OT Woo Hoooo!! New job!!



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C

Call Me Bob

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At last!

Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again, ie. one that doesn't entail working for
Nazis in return for minimum wage.

Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call I've
had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).

So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:

"Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone’s throw from the Alps."

I'm soooo excited :eek:)

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
>I'm soooo excited :eek:)

So you should be :)

Congratulations and enjoy. You do realise, of course, that regular updates on cycling in Switzerland
aree *required* postings on the newsgroup?? :)

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thus spake Call me Bob <[email protected]>

> At last!

> Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again, ie. one that doesn't entail working for
> Nazis in return for minimum wage.

Congratulations!

> Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call I've
> had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).

> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:

Julian Barkway, who has posted here is/was in Zurich. He might just read this. Unfortunately I don't
know his email address.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected] Edgware.
 
[email protected] (wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>>I'm soooo excited :eek:)
>
> So you should be :)
>
> Congratulations and enjoy. You do realise, of course, that regular updates on cycling in
> Switzerland aree *required* postings on the newsgroup?? :)

Helen, you do realise he should not be restricting himself to posting to the newsgroup. He's going
to the land of Toblerone! And the home town of Lindt-Sprungli! Chocolate, huge great big paving
slabs of it!

There's a really nice Lindt-Sprungli cafe in Zurich that is well worth a visit, even if only to make
yourself seem like a poor slob - good food, seriously rich customers (not counting me).

Have fun! (and pass the pralines)

Graeme
 
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 18:05:35 +0100, Call me Bob wrote:

> At last!

> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>
Congratulagtions!

Don't know about Zurich specifically. But you will have to get a yearly bicycle permit, for each
bike. Go to the Migros supermarket - they cost about 10-15 francs. The permit carries third party
liability insurance.

Each commune maintains a network of cycling and walking trails. These are well signposted.

And try out the rail network too - it is great.

Good luck.
 
"Call me Bob" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> At last! <snip> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's
> the cycling like there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising: <Snip>> Bob

Swine swine swine swine swine swine. Soooo jealous. Keep in touch I'd love to know how the riding
is. All the best

Stan Cox
 
Call me Bob <[email protected]> wrote:
> At last!
>
> Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again, ie. one that doesn't entail working for
> Nazis in return for minimum wage.
>
> Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call I've
> had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).
>
> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>
> "Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
> rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone's throw from the Alps."
>
> I'm soooo excited :eek:)
>

Congrats. Zurich and Vancouver are rated the #1 cities in the world for quality of life. The cycling
is great, the public transport works extremely well and knows what a bike is. So you can easily jump
on a train for the weekend and whizz off to the Alps. Round Zurich the countryside is gently
rolling, not steep high mountains. The only down side is it is a highly regulated society with lots
of enforced rules of what you can and cannot do when.

My sister and family have lived about 30 miles west of Zurich for getting on for 20 years now and
recently achieved the highly prized citizenship.

Tony

-- http://www.raven-family.com

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to
adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George
Bernard Shaw
 
> Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again,

Toblerone QC?

--
Andrew

"Look laddie, if you're in the penalty area and aren't quite sure what to do with the ball, just
stick it in the net and we'll discuss all your options afterwards."

ie. one that
> doesn't entail working for Nazis in return for minimum wage.
>
> Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call I've
> had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).
>
> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>
> "Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
> rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone's throw from the Alps."
>
> I'm soooo excited :eek:)
>
>
> Bob
> --
> Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 18:05:35 +0100, Call me Bob wrote:

> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:

Oh, and another bit of advice. I would imagine you will be living in a rented apartment, like most
people. Swiss apartments usually come totally unfurnished - so be aware! All apartment blocks should
have a bomb shelter in the basement - but the canny Swiss use these as storage rooms. You should get
the key to a storage room, where you can keep the bike. There also should be a good laundry room
down there. Many apartment blocks also have pram storage rooms in the foyer. These are lockable
rooms, in which residents keep bikes and prams. A good system, IMHO.
 
> Helen, you do realise he should not be restricting himself to posting to the newsgroup. He's going
> to the land of Toblerone!

Yeah, be sure to send us all a giant Toblerone, Bob :)

Congrats.

