How I Burned 100CHF in Zurich

This morning was unlike many, many others in Zurich: (1) it was sunny and (2) I felt like running. So before Mother Nature or I had a chance to renege on our intentions, I took a quick swig of coffee water, rolled my ankles a few times, and ran aimlessly down my street with the goal of making a decision on where to go by the time I reached the traffic light. And once at the traffic light, I decided to just keep going straight since I hadn't decided on anything.

I eventually got to Letzigrund, the main stadium in Zurich, and was excited to see event posters plastered around with a big "Gratis" in bold letters; excited not only because this was one of the ten or so German words I knew, but because it means "Free"! I asked a security guard at the entrance if I could come in, and he didn't understand me, but since he moved out of the way, I took it as a yes. I eventually found an event organizer, who told me it was a run to raise money for MS (Multiple Sclerosis), and that even though I didn't have any sponsorship, I was welcome to run on the track since it was better for my knees than the sidewalk (how thoughtful!)... and so, I ran in the Lions Joggathlon & Walkathlon for a few miles and enjoyed being at the center of a huge stadium while listening to a mix of American R&B and Swiss German encouragement over the loud speakers.

I don't look forward to running (just to run) and infrequently go out on my own initiative, but I do love the post-effects. Also, sometimes it's good to just get lost in your own thoughts, and since I left my iPod at home, that's exactly what I did. I bounced back and forth between the superficial and significant, thinking about my last days in Zurich and what the next months will bring, and then thought awhile about how lucky I am: having the opportunity to live abroad, travel around the world, genuinely enjoy my job, having awesome friends, family, and my health intact. I don't do enough to repay the hand I've been dealt, but I figured the least I could do was donate to the charity organizing the event I crashed. And since some friends I know in Zurich literally burned through a 100CHF bill two days earlier (in a silly and embarrassing way that need not be recounted...), I figured I'd follow up and burn the same bill for something a bit nobler.

Hahnenwasser Hassles

One of the most annoying things about Zurich is the lack of table water provided at most restaurants. It's always nice not to have to ask for something, but when you explicitly request hahnenwasser (tap water), it's been more often the case for me that a waiter will bring a 5CHF bottle of something fancy and open it before I have a chance to argue. Or they will say they don't serve hahnewasser, or they have to charge for it.

I understand that the service industry is different in Europe than it is in United States. I am accustomed to the campy customer-is-always-right-your-wish-is-my-command attitude, along with frequent check-ins to make sure I don't want a refill, and that everything is alright -- with me, my food, and my life (superficially). This is not what I expect, nor is it what I necessarily want, but come on... no free tap water?! Even France, a country regarded as having less-than-charming service, always has a carafe of water at the table when dining. Ignoring the additional cost, all of the extra bottles are just unnecessary waste. And the irony is that once you leave a restaurant in Zurich, you have 1200 public water fountains awaiting to quench your thirst.

I've learned to live without ice, even when it's not included in an "ice tea", but this custom is one that leaves me dry. Literally.

My Soup

So, I have a blog, I tweet, I buzz, I post all of my pictures online, I have a Facebook account, and now I have my own soup. I heard about soup.io, one more micro-blogging tool, from some people in Zurich, and I wanted to try using it as a visual scrapbook for art, comics, illustrations, etc. that I like from the web. Whereas I might use Twitter or Buzz or even my blog to vent, seek attention, or emote, I wanted a single place where I can collect and only collect the things I think are cool on the web. Labeling items in Reader or using Bookmarks wasn't a good solution because it's not a persistent store of the content; if what I was linking to ever disappeared, it would be gone forever. And I don't use any central bookmarking tool, so these tend to be scattered across a few browsers on a few machines and eventually are disposed off upon a hard drive crash or format. All the other blogging and micro-blogging services are too polluted with other nonsense thoughts and links, so soup.io seemed to be a solution I could use for this specific purpose. Plus, it supports inline images. I don't expect anyone to follow it, but maybe you've been looking for a solution to something similar, or just want to name squat on another site.

FREE TAVIS

There has been some interesting press around the responsible disclosure debate lately, mainly initiated by a recent vulnerability discovered by my colleague, Tavis Ormandy. Tavis is one the most skilled and devoted security researchers I know. The guy spends a good chunk of his free time finding and patching security bugs in important software... for free. While his opinions on what constitutes responsible disclosure may not match Microsoft's, I don't consider his motives evil, certainly not meant to aid attackers, and in no way influenced by Google. It disappoints me to see he's taken such a one-sided beating lately, so if you're at all familiar or interested in the debate, make sure you read a view of the other side.

