantime, produced kids of their own.
What nationality are those new arrivals (some of them now in their 20s and 30s)?
Italian or German, of course!

'Hang on', a couple of liberal thinkers have said, 'that can't be right, the parents were born and raised in Switzerland as were their children - they are Swiss, right?'
Nope!

The third generation children are as alien as their grandparents.
No matter that they were born in Switzerland, have never visited the country their grandparents came from, let alone speak their language - they are aliens and, as such, are unwanted!
Oh, no - they aren't discriminated in any other way, they are allowed to pay their taxes just the same as anyone else. They can't vote, of course - we can't have foreigners voting, now can we. That would just go to prove that they are even taking an interest in the country they were born in and are an integral part of society.
Tut, tut, tut...

Now of course - if they care to pay for the privilege of being accepted as Swiss citizens - that is a different matter entirely. We'll take their money gladly. I mean, let's face it, they're probably more Swiss than their Swiss neighbours!

The placards, which are being hung up everywhere just in time for the arrival of our guests, depict brown and yellow hands grasping for Swiss passports out of a box. Clearly immoral! Criminal, you could even say.

Just that the SVP has their own version of the facts again...

* Sorry if you happen to be African or Asian - this is just meant to serve as an example.

Oh, and did I mention it being cold?

20th March 2008, 06:48. Spring begins.
20th March 2008, 07:28. 30 Minutes into spring - this picture was taken:



We are not amused!



But then again, perhaps we are...
These pictures were taken a 08:00:





If only the temperatures weren't well below freezing...

Please click the images above for the larger versions

In something under 100 days the European Cup kicks off with The Czech Republic vs. Switzerland, who is hosting the championships together with Austria.

Talking about a 'Charm-Offensive' Dr. Petra Solba, CEO of Austrian Advertising, stated recently:
'We place a high value on hospitality - the unique mix of service-mindedness and friendliness, spiced with a substantial shot of humor.'
That might just work in Austria, though I have reason to doubt*.

Jürg Schmid, CEO of The Swiss Tourist Board was quoted as saying:
'There are many unexpected sides of Switzerland to discover - for example, the refreshing red and white enthusiasm for their own team. Switzerland wants to surprise!

Oh, they'll surprise, all right, no doubt about that!
Their lack of humour, and the fact that Swiss service enterprises confuse 'hospitality' with 'hostility' is going to cause a lot of surprises.

We are looking at somewhere around 600,000 football tourists and something like 1,000,000 overnight-stays.
For 'tourist' please read 'antogonist', 600,000 people and each of them is going to want something at some point - just imagine the pressure those hotel and restaurant employees are going to be under.

It will start at breakfast with waiters and waitresses being asked the best route to the local stadium.
On too many occasions the answer will be: 'Sorry, this is the hotel restaurant, not an information office!'
It doesn't matter that the guests will not return or that they will most certainly advise friends not to visit, 'they wouldn't have returned anyway - they're only here for the match.'

Just imagine then, that a gentleman from the Swiss Tourist Board has hit on a bizarre new idea. He recently suggested on the radio that the antagonists guests should be treated with respect and answered in a friendly, polite and helpful manner, even though they are not personal friends.
One or two of those service-people may have heard the programme and may even give the idea some consideration.

The rest ...
... I'm not optimistic.

*While skiing in Austria a many years ago I was sitting with friends waiting to order something to eat. The boss served us himself - by the time he got to me, I'd forgotten the name of the desert I'd chosen. Stuttering I asked for 'Salzburger Dingsbums' (Thingamajig)
The boss answered in Austrian German:
'Wannst nit woast wie's hoast, dann brauchst au nit essa'
If you don't know what it's called, you dont need to eat it.

I've not tired Salzburger Nockerl to this day ...

All I wanted to do, was drink a cup of coffee ...

I recently bought a new coffee machine.
The old one was playing up.
For some reason the Jura coffe makers all seem to develop problems with their electric circuits. To replace the circuitry is almost as expensive as a new machine.

