A Year of Happenings...

... and one near mishap.

So far the year 2008, 3 weeks into its infancy, has proved to be quite eventful. From having only one apartment in Geneva, Other Half and myself now find ourselves in the posession of three. Granted that one is in London (and that belongs to me) and the other 2 are rented, nonetheless, because of the crazy way that the property market works in Switzerland, you often snap up what you can even before the lease on your current place expires.

As a result of negotiations, we now have a mere 10 days to pack and to move. On top of that, I've been making a list of all the things that we will require in the new apartment. From toilet tablets to water jugs to sofas, its all rather daunting, both in the mammoth task of execution and of cost.

So now we have a nice 3 bed apartment, with a balcony, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a spacious lounge and diner, a basement laundrette, an underground car parking spot, and a cave which is like a storage space in the basement.

The cave is by far the most interesting aspect of the new apartment (I think), as the first time I went down to have a look at it I was struck by the number of doors you had to get through to the alloted space: First there was a set of 3 fire doors, then there was a weird grille, then there was a big metal door that was impregnated with about 15" of solid concrete, then you find yourself in an antechamber, with what look like locked toilet cubicles. Then there's another set of concrete doors that lead off to what looks like a warren of prison cells, with cheap wood dividing each space into a seperate area.

Yes, I am now the proud tenant of an apartment that is fully equipted for any enventuality, even a Nuclear War. As OH said to me once, if the Swiss ever had to face nuclear bombs then basically the whole world would be, well, fucked.

2007, as my friend Career Girl said, was the Year of the Cardboard Box. Between 2007 and 2008 I've moved a total of 4 times, and I hope that this will be the last for a few years.

And the near-mishap? I went skiing for the first time this season, and in my bravado I went down a wrong turn and ended up on a red run. This was somewhat scary, especially after I found myself rotating 360° and landing face first in lots of fresh snow with my head at a weird angle and my legs skewed. Luckily no damage has been done, apart from a small bruise on my right calf.

Ouch.