For the last few months our internet connection has been getting progressively worse. It has been frustrating, not only because we were busy with many other things, we needed to do our online driving practice tests, but also to keep in touch with people, read news and so on. We have a second phone line which works over IP but without internet, that doesn't work. We are also supposed to have a TV decoder for paying channels but without internet that also doesn't work. If the decoder is connected and there is no internet, the tv won't work either, so we have not installed it in view of our current situation.
At the start, the internet would cut out around 8am and sometimes come back around 10 or 11pm. We spoke to other people in the village and they told us this was normal. So we thought, ok, we can live with that, even if we don't think it's normal. The connection slowly became worse, with the outages increasing in length. The tone on the phone was also worse and I could hardly hear anyone calling in.This was no longer normal.
On contacting Orange (French Telecom) and explaining the situation, they asked us to try a few things, and then decided to send a technician. The technician arrived and we explained (again) the problem and he told us - this is normal. He didn't look at anything or do anything.
So 2 weeks later the internet was even worse and we ended up with no internet whatsoever, so it was time for more serious action. The only way we could connect to the Internet was by engaging the phone as if we were going to make a call and then as soon as we finished doing what we were doing, disconnect and the Internet connection would immediately disappear.
Contacted Orange again and they asked us to change the filter, change the phones around and if that didn't work, they would send someone. "They" happened to be two lovely older technicians who looked at all our cabling. They found a few problems - so we're not mad - an old line with bells, apparently from an old phone system, which may interfere with the current system, a birds nest of cables in the loft which looked like a plate of angry spaghetti. The internet worked, but the phone didn't sound much better. But they left, we were happy - for 5 minutes and then the internet connection disappeared. Back to the same old tricks.
Called Orange again and they decided it might be the Livebox (router). So we arranged with our friends up the road to collect it from Limoux (as no driving for us!) and spent a while installing it. Finally we finished at 1am and did some work on the internet. All seemed to be well. But the next morning it was back to its usual self, with the red light flashing like mad and no connection at all. The phone trick was also starting to be unreliable.
So I formulated a condensed series of events for the next call from Orange - they were going to call us this time, after the installation of the new Livebox. I was going to tell them that as Orange was not able to provide all the services we are paying for we feel they were not keeping their side of the contract and they should have checked before selling us this package that it would actually work in our area - basically Orange sold us a lemon. But when the lady called she was so sweet (they saved her for this moment) and she was very understanding and said they would arrange for a specialist technician to come out the next day.
The technician called and said - bonjour, we have found a small problem on your line - I found this quite funny as each time we rang Orange they "checked the line" and found nothing. So I asked him to repeat it and he said yes, there is a problem on the line.
He arrived today - without smile, without greeting, and started taking apart what the other lovely guys did last week. But what happened today? We had a thunderstorm at lunch time and somehow that got rid of a lot of gremlins in the system and the internet worked perfectly for over an hour - blast - they finally send someone specialised and the thing works! But I should have relaxed as it was short lived - as soon as he started moving things around, the connection disappeared. Wouter showed him what we had to do to get internet. He found the whole thing strange too.
The time spent on sorting this out has been significant and I can well understand people getting upset with helpdesk assistants on the phone who try to establish the details of the problem. But for now we have internet and I will be interested to see whether or not it is still working tomorrow morning.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Driving Test
On Friday we sat our theory exam for driving. It's been an interesting experience to go through all of this, but I must say it has helped understand how the French drive, even though I get the feeling noone actually follows the letter of the law - maybe that's why they have so many laws and red tape here - if there is enough of it, one of these days someone is bound to follow the rules. We've also met quite a few new people and some new contacts.
