Max the Golden Retriever!

Katie and I took a big step this weekend by adopting a golden retriever from Golden Retriever Rescue of Houston. We both grew up with goldens so we were sure that we understood what we were getting into in terms of temperament, activity level, size--and volume of hair! We also felt that this was the right time in our lives to move forward with this kind of commitment. Even as recently as a couple of years ago it would have been unthinkable but now we have settled into enough of a routine and committed to a future together such that we know we can handle this new responsibility.

After spending some time on the GRRH website, we filled out an application which had a primary purpose of verifying that we understood the cost, time, and discipline commitments involved as well as screening for any signs of abuse.

After GRRH approved our initial application, we received a call from their coordinator to discuss in greater detail our lifestyles, home environment, and preferences. We were hoping for a young (1-3 years) but already trained golden that would socialize easily with other dogs and people. Katie and I are both very social so a dog that we could take to the dog park and to friends' houses would fit best with us. We were targeting youth so that its joints would be OK with all the stairs in our three-story townhome. Katie and I both grew up with female goldens so we had a natural bias toward getting a girl but we also knew we would love a boy just as much.

Based on the profiles on the GRRH website and on our phone conversations with them, we identified 5 candidates for potential adoption. The next step was to talk with the trainers and foster parents of each dog. The first trainer we contacted was actually training two of the dogs on our list. One of the dogs was incredibly sweet but apparently had a really hard time being around other dogs and the trainer just wasn't sure that was addressable. The more we talked with the trainer, though, the more we fell in love with her other dog, a three-year-old boy named Max.

On Thursday we made the decision to meet Max in person Saturday morning. He came in with his foster mom to Pet Paradise, where he had been boarded. We met them both there and had a chance to play with Max a bit, witness him showing off his tricks/training, and chat with the foster mom about her experience with him.

In short, it was love at first sight. He was incredibly sweet and very gentle but still with great enthusiasm and energy. He was quite smart and had been picking up his training very quickly. Unlike any golden I had seen before, Max was a very light cream color, almost white; apparently this is the British style of golden retriever.

At the end of our session, Katie and I said our polite goodbyes and let them know we'd come back to them with our reactions shortly. We made it maybe four steps out the door, though, when we looked at each other and, without words, we both knew that this was the dog. We decided to skip the formal decision process, turned right around, and said we'd take him if they would let us. By the time we reached our car in the parking lot, we had a call from the coordinator saying that the trainer and foster mom enthusiastically approved of our adopting Max so we could sign the adoption contract and pick him up as soon as we liked.

As we didn't have any dog supplies at home we delayed pick-up until the afternoon. In the meantime I picked my brother up at the airport and we worked out together for the first time in three months (Consequently I can barely move now out of soreness.) while Katie went to PetSmart for our first stock-up.

After lunch all three of us went to Pet Paradise to pick up our new boy. He was very excited to see us again and super easy to manage on a leash, in the car, etc. We introduced him to his new home, which he took to immediately, and spent awhile showing him around, taking him for walks, and just getting to know him a bit.

His first night was a rough one. While boarded (presumably) he had contracted kennel cough, the canine equivalent of the flu. This meant he was up all night with a hacking, productive cough (worse than Smuckers, on Seinfeld!) and, hence, we were up all night as well. Around 5 AM we finally took him to the vet just to make sure it wasn't something more serious but they put him on some antibiotics and confirmed that we would just have to wait it out for several days. No problem, as long as he's OK!

Sunday was a lovely day for all of us, lazing around the main floor, watching football, and introducing Max to the housemates. His cough is already getting better and he loves all the people around him showering him with attention. He still needs some training around where and when to do is business and not jumping up on people/things but, again, he's a smart boy and learning quickly. We have all the patience in the world to work with him because he is such a wonderful addition to our family and we just love him so much!

Luzern

This weekend was a fabulous trip to Luzern, where neither Katie nor I had ever been. More than just a quick trip, though, this was also our first experience traveling together with a dog--especially someone else's dog! I was a little anxious that something might go wrong and we would be far away from home but, as it turns out, Acacia is an amazing traveler.

