From the RATP website:
A la suite des préavis des Syndicats CFDT, CFE CGC, CFTC, CGT, FO, FSI, SUD, UNSA (BUS, GATC et SAT) pour la journée du 18 octobre, la RATP prévoit un trafic très fortement perturbé sur l’ensemble de ses réseaux (Bus, métro, RER et tramways).
- Métro :
ligne 14 : trafic normal
Lignes 1, 4 et 6, entre 15 et 25 % de trafic assuré
Autres lignes : très peu de trains en circulation
- RER / RATP :
Ligne A : Quasi nul
Interconnexion suspendue à Nanterre Préfecture
Ligne B : Quasi nul
Interconnexion suspendue à Gare du Nord
- Bus :
15 % du trafic assuré
- Tramway :
15 % du trafic assuré
Basically, this means that it's going to be annoying tomorrow. The public transport operators' unions in and around paris have decided to strike and so many of the metro, trains and buses won't be running at their full capacity, if at all. Above it says that line 14 will be unaffected, which makes sense, as 14 is completely computerised and automatic (yet it still has headlights). I need to catch lines 14 and 13 tomorrow, and line 13 will be terrible. It's packed and horrible on a good day. It's possible that I just won't be able to reach Carrefour-Pleyel at all, and therefore I won't be able to reach my lesson. This is annoying because I won't get paid if I don't make it to the class. The unions have organised this strike to protest the president's decision to reduce the number of retirement perks they're entitled to, but they get a really incredibly sweet deal compared to the rest of the population, so they'll get no sympathy from me.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Regular updates?
Well, I suppose once a month is regular enough to be classes as regular, but hopefully I'll remember to make things a bit more frequent.
Well, I'm in my apartment now, I have the internet connected, and digital, cable television (it's the same price to get a subscription to the internet as it is to get internet and television, so I have television). I haven't finished setting up the television thing yet, I need a customer code and password etc, which I can't seem to find, so I may need to return to the shop to acquire a new one, but it seems to be fine aside from that. Since connecting the internet, I've added a few electronic devices to my apartment, and so I'm fast running out of power points. I fortunately have a 4-point adapter.
In other news, I went to a pub on Friday night after work with a few other teachers from the school that I work for. It was a nice evening, though I really appreciate Australia's laws regarding smoking in pubs. I found it hard to breathe by the end of the night and had a minor headache. I've been told that new smoking laws similar to those in Australia will be in effect as of January, so I'm actually looking forward to that. It'd be nice to go to a pub without coming home wearing clothes that smell as though they've been infused with stale cigarette smoke. Lovely. Well, possibly because I was tired, or because I had a slight headache, or because I was looking forward to being able to breathe some oxygen again, I left the pub and managed to forget to pick up my backpack on my way out. Bugger. So, I hope that a staff member or honest customer found my bag and handed it in to the management there, as I'd like to be reacquainted with my backpack, and with the objects residing inside it. I returned to the pub this afternoon, only to find that it was closed. Of course; it's Sunday and everything's closed on Sundays.
J'espère que j'aie de la chance parce que j'utilise mon sac toutes les journées pour le travail.
Aussi, je commencerai à suivre un cours français bientôt à l'école où je travail.
Well, I'm in my apartment now, I have the internet connected, and digital, cable television (it's the same price to get a subscription to the internet as it is to get internet and television, so I have television). I haven't finished setting up the television thing yet, I need a customer code and password etc, which I can't seem to find, so I may need to return to the shop to acquire a new one, but it seems to be fine aside from that. Since connecting the internet, I've added a few electronic devices to my apartment, and so I'm fast running out of power points. I fortunately have a 4-point adapter.
In other news, I went to a pub on Friday night after work with a few other teachers from the school that I work for. It was a nice evening, though I really appreciate Australia's laws regarding smoking in pubs. I found it hard to breathe by the end of the night and had a minor headache. I've been told that new smoking laws similar to those in Australia will be in effect as of January, so I'm actually looking forward to that. It'd be nice to go to a pub without coming home wearing clothes that smell as though they've been infused with stale cigarette smoke. Lovely. Well, possibly because I was tired, or because I had a slight headache, or because I was looking forward to being able to breathe some oxygen again, I left the pub and managed to forget to pick up my backpack on my way out. Bugger. So, I hope that a staff member or honest customer found my bag and handed it in to the management there, as I'd like to be reacquainted with my backpack, and with the objects residing inside it. I returned to the pub this afternoon, only to find that it was closed. Of course; it's Sunday and everything's closed on Sundays.