Three times a week we went into Limoux to the driving school to do practice tests like they would be in the exam, and be frustrated beyond belief at the logic behind some of the answers. However, after a few times we feel we have come to understand how the French drive and think when driving. One interesting thing we found out is that smoking and eating while driving is 'interdit' - forbidden - because it means you must take your hands off the steering wheel to do it. Also, using the cellphone is interdit - every second car here you see someone talking on a cell phone or smoking a cigarette.... It doesn't help if you do the online tests and then find out that some of the answers are wrong, like this one (we chose the correct answers by the way):
Here are some sample questions - the question is read to you and then you have around 12 seconds to enter your answer, there may be more than one correct response to a question, and there is always at least one incorrect option amongst the options:
On 13th month, after the sign, I may:
make a stop - yes.... A no....B
park - yes....A no....B
I may:
- park before the sign......A
- park after the sign............B
- stop before of the sign.....C
- stop after the sign............D
On a new vehicle, the tyres installed on the front axle and also those installed on the rear axle must be:
- of an indentical structure
yes......A no........B
- of an indentical type
yes.....C no........D
I am well positioned for:
- turning right...................A
- continuing straight ahead....B
- turning left.....................C
- making a u-turn................D
Answers:
Q24 = A D Q3 = B C D Q19 = A C Q23 = C D
The test itself was another story. We did a practice exam at the school and then went down to Rue Blanquerie where we used to live. There is a huge building there, and we always wondered what was inside. Now we know - a lovely courtyard with lovely flowers and exotic plants and a big hall like the old NZ school halls with a stage and big windows. All the different driving schools turned up with their pupils who were all nervous (including us) and hoping to pass (ditto). Then you had to queue up for your turn, as they put the papers in a certain order so you have to go in by the order of the papers - sounds something like trouping the colour... Anyway, we were outside and Wouter thought this is a good thing because even though it was hot and sticky, sitting inside a hall with no air con for half an hour is awful before an exam. We felt better - slightly. Butterflies continued finding their way around my stomach and we wished each other luck. Handsets were given out and then the instructor said a lot of things which we neither heard nor understood due to lack of volume and speed of speech. But we managed to put in our security codes correctly before the exam started. The first few questions were all a blur as I realised this is it - we're really doing the test - all those weeks of reading, trying to do our internet tests (this is another story), going to classes, it's now or never. The end of the exam - phew, sigh, relief. Each person went up to the desk of the softly spoken man in exactly the same order as entering the room. The man tells you once you have given in your handset whether or not youv'e passed - in front of everyone. So there was another advantage to enter the hall almost last....... Poor people who didn't pass - no privacy to say BUGGER! Wouter's turn - PASS, a few more people, my turn - PASS. Excitement and happiness follow and we are both really pleased we passed. Of course now we are not allowed to drive until we have had our practical exam and (hopefully) passed that too.
We still think there is something wrong with a system which will allow the exchange of driving licences from countries such as Nigeria and Liberia, Vanuatu and other little dots of islands that not many people have heard of. But rules are rules, and NZ licences do not qualify to exchange for a French one. We could have gotten around it several ways - had we known in time what was required. One way was to go to Britain and become resident for 3 months, and then 3 months before the expiry of our international licence, apply for a British one, come back here and exchange it for a French (EU) one. Another way was to visit Vanuatu before leaving NZ and get a licence there. A straight swap would have been done in that case. Another way was to contact some guys over the 'net and "buy" an EU licence, but both of us didn't like the look of them - they reminded us of used car salesmen and we wondered how far our money would go if we attempted to buy another licence in cyberspace.
