The grass is always greener on the other side ...

YAY!
Garden folk are at our apartment today ... They are planting the grass, and will mow it in 4 weeks time... thereafter, it's up to us to take care of it. At the same time as mowing it, our building will be getting a set of swings, a sandpit, and a bench.

It'll be nice finally to have a lawn of our own to use.

The fast and the furious...

Well, the summer weather has finally returned, and we've had a number of consecutive days around 30 degrees (86F).
Last week I went to take another look, and test ride mountain bikes ... Probably going to place the order for three Trek 6500>Trek 6500 bikes this evening - buying for myself, and two friends are also getting... and will get something for Dvora too ... I've organised that we receive 10% discount for buying together.
I posted a note to the Expats in Zurich mailing list requesting a cycling partner - while I have the will to get out there and get back in the saddle, I lack the motivation to actually go and do it... I get home from work and am tired... and getting out of bed in the mornings is a chore in itself. It's the same in winter with skiing - unless I prearrange to go with people, we always switch off the alarm and go back to sleep. So three people have responded thusfar - two MTBers (Mountain Bikers) and one with a road bike. I met up with one of the MTBers on Saturday and we did a lap of the Greifensee and a jaunt up the Züriberg [didn't think I'd make it up the 3km-long uphill stretch, but I led the whole way]. It was great, and I felt fantastic the whole day. I really need to get out there more often and punish myself. I'm hoping the road cycling will be a little more of a challenge for me [she used to race in Australia], since MTBs are generally a slower than road bikes, and these guys seem to prefer offroad anyway. I'm still a road-cyclist at heart, even though I'm succumbing to getting an MTB [which I'd need for trips with a kiddie trailer anyway].

Last night we went to a couple I met on the expat list, for a fish barbeque. Nice people [He's Danish, She's half-British half-Greek, and they have a 15month-old son born in Switzerland], pleasant evening, and enjoyment had all around.

I'm hoping I'll get another ride or two in this week... I need to start piling on the distance to build stamina, before working on the speed/sprint components ... So hope soon to be doing double (or more) laps of the Greifensee - each lap is only 20km (I like the route because there are bike-lanes for 90% of it, and it's more-or-less flat).
I'm hoping to be able to pop out today for a drive up to the Bodensee during lunchtime [bit far, but there you go], to buy a kiddie trailer .... the manufacturer is having a sale, and selling them at ridiculously discounted prices, so I figure I should get while the getting is good.
Also found bed, change table, shelf and closet at almost half-price at an opening sale of a baby store, so will pop over there later today to grab one of those sets, too (or rather, to buy it but ask them to keep it until September if possible).

settlement on our taps - the result

Well, it seems the settlement we received was better than expected. They covered the FULL costs of our taps, not just two-thirds. Hurray!
I received the final mehr-/minderkosten list (it details excess/rebate costs for our apartment, based on customisations we've done), and we're gonna get a nice chunk of moola back (for eg, we bought our own appliances from Germany - much better value than from the developers, etc..).

Also, we were informed (after our complaints) that the developers gave the garden company a 2-week ultimatum to complete our garden - grass, trees, etc.. Also, we'll have new neighbours from end of next month, as the Spanish couple who bought one of the other garden apartments are moving in, and the remaining garden apartment will be completed and has a tenant waiting to move in. They will be cleaning the garage before that time, too. So finally the builders will disappear and we'll be properly part of suburbia.


Oh - the projector arrived this morning ... I'm really keen to play with it, but I want to set it up properly, and in place, so will have to organise the stand for it ASAP. Also need to move the TV out of the way to maximise the wall real-estate for projection.

Birth Prep Class...

Well, a bit of a lull in blogging there - usually I reserve blogging for worktime ... a few minutes here, a few minutes there when my brain needs a break. I prefer not to blog at home, as there's precious little time in the evenings to spend with my wife as it is, and I always seem to get caught up making dinner, catching up some email, sorting paperwork, doing household chores, or whatever... So as work was rather busy the past week, I kind didn't put pen to pa... err, fingers to blogkeyboard. But that's behind us now :D

This past weekend we had our birthing prep classes, given by an Australian midwife (we opted for the English class, since German classes would be absolutely wasted on us). Medical insurance picks up the first 100 francs of the course, which is nice too. Nice group of people, very informative classes, and definitely recommended. We covered assorted breathing styles, different stages of labour - and how best to (attempt to) control them, what hospital procedure is for arrival...details of methods of intervention, pain relief, and different birthing positions and apparatus. We covered feeding details, and who to contact in times of trouble. She gave indications of what we our entitlements are from the mandatory medical aid, and proposed exercises for before labour. We also brainstormed partner roles, and situations that may arise... We also watched a video on labour.
I'm sure I've forgotten to mention much of what happened, but suffice to say - it was most informative.

