The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

That's a Lotta Lotto

We all have our little "lottery fantasy", don't we? That little crazy dream we all have about what we'd do if we won 'The Big One'. Well, I'm a sporadic lottery player at best (I save my gambling for the odd Blackjack game on those rare casino outings), so my own odds of winning are slim to none. My own lottery fantasies include: paying off my car (my only debt) and setting my mom up with a very comfortable lifestyle for the rest of her days; giving some to my niece and nephew towards their college expenses so they don't have to graduate in debt; making it possible for my best friend to hire a full-time nanny and cleaning service to make her life a lot easier (she has a great husband, 4 kids and a nursing job); donating a big chunk to 3 or 4 of my favorite charities and causes; setting up a nice retirement fund for myself; buying and furnishing an apartment in Paris; and then simply enjoying my life knowing I will never "have to" work but can work for the sheer joy of doing so. What a gift! But I just LOVE a good lottery... Read more →

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop...

Although I've been writing quite a bit lately on the plight of the folks in the Gulf Coast hurricane zone, naturally I've been writing from a sympathetic, but distantly removed, perspective. Never having had to evacuate in the face of a storm and never having coped with losing everything I own, it's true that I have been in the position of being an observer with no first-hand experience. Until the past 24 hours when for some reason, the water supply at our New Jersey home has been compromised - although not by natural disaster. My mother's home is supplied by a well. The house is 43 years old and at some time over the past 8-10 years she did have a new pump and cold water tank put in. And just a month ago, I had a plumber in here to work on the leaky pipe that goes from the cold water tank into the house. So it's not like all the equipment is 43 years old. But the well, itself, IS. And that's what has us concerned, as since about 2pm yesterday we started getting no water or gritty dirty water, and periodically having the pump shut down altogether... Read more →

It's a bad damn déjà vu

Here we go again, friends. New Orleans is flooding all over again. The levee has either failed or simply been overflooded and the Ninth Ward section of New Orleans is already under water - and the full force of Hurricane Rita is still 250 miles out in the Gulf. Southwest Texas is also under serious threat from this storm, which is still a Category 4 but is expected to weaken ever-so-slightly to a 3 before the eye makes landfall. But that won't help much... in New Orleans, the damage is already done. The only thing we won't know for a few days is how bad it will be before they can plug up the holes in the levees and clean up, AGAIN. Between the winds, the rain, the flooding, and even the tornados that go along with a hurricane... with the multiple evacuations and tragedies (like a bus of elderly evacuees catching fire and then exploding from the oxygen tanks in use by some of the passengers)... I can't help but wonder just how much people can withstand. Join me in sending your thoughts and prayers to the people in Rita's path, and don't forget to continue sending your donations... Read more →

Quittin' Time

Well, I did it. Today I quit my part-time pharmacy job. After my French lesson (where I learned how to say "I am going to quit my job today" in French: Je vais arrêter mon travail aujourd'hui) I drove over to the store to pick up last week's paycheck and drop the bomb. I was primed. I was ready. The only hitch - the owner wasn't in! And he wasn't going to be in on Saturday (my next workday there) either. I debated my options. Waiting until next week in hopes of catching the owner in person? Nah, it would just delay the inevitable, and the agony. Talk to the floor manager? Just didn't feel right. Call him at home and quit over the phone? Well, it might come down to that but it sure felt unprofessional. As I considered what to do next, I saw the owner's son coming back from his lunch break. Eureka! The solution - tell the owner's son (he's an "owner" too). Best of all possible options short of a tête à tête with the actual boss. Based on my prior post about how royally pissed I was, you might get the impression I would... Read more →

Gas prices got you down?