J'espère que j'aie de la chance parce que j'utilise mon sac toutes les journées pour le travail.
Aussi, je commencerai à suivre un cours français bientôt à l'école où je travail.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Appartement
Well, I know it's been quite a while, but I still haven't brought the internet into my apartment but I plan to do that as quickly as I can, as I'm sick of using net cafes, and sick of using french keyboards with their silly layouts. Well, they work well for writing in French.
I can find between 4 and 10 wireless networks in the area, depending on the time of day and the weather, but they all inconsiderately have network security, which is annoying.
And yes, I have an apartment - I've been living in it for almost 2 weeks now, and it sure as hell beats youth hostels. It's small, but centrally located, and convenient to the things that I want or need to be convenient to, which is another bonus.
I bought a couple of mugs today on my way home from work because there was only one that was large enough for a decent cup of tea. There were only two others, and they were too small for tea, but they are acceptable for coffee. I also bought a pack of 6 glasses as most of the glasses that were there already seemed barely bigger than shot glasses, and therefore only useful if merely want to sample a beverage.
I can find between 4 and 10 wireless networks in the area, depending on the time of day and the weather, but they all inconsiderately have network security, which is annoying.
And yes, I have an apartment - I've been living in it for almost 2 weeks now, and it sure as hell beats youth hostels. It's small, but centrally located, and convenient to the things that I want or need to be convenient to, which is another bonus.
I bought a couple of mugs today on my way home from work because there was only one that was large enough for a decent cup of tea. There were only two others, and they were too small for tea, but they are acceptable for coffee. I also bought a pack of 6 glasses as most of the glasses that were there already seemed barely bigger than shot glasses, and therefore only useful if merely want to sample a beverage.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Don't use what?
Some of the trains in the Paris Metro have the following warning near the doors:
En cas d'affluence, ne pas utiliser les strapontins.
I know what it really means because I can read French, and some of them have English translations nearby, and my English is fine, but I like to think that it means: If you are rich, don't use strap-ons.
I think my translation is funnier.
(For those of you who are wondering, the real translation is: If the train is crowded, don't use the folding seats)
En cas d'affluence, ne pas utiliser les strapontins.
I know what it really means because I can read French, and some of them have English translations nearby, and my English is fine, but I like to think that it means: If you are rich, don't use strap-ons.
I think my translation is funnier.
(For those of you who are wondering, the real translation is: If the train is crowded, don't use the folding seats)
Monday, August 27, 2007
Je suis a Paris :-)
Well, I made it to Paris, after Lines and then a week in Scotland.
I'm currently staying in a hostel here, and I seem to have acquired a private room, which is nice, and not a lot more expensive than some dorm rooms at other hostels around this place. I'm also "borrowing" someone's unsecured wireless internet connection. Hey; if they can't secure it, I'm going to use it.
The weather in Paris is great at the moment; warm, sunny, and pretty much what you'd expect from summer, unlike the summer that seems to be barely there in the UK. I arrived in Paris on Friday evening, and I'm going to go job-hunting tomorrow. Once I've found a job, I'll change the hunting target to apartment-hunting, so that I have somewhere to live. I think I should find the job first, just to make sure I don't end up with a long commute, such as living in Ile-de-France and working in Lyon.
I flew here with Ryanair, which meant finding my way to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport, which is so far from Glasgow I thought I'd need my passport before getting there, and then travelling from Paris-Beauvais Airport to the centre of Paris, another lengthy trek, though at least in this direction I didn't have a check-in time that I was worried about missing. I think, after flying with cheap airlines in various places, that I've been to some of the most inconvenient airports in the world: Glasgow-Prestwick, Paris-Beauvais, Katowice-Pyrzowice, and Melbourne-Avalon.
