Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I'm Melting........Not Really....But Sometimes

Hi folks,

I'm spending the first summer since 1973 without air conditioning here and I must say that it's been an education.  Living in the USA certain does have it's advantages as most places there come with a/c of one kind or another.  It's 85 here today which is a far cry from what we're hearing about back in Lynchburg where it's been in the high 90s up to over a hundred for weeks on end now.  We DO have fans a plenty and once away from the West side of the apartment it's cooler.  We can't however open all of our back windows due to the pigeon population back there that hasn't been resolved as it's taking forever to get the nets in place to build them out.  I've toyed with the idea of a "stand alone" a/c unit but have no idea about what "type A" or "type B" power requirements are here.

Summers here are not as long as they are in Virginia so we have a little over 2 months left of warm weather and then it'll be gray and rainy for the rest of the year.  I haven't mentioned that riding the Metro in this is also quite warm, say at least 15 degrees warmer when you add masses of people crowded together underground on trains.  This weekend we go to hit a museum somewhere in the 16th (our hood) and the twins are off into their new quarter at Strayer University.   Cassie is having fun at work and I'm working on new music and getting ready to play out again as a solo here probably in the fall.  A new Roland AC-60 amp will be on the way soon and I'll need to get started wood-shedding to get ready for the gigs which if everything works out will be at our favorite Brasserie here in the 16th.  I'm looking at doing Sunday afternoon shows in their upstairs room which is intimate but very nice.  Cassie and I start rehearsals for our trip to Cluny in August to be with our new friends Claudia and Fred who also plays for the annual village festival there on August 14th.  Should be a blast!

That's it from warmth central here in Paris.  Just remember to never take your a/c for granted.  We certainly won't again.

Love to all everywhere......*

A bientot,

Sid

Friday, June 25, 2010

My Sixth Blog

It has now been around four months since we came to Paris and things are still never boring. A couple weeks ago, I finished my first quarter at Strayer Online and I had GPA of 89.4 for my math course. A week later, Niall finished his and I think he got a score around 98. Our new book for our next quarters came in a couple days ago, and I'm sure they'll prove very useful to us. We've also gone to the library to return books this week and I picked out four new ones that I intend to share with Niall. Things have still been going well for us here and I hope they continue to for the future of our time here.

Kian Hagan

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Fear And Loathing In The French Football Federation And Landon Donovan

Yesterday here in Paris Nicolas Sarkozy called an emergency session of their parliament (I think that's what it's called here) to discuss and debate the miserable failure the French National Soccer Team was in South Africa at this year's world cup.  The team played poorly and evidently there's been misgivings about their coach for more than 4 years and those obvious misgivings led to out and out mutiny by some of their players in South Africa some of which was captured on film and replayed over and over and over again on French TV.  These antics led to cancellation of several major sponsors and commercials being yanked from TV and print media as the French National Team never made it out of Group Competition and was sent home without a win early.  We've never lived in a foreign country when the World Cup was happening and as you've seen in previous blogs, we've enjoyed it.  We do however feel bad for our French friends who are very unhappy at the lack of professionalism by their team and the embarrassment it has caused here in France.

On a different note, not even the FIFA Referees were able to stop the USA Team from winning their group last night although the Belgian Ref tried mightily to do so.  We've watched all of the USA games and the one constant in all of them was poor officiating that bordered on purposeful bias to the point the French commentators would yell "incroiable!" at almost every bad call and out and out declared the Americans had been robbed in the game against Slovenia.  It was only fitting last night that Landon Donovan who's played with the US Team for as long as I can remember scored the winning goal last night and I shouted in the living room and had tears in my eyes.  They were moving on to the final 16!

I'm including a link in this entry that tells the story far better than I ever could.

Love to all everywhere especially the USA National Soccer Team in South Africa!

USA!

Sid

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/student-s-video-tribute-to-donovan-a-hit--fbintl_ro-videodonovan062510.html

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

That was good...

On Friday (6/19/10), I finished my final exam for my first quarter at Strayer University. That was the final assignment for my class, HUM. 101 that involved the origins of Western culture. With that my first quarter was over and I was given over a week break to relax.

My scores came in on the following Monday (6/21/10). I got a 49/50 correct or a 98% correct score. Later that day, my total quarter grade came in and it turned out to be a 96.7%.

Needless to say, I was very very pleased, as were my parents and my brother. My next Strayer quarter will not begin until the 28th of June, so as I said, I have some time off until then.

