Pizza, Pigs, and Pumpkins...

Last weekend in a nutshell:

A group of us went to a restaurant for dinner on Friday night. The restaurant is called Zagara, and we've been there many times. Mrs. TBF, especially, was really looking forward to having some of their pizza. We picked up the menus, took a look, and...NO PIZZA! As it turned out, the pizza oven was broken. Bummer! We had to settle for other Italian stuff...which ended up being pretty good!

On Saturday morning, we went to our 10:30 French lesson. Since we still had a real hankering for pizza, we decided to walk to a pizza ristorante after the lesson. We had our pizza fix! Afterwards, we did a little shopping, and then we decided to head back home. We walked out of a department store and saw THE PIG!! What? A pig in Basel, you ask? Well, not exactly. It's a tram that's designed to look like a piggy bank (advertising Kantonalbank). It's big, pink, has a big pig face on the back, and a coin going into a slot on the top. Plus, the inside is lined with wallpaper that looks like Swiss franc coins. It's pretty creative actually. For the past several months, Mrs. TBF and I have been mildly obsessed with "riding The Pig"! So, now it's Saturday afternoon, we walk out of Manor, The Pig goes by, I yell "The PIG!", and before we know it we're running to the tram stop. We made the tram, and now we can say we've ridden The PIG! I'm not sure, but I think it's going to make Mrs. TBF's top-ten list for the year.

Saturday night: I won't get into the details, but we went to John and Rammy's house for a wine tasting party. They belong to a wine club that has a monthly tasting. The tasting is actually designed as a competition, and the winning couple (and last place couple) actually win some pretty nice prizes. The contest is pretty difficult for an uneducated wine palate like mine. You have to blind test a bunch of wines and guess the grape variety, year, region, price, etc., etc. To make a long story short - Mrs. TBF and I CAME IN SECOND PLACE. I don't know squat about wine, but I managed to make some pretty high-percentage, educated guesses. I guess you could say I was in the proverbial wine "zone" so to speak. We had a nice time and made it home in the "wee hours" of Sunday morning.

Sunday: I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (OK...really more like 10:00 a.m.!). We had breakfast, went into town to buy some groceries (only two grocery stores by the train station are open on Sunday), and then we made the first trip this fall to the PUMPKIN farm!


I love this picture of Mrs. TBF! She's just soooooooo excited that Pumpkin Season 2005 has finally arrived.
Afterwards, we went home, Mrs. TBF made some pumpkin soup, we grilled a couple of steaks, and watched football until the "wee hours".
Pizza+Pig+Pumpkins+Pig Skin = Perfect Weekend?

Cool!

Our new refrigerator was delivered this morning. The appointment was for 8:00 a.m., and our doorbell rang at precisely 8:00 a.m.! The new fridge was needed because the old one had developed a new feature - an iceberg.
The old fridge was defrosted (yes, you actually have to defrost refrigerators here!) right before we went on vacation. When we returned from Amalfi, the new iceberg was already forming. So, a quick call was made to the landlord, the new fridge was ordered, and a few days later a message with a man speaking in Swiss-German was on our answering machine. Within the message was a word that kind of sounded like kuhlschrank (refrigerator) so I figured it was somebody calling for a delivery appointment. Fortunately we have caller-ID, because I never would have understood the way the guy said his phone number. When I called the man back, he actually seemed to understand my German. However, I couldn't really understand him when he spoke to me. I told Mrs. TBF that we had an appointment for Thursday morning. The problem was that I wasn't 100% sure whether it was for today...or next week. It turned out that it WAS for today, and even though King couldn't really give a rip, I think that everything's really, really cool!

Warning!

If you're a man, you're in Amsterdam, you're under six-feet tall, and you're using a public urinal - then, you're standing on your tiptoes right now. Yes, this was one of the many amazing discoveries I made this past weekend during my 52-hour stay in Amsterdam. For the record, Dr. John and I actually stayed in Utrecht, but we DID spend a lot of time in Amsterdam sitting at sidewalk cafés watching life pass us by. And you know what? We had a damn good time doing it! Plus, we made some other discoveries (along with the abnormally high urinals):

Amstel tastes better than Heineken! Maybe it was the fact that Dr. John and I found a bar (first picture) that served up the Amstel in pitchers (Pitchers are unheard of in Switzerland!), but we definitely liked the Amstel better. It's just our opinion, but we're stickin' to it!

brits...Brits...BRITS!!! Everywhere!!! I'd swear that I heard more Brits than Dutch in Amsterdam. It was amazing. Plus, it seemed like most of them were on the cheapest possible vacation package that money could buy. We spoke with one British couple. They took a boat from some point in England, it arrived in Amsterdam at 8:00 a.m., they had about six hours to spend in Amsterdam, then it was back to the boat to head back to England. Uhhh....What's the point? The lady said it only cost the two of them 180 pounds. I said, "...that much?!?!? All that work for six hours in Amsterdam?!?!?!?" She didn't seem too pleased.

Amsterdam is cheap! At least, it's cheap compared to Switzerland. On Sunday, after Dr. John had already left to return to the U.S., I went to a food stand to buy a snack. The guy said 2.40, but I thought he said 12.40. I gave him a ten and a five. He handed back the ten, and said he just needed the five. "We are not expensive - just good!" was what he said. I told him that I would have paid 12.40. He asked me, "...Where are you from? Switzerland?" Hmmm...how'd he know that?

Amsterdam is a great place to go with no plan whatsoever! That's what we did. We were never bored, we never went hungry, we never went thirsty, we (almost) never got lost, and we didn't get arrested. We were also pleasantly surprised by Utrecht. We had to stay in Utrecht because Amsterdam was all booked up due to a convention, and we found it to be really nice. They have all these restaurants lining the canals (second picture), and there were many great places to enjoy a bite to eat. Also, everybody was speaking Dutch. It wasn't touristy at all which balanced it nicely with Amsterdam. It really felt like we were in the Netherlands. I don't know if I'd stay there again, but I'm glad we did.

I really have no complaints. OK...maybe one. I could have learned to speak Dutch in the time it took me to get to my gate at Schiphol Airport, but that's just TBF being picky. It was great seeing Dr. John again, it was nice going to Amsterdam for the second time in less than six months, the weather ended up being much better than expected (third picture), but...I'm also glad to be back at home. Mrs. TBF had a "successful" shopping weekend in Milan and a nice time with the girls, but I think she's glad to be home too. You know what? I even think King's happy that we're back at home.

I'm Happy, ...

...and I'm sad.
I'm happy because I leave for Basel Airport in about a half-hour to fly off to Amsterdam. I'll be meeting my old neighbor - Dr. John - for a well-behaved boys weekend away. I'm also happy because I found out that Kirk and Gretchen of Expatter fame are also going to be going to Amsterdam this weekend...AND WE'RE ON THE SAME FLIGHT!!! It's a small world, isn't it?
I'm also happy because Mrs. TBF is going to Milan this weekend with a bunch of ladies for a girly weekend of shopping and whatever else it is that girls do.
However, I'm also sad because Mrs. TBF and I will be apart. For some reason, it doesn't bother us if one of us goes away, and the other one stays at home. But, the fact that both of us are going away to different destinations has us both a bit blue. However, I'm sure we'll both have a lot of fun, and we'll only be gone for a couple of nights.
Gotta run...
Dr. John: I'm on my way!!!

One Less Thing...

...on my "Things To Do List"!
About a week ago when we were lounging next to the pool at our hotel in Capri, I managed to open my eyes long enough to notice an olive tree in a planter about ten feet away from me. I told Mrs. TBF that I thought an olive tree would be a nice addition to our garden.
This morning, that thought became reality. I drove over to Wyss Nursery in Oberwil, and plunked down 48 CHF on yet another plant for the rooftop. They had bigger olive trees, but since the tree will have to come inside during the coldest part of winter I thought it would be a little less work lugging a two foot tall tree inside instead of a six-footer. Plus, the big trees were 155 CHF (...I didn't want an olive tree that badly!).
Now that we have the olive tree, all we need is some sort of statuary (I'm looking for a miniature "David".) and Mrs. TBF will have her own "little Italy" on the rooftop.

I Received an E-Mail Yesterday...

...letting me know that the Wheeling High School Class of 1980's (my class) 25th Reunion has been cancelled due to "lack of interest"! It had been scheduled for this coming weekend in Schaumburg, Illinois and I guess it's not going to happen. Bummer! For the record: I'm going to Chicago next month, so I thought that going to Chicago two months in a row might be a bit much. I guess I'm being lumped in with the "lack of interest" crowd. Although I definitely would have gone if it had been more convenient for me to do so.
I seem to recall that there were something like 475 people in my graduating class. I'd bet that most of them still live in the Chicago area, and it's amazing to me that they (whoever "they" are) couldn't round up at least a couple of hundred people for the reunion.
When's the next one? 30 years? 50 years?? Never???