I've looked at Saeco machines before. They seem to be robust, but that has been one of the main things that has prevented me from buying one. The bean grinder is so robust that you can hear it doing its chores two miles away.
Then there was always the problem that there was only one heater for both the coffee and the milk. This meant that if you made a cappuccino you would have to wait a while for the heater to cool down before you could make your next coffee.

Well, just recently I saw a Saeco machine make a cappuccino. I saw it but didn't hear it. And straight afterwards the woman demonstrating it made an espresso.
She had me interested.
Yes, she said, new grinders and additional heaters.
It only took another cappuccino and an espresso to convince me.

So half an hour ago, I switched on the machine. 'Clean the milk container' the screen said.
No, I'll do that later, I thought.
Peeeeep!! Clean the milk container!! The machine said.
The process takes 20 minutes and uses one-and-a-half litres of water plus chemicals.

The process finished, you may refill the water tank with fresh water and rinse the system.
Now you can settle down to the daily ritual.

Press the button for a cappuccino. I like how it will prepare a cappuccino with just a single touch of a button.
Just watch it appear, almost magically, in the cup.
Take the cup to the breakfast table, sit down and, at long last, take a sip of fresh coffee.

Peep, peep, peep, the machine says - 'Rince the milk container'.
Good, so now you get up, leave your fresh coffee, press the buttons and rince the milk container.
May I sit down now and drink my coffee?
After studying the screen carefully, there are no messages.
Back to the breakfast table and take another sip of that well-earned coffee.

Peeeep!! 'Remove the milk container!'
Switch the bloody thing off so I can drink my coffee!

Really, I never saw a more annoying machine!
I am going to take my old machine to have the circuitry replaced next week.
Does anyone want a coffee machine that will make a cappuccino at the touch of a button?

One day I'm going to kill that cat ...



Click to download the .mp4.
I haven't worked out how to insert a film here, so you'll have to download it.

Alternative link to .wmv ...

What did you do with your weekend?
I wanted to offer you a new panorama or two.
As it turned out, I did something entirely different ...

Adobe recently decided to update their so-called Creative Suite.
The thing that bugged me was not the price (believe me; extortionate), but the fact that they have thrown out GoLive - the software I've used to build web sites with for the past few years - and replaced it with Dreamweaver, which they acquired from Macromedia in their last take over.

Well o.k. I'm always ready to learn something new and Adobe states that GoLive sites can be opened in Dreamweaver.
So I opened my 'other' site, wich was due to be brought up to date any way.
I shan't complain about the fact that everything in DW is different - of course it is!
Some things I like, some things will take some getting used to.
What Adobe didn't tell us, though, is that if you convert a site and then add rollovers (those images or buttons that alter their appearance when you move your mouse over them) to pages that already contained rollovers, all rollovers cease to function ...

As 90% of my pages use rollovers 90% of my web site no longer worked!
Thank you Adobe!
I enjoyed rebuilding my web site this weekend.
And just for your information I used GoLive to do it.
I'll try your new software when I'm in a better mood!

For those of you who are interested in the results, the site now looks like this.
It has grown a few more panoramas.

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year to date - 34°C

I didn’t leave the safety of my flat until around 22:00, when it had cooled down to a reasonable measure.
Today is a normal workday, so I didn’t get to see a thermometer. But believe me, it was hot!
It’s days like today, though, that make me love my job.

My office is air conditioned so I can enter it at 07:00 and it is cool.
I can close all the blinds on the windows and it stays that way!
Because I have a lot to do at the moment, I just got the first chance to contemplate leaving my office again. It is 18:00.

I know I’ll be in for a shock - the car has been standing in the sun all day and inside temperatures will have reached at least 65°.
 
Could someone please drive round the block with it for half an hour, for me?

A driver in Zurich hit an eight year old child in Mai 2002, injuring the child seriously.
The child had jumped directly into his path from behind a hedge.

