Après moi....

Every day the world seems to get a little crazier. Recently, Sarko, the French President appeared on stage with people standing behind him in the background. Mr P is a comparitivly small man of around 5 ft 5, and yet he loomed large, thanks to the even more reduced stature of the gents and ladies who had been chosen to stand behind him. The newspapers had a wonderful time.

Before the summer recess he collapsed whilst out jogging and spent a day or more in hospital being monitored. I see that he is back to his fitness regeme and jogging in New York. I hope he remembered to take out travel health insurance. I wonder if there is a special scheme for frequent high-flyers?

This little video has just done the rounds of the choir email. I have no idea who the choir is. The instruction was to close your eyes and listen to the relaxing sound of the rain. I think it is more fun to keep your eyes open and your umbrella up.

13 November 2008 Thursday – Worlds still turning, for now

Up at 8.15am just in case the builders turn up. Rain beats down, pausing occasionally for breath before returning with renewed vigour.

It poured most of the night, and it continues to tip it down for most of the day. It is not worth going out and getting cold and wet, so we stay in and rearrange more things. I have sooo much useful stuff that I may need one day.
It is a tricky business trying to fit the contents of a 100m square house plus attic plus garage into about 45 square meters of flat.
I continue reading my James Hadley Chase novel “Tu me suivras dans la tombe”, French version of course.
The builders do not turn up, and I have visions of Daveed’s belongings floating out of his window as the rain falls steadily.
Hopefully it will be the wrong sort of rain… I wonder if they get the wrong sort of leaves on railway tracks over here? They recently detained about 10 people for sabotaging the National Railway system.
The paper reports that two people who are suspected members of the Basque Group ETA have been detained down the road at Tarrascon.
The pound is now at its lowest point ever against the Euro, and continues to drop further.
There is a lot of doom and gloom out there. Finding a job in France in the New Year could be tough. I could start a business, but as I have no idea what business to start and have never run a business before, it could be difficult.
What goods or service do the French require? There are lots of empty shop units in Foix. Most of the small shops, with the exception of the bakeries and the pharmacies seem devoid of customers whenever I pass by.
Perhaps the lookouts cry

<<>> and they dive for cover behind counters and display stands?
Unemployment is high in this rural area of France, and the BBC reports that France narrowly missed going into recession last quarter.
I have been told that if you do start a business, you have to estimate your level of business for the first 3 years and pay the tax people 3 years tax up
front based on that.
An email arrives from a choir member. It is a link to watch a trailer for a new film about the problems that our current lifestyle is causing for the planet. For example the use of pesticides instead of eating only organic produce. This is the first time in history when the health of the children is worse than the health enjoyed by the parents. This is the text of his email. With the link to the clip below it. I recommend you watch it as Olivier suggests. Feel free to pass on the link to others to raise awareness.

<<Pour que ce film qui dénonce les méfaits de la mauvaise alimentation et des pesticides, réalisé par un français, soit visible le plus longtemps possible lors de sa sortie en salle, il faut qu'un maximum de personnes regarde la bande-annonce dans les 3 jours à venir. Regardez surtout le début, la conférence à Paris lorsque les gens lèvent la main. Très fort !

http://www.nosenfantsnousaccuseront-lefilm.com/

Faites passer, c'est sérieux. Même si vous ne visionnez pas complètement, c'est le nombre de visites dans les 3 jours qui fera son poids... Le voir est encore mieux.>>

8 November 2008 Saturday – spots of bother

Up early and drove into the fog to get some shopping in. When I emerged, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Despite the heavy rain, there is still snow visible on some of the surrounding hills.
Then washing machine was pressed into service and clothes hung out to dry.
Late afternoon I was bringing the washing in, when Daveed met me on the stairs.
Did I have a leak in my apartment? No I said, show me. I go into his studio and the wall is wet in places.

We go upstairs and check my walls then down to the studio below him and check that wall too.
No visible problems. I pour water into the guttering and he waits below to see if it comes out of the drainpipe at the bottom of the house wall. It does, so there is no blockage. I go into the garden of the property next door. The wall outside where he has the damp patches looks okay.
We go back into the house. Would I like some spiced cake? He asks. I am now the owner of some nutty gingerbread cake.
I send an email with a couple of photos of the problem to my builders asking them if they can come and look into the problem. Perhaps this will winkle them out from their hiding place…
The rest of the day is spent tagging the slides on the computer, then backing up files onto CDs and DVDs.

I also email my embarassing dampness problem to my builders.

S arrives tomorrow, and I have a small bit of tidying up to do before I set off to the Toulouse Blagnac airport to collect her. It can wait until tomorrow though.

6 November 2008 Thursday – Splish, splosh

It has rained all night and continues to rain until midday. I sort out 15 packets of photographic slides that were in my metal camera case. These range from 1996 to 1995.
I figure out how to scan them in with my scanner and begin the long, slow process.
At around 3pm I put on my walking boots and anorak (are rain coats still called anoraks?) and head into town to buy a couple of birthday cards from the English shop.
It is spitting with rain as I set off and when I come to the first bridge over the riber, I take some photos and video of the water, the level of which is much higher than it has been since I was here in June this year.
Here is what it looked like a few weeks ago.

And here is the situation now.













We are lucky as many parts of France have been flooded. The television shows cows swimming, houses flooded, cars and businesses under water.
I reach the English shop “Simply British” and although the lights are on, there is no one at home.
There is however a sign on the door stating that the owner is a short distance up the road at her friends’ restaurant and to come and get her if you want something from the shop.
I wander around a bit and return to the shop. It is still locked so I go up the road to the restaurant and find the owner.
We walk back to the shop and there is a lady and child waiting at the door.
The lady is served and I start looking through two of the baskets of cards.
It turns out that the owner was just about to have lunch with her friends, so I carry the two baskets of cards up to the small restaurant and sit at a table choosing my cards, while she has her lunch and a coffee.
I don’t have the right money, so I write one of my cards while I am waiting, then once she is finished, we head back to the shop.
On my way back home I post the card and I get home before the rain starts falling once again.
Daveed’s father’s car has appeared in the parking area again, and the white van which was there all day has disappeared.
It would be interesting to find out what is going on. Will the car still be there tomorrow?
I resume scanning in slides and by the time I go to bed I am just over half way through. Tomorrow I hope to finish the scanning, then there will be the filing, naming, tagging……