We think we've decided on the colour and pattern of our stroller, and will be placing the order. Yes, it's blue. No, we don't know the gender of our sprog. No, I don't think it's a problem for a girl to be in a blue stroller. I think blue is a nice calming colour, and is suitable for babies of either gender.
We also need to order a bed soon, since there is a delivery time of up to 12 weeks, and will probably buy the car seat soon too - gotta have something to bring sprog home in.

On another note, I signed us up for a "Sephardic culinary evening" on Thursday, where assorted Sephardic titbits will be served. 15 francs each, excluding drinks. It's done by the same chef with whom I did a "pasta art" course - he was born in Morocco. Should be interesting - and I'll try get the recipes if anyone's interested...

The menu: First serving: small pita bread rounds filled with hummus (Lebanon/Syria) The pita bread is sliced in half, and each half is filled with hummus then topped with paprika...both the bread and hummus is homemade. Israeli couscous salad ( Israel) The couscous here are larger than normal - about the size of a pea. The salad will be served with sun-dried tomatoes, orange zest, roasted almonds, and mint. A lemon vinaigrette will dress the salad. marinated mushrooms ( Morocco) These cumin-marinated mushrooms are a favorite from Morocco. Mediterranean green salad ( Greece and Turkey) This salad is an inspiration from the Balkan states. It will have spinach greens, toasted walnuts, and Turkish sheep's-milk cheese. The dressing will be a refreshing combination of lemon juice and orange-flower water. Second serving: bacalao empanadas (Spain) Little pies stuffed with paprika-spiced salt cod albóndigas ( Spain) Little meat balls lightly coated in tomatoes cigars à la viande (North Africa) A typical dish from North Africa, these little phyllo-dough pies are filled with highly aromatic ground lamb warm bulgur pilaf ( Turkey) Tomatoes, feta cheese and green onions flavor the bulgur chermoula ( Morocco) A very popular hot and spicy salsa made from garlic, tomatoes, fresh coriander, and plenty of spices Sweet selections: cardamom cookies (Iraq) an Iraqi specialty apricots filled with rose-scented mascarpone cream ( Turkey) a Turkish specialty - very refreshing! ginger cake ( Egypt) a rich and moist cake with a strong taste of ginger - quite delicious and refreshing!

Yum!

settlement on our taps

Well, good news ... the tiler has accepted fault and is coming to replace the broken tiles in our place on Monday morning.

Moreover, the developer has accepted two-thirds of the costs of our taps that we had to replace due to their negligence, and I get to resell the taps and keep the difference up to the original purchase price, so I'm not out of pocket at all. Any profit made from the taps, we'll split with the developer... fair's fair after all.

On the cash-outflow side of things, it's going to be an expensive month:

• video camera+associated peripherals
• video projector
• hopefully Sky satellite TV (we get 2 English channels for free here :-()
  
• probably mountain bikes for Dvora and me

Decided to get Sky TV, since Dvora will be home a lot, often without her own transport, and it's nice to lie down, and watch TV and understand it :)

A decision has been made

Well, another weekend gone ...
I took measurements for shelves on Saturday, but after bouncing between bike shops and baby shops (3 x bike, 2 x baby), we ran out of time and inclination to get shelves.
The results of the day, however, are that we now know what stroller and other things we want...
Bikes - I visited a number of bike shops, and took one for a spin ... some Swiss brand.
Quite a nice ride actually - very comfortable, and easy to get moving. I want to test-ride a Trek 4500 though, as that's the bike I currently have my eye on.

Went cycling again last night - 45 minutes exactly, around the Greifensee.. For the 20km route, the average speed of 26km/h is rather lacklustre, but it's a start ... I aim to be averaging 30-32km/h at LEAST, by the end of summer.


Dvora got dispensation from the doctor to work only 50%, so she's taken today off. She'll be cleaning the glass display cabinet so we can populate it this evening.
Shelves for the study, and shoe rack, and built-in-cupboard -- I'll have to pop over sometime myself after work to buy shelves, and install them this weekend one evening (This Saturday and Sunday during the day we have our antenatal classes at the clinic, operated by a Swiss-Australian midwife in English).
We've decided to get spots for our kitchen, that match the lounge and upstairs landing ... I need to measure to ensure that the cupboard doors won't hit the light fitting when open, then I'll go buy it.
The shower doors are still in storage - but this week I'll make the time to bring them upstairs ... I'll have to borrow an electric drill to bore holes for mounting it though, since I don't trust my rechargeable drill for drilling into our tiles.

