Hmmm just the place to go paragliding

Yes it's! Even though I don't really know much about the paragliding activity in those mountains, I know it's a quite popular region for glider pilots.

wonderful view...

V.

Do the homes in the valley ever have to deal with mud or rock slides? Seems like quite a bit of rain would turn the homes into a mess.

About the mud slides, I haven't heard anout much problems with that, After, the whol Vercors massif is mostly constituted of limestone and thus the water is quickly drained underground. After, concerning rock slides, it's another story, but they still are quite rare and when it happens it, at my knowledge, never touched the villages (maybe thanks to the bocages and forest?) but most of the houses are old houses from at least the 19th. A part of my family lives in the neighbour massif and still have the old familial houses, so I guess rock slides aren't much a problem near the villages. After, there's a place where rock slides aren't uncommon and are quite problematic which also happens to be one of the most narrow and dangerous road of the Vercors, it's the Gorges of the Bourne, it's even closed at some points each years since it eaily becomes unpracticable during the winter.

Oh interesting! It sounds like the land there is a lot like Austin (a city 2 hours from me). The soil is shallow and directly below it is rock. I'm glad that the mud slides aren't something well known there and that the villages are fairly safe. The Gorges of the Bourne look really pretty, but I cringed a little seeing all the overhangs of rock that could potentially flatten a person. Have you travelled there before?

That's indeed like that, you've got very few soil there, just enough to allow the vegetation to grow, but otherwise it's only rock, at the point that there are a lot of lapies in the region, which quite dangerous when they are covered with snow.

Concerning the Gorges of the Bourne, yes, I've crossed them quite a lot of time but never as a driver, my father knows better the road there than I do, he even lost one of his friend there one winter, she had lost the control of her car on a patch of ice and ended in the bottom of the gorges. The road is actually from the 1860s but is still often securised and renovated to avoid any accident, since the beginning of the century, the rock slides killed 4 people on this road. But, well, the view really worth to get there, it's really one of the most emblematic road of the Vercors massif! And they even manage to drive loggers through this road!

Ah gotcha. The lapies are a snowshoe hazard, or more like an entrapment and suffocation hazard? I admit that I just looked up the term.

It gives me a case of the shivers to hear that people are driving that route (especially logging operations!!) through the Gorges of the Bourne. Are their no guard rails along the whole route? Also, that is sad to hear that your dad's friend fell to her death in the car. So many people are claimed by the mountains. I bet it is really beautiful up there, but could it be accessed without the road? (Like a hiking trail)

Well, all depends on the size of the lapies, the most part aren't very large and don't represent a threat to your life, but you can easily hurt your ankle in these, especially when they are covered with snow. As for the larger ones, they can become quite dangerous since they become some kind of faults in which a man can easily pass through, the risks aren't much to suffocate but rather to either get injured or stuck without supplies, but well, lapies of that size remains very rare.

Well, there are some small walls along the road which are roughly 30 cm wide and 50 cm high, but depending on the speed, a car can break it rather easily, after, the accident of my father's friend did occured somwhere in 1980s or 1990s, happily security has change a bit since then. And now you may understand why the Vercors used to be called the "Fortress" during the war, the Germans couldn't use their tanks up there. And yes, the Vercors in itself is really gorgeous. And technically, yes, the Vercors is full of hiking trails but given the size of the mountain range which is of 77 over 37 km, roads are still very useful, mostly for the inhabitants of the villages within the mountains. But all roads aren't as the one that go through the Gorges of the Bourne and most of the main roads are larger but they still are quite sloping. But well, I guess that's just a French tradition to get narrow roads since even a part of the road I take to go to my local airport isn't larger than the one of the Gorges of the Bourne, there's just a less important distance to fall in, a dozen of metres compared to few hundreds metres. :)

Btw, I returning there for the week, I will try to get some photos of the region. :)

Oh well THAT is terrifying! I'm glad the deepr lapies are rare. I have seen large and deep crevasses like that in the Himalayas though that eat people and vehicles. I would hate to get wedged in one of those without much chance to escape. Has anyone caught their skiis in the smaller lapies? xD

Oh! So a little effort is required to pop over the curb. I was imagining it as the roads in Colorado where nothing but tire friction keeps you on the road. It's good that they upgraded the security of the area.

