Taxi!

Up early this morning and once car de-iced I set off for Assedic armed with copies of the documents that they wanted from me yesterday. I noted that advisor appointment number machine had moved on from the 606 that was me yesterday morning, to 701, so business is brisk.
Next stop was Leclerc to buy a French keyboard. Their key layout is slightly different to the UK version and has the circumflex etc, required for French words. Can I get MS office 2003 to co-operate? Basically no. I have altered numerous default MS and keyboard settings and the French language or bits of it will work, but next time I switch on…..
Anyway I did not discover this until I got home.
Meanwhile it was off to the tax office for me, to register as a French tax payer.
After some chat with the lady on the reception desk, who had already been interrupted in taking down the Christmas decorations once, I was given the number of the room on the second floor that I needed to go to, to see if my records had my French address, or whether the lawyer had registered me with a UK address.
The lady behind the desk, took various details and said that she would correct the system. They will send me out a tax form in May.
I had a walk around the locality as I had not been there before. There is an open air velodrome, numerous tennis courts, rugby pitches, etc. Also a large tent like object which may be the polyvalent that I have seen advertised being a venue for various events such as dog shows.
There is also a stadium with floodlights, a dojo where one of the activities on Monday nights is Iaido, and various other sporting facilities that I did not investigate as the tummy was starting to rumble.In the afternoon the sun was still shining, so I walked into town. In front of the war memorial I could see a clump of women holding or leaning on wooden signs. As I approached, I could see that they were not happy about the Israeli action in Gaza. One of the figures looked familiar. It was Madame. I went up to her and we had our first chat of the New Year. I said “You are militant today”, she replied “I am militant every day!”. She is a member of an association that send aid for Palestinian children.

Instep mobilisation

Scraped the ice of my car and set off to keep my appointment with ASSEDIC.
I entered the building and loitered around the reception desk, above which there was another large digital display to indicate your turn in the queue.
I was 10 minutes early and when a lady appeared, she asked me if I had filled in the form and had I brought my carte d’identite and social security card. I flashed her my passport and my medical card and she indicated that I would need to copy them on the photocopier, which I did.
I showed her the form that I had printed off and she said that it was not the correct form. That form is for the ANPE.
She gave me another 3 page form to fill in while I waited. When it was 10am she would give me a number for my appointment.
I filled in most of the form before I was ushered into a small office where another lady waited for me. I completed the rest of the form, seeking clarification on some of the terminology. E.g. what did titre mean, before ticking a box or writing text.
She looked at my form and input the information into her computer. Did I have my payslips for my last year 12 months of work, also my P45 and my P60?
I happened to have my last payslip and my P45, but as no one had mentioned that I would need these or payslips…….
I now have to return to the ASSEDIC office with copies of the said documents.
Unfortunately the payslips are still in the UK, but I contacted S and she will send them to me.
Once they have received the documents from me, they will be added to my dossier (Yes I have my own dossier) and this will be sent to Paris. From Paris they will be sent to the UK. Somewhere along the line someone will decide whether I am eligible for unemployment benefit or not. This could take at least 2 to 3 months.
I was given an identification number and a code which I have to use on the last day of every month to log in or phone up to say that I am still seeking work. This lasts for 10 months. I don’t know what happens after that.
ASSEDIC and ANPE were merged at the beginning of the year. Yes of course there were, and continue to be industrial action about it, but meantime they have become Pole emploi (circumflex over the o). The aim is to create a one stop shop for the unemployed person seeking work where you will be allocated an advisor to guide your search for work etc.
My previous career was in public libraries. However ANPE never get any jobs in from local government sources. Entry to those is by exam.
I have had a look at the current job vacancies online. There are not many jobs available locally at all.
Did I want French lessons? I said yes, so she made a phone call. She discovered that there are currently no classes, as they wait to see if the government will make funding available for such things. There will be a delay.
Did I think that I required orientation?
I decided that I did. So she proceeded to enrol me on the “mobilisation vers l’emploi” scheme. I will be assigned an advisor who will work with me for the next 6 months. The advisor will discuss my requirements and give me assistance with the job seeking process. I need to decide what area of employment I wish to pursue. At the moment I am assigned to the code Rome number for librarian, which would equate to library assistant in the UK. As this will be a non-starter, I need to choose something else. I wonder how much trainee belly dancers get paid?
I may be sent to places???? And have to attend regular meetings with my advisor. While I am on the scheme I must ask permission to leave the country. The maximum block of time away that I could receive would be 7 days, with a maximum total of 35 days away per year.
I signed more documents and the lady told me that as part of the scheme, I could not turn down any reasonable offer of work.
Another phone call was made and I have my first meeting with my assigned advisor next Monday morning at the INSTEP office in Foix.
I think that this might be the first time that I have ever been in step in my life. Still, "the game's afoot" as Sherlock might say.

