Putain de Pluie

J'ai écrit un post il y a déjà un moment sur les clients des bateaux de croisière dont je m'occupais qui systématiquement lorsqu'il pleuvait demandaient s'il allait pleuvoir comme ça toute la journée. Bon je comprends, t'es en vacances, tu fais une escale d'une journée au Mexique et t'as prévu une excursion à la plage, t'as pas forcément envie d'être sous la flotte. Même s'il fait 30º et que pour les locaux, ça fait du bien. Sauf que là, je suis en France, qu'on est certes en hiver mais qu'on a eu quasiment 2 mois entiers de flotte non-stop. Il a plu pratiquement TOUS LES JOURS DEPUIS DÉBUT DÉCEMBRE.

AU SECOURS!

Sans déconner, c'est infernal ce temps. Je sais bien que c'est l'hiver, je sais bien qu'on en avait grandement besoin mais ça déborde de partout, les champs sont détrempés, rien que d'y marcher en bottes, on s'enfonce jusqu'à mi-mollet et on a beau s'équiper avec vêtements de pluie (j'ai un ensemble pantalon/veste de pêcheur) et bottes, y'a toujours un moment où t'es mouillé. Et donc où tu te cailles.

Et puis ce ciel, toujours gris, toujours menaçant depuis 2 mois, c'est déprimant au possible. Déjà qu'en soi, janvier, c'est pas un super mois pour le moral (les fêtes de fin d'année sont terminées et en général, on n'a plus un sou en poche!) mais alors quand en plus, il fait ce genre de temps tout pourri, c'est l'horreur absolue.

Je préfère cent fois qu'il fasse des températures négatives avec tous les inconvénients que ça entraîne (grattage de pare-brise le matin, le compresseur du camion de vidange qu'est gelé, les 15 épaisseurs de vêtements et les 2 paires de gants ...) plutôt que de la flotte.

Enfin, c'est comme ça. On n'y peut rien mais on peut se plaindre ce qu'est déjà pas mal! LOL. Au moins, on n'est pas inondés comme beaucoup de gens en région parisienne ... Courage à tous, peut être que c'est bientôt la fin du déluge et des crues.

Fucking Rain

I wrote a post some time ago about cruise ship guests i was taking care of whom, when it was raining on the pier, were systematically asking me if it was going to rain all day. OK, i understand you're on holidays, you're making a one day stop in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and you've booked a beach day and you don't want to be enduring rain. Even though it's still 30º outside and all locals are actually happy about it. Except that right now, i'm in France and yes I know it's winter but for crying out loud it's been raining for nearly 2 months EVERY SINGLE FREAKING DAY SINCE THE BEGINING OF DECEMBER.

HELP!

Seriously, this weather is INSANE. I know it's winter, i know we badly needed it but for crying out loud, all rivers are overflowing, fields are soaking wet and even if you're using rain equipment (i have fisherman equipment) and rain boots, there's always a moment that stupid rain will get through and you'll get wet. And then you're freazing cold.

And it's not just the rain. That sky ... aargh, always grey, always threatening for the past 2 months. It's depressing. In itself, January is not the best month mood wise. Christmas and New Year celebrations are long gone and most of the time, you're broke but when to top it all, you have that shitty weather, yuk, it's the absolute worse.

I'd much rather have freezing temperatures with all the inconveniences it implies (gratting your windshield, truck's compressor frozen, 15 layers of clothes, 2 pairs of gloves ...) than rain.

Well, not much we can do about it apart from complaining! LOL. At least, we're not flooded like some people we know around the Paris area. Good luck all. Maybe it's almost the end of the flood.

Insuffisance Rénale

Mon chat Yéti est malade. Et quand je dis malade, je devrais spécifier qu'il est gravement malade. A savoir qu'il a une insuffisance rénale. Enfin, ça, c'était le mois dernier. Pour être plus franc, ses reins ne fonctionnent plus. Ou du moins, très, très mal. 

Début décembre, on avait remarqué qu'il ne mangeait quasiment plus, qu'il buvait beaucoup et qu'il avait perdu beaucoup de poids (normal quand on ne mange pas). Et quand je parle de beaucoup de poids, il a perdu un peu plus d'1kg ce qui, sur un chat qui en faisait 4,6 à la base, ça fait beaucoup. Un peu comme si moi, je perdais 15kg. 

J'ai donc amené le loulou chez le vétérinaire. Prise de sang et 15 minutes plus tard, le verdict est tombé: il fait de l'insuffisance rénale. Avec des taux entre 4 et 5 fois supérieurs aux maximums, on a choisi de le faire hospitaliser, histoire d'essayer de faire baisser ces taux de créatinine et d'urée extrêmement élevés. Coup dur que de devoir le laisser mais on savait qu'il était entre de bonnes mains.

Sauf que 48h plus tard, la perfusion n'avait pas donné grand chose, les taux avaient certes baissé mais de manière dérisoire. Au bout du compte, il est resté hospitalisé une semaine mais quand je l'ai ramené à la maison, la vétérinaire n'était pas satisfaite des résultats et n'était pas très optimiste pour la suite. 

Chez les animaux, on ne fait pas de dialyse ni de greffe. C'est comme ça. Yéti aurait désormais un médicament à prendre à vie et de nouveau des croquettes spéciales pour problèmes rénaux.

Sauf que tout a recommencé en début de semaine. Il n'avait pas mangé du WE et avait reperdu du poids (il ne pèse plus que 3kg). Re-visite chez le véto, re-prise de sang. Et là, la véto n'y est pas pas allé par 4 chemins, elle m'a dit: les résultats sont mauvais. On est de nouveau sur des taux très élevés (presque autant qu'il y a un mois). On sait que le traitement sous perfusion n'est pas efficace comme il le devrait et elle m'a déconseillé de le re-faire hospitaliser ... ce serait de l'acharnement thérapeutique.  Ce qui est primordial à l'heure actuelle, c'est qu'il s'alimente. Avec des sachets fraîcheur qui coûtent une blinde. Mais peu importe. 

