Monday Evening

Not too much to report so far this week. I made it through my first quarter at my new client last week, so it was great to have a relaxing weekend. But it was still productive. As all of my furniture has now been built (thanks, IKEA), there was quite a mess here in the apartment. So I ventured out to the Coop City, which is one of the two larger grocery chains locally. They have other wares too, like vacuum cleaners. I promptly purchased the cheapest one I could find and made it back to the apartment on the bus before whipping this place into shape.

Just when you thought this blog couldn't get any more exciting, I'm about to blow your mind. Besides the new vacuum, I also got a couple nice long runs in this weekend (watch out October half marathon), found a new and improved grocery store around the corner with Cinammon Toast Cruch (though called something like CinniMinis here and without nearly enough sugar), discovered the ability to rent movies on iTunes, found a nearby theater where I'm going to see The Hangover featuring Wilkesboro's own Zack Galifinacus (sp?) sometime soon (in ENGLISH!), juiced up the blog a bit with a slideshow of last Sunday's Tour de France visit, ate a jambon/fromage/spinach crepe and some locally-renowned Mövenpick ice cream, and had my ears lowered. Nice little non-eventful weekend never hurt anyone.

Today was back to the grind. But we are comforted this Monday with the possibility of having Friday off. As it's August 1, my client is closed for Swiss National Day. My firm doesn't officially grant this as a holiday, but as long as things go well this week, Thursday is the new Friday (for this week at least). Perhaps I will spend the time figuring out what Swiss National Day is all about. Or maybe I'll just celebrate July 4th again.

Le Tour De Lance 2009

Last weekend I took to the hills...here called the Swiss Alps...for a little cycling action. Its first year coming through La Suisse, the Tour was winding up the mountains near Verbier in the canton of Valais. Verbier is a famous ski resort town best reached by gondola. But the riders took a different approach. We had an awesome time, one that would only have been better had Lance been the leader coming around the switchback instead of his teammate Contador. Take a look.

Italia for the Weekend

So the weekend of July 4...took a little trip down to visit the Southards in Brescia, Italy. We celebrated by visiting Verona for the day on Saturday before coming back to Brescia for cheeseburgers (Italian-style, of course!) and Budweiser (sold in 3-packs?). It was a great time, and many thanks to Mark and Dana for hosting. If you have a few minutes, check out the slideshow I put together at carolinasalut.slide.com.