Image courtesy of lcamtuf.

Prepping for Return

I just bought a one-way flight to San Francisco, and thus, my year abroad is coming to a close. Many things that I'll miss and be sad about leaving behind, but let's stick to the happy... this isn't Livejournal! For one, I'm actually coming back for part of July and August to finish up some work in the Zurich office, so I can more gracefully come to terms with my departure from this strange and foreign land. Two, there are at least a couple of things I am immediately looking forward to: hanging out with friends I haven't seen in a long time, Mexican food and Radio La Kalle, stores being open on Sundays, Amazon Prime 2-day delivery, all of my electronics working without converters, lower prices, default English, default sun. Oh, and pickles... they make the pickles too sweet for my taste in Switzerland. Give me the dill!

Outside of moving, I'm starting to brainstorm what's next. Whether I'll go back to living in the south bay area with a negligible commute and pool accessible apartment, or try out living in San Francisco... perusing which classes I want to try at The Crucible and CCA... refinding some physical activity besides soccer where I can unleash my aggression (so that I don't have to do it in code reviews)... and then other important life decisions, like if I should get one or two kittens once I'm settled, or whether I should waste my money on a big screen TV or projector setup. Advice or a roll on your magic eight ball appreciated.

Somebody Stole my Strawberries!

And I even had them labeled "Parisa: 21/4/2010", per hostel refrigerator protocol (name: departure date). And these were not just any strawberries, but plump and gorgeous berries that I picked up from the Boqueria off La Rambla. Humph.

You see friends, I am stuck in Barcelona and will be here until the skies clear up and air traffic in Europe resumes. Buses and trains are booked solid for another week and the situation looks unclear for flights. Yes, there are far worse places to be stranded than Barcelona, but my parents are visiting Zurich on Thursday (my mom's first time to Europe!) and I was really looking forward to showing them around.

Ignoring that small issue, this change of plans has given me more time to explore Barcelona, admire the Gothic and modern architecture, and practice some Spanish. So I'm not really complaining for myself, but it's crazy how many people this has impacted and left stranded on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Just as announcements yesterday were made that airports would start to resume operations, new reports are being made of another ash cloud on the rise. I'm interesting to see the economic impact after everything (including the volcano) calms down. I'd earlier speculated that this volcano's sudden eruption was Iceland's planned attempt to bring down the rest of the EU economy, one airline at a time, but now I prefer an alternate Tweet I read yesterday... Iceland's last wish: to have its ashes scattered all over Europe.

American Airlines Still Sucks

I didn't want to detail all of the reasons American Airlines sucks in my last post because most of it would have come off as petty. How can I genuinely complain about not getting any food on a 5 hour flight when there are people starving. What gives me the right to complain about not getting accommodation assistance after a canceled flight (in terms of either money or suggestions) when I have the protection of an airport roof to keep me warm.

I really wasn't going to complain about AA, but I changed my mind because of something that happened yesterday on my return flight from SFO that really annoyed me.

I was getting off at NYC for a layover and was followed off the plane by one of the stewardesses and a elderly man holding a sign that said, "I can't speak English. Please help me make my connection ... [flight information] ... " I asked an AA employee behind the gate counter if I had to recheck my luggage since my next leg was international. The stewardess cut in and asked if the man behind the counter could call for an escort for the passenger that didn't speak English. The passenger was an older naive-looking man, standing off to the side, completely oblivious to the noises in his surroundings. The AA employee said that AA stopped the escort service and that not speaking English is not considered a disability, so they couldn't call for an escort. The stewardess was a bit flabberghasted at this (good for her) and asked if they could call someone from the airport. The man looked calm, rationalized the policy, and suggested the passenger try to follow the signs. More back and forth between the two, and when it seemed like they were just going to let this poor man wander through the JFK jungle in search of his gate (which was in another terminal), I interrupted and asked if they could call him a wheelchair that could take him. The AA employee thought on it and proceeded to call one. I didn't stick around to find out what happened because I had to get to my own terminal, but I assume they went the wheelchair route.

This is not how you do customer service.