travel necessitites and other updates

okay, first, before i forget, and in anticipation of folks asking (and by "anticipation" i mean, folks have been asking...) the interviews on friday were fine. i didn't walk out of either of them thinking that i had nailed the interview so well i *had* to have the job. nor did i walk out of the interview feeling like i'd fucked it up and there was no chance. the thing is, in government, i think it's fair to say that probably 80% of the positions posted as permanent have incumbents who have been doing the job on contract for who knows how long already, which means they generally have a *much* better chance at winning the competition. and really, so they should. if my job that i'm doing now ever gets posted permanent and i have to compete for it i damn well hope that i give a better interview than the others who haven't been doing it already for a year an a half. what i'm saying is, sometimes your performance in an interview is almost immaterial. no celebratory whoops just yet.

now, that out of the way, lets talk about france! yay france!

i have been running around like a mad woman getting the necessities for my trip. well. actually. more the necessities for my mum.

you see, people think that france is a civilized country. people think that it is so much more civilized than north america. but, they're not. much like when we lived in africa and folks visiting us always had to bring provisions to us from north america, when i go to france i have to bring provisions to my mother. for example... did you know that france does not have kraft dinner?!?!?!? i kid you not. no kraft dinner. i mean, i'm surprised they've mastered the wheel at this rate. and hot sauce. no hot sauce. really people, how do they survive?!?!

so, today i ran around buying the essentials, you know, unscented anti-perspirant (they don't believe in unscented anything there, in fact, i have a vague recollection of seeing scented toilet paper on one of my travels to yonder foreign grocery store), aveeno intense relief hand cream, reactine, people magazine, vanity fair, quench body cream, and of course, a case of kraft dinner. *shaking head* i still can't get over the no kraft dinner. how on earth do they expect to function fully as a society without kraft dinner?

but the biggest essential for me was hair dye. this is where they have it right. something you will quickly learn when you visit france is that funky hair is the way to go. none of this provincial 'natural looking' hair dye. no no, it's wild and funky, the less natural the better. think little old ladies with blue hair, only they mean for it to be blue, it's not an accident.

well, as you may or may not know, i will never miss an opportunity to funk up my hair, and two weeks away from the need to look grown up and professional as the diligent civil servant seems like the perfect opportunity to do whatever the funk i want to my hair. plus, you know, i have to blend in...

so, i got me some black dye (don't have a heart attack yet mum, i'm just using it to streak), and some wild fire engine red dye. the plan was that i was going to streak them both in tonight. there was a slight hitch in my plan. although i have no problem doing foil high (or low) lighting on someone else, apparently putting a mirror in the equation renders me more than useless (the more would be frustrated, useless and frustrated, that's more than useless, right?). but don't despair, because i have the best partner in the whole bloody world. screw the world, the whole bloody universe.

john did foils on my hair. i walked him through it and he did foils on my hair. now, just in case you missed that let me repeat that, john, my partner, the amazing man, foil-streaked my hair.

and then, wait, it gets better. then, he let me put red in his hair too!

man. he rocks. a lot.

and, not only that, but my amazing sister-in-law lent me her digital camera (you may remember that ours was stolen) for my trip to france, so you'll even get pictures. you might even get a 'during' picture, since i haven't taken the foils out yet. and let me tell you, nothing sexier than a woman in foils.

so, stay tuned for pictures....