Possumworld

The dreaded fair left on Sunday evening and we all managed to survive, more or less. Frankly, given the rather hideous weather that prevailed most of the weekend, I can’t imagine that any of the carnies made much money.

Mom was really and truly miserable with the ride in front of her house. It blocked whatever light there was, but the worst was the horrible music interrupted every 15 minutes or so by a horn blowing “La Cucaracha!” Even Mom, who hates to complain, was complaining by Saturday night.

Still, it is time to move on. We’re safe until 2012, which is the next time it will be setting up on our side of the village. I hope to be able to negotiate to not have something quite so invasive in front of her house.

JM and I escaped on Sunday to go to the Fete du Pain in the village of Routiers in the Razes. That was an interesting experiment ins seeing what other villages do. First we realized that it’s a lot easier to get to Chalabre than some of the other villages. That mostly has to do with road size. The roads near Routier are a little wider than a tractor, which made for some interesting encounters while going there and back. Giant RVs do NOT make for friendly fellow travelers on roads of that size. There were a couple of times when I was worried that Beanie would wind up in a ditch as we moved over to the side to make room.

Routier is very attractive, but it is perched on a hill. I was so glad that we had not brought Mom with us, because I truly don’t believe she would have been able to make it from the parking lot up into the main town. I would imagine that long term residents there have very strong legs and lungs!

The event was quite well attended and we were lucky that we arrived during a portion of the afternoon where there was some sunshine. It was really not a great weekend for festivities, unfortunately. Still, it was nice to get out for a bit. I’m afraid that we didn’t really see much though, because it was very crowded and difficult to walk around. I guess we weren’t the only ones craving a bit of sunshine and fresh air.

And, that craving for sunshine remains only semi-fulfilled right now. Generally, after the weekend of Ascension, the weather turns warm and sunny. We had a beautiful day yesterday, but it hasn’t lasted. Today has been overcast, cool and windy with only brief periods of sun. I do hope we’re not going to have a summer like the one a couple of years ago where most of June and July were cold and rainy.

Please feel free, when it is broiling hot in July, to remind me of this as I sit here complaining about being too hot and wishing for the cooler days of fall!

Ciao for now.

Randy

Our local GP is on vacation. I knew he was going on vacation, but thought he would be gone this week and next. Mom needed to get her prescriptions renewed, which entails a doctor’s visit once every three months, as there are no over the phone refills here. Our doc thinks, and I agree with him, that seeing your doctor four times a year when you’re on regular medication is not a burden.

However, having discovered that he was on vacation last week and this week, I realized that NEXT week, when Mom’s prescriptions run out, his office will be a zoo. My guess is there will be a minimum of a two-hour wait every morning next week, and there are no evening appointments until 7 pm or so. Since he always runs late, that means 8 or 9 pm, which is just too late for us.

So, since Mom doesn’t have any current problems, I figured we could go and see the replacement doctor.

There is a service that doctors can use, where mostly Baby Doctors (the ones just out of medical school) can work as little or as much as they want and take over for doctors who are going on holiday. It’s really a great system. They keep the same office hours, handle emergencies and are just there to take up the slack. What was interesting for me was knowing that there would be very few patients in the waiting room, as most people would rather wait for their regular doc to return.

As it turned out, there was an article in this morning’s newspaper about the fact that in the next few years, our department is going to have a major doctor crisis. The average age of doctor’s in the Aude is higher than in many other areas, so many of them are going to retire. Young doctors don’t want to set up rural practices, because they make less money, work harder and are farther away from the “big city.” It’s going to be a problem.

I was mentioning this to Mom in the car and somehow it turned into an anti-Obama health care rant. I’m not proud of myself, but I lost it. I mean, there I was, driving her to a doctor’s appointment where almost ALL of her care is covered 100% by French social security because of chronic illnesses, and she is complaining about health care reform in the U.S. On top of that, although we do have a supplemental policy here to cover the small portion of her bills that are not paid 100%,  the social security portion of her care is FREE this year, because her income was too low for her to be required to pay a premium.

When I started explaining all of this to her, she admitted that she didn’t really know what was in the U.S. Healthcare Reform package. So why was she against it? She has no idea, but FAUX says it’s bad, so it must be. By the time we got to the doctor’s office, she did actually admit that she didn’t want people like JM and me to die in the streets because we weren’t insured, and she did remember that her insurance company had denied her late husband’s chemo therapy as being unnecessary, then approved it AFTER he was dead.

I apologized for getting so worked up, but honestly, I couldn’t believe she would have the nerve to complain. I asked her if she liked her healthcare here and she admitted she loves it. I sure wish I could get her to think more often!

