international geographic

OBVIOUSLY I had to try them. Take a moment to think about how roasted chicken flavor chips might taste….

In fact, they’re pretty gross. But they do grow on you..

So says my landlady, at least. I returned from work today to find a brand new welcome mat just inside my door and a welcome packet (could have used this 2 months ago!) on my desk.

The welcome mat is well timed though. Today saw Basel’s first snow fall. It’s been snowing all day but so far only a couple of inches accumulation. Mostly just light flurries since noon or so, but still damn cold. For a country with insane hygiene laws I find it really odd that there are no snow plows or salt trucks and no laws requiring the removal of snow from sidewalks. Even in public areas like the central tram station, they just don’t bother. Makes me wonder what their personal injury laws are like…

Basel’s mass transit system is made up of a fantastic tram and bus network. You can get just about anywhere in probably 20 minutes or so. They run like clockwork on a set schedule and there’s even an electronic board at the larger stops telling you how many minutes away each tram or bus is. It’s all pretty cool.

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Being sick, for me, inevitably leads to watching a lot of TV and/or movies. This weekends list included a little bit of everything:

• The Departed - I’ve seen the Chinese original, Infernal Affairs, as well and this version is just a bit better. There’s a lot more character development and the pacing is a lot better. The Chinese version felt like there was much left out; it’s actually a trilogy and I’m told that some of it is covered in the other movies.
• Clerks 2 - I haven’t liked a Kevin Smith movie in a long time. There were a few funny moments but pretty dull overall.
• Next Friday - For some reason I thought Chris Tucker was in the first two and not the third but it turns out he’s only in the first. No where near as good as the first movie.
• The Good Shepherd - Awful. A movie in search of a plot.
• Thank You for Smoking - Liked it a lot.

There were also a few episodes of Man vs. Wild and the newest episodes of Scrubs and The Office mixed into there somewhere.

Not because of the 3.1 magnitude earthquake this morning, though I’ll never get used to the god damned ground moving under me. Apparently earthquakes less than 3 are minor enough that you generally won’t notice them but even one as small as 3.1 will cause the walls to shake and quite a bit of noise, but no damage.

No, it wasn’t the earthquake. I’ve been sick all week and it culminated in a bit of a fever last night. The worst part about being sick is definitely the loss of appetite. I like to eat. Eating and not enjoying it, heck, not even being able to taste your food, sucks. And even worse, I’ve been feeling a little bit nauseous after each meal so I’ve been eating as little as possible.

I really hope I get the taste back in my mouth before my flight to New York next week. It would really suck to be back and not enjoy all the great food that awaits me there.

Him: Is it real?
Me: Excuse me? Is what real? My hat? Yes, it’s real.
Him: No, you’re beard. Is it real?
Me: Uhm… my beard? Of course it’s real, man! Does it look fake?

Bizarre “conversation” I had the other night. Apparently the lines were “too good” so it “must be fake.” Go figure.

This BBC story about Swiss hygiene inspections explains why I had to pay a CHF80 (about US$65) cleaning fee up front when I moved in to my apartment. Totally bizarre, if you ask me. No one wants to move into a filthy house but this sounds downright insane!