Owner: The Swiss Job URL:http://theswissjob.wordpress.com Join Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 03:33:17 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The Swiss Job details an Irishmans futile attempts to settle into Swiss life. Having moved to Basel for a new job, the blog compares the Irish to the Swiss and everything in between. Site statistics:Click here
Anything for a photo op 2007-10-04 03:39:47 Blogging is thin on the ground at the moment. Work is getting in the way! But I did have a quick scan of the BBC website this morning and came across this story:
Leapfrogging Mayor Bruises Tomato
The mayor of Belfast, in an ill-advised photo op, tried to jump over a lady dressed as a tomato at a health food fair. On his third attempt he managed to vault the lovely lady but clipped her head on the way over. She ended up with a slipped disc in her back.
You couldn’t write this stuff.
Balls in the air 2007-10-19 03:44:52 Too many in fact. In my infinite wisdom I’ve decided to take on a little extra study in the evenings as well as my German course starting next week and a departmental presentation to give on Wednesday. I know there’s a logical reason in there somewhere.
So, this week everything has been up in the air. I went last night for my “Annual Clothes Shop”. This is a once a year phenomenon where I talk myself into going shopping for clothes, possibly one of the most challenging/boring/confusing activities I can think of. Of course when I get myself into the shop it generally takes twenty minutes and then it’s all over. But then the dentist usually takes twenty minutes and it’s not pleasant either.
So I went along last night and bought two t-shirts, two jumpers and a new pair of shoes which should see me through till next year. I have enough trousers for the next twelve months. I’m also of the opinion that if you find a t-shirt that fits you, pick three Read more:Balls
What’s your favourite biscuit? 2007-10-24 02:15:40 I wrote this last night because at this precise moment in time I’m in front of forty to fifty of my colleagues reporting on my progress. I’ve never been a big fan of public speaking but in science this goes with the territory.
I’ve prepared my thirty minute presentation and have been through it multiple times since. But no matter how well you think you’ve prepared or progressed over the last few weeks, when you put it all together, you notice the gaps and the mistakes and the things that could be done just a little bit better.
Because of this I generally prepare talks to avoid obvious gaps and to deflect any possible questions after the presentation. This is an art in itself and requires, for me at least, a lot of practise because when I get up there, the nerves generally make me forget everything and I just start blurting. And blurting is never tactical or smart.
In life I generally try to avoid confrontation, I don’t consider myself an overly confident o
He’s not dead after all 2007-10-23 06:50:17 He’s not gone, Grandad and his rifle are back, the retirement/untimely death lasted about four and a half hours. Sorry about the alarm, I must have jumped the gun!
Hahahaha, see what I did there? Rifle…jump the gun! Oh never mind, I really need to start writing these down.
Is he a school teacher? 2007-10-23 02:00:27 Irish-ism has made it the whole way to Switzerland! I had to re-new my passport recently and as there isn’t a consulate in Basel I had to get in touch with the embassy in Bern. So I dropped them an email and the form arrived in the post with all the necessary bits and pieces.
“Lovely”, said I, as I scanned through the form and ticked off everything I needed to send back. Previous passport, birth cert, the right size photos, the usual stuff. I then got to the back page and they required a witness to sign it. The eligible witnesses were as follows, although I can’t remember all of them:
Doctor
Guard
Lawyer
School Headmaster
Priest
Accountant
So there was a good choice but I didn’t have any. My doctor here doesn’t know me from Adam, likewise for the police. I don’t have a lawyer or accountant and my school headmaster hasn’t seen me in eleven years. I haven’t been to church here so I didn’t feel like going in and asking the loca
Grandad’s hung up his rifle? 2007-10-22 05:52:03 It’s a sad day in the Irish blogosphere, a great man has hung up his hat, and possibly his rifle*, after a year of solid gold service. Not only has he maintained a quality blog during that year, he has single handedly kept the tourist numbers in Ireland under control.
Read here for Grandads understated goodbye.
*I can’t guarantee the rifle and “tourist licence” have been retired, so if you’re thinking of visiting the Emerald Isle, remember, never wear sunglasses on your head. I may have just saved your life!
Review of Unser Brewery 2007-10-26 03:13:47 UnserBrewery
,Laufenstrasse 16, Basel, Switzerland
It’s been too long since the last review. I know. And I have no excuses for it either. But last night we braved the cold temperatures and biting winds to bring you the latest Basel Bar review. We suffer for our art. Here are our thoughts on the Unser Brewery. I should also note that this place is worth going to, simply to open the door and smell the hops and brewery smell inside. Heaven!
