Working

"The engine is humming steadily and encouragingly in front of me. With a hundred and twenty on my speedometer I glide at 1 feet AGL (Above Ground Level), dodging trees, fences, other traffic and the odd pedestrian. My friend, the Garmin GPS, tells me where to go, which route to take so I won't bump into anything or get lost. It could happen so easily – at that altitude you can't see that far and at that speed things are just zooming past. Therefore, you better know where you're going. I bring the Gospel to the ordinary people – to those living in apartments, who can't afford to own a house. I bring them good news about a fair division of heating costs among the tenants. And I drive a yellow Opel Astra."

Piloting a car

Since mid April now, I (Markus) am working for this company who compiles the tenant-individual billing for the heating in apartment buildings (my dictionary translates this as 'heat cost allocation'). I'm responsible to get the billing information out of little devices, which are stuck to each radiator. Now, as far as technology is concerned there are vast differences: There is the oldest model with a little glas tube filled with some liquid which evaporates at different rates depending on how much you heat. Then there is the model which measures the temperature on the radiator and increments an analogue or digital counter depending on how hot it is. More sophisticated ones store a value for each month and can be read automatically via an optical interface. And the latest models can be accessed and read via radio.
For all these models (except the radio one) I have to visit every apartment of a building, go into every room and find the radiators in order to take down the value on the devices. Quite interesting, because you see a lot of different living styles – even some you'd rather not. Fortunately, we can refuse to enter if it's too appalling, though I never had to go that far up to now.
I also meet a lot of different people: from the busy and rich to the lonely and poor, from the typical Swiss to the asylum seeker. From those who are disappointed with life and let you feel it, to those who tip you for I-don't-know-what (maybe for helping them to pay their heating bill?).
And lastly, I see a lot of lovely Switzerland. About 50 per cent of my job is traveling and I go to a lot of places I know from the days when I was still young. Other places are typical holiday destinations in the Alps, like Zermatt (where the Matterhorn is) or Saas Fee. Those are a first for me and if time allows I combine them with some sightseeing. If time's too short for a stroll I can always leave the Autobahn and take a route through the country.

View of the Rhone Valley

The village of Grächen

Even though it is all a little different than flying, there are definitely some similarities.

Cheers from the Bischoffs