Hits and Misses, but a Good Day

My achievements today:

I drove to work. This may seem like a trivial event, but the 90-second trip took a bit of planning and a lot of nerve.

First, the Audi is great. I would highly recommend it. Very comfortable. But, by European standards, also very big. It barely fits into my assigned parking spot. It is so tight that I was not sure if I would be able to get into my car. Fortunately, only having tomato sauce to eat may have actually helped me squeeze into the driver side door.

Second, this may seem obvious, but every street sign is in French. I do know how to read some French, but did not realize how slow I am. By the time my mind has registered that there is a street sign, registered that it is in French, looked at the accompanying symbol and tried to figure it out, and then started to read the sign, I am already past it. I am quite wary of the red X's, but they don't always mean "no entry." In fact, they mostly mean "no parking." (See the previous post about this) but that is not so easy to figure out while going by. I think the background color (blue versus white) means something, but I don't know what yet.

Third, I have a special parking space at the office that is accessed with a remote control. From previous visits over the years, I knew that there was a driveway on the west side of the building, so I headed there. As it turns out, there are two driveways, exactly next to each other. I had visions of ending up in the wrong one, with the CEO behind me waiting for me to back out and head for the other one. Again, the signs clearly (?) described each parking lot. It's a good thing one said "visiteurs." That's not me!

Finally, I did have a small success in finding a parking space in town after work, paying for it correctly (I think!), and purchasing white wine and laundry detergent. At least what I believe is laundry detergent. Which....brings me to today's failure....

My failures:

I have one hour left in my laundry time and I have not done any laundry. I apparently have a special key that records my laundry charges. Beats the heck out of me if I know where it is. I do have the key that gets me into the room, but, alas, no way to run the machines. So, I guess it's socks and undies in the sink this weekend and another try next Friday...once I find the key or the rental company gives me another one.

But, I won't end on a downer. There was a great discovery along with the laundry saga. Although a small bottle of laundry detergent cost $18, it was refreshing to discover that the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was less than that! Woo hoo, good wine that costs less than laundry detergent. That's a good day.