Date and time: 25/10/07 around 7.30 - 11pm
Location and ease of access: This one is kinda out of the way and not very well sign-posted. But it’s a hidden gem and worth the walk. Located on the Grosse Basel side of town and along from the train station it is located at the back of the actual brewery. 4/10
Beer selection and prices: Four of their homegrown beers on tap, a blonde, a dunkel (dark beer), a special October Beer which we sampled and one other I can’t remember! Prices were a little on the high side but worth the
My new favourite word 2007-10-25 10:55:21 I came across this today on a poster at work about an upcoming talk:
Fluxomics
Don’t worry, I haven’t a clue what it means either.
Assume the position 2007-11-01 02:17:26 I’m very lucky with my sleeping patterns. Lucky, due to the fact that I could sleep all day, every day without problem. I’m a sleeping machine and like to think of it as a quasi-sport. But recently I’ve been struggling with an aspect to “my game”. Here are the key areas for a good nights sleep:
Endurance: Vital to stay in the bed as long as possible to maximise the relaxation and delay the inevitable waking up and having to face the world. Bladder pressure, starvation, dehydration or alarm clocks should not affect your performance in the early morning. Focus and sheer bloody-mindedness is key.
Speed: It’s critical, in my opinion, that precious time rolling around and trying to get to sleep should be avoided at all costs. You should be “in the zone” as you get into the pyjamas (silk leopard print is optional) and the minute your head touches the pillow you should be out like a light. Anything more than that is a waste. Of course, six Guin Read more:Assume
, position
And on the left… 2007-10-29 10:38:08 Back from a weekend in Berlin visiting the brother. We got a lot done over the two days:
Saw the hotel where Jason Bourne finds and follows Pamela Landy
Saw the square where Bourne is on the tram and grabs Nicky
Saw the train station where Bourne eludes the police and jumps the fence
Saw the train station where Bourne stashes his bag in the locker. (I may have even used the same locker! Going to check tonight!)
All in all a great weekend.
Oh and we saw the Reichstag and other stuff as well.
Read more:hellip
Losing a limb… 2007-11-06 01:00:31 Not an actual limb, you understand, more a psychological limb. We’ve canceled our TV contract. I’m just going to let that settle in before moving on&hellip
;
See what I mean? It’s a big move, I wouldn’t say were addicted to TV in Chez Nous, but we do like to watch a few programmes.
The decision was made because we’ve lived with and without a TV and we much prefer the without option. In Scotland we lived for nine months without a box and it was bliss. Your life isn’t controlled by the TV schedule, you have so much free time to do stuff and you can arrange your room around something other than where the aerial connection is. In Dundee we had a very kitsch 80’s style fake fire with glowing glass coals and two bars on the front. It was a great talking point!
We got the TV here because it was a little bit of home and helped to settle us in. We could get BBC1 and 2, ITV 1 and 2 and a few other English speaking channels to take the edge off the move an
Gripped with man-flu 2007-11-05 05:49:06 It’s a wonder I can blog at all…Hacckkaaaahhhooc…today. I’ve been struck down with a particularly virulent case of the life-threatening, “MAN-FLU”. My body has been racked with pain and suffering all weekend. My lungs have been filled with gravel and…hhhmmmmmmacccckkkh…have all but packed in today. No amount of vitamin C or honey and lemon drinks can combat the crippling congestion and splitting headaches. My nose is producing enough fluid to fill a bath.
The man-flu has gripped my body and tossed it round like a rag doll. The fact that I’m typing this at all is testament to my refusal to bow under the onslaught. I’m…cuhaacccckkkkllke…lucky to be alive.
I may never be without pain but I never grumble!
Geeky big brother 2007-11-03 02:00:49 It’s no secret that I have always wanted to be an astronaut. I imagine most boys dream of being one at some stage or another. Of course, that’ll never happen but I do like to keep up to date with the space program both here in Europe and across the Atlantic in the America.
I actually had a look at the “How to apply to become an astronaut” page in the NASA website recently to see if I ticked any boxes. Of course I’m not a US citizen and without my glasses I can’t see ten feet in front of me but apart from that, I’m ready to fly!
I do however like to watch the space missions online, on NASA TV. It sort of like Big Brother for nerds. Essentially there are lots of cameras filming ten to fifteen people in a cramped and sealed environment going about their daily routine. Granted, they are floating round the earth in the vaccuum of space but the analogy works! You can see some amazing things when they’re working outside hanging off the end of th Read more:Geeky
Good tunes 2007-11-02 05:25:05 Amos Lee - Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight
Just bought this album on iTunes and thought you should have a listen!
Read more:tunes
Like…totally. 2007-11-09 07:06:05 In my continuing efforts at international relations here in Switzerland I have been teaching the members of the lab aspects of the English language that you don’t necessarily pick up at school. This, I feel, is the least I can do to prepare them for moving abroad and to avoid the numerous pitfalls I have experienced since moving here. I’m all heart!
