It gives me great pleasure to announce Will’s triumph over his hand sore today. We got him to the hospital well advance of his 9am appointment. He was put in a room with another young man and prepped for surgery including anaesthesia, and then waited a few hours for the surgery. It was done in 1/2 an hour and then he had to wait around for the afternoon to ensure all was ok. They let him leave around 4 and Gavin and I collected him. We are now home relaxing, Will’s arm in a sling where it will remain for the next two weeks. He is slowly regaining the feeling in his arm and just now, was able to wiggle his fingers.
Backing up to last week, we did end up going over to Nat and Jill’s the following night, Sunday. Will still had his cold but it was improving so he rallied and we had a nice evening with the ladies. They made a starter of salmon salad and I was happy to see Will try it. The main was roast chicken and mashed potatoes followed by homemade creme brulee. We left at a sensible hour.
We didn’t do too much at the start of the week. I have been in contact with a former coworker, Abby who now lives in the States. I did a proposal for her for a prospective web site and we’re still waiting to hear although the client came back with follow up questions recently. Will finished two sites last week and has been paid for both. The first is for Jenni at our local equestrian centre and he started it back in May so was very happy to have it done. It’s also a good looking site so a nice one for our portfolio. The other is for an English client who is very easy to work with and also wants a few more sites built including an online shop so we like her a lot.
My main activity last week was attending a seminar on how to find a job. This was mandated by the Pole Emploi (job centre) as a condition of signing on as unemployed. It started at 10 on Thursday and continued for the next three weekdays. There were seven others on the first day and four others when it ended on Tuesday. It covered topics like CV and cover letter, interview questions and simulation, as well as how to go about finding a job. Most of the information I knew but I learned quite a bit too, mostly about the French job market. Also, the format of their CV recently changed to a very brief summary, one page, organised by skills so I’ll need to redo mine. Since the whole thing was conducted in French, I treated it like a language class and I understood a good bit of what was being said, although context certainly helps.
On the first day, I went to lunch at Super U and ran into one of the guys from the course, Phillipe and his mom. I ended up eating with them and they invited Will and I to dinner at their place the following week. Phillipe is 22 and from Algeria but came to France when he was younger so Sophie is actually his foster or adopted mother. They used to live on the other side of France in the Savoie which is in the Alps. She moved here two years ago and runs a chambre d’hote. Phillipe only arrived a few months ago and he is moving down to Perigueux to find work. He is a big fan of the States and dreams of living there some day so he was happy to meet a real live American.
On Friday, we only had a half day so I drove Will to Perigueux for his appointment with the anaestatist. Thankfully, he was prompt and we were only there for 30 minutes and came back home. We had a quiet evening at home on Friday. On Saturday, we had Bryan and Carol over to dinner. We also had Lee but no Richard since he’s back in the UK. We had planned to do turkey sloppy joes but that afternoon I remembered that Bryan can’t have tomatoes and of course, I had already been to the store. Using recipes I found on line, I cobbled together a white chili using the turkey, white beans and corn with chiptole chilis in adobo sauce as the kicker. We started with parma ham and chorizo and served corn bread and glazed carrots with the main. Cheese was followed by a selection of patisserie from our local. The neighbours left around midnight and then the three of us stayed up drinking until 4ish.
Sunday was a bit rough and unfortunately, I had already arranged to go around to Nat and Jill’s and help them with some computer issues. I ended up being there nearly four hours and they paid me for my time. On Monday, I had my course which went from 10 until 3:30, harsh hours I know. We went to dinner at our new friends’ house on Monday. Sophie’s husband is Dominique and they are in their 50’s. In addition to Phillipe, a young man named Thomas was dinning with us that evening as a guest of the chambre d’hote. Sophie is a great cook which is good since it’s her business. I had mentioned Will’s no-no’s at lunch the other day and she had no probs working around them. The starter was pate de fois gras on toast, another pate and a salad of cooked endive with raisins and goats cheese. The main was Savoie Surprise, a tart with bacon and lovely cheese from their home region served with roast potatoes, salad and glazed magret de canard. Dessert was chantilly cream with fruit and carmel biscuits. Since they are somewhat new arrivals like us, they are looking to meet new people and Sophie likes to speak English so I’m sure we’ll see them again. Will is a bit upset that Phillipe is moving away but I’m sure we can see him when he visits his mom.
The last day of my course only ended up being a couple hours and the instructor that day was full of helpful advice. Apparently, there is service provided by the chamber of commerce to help new businesses market themselves. It costs but the Pole Emploi might pay for it so it bears looking into. On that note, my application for chomage (unemployment) has been accepted so I should be getting my first cheque soon. I have a few prospects for work apart from Abby so I’m confident something will come soon.
Gavin arrived from London yesterday. I will wait to recount the story of his visit in a later entry.