Please leave comments

Hi

If you do read my blog,*PLEASE* leave me a comment - it's a way I get to know who's out there and reading about my life ...
Simply click on the "comment" link just below the post, and speak your mind.

a kugel to die for ...

Went to the traffic department yesterday to get forms for Dvora - she needs to exchange her South African drivers licence for a Swiss one [and do a practical test]. While there, I found an ATM/debit card on the ground outside from the Post Bank. So I went to the post office to hand it in... The back wasn't even signed yet, and already lost!

Last night we went to a friend to learn how to make potato kugel... This is a traditional Jewish dish which tastes fantastic, and is actually quite simple to make ....
ingredients are an onion and 2 eggs, blended. grate 5 or 6 potatoes, and mix in the onion/egg.. add salt and pepper ... and bake in a deep rectangular cake tin at 180 degrees (160 if you have a fan-assisted oven) for about 2 hours, until golden brown...

She also showed us how to make swissroll, and delicious chocolate-glazed chocolate-cake squares...

Guess what we'll be doing over the next few weeks :-)



On the plus side - my legs are no longer so sore - so I guess I'll be back on my bicycle again this weekend [although rain is forecast], for some more training..

I've decided to order the Sony DCR-HC42E video camera, an extended battery (5 hours recording time), and an SVideo cable. This means we can take videos of our apartment, our lives, and our bébé when it arrives, and store/edit the footage digitally. Moreover, with the SVideo cable, we can record the ultrasound sessions at the doctor taking the output directly from the scanner (I have video footage, but it's fuzzy as it was taken with my digital camera pointing at the ultrasound screen). YAY!

This weekend I hope to achieve some of the following outstanding things:

• buy wood for shelves to setup our built-in cupboard and for the study
  
• price glass shelves for the alcove in our dining area
• setup our glass cabinet and populate it with our display items
  
• fit the shower doors [we've been showering in the bath, with a shower curtain]
• price mountain bikes for Dvora and me (and two friends who also want)
• hopefully find lights for kitchen and dining area

100 things about me

Inspired (or silently and implicitly challenged ?) by Ashleigh and her list, here are 100 things about me:

1. I am approximately 1.78m tall
2. I weigh 70kg (154lbs)
   
3. I was born on Saturday 7th December 1974, making me 30 years old at time of writing
   
4. I hold a South African passport, and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa...
5. ... but my paternal grandparents came from Lithuania...
6. ... and my maternal great grandparents from Latvia
7. I am Jewish
8. I got married on 17 December 2003
   
9. I moved to London (UK) when I was 22, to pursue my career
   
10. I moved to Zürich (Switzerland) when I was 24, also on offer of a job
    
11. My first computer was a ZX Spectrum 48K, in the early 1980's
12. I represented my school numerous times at math olympiads, and got four distinctions for first year engineering, but failed mathematics in first year university... this was due to laziness and lack of work
    
13. I dropped out of university to pursue my career - my highest qualification is matric
    
14. I wear glasses while at work - but not always ... only infrequently.
15. I joined MENSA to see if I would qualify
    
16. I have visited 24 countries in my life - not counting transit countries where I remained on an aeroplane:
    Austria
    Belgium
    Canada
    Cayman Islands
    Denmark
    France
    Germany
    Great Britain
    Haiti
    Hong Kong
    Israel
    Italy
    Jamaica
    Liechtenstein
    Luxembourg
    Mexico
    Monaco
    Netherlands
    Singapore
    South Africa
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    United States of America
    Zimbabwe
    
17. I attended a private school
18. We are expecting our first child (by due date) in 101 days from now
19. We don't know the gender of the child (by choice)
20. I have only ever bought one car in my life - the one I currently drive
21. I hold both South African and Swiss drivers licences
22. I speak English fluently, and can hold a very basic conversation in Hebrew, Afrikaans, German, and Swiss-German
23. I do almost all the cooking at home
24. I don't watch a lot of television...
25. ... but I more than make up for it with time online
26. I enjoy silence way more than I enjoy noise
27. I'm one of two children - I have an older brother
28. I'm married to an identical twin
29. My father died when I was 15
30. I nibble on my fingernails - a habit I've staved off at times, but somehow always seems to get the better of me.
31. I hold a private pilot's licence, and have around 250 logged hours in assorted single-engined aircraft
32. My favourite colour is blue
33. I have brown eyes
34. My favourite drink is fresh fruit juice - but not orange... probably apple
35. I am a dog person, not a cat person
36. I was religious/observant for just under a year - but decided I didn't agree with the principles and ideals on which it is founded
37. I have familial hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), so I take lipitor
38. I have never smoked - not even one drag
    