I Picked Up a New USB Cable...

...and I'm back in the business of posting pictures on the blog. One thing I'm wondering, though...why does Interdiscount feel that it's necessary to lock up every single cable that's for sale in the store? I'm not joking...the man had to use a key to unlock the lock that was on the front of the little do-hicky that the cables were hanging from. The things cost 24.95 CHF for God's sake. Everybody talks about how safe and honest Switzerland is, and yet Interdiscount is locking up the cables. Oh well...
But, getting back to Amalfi. We really enjoyed our stay in Capri. While we were there, Mrs. TBF must have said about ten times how great it was and that we'd have to go back next year. Then, we went to Amalfi and everything changed. Now, our plans are to go back to Amalfi, stay there, and just take day-trips to Capri, Positano, Ravello, etc. We loved everything about our stay in Amalfi - the hotel, the hotel staff, the town, the restaurants, the seaside location. It was relaxing, enjoyable, and just an all-around great vacation destination.
So, here are a couple of new pictures.


Ok...put the harpoon down. That's TBF swimming in the sea. Our hotel swimming pool was right at the seafront. We just went into the pool one time. For the rest of our time in Amalfi we just jumped into the sea.


Each morning, we'd go down to the pool around 10:00 a.m. right after the buffet breakfast. The novelty had worn off at bit by the time we reached Amalfi, so I wasn't really gorging on bacon and eggs as much as I had been in Capri. So, when noon rolled around, and we had been roasting in the sun for a couple of hours, I would be feeling a bit parched and looking for a little something to put in the old stomach. Of course, Mrs. TBF would order a water (so health conscious!), but since it was now afternoon (albeit, only 12:05 p.m.), yours truly would order two beers and the waiter would bring this lovely little "peanuts/Pringles flower" for us to nibble on with our drinks. I ended up getting two beers because I ordered the large beer and I was told "...Signor, we only have-a the small-a beer-a!" So, I had no choice but to order two.



Finally, here's a picture of the pool area. It was kind of hot and hazy the day I took this picture so you can't see it too well, but that's the town of Amalfi in the background.

More pictures soon.

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

...please stand by.
I think I left my USB camera cable in our hotel room in Amalfi because I can't find the gosh-darned thing anywhere! What that means is that I can't load any pictures into the "Bozo-puter" (people from Chicago will probably understand that one...) until I get a new one. I'm going to head over to Media Markt in a little while to see if I can find one.
Oh...and by the way, I didn't hear Primus this morning until about 6:40 a.m. I guess they're improving.
Later!

One Year Ago...

...this past weekend, we went to a party at our friends' - Mark (a.k.a "Thong Man") and Sandra's - house, and the police showed up at 2:00 a.m. to tell us that the neighbors had complained that we were making too much noise. To celebrate that momentous occasion, I decided to complain about one of OUR neighbors here in Binningen which has been making too much noise - Primus.
I've mentioned Primus before. They're a fire protection/extinguisher company which has a loading dock that's located within earshot of our bedroom window. If they comply by the town rules which dictate that they can't start working until 7:00 a.m. (or, it might actually be 8:00 a.m.), then there's no problem. However, when TBF wakes up at 5:27 a.m. to the all too familiar sounds of trucks being loaded, then there's definitely a problem. Mrs. TBF told me that she actually heard them around 5:00 a.m.
I know it's very Swiss of me, but I called Frau Honigman at our building's management company and complained. She told me that there are "very streekt rules" in our town concerning when companies can "beegeen making zee noyce" and that she was going to write a letter to Primus. I asked her to include in the letter that Hell hath no fury like TBF woken up at an unnatural hour. Actually, I didn't say that, but I did tell her that the next time it happens, I will go down to Primus in my bathrobe and break out a verbal can of wupp-ass (OK...didn't actually use those words. Her English is good, but not that good!), and then I'll call the police. She said that calling the police was not necessary, and that her letter should be enough.
Huh? We'll see. Stay tuned.

Amalfi - No Comment...

I'm feeling kind of lazy, so I'm just going to post some pictures from our trip with no comments...

Amalfi/Basel - Do You Know What????

It WAS Bryan Ferry!!! The man who drove us to Naples Airport this morning at 5:30 a.m. confirmed it. I asked him if he has every driven any celebrities, and he said no..."but my manager has." When I pressed a bit further, I found out that the manager had driven Bryan Ferry from our hotel to his private jet two days ago. That means that Mrs. TBF definitely saw Bryan Ferry lying on the chaise lounge next to mine. I'm saying that that counts as an official brush with celebrity.
We are now back in Basel. Everything went well until we were standing at the luggage carrousel at Basel Airport. Some idiot decided to hit the red emergency stop button for absolutely no reason whatsoever after only about four suitcases had come out. I was standing right in front of the button, and I saw him do it. Of course, I was listening to my iPod Shuffle at a fairly loud volume when he did it which caused me to probably yell out "...WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!?!?!" Then, it took the competent Swiss airport authorities a good 45 minutes to get the thing turned back on. But, we're home now, and all is well with the world. I'll post more pictures from our trip soon.

Amalfi - One Thing You Can't Find...

...in Amalfi is...hair conditioner. They haven't had hair conditioner for Mrs. TBF in either of our hotels. So, she thought she could just buy some in town. We went to a few stores: plenty of shampoo, but no hair conditioner. I guess Italians don't feel they need it. Hey, wait a minute...Mrs. TBF is Italian-American, and she goes through gallons of hair conditioner. Go figure...
But anyway...we went out to dinner tonight at a really good restaurant in Amalfi called Risorante Marina Grande. It wasn't anything fancy, just real good food right on the seashore. We had our fill of pasta, seafood, beef, cheese, wine, etc., etc. We are full, and we are happy.
Now it's time to go to bed. You'll be happy to know that we have "very soft lee-poes". At least that's what the maid called them. The conversation went something like this:

Maid: "I give you very soft lee-poes."

TBF: "Lee-poes? Do you mean pillows."

Maid: (disgusted with herself) "Si...pee-loes."

TBF: "Grazie."

So, it's time for me to go to bed and have pleasant dreams on our extremely soft "lee-poes". Good night.

Amalfi - The 73-Step Program.

We arrived in Amalfi yesterday morning, and we took a taxi from the port to our hotel - Hotel Santa Caterina. The hotel is very nice! We actually like it better than the hotel we stayed at in Capri. There are pictures in the lobby of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea when they stayed here in 1994, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed here just after Brad and Jen broke up, and Mrs. TBF claims that Bryan Ferry (of Roxy Music) was lying on the chaise next to mine at the pool today. She says yes, and I say maybe...
We are very tan, and we are very relaxed. Our past two days have gone pretty much as follows: We wake up, get dressed, and then climb the 73 steps from our "Honeymoon Suite" to the breakfast buffet. Yes, we received an upgrade to the "Honeymoon Suite" when we checked in yesterday. It's a funky two level room with a sitting area, floor to ceiling windows, crazy looking bed, jacuzzi, and a nice big bathroom. After breakfast, we take the elevator down to the seaside pool. We park ourselves on our chairs, occasionally jump into the pool or the sea, TBF enjoys a big cigar (first picture...sorry Dad, I know you hate pictures of me smoking cigars), Mrs. TBF (second picture) and I enjoy a Cynar and tonic, and then head back up to our room around 5 p.m. Yesterday evening, we actually went into Amalfi and walked around the nice shopping area and bought a few things. Since we're staying in the "Honeymoon Suite" TBF had extra interest in the "Viagara Naturale" (third picture). Also, Mrs. TBF (in the fourth pictures) was amazed at what were the largest lemons we've ever seen.
More pictures tomorrow if we can break away from our busy schedule of doing nothing.

Capri - More Pictures!

Here are a couple of pictures. The first one is of Mrs. TBF at sunset in Capri Town with what we believe is Mount Vesuvio in the background. The picture was taken right before we went to dinner where TBF proceeded to sweat profusely for the entire dinner...nearly ruining Mrs. TBF's dining experience.
The second picture is of TBF enjoying a poolside snack. My hand doesn't fit into the Pringles can, so it's always a hassle getting those chips out of the bottom of the can. Solution??? Just dump them on your chest and cruch away. Oh sure...you're all tsk-tsking right now, but I guarantee that somebody is going to try it after reading about it here! Oh...and note to the Italian lady in the white bathing suit in the background: PUT THE CELLPHONE DOWN!!!! RELAX!!! YOU DON'T NEED TO PACE BACK AND FORTH NEXT TO THE POOL SPEAKING ON YOUR PHONE WHILE YOU'RE ON VACATION!!! NOTHING IS THAT IMPORTANT!!!

