A Cold, The Cold

I've gotten a cold, you know, one of those head achy, runny nosed, feverish things that are carried by people in the course of their miserable days.  I am now that person and I don't like it one bit!  Drip, drip, sniff...drip, drip, sniff.  Besides that not so small irritant I want some coffee badly and that means I'll have to venture into the downstairs freezer which defines cold here in Lignieres in May and all proceeding months back to late September.  Brrrrrr.  So, be miserable and "of want" here in the somewhat warmish computer room or down I go.  Decisions, decisions...off I go.  Ah, coffee!  Dark, rich espresso, my favorite with1 lump of crystal death for sweetness.  Now for my commentary on this last short period of time.

So our not-so-beloved POTUS (I won't say his name) went to Saudi Arabia and is bringing back knowledge of the Sword Dance and 200 Billion (with a B) worth of military contracts.  Oh joy of joys, Halliburton, Raytheon, Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed and I'm sure many, many others, will just be tickled and greatly enriched bigly, gee whiz!  When you want 1st class things that created explosions and kill people by the hundreds and thousands you sure know where to find 'em.  You want it, we got it!  KABOOM, BANG, KRASH!  Yes, it's our number one export...Death and number 2...destruction!  Meanwhile our good "representatives" want to kill Medicare, Obamacare and all manner of other help aids for our citizens.  Isn't that just great?  "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!" Our not-so-beloved POTUS yelled after getting the deal of the week in his hot, puffy, pussy-grabbing hands.  He is now our Number One Death Purveyor!  All Hail!

Today is a Sunday and I feel like hell, I have unpacked but not put away stuff all over my bedroom floor and not a hell of a lot of motivation to do anything about it.  I want a shower, a hot, hot, hot one to clear up my achy sinuses, and to rid myself of the damning odors and large lumps of detritus that hang on after a long tiresome journey.  Read a bit, examine my science pages in www.realclearscience.com and sleep a bit of this cold off too.  That's today.  A slow day, a small day, no traveling anywhere for anything...I'm contagious and I know it and it's got to stop with me.  The SNOT stops here!

Back in Lignieres!

It's been 15 years since we began our French love affair.  A few low points, the damned lost registration document for the trusty Toyota, the bad condition of the roof we cannot afford to have redone, my leaky kitchen for the same reason...but, oh the standout wonders of our time here!  The location is in the very heart of agriculture France, the waving fields of wheat and colza, sunflowers and poppies, the sweetest people make up our local population, the contents of ANY grocery store.  Yes it is a very wonderful place that suits us so very well.  Our friends here are wonderful to be with and are ever so helpful no matter the project, and...they are good cooks too!  How many more years can we make the trek from California to the Heart of France I can  only guess but it isn't forever.  In our hearts maybe, but not in reality.  The trip here this time took no less than 34 hours from getting up at 7am on Tuesday til we unlocked the door Wednesday evening at 7:50pm.  I will review my posting the contents of an email I sent the next morning to our expansive family:

Heroics!  That’s what got us here! Heroes we are!  34 hours from awake til at our door in Lignieres!  Yes awake the whole damned time!  Two GIGANTIC traffic jams that lasted (for us) 2 hours EACH!  What caused them, who knows but there were cops, cop cars, fire engines, ambulances all trying to get thru the backed up mess on a three lane freeway jammed with semis, vans, cars, motorcycles and angry, angry, frustrated people.  Even the detour which took the Cal-Trans like Krew 1.5 hours to invent on a 1 lane road going the wrong way entered yet another traffic marmalade thicker and more fucked up than that of which we had left just 15 minutes before!  Cars going in every direction on tiny 1 car width lanes with the ocassional 80,000 lb semi load of Chinese fine 40” LED Tv’s lumbering along!  A-fuckin’-mazing! 

Do NOT EVER rent a car from EuroCar at CDG!  NEVER EuroCar ever...anywhere!  They are INCOMPETENT.  AVIS IS THE ANSWER to the question!  Renault Clio 4 dr with ancient Nav mapped GPS was the 2 day rental we used to make the monumental “journey”.  A bit noisy, a bit under-powered for normal traffic but for our jams and jellies it was enough to move the car 10 ft. every few minutes.  A horse and buggy would have been as appropriate...with stops for hay quite often.

Home:  Quick looks, then bed at 8pm.  This morning, awake at 3am...back to sleep at 4am.  Up at 10am to view the fine French world outside.  Open a few curtains, inspect the ceilings for indications of leaks above, none.  Open all doors, close all open water drains (many), close all faucets, turn on H20 at the main under the stairs.  Turn on lights as necessary.  Inspect for water damage anywhere or (worse) puddles!  It’s raining outside time for a peek at the attic and to turn on the Hot Water heater. Attic dry, no puddles.  Check World-Of_Weeds outside, ce normale...weeds aplenty!  Through the layer of gravel and tarps, weeds endure quite well.  Open barn doors, no damage and surprisingly dry.  Trustee ol’ Toyota dirty as heck but standing.  Connect battery post to positive terminal.  Check oil, add a qt.  Top off radiator coolant.  Crank... runs!  Back slowly out, allow to run a few minutes, then off.  11am: wake Ms. Lute from her slumbers.  Ready coffee.  Check out PC’s, turn on both and boot to Win 10 version “Hell Knows”, whatever was extant on 9 August of last year.  Sit and chat a while.  Go to Proxy, greet owner and shake hands,  chat about trip and weather here,  get eggs, bread, rillets and milk.  Make sandwiches for breakfast at 11:30.  Eat with my Ducky in the Dining Room after opening the shutters to allow for LIGHT!  French filtered-through-clouds sunlight! Beautiful place that it is!  Nice to be in our French home again!

So that's our beginnings for the summer of 2017.  Our daughter Ashley and her husband Andy are arriving on/about the 26th.  Then the real fun begins!  Love to you all! H