Saturday morning we hopped on the train to Luzern and she was a perfect angel. I love being in a country where dogs are just considered part of the family and are let in basically everywhere. They ride trains and buses as easily and naturally as humans; you just buy a half-price ticket for them. Acacia just plopped down next to us and snoozed for most of the train ride.

When we arrived in Luzern we met up with Katie's mom and two aunts, who had just come in from Heidelberg, where one of them lives. We spent the afternoon catching up then went out to an early dinner at Schuetzengarten, a "vegetarian restaurant . . . with meat!" Their food was great with many vegetarian and vegan options--plus plenty of meat and fish options for those in our group who were not so inclined. However, all the recent factoids Katie recently unearthed about the energy and water chains in the [US] meat industry (e.g. eliminating 1 lb of meat from your diet reduces your water consumption more than not showering for an entire year!) motivated me to go the veggie route.

We were joined by two IMD classmates from Zurich/Zug at dinner and it was a real pleasure catching up with them. After dinner they dropped us off at the KKL concert hall for a Morcheeba concert. I discovered Morcheeba almost 10 years ago while I was living in Florence but had never seen them live. For the last several years I haven't had much interest in seeing them live without Skye Edwards, their original vocalist. However, they reunited for their most recent album so the timing was just perfect.

After a really subpar warmup act (One redeeming factor: he led a Bohemian Rhapsody sing-a-long before finishing.), Morcheeba took the stage and ROCKED OUT! Their live songs bear enough resemblance to the studio originals that they are still awesome, but their showmanship definitely adds a significant "can't get this on the album" element too. They played a great mix of of their older favorites and new additions; Skye Edwards has just as an awesome voice live as she does on recordings so I'm so glad she's back.

The one downside was that the crowd was very . . . Swiss. Almost no one was dancing or singing and it was tough for the rest of us to get down without bumping into people. Oh well, the music got Katie and me so pumped up that we just had to let loose anyway. When the concert finally ended we were sweaty and satisfied after a great performance.

Sunday we spent just walking around Luzern, including a traipse around the lake to Wagner's house. We met up with another IMD classmate and his wife for a late lunch and had dinner along the river with Katie's family. No agenda, just walking around a beautiful place and enjoying good food with good people.

Acacia caused a stir wherever she went. She's a very big girl (Not sure exactly how big--maybe 100 pounds?) and tourists are either scared by her or enchanted by her. Many tourists, especially Asians, timidly requested to have their picture taken with her. She's so sweet and good natured that this was no problem at all. And each restaurant we frequented brought her out a bowl of water--again, it's so nice to be in a place that supports dogs and their owners!

Monday morning we ascended Mount Pilatus, which offered gorgeous 360-degree views of . . . mostly clouds since there was a lot of cloud cover that day. Oh well, it was still a fun trip and there was some good mini-hiking at the top. Again, Acacia was so good on multiple modes of transportation: train, funicular, cable car, and bus. It was a nice excursion to wrap up a quick-but-excellent weekend with family and friends in a new place.

Now we are back in Lutry! Katie is on vacation and I'm trying to sneak in work during her naps and reading sessions. As I've known since her first visit during my IMD year, Switzerland is so, so much better with her here!

Back En Suisse

To beat the Houston summer heat I'm officing from Switzlerand for much of July and August. One of my favorite IMD professors is out of town for the summer and was looking for someone to watch his place, take care of his dog, water his plants, etc. Katie and I were looking for an opportunity to escape the Houston summer. Voila, a match made in heaven!

Narrowly escaping Hurricane Alex, my delayed flight made it out of Houston and arrived in Frankfurt too late for me to make my connection. That was no problem, though; Frankfurt's Star Alliance lounge was nice and World Cup soccer was on. As most of my readers will know, I'm no big fan of soccer but I do enjoy the cultural experience of watching momentous games in places where people take it very seriously. The game that was on during my layover in Frankfurt was Germany-Argentina so the entire airport was abuzz with excitement. In the lounge, they were offering both German and Argentinian cuisine--very festive. Germany scored early and often so most of the travelers around me were quite pleased.

Eventually I made it into Switzerland and was surprised by a few things. First, it didn't feel nostalgic at all. I suppose I haven't been gone long enough for that. It really just felt like I was coming back to a second home. Second, nothing has changed about Geneva Airport. In the nine months that I've been gone, so much has changed in my life and my business, but even the watch advertisements along the moving walkway in Geneva are the exact same as those from before I left.

