Paying Bills the Swiss Way

Paying bills in Switzerland is a little different than the United States. First off, the Swiss don't use checks. This surprises a lot of Americans who use checks to pay bills and truthfully, it is kind of a pain in the butt. I still use my American bank account to pay student loans and storage fees in the US and I have to do a wire transfer to send money to that account.

There are some nice things about the system here though. For example, when one receives a bill, the company sends a slip of paper that has the account number, amount, and address of the receiver. It is standardized (and red!) and to pay, you just have to walk down to the post office, hand them the money (or use a bank card), and the post office transfers the money.

In the US, the mere mention of the post office would send shivers down my spine. This is Switzerland though and the post (pronounced: poscht) is much more efficient.

Another benefit: the post office also runs a sort-of bank so you can do all your banking business while paying bills. The only drawback is the post only deals with Swiss Francs and Euros. Oh well, it can't be perfect.

Missing My Neti Pot

I left my neti pot in Dallas. *sniff sniff* Love that thing.

It took me a while to get used to draining water through my nasal passage but once I did, I found that I love it when I am congested. Dallas has a lot of allergens in the air so I needed it once a month or so. Zurich, not so much but the winter means congestion, right?

The Home Stretch

Also known as the last month before birth. The baby is just getting bigger and bigger and not surprisingly, so am I. With my daughter, the last month was somewhat painful as all the indignities of childbirth are being practiced. Bounce is behaving somewhat the same, down to the fact he keeps his hand by his face.

I am so ready to be done. Well, not really. The crib we will probably never use is still in a box. Our mattress is on the floor because we don't have a bed frame yet. We don't have a dresser and since we live in Europe, land of no closets, all of our clothes are still in bags/suitcases.

Still, it would be nice to not be pregnant anymore. Then I could bend over and pick stuff off the floor.

We will be getting a bed frame soon, as soon as the people who are giving us one gets back from holiday. Ditto on the dresser. We just need to wait. Not my best skill.