Three times a week we went into Limoux to the driving school to do practice tests like they would be in the exam, and be frustrated beyond belief at the logic behind some of the answers. However, after a few times we feel we have come to understand how the French drive and think when driving. One interesting thing we found out is that smoking and eating while driving is 'interdit' - forbidden - because it means you must take your hands off the steering wheel to do it. Also, using the cellphone is interdit - every second car here you see someone talking on a cell phone or smoking a cigarette.... It doesn't help if you do the online tests and then find out that some of the answers are wrong, like this one (we chose the correct answers by the way):
Here are some sample questions - the question is read to you and then you have around 12 seconds to enter your answer, there may be more than one correct response to a question, and there is always at least one incorrect option amongst the options:
On 13th month, after the sign, I may:make a stop - yes.... A no....B
park - yes....A no....B
I may:- park before the sign......A
- park after the sign............B
- stop before of the sign.....C
- stop after the sign............D
On a new vehicle, the tyres installed on the front axle and also those installed on the rear axle must be:- of an indentical structure
yes......A no........B
- of an indentical type
yes.....C no........D
I am well positioned for:- turning right...................A
- continuing straight ahead....B
- turning left.....................C
- making a u-turn................D
Answers:
Q24 = A D Q3 = B C D Q19 = A C Q23 = C D
The test itself was another story. We did a practice exam at the school and then went down to Rue Blanquerie where we used to live. There is a huge building there, and we always wondered what was inside. Now we know - a lovely courtyard with lovely flowers and exotic plants and a big hall like the old NZ school halls with a stage and big windows. All the different driving schools turned up with their pupils who were all nervous (including us) and hoping to pass (ditto). Then you had to queue up for your turn, as they put the papers in a certain order so you have to go in by the order of the papers - sounds something like trouping the colour... Anyway, we were outside and Wouter thought this is a good thing because even though it was hot and sticky, sitting inside a hall with no air con for half an hour is awful before an exam. We felt better - slightly. Butterflies continued finding their way around my stomach and we wished each other luck. Handsets were given out and then the instructor said a lot of things which we neither heard nor understood due to lack of volume and speed of speech. But we managed to put in our security codes correctly before the exam started. The first few questions were all a blur as I realised this is it - we're really doing the test - all those weeks of reading, trying to do our internet tests (this is another story), going to classes, it's now or never. The end of the exam - phew, sigh, relief. Each person went up to the desk of the softly spoken man in exactly the same order as entering the room. The man tells you once you have given in your handset whether or not youv'e passed - in front of everyone. So there was another advantage to enter the hall almost last....... Poor people who didn't pass - no privacy to say BUGGER! Wouter's turn - PASS, a few more people, my turn - PASS. Excitement and happiness follow and we are both really pleased we passed. Of course now we are not allowed to drive until we have had our practical exam and (hopefully) passed that too.
We still think there is something wrong with a system which will allow the exchange of driving licences from countries such as Nigeria and Liberia, Vanuatu and other little dots of islands that not many people have heard of. But rules are rules, and NZ licences do not qualify to exchange for a French one. We could have gotten around it several ways - had we known in time what was required. One way was to go to Britain and become resident for 3 months, and then 3 months before the expiry of our international licence, apply for a British one, come back here and exchange it for a French (EU) one. Another way was to visit Vanuatu before leaving NZ and get a licence there. A straight swap would have been done in that case. Another way was to contact some guys over the 'net and "buy" an EU licence, but both of us didn't like the look of them - they reminded us of used car salesmen and we wondered how far our money would go if we attempted to buy another licence in cyberspace.
Monday, 1 June 2009
Pedro
A couple of weeks ago there was a dog advertised in one of the local papers - it was an "elderly" couple who rescued a dog and were not able to care for it where they were. So we replied and heard nothing more until the other day when I had a call from the lady owner who said she would give me the dog.
We arranged to go there on Sunday and have a look around and see the dog and then decide if we would take him or not. So "Enzo" was there, black, part labrador (and definitely part something else), somewhere around 4 months old. We decided he looked ok, and he had been vaccinated and micro-chipped. The young girls at the house were a little sad he was going, but it seems the family did not have the time to look after the dog and he had no company so it was better for the dog to have another home - they told us this is what they explained to the children.
When we got him home we introduced the dog to Cassy at the neighbouring property to prevent any territorial disagreements. But everything seemed to go well, and after a couple of hours both dogs were playing happily together on the lawn. He is not at all used to the leash, but after a couple of walks down to the reserve he seems to be improving. He likes to mouth everything, which is typical for a puppy. But I don't like nippy or licky dogs so we'll work on that one.
Apart from a few small habits he seems to behave reasonably well, and we hope that within a week we'll have him obeying commands in English. He seems to adore Cassy. But Cassy, at 8 years old, needs his grandpa naps and a break now and then from an energetic puppy. However, there are advantages on having another dog around - there is an extra bone once his is finished and puppy is not yet top dog so he can just whip it off him.
We didn't think the name Enzo fitted the puppy and spent a bit of time looking for a more appropriate name - a lot of names for black dogs seem to have sinister connotations, but in the end we chose Pedro, which we think suits him well.
