Same Story, Different Day

I think most are aware I'm a Florida boy, born and bred, Gator by birth, Texan by the grace of God. Raised in the sunshine state, used to moderate temperatures, I have zero love for snow. In fact, as I've said on many occasions, other than in a cup with syrup poured all over it, it has no useful purpose in this universe. So...this was my trip to work this morning.

Some of the largest snowflakes I've ever seen.

I have it on good authority that snow is water at or about 0 degrees Celcius.  That's 32 degrees F for those of you on the "left" side of the Atlantic.  (Hehe...bet it makes my conservative friends cringe to be so juxtaposed, huh?).  In any event, that's below my MTT (minimum tee-time temperature), below which I've found little to do that's enjoyable, or worthwhile.

On the good side, my friends here tell me it snows here about as much as it does in Houston.  That's not bad at all considering we are north of Quebec, Canada in latitude.  Thank you Gulf Stream!

Bank Shot
Okay, I reported on the 3rd our little problem with the banking service here.  Basically, they don't have any.  So...here's the latest.
I reported that Morgan got his banking card, but no pin number with which to use it.  Sort of like a gun without bullets, huh?  Here we are over a week later and we have determined they have reordered his pin number...it should be in, "oh...I don't know...two or three days."  Meanwhile, they mailed his pin number to access his on-line account to his home address IN THE U.S.!!  Convenient, what?  But wait!  It gets better.  Morgan's lady friend in Houston scanned it and sent it to him and....ready for this?...it didn't bloody work!!!  Isn't this priceless?  They reported today that they've reordered it and it should be in in "oh...I don't know...two or three days."
Now, you ask, I am sure, what about your account, Jerry?  Well...it seems, at least for a little while, I have caught up with Morgan.  Today I was given a card...for which I have no pin.  One could have hoped, I guess, that they'd have given me a pin number instead, and we could have tried it to see if it was a bullet for Morgan's gun.  But, alas, as it is, we both have empty guns. (And, now that I think about it, that's probably a damn good thing.)  But, we're not through yet.  They sent my on-line access pin number to my address in the U.S. too.  But, it doesn't matter because the address (street number) was wrong, and there was no City, or State, or BLOODY *$%^ING Country on it either!!!  Can you believe this?  (Max Sennett is alive and well and directing banks in France!)
So, I have a card with no pin, and no pin with which to view my account on-line.  I made a rather substantial deposit (in dollars) to that account upon opening it, and, today, sixteen days later, have no earthly idea how much I have in Euros after the exchange rate (which I don't know) and fee (which I don't know).  But, they have reordered both pins for me and we expected them to be in by NEXT THURSDAY!  I don't even rate a "oh...I don't know...two or three days."
But how do we know this?  It certainly isn't because anyone at Credit Agricole gave a ferret's fundament about us or our accounts.  It's because the CFO here called down and told them they were within a hair's breath of losing his account and it's several million Euros.  A little while later there are three representatives from the bank in our conference room assuming a prone position trying to look appropriately embarrassed (but I don't think any of them gave a single, solitary damn...and that is the problem).  So, the net of it is we learned the status, if you can call it that, and, oh yeah, the branch manager is going to bring me cash tomorrow morning, and, in the event our on-line banking pins ever show up, they are going to send someone by to ensure we can get on-line and show us how to use the system.  Right now I have good evidence they have no system.  But, we'll see.  Meanwhile...makes for great blogging, huh?

Again, my disclaimer: This became such a comedy of errors, piled upon errors, it just begged reporting.  This level (or lack) of competence is certainly not representative of the folks I've met and worked with here in France.  They are wonderful people who laugh easy and often, and have been helpful to more than I could ever ask.  I am honored by their friendship.
Jerry