When we got to see the doctor, Mom’s blood pressure was pretty high. I had to explain to the doc that I thought that was my fault and told her why. Then we discussed the American situation a bit. As usual when I tell anyone here about the way things are in the States, they kind of stare at me in disbelief. I think I scared her, because she’s going to visit her sister in Canada next week and was worried about what would happen to her if she had a car accident or something. I reassured her that Canada was NOT the States, and she could rest easy.

It turned out to be a lot more interesting a visit than I had imagined.

Ciao for now,

Randy

Poor Iceland; it really hasn’t been their year.

One of the things I haven’t missed about living in Los Angeles is the ever-present worry about “the Big One.” I know that there are small earthquakes in our region, but they probably wouldn’t even be noticed on a typical California day.

So, instead, what do I have to worry about? Volcanic ash! To be honest, I doubt it will get to our area, or if it does, by the time it does, there won’t be much of it. But who thinks about that as a possible problem?

With air traffic in all of northern Europe affected, it has made us all realize that Mother Nature does not have much of a sense of humor. Imagine if the Iceland volcano continues to erupt, or even erupts to Krakatoa levels, what that could mean!

We so take for granted our modern existence that we forget how quickly everything could change. We know about global warming, but do we really FEEL what major climate changes will mean? Perhaps something like this will bring home to us the reality of life on Earth and help us to make important changes to fix things while we can. Even though this is not caused by us, we should really look at the things we HAVE caused and try to change our ways.

Are you all using your re-usable cloth bags when you shop? Do you recycle? Turn off excess electrical appliances? Use less plastic? I know you do; but maybe you can each convince one more of your friends that they should start doing these things as well.

Off my soapbox now.

Ciao for now.

Randy

I know it, but I can’t stop myself. I’m actually researching SUN HATS online!!!

The temperature hasn’t been above 0 C (32 F) in days, and I’m worried about the summer! Really, I’m worried about keeping cool in the summer, so I was looking at those hats that have cooling beads inside them. You soak them in water and they’re supposed to keep you cool for hours.

We’re never satisfied, are we? Everyone is complaining about the snow and cold right now, but in a few short months, they’ll be saying it’s too hot. And, to be fair, I’ll probably be amongst them.

I think the thing I really mind most about the weather we’re having, to be honest, is that it makes walking a lot more difficult. I am NOT the world’s most graceful person, as I’ve often said. So, whenever there is any ice outside, I keep worrying so much about slipping and falling that I have trouble walking like a normal person. I DID finally break down and order strap on cleats to wear next year (I’m assuming I won’t have any more use for them this year!), hoping that will help me to at least feel more secure.

I am also going to toss out my hopelessly useless Moon Boots. I mean, really, what is the point of selling SNOW boots that aren’t waterproof? Why would you NEED them if it wasn’t snowing, which is, you know, FROZEN WATER! At any rate, by the time we get back from walking the dogs, especially after the snow has gotten all slushy, I have ice cold, wet feet. I think it’s some kind of communist plot; it’s the only explanation.

I even bought some waterproofing spray that did no good whatsoever. So, the Moon Boots are going to have to go.

But I’m still thinking about that sun hat…

Ciao for now.

Randy

How this is going to play out, but we are under Orange Alert for snow and ice! Hey, what was I writing last week about Spring?  I guess anyone can be wrong.

I do remember some of the worse storms we ever had when I was growing up were spring storms, so I guess this is in line with tradition. Still, it’s a tradition I could do without.

I do love snow, but I feel that this winter we have had enough and I am now good and ready for spring. I guess there’s always the chance that it won’t be as bad as they are warning us about; it was apparently very, very heavy in the Vosges and other regions where it struck yesterday and earlier today.

So, think lovely, warm springtime thoughts and keep your fingers crossed!  I will do the same for all of you, no matter where you are.

Ciao for now.

Randy

In December we made an appointment with an eye specialist in Toulouse for my mother. Her corneas are badly scarred and we want to see what, if anything, they can do for her. The consultant only sees patients on Tuesday mornings, so this meant getting up at 5:30 to we could all be ready in time to leave at around 7:15.

What a mess!  The weather was raining and, worse, blowing, like crazy. Beanie does not have a good profile in a high wind, so driving her in those conditions is sometimes a bit challenging. The autoroute between Pamiers and where you connect to the main autoroute to Toulouse is the worst. The winds come right across the highway hard and fast. Strangely, there is talk of putting a new airport there, and I really wonder about the wisdom of that, even though it will be way more convenient than Blaignac for us.

We got to Toulouse in the middle of rush hour (I’d forgotten how horrible that is) and finally got to the hospital to discover that there’s major construction going on (tram line extension directly to the hospital and a new wing being built.) Unless you have a special pass (that we didn’t know we needed in advance) you can’t drive onto the hospital campus; there is NO parking at all for anyone other than employees.