Capri - Poolside Reflections...

We have sunk down into extreme relaxation mode. The past two days have been spent next to the pool, and we've decided not to do any more sightseeing in Capri. The "must see" Blue Grotto will have to wait until the next time we visit. We just can't be bothered to do anything at this point except lounge next to the pool. However, I did bring a notepad with me to the pool so that I could make some poolside reflections. Here they are:

Note to Self: The next time you decide to tell Mrs. TBF (who is lounging in the chaise right next to you that "I'm gettin' my tan on!!!", just remember that you have your iPod Shuffle blasting System of a Down into your ears at brain-melting volume, and that you are probably speaking at a volume that enables the people to hear you for a five-mile radius. I glanced over at Mrs. TBF, she was holding her finger over her lips, and I noticed that every person around the pool was staring and that the children were clutching the hems of their mother's wraps. Lesson learned...

Nipple exposure: Let's just say that Mrs. TBF had a bit of a mishap when she was bending over to apply sun tan lotion on my back. Enough said...

16 Euros for a Negroni at poolside is a bit extreme. I don't care if I win a $50 million dollar lotto...I will continue to make the one-minute walk to the little convenience store and buy my refreshments there. Mrs. TBF's Negroni = 16 Euros. TBF's 2 beers, 1.5 liter water, and can of Pringles = 8 Euros from the convenience store.

Mrs. TBF and I have been together for over 21 years, and I never realized before that she has...freaky little ears. The ear buds for her iPod don't fit into her ears. We'll have to search for new ear buds when we get back to Basel.

Oh...by the way...the guy in the room below us wasn't Khadafy (spelling?). I saw him, along with his wife, in the hotel lobby. They were speaking Italian, and while he could have been a "separated at birth twin", he definitely was not Khadafy.

Flop sweat: As most of you know, TBF is a big sweater. But, what the hell happened when we went out to dinner in Capri Town the other night? I was sitting next to an open window with a sea breeze, and I was sweating harder than Albert Brooks in Broadcast News. I've got to investigate some kind of medical treatment for this problem. I'm open to suggestions. As far as I can tell, nobody else in the room was sweating. As a matter of fact, the Italians appeared cold. Some were wearing jackets and scarves. What the heck is the matter with me?

Speaking of the restaurant...we overheard the couple at the table next to us in Capri Town telling the waiter that they were from Chicago. This resulted in Mrs. TBF and I speaking in hushed tones so that they wouldn't ask us where we're from. We hate when that happens. Is that weird? We just want to be alone when we're on vacation. Is that so wrong?

Spotted at poolside: We are staying at the Capri Palace Hotel. It's a five-star hotel, and it's pretty expensive (not trying to be a snob here...). I just bring that up to point out the interesting juxtaposition of the guest next to the pool sipping his 16 Euro Negroni while reading a book called: "The End of Poverty - How We Can Make It Happen In Our Lifetime". Is somebody feeling a bit guilty perhaps???

Didn't learn my lesson: Blurted out some loud comment to Mrs. TBF with the Shuffle blasting U2's "Achtung Baby". Damn! When will I ever learn?

Note to self for the rooftop garden: Plant an olive tree in a pot next spring. It's a nice plant, and a nice reminder of a sunny vacation....especially when it's gloomy and rainy in Basel.

Ciao!

Capri - Hot Time In The City...

On Saturday morning we went up and down Mount Solaris. Time to hit the pool you say? No! Mrs. TBF suggested that we take a taxi down from Anacapri to Capri (the main town on the island). The sun was shining, I wasn't feeling quite so bloated by this point from the breakfast buffet, and we were kind of feeling like doing a little exploring, so off we went.
We got to the taxi stand (also the bus stop), and we found that our choices were to take a standing room only little bus where we'd be crammed like sardines for probably a couple of Euros (not really sure how much it costs) after waiting in line for a minimum of fifteen minutes.....OR....jump into a taxi which cost 15 Euros. Oh...I forgot to mention that the taxi is like an open sided mini-van with a rag top. For us it was a no-brainer. We jumped into the taxi and enjoyed the breezy ride down the switch-back, and incredibly narrow, road down to Capri.
Compared to Anacapri, Capri is pretty crowded and bustling. Also, it's quite a bit warmer. Luckily, we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. Mrs. TBF seemed very comfortable - I, on the other hand, was not. But, despite the beads of sweat forming on my chrome dome, we forged ahead.
We did some shopping, walked down some really narrow streets, and eventually made our way to a nice garden area that had another really nice view of the coastline (first picture). We stopped a couple of times for granita (kind of like an Italian Slurpee...but much better), I made a pit-stop in a public bathroom where I encountered a bathroom attendant mopping the floor who kept muttering "mamma-mia" over and over again (very cool!), and we eventually made our way back to the taxi stand, and back up the switch-back road to our hotel.
Once back in the room, I looked out our window at the person who's staying in the room below us (second picture), and I swear that it was none other than Moamer Kadhafi enjoying a snooze. Mrs. TBF says no, but I'm saying...YES! I'll have to do some snooping around.
We showered up, took this self-portrait of us in our hotel bathrobes (third picture), and went out for a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant where a lot of the locals dine. We had great food, plus the added bonus of great people watching. Italians are DEFINITELY great for people watching. But, maybe more about that a little later...

Capri - Riding High!

One of the things I enjoy best about going on vacation is the hotel breakfast buffet. It seems that hotels throughout Europe pretty much tailor the breakfast buffet to suit English and American tastebuds, so you'll always find plenty of good stuff like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, smoked salmon, etc. You also find the stuff that Mrs. TBF likes to eat like fruit, yogurt, and all the other lame, non-fattening stuff that TBF tends to avoid. So, yesterday morning, we woke up to our first full day in Capri, got ready in a hurry, and went down to the buffet...with gusto!
Mrs. TBF, as always, showed much self-restraint, and pretty much stuck to the healthy stuff. I, on the other hand, gorged on something like ten scrambled eggs, more bacon than a human should eat in a lifetime, and enough sausages to send the kitchen staff into a frenzy defrosting frozen sausages from the freezer to keep the rest of the buffeters (is that a word?) from rioting.
I rolled out of the dining room with a nicely bloated belly, and I would have been perfectly content heading back to bed. But...Mrs. TBF reminded me that we had planned to ride the chairlift up to Mount Solaro.
Fortunately, the chairlift station is right next to our hotel. If it had been much more than the one-minute walk from our hotel lobby, I doubt I could have made it. So we paid our six Euros each, and up we went.
As any regular reader of The Big Finn's Big Blog already knows, I have a penchant for taking self-portraits. Saturday morning was no exception. The first picture is a self-portrait I took on the chairlift with the ever-shrinking Anacapri disappearing in the background. In the second picture, I snapped a picture of Mrs. TBF enjoying the scenery on the way up to the highest point on Capri. The final picture is of Mrs. TBF standing with hazy, but still rather impressive, scenery in the background.
I was happy to find that there is a café at the top of Mount Solaro. Maybe it was the altitude, or maybe it was the massive amounts of salt I must have consumed at the breakfast buffet, but I was rather parched by the time we had spent a few minutes viewing Capri from above. After a quick drink, we jumped back on the chairlift, and were back in Anacapri a short ride later.

Up and Running In Capri!

With the help of Mrs. TBF, I (...ahem...we) figured out how to log into the wireless network at our hotel. I only subscribed to 200 minutes of wireless, so I have to use them sparingly.
Here are a couple of pictures for you. The first picture was taken by our waiter upon our arrival at the glamorous Capri Palace in Anacapri, Italy. As I said yesterday, we took many modes of transportation to get to this fabled island - including a hair-raising (for Mrs. TBF, not for TBF...obviously) ride up the hair-pin road to our final destination.
In the second picture - after we had settled in - we decided to go for a walk, and I took a picture of Mrs. TBF at a scenic overlook looking down on Capri at a vantage point not too far from our hotel.
At the current moment, we are sitting in the hotel bar, and I am blogging listening to some "cool bar music" being performed by a man (...probably named Giuseppe like the man who greeted us when we checked in...) at the piano. We leave for dinner in a few minutes, and continue the legendary "good life" that TBF and Mrs. TBF lead.
Ciao bella...

Nueva entrada...

