8.12.2008 Monday – is washing day

A very foggy start to the day then suddenly blue sky and sunshine so washing machine boy swung into action again.
A trip into town followed to buy staples (for my stapler) and to stroll around in the sunshine.
I bought an olive loaf from my favourite bakers but it was an overcooked one and quite hard.
While in the book / stationery shop, I tried to find an A4 pad of paper which was either blank, or had lines on the pages. It seems a simple ask but it proved to be impossible. They are obsessed with calligraphy over here, and yet when you see the spidery handwriting that it produces you have to wonder why. Thus you can buy paper which is completely covered in small squares, or paper which is filled with slightly larger squares inside which there are about 5 horizontal lines. The latter must be for calligraphic reasons I suspect.
So I will need to use printing paper and punch holes in the side if I want to make usefully readable notes.
The French lady who works in the office of the previous owner of the house is investigating the electricity situation and will get back to me, but by the end of the day, I have had no further information.
On my way back from the town, the painter who is supposed to be providing a second quote for the house, and who is still painting the bungalow opposite, waved me over and introduced me to the paint consultant / supplier who says that the front of my house will need plastic paint as well as the side otherwise the cracks will open up again. There would be a guarantee of 10 years on the work.
God knows how much his quote is going to be. Perhaps they will offer to give me a huge reduction if I display advertising for their workmanship, on my boundary wall.
Reading wise, I finished listening to Sepulchre by Kate Moss some days ago. It was very tough going and rather dull for the first hour and a half, but I persevered and it was worth staying with it until the end. From the Amazon reviews I suspect that many of the people did not actually read all of the book, as their summaries are factually inaccurate. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse was partially set in my town and locations round about. It also featured Carcassonne and Montsegur.
Sepulchre was set more in Paris, Carcassonne and Rennes les Bains.
Kate’s next book is due out in 2010.
I have also just completed listening to “50 success Classics – Winning wisdom for work and life from 50 landmark books” by Tom Butler-Bowden.
I think repeated listenings will be required for this one.

7.12.2008 Sunday – Telethon

The last few days / weeks there have been dull telethon programmes on the TV. Today there is a vide grenier (empty attic) sale in the main public square. In the afternoon I take advantage of this spell of warm weather to walk into town to catch the air of excitement that must surely be whipping local residents up into a frenzy.
There are 2 small canvas stalls joined together. Behind the barracade of two or three trestle tables, with items placed on them, I can see three women. No one else is in sight.
Instead of scenes of people fighting over house clearance items, I took some photos of the more extensive Christmas decorations in evidence in the town.

I received a couple of nice emails today. One from Martine. the elle presidente of the choir, seeking to find out if I have shaken off the flu yet, and if they will see me soon.
The other was from AM with whom I used to work in my previous life in the UK and who is getting her Christmas lights up.
Nothing seems to have improved in my old job, but another qualified person will be retiring early next year. Oh how I miss the witty banter that the workplace provided.

6.12.2008 Saturday – Future plans and Miss France

Well here I am in France. My living quarters are now habitable, just some rather expensive external painting to be done, ventillation and dampness issues to sort out.
Thoughts turn to how to make some money. I will need to visit the ANPE (job centre) at some point to register as seeking employment.
A couple of years ago I attended a 20 hour teaching English as a foreign language course over a weekend.
I then started on the follow up 80 hour correspondence course, which for various reasons I have not completed within the required 18 months. I have started reviewing the two work books that I did complete and will phone the company (if it still exists) to find out if I can carry on with the course, and if so, how much it extra it will cost me.
I could then do a 4 or 5 week TESOL or CELTA qualification in the UK or abroad, at a cost of approx £1.5 thousand. Would the outlay be worthwhile?
I also started a personal coaching and a corporate and executive life coaching courses, which I did not complete within the required time span. Should I pursue this / these qualifications at the extra £!k plus that this would cost?
Anyway I will plough on with the teaching english workbook for the moment.
I went for a walk into town in the sunshine to clear my head, if not my ears.The evening the Miss France competition was televised. I went t bed well before the end of the competition, but Chloe Mortaud. the 19 year old local contestant Miss Albigeois Midi–Pyrenees won and will be Miss France 2009!

