House swap

Have you ever thought about house swapping? You would live in someone else’s house. You would be in another city somewhere in the world and you would experience another culture and lifestyle. Well I have to admit I thought about it a couple of times but I am to unadventurous to actually do it. If I would switch houses with someone, I would write the following letter to response.

Dear Susan,  

Thank you very much for the detailed information about your beautiful house. I am already looking forward to staying in your bungalow and having a view of the beach. How exciting! One thing I was wondering about is if we could use your bicycles, because you weren’t really clear about it. Would you mind us using them? Or would it be possible to rent any nearby? Apart from that, do I need any special documents for the car rental company at the airport? The information about the details of the arrangement on its website weren’t clear to me. I would appreciate it if you could check that out and let me know what exactly I need to present, just to avoid any problems. Now, as I promised, here are all the things you need to know about my place.  

Getting to my house is going to be a little bit tricky. First of all, you will have to rent a car at the airport in Graz because there isn’t really any other option for you. Of course you could use public transportation, but the problem is, you couldn’t do any sightseeing in and around Feldbach without a car. Therefore I would recommend renting a car at the airport. You will find different companies, which are all pretty much the same. They will want to see your passport as well as your driver’s license. The instructions to my house are quite complicated. Leaving the airport, drive until you see a sign for A2 WIEN (Vienna). Make sure you are going in the right direction. Stay on the Autobahn for about 20 minutes and take the exit called 'Gleisdorf-Süd'. You will co for about me to another intersection, where you have to turn right onto B68. Stay on B68 for about 25 minutes until you are directly in Feldbach. Stay on this road till you get to the third set of traffic lights, where you turn right. This is a tiny little street and you need to follow it up the hill. On the top of the hill take the first street to your left and follow it all the way to the end. You will find yourself in front of my blue house with a gorgeous yard. I hope these instructions are clear enough. If you have any questions, just let me know and I will try to answer them.  

I have arranged to leave the keys with my uncle. He lives in the yellow house next to mine. My uncle is a friendly person and will definitely help you if you need anything. He will also show you how to clean the swimming pool. I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to clean the pool every second day. I think your kids will definitely love the pool when the weather gets hot. I think the rest of the house is self-explanatory and I will leave notes where you may need help.  

I will leave you some food for the first couple of days in the fridge. If you have got any special requests just let me know. If you want to go grocery shopping you will find many different stores in town. You can of course get to to them by car. I personally prefer and recommend Unimarkt, Spar or Hofer. All of them provide good quality food and fair prices. If you would like to try out Austrian homemade bread from farmers or homemade sausages and so on, go to the farmer's market which takes place every Saturday in the town center. If you want to eat out, there are a couple of good restaurants in town. For a good Austrian lunch or dinner, I would recommend Pfeiler’s Stüberl. It serves delicious Austrian dishes with the right choice of wine. I would stay clear of China Palast, the Chinese restaurant in the town center, though. Friends of mine and I had a very bad experience there.  

The main attraction round here is the Riegersburg. The Riegersburg is a beautiful medieval castle on the top of a hill. You can walk up the hill to the castle. From the castle you have a facinating view over the surrounding area. The culinary delights in this region are also incredible. If you like chocolate, you should really take your kids on a tour through the Zotter chocolate factory. I'm sure they'll be fascinkated by the edible zoo, which is also part of the chocolate factory. If you are into the production of fine vinegars made of fruits, you also have to visit the Gölles Company. I love the huge variety they offer, but my favorite one is the one with apple aroma.  

I hope I have included all the information you need to make your stay unforgettable. If you have any further question, don’t hesitate to ask. I am looking forward to hearing from you.  

Silvia  

US government could save money by switching fonts

OMG.. have you heard about the 14-year-old boy named Suvir Mirchandani? No? Are you kidding me? He is all over the news right now. Suvir says the federal government could cut printing costs with one decision and could thereby save up to $400.000 per year. 

Everything started out with a project in his middle school. Due to the project Suvir had to think of different ways to cut waste and save money at his school. Reducing the waste of paper through recycling and dual-sided printing had been talked over a hundred time but no one really thought about the ink. "Ink is two times more expensive than French perfume by volume" Suvir says. If you trust CNN he is right because they wrote "Chanel No. 5 perfume costs $38 per ounce, while the equivalent amount of Hewlett-Packard printer ink can cost up to $75." As I read that I had to read it a second time to be sure to get it right. I mean I know that printing out is expensive because I need to print many things for university. Due to the high printing costs I'm sometimes short in money.

Suvir's idea is that by simple switching from Times New Roman to a narrower, smaller font the government would be using less of their precious printer ink. He suggested to switch from Times New Roman to Garamond. This might be just a small difference and even a small saving on each page but it would have a massive benefit in general. 

However, The Atlantic doesn't share the same opinion on this subject with Suvir. They say that the calculation cannot  be right because although printer ink is certainly expensive for consumer but mainly for consumer who are buying cartridge by cartridge. He didn't consider that large businesses as well as the government have special wholesale bulk contracts. That means that the government buys a larger amount of ink with a lower price than normal consumer.

I really think it is worth a second thought if Suvir is right with his calculation. I am not a hundred percent sure if it could really help saving money but for me it is important that a young guy started thinking about it and I am definitely impressed. As we all know printing out is very expensive therefore I think I will give it a try. Maybe I can save up some money for my next holiday.

I think I just give it a try otherwise I will never know if it is possible. :D

You want to read more about it check out these links below. 

CNN: Teen to government: Change your typeface, save millions

Can a Teen's Idea to Switch Fonts Save the Government $400 Million?