The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Friday 17 July 2020

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!

12 comments:

  1. I had my teeth cleaned when things opened back up here in Connecticut in June. They took my temperature in the parking lot, and I wore my mask until I sat in the chair. The hygienist had on an N95 mask with a surgical mask over that, and a face shield over that (plus gown, glove, etc.)! There was also a new kind of vacuum off in the corner. She did not use any kind of machine on me - no spraying water, no polisher, etc. Everything was done "the old fashioned way" with a pick only! My teeth didn't feel as clean as they did after being polished, but I felt safe and as more than two weeks have passed and I'm still healthy, I'm happy that I went!

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    1. I had my mask on too while I waited but there was no temperature check or anything like that. Then again, I believe the death toll in Switzerland is less than 2,000 so maybe that's why. Either way, it still seems to me to be an "at risk" occupation!

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  2. I can only imagine the annoyance of trying to hit the horn and have the wipers go off! Oy!!

    We have a little local coffee place in town where a latte doesn't equal a mortgage payment, so we go there when we're out and want a coffee!

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    1. It is SO frustrating when you want to blast your horn at someone and all you do is end up washing your windscreen isn't it! And as for coffee places, there are no "fancy" places local to me in France - probably in Annecy - but I was horrified at the price in Geneva, all the more so since it really was crap coffee anyway!

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  3. My daughter and I watched it a while ago, Furst Wives Club,and I had forgoteen the details. Ijust remembered it beig quite unrealistic, and the men just icky. I hope Andre finds a hoe that will work for him. There is nothing onthe market in my daughters interest an dprce range. Sheis going to wait another 6-9 months and see what the end of year and spring look like. I think iced coffee and tea have to be about the worst for overpriced beverages-Tehy essentially get two drinks out of one of the hot stuff!

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    1. I agree they portrayed the men as imbeciles in the First Wives Club, but then the women were so clichéd also, it was just rubbish. And there seems to be quite a choice of housing in André's price range - he's just got to put some $$$$ in the bank first!

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  4. Aha, the US version of that motor vehicle check up in NJ anyway, is the State Motor Vehicle Inspection. After which a decal is affixed (their words!) to yoyr windshield indicating whether you passed or not. If you did, it gives the date the next inspection is due. If you didn't it practically screams the date by which it must be fixed andnd reinspected.

    I really enjoy your musings about the relative Swiss/French cost of living and the traffic. And the various requirements to be legal and employable. And your sense of humor about it!

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    1. I must have had my car inspected when I lived in the US but I do lose track of all the equivalents sometimes. Funnily enough I just got back from our board game evening (it's 2.30 a.m. here) and the daughter of the house just got back from 2.5 years working in Quebec and was regaling us with her stories of all the differences between France and Canada. She's back in France now definitively because although she liked Canada she prefers Europe but some of her stories were pretty funny!

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  5. Interesting traffic story. Some fool decided he didn't want to wait for traffic in the left turn lane to move, so he blocked the right yield lane. He got to see a lot of fingers.

    No matter how good the intentions are, matchmaking this early is no good.

    Interestingly both Diane K and Goldie H have won Oscars for acting.

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    1. I don't think André's interested in dating at this point. He wants to be footloose and fancy free for a while, but I think it did his ego good to hear that Heidi might be interested. And I had my doubts about Goldie Hawn. I thought maybe she could act "in real life" but have only ever seen the ditzy blond films - and they get tiring. As for Diane Keaton - nah, I don't think anything will ever convince me she can actually act - but then what do I know?

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  6. Have you ever seen “Overboard” with Goldie Hawn? She does play the ditz a bit but I love that movie.
    Your life is so busy and you are so engaged. I just love reading about your adventures.

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    1. I had a sneaking "suspicion" Goldie could act but couldn't think of anything good I'd seen her in. I'll check out Overboard though so thanks for that!

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