So. I've clearly moved. For those of you who don't know, I actually was just looking for a new format. A new means of blogging that would be fast and easy and not necessarily for one message a month, because I unfortunately missed August. Which is heartbreaking and ridiculous because a. I didn't have a job that took me away from the intense time commitment of blogging of one's own life, b. I went on amazing adventures with my amazing fiancée, Helga, and thus had plenty to write about and to share, and c. it was my new year's resolution that as far as I can tell has just drifted out of the window.
So, I find myself in a new place. Well, a new place isn't entirely accurate as the actual place has been around for awhile. I'm in France. I'm in a student dormitory in Saint-Cloud. I suppose the other interpretation isn't super accurate either because I've certainly been to France and stayed in France for long periods of time as well. Still, I've never been in a French dorm before...so it's something. In addition to the Jackie Chan movie title, I find myself tumbling down this path toward an uncertain career future. That being said, that's for the later, and for the now, I'm here. While I miss Helga terribly and have been recently wanting little more than to return to her, she is stronger than I and reminds me to stay. I'm here. I'm here for a reason. I should see it to the end. I don't consider myself a quitter, but let me tell you a thing or two about my current situation.
I suppose there's an old expression: You've made your bed, now lie in it (or something like that). Here's my bed. I didn't actually make it this way, this is how it came. Although, I suppose I opted for the French trip. In addition to the slasher like tears across the protective sheet --used to protect the mattress, not me-- there are som spots and stains that accompany the hacked up mattress. I suppose if a slashed up mattress is your only problem in a home its not that horrendous. (And I do understand that there are millions out there who would do anything to get this mattress and have something to sleep on instead of the floor--this isn't about them however, this is about me and my life in France.)
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| what are those spots? |
Worry not, you see, I haven't pictures for my entire room. It's spacious --which I wasn't expecting-- and comes equipped with very nice amenities like a kitchenette and bathroom in the apartment! To be clear though, there are some repairs that need to be addressed in addition to the mattress which was to be replaced two wednesdays ago. In addition to the mattress being ready for a role as a significant prop in an attempting hack and slash of a college coed in a new B movie, the plank under the mattress is also less than impressive with an enormous crack that travels down the center lengthwise jutting in various directions. Clearly the bed was either used for something other than sleeping, or a very large person was here before me. Perhaps in support of the latter theory, the outlet next to the bed has been bashed farther into the wall than had been intended. We'll call it unusable for now, but really it looks like it should work all i have to do is reach in with my fingers and plug something in that way. Yeah. that should work-no problem. I suppose while we're on the subject of the last tenant being an overly sized and aggressive monster, the toilet seat is quite loose. Somehow the nut holding the bolt in place has been both dislodged and gone missing. Not to fear, it is still functional. Again, these small things--even when piled up-- are all silly whatevers in the mess of an old dorm not being able to pull it together. Ce n'est pas grave.
Before anything else, I owe a HUGE thanks to MikysectionF and JenJenny for hooking me up with several very useful things in my French move: movies, DVDs, a pasta dish, a pot, a collander and a couple of utensils! THANK YOU! So much, I finally got to cook myself some dinner the other night and it was GREAT! Hope to get a working internet and Halo situation up at some point.
I know, it had been nearly a week before I cooked my first dinner. I ate out a lot, and I ate a lot of cereal. Delicious "Fitness: Chocolate Noir" cereal which balances out the healthy figure on the box with chocolate. And quick aside, because the chocolate pieces and chocolate endowed wheat flakes are heavier, the further into the box you get the sweeter and better the cereal gets! I figure my last bowl will be all 55% chocolate. Any way, i cooked my first dinner, pasta...no butter, no emmental, not even salt. It was just pasta because it was what I had and the store was closed. I was looking forward to it though, 'cause it was a step up --as Law cannot live on Fitness cereal alone. Sure enough, turn the burner on, which involves also turning the timer on because the burner will not work without a timer. Also, to be clear, by burner I just mean a modified set of two hot plates a smaller one in front and the better one in the back. I say better because the smaller one in the front isn't exactly reliable. The kitchenette's light is on so i can see, the timer is clickiting down from 35 minutes, and the burner is on somewhere between medium and high--there used to be numbers to indicate heat level but they have all since worn off. Yes sir, hot plate started to get warm, i could see some flavorless but warm penne in my future when suddenly a snap sounded through the air and the kitchenette went dark. I know, you're thinking, jeez it's rough, all that's stuff is broken in his place and the light bulb goes out--ONE MORE THING.
Don't worry. The light bulb is fine. I blew a fuse. Apparently the front burner is quite fickle, and by fickle i mean it doesn't enjoy working--but then who does? Yes, the combination of timer, light, and front burner would seem to be disastrous for cooking. To be sure, and also to be clear, I ran some tests and it turns out that a strong majority of the time just combining the timer (to turn the burner on) and the burner will cause the problem. Of course, these places are protected and have those neat security switches, which is really what caused the noise. So all i had to do to get power in the kitchen back was flip the switch. Well, flip the switch and not ever use the front burner again. naturally I forgot about it a couple of days later and tried to cook again. I think i've got it down now. So if you want warm pasta and warm sauce you're out of luck because I can't really do both. Yup, it's a silly little student studio I have.
Oh. Also, while I'm talking about my place, I should probably mention that Monday was a pretty solid day for discovery as well. The cord that connects the faucet to the shower head broke spraying water all over my bathroom and making it unnecessarily difficult to rinse off. Thankfully it broke just after completely lathering up in the shower--wouldn't want an excuse to avoid the difficult aspect of a broken shower now would we? Apparently the water here (and I'm not sure if 'here' means Saint Cloud, the residence, or France in general) has tons of calcium. Not the good, healthy stuff: the stuff that sucks to drink and erodes shower tools. Well, i suppose they are essentially the same thing, but you know what i mean. Also, during my Monday, I got to add to my theory of a Yeti being the previous tenant as the door handle broke off. Yes. The door handle. The little device that I use to open and close my front door, yeah it's broken. Apparently there's a little screw that holds it together, it fits snugly into a tiny hole that is dug out of a metal bar that comes from one side of the door handle. That nail has been pulled and scraped along the length of the bar so as to cause it to no longer function.
That's all i got for now. I've been around town a little. I'll tell you more about other stuff later. I just needed to get some of that fun stuff out there...in the open. Maybe it won't be a crazy surprise if I move to a different place in the very near future. Although, it seems as if this place will be ripe with opportunities to write about.
Sorry it's taken so long,
LAW.
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