That's "new entry" in Italian, and that's what the prompt on the computer said when I began my blog entry. That's because I'm writing to you from the beautiful, sunny island of Capri, Italy.
We left our house at 7:45 a.m. and took a tram, bus, airplane, taxi, hydrofoil, and van. Seven hours later - at 2:45 p.m. - we were sitting in the lobby of our hotel.
That's all for now. I decided to do a quick blog entry at our hotel's internet kiosk to let you know that we made it safely, but the Italian keyboard is driving me crazy - so I'll stop for now. I did bring my laptop, so I plan on updating the blog regularly with pictures.
Check back often. It's really beautiful here, and I plan on taking A LOT of pictures!

Things I Can't Live Without (Part II)...

Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing!!!
I'm not a oil and vinegar salad dressing type of person. I like my salad smeared with at least about 1,000 calories worth of creamy salad dressing. Mrs. TBF makes me homemade Thousand Island dressing, but my true love when it comes to salad dressing is the one and only - Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing. It's one of the "things I can't live without"!
For some reason, Ranch dressing does not exist in Europe. I've never seen it in any of my travels. As far as I can tell, it doesn't even exist in the U.K. - which I find odd. So, included amongst my "must-purchase" items whenever I travel to the U.S. are several of the beautiful blue boxes of real Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix.
A couple of weeks ago, I began to worry because Mrs. TBF announced one evening that she had opened the last box of Hidden Valley mix. Fortunately, disaster was avoided because she brought this dilemma to my attention in time for me to ask our friend Tom to bring me a few boxes of THE mix before he left the U.S. for a business trip in Switzerland.
Tom arrived at our house on Friday night. Not only did he bring the Hidden Valley, but he also surprised me with a bag of Fritos. Although I love Fritos (another thing that's not available in Europe...except for in Spain), I've learned to live without them. I've had to. It's just too difficult to pack a bunch of bags of Fritos in a suitcase without crusing them. But, Tom managed to bring me a bag in perfect condition, and it was a very pleasant surprise.
The first picture was the moment Tom presented me with the "booty". The second picture..."I love you man!!!!"

No Ifs, Ands, Or Butts...

I was driving toward John and Rammy's house yesterday afternoon to drop off their key, and I noticed this sign at a fork in the road right by their house. Not only is this fork in the road close to John and Rammy's house, it's also close to the home of the Expatters. As a matter of fact, the Expatters' home is just one big-ass stone's throw away from this sign.
I'm beginning to wonder if there has been some buzz about a possible franchise location of the "Anus Bar" moving into the neighborhood. That would really stink!
By the way - please note the beautiful blue sky in the background. As per usual, the weather in the middle of the week is picture perfect, and the weekend forecast is calling for rain. Stay tuned.

More Cow Cleavage...

Mrs. TBF pointed out to me that this picture shows the cow bra a little bit better than the one I posted earlier. I knew it, but I just wanted to post the picture of me WITH the cow.

Finnish Reflections (Part III)...Got Milk?

Seeing that it's been pissing down rain (as my British friends like to say) all morning, I took the time to do something from my indoor "Things to Do" list that I've been putting off for a long time. I spent the morning backing up all my photos from the PC onto CDs. I have to say that I'm incredibly lucky that nothing's happened to cause me to lose these photos since I hadn't backed any up since I backed up all my 2003 photos.
After copying all the photos, I loaded the photos from our recent trip to Finland into the Mac so that I can share some with you - the valued readers of The Big Finn's Big Blog.


Here's one of my faves... My dad kept telling me that cows in Finland wear bras when their udders are really weighed down with milk. Now, my dad can be a bit of a kidder sometime, and I just went along with it and said something like, "...wow, that's really interesting." So, imagine my surprise when we were pulling out of his sister Liisa's driveway one day and he told me that we were going to go to the farm next-door so I could see "...kun ne lehmät pitää rinta liivit" (when the cow's wear bras). We pulled into the driveway, my dad told them who he was, and he said that his son wanted to see a cow wearing a bra. The farmer's wife and farmer's daughter brought us out to the field and pointed to this cow wearing...well...a bra! I decided to get a closer look, but first I had to negotiate the electric fence.
Now, normally this wouldn't be a big deal. But, since my father was standing there next to the fence, I knew I had to be on my guard. See, my father tends to like to show-off how he can grab a hold of an electric fence without it seeming to have any negative effect whatsoever. If I touch the thing for a millionth of a second - I'm in full-blown arryhthmia. My dad touches it? Nada! He doesn't even flinch. What's worse is that I can tell by the twinkle in his eye that if I get too close to him while going under the fence (there's no chance I'm going to try to hurdle the thing...guys know why!) that he's going to grab a hold of the fence...then grab my forearm with a Kung Fu grip so that I can feel the voltage until my eyes start to bleed. I have to clarify that it's not that my dad's being mean. I think it's just that he feels that his son should be able to withstand voltage equivalent to San Quentin's electric chair. I let him talk me into the old "...let me grab the fence and then grab a hold of you" thing twenty years ago when we were in Kauhava. And...there's no way I'm going to fall for that one twice. I even seem to recall him trying to talk me into peeing onto the fence - but that might have just been me hallucinating after acting as conduit for a million volts of electricity.
So, after making my dad stand about twenty yards away from the fence, I made my way under the fence (very quickly!) so that I could go look at the cow bra. Then, I had my dad take a picture of me actually touching the cow so that I could say that I've touched a cow recently.
It's too bad I wasn't heading straight to the U.S. after this trip. You know how they always make you fill out that form on the plane, and one of the questions is something like "Have you been at a farm or near livestock recently"? I kind of have this desire to answer yes and see what happens. Do they bring you in a room and spray you with some kind of disinfectant? Do they send you back to from where you came? Does anybody know? If so, let me know.
Also, I'd like to point out that not only did I touch a cow - but I also drank unpasteurized milk that had been milked from a cow just a few hours earlier. Unfortunately, my aunt doesn't have cows anymore, so I couldn't have her squirt milk right from the udder into my mouth like she did twenty years ago. But, I'm happy with the fresh, unpasteurized milk.
And...what did YOU do this summer?

Not a Total Loss...

The weather this past weekend wasn't all bad. But, it was close.
Friday night: rain.
Saturday morning: iffy but clearing.
Saturday afternoon: sunny and warm. As a matter of fact, we even brought King up on the rooftop.
For some reason, he hates going into the stairwell that leads to the rooftop (...probably thinks he's going to the vet!). So, after howling for the entire trip up the stairwell, he acted like it was no big deal as soon as he was outside. He snifffed around a bit, explored a bit, and then made a bee-line to the part of the roof that isn't landscaped (...kind of a prairie planting). He ate some grass, and then about a minute later hurled up a couple of nice hairballs for us. Obviously, hurling up hairballs is exhausting, so he had to take a bit of a nap on the warm tile (above).

After a bit of a nap and feeling like his stomach was a bit empty (now that the hairballs were gone!), it was now time to share the pizza that Mrs. TBF brought upstairs. It's been almost fifteen years since I last ate a pizza without having to share it with/guard it from a pet. I guess it's a small price to pay when sharing a house with the little beasts.
Saturday evening: The weather was clear, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at Mr. and Mrs. Diagnostic Dave's house. I ate too much, started getting groggy, and then struggled to stay awake when making the 8-minute drive home.
Sunday: THE WEATHER SUCKED!!!! It was cool and rainy and we didn't really go outside too much.
Today (Monday) has been pretty much the same as yesterday - rainy, cool, miserable. I can't even get motivated to go to the gym. So...I won't. I'll go out and walk Sam and George in a little while, maybe stop at the grocery store, and that's about it. Sorry this blog is so boring, but that's just the kind of day it's been.
I NEED SOME SUNSHINE...NOW! It's only eleven more days until we leave for Capri - THANK GOD!!!

Because YOU Asked For It (Part 3)!!!

Mrs. TBF requested that I give you a King Health Update. So, seeing that she IS the Sugar Mama, I'm happy to oblige.

King is doing very well thank you. The feline laxative worked wonders on King, and it had no ill-effects on yours truly. He began eating again the next day, and now he's eating us out of house and home. I had to share some of my shrimp dim sum with him tonight for God's sake. TBF doesn't like sharing food, but I'm happy to give it up for the Jig.
The Jig??? Now, for the first time ever, we're disclosing our nickname for King on the blog. We call him Jig. It's short for King-a-ma-jig, which comes from thing-a-ma-jig (duh!). OK, it's another stupid pet-owner thing. Give us a break.
You want more stupid pet owner stuff? OK....King speaks wit a Chicago accent. He calls people...mug. He threatens to "cut us" if he dudn't get his way. He calls Mrs. TBF "legs", and he calls Mrs. Diagnostic Dave "stilts" because she's taller than Mrs. TBF.

King (to TBF): "OK ya mug...put da bottle down! What'sa matta witcha guyses? D'ya tink dat udder people are in-trested in dis stuff?"

Quote of the Day - Part 1.

