Stuck in the dark ages

Every move has its moments where you just want to go home, slam the door and forget that a move was ever proposed. This week has had plenty of those moments.

I'm posting from my Bberry as France telecom haved @#*! up our phone line, so no phone, internet or TV service until either Saturday or Monday at the earliest. It takes FOREVER to get help in this country. First they refuse to admit there's an error; then they say they are fixing it; but only when a technician comes to see the problem does he agree there is a problem... And then we have to have another technician come and fix it (not before Saturday... Even though all this started Monday), and then yet anothjer technician come and install the TV / internet / etc sometime next week...

AAAAAAARGH

France Telecom. HATE.

And then there are all the other issues... Useless Darty (electronics store) salesman who screwed up our order, so we had to have items replaced, delivered late (or not at all), who didn't arrange to get the fridge fixed into the cabinet, etc... I'm actually quite proud of the fact that I won my first big French customer service face-off - he emphatically (and loudly) told me he was right; I responded in kind (ok, let's just call it yelling) and told him to fix it; he is now fixing it and we get the fridge installed for free. Still never any admission of error... But this is France. That would be expecting too much.

The apartment still has some cracked window panes, loose electrical sockets, doors that won't close (new paint), broken blinds, holes between floorboards, a crooked and wobbly kitchen faucet, and single-glazed (not double, as we were led to expect) windows in the living & dining rooms. We are trying not to let this depress us - when fixed, it will be a great place. But getting anything done here seems to take forever. At worst, we are thinking of trying to get all these repairs done ourselves instead of w-ting for the management company to come through, and then deducting the cost from our rent. We shall see.

The highlight of the week... Drumroll please... Samuel rolled over for the first time from his back to his front! Unfortunately Dave wasn't home to see it as he was in French lessons, but I consider myself very fortunate that at least I got to see this milestone as I will miss so many once our roles are reversed and I go back to work. Samuel has also taken to scooting quite far (several feet) across the floor on his back, so he is getting increasingly mobile.

We'll post again once we get back into the 21st century. In the meantime, just have a drink for us.