Thought out loud

Feierabend! Noch rasch was zum Abendessen einkaufen gehen. $GrosserDetailhändler$ liegt ja aufm weg. Ab ins Auto und in der grossen Parkgarage auch gleich nen Platz gefunden.

Über das verschwenderisch grosse Rollband (diese Rolltreppen ohne Stufen mein ich) ins EG zum Laden. Vor dem Laden sich aufregen, dass es nur auf der Parketage Wägeli hat. Also wieder runter, und zwar über das notgestoppte Rollband laufend (Why me!?!?), um ein Wägeli zu holen.

Völlig orientierungslos irre ich über die gefühlte 200 Fussballfelder grosse Verkaufsfläche. Aber irgendwie sind diese Läden immer gleich eingerichtet. Alles in den Wagen gepackt und ab zur Kasse. Hier bewahrheitet sich mal wieder die These, dass man immer, wirklich IMMER, die langsamste Schlange erwischt. Dieses mal wars der Typ vor mir, der vergessen hat seine $IrgendwasAusDerGemüseAbteilung$ zu wägen. Die Kirsche auf der Torte war dann der Moment, als seine EC-Karte nicht funktionierte. Ich wiederhole mich ungern, aber WHY ME?!?

Nachdem ich meine Einkäufe endlich bezahlt habe, steuerte ich schnurstracks auf den Lift zu (Das abwärtsfahrende Kundenförderband war ja defekt). Leider war ich nicht der einzige, der nach unten wollte, so konnte ich erst mit der zweiten Ladung mit nach unten fahren. Vermutlich kurbelt da oben ein ausgehungerter Akkordarbeiter aus irgendwo den Lift nach oben und unten. Anders kann ich mir die Geschwindigkeit des Liftes nicht erklären. Unten angekommen sehe ich, dass das Laufband wieder gelaufen wäre. Jänudennhalt.

Mit dem Wagen durch die Parketage zum Auto gesteuert, Einkäufe eingeladen und wieder zurück zum Wägeli abgeben. Zurück zum Auto, einsteigen, losfahren. STOP! Da war doch noch das Parkticket. Gut, aussteigen, zur Kasse laufen (welche neben dem Wägeli-Depot ist). nach 2/3 des Weges plötzlich ein Stimmchen in meinem Kopf. Das Portemonnaie liegt samt Parkticket im Auto. ZoNK! Wieder zurück, auf dem Weg dorthin noch ein Krampfader-Geschwader umschiffen, Portemonnaie holen. Zurück zum Kassenautomaten (wieder um das Senioren-Rudel herum) und das Ticket eingeführt. Kosten: 10 Rappen. Günstig, aber auch irgenwie lächerlich, denk ich mir. Wieder zurück zum Auto (diesmal ohne Krampfadern) und nix wie nach Hause.

Ich glaub, das wird ein wunderbarer Abend. Ich glaub ganz fest daran…..

Gestern hatte ich die Möglichkeit einige Mitglieder der schweizer Bloggerwelt kennenzulernen. Nach ein paar “motivierenden” Tweets von Annubis habe ich mich zum Blogger-Käsesuppenvertilgen in Zürich angemeldet. Ich muss zugeben, ich war schon gespannt was da wohl für Menschen hinter den Blogs stehen, welche man regelmässig liest. Einige der Blogs hatte ich schon länger in meinem Reader, andere waren mir völlig unbekannt.

Wenn man öfters etwas von jemandem sieht, seien das Bilder, Produkte bei der Arbeit oder eben Texte, dann macht man sich bewusst oder unbewusst ein Bild des Urhebers. Es war spannend zu sehen, ob das Bild, welches ich von einigen der Blogger hatte, stimmte. Wie schon fast zu erwarten war, lag ich völlig daneben. Es war eine bunt gemischte Runde mit den unterschiedlichsten Menschen um einen Tisch.

