Learning Curve--What You REALLY Need to Know

I am tired today.  I can't decide if it's the rock and roll band that plays in a club down the street until nearly 2:00 A.M., or the residual effects of jet lag, or the draining of my energy because of all the new things I have had to learn.  Actually, I don't think it's the noise of the rock and roll band that keeps me awake--it's the out of tune lead singer that is exhausting. Really, if you haven't the range for House of the Rising Sun in its original key, TRY TRANSPOSING IT.

It isn't just learning my way around a new place that is tiring.  It's also having to learn how the basic operations of daily life work. Everything is different, from the way the water comes out of the wall for the shower to the appearance of my computer screen on sites I use every day.

 Here are the controls for the shower.  I still turn them the wrong way!

There are three, count them--three remote controls for the TV.  French TV, British TV and DVD's.  I don't even watch TV at home, so it's like negotiating a mine field.  I prefer French TV; after all, I came here to learn to speak French, not watch British sitcoms.  Yes, Hyacinth is very much alive and well here.

Remotes and boxes and bears, oh my!

Then there is the matter of the washer/dryer.  So complicated.  I hope the weather continues to hold before I have to tackle learning the dryer function of this machine.  Nobody ever asked me before how fast I wanted the thing to spin!

 

It's hard to read because it's sort of hidden under the kitchen counter. I need a magnifying glass and a flashlight.

This lunchtime, I bought some gratin des courgettes from the butcher/deli (for want of a better phrase) up the street. I thought I was eating angel wings, it was so light and delicious. (More about this establishment in a blog to come, with their permission.) But I needed to heat it, and my choices were the regular oven or the microwave.  I opted for the microwave, thinking it would be a little less complicated. It was, I guess.  I will tackle the oven when I have more energy.

You dial in the temperature and then dial in the time and then press start.

 One dial is for function, one dial is for temperature, and one dial is a timer, I think.

 

 

Even some websites that I use all the time require me to think about what I am doing, rather than running on autopilot. Sites formerly in English are now in French.  What was the word for "Save" again?

 

 

Et bonjour a vous, aussi.

 I guess these are things one never has to learn if one stays in a hotel all the time.  But what would be the fun in THAT? Nonetheless, I am exhausted today.  The lunch dishes can wait; I am having a nap.