He was charged with speeding (he was travelling at 53 kmh in a 50 kmh zone) and bodily injury caused by negligence.
He was acquitted of the injury charges and fined CHF 100 for 'minimal' speeding.

The court ruling resulted in indignation and outrage:
'The driver couldn't expect a child to jump directly in front of his vehicle - the child had caused the accident.'

The case was back in court last December and the outcome, confirmed by the appeal courts this week, was even more of a surprise:
The driver was sentenced to two months imprisonment (conditional) for grievous bodily injury caused by negligence and is to bear all costs incurred by the accident.
The reason:
The driver was familiar with the road and had to reckon with a child jumping from behind a hedge. He should, therefore, have matched his speed to the situation - in this case 30 kmh. He was, therefore, driving recklessly in the given situation.
The child was in no way to blame.

To my mind this is quite absurd.
While I do not condone the running down of children, neither do I condone the use of two measures.
The driver, being familiar with the road, was driving recklessly at 50 kmh.
A driver who is unfamiliar with the road is allowed to rely on it being safe to follow the signs.

Have you ever driven behind a vehicle that, for no visible reason, is travelling at 'half' the speed allowed?
I know that I have and - being late for an appointment - I nearly went nuts behind my steering wheel!

What on earth are road signs and speed limits for, if I am not allowed to rely on them?
The person responsible for the accident, was the one that had the signs put there in the first place!

Have you ever noticed that those deodorant-sticks always last for years on end and don't really seem to make any difference?

Well I just made a discovery - if you remove the transparent plastic cap, it makes the world of a difference!

And while we're at it ...

I've moaned about mentioned Swiss hospitality before.
I don't mean meeting the Swiss in their homes (chance would be a fine thing - they are very, very reserved) I mean Restaurants and Hotels.

I had some training to do at a company in St.Gallen one November before I moved here and, because it was a three-day-course I had to stay at a local Hotel.
The hotel is well known as one of St.Gallens high class hotels.

On the last day of the course we finished early and I decided to drink a coffee in the hotel restaurant before going for something to eat.
The restaurant was empty and I sat at a table in the window.
A waitress came along and asked if I was expecting company. I said no and she asked me to sit in the middle of the restaurant at a table for two - I was at a table for six.

I pointed out that the restaurant was empty and I would like to enjoy the remainder of the sunlight ...
She repeated her request for me to move and offered to turn the lights on for me.
I moved - I drove into town and drank my coffee there.

I ate, went to the cinema and returned to the hotel at around 22:00.
At the hotel bar I ordered a beer.
I drank the 0.33 Litre within five minutes and asked for another.
The look the barmaid gave me was withering - she asked if I wouldn't prefer to use the mini-bar in my room - she wanted to finish for the evening!

In my experience that is typical of Swiss hospitality.

I visited Gin and Teutonic yesterday and was surprised to hear, that Germany is now classed as 'The Service Desert' while Switzerland is 'Service Heaven'.

When I say I was surprised, I mean I was very surprised.
Perhaps I can't waggle with my hips so well or perhaps my voice doesn't sound quite as sexy as Rachel Welch on the phone but then, I'm a man. My experience with Customer Service, however is quite the opposite.

Just last week I discovered that the seal on the fridge door was broken and the fridge froze up even when set to 'Low'.
When the frozen milk began to get on my nerves, I took a look at the identification plate inside the fridge, wrote down the model name and serial number and entered them into the Customer-Service-Request-Form on the web site of the well known international refrigerator manufacturer with the information that the fridge door wasn't sealing properly.

That was Sunday. On Tuesday morning I received a phone call.
A very unfriendly female voice inquired about the oven that wasn't working - she informed me that there is no such model as the one I had noted - the EZ13 refers to the power consumption (the power consumption is noted on the id-plate at 125W). The serial number is non-existent and would I please now read the information directly from the id-plate to her.
I said that the oven was still a fridge and that I would be glad to read the information to her, but she would have to phone back in the evening - I was at work.
"Oh," she said "you work!"
I informed her that, like herself, I had to work for a living.
She would phone me tomorrow at 10:00 - I shall please be at the fridge to read the id-plate to her!

