Registering to Vote Abroad

Today I finally did something I've been meaning to do for some time. I finally filled out my absentee voter registration for the upcoming U.S. presidential election. It was just another piece of paperwork in the pile that I unfortunately had not gotten to yet.

All of the hype around Obama picking his Vice President, and the current Democratic National Convention made me think that it is high time that I send in my forms to be sure my vote is counted.

I noticed on the options for receiving your ballot is e-mail. I think that is nice touch for those of us abroad and it probably saves the government a pretty penny as well. I assume I'll get something like a PDF as an attachment to an e-mail and I can print, sign, and return. I'll just have to wait and see.

I was reading something about the podium and stage at the DNC convention. It was stated that it took 25000 hours of labor to build. As someone who has done a little Project Management in the past that amazed me. Doing the math that is 14 man years if you consider the standard 220 day working year in Europe. I can't even begin to image how many people must have worked on that podium and stage to put in 14 man years.

For anyone interested, information about Absentee voting can be found at http://www.fvap.gov

Flower Picking With Our Nachbarin

Gladiolas in a Flower Field

The Swiss like flowers. Flowers are everywhere. The weekend market, the kiosk, I've even seen them in vending machines. The best place to buy truly fresh flowers it to drive around in the country until you find one of the many farmers with a flower field.

Farmers will set up a small table, with a price list, cash box, and usually a couple of old butter knives, sharpened to a razors edge on a cutting wheel. These little stands are not manned, and everything is done based on the honor system. Take a knife, cut some flowers, drop a few coins in the cash box and on your way you go.

Earlier this week, we had an evening with our neighbor and she invited us to join her on Saturday morning to go to a few of her favorite places to pick flowers. We jumped at the chance as it is always fun to see what the locals are up too. We spent a few hours driving between two fields and a couple of grocery stores, just running typical weekend errands in truly Swiss style. In on the fields we got caught in a rain storm. Although we got wet our spirits surely didn't.

I hope we'll get to go again with our neighbor, it is truly a treat to follow her around and just be a quiet observer in her daily routine. It is a fantastic way to get inside the culture.

First Olympics with Cable & DVR

The 2008 Olympics marks the first time I have had both cable and a DVR. I am using Windows Media Center for its DVR functionality. It has been a great time. I go through the daily sports schedule, and essentially record everything. When I get home in the evenings I have a virtual buffet of Olympic glory.

The past couple of days I've really been enjoying the bicycle events. I have been watching the indoor events at the velodrome and the BMX races. I have never seen velodrome events before and I am really taking a liking to both the team pursuit event and the individual sprints.

I hope I will be able to find such events on regular cable after the Olympics but somehow I doubt it. These seem like the kind of sports that would be on ESPN 8 or Eurosport 3 if you know what I mean.

More on German Certification

This morning I am headed to the first class of my new German course. The objective on the new course is to learn German to a sufficient level to first pass the Geothe Institie B2 exam and then the C1 exam. The course I just completed a few weeks ago prepared me for the B1 exam.

To explain the levels a bit the B1 exam means you can comprehend general conversation and make some small talk. It by no means assumes you are fluent. The next level B2 I understand is sufficient proof for most businesses that you could work in in German. C1 means you are allowed to take University courses in German. I find it amusing that you need a higher level of German to study than take a job, although I assume you don't need too much German to be successful at a fast food restaurant.

Which leads nicely to a recent experience at a Subway. There aren't many Subway sandwich shops in Europe, or at least Switzerland. There aren't many places you can get what I would deem an American style sub sandwich really. So when we are traveling if we see a Subway sandwich shop we will often stop in for a lunch.

I was in Berlin traveling and we spotted a Subway, it was lunch time so of course we stopped in. It was Bizarre to see that despite being in a German speaking country the entire menu was in English. Despite the fact that the Menu was in English I still felt like I should order in German. So my order came out as "Ich Möchte Turkey und Ham auf Honey Oat." My travel partners started laughing behind my back because it was more English that German, but regardless for the rest of the order we communicated only in German as she asked me what I wanted on my sandwich.

This leads to another topic of tag lines for the Olympics. I have been watching the Olympics on Europsport and German sports channel. They have a couple of evening Olympics news magazine TV shows. The tag line for the shows is "News, Interviews, und highlights."

I find it funny that things are going in such a direction that often there is more English in German TV that German. When I was watching rowing the German commentator was going on about all the starters in the rowing race, naming each country in German and some background on the participants. When he got to lane 6 he says in clear English 'Last but not least......,' and then breaks back into German.