Bruno a fait des recherches sur Internet. Les dommages sur les reins sont irréversibles. Mais apparemment, les feuilles de pissenlit aident. Et surtout, éviter de donner des croquettes et de la nourriture sèche. 

Un chat sur 3 aujourd'hui, développe des problèmes rénaux. Et personne ne se pose la question de savoir pourquoi? Vous n'avez pas l'impression que c'est à cause des croquettes que le problème survient? Au Mexique, je donnais à mes chats (et mes chiens) uniquement de la viande crue. Ils suivaient tous un régime BARF (Bone And Raw Food) et n'ont jamais été malades. Ici, Yéti fait constamment des infections urinaires, des occlusions, des cystites et maintenant, ses reins sont nazes? 

Les croquettes "spécialisées" (contre les problèmes urinaires, pour les problèmes rénaux  etc.) coûtent 12€ le kilo. Un bras donc. Si j'achète du poulet en grande surface, j'en ai pour presque moitié moins cher. Le choix est vite fait. De plus, au Mexique, Yéti sortait et chassait beaucoup. Il mangeait donc souris, rats, mulots et tout un tas d'autres bestioles et se portait comme un charme. Il devient donc urgent qu'on finisse de retaper la maison du grand père qu'il puisse de nouveau vaquer à ses occupations de chats.

En attendant, non seulement on lui donne à manger des trucs plus naturels pour son régime alimentaire de carnivore mais en plus, Bruno lui fait du shiatsu spécial chat et du reiki. On a envie de croire aux miracles. Et peut-être que la prochaine fois qu'on ira chez le vétérinaire, elle n'en croira pas ses yeux!

Kidney failure

My cat, Yéti, is sick. And when i say sick, i should say that he's critically sick. He's suffering from kidney failure. Well, that was last month. More frankly, his kidneys don't work anymore. Or at least, extremely badly. 

In early December, we noticed that he wasn't eating much if at all. He was drinking more than usual and had lost a tremendous amount of weight. He had dropped a good kilo which, on a normally 4,6kg cat, is a LOT. A bit like if i'd lose 15kg. 

So i took him to the vet. Blood sampling done and 15 minutes later, words were put on his situation: kidney failure. With creatinine and urea levels through the roof (4-5 times over the higher limit!) we took the decision to have him hospitalized. Quite a hard blow to leave him there but we knew he was in good hands.

Except that 48hrs later, treatment hadn't done much. Levels had dropped but it was derisory. End of it all, he stayed there for an entire week. Even though his results after a week were not convincing, i brought him back home. The vet was not happy with the results and wasn't optimistic for his future.

You don't do dialysis or transplant on animals. That's the way it is. Yéti would now have to be medicated for the rest of his life and would have to eat specific kibbles.

Except that it started all over again this week. He had'nt eaten all WE and had lost weight yet again (he's only weighing 3kg now). Another trip to the vet, another blood sample. And the vet straightforwardly told me: his results are bad. We're at the same high levels we were a month ago. We know the medical treatment is not as effective as it should be and she went against having him hospitalized again. It would be harassment. What is essential now is that he feeds himself. With little fresh food sachets that cost a bomb but whatever.

Bruno investigated on the Internet. Kidney damages are irreversible. Apparently, dandelion leaves can help. And above all, no dry food!

One out of 3 cats develop kidney issues nowadays. And nobody wonders why? Don't you think that it's the kibbles that are the root of the problem? When i was in Mexico, i gave my cats (and my dogs) raw meat only. They were all eating BARF (Bone And Raw Food) and never got sick. Here in France, Yeti has been sick one too many times with urinary infections, obstruction, cystitis and now, his kidneys are out?

Specialized kibbles (for whatever problem your pet can have) cost 12€/kg. An arm and a leg. If i buy chicken meat at the supermarket, it costs me almost half this amount. Moreover, in Mexico, Yeti was constantly out hunting mices, rats and a whole bunch of other bugs and creatures he could find and his health was on top. It has now became urgent that we finish up refurbishing the grand father's house in order for him to be able to continue living his cat's life.

Meanwhile, not only are we back to an almost 100% BARF diet but Bruno also does shiatsu for cats on him as well as some reiki. We want to believe in miracles. And maybe next time we'll visit the vet, she won't believe her eyes...

Pregnancy and Childbirth From Hell

So how are you? How did it go? Everything went well?

NO.

Not in the slightest way my delivery or even my pregnancy went well. 

The look on people's face when you answer a big fat no to "did the delivery go well?" ... Priceless.

Why on earth is that everybody assumes that because your baby is finally here and that you're finally back home that everything went well. Honestly, NOTHING went well. Nothing at all.

And no, it's not because i am indeed finally home with my beautiful baby girl that I'm gonna forget all the bad things that happened to me prior. Hell no I'm not gonna forget. I'll move on, yes, but I won't forget. And there is a very good reason to this: this is how my daughter's life started. 

My pregnancy got cut short. And thank god it did. It's been a very difficult first trimester, not because i was sick or nauseous or any of the classic inconveniences you can face at the beginning of a pregnancy but simply because I had that massive black cloud of my miscarriage hovering above me. During the second trimester, we were told that the baby was too small for its age, so there were the plethora of exams and check-ups and this and that. I was going to the hospital at least once a week.

And for the icing on the cake ... Last trimester ... Baby still small, i should get an ultrasound a week as well as two monitorings a week. By week 33 (which for us, was week 31 and a half but let's not dwell on that), i got told that they'll most likely induce labor between week 34 and week 36.

