As the year draws to a close

it is probably time to sit back and take stock of what has happened and indeed what is still happening in the world. We have plenty of wars, not very much food, drought, floods, severe snow and ice storms, earthquakes, avalanches and no doubt plenty of other things that fill the newspapers and TV screens- anybody have any good news for me?
I am happy to be home early from the office today- to help out in the kitchen and get the place ready for our guests this evening. It is nice to celebrate in the neighbourhood and not have to fight with lots of other people for a taxi at 1:45 on a freezing cold 1st January morning :-) First I will need to speak with Figaro and have my few remaining hairs chopped into some kind of order and I think that I might even go crazy and shave for the occasion............
Next year will be another tough one for most people involved in business- the full effects of this current crisis are still to be felt and the good news is that a change of presidency in the USA might put a little fire under the pot and get things moving again. How long it will take to pay back the new debt levels is something that I would rather not bother myself with.
Happy New Year- whoever and wherever you are!

Does anyone have some good news to share?

Apart from the US Election results last week, things only seem to be bleak and miserable in the world. With the Central Banks in Europe slashing rates this week and the US Economy burning jobs, we are not in for a very Merry Christmas. I'm not sure how this recession will turn out, but my guess is that it will still get quite a bit worse before we hit the bottom- and with the banking and financial sector having taken such a hit, the rate relief passed on by the Central Banks is not making it's way to Main Street. If you are a banker........ get out there and lend!!
I had a couple of busy days in London- and in case you were wondering, the weather was appalling! It was grey and miserable for all of the time that I was there- combined with the very short days, it didn't make for a lot of fun.
Back in sunny Zürich- I hope to get out and take some more photos around town today and get myself organised and ready for the new week.
Be smarter than the rest!

A couple of days until US Election Day

and perhaps the last chance to save the rest of the world. I'm calling on all the Americans out there to do the right thing and vote for change!! I would shudder to think of what might happen to the USA and the rest of the world should McSame and Palin get the jobs this coming Tuesday.
Our weekend has been far too short (nothing new there..) but I have managed to get my Oktoberfest photo challenge finished, we had an enjoyable dinner with some friends of Catherine's last night and today has been very relaxed and I have not even left the building yet! With a little luck, I will be able to spend more time in the gym in the next couple of months- doing the photo project was lots of fun but also very time-consuming and with my only chance to shoot photos by daylight being when I first leave the office in the evening my visits to the gym have been few and far between :-(

First snow of the season in Zürich today

and we are in for some more cool and miserable weather over the next couple of days. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining but it is a real change to come out of the office in the evening and have things cold and dark!
The markets have been volatile and silly again- I guess that things will be this way for quite a while to come and with Election Day coming up in the USA next week we have more than a little uncertainty to deal with. There are very few positives to come out of what has happened in the last few months but at least oil prices are back in the realm of "normal" and other commodities have softened although I believe that the demand for steel has almost dried up entirely.
Every day we are greeted by more news of companies in trouble- a Scandinavian discount airline went "belly-up" today sending shares in SAS surging and after the total madness in Volkswagen stock in the last couple of days, I don't know what to expect next.
We have all recovered from the weekend to Lyon- I have managed to edit most of my photos and have shared them with our fellow travellers and am looking forward to getting into bed at a reasonable hour this evening.
It's goodnight from me and it's goodnight from him. Good night!

Happy Birthday To You!

we have just arrived home after a great weekend away in Lyon with a group of friends. It was a belated birthday gift to Marion and we all enjoyed ourselves very much! Lyon is famous for food and drink, so there was really no need to hold back on that front.....
Shopping was also on the list of favoured activities and we came home with some bits and pieces for around the place too. I will look forward to trying my new bottles of Scotch at some point in the cooler weather.
I don't know too much more about what is happening in the world- my French is appalling, but I guess that if anything major had happened we would have been stopped in the street by Pierre the Beret and told what was going on :-)
After another wild week in the financial markets it looks as if it will be a tough road to the end of the year- at least we have changed our clocks so that we have something else to think about.
Good luck this week- I have a feeling that we are gonna need it!