Hello!
It’s been a while, eh?
It’s not that I have not written an email - I did! However, it is far, far too long and I cannot work out what to leave out. So I’m going to do something (I’ll tell you later) with it… Basically, I got stuck. Not writers’ block but… maybe writers’ block. Certainly something!
That happens sometimes on a thing. You get to a point and can’t see around it. And that is exactly the reason why there has been such a long gap between now and the previous email.
Sorry!
So, in an effort to start afresh, here’s today’s Stuck Edition including:
How I got stuck (again)
When the car got stuck
Some sticky stuff
and more!
Without further ado, let’s unstick this sticky thing!
Stuck
No, not the email.
I got stuck in Paris.
I know what you’re thinking - but no! It wasn’t.
From time to time, I need to go to Paris for work. I can usually find an hour or two in the evening to make sure that I get to see the city - which is pretty much as incredible as you would imagine at every turn.
However, I recently got stuck there - as the rules changed for the lockdown.
There had already been a tightening of the lockdown rules between the decision to go and my arrival but, sadly for me, it got worse as the rules were strengthened further shortly after I arrived. I decided that it would be fine - I could still get home and then work out what to do about my next trip - which was about 10 days after…
Except my train was cancelled.
…as were a lot of other trains. So getting a ticket for one of the few that were running was almost impossible. I was stuck in Paris.
Normally, that would sound great. I am lucky to have some great colleagues and… well, it’s Paris with all the sights and sounds and food! But, when the restaurants and bars are closed and you are only allowed out of your hotel room for an hour a day, that becomes a whole lot less fun.
I spent the time working, planning, writing, reading… and recording.
Yes, recording!
For the first time in a long, long time, I got a microphone out and recording a Fauxcast (because it wasn’t a podcast) with the excellent Christian Payne, @Documentally (by the way, you should sign up to his newsletter here).
It was really good. It was properly really good.
Not just the end recording but the experience of doing it again.
I’m thinking of recording something else… I will be speaking to Christian about it…
Would you like to hear it if we did? Let me (and Christian) know in the comments or on the social medias…
Sticky Situation
Awkward.
The Car Got Stuck
I’ve not told you about our car yet. You will remember that we have bought a Renault Zoe ZE50 - our first electric car. I’m going to give you the full story of that for Christmas, I think. It’s long!
But the upshot is that I love it…
And then it went wrong!
About 10,000km into our new electric car experience and it refused to charge.
Not just a bit but stubbornly refused to charge. Permanently.
I drove it over to our local Renault garage who told us that they were still being trained in electric cars (seriously, go and check on Wikipedia how long the Renault Zoe has been available!) so I had to take it to the big Renault garage in the big town. They wandered over. Started it up. Looked at it. Said ‘Oh, it won’t charge' and I said ‘I just told you that!’.
And so it was booked in overnight. And then another night. And another.
The whole charging unit had to come out and a new one put in (along with several other bits). The guarantee kicked in but we got to see the full cost anyway. It was unpleasantly high! Thousands and thousands.
But, look, this is all part and parcel of buying a new car, isn’t it? Buy a six year old second-hand one and someone else has already dealt with this stuff. As it is, this is up to us.
The Renault staff were fab. The only thing was that they did not have a spare electric car to lend me. So I was given a Clio - exactly the same size as the Zoe (although a bit lower due to the battery) - and, man alive, how hard is it to drive petrol?! So much pointless fiddling about and peddles and rubbish!
I cannot imagine their faces as I bunnyhopped their brand new Clio off the forecourt, stalling, screeching all over the place…
All I can say is that, eventually, you will all end up driving electric - and you have no idea what a treat you have in store for you!
Stay Safe - Don’t Get Stuck
I caught these bears in Paris having a lock-in…
Don’t worry. I reported them to the Gendarmes… by the way, did you know that Gendarme comes from the French ‘Gens d’armes’ or ‘men-at-arms’ or, more bluntly, armed people, and they are part of the armed forces in France…. Oh, you did? OK, well, I was telling one of the other readers… some people, eh?! Anyway, back to the story…
Seriously, it’s going to be a difficult Christmas for many. Everyone wants to go out and enjoy themselves and have fun. But we are so close to getting on top of this thing.
And, anyway, 2020 doesn’t deserve our fun.
Keep it for next year.
Don’t be like the bears. They literally have stuffing for brains.
Stay safe.
Something’s happening
I can’t tell you about it right now. Maybe in a few months.
It’ll help to avoid stickiness.
I know. Frankly, I annoy myself too.
Non-sticky Stuff
I like this. It’s at the entrance of FNAC in Les Halles, Paris.
So, you stick your phone in the bottom blue letterbox bit and, then, you stick your hands in the top bit. Your hands get zapped with non-sticky anti-bacterial gel and, at the same time, your phone is getting a UV bath that cleans that too.
Good work from the FNAC team.
Huge thank yous!
A huge thank you to @JumpySpiders and Lynn who have both provided me with coffee for the trip! There will be more about that in the next newsletter!
In the meantime, here’s one of the coffees you bought!
It’s weird the disproportionate effect that these coffees have. I am genuinely touched that anyone would buy me one as a thank you for me wintering on in these emails. Thank you!
If you would like to BuyMeACoffee, that’s the link! If you do, leave a message so I can thank you! If you don’t want to, that’s good too! Other options that are welcomed are BuySomeoneElseACoffee buy putting a jar of coffee into a foodbank collection point or DontBuyMeACoffeeButJustSayHi by leaving a comment below or whatever!
Oh and if you enjoy this email newsletter, forward it to a friend and encourage people to sign up at https://jamesmb.substack.com/ - the more the merrier! :)
Sticky Negotiations
As I write, the Brexit talks have become a bit stuck and Johnson is pretend… sorry, is trying to unstick them in a series of phone calls. By the time you read this, they may have become unstuck.
I doubt it.
What next?
Well, I’m thinking of re-jigging the EV Car tweet into a Christmas series. I’m thinking about recording some audio. I’m thinking of getting home, seeing my family and getting some sleep before Christmas!
So, you can look forward to another newsletter - or more than one - over the festive period. I will use the tried and tested Christmas TV show format of breaking down a big story into smaller parts! It’s the much-anticipated EV Roadtrip! And when I say ‘much-anticipated’ I mean that in the marketing sense as opposed to actually thinking that you’re all on tenterhooks! :)
And then it’ll be back to the normal service - or hopefully better than that!
In the meantime, have a great run-up to Christmas. Stay safe.
See you soon!
James
PS Sally says ‘hi’ too!