Tuesday, October 28, 2003

I'm sort of back
We've had so many problems with our 'sooper dooper 'computer. Wrong colours, wrong size print, no printer, no Norton, no scanner, no AOL, Our number for XP is 'invalid' and it all crashes from time to time! I'm working a lot this week so the times we've been 'up' I've been 'out' so to speak. I hope it gets better soon. Thanks for all the nice comments, it was good to know that I've been missed!

Monday, October 20, 2003

Rob
Is running away with the computer for a few days, hopefully by Thursday we will have millions of giga watts or whatever (Or wattever, ha ha!)
I couldn't resist this

Lorax
Which Dr. Seuss character are you?

brought to you by Quizilla

Thank you Michelle, I love Dr Seuss too
I have just pinged
for the first time since Saturday afternoon and I have been told ,again, not to ping every five minutes. Strange, of course Blogger might have automatically pinged for me, but that doesn't happen every time
"Weekend sans accident"
Here in Charente Maritime we have had a road safety campaign, the idea was not to have any accidents this week end. We were asked to drive with sidelights to show solidarity. The local 'observer' in our newspaper noticed a car with side lights (I'm a goody) racing past two cars without side lights who were obeying the speed limit on quite a dangerous road.

Up to 7 o'clock yesterday evening there had been around half a dozen accidents but no one was killed.

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Now
I've had Weblogs telling me I shouldn't ping every five minutes and I should relax and enjoy life.
I wonder what my blood pressure is at the moment?
I'm not happy
with my husband, Rob. We have a computer that is around four years old and is being stretched to the limit. To make a bit of space Rob decided to get rid of everything as much as he could from our desks. The result is he got rid of all of the cookies and now I've got to write out my identity again everywhere I go. Refinding passwords is annoying because I can never remember where I 'hid' them
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Blogshares update
After hovering around $3 million for ages, my shares last week suddenly shot up to $4! I reversed the last stocksplit and my Anji Patchwork shares are picking up. Rob asks why can't real life be like this?
Exam time - already?
I couldn't have allowed myself any time on the computer yesterday as I was exam supervising again. This was a big four and a half hours exam, politics of commerce or something like that. I thought I would fall asleep but they kept me pretty busy handing out paper. It was in a mini amphitheater so hopefully running up and down all of those steps count as exercise. The 'Ecole superior de commerce is expanding so I couldn't find my way around like before. It will be really nice, if it ever gets finished.
No AOL?
Rob announced yesterday morning that AOL wasn't working. "What do you mean, not working?!"
After a couple of minutes he finally confessed that at long last, AOL had opened our line up for broadband, only problem was he had to go to work first. Any way we're much faster now. The hardest part of the installation was untangling the spaghetti of wires between the desk and the back of the computer.

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Emmitt Till
For all of those who've come looking for Emmitt Till, I'm afraid I haven't really got any information. I read about him in a book and then discovered that he was murdered the year that I was born. I recommend this. It is not a pretty sight but as
his Mother said "This is what race hatred looks like."

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

It's bad news week
Since Monday I've done nothing but hear bad news. A friend phoned me for advice because her daughter is ill, she just can't go to school any more. Then the parents of one of Rob's colleagues turned up in the tower where Rob was working. They'd come to wish their son Happy Birthday, against his instructions not to contact him again. I won't go into details but I was so shocked. We'd stayed with them on their farm in Bordeaux a couple of summers and I just can't imagine a split in that family. Olivier had his tooth out (the dentist decided to do the second next Wednesday). He was really co-operative and it went well but he was in a lot of pain afterwards.

Well, that's my week so far. How was yours?

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Spring already?
I went out into the garden and worked for three hours yesterday afternoon. It was heaven, the weather was beautiful, I didn't hurt my back and I felt as if I'd achieved something. A lot of it was cutting things back but I moved some heather (probably the wrong moment to do it) and found a baby bush to fill up a gap that I'd got by the wall. I've got a box hedge that I'm trying to get rid of. Someone gave me some cuttings years ago. They told me to water it well, which I didn't because I can't stand it , it still grew and grew!

For some reason the light and everything reminded me of spring. In the evening we walked down to the beach and the sky was a beautiful pinky-red, when we turned round to go home an enormous golden moon was just rising, perfect!
Oh no! Not that Anji.
As I write I see that I've been getting some visitors looking for "Anji". I'm top of the list, great! If you look at the quotes :

Personality
Anji would not be a good candidate to babysit your children.