If regular Germans speak like this, then I have now doubt I'll pass my C1 certificate exam and be ready to take a few University level courses. I'm thinking of starting with 'English as a second language'.

Using German More And More

I have been using my German more and more in public lately. My confidence level has increased quite a bit, even though my grammar skill and vocabulary have clearly not improved. I've come to a clear point where I just feel I need to speak, regardless of my accuracy, or the number of times I have to stop, take a breath and restart a sentence.

Most of the mistakes I tend to make are word order related. The German grammatical sentence structure feels like lexicographical vomit. So after spitting out the right words in the not so right German order, if I take a deep breath, pick up the pieces and put them back together I can usually get the sentence right.

Not having a full vocabulary is a challenge. I find myself always trying to describe things in a not so accurate way. As an example, I found the this description in a web application developed by a non-native English speaker at work:

The files are quite heavy and might be long to download.

I'm sure my German sounds similar. But at the end of the day, the point is clear and that is what man should understand as high priority.

American Food Binge

This weekend was a good weekend for an American food binge. I've got family coming in a few short weeks and I am sure they will have there suitcases loaded with all of the things I love. Knowing that, I had the green light to break into the emergency cupboard this past weekend.

I started off my Saturday with a wonderful bowl of Cherrios cereal. Then my wife had the great idea to bake a pan of Duncan Hines Brownies, Mmmmmm.

I had recently seen some 'American' brownie mix in the store here. A typical red, white and blue box. I didn't pick up the box, but I would assume the back was probably covered with cowboys, motorcycles and American flags. I'll have to get a box and try it but if it is like other Swiss backed goods I take a bet that it is probably a bit dry.

It was truly a flavorful weekend.

Tennis Club

Its been about 3 weeks since I first joined the tennis club in the next town over. I am happy to report that I've been going twice a week since we joined. At the price we are paying for the rest of the season I think I have already made my money back if you would compare it to paying the hourly non-member rental rate at some courts in the area.

I am feeling more confident in my ground strokes, and my overhead smash is coming back. I think in the next two to three weeks I'll have my serve back to some degree. Time will tell.

There is an interesting system for reserving courts at the club. They don't take reservations ahead of time. You just show up and put your member card on this big board indicating you would like to play. If there is an open court, you would you card on an open court and write the time at which you started playing.

If you come and the courts are full you put your card in a queue and you are allowed to ask people to leave if they have been playing at least 45 minutes.

The system works well, and we have only once had to ask someone for their spot. Asking someone for their spot can be a little difficult when you don't have an official member card. After three weeks we still haven't gotten our official card. When I say official do not be impressed. The clubs idea of an official card is a pink or blue index card, with a printed label with your name and address.

Since we don't have one yet, we just wrote our names on a scrap of paper and put it in the board. For the first time today someone actually asked if I had a card. 'No, I don't have a card, Erika hasn't sent it yet,' I replied in German. It was enough to convince my trusting club member friend who then wished me the best for my day.

5 Lake Ramble, Pizol Switzerland

Schottensee, Pizol Switzerland

I mentioned before that we had been to the Pizol ski area for a little weekend hiking. The hike we took was the 5 lake ramble known to the locals as the 5-Seen Wanderung. The hike was long, hot and packed but the views were unbelievable.

Although my camera bag was heavily loaded with all my gear and made the hike a challenge I am glad I brought everything. Some of the vistas were breathtaking. One of my favorites is a picture I took of the Schottensee. The lake was a sureal shade of blue. And with the peaks of the gray horns in the background the picture almost looks more like a oil painting than a photograph.

The hike took us just about 5 hours to make the loop at a pretty good clip including a 20 minute lunch break. I was definately glad we packed a lunch and plenty of water for the trip.

The peaks and the high altitudes make a polarizing filter a nice tool to take along if you have one. I shot most images with the filter and it really brought out the deep blue skies and water.

All along the hike there were spots where there was still a hint of snow from last winter. The small dirty gray remains looked like they wouldn't last much longer. It was a surpise to see the snow from last season this time of year.

Rant About Adobe Software Pricing

I have been a fan of Adobe software products. Over the years I have used several of their software packages from Photoshop Elements, to Acrobate Professional, to Lightroom. I have also really liked their software distribution method. Immediate and fast download from their website.

Unfortunately for me I am living overseas. I have been sitting on the fence about wether or not I should upgrade to Lightroom version 2.0. I really like version 1 and after reading some reviews I think version 2 would be worth it. Since I already own version 1 the upgrade is under $100 and I don't think that is unreasonably priced.