Ha! I can't see someone trying to wedge a Tiger 1 or a Panzer 4 up the trail lol. That would be quite a tall order. I like that it had been called The Fortress. As with the Eastern Front, nature and weather were not allied with Germany. xD I bet the villagers go on to race the rallies that occur on the tight little roads that wind through town. How brave they are to drive there! (Especially with oncoming logging trucks).

I'm glad you have a short ride to the airport. It's beautiful country but I would have white knuckles watching the traffic on the mountain roads. x)

Yay! I look forward to the new photos!

Hopefully those I've seen aren't as large as those in the Himalayas! ^^
I totally understand you, though, it reminds me of a movie, 127 hours, in which a man falls and is stuck in a canyon for almost all the movie, it's pretty terrifying to think that's what may happen. But it explain why it's recommend to never go alone or without anyone knowing where you go in the mountains.
It must have happen someday to someone quite clumsy or/and unlucky (before anything is said, it wasn't me for once! :P ) but I never heard about it, I must say I rarely went in the Vercors during the winter.

Well, in the Vercors, you've got two things to prevent you to fall (from too high) of the road, those little wall when the road is on a between 75 and 90° or more relief and the forest otherwise, but well, in the 65% of the cases, if you leave the road in the Vercors and if there weren't trees on the sides of the road you would fall of several hundreds of feet, so the protection are welcome! :D
I must say I never had the opportunity to travel to US and had to go look a bit on Google Maps for what the roads in Colorado were looking like, is it me or the roads are skirting the mountains and not actually climbing these? It feels a bit weird coming from a country were mountains road actually climb on the mountains. :P

Going through it with a sedan of a lenght of 4.3m and width of 1.7m was already a bit strained so I don't even imagine if you do that in Panzer 4, for the Tiger, don't even think about it, it's too tall to go through these roads. Heh, we really thought we could get them that way but the damned foxes got us with a glider assault and paratroopers! Well, actually there use to be, I don't know if it's still exist, a rallye race up in the Vercors which was special since it was only done on iced roads, though, I can't say if there's much French rallye pilots from the Vercors, I can tell you that a good 80% of them are from the eastern side of France. You see, there's one thing that makes me hate to drive in the Eastern and Southeastern parts of France is the way people drive, if in the West people are driving badly, they at least try to be good and courteous (at the exception of the Charentais), in the east they are generally a bunch of dangerous arseholes...

Heh, I got some awesome shots from up there, now I need to go throught the selection and maybe some little corrections and will try to post them. :)

Ah! You remember this movie too! 127 hours was a very briefly popular movie. They even had the survivor on talk shows and stuff.

All the more reason to glide above the Vercors instead of walk it. :P

*Internal Panic Intensifies* To shreds, you say? D: It's amazing to think that so many people take the roads there and they are all one slight mistake and a misplaced tree away from becoming a lawn dart. Hooray for a country that actually cares about preserving it's wilderness!

Some of the Colorado roads are relatively flat and skirt the mountains, but the roads leading to Estes Park (as you head in from the East) are roads that rise and fall up and down the scenery. No guard rails are present, and the relief beyond the road's edge is probably 45 to 60 degrees. D: Elk climb it like the incline is nothing, but I do not know how. It would be like watching a goat climb a vertical textureless wall.


Oof! Now I see what you mean. If the small sedan is a stretch, then the tank....not even a STUG would fit. The Germans we're quite proud of aerial assault weren't they? I guess the lessons from their operations helped later airborne efforts in other countries though.

Rallye du Chamonix! It's in Grand Turismo (4?) I believe. That's interesting to think that the arseholes from the East get to put their normal driving skills together for a race once in a while. :P If the roads were dry, my native Houstonians could keep up lol. Very very few people drive courteous here. Tempers are short and worn tires/breaks are abundant. It might as well be an unskilled version of the Gumball Rally. xD

At least in Western France people are courteous drivers as you say. :) Blessings to you and all on the road today. May we look out for each other as best we can.

