Bodies and Mechanical things

In general, everything has been going very well.

However, sometimes mechanical things as well as bodies need maintenance and repair.

A few weeks ago, this ageing body started to notice something sore on his back. Only a second person can see it and Mechanic Penny reported it was a small lump, quite red itself and the surrounds. Unfortunately, treatment with antibiotic and antiseptic creams achieved nothing and it grew very much bigger and more sore quite quickly.

In a separate situation, our big generator/welder which we use for welding occasionally or also when we are staying somewhere for more than a few days, stopped producing electricity. Since I built it in 2010, we have come to take it for granted even though we probably only use it about ten to twelve times a year.

So, we ordered spare parts from the USA (the only place one can obtain them, as the company is a specialist manufacturer).

We chose a small town (Sillery) South of Reims which has a convenient Post Office for the delivery and also decided to seek medical assistance in the same place, reasoning that it might be easier in a smaller town rather than the very large Reims.

We arrived in the pleasant town of Sillery around 5pm on a Wednesday. I asked the lady in the small Tourist Office if she could find a Doctor for me. She kindly did this and obtained an appointment for the next morning. Great! Next morning I went confidently to the Post Office to collect the generator parts. Nothing! However the US Postal Service web site said that the parts had cleared customs the previous week and were expected in the Post Office the previous Monday.

I was quite worried about my back. However, the good news was that the Doctor believes it is a cyst and she made an appointment for a Specialist Dermatologist in Reims the following Monday. She did a lot of persuading to get an appointment quickly as we are on the move back towards Migennes. Hopefully on Monday it will be removed, 'though there will undoubtedly be stitches and follow up needs and we will have to figure out how to do those things. The Doctor also prescribed antibiotics, antibiotic cream and antiseptic base preparations. Cost for the Doctor was 23euros and for the medicines 17euros. Wow, that is cheap!

So, excellent medical services.

The saga of the generator parts is continuing. The US sender could not give me any new information. I could not fill in the USPS web enquiry form (it had too many details I did not know). But when I returned to the local Post Office, the ladies there had been doing some homework on my behalf and found the parts were stuck in Customs (Douane). The supplier had not included an invoice and also had not provided sufficient detail as to what the parts were on the US customs form. So, I have packaged up some information and made some statements and sent them off to Les Douanes and we hope the matter can be quickly resolved.

In the mean time, I have finished painting the other side of the boat- hooray! This was the last thing on the list of work we wanted to achieve before we set off in May. We are also enjoying some of the sights and other things we missed last time we were in this area.

Best Regards,

Dave