The Olympic flame has arrived in Paris after a couple of weeks touring the country. People in the capital seem to be enjoying the TV coverage, as they are interviewed by excited reporters. This TV coverage started at 6.30 am and has continued throughout the day. As they stop for photographs on every street corner this could take days.
A day of turmoil. First an e-mail from my English bank to say I must contact them as they need further information about me, or they will stop my account. "Please hold, we are busy". Twenty minutes later, I speak to a lady who hasn't a clue what this is all about. Can I hold while she finds out. Five more minutes and she comes back. They need a copy of my passport to show I am a British Citizen. My Chromebook will not talk to my scanner. Find a laptop with problems, but coax it to work, and get a decent scan of my passport. Back to the "hub" that I have to put my picture on. Ref: Number, done, name done, date of birth done, postcode being a French one is not acceptable. So it has all ground to a standstill until I get back on the phone again tomorrow, My internet plan allows me to phone the UK free of charge, which is just as well, but now my landline phones appear to be on their last legs.
So much palaver. Since ceasing work for the Australian Government in 1998 I have been in receipt of a superannuation pension. Last month received a letter asking me to prove that I wasn't dead - and therefore still eligible to receive the pension - and was given until last week to provide that proof or the pension would be stopped. All I had to do was complete a form saying that I was still alive, have it notarised and return it to them - which I did straight away. Four days later I received an email thanking me for returning it promptly and confirming that my pension wouldn't be stopped. No hassle, no stress...
The proof that I am still alive is an annual event with the DWP. A trip to the town hall, where the mayor will put the official stamp on it, and then hand it on to the secretary who will put their address on it with her most unreadable handwriting. They think it is daft, and do not get it from other countries. I wonder where all the paper is stored from returned forms?
It may have changed, but in Australia it was standard practice to retain such paperwork for five years - then have a shredding party.
I think I have succeeded after a further two phone calls to different people on different numbers. The first one had no notion what to do, despite being the contact for difficulties with their "hub". The second one didn't know either, but asked me to hold while she spoke to someone else. Five minutes of electronic music, and she apologizes, but said she would have to speak to yet another person. More music, but she comes back triumphant with a generic postcode. It works, and I have sent off a copy of my passport, and even received an e-mail to say they have it. I am informed that I am now being processed. I cannot believe that I am the first person to have this problem, so maybe the call centre staff could be better informed. The real answer is for their web design team to get their act together, as some sites do ask which country you are in before asking for the postcode.
There is something rather civilized, or old-fashioned, take your pick, about French attitudes to the people. I don't go to Poitiers very often unless it to pick up something like a new driving licence. The streets around the Prefecture have marked parking places, but with metres. It is only for short stay really, so last time I was there a one-hour stay cost €1 or €2 for a maximum stay of two hours. There is an exception to these charges between midday and 2.00 pm when you pay nothing. All designed to allow the working man to go to a restaurant or bar, for a well-earned break, and to fuel up for the afternoon toil.
How many times will an update to a computer system cause it to crash? My nephew used to work for NatWest bank, maintaining their IT programs. Then, to save money, the work was outsourced to India. 4.00 am on a Sunday morning, the phone would ring, requesting him to go to the office as the latest update kept crashing. What should have been a simple operation turned into quite a lengthy one as the remote working from India was unscrambled, and then the update applied. Today we see just how much is interlinked, from GP's to supermarkets, and airlines to TV channels. Maybe it is best summed up by this tweet I came across. "Oh is THAT why Wetherspoons is in chaos this morning. App down. Cash only. Kitchen screens blank. People are surviving on their wits out here".
If companies had their own safe storage system and invested in it and then just shared their information for business purposes this global meltdown would not happen, over the years everyone has been encouraged/forced to store everything on the World Wide Cloud and this is what happens one small glitch and everything breaks down, by all means share on the Cloud but make sure you have your own safe records as a needed backup
The software that caused it is a fancy next-generation antivirus (I nearly signed my company up for it, luckily it wouldn't have affected us as we're not using Windows). The fix for it is pretty easy, but you need to do it manually, which is causing a lot of mess everywhere. Not me me though, beers in the sun today
Enjoy your day. Made an early start with the strimmer before it became too hot. Two hours and that is it. The car sat in the sun says it is 40°C. My afternoon will be spent in the cool of the house watching people peddling up four rather large mountains.
The rain ruined my plans... I was in France until Thursday helping my Mum out, back for 2 weeks on Thursday again for an actual holiday!
My good friend, and neighbour, is no more. This afternoon, I had a tearful Josiane at the door to say that Bernard had died. For over twenty years, he has shown a kindness to us that we could never fully repay. It is on occasions like this that you realize how limited your ability is to say in a foreign language what you would really like to say. I hope that just holding her hand while she struggled to tell me how he had been very ill for the past week, conveyed to her what my words could not. Rest in peace, my friend.
It is another Monday morning, and because the blackout curtains on the roof lights are doing their job, you are not sure if the weather is going to be helpful to your gardening aspirations. You keep one eye open as you descend towards the kitchen, where a pot of tea will be made. I notice through the kitchen door that the sun is shining, and it is above 16°C in the greenhouse as the vent is open. Water in the kettle, flick the switch, and leave it while the latest news is checked. Nothing new, so return to the kettle that has done nothing to heat any water. Need to find the old kettle which was discarded when the hinge on the lid broke, but with care can still be used. Yes, water is boiling, so latest one is broke. Gardening is on hold as search on internet begins. How many companies are making electric kettles, and how do they make a living from such a cluttered market? An electric kettle made from recycled cooking oil seem like a friendly idea, but not at twice the price. Mme has a look, and says she doesn't know. Time is drifting away, so plump for one that is in the country and place the order. It is now time for some lunch, so need to go and put the kettle on.
Amazing here in this remote hamlet at yhe end of a track...there are three hamlets with the same name in Creuse .as Frenchie knows... . And Amazon France does not recognise ours..meanwhile a package has just arrived via the postman via Amazon UK... pleasantly astonished...
Amazon fr. is really on the ball for me. The kettle that I ordered yesterday has just arrived with La Poste.
I have collected together quite a lot to justify a trip to the recycling centre. Just checked up to see what their opening hours are, and find a splash across the top saying they will only open in the mornings next week due to the heatwave. What heatwave is this? Checked up now on the weather forecast, and see what they mean. 38°C is expected Monday. This weather is not normal. Deny that the planet is heating up as much as you like Trump, you are wrong.