Ich hätte gerne mit allen geplaudert und sie besser kennengelernt, aber dafür reichte die Zeit schlicht nicht.
Es war ein durchwegs gemütlicher Abend in angenehmem Ambiente. Danke Falki fürs organisieren. Natürlich haben wir auch unseren Beitrag fürs morgige Wetter geleistet und artig aufgegessen. Hier der Beweis

Ich kann jedem Blogger nur empfehlen an solche Treffen zu gehen. Es war für mich sehr interessant und wird sicher nicht das letzte Treffen sein, an dem ich dabei sein werde.

Jeder, dessen Arbeitsweg über den Nordring führt, kennt das. Aus irgend einem unmöglichen Grund bleiben alle stehen. Klar, man kann sich dabei mal die Landschaft anschauen. Jedoch ist auch die Tunnelwand vom Gubrist schnell langweilig.

Aber hey, nicht aufregen. Ich bin auf dem Weg zu meinem zweitletzten Arbeitstag. Da wird man sich von solchen Sachen nicht mehr aus der Ruhe bringen lassen.Wenn dann im Radio noch “So What!” von Pink läuft, dann könnt ich mich schon zu was hinreissen lassen….

For the next three weeks, I’ll be on Holiday in Singapore. We’ve been there already in 2005, and as my Girlfriend grew up there, I’m sure to see some “non-Mainstream-tourist” spots.

I’m really looking forward to this holiday, its the first real break this year, apart from Military service.

I’ll try to get some nice pictures and post them here and/or on Flickr.

Don’t worry if it gets quiet around here in the near future. I’ll try to post something now and then, but you know, when you’re on holiday, you tend to forget everything and just let it go….

Some of you may or may not have noticed that it got a bit quiet here lately. Sorry for that. For some reason, I lost the interest in blogging a bit. Maybe I’m somewhere between Phase three and four of the Blogger’s Lifecycle. Maybe I’ve just shifted my interests a bit. We geocached again, and I found new interest in photography.

Nevertheless I want to point out a newly-born swiss blog: The GeoBlog. It is a geography-game where you have to guess a location based on a small image provided. First, it was something running on eigent.li/ch. But lately, it grew so popular, that it deserved its own blog. So if you know a bit of switzerland, give it a try. There’s nothing to win (at least hasn’t been so far), but the warm and comfy feeling to have given the right guess

I always was a photo affected person. When I went on holiday, I usually brought home loads of pictures. Also, when being at home or out and about, I usually take snapshots of everyday-items that catch my eye.

We go away on long weekends quite often, due to the fact that we both are interested in other cities and can get accommodation to a fair price. When visiting other cities, I tend to make lots of photos of parks, historical (or just nice) buildings, streetviews, skylines, etc… Why not, if you’re able? You got your cam in your pocket. and with the development of technology, a pocket-cam gives you decent pictures even in sub-optimal lighting situations.

A few weeks ago, we were in Vienna visiting some friends. It was my first time there and I must say, the city took my breath away. You have parks, nice little alleys, and gorgeous buildings. Also, the life in the city center offers many snapshots. But I brought home only about 20 pictures. And the majority of them were taken by my girlfriend. I just wasn’t motivated to take pictures, and I didn’t know why. This bugged me and I kept on wondering why my motivation to take pictures just vanished.

While looking through the pictures, I noticed that many of the buildings were cut off. Meaning, they didn’t fit on one Picture. I got the same feeling again that I got back in Vienna. Why should I take pictures of something I can’t fit on one anyway?

Maybe I need something that can cover a wider angle. Maybe I’ve reached the point where I must break out of the boundries of pocket-cameras. Maybe what I need is a SLR. This would broaden the spectrum of possible pictures by use of multiple lenses. Wide-angle of 18mm. *sigh*

I was pleasantly surprised that the prices of DSLR-Cameras have dropped quite a bit. Maybe they are now in a Price-Range where someone like me can afford them. I’ve already been to a photo-store to hold some of them in my hand and get a feel for them. In the entry-level segment the technical differences between the brands are so small, that every camera makes good pictures. So its down to the non-measurable feel-good factor.

