August Laziness Sets In

The terrace of La Rotonde, at Vavin, on
the Boulevard Montparnasse.

When In Doubt, Always Do Nothing

Paris:- Monday, 9. August 1999:- If I didn't think I have so much to do, I could be lazy. From long habit, I have worked hard in order to be lazy in August - but everything is changed this year.

After three weeks in my new apartment in Paris it still looks like a used-book dealer's annual inventory in progress. The boxes remaining to be emptied are full of brick-a-brack and forgotten souvenirs, and I still cannot find the remote-control - 'télécommande' in French - for the TV set.

I 'solved' this problem by buying a cheapo video-recorder - 'magnétoscope' in French - a machine for scoping magnets - which does have a télécommande, which I can use to drive the TV set. I use it to watch the TV-news, because there does not seem to be anything else - nor much news.

When last seen in one connected piece, the hifi had a problem with the speaker switch - I think only one pair of them worked. Whether this was a problem with the switch or with loose connections, I don't know. How long it'll take to provisionally wire it together for a test, I don't know.

Where to put the speakers is another problem. I suppose I'll eventually solve this with a lot of cable. Ah, cables. The whole computer rig looks like a jungle of spaghetti. I like tidy; what to do?

I have to divide the books into two categories: one with relevance to Paris and France, and the other for the others. In the Paris category, I need to place the books I use most often closest to where I work; so this is another sub-division problem.

In going through the boxes I've found I have a whole pile of photos from my days in Germany. I don't remember taking so many photos. Coupled with all the drawings I did in the seven years there, I have to decide whether these are 'deep' archive material - or stuff for more immediate use. Maybe a winter job.

There are several very large packets of pictures for hanging on the walls. Somebody did a very good job of hiding the old nail-holes under plaster and white paint. Being all thumbs when it comes to hanging pictures, I'm afraid to touch my virgin walls. If I didn't need to get the pictures out of the way, I'd leave the walls nicely bare. 'Look at the beautiful moldings,' I could say.

The bathroom needs a light and a tray, soap holders and a cabinet, and a bath mat would be nice. Civilizing the shower head so I don't have to hold it, is a luxury I don't want to do without for too much longer.

The kitchen needs its coffee machine and toaster. When I saw the apartment for the first time, it had all this stuff; now it has all the ambiance of an underground garage.

Summer is do-it-yourself time in France but no time has always been do-it-myself time for me. Some people can look at a blank wall and something happens to it. I look, and nothing happens except rising fear of a horrible crack in the plaster.