So look what I did on Sunday!!!

...................nothing! It was great. Jay was a little under the weather, so he called me at 8 and said he wanted to cancel our ski trip which ended up being okay with me because I knew that I had work to do and was traveling for the next 3 days in London, Rome, and Ireland. I relaxed, ate a bacon, egg, and cheese. Played hoops in Carouge. Painted. Cleaned my flat....very chill! More to come from my business travels. GG

....the first Saturday in a long time........

Saturday started with the taste of Portuguese food in my mouth at around 8:30 AM. Friday, P+P (along with their lady friends)went out for a chill night and some Portuguese food. The place came reccomended (and Pedro gave it the thumbs up) so we headed off. After some bottles of Vinho Verde, Bacalhau, and some Porto from Perdo's hometown we called it a night.
It is in EV:

So back to Saturday. This is the first Saturday that I have been in Carouge since December and it was very good one. The clouds started to clear at around 9:30 and the it was a gorgeous Spring day. Market in full swing, people out, birds chirping,...this was a day you wanted to bottle.

So after some computer time, a little painting (project is coming along), and a quick shower I stepped out the door and got breakfast, lunch, and dinner within 10 minutes.
The spoils:

After my b-fast I didn't have any plans so I headed into Geneva to pretty much..chill. I walked around Rive and EV:



Had a drink on the water:

Stopped at some shops and enjoyed CH. After my city venture the plans were still open but I knew I wanted to play a little golf (I need to practice so I can kick my Dad's butt when I am in the States ;-) I knew there was a little Par 3 course and driving range near the end of the airport, so I headed. I drove around a little and actually eneded up at the Geneva CC. This is an old school style club that is really a CC...no course but a practice facility. I found out after talking with the Pro Jason that it is not open to the public but you can join and use the practice range...the rate is 1200CHF a year!!!!..but you get free balls and 6 lessons. It is a nice place but I don't think I can hit 1200CHF of balls a season. Jason was nice enough to give me a free bucket though:

After the balls were done Jason told me of another range close by, the on I was looking for before, and they were having a demo day...so I headed there for some free balls and to hit some drivers off the range ...I loved this driver in the tour addition (CLEVELAND GOLF):

This place was very cool and will be my new practice facility after work.
Tonight I am off for a few drinks and some food with a posse of peeps from work...should be a good time.

On a side. As I walked through EV today it reminded me of last year when I just arrived. I was stressed about life in general...work,x-wife, new GF, etc.....I walked there today content and extremely happy... thank you everyone that has contributed to helping me....I would have this smile on my face if it wasn't for you.

Sad day in Mudville......A75 dies!

So after.... I have no idea how many trips, drops, skiing in the pocket falls, near death experiences (see Engelberg post), and many good times the A75 has died. I guess she was a little over the hill, Paul's cell phone has more megapixels, but she was a steady performer through the years....that being said here sister the A540 has stepped in! A cheap PNS that has the same features and functionality as the A75 with a few more pixels. I picked her up tonight and here is her first pic!
Poor A75..RIP!

More from sister A540 to come.......
PS: Pretty ironic photo with the cigarettes and LUCKY in the photo...looks like she was a good choice ;-)

Ping Pong, Picnic, Skiing, Golf, and chilling in CH!

The weekend was busy again, but nothing out of the ordinary. I will call it a 50 hour week at work, so not bad.
Friday night started out with Paul and I playing 7 games of PingPong in Place Neuve. Paul won 4-3 (but I won the last 3 straight) so I feel I can come back from my current 12 to 6 deficit in the running summer match series. After our match we drank a beer and caught up on life.
We had plans to meet up later with Perdo, some of the "Portuguese" mafia, Marlene, Carla, and Scott at La Terrasse in Paquis.
It was a beautiful day so we met up with the crew and chilled on the lawn next to the lake.

After a little drink and some food we went out to Pickwicks which turned out to be the normal laugh with P+P.
Paul:

Pedro:

The night eneded uneventfully but later than expected.
Saturday started a little cloudy but I got up an headed to meet up with Jay and Al @ G3. Another beautiful day unfolded as I drove up to the glacier. I ended up on the glacier around 10:30 and found Jay on skis (actually one of my sets) for the first time in 20 years. He was struggling a little but I decided that I would help with a few tips. Al was with Bill and Mike (nice guys!) so they headed into the Combe and Jay and I headed to the "Key". We took the first run down a mild slope and I gave J some tips. After 3 more runs he was ROCKING!

I was doing my best rockstar style too!

After about 4 laps Al and the boys showed up so it was time for some more laps. Al and Jay..weird seeing him on skis:

Jay's muscles were feeling it, so Al, Mike, Bill and I headed for a Combe run. Al and Bill:

The day ended with lots of smiles.

Instead of heading back to Geneva, where I didn't really have many plans, I went to Jay's to relax on his porch in Pully. We cooked sausages, drank a few beers (of course only 2 I was driving), and just relaxed and talked about life. Jay is a good friend and a master gardener too:

Jay hooked my up with a Rosemary sprout for my flat too!

