Like Confusing 411 with 911

I don't have many friends out there that can speak french, let alone enough to understand rap. If they could though, I'd be sending them all this video.

Apparently, the French number for directory assistance became 118 in 2005. A publicity campaign promoting the number in France crossed the national borders into Switzerland, where 118 is the emergency number for the Fire Department. This confusion caused the Swiss dispatchers to be flooded with phone calls for directory assistance. Finally, frustrated with the phone lines being tied up with ignorant callers, a group of Geneva firefighters got together to make the video.

If you know French, but can't understand these guys, get the lyrics here.

Note: Apparently if you have a problem with an animal weighing more than 10 kg in Switzerland, you should call the fire department.

Phoenix Observation # 2: Not a walking city.

Forgive my absence. I spent last week in Banff, Alberta on business. More on that later when I get a chance to develop the pictures I took (yes, I had to buy a disposible since I forgot my digital). For now let me bring to you... Phoenix Observation #2.

Phoenix is not a walking city.

At the moment Phoenix is the fastest growing city in the U.S. Just last year, it overtook Philadelphia for the position of 5th largest city in the country. Nowadays we hear a lot about the city in the news, and almost everyone knows someone (ahem... me) who lives either in Phoenix, Tempe or Scottsdale. It's hard then to imagine the Phoenix of 40 years ago, when it had just began to grow, thanks to the construction of so many dams in the area. Phoenix has grown up around the idea of the car, and the booming growth of the past 10 years or so had only served to cement that into the local culture.

As someone who doesn't own a car and prefers to walk most places, this annoys me. Not only are 5-lane roads ugly, but they are dangerous and don't help the situation. Neighborhood are divided this way, and commerce is consolidated to strip malls and big-box retailers.

Luckily, my wife and I were able to find an apartment only blocks from my work, as well as within walking distance of a Trader Joe's, restaurants and bars. Other essentials are also close by: barber shops, blockbuster and even a pitifully small farmer's market. Unfortunately, these kinds of situations are few and far between.

I'll have to give it to Phoenix though, they are trying to change things. A new light rail line, the city's first, is set to be completed in December 2008, and a commuter rail line, to run on existing tracks is apparently in the works. Carsharing ( i.e. Flexcar), something I'm particularly interested in, has just been implemented at ASU in Tempe and hopefully will expand around the valley.

For now, I'll have to make due with the current situation. If the light rail picks up and people start reacting to the current state of affairs, maybe I can bring myself to start liking this place.

Note: The weather here has cooled down considerably since I wrote that first post (only one week ago). All of a sudden we've been able to turn off the A/C and start sleeping with the sliding door in our bedroom wide open. I believe this city is trying to charm me.

Phoenix Observation # 1: It's Hot.

Let me get the obvious observation out of the way: The heat in Phoenix is friggin' ridiculous! Let me suggest some fun things you can do in the heat:

1. Have a credit card melt sitting in the cupholder of the car.

2. Burn yourself touching the damn metal piece of the seat belt.

3. Realize you are sweating once you step indoors, because the heat was evaporating all your sweat outdoors.

4. See someone's second degree burns from leaning on something black that had been sitting in the sun.

I've managed to avoid serious sunburn so far, using a combination of sunscreen and staying the fuck inside. It'll happen eventually, I'm sure, but I plan on putting that off as long as possible.

Something good about the weather here is waking up in the morning. I roll out of bed, look out the windows, and I already know what I'm going to see. It's sunny and hot; palm trees and cacti are all around. I'm sure that'll get monotonous after a while, like rain in the Northwest, but for the moment it feels like vacation every day.

I can live with that.

We're here!

So we made it. My polish princess and I have actually been in Phoenix for about a month now, and we are finally starting to get settled in. We've already had 2 out of town visitors already! Let me get you up to speed:

This is what a wedding in Poland looks like:

This is what a wedding in Vegas looks like:

Okay, consider your self updated.

Since I'm just a Phoenix n00b, I'm still forming my opinion of the city. Phoenix is an odd city and just like any, there are pro's and cons to living here.

Look forward to my ruminations on Phoenix-life.