This Friday I can borrow my colleagues Nikon D40 to test-drive it for the weekend. I hope that will give me some insight if I can (and want) handle such a camera. After-all, you can’t just slip in in your pocket. You will have to carry around some weight when on holidays. And, its different to hold a Camera which weighs about 1kilo, compared to a 150g pocket-cam.

I’m really not sure. It’s still quite an investment. Am I willing to use it enough to justify such an investment? Has anybody of you experience in that field? Maybe some advice? I’ve checked some forums already. But all I get there is the Brand brainwash. Canon-Fans say only buy Canon, Sony fans say only buy Sony, Olympus fans…. you get the message.

I’m confused…

I just looked out of the window, and its raining like hell. I even see the raindrops bounce of the windowsill.

This will piss off every summer-lover and sun-griller, but I LOVE RAIN! At least when I’m at home on the sofa, with a blanket and a nice cup of coffee (more milk than coffee, acutally).

Already a while ago we cleared up the living room. the DVD-Player and the Receiver had to be removed from the living-room for the time being. Its not that good when the receiver blocks 1/3 of the width of the door. They sit in the office for the moment. Once the TV hangs on the wall, they will have space on the TV-shelf. Althought the DVD player is quite old and has its ticks (the tray doesn’t stay open, so you have to be quick).

Apart from the blocked door, we still have another issue. Every now and then I play with the idea of surprising my girlfriend with a nice candle-lit dinner. On other occasions, I invite friends around for dinner. For me this is a very honest an sincere way to show someone that you like them. the Friends-part usually happens in summer, because then we can use the garden we share with the other parties in the house. Ok, it always involves quite some work to carry everything down 4 stories and around the house. Same thing if someone would like to use the bathroom. At least there’s a Tree, but we’ll leave that.

You might ask what my problem is. Thats quite simple: We don’t have room for a dining table. And that slowly gets to me. The only way to solve this problem would be to throw out the bedsofa and put a extendable table there. I could imagine that a two-placer extendable to 4 places would just fit in nicely. OK, the plant next to the balcony door would have to go too, but that one is dying anyway. We even saw a matching table. I understand the Argumentation that throwing away the bed-sofa is not the best option. It’s not old and wasn’t cheap when we bought it. And it’s very handy when you have guests staying the night (which doesn’t happen very often as we can’t invite anyone for dinner).

It will need some consideration and quite a few discussions until we find a solution what should happen with the sofa. Maybe her brother would take it for a while?

As already mentioned, we bought two new sideboard-style shelves for the office. they fit nicely between the existing ones and under the Whiteboard. Only thing is the wood-color doesn’t exactly match (beech vs. birch). But hey, at least I don’t have a black typewriter-table and a brown computer table anymore .

I’ve thrown out quite some stuff out, and so everything fits in the new cabinets. The doors almost close . Next task is to bring some structure in my paper-work. Printing binder-labels and stuff like that. No more shuffling through binders anymore now.

Oh yes, and I’ve started to fill out my Tax Report as well. I’m quite early this year, only 6 Weeks late

Everyone who visited us knows that our kitchen is very functional and more or less spaceous. Downside is, that it only has very little work surfaces. So there’s no space for a Microwave oven or a coffee-machine. There is a space, under the Window, which isn’t big enough to fit a Table and chairs in, but is too big to just use it for the cats food-bowls.

We were discussing back and forth what we should do with that space. One suggestion was to screw a bar-like board to the wall so we could have breakfast looking outside. Too bad that there is a corridor just outside the window. I’m not fond of the idea that my neighbors look at me munching my cereals…

“Wouldn’t your Type-writer table fit there?” she said. BINGO! OK, the color doesn’t quite match (Black vs. silvery Grey), but we’ll happily live with that. This week I bought a power-bar and some cable-tubes (those soft-plastic thingies you stick on the wall to hold the cable) and mounted the bar just above the new Kitchen-Space-Addon. Finally the kettle and my iPod-soundstation is out of the way when cooking.

Microwave: you can come