21st Century Socks

French Rest

I’ve spent most of this past week in France again. I used Eurotunnel this time after last week. I was glad I did. The exit meeting rumbled on and I would have been home hours later by ferry as traffic on the M25 motorway (freeway) around London was much heavier and building up when I went past. I was home an hour later.
Tunnel takes less than hour and delivers you further inland.
Eurotunnel has become very automated with a dramatic reduction in staff. I had to feed my credit card into a machine that checked my booking. On a touch screen I had to “validate” my ticket by confirming the car details and then choosing a crossing. A ticket was then printed out to put in the windscreen. There also used to staff everywhere directing traffic onto the trains but now there are just a few.
The Duty, tax, on alcohol in France is lower than the in the UK so normally everyone stocks up on “cheap booze”. This trip I actually bought nothing and will be in disgrace for having wasted the opportunity. The only thing I did do was refuel the car which is a good saving!

In terms of work that went well and the customer is very pleased. I said to them as I left that I’ve seen them for two weeks in row and probably not again for a year or two.

Meanwhile, my daughter and a select half dozen other children were pulled aside by the Head of IT to be told there would be special extra sessions for them. They don’t want to open it up to all the kids. Part of me thinks that’s wrong but another part is happy that at least Daisy will stand a better chance in a smaller group taking it seriously. The sessions start this week.

This week there will also be a parents evening at the school. My plan is to ambush the Art Teacher over his comment. My daughter has already mentioned it to her form teacher who told her to put in a letter of complaint. I think that would get us no where so I’m going for the ambush. If the form teacher mentions anything to him then he’ll be expecting it. I’ll have to wait and see.

Events

Rory has given up Rugby, he’s fed up of everyone running away from him or throwing the ball away!! I think he’ll drift back to it.
My French colleague wanted to go to bed early on Thursday night.
“My new girl friend makes me feel sexually exhausted” he said, “I need to get some rest before I see her again”.

Skype

Typically, the hotel I stayed at last week was fully booked and I ended up at a Campanile Hotel which didn’t have Wi-Fi. Result I couldn’t use the VOIP phone I’d taken with me.

House

No news on the broken glass. The tomatoes are looking very sorry. The weather has become noticeably cooler. The wife is putting the central heating on in the evenings. I don’t think I’ll see many more tomatoes ripening.

posted by 21stCenturySocks @ 8:45 PM