French time 9:15 PM
So I just posted several things in a row, but I finally figured out how to get internet access in my hotel room, so I am catching up.
All in all today went mostly well. The flights and getting to the hotel went off without a hitch. I couldn't fall asleep this morning (though almost did this afternoon) and so I'm pretty tired right now. Work was fairly non-stressful - had a tour of the factory, met lots of people whose names I do not remember, met with the Quality Director/Manager, entertained some guys with my inability to work a car. Everyone seems very nice so far.
Dinner was on my own tonight, which was okay because I am close to dead tired and didn't want to be out late. I'm staying in a B&B that serves dinner as well. It is run by a husband and wife, and she does the cooking. Oh. My. God. I am in heaven. Three course dinner, and that's only because I was too stuffed to have dessert. Pea soup (at least, I think that's what it was). Salad with some type of zesty oil dressing. Pork tenderloin with wild French mushrooms in demi-glace, risotto, stewed celery (sounds weird, tastes like applesauce), and a cooked artichoke heart. And of course, French baguette, with a local red wine to wash it all down. Delicious delicious delicious!
HOWEVER. There is definitely a language barrier here. My high school French is not just rusty, it's a big ol' pile of corrosion. I can understand maybe 1 word out of 10 or 12 (and they're not useful words, just "with" and "now" and "how's it going") and while I can mostly plan out a sentence in my head for what I want to say, somehow I can't get it out in French and just stick with the English. So I have a long way to go on that.
But over all, today was good! And now, I am heading off to sleep. Aahhh, sleep.
Bonne nuit!
Hiking exploits, experimental cooking, general nerdery, and cat pictures.
Seriously. Do not call me Katy.
Monday, February 9, 2009
La voiture automatique
French time 5:05 PM
How the hell do I put this thing in gear? Or even get the parking brake off??
This is not a great picture, and I will try to get a better one tomorrow, but I had lots of fun trying to start my rental car today. There were 3 guys out front of the building smoking and I practically had them in hysterics. (One of them did help me!) So this is what we learned today about starting an automatic transmission car in Europe.
1. The car will not turn over unless your foot is on the brake.
2. The lever on the right hand side of the steering column that is the same size as a gear shift in the US? Yeah, that's the wipers/windshield wash. Repeatedly trying to shift with this will only make the onlookers laugh harder.
3. The little lever at the top of the steering column that looks like an out-of-place turn signal lever? Yeah, that's what you shift with.
3a. R = reverse. At least this is intuitive.
3b. N = neutral. Also intuitive. But important to know, the car will not turn over unless it is in neutral, nor will it allow the parking brake to be set (more on this later).
3c. A = automatic shift. Revs a bit much when it does so, but at least it does not involve Kate trying to get out of first without stalling.
3d. M = manual shift. No, there is no clutch. Yes, I can manually shift the gears with the short levers on either side of the steering column. I will be trying this once I'm slightly more comfortable with the whole driving in a foreign country thing, because it seems like all the fun of manually shifting without all the mucking about with clutching and stalling. Win-win for everyone.
4. There is no release lever for the parking brake. Do not bother looking for one. Just put your foot on the gas and the brake will release.
5. So you made it through 5 roundabouts and 2 small villages without killing yourself, the car, or any innocent French citizens. What, now you want to park the car? Use foot brake to stop, put car in neutral, and hit big "P" button in center of dash console to set parking brake. Do not absentmindedly hit red button directly below "P", unless you feel the need to turn the hazards on.
How the hell do I put this thing in gear? Or even get the parking brake off??
This is not a great picture, and I will try to get a better one tomorrow, but I had lots of fun trying to start my rental car today. There were 3 guys out front of the building smoking and I practically had them in hysterics. (One of them did help me!) So this is what we learned today about starting an automatic transmission car in Europe.
1. The car will not turn over unless your foot is on the brake.
2. The lever on the right hand side of the steering column that is the same size as a gear shift in the US? Yeah, that's the wipers/windshield wash. Repeatedly trying to shift with this will only make the onlookers laugh harder.
3. The little lever at the top of the steering column that looks like an out-of-place turn signal lever? Yeah, that's what you shift with.
3a. R = reverse. At least this is intuitive.
3b. N = neutral. Also intuitive. But important to know, the car will not turn over unless it is in neutral, nor will it allow the parking brake to be set (more on this later).
3c. A = automatic shift. Revs a bit much when it does so, but at least it does not involve Kate trying to get out of first without stalling.
