Our beloved Nespresso Coffee machine went on the blink yesterday.

I was about to stuff it in the back of the car when I suddenly remembered having read something related to service on the Nespresso web page. Something which sounded like:

As part of the Nespresso system, your machine guarantees a perfect coffee, so it is important to maintain and care for it. In case of technical issues, we can carry out an immediate diagnosis over the phone, and if necessary, offer you our Assistance Service Programme, which includes:

• collection of the machine from your home
• providing you with a loan machine
• repairing your machine
• return of your machine to your home
• extending your guarantee for a further 6 months

If your machine is within the guarantee period, this service is free. If not, our Assistance Service Department can offer you this program for a flat fee.

As I had already located the invoice, we called the service number, explained our plight and were informed that our machine was to be switched this morning already!

And low-and-behold: at approx. the time when the post gets delivered..the postlady appeared at our door with an enormous box. I unloaded the replacement machine, packed our patient and off she was..

I am gob-smacked! But I have a feeling this isn’t over yet..

Looking for a prepaid cellphone card in Switzerland and are considering Sunrise?

Try Google!

Or maybe not:

Vic had the great idea of losing her cellphone during our recent holidays so we got her a temporary (cheapo) phone with a Sunrise prepaid card.

And as she mainly communicates via SMS, we went for an offer which includes 1’000 free messages (to be sent within a period of three months – should bearly be enough.. ;-)) and a whopping CHF 2.00 conversation capital.

Two weeks later, she informed us that she wasn’t able to send any SMS anymore!

After a quick call to the Sunrise helpdesk, she was then informed that (free) messages could only be sent if she had a credit; which she didn’t, of course, as you can imagine just how long the CHF 2.00 lasted for.

“No problemo: let’s top up your credit online”, I said and proceeded to find the appropriate link on the Sunrise homepage.

“Dear customer”, it told me, “in order to recharge your account, you need a special, really hush-hush, secret password”. “And in order to get one, simply send an SMS to….”. *BOING*.

But ahaaah: it was also possible to call a special number and request the password…..from your mobile phone. *BOING*.

“Oh well”, I told Vic, “I’ll simply pop by the station on the way to work and reload it via the ticket machine”. A great service, BTW: you enter the cellphone number, the amount you wish to “upload”, insert your credit card and woosh, Bob’s your uncle.

Well: at least that’s the way it works with all the other phone companies I know of.

Sunrise doesn’t go “wooosh”, Sunrise goes “whir, whir” as it prints out a 73 digit code you then have to enter into your phone. *BOING*

So, Granmas, Uncles, and Godmothers of this world: forget about giving little Johnny a Sunrise Prepaid card for Christmas with the intention of topping it up remotely whenever you feel like it.

Get a Swisscom one instead!

Drove past the area where the Crazy Nock Brothers, a stuntman show, were to exercise their talents later today.

Entrance Fee: Adults CHF 25.00, Children CHF 15.00

CHF 80.00 for a family of 4? Crazy they are!

As Pina went to bed earlier tonight (these weekends are getting EXHAUSTING for the old bird.. ;-)) I decided to take out the flight simulator which is built into the latest version of Google Earth for a spin (didn’t know? Press <ctrl>-<alt>-a and you’ll see what I mean.)

Spent a great time crashing into our house as well as various hills in the neighbourhood before dislocating to a more interesting place, namely Zermatt.

I took off from Sion and flew up the Vispertal, then the Mattertal and, after a couple of minutes, there she was in all her glory: the Matterhorn!

As I didn’t have to be back until the next morning, I decided to fly on and take a look from the other side (it’s not everyday that you get that opportunity) expecting the mountain to look pretty much the same.

Surprise! I wonder how many Swiss would recognise the south side of their favorite alp:

On October 21, 2007 the Swiss population will be electing a new federal parliament.

Swiss voters will elect all 200 members of the House and 44 of the 46 members of the Senate.

There is no national ballot. Strictly speaking, the federal election consists of 26 cantonal elections held on the same day. Voters are only allowed to vote for candidates in the canton where they are officially registered. Candidates run in one canton only.

The 4 major parties in this country (and as such represented in the Federal Council) are the Christian Democrats (CVP/PDC), the Social Democrats (SPS/PSS), the Liberal Democrats (FDP/PRD) and the Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC).

The latter is the most right-wing of the four, steadfastidly defending patriotic values until the bitter end…and by all means. And so, every four years, we are treated to the most unambiguous campaign, such as this year’s:

You’ll certainly have gotten the message: let’s kick the “black sheep” out of our country, the said sheep being criminal foreigners.

I wouldn’t call myself a leftie, nor do I support the building of minarets in Swiss villages (forcing “integration” down people’s throats is not the solution; it only causes EVEN MORE dissent and prejudices).

But I can’t help feeling that the SVP (UDC in the French-speaking part) just went a little overboard with the following video – which has since been removed from their web site by court order:

Note the transition between heaven (Himmel) and hell (Hölle): Joseph G. would have been proud of you!

P.S. And why was the video banned may you ask?