Riviera Reporter Talking Points

With friends like these ....

MikeP — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0100

We assume that we can trust our so-called friends, and yet, in my lifetime, although I've only been conned twice, both times it was big money and both times by so called friends. The first was a friend who'd been scammed by Nigerians who had robbed him of his life savings despite our warnings that it was a scam. I was left with the choice of letting him and his family be thrown onto the streets to starve or lending him money to restart his life. Sadly he's one of life's losers an [...]

The delusion of so-called long life bulbs!

Jack H — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0100

I couldn't agree more with Geoff Winston-Hall on the subject of the so-called long life light bulbs (CFL: Compact Fluorescent Lamp) Technically, they are ill adapted to on-off cycles of less than fifteen minutes so that in many applications, they are likely to last less long than ordinary incandescent bulbs.

Then there is the problem of light-up latency: by the time I've finished shaving, the bulb is just about giving enough light for me to see what I'm doing. So what do [...]

Holding Pattern

Reece — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

The last few weeks have been mostly grey and rainy but finally the sun has come out. It's welcome since the greyness combined with the large amount of abandoned buildings around here has reminded me of the movie of Cormac McCarthy's book, 'The Road'. I've been wondering how many people have been looking at me and wondering how delicious I'd taste. But now that the sun's out my fears of cannabalism have abated and all the surplus real estate seems like a great [...]

Family Vacation

Reece — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Nope - the smell in my apartment isn't gone. One of two things is occurring. The first is that I probably just get used to the smell but if I'm gone for more than twenty four hours I'm no longer used to it so I notice it all over again. Or, when I leave there's some sort of old man-chewing tobacco-bad barbecue rub with stale beer conference hosted in my apartment when I'm gone.

My six year old niece had her first basketball game of the season. Watching six year olds [...]

Trip to Miami...Priceless. For everything else there's a French Visa

Reece — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Left early Monday morning for the big trip down to Miami. I love getting up early. It happened when I turned 40 and took me by surprise. I've always loved sleeping in. I hated waking up for work in the mornings and I used to count the days until Saturday AM when I could lie in bed and refuse to get up until my bladder said, "This is ridiculous." But when I hit 40 it was like a sleep-in switch was turned off. I started waking up at 5AM on a regular basis. Now I love getting up be [...]

Just how low can the human species descend?

MikeP — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Some days go past without my wondering just how low the human species can descend in its barbarity towards its own species. Comparing humans with animals tends towards insulting our four-legged friends, for they only prey on each other out of need.

Yesterday was not such a day, for I came across something which sickened me. From the death and misery and suffering of one of the poorest countries on earth, a country which has had a tragic history of natural and man-made [...]

Not So Good Will Hunting

Reece — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

I almost got a job as a custodian at a High School. At first, I was happy to have some permanent work until my visa came through. I thought it might be kind of a Good Will Hunting situation for me. Instead of waiting until class was dismissed to solve problems, though, I'd burst in during class (any class) and solve problems incorrectly and shout out wrong answers. Then it dawned on me that in addition to incorrectly answering high school problems and selling students fake weed, I&# [...]

Show 2009 the door please.

Reece — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0100

This year, Daniel Day-Lewis starred in a musical with Fergie and Bob Dylan released a Christmas album. That's a crap year.

Oh - I think I have the smell in my apartment narrowed down. I don't know what's causing it and I can't say exactly what it is but the epicenter seems to be in the bathroom.

Nobody in real life sing talks so that's what's wrong with musicals. You have to listen to the Bob Dylan album to hear what's wrong with it.

[...]

Let's Put the Work Back in Christmas

Reece — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0100

There's definitely a weird smell in my new apartment but I can't put my nose on it. It's somewhere between left out cheese and old wet dog.

Two big events this past week - Looking for a job and Christmas.

First off let's just recap how much I love my fiance. If you put together all my favourite runs: the Ottawa canal, that ten mile run I did before leaving Nice where I felt like a lithe eighteen year old again, the Nice marathon with my fiance, my first [...]

Exile

Reece — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0100

This is how I've chosen to think of my time back in the US until my Visa comes through: I imagine I'm in exile. The United States has graciously accepted my plea for asylum. I used to be the head of a royal family based in the south of France. I'm related to the Grimaldi's except where Albert excelled at bobsled I was great at skeleton. We're natural rivals. Throw in the fact that I've still got my whole head of hair and look great in my spandex body stocking Oly [...]

