Wednesday, May 17, 2006

A Weird Day...

Today was a weird day for me. Several things happened to me that just do not normally happen.

1. I was driving back from Reinach toward out apartment when a car heading toward me suddenly veered into my lane. The car was about 100 meters or so in front of me - so death was not imminent. However, it was close enough for me to notice that there was a driving school sign on top of it, AND I was able to see the driving instructor grab the steering wheel and steer the car back into their lane.

2. After arriving back at home, I walked next door to the Migros to buy some plants for the garden. After buying the plants, I got into the elevator with a Swiss woman who proceeded to speak to me in Swiss-German. After listening to a couple of completely undecipherable sentences, I gave her a "wie bitte?". She repeated herself, and then I just said in English: "I'm sorry, I can't understand one word when somebody speaks to me in Swiss-German." She replied in English: "I'm sorry...no problem...nevermind". I wonder what she was talking about...

3. I took the elevator up to our apartment. When I pulled my cool cigar puncher key chain out of my pocket, the magnetic tip disconnected and...fell down the stairwell to the second floor. Click...click...click...plonk...I ended up having to go down, down, down until I finally found the thing. Hey, I like my cigars and my cigar puncher (sorry dad). What can I say?

4. I took the 4:01 tram to the gym. Upon getting on the tram, I noticed that there was only one open seat...next to a nun. I have nothing against nuns, but I just thought it was kind of strange - me sitting with my gym bag in my lap, listening to Billy Idol on my iPod, next to a nun in her full "penguin" regalia. Why was that the only seat available. Is one not supposed to share a seat with a nun for some reason?

5. After working out, I was getting dressed in the locker room next to an old man who was putting on his adult diaper. First of all, I've never actually seen an adult diaper, and I've definitely never seen a person openly wearing one in public. The guy was older than dirt, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed that somebody that old AND needing to wear an adult diaper would still feel compelled to go to a gym for a workout....KUDOS!

6. (added the next day) I just remembered this one: It was a nice evening, so Mrs. TBF and I had our first al fresco meal on the balcony. We ate our salads, and then I threw a couple of pieces of salmon onto the grill. When the salmon had about a minute to go, I asked Mrs. TBF to go in and check on the asparagus that was steaming....or, supposed to be steaming. As it turns out, I forgot to put water in the pot. That's something that I can honestly say that I have never done before. Fortunately, the asparagus (and the pot) was not ruined. Doh!

That's it. Weird is exhausting.

11 comments:

Tati said...

That definitely counts as a weird day. The diaper guy tops it all, though :-)

And though I am a native German speaker, I also have problems understanding the Swiss - once in a supermarket just across the border (St. Gallen) I could have sworn they were speaking a whole other language :-)

CanadianSwiss said...

That surely WAS a wierd day! Maybe the nun was a sign that a miracle would happen?? LOL!

Bobby The C said...

I am weeping with laughter. The adult diaper is priceless. We'll all be there some day! It reminded me of an interview I once heard of Tiny Tim (remember him, tip-toe thru the tulips?). He as a matter of daily practice wore adult diapers as his undergarment of choice. He felt that it was more convenient and sanitary to dispose of his underwear rather than to launder it. Now I am not saying that I think it is normal behavior, but I gotta say, I understand where he was coming from. The next sound you hear will be me fastening the plastic tape on my DEPENDS!

The Big Finn said...

TMS - I've heard that Joe Walsh of the Eagles buys underwear, wears it once, and then throws it in the garbage. I guess that's another way of doing it.

Kirk said...

This has nothing to do with your post, but with this delightful spring weather we're having, aren't you guys thinking about cancelling the trip to Corsica so you can stay here and (literally) soak it in instead?

Beejum said...

Very strange... Also totally unrelated to your post, I just thought of another question for you, came to me while looking up some travel stuff online. Do they have batteries like the ones over here in Europe, the AA, D, C, AAA kind to use in flashlights and stuff? Thanks again :)

Unknown said...

I'm laughing too! LOL kirk you are funny, cancel a vacation??? Well unless you have to do it for work reasons...

The Big Finn said...

Kirk - This weather truly does suck, doesn't it? I think it's supposed to be nicer tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather in Corisca. The forecast is looking good right now - highs between 70˚ & 80˚ with mostly sunny skies.

Beej - The batteries are the same here. Also, some things like camera battery chargers, laptop computers, etc. are wired to take the stronger "juice" here in Europe. You just need a travel plug adaptor which you can buy at Best Buy.

Michael Lehet said...

That tops it all doesn't it?

Sounds like you had a pretty exciting Swiss Day!

The Sour Kraut said...

Must have been a full moon or something. I also had a weird experience while out shopping. I was in the adjacent check out lane to a woman who was attempting to return a huge bag of about 30 frames that she bought 17 YEARS AGO!

Kirk said...

ET - I was just being sarcastic because the weather here is so lousy...