The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Tuesday 7 July 2020

Putting one foot in front of the other!

I got a notification yesterday from the UK passport office to say that Jordan's new passport was on its way back to him (I used my email as I know he never checks his). So that was pretty good service actually - less than two weeks from my sending it off to the new one wending its way back, and this despite the fact that when I was filling in the form online the "computer sez no", as it didn't like his photo and despite the fact that I wasn't able to include a complete copy of every page of his US passport with the application as instructed since I didn't have it. I just sent the main page. Either way, it's gone through so that's one less thing to worry about with Brexit because his old passport was due to expire on 27 July. But, as I suspected, the website that was supposed to be up and running for us Brits to apply for our residency as from 1 July is indeed not up and running because it's not ready, and has now been rolled back to 1 October. Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age but who couldn't have seen that coming! Still, from what I can gather, it shouldn't be a difficult process as any Brit registered as living here before 31 December has the automatic right to remain. Which is just was well actually because I got a phone call from André this afternoon and he's decided that he is indeed going to move back into France rather than stay in Switzerland!

Actually, his first words were "mom, can I ask you a favour" ... to which I replied "do you mind if I store my stuff in your basement until ...." and he just laughed and said "well since you mention it ..."! Anyway, he has next week off and is going to go back to their apartment in Geneva to get all his stuff out. I told him that except for Tuesday I can help, but I think he won't have that much anyway (famous last words right?). He's going to leave all the furniture and so on for Lily and just take his personal stuff so I don't think the move will be too onerous. He and I are going to the Mairie in my village on Saturday morning where he will declare his residence with me and then we have an appointment with the bank at 10.45 to set him up there. He already has a French bank account and tax ID because he worked briefly in France when he was still living at home so there's quite a bit of stuff that can just be reactivated. In the meantime I told him to go to the Swiss bank and get his ebanking codes so that we can set set up various transfers automatically and then he will start sending the majority of his salary into France to both start accumulating some savings and showing the bank that he's a good "bet" (for when he tries to get a mortgage later). I think he's quite stoked actually. We can stop off at the border next week and fill out the forms for importing his car, requesting a French grey card can be done online and getting car insurance can be done through the bank on Saturday. When I mentioned about having to exchange his Swiss driving licence for a French one he said it wasn't a problem because when he moved into Switzerland the Swiss just gave him a Swiss licence and didn't take his French one off him, so that's one less thing to sort out!

It'll be a pain in the butt for a while I suppose but once we started talking "numbers" I think he was pretty excited. It's fairly easy to do loan calculations online and for around the same amount as he was contributing to his Swiss rent he can easily afford to buy a place in France, so I think that will help keep morale up. My thoughts were that he should (eventually) start looking for a place near la Roche (near me) in order to be able to catch the train to Geneva, but he said he kinda likes Marcellaz, where Jordan and Jen used to live, so that's where he wants to start looking. It will mean the horrible commute but then as my neighbour said on Sunday, she has been doing it for 15 years and can still tolerate it, whereas I'd had over 30 years of it when I came to the end of my rope. Either way, it's stuff that can be looked into as and when, as he's nowhere near ready to buy anything yet anyway!

I've got a doctor's appointment in Geneva tomorrow, which will be only the second time I've driven in since lockdown was lifted. After that I'm going to have lunch with my friend and try to get back before the traffic starts picking up again. André told me all the lanes round town are being revamped to make everything more "bike friendly" so I'll have to watch out for that I guess, but hopefully it won't be too difficult!

In other news, the French Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, resigned last week which I'm thinking may be a prelude to him standing against Macron in the next presidential elections. He is pretty popular and unlike Macron has come out of this pandemic situation pretty well. Considering that France and the UK have roughly similar populations and that both countries' death tolls were at around the 29,000 mark at the same time, it's quite telling that the UK's death toll is now over 44,000 and France's is still in the 29,000 range so again I'm inclined to think they got it as right as any country could! And I see that the other covidiot in Brazil has actually contracted coronavirus, despite declaring "it's just a little flu"! Again, who couldn't have seen that coming! I hate to think what Brazil's figures will eventually end up at given their high population density and an idiot like that in charge. Then watching CNN today and seeing the US figures starting to skyrocket is just so sad because I don't think they've even started to break the back of this damn virus and all the dire predictions look to be starting to come true. I certainly hope not but ...! I think we're probably all ready for 2020 to be over and done with don't you!