Niall

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Water Heater And Magic

Bonjour all,

About 2 weeks ago while taking a shower here I noticed that the hot water dropped out and became cold for about 10 seconds and then returned to hot water.  As the days went by I also noticed when washing dishes or my hands in any of our 3 sinks it was the same but with more frequency.   Then last Tuesday we were expecting guests and I called the apartment management company (which will remain nameless here) who dispatched 2 plumbers (one would have been fine) who arrived after lunch both smiling secret smiles and went into our kitchen to look at our water heater.  I'm not sure if I mentioned the way water is heated in most apartments here so here goes.

Our water heater is what I've heard friends refer to as a "flash" heater that is wall mounted in our kitchen behind a large cupboard.  It not only heats hot water for our sinks, baths, or showers, but also heats the water for our radiators in cold weather.  It's method of heating is through natural gas which probably comes to France via Russia and how it works is when anyone turns on a "hot" knob in either a sink or bath tub or shower; the water heater automatically starts heating the water as it passes through the heater so essentially it flash heats the water unlike our water heaters at home which were 50 gallon hot water reservoirs always kept at a steady hot temperature in perpetuity.  It should also be noted that our current water heater is brand new as it had been installed right after Cassie signed the lease on the apartment.

O.K., back to the grinning plumbers......  They went right into the kitchen, opened the cupboard, looked at the water heater and found a small gauge on the front that was zeroed out.  I watched as the main guy (who was the tallest) reached to the back of water heater and turned a small knob and the gauge began to register into a green zone on the dial.  He then turned on the hot water in our kitchen sink and let it run and sure enough, problem solved.  Naturally he spoke little or no English as I tried to ask him what he'd done.  The only reply I got with a smirk was "magique"!  I did however see where the knob was that he adjusted although I don't think he knew that before he left.  A bill arrived from our apartment management company for 88 euros that was generated by that visit and I just found out in broken English from apartment manager that anything going wrong with the water heater is our responsibility save for the yearly maintenance visit, at least that's what I think he said.

So, long story short, we'll be paying 88 euros for around 2 minutes of "magique" this week.

Magique indeed mon amis,

Love to all from our magique maison,

Sid (Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat........nuthin up my sleeve.......*) Hagan

Thursday, June 17, 2010

That was fun...

From Saturday (5/12/10) afternoon to Sunday (5/13/10) morning, my brother and I had our first sleepover here in Europe with our new friend Erik. I'll tell you we had a hoot and a half. First off Erik let Kian play his Super Smash Brothers Brawl game on his Wii console while Erik and I watched, and that was fun. Later we had to pause on that for dinner and I found that quite enjoyable, for Erik's Mom did quite a good job making the food. Kian would continue playing the SSBB game for some time longer after that. When my brother was finished, Erik then showed the both of us more of his Wii games and played one on the system and that was entertaining.  Before going to bed, Erik pulled up some more hilarious internet review videos on his IPhone and that brought on the good laughs.

Kian and I had our room on the top floor of house and I'll say that the room we had was nice. The sleeping itself could have been better though. The two of us took a little time to get to sleep due to us trying to settle into the beds. The morning though, took quite a turn for the better. Erik's Mom made a very good breakfast for us and Erik and the shower we used worked quite well. Kian then got to get in some more SSBB playing and to top it off afterward, Erik showed us two more net videos on his IPhone before it was time to go. Erik's Mom drove us all the way back to our apartment and it was a nice ride complete with some engaging conversations.

Well, that was our first sleepover in France and it was quite fun. I expect we will do it again sometime in the future.

 Niall

Monday, June 14, 2010

Get Smart Dubbed In French

Hi folks,

I was watching the news in French today and went to make lunch and when I came back Get Smart (the series from the 60s) was on and dubbed in French.  It's pretty funny as I didn't like it then and it's even stranger in French.  Add this to the preponderance of "draws" in the World Cup one of which was between the US and UK and there's the distinct feeling of living in a true paradox.

Our Friends Emanuel and Susan arrive tomorrow for an overnight before they head to London and I need to open up the sofa bed to see how it works and also check to see if we have sheets for it.

The only other thing that's worrisome is the flash water heater is acting strange the last few weeks.  I need to call the management company who's in charge of our apartment.  That in and of itself will warrant a blog entry.

The oil problem on the US coast has become big news here and everyone is waiting to hear what the president will say.  Also, the British newspapers are yelling about how everyone's retirements are being ruined by the American rhetoric about the spill.

The pictures of the oil soaked birds and dead fish are all too familiar save for this being far more damaging than the Alaska spill in the 90s.

No buyer for the house yet.  We'll continue to keep our fingers crossed.

Cloudy here today with a high in the low 70s.

Love to all everywhere.