I'm currently staying in a hostel here, and I seem to have acquired a private room, which is nice, and not a lot more expensive than some dorm rooms at other hostels around this place. I'm also "borrowing" someone's unsecured wireless internet connection. Hey; if they can't secure it, I'm going to use it.
The weather in Paris is great at the moment; warm, sunny, and pretty much what you'd expect from summer, unlike the summer that seems to be barely there in the UK. I arrived in Paris on Friday evening, and I'm going to go job-hunting tomorrow. Once I've found a job, I'll change the hunting target to apartment-hunting, so that I have somewhere to live. I think I should find the job first, just to make sure I don't end up with a long commute, such as living in Ile-de-France and working in Lyon.
I flew here with Ryanair, which meant finding my way to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport, which is so far from Glasgow I thought I'd need my passport before getting there, and then travelling from Paris-Beauvais Airport to the centre of Paris, another lengthy trek, though at least in this direction I didn't have a check-in time that I was worried about missing. I think, after flying with cheap airlines in various places, that I've been to some of the most inconvenient airports in the world: Glasgow-Prestwick, Paris-Beauvais, Katowice-Pyrzowice, and Melbourne-Avalon.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięciotysięcznik
It's raining again. It wasn't when I wrote that last post when I used the past simple to describe today's rain. Now I need to use the present continuous.
Can you pronounce the title of this post?
Can you pronounce the title of this post?
Last week at Lines
Well, this is my last week at Lines, in Cold Ash. It's been an eventful 5 and a half weeks, or really, 6 weeks since my actually arrival.
On Saturday I'm heading up to Edinburgh in Scotlandshire for a few days to visit Liz and other people. I've booked my train ticket and I'll be travelling with another teacher heading the same way, so there'll be someone nice to talk to on the 6 and a half hour journey from Thatcham. Britain seems like such a small island, and it's stupid that a journey from here to Edinburgh should take so long, but I've been told that part of the reason is that the tracks in this land are shite. Banjaxed, if you will.
After Scotlandshire I'll head to France but I haven't yet booked my flight mostly due to two problems: one is not knowing when I am going to leave the UK and the other is not knowing where I need to land in France. Actually, come to think of it, I don't exactly know where in Scotshire I'll be when I want to depart these wet shores.
Speaking of wet, it rained today. In England. What a surprise.
More suprisingly, it was actually sunny for a couple of days in a row at the weekend!
On Saturday I'm heading up to Edinburgh in Scotlandshire for a few days to visit Liz and other people. I've booked my train ticket and I'll be travelling with another teacher heading the same way, so there'll be someone nice to talk to on the 6 and a half hour journey from Thatcham. Britain seems like such a small island, and it's stupid that a journey from here to Edinburgh should take so long, but I've been told that part of the reason is that the tracks in this land are shite. Banjaxed, if you will.
After Scotlandshire I'll head to France but I haven't yet booked my flight mostly due to two problems: one is not knowing when I am going to leave the UK and the other is not knowing where I need to land in France. Actually, come to think of it, I don't exactly know where in Scotshire I'll be when I want to depart these wet shores.
Speaking of wet, it rained today. In England. What a surprise.
More suprisingly, it was actually sunny for a couple of days in a row at the weekend!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Try again
This one should work - there was another setting that I missed relating to timezones and date formats, so finally on track now.
Hopefully this sets things right
I know this is my fifth week in Cold Ash, and I only have another week and a half before I leave this small village*, but I thought I may as well change my settings to show that I'm not in Brisbane anymore, in the hope that the times of my future posts actually reflect the times that I posted them. The last one I wrote was apparently posted at 4:49am, tomorrow, and I can assure you that I didn't write and post it tomorrow.
* It lack a cathedral.
* It lack a cathedral.
Wow, this is exciting!
I know I've been slack and I haven't posted in a while. I'd promise to remedy this except that I know I probably won't be able to stick to it.
Anyway, the exciting bit is that I've acquired another language to add to the collection:
Mae fy hofrenfrad yn llawn llyswennod.
Anyway, the exciting bit is that I've acquired another language to add to the collection:
Mae fy hofrenfrad yn llawn llyswennod.
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