Today Fred has another 9 am meeting. When he leaves, I catch up on some chores, then head out to pick up my neufbox - my key to the internet. On the way home I bought wine glasses and a dish drainer.
I put down my purchases and head off to the local stores for milk, bread, lemon juice, flour, and lunch. At the bakery, I found a single serving salmon quiche for lunch and a "loaf" of Pain de Campagne, or country style bread. I had the baker heat up the quiche for me, then headed home. I relaxed with the mail and my quiche, then attempted to set up my PC and telephone using the neufbox.
If we ever get it up and running, is is cheap - 30 euro per month with no contract and no deposit, for TV (which we don't have), unlimited long distance telephone (including international), and internet. However, we signed up last Saturday, were notified the line would be active on Sept 11, picked up the router and the set up CD today - BUT the line is NOT active, and they only tell us it will be active by October 4. We were expecting about 10 days, not 3 weeks. It COULD be sooner, we just have to wait and see.
They did tell us at the store today that we can copy the CD files onto a stick drive so we can set up our notebooks (they have no CD drive), but I will try that after I get our primary PCs up and running.
After spending some time attempting the internet set up, I walked to school and sat in Fred's office to use the internet for an hour. I got some posts made to this blog and looked up some recipes, including Veal Picatta, which we will make tonight for dinner. I found that I had guessed well and had purchased what we need on my shopping trip this morning.t
At 3:30 we both headed to the bank to pick up our debit/credit cards, which we were notified by mail were in. That actually went well, and we now have an account with money transferred from the U.S., cards, and online banking is set up and working.
On the way home we stopped at the internet store to ask about the line and were told that the sales folks say 10 days, but the real maximum time is now 3 weeks (explained above).
Then we went to a chain droguerie to find a sponge mop, to no avail. I will probably go back to the neighborhood droguerie tomorrow. I also found that I need a power strip to get the whole PC/router/phone set up without wires strung across the room. Hopefully I get most of this done before my other classes begin - as I will be too busy then to run around town shopping all day.
Fred reminded me that we have gotten a lot accomplished and he is right. And finding this apartment with most things furnished was a lifesaver! It's not just the money, it is the time it takes to find all the little things. Of course if we had had to start from scratch, we would make do with less, but still - it all takes time.
We were both tired, so had a little appertizer, then a salad, then cooked the veal and pasta, using a recipe I found online this afternoon, and it was WONDERFUL!!!! Just the right mix of lemon, butter, and capers, and Fred got the veal so tender - YUM.
For those who know us well, we have been here since Sept 1 - not quite two weeks, and have only eaten out 4 dinners and a few lunches. That means breakfast at home every day - George and Connie and Connie in Dover will not believe that. We have eaten breakfast out for years. Fred skips lunch some days, but dinner is usually later - like 7:30 or 8 at the earliest, so we do need a snack mid day.
Tomorrow I need to find the power strip, then study. So for now, I better hit the hay!
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