A bientot,

Sid

Saturday, June 12, 2010

France and Uruguay 0-0 At Brasserie 16


Cassie and I spent a fun evening at our favorite neighborhood Brasserie surrounded by our adopted countrymen cheering for the French National Football (The REAL Football.......) team who played the Uruguay National Team to a 0-0 tie which drew a thunderous round of applause in the Brasserie.  We were confused as why folks would clap for a tie but kind French folk explained the "points" process to us and we now have somewhat of an understanding of it now.

I can tell you that EVERYONE including children were into the match and yelled often when there were good plays or in anguish when someone missed a shot.  Before the match began each team's national anthem was played and when La Marseillaise was played every man, woman, and child sang it in the Brasserie including the staff.  Cassie hadn't arrived by cab yet from the airport but I sang along with them even though I didn't know the words.  I had goose bumps.......and I felt like one of them.  Scores of people walking by (all of the windows were retracted so I was literally sitting outside) stopped and watched the match from the street.  What a fun evening we had and of course the food and drink were exceptional as always.

The French men around us wished us and the US team well against the Brits tonight.

We'll be watching.......*

Love to all!

Vive La France!

A bientot,

Sid

Friday, June 11, 2010

Rejoicing!

KIAN GOT AN 85 ON HIS FINAL EXAM!

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all!

A very proud dad...........*

World Cup At Brasserie 16

Tonight Cassie comes back from Provence and we're going to watch France play Uruguay at Brasserie 16 with hopefully a big crowd of Frenchmen.  I'm taking the camera and there will be pictures posted tomorrow.

Vive La France!

A bientot,

Sid

Vetements Pour Bebe (AKA Macy Brooks Tucker)

Bonjour Pilgrims,

Just a short smug blog note about my triumph at the local post office here this morning.  It has several "self service" machines where customers weigh their own packages and use the machine to pay for and dispense the postage.

I've been in this post office numerous times since arriving over 3 months ago and have been met with disdain, shoulder shrugs and kindness too but all through those visits I was watching and the last time I went a postal worker helped me use the machine.  As his com-padres in the French Consulate back in Georgetown were thinking earlier this year, I guess he was feeling generous that morning.  I paid particular attention to how he used the machine and this morning I went and used it myself after preparing a package of "bebe" clothing Cassie had purchased for my new grand-niece Macy Brooks Tucker.  In fact the title above in French was what I wrote on the package and after obtaining the postage and giving it to the postal clerk who inspected it, she nonchalantly murmured, "bon", and we were done and the package was away. 

I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this.

Just thought I'd share that.

Since I now have my residency card, I might as well act like I truly live here.

Bon journee,

A biento,

Sid

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Do Not Seek The Treasure.......I Mean Carte....*

Bonjour Pilgrims,

A short tale this morning of the wild and wacky world of French banking such as that is.

The universal ATM card here is called Carte Bleue which every and all banks here in France issue and they all work in any bank here plus there are no fees to draw cash at another bank's ATM no matter where in France you are.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that in French banking of any kind, there isn't a free exchange of information of just about any kind.  Our bank which will remain un-named in this entry is actually a global bank owned for the most part by a UK company but naturally it's branches here in France are staffed by French people.
In our just over 3 months here both Cassie and I have repeatedly had to contact our bank by phone or in person to sort out things that would happen for no apparent reason.  I'll name a few here for you. 

2 months ago while attempting to get my lab-work done my Carte Bleue was refused at the lab even though we had plenty of money in the account.  A kind English speaking woman in the cue with me explained that the lady behind the counter was telling me that I had to call my bank.  I walked back to our apartment to call and found out after a time that all Carte Bleues in France reset on the 28th of every month and they all have a limit that you can draw on that if you reach will leave you in a situation like mine where my card was refused.  Did anyone tell Cassie that when she started the account?  Non.........*

Cassie goes to her branch near where she works and is told there is a different Carte Bleue with a higher limit for a fee naturally and orders those.  The customer service representative tells we'll have our cards in a week.  2 weeks goes by and when she checks with her branch, they have no record of the request and the who's on first routine begins again.  Later the following week one duplicate Carte Bleue arrives for her but not for me which again isn't what was requested in the first place.

Finally, yesterday, almost a month after the original request, Cassie picks up the new Carte Bleues which are Gold and is told to activate them, use them to draw some money out of an ATM which I endeavored to do this morning.  The card was rejected.

I call the customer service number and after being vetted by the agent which I didn't mind, and his checking with whoever needed to be checked with, I was told that our cards wouldn't work until tomorrow morning as they were very new.  I had a brief chat with him about keeping secrets and how our conversation would never have happened if the customer service rep at Cassie's branch had told her not to use the new card for 2 days.