First, once again I'm sorry I took so much time to get back to you.

I must admit that gliding above the Vercors is still something I need to do but walking across its mountains is still a real pleasure and a real return to a completly wild environment since, depending on the place and the season, you can walk for over 50 km without crossing the path of anyone.

Well, the country only cares about its wilderness in some places as they wanted to destroyed some protected area to build an airport, just to quote one exemple, which finally has been cancelled after 40 years of struggle from people who decided to settle there and develop an alternative way of living based on the idea of a real cooperation between individuals and of a respect for the environment, though, those people, even once the project of the airport got cancelled, were constantly being stricken by the forces of order and a lot of farms and houses built by those people in the last 40 years has been destroyed by the military police.

I think I've seen on Google Maps of which kind of roads you're talking about and indeed, it seems to be some quite dangerous roads to go through even though the scenery seems to totally worth it! Animals living in the mountains sure make mountain walks more easier than it seems to be! I remember that the last time I went in the Vercors, while I was climbing a very sloping recif through a weaving path, I came across a Chamois that climbed all the slope that I climbed in a bit more than 20 minutes, in less than 5 minutes. :)

It could have been it but the Rallye de Chamonix, or also known as the Rallye du Mont Blanc, doesn't actuallt takes place in the Vercors. I actually asked my father who remember of it, it was the Andros Trophy, a nationale race where some of the best rally pilots of France took part such as Yvan Muller, 4 titles of world's champion in the World Touring Car Championship, Alain Prost, 4 times World Champion on Formula One and nowadays considered as a very important character of Car Racing, or Jean-Philippe Dayraut, World Champion of Ice Race in 2003. But there used to be two other rally races that took place in the Vercors until 1977, the Rallye Vercors-Vivarais and the Critérium Neige et Glace (Criterium Snow and Ice), the latter being more similar to the Andros Trophy.
Well, then... It seems that no place in the world is safe from bad drivers! XD

Well, courteous might be a bit too much to say but they generally are less dangerous than in the East... '^_^

It's okay. I understand.

Oh wow! I like the idea of the isolation within the Vercors, but if you needed help you would be in trouble yes? Although we love to take over the wilderness here, there are still many places near civilization where you could disappear for days and never be noticed. Do you pack several days of supplies when you go hiking there?

Oh gosh that's a horrible thing! To have to fight for 40 years to preserve the land and then to be harrased and expunged by the police is terrible. I hope that the military police aren't as smug and power loving as our police. Are their any groups who have tried to expose the MP's or protect the people living near the proposed airport site?

If you ever find yourself in Colorado please do visit those roads! Make sure that you are well rested though. Some of the people near Buena Vista drive the mountains like they are on a race track! I agree that having animals present out in nature makes the walk easier. The Chamois you found makes me laugh! Maybe if we spent all our lives on the mountain we could climb that fast too. :)

My heart jumped for joy at the mention of Alain Prost's name. I remember him! We had not met, but I looked up to him as a child. Thank you for this beautiful racing knowledge. Racing is a secret love of mine. ^^ Hopefully all of these men are still living and doing what makes them happy.

OH! Well, I suppose then they still receive high marks for being less dangerous. One day it would be fun to see a dash camera video of their worst behaviors and see how it compares to our driving across the pond.

Have you been well? How are things?

Actually, surprisingly enough, there is network in most of the region since it's full of villages here and there. As for the help, since this network is present, if a call his received for an emergency in mountain and mostly in areas unacessible with a an ambulance, there's an operational permanency assured by the Sécurité Civile, the Military Police and by the Mountain section of the National Police of the city of Grenoble, at the northeast extremity of the Vercors. Concerning the supplies, that's indeed what we do, btw, that's how I finally found an use for the remaining combat rations I had! In fact, since there very few water springs at the surface in those mountains, we're obliged to take at least 5L of water per person on us and manage to find a shelter with a water spring nearby. Three years ago, since we did not found the shelter we were aiming for (we later learned that it has been destroyed in a fire and the new one wasn't appearing on our outdated map of the region) and had to settle the tent between two plates of snow (we so much hated snow during this hike! XD) and, since we couldn't find the water spring before the nightfall, we had to use melted snow for our breakfast to economise the liter we still had. And the day after, we found out we slept at 500m from the shelter and managed to find the spring but the cold, it was only giving very little water.
It's always good to have a place where you can disapear without crossing anyone sometimes... And yes, it seems that, and that's for the best, despite being known for their delusions of grandeurs, even American business owners cannot fully conquer the whole huge territories of their country. :)

