Chili Dogs and Traffic

All of a sudden, the wind swept in and the temperature dropped and we’re knee deep in winter. I’m cold. The dogs are cold. There’s no central heat, just electric radiators and they don’t do a very good job. I’ve ordered an electric blanket and I plan to buy another electric radiator. I’m worried about the cost. The landlords pay all bills, so I may have to supplement if I crank it up to Texas toast temperature!

I was thinking recently about how I now feel at home enough to break traffic rules – small ones like turning left when there’s no left turn (but when no one is looking), or illegal u-turns. Today, I parked in a spot that requires payment. I didn’t realize it (really), but I was just running in and out of a store, so I probably wouldn’t have paid regardless. When I got back to my car moments later, there she was, the meter maid. I told her I didn’t know I was supposed to pay. Is that what the blue lines mean? Of course. She told me that blue lines mean the same thing in Spain as in France. Funny that people assume that I’m French, sometimes even without seeing my car with French plates. France has a program for long-term car rental that is very easy and appealing to me – no fuss, for a fee everything is covered. You hit the wall in a parking garage (twice!) – they just shrug their shoulders. Perfect. Once, at the car wash in 2019, the owner asked me how I felt about the fire at Notre Dame. I told him I thought it was very sad, but “I’m not French! Just the car!”

I explained to the meter lady that I wasn’t French, I was American. She said they must have blue lines in America, but I said that we do not. Thankfully, she let me go with a warning. Two years ago, I received four speeding tickets in the mail. Surprise! They actually went to my daughter’s house in NYC because that was my address of record at the time. Originally 100 euros each (!), they were reduced by half, for some unknown reason, so I only had to pay 200 euros total. I’ve never seen a cop with anyone pulled over here. I think it’s all done by radar and mail. I wasn’t sure how to pay the tickets, but a friend clued me in — at the bank! You can pay for traffic tickets and a lot of administrative things like property taxes at the ATM. Wow!

My car is super cool.

The weather has been somewhat shitty recently – extremely windy and overcast. the coming week looks to be more of the same, but with rain. Yeah. But then again, the end of the day brought this…

Ahhhh.