The Latte Factor!

I'm not quite sure where this week went as it seems I was running somewhere or other every day for the past 10 days. I had my annual doctor's appointment in Geneva on Wednesday and what a nightmare it is to drive in there now. I know they're trying to have the tram network meet up with the new trans-border express train, but at the moment it's hell. Then, since I was going to see my friend (his birthday was 14th) I had to cross town and arriving down by the lake I only just managed to slam my brakes on as an idiot reversed out of a parking space into two lanes of traffic. At least this time I found the car horn (I usually hit the wipers which does absolutely nothing to vent my frustration) but damn it was close. It was all the more stupid since those two lanes are actually controlled by traffic lights so if he had just waited until we hit a red light he wouldn't have had everyone giving him the finger. Then of course I had forgotten that Wednesday is market day in central Geneva so all the traffic is diverted into little side roads, thus creating more chaos. I tell ya, now I know why I quit work - even assuming I didn't before!

Then the next day I had the dentist for a check-up and it was brought home to me just what a dangerous profession that is right now. Oh she had her usual mask and gloves on but when you think they're spraying water into your mouth and it's then splashing back up at them - crikey - I would say that's really one of the more fraught professions at the moment. She did give me a disinfectant drink which I had to hold in my mouth for 30 seconds (before spitting out - my name's not Trump) but that was the only difference over the usual scenario. Still, at least now it's done and I walked out of there not needing any treatment but with my lips sticking to my newly-scoured teeth and the resultant ever-so-flattering gopher smile!

He does look like he could do with a good cleaning though doesn't he!

As I'd got some time to kill before meeting up with my friend I decided to throw all caution to the wind and get a Starbucks to go! I haven't been to Starbucks (or any kind of coffee house) for about three/four years so just this one wouldn't break the bank. But man oh man I can see why they tell you to quit the latte factor if you're trying to save money. I ordered just a regular iced coffee, which was basically one shot of coffee, a bucket full of water and a ton of ice. It was crap - and all that for the hair-curling price of SF7 ($7)!!! Bloody hell, I can see why people go broke drinking this stuff! When I was at the doctor's the previous day he had given me a prescription for some routine meds so I stopped in at the pharmacy next door to his surgery to try and get the prescription filled. Unfortunately they didn't have them in stock and since I wasn't going to drive back in to Geneva to pick them up later I decided to try to get the equivalent in France. They had them in stock and I paid €5.8 for a month's supply (that's near enough $6). So out of curiosity I looked up what I had paid for them the last time but when I had bought them in Switzerland - and they were SF 18.50 for a month's supply! Bloody hell!

I think André is seeing the difference in prices too after so many years living in Switzerland. While we were waiting for Jordan and Jen the other day we were looking in the realtor's window and I think he's now quite keen to buy in France. He's already seen a few places he likes but of course he has to save up some $$$$$ first. He and I have done some running around together this week while he's been off work, so every time we thought of another thing he had to do I would write it down while he would be setting up accounts with me noting his passwords/reference numbers. One thing I remembered from when I moved into France over 30 years ago was that the Swiss customs require an attestation de non-poursuite before they let you leave the country. That's basically an attestation to prove that you don't have an outstanding debt/judgment against you in county court. That paper, at least, was pretty simple to do as so much of this stuff is online now, but it all adds to the stuff you have to get for your papers to be in order. He had his car in at Ford today being checked over before he runs it through the contrôle technique (not sure what that would be in the States - in the UK it would be the MOT - the test that proves your car is roadworthy). So bit by bit it's all getting done!

During the week he went over to his and Lily's apartment to get the last of his stuff and said he bumped into one of Lily's friends who she had asked to go over and pick something up for her. I hadn't realized but she's on leave this week also (they had put in to take the week off together before André got blindsided). Anyway, André said it was awkward for Kenji (Lily's friend), who told him that he was sorry about what was happening but hoped they could remain friends. I think André would like to see Kenji again but not if it means seeing Lily! He also thinks that she might well be in England at the moment, having flown out to see Pete (the wedding photographer)!!!! Talk about not wasting any time. Then he laughed when he told me that Jordan and Jen are trying to fix him up with a friend of Jen's called Heidi. He showed me her picture and she is very cute. He knows her and says she is nice so who knows, although to be honest he wants to get the divorce done and dusted before even thinking about dating!

And finally, I was channel-flipping last night and saw that The First Wives' Club was on so I thought I'd rewatch it to see "what all the fuss was about". I hadn't particularly liked it the first time I saw it and over 20 years later I can't say I thought much of it the second time either. Oh sure, if your husband dumps you for a much younger woman I can understand the hurt and the blow it must be to your pride. My husband's skank was 13 years younger than me but frankly since she looked like the north end of a camel going south I can't say she ever actually bothered me - and he knew it! Ha! Anyway, nope, I can't say the film did anything for me this time either. I honestly don't know what anyone sees in Diane Keaton. She seems to have as much acting skills as a plank of wood (a bit like how I'm feeling now about Nicole Kidman, but that might just be a case of too much botox). Even when she was starring with the appalling Woody Allen in Annie Hall to me it just looked like two planks of wood in one movie instead of just one (mind you don't get a splinter there)! And sadly, I didn't think much of Goldie Hawn either. She may or may not be able to act but it strikes me she has only ever played the ditzy blond roles and I find it all way too contrived. In the end all I can say is thank god for the wonderful Bette Midler, who saved what could be saved of an appalling movie. Sadly, if Bette couldn't save it I doubt anyone could have!

And on that note, I'm off out to our latest board game evening, so I will love you and leave you until the next time!