5.12.2008 Friday – Blocks and current affairs

Yet another night of torrential rain. I managed to complete my doctor details form and mid afternoon I took it along to the CPAM Health office, which luckily for me is at the end of my road.
The rain was still holding off, so I went into town and stocked up on cereal, tea, bleach and batteries.
Next I went back to my chemists and paid 7.30 euros for some ear drops to try and clear my partial deafness due to bouchons (corks) situation.
If that does not clear my ears within 5 days, its back to the doctor to get them syringed.
I also email my lettings agency to find out why I have not received any electricity bill since taking ownership of the property.
The reply was not encouraging. I will probably have to contact EDF, my electricity supplier, to find out if they have my details and what to do about paying electric bills.
Meanwhile I have now sent an email to the former owners to find out if they passed on my details to EDF when they terminated their contract as the house holder.
I suspect someone has cocked up somewhere, but finding out who and sorting it out, could be a long process. Especially if I cannot hear very well.
I hope that they do not cut my supply off!
Apart from that, everything is just tickety-boo.

04.12.08 Thursday – Provisions and a quote

I got up early and drove to the Intermarche. There were none of the plastic shoppers with the extendible handles to be found so I had to carry a basket round with me.
Lots of special boxes of Christmas chocolates and specially packaged alcohol boxes were on view, as well as a double aisle of children’s toys. No blaring music. In fact I was aware of shop announcements going on whilst I was in the store, but with my new deaf- ears status I probably missed out on being their lucky one millionth customer.
I now have a supply of choclatines for my elevenses and pizzas were on special offer!
Snow now adorns most of the peaks around Foix, so I am surprised that we are not experiencing really cold weather.
Back home, and being a man of action, I pick up my christmas cards and head out to the post box in my road. No use. The cards will not go into the tiny box unless I fold them in half. I walk on into town and find a larger post box.

Nestling in my own post box when I return, is a quote for the external painting and crack filling. It is 3 times as much as I was expecting. I could almost buy a new car with the money. Another firm of painters are still at work on the bungalow opposite so I type up a list of what is required, based on the outline of the first quote and I take it across to see if they can also give me a quote.
A painter comes across the road with me. I explain what is required and give him my piece of paper. He will come back and measure the walls then supply a quote.
All this and it is still only 11am!
Time to test the choclatines for quality.

03.12.08 Wednesday – Christmas ahoy!

Well I am up and about today. No antibiotics left and it is time to get the body moving about again.
I still have sinus pain in the right side of my head and face, and my left ear is sore and blocked.
What do you do in France if you need your ears syringed? The doctor told me my ears were blocked, but he did not give me anything to remedy the situation. If anyone knows, please let me know.
While I was in bed, I could see a patch of the sunshine and blue sky that I was missing. Now it is dull and drizzly.
The hallway and stairs are all muddy. What does bee boy do? There is a door mat and a long strip of carpet / mat but perhaps he avoids them as you would avoid a crack in the pavement perhaps?
In fact his van has not been around for a couple of nights. It is choir practice tonight and they will have placed orders of spiced cake Pain d’epices (ginger bread to you and me) at 4 euros per so many grams to aid the bees in distress.
I am still awaiting my quote for the crack filling and the painting.
I did manage to write my Christmas cards yesterday and now all I need to do is to go to the post office and post them. I was going to do it today, but the rain….
I will not be giving out so many cards this year, no being in employment. Many of the cards that I am sending are to people who will not even be aware that I have left the UK for “sunnier” climes.
This will be the first year that I have not attended at least one Christmas staff night / meal out since 1978!
Ah happy days! Even the disastrous ones, like the meal / disco at Mr Grumms in the early 1980’s when the gas went out for a few hours at the venue whilst we waited for our Christmas meal. We shared the venue with a large contingent of female hospital cleaners who were legless by the time the disco eventually started. Of course the drunkest one of them kept making a bee-line for me to dance with. She kept falling to the floor. At least my staff and I were able to laugh about it later.
The French do not seem to be a nation of Card senders. Unlike the UK where there seems to be at least one card shop on every street, you have to hunt for the small selection of cards available from the supermarkets. They are very expensive too, even the small plain ones cost upwards of £2 each.
Having been out of circulation for a while, I do not know if Christmas cards have suddenly appeared in the shops.
A few trees have been decorated in people’s gardens round about. Well one tree, in the next road. This has had huge red foil bows tied on it. Will lights follow?
There has been no Christmas music blaring out in the shops. No Slade singing Eeets Krrrissttmassss!
Some weeks ago the owner of the Simply British shop said that she was under pressure from clients to do a Christmas display for her shop window. She felt that November was too early. I wonder if she has now got into Christmas mode.
I will need to go to the Intermarche to buy food tomorrow as I have almost exhausted my supplies. The bread ran out a few days ago now.
Friends and relatives know how much I love Christmas, so here is a photo of me as Father Christmas in 1993, just before I did a Christmas storytime.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

