Saturday, April 4, 2015

Improving gradually...


Friday 3 April 2015

Warm and sunny 18 degrees

Awoke 8 am with vicious headache and queasy stomach.  I was not however wheezing as badly as yesterday.  OH got up early, excited about fishing, and banged about downstairs before bringing me a cup of tea and then banging about some more.  Curses and breakages ensued.  I staggered downstairs, holding my head with one hand and my stomach with another.  OH in state of wild agitation, fortunately leaving soon after, bristling with gear and leaving a confetti of mud all over the kitchen floor.
 
Threw up the contents of the cup of tea, ate some muesli and took the antibiotics and steroids and told rebellious stomach that these contents would have to stay down.  The sun was shining and the internet was still off so drove unsteadily to the top of the hill and walked the dog.  Because I had the big walking stick, he was very well behaved.

Surprised to see that the town house, subject of much wrangling, has still not been signed due to the fact that the sellers’ advocate is now in touch with my buyers’ advocate and they are trying to find a way of getting the sellers out of the agreement with the other agency, in a way that the other buyers don’t ask for an assignation and the whole thing gets blocked for months in the queue for the Tribunal.  Texted everyone and told them of my internet and phone problems and said I could only get mobile reception by going out and up to the top of the hill.  The joys of living in rurality…

Back home, feeling slightly better and the queasiness had gone and the headache was starting to lift.  Dropped off the dog and drove to my appointment.  The people were on time and were waiting in a massive SUV with Swiss number plates.  We waved at one another and then went straight to the house.  The owner’s cat was lolling on the terrace and my clients cooed and the owner came out and the cat went into attack mode and ran straight up the man’s leg, which he found very amusing.  I detached the cat and we started inside.

The house is 18th century and constructed of stones from the river, pounded and rounded out of all their sharp edges into large egg shapes and then pressed into cement.  The inside is cool and modern, with large kitchen and stomach height wood burning fire.  On the whole, it went rather well.  We got outside and had a chat and they said, actually, they had 100 grand more to spend and had I got anything else.  I promised to send over some details and we parted and I quickly found a nearby bar and some refreshing coffee and tried to look at houses on the web and my stupid forfait is all used up.


Back home and OH is still out fishing so I eat some bananas and then go down town to meet a partner agent and see a little house for the client on Monday.  It is a peach.  I then go into our nearest large town and hang around in SFR for what seems an age before I am finally seen and lent a 3g key to use whilst they get around to coming and fixing my internet, which will now be Tuesday (if I am lucky).  I take the opportunity to say how very unhappy I am with their internet and phone services and the woman takes the opportunity to ask me how much am I paying for my mobile over with Orange.  I am currently paying 25 euros for two hours calls and 500Mo internet, both of which are insufficient.  She offers me a cheaper price for unlimited calls and ten times more internet, because I am such a loyal client.  I am not loyal, there are only two main phone suppliers out here who are prepared to try and supply me with broadband at home and one of them (Orange) denied that they were actually doing so, when I went in to ask if they could improve the service.  I swapped to SFR a while ago for landline and internet, mainly because they could offer an all-in deal for landlines in most countries plus French mobiles, but didn’t realise at the time that when the internet would go off, so would the telephone.  As I am currently saving in excess of 100 euros a month, I am putting up with the inconvenience of being periodically incommunicado, which can be pleasant and does mean I get around to doing other stuff.  It is frustrating however, when I have the newsletter to get out to all the people who have signed up, and I am awake at 6 am and can’t do any work on it because there is no pestilent internet.

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