If the gas prices in the U.S. make you want to resort to physical violence against the poor slob who pumps your gas*, please (a) remember that he's just the hired help and it's not his fault, then (b) read this account of the cost of fossil fuels in France from my new American-in-France friend, Française de Coeur. THEN try and tell me you don't want to do YOUR part for the environment by dumping your SUV (if you don't haul a boat, you don't need one) and making your next car a hybrid. If you think it can't get worse, just look at what they're paying over in Europe. We've had it good for a long time, boys and girls. Yes, our gas prices will no doubt drop back somewhat. But I doubt we'll ever see prices below $2.00 again even when New Orleans gets back up and running. The jig is now up. Time to get yourself a Smart Car... after you stop laughing at how petite it is! And you thought the Mini Coop was the "mini-est"... *(In New Jersey, for those of you who don't know, we have NO "self serve" gas stations, by state law.... Read more →

A lady always knows when to leave

Last night, I found myself feeling royally pissed off by the most inconsequential remark. Someone asked me to "tone down" my "bubbly personality". First of all, I never, ever think of myself as "bubbly". To me, that's a term that ranks right down there with "perky". I don't do "bubbly", thank you very much. So telling me to "tone down" something that I don't even do in the first place is nothing short of ridiculous. The circumstances were thus: for the past 2.5 years I have had a part-time job working in a family-owned drugstore/gift shop in the town where I used to live up until November of last year. I initially took the job - cashier in the pharmacy area of the store - because my freelance income had hit an all-time low and I needed some sort of steady income stream that would cover groceries and the electric bill but wouldn't get in the way of my "real" work. The store was within walking distance of my former home; it was a nice store and I shopped there regularly; and it so happened they were hiring and paying the right wage at the exact time I needed a... Read more →

Moonflower Star

A moonflower, a night-blooming vine as captured in our garden arbor. Each night, between 20 and 40 of these beautiful, fragrant flowers grace us with their presence for a "one night only" appearance. The next night they are replaced with their brothers and sisters. Read more →

E-Z-Pass(engers)

Today's Cool Travel Tip In today's NY Times, I just learned about a pilot (no pun intended) program to speed airport check-in while still meeting stringent federal security standards. It's like a personal E-Z Pass for travelers: for $79.95 you can get a special "Verified Identity Pass" that is encoded with your biometric data (iris and fingerprint scans) that the T.S.A. has pre-approved to ensure that you are not on anyone's terrorist watch list. If you have one of these special passcards, at airport security checkpoints you would get to go in a special line (just like E-Z Pass at the toll booths!) with the assurance you won't get hauled-and-mauled for a pat down. (Apparently you'd still have to take off your shoes or have your laptop checked though.) At the security check, you show your card and have them match it against a live scan of your fingerprints, and the next thing you know, you're on your way -- while the poor slobs in the regular line are being strip searched and generally treated like cattle. Currently the program is being tested at Orlando's airport. Check the article for details if you are interested in participating. I think it... Read more →

Be careful where you send your Katrina donations

A word to the wise... it's a sad, but true, reality of life that while some disaster situations bring out the best in most people, there is a small contingent of scum-sucking riff-raff who try to profit from the losses and tragedies of others. And I'm talking about more than just your average looter this time. This article in today's New York Times says that the state of Missouri is suing, and trying to shut down, a so-called non-profit charity with a "constellation of web sites" that allege to be collecting donations for Katrina relief efforts on behalf of legitimate charities such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army. This group of sites are apparently owned and operated by an individual who is affiliated with a radio program and another web site with ties to Neo-Nazi and anti-Semetic organizations. Missouri officials have reason to believe that the funds collected through these web sites will never be sent to the actual relief effort for Katrina victims. Although I'm sure there will be, or already are, other post-Katrina scams being run, I thought I'd go ahead and warn you to avoid THESE that were listed in the article (I do not provide... Read more →

Holiday Doggie Time-Share

Since my sister Sue and her family are, for the next 5-6 months, going to be displaced persons (by choice - building a new home - not by hurricane, thank goodness) and have just moved into a temporary townhouse while the new house is under construction, we've been sharing time with their beautiful Golden Retriever, Abbie. Abbie is familiar with our house and now with the new fence we can let her roam out back all day long. With her First Family vacationing in upstate NY this weekend, here's a glimpse of How Abbie Spent Her Labor Day Weekend. Like most Golden's, Abbie is high energy and can literally spend HOURS chasing after a ball or frisbee if she can find a human dumb enough to throw one to her for that long. She had lots of exercise this weekend, having had TWO such dumb humans around to guilt into playing with her every time she bats those big brown eyes at us or sighs heavily. I have to say, she's damn good at her "job" and can catch a ball on a high bounce, where all 4 paws leave the ground, and sometimes if you aim well with a... Read more →