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Sunday, February 12, 2012

You can't fight with those people and win


Merlin

I didn’t mention that Molly had to move apartments in Paris. This was – as you can imagine – a traumatic event for Molly and Merlin – not the least reason being that Molly chose to have a fight with the people who were moving her WiFi connection.

I would have thought that everyone knew that you cannot fight with these people and win and the inevitable result was that she ended up not having any Internet for the first two weeks she was in her new apartment.

This was disastrous as she works from home using the Internet constantly so had to start haunting cafés with WiFi connections until she bought one of those little USB thingies that you can use – at vast expense – to get a connection.

Anyway – after a significant amount of grovelling and begging she is back on line.

Merlin was quite unhappy about the whole business of moving and Molly being out all day but is now back to normal.

Her new apartment is next to Sacré Coeur in Montmartre and has a nice view. I am not sure about bells – she hasn’t mentioned these so I assume they are not a problem.

The downside is that she is on the 5th floor and there is no elevator – but she hates elevators anyway so that does not bother her. However  - it could be a struggle for me when I visit her. I will travel light.

Her new landlord appears to be sane – which is a great leap forward from the crazy lady who owned her previous apartment.

Next week I am having a break from cooking. Cate’s boss – Huggy Bear – is retiring and the new guy is in town for a series of meetings with all the senior staff from all the areas.

There will be a series of knees ups and meetings and the upshot of this is that she will be out every night. 

Then next Saturday she goes away again - to a land far away - for a week - so the cats and I will be on our own.

We have a big week planned. I am going to study German and the cats are going to sleep. Should be a blast!

6 comments:

  1. That is a great photo of Merlin. Hope you are making it through your cold weather okay. We have a bit of cold for yesterday and today, with more snow today most likely, but then nice tomorrow.

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  2. Commiserations to your daughter - I had my share of experiences with the envoys and sbirres of "La poste" (back then at the beginning of the 00s still the best way to get an internet connection in Paris) and since then I am holding the Austrian bureaucrats of the A1 and its spawns in a higher esteem...
    regarding your dutiful resolve/resignation (?) to immerse yourself in the intrinsics of the German grammar...maybe you should give yourself a try and go for "Egon Friedells "History of the modern age" - an Austrian cultural/historical classic. The language which it is written in is beautiful and gives your an idea that this tongue can produce something remotely resembling style and eloquence. I have no idea of your literary inclinations, but I got a vague idea that you may take a fancy to this chap. For a first impression, try the google books excerpts in the English tranlations:
    http://books.google.at/books?id=scol2bmXUsEC&pg=PA209&hl=de&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

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  3. We have not had the phone or the internet for weeks at home due to the rain. I could not work form hom even if i tried..all very frustrating for real!

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  4. Sounds like the perfect week. Except for the learning German bit.

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  5. esb: Yes we are enjoying it actually. T he weather is beautiful.

    David: Thanks -for your advice. My literary inclinations these days are almost exclusively history or biography - I shall rustle up a copy.

    Simon: Ah yes - I had forgotten about rain and what it does to communications in the 'outback' where you live.

    I miss Macau: Thanks - and to you too.

    lenny: ~Yeh perhaps I will take a break from german.

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