Since the baby was doing just fine (no kidding), they decided to wait just a few days short of week 37. 

It was a Thursday afternoon. Since the baby was small (estimated weight of 2kg then), they decided to go through all 4 steps of "smooth" labor: 

- the balloon first (inserted inside in order to detach the water sack from the cervix), set for 24h

- the "plug" - looks like a tampon that diffuses hormones in order to accelerate labor and trigger contractions ... Another 24h.

- an hormonal gel (same job as the tampon) ... 6h

- and last but not least, in the delivery room, with an IV to stimulate the contractions hence accelerating the distention of the cervix.

I went in the delivery room at 3pm on the Sunday. My man slept on the floor on Friday night and on our inflatable mattress on Saturday night. Needless to say, he was pretty much in the same state of exhaustion than i was. 

11pm or so, on Sunday, i got the epidural. It was a disaster. The anaesthetist was scaring me, the nurse was a bitch. I was losing it. I was exhausted, i was scared, Bruno couldn't be with me, tears were rolling down my eyes uncontrolably, I was shaking so bad from all the tension that was packing on for the past 4 days that it took for freaking ever. Or so it seemed.

Except that nothing went as planned after that. At around 1am, as they were increasing the dose i was getting in the IV, the baby's heart rate dropped. As the midwife said, talking about the baby: "she just made the decision for us".

She couldn't take it anymore. I was gonna get a c-section.

I couldn't stop crying.

After all we'd been through, i would be a lone spectator at my delivery. Bruno wouldn't be able to be there since i was going for surgery. I wasn't gonna participate nor see anything since they cut you open and it all happens behind a curtain.

I was struggling not to fall asleep. I wanted to puke so bad. I couldn't feel my right arm. I was scared. I wanted to be over with. I wanted to sleep.

I got to see my baby for a split second before they took her to the pediatrician. All i saw of her was that she had hair. I stayed on the table for another 15 minutes or so, just for them to get the placenta out, vaccuum my insides and close me up. 

The surgeon apologized a few time that he had to cut right in the middle of my pelvis tattoo. I couldn't care less to be honest. But i thought it was nice of him to feel sorry about ruining my tat'. 14 stapples later (and who knows how many stitches inside), i went to the recovery room for 3 never-ending hours, dying to be with my baby and my man. 

Best moment of it all: when i got to have her on my chest. I could have stayed like that for ages. But all good things have an end ...

I spent another week in the hospital. It was hard, i cried a lot since again, i was pretty much on my own most of the time (Bruno spent all the time he could with me but he had to go back to work and since the hospital is not very arranging for the new dads ...). And the nerves got the best of me ... After all i endured, i just couldn't take much more any more. The nursery nurses offered to take my baby for the night so i could rest. I cried my eyes out in guilt but truly appreciated to get a 7hrs straight night. 

Long story short, we're finally back home. All together like the family we now are. We do as we see fit for our baby girl. Maternal instinct kicked in and with a baby, you just know what is best for her. She's a very good baby. Quiet. Calm. And to all the people who keep on telling us "it won't last", i tell them: SCREW YOU. After all we've been through, we deserve to have some peace of mind and a quiet baby. You might have had a terrible few months with yours but you most likely didn't have to endure what we had to. So instead of being jealous of what we enjoy now, wish us the best instead!

So after a total of 14 ultrasounds, 27 monitorings, 72 hours of labor inducing techniques, 9 hours in the delivery room, it's by c-section that our beautiful baby girl Lucie was born, on Halloween.

No, No and No

I'm pregnant. Scratch that. I'm very pregnant. And by very pregnant i mean that i am finishing my 6th month of pregnancy so needless to say, i can't pretend no more that i'm not. It shows. It bloody well shows. Politician belly, porn star boobs, the balance of a new born calf and the swollen limbs of a hippopotamus. Sexiness in all its glory.

Maybe it looks beautiful on the outside but the feeling ain't beautiful whatsoever. I feel bloated, i huff and puff after climbing up a flight of stairs, it takes me an hour to recover from vacuuming my bedroom, i can't find a decent position to sleep, my gums are bleeding every time i brush my teeth, my belly button is about to pop out (gasp) and my bladder is the size of a nut. On the plus side, so is my stomach (the size of a nut) so i'm extremely quickly satiated. Extremely quickly hungry again but oh well.

I'm not gonna go through the entire load of details that my pregnancy has been so far. My baby isn't in the norm size-wise so needless to say i had to endure quite a fair amount of extra exams to make sure it's normal (physically and genetically) and growing. Long story short, it's a little girl and she's just that: little. A perfectly healthy tiny little baby girl. 

What the doctors at both hospitals i'm followed up at don't know because they don't want to listen is that their supposed conception date is wrong. It's a least a week off. 

Estimated conception time: February 27th.

Nope.

I can tell you it's definitely not that day that our little shrimp was made. 

Nope.

100% sure of that.

But anyways. Norms, norms and more norms. Get out of them and there are protocols to be followed and there i was with blood testing and amniocentesis and ultrasound every 2 weeks and so on.

She's fine. My baby's fine. She's alive and kicking. Oh yeah. She is so very much kicking all the time. That's one thing i actually like about pregnancy. When you feel the baby kicking.

But the point of that post today was about my belly. Read that again. I wrote MY belly. I didn't write "the" belly, i didn't write "a" belly, i wrote MY belly. Because it is just that. It's mine. And mine only. 

WHY ON FREAKING EARTH is that people think that because you're pregnant, your belly becomes public domain. Why is that when people greet you, they think it's appropriate to rub your belly? Do you rub the belly of a guy? Do you rub someone's anything apart from a pregnant belly? 

No you don't.

For crying out loud it is so freaking intrusive. I HATE IT.