We arranged to go there on Sunday and have a look around and see the dog and then decide if we would take him or not. So "Enzo" was there, black, part labrador (and definitely part something else), somewhere around 4 months old. We decided he looked ok, and he had been vaccinated and micro-chipped. The young girls at the house were a little sad he was going, but it seems the family did not have the time to look after the dog and he had no company so it was better for the dog to have another home - they told us this is what they explained to the children.
When we got him home we introduced the dog to Cassy at the neighbouring property to prevent any territorial disagreements. But everything seemed to go well, and after a couple of hours both dogs were playing happily together on the lawn. He is not at all used to the leash, but after a couple of walks down to the reserve he seems to be improving. He likes to mouth everything, which is typical for a puppy. But I don't like nippy or licky dogs so we'll work on that one.
Apart from a few small habits he seems to behave reasonably well, and we hope that within a week we'll have him obeying commands in English. He seems to adore Cassy. But Cassy, at 8 years old, needs his grandpa naps and a break now and then from an energetic puppy. However, there are advantages on having another dog around - there is an extra bone once his is finished and puppy is not yet top dog so he can just whip it off him.We didn't think the name Enzo fitted the puppy and spent a bit of time looking for a more appropriate name - a lot of names for black dogs seem to have sinister connotations, but in the end we chose Pedro, which we think suits him well.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Cherry Ripe
It's funny, isn't it, what memories come to you when you are reminded of something from years gone by. At the moment our cherry tree is loaded with fruit. We thought it wouldn't be ready for ages, but the presence of lots of birds and one yellow labrador-shark circling underneath told us they might be ripe enough to eat. The other day Wouter let Cassy out for his usual morning activity and later went to look for him but he seemed to have vanished, but then he saw a tail wagging - only the tail as the rest of him was buried deep in the cherry tree. Cassy has also learnt to climb the pile of builders mix we have underneath the tree, and then to place his paws on one of the branches so he can reach further up into the tree to help us pick.
tree in blossom
My first memory of anything cherry is when my sister and I used to sing along with my mother when she played the piano. The song was "Cherry Ripe" and it goes something like this:
Cherry ripe, cherry ripe
Ripe I cried
Full and fair ones
Come and buy
this is from a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and if you are interested there is a link below which plays the tune - the second link is to a (wiki) detailed explanation of Cherry Ripe and associations:
Cherry Ripe tune
Wiki article
two weeks ago
cherries on tree
Then the other day I found out it's my sister's favourite fruit - never knew that before.... I've only in recent years come to enjoy the fresh cherry and I've never been too fussed on the jam or other cherry preserves.
So yesterday evening we went out with a big bowl, and again this morning and this evening. So now I am faced with loads of cherries and wondering what to do. The crop is finite, so I guess they will survive a few days in the fridge and we can just snack on them.ripe for the picking
if it falls where will it go?
In anticipation of being able to do lots of things with the cherries we've been searching for a cherry pitter to no avail. I had heard you can use a bent paper clip, which we tried but it didn't work out well as the paper clip was not strong enough. But then I thought about a crochet hook - luckily I bought a set of three recently as they were on special for 2 euro and one never knows when one may need such things.... and they work perfectly well as cherry pitters!slurp, slurp, slurp
trail of evidence
I'll just wait until I have room again....
second pick
After picking several kilos of cherries the backlog meant I had to do more than just eat them fresh. So after giving away a few, some have been pitted and gone into the freezer for muffins, pies and desserts etc, some are drying as I write to be used as cherry raisins, some are soaking in sweet juice for making glace cherries (this is particularly useful as I have not seen them for sale here yet), and soon I will make a cherry leather, a bit like a fruit roll-up. We estimate the total crop is something like 25 kilos - yesterday we picked 8 kilos without trying.pitting for cherry raisins
and then there are the broad beans
Next year we will be better organised and I can spend more time trying out new recipes and ways to keep the cherries for later, but meanwhile we continue to eat them fresh as they sure make a change from broad beans!!!
cherry blossom
tree in blossom
My first memory of anything cherry is when my sister and I used to sing along with my mother when she played the piano. The song was "Cherry Ripe" and it goes something like this:Cherry ripe, cherry ripe
Ripe I cried
Full and fair ones
Come and buy
this is from a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and if you are interested there is a link below which plays the tune - the second link is to a (wiki) detailed explanation of Cherry Ripe and associations:
Cherry Ripe tune
Wiki article
cherries on tree
Then the other day I found out it's my sister's favourite fruit - never knew that before.... I've only in recent years come to enjoy the fresh cherry and I've never been too fussed on the jam or other cherry preserves.
