French technology.

So I have no idea why my last post came out in a million different sizes. And it looks like the spacing is off too. Not sure what happened. But I'm going to blame it on France. My patience with French technology is growing very thin. While internet is not a completely foreign concept here, I've found it difficult to have a solid steady connection. In Yssingeaux our net was out all the time. No one had an answer. More than once I was told, 'Yeah, this is France. It happens." But nobody with any power to fix the problem seemed very bothered to do so. Annoying. So here in Strasbourg as you know, I'm without net in the apartment. But there are many cafés and bars with WIFI. This seems simple, but I'm constantly running into funny (not funny ha-ha) situations. For instance yesterday I tried out a new café. It's right next to my yoga studio and looks young and hip. Called Bistro and Chocolat, it's always packed. I asked if they had WIFI on the way out of yoga the other day and I got the affirmation I wanted. Great, I thought, no more Irish Pub with the most non-attentive bartender I've ever encountered. So I packed up my stuff and headed over. I ordered a bowl of ginger hot chocolate and got my WIFI code from the staff. I punched in the 25 numbers and letters about 25 times. I refused to get upset, I had already had such a wonderful day. No luck though. I questioned the staff and they reset the modem for me. Great. That did the trick. Then I realized that I had almost no power left. But luckily I was in a corner right next to an outlet. No problem. Only, when I plugged in my cord no light appeared. I tried another outlet and same thing. My patience was gone and I was getting frustrated. Nothing can wind me up faster than slow/no internet. Nothing. It's something I'm trying to work on. So the girl behind the counter saw me struggling and asked if I was using an Apple professional. I assumed she meant my MacBook Pro and I said yes. Then she said, "That's the problem. You're computer won't work in our outlets. It's your computer's fault." I looked at her in disbelief. I'm not sure what I did to offend this woman but obviously she didn't want me in her café. Because I'm quite sure it doesn't matter what kind of computer I have. Every other outlet in France has worked just fine. But she was certain. It was my fault.

Incredibly annoyed I packed up and left, in search of another WIFI connection. I found one, but they kicked me out with their early closing time.

Last night Nate looked up cyber cafes for me and found one just around the corner from me. We got the hours, costs the whole run down. Seemed perfect. So I was just walking by to try out the new spot and it's not there. Guess the website forgot to update their new status. OUT OF BUSINESS.

So now I'm checking in from the park across from the bar (the bar is closed). Another post with pictures will come as soon as I find a reliable WIFI source, with power that's compatible with my Pro. In the mean time, I think I'm gonna go see a movie. I need to hear some English.