Here is the quote of the day. It comes from none other than Mrs. TBF.

"I don't need to have my own blog. I'll just comment on other people's blogs."
-Mrs. TBF: August 12, 2005

There you have it!

3,000 Miles!

While driving to Reinach yesterday to walk Sam and George (they're dogs, not people), MY Jeep's odometer hit 3,000 total miles driven in 2005. I say MY Jeep because it is officially MY Jeep. It was Mrs. TBF's Jeep when we moved it here from the U.S. - the title was in her name only. However, when I went to register the Jeep at the Motorfahrzeugkontrolle, they put the Swiss title in MY name only (AAAHHHH Switzerland - Where men reign supreme!).
So...MY Jeep hit 3,000 miles driven in 2005 on the 222nd day of the year which means that I've averaged about 13.5 miles/day. This figure seemed quite high to me, but then I remembered that we took a driving trip to Burgundy earlier this year, and that must have added a good five-hundred miles to the total.
This is quite a change from the "good old days" when I worked. Back when I worked as a sale rep for Yellow Freight System (1986-1993), it was common for me to drive more than 3,000 miles per MONTH! I used to go to the Oil Express in South Holland, Illinois on the first working day of the month and have the oil changed. Nowadays, I go to Emil Frey in Münchenstein and have the oil changed ONCE PER YEAR (...don't freak out all you motor-heads. I use synthetic oil)!!!
The Big Finn - Friend of the Environment Since 2000!

Vous avez choisi?

Upon arriving home from the gym this afternoon, I found that our cat King had left me a nice present of cat vomit. Since he's been working up a hairball for the past twenty four hours ago, it wasn't too big of a surprise. However, what did concern me is that I found little traces of blood in the vomit (...still enjoying reading my blog?). So, being the good "cat dad" that I am, I wiped up the blood-stained slime onto a white paper towel, shoved the paper towel into a Ziploc bag, and headed toward Dr. Buser's office in Reinach.
I felt very "C.S.I.-ish" as I pulled out the Ziploc for Dr. Buser (it's pronounced Boozer...which still kills me after nearly five years!) to examine.

Dr. Buser: "Uzzer zan zee womiting, is he akting nomahly?"

TBF: "Yup - sleeping, eating but not being able to hold it down, and using the litter box. Pretty much the normal life of a cat. Wouldn't you say? Hehehe..." [chuckling]

Dr. Buser: [no laughter whatsoever] "Zen I vood haf to say zat you shood not feed heem for tventy-foh owahs and also gif heem dis herbal laxative."

TBF: "I'm not sure if he'll eat it. He didn't like zee [TBF suddenly developing a German accent] schtuff I bought him at Qualipet."

Dr. Buser: "Don't vorry. Dis is herbal, and he shood like it. Also...it is very impohtant zat you don't force heem to eat it. If he eats it by his own choice, zen he vill eat it for-efer. If you force heem to eat it, zen he vill nefer eat it again!"

TBF: [suddenly having flashbacks of prying open King's jaws and trying to shove laxative down his throat]. I'll take it!

After paying a CHF 363.65 vet bill for King's medicines, blood tests, etc. (they just bill you every couple of months in Switzerland), I said my goodbyes to Dr. and Frau Buser (she's his assistant), and hopped into the Jeep to head home.
I have to say that curiosity got the best of me, and I opened the tube of laxative. I gave it a sniff, and then (I'm a bit ashamed to admit it) TASTED IT! It wasn't disgusting, but it wasn't good either. It kind of tasted like cardboard with just a hint of a toffee flavor.
On the box, they had the description in French, German, and Italian (as you do in Switzerland). I'd just like to point out that in French it is called: Pâte Orale Pour Chats; in German it's: Haarballen-Entferner Für Katzen; and in Italian it's called Pasta Per Gatti Per Uso Orale.

Vous avez choisi? I'm going with the pâte there Pierre. I'd maybe go for the pasta, but I just had some last night. And there's no way in Hell I'm eating something called Entferner. It's just not gonna happen.

As it turned out, I didn't even have to coax King into eating the schtuff....er...stuff. He just sat next to me on the sofa, I squeezed a little out (...suddenly having an odd desire to try it again), and King licked it right from the tube.
I'd say that qualifies as me not forcing him to eat it. As a matter of fact, he just walked up to me and started rubbing against my leg.

...mochtest tu ein bischen Entferner?

Hey Mrs. TBF...

...I'm giving you permission to tell your company to "...take this job, and SHOVE IT!!!" I just checked your I.R.A. account on my MyYahoo! page and the value of the account is listed at over $26 million.
Oh...wait a minute...I'd better double check...

Sorry, I guess I made a typo when entering the number of shares in one of your funds the last time I updated the account. Never mind.

If you already told the boss to shove it....start groveling!

I love you, and I'm going to the gym now.

The Big Boy Grill...

Mrs. TBF and I - along with John, Rammy, and Oliver - went over to Andy, Di, Sam, and Alie's house last night for a nice crown roasted pork prepared on Andy's Big Boy Grill. We call it that because Andy used to have this really small Weber knock-off that was...well...kind of a wuss grill. But now, Andy can hold his head up high while BBQing on the real deal: an authentic Weber kettle grill.
I managed to capture this beautiful father/son moment while Andy showed his son Sam the fine art of grilling animal flesh to mouth-watering perfection. What could be more American (even though it's taking place in Switzerland).
Andy's got THE grill. Now, we have to get to work on that lawn.

It's About Time!!!

I just read in my FHM magazine (I know, I'm a pig!) that "The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition" DVD will be hitting the shelves on August 30th. All I can say is: IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!
A Blues Brothers DVD has been on my last few "Things to Buy In the U.S." shopping lists when I've traveled to Chicago. And, much to my disappointment, I haven't been able to find one. I started thinking about it, figured out that the 25th anniversary of the movie was coming up, and suspected that a anniversary DVD might be in the works. Lo and behold, my hunch has become reality.
For me, "The Blues Brothers" is the complete movie - comedy, action, music, and (of course) most of it was filmed in Chicago. As a matter of fact, according to FHM:

"Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne lifted a ban on filming movies in the city for Brothers. She gave the crew such unfettered access to the city that it drew criticism and contributed to her loss in the next election bid."

Who knew? Not only is the movie incredibly entertaining, but it also contributed to the political demise of a big-city mayor. "Now dats an excellent movie!"

Because YOU Asked For It (Part 2)!!!

I spoke with my mom and dad on the phone yesterday (they're doing fine...thanks for asking!), and TBF's mom requested some pictures of the rooftop. So, because SHE asked for it, I'm-a-gonna-do-it!
One thing I found out is that it's hard to photograph the roof. It has kind of a U-shaped layout, and it's difficult to capture on film. Maybe I'll have to get Diagnostic Dave and Mrs. Diagnostic Dave over here with the fish-eye lens.
Mom and Dad: you may be snoring away in Sudbury, Ontario right now, but your son has been busy at work taking pictures of the rooftop because YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!!

TBF Is Out Of The House!

I'm blogging right now from our balcony overlooking the ever-coursing Birsig River (King decided to get in on the action). We've had a wireless system for some time now, but today, Mrs. TBF procured "bridges" for our wireless network that enable me to blog from a much larger area. Before, the signal didn't reach even up to our living room. Now, who knows? Maybe the rooftop garden???
Anyway, speaking of rooftop garden...My mother requested more pictures of the rooftop garden. So, TBF is happy to oblige. I'm making it my "mission" to capture the aura of the rooftop garden on "digital code". My plan is that the best efforts will grace the blog.
Ciao (practicing for the Amafi Coast later this month)!

P.S. Free gift to the first person who leaves a comment!

Got A Problem Here...

Either I've gained a lot of weight in the past couple of days, my clothes are shrinking, or this isn't my jacket. I'm going with the third option.
So, whoever left this jacket behind at our house this past Monday during our Swiss National Day BBQ, please claim your "little person" jacket so that I can return it to you.
I'm not sure who's jacket it is, but he or she is definitely much smaller than TBF. But, then again, who isn't?

Who'll Stop The Rain?

Maybe at some point in the future, we'll actually have a party on a day when it doesn't rain so that we can use our roof-top in it's full party-potential glory.
On August 1st, we were almost there. But right when the fireworks started (it was Swiss National Day), so did the rain. The picture on the left shows Mrs. TBF at around 6:00 p.m. having a bit of a fret over the clouds. I told her not to worry because the weather forecast only called for a 20% chance of rain. "Besides..." I told her, "...those aren't rain clouds. They're just cloud clouds." She didn't seem too convinced, but the guests began to arrive and the rain held off. Mrs. TBF made some damn fine grub, I grilled some sausages and chicken breasts on the charcoal Weber (we gave "Helmut" the night off), the beer and wine flowed, and all seemed right with the world.