Oh hi, how is the baby? Bam, belly rub. The baby is not gonna answer you, not now, not for another few years actually and less of it all when it's still inside the womb. Why don't you rub my man's package while you're at it? It did half the job after all!

I asked the question to several of my friends who've had children already and they all experienced the same thing. Some of them told me stuff that are plain dreadful! I swear i will never touch the belly of a pregnant woman unless invited to do so (and even though, i still think it's a weird thing to do), just like i won't ask people why don't they have kids yet (you never know what they might have been through) and personal stuff like these.

People have no concept of private space.

I might be getting a tad paranoid but every time i meet someone, i hold my hands in front of my stomach. When they try to do the belly rub but find my hands instead, it's like instant back off. It's like my hands are burning them. And it's awesome because that's exactly what i'm trying to do: to make them back off of me without actually being rude. 

If you have any other tips to prevent that from happening, considering it's still blazing hot so we're all only wearing a few items of clothing, i'm all ears!

Massive Ranting (And Yes I Feel Good About It)

I was thinking about writing this post in French, for a change, but i realized that the people who it is aimed at probably don't read anyway.

There's this big controversy in France about the national soccer team and the national anthem. To make one long story short, they don't sing it. Apparently, only the soccer players don't sing. When you watch a rugby match, everybody in the team sings it. Well, I normally don't talk politics, economics or religion in this blog, let alone on Facebook. I don't think it's the place for it. But again, it's my humble point of view. But I've have it up to here to hear people complaining about it so I wanted to use my blog to express what I think about it all. OK, fine, to complain about it all ;)

I don't care if people sing or not the national anthem. Well, I do care a little. You're representing a country and the least of the courtesy should be to sing its anthem. If not, if you don't feel like you belong to that country, well, you shouldn't make the team in the first place. But a national team is made of people who are BORN in that country. Whereas you're from different origins is not the point. You're born in France, you're French, period. When I was in Mexico, I always said I felt I was born in the wrong country and I felt more Mexican than French. But that didn't make me Mexican. And when France played against Mexico, I felt Frencher than I ever felt before. And I sang the anthem.

But that's not the point i'm trying to make here.

People complain about those players (we're talking football here, I mean football soccer) who earns big bucks and don't honor the country they're playing for. To begin with, 80% (if not more) of the French team is made of players from foreign origins (and mostly people who are the grand-children of people from countries France colonized in the past). And when you live in a country your ancestors are not from, you often build up a strong bond with that other culture of yours. But again, that's not the point i'm trying to make.

If you're tired of seeing those dumb asses millionaires representing poorly your country and your values, then stop promoting it. Stop watching the games on TV, stop going to the stadium, stop buying jerseys for hundreds of euros, stop idolizing people who are incapable of putting two sentences together properly, stop treating them like gods. You're upset they don't sing? You're upset they pretend to be injured on the field to get a fault towards the other team? You're upset they make 10 times a year what you'll make in a lifetime working? Then STOP PROMOTING IT.

Go watch your local team instead. Go cheer on people who still do it for the fun of it and not for the money. Go take your children with you and show them what sport spirit really is about. National soccer teams (and i'm talking about the French one but I guess it also applies to other countries) are not the best example you can set. It's a bad-to-the-bone rotten mafia. Is that what you want your children to grow up with? Thinking that if you're famous enough and rich enough, you can get away with it all? It's the path of a handful of people in this world. The vast majority of us will remain the small people, with humble incomes. And sadly, we're the ones who pay for these moron's astronomical wages. You can do something about it. But ranting about it on Facebook and the social media won't do the trick.

The One I Get Assaulted (And Lectured)

I wasnt sure i was going to talk about this because really, nothing serious happened. But it did happened and i've promised myself i'd be writing about the crazy things that happen to me here. Crazy good but also crazy bad.

Yesterday morning, i went to walk my dog, as i usually do in the morning, at 6:30am. Since there was lightning outside, i decided to take a small bag with my raincoat in it, in case it started to pour. I dont mind walking my dog under the rain but if i can avoid being drenched, it's better.


I was almost to the point i normally turn around to go back home (so after almost 30 minutes walking) when i passed not too far (but not too close either) from 2 guys. As i was passing them, one of them asked me where was the regional hospital. I briefly stopped to answer him and was on my way again. 


Half a second later, one of them was throwing himself at me, from the back, reason why i didnt see him coming cuz i dont have a built in rear mirror, and telling me to give him my bag. My bag was a tiny little pouch with 2 things in it: my house keys and my raincoat. 


Absolutely NOTHING valuable in it. 


Obviously he doesnt know that and unfortunately, i'm not the kind of person who just take it easy, bend over and tell him oh yes sure please help yourself. So i wrestled back, telling him that i have nothing in my bag. And the dumb ass telling me to calm down and stay still.


What was the other asshole doing? Telling him to stop. Dude, instead of telling him to stop, if it's really how you feel, do something about it. 


And then for no reason at all, and quite unespectedly, he let go off me. Without taking my bag. I didnt run away from him but was checking every few seconds if he wasnt following me cuz that would have been creepier than anything else (in my opinion at least). 


I was DYING to shout at him stuff that would be censored and most likely making Blogger close down my blog for being so rude and vulgar. And if i had had a gun, i would have shot that piece of disgraceful shit in the eye. 


And that's exactly what dear beloved told me HE could have done as well. For no reason at all. Shooting you if he had a gun just because. 


As soon as i got home, i obviously told dear beloved what happened and he was tactful enough not to mention all the mistakes i made. But he held them for the day after when he lectured me for about an hour about all the things i need to be careful about, check what people wear, the look in their eyes, who's close to me, who's far, what car they have, never talk to strangers and if we ever go live in Mexico City as we both would like to, if that ever happen, not to fight back and give them what they want. Even if it's just 30 pesos.


