In California. Feeding a rabbit.
I am back in France since noon.
I had a wonderful trip, a couple of films, bought a headset with an incorporated noise canceller. Couldn’t buy any cigarettes (sorry Benoit !)
Anyway, I loved being rude with people again, stopped smiling. The weather is nicer than expected. The sun has just set, and the whole block is quiet.
Sounds like the beginning of a depressing evening, dedicated to fill checks to pay my late invoices.
I am really busy right now… and the worst is I can’t tell you about it.
There is something about a blog I would be preparing, something concerning my work…
You will know more very soon, I promise !
I am coming back tomorrow in France. It seems like any project of rest or vacation has vanished. Hope to have some time for Christmas…
At work, I listen to music to create my own focusing bubble.
I like to listen to Oui FM, but since the normal programmation is back, some jackasses are making noise between 9pm and 12pm, just from 12 to 3pm for me.
During that time, I switch to kRock. You have to go through a software installation to listen to it though. They have good music : charts, but also Metallica, Offspring, and even some Manson songs. You don’t hear half of the lyrics because of the censoring system (this is actually part of the fun).
Hey all,
I got my written driving test at the first try !
I only got two errors.
I arrived at the DMV office in San Jose. There was like 50 people there, musing around the counters. There was something like 25 counters, and you had to wait with a number you had.
It all went very smooth, since the DMV officer was very nice. There was no problem to register me in the system, since I have a Social Security Number. I had my picture taken and my thumb print was recorded too. Standard procedures.
The pencil is thhe affair of five to ten minutes, with 40 questions. You are given a pencil and you have a box to have some privacy. You are not limited in time and you can take the test in your mother tongue - I did not take chances and took mine in French.
At the last minute, as the officer just announced me I had passed, he could not go further in the registration process, since my visa is a tourist visa.
I am registered in the system now - so if I come back to the US, I will just have to pass by and get my driving license.
There is still a driving test to pass too -I will have to take it then…
After watching the excellent Office Space which summarizes the worst aspects of cublicle domesticated engineers’life,
I have to recognize my life looks quite the same, except I am having actually some fun working at Intalio.
We have some good results coming on - but this is confidential !
Regarding our life here, we are getting ready to come back to France. It’s one week from here now, and I am impatient to see my family again - heard my room has a new inhabitant too - Pierre -, I can’t wait to check that out.
This week-end, we went to San Francisco - again - and shopped again, had fun as always.
Last missions here :
go throught the theoritical examintaion for the Californian Driving License,
find a present for my family and the toughest one,
find a present for Cecile, that would be a surprise.
Half-moon bay is the bay facing the ocean. We have been staying in the lands most of the time. First time I saw the Pacific Ocean in a while.
I was very impressed by the general impression the village gives. It was like coming back to Vauville. We had a coffee at a coffee place just facing the beach. It was so peaceful I actually tried to coax Cecile into renting an appartment just there.
While the whole peninsula has a mediterranean-like climate, this portion of coast is always cloudy and foggy. It’s said people get depressed quite quickly down here.
Since I’m dedicated to stay in the US, I need some stuff here :
A Driver’s license
A credit card.
If you ever plan to live in the US, you will have to go through this.
The driver’s license is pretty important in California. First you may enter bars with it, which is not always the case with our old rubbish french ID. You may also enter casinos, and it will allow you to open accounts, beneficiate from retails using store cards, etc.
Now how to get it ? You have to address the Department of Motorized Vehicles, DMV.
You have to go (amongst other things) through a practical examination, and a theoritical examination. There is a very useful handbook for the last one.
How about the credit card ?
The credit card is quite different from what we mean in France. In the US, a credit card is actually used to make a credit, ie you expense some money that is not yours. The monthly rate for your debts is 19 %. A lot of people in Anerica leave by paying their credit cards’rates.
There is a big limitation to have a credit card. You need to have an address in the US. Guess what ? Most landlords will ask you for your credit history if you want to live somewhere.
The DADVSI law in France is a law regulating the intellectual property and fighting against piracy.
It was finally published in the Official Journal - which means it is now applicable.
And those are bad news concerning some dreams - interoperability is not anymore concerned by the law, P2P is forbidden even for legal use.
The french government has just not found a solution to the problem - and elections are too near to think of something better.
Here is a full report by Maitre Eolas.
Driving on a free way in America is quite the same as driving on Paris’s belt road known as the Peripherique. You drive at a full speed of 65 mph, people arriving on the freeway have the priority.
There are traffic jams every day.
The main difference is that people don’t whine and don’t use their horns like parisians do.
I have to admit I’m not used to this yet.
Cecile’s bought a bike yesterday night at Wallmart, for 70 dollars or so.
Nice bike !
