Day2Day @ pangolin.li

100 balloons draw attention - especially if it is 25 * 100 balloons! Check out these pictures and movie of our Zurich streetparade ‘07 event…

Ramses’ pics

Youtube video of us when we joined the main parade

For the statistics: We started inflating the balloons at noon and were ready by 4 pm. After 3 hrs in the crowd my smile muscles ached because of the posing for about 1000 photos… The number of balloons was reduced to approx. 25 by then.

My biggest ever Christmas present is getting real! The combined donations of our families and friends instead of Christmas presents, plus some addition from my part, summed up to 1742$!!! Thank you, dear families & friends, for this generous present!
After transferring the sum to Chitra at Shinta Mani, in Cambodia, I got the great news back: The village of Bantey Srei, consisting of 10 families, and close to the famous “women’s temple” with the same name, will get our donations:

• 4 water wells, to bring clean ground water to all families
• 4 sewing machines, to let some women make money by selling clothes
• 4 bicycles, to bring goods to the market, or kids to school
• 4 packages of food for a family for a month
• 4 piglets, to feed up and sell
• 17 school uniforms, allowing 17 kids to visit school for a year
• and, last but not least: 2 toilets, one for men and one for women

Chitra’s suggestion to use the “cash” I added for toilets sounded strange to me, first. It’s not what you’d expect to donate for. But so far, there has been no toilet in the Bantey Srei village. This may well be one of the most sustaining parts of the donations.
Chitra is now organizing for the things to be built and purchased. We’ll be visiting Bantey Srei during our holidays in Cambodia, in December. I’m looking forward to see my Christmas present!!!

Das ging aber schnell - und es ging nochmals gut… Die Episode “Sichtschutz im Auto” scheint zu einem Ende gekommen zu sein. Nach einer Busse von Fr. 100 wegen Transports von sichtbehinderndem Bambus auf dem Beifahrersitz, und einer Einladung zu rechtlichem Gehör, hinter dem sich ein drohender Ausweisentzug wegen einem mittelschweren Vergehen versteckte, sind die Beamten des Strassenverkehrsamtes nun zum Schluss gekommen, dass all das doch nicht so schlimm war. Die Verfügung beurteilt mein Vergehen nur noch als leicht - ohne Ausweisentzug. Dafür kostet der Spass aber zusätzlich nochmals 110 Fr. Anzumerken ist, dass einer der drei Bambusse serbelt…
Das Bundesgericht hat vor kurzem bestätigt, dass das Fahren in einem Auto mit vereisten Scheiben, mit nur einem kleinen Guckloch, ein mittelschweres Vergehen ist.

Aliza and myself just undertook a sentimentality trip today, to overcome our longing for small mammals of the furry kind.

I mean, Aliza has spent the past 3 or 4 years in the Kalahari observing Yellow Mongooses (or Mongeese? well, “Fuchsmangusten” in German), following their every step and listening to whatever sounds they uttered.

So Aliza’s probably THE expert on yellow mongooses. Worldwide. But now she’s fighting a lone battle with statistics to finish her PhD, in cold Zurich, far away from the sounds and smells of the Kalahari. And far away from furry sweeties like Choc Chip or Mickey… Doesn’t this sound dramatic? It does to me - I’ve only spent 2 weeks in the Kalahari Meerkat Project, but still miss the scurries.
It goes without saying that the birth of three meerkat pups in a combined meerkat/mongoose exhibition in the Rapperswil KinderZoo was reason enough to board the old steam boat on Lake of Zurich for a ride to Rapperswil, to visit the kats n’yellows. Here are our observations (mostly Aliza’s):

• The three yellows where more active than the kats, but still sedated compared to their cousins in the wild. Obvious to the expert eye was that the yellows were much more nervous than their wild counterparts. Poor thingies…
• A hot-air balloon is a strange kind of bird. Being a yellow, you can strain your ears and watch it for 10 minutes - but still no signs of attack. Hot-air ballons don’t seem to live on small mammals (contrary to rat creatures).
• And the meerkats? The kats were L.A.Z.Y., worse than during the Kalahari midday heat. Mama plus 3 pups formed a ball with an indiscriminate number of legs and tails sticking out. Papa watched us, his boredom indicating that we’re about as scary as a january bush. But they were SWEET!!!

Instead of xmas gifts, I asked my family & close friends for something else, this year - for a very early Christmas! And their donations just reached 1000$!!!

Their donations will be used to support a village in Cambodia, where we will spend a few days during our vacation in December. Through the community programme of Shinta Mani Hotel in Siem Reap (Angkor) we can support families with wells, “live piggy banks”, bicycles, sewing machines, school uniforms etc.
Makes more sense and and will maybe give even more lasting joy than x-mas gifts.

Thanks to Aliza, my friend from the Kalahari, I’ve been to the mountains again, visiting the Rosenlaui valley near Meiringen in the Bernese Alps! I admit that I’ve probably seen more places in her home country South Africa than in my home country Switzerland - but still: HIKING?
Here are my findings:

1. The 3 hr hike (or rather walk) from Meiringen (or rather from the Reichenbachfall cablecar) past the Reichenbach waterfall to the Rosenlaui Schlucht (gorge) was indeed beautiful.
2. I am getting old. Luckily I had my camera with me, so I could stop to take pics and breathe.
3. There are still cows with horns left in Switzerland. What a relief!
4. This is the first time (ever) I saw wild meadow saffron. Autumn has come.
5. It is really true that Swiss Postautos (post busses) reach even the remotest of places here. Luckily.

Inflate 200 balloons and everyone will want your pic…

It’s great having not just great friends, but also fun friends. Thanks, Olivier and Ramses, for the funny Streetparade evening!

More pics on Olivier’s site!

Sind meine Freunde wirklich soo faul? Oder lag’s wirklich dran, dass alle grad in den Ferien, schwanger oder sonstwas sind? Anyway, grad mal 5 Nasen wollten meinem Aufruf zum “Böötle (Schlauchboot Fahren) auf der Reuss” mit professionellem Veranstalter folgen…

Aus Frust habe ich mir gleich im Migros für Fr. 55.- ein knallblaues Gummiboot gekauft. Und hab mich halt alleine auf den Weg/die Wellen aufgemacht, von Eggenwil nach Melligen. Ihr seid alle selbst schuld. Es war nämlich so richtig lazy, landschaftlich wunderschön (auch nach dem Foort), mit angenehmer Abkühlung in der einen oder anderen Mini-Stromschnelle, und dank manchen Gleichgesinnten auch nicht gefährlich…
Aber wenn ihr nicht wollt, seid ihr halt wirklich selbst schuld.

It seems my dear friend Olivier felt a bit bored, this afternoon. So he took his Mac, and played with iWeb for an hour or so. Check out his brandnew website and the nice pics - and let’s look forward to more about the world according to Olivier!!!

My friend Donal’s enterprise finally has a name - and a website! With iforb.com, based in Switzerland, Donal now offers his knowledge and experience of SIP and SS7 Voice platforms and technologies in the open market.
It’s maybe not the kind of service that most of my other friends & family might require - but if you do want to design and operate your own next-generation telco telephony network, Donal’s the one to consult…