View from his crib:

I drove back to Geneva around 9 and felt again that I am so blessed to live this life. I arrived home, cooked up some noodles and watched a movie. Another sick day!
Sunday approached and for the first time in.....I have no idea how many weeks I was able to sleep until 9AM...WOOOOOHOOOOO! After some breakfast, cleaning my flat, and just relaxing I decided to break out the summer sticks. I headed to a somewhat local range near St. Julien in France.

Another day to keep in a jar....80F and sunny..perfect!!! The flowers in CH like it too!

After golf I decided this would be a good day to drive up the lake and see what the options are like to move out of Geneva in and into Canton Vaud. I drove the lake road to see 3 towns,Coppet, Rolle, and Morge. In that order they snake up the lake from Geneva to Lausanne. Each had it's own unique charm. Coppet was quite, really CH, and chill. Looks expensive though:

Rolle was next on the list and I really like this place....just feels right:


I need to live in one of these flats:

Morges was a little bigger but still chill. I drove home in about 35 minutes from Morges so all of these would be options.
On my travels I stopped at a garden center (Jay must have given me the bug) and picked up some additions to the flat...a little herb garden:

I am now back in Geneva relaxing and about to cook dinner. Life is good and I continue to smile daily. I am so lucky to live here and have the love in my life that I do. From my parents, from KK, and from my new and old friends......THANK YOU!

Stupid Mother Nature.... (I know next year you will pay me back)

So it is Monday night and we have seen 8 days now of 70 degree weather in a row (80 the past 4) I would note the the EC has had 7' of snow in April so far. I am sure not complaining, it has been great, but the winter has come and gone. All that being said what would any other ski addict do??? find the snow which we did on Saturday. (Still on target to ski 12 months in a row) Tom, Jay, and I headed to the happy stomping grounds of G3 to get some turns in on a "tres beau" day in CH.
First Lift:

2nd lift:

We started off over on the "key" and then headed to the Comber for some runs. The snow was mush by 11, but the coverage was good. Here is Tom showing some style:


G:


This was a very chill day...relaxing, have some food, chillin in CH. We stopped for lunch on this cliff.....WOW!

Over the edge (note the neon pom-pom is my good luck charm):

After some food we made some more turns and then headed to the observation point at the top for a beer....more exposure:

G and J:

CHEERS!

The day ended with some conversations about Summer activites and whatnot.
I arrived back in Geneva for a night out with the crew. We ended up staying out late but the next day I knew was going to be chill. Sunday I rested, played hoops Paul, and had a real mack day in Geneva.
As always I am lucky to live the life I do and thank everyone for the nice emails and love. More to come this week!

Carouge...my home for the past 8 months

After a nice Easter dinner with Paul, Pedro, and Heidi it was time for a relaxing Monday. We had a bank holiday so it was time to chill. Essentially I just relaxed and took some pics of Carouge....it is starting to feel like home....

Back to work in the AM...but I continue to be very lucky that I lead the life I do...I am truely blessed.

Travels with the boys...Luzern, Zug, and Zurich

Easter weekend approached and it was time to head for a CH vacation with Paul and Pedro (Michel on Saturday only). We decided that Zurich was a good destination for Friday and Saturday, but I thought Luzern would be cool for Thursday night and maybe we could hit Engelberg on Friday.
We arrived at the Jail Hotel at about 7PM on Thursday night. My navigation skills were on point from when KK and I were there earlier in the year. The place we were staying at was a converted jail, so it was pretty cool.
Our room....LET ME OUT!!!

Really a jail...no kindin:

After getting in the room we headed of for a few drinks (that turned into many) in Luzern. We had some chow at the local beer house. Over a pretzel there was a mustard battle on which was the spiciest:

As you can see we had a few cocktails....Paul's "cosack" in the bar:

Many drinks later and some clubbing we decided that it was time for swim at 4 in the AM. Pedro went fully in and I up to my knees...not sure how cold it was, but was hilarous....post swim!

After a little sleeping we decided that skiing was out of the question so we headed towards Zurich. Ready to leave:

On the way we stopped in Zug...which turned out to be a very relaxing session of walking, chilling, and just hanging out in a cute CH town..the pics:


A 30km drive later we arrived in Zurich...feeling better and ready to rock! Our hotel:

After some cheap eats at the local Asian food stand we headed for a bar crawl. I think we visted 8 bars that night and laughed the whole way..P and P are great friends and great to hang out with..here are some good American brews in CH!

Pedro and G:

The next morning we got up pretty early...with no plans in hand it was time for a very chill Saturday...brunch:


The lake....the Swiss have this city on the water thing on lockdown!

Me:

We walked, we played soccer, we chilled, P and P even tried to build rock formations: (Note the ones in the back are the professionals!)


At about 5 Michel arrived and it was time for some "speck" and beers:

Sunset before hitting the town:

The night was a blast with laughing, drinking, and dancing. The next morning we woke not so cheered eyed...but Michel had the worst of it:

We drove back to Geneva laughing and saying this really felt like a vacation. Thanks boys for the great weekend....many more to come!!!