mint

I have a very annoying friend who has sent me a blog of her "incredible" holiday and, so far, this blog has taken up over 30 000 GO, whatever GO is. There is a message next to it from Orange, asking if I needed more space.  MORE space, so that people can send me more of their boring, ridiculous, self-inflating blogs?  And you thought being made to look at other people's holiday photos the pits in the old days? So, Sue, or anyone else, please, please, please, TELL me how to erase these stupid blogs or whatever they are called?  I can't see immediately how it might be done. As an aside, Sue, did you read my post of this morning on the thread about making RVs through sante.fr?  I thought of you because of the mention of the Variole in Vannes I had to look up Variole but it did look nicely alliterative next to Vannes? The person posting said how the mayor got everybody vaccinated against it in 2 days.  Which was EXACTLY what I said weeks ago.  That, in our little village, our mayor could organise for us all to be done in an orderly fashion inside of a day or two.  And I reckon there will be fewer refuseniks because he and all the councillors would be able to persuade and speak encouraging to them and the mayor himself certainly commands respect and liking.

Oh thanks; just what the doctor ordered for me today.

If anyone is still living in hope of a vaccination in the near future, and I don't wish to extinguish hope, it is perhaps time to face the ghastly reality.  But don't take my word for it.  Here are the first 3 commentaires by its readers on le Figaro today about this very subject: RGB95 le 02/02/2021 à 10:08 Ayant 80 ans, j'attends un miracle pour être vacciné. En réalité, j'en ai ma "dose" de ne pas avoir de réponse sur Doctolib, en mairie, dans les centres dédiés à la vaccination. Mais que demander de plus, notre ministre de la santé est content et ravi. LES MINQUIERS le 02/02/2021 à 09:50 EBIHENS:Je me souviens,j'étais un enfant,en 1955,il y a eu à VANNES une épidémie de VARIOLE,toute la population a été convoquée à la mairie et tout le monde a été vacciné en moins de 2 jours par le médecin du pays. C'était avant!!! anonyme le 01/02/2021 à 18:28 Chiffres à vérifier, mais D'après vos tableaux, dans les 5 départements limitrophe de Paris, il y a eu à ce jour environ 50.000 vaccination représentant environ 15 % au maximum de la population de plus de 75 ans à vacciner en priorité Il reste donc environ 300.000 personnes de plus de 75 ans à vacciner.dans les différents centre ventres de vaccination '(environ 100) Or sur le site du gouvernement il est prévu de vacciner en février, environ 1.500 personnes en moyenne dans chacun des 100 centres, soit 150.000 au total. Il faudra donc attendre, au mieux, fin mars pour que les plus de 75 ans soient vaccinés et que les vaccinations générales puissent commencer. Etant donné que les plus de 75 ans ne représentent que 10% de la population, combien de mois s'écoulèrent avant que la baignoire ne soit vide.. Just in idle interest, no longer harbouring any hope of getting OH vaccinated any time soon, I looked at the vaccin tracker, and it appears that between 26 and 31 janv.  there were NO vaccinations anywhere in the country[:-))]

Oh Teapot, you haven't grasped what I said about kicking the alcohol habit[:(]  I mean NO alcohol, not wine, not beer, not spirits not even cooking sherry. I have a lovely bottle of bubbly (Christmas present from 2 years ago, is it still drinkable?), several bottles of white wine and beer laid on for the Aussie neighbours last year but of course, they couldn't come between Aussie lockdowns and French lockdowns  Don't think there's any reds left so OH must have given it to the gardener to take home.  There has to be a couple of bottles of Pastis and whisky still unopen somewhere as well as I used to love pastis in summer and whisky in winter. But, I DIDN'T give up booze for weight loss but for my health. Didn't want any excuse for the cancer to come back or for my lungs, slightly damaged, to worsen. Haven't touched a drop since 1st July.  Mostly don't even think about drinking until I have a really stressful day like the ones I have had lately but I can resist the temptation and feeling goes away. I adore magnums and don't find them too sweet.  I was limiting myself to one every other day.  Now, once a box is finished, I leave it a good 2 to 3 weeks before buying anymore.  Meat, about an ounce or two perhaps every week to 10 days.  Don't like cooking it anymore and no restos or friends' houses to go to.  OH doesn't eat meat so it's made preparing meals easier. I started with a diet given me by the gym teacher (when there were still gym classes).  That, as you have said Teapot, is mostly vegetables and fruit, very little bread and baked goods and naturally sweet things like fruit and, you know how the French love yoghurts, so yoghurts.  I buy plain Greek style and add fruit or maybe a spoonful of homemade jam.  For protein, small amounts of meat (cooked from fresh, not cured like ham or sausages), lots of fish and plenty of eggs. Went from 56.5 Kg to about 51/52 Kg easily with no effort.  Then that would go up and down a bit but always within that range.  So, last year, taking advantage of said confinements and couvre-feus, I axed the alcohol completely but eat whole grain rice (small quantities), wholemeal spaghetti and wholemeal bread.  Even eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, pears (really sweet ones) and none of that seem to matter, even chocolate (small quantities and not everyday).  More or less working, as I am now within a small range of 47 and 48 Kg.  With that I am happy, can take a French size 38, especially skirts and trousers so I think je suis arrivée[:D]