Obviously first up was swear words. This was the easy one and soon they were f-ing and blinding like the best of them. What they hadn’t considered was combining swear words in different combinations to get their feelings across. Soon they were stringing four to five words together in the middle of a sentence. They even came up with a few I had never even considered. I was very proud.
After, that we went through slang in various situations, we tried jive-talking (inspired by the brilliant scene in Airplane via YouTube), touched briefly on cockney slang (Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels, again via YouTube) and had a long Read more:hellip
, totally
Review of The Pinguin 2007-11-08 03:58:20 Pinguin,
Schutzenmattstrasse 21,
Basel,
Switzerland
The Pinguin Bar is a real hidden gem here in Basel. Located quite centrally but tucked away in a small shopping arcade, it boasts 100 beers from around the world (and the largest mustard collection of any restaurant according to the Guinness Book of Records!). We’ve frequented this place before but decided it was time to go back for an official review. So, here are the votes:
Date and time: 30/10/07 around 7.30 - 10.30pm
Location and ease of access: Located on Schutzenmattstrasse, just down the street from the Spalentor, it’s marked by a small sign and a row of beer bottles above the entrance to the arcade. As it’s still in the old town, it’s well within walking distance of the city centre. 8/10
Beer selection and prices: You can’t get much better than this! The selection is extensive and presented to you in a comprehensive menu the size of an encylcopedia. You can get everything from African banan
I’m a mince pie fugitive 2007-11-07 01:00:31 The top ten stupid laws in England as listed by the law society:
It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament
It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen’s image upside-down
It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store
Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned
If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter
In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman’s helmet
The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen
It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing
It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour
It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient cit
Time is tight 2007-11-16 03:23:57 We’re up against it now, time is slipping through our fingers like sand and we have to make the most of what we have left.
In other words the Digital TV recorder and TV are going next week! We got the letter in the post with the return address for the digital recorder and it has to be returned before the end of the month.
Of course this means that this weekend is potentially the last time we’ll have the joy of watching complete and utter, time sucking, mind melting, life absorbing crap on the box. I can’t say I’ll miss the 95% of the stuff I watch but there’ll be a few things I’m going to pine after.
Top Gear for instance, a new series of Spooks has just started, Heroes is reaching the climatic end of the first series, Later with Jools Holland has just started up again and of course Christmas would not be complete without The Sound of Music and Indiana Jones.
So this weekend is going to be frantic for numerous reasons. We’ve got dinner plans ev Read more:tight
Hang on a second… 2007-11-14 05:47:03 I’ve just been perusing my blogroll and reading today’s posts. I nearly choked on my mandarin segment when I saw this story on The Newish Journalism blog.
The Basel based Welfare Group for Disability and Sexuality has started recruiting “volunteers” to have sex with disabled people? My image of Basel has suddenly changed! Can a welfare group recruit people to have sex with other people? If that’s legal then where’s the line between that and everything that goes on in the red light district?
So many questions!
Read more:hellip
Darwin Award Nominee 2007-11-13 02:26:10 This guy must be included in this year’s DarwinAward
s.
Man hurt using gun to change tyre
As a scientist it’s good to see evolution at work!
Read more:Nominee
Discuss using references 2007-11-12 05:35:00 In the middle of December I have to demonstrate to 3rd Year Biophysics and Structural Biology students on differential centrifugation. Essentially you get a pig liver and spin it really fast until it separates into it’s components. Fun and games for all the family.
I generally approach these practicals with a mixture of trepidation that something is going to go wrong and we’ll look like idiots and a distinct feeling of impending boredom. As demonstrators, we’re seen as the all knowing founts of practical biological knowledge which couldn’t be further from the truth. We got together two weeks ago to go through the experiment we’ll be demonstrating and ended up getting it wrong! Things didn’t go completely tits up, but the results were “interesting”. We’re just hoping the students actually follow the protocol instead of our attitude of knowing better!
Last year I had a student come up and ask me about a section of the experiment. She Read more:references
A little side project 2007-11-21 00:00:52 You may have noticed a little
addition on the right of the page. The Daily Male is a new blog set up by 73man who has kindly invited people to contribute. So I joined up and will now do most of my venting there I think and the Swiss Job can get back to what it was created for in the first place, i.e. Switzerland and everything Swiss.
So pop across to the Daily Male and subscribe to it. Better yet, drop him an email and join in the fun. You know you want to!
Ps. The Daily Male is an equal opportunities blog and encourages applications from men, women and any combination thereof.
Mot du jour… 2007-11-20 02:43:45 I know, it’s an easy post, but I’m up against it at the moment. Here’s today’s top word:
stekelvarken - porcupine (in Dutch)
Closely followed in second place by:
schnupfen - cold/runny nose/sneezing without the wheezing! (in German)
So if you come across a dual-nationality, bilingual porcupine breeder with a poorly animal, you’ll have the necessary lingo to get by.
