The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Wednesday 22 January 2020

This and that!

So what's new here at the moment? Not an awful lot really I suppose. Life is just ticking along nicely and the weather is still glorious, if cold, but then it is winter isn't it! We had rain on Friday which stopped me going out walking. Well I guess that's not strictly true because I could have just put on a different coat couldn't I, but if I'm honest I couldn't be arsed and I'm fine with that! While I'm enjoying the walking and have been pretty consistent with it, if I don't go out for some reason that's also fine. Saturday was again really sunny, but what I hadn't realized was that the rain from the previous day had actually caused black ice to form in certain areas and on two occasions my car went into a bit of a skid coming back from the market. I wasn't going fast of course, and I do have my winter tyres on, but it is a weird feeling all the same. Thankfully I had been able to pick my own car back up from the garage after they had spent most of the week repairing the damage caused by the wild boar. Turns out there was more damage than we originally thought which was not immediately visible from the outside, but the guy showed me pictures of where the internal damage had been done and it ended up costing €1,900 (that's about $2,100 at the moment). Thankfully I only had to pay €350 out of pocket, with the insurance picking up the tab for the rest. Thank goodness for that! Actually just looking at that exchange rate conversion I see that the euro is going down against the Swiss franc, or more likely the Swiss franc is going up (well that's what it looks like to me when I look at the Swiss franc/US$ exchange rate). That's all good for me as my pension is in Swiss francs and gives me more bang for my buck when I switch it into euros. I don't even want to look at what the GB£ is doing - it's probably losing points against the Matabele bongo bean as we speak thanks to Brexit but …. nah, everything is going to be just f-i-n-e if you just listen to Bojo! We'll see!

And talking of the economy, I see that the big boss was on TV with Trump in Davos today. I haven't had time to read the transcript of the interview but it could be interesting (to me at least)!

So where was I? Oh yes, routine. After yoga on Monday morning I headed out to a new-to-me spot to try to get some walking in, and it wasn't bad at all. Not as picturesque as many places but it is just down the road and for the most part easy walking - well I managed to get 9 km in that day so it can't have been that bad can it!


In fact, I was just looking at my walking totals and since 2 January I have logged 94 km (or 58.5 miles), all mileage that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't signed up for the walking challenge. So maybe that's what I need - an accountability incentive! I'm just barely on track to making the 1,000 miles in one year, and it will mean really upping my walking on days when I do walk because there are obviously going to be days when I can't, but I'm a stubborn bugger and I have to admit I'm quite enjoying it! I had a fitbit but that suddenly stopped charging and since I didn't want to buy another one I just bought myself a cheap pedometer to wear round my neck, given that I wasn't carrying my phone on me half the time. It's funny though but I noticed on my phone that it was tracking all kinds of weird things, one of which was called "cycle tracking", so I though, "oh great, if I decide to go out bike riding that might be useful". Stupid sod I am sometimes, because when I looked closer at it it can apparently tell when I'm ovulating (on a bike?). Ha, as if! I swear my kids would just shake their heads sometimes!

I also gave myself a good talking to today and got my act together enough to drive in to Geneva to use the gym at work (it's quite a trek and can be a pain in the butt if the traffic is bad). But as I was walking down from the car park I realized that I actually miss walking along the lake front or in the botanic gardens. It's so peaceful and yep, I kinda miss it. So I think I may start taking myself off down to Lake Annecy and start walking down there instead. I actually find Lake Annecy prettier than Lake Geneva so I can only think it will be good to go down there to walk and I'll still get that lovely "sea air" smell!


And finally, on Sunday I talked my friend into driving into Geneva to see Knives Out and it was pretty good. Daniel Craig's "southern" accent was a bit hard to take but then I think it was played for comedic effect. In fact the whole film was pretty funny and we both enjoyed it. Without giving too much away, there was one scene that involved someone leaving a message using "invisible ink", so as we were walking out I asked my friend if a spy was using invisible ink to leave a message how would he know when his pen was empty? He just looked at me like I was mad! Then I told him that tomorrow night I'm going with friends to see a tribute to the Bee Gees in Geneva and he asked me if it was the original group! Considering that three of the four brothers are dead I told him I thought that was highly unlikely don't you! So touché then!