Daniil Trifonov and Chopin.  Can't get much better on a Sunday evening or indeed any old time of day or night, can you? [url]https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075194-000-A/daniil-trifonov-interprete-chopin/[/url]

Judith, I so agree with your post.  If our mayor were in charge, all the elderly, ill, fragile, at-risk ones would have been first in the queue.  As a commune, the rest of us would happily wait our turns because we would see that it was fair and we would want the most vulnerable to get injected first. Also, I think some of the anti-vaxxers could be brought round by the mayor's example and persuasion. Of course that would be too simple and too efficient.   Instead there are 3 privately owned sites to do the RVs and the day I find a slot, I believe I shall pass out in sheer shock.

Come on, Wooly, come and help her.  You're the financial whizz kid on here, non?[:P]

I think it's important to take into account someone's frame.  Some people are naturally more robust, wider shoulders, heavier in build altogether. I am about medium for build and I am happy with my size and weight at the moment.  But I need to be vigilant all the time.  Really watch the starch and chocolate and the Magnum ice creams!  I don't know if it helps staying away from alcohol.  I have had periods of no alcohol but have never shrugged off the weight like I have now. Got to depend on how much you drink in the first place.  I was never a heavy drinker but I did have a drink most days.  I cut off the alcohol for health reasons and not to lose weight. My pneumologue said I was the only patient she knew who'd actually lost weight during the confinement but she did say my lungs would be the better for it.

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight by dieting will know it's the equivalent of hell on earth. I was more or less OK with my weight till I was 50 and then I looked in the mirror and decided on a HUGE exercise kick, having a personal trainer who made me do weights and use machines that the men in his gym were doing and using.  But, did I lose weight, and inches off everywhere. Then I came to France, no gym, no personal trainers in rural Charente Maritime. After that, I more or less didn't care much and didn't mind much and my weight was steady.  Then came cancer and chemo and tiredness and laziness and couldn't-care- less-ness.  I would'nt say I went grossly fat but I had to go up a dress size. Now I am down by over 9 kilos but it's taken over 2 years of chipping away at the weight.  Eventually, I grasped the nettle, gave up alcohol and meaty meals (still eat a little meat and lots of fish), walking daily even if I don't want to and daily Pilates for suppleness of body and calming of stress.  The confinement, couvre-feu, etc are wonderful aids to slimming:  no restos, no eating with others, no fêtes, no nothing. I agree with idun, BMI is a crude and not at all accurate measure of obesity.  Now the "experts" say your waist measurement is more important in terms of avoiding heart problems. 

I am perhaps pleading our particular case in the Dordogne but my suspicion that the Dordogne is especially way behind in the vaccine programme has been borne out today in the Sudouest. In the Dordogne, we have only 5 centres (1 reserved for professionals only) and the Charente which is equally rural and has roughly the same physical size and population demographics has 16 centres.  Examples of other départements in France meeting that criteria of population density and demographics were cited, Landes another neighbouring département comes to mind. Not that I feel any better, having read that information but I do feel justified in feeling hard done by.  It's not so much for myself, but for my OH and, of course, in our village alone, I can just, off the top of my head, think of at least another 10 inhabitants in my OH's age category.

Laurier, thank you for your helpful post, giving me the exact information that I needed[:)]

So Laurier, where did you sign or did you have a plastic pen same as Sue did and a screen to sign it on? We both renewed our licenses and have till 2033 but I will be applying for my passport on line.  And I'd be reassured to be able to have my photo done at a photographer's but the signing bit has me VERY intrigued.