So last night I tried to login to the US webstore to get the upgrade. No such luck. I got a message stating that I should call the customer service line. I tried to call them today and found out that they will be happy to ship me a boxed version within the US, but they will not let me buy the download version that I can get off of the web because I am overseas. I was a little ticked, not at the sales associate but at Adobe. I told the woman thanks but no thanks.

Afterwords, I started looking on the web and I found out I can get exactly the same piece of software from the Adobe store in Europe for $175 dollars. Why on Gods earth would I pay that price. Sorry, but its not worth it. Especailly when I can get the same thing for $99 in the US.

Looking on the internet a little more I see that Adobe is notorious for 'screwing' its customers in Europe, often taking the same numbers but replacing the dollar sign with a Euro sign for its European customers.

For now I think I am going to wait. I don't really think it's worth the extra cash, and I'm just a little bitter.

Visual Evidence Proving Why Americans Are Fat

5 Lake Hike at the Pizol Ski Area

On Sunday we took a train 2 hours out to the Pizol ski area to do a hike that my wife was interested in. While I was there I managed to capture some interesting supporting evidence to the American obesity epidemic.

Take a look at all the people in this picture. Yes, what you see are people, lots of people, for miles on end, hiking. And, I can assure you there isn't a McDonalds at the top of the hill.

What is really amazing about this picture is that this was one segment of a 5 hour hike in the mountains. For the entire time we were hiking the trail was more crowded than aisle 5 of Walmart on the morning of the Richmond NASCAR race.

This was not an easy hike either. And there were no parking lots or air conditioned rest stops along the way, so everyone on the trail had truly committed to marching for 5 hours in the blazing summer sun.

Even though it was crowded, everyone was having a good time, and people were generally quiet and respectful of others. I have some amazing pictures from the trip. But I'd rather post another entry after I have a chance to go through the pictures.

The Lost Wedding Ring

About three months ago I realized I wasn't wearing my wedding ring. What disturbed me about that is I always wear my wedding ring. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and thought immediately that it was lost forever.

Knowing my long history with losing keys it was not a far fetched idea. I remember as a kid how I used to lose keys all the time. It got so bad at one point I bought this funny little key ring that if you would clap a a certain rate, it would start beeping. When I had this key ring it was a fairly normal site to see me wandering around applauding my own achievements in search of my keys.

After I took a moment to compose myself about the lost ring I checked all the normal places I might put it if I wasn't wearing. The bathroom counter, the inside pocket of my gym bag or backpack. My keyring which I often clip it to while I am playing sports, everywhere I could think.

After not finding in the first day I thought I would let it rest and see if something came to me. Every couple of weeks I would have an epiphany and think of somewhere else to check but it never showed up. I was upset and about to lose hope, but my wife kept saying that it would show up someday.

Today I was digging through my computer bag looking for my mouse. And what did I spy at the bottom of the bag but a shiny circular object. It was thin and looked like a key chain. Wait, could it be, oh my gosh! Its my Ring! There it was! I had been carrying it with me for 3 months without even knowing it.

I am really ecstatic that I found it. I lost some other things recently, but finding my ring made me realize how insignificant those other items were. They were only materialistic and could be replaced fairly easily.

Reichstag Dome

Dome At the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany

I was working on some of my photographs this week and came across a picture that I really liked from the dome of the Riechstag. I liked the composition but when viewed in color it just didn't seem to really stand out.

I spent a bit of time to crop it and convert to a high contrast black and white. I think in turned out much better this way.

Just for comparison, below is the original, as shot image.

Rollerman

Rollerman

There definitely is some wierd stuff being invented in this part of the world. Enough said.

glumbert - Rollersuit in the Swiss Alps

A Clean Check Out At the Grocery Store

I've noticed a strange habit that Swiss cashiers at the grocery check out. They love to clean up after their customers.

Case in point, imagine your at the check out and you place a quart of ice cream on the check out belt. When the ice cream reached the cashier she or he would pick it up scan it and move on. The cold ice cream probably would have left a small damp spot on the belt from the condensation on the outside of the packaging.

In Switzerland, when that ice cream, or cold drink, or frozen food reaches the end of the belt you can bet your mortgage that the cashier will scan the item, then take out a small rag. The cashier will then wipe the spot on the belt, and then spit shine the glass scanner before continuing on with the rest of the items. Having a background in US grocery stores, this pause for cleanliness is unique, and truly exemplifies the Swiss culture.

I was moved to comment about this after a visit to the grocery store this afternoon. I was checking out close to closing time and one of the cashiers was closing her register. Before she could close her till for the night she was dutifully cleaning her conveyor belt. She had out a bucket of soap and water and was really leaning into that belt with her wash rag, making sure that in the morning she could eat her frühstuck right of the belt.