13 comments:

  1. All that bureaucracy - to think that when you retire you even imagine you'll be leaving it behind, and actually you've reminded me that I need to start work on my son's UK Tax Return arising from his non-resident status.

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    1. You can never get away from paperwork entirely can you, but once you're settled it does become easier. The good thing for André is that I can do a lot of the running around for him. It was harder when we moved because trying to fit it all in AND work at the same time was hellish. We'll get there though!

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  2. I seriously doubt that this virus is going to care any more about when 2020 is over than it cares about the heat. Or what any stupid idiot world leader thinks. I get so angry at the idea that some of us here in the US have done the right things but because so many others have decided for whatever ridiculous reasons that they don't have to, we're all still in grave danger of contracting the disease and we're going to have to continue to stay isolated.
    I'm just feeling a bit angry today. I'm sorry.
    I'm really glad that your son is working everything out with your help. You are a good mama.

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    1. I haven't been watching the news much lately because I didn't want to hear any more about it, but watching CNN today and the latest figures from all the States where the infection rate is starting to skyrocket really opened my eyes to just how serious it is in the US right now. And you're right, because some people had their "constitutional rights" not to wear masks and not to isolate, well now everyone is going to pay for it. And I'm so sorry.

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  3. Certainly 2020 will go down in history. It's been a real rollercoaster of emotions and I for one have found it difficult. Covidiots come in all shapes and sizes, the Brazilian numpty tells the press he has proved positive then pulls his mask off. Speechless!

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    1. I saw that on the TV where he said he was "positive" and then removed his mask. Damn! Can you even GET any more stupid?

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  4. And just when you thought it might be safe to come out along comes Bubonic Plague!! Apparently that has raised its head in China. You couldn't make this stuff up!
    You can actually now tell how good a leader each country has by its Covid numbers!! But, I think the most (I'm not sure what word I want to put here!!) worrying/interesting/terrifying/all of these words at least, news of all must be that Kanye West wants to be President of the USA. We can't even laugh it out of the park because this year anything could happen!!
    It sounds like you have Andre well organised, well done you. You'll not be short of things to do for a while! x

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    1. Yep if it wasn't for Trump the Kanye thingy would have been a great joke. Sadly "after Trump" who the hell knows. And yes I know I'll have a lot to do with/for André and am quite looking forward to it actually as I need to get my brain moving again too!

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  5. We Americans as a collective society are the most selfish group ever. I have family that don't give a crap and keep living large, and a MIL that has decided she is going to live her life wihtout restrictions. She then gets annoyed that two of her three children's families are trying to practice social distancing. I'm only 54 and cripes, I'd like to live until 80 as well! I'm happy for you that Andre is figuring out the next steps in his life. We only want what is good for our children but know pain is part of figuring life out. He's lucky to have you and Jordan. In my head you have a third son, but am I worng, and merged you with Anne in the Kitchen?

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    1. I think so many people have thought all along that this virus just doesn't concern them because "they're not going to get it" or they're young/healthy whatever - until they do. Just like Bolsonaro. He wasn't going to catch it either (just like Trump seems to think, which is weird because apparently he's a real germophobe). Actually I really would like to see Trump catch it because Boris Johnson was SERIOUSLY ill with it (in intensive care for 5-6 days) and I think it was only then that he realized that this thing is for real. And yep André will be ok. He's got his brother and loads of mates so while it may be painful at times I think he's doing the right thing. And no I only have the 2 sons. I would have like 5 truth be told, but with having to work full-time and the cost of day care it wasn't possible - which in the end turned out to be a good thing. Glad you're feeling a bit better now - that was a scare!

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  6. Tell you son to leave as much behind as he possibly can. Lily might not be as amicable down the road as she is now.

    And the book the Idiot Jerk's niece is putting out is pretty blatant about his inability to see human beings as anything but currency.

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    1. I think many people get a shock when the ex starts turning on them later (I'm not saying that Lily will do that). I saw it with my ex (who was living with his gf when I filed for divorce). All of a sudden he started asking for this and for that and even floated the idea of my paying him spousal support (despite the fact that both my kids were living with me full-time and I was paying for everything and he wasn't paying anything for them). The judge laughed him out of court thankfully but in his case I could actually hear the gf whispering in his ear "ask for this, she owes you that". And I might well buy Mary Trump's book. I don't think there will be any surprises as he is quite obviously a malignant narcissist, but I don't think anyone realizes how awful the are until they have experience of them!

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