I am now the aficionado in the home. In February Mr. Swiss moved to a golden oldie retreat as he was no longer able to live without professional care and I was left alone at home. As I suffer from MS (multiple sclerosis) I could no longer care for him as I should and now we have to face the consequences. I am glad that he now has the correct care and I was always ready for something new, even with 75 years it is no longer too late. Mr. Swiss with his 85 years could no longer.

I am now the official accountant at home, dealing with the family finances. My No. 1 so still lives at home, but being an autist, it is not possible for him to take over. Luckily my No. 2 son studied law and takes care of many problems that can arise, acting as power of attorney for his brother and my right hand when I need help. My life has changed completely. I deal with the tax forms and details, and if anything goes wrong at home, I have to find the solution.

This week-end, on Saturday evening, my dishwasher gave up the ghost. It was 10 years old and so another decision to make. I called them to organise help and the lady on the phone said someone would come on Friday. There was a time when this was a great problem, five days to wait, but I discovered there was no rush. This was quite strange, as due to this problem, I realised I no longer need this machine so much. My autistic son is a big help at home and we are only two people in the household. Over the week-end I realised with his help, we manage perfectly without a dishwasher and everything is cleared away quickly. We really do not need to use electricity or gallons of water to wash two plates with the cutlery. Pots and pans I aways washed myself in any case, so do I need a dishwasher?. i suddenly got a call from the company this morning later, to say the guy had time as someone had cancelled and he would arrive in a quarter of an hour. The guy arrived to have a look (see photo) and told me that the dishwasher was leaking. A repair would cost about 600 Swiss Francs and it could not be guaranteed that it would hold for another ten years. The cheapest machine would be two thousand francs, but this was OK with me. Do I need this machine? I had to think it over, but we own our apartment and the machine belongs in the kitchen, so I decided yes, it was affordable, but we will probably no longer use it so much. The current world situation due to a few wars is that gas and electricity are now something to be considered with their costs as well as the amount of water needed. I really do not need to let this machine run every second day.

I have also learned to run my washing machine only twice a week and that the temperature is also a cost point. A hot wash of 100° C is really not necessary. 60°C does it just as well, needs less time and uses less energy. Yes I am becoming an expert in financial matters. I am even now dealing with our insurances.

I must say life has become interesting and I am discovering new interesting aspects. Mr. Swiss used to deal with it, but is now glad he leaves it to me. I keep him informed in his golden oldie refuge, but he told me yesterday he is glad he no longer as to deal with such matters and I am doing a perfect job. And I now vote by every opportunity. Voting is a national past time in Switzerland. We vote for everything being a direct democracy.