Lines, revisited

I was speaking with a German who once lived in England, and now lives in Switzerland. He was skiing with his family in Engelberg this past week, and we met them for dinner. We were sharing our experiences about the ski lifts and gondolas, how standing in line was an opportunity to learn patience.

me: ... and the little kids are the worst. They scoot all the way around us in packs, cutting in line!
him: Ha ha ha. Lines, lines... what is it with Americans and lines? The Brits invented queuing! They love their queues. And you like lines.
me: So it's okay to just cut in front?
him: Ha. It's survival of the fittest.
me: Probably the same in the US. You cut, you take a risk. In New York, you might hear "Yo, Mr. Movie Star, end of the line's back there."
kris: In Kansas, you'll just hear people mumbling and whispering to each other, with the occasional passive aggressive outburst of waiting in line longer now.
him: (jokingly) Kansas? Is Kansas part of the United States?

Beds

Just returned from a week-long ski trip with the family to Engelberg, Switzerland, a hill of angels. The snow was great, experiencing the Swiss vacation culture was fantastic (even if most Swiss see Engelberg as too Auslander touristy), and re-learning to ski with the family was a fun experience. The kids really loved the skiing. By Friday, after a full week of ski school, they were blazing down hills and ready to move to the harder slopes. I loved watching them have fun, and it was cute to see them empathetic at my lower skill level. The ski lodges were perfect, and the food in the old restaurants in the village was superb.

So what's with the split mattress thing in Europe? Who in their right mind actually enjoys sleeping on a crack? It's rare to find a king size bed that isn't two twin mattresses shoved together. I don't get it, and would enjoy anyone in the know to enlighten me. Am I supposed to travel with some sort of mattress thingy that bridges the crack?

Hey Euro hotels! Cracks suck!

Mobility

There is a cool service offered here. You can read more about it at http://www.mobility.ch. If you purchase an ID card, you can find a car anywhere in town they park these cars, scan your card on the reader inside the car, and if it is not already reserved, you just get in and drive it. Kris has done this twice, once was today. She drove us to Sarah's birthday party (her birthday was almost a month ago but she teamed up on partying with a friend also having a birthday in February) at an indoor swimming park.

Sitting in this car, with my wife driving (and the occasional whiplash and white knuckles) gave me the appreciation of driving a car in Switzerland. Up until now, I hadn't thought much about it. Our contract is one year, why bother? Well, living without a car for the past 6 months has been an eye-opener on what is possible without one, and what is not possible without one. We'll give this some more thought if our contract conditions change, and we find ourselves planning to stay longer, but how cool it was to drive around with a sense of freedom and possibility again. My first words to Kris were: "Europe seems easier now. Might be nice to see some of it."

What the ... ?

Here's something I never would have expected... I'm standing at a men's urinal, following the rules. Someone walks in behind me and is doing something. In America, we don't look around, so I just trusted what they were doing was what they were supposed to be doing.

I finished my rule following, and walked to the sink to wash my hands. Then behind, from my view in the mirror, IS A WOMAN! She had cleaning supplies. BUT SHE WAS IN THE MEN'S RESTROOM.

I described this to some European friends tonight.

me: SHE WAS IN THE MEN'S RESTROOM.
them: (blink)
me: HA!
them: What?
me: Oh, so I'm the idiot. Ha again!

Honk

The following happened today between 2:30pm and 2:40pm CET.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
me: (looking around the room at everyone, also looking around in confusion)
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
me: Does anyone know what that means?
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
colleague 1: Adliswil just became a harbor?
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
me: Seriously...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
colleague 2: They're testing the early warning system.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
me: I thought Switzerland liked quiet.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK
...

Awareness

An actual chat message from work today...

him: hey$
me: hi
him: do you have an update on my project?$
me: still on target
him: ok, cool. when does it start?$
me: why do all of your sentences end with $
him: my new thing. raising awareness of controlling project expenses$
me: hmm. ok (!)
him: what is that?
me: what? (!)
him: i know what that means.
me: ok, cool (!)
him: :( l8r
me: cheers (!)