So yesterday evening we went out with a big bowl, and again this morning and this evening. So now I am faced with loads of cherries and wondering what to do. The crop is finite, so I guess they will survive a few days in the fridge and we can just snack on them.
In anticipation of being able to do lots of things with the cherries we've been searching for a cherry pitter to no avail. I had heard you can use a bent paper clip, which we tried but it didn't work out well as the paper clip was not strong enough. But then I thought about a crochet hook - luckily I bought a set of three recently as they were on special for 2 euro and one never knows when one may need such things.... and they work perfectly well as cherry pitters!
trail of evidence
I'll just wait until I have room again....
second pick
After picking several kilos of cherries the backlog meant I had to do more than just eat them fresh. So after giving away a few, some have been pitted and gone into the freezer for muffins, pies and desserts etc, some are drying as I write to be used as cherry raisins, some are soaking in sweet juice for making glace cherries (this is particularly useful as I have not seen them for sale here yet), and soon I will make a cherry leather, a bit like a fruit roll-up. We estimate the total crop is something like 25 kilos - yesterday we picked 8 kilos without trying.
and then there are the broad beans
Next year we will be better organised and I can spend more time trying out new recipes and ways to keep the cherries for later, but meanwhile we continue to eat them fresh as they sure make a change from broad beans!!!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Flowers
A pictorial entry to show some of the flowers in and around our property.
does anyone know what this is?
and this one?
geraniums and herbs
irises in one of my (many) vases
irises in garden
more irises in another part of the garden
lilac bushes are everywhere and smell heavenly
we have lots of these pretty orchids
one of the four vines we planted for table grapes
planting tomatoes - note the braod bean plants behind the tomato bed....
a spring vine
quite a spectacle in rows
sweet smelling wild broom
does anyone know what this is?
and this one?
geraniums and herbs
irises in one of my (many) vases
irises in garden
more irises in another part of the garden
lilac bushes are everywhere and smell heavenly
we have lots of these pretty orchids
one of the four vines we planted for table grapes
planting tomatoes - note the braod bean plants behind the tomato bed....
a spring vine
quite a spectacle in rows
sweet smelling wild broom
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Anzac Day
The 25th April is the commemoration of the ANZACs (Australia New Zealand Army Corps). In both countries the day is a national holiday. There are dawn services, followed by parades and commemoration marches, which pay tribute to the forces in Gallipoli in World War I who lost their lives. Winston Churchill had a plan to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Red Sea to make way for the allied forces.When I was at school we used to have a special assembly to remember this event. At that time it did not make a huge impression on me but now I fully understand and appreciate the reasons to have such services or traditions and remember the past. Being in France is an extra reminder now as all around us where there are wild flowers, we see poppies growing. So it is a fitting flower as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the great war.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Curry, Car, Computer and Clothes
Have you ever had one of those days or weeks where everything seems to go wrong? Sometimes there are too many frustrating things happening which shouldn't happen, or just seem to happen at the wrong time. I fear I may have tempted fate - Wouter has a beret which reminds me of the one Frank Spencer used to wear in 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'. I found some clips on you tube and he watched them the other night. You remember Frank - everything he touched fell apart or everything he made fell to bits or landed on something else and broke it.
It started last week when we went out for a lunch with our friends up the road. It was a curry place which looked as though it would be good - uses fresh ingredients and so on. We were really looking forward to it as we hadn't been 'out' since leaving NZ. So we got there and it was not quite Fawlty Towers, but almost. The people were a little weird, the place was a little weird (holes in the ceiling, silver insulation on the ceiling, several unfinished bits and colours in the loo, a small screen to separate the kitchen and dining with the kitchen looking like something out of a 1970s camping grounds, the people sitting behind us while we ate....) Anyway, the company was great and we laughed all the way home as we tried to think what were the fresh ingredients in the meal. We joked that the only thing missing was the funny walk.