39. I have never "done drugs" - not even a taste
    
40. I sang in a choir for 11 years
41. I was in two professional musicals as a child
42. I learned to play violin as a child
43. I played piano as a child
44. I can play neither violin nor piano anymore
45. I bought a Roland keyboard to learn to play, but I've been too apathetic to learn again
    
46. I think the results of the majority of parenting decisions become apparent as the children raise the grandchildren
47. I prefer Coke to Pepsi
48. I've never had a cheeseburger, or a meat pizza, due to keeping some semblance of kashrut (kosher)
    
49. For the same reasons, I've never tasted seafood or pork
50. I love to travel
51. I could read and write before I started school
52. I used to love reading... now I read the newspaper and some news sites, but very little else
53. I'm rather an untidy person
54. I have a terrible short term memory ...
55. ... but can recite PI to over 50 decimal places, and first 50 or so elements from periodic chart in order
56. I've shaved my legs before ... for cycling
57. I have size 7 (UK) / 6 (US) feet
58. I don't swear
59. I've been thrown from a horse (fortunately into snow)
60. I fear sharp knives if being used close to me
61. I hold a NAUI Open Water 1 SCUBA certification
62. I enjoy snow skiing
63. ... and cycling - I used to cycle 3 or 4 times a week
64. I use my mobile phone while driving, without a headset ... but almost always on speakerphone
65. I've driven at [indicated] 260km/h (162mph), legally [German autobahn]. I was alone in the car at the time, and the road was relatively clear. I'll probably never do it again though
66. I've never had a crash while driving
    
67. I need around 8 hours sleep per night, but I seldom get it
68. When I was about 2 years old, I accidentally caused a fire that burned out a room in my parents' house
69. My favourite movie genre is comedy,followed closely by action/suspense
70. I have a truly lousy sense of direction
71. I've worked in large and small companies, and prefer small [I'm currently in a company with 6 employees]
72. I bought a motorcycle when I was 16, brought it home, and had to sell it because of disapproval by my mother
73. A table collapsed on me when I was young - the corner left a nice gash in my forehead, blood poured out, etc .... so now I have a nice scar there
74. I prefer summer to winter
75. I've appeared on radio and television, and not as part of a passing crowd
76. My jokes and puns are often misunderstood
77. I don't like salt on my food
78. I started a computer hardware+software company while I was at school, to earn extra money
79. I would rather go without something, than get into debt to buy it (eg, I like to pay off my creditcards every month)
80. I made a H2S stinkbomb in class once at school
81. I'm sometimes unnecessarily and unjustifiably overly generous (according to my wife), whether financially or in kind .. but I think she's just a selfish tightwad ;-)
82. I iron my own clothes
83. I'm level-headed and unemotional when things turn sour ... I see this as a small character flaw, because I'm TOO unphased by some things where most people would explode, and rather just give it some time and then think about it. I think for the same reason, I don't feel euphoria or jubilation where most would.
    
84. I have a passion for supermarkets - in any new country I visit, I have to visit a supermarket there
85. I don't pay attention to fashion, and happily wear the same clothing for years as long as it's not damaged or stained
86. I did karate for a few years, stopping just before reaching brown belt
87. When I was cycling frequently, I had a resting pulse rate in the high 40 bpm.
88. I use the standard factory-provided cellphone ring. I've never downloaded any ringtones
89. Biggest prize I've ever won was a bicycle, in a lucky draw
90. I have 5 cousins, and 2 nephews
91. I dislike rap and heavy metal music, preferring pop and easy-listening
92. I have terrible handwriting
93. I'm fiercely independent
94. I don't get pleasure from rollercoasters
95. I am a blood donor, with O-negative blood type
96. My best friend from Junior School emigrated in Standard 5 (grade 7); I've been trying to track him down ever since
97. I enjoyed school and was sad to leave ... my favourite subject was physical science
98. I don't know where I'll be living 5 years from now, but I hope that it's still in Zürich
99. I've never been hospitalised for anything
100. It took me almost a whole day to complete this list