Well, welcome in France, spend your life defending what your government says it defends and be thanks by being bludgeoning... Actually, the Military Police aren't the worst in the country, on the exception of the road brigade (which there hopefully isn't near my place), the worst in France are the civilian Police and their anti-riot subdivision, the Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité, aka CRS. This corpse originally have been created in 1944, in a very agitated France were reprisals were a common thing, to maintain the order and was then composed of French resistance fighter, communists for the most part but in the late 1940s early 1950s, there has been a huge purge within there ranks and the communists sympathisers were replaced by far-right ones, which well helped De Gaulle during the 1968 riots, in order to please the American government and as such receive the aids of the Marshall Plan. And let's say that's since then, the mentality hasn't change, I've heard of many people who enrolled in the CRS but left quickly because of the shit mentality there's there. And since it isn't enough, they are the kind of people to violate the bases of the agression rules of the French forces of order, so to known, to only make use of the force when one is in danger, to always, with non-lethal weapons such as the flashball or dispersal grenades, to never aim for the superior parts of the body, so to known the head, neck and rib case (if possible for the latter), and mostly, to respect the safety rules when dealing with wounded. And each time there's an important protest against the reforms put in place by the government, those rules are being violated, lately, with the recent mouvement of the Yellow Jackets (you may have heard of it?), there're several people who have been severely wounded by the CRS and the Military Police, several disfigured people, some lost an eye and some others an arm. Such as in this video, the man, volunteer fireman, married and father of two kids, who's now in the coma thanks to the people suppose to protect us... :/
And if a protester attacks a policeman, it's the jail case directly but if a policeman wounds a protester, it's a pat in the back and a medal to go with it...
Though, I cannot say they are as hard as the US police since the use of firearms by the police in France is still very rare and when it happens, it's always in defense, the last case I've heard of was a military policeman who killed a driver who tried to escape from a regular police control and ran over one of the MPs, wounding him at the leg and in the rush of the event, the MP assured of the secutiry of his colleagues opened the fire but all went in the respect of the rules, excepted for the "shoot to wound" but given the circonstences, they have been released and could have returned to their job.

Concerning the people at this airport, the affair was followed by the French medias but, for me, one of the best exposition of the facts have been done at the European Parliament by the Belgian Ecologist Member of the European Parliament Philippe Lamberts since his daughter was part of the people present there; here's a part of his speech, it's not complete but that's the best I could find translated in English...

If ever I go in the USA, I'll make sure to stop by there! As for the crazy drivers, that's okay, we do have the same over here! XD
Maybe, maybe... What's for sure, is that we can find a fastest and les tiring way to get down than them, without speaking about aerial means, actually, I've heard that lumberjacks in some places of the Vercors would get their logs down in the hill by making them roll all the way down... and going with them thanks to I-don't-known-which technic/device! XD

Actually, since car racing isn't much my thing (I'm more a cycling person :P), I know only the great names, and I'm actually surprised to see, given his worldwide reputation and his hit list, to see that he has been replaced in the not-in-the-field people's memories by Sébastien Loeb, perhaps because Prost stopped racing and is now on the managing side?
But rest assured, he's still alive, as the two others I mentionned. :)

Erh... French are actually really bad for high marking... So you'd never hear "people from such region are quite good driver" but rather "These people are real road dangers!"... (I know I'm very badly placed to criticies on that point ^_^')
Though.... It's maybe because French are bad drivers that this happens... On the funny side, when I went in the UK at the JFTW last year, I did presented my car at the car gathering and I remember of someone being mostly surprised that the car body was intact! Though, I cannot say the same now since I slightly damaged it by diving in a 8.5ft deep on the evening of the 31st January. XD

As for how I'm going, it's mostly going okay now, I recovered from the realisation that all I had planned for the futur is doomed for me and I'm on my way to prepare new plans and I should begin them by this spring if things go the way I want them to go. As for you, how's it going on your end?

