What a strange keyboard

The bus to Nice does not leave until 1:15pm, but I took the bus to campus at 10am because yesterday I noticed several flashing notices on the public transport message system warning about perturbations today. The last time I saw that word used, there was a strike by SNCF rail workers, and it delayed my arrival in Grenoble by a day. I did not want to risk missing the bus this afternoon! I was so engrossed in the latest Economist, though, that I missed by bus stop and had to double back.

I am not bringing my laptop with me, so I am in an on-campus bank, BNP Paribas, that coincidentally also offers free internet terminal access in the branch. Unfortunately, there are several downsides to this service: one, you have to listen to the mostt awful pop music from some obscure internet radio station. I really think that it is designed to make you want to leave as quickly as possible. Two, the keyboard, if it can even legally be called that, is a piece of brushed metal, set flush with a wooden counter-top. It is absolutely possible to develop any rhythm at all because the keys are simple circles that barely depress at all, no matter how much or little force you use. Also, the keyboard is in an abridged French style, which means there are no apostrophes - notice how I have not used any contractions - nor any parantheses or quotation marks. Please excuse any typographical errors. Three, non-bank customers are supposed to only use the terminals for 15 minutes. If you recall my vicious dilemma - I cannot open a bank account without proof of housing, and I cannot obtain housing without a bank account - you will understand that the time restriction is particularly galling. Thankfully, it does not appear to be strictly enforced.

The housing hunt continues. Nobody really knows anything, but they all know someone in a random hole-in-the-wall office on the other side of the city who might be able to help you, if you get there during their office hours, which are probably 9:30am to 11:30am, and 1:30pm to 4:00pm, Monday to Thursday. Finding a French bureaucrat in his office on a Friday is like winning the lottery.

I have been able to read extensively about New Orleans and Katrina - actually, that is one of the first things that most of the other students I have met asks, Are you from the South? Until I correct them, many do believe that Indiana is in the Deep South... I am very happy that the death toll appears to be much lower than anticipated. I always thought that the initial projections of 10,000 dead were outrageous and designed to garner more media attention. I doubt that the total among all the states will exceed 1,000.

Now I am being kicked out, but I will be sure to post more after I return from Nice!