What's new?A few Rules.

I am sure some of you have already been back and forth to my blog site wondering WHEN I would post more stuff. Truth is I don't have anything new to post. I am a pretty private person about sharing feelings on demand like some of you experienced bloggers, but with time I might get into it.....I am sure the swiss Alps will inspire me!
We are not expected to actually live there until August; although, I will be making a trip soon to look for a cave or a house or an appartment or something of that nature to use for permanent shelter when I won't be camping out at the grandkids dorms....I have been doing some reading and thought I might share a few entertaining facts:

• Switzerland has four official languages: German spoken by 65 % of population, French 20% (21% when we move there), Italian 6% and Romansh spoken by around 35,000 pers. The language spoken in Germa-speaking Switzerland is refered to as Swiss German and bears supposedly little resemblance to High German usually written. Any good Swiss worth his (ski)powder knows the difference.....hum, should be fun.....
• Public Holidays: New Years Day(Jan.1st), St Bertchtold's Day(Jan.2d), Good Friday (March or April), Easter Monday(the day after Easter), May Day(May 1st), Ascension Day(40 days after Easter in May), Whitsuntide (Pentecost, 10 days after Ascension)usually in June, Swiss National Day (August 1st), Christmas Day (Dec.25th) and Boxing Day(Dec.26th). If the Holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday then often time the employee can take the Friday or Monday off to make a long week-end(same in France).
• Taxes: in addition to regular car/gas taxes, when a visitor or any other person living there enters Switzerland to visit you need to buy a little sticker to give your car permission to ride on swiss motorways at CHF. 40 per year on the spot at the border.You get a hefty fine if your car is found without it. This is a tax to help with sharing of the cost of road maintenance. (wouldn't that be a good things to do here to help maintain little roads that get distroyed by traveling passerbys from other counties or states?) However to keep it in perspective, this extra cost per year for the privilege to ride on the finest highways of Europe (so the book says) is about the equivalent of same price as a single days' motoring on French, Italian or Spanish motorways.
• Rules good to live by: Sunday is a day of rest and it is forbidden by Law to work on Sunday (ya!) . As a result, absolutly no loud noise(like banging in nails or playing loud music) on Sundays and Public holidays, and during siesta time ( from noon and 2pm when children and elderly need quiet time to rest). Really nice.
• Power Supply: electricity runs on 220volts AC,10 amps max with a frequency of 50 hertz( as opposed to US with 110v./60hz). That means I can't use my wedding gifts anymore.....gotta get new appliances...rough!
• Waste disposal: at around 675kg of waste per head of population annually, around 1/2 waste is recycled....by law. other garbage is disposed of by using special "official" bags purchased in local stores with a tax applied to the bag depending on its size. Rubbish dropped off in unoficial bags will not get collected and local waste detectives may track you down and fine you.(CHF 100).
• Bills: Most utility bills payment can be taken care of at the Post office, through a 'giro' service. Cheques drawn on bank account are hardly ever used to pay bills as bank have heavy fees associated with cheques usage. Giro form come pre-printed with the bill or it MUST be filled out in BLOCK CAPITAL letters. No corrections alound so get it right the first time...payment made in Cash only. When writing numbers, the number 7 must be crossed to avoid mixing it with the number 1. Fair enough.
• Phone: Most Public telephones accept pre-paid phone cards rather than coins. These cards, available at Post office or Kiosk News Stands and stores come in a variety of designs and have become the object of collectors there and around many countries. Phone, ADSL and Cable connections are handled about the same as in US
• TV and Radio , DVD and VHS: different standards than the rest of europe so appliances have to be purchased specifically for Switzerland.DVD and VHS use different country codes and have to be played on respectively compatible appliance (ex: US DVD on US TV with transformer, etc...)Incidently, SWISS DVDs are not compatible with other europeen appliances and vice versa.
• TV or Radio Licence must be purchased by all TV and or radio owners (including car radios). It is sort of a televisual/sound reception concession . If the TV is used only for games or computer monitor for example then no license is required. Band width for radio in Switzerland is the same as around the world. TV license cost around CHF 293 per year and radio is CHF169 per year. (CHF means swiss francs)