Edit: I just noticed I wrote 31st January instead of December, sorry for the mistake! XD

It is okay! I am glad for the correction and I have taken it into account.

It is amazing how much help you can find in the mountains! Hopefully the help there is kind and professional. I would be worried that the military police who help people would be marking waypoints for later in case they need to supress the villages there one day.

As for your rations, mountaineering is a clever way to use them. Certainly the calories will be put to good use. Five liters of water is a fair amount to carry by weight, but I bet it is used quickly. I chuckled a little reading about your missing shelter. It is good that you were able to set up camp and make use of the snow, but it is funny in the era of GPS that we still have places unmarked on our maps. Maybe it is for the better sometimes.

The delusions of grandeur within the American businessman may indeed lead them to conquer the wild territories. Our current president tried to change some National Wildlife Refuge area into common use area so a town on the fringe of it could build up without having to care about the environment or end up under a pile of permits. Never underestimate American greed where it finds an advantage. :(

I believe that the "left" and the "right" parties in our countries both do evil in the name of their cause, but the CRS sound dystopian and cruel. They have lost the professionalism that they need. :( I have heard of the yellow jackets and of their extreme suffering. Macron had threatened the jobs of some police if they did not stop the protestors and it led to a lot of brutality until some of the police got screwed by the government. I understand at that point that the protestors won over some of the police.

I know Europe freaks out about Americans and their firearms, but the danger here is mixed. We are having a new death of globalism (where everyone tries to unite under common things and goals). Now we have "tribalism" and unparalleled selfishness and self-centered behavior. "I am black; give me what I deserve!" "I am white; defend the things I like." "I am transgender or non-binary; everyone who does not support my every whim is a bigot!" Everyone wants the world to see and automatically respect their differences and resistance to those differences is met with electronic and physical violence.

We had some white police die in Dallas, Texas because a black man died (unjustly) in an unrelated case. Some black people were targeting whites (especially white cops) to kill them and thusly the white police in Dallas were shot and killed. Since that point, we have had a massive anti-police effort that has in turn been countered with pro-police efforts.

Police here are on edge. Some are good and tend to be the "Average Joe" or "Average Jane" who believe in justice and a steady job. Others really are monsters who exploit the weakness of women for sex, use violence and intimidation tactics and worse to get their way. On top of them we have the SWAT teams which are like the CRS although supposedly more professional. They are like small infantry units and mostly are made of old combat veterans and experienced police people. They are supposed to do what they can to preserve life, but often people die because of them. The SWAT have no hesitation when they feel the need to kill. Sometimes the SWAT have been called as a "prank" or revenge against someone because of online disputes. This lead to the death of a few innocent people.

So, to make long stories short, I think that being beat to death or shot to death is irrelevant to the dead. Our nations have a lot of big problems to sort through or violence is going to be the monster that eats our society.

I applaud Mr. Lamberts and how he addressed Macron honestly and without hesitation. Hopefully he his safe from the retaliation that could be his for having spoken out against the cruelty in France. Really much of what he said applies in the United States as well.

Lumberjacks in the Vercors must be really brave to ride down the side of the hills with the logs! I imagine the logs were joined together like a raft and then pushed down as a unit or they would find tumbling lumberjacks among the heavy logs too! x)

Lol! If anything is to be gained it is that I have not watched much racing since Loeb was driving. I'm sure that Mr. Prost has lovers and fans alike all over the world even today. :) I am glad that these men are all still alive and well.

Oh my gosh! That is too funny! We should not be in awe of an intact car, but it is good that your car survived mostly unscathed until December 31st. With the snow 8.5 ft deep, does it crush a car when you hit it or just rub things a little? I imagine thick snow might as well be compacted sand.

There are a little more than 8 more weeks left until JFTW starts again! I checked the website. Will you go again?