28.11.2008 Friday – Down at the doctors

Worse night so far last night. I wrap up warm because although the sun is shining in a blue sky, the computer tells me it is minus 3 outside.
Clutching every document that I think I might need, I walk the few hundred yards to the nearest medecin generaliste practice. I give the receptionist the form that I was sent by CPAM to use to register with a doctor. She gives me my form back and looks concerned. Can you come back at 11am? she asks in French. I say that I can and I set off on the long trek home.
At 11am I am back at the medical centre. Some details are required, Name, address, telephone number, date of birth. That’s all she says, returning to her interrupted telephone call.
What am I supposed to do now? I wonder. Her call finishes and she waves me to a seat to wait.
About 5 minutes later a young man who looks about 23 years old, comes down the corridor behind his previous patient, says my surname. I get up and he shakes my hand. I follow him back to his room.
He ask me for my symptoms and I do the best I can. Who would have thought that to cough would be tousser, but I looked it up before going to the doctor.
Then I have to lie on his examination table and he takes my blood pressure, temperature, peers down my throat, into my ears, then he gets his stethoscope out.
I reassemble my layers of clothing and he prints out a prescription with 8 items listed on it, complete with instructions. He then goes through them all with me so I am sure to take the right number at the right time.
He finishes. What about my gluey eyes? I ask. He had forgotten about them, but writes another line on the prescription.
I give him my carte vitale and I hand over the 22 euros for the consultation.
Then its off to the chemists.
I choose the nearest one, which is just inside the medieval quarter. There is a queue and about 4 people serving. My turn and I hand over my prescription. Some of these are not reimbursable – she says. “C’est la vie” I say and she smiles. She has obviously not heard that one before.
My carte vitale is in her card reader while she scans in the barcodes of the various products. Time to pay another 25 euros or so. How will I pay.
I show her my top up assurance bank card, which is what I am sure I am supposed to use. She has not seen one of these before and disappears. Reappearing she asks if I have the paperwork to go with it? No I say. They cannot use this card. I hand over my carte bancaire. She is sorry as their machine for reading cards is broken. Do I have cash, or perhaps a cheque?
I give her my cheque book, and she processes on which I duly sign, date, and list the name of the town in which I am writing the cheque, as required.
Job done. My drugs are handed over. Goodbye she says. I remind her that she still has my carte vitale in her machine. Almost 2 – 1 to me I think.
I will have to go to my bank to find out what to do with my top up assurance bank card, but not today.
I buy bread and head home.
How does my experience today differ from the English health service.
I would have had to come back the following week to see the doctor having made an appointment whilst at the doctor’s reception. Or I could ring very early in the morning to see if I could get an appointment to come and wait until a doctor could see me at some time during the day.
In the UK I would not pay the doctor for a consultation. I would have been lucky to get a dose of antibiotics. If I could persuade the doctor to write a prescription it would cost me about £8 per item on the prescription.

Back home I number the boxes of medications to correspond with the numbering on the doctor’s prescription, which the chemist gave me a stamped copy of.

I have a throat gargle, eye drops, ibuprofen, nasal spray, I have to put 25 drops of an essential oil / salt solution into a big glass of water and drink it. Yuck! The cough medicine is nice, there is a 1 gram paracetamol effervescent tablet to add to water and drink. By now I am shivering, probably due to drinking all the water. Now the antibiotics.
Just the eye drops to do. I don’t notice that I have not done the nasal spray until I re-read the instruction in the evening.
All except the antibiotics have to be taken 3 or 4 times a day over the next several days. I must be ill!
Bed for the next few days then.