Photos: October 2006 Archives

I've been back in Switzerland for a little over a week but I thought it would be nice to share the looks of our (Navarco's) temporary offices that doubles (or begins, really) as George's apartment in the Wollishofen section of Zürich - on the left (west) side of the Lake of Zürich. Since my return - my 6th trip to Zürich in a year - the city has started to grow cold again and the leaves are changing in preparation for winter. However, the country hasn't gotten the weather report totally down yet. Today, we had a lunch meeting downtown with a couple of fund managers and I arrived wearing a polo shit, sweater, a suit jacket and an overcoat (rain-style).

After lunch, George and I wondered downtown in search of a Nespresso store so he could buy some coffee. Within 15 minutes I was stripping on the streets - down to the polo, as I was roasting away in all my layers. But the day was beautiful and we were happy - the city was happy - everyone was out, enjoying the day. But we worked (as we have a company to build in a new land).

At 8PM, I headed home. And I was happy to have all my layers, as it was briskly cold. But it was a good day, and I had warm food waiting for me at the other end. Above are the shots from the "office" windows. On the right you can see (if you look closely) the swiss pride at work.

I have been thinking of getting a new (mobile) phone for months. I like the Sony Ericsson UI - always have. But I have been thinking about moving to the Motorola V3i for form over function reasoning, and so that I might make the switch to flip vs. candy-bar. BTW - a great review site lives here: Mobile-Phones-Uk.org

But the problems over which phone to pick only grows from there. For example: I would rather have the SE UI vs. the RAZR version. I would also prefer the functions of the SE (K800i) vs the RAZR, but I don't want to be carrying around a "brick" that occasionally "self opens" the camera lid when in your pocket. Which brings me back to the RAZR,..but I hate the UI and I cannot believe that Motorola still doesn't have a multi-numbered concept per entry. (What's with that? Its 2006/7, already!) I have several hundred contacts in my phone directory - each with 1, 2, 3 or 4 numbers and a couple of extras like email addresses. That adds up. The scroll "nipple" on my old SE is already well worn from scanning down the list. That would multiply by 2-6 times with the RAZR UI.

But,...still: my old SE phone is a bit bothersome due to the candy-bar form and it likes to call people from my pocket (because its bored, I guess) - despite the key-lock being engaged. A colleague of mine named Aaron is continuously the recipient of unwanted (and empty) text messages send by my bored, pocket residing and "supposedly" key-locked phone. A clamshell would solve this. Give me a K800i in a clamshell model and I'd jump, but the problem is that it would measure 3 inches thick.

What I really want to know is: Don't Sony Ericsson and Motorola know this? They assuredly use their own phones and have secret labs where they investigate the competition's, don't they? Doesn't the CEO of Motorola carry a RAZR? If he does, how the fuck does he not notice that it takes 20 minutes to find the right number because it lists them one-at-a-time-in-a-single-file-fashion-that-lists-Aaron's/cell-Aaron's/home-Aaron's/work-Aaron's/fax-Aaron's/email-Aaron's/beachhouse, etc? And how does the CEO of SonyEricsson not notice that his phone is dead because the camera has been filming the inside of his coat pocket for the last 3 hours (with sound) while he was attending a VIP brunch at the "happy ending" Sushi House? Come on guys! As a friend of mine loves to say, "have your people call my people"...but the problem is that they either have dead phones or can't find the number.

The verdict is still out.

While rummaging for the cellphone hiding in my pocket, it played (to its own contented happiness): Bitch Called Jealousy from the album "Sky Daddy" by Alan St. Jon.