All ist gut in der Schwiez.

Tennis In Switzerland

I have been talking about playing tennis with a co-worker for a while. At one point he even sent me a tennis ball in inner office mail as a reminder. The problem is that Switzerland doesn't seem to have public courts like you would find in the US. All courts are part of private clubs which gives you two options.

Pay a really high hourly rate to play, or join a club.

My co-worker found a club near his place, about a 10 minute bike ride from my apartment and suggested we check it out. The membership was very reasonable, less than most yearly gym fees in the US so I thought I would check it out.

After a quick tour of the 5 court (red clay surface) facility I think we were both convinced that it seemed like a good idea to join. They have reduced yearly rates if you join after 1 August. That even sweetened the deal more.

So we told the club president we would join for the remainder of the 2008 season. I figure even if I play just a couple of times, it far out wieghs the cost of playing a couple of times on a private court as a visitor. My co-worker was telling me he talked to someone that inquired about walking on to courts in Zürich, and the club wanted to charge him 100 CHF (about 100 USD) an hour to play. I can tell you we will really be getting our monies worth if we join this club in the sticks.

They only have outdoor courts and the season runs until the end of October or possibly into the middle of November. I figure if we even just play twice a month it will be a good deal.

Erste August Party

Fireworks Over the Castle in Baden Switzerland

I mentioned before that we had our traditional first of August party this year. We have been having the party for a couple of years now. Since the fireworks are right across the street there is always a good show.

This year we had a smaller group, but a more diverse group. The conversation was switching constantly from English, to French to German. It seemed like just about everyone spoke at least 2 languages so people were only periodically left out of conversations. If there was someone who wasn't following, somebody would usually step in and do a quick translation as needed

As the group was a little smaller I really felt like I got to spend some time speaking to all of the guests. I often time feel like I don't get to spend enough time speaking with everyone, but this time I really felt like I got to speak with everyone.

The party had a bit of a slow start as compared to last year but by about 9:00 everything was in full swing.


At one point the doorbell rang and I went to answer it through our PA system that guests can use from the front door. I said hello, and the response I got was 'Das ist Polezi'. For a second I panicked, but then I thought why the heck would the police be here, we aren't making any noise. About 3 seconds into my stunned silence, I heard a friendly voice break in and say, 'hey it's me'. I have to admit, my friend really had me for a second.

The fireworks show was pretty good this year. Before the display started I took a look at my photos from last year to determine the best camera settings. I started out with f/4, ISO 400, and 1/4 second exposure. From there I made some minor adjustments as the night went on. The end results were that I got a larger number of good shots since I took the opportunity to learn from last year.

The Swiss Bush That Bites (Stinging Nettle)

Hiking in Switzerland can be a pain. There is this one bush that seems to reach out and bite you. The plant looks innocent enough. It is a short green leafy thing, that looks like it has little hairs growing on the stalk and leaves. No huge thorns like a berry bush. However, if you happen to brush up against this little sucker you are in for a real treat. After a look on the web I think they might be Stinging Nettles.


I was hiking with my wife today along a road. As an oncoming car approach we both took a step off of the road into the grass. Immediately, I felt a burning on my leg. Then about two seconds later my wife mentioned that he had just be stuck as well. According to Wikipedia these plants hit you with a nice mix of irritants including acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT and possibly formic acid.

For me it feels as if about 10 bees have bitten me in one spot on my leg. As I understand the reaction can vary from person to person. For me it tends to be pretty strong for about 2 to 3 minutes and then fades. The irritation stays with me for the rest of the day, and usually it comes back intensely if I take a hot shower.

At our party over the weekend a friend mentioned he had a bunch of these little suckers in his backyard. That must be terrible I would imagine.

This is a nice video. Stupid kids, but demonstrates the pain well....

Backerei Wehrle, Waldshut Germay

Yesterday was a Swiss national holiday. So for the day we took a trip to Waldshut Germany just across the boarder to do some shopping. We primarily went to get some things for our annual Erste August party. While we were there we also did some shopping for clothes and had some lunch.

When we spend any time in Waldshut we usually try to find a good loaf of nusszopf, a traditional German sweet bread that goes great with coffee or tea. You can't find it in Switzerland for some reason.

We have tried several different backeries in Waldshut but my new favorite has to be Backerei Wehrle located at the west end of the old town. It is a small shop, with three or four women behind the counter, and it is always crowded. All the the backed goods there look fantastic. Although I haven't tired anything other than their nusszopf, if there other goods are as good as the nusszopf I would recommend it to anyone.