February - A personal account of 2009.

February - personal look back over 2009.

  February started as January had finished!

Final bad news from America, and much activity related to such things.

It isn't possible to travel to other countries for Funerals, births and other events, quite simply for health and financial reasons. Somehow or other, other people can do so, and I often have the feeling they don't understand or accept how some of us are forced to live - not unhappy, but incapable to do many things one would like to do - but then again, I've given up a long time ago trying to explain or understand certain - indeed many - other inhabitants and events on this Planet!

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Doctor's of all descriptions pass their time and earn their existence at this time of year, poking and prodding at my glorious body, and declaring some un-understandable facts!

Electricity and water companies take joy in sending bills, just after the Christmas holidays', it's like they're telling you - "Back to Earth - coco!"

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Valentine's Day came and went, and again only my cat took any notice! Let's keep it that way.

I got an extra caress from her at least, and she got an extra spoonful of tuna fish!

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After hours of playing around with this new DVD recorder/player, I finally succeeded in transferring all of my cassette films to the hard disc! This was the point of the purchase, because I'll be able now to copy the films to DVD discs, and send a copy to the people concerned! They probably won't want it - but there we are, a promise is a promise!

All I must do now is find the "brass" for Virgins....! I'm talking about DVD discs - of course!

Why - oh why do they only sell these things in enormous packs of 25...? I need about 6, so the chances of me ending up with an awful lot of unused ones is rather large-wastage!

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Looking in my Diary for this period, I note that I've scribbled in a thing about limiting contact with other people - by whatever means. This, of course, makes me as bad as them, and it seems that in this age of "multi-communications" made cheap by PC's and Internet connections, people actually communicate less than before! The problem is that you never know whether people want you to contact them - or not! You don't contact them, they complain when they see you, you do contact them, they complain behind your back!

Well, I think I'm well in advance of everybody, so I can allow myself to "take no further action"

Another problem is that the Internet and phone companies keep it all very "close fisted" - Does the person you phone on a handy in a foreign country have to pay something-or not....?

I personally have received many calls over the years from foreign countries, on my portable phone, without EVER being charged, but people tell me.......! Well - don't want to upset them, so let's leave it!

Let's no longer ACT - let's REACTE!

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It's time to mutter and maybe blaspheme as well! I got my Electric Bill today, and I'm just about fed up with it! For my little 2 room flat, with one person taking showers, roughly 30 square metres , or less, I find that 220 euros for two months of power is well - POWERFUL....!

It possibly/probably goes back to the fact that in the outside, communal areas, doors are not doors, but rather "home made affairs", that don't shut! Windows are being abandoned by the wall that used to surround them, leaving gaps of open air, and large areas of once upon a time "windowed" areas are now empty of any glass or other protection! Our famous winds, the "Mistral" and the "Tremontagne" can whistle through, bringing the somewhat cooler air of the mountains through the badly fitting doors and reducing the inside temperature to 16C - just about 5C more than outside, in spite of heating! 

Of course, one appreciates these winds in Summer, when it's 35 to 40C, but somehow they are rarely present, and when they are, then they move the outside air at around 35C back INSIDE - where you're trying to cool it down! 

Someday or other the authorities are going to close the place down, pending correct and substantial repairs!

IT'S A RUIN - FOLKS!

  

That's what I like about the situation of extremities, but I think it's logical, "mr le Marquis" lives (as all aristocrats should) in a ruin!

Mind you, although I know the area is known for its history of impoverished writers and painters (Van Gogh, Picasso - in early days - for example) I think they may be taking it to extremes..!

Even so - because OUTSIDE is a ruin doesn't mean that INSIDE has to be, and I've done my best!

La cuisine et Salon!

Making it prettier.....!

There's not a lot more I can do, but I'm doing it........!

And so February came to an end, and the month of March - with it's traditional sadness approached. It seems that the start of each year is getting sadder and more difficult - and LONGER... every year!

iwmpop (mrlemarquis)      -     Vauvert, France.       -       Novembre/Décembre 2009

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