I suggested she give me a mail address, I would photograph the id-plate and send the photograph to her - I didn't want to take the day off just so that I could read her the numbers I'd already given her anyway ...
I started to feel very annoyed when she tried to inform me that it would be easier, if I just read the information to her. But I bit my tongue and insisted she give me a mail address.

I photographed the id-plate, which still contained the exact same information I had imparted, and sent the image to the refrigerator manufacturer via mail.
The very next day the same unfriendly voice informed me that she had found a seal for the EZ13 door and the technician would arrive 'some time next week' to fit it.
"No problem," I said "just have him phone me when he is there - it doesn't take me longer than 40 minutes to drive home ...
... or perhaps it would be more practical to inform me beforehand when he might arrive?"
"He might be able to make it on Wednesday."

After some haggling we were actually able to arrange a time between 08:00 and 10:00.
Not once did she apologise for virtually calling me an idiot the day before, or mention the fact that there had been a mistake in identifying my fridge and if I had let her, she'd have had me take the week off work to wait for a techi who may or may not arrive!

And that is 'Customer-Service-Heaven'?!
I prefer German customer service myself.

For the umpteenth time I have tested the speed of my internet connection, only to find that I am still not getting what I am paying for!
Not even close!
I'm supposed to get download speeds of up to 3500 Kbit/s and upload speeds of up to 300 Kbit/s.

I suppose I have to consider myself lucky - when I first applied for ADSL, I was informed it wasn't available where I live. You see, up here on my hill we still have telegraph poles with wires running from one to the next ...
... not suitable at all!

Then someone changed their mind - it is technically possible after all. I can't have Cable TV, but to prevent me making more silly requests, I may have ADSL. What flavour would I like?
Well, something fast please, so that I can remotely access my machine ...

I suppose the definition wasn't precise enough. I can access my machine remotely but it doesn't do me any good - I can look at my screen but to move anything on it is impossible.

The crazy thing is - were I to swap my 'digital' connection for an analogue connection, I could attain higher speeds. I couldn't be online all day, because I wouldn't be available by phone, but the bandwidth is larger.

Logical isn't it, that analogue is faster than digital?

'ginell !!
When are Swiss landlords and their personnel going to remember the fact, that they earn their living by being hospitable?
I live in the middle of nowhere, my next neighbour is 100 yards away and the next but one house just happens to be a restaurant.
This is very practical, because I can go there in an evening, drink a beer or a glass of wine and catch up on the local gossip.
The proprietor - a woman - is a gossip, which is a great help in that situation.
The restaurant is closed on Thursdays. It just so happens, that it is convenient for me to visit the place on a Wednesday.

On Wednesday I sat down, ordered a beer and asked what was on today's menu. A perfectly normal question in a restaurant?
Don't you believe it!
I was presented with a torrent of unfriendly sounds.
It slowly dawned on me, that I was being asked, why I had the audacity to order something to eat, when I know very well, that the place is closed on Thursdays and there is obviously (why hadn't I considered it myself!) nothing edible in the kitchen! Mumble, mumble, mumble!

I replied, that I had considered the fact, which was exactly why I had asked what was on today's menu and had not asked for the menu.
The answer was, that I could mumble, mumble, have Rösti (plate-sized hash browns made with julienned potatoes) and Bratwurst (fried sausage).
As I really enjoy rösti, I asked if I could have a plate full with baked cheese, instead of the sausage and the proprietor went mumbling off into the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later a plate was un-gently placed in front of me, accompanied by the comment 'You only come in here when the other pubs are closed anyway!'
I resisted the urge to get up and leave immediately - the rösti looked so good. I ate, drank another beer (I'd come for the news) and pretended nothing had happened.
The Appenzeller can be a little strange, but that kind of unfriendliness is taking things too far. It will be some time, before I go there again.