I got a mail a couple of days ago from the architects who are working on our new apartment in a bit of a tizz.

"We've been trying to call you but can't get through. We have checked with the manufacturer of your shower and they tell us that it is recommended that the shower is fitted to a height of 25-30cm above the height of the person. We need to find out how tall you and your wife are so we know whether we need to adjust the height we set in our initial blueprints"

Not - on average people are 180cm tall so lets add 25cm to that.....but "How tall are you?" Bless their cotton socks and their national perfectionism

(Reminded me of the call I got when we moved into this house - I was in some godforsaken hole in darkest Russia with bad phone reception and they called to say "Where shall we put the sanitary equipment in the bathroom?"

"The what?"

"The toilet paper holder"

"Seriously? You want me to design where to put it?"

"Yes please"

"You decide."

"How can we decide?"

*FFS* "Just put it within arms reach, ok?"

I could practically here him thinking "No wonder the British lost their empire with such a slapdash attitude to life)

Did they then ask you to measure your arms?

Do they move the toilet depending on the arch of your husband's stream?

Standing up to take a slash??????

What kind of sacrilege is THAT??

Surely this wonderful theory breaks down if you and your wife aren't within 5 cm of each other....

I assume that gravity will still apply and we'd both get wet to an acceptable standard, although maybe not get the approved coverage rate

They could save themselves a lot of work by using the height adjustable shower heads...

Yes, but they are so passé

Exactly. Rain shower, baby

They are informal and like to use diminutives of their names...

What kind of measurements do you think they'd need for installing one of these then?

Ahh. Rain shower. Jealous. How cool. Given that my husband and I differ by about 30 cm in height, maybe I could get a little stepstool for the shower if we ever got one. As for any sitting devices, I'm happy if my feet can touch the floor. ;-0


I find that the Swiss are much more relaxed on administrative issues than the relevant authorities in the US.

So we moved in January, to a new canton. As usual, we are rather disoriented and disorganized, and I'm still pretty tired from last year's medical adventure. Anyway, we registered in the new place, but forgot to de-register in the old. Got a letter last week, called the old place said "oops, sorry", and they said, "Nicht so schlimm" - I just need to send an email with a scanned copy of our permits. And I've done crap like that before, too.

Also, I know that some people have had problems with permits. We went through green card and citizenship crap in the US. Getting our permits here was a non-issue in terms of time, cost, and personal degradation.

And finally, having had a lot of medical stuff last year, and not one reason to argue with insurance about coverage (so not the case in the US).

I rather like being here. But of course YMMV.

Being a Swiss, I know how important measurements are.

Being a Kiwi I know how to spot walls that aren't at right angles where they should be... and living in Switzerland I have spotted them in my relatively new apartment!

Has a Swiss ever measured up to 20cm?

Not a measurement post, but my reasons for loving the Swiss are basically Fondue, Raclette, and Jasse. Fondue and Raclette are also the reasons I have for disliking the Swiss, because every time I eat them they seem to want to stay with me. Ok, it's a measurement post. As in, I can't decrease my measurements around my middle. But at least I get to eat good, no, GREAT cheeeeeeeeeeeese!

Oh, and hey! I just worked out why my Profile pic wasn't my avatar. W00t!

So just to recap and make sure I understand this right:

In Switzerland, it's not just what you do with it, but size is important too!!!

My neighbour was telling me yesterday how he had been disappointed when he visited the Miniature Switzerland museum, because it only lasted 30 minutes... I thought: "Switzerland is a tiny country, so a miniature CH would be small indeed", but said nothing and helped myself to another 12 cm high glass of wine!

When we moved into our (new) apartment in 2009, the corners of the walls weren't sealed with silicone, some contractor had made a bloody mess of the baseboards (poorly installed, some joints surrounded by old adhesive), the slope of the deck causes water to drain *away* from the drain.....I could go on. According to our landlord, the place was 'perfect'.

Because I am Swiss. Nuff said