A sympathetic security guard let me drop Mom and JM off at the right building (apparently very rare to find one who will do that without the pass) and I had to drive through a horrid maze to find my way out again. Then, I had to drive through a section of Toulouse I’ve never been to and try to find parking. Obviously all the nearby businesses have signs up to prevent you from parking there. I did manage to find a McDonald’s about 10 minutes away and figured, “what the hell” and just left the car there and walked back to the hospital. I wasn’t wearing enough clothes because I had no idea I would have to walk that far so by the time I got to the right building I was frozen.

I got to the right place, found JM and Mom only to discover that the DOCTOR WASN’T THERE!!!! They had “sent” letters to the patients, but apparently almost none of us received them! A lot of the other patients had come from far away like we had and no one was amused.

The upshot is that we made an appointment for the end of March with a doctor who sees people in the afternoons so we can avoid this little game again. I was really annoyed at myself because yesterday I had thought that I should call to make sure everything was all right, but I got distracted and didn’t do it. I’ll call next time for sure.

On top of that, I really needed to go to the bathroom so thought we could buy something at McDonald’s and I could use their bathroom. NO! They aren’t open for breakfast, so I had to drive all the way back home hoping we didn’t get stuck in any more traffic. I don’t like to use the restroom on the autoroute because they don’t have seats on the toilets and I can’t stand sitting directly on the cold porcelain. I tend to reserve that little experience only for times of true necessity with no other choice.

Anyway, we did make it home safely and while we were walking the dogs it started to snow, so things could have been worse.

Ciao for now.

Randy

We were just out walking the dogs. It’s in the mid-40s, so not too, too cold; the sky is overcast but no rain, it’s not windy.

We had let the dogs do their usual thing and had just collected them to finish our walk and come back. Suddenly, out of nowhere there was a massive blast of wind. It was so powerful that JM and I had trouble standing against it. It was super loud, like a freight train and the weirdest part of all was that it was blowing hot air like you would encounter in July or August! It lasted for 30 or 40 seconds, then simply stopped.

There was no funnel cloud, so I don’t think it was anything like a tornado. No particularly strong winds are in the forecast either.

Clearly, if you’re like me and JM, you start going towards relatively far-fetched kinds of explanations. Me being the anxious type, my first thought was that it was the leading edge of a nuclear blast or an explosion. However, there wasn’t any type of noise like that other than the sound of the wind itself. JM’s first thought was that a cloaked alien ship had landed in the empty field where we were standing. We couldn’t see it, because it was, well, cloaked!

We came home and no one in the village seems to have noticed a thing. I just hope we’re not radioactive.

Ciao for now and may you have a Joyful, alien-free Christmas!

Randy

It’s all about the internet, of course, and the really, really fine print in the contract.

Now that so many people are choosing to use smartphones and netbooks for most of their internet access, they are tempted by the exciting offers of the various telephone companies. Unlimited internet via 3G sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, although the TIME you are online isn’t limited, the amount of bandwidth IS limited! Also, since we’re all one happy European family now, most people don’t hesitate to use their phones and net services when they cross the border into Spain or Belgium.  They soon discover the error of their ways.

Yesterday the big story was about a man living in Northern France near the Belgian border. He signed up for an account with Orange in August. His first bill for for 45,000€ for one month of access!! The gag is that much of that cost was for “roaming”charges in Belgium. Only he hadn’t set foot in Belgium. How could it have happened? Well, apparently when you are on the border between two networks, your phone automatically picks the best network. Because of his location, that network was often the Belgian network! This is apparently a big problem for everyone in similar circumstances, because most people never bother to look to see which network their phone is using.

Today, a host of other cases are making the news. Many, many people are discovering these horrible, abusive invoices from their service providers. And they are not all uniformed consumers; a lot of them are people who think they understand what they’re signing. But clearly this is not the case.

I am sure that this will have to be addressed, as you can’t have so many individuals finding themselves in massive debt to a phone company without some action being taken. I don’t know where it will go, but I’m watching. And I’m also feeling very relieved that smelled a rat when I renewed my cell phone service and decided not to go for any “extras!”

Ciao for now.

Randy

The rain that we so badly need has arrived (not much for us so far) and it is gray and Octobery. And I don’t mind, really. However, this weekend is the agricultural fair at Espezel! We look forward to that all year and I cannot imagine that it will be much fun if it’s raining!

I’m not sure which will be worse: wandering through the streets trying to look at what people are selling while juggling an umbrella, being hit in the face by OTHER peoples’ umbrellas, getting wet feet or wandering up to the livestock tents in a field of mud. To be honest, none of that sounds like a thrill a minute.

So, for once I’m going to hope for NO RAIN, at least on Saturday and Sunday. I also think it would be very sad for the seller’s who probably count on making a lot of money next weekend. Do you go or do you not go? I have to admit if it was me, I would be torn.

Ciao for now.

Randy