Belly Lorna

Some of you may be wondering why I am following the blog of a Scottish belly dancer living in Cairo. Is it some sort of secret fetish? Does he dress up and do the dance of the 7 veils? I hear you ask.
Well obviously!
Nope sorry to get your hopes up.
In 2004 S and I spent a few days at the Edinburgh festival. One of the Festival Fringe events that we booked up for was a midday meal in a restaurant complete with belly dancing. The restaurant was not very big and it was completely full. We had a very tasty meal and met some nice people at the table next to ours. The lady had been a pupil of the lady who was going to perform the dances.
When dance time came, the fully costumed dancer appeared. Before each dance she explained what it was about, the music would start and she would start shimmying across the floor and in between the tables shaking and wobbling those parts which are not usually shaken or wobbled, at least not at such speed.
Next it was time for audience participation. This is when you shrink into your seat and try to become invisible.
No such luck, and I am one of the lucky ones dragged up onto the floor.
Still no one will ever know.
Years later I did a Google search. I remembered her surname as it was the same name as that of the Very Reverend Dean Gow who had been our God bod when I was a lad.
The result was stumbling across this blog. I think that she is very brave to have moved to Cairo on her own to pursue her dancing career.
Here are a couple of photos from the event. There were some photos of me up dancing in my little scarf belt, but I cannot find them. I know how disappointed you are so here are 2 photos of Lorna in action on the day.
Any cold Americans out there could do worse than get their belly dancing costume on and create their own warm glow.

Employment search

Today I took the first steps towards seeking employment. I filled in the online registration form and a couple of hours later I received a phone call to come for an appointment with an Assedic advisor this week on Thursday morning.
I have to bring along my passport and some other paperwork.
Now all I have to do is master the French CV process, letters of motivation, and learn all the appropriate employment and employment seeking terminology.
I also need to go to the local tax office to make them aware that I am here, fill in some duplicate forms in French and English versions so that I don’t get taxed twice and find out if the UK tax office expects me to fill in a UK tax return.
Choir starts again tonight. Last weeks first practice of the year was cancelled due to the snow, so tonight we will see in the New Year with
“La dégustation de la galette et le pot de nouvel an. Après la répétition qui est prévue à 20 h 45 (pour les bisous de début d’année venez à 20h 30) »
Time to get your French dictionaries out I think….

