A good day

And after the last couple of days, I needed one! Things didn’t go exactly as planned yesterday. I got some new ink cartridges at Leclerc in the morning but after I’d got them home and loaded the first one into the printer, I realised that they were the wrong ones. So it was back to Leclerc to pick up the correct ones, and half a day lost. Then I could get the printing and copying underway that I needed for my planning dossier.

Some new Windows 7 software also arrived yesterday and although the time for the ‘free’ Windows 10 upgrade finished on 29th July, as I like Windows 10 so much, I thought that I’d chance my arm and see if I could sneek an upgrade through for my spare computer that I just fitted with a new 2 TB hard drive. So I also got that going in the spare bedroom.

And I also received the LiPo batteries from China that I need for another power pack, so I loaded those into the pack – and broke the +ve connection as they were a bit too big for the case. So while everything else was going on, I also got my soldering iron out and repaired that before loading the batteries and starting them charging. Except it turned out that one was faulty, so I had to file a dispute with the Chinese supplier as well.

But by the end of the day, I’d finished getting all the planning material together (or so I thought) to present to the Plazac Mairie today, I’d got the power pack working after taking a battery out of another pack that I don’t like as much as the new one and I’d left the Windows 10 upgrade download running overnight. But what a day!

This morning, despite a few hiccups, the upgrade download completed and lo and behold, I got Windows 10 installed on my spare computer for free! So there are still ways and means 😉

I then zipped down to the Mairie to drop in my planning dossier and the charming lady Mayor then told me that (a) I had to provide four(!!!) copies of the 20 odd page planning application form (I’d only done one) and not four, but five(!!!) copies of the accompanying 33 page dossier. This was impossible, as at the very end of yesterday’s printing work, my printer had signalled that yet again the yellow cartridge was empty, and when any of the colours runs out, the printer in effect becomes a brick.

There was no chance of going back to Leclerc today, for reasons that I’ll come onto in a moment, and I asked the Maire whether she could run off the necessary extra copies that I’d pay for. She whipped out her little calculator and after agreeing a price, she was off and running at the copier and at the end of it all, I came away 17€ lighter but with my planning papers duly filed at last!

Then it was time for the highlight of the day, which was lunch at the Auberge du Coq in Fleurac to celebrate Madeleine’s birthday with a group of old friends. And to cap it all, Victor had been released from his hospital bed, just for the lunch, mind, and was there in his wheelchair (luckily, it’s only a temporary thing). So what a great time we had, with Madeleine and Victor, Dyanne and Olivier, Sophie and Wim, Julie and Richard, Sophie and Philippe, Christine and Gerard, Richard’s mother-in-law and me, of course. And how good it was seeing Victor there.

So all the pressure was off me this afternoon, and I was able to take my time sorting out a few things that I’ll be needing to take with me, and for the flight tomorrow. And it felt like it, too. I’ve got a couple of shirts to iron and I’ve packed a few items, although I’ll do my main packing tomorrow. And then I’ll be all set to fly off tomorrow to meet up with my lovely friend Linda for two days in Saumur. And I can hardly wait 😉