No inspiring title

And no inspiring blog post, either!

We had planned to spend Saturday of the Easter weekend out and about. However, a combination of the weather (snowy/thundery) and an almost-last-push on the unpacking persuaded us to stay in and knuckle down. Number Guy has been building (more) bookcases for his journals and ich muss Deutsch lernen. It'll make a change when I can speak German in more than just the present tense. Nonetheless, I have been making myself catch up on some German homework - the toothache last week meant I was just not up to the 2+ hours a night that is needed.

When I have not been studying I've been quite lazy - knitting, listening to audiobooks, enjoying looking out at the snow from a very cosy home. And there have been lost of great non-events. Non cardiac events. I have been off the heart meds for a week now and so far all that has happened has been a couple of really hard 'chest thumps', if that makes sense. I am more and more convinced that my last employment was really screwing up my life.

We will be going 'home' in a little while and when we get back I hope to be able to put some pics on this blog at last. My camera might not be talking to the pc, but I think my new mobile speaks the right language.

In the meantime, its more audio, knitting, snow watching and just a tiny bit of Swiss chocolate eating.

Taxes and insurances

If I have warbled on about this before, just skip this post ;0)

So I guess many folk have heard the expression that 'You can't escape death and taxes'. But the Swiss tax system is a whole new ball game. There are NINE different types of tax. Yep, nine! There's federal, cantonal and community for a start. I haven't found out yet what most of the others are (try looking here if you feel you must), except for the ninth one, the only one we won't have to pay. The church tax. Since we are not members of any mainstream church, we don't have to pay the tax. But I do wonder what will happen if I feel the need for a moment of quiet contemplation in one of said churches. Will a deep, booming, heavenly voice inform me that my tax return is wrong....?

We have to have health insurance and I have to have accident insurance (Number Guy's employers are obliged to provide his). I am still uncertain about how the service actually works. I think that if one has a discounted policy, one then ends up with a GP-based system a bit like the NHS. Otherwise, one 'simply' makes an appointment with the appropriate doctor/consultant. What I am not sure about is what dies one do about having a 'GP' in that case. After all, there surely must be someone with an overview....? No doubt all will (eventually) become clear. What I do know is that 10% of all costs are payable by the patient. There is also, surprise surprise, an excess on each policy. One can pay bigger monthly fees to have a reduced excess, but if regular use is made of the health service there isn't much to pick and choose - the costs work out pretty much the same.

On the organisation front, I did manage to make quite a dent in the living room tidying last night. But then I decided to wrap Christmas presents....so not quite back to stage one, but Could Do Better for sure. I am trying to conserve my stocks of 'essential must haves' - you know, vanilla pods, star anise, baking parchment, rubber glves etc ;0) It isn't that I think I can't get them in Switzerland, obviously. It's just that when I am having a mental breakdown trying to get X, Y, or Z fixed and my Superb Grasp of German has let me down again, I don't want to find myself in a snotty heap, crying because I've run out of something that I don't yet know where to find. Like Marmite. Actually, I've already found out where I can get that - result!

But now that I have mentioned Mental Breakdown...I was lying ib bed this mornig thinking 'Oh f***, it's 3 weeks till we go.Oh f***, it's 3 weeks till we go.Oh f***, it's 3 weeks till we go.'

You know what, it's 3 weeks till we go. Oh f***