Work driving me up the wall

I realize that coming here on a sort of working holiday was a bit dependent on my actually working, but I wasn’t sure I’d resent working as much as I actually am. I’m currently working for an organization that is attached to a certain university in New Zealand. For obvious reasons, I won’t go into names and details. When I left Canada, I was told there would be nothing this coming month that I needed to do. Since then, however, and despite the knowledge that I am trying to get my legs moving again and move, there has been a constant dribble of stuff coming through, all of it seemingly more important and urgent than the last lot and all of it being, actually, you know, not really that time sensitive.

I didn’t mind it at first, because Calahonda is a bit naff and I was only really going out for walks while I was there (when I wasn’t waiting in for my suitcases to be delivered or trying to negotiate places to detrumpify me, that is). And, in fact, when I was in Malaga, it was OK too, because I could go out for walks and do things without it being too much of an interruption. But for some reason, here, it is beginning to seriously piss me off. There are so many things I want to do here, and all of them seem to be stymied by the endless beeps of new deliveries to my inbox.

Anyway, rant over. I worked yesterday, despite it being a glorious day, well into the high teens with blue skies and soft breezes. We even had lunch outside. Then in the pm, I drove down to Dieulefit and had a little walk, driving to a few other places to which I hadn’t been before. Then I went into Gougne, which sounds like something from Les Visiteurs, and bought myself a bottle of Poire William to take back to Canada. At least all that work can have a useful purpose!

Feeling happier with myself, I drove back to Le Poët-Laval, did a little more work, and then got dinner ready. Spent the evening watching the Netflix series on the Roman emperors. Ottawacker Jr. was a little miffed when I told him that later on… “Finally, getting into the 20th century,” he said. “Only one behind, now!”

The blip is of the grove of oak trees planted to encourage truffles to grow.