Don’t say I’ve never helped! Read more:hellip
I so want to do this… 2007-11-19 10:00:23 A while back I mentioned I wanted to be an astronaut. Here’s why:
How to get rid of rubbish in space
How much fun would that be? Read more:hellip
Able seamen 2007-11-23 04:23:23 A while back I was amazed to see that a landlocked country such as Switzerland could win the elite world sailing race. Alinghi, a Swiss boat won the Americas Cup and I figured if they could do it, then Ireland, an island nation, should have no problems winning the thing.
I threw down the gauntlet then and challenged them with an Irish boat called Dinghi, fitted out with a jacuzzi, shag pile carpets and plenty of cup holders. It seems they’ve taken up the challenge:
America’s Cup postponed over row
The story claims it’s all about politics and race regulations but I have the insider track. Alinghi are not allowed the shag carpets and they’re throwing a tantrum. We have them on the ropes already!
Now all I need to do is plumb in the jacuzzi and get a crew on board and we’ll show the Swiss how to win a yacht race!
Should I be worried? 2007-11-22 06:53:47 Got this from my Mum today via email:
Beatrice.
Miss Beatrice, the church organist, was in her eighties and had never been married. She was admired for her sweetness and kindness to all. One afternoon the pastor came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room. She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea.
As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, the young minister noticed a cut-glass bowl sitting on top of it. The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all things, a condom!
When she returned with tea and scones, they began to chat. The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist.
“Miss Beatrice”, he said, “I wonder if you would tell me about this”pointing to the bowl.”Oh, yes,” she replied, “Isn’t it wonderful? I was walking through the park a fe
The heat is on… 2007-12-03 06:01:10 “The heat”, being work, not the weather. It’s miserable here, but then it’s winter, what was I expecting? I’m just hoping that the horizontal rain and wind here equates to nice fluffy snow on the mountains. I’m looking forward to the ski season this year.
We spent a very nice long weekend in Amsterdam celebrating Sinterklaas. In my opinion this is a much better alternative to the over-commercialised Christmas we celebrate. You hand make presents and write poems for people and then sing a few songs and have a big meal. Great fun, plenty of pressure trying to out-do each other in the hand made presents and writing the poems, capped off with lots of sweets, Christmas beer and food.
But over the weekend I heard a very interesting statistic. It seems that the ski season, or the cold weather at least is linked to the activity of the sun. The more sunspots, the warmer the winter and the less snow you get. The sun has a cycle of eleven years between minim Read more:hellip
Santa’s timetable. 2007-12-04 07:08:04 I thought I was stressed and up against it coming into the festive season. But everything has been put into perspective thanks to a report from Sweden on Santa
’s timetable for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Santa Claus is coming to town - for 34 microseconds.
It would seem that everyone’s favourite jolly old white bearded visitor has got the blink of an eye to land, get the right presents, drop down the chimney, deliver the presents, eat the cookies and drink the whiskey, get back up the chimney and move onto the next house. Not an impossible task but it’s no wonder he needs a year to recover!
Reindeer need to fly at 5,800 Km/hr to achieve the feat, the sleigh will experience some serious G force and air resistance en route but I’m sure Santa has thought of it. Otherwise he’ll be toast within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Bummer.
Cherry Mistmas… 2007-12-19 06:00:27 From a  friend, via email and you’ve probably read it already but you know what, in the most festive way possible, I don’t care, you’re going to read it again! Cos its good!
Tequila Cookies:
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of butter
1 cup of granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups of dried fruit
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups of flour
1 bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila
Â
Sample the Cuervo to check quality
Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Turn on the electric mixer.
Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it’s best to make sure the Cuervo is still okay, try another cup just in case. It’s Christmas after all.
Turn of the mixerer thingy. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.
Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck to the Read more:Cherry
, hellip
Exciting times… 2007-12-18 03:40:52 I’m not dead. I’ve been busy trying to wrap things up before the Christmas break and our holiday! Oh boy, I can not wait.In eight days we’re getting on a plane for 24 hours and won’t have to think about work for a month!
We’re off to Tasmania for three weeks and Melbourne for a week! It’s the first real holiday we’ve had this year, there’s been holiday scrimping going on all year and even a bit of next year to blow it all in this trip!
A friend from university who I also studied with during my doctorate is getting hitched to a Tasmanian down in Tas. We fly into Melbourne on the 26th, stay until the 31st and fly to Tas for New Years. Then the stag do is on the 2nd, the wedding on the 5th and then we have two weeks of travelling about to see the place. Back for a few days in Melbourne then home again on the 24th.What a Christmas present! But we’ve been a little relaxed as far as preparations go so we’ve got it all to do with eig Read more:hellip
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