Sometimes life is a swift kick between the legs. I am sorry to hear that your good plans have been doomed before the end of winter. Honestly, I have seen the same. Some changes will have to happen to me so that the future is survivable and the potential for growth remains. Life is good at work and at home. I do not have any good hobbies left, but I will make some before summer ends.

Well, sorry for being gone for almost a year, leaving your message unanswered for this long.

Concerning the help in mountain, it's indeed amazing and a relief to know that wherever you are, as long as you can give out your position, you might be saved. And it's even more a relief to know that, in France, a rescue operation cost absoluetly nothing to the person that has to be rescued, mostly when you know the price for a flight hour in the kind of helicopter they use... Concerning the profesionnalism of these crews, while I never had to personnaly test it, they generally are very professional and competant, in an helicopter, you generally have two medical personnel from the biggest hospital of the sector, one policeman or fireman (depends on the crew in service) who will lead the ground manoeuvres to extract the rescued person and lead the winching up, an onboard mechanic who becomes the second pair of eyes of the pilot during the rescue operation, who do the pre-flight inspection before take off and also operates the winch, then you have a second mechanic for cockpit operations and finally the pilot who's trained within the French Army Light Aviation (for the military police pilots only) and might count among the best helicopter pilots in the world. Not long ago, I don't know if you've seen it, a video of a PGMH (Military Police High Mountain Platoon) crew in an intervention has been quite viral on the internet because of the professionalism of the team, if you haven't seen it, it's this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0z9HRC7hlU

About the rations, they indeed have been very welcomed, for both their nutritional intake as well as for their optimised weight but also for their good taste. :)
5L of waters per person is indeed just what you need, it last for a full hiking day, but if you're hiking on several days, you better have a running water source nearby each shelters you stop to pass the night. For that story of the shelter we missed of nothing, it's actually because we're still using paper maps rather than GPS, while being more accurate, I'm still not confident enough in batteries to trust them (and I keep the same spirit while flying, I've always have my paper map at hand that I regularely check).

Well, that really is a shame to hear about such things, but that's not something surprising neither when you know the point of view of your president (though, I could just as well write 'our presidents', it would still be correct...), for people like them, land, whatever there might be on these, is nothing but investments to be made... As such, and I do correct myself in the mean time, I don't think it's just the 'American greed', but just the 'Human greed'... :/

In France, the actual difference between the Police and the protesters is that, while both have their work conditions worsening more and more as the time goes, the police, since they are the wall between the people and the governement, are a bit more listened to than other professions, since, when they began to protests for their work conditions, the governement gave them a bonus of 300€ on their monthly pay (note that since it's a bonus, it will obviously not count for their retreat) and more recently, as they want to change all the retreat system in France, abolishing all special retreat systems at the exception of the Policmen, Militaries and politicians ones...

Well, while I do understand that people want to be respected as they are, being able to just live equally no matter their gender, sex, ethnic group, religion or whatsoever their differences or else. I indeed think aswell that, and that seems to be really enclosed within english speaking countries but I might be wrong, the people who are trying to elevate their cause, without being the official representives (though, it depends on the latters...) of their causes, are being really extrem in doing it, and obviously, the social networks doesn't help a single second by giving the possibility to the most extrem, the less objective and diplomatic (don't know if that's the right term but that was the one that would correspond the most, I think?) people to be highlighted.

Well, I guess that these stories within Dallas happened within the disadventaged area, right? We've similar things that frequently happen in such areas over here too when some people of these areas are being arrested by force or shot (the latter case being extremely rare and generally not injustified), though, it generally doesn't go further than stone being thrown at policemen and firemen and a few cars set afire...
I wonder if one day, these people will be able to figure out that they aren't helping at all their cause and are actually sinking them more than anything else...

Ah yes, I've heard about these so-called pranks and false calls, I already found them really stupid but I wasn't aware that some people did loose their lives in such things! Nor was I ever aware that the SWAT, even with their reputation of being quite brutal, could show to have such trigger happy (if you can pardon me the use of this phrase)... Though, I think that in France, the SWAT would be more comparable to the RAID and the GIGN than the CRS since the last one is rather tasked to riot controls, to anti drugs traffic operations as well as, for some unit, to mountain and sea rescue.