Everything material, even money, can be replaced. 
My life and safety cant.


I was majorly pissed at his lecture to be honest. I mean i've spent 33 years on this planet and i have never been attacked in my whole life. I've been walking my dogs at 6:30am in the morning for the past 5 years and nothing ever happened to me. 
What i think happened yesterday was that for the first time, i was carrying a bag while walking the dog. I normally dont do that. Ever. For that very reason. I'm wearing a passion killer sport outfit with my keys in my pocket and that's it. 


And that bag was temptation. Even thought it had nothing in it.


When i told a friend of mine about it, she said: oh my god, you must have been so scared. Well strangely, no, i wasnt. I get terrified by birds and dead animals but not by an insult for a human being who's trying to steal a woman walking her dog. What fills me up is a shooting to the roof anger, a feeling of complete helplessness and unfairness and a dangerous rage that could make me go beyond the point of no return (and get myself into serious trouble).


I think that if i do get robbed one day, i'll become some dangerous bitter revengeful person in killing mode. 
I dont think i could stand the unfairness of it all or the fact that the dump shit motherfucker who steal from me gets away with it.


I have thus decided to get myself a baseball bat and start walking my dog with it. 


Or a golf club ... or a hockey stick ... 


See if they dare ...

Change of Plans

Or is it change of planes? It's kinda both.

As you all know, i got my plane ticket to go visit my friend in Playa del Carmen. Well, at least, i THOUGHT i had my plane ticket. Return flight PVR-CUN-PVR. One week away from it all. Problem is: i booked it through Mexicana. And guess what? Mexicana just declared itself in bankruptcy and cancelled all their flights.

O_o

From today noon, Mexicana de Aviacion just stopped operating and flying their planes.
Awesome (** heavily loaded sigh **)

Since i had read online that they will be honoring the people who had booked with them (like me) and used other airlines to transfer their clients to their destination, i decided to call them today and ask what was their plan for me, since my vacations and my flight are like, next week. I mean we're talking DAYS.

Out of the hundreds employees Mexicana surely has, oh god, i had a world champion.
I asked him what is that i had to do to get to Cancun with my now cancelled flight. And he said, well, at this point we don't have any partnership with any airlines. What do you mean "at this point"? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? So what am i supposed to do then? I mean i need to get to Cancun. Correction, i MUST get to Cancun. Otherwise i'll probably lose it completely. And guess what he answered?
He said: well you can wait until tomorrow to check if your flight will be re-established.
WHAT?
Are you fucking serious?
What are the freaking ODDS of my flight getting back on the departure board at the airport when the second largest airline company of the country just announced they're bankrupt and that ALL their flights were cancelled UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. I mean do you think i'm stupid? Like we'd say here in Mexico "me ves la cara de pendeja?"

Trying not to lose my calm, and dealing with people like him gives my patience a serious kick in the nuts, i quietly asked him: ok then, what do i have to do to get my refund? (he passed me the website's link) Thanks. How long is it gonna take? He said well, you know, we dont process refunds here, it's another area, it's only online blablabla, bullshit. That's when i lost it. I mean dude, i know the company is done and broke, but people ARE going to ask that question, it's probably going to be THE only question people really want an answer to and you dont have a clue.

It is NOT my fault that your employer is officially bankrupted. It is NOT my fault that my flight has been cancelled. It is NOT my fault that you can't take me from point A to point B with another company. But i have to BUY another plane ticket to go to the place i initially planed to go to and i NEED THE MONEY.

Like NOW.

Dont know how long it'll take. Don't even know if i'll ever see my money back. But one thing is certain. I am going to harass Mexicana EVERY SINGLE DAY between now and the moment they get me my money back. I'm gonna be their salker. And trust me, they'll be sorry if i dont get it back.

On How I Hate The Noise

One of the main reasons i actually decided to sell my house and get a new one was space. I couldnt take living with people's house stuck to every single side of my tiny little house any more.
Second major reason was noise. When you do have neighbors on every side, expect noise.
Problem is: i HATE noise.

I dont like when people listen to their music so loud my window panes are shaking, can't stand the sound of a TV full volume, cant stand the sound of a TV set actually, hate it when people are talking so freaking loud it seems they're shouting, cant stand a baby screaming its lungs out in a public place or a dog barking its head off endlessly, and the one beyond it all, a so-called DJ shouting in his microphone. I just can't stand that kind of noise. It's EAR POLLUTION.

Today is Saturday. And the noise pollution started at 5pm. Why? Where? One block away from my house, a huge sound system to accompany a soccer game. And a DJ/host who thinks he fucking rules the world, making live comments on a bario's soccer game and putting music that is so freaking old nobody knows it. Gangsta's Paradise? Coolio? I mean seriously. It's 2010. Not 1995 anymore.

Welcome to my hood. I'm fucking hating the world right now. I might shoot someone. Especially since they start playing Waka Waka just because it's football. Damn!



PS: and i'm now stuck with stupid Coolio's song in my head .... "been spending most our lives living in a gangsta's paradise, keep  spending most our lives living in a gangsta's paradise ..."
AAAAAAARGH!!
HELP.




  

Can You Hear Me?

2010, 21st century, century of all medias. Everybody i know has a cell phone. Or two. But i mean i dont know of anybody who doesnt own a cell phone. I personally have 2, one for work that i use all the time and a crapy super cheap one that i dont use anymore but still, i have it here. And as far as i'm concerned, it still works (if i put credit in it that is). My cell phone is actually one of the few things i NEVER leave my house without, along with my badge from work, my wallet, my sunglasses and my keys. If i dont have it with me, i feel naked.
Now how pathetic is that?
How sold to consumerism am i?
How did people live 20 years ago?
Well.
Probably better than what we do now.

But this is not the topic here.

