Skip to main content

Life without the internet

The internet broke down where I am staying and, unfortunately, mobiles don't have any coverage either so for 3 days life has been difficult.  The notaire sent me papers that I couldn't get access to, nor the ones that Orange sent.   I went to Angers to get a bank cheque and was told it would take 2 days.  Why?  My son's account went down to zero and I couldn't transfer any money to it, and missing orders from Waterstone's to my son and grandson went unnoticed.

All that disruption, and I am just one person.  A major attack on the system could bring the world to a standstill.  Some  have already tried and succeeded, at least to selected organisations.

I enjoyed a lovely dinner in a restaurant on Tuesday before heading to the cinema to see James Bond.  It took me a long time to find a restaurant that actually served food before 7pm.  Even the Chinese restaurant, which is in spitting distance of the cinema, doesn't open before 7pm.  I did suggest to them that if they opened an hour earlier they could advertise 'pre cinema dinner' but I am not holding my breath that things will change.

The dinner was lovely apart from one thing.  Half the plate was covered with lettuce, known as 'salade' in France.  I don't want to eat rabbit food.  I want vegetables but you would think they didn't exist in a country where nearly all the restaurants serve horrible lettuce, while being surrounded by farmland and markets, growing and selling vegetables.  

I was disappointed in the James Bond movie.  There was too much talking and sentimentality and not enough action, and what happened to fist fights looking like a real fight? Now there is a noise, a flash of light, and someone falls on the floor.  They could  learn from the old John Wayne fights.  Give me back the dry humour and subtlety of Sean Connery, combine it with modern technical stuff and then you have a winner.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I'm Free

 After being incarcerated in my son's house waiting for the results of the day 2 test I was finally allowed out today.  I went to Chichester and was saddened by the number of familiar shops that have disappeared from the town centre.  Bognor is the same.  You wouldn't die of thirst in either town though as the number of cafes has increased.  Both town centres were busy making it difficult to keep a safe distance from others but many people were wearing masks in the street. I was pulled over by Customs in Caen.  As I opened the trunk of the car one of the officers asked me if I was carrying goods.  'Yes,' I replied, ' French Champagne and French wine'  They nodded approvingly and waved me away. During my 3 days in the house, I have cleaned, filed all their paperwork, mended the shower, cooked dinner and tried watching television, the latter being totally uninspiring.  The news consists of covid, travel restrictions, forbidden Christmas parties...

D day lasts 3 days

 This morning, with my head full of things I still have to do, I got on the tram and forgot to scan my ticket.  The inspector got on 2 stops later and said I had to pay 45€ for this lapse.  Why can't I scan it now?  a reasonable question in my opinion, was met with scorn, so I  paid up.  On the tram back from the hospital there she was again and checked my ticket with glee.  While she was doing that a young man got on, sat down  and did not show any sign of even having a ticket, let alone scanning one.   The inspector passed him by without a second glance.   Today is the last day for packing and organising.  Tomorrow the removal company will arrive at 6am to take it all away and put it in storage.  Tomorrow night I will sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and Thursday I go to the hospital to be nuked for the last time.  The sleeping bag is the one that saved me from hypothermia when a friend and I were lost for ...