Yes, Mr. Lambert is someone really amazing that really shows that there still are some people who are doing politics not just for the power nor the money but to actually try to make the things move. He has nothing to fear for what he said since, first, he's a Belgium citizen and as such, Macron has no power over him, and second, even though I might put that to doubt by my words sometimes, we aren't yet in a totallitarian system, criticising the government isn't something that's condamned in any way (otherwise, I think almost 3/4 of the French population would have to be condamned XD ) and you risk more to receive the visit of the Police if you're a serious political opponent for the presidential than if you criticise the government, whatever your position, at the exception of the representents of the government as long as they wear their uniforms, with, again, an exception for the firemen who are tired from being treated like shit for more than 20 years ( The following video shows the firemen of a city turning their back to some of the highest elected members of their area in sign of protest against the constant reduction of budget and effective that are voted every year for the firemen )

And yes, I thinks so too but I don't know the exact details about how they used to proceed, I just know they did. X)

Well, I still am since my car has become a kind of a meme among my group of friends, because it's the oldest one, because it kind of have a 'self-repare' mode (seriously, I used to have an impact on the left front wing, I hit something in the night, never saw what it was, and after a few months, it just disappeared and another time, my left headlight wasn't working anymore until, some day it worked again [after few days it was only working when I hit the headlight before to go but enough hitting and it has been fixed definitely, that's not ironic btw]), alos because of my dive into the said 8.5ft deep trench (I did notice I forgot in my previous message the word 'trench'...) and got out of it almost completly intact and also for having my friend assist to my worst fail when, while trying to get out of my car, the inside handle remained in my hand, plastic from the 90s doesn't age well... XD
Well, as for the question about snow, I'm sorry but I can't say for sure, I guess it mostly depends on the kind of snow there's... Actually, from where I am and where I was when I ended in the trench, snow is very rare and generally doesn't stay more than a few hours on the ground. But it's still funny to see the entire country panic and being put in an almost crisis state for a thin layer of snow on the side of the road. I mean, I really saw people with SUVs and ATVs driving at 30 km/h on a major highway normally limited at 110 km/h because of some snow on the verge while I was, with my little subcompact, still driving at 110 km/h without any problems. XD

So, to answer your question (even if I'm a tad late), I haven't been able to go to JFTW 2019 and I fear that it will be the same thing this year... Not that the will isn't at it, but the wallet wouldn't follow... :(

I hope the changes that were to happen in your life in order to improve did happened and that they still are positive changes. I also hope that both your professional and private lives are still doing good. As for your hobbies, did you managed to get some since then, I've seen the little stove you published earlier, is it as a part of a hobby?

Hello! It is okay. I had considered that you may have moved on. It is good to hear from you.

It is so amazing to be rescued anywhere by these men and women as long as you have a location to provide to the rescuers. What professionalism! I love the video so much! The video is new to me, but I know with everything involved that the crew had to work together smoothly to keep the situation in check. If the pilot had sneezed, the skiers would eat carbon blades. xD

Ahhh. Reading about the water sources reminds me of how nice it is to have a fresh water source at home. Out in the wilderness, we become the housing finders, the grocery store, the tour guide and the hardware supply chain. :P

I remember reading about using electronic devices as a backup to paper maps. Trusting in batteries can be somewhat hazardous, and they usually die when we need them most lol. I am a little jealous that your rations taste good. Ours do not have a lot of taste (as far as I have seen). Mmmm cardboard. xD

I will write a part two to this message. I accidentally hit send a little early.

I had laughed a little bit in hearing you describe our president. He does not act like I expected even though I knew that he would do things differently. I think you are right. Men at a certain level of business (certainly the business of government) begin to see everything around them as investments or costs instead of people and land.

It is fantastic that the police have a little more money waiting for them each month outside of the retreats. Are retreats like vacations or time off? I had searched for them, but I have not yet seen a definite answer out on the internet. How are the protests going? I have not seen any new news from this side of the pond.

