Our house, built in 1988, does not have a Luftschutzkeller - apparently they had been done away with in SZ even back then.

Rumor has it that there is a Quartier shelter - but no one seems to know where it is, or even if it really exists.

Lawdy, after an evening at the Quartier Generalversammelung nerves are frayed to the breaking point; can't imagine what would happen if we all had to spend Armageddon together.

An acquaintance turned her Luftschutzkeller into a dog grooming area, new plumbing and all. But she has the right family name, permission to color outside the lines comes a bit easier for folks so blessed.

TIS, VE (This is Switzerland, village edition)

No snow in January and February and now it's flaking in March like a mad cow's been milked.

TIS!

You forget CHF 144,000 in the tram and get it back. TIS.
http://www.20min.ch/ro/news/suisse/s...-tram-10475834

(somehow, whatever I lost in the Lausanne transport system never made it back to me though...)

It's also snowing heavily in the U.K.

This is Europe? This is weather?

I realized after i'd gotten home that the lady at Landi had undercharged me 10 francs. I went back the next day to pay up, and the manager gave me a 15 franc bottle of wine as a token of appreciation.

TIS

Got mail from a delivery company notifying me that my package will be delivered today between 11:32 and 12:32.

Not 11:30, mind. 11:32.

Precision. TIS.

I forgot to get a picture, but there was a big note posted on the front doors of our building along the lines of:


Dear Residents, the cleaning staff needs to have access to the building between 8:00am and ----------. Please leave the doors unlocked for access.


and this was posted on the outside door totally legible to all who walk by on a very major street near a drug clinic.


Seriously, what are these people thinking!?!?!

Same in the UK. Sorry!

I always hear comments about the age discrimination at workplace, which is globally known trend that above 35 years of age, one's employability starts diminishing. Especially, it's true that Switzerland is more conducive place to work for younger experts.

The other day, I was browsing thru various engineering jobs on www.jobs.ch and found an advert that exclusively looks for candidates above +50 years of age:
http://www.jobs.ch/de/job/Elektronik...ade-max%5D=100

Mind you that it is not +35 y/o or +45 y/o. The ideal candidate must be +50 y/o. You are more than welcome to apply! TIS!

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Then you'd love the Kambly Train. I've eaten way too many bretzeli commuting to/from work on that train. I presume that this is Kambly and not the BLS, but either way: free biscuits on a train? TIS!

Thought I'd chip in with a classic 'Switzerlanded' scenario.

I'm in Sihlcity and ask at the info desk if there is a passport photo machine. The helpful lady points me to mister minit, who it turns out in addition to key cutting, shoe repairs and phone repairs even does a sideline in passport photos. I get the photos done without thinking to ask the magic question.

24 francs....what a mug.

2016 - The very last village will get street lighting : Surrein in Grison is enlighted.

Interresting story, why they had no light in the streets for so long, what changed their mind, who is still against it. (Sorry in German)

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/...story/13164469

We only got it last year, and only the main street.

Tom

"Last Thursday in Lucerne, Switzerland, a man lost a wallet with 7,070 francs in it"

http://lenews.ch/2016/04/18/handsome...-full-of-cash/

This morning in the post office.

A man standing there playing with wash of bank notes in his hands, obivously did not take a ticket number, waiting to be served.

What happened next:

1. Someone grabbed all his money
2. He was scolded for not taking a number
3. Walked to the counter and handed back a CHF 1000 bill, because he got one too many.

Guy was most likely not Swiss, and Gal at the counter was more than happy do not have a shortage at the end of the day.

The widely-held belief that having a degree in a subject means you are therefore qualified and able to successfully teach said subject, despite not having either the relevant credentials or any experience.

It didn't use to be that way. Nowadays, there's far too much focus on qualifications and not enough on experience. This even applies for those who have been employed over decades.

Some Swiss say this attitude was imported and is now more prevalent with all the foreigners not knowing the Swiss system with apprenticeship. It used to be that you could climb from clerk to CEO w/o seeing a university from the inside.

The Swiss laughed at the Austrians with all their titles and diplomas, even for the janitor.

It changed. In these days you need a Matura and further education for many jobs. Not because it is requested by some inept HR expert, but because it is mandated by the Swiss government. Especially, in health care and education.

The German language has a word for it: Titelgläubigkeit.

__________________
On Strike - ChatGPT knows more than I, so use it (or doesn't it?)

Hi


I think we may be at cross-purposes. Of course experience is vital but having the necessary professional qualification in order to fulfil a professional role should surely be important to? Both should be required, is what I'm saying.


A qualification without experience can arguably "just" be a piece of paper, but if you have that/those piece(s) of paper plus oodles of proven, well-documented experience, that should surely be preferable to someone who merely says "I reckon I could have a crack at that...!" Or no?





@A SwissintheUS - sorry I can't seem to quote you: are you saying that it doesn't matter if your health care and education professionals are

properly qualified or not?

This has become minor-rant.
Apologies. Is it 5 o'clock somewhere yet?

The far right and the far left join forces in a referendum (e.g. http://stop-au-dpi.ch/ ). TIS.