We are still in the states. We fly out on Aug 2nd. So, I will post this picture from our house hunting trip. This is the coast of the Mediterranean sea that's around the corner from our house. I snapped this shot quickly while we were with our real estate agent. I definitely want to return and shoot this area with some "artistic consideration."
Yesterday we went to the French consulate in NYC for our visas. This was an experience.
I always count on my wife's wisdom when dealing with people and she long ago taught me the 24 hour rule. Which is when your upset with someone or something and want to lash out either verbally or via a note give yourself 24 hours to think about what you want to say. So, it's been 24 hours since we got back to our home in upstate New York So here is what I want to say:
We had our paperwork in order at the consulate window which we were very happy about and told the man so. He said "don't thank me yet because I have to interview you and you probably will leave here angry with me". When we went back in the office for the interview this is what I think happened and this is in retrospect because, yesterday I would have said something different. I think the guy tried to get me upset to see is if I had anger management issues. Do you think that's possible? Do you think the French consulate is that Machiavellian? He seemed like a decent guy at the window but turned "bad cop" in the interview. Luckily, I'm a pretty tolerant guy and must have passed his test. So, I'm going to chalk it up as a "procedural step" and put it aside.
I suppose if I step outside myself and put myself in the position of screening people to enter my country I would probably want to know if the person was the type to to come across my desk at my jugular if I roughed him/her up a bit. Is that mature of me? I like to think so. Yesterday my post would have contained words like "jerk" and "@#$&%." So remember, 24 hours. We got our visas.
