We had a rather tedious project meeting this morning, at least it was followed by Thai lunch. During which Suzette revealed that there will be Halloween celebrations in the office on Wednesday, apparently one of them told her she had to wear orange and black. No-one had told me that, and there is no chance of my doing so. Of course there are people here who don't need costumes in order to look gruesome - miaow!
It is also raining to such an extent that we may have to call boats to go home, although this has given me the opportunity to wear my new aubergine-coloured rain cape:
I may not get to wear it again this winter, except for maybe at Christmas. Which I have not decided about yet, I may well spend this in Cyprus. I went to the doctor last week and persuaded him to give me a prescription for three months medication, on condition that I came to see him after three months, which is at the end of January. One thing is sure, I do not need to buy a new woollen coat at present.
I went to the hairdresser on Saturday, then wandered down to Montparnasse for a Hippo lunch, and then wandered through Galeries Lafayette there, and yes, yes, yes, they had Eucerin, which is the sensitive skin range I use for my face at 30% off. So I bought everything. Apart from that, did nothing at the weekend, apart from washing, sorting out clothes, and watching two movies "Friends With Money" and "The Gathering Storm". FWM was TERRIBLE, I couldn't stand anyone in it, but the other one, which was about Winston Churchill in the leadup to WW2, was extremely good, I will watch that one again and again. I still have "Miss Potter" to watch - of course WH Smith have been having 3 for 2 deals again.
The really good thing that happened is that our new mega-company gives an employee savings plan, where they give us some money each year, depending upon the profits, and we can add to it, tax-free - I got a letter on Friday to say I qualified for 1600 euros this year! I am not complaining, because I am a bit behind in my savings target this year. Although I have done not badly financially, because I still have no debts and I am fairly confident I will not again be in such a situation as I was after I got divorced. This is kind of the first really positive thing about the mega-company, in fact.
My main problem now is how to survive the next two days, without going berserk, Gil and Sharifa are each in their separate ways driving me mad. I don't think Sharifa has listened to anything I have said, still less read anything I've recommended. In meetings she tends to flap her hands and say 'oh they were confusing me', which is really helpful, of course. Gil then barks, which makes her flap more. And flapping is not recommended in this job, it will get her nowhere with Gil or the client, or anyone else for that matter.
Gil also wants me to sit down with her and "teach" her this new development thing, that I have very little experience with myself, and in fact have been learning out of the book as I go along. She seems to be very much a person who needs to be shown things, instead of finding them out for herself, which is a huge liability in this job actually.
So I have to survive here until the end of Wednesday, then it is running around arranging, packing etc, and then flying on Saturday afternoon....
