France, Food, Scooters and More

Having chosen NY International Shipping as the company that we will use to ship such modest belongings as we will take with us from The States to southern France, the pace of communication has picked up a bit. Forms must be completed, a deposit paid. It’s always something, to quote Roseanne Roseannadanna. And it’s not always something pleasant. On accepting NY International’s quote by email, I was directed the section of the company website that contained the booking form, password protected, and I was given the password. It didn't work. I called and was told to use small caps. It worked. I filled out the booking form. At the end, a chart told me how much I would have to put down as a deposit. For the amount of my quote, NY International required a deposit of $1,500. I used the PayPal button right there on the page. The logistics office contacted me. Forms. According to a footnote, Americans going to France are not required to fill out a customs form. I emailed and asked

As I've explained in previous posts, I have no desire to write handbooks. Nor do I wish to cause anyone to choose one product or service over another simply because my wife Cathey and I have made our choices. I'm simply telling the story of our experiences as we prepare to move from our home in the USofA to our home in France. Do your own due diligence. Don't depend on mine. There are bunches of international shippers. You can find ads and links on expat message boards. There are portal sites that will submit your request for a quote to an array of shippers. If you know someone working in a major international corporation in your area, see if you can find out if the company has a go-to shipper. Once we had the names of several shipping companies, even before I went to their websites, I began looking at sites that aggregate reviews of them. Let's talk about reviews for a minute. I operate under the assumption that folks are more likely to write detailed reviews

SHAKESPEARE Having been force fed Modern Math in my elementary school years, I have long had an interest in the trend of modern educators eschewing the academic philosophies of the past. I long ago suspected that academic trend setters in this country were idiots. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal only served to confirm that suspicion. (Disclaimer: I subscribe to the WSJ because it's the only national newspaper that I can have delivered to my door before my morning coffee without having to take out a home equity loan to pay for it.) Author Heather Mac Donald tells a relatively straightforward story. If Ms. Mac Donald is to be believed, and if you will permit me to summarize, junior faculty at UCLA successfully lobbied for replacing the required study of Milton, Chaucer, and Shakespeare with courses studying gender, sexuality, and colonialism. That's a bit simplistic but you get the picture. Today at UCLA, an English major can earn his/her degree having avoided s