Across the street from my house, there is a construction site. I am not going to comment on the fact that they are building a mental institute in front of my house. I am not cuz being the person i am, seeing signs everywhere, you know where that'd lead me. Let's say they're building a medical center and obviously, there are quite a few workers onsite.
Well this morning, i was having breakfast and someone just parked outside my wall and was talking on the phone. On his cell phone. Talking is not, however, the appropriate word to mention that conversation of his. The guy was SHOUTING his lungs out in the phone. Not shouting scowling, no, shouting talking. It was a normal conversation, a happy one even since he was laughing as well, but he was shouting it. In his cell phone.
Sir, with all due respect, it is a PHONE. Cellular phones, public phones and any phone you can think of work the same: you talk and the person you're calling hears you. Like if you were standing in front of him. It doesnt matter if your correspondant is a mile away or on the other side of the world, he can hear you fine. Most of the time anyway.
Why is that people feel the necessity to scream in their cell phone instead of talking? Don't they now how it works? I mean it's 2010. Phones have been around for a while now. Even my grand-mother knew how to use it. And even though she was not shouting in the handset, she was always surprised that i could call her from Mexico and that she could hear me "like if i were in front of her" (sic). Oh, grandma.

So yeah. I'm telling all those people hanging around with their cell phone. Yes, i know you think you're cool cuz you have a cell phone on which you actually receive calls on. But cell or not, it is still a phone and there is no need to shout:
a) cuz there's really no need to
b) cuz i dont give a fucking fuck what you're telling whoever you're telling it to. And i dont think anybody around cares either.

Now, use your nextel radio/phone full volume next to me and i might shoot you in the eye.
Really.


 

I Might Shoot The Neighbor's Dog

Don't call PeTA just yet, it is just a thought. A thought that has been haunting me for quite a while already but still a thought anyway. Why, me, the animal lover and dog owner get to the point to write such an extreme title? Because the damn animal just doesnt shut up.

OK for simplifying purposes, i'm gonna say that mentioned-dog is a "he". There is no way a female would be barking her head off that much anyway so i'm pretty confident it's a he =D
To start with, he's a schnauzer. Or a schnauzer looking kinda dog. I mean i have nothing against the breed, especially since that poor thing surely didnt had the option to chose his breed at first but i mean, in my experience, schnauzers are pains in the butt. They're those arrogant i-bark-my-head off kinda dog. I'm wondering if they're french ... Surely act like ones ...
(OK just investigated through and they're of german origins (no kidding, with a name like that) and they're just full of praise for them, that they're this and that and awesome dogs and i'm telling you this is bullshit, they're loud and obnoxious).
Well maybe i HAVE something against that breed. Oh dear.

OK back to our topic.
This dog, as i was saying earlier, just doesnt shut up. He's barking his head off from the very first hours of the morning up until very late at night. How can he still have a "voice" left after such an intense recital every day eludes me but hey, what do i know about dogs vocal chords? So yeah, he starts the barking pretty much when i wake up or when i go out to walk my own quiet dog. And doesnt stop until way after i am lying in bed. And since my bedroom's window faces the neighbor's wall, i basically have front seat for the show ... And it bothers me. It bothers the crap out of me. Listening to a barking dog bothers me immensely, no matter if it's my own dog or someone else's. It's noise pollution and it is said to be bad for us human beings. Well, don't know about the rest of human kind but it's bad for me at least. Mexican people are used to live loudly and in loud environments. So i guess it doesnt bother them that much.
But i mean, come on, how ANNOYING is a barking dog? How stressful and irritating and annoying is a barking dog? When Niki starts to bark, i shut her up almost right away. Especially if it's in the middle of the night and she actually wakes me up. I am not gonna stay awake just because missy has found a lizard she's not happy to share her vital space with. 
Anyway. Back to my neighbor's dog. Barking, barking and more barking. I was telling that to my friend who heartlessly told me: poison him. And i was like, what? me? poisoning the dog? nooo i know i could never do such thing. Moreover, i was more thinking about SHOOTING him better. Something at least as violent as the annoyment i feel when i hear him. jaja.
But to be honest, i know this is something i could never ever do...



I could pay someone to do it though (evil smile)


  

STOP CALLING ME

I have a home phone. I've had it for a little less than a WEEK. Every day, i have received phone calls asking for Marcos or for Ginebra.

Sorry, they don't live here. None of those 2.

I knew that my phone number may have belonged to other people before me. And that's OK. The executive at Telmex's office even asked me if i wanted to keep the same number the ex-owner used to have (but i knew he had a huge debt of about 750 USD on that number and i really didnt want to have to deal with anything like that at all, so i said no, give me a new one).

What bothers me regarding phone calls, is people calling you and asking you "who's that?"
THAT question, as soon as i have said "allo", makes me flip and switch to agression mode RIGHT AWAY.

Dude, YOU are the one calling here. WHO THE FUCK do you want to talk to? And then they're calling while i'm having breakfast. That's a big no-no.
And then they call a 2nd time. Just to make sure it is really NOT the house where Marcos lives. I mean EVERY single bloody phone have a SCREEN where you SEE the number you dial. Have a little faith in your abilities to dial a phone number properly.
You properly dialed the wrong number in the first place.
You properly dialed the very same wrong number AGAIN 2 seconds later.

And then your WIFE is calling me A THIRD TIME ... For what? Just to fucking make sure?

I mean, COME ON. It's not even NOON yet and i'm already out of my fucking mind pissed.
Yes, it's a bit extreme. But i have been interrupted THREE time during breakfast.
THREE
TIMES
Once by the builder who's finishing my roof today.
Second time by the census lady for 2010.
And last time by these people who call me three times to talk to Marcos.

Some people really don't understand what a "no" means. There are TWO letters in that word! WHICH one don't you get?