You are right about the different movements going on. I think most of them are centered in the English speaking countries. A little diplomacy could go a long way. I am excited to say that I am seeing it! :D Little by little the large wave of loud and unpleasant people are replaced by more moderate but still enthusiastic people who can better make the case for their points and counter-points.

The shooting of the Dallas police in 2016 happened in downtown Dallas which is fairly nice as far as city locations go. Apparently the man who did the shooting was upset about some people of his color dying and blamed police action. It is nice that most of the events in France end in arrest versus death. We had a lot of struggle back then, and a little remains. There are a few YouTube videos of men who died apparently doing nothing or died while handcuffed and unable to return any fight. I think that's what made most people upset. Since then, the cops have been more nervous. I do not think that anyone realizes that they are sinking their causes for the most part. Maybe they will soon. One could hope.

Ah yep! The SWAT have sometimes brought death to people although I think I let some of my personal prejudice color my description of them. The police do often receive a "free pass" from the government to do what they need to even if it ends up being wrong. The GIGN is amazing! I am happy that you mentioned them. Forgotten Weapons had a story on some of their kit recently. I wish that there were videos of their training somewhere. :)

To think of 3/4 of the population of France as condemnable (in a non-serious sense) for speaking against the government made me smile. Perhaps we share that sentiment here with our government. xD I will look for Mr. Lambert on Twitter. He is really inspirational! Also, I chuckled really hard watching the firefighters. The officials got what they deserved and it seems like some of the officers were a little confused in the process. Our Houston police and firefighters are fighting for more money right now.

What a car! Your car will be a meme for me as well. It is hilarious to hit something and watch the dent disappear. I love that you kept hitting the light until it fixed itself. As the dark humor goes, "beatings will continue until morale improves!" xD It certainly worked for the headlight! I remember talking to Ed about replacement parts for cara and how strict can restoration will be. What will it cost to fix your interior handle that broke? Also, I love the mental imagery of you flying by the other cars at 110kph while they putter along at 30kph. It must look like a scene from Initial D!!

Ohhh I understand. That is kind of unfortunate. Maybe I can help you get to JTFW? Does it cost a lot?

Thank you! Some of the changes to make life improve have happened. For better or shame I will go see a therapist or counselor this spring to end some old issues. My professional life is so much better! A close friend left work for a better job, but there are still plenty of good people left.

As for the hobbies, I restored a rusty axe head and temporarily applied red spray paint as a rust preventative. It looked really pretty until I had put the head in a vice to fit the handle. It will be repainted this year. The little stove was a part of a hobby in some sense. I got bored, so I made it. Today I took it apart. I was taking too many risks with the Everclear fuel, and the fire almost got out of control today. Further tests will be done outdoors lol. Besides these things, I find little things to fix.

How about you? How are things this year? Any airshow trips planned?

Ah, well, I just needed some time away but now I'm back! Though, I might be much less active than I used to, mostly in the field of submissions...

It's sure is! France being a little country is really an advantage on that side, with the cooperation that's made between the different services, it's quite often that the French Naval Air Arm works together with the French Air Force or the Sécurité Civile for SAR missions in Western France, in exemple. Indeed, they have been very professional and really did an awesome job. And yes, it's quite stressful to know that the lives of everyone involved only held to a little nothing! XD

Yes, and believe me, you do enjoy the fountains of drinkable water and your first meal you get once your out of the mountains, because as long as you're in these hiking, you're not really hungry and just nibble on dried fruits to keep giving sugar to your body, but once down, the hunger really comes. XD
Electronic devices sure can be a great help, given you've got the right ones. On that time we slept next outside of the shelter, I still had an old flip phone (that I still have in case the smartphone gives up XD) with only the possibility to phone or text (I only got my first smartphone 3 years ago) and the last time I went on a two-days long hike, the screen of my phone (which had a GPS this time) inexplicably stopped working while I was driving to the point where we began our hiking, I was glad to have the paper map at the time! But otherwise, while doing aerial navigation, I'm mostly using my phone GPS and only has my paper map as a backup or to check airspaces. Concerning the rations, they actually come from big food companies, so there is no surprise that they are good! Also, I've heