Dec
19
I cooked it myself since I was not satisfied with this dish found in different restaurants. The recipe is quite simple and the result was delicious. When I was still living in Vietnam, I enjoyed very much the simple version of this soup sold in the street for 1 or 2 “Dông” in the morning. The soup had nothing special in it besides few shrimps but I still remember the taste of it.
búN RiêU: LINK
Dec
17
hOT DeCemBer!
Filed Under Daily
Climate change is on the way! This is a really warm December in France. It feels like Autumn or Spring.
Dec
16
sTar Wars!
Filed Under Daily
I wanted to go and to see “Star Wars: the force awakens” in the theater. It’s been a while since I went to see a movie in a theater. I went today at 11:30 am and there were only 10-15 people in the theater. It was very nice to be sitting right in the middle to enjoy the 3D-movie. It was sadly in french though :(.
It was very entertaining. The story was very loyal to the original movies so it was not new. I was a bit disappointed to discover the face of the bad guy … more or less like a kid and not very impressive without his mask on.
“Everest” was deeper and I also enjoyed it very much.
Dec
10
It is always a nightmare for me when it comes to tie a nice tie knot. I always do it the last minute and it never came out right. However I found a nice way to do so thanks to youtube :):
“Noeud de Cravate en 10 sec” and it works pefectly! I can have several ties ready beforehand.
Dec
7
iMpAtient!
Filed Under Daily
I could no longer wait for an answer and I sent an email asking about the current status of my job application. After a week, I am less excited about it anyways. It prefer to move on quickly with a negative answer than wait for nothing.
Dec
3
dAriNg nEgotiAtion!
Filed Under Daily
I called the locksmith to fix my door handle. He told me that this type of service would cost 120 Euros. I immediately replied that I would not pay more than 60 Euros. He accepted right away reluctantly, he did not want to negotiate with me. He had the feeling that I was too serious and that I’d drop the deal without hesitation. He would waste his trip for nothing in that case.
My “ex-colleague” told me that her son, who got himself locked out last Sunday, was asked to pay 1200 Euros to unlock the door. I was shocked. She got the deal down to 700 Euros but it was still crazy for me. I would sleep in a hostel (even an expensive one) and wait for a normal week day and negotiate something much cheaper.
Dec
2
cAr InsUraNce
Filed Under Daily
I switched to “Direct Assurance” for my car insurance and divided the cost by two: 875 —> 434 Euros / year. I also chose to pay it all at once (-34 Euros bonus). I have optimized all my “secondary” expenses:
- Internet/TV/phone (+ free basic phone SIM card): 2 Euros / month
- Mobile phone (4G + 50 Gb): 4 Euros / month
- Car Insurance: 36 Euros / month
And my “primary expenses”:
- Electricty: 21 Euros / month
- Gaz: 50 Euros / month
Total: 113 Euros / month
I did not decrease the quality of these services. Most people would pay much more for the same service!
Nov
29
a uNIquE cHance!
Filed Under Daily
I received an email this morning asking me to clarify my vision if I was “the new director” and to make some propositions to develop the project and the goals of the association. It did sound like they want to push further!
This job offer is a chance of a lifetime and it seems that the interview did not go too bad after all! I would be really happy and proud of myself if I get this unique opportunity. Experience after 39 years of struggling with life!
The email was sent on a Sunday at 9:34 am! Sounds promising to me 🙂
Nov
27
sTreSsFul Week!
Filed Under Daily
I had 2 hours of sleep on Thursday because I had a job interview on Friday at 15:30 in Nancy. It took me 4 hours to drive to Nancy and 4 hours to drive back. I did not eat and my stomach hurt.
I did not perform well I think during the interview. One dude tried to put me in an uncomfortable position at the begining and it was hard to reverse the negative momentum. There was something else in the dude’s mind and I do not know what… Maybe he was trying to keep this position for himself. I had 4 people in front of me and it was a hard mental exercise!
I like the job offer. I will keep on finding these. I will receive the “No answer” sometimes next week :)! Such is life.
Nov
25
a dEad trEe!
Filed Under Daily
There was a tree (“a birch“) that died during my first year here and I kept on asking the company that I fired to replace it according to their contract. They did not believe that I could engage in a very serious battle with them for one single dead tree. After 6 months of an enduring battle, they finally accepted to replace the dead tree with a new one!
The “birch” tree was insured for a year and it died. It was clear to me that the old company had either to pay for the tree or to come back and to plant a new one. They preferred to plant a new one in the end.
« go back — keep looking »