Then Wouter tried to start the car but it wouldn't go - earlier in the day he tried it and it wouldn't work then, but he thought it was because of all the rain we'd had on the weekend - which, by the way, was average by NZ standards! So he hopped on the bike and cycled down to the local garage. They arrived 10 minutes later with a huge tow vehicle. "Bit drastic", I thought, but no - our little baby was taken away for a check-up with the main suspect being the fuel pump. However, on further inspection it turned out to be water in the electronic box. Blast! (actually a stronger word was used) So it was taken to Limoux Citroen garage and we would be without a car until last Friday or so, and it would cost 500 euro to fix..... Well, we can't be without a car, and without having it fixed the car won't go, so it's hardly a choice. On Friday we were told Tuesday.
So on Tuesday this week the lady from the garage called around. Happy to see her, I said "the car...." (in French), but she said - no.... long story, but it appears there are more problems - oh really? - yes, it looks like the car has been driven into a river. At this point I was startled as I thought she told me someone HAD driven the car into a river. But she was saying there are 3 electrical boxes, and 2 of them are so full of water they are shot. So double trouble, but triple the cost. And it will take - possibly - another 3 days to fix..... So maybe we will have the car back by the weekend. I said to Wouter that we didn't buy a Citroen but a Citron (lemon)! Our kind village neighbours up the road took me food shopping on Friday as we were having other people over for dinner so I had to get some food in.
OK, having that out of the way left room for more things to happen. Wouter has been trying to work with some masonry and of course is unfamiliar with it having worked with only wood for years. So the mix went everywhere, the batons wouldn't sit where he put them, some Dutch swearing.... But he thinks now he has the hang of it, so perhaps this is one good thing.
While he was busy yesterday I was working on the computer when an antivirus window popped up telling me that there was an upgrade and we shouldn't be without it as otherwise we are unprotected. So, thinking this was a normal upgrade I clicked download, then forgot about it as I was busy with other things. Normally Wouter takes care of such matters. This morning he tried to run a scan which didn't work. So I told him what happened yesterday. Makes sense. But do you think we could get the application to run, install, or give us any useful information with which we could email for help?????
So after spending a long time searching their site, logging a query then checking the faqs as recommended, I lost my query, which I think ended up somewhere in deepest, darkest Czechoslovakia. No problem, I thought, I will email them. Wouter took time away from his own frustrating masonry and found a contact address but not the current key. Blast! Anyway, I thought still no problem, we will just provide the old key, an explanation and surely it will be fine. I took some screen shots which would be helpful to show what happens when you try to run the application, composed the email, uploaded the attachments, and when the screen refreshed, all the text was missing from the email. Tried clicking the back button, but that takes you completely out of the email you are writing, so completely frustrated by this point, I re-wrote the whole email. Bad enough to write about this experience once, never mind having to remember what you wrote and say it all again.
To top off the day - well, it wouldn't be complete without another story, would it? - it's quite windy but sunny, and because it has been a little unsettled over the last week and the plumbers have been here fixing pipes and drainage I didn't do much laundry. So I thought I'd catch up on that while I did work in the garden. Having hung it all out and nicely blowing in the breeze, or rather, almost blowing sideways, it dried in no time and I promptly brought it in only to find that some of the things had been so blown about by the wind that they are now badly out of shape - Murphy's Law says that these will be the items you like best or are the most expensive or are irreplaceable. So we will be happy if, by the end of the week, the car is back and working properly and we can just get on with our work without any funny business and we can pick up another supply of wine to replace our soon-to-be-depleted stocks after a few frustrating days!
Meanwhile we have been watched by a religious lady on the hill. A couple of weeks ago she wasn't there, but because some flowers were lost, it gave this appearance. In a couple of weeks time she will be gone.
look carefully above the roof
It started last week when we went out for a lunch with our friends up the road. It was a curry place which looked as though it would be good - uses fresh ingredients and so on. We were really looking forward to it as we hadn't been 'out' since leaving NZ. So we got there and it was not quite Fawlty Towers, but almost. The people were a little weird, the place was a little weird (holes in the ceiling, silver insulation on the ceiling, several unfinished bits and colours in the loo, a small screen to separate the kitchen and dining with the kitchen looking like something out of a 1970s camping grounds, the people sitting behind us while we ate....) Anyway, the company was great and we laughed all the way home as we tried to think what were the fresh ingredients in the meal. We joked that the only thing missing was the funny walk.