Then, just as the fireworks began, the first raindrops began to fall. "Don't worry..." I said, "...I don't think the hard stuff's gonna come down for a couple of hours or so." Andy, on the other hand, played the part of the doomsdayer by predicting a "torrential downpour." Well, as it turns out, it wasn't just a few drops and it was a torrential downpour. But, it turned out to be a steady rain which began a few minutes later and kind of brought the outdoor segment of the party to a grinding halt.
By the way, in the picture on the left you can barely make out the fireworks next to Kirk's head. That's right, THE Kirk of Expatter fame. His wife Gretchen is in Wisconsin visiting friends and family. I did want to point out that he IS married, because I told a few people at one point that he was our gay friend and I can't remember if I ever really added the "just joking" part (...beer, fresh air, roof-top...give me a break!). Of course, that's the beautiful Mrs. TBF in the foreground, and on the right is the back of "The Silver Fox" - our neighbor Corey.

After braving the rain under umbrellas for an hour or so, we got tired of sitting on the cold and damp roof. As soon as we finished our cigars (left: Andy and John) and the kids finished making s'mores on the fireplace, it was time to go inside.
I didn't really know about it until later on, but I saw Sammy with an ice pack on his hand and I came to find out that there had been a s'more mishap.


Apparently, one of the kids (I won't mention who) accidentally lost control of her s'more and burned Sam's hand AND the hand of our neighbor Mrs. The Silver Fox (a.k.a Suzanne). Mrs. TBF told me that Suzanne actually had scorched knuckles. I hope Sam and Suzanne's hands are feeling better, and that Suzanne's manicure wasn't too messed up.
But, despite the rain, I think the party went pretty well. Anyway...I had fun.

By The Way...

...the reason I haven't updated my website is because I've run into a bit of a snafu (...I just love that word!) with Yahoo!. First of all, there is no Mac version of Yahoo!Sitebuilder. So, I just figured I would switch over to the Mac webhosting and just keep updating on Yahoo! with our PC (yeah...it's still hooked up, but I rarely use it) until I figured out how to use the Mac software.
Right after I did the last website update, I had an on-screen message from Yahoo! that said I needed to go to a website and download their new software. So, I did just that. When I began the download, there was a prompt that said I needed to delete the old software first. So, I did that. I then proceeded with downloading the new software and it just froze. I tried it again, and it wouldn't download. So, I no longer have the old software, and I can't download the new software. My webpage will be stuck on it's current page until I figure out how to transfer my domain name (www.thebigfinn.com) over to my mac.com webpage (which I still have to figure out how to use).
In the meantime, I'll just be updating my blog with pictures. So, please, no "When are you going to update the website?" e-mails. Thanks. You can go directly to my blog without going through my website. The address for my blog is: http://thebigfinn.blogspot.com.
Actually, this brings up an internal struggle that has been brewing within The Big Finn for some time now. Should I actually update a website at all? I could just put pictures into the blog and not bother with posting them on a webpage. Mrs. TBF says the public outcry would be just too great. I say nobody cares one way or the other. What do you think? How about leaving a comment? You don't have to register or leave your e-mail address. Just leave me a comment and tell me what you think? I'd love to hear from you. By the way...thanks go to Kirk and Gretchen and The Dictator Princess for your frequent comments. They are greatly appreciated. Also, thanks to Mrs. TBF, The Medium Swede, and Perry (my brother-in-law), and others for your occasional comments. I'd love to get an idea of how many people are checking out my website and my blog on a regular basis. The blog will definitely continue. The website???? I think I need to feel the love!

Bringin' Home the Bacon..

Or, as the Swiss say: Bringing home the bread. I don't know about you, but I'll take bacon over bread any day of the week. Although, put the two together with some lettuce, tomato, and a glob of mayo, and then you're talkin' my language.
I actually think about BLTs a lot. Our tram system is called Baselland Transport - or, BLT for short. So, whenever I'm standing at the tram stop and one of the big, yellow trams pull up with the big BLT on the side, it makes me hanker for a BLT.
Wait, where was I going with this? Oh yeah, this is a picture of Mrs. TBF taken this morning at the Bottmingermühle tram stop right by our house just before she boarded the tram to go to work - or, "bring home the bacon". Doesn't she look all bright and cheery in her orangy garb? And, she'll be even cheerier when she gets home because she'll be bringing home one of those Bose speaker docking stations for our iPod that one of her colleagues brought back from the U.S. Also, we found out today that the "competent Swiss authorities" have granted us permanent residency status by issuing us "C-permits". Will we ever return to the U.S.? Only time will tell.
But now...I have more important things to tend to. All this talk about bacon and BLTs has given me the urge to go next door to the Migros and buy some BLT ingredients.
It's time for TBF to bring home the bacon!

Hey King...

Iams called and they said that they're running out of food!
Just a little progress report on our cat - King. Since he began taking thyroid tablets three weeks ago, he's gained half a kilo (that's 1.1 lbs. for the folks in America). He seems much healthier than he was a month ago, and it looks like he's on the road to a full recovery. If things continue as they are, he should make it to November when we'll celebrate the 15-year anniversary of adopting him from the Save-A-Pet Adoption Center in Palatine, Illinois (now in Grayslake, IL).
Let me tell you, King won the kitty-lotto as far as we're concerned. We walked into the shelter in November, 1990, and a ray of light shined (shone?) through the window onto this huge orange tabby. I told Mrs. TBF: "That's my cat!" And...about forty-five minutes later...he was. He lived with us in our house in North Barrington, Illinois for almost nine years along with our other cats Binky and Zane (both deceased) and our dog Dominique (...welling up here!!!). In October, 2000, King and Dominique (...fighting back tears here!) flew over the ocean in the cargo hold of a Swissair plane while TBF relaxed in business class comfort (...still feeling a bit guilty about that one...not really!), and began their life in Switzerland. So, King went from sleeping in a shelter with an upper respiratory infection to living in a nice Swiss apartment with heated floors and all-the-food-he-can-eat!.
Now, if that's not winning the kitty-lotto, then I don't know what is!

Because YOU Asked For It!!!

Mrs. TBF informed me that our neighbor - Suzanne - asked her if I had hair when we got married. The answer, as you can see from the picture, is: YES, but I was well on my way toward my current look! Sorry about the poor quality of the picture. I just took a picture of our wedding portrait that's hanging on our bedroom wall.

Where'd Everybody Go?

Basel's a ghost town these days. It happens every year during July - the kids get out of school and everybody goes on vacation. And let me tell you, it's a pleasure being among the few who stay behind.
There's even less traffic than usual (which is usually pretty light), there are no lines at the grocery and home improvement stores, and a lot of the stores have sales. For example, the special of the day at Coop was half-price, ready-made pizza. As a matter of fact, I have one in the oven right now. Everything around town seems slow paced and relaxed - and I like it!
Another great thing about not taking vacation now is that when we take our vacation at the end of August, all the kids will be back in school. So, we'll get to enjoy the Amalfi Coast in relaxed, uncrowded comfort.
The timer's about to go off. It's time to enjoy my pizza. It'll taste twice as good because I paid half the usual amount.
1:15 p.m. - I decided to snap a picture of the pizza and my half-price coupon. I actually forgot the coupon at home, but the checkout lady still gave me the pizzas for half price. The triangular pieces of cheese on top of the pizza are my own personal touch - TBF needs the extra energy for working out at the gym.

More Airline Outrage!

Swiss is on my shit-list yet once again. If you are a regular reader of The Big Finn's Big Blog!, you'll remember that I recently ranted about how the airlines list the price of the flight and then disclose all the add-ons right before you're ready to book the ticket. Well, it's time to renew the rant.
I'm planning on going to Amsterdam to get together with John (even though he's a Packer fan) while he's in Holland on business. John used to live down the street from us here in Switzerland, and he's since moved back to North Carolina. Anyway, I went to the Swiss website to check out flights and I found a flight that left on Friday afternoon and returned on Sunday evening. The fare was listed as 239 CHF. After setting up my itinerary, I clicked to find out the add-ons and I was shocked to see that they added up to 133 CHF - a hefty 55.6% mark-up!!!! But, that's not the worst part. If you break down the components of the add-ons, you find them listed as:

Fuel Surcharge: 40.00 CHF
Airport Taxes: 68.00 CHF
Swiss Service Fee: 25.00 CHF

Wait a minute...Swiss Service Fee??? What???? For a flight that I'm booking myself on the internet??? Unmitigated outrage!!! They might be able to get away with it right now because there aren't many options for direct flights between Basel and Amsterdam, but the time will come when Easy Jet adds a Basel/Amsterdam flight and then we'll see who has the last laugh.
In the meantime, I booked the flight using my Swiss miles (just can't get rid of the damn things!), and lo and behold...they only charged me for the Airport Taxes and not the Fuel Surcharge or Swiss "Service" Fee.
So, I'm going to Amsterdam over the weekend of September 9-11, and the round-trip "free" ticket is only going to cost me 68 CHF.
All's well that turns out well.

Things I can't live without (Part I)...

This past weekend, we met a couple named Eric and Rita while at a dinner party at John and Rammy's house (Note to Rammy: Who the heck holds a dinner party the night before going away on a ten-day vacation? You're insane!). Eric and Rita lived in Basel for something like fifteen years before going on a two-year assignment in Washington, D.C. In a couple of months they'll be returning to Basel.
During the course of the evening, one of the things Eric asked me was what I felt was worth bringing back from the U.S. to Basel. In other words, what are some of the things that you can get in the U.S. which you just can't get in Switzerland. Now, I have to tell you that I don't really bring back too many things other than clothes and electronics when I visit the U.S. But, there are a couple of things that I ALWAYS bring back with me.
The first thing: Q-Tips. American Q-Tips are FAR superior to any other Q-Tips I've ever used. Using the European version of Q-Tips are akin to cleaning your ear with a chopstick. Rita and Eric (if by some chance you're actually reading this blog): prevent damage to your medula oblongata by bringing a lifetime supply of good old "Made in the U.S.A." Q-Tips!
The second thing - and I didn't think about this one until a few minutes ago - is/are: The Libman Dish Scrub & Soap Dispenser! I ALWAYS have Libman Dish Scrub Refills in my suitcase when returning from the U.S. My cuticles begin to crack just at the thought of doing dishes without my beloved Libman sponges. What do people use in Europe? I have no idea (washcloth maybe?). All I know is that they don't sell this product, or anything that even resembles it, in Switzerland, France, or Germany. Whenever I show THE Libman to a native European, they say something like: "Wow! What a great idea!"
Hey Libman Family ("Family Made Since 1896!"...): Isn't it about time somebody in your family figured out that there are about 500 million people here in the E.U. who could use your product? Maybe just take the big "Made in the USA" off of the back of the package. That might hurt sales a bit.
To be continued...

To the good people at XtremeMac in the USA...

Thank you for inventing the exercise armbands that hold the iPod and iPod Shuffle. It was good foresight on your part figuring out that people would want to listen to their iPods while they exercise.
Unfortunately, you DIDN'T realize that people who exercise tend to have larger muscles than people who do not. The larger armband for the iPod barely fits over my bicep. After wearing it for about thirty seconds, I feel like somebody is taking my blood pressure. After a couple of minutes, my hand is numb. I believe that if I were to wear the armband for my entire workout that amputation would probably be necessary - thus actually eliminating the need for your product (a strange marketing strategy to say the least). The Shuffle armband is worse. There is NO WAY I can wear it over my bicep. As a matter of fact, it actually feels a bit snug on my forearm. A good idea would have been to test the prototype on people who actually exercise.
But hey, what do I know? It was just a thought.

Wish Me Luck!

I'm about to go to the gym for the first time since June 22nd. Not counting the one workout I did in the fitness room at the Hotel Kämp in Helsinki, it'll be the first time I've exercised in nearly FOUR WEEKS!!!
I should say that this has not really been a self-imposed hiatus. My gym closes every year for the first two weeks of July for "repairs". I left for Finland on June 23rd, and I returned on July 4th - the very day that my gym closed for two weeks. So that means that due to some unfortunate planning on my part, I've pretty much been a schlub for the past month. Sure, I could have ridden my bike or something. But, every now and then the body just needs a little (or long) recovery time.
I'm going to leave for the gym in thirty minutes. This is going to hurt!

Finnish Reflections (Part III)...

The Scene: Monday, June 27, 2005 - Buffet breakfast at the Hotel Kämp/Helsinki

The Actors: TBF and Big Daddy TBF

TBF and his father are finishing breakfast and will soon be taking the 1 p.m. train from Helsinki to Kauhava. The train station is about a five minute walk from the hotel.


BDTBF: "I'm going to go to the outdoor market for a little while before we leave."

TBF: "Great, I'll finish packing and then I'll arrange for a taxi to the train station."

BDTBF: "What? Are you kidding? The train station is only a couple of minutes from here."

TBF: "Yes, but by car its only a matter of seconds."

BDTBF: "Don't even think for one second that I'm going to get into a taxi and tell the driver that we're going to the train station. The humiliation...really!"

TBF: "Well then, I guess that means that you won't feel bad when you're wheeling your luggage over those cobblestones and I'm waving at you from the taxi that's whisking me to the train station."

BDTBF: "You do what you want, but there's NO WAY I'm getting into a taxi for a thirty second drive."

TBF: "But dad...I'm supposed to drag my heavy luggage over a bunch of cobblestones? Haven't the Finns ever heard of smooth sidewalks?"

BDTBF: "You know, I think living in Switzerland has made you a bit soft. You know, I was doing a man's work when I was seven years old."

TBF: "What the heck does that have to do with the fact that I don't want to drag my heavy luggage over a bunch of cobblestones, arrive at the train station all sweaty, and then sit on a train for four hours in a damp shirt."

5 minutes later they are walking through the lobby. BDTBF says to the receptionist:


BDTBF: "Imagine, my son wants to take a taxi to the train station."

Receptionist: "But...it's only a five-minute walk."

TBF: "Yeah, but I have heavy luggage...cobblestones...oh, what's the use?"

About an hour later, TBF and BDTBF step out of the elevator and into the lobby with their luggage...

Receptionist: "So then, shall I call you a taxi?"

5 minutes later, TBF and BDTBF arrive at the train station. TBF is sweaty from rolling his luggage over a bunch of cobblestones, and BDTBF is obviously elated over the fact that he saved his son from spending three Euros on a taxi.

TBF: "You may have won the battle, but I'll win the war. We're going to go First Class, and I'm buying the tickets. No questions asked!!!

BDTBF: "That's fine with me."

TBF: (thinking to himself...) "...wait a minute. What just happened here?"


PLEASE NOTE: This is pretty much how things took place, but a few embellishments were added.

Why Can't the Airlines...

...just tell you the price right from the get-go? Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I received today from Swiss:

Dear Mr. [TBF]:
Early birds take note: With Swiss Summer Savers you can travel very cheaply to many intercontinental destinations in late summer - such as Miami from CHF 799.

They give a link that says "book ticket here". When you click on the link, it brings you to a page that shows the price for the Miami ticket as CHF 895. Huh? (TBF scratching his head) Oooohhhhhh, I see...that's CHF 799 plus a CHF 95 fuel surcharge. Then, when you go to the next page to confirm the price (huh? I thought it was 799!), you find out that the total for the trip including airport taxes is....CHF 1,025.50!!! I've got news for you Swiss: CHF 1,025.50 isn't "cheap"!
Please, JUST LIST THE FULL PRICE RIGHT FROM THE START!!! It doesn't cost CHF 799. It costs 28.3% MORE than that - CHF 1,025.50. Plus, the sample itinerary shows a departure and return around Labor Day weekend. When you choose that itinerary, it says that those dates are "unavailable". All other prices in Switzerland are shown including taxes. I don't see why the airlines shouldn't be held to the same standard.
Thanks. I feel much better now.

Finnish Reflections (Part II)...