Back in the US of A

Reece — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0100

The countdown to my stay in France started Friday. My fiance and I went to a great restaurant in Nice by the name of Luc's. She considers it the best restaurant in Nice and after dinner there, I'm not going to fight her on that one. Foie gras, lamb, fish, creme brulee and lots of wine. I drank the wine. She had half a glass and I thought it'd be incredibly rude to not drink the entire bottle so I finished it off. The result was that I couldn't fall asleep until four in t [...]

SANTA!

Reece — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Christmas is just around the corner and since my fiance and I won't be together she's decided to celebrate Christmas everyday until I leave by surprising me with a little gift. Yesterday the Christmas gift of the day was a number of booklets that the Conseil General for the Alpes-Maritimes publishes called Les Guides Randoxygene which are available at the Mairie. These guides have detailed maps of hard to find hiking and biking paths throughout the area. Sometimes the thoughtfulness o [...]

Beaujolais Nouveau

Reece — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

The Beaujolais Nouveau is here. I thought I'd have a bottle and write about it. I know it's been here since last week but I've never said my blog was timely. I've had a lot to do this past week, so get off my back. This week's to do list included- an early morning trip to Monaco, making dinner for friends and a trip to the Var. That may not sound like a lot and you're entitled to think to yourself, 'I don't appreciate this useless twerp's flippant com [...]

Home

Reece — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

So I've been here almost two months now. If you're a seven year old at sleep away camp for the first time, that's an eternity but barely seems like a blink if you've just sprinted away from a life where the only part of the day you enjoy is sleeping. I've been here long enough to see the US dollar dip and watch my weight go up. I think this is the first time in my life that I've actually gotten fatter while training for a marathon. When I'm happy, I tend to eat a l [...]

NIce Marathon

Reece — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

I love running. I love running more than booze and I love booze the way some guys describe an ex-girlfriend. The type of ex-girlfriend that some guys describe as the one that got away - like the relationship went sour and she entered a girlfriend relocation plan where she was supplied with a loving husband, two children and a house with a yard - only a vague notion of what a crappy boyfriend was.

I love all booze with the exception of Absinthe (because I'm not a vampire) and J [...]

Up to the Gills in fishy business

Mike Meade — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Expat communities attract con-men. Spain's "Costa del Crime" was once a fraudster's preferred European hunting grounds but the noose is tightening there as Costa expats become more and more wary of shifty deals by foreigners. These days, Spanish authorities are less inclined to look the other way when one expat swindles another.

You don't have to be dim and gullible to be conned and it's needlessly glib to say that a victim's own naiveté is what [...]

Day Trip to Dignes-les-Bain

Reece — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0100

The plan was to take the train up to Dignes for the day and have a look around. Here's the problem: I'm extremely disorganized and I don't pay any attention to details. These character flaws can be costly. I once purchased two one way tickets to Kansas City on Expedia when I was trying to buy one return ticket to my sister's place in Florida for Christmas. This was in the early days of purchasing tickets online so the internet could've been partly to blame for the mi [...]

Broken Britain, and it's getting worse

MikeP — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100

“Broken Britain” seems to become a little more broken every day. It's not just the violence on the surface, the worst manifestation of which is the nightly yobbish behaviour in city centres, the 'road rage' which seems to surface over the most trivial of situations, and the defensive approach that so many people have adopted, but there is a deeper, frightening and new 'malaise' in society.

A fis [...]

Groceries and Lingerie

Reece — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Walking around Nice it strikes me that food and sex seem to be two of the biggest preoccupations of the French. It's probably safe to say that these are the biggest preoccupations of folks everywhere but here in France proof of it is seen in the shops. Every few blocks there is a lingerie store and on every block there is a boulangerie, traiteur and boucherie. Both are so numerous I wonder how they stay in business. After all, isn't a pear a pear or a kiwi a kiwi or a bra a bra no mat [...]

Out and About

Reece — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Hey! Whoever turned the nice weather switch to the off position I wish they'd turn it back on. I told you guys I was going to start seeing more of the area and how am I supposed to do that if the weather is specifically designed to keep myself and my fiancée under the covers?

Right now she's at work. I'm at home. It's raining and it's torture. What better way to spend a rainy day than lounging in bed telling each other how much you've missed the oth [...]