Then Wouter tried to start the car but it wouldn't go - earlier in the day he tried it and it wouldn't work then, but he thought it was because of all the rain we'd had on the weekend - which, by the way, was average by NZ standards! So he hopped on the bike and cycled down to the local garage. They arrived 10 minutes later with a huge tow vehicle. "Bit drastic", I thought, but no - our little baby was taken away for a check-up with the main suspect being the fuel pump. However, on further inspection it turned out to be water in the electronic box. Blast! (actually a stronger word was used) So it was taken to Limoux Citroen garage and we would be without a car until last Friday or so, and it would cost 500 euro to fix..... Well, we can't be without a car, and without having it fixed the car won't go, so it's hardly a choice. On Friday we were told Tuesday.
So on Tuesday this week the lady from the garage called around. Happy to see her, I said "the car...." (in French), but she said - no.... long story, but it appears there are more problems - oh really? - yes, it looks like the car has been driven into a river. At this point I was startled as I thought she told me someone HAD driven the car into a river. But she was saying there are 3 electrical boxes, and 2 of them are so full of water they are shot. So double trouble, but triple the cost. And it will take - possibly - another 3 days to fix..... So maybe we will have the car back by the weekend. I said to Wouter that we didn't buy a Citroen but a Citron (lemon)! Our kind village neighbours up the road took me food shopping on Friday as we were having other people over for dinner so I had to get some food in.
OK, having that out of the way left room for more things to happen. Wouter has been trying to work with some masonry and of course is unfamiliar with it having worked with only wood for years. So the mix went everywhere, the batons wouldn't sit where he put them, some Dutch swearing.... But he thinks now he has the hang of it, so perhaps this is one good thing.
While he was busy yesterday I was working on the computer when an antivirus window popped up telling me that there was an upgrade and we shouldn't be without it as otherwise we are unprotected. So, thinking this was a normal upgrade I clicked download, then forgot about it as I was busy with other things. Normally Wouter takes care of such matters. This morning he tried to run a scan which didn't work. So I told him what happened yesterday. Makes sense. But do you think we could get the application to run, install, or give us any useful information with which we could email for help?????
So after spending a long time searching their site, logging a query then checking the faqs as recommended, I lost my query, which I think ended up somewhere in deepest, darkest Czechoslovakia. No problem, I thought, I will email them. Wouter took time away from his own frustrating masonry and found a contact address but not the current key. Blast! Anyway, I thought still no problem, we will just provide the old key, an explanation and surely it will be fine. I took some screen shots which would be helpful to show what happens when you try to run the application, composed the email, uploaded the attachments, and when the screen refreshed, all the text was missing from the email. Tried clicking the back button, but that takes you completely out of the email you are writing, so completely frustrated by this point, I re-wrote the whole email. Bad enough to write about this experience once, never mind having to remember what you wrote and say it all again.
To top off the day - well, it wouldn't be complete without another story, would it? - it's quite windy but sunny, and because it has been a little unsettled over the last week and the plumbers have been here fixing pipes and drainage I didn't do much laundry. So I thought I'd catch up on that while I did work in the garden. Having hung it all out and nicely blowing in the breeze, or rather, almost blowing sideways, it dried in no time and I promptly brought it in only to find that some of the things had been so blown about by the wind that they are now badly out of shape - Murphy's Law says that these will be the items you like best or are the most expensive or are irreplaceable. So we will be happy if, by the end of the week, the car is back and working properly and we can just get on with our work without any funny business and we can pick up another supply of wine to replace our soon-to-be-depleted stocks after a few frustrating days!
Meanwhile we have been watched by a religious lady on the hill. A couple of weeks ago she wasn't there, but because some flowers were lost, it gave this appearance. In a couple of weeks time she will be gone.
look carefully above the roof
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