3d. M = manual shift. No, there is no clutch. Yes, I can manually shift the gears with the short levers on either side of the steering column. I will be trying this once I'm slightly more comfortable with the whole driving in a foreign country thing, because it seems like all the fun of manually shifting without all the mucking about with clutching and stalling. Win-win for everyone.
4. There is no release lever for the parking brake. Do not bother looking for one. Just put your foot on the gas and the brake will release.
5. So you made it through 5 roundabouts and 2 small villages without killing yourself, the car, or any innocent French citizens. What, now you want to park the car? Use foot brake to stop, put car in neutral, and hit big "P" button in center of dash console to set parking brake. Do not absentmindedly hit red button directly below "P", unless you feel the need to turn the hazards on.
Arrival
11:45 AM French time
I am in
The trip over went well with no problems. The flight from
For 7 AM on a Monday morning, the
My room is very nice with a country ski chalet motif. A little on the small side, but then again, this is
This is the room, looking from the door.
And the rest of the room (I told you it was small!)
And the view from the window.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
France!
I still can't believe I am going. TOMORROW. Crazy! T-minus not very many hours and I will be out of here.
Things left to do:
pay a couple of bills
grab addresses to send people postcards
oh yeah, PACK!
Things left to do:
pay a couple of bills
grab addresses to send people postcards
oh yeah, PACK!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Reviving the Blog
There have been a lot of life changes around here lately, and I think there are more coming. I'd like to have some sort of record of them, so I am going to try to get myself back into the habit of journaling more regularly. I started this particular blog to share things with my family; I might as well actually write something here occasionally!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10
10 Random things about me
1. I have a pirate rubber duckie in my bathroom. He's black with an eyepatch and a skull-and-crossbones on him.
2. I hated going to summer camp as a kid.
3. And yet I still kept signing up for it. 3 years at overnight camp and 2 years of daycamp.
4. On the other hand, I loved loved loved ski camp during Feb. vacation.
5. I volunteered to be a Girl Scout leader this year.
6. I like it, but am a little overwhelmed, and am scared of being the "boring leader".
7. I would really like to learn how to shoot a gun but I have no idea who to ask to show me.
8. Which is odd, given the fact that I come from a family of hunter and the only person who doesn't have multiple guns in their house is my aunt in Florida.
9. I fantasize about winning the lottery so I can quit my job.
10. I miss being involved in theatre.
9 Ways to win my heart
1. Read
2. Recommend books to me
3. Read aloud to me when I am sick.
4. Meet my family.
5. Introduce me to yours.
6. Bring toys for my cats.
7. Cook dinner with me.
8. Dance with me.
9. Have a killer smile and a voice that makes me all quivery inside.
8 Of my favorite TV shows
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Alias
3. NCIS
4. M*A*S*H
5. Jeopardy
6. Monarch of the Glen (before all the original cast left)
7. The Amazing Race
8. Friday Night Lights
7 Things that annoy me
1. Stepping in water puddles from snow melting off shoes and winding up with wet socks. There's a doormat there for a reason, people.
2. Wet socks and cold feet in general.
3. When the cats wake me up 75 minutes before my alarm goes off. Way too early to get up, not enough time to get any more quality sleep in.
4. My own lack of motivation and tendency to procrastinate.
5. Over protective parents. Your daughter is 10 and this is the Girl Scouts for heaven's sake. We've all been background checked and have safety training up the wazoo. You can let her spend the night away from home. Really.
6. People who automatically say "Oh, that explains it" when they find out I'm an only child. As if the fact that my parents didn't provide me with siblings means I'm completely incapable of relating to people.
7. The lack of "left turn on green after yielding" left turn lanes around here. Actually, the majority of the traffic lights around here. I'm half convinced they were programmed by ferrets on acid.
6 Things I want to do before I die
1. Have a better understanding of my own faith and a better relationship with God.
2. Get at least one more degree in something that has nothing to do with engineering.
3. Be a wife.
4. Travel more outside the US.
5. Trace my family history.
6. Run a marathon.
5 Things I am afraid of
1. Fire
2. Spiders and other crawly buggy things.
3. Alarms and other unexpected loud noises. Waking up to an alarm clock every morning is hell, but if I don't have the alarm, I won't wake up until 9:30.
4. That I've become too selective and too comfortable with my own independence and thus will never find anyone I even want to date, let alone marry.
