Computrainer and me

Because Dec 18, 2011 was cold in southern France west of Nice (2 degrees celsius) and one of the few Sundays that Dave would not go outside cycling with the ASR Club, I got a ride on the Computrainer. Dave rides the Central Park 9.70 km course. Dave's average watts is 212 over 9.70 km but he is not happy with his Spinscan numbers. We really like it here in France because we (he) can ride outside most of the year but for those crazy windy or cold days the Computrainer is just the thing. Dave likes to ride the Central Park 9.70 km course to test his average wattage output. Follow us by becoming a follower. Note the new mezzanine that Dave built. His new Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL3 is behind us in a nice zippered cover. OH YA lets not forget the Gardin hanging on the wall after all it has completed 4 Ironman Triathlons before I was born.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It is Christmas time again and what would Christmas be without me going for a car ride to Saint-Tropez to see Santa Claus. Well OK that's a stretch but here are some nice pics of the event held at the Boutique des Maitres Vigneron where Alanea and Dave bought 4 X 1o litre boxes of Rose in the summer before Dianne, Bob, Warren and Joanne came to visit. We had a glass of the new Rose and Oysters and Santa gave me a special hat that I can wear on Christmas eve. Before the event Dave and Alanea took me to French class and Francoise the teacher gave me a cookie. I will post more Christmas later.

Santons at the fetes

These little figurines are Santons. People collect them and display them at Christmas they are very elegant. They depict life in France and are quite authentic. Dave is impressed with the workmanship and quality Alanea likes the colours and variety of forms and I like going with Dave and Alanea.

Christmas fetes and mal de tetes.

Alanea says that I am a PIA but Dave took me to the Fete de Noel at Chapelle St. Roseline, wine tasting a Chateau Font, lunch at a restaurant (see my picture). At the restaurant I ate some Daube de Sanglier (look it up) and knocked over the Santa Claus behind me (he starting playing music and Alanea said she was embarrassed but laughed). After lunch we went to the Fete de Noel in Roquebrune Sur Argens (see the Santons). I bought Alanea a secret New Years card and she put it in a place where it won't get lost before the 31st. What a place.

Dave's new mezzanine

For over 1 year dave has been planning to have a mezzanine built. He has had various quotes, comments and recommendations. After considerable research and planning he decided that he could do it himself and set about the task when Alanea went to Canada for a few weeks. He was delayed by the rain and flooding in parts of the Var however the real lessons were in the process. Dave opted for a chemical fix (cheville chimique) of the joist hangers to the cement block (parpaing) walls instead of expanding lag bolts. This was interesting because Dave had never used the chimique and some holes had to drilled into solid concrete and some into hollow cement block. Perhaps the most annoying and laughable part of the process was purchasing the 5 70MM X 150MM joists which support the floor at 500MM centres. The pieces are sold in 4 metres lengths and Dave needed 5 @ 2.7 metres. Imagine Dave's surprise when he was told that the lumber yard did not have a circular saw to cut the lumber. The guy driving a fork lift gave Dave a tree pruning saw and told him to cut the lumber himself. What the guy did not know was that Dave had frequented lumber yards with his father (JL) and grandfather (George) since he was 5 years old and he had no intention of cutting with a pruning saw. Dave went into the store, took a new Stanley saw (cie) and set square off of the wall and cut the lumber in no time. When he was finished he put the saw and set square back on the wall. The really dumb thing is that like so many stores Chiffreo closes for lunch at 12PM. Had the dumb guy helped Dave he would not have had to wait 30 minutes and close at 12:30PM. Dave was pissed but amused, see the pic of him cutting lumber. The mezzanine is finished, strong and costs about 1/3 (400 Euros) of what a contractor would have charged. Now the garage looks tidy and the only thing left to do is paint the floor.

Pizza is best served with love and Italian vino

I made a special pizza for Alanea while Dave was planning the garage mezzanine and wondering whether he should spend his money building a storage area or an Arc (as in Noah). If I have to go out and round up 2 of everything I think that 2 Sangliers will take up most of the mezzanine (no room for wine) so we probably should just build an Arc and be done with speculation about the fucking weather (oops did I say fucking or was that Dave). The pizza was very good (we have 3 pieces left) and will last at least until the helicopters find us floating in the Med.

What a crazy week for me.

The rain came down from the sky like I have never seen, Dave said it was worse than June 15, 2010 when we had bad flooding in the neighbourhood, lots of fancy emergency equipment and Pompiers. This time there was more rain however the flooding was contained to the lowest areas. That said the water was almost over the main road. Roquebrune Sur Argens remains closed to traffic and Dave had to go the long way to Castorama (like home depot) because he wants to build a mezzanine. Pierre and Claire left on Friday, Heinz and Francoise will come soon. George and Birgit are freezing in Demark, Alex is driving all over the Var and Anne went to England on Sunday after a drive to Nice in the pouring rain. Dave misses Alanea but gets a lot of work done while she is in Canada visiting her dear mother. I took a few pics enjoy. In case you are feeling sorry for me, in January and February it will be sunny and 15 degrees. I will have lunch outside with Alanea and Dave on New Years day. Dave says that I am starting to stink from walking in the rain so I am going to hide now.