I'm gonna lay down. I might shoot someone otherwise.

PS: OH, i forgot to say. I finally got my "stop calling, stop calling, i dont want to talk anymore" ringtone by lady gaga on my cel! And nobody is calling me on that one. Any chance someone knows how to put it on my house phone?


  

L'Appel Du 18 Juin

The Appeal of June 18 (L'Appel du 18 Juin) was a famous speech by Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French Forces, in 1940. De Gaulle spoke to the French people from London after the fall of France. He declared that the war for France was not yet over, and rallied the country in support of the Resistance.
It is one of the most important speeches in French history.

What a perfect timing ...
70 years later, replace the Free French Forces by French Federation of Football and there you go. There you have it. EXACTLY 70 years later, we NEED another of those speeches and i know of 23 overpaid arrogant asses who could seriously pay attention to their elder, to the advice of a very important figure and a very important man in France's history, General de Gaulle.

Back in the days, he knew what he was talking about:

" The leaders who, for many years, have been at the head of the French armies have formed a government. This government, alleging the defeat of our armies, has made contact with the enemy in order to stop the fighting. It is true, we were, we are, overwhelmed by the mechanical, ground and air forces of the enemy. Infinitely more than their number, it is the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Mexicans Germans which are causing us to retreat. It was the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Mexicans Germans that surprised our leaders to the point of bringing them to where they are today.

But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No!"
 
United we stand, divided we fall. If nobody in the team believe that something can actually be saved, then nobody will.

 
I dont think France will pass the qualification round. And i honestly dont care, really. Better, i even HOPE they dont. This team is not a team, it's just 11 players who dont give a shit, who dont have an ounce of pride to represent their country in front of the entire world watching, a bunch of spoiled capricious little prats who only worry about the amount of money they'll get out of it all. It makes me sick, it makes me ashamed of being french just now.
 
I am not a fervent patriot. We're not raised like that in France. Not like in Mexico where kids sing the national anthem as they pull up their flag every monday at school, where every radio station play the same national anthem at midnight and 6am (great way to realize oh my god, it's 6 already when you're just heading back home!!) every day of the year. No. It's different back home.
But i mean COME ON.
You're selected to REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY.
BE PROUD.
SING THE ANTHEM.
AND GIVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE.
Our grand-parents gave their LIVES for their country. You're not going to the battlefield. You're not gonna get SHOT at. We're just asking you and expecting you to give yourself away for 90 minutes. And 90 minutes only. To give ALL you got. To stand tall and proud, against all odds, forgetting your quarrels of pre-pubescent spoiled teenagers, get down from your pedestal of arrogance and self-righteousness, make ONE on the field and send your opponents back home to their mom, exploding the score.
You have to do MORE than the EXPECTED, not the LEAST you can get away with.
 
Especially since you're not getting away with anything right now.
 
 
Heard Laurent Blanc is meant to fill up Domenech's shoes when he's gone. He was a pillar of the 98 team and now found himself in front of this sidereal emptyness this french group (sorry can't use "team" here) has left behind. Good luck bringing supporters and fan's faith in our national team. Good luck in making a team who proudly represents their country, a team who sings the national anthem on top of their lungs, a team who plays as one and with pleasure.
 
Football is, before everything else, a GAME. People should PLAY it. Not passively watching.
It is supposed to be FUN. And i think that most of the french players have totally forgotten that notion.
Laurent, fire everybody and let's start all over again. I am convinced you can easily find 23 good and highly motivated players who'll be more than happy to make us all proud to wear our blue jersey again.
 

But please, keep Florent Malouda in the team ... he's just so yummy to look at (yeah, i know, he's also a pretty damn good player who basically did all the work yesterday!)

   

What's My Motherfucking Name?

I've been asked so many time how do i pronounce my name, how do i spell my name, how do i spell "maty". If i spell it maty, matty, matti, mati, mathi or mathy.
Well let me set things straight once and for all:
MY NAME IS MATHILDE. And yes it's spelt with an H after the T and yes it's an E at the end not an A and no, my name is not Matilda, or Matildee.


If my name is too complicated, and if you speak to me in Spanish, you can call me Matilde, if it's too complicated and you speak English, Matilda will do. But if you're gonna complain about me, or put a contract under my name, i'd appreciate it you spell it properly.


As for my nick name, cuz Mexicans are so very fond of nicknames, it's Maty. No H, no double T, no i. MATY.


There, you have it.

PS: the reason why i dont want the double T in my nick is very simple. It makes the word looks too proper, too sweet, too nice and too not me at all. In French, the double T is generally followed by an E and comes at the end of a word. And it means "little".
Example: une voiture (a car) - une voiturette (a little car)
une fille (a girl) - une fillette (a little girl)
I'm not little, i'm not sweet, i'm not proper. I'm a bad ass motherfucking bitch and wish to be called by my name or given a nickname that matches the personality properly.


Questions?




  

Keep Trying

This is a post dedicated to my soon-to-be EX internet provider... Yeah, those very same ones i fancied shooting the crap out of a few posts back...

I have been struggling with my internet connection for almost a year now. I'm not going to enter into details about how many HOURS i've spent on the phone with customer service, how many times i've seen the pop-up screen claiming connection failed, please try again, how many times i've had interrupted phone calls or chat-conversations, how many times i've been so close to throw everything through the window and shoot that mother-fucking BAM in the eye ...
NO.
I won't go over that anger and rage and frustration again. I'm done with it.

My contract ends on August 2nd. That is in just under 2 months.
HALLELUIAH.

This morning, i decided to go check with TELMEX. I have been a customer of theirs in the past and was very happy with their internet services. The only reason why i contracted iusacell in the first place is because it was the only internet provider that gave service where i used to live. Back in the days, my neighborhood was the asshole of the world, where the wind turns around, where nobody lives, nor comes. Nobody but me. And i can perfectly live without a TV but not without Internet. If i hadnt had Internet through 2009 swine flu, i would have shot myself.