~PB
 
In article <[email protected]>, one of infinite monkeys
at the keyboard of "John Hearns" <[email protected]> wrote:

> And try out the rail network too - it is great.

Yeah, multiple privately run train operating companies ... and it not only works, but synchronises
with the buses for local transport.

I wonder whether anyone else might benefit from swiss expertise?

--
Axis of Evil: Whose economy needs ever more wars? Arms Exports $bn: USA 14.2, UK 5.1, vs France 1.5,
Germany 0.8 (The Economist, July 2002)
 
In message <[email protected]>, Tony Raven <[email protected]> writes
>Call me Bob <[email protected]> wrote:
>> At last!
>>
>> Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again, ie. one that doesn't entail working for
>> Nazis in return for minimum wage.
>>
>> Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call
>> I've had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).
>>
>> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
>> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>>
>> "Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
>> rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone's throw from the Alps."
>>
>> I'm soooo excited :eek:)
>>
>
>Congrats. Zurich and Vancouver are rated the #1 cities in the world for quality of life. The
>cycling is great, the public transport works extremely well and knows what a bike is. So you can
>easily jump on a train for the weekend and whizz off to the Alps. Round Zurich the countryside is
>gently rolling, not steep high mountains. The only down side is it is a highly regulated society
>with lots of enforced rules of what you can and cannot do when.
>
>My sister and family have lived about 30 miles west of Zurich for getting on for 20 years now and
>recently achieved the highly prized citizenship.
>
>Tony
>
>-- http://www.raven-family.com

Obviously quality of life is a function of annual precipitation because Zuerich and Vancouver are
two of the wettest places I've ever been. ;-)

I'd love to live in Zuerich. I'd say the countryside is a bit hillier than gently rolling although
this is, of course, a relative thing. Zuerich is conveniently placed for travelling into the
mountains, to Lake Constance, eastern Austria and southern Germany. The southern Black Forest isn't
too far away.

There's a series of cycling maps produced by Kuemmerley + Frey which are very good. I believe they
have red covers. (The ones with yellow covers are walking maps.)

Tony's points are well made although I'd add that Zuerich can be extremely expensive, the Swiss
reputation for organisation and hard work is not unfounded and people we've known have said that
it's difficult to make Swiss friends. Tony's point about regulation is quite right. We once made the
mistake of taking a short cut (in a German registered car) down a lane which was restricted to
residents. We were waved down by a walker who pulled out his part-time policeman's warrant and gave
us a thorough telling off. I recommend you swot up on the rules and keep to them. It'll be easier in
the long run.

The 'Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss' is a humorous and not inaccurate introduction to the country.

Hope you get the job.
--
Michael MacClancy
 
On 15 Apr 2003 17:16:38 GMT, [email protected] (wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter) wrote:

>Congratulations and enjoy.

Thank you, thank you :eek:)

>You do realise, of course, that regular updates on cycling in Switzerland aree *required* postings
>on the newsgroup?? :)

I shall do my best, although in truth I'm not likely to get much cycling in for at least a month.
Things will be pretty busy to start and as it's a new job I'll want to show willing, not go
pedalling off to the Alps every other day, heh.

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:04:01 +0100, Michael MacClancy <[email protected]> wrote:

>There's a series of cycling maps produced by Kuemmerley + Frey which are very good. I believe they
>have red covers. (The ones with yellow covers are walking maps.)

Ah, thank you for that, I'll look out for them. Someone else (ta John) mentioned the cycle networks
and I've been able to find a bit more info on them too, all looks very promising, however, I mustn't
run before I can walk. I keep reminding myself it's a job, not a holiday.

>Hope you get the job.

Thanks, I did :eek:)

I had another call this evening and they want me to fly out on the 27th, paperwork should arrive
Thursday. I'm like a dog with a new bone.

Thanks also to everyone else for the congrats and tips and bits of info etc. All have added to my
huge grin and general enthusiastic "life's on the up" feeling.

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:58:13 +0100, "Pete Biggs" <pLime{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote:

>> Helen, you do realise he should not be restricting himself to posting to the newsgroup. He's
>> going to the land of Toblerone!
>
>Yeah, be sure to send us all a giant Toblerone, Bob :)

Toblerone!

It hadn't even occurred to me I've been that excited, not thinking straight you see.