Yes, 72 hours prior.  They have mentioned it on the news and I myself had to have the test yesterday afternoon for hospital admission Monday morning. 72 hours seem to be pretty standard.  Also, don't know about your lab.  Mine has now started emailing you  the result (very handy over a weekend) and additionally giving you an identifiant and a mot de passe to access your result on line by visiting their site. Good luck with the dentist and be careful with the driving, especially if this awful weather is going to continue.

It's not the Kraken you should be worried about, Wools.  It's kranken as in "Am I kranken, doctor?"[8-)]

That seems only right to me fittersmate.  After all since 2016, you could have moved to anywhere else. BTW, glad you haven't moved elsewhere; nice to see you back.

And while Barnard Castle might be lovely and well worth a visit, perhaps in the midst of a lockdown is not an ideal time to choose to pay a visit?[:D] Don't know about the opticians who practise up there so I can't give an opinion whether it is the place to go to test your eyesight[:D][:P]

And you would have refused the private jet, of course?  Because of your concern about the environment, right?[:D]

Thanks, Norman, yes, all is clearly explained in your link. I am thinking, however, about 20 000 sm of shop space...that is HUGE.  For example, there is a big Decathlon in Angoulême that we have been to a couple of times but even that, the biggest shop I have been to around here, is not 20 000.

Judith, idun and Lori, thank you sooooo much for your kind, warm messages. The RV for vaccination is not for me, it's for OH who has tended to fret about it.  After I read Kong's sensible reply yesterday evening, I did see the light![I]  So I slept deeply and well. We are being careful, don't go anywhere unless unavoidable.  Strangely enough, I have no fear of being in the hospital.  They are very good with les gestes barrières, temperature taken on entry, hands squirted with gel, only allowed in if you have legitimate reason and for admission, -ve test obligatory. I deeply, deeply appreciate your words of support.

And I can't help admitting the sensibleness of your reply, Kong[:)] Yes, I do need some perspective on this.  It's just that in the last 10 days or so, I have had a slew of medical appointments and must have spent almost as much waking time in waiting- rooms, in hospital, lab, surgeries and today in the massive queue for a PCR test in a car park. I am stressed, anxious, wound-up and I have left copious notes for myself detailing everything I have to do before my admission on Monday.  It's only for the day (though I have a RV for the same hospital the following day as well).  Ugh....just getting things out of proportion.....[8-)] 

Here is a carte and tableau of vaccinations by départements.  If you feel as depressed as I do, on no account consult it. [url]https://www.sudouest.fr/2021/01/29/vaccin-contre-le-covid-19-la-carte-de-france-des-personnes-vaccinees-ou-se-classe-votre-departement-8345759-10664.php[/url]

I asked the following question on another thread but only Norman (good old Norman) answered and, for once, he couldn't give me a definitive answer. The question was:  has anyone managed to get a RV in a neighbouring département.  I tried to get one in the Charente Maritime where we used to live but it said I didn't have "le droit" or a similar word, can't remember, to have the jab there. Has anyone tried/managed to do the unthinkable and get it in a centre not in their département?  Please let me know if it's possible....hey, my husband's life might depend on your answer[:-))][:D]

Just before Hancock came out with the first shot to as many as possible, Blair had already very publicly said that that would be his preference.  Then Hancock had to sheepishly admit that, yes, he talked to Blair and asked for advice. So now you know, nothing partisan there that you can detect[:P] Meanwhile, I used the site of the covidtracker, in an idle moment, to see when we might expect our vacs.  Put in OH's details to start with, and the site said he should have been vaccinated already; huge consolation that, or perhaps not. When I put in my own details, it said that, at the pace of today's rate of vaccination, I should get my jab in 6 months.  So, I took that to mean, how long is a piece of string, 6 months if you are lucky and never if not.

You're probably right about no news for a day or so or even a week or so.  I have stopped wishing that the government will just get on with it.  It's hard to believe that things are getting worse and protesters (against the vaccine, against another confinement, against low pay, etc) are the only ones who are visible.  Er......is anyone in charge? 

Lori, you are not alone[:)][:P][:'(]  Don't know what emoticon would be appropriate. Been checking the vaccination centre near us, been telephoning, asking around, etc.  I see today that 409 doses are expected les prochains 28 jours.  As the site is only open for 3 and a half days a week, I work out the number of people they are injecting to be around 50 a day! And that's just for OH who is 89 and I guess he will have to have his 90th birthday before I can even get on the site.  As for me, a mere 71 year old, maybe in a year's time?  Or perhaps a bit longer than that?