And it was fine at first ... it was very fine for the first 12 months, conveniently the 12 months your device is guaranteed for.

Now i live in a different area. In one of the most popular and mexican area of Puerto Vallarta and i know for sure Telmex gets here. I even have a phone line IN the house. It's been desactivited of course but it's there. So i know my dear beloved internet connection gets here too.
Well i decided that today was gonna be the day. THE day i pop up at Telmex's office and ask them what is that i need to do to get my line installed and my contract running.
The agent who took care of me told me: i need your passport and your address. I had both.
We did the paperwork (lasted maybe 10 minutes at the most), he gave me my phone number to be and told me a technician will be coming between 5 and 10 days. And since i already have everything i need to get going (both modem AND phone), as soon as the technician has paid me a visit, i can start using the services.

HOLY CRAP O_o

Already? That fast?
Woo freaking hoo.

Needless to say i am soooo excited about it all. And to celebrate, i tried to get online with my stupid BAM as soon as i got home. And guess what?
It's been working like a charm for now almost 4 hours straight. I havent been kicked out, nor disconnected. The connection is fast. I even talked to my parents through Skype WITH THE CAM ON to show them around my new house without any glitch.
It's like my bam KNOWS i'm changing provider soon. It's like it KNOWS within a maximum of 10 days, i will never touch it again. EVER. It's like iusacell KNOWS and try to convince me what a great provider they are. What an excellent service they're giving me. That i should consider extend my contract with them cuz look how well it works and how happy i am with my connection today.

Nice try.

Not working.



    

Striking News

Did that ever happen to you that with ONE single sentence, someone can piss you off so much or turn you off so bad you don't even want to talk to that person again? Don't want to give him/her any explanation, you just KNOW things cannot work between the 2 of you any longer?
Well it happened to me, AGAIN, yesterday. Except that i DID notice it was happening and thus decided to try to analyse what exactly was going on. What was the sparkle that switch on the entire fireworks of negative emotions towards that person.

The good thing is, i can talk about it here, they will never find out. And even if they would, that'd show them how NARROW-MINDED i think they are.

So far, there are 2 things that are a major turn off for me. Tim, shut up, i know what you're gonna say, you're gonna say that pretty much everything pisses me off and i know it's true in a way. I'm a big time angry person thus a LOT of things piss me off. But it's not about anger i'm talking about right now. It's about the reaction of someone that makes me immediately flip, turn around and stop talking to them for the rest of time.
Yes i know, it sounds a bit extreme and yes, maybe i'm overreacting. But let me tell you something. It has happened in the past, it happened yesterday and i know for sure that if it happens in the future, i will feel exactly the same - i have NOTHING in common with that person.

Those 2 things are pretty simple:
- someone lacking to understand the bond i have with my dog (or the bond anybody can have with his/her pet).
- someone who considers reading or writing a waste of time, something unimportant, useless or plain ridiculous.

Now let me explain the way i see things for a minute. I am not saying i hold the Truth. I will never dare to do such thing. This is just the way i am, the way i feel and i'm not asking anybody to be or feel the way i am. Religious fanatics do that. Not me. I'm just saying that people who don't understand that part of me have nothing to do around me, or in my life.

My dog, the one i have now, as well as all the ones i had in the past, is my everything. She is to me what a child is to a mother. I care for her, i worry about her, i love her like you love a child or a family member. I'm always happy to go back home at night after work because i know she'll be there, because i know i'll see her and she'll be happy to see me too. She loves me like nobody else can or would. There is no grudge, no resentment, no intention to hurt. It's just pure love.
No, she is NOT a child. Of course she's not. She's a dog, not a human being. She costs me shit loads less than a child would, she can be alone at home all day and she'll be under my responsability and care for probably not even half the time a child would. That doesnt make it a lesser relationship. The pain of losing a pet is similar to losing a loved one. And no, you can't just replace your absent dog with a new one. A pet, like a child, is not a pair of shoes that you replace when it's useless.

YOU failing to understand that about me, appears to me like a shell with nothing inside. No heart. No warmth. Nothing. And YOU making FUN of me caring that much about my dog is just, in my opinion, despicable.

As for my problem with people who think a book is as (if not more) dangerous as a machine gun or an atomic bomb, i can only tell them one thing: go watch more TV.
Yes, please, go watch more of that brain-washing crap, think you know the world cuz you've seen it on TV, keep thinking that you're the shit but please, go away from me.
Yes i've read the 7 books of Harry Potter and haven't seen one of the movies, yes, i read a book a week (and not more cuz i dont enjoy reading in spanish as much as in english or in french), no i dont own a tv but no i dont get bored at home. I dont know everything of what's happening in the world. I dont watch or listen to the news cuz i think it's depressing. But i've been to school, i've studied litterature and philosophy, i think reading and writing are two of human's greatest gifts, that reading opens your mind and stimulates your imagination, that it provides you with more vocabulary and awakens your natural curiosity, that it makes you think for yourself and doesnt impose you a point of view, that it makes time passes faster and avoids boredom in a healthy way.
I think there are just a few things that can compare to the excitment of feeling the urge to finish up a book or not to go to sleep until you know what happens next even if it's already 4 in the morning and your eyes are just sooo heavy.

Reading and writing are just exercises for the brain. And just as your body needs to get going and moving, your bain also needs its share of stimulation.

With that said, maybe some will understand why i decided to stop chit-chatting with them from one day to another, from one minute to another even. But again, they'll probably never find out ... I wont lose sleep over it. Oh no. I'll just keep on cleaning my surroundings off of the people who are detrimental to my well-being. It's not being selfish, it's wanting the best for myself.