It's 11 AM here and I'm already confused this morning.  Today might be the day that we go to get our residency permits and that too should prove to be fun.

Still this is all happening in Paris and I do enjoy living here.  Let's just call this entry a snapshot of the everyday trials here that occur from time to time.

Love to all,

Sid

Monday, June 7, 2010

Perspectives First Hand

Bonjour Friends,

Our family was invited to one of Cassie's colleague's home for supper last night which is a rarity here for us but very welcome as this is another French family (this makes 3 so far since our arrival...) befriending us that really makes us feel we're actually integrating into the society here.  Our culture coach had told us that the French were slow to invite new people to their homes and books we've read essentially said the same thing.  So far we've been very warmly received by almost everyone here and actually have more French friends now than other ex-pats.  It was a different Metro ride this time as they live in the 15th arrondissement and are somewhat younger than us and have a 2 year old boy and are also expecting another baby in the Fall.

Their hospitality was superb and even though living in a significantly smaller apartment then ours they set out quite a feast and a huge time was had by all.  Of course during dinner and before dinner, wine flowed, snacks and other goodies were served and the conversation was lively as our hosts spoke very good English and we endeavored as always to speak as much French as possible with their help correcting us when we mispronounced words which is more often for me than Cassie.

The lengthiest conversation of the evening though revolved around their amazement that the U.S. has been unable to adopt health care for everyone.  We recounted stories of our experiences most recently involving an emergency room visit for Kian back in October that generated numerous and confusing bills from various agencies loosely affiliated with Centra Health in Lynchburg that totaled close to $1000.00 even though we had great insurance and our hosts who freely admit they pay in excess of 42% income tax but are very proud that in France nobody is ever denied care of any kind.  They're not the only French people we've encountered who said exactly the same thing with no prompting from us.  Any way you slice it, these opinions coming straight from middle class French folks completely debunk any of the claims of the current crop of crazies who make claims of death panels and communist governments springing up overnight in our mother country.

Although we're Liberal in our politics we've been moved by these testimonials and I experienced the health care system firsthand a couple of months ago when I needed prescription refills and was not made to wait nor did I pay a small fortune for services rendered.  I'd like to also say that in writing this I have no hidden agenda other than to relate what we heard and share our experiences here in Paris.

There is economic trouble in the EU these days and France is better off than some of it's neighbors but I get a sense that the people here would rather make sacrifices that involve retiring later (currently the retirement age here is 60 but the government wants to change it to 65 soon) than endanger their health care system here and this is NOT a communist state.  It took a pretty audacious move on our part all the way to Paris to find that out for ourselves without folks shouting politicians down or listening to assorted right wing or left wing pundits. 

It's always best to hear from the folks who actually live it as opposed to the folks who have hidden agendas of any kind.  The ride home on the Metro last night took us right past the Tour Eiffel that at night is completely lit up.  The longer we're here the more we all feel it was a good move for us all and we're getting a true look at how another culture lives free of any filters.........

They truly let the light shine here........*

Love to all everywhere.......

A bientot,

Sid

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Skype


It sure is amazing the technology that is available free for use with high speed internet connections.  The picture above is of Kian and Niall "Skyping" with their friend Meagan in Lynchburg last night which for the uninitiated among you is essentially a Star Trek video conference via the internet and a free program called Skype.  All you need is either a laptop with a built in camera and mic (almost all laptops have these now) and be talking with someone else who has the same rig and you can talk and see the other person in real time which is just short of fantastic.  I think web cams are available as plug and play devices with desktop computers to do the same thing that way.

Unfortunately not everyone we know has Skype but they're starting to explore it.  I remember being in Europe in the mid 70s and it was regular mail only or I had to go to the German Post Office on the airbase I was stationed at and pay inordinate amounts of money to make phone calls back to the states.  We've come so far so fast it's just amazing.  Did I mention this is free?

For some reason the wireless signal in our apartment is not as strong as it is in the living/dining room so Kian and Niall use my computer to talk with Meagan.  I think Meagan finally got through to the twins at 10 PM last night our time or 4 PM her time.  The picture was clear and they had a great talk with her and her mom.

The internet truly has made the world a smaller place and has leveled the playing field as far as global communication is concerned.  We're in Paris but still very much connected to everyone we left behind in Virgina and other places.  I Skype with my old friend Christine in Senegal.  Pretty amazing stuff.  The days are slowly warming here and me and the guys are going to buy our last 2 fans for the apartment which isn't air conditioned.  Should be an interesting summer.

Love to all everywhere......

A bientot,

Sid