Paperwork

Crack fans will be pleased to hear that I have at last received the second quote for the filling in of the cracks in my outside walls and the required façade painting work. It is two hundred euros less than my first quote and involves use of plastic paint on the front of the house as well as the side. I will have to sit down and try and work out which is the best for me.
The lower quote came from the firm that have just painted the bungalow across the road. They seemed to take ages to do the work but it looks good now that it is finished.
I finally read the prefecture web site, or rather the bits in English. They questioned 15 English speaking residents about their information requirements and these pages are the result. Useful headings such as “Health and social services”, “Car” etc. The one about finding employment is very informative and I follow links, downloading lots of pdf file booklets (to read later). I can register on a website and an appointment to see someone would follow. I look at the registration form. Then I look at the information that I would need to bring along to the interview. Letters from former employers….
No clue as to what they want the letters to contain. I will have to do some asking around.
Today however I am going to the Prefecture to register as living in France. I follow links to the Europe part of their web site and discover a list of items that I must take to the Prefecture before 3 months have elapsed. I spend the rest of the morning printing off bank statements to prove that I will not (immediately) be a burden to the state, medical insurance info, etc etc.
Clutching my information folder I arrive at the reception desk. I explain why I have come, and I have to go to the ticket machine and press the red button. This is for foreigners. I then go through more doors and sit in the small waiting area with Africans, Spanish, Lebanese etc for company. There are 2 people before me.
After half an hour something goes ping and 407 appears on the digital display.
No one moves. After about 30 seconds it pings and 408 which is my number appears. I set off to the desk. Wait says number 407, I didn’t see my number. He sits down at the desk and I return to my seat just knowing that as the screen shows my number there will be trouble ahead unless the Spanish bloke (407) finishes at one of the 2 open counters first.
He doesn’t and I whizz up to the counter to try and stop the lady from doing the ping thing. I start trying to explain but even as I speak she presses the ping thing and 409 appears.
I explain and there is an intake of breath. I show her my number and she consults with her colleague. Yes she is dealing with 407. Meanwhile 409 is trying to get past me to the counter. ..
Well I am not likely to budge and I do have the next number and she has just finished with 406 so I explain what I have come to do having read their web site. Oh because you are European now you don’t have to register. Just keep your passport with you. If I like I can go to the Mairie Town Hall to register to vote. So despite what it says on the web site that European citizens must do, and despite the lady from the Mairie telling me before Christmas that I would need to go to the Prefecture to register, I don’t need to?
That is correct, it is not obligatoire now.

I thank her and say my au revoirs. It may have wasted some hours of my time, but at least it was relatively painless.

Tenants see

Bee boy got a new phone for Christmas. I know this because late morning my land line phone rang. You see as well as skype on my computer, I also have an Orange internet land line.
Anyway I looked at the number and it did not start with the pesky 09 of the number which keeps phoning to sell me something, so I picked up.
Hello I said.
Hello, this is your neighbour Daveed…
I am wondering how he got my phone number but I wait for him to continue

Could I go and look at the parking as he was in Toulouse and had lost his mobile phone. It might be near where his car had been parked.
Find my keys, put on shoes, down two flights of stairs, front door not closed or locked (sigh). Down path and steps, look at snow near car shaped bare patches. Try different angled approaches, no it’s not there, wait a minute, there is a bump lying under other bumps of snow.
You are lucky I say, still clutching my portable land line phone.
Does it still work he asks. I do not know I say.
He will ring off and phone his mobile. I cut my connection and wait. The mobile rings. It is him. Could I put his phone in his studio, his door is unlocked….

Taking your eye off the ball

8.1.2009
I have just woken up after a long sleep under an apple tree. It is amazing how things change over even short periods of time.
Take the weather, and at the moment I wish someone would. Arctic conditions over Europe, coldest temperatures for over 100 years in some places, and this despite the large number of patio heaters in the world. Perhaps the recent banning of their use to keep smokers warm outside entertainment venues to help combat global warming has contributed to this global frosting?

The skiers may be happy, but I suspect that businesses have been hit hard.
Yesterday the Simply British shop was closed due to snow.
The perimeter wall of the bungalow across the road has fallen over into their garden. They have recently had their house, entrance and another of their boundary walls painted, but this wall had been left as it was, in breezeblock state, unrendered. Perhaps they expected it to fall down?

The French electricity company recorded the third successive highest ever usage in a row.
At least my town is not at a standstill and the falls of snow have been light.

I hope that anyone leaving their properties uninhabited over the festive period and beyond, remembered to switch off the water at the mains and that they left a shovel in a handy place for digging their way back to their front door.

The Christmas trees are still blocking the town’s pavements. Perhaps there is a plan to remove them all at the same time?

In the UK, businesses have started collapsing due to the world economic crisis. Woolworths has gone. Where will Dawn get her pik-'n-mix fix now?

Adams and Marks and Spenser branches closing. Will my parents no longer be able to buy M&S quality grapes in their high street?

Due to complaints about always having the date that the post refers to in my header, you will notice that I have taken the comments on board.

Welcome back everyone. Remember to buckle-up, we could be in for a bumpy ride this year.