Day 27 -- Geneva

Tuesday, 03 October 2023

I went to CERN. They have a new visitor center opening in a few days, but even the current one should be pretty cool. It's just a tram ride to the edge of town.

But first, lunch. A French burger with a French soft drink.

A burger from Holy Cow

I got to the CERN tram stop. But from there, the signage for the visitor center is pretty sparse. Maybe because they are in limbo. I found at least part of it and looked at a few of the exhibits. Then I saw the sign that you need to sign up for the guided tour at "the other front desk". I found that in the next building over and got in line. They do several guided tours a day, and give out spots for them an hour before. There was one at 3:00, and I got in line at about 1:40 for the 2:00 "giving out of the tickets". At 2:00 they started taking information from people at the front of the line. At 2:05 I got to the front of the line and was told that the three people in front of me got the last tickets for the 3:00 tour. 

So I went back to the other building to look at the exhibits some more and to watch one of the films, and then got back in line at 2:30, for the 3:00 giving of tickets to the 4:00 tour. I was the only one there at 2:30, so I was gonna be fine. I found a bench -- no point standing in line if I'm the only one -- and caught up on e-mail. I had an online Jeopardy exam scheduled for later that evening -- 7:00 p.m. -- and what I though was just a reminder e-mail message when I saw it a few hours ago turned out to be a "don't forget to turn in your application before 8:00 a.m. PT [5:00 p.m. Swiss time] or you won't be able to participate today". Ooops. I've had a run of bad luck with the Jeopardy logistics, so this is par for the course. My phone doesn't have a PDF filler-outer, so I'm gonna have to bail on the CERN guided tour and go back to the hotel and use my laptop to fill out the application. Ugh.

I stopped at a really cool grocery store on the way back to the hotel. Got some Swiss chocolate and some drinks. I've been pretty dehydrated this whole trip. And now that I'm coming down with a cold, I want to try even harder to keep drinking. Also saw a statue of Louis Favre. I had a classmate at Colorado State from Switzerland. Lausanne, I think, which isn't too far from Geneva. His name was Pierre Favre. Maybe there is connection. Or maybe "Favre" is like "Smith" or "Jones".

Louis Favre. Well, he was an engineer, so maybe there is a connection

Back to the hotel. Got the application filled out. And while sending it off (30-ish minutes before the deadline) I read the message in even more detail. This isn't another online proctored exam like I've done before. This is a mock game. And they recommend a clicky pen to use as a simulator for the buzzer button. I don't have one, so I started to make up a little container of some loose change that I could rattle. That might work. Or maybe it'll annoy the crap out of them. I went to the front desk and explained my need. The guy had a clicky pen that he gave me. He said the pocket clip was broken, but that wasn't material to my needs. He said I could keep it. Ten minutes to spare.

I got connected to Zoom. (Had to jump through some hoops, but I made it in time.) But then the meeting was still in "waiting for organizer" mode for a while. They had warned us that it might be several minutes after the scheduled time before everything gets arranged enough to start the meeting. Another several minutes go by. I get an e-mail message from them saying to be patient and that they are having technical trouble with the meeting software. Then, at fifteen after the hour, they announced that they were going to have to reschedule. Rescheduled for the 24th.

The extra free time tonight means that I can walk down the street and do some laundry. I found a nice little place a few blocks away. I started the wash, walked around the neighborhood, came back and switched it to the dryer, walked some more, and then came back at the end.

There is probably a good story behind a statue of a naked toddler choking a goose

The friendly neighborhood ladies were even more flirtatious tonight. As I was leaving the hotel headed for the laundry, there were two of them having a conversation on the sidewalk right outside the hotel. The street is under construction, so some fencing makes the sidewalk quite narrow there. As the one on the left backed up (slightly) to let me pass, I said "pardon" as I started to slip between them. She giggled and kinda mimicked "pardon" back at me as she closed the gap. I paused and gave her the "I'm just a dumb foreigner and don't know any French" look. She laughed and backed away to let me pass. But as I was passing, she reached out and pinched my left, ummm, pectoral protrusion. Really friendly, these Swiss ladies.

...doug