17 comments:

  1. Those exchanges about the invisible in and the Bee Gees were funny. Why do you drive so far to walk? Geneva is a long way...lol.

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    1. I drive in to Geneva mainly to see friends but at work we have an excellent gym so I go to use that too. It's also very cheap ($150/year as opposed to $160/MONTH for the other gym I was looking at). In any case I miss walking along the lake, so that's another reason, although the traffic is a deterrent I admit!

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  2. You must be becoming QUITE fit, woman! You should be very proud of yourself.

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    1. Oh I'm nowhere near fit and I have quite a bit of weight to lose but it is getting easier and, more importantly, I'm actually enjoying it. Just gotta keep up the momentum because, as we all know, once you let it slip it's all downhill from there!

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  3. I need to get out walking, but it's been so cold all the walking I've gotten is in the stores while shopping. Certainly not as scenic as your lake view!

    Good work on your mileage. I have no doubt you'll make your challenge handily.

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    1. There's not a lot you can do when it's arctic temperatures is there. I actually DON'T think I'll make my mileage but I'm going to give it a shot. It's a motivation anyway.

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  4. That's a lot of walking, but then you have beautiful places to walk, so that is a plus!

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    1. Oh it's beautiful (especially as I come from a big industrial city) but the downside (if there is one) is that it ain't flat!

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  5. I love going for walks. Walking is my favourite exercise. Unfortunately I don't do well in the heat. Nearly fainted on my usual walk today, bit of heat exhaustion. My husband had to go home and get the car. Lucinda

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    1. You and me both! I have no illusion I will be out walking in the heat - especially Australian heat!!! Give me the cold any time. Hope you feel better now!

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  6. I have just walked 28 miles up and down hill since Sunday and with another stroll scheduled for today, don’t think I’ll be capable of moving for a month. However, I’m discovering that it’s painfully addictive whilst trying to convince myself that the squealing in my thighs is getting quieter and my knees aren’t really swollen. Good luck for your challenge. I’m thinking I really must spread this walking lark around the whole year, rather than a few concentrated sessions every so often.

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    1. I am very "aware" of my hips since I've started walking. Not painful at all, I just realize they're there (if you know what I mean), and I think the idea is to spread it out over a period of time really. 28 miles is very good going though! I could probably crack walnuts with my butt cheeks if I did that!

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    2. Might have to try that for my next party trick!!

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  7. You're doing well with your exercise regime. Geneva is a beautiful city. My aunt lived there for many years so we visited quite a lot. I loved walking near Lake Geneva. My favourite memory of Geneva was a little bakery in the old town which sold little salty croissant type rolls. They were delicious! Not conducive to healthy living though :( I suspect once the weather is better you'll feel more inclined to walk more and further - thats what I tell myself anyway! x

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    1. How interesting that you know Geneva well. Would those rolls have been called "délices" - they're like soft dark brown bagels really, sprinkled with salt? I like them too. And yes Geneva is very pretty (and very expensive!!!). And here's to both of us getting out and walking then - I hope to go out again tomorrow but it's been really foggy round here the last two days.

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    2. They were indeed called delices! I loved them. My uncle used to take me to get one every time we came over. My aunt lived near the French border and did most of her shopping in France because Geneva was so expensive. She had to be careful though as occasionally the border guards would pull you over and apparently you weren't allowed to bring too much over from France. It may have been alchohol, I'm not sure - it was quite a while ago! She left Geneva about 15 years ago after my uncle died and her daughter moved to London. She misses it enormously though and visits friends often. x

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    3. Many many Swiss residents shop in France because Swiss prices are ridiculously high, and yes I remember the border controls with the limits on what you could bring in duty free. Booze, cheese and meat were big no nos! Which makes me think I must write about my friend Joyce "smuggling" her new clothes she bought in Switzerland back home to France by coming in to work in just her underwear and wearing the new clothes back home in the evening!

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