Natural
Anji likes animals-- perhaps too much.
Hope it changes soon.
My friend the spell checker, tells me I can use "anus" to replace Anji. The machine is taking over.

Friday, October 10, 2003

Another couple of hours
After my lesson finished yesterday evening, my boss; Lionel, came in and asked me if I could do a couple more hours on Tuesday evenings. So I said yes straight away. It will be a couple who are in business who want to improve their English, thankfully not their business English (I don't like that so much). My Thursday group has increased to four. They seem to get on okay. I can get them to do interviews with each other, that's just given me an idea, must dash....
The spell checker doesn't know B-L-O-G
Always late.. Or too early
Lots of people who blog come from lots of different time zones. All this is mixed up with what time you 'do' your blogs. I often come in after every body else and usually someone has already said what I would like to say. This morning I've been reading Stacey who has been talking about the difference between joy and happiness. Stacey always writes beautifully and from the heart. Michelle usually beats me to the comments with exactly what I'd like to say, only better than I would be able to express. Then there are the cultural differences, we might speak the same language, but there are all sorts of differences. For example; Bill is talking about 'Peeps', something I've never heard of. Then he mentions conkers- very English. In France the kids don't acknowledge conkers at all. A strange world we live in. Most of us are getting ready for hallowe'en, aren't we?

Every week for some time now Zoe has been holding a battle of the blogs. This week we are choosing between D4D and Naked Blog. Both have which produced their manifestos. I happened to stumble across Naked Blogs manifesto which contains how he will illiminate, teachers, the unemployed and people over fifty. Ha! I immediately posted my comment, identifying myself! The outcome is a good giggle and I got a few more visits. I've also found myself a jolly good read.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Oh dear
I’m having to write this on word this morning as there are no telephone lines at the moment. It’s a strange feeling, being cut off from the outside world, although I do have my mobile.

Bad news, Olivier will have to have two teeth pulled out. He’s got two milk teeth that are trapped. The orthodontist managed to take a mould of his teeth without Olivier throwing up all over him. Apparently around one in five thousand people have very sensitive mouths and throats. Olivier had to concentrate on his breathing. I told him afterwards he knows what to do if he has to give birth one day!! Funnily enough he liked the sensation of the cold wax or whatever it is in his mouth, strange boy….

The Simpson’s
Has anyone else seen the Simpson’s cards which are around at the moment? They are quite good. We even have Homer version 1974. We’ve got four swaps if anyone is interested.

By Jupiter!

I haven’t mentioned Jupiter for a while. She’s still a very happy hamster and greets me every morning when I come into the kitchen. She can get very aggressive with her piece of wood to chew on, especially as it won’t fit into her little house. Olivier went to visit a friend who has the same type of hamster, she just hid at the back of the cage. We must be doing something right

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Parents evening
Last night was Dom's evening, so we went off to the lycée to take a look at her new teachers. Olivier decided he's like to come too, although we explained how boring it would be. He sat through the whole lot, which wasn't exactly riveting, without a word or fidget. He drew lots of little men to cut out later to make into a cartoon book. He had more fun than Rob and me! One of my collegues from last year teaches maths, it was nice to see him again and Dom likes him too.
Sorry
The comments seem to have a life of their own at the moment. If you're really bursting my e-mail address is in the corner.
I wish I'd never asked
When I'm looking for some amusement I always consult Daisy, but today I came across this:
ANJI

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Irish root meaning "Lousy Drunk"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expression
Anji does things with housecats illegal in 47 states.

Personality
Anji would not be a good candidate to babysit your children.

Natural
Anji likes animals-- perhaps too much.

Emotional
Anji is deceptively warm and endearing.

Character
Anji is a pessimistic whiner.

Physical
Anji couldn't beat Ghandi at boxing.

Mental
Anji isn't overwhelmingly intelligent.

Motivation
Anji is terribly over-confident.

So charming. Go to What's in a Name, if you'd like to be insulted

Monday, October 06, 2003

Goodbye Dom....
I've just removed Dom's blog from my list. She decided to stop blogging about two weeks ago. It's a bit sad because I, for one, was interested in what she had to say. She wants to do something 'science fiction' next and probably in French. She's been at lycée for a month now and her English teacher still doesn't realise she's English! Dom doesn't participate much orally in class. Other than that she's got a little band of friends and looks forward to seeing them. In class she's bored, they don't work fast enough. Unfortunately my children inherit very high I.Q.s from their Grandmother (MIL). Certainly for the boys this has posed great problems. I know that some of you that read this blog understand how difficult this can be. It's good to know I'm not alone.