Finns have a lot of national loyalty, to say the least, when it comes to Finnish products. Sure, everybody's heard of Nokia. Perhaps you've also heard of Iittala, Hackman, Arabia, and Marimekko. But, unless you're Finnish, you've probably never heard of Turun Sinappia. Turun Sinappia is mustard that is made in the Finnish city of Turku.
When I was child growing up in the Chicago suburbs during the 70s, my parents always had Turun Sinappia in the refrigerator. My sister and I called it Suomalaista sinappia (Finnish mustard), and it was a fixture on our backyard picnic table when our dad would grill hamburgers, sausages, etc. Where would my parents procure the "sacred" mustard you ask? At the Finnish bakery/deli in Sudbury, Ontario, of course. Every year, we'd make the twelve-hour drive from Wheeling, Illinois to Sudbury, Ontario to visit my grandparents. And, every year, several tubes of THE mustard would make their way back to good old Wheeling.
Fast-forward some twenty-odd years into the future, and here Mrs. TBF and I are in Helsinki. Included on the must-visit list is Stockmann's Department Store so that I can go to their grocery store and grab some of that Finnish brown gold. Mrs. TBF and I make our way to the condiment aisle, and there on the shelf is not only Turun Sinappia, but also Auran Sinappi. I had never heard of the latter, but I saw that it was also made in Turku, so I bought both brands. Mrs. TBF heads back to Switzerland the next day with the cache, and I head up to Kauhava with my dad. End of story...right? Wrong!
A couple of days later I found out that there is a major mustard controversy in Finland. It turns out that Turun Sinappia has been acquired by Unilever of SWEDEN!!! Which means Finns should no longer purchase that brand. Auran Sinappi is owned by Finns and produced in Finland. Therefore, it is truly Finnish mustard and thus the only mustard Finns should buy. I was told this fact by aunts, uncles, cousins, and...two Finns on the tram in Basel.
That's right! Mrs. TBF and I were on the tram heading into town this past Saturday. I felt an elbow nudging into my ribcage, and I saw that it was Mrs. TBF trying to get my attention. She kind of did that "flick-of-the-head-thing" (that husbands are supposed to somehow interpret) in the direction of two guys standing right next to us with suitcases. When the "flick-thing" didn't register, she whispered out of the corner of her mouth: "Those...guys...are...Finns!" How she's able to detect that people around us are speaking Finnish and I can't will forever remain a mystery to me. This has happened several times around Europe, and it always amazes me. There have actually been times where I've told her "...they're not speaking Finnish," only to find out a couple of seconds later that indeed they are.
But, to try to put an end to this never-ending tome, I started speaking in Finnish with these two guys on the tram (by the way...I've found that it drives the Swiss crazy when you speak a language they can't indentify), and I found out they're from Turku. I said something like "...where they make the mustard," and, of course, they launched into a sermon on how I should only purchase Auran Sinappi.
So, there you have it. The big Finnish mustard controversy. We better use up the "Swedish" mustard fast before any other Finn sees it in our refrigerator.

Long Live the King!

Here's an update on our 17-year old cat - King. He's a BEAST!!!
We've been worried about his health. Over the past couple of months, he had dropped quite a bit of weight and he didn't have much of an appetite. I brought him for a blood test, and Dr. Buser said that everything was normal except for his liver function which was slightly abnormal. Dr. Buser said that he could test the blood for everything at his office except for the thyroid function which he would have to have done at an outside lab.
As it turned out, it WAS King's thyroid which was not functioning properly. Mrs. TBF started giving King his thyroid pills while I was in Finland, and now King has pretty much turned into a feline vacuum cleaner sucking up any morsel of food that's put in his ever-expanding body. Our friends Dave and Jane came over for Mrs. TBF's homemade sushi (it was the first time she ever tried to make it, and it was EXCELLENT!) this past Saturday night, and we probably should have set a place at the dinner table for King seeing how much fish I ended up feeding him off of my plate.
Our little buddy's getting better and we're happy about it. A couple of weeks ago we thought he was approaching the end of his ninth life, and now I'm back to being annoyed by him tapping me on the nose and licking my head at 4 a.m. because he wants to be fed. But I guess I can tolerate the early morning wake ups if it means he's on the road to health. I mean, I DO enact revenge by randomly waking him up during the day when he's sleeping on the sofa.
Is that a weird pet owner thing? Oh...sorry.

Head On Down the Highway...

Yesterday was kind of an unusual day for us. We spent a little bit of time up on the rooftop, but then we decided that a 20˚C blustery day on July 11th was better spent indoors.
I came in and watched the end of the 9th stage of the Tour de France. This stage ended in Mulhouse (pronounced Ma-looz), which is only about 45 minutes away from our home. I toyed with the idea of going to see it live (for about 10 seconds), and then I decided that the helicopter coverage on EuroSport from the comfort of our sofa would be a much more comfortable option. Something about watching the guys ride their bikes down the roads of Alsace must have put me in the mood to watch more road-related stuff, because Mrs. TBF and I ended up watching a British car program (which we occasionally watch) called Top Gear.
Now let me preface this by saying that Mrs. TBF and I are far from "motor heads". We view cars as the things that get you from one place to another, and I tend to view cars as a sort of necessary evil. But, the show Top Gear is really entertaining. Last night, they had a segment where the host - Jeremy Clarkson (in a car) - raced a marathon runner (running) over the route of the London Marathon during London's rush hour. The runner ended up winning the race! He beat Jeremy by eleven minutes!!! It was really entertaining, and I highly recommend this program if it ever surfaces on a cable channel near you. Tempting fate, we decided to watch another car-related program. We should have stopped while we were ahead, because we ended up watching the UK version of Pimp My Ride...and it was TERRIBLE.
The U.S. version, in case you're not familiar with it, is a show where some young person (often with some sob story) with a beater of a car has his/her car transformed (pimped) into a showcase of a "pimp-mobile". The host is the rapper - Xzibit. The crew at the garage consists of guys who look like the just got out of prison. They're big, pierced, tattoo-covered, and sound right using gangsta' slang. The U.K. version, on the other hand, is a bunch of pale white guys (plus one woman) who look like they just finished tea and decided to have a go at this poor chaps car. The host, also a pale white guy, trys to use gangsta' slang and street gang hand gestures, but he just ends up looking like an idiot. I was embarrassed for the guy. He should just go back to his pub, grab a pint, light a fag, and call it a day. Actually, it was so bad that I'll probably have to watch it again just so I can let it sink in how bad it actually is.
It reminds me of my sister Diana who has this great line: "When you smell a skunk that's been run over by a car [a common thing in the Chicago suburbs], don't you have to smell it again just so you can believe how bad it really smells?"

Finnish Reflections (Part I)...

First of all, sorry for not blogging during my trip to Finland. I thought I was going to be walking into Finnish internet cafes galore and blogging everyday. As it turned out, a lot of things were closed in Helsinki the first weekend we were there because of the midsummer celebration. Then, I found out that my dad's hometown didn't have an internet cafe (at least I couldn't find one).
So, let me start by saying that Finnair is a quality airline, but they serve the worst food I've ever tasted on an airline. Wouldn't it make sense for Finnair to serve Finnish food? Instead, they feel the need to serve sweet and sour chicken on dry brown rice. It was terrible. Later, when Mrs. TBF took the early flight back to Zurich on Monday morning, she told me they served shredded carrots on baked beans for breakfast. Ugh!
The second thing I'd like to point out to all you non-Finns out there is that the Finns call Finland - Suomi. Where the Finland came from, and why the entire world calls it Finland (or some derivation), is a mystery to me. It is Suomi in Finnish. No part of the word means "fin" or "land". Go figure!
As I said before, many things were closed because of the Juhanus celebration, so Mrs. TBF and I just stopped at little cafes (including the excellent Cafe Kappeli) and watched "the walk of life" (as Mrs. TBF's Uncle Anthony used to call it) go by. Included in this "walk of life" were many incredibly drunk Finns who were in the midst of holiday celebrating. I'm talking a barely able to walk and talk while carrying a mostly empty twelve-pack under their arm type of drunk.
Along with watching the drunks, we walked a lot, rode the double-decker tourist bus, enjoyed the hotel sauna, and took in a couple of museums. The first museum we went to was the Finnish Design Museum. If you ever go to Helsinki, don't bother with this museum. It was expensive, small, and boring - basically just a bunch of Marimekko fabrics on the wall. Save yourself 8 Euros and check out the fabrics yourself at Marimekko's website. Instead, go to the Kiasma modern art museum. It's a much better value, much more interesting, and contains that element of art brut that I love so much.
We ate at a few nice restaurants - Zetor, Tervasaaren Aitta, Kappeli - gorged on the hotel breakfast buffet, and snacked here and there. At one point, I had to do a German/Finnish translation at a Mövenpick ice cream stand for a couple of German tourists - I was so proud of myself.
My dad arrived at our hotel on Sunday. We had a sauna together at the hotel, ate at Kappeli, and then Mrs. TBF left for Switzerland on Monday morning while my dad and I took the train up to his hometown - Kauhava. But, more on that part of the trip a little bit later...
Sorry that our Helsinki trip wasn't more exciting, but we just kind of took it easy. Nothing really that exciting happened.
To be continued...

Back to life...back to reality.

I'm back from Finland after ten days of hanging out with my dad, visiting relatives, taking daily saunas, eating foods I don't normally eat, etc. Now it's back to the business of day-to-day life in Switzerland.
Mrs. TBF picked me up at Basel Airport last night at about 9:30 p.m. and told me that we are without power on our roof garden. It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that we have a refrigerator up there, and there were a few things in there that are now harvesting life forms previously unknown to mankind. So, I have to call the landlord and figure out how to get the power back on since I can't find a circuit breaker that controls the roof. Also, I'll have the fun task of getting rid of a bunch of asian condiments that are rotting in that fridge.
I'm going to get started on that project, and I'll recap some of the things that took place in Finland a little bit later.