:: delayed ::

laura's flight from sydney to singapore - delayed.

missing the connection from singapore to zurich.

hoping she gets in tomorrow still...

qantas - today you suck ass...

and with one swift blog statement i say goodbye to any hopes/dreams of becoming an air hostess...

:: speeding up ::

why is it the older you get the faster time goes...

i remember as a child starting a new school year, it would seem that the year went on and one forever. finally the time would come where you do the trip to the Newspower to buy new stationary - oh i won't get into my stationary fettish here except to say, Maz and Jen keep your damn hands out of the forbidden draw...

then in high school, the five odd years just ran out...eigth grade was new and exciting but then with each passing year if felt less like a year and more like a quick 10 weeks and then final exams again...

then university - between working part-time work gigs, partying/getting f*"cked up on a regular basis, i really feel like it was all over in 4 months - although it was 4 years...been a while since my last sweaty rave party...and when was the last time anyone had a beer bong - what a mis-spent youth...

and why the seemingly whinging rant? half of 2005 is gone already, so quick...i look back at the last 6 months and try and review what has happened, but the time has gone so quick...a few highlights in what has been otherwise a routine, real world, working life - is this what real life feels like?

i remember back in 02/03 sitting with the century club and hypothesising how "everything will be so much better in 2005 - anything can happen in 2005"!!!! well it made the goon bags at the Woomera concrete palace seem all the more tasty - been a long time since we have burnt furniture too....

well here's looking forward to the next quick 6 months, starting tomorrow with laura's arrival and my vacation!!!!

::swiss fact #146::

in Basel (where I am living) you buy 10 garbage bags for 30CHF (about 24 USD). Each time you take out the trash it costs 3CHF - it forces you to use the recycling system, wherby (usually on the weekend because you are not allowed to use them after 7pm - those who work find this crazy) you can dispose of plastic, glass and cans in large bins situated within a 10 minute walk from everybodys apartment...

even though i would easily drop anywhere between 50-100 CHFs on any given night down at the pub, it still pains me to pay 3CHF for a garbage bag...its not that i don't appreciate the cost of garbage and that they must recoup this cost from somewhere, and this is a pay as you go system with merit, i just don't like being forced...

:: too bloody hot ::

the swiss have this thing about drafts...long time ago they believed that drafts (wind blowing in through small openings) were a thing of evil and this today has become this silly superstition that they will get sick from a draft. when i first arrived i read this in one of those lame country survival guides and had a bit of a laugh but infact it is no laughing matter. the swiss do not dig any sort of artificial airflow, including airconditioning as they think this too spreads disease.

whilst i can understand where they are coming from, recycled air does move germs from one place to another but unless someone decides to drop some vx gas or even that nasty virus from 24, series 3, i am happy breathy other peoples filth in an effort to keep the body temp down. there is no airconditioning here and we have temp of 30+ degrees celcius right now. sun shining directly into my office from about 8 - 4 every day, it is a sweat box in here...

to add insult to injury, i heard a rumour yesterday that when the swiss parent company merged with its british competitor back in 2000, the brits on the board put it on the table to get airconditioning in the premises. they thought, a new beginnning, lets refurbish and make it a nice place to work...the swiss board members declined...

"Newman!"

:: maybe my work colleagues are trying to tell me something ::

An email I received this morning

:: the weekend rundown::

gareth (pie and sauce thanks mate) edwards arrived in town on thursday night for a brief sabatical and obviously by sabatical i am referring to pints...

after easyjet (not worth placing the hyperlink behind the text) arrived 1 hour late and after we made it down to barfi for a few bevies before retiring home.

i attended a product launch for a new herbicide we are putting on market by end of the year - aside from the fanfare of it all, it was an exciting thing to watch as the company has reduced the length of time it takes to get a product to market, and this particular product will really make a dent in the market...

so skipping out of work after this we made our way down to the rhein for a few beers in the sun, i introduced gareth to the joy of a frickadellen - this pleasure is a greasy fatty meatball, reminiscient of a rissole - cheap and terrible for you, but god it taste good...

up to bar rouge for a view of the city and en route we passed a huge anus complete with sphincter and rectum - this eyesore is a promo for the art festival here at the moment and infact you can go to different parts of the arse and drink at different bars - as tasty as the anus bar sounds, we skipped out this time...

some pictures so you don't think i am just making this stuff up...(Can you imagine it, "Neil, I will meet you at the colon around 9pm...I told Gareth I will meet him at the anus by 10...")




pics courtesy (i hope) of pintel
A few drinks up the top of bar rouge, 31 odd floors up, good view of the city, we met up with the rest of the scooby gang before heading into barfi again for more of the golden nectar. On the way home stopped in for a middy of beer at "fumare/non fumar" bar and it was the worst beer I have ever tasted - in protest we felt it only fair to keep the glasses...

had a rip-snorter of a barbeque on saturday night, joined by the syngenta crew and mykey, another mate from ausl - it really felt like i was back at home - ended the night down at the rhein - and whilst we attempted to party on, we were just too buggered/tired to stay on after 2am - jen this is what happens when you get over 25 - your days are numbered...

sunday was pretty uneventful as everyone departed - i had a nice walk through the old town and was reminded of how pretty this place can be when no-one is out on the streets to abuse you or complain to you or generally give you the shits - kind of like forrest chase over easter long weekend...

west coast got up again, battle between the top two on the afl ladder, and must send cheerio to gareth's old man who left him a voice mail message with the lowdown on the game...

and today, it is my beloved's 21st birthday...Laura, i will love you always... i can't wait for the next 12 days to pass so we can get out and do europe big time...july 1st touchdown in basel!!!