R�sum� en fran�ais : je prend des vacances pour d�m�nager.
After months spent to find a new house, then very stressful weeks fighting with banks, insurrance and other administrative tasks, my family and I are now in the middle of the most physical part of it, moving.
For those interested, we are moving from a small flat in a rather noisy street in the middle of Clermont Ferrand, to a rather big house in a tiny city (Malintrat... no use looking in the encyclopedia... yet) about 20mn away. The house is at the end of Malintrat, with nearby corn, wheat, sunflower and beet fields. Slightly further is a beet factory (expect pictures of this oddity... it is the most southernish beet factory in France...). The nearest bigger city is Aulnat, where our international airport stands (international... with at least 5 non french destinations... Amsterdam included).
The house has 5 rooms, a big living room, one kitchen, 2 bathrooms, one cellar (which will be used as a cellar...), 2 rooms for washing machines and other heating devices, 2 garages, huge terrasse and balcony (to host smokers). Add a pond with a waterlily and some fishes, several neat trees, a bunch of nearly dead rose bushes, and a big previously-vegetable-garden-now-a-place-full-of-weeds (expect an article on lumbago). There is certainly gardening work to provide... In any cases, there is enough place to host anyone visiting.
Currently, there is no city gaz, no city sewage, no heating yet (and snow is expected today...)... But normally, the DSL internet connection is possible ! (this is the first thing I checked after visiting the house... wikiholic indeed). Still, I expect that my current phone line will be cut between today and saturday, and the internet connection must be built before entering into service. Since France is a rather underdevelopped country, it takes between 5 to 8 days *after* the phone line enters into service.
Immediate consequence : I will be on forced wikivacations (which is a very good idea actually) from today or tomorrow till possibly the 20th. I will be able to check my personal email as soon as the 16th when back to work, but since I limit myself to email activity from my work place, I won't check wiki, nor mailing lists (I do not receive mails from mailing lists except for wikimediafr-l), nor blogs, and I won't be on irc. If you need to join me, please do so at my personal email adress.
More long lasting consequence : I was home for lunch everyday, since my working place was near my appartment. That allowed me to be on irc. This won't be the case anymore. I will use lunch time for email answering, grant writing, and any other external activities which do not require access to wiki. I am not worried for lack of activity, but I regret I won't read you guys as much.
Besides, since I will live in a "castle", the computer wont be in the main room anymore, so I wont be able to type on irc, stir dinner in the pan, drop washing power on the floor, and supervise kids schoolwork at the same time and place. On the bright side, the family should welcome a new computer by 2005, hence reducing human competition for access. (expect new bugs as I will explore new OS system and new browser though).
Next deadline is Rotterdam where I will spent the week end of the 27th. I look forward meeting many of you.
Cheers. Anthere
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