Measuring Success

Attention:  Traffic disrupted.  Work in the Bastide.   We were warned

Just as I have had to re-calibrate the way I define rain, I have had to re-define "success."  I don't know if it's because I am not going to a place of employment every day (I refuse to say I am no longer working--I work plenty) or if it's because I am coping with some side effects of getting older, but a successful day now means something different than it did 20 years ago, or even a year ago, for that matter. Thus far today has felt like a success.

What a mess

Men at work

The big item of the day was getting the ink cartridge changed in my printer.  It's a different model from the one I had in the States and its internal workings are arranged a little differently.  I have grown to intensely dislike dealing with technology--hardware and software.  I long for the olden days when there was a phone number with a human at the other end who could walk a person through these kinds of processes.  Now, the hardware no longer even includes written instructions, and for someone like me, the pictographs don't help.  So, I put off changing that ink cartridge as long as I could, but today it had to be done.  It took me a while and a bit of turning the printer on its ear, but I managed.  The problem is that by the time it will be necessary to replace the cartridge again, I will have forgotten how.  This issue is not necessarily tied to being in a foreign country, but as the instructions, meager as they may be, are written in French, one little misunderstanding can add hours to the process.  But, it's done.

Pedestrians use the other sidewalk

The second major success of the day is getting hardware on the shutters so that they can be latched open.  We get some pretty hefty winds here on a regular basis, at least in the spring, and the shutters have been banging around, disturbing me and my neighbors.  Until today, the only solution was to latch them completely closed, which I hate, because it makes my apartment very dark.  Jason, my landlord, had tried a solution about a month ago, but the hardware he purchased just wasn't right for the task.  Today he arrived with very low tech hook and eye arrangements and I am thrilled to say that the wind is blowing, but my shutters are securely latched open--no more banging about.  

Looking toward Gambetta--really, what a mess!

I make a to-do list almost every day, as I need that little bit of structure to move me forward.  Today I have been able to cross off quite a few of the items, including getting this blog posted.  I wonder how other retirees handle the temptation to simply while away the time with a book or a puzzle.  I am happy to say that my house is thoroughly clean and almost always tidy, unless I am in the middle of a project.  It has to do with time and time management.  Success is measured more modestly--no state report deadlines met, but an hour's practice at the piano mean it's been a good day.  Or getting an ink cartridge replacement  accomplished....tomorrow I start on my taxes. 

The photos are a way the city measures progress and success....Rue Verdun, the main north-south artery in the Bastide, is torn to hell and gone.  Someone told me that they are replacing the gas lines.  Business and traffic are completely disrupted.  But they are working diligently and expect to be done sometime in April, which is no small feat, I think.  It's a major undertaking.  One thing I will say for Mayor Larrat--when he decides he wants something done, by golly, it gets done!  Just like me and the ink cartridge!!!

It's easiest to just walk up the middle of the street