Not sure I'll be able to bring you any back though I'm afraid. What's the standard airline luggage
weight limit, 20Kg? Once I have 17Kg of my *own* Toblerone packed that doesn't leave much spare
room for you
u.r.c lot......

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:34:05 +0100, "Tony Raven" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Congrats. Zurich and Vancouver are rated the #1 cities in the world for quality of life.

I didn't know that, it will be interesting to see how the city "feels" to work and live in. I'll
make a special effort to be happy though, I wouldn't wanna drop their average :eek:)

>The cycling is great, the public transport works extremely well and knows what a bike is. So you
>can easily jump on a train for the weekend and whizz off to the Alps.

Actually I took the bike on a train trip here last week. Sadly my destination wasn't as majestic as
the Alps, I went to Grimsby docks.

Having rung the train timetable/booking people beforehand to check on travel with a bike I was
dreading the journey. I got a right royal run around both on the phone and when I went to the
station to buy the tickets early in the day. Thankfully though the trip was a joy. I pedaled to the
station, slung my bike on and settled down with Cycling Plus. At the other end I cheerfully pedaled
away, no fuss or bother. The return trip was just as painless, I was really surprised.

As we'd finished the job early I'd even had time to nip over to the seafront at Cleethorpes and have
a ride up and down the prom.

Mint choc chip in the sunshine, ahh.... heaven.

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...

> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>
> "Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
> rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone’s throw from the Alps."

Congratulations. I just hope they are paying you well, or you have some perks. I just came back
from a weekend OU school and one of my students lives in Zurich. She has a bar job in the evenings
to pay her rent as here software engineering day-job doesn't meet all the bills! She does enjoy the
place though.

Colin
 
On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:13:32 +0100, Colin Blackburn <[email protected]> wrote:

>Congratulations. I just hope they are paying you well, or you have some perks. I just came back
>from a weekend OU school and one of my students lives in Zurich. She has a bar job in the evenings
>to pay her rent as here software engineering day-job doesn't meet all the bills! She does enjoy the
>place though.

On my mental pros and cons list the expense of living in Zurich was the only negative point I could
come up with. However, the company pay for accommodation and give something towards feeding me so
things should be just fine.

They've also offered to fly me home for a long weekend every fortnight, but I don't understand that
at all. Choice of a long weekend off in Zurich or back in grimy Derby, and they think I'll want to
fly home? Hah!

Bob
--
Mail address is spam trapped To reply by email remove the beverage
 
[email protected] (Nick Kew) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>, one of infinite monkeys
> at the keyboard of "John Hearns" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > And try out the rail network too - it is great.
>
> Yeah, multiple privately run train operating companies ... and it not only works, but synchronises
> with the buses for local transport.
>
> I wonder whether anyone else might benefit from swiss expertise?

Yeah, the trains are excellant - but the sickening thing is, who set-up the train network? Only a
Brit by the name of Brown (one of the "B"s in ABB), who built the "Spanisch Brötli Bahn" to bring
fresh Spanish bread rolls to the towns. A national hero, but look at the state of the railways in
his homeland...

If you're in Migros, stock up on the "Engardiner Nusstorte" (Engardien Nut Tarts), must be about
10000 kCal per kilo - you can cycle all day on one of them!
 
Call me Bob wrote:
> Looks like I've finally got myself a *proper* job again, ie. one that doesn't entail working for
> Nazis in return for minimum wage.
>
> Been chasing this one for short while now and although it's not 100% sure yet, the phone call I've
> had today makes a start look likely at the beginning of May (*jumps for joy*).
>
> So, probably off to Switzerland for a while then. Anyone been to Zurich? What's the cycling like
> there? The tourist web page thingy sounds promising:
>
> "Zürich is top for leisure and pleasure. Gentle hills, peaceful woods, the unpolluted lakes and
> rivers, picturesque villages and all just a stone's throw from the Alps."
>
> I'm soooo excited :eek:)

Switzerland is pretty good. I used to work there, at Neuchatel (which is between Geneva and Zurich).
We used to cycle regularly around the lake, and on the many other paths that my friends new.

--
StainlessSteelRat "I think Mr. Smithers picked me for my motivational skills. Everyone always says
they have to work twice as hard when I'm around!" -- Homer Simpson
 
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