Yesterday started out standard; remontage, battonage, delestage, etc. Nathalie invited me to have lunch with her and Cyril, which was lovely. We had omlettes. It seems like eggs aren't so much of a breakfast food around here. On my way back to work I stopped at my room and saw that my computer was frozen, so I restarted it and went back to work. A bit later, it was just Nicholas and I, and he had to take a couple of samples to the office, and after finishing the tidying up I was doing when he left, I had nothing to do, so I went to check the computer, which was now giving me the Blinking Question Mark File Folder of Death, which generally means that either my OS has been corrupted or my hard disk has failed, and either way almost certainly means all of my photos for the last 10 days are lost, because that was the last time I did a backup.
After giving up on the computer, I went back to the winery, but Nicholas still wasn't there. I had nothing to do, but I knew Cuve 19 needed to be emptied because it had just been pumped out, and I was apparently feeling proactive. The problem is, carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and the door to Cuve 19 is the lowest point in the cellar, so it's always a bit of a dodgy place to hang out. There is also a lot of CO2 in the cuve, which comes rushing out as soon as it's opened. So I opened the door and it turned out there was more wine left in the cuve than it had looked like from above, and it came pouring out the door. Having forgotten to bring the remote control for the pump, I ran up the stairs to turn it on, but it didn't pump fast enough and the wine was already overflowing the trough below the door. I ran back down the stairs and directly into a cloud of CO2. My heart already racing, and adrenaline pumping, I found out what it's like to breathe and breathe but take no air. I just managed to get the door shut when stars started popping in front of my eyes and my vision started to blur. I had stopped the flow of wine, and I went for higher ground. It took me a while to recover. Meanwhile, Nicholas had returned, and when I told him what happened he explained that's why you never, ever empty a cuve alone. He pointed out that if I hadn't been able to get above the gas in time, we might not be having this conversation. I passed the rest of the day in less than prime condition. I was very preoccupied about the computer, and still shaken up, and it turns out it really does take quite a bit of my concentration to understand and speak French.
After giving up on the computer, I went back to the winery, but Nicholas still wasn't there. I had nothing to do, but I knew Cuve 19 needed to be emptied because it had just been pumped out, and I was apparently feeling proactive. The problem is, carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and the door to Cuve 19 is the lowest point in the cellar, so it's always a bit of a dodgy place to hang out. There is also a lot of CO2 in the cuve, which comes rushing out as soon as it's opened. So I opened the door and it turned out there was more wine left in the cuve than it had looked like from above, and it came pouring out the door. Having forgotten to bring the remote control for the pump, I ran up the stairs to turn it on, but it didn't pump fast enough and the wine was already overflowing the trough below the door. I ran back down the stairs and directly into a cloud of CO2. My heart already racing, and adrenaline pumping, I found out what it's like to breathe and breathe but take no air. I just managed to get the door shut when stars started popping in front of my eyes and my vision started to blur. I had stopped the flow of wine, and I went for higher ground. It took me a while to recover. Meanwhile, Nicholas had returned, and when I told him what happened he explained that's why you never, ever empty a cuve alone. He pointed out that if I hadn't been able to get above the gas in time, we might not be having this conversation. I passed the rest of the day in less than prime condition. I was very preoccupied about the computer, and still shaken up, and it turns out it really does take quite a bit of my concentration to understand and speak French.
This is what a cuve full of CO2 looks like just before you open the door and it tries to kill you.
After work I told Nathalie about the computer, she let me use one of the office computers, and she called a computer repair place in Nimes for me. They were open until 7, and it wasn't yet 6, but it was in Nimes, which meant I'd have to drive myself, and I'd never driven in France before. It also meant I'd have to talk about computers in French, which isn't exactly a strong department of my French vocabulary. Still, there was nothing to be gained from waiting, so I set off. Driving in France is exactly as disconcerting as riding in a car in France. The roads are too narrow for comfort and you feel you're going too fast because your speedometer says you're doing 80, and you can't do the math in your head fast enough to figure out that's only like 45 or 50mph or something. But even when you think you're going way too fast, you get passed by some dick on a loud motorcycle doing 120.
Nimes isn't that far, and I made it to the computer shop to find they don't support Apple. They gave me the name of the place and directions. It wasn't far, but it was near the center of town, by the bullfighting arena. Ironically, the only part of town I'm at all familiar with. The streets are more confusing and the traffic is worse nearer the center of town, and I got lost. By the time I got my bearings it was near 7, and it was raining. I decided to bag the computer store and try again today. I'm on my way as soon as I finish typing this entry. I turned around and went to the Casino. Casino is the grocery store chain in France. They come in all different sizes, there are little ones in the villages, then there are gigantic, mall-sized ones like this one. It's basically like any large grocery store in the states, but with a way better bakery and cheese selection. But no peanut butter. Also, the beer selection's not great by Northwest standards, but still better than you find most places I've been to. I remembered to buy honey, tea, baguette, beer, pastisse, almond syrup (pastisse and almond syrup is my new favorite coctail, it's called a Mauresque, but I'm not sure I'm spelling that right.) chicken, detergent, socks, shampoo, herbs, pasta, olives with anchove, sausage, and lentils. I forgot olive oil, nail clippers, and something else, I think. Good thing I'm going by there on my way to the computer store.
My ipod works at least, but I wish I'd loaded Rosalie onto it. I'd really like to listen to that song.
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