5. Losing my family.
4 Of my favorite items in this room
I am in the guest room/office
1. Penobscot
2. Books!
3. Digital camera
4. The antique ladies' toiletry kit we found when cleaning out my Grammie's house.
3 Things I do every day
1. Check email
2. Read something, even if it's just the back of the cereal box.
3. Eat
2 Things I want to do right now
1. Write up this week's meal plan and then go have dinner.
2. Email my parents and Sandra the pictures from last weekend.
1 Person I want to see right now
I have no idea....
1. I have a pirate rubber duckie in my bathroom. He's black with an eyepatch and a skull-and-crossbones on him.
2. I hated going to summer camp as a kid.
3. And yet I still kept signing up for it. 3 years at overnight camp and 2 years of daycamp.
4. On the other hand, I loved loved loved ski camp during Feb. vacation.
5. I volunteered to be a Girl Scout leader this year.
6. I like it, but am a little overwhelmed, and am scared of being the "boring leader".
7. I would really like to learn how to shoot a gun but I have no idea who to ask to show me.
8. Which is odd, given the fact that I come from a family of hunter and the only person who doesn't have multiple guns in their house is my aunt in Florida.
9. I fantasize about winning the lottery so I can quit my job.
10. I miss being involved in theatre.
9 Ways to win my heart
1. Read
2. Recommend books to me
3. Read aloud to me when I am sick.
4. Meet my family.
5. Introduce me to yours.
6. Bring toys for my cats.
7. Cook dinner with me.
8. Dance with me.
9. Have a killer smile and a voice that makes me all quivery inside.
8 Of my favorite TV shows
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Alias
3. NCIS
4. M*A*S*H
5. Jeopardy
6. Monarch of the Glen (before all the original cast left)
7. The Amazing Race
8. Friday Night Lights
7 Things that annoy me
1. Stepping in water puddles from snow melting off shoes and winding up with wet socks. There's a doormat there for a reason, people.
2. Wet socks and cold feet in general.
3. When the cats wake me up 75 minutes before my alarm goes off. Way too early to get up, not enough time to get any more quality sleep in.
4. My own lack of motivation and tendency to procrastinate.
5. Over protective parents. Your daughter is 10 and this is the Girl Scouts for heaven's sake. We've all been background checked and have safety training up the wazoo. You can let her spend the night away from home. Really.
6. People who automatically say "Oh, that explains it" when they find out I'm an only child. As if the fact that my parents didn't provide me with siblings means I'm completely incapable of relating to people.
7. The lack of "left turn on green after yielding" left turn lanes around here. Actually, the majority of the traffic lights around here. I'm half convinced they were programmed by ferrets on acid.
6 Things I want to do before I die
1. Have a better understanding of my own faith and a better relationship with God.
2. Get at least one more degree in something that has nothing to do with engineering.
3. Be a wife.
4. Travel more outside the US.
5. Trace my family history.
6. Run a marathon.
5 Things I am afraid of
1. Fire
2. Spiders and other crawly buggy things.
3. Alarms and other unexpected loud noises. Waking up to an alarm clock every morning is hell, but if I don't have the alarm, I won't wake up until 9:30.
4. That I've become too selective and too comfortable with my own independence and thus will never find anyone I even want to date, let alone marry.
5. Losing my family.
4 Of my favorite items in this room
I am in the guest room/office
1. Penobscot
2. Books!
3. Digital camera
4. The antique ladies' toiletry kit we found when cleaning out my Grammie's house.
3 Things I do every day
1. Check email
2. Read something, even if it's just the back of the cereal box.
3. Eat
2 Things I want to do right now
1. Write up this week's meal plan and then go have dinner.
2. Email my parents and Sandra the pictures from last weekend.
1 Person I want to see right now
I have no idea....
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A Book Meme
The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
48.5 out of 100. Or maybe only 47.5 out of 100 (obviously Heller didn't make a huge impression on me)
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (some of it anyway, the talking points)
7 Wuthering Heights - E. Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (reading right now)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (or did I read Something Happened?)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (also reading right now)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (isn't this part of #33?)
37.The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
48.5 out of 100. Or maybe only 47.5 out of 100 (obviously Heller didn't make a huge impression on me)
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (some of it anyway, the talking points)
7 Wuthering Heights - E. Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (reading right now)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (or did I read Something Happened?)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (also reading right now)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (isn't this part of #33?)
37.The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)