Finally, this was my first time being picked up at the airport in a car. Previously I had always just taken the fast train back to Lausanne. This time, though, I am living in Lutry, about 5km outside of Lausanne. The distance isn't that great, but the dependence on an extra travel leg of bus or train adds significant time to travels and makes a car much more useful.

I spent most of the weekend catching up with my professor and familiarizing myself with the house. It is very, very nice and is going to be a wonderful place to spend the next several weeks. It features a pool, a great view of the lake, and--most importantly--it comes with a three-and-a-half-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog named Acacia! She's a big girl with lots of energy and she seems to like me. :-)

Sunday night we had an impromptu 4th of July dinner at my Singaporean classmate's house, joined by a French classmate, his wife, and an American/Swedish/Mexican classmate. It was so great to see people for the first time in months and we very naturally fell back into old patterns of career discussions and IMD gossip.

People are complaining about how unseasonably hot the weather is here right now but I will take the moderate, dry heat over Houston's oppressive heat/humidity any day! This isn't a vacation; I'm just taking advantage of the fact that right now it doesn't really matter where in the world I work. Still, it feels great to be back, especially at this time of year!

The Big Lebowski

I can't believe that June is almost over already; it has really flown by! It began with (although technically this was the end of May) dogsitting our friend's awesome chocolate lab. We took her on long walks around the neighborhood and frequent visits to Houston's many dog parks. Some couples are described as "baby crazy." Katie and I are definitely "dog crazy" and we intend to rescue one of our own this Fall.

The next weekend was a beach volleyball tournament in Galveston. My favorite men's 2s partner and I reunited for the first time in three years and had a great time. We lost two games by a little and won two games by a lot but that wasn't enough to advance to the playoffs. We played well, though, and one of our wins handed the top team in our bracket their only loss so we felt good about the day. Leaving early afforded us the opportunity to listen to Rice baseball win on the way back from Galveston, take a nap, and then Katie and I enjoyed dinner and a movie in the evening.

Rice baseball unfortunately did not advance out of the regional tournament hosted by UT. It was a really weird year for Rice; we lost many more games than usual and just didn't seem to have the dominant pitching for which we are known. The upside is that our offense was pretty awesome this season. Led by player of the year Anthony Rendon, we won several games by mercy rule. Offense comes and goes, though, so you can't rely on it alone in the post season. Oh well, at least football season is now right around the corner!

The following weekend Katie and I went to St. Louis for the first time for the wedding of a middle/high school classmate of mine. He had been another captain on the football team so many of our old teammates were there for the occasion. It was great fun to catch up with all the old guys; we tried not to spend too much time reliving the glory days and Katie was a great sport about it.

Last week I was up in Chicago (also for the first time) on business, which presented a great chance to catch up with some Rice folks I hadn't seen in some time. I made it back on Saturday, just in time to prep for The Dude Imbibes, a Big Lebowski trivia night. Katie's sister, Kelly, was in town with her boyfriend, Mike, who had never seen The Big Lebowski before. So, in order to prepare our team, we watched the movie with some white russians. Watching it again reminded me why it is still my favorite movie; every time I watch it I notice some new, subtle nuance.

The pub quiz was held at Little Woodrow's in the Rice Village. Although there were only nine teams (many fewer than we had had for the Seinfeld pub quiz a few months ago), the competition was spirited and we had a great time. Geeks Who Drink, the organizers, put on a really good event.

We aced most of the rounds of questions, although we fared poorly in the audio round, in which we had to identify obscure artists of music heard throughout the movie. Fortunately, everyone else fared poorly on that round too so we spent most of the event in second place. Some rounds featured bonus questions for which free beers were awarded to the individual who presented the first correct answer. We won all but one of those and the team next to us insisted that my speedy writing be tested for doping. :-)

We outperformed the top team in the final round to secure a tie for first place. This meant we had to settle it with sudden death overtime. The DJ played "The Final Countdown" to get us in the spirit and then we won by correctly answering the next question while the other team did not--amateurs! The DJ played "You're The Best" and the Quiz Master gave us our winnings. It was a good night! We paid $20 to enter, $20 for beer, and $40 for food. We won $70 plus four free beers so I think it worked out pretty well. To celebrate, we went home and watched Tombstone, which also features Sam Elliott.

Sunday we arose early and traveled out to JD Organic Farms to pick blueberries. If you're a blueberry lover (I add them to my cereal whenever possible.), it's a great deal. You pay $2.50/lb for whatever you pick. They're organic, local, cheap, not wastefully packaged, and easily frozen for future use. Between the four of us we picked 17 lbs in about an hour--AND the proprietors had a six-week-old golden lab puppy who was worth the price of admission all by herself.

After blueberry pie, scones, and pancakes, we froze the rest and participated in a vegan cooking class at Indika. As always, the results were delicious and it was so cool to cook in the kitchen of a major restaurant with the chef and sous chefs flitting about to help and advise.

It was a great weekend and a great month! Now I need to buckle down before heading off to Switzerland!

Life in Lausanne

It has been great living in Lausanne so far. Although IMD has kept me living in a bubble for most of my time here, my few ventures out have been very pleasant. Following is a brief survey of some aspects of this city that I have noticed.

The people are, generally, very nice. If I look like I'm not certain about where I'm going, someone will invariably stop and offer to help. The Swiss are very courteous to pedestrians. If I look like I'm even thinking of stepping into a crosswalk, cars coming from every direction will stop immediately. They're all willing to work with my rusty, rusty French too, which is a plus.

Speaking of languages, I have found Lausanne to be very international. Walking down the street I can hear French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and other languages that I can't recognize being spoken. There is a great little pizzeria around the corner from my apartment called Le Pinnochio; so far it has proven to be the best non-IMD venue for practicing my Italian.

People on the streets seem very . . . European. There have definitely been several Euromullet sightings and females wearing tight pants with high boots seem to account for roughly 85% of the population. Smokers are everywhere (What did this continent do before the discovery of tobacco?!) but one rarely sees cigarette butts on the ground due to the rigorous Swiss attention to daily street/sidewalk cleaning.

Dogs aren't very friendly to strangers, which is a shame. I see a golden retriever out for a walk and I want to go say hi, pet it, etc. but I get the impression that such just isn't the way here. Anywhere dogs might be walked is lined with pooper scooper bag dispensers every few hundred feet and owners seem to take their clean-up responsibility seriously. The risk of stepping in something unpleasant is very low--this will be important when I'm late and running to campus for an interview!

Half bottles of wine are widely available in both wine shops and restaurants. I am told that this is in reaction to Switzerland's tough drunk driving laws. Whether I drink a full bottle or just a half, there are multiple recycling bins on each block. Recycling here is much more segregated than I have experienced in the US: glass, aluminum, tin/steel, oil, paper, plastic, and organic waste all have their own labeled containers.

Laundry in my building is a real pain. One must reserve a seven-hour time slot (morning or afternoon) for the laundry room well in advance. As I spend 16-20 hours a day on-campus, this limits my options pretty significantly! When I do manage to match my schedule with an open slot, I face my next challenge: crazyeurolaundrysystem!

The washer itself isn't that bad. To use it, though, I have to pay 3 Swiss Francs. To pay 3 Swiss Francs, I have to hold up an electronic key in just the right position by a noncommunicative metal box. To procure such a key and add money to my "account," I have to track down the concierge (an apartment resident who acts as the on-site manager) during the few, late hours I am at home. So it's a challenge, but not insurmountable.

The dryer, on the other hand, is something else. Instead of a "tumbler" dryer, as I'm accustomed to, the laundry room just has lines for hanging clothes after they have been washed. With an ambient temperature of ~40 degrees F and poor ventilation, this doesn't get the job done very well. Not to worry, though, there is an elegant solution: a giant fan/dehumidfier. Essentially you just leave your clothes on the line, turn on the machine, leave the room, and return when your time slot is up. I've found this approach to yield semi-dry clothes with the stiffness of cardboard--just what I'm looking for in my underwear and bed linens! Perhaps I'm just a spoiled American. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong. If you have any helpful hints, please send them my way!