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Do you remember
my neighbours daughter who was in my September11th story? Well she's back in the states studying English and during the summer went on a tour.(They also took in a few garages on the way) Here they are......

Saturday, October 04, 2003

Don't say bribery doesn't work
I know I shouldn't, but I said to Olivier this morning that if he did half an hour of homework we'd go and buy the Simpson's album he wanted (He'd pay, I'm not that stupid). He leapt straight out of bed, got dressed and finished his maths and physics! I was quite happy to carry out my part of the bargain but parking was a problem We went round and round and down the same wrong street twice. (He was on the lookout to make sure non of his friends see him). He's super pleased, he's got his album AND he's done his maths and physics for the weekend!
Blood pressure update
I've got to keep taking the beta blockers for the time being. I checked my 'Carnet de Santé' last night and it's a little lower than before it all started but the Doctor says if I stop taking them it will go too high again. I don't feel stressed anymore at all so I don't understand it. I'd like to bet it's thyroid related. Something to look up later.

Olivier had his medical for table tennis, he's so ticklish. He's fine, just an X-Ray to do for his back. One leg is very slightly longer than the other. His blood pressure was fine, of course!

The spell checker is back but it doesn't speak French, tee hee.

Friday, October 03, 2003

The spell checker
Probably fainted after my recent remark, it was giving me a 'not found' message and now it doesn't even bother to do that. Talking of remarks, Rob told me this morning that for a split second I reminded him of my Mum. Then he went off to work, leaving me slightly depressed. I love my Mum but I don't want to be a clone.
My new lesson
Went very well indeed yesterday evening. I've got two pupils and they get on well with each other and me. The time went so quickly, they could hardly belive it, which is a good sign. We've got plenty to do as they are very weak. The challenge for me is to make it different and interesting (and relevant)
A blistery, blustery day
We've had gale force winds and rain today. The leaves are being ripped from the trees. I'ts still quite warm outside 17.5°C. We don't usually need to turn the heating on here untill the beginning of November.
As part of
Black history month on the BBC. I've just been listening to a program about the Bristol bus boycott. It's incredible the ideas and beliefs that people had. I hate to say it but I think that people in France are more tolerant of race, though there are some exceptions.
Blogwise
I'd like to point out the blogwise button over there on the left. At Blogwise you can search for blogs to your hearts content by alphabet, language, country, keywords etc. I think it's great, especially as I've had a few visitors from there since I joined

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Before
Anyone else says it. I don't use very long words either- I know!
Norton update
Rob worked on the computer till three this morning and Norton is working as it should. It even updated automatically, something we've never had. No sign of AOL's special broad band pack yet. I had a visit from an opinion pole gatherer yesterday. I must muck up the statistics a bit,I don't read any French magazines, I don't read any newspapers on her list, I don't listen to the French radio and I barely watch TV. I read Newsweek but it wasn't on her list this time. I spend around four hours on the computer though. I do answer opinion polls.

I love the spell checker, especially when it says 'No errors found'.
My gel infested son
almost cuts me to ribbons if I try to give him a hug, He's changed to 'fixation extrême' with vitamins(!). It smells like apple chewing gum, I suppose if he gets fed up with it he can spread it on toast. I shouldn't complain, he's due for a growth spurt pretty soon. Perhaps I'll start using gel as well..............;
Finished
My book, the end is sad but I won't say anymore because Stacey said she'd like to read it. I can tell you this, reading the last page won't give you the ending, ha!

Daisy has this about President Kennedy, which fits nicely in with what I was reading.

Next I'm going to reread 'We the Living' by Ayn Rand. This book took my breath away in parts

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

October
Is off to a great start, I posted something a couple of minutes ago and it has disappeared into space, and my previous posts by the looks of it. Testing, testing........................
October
Has started with an invitation to have a look at someone's web cam pictures. She ' keeps it on all the time'. What fun. Other than that, all's quiet in the Western front. Oh yes, going back to the Norton antivirus, It won't activate automatically. Rob went onto the site and there's a whole page devoted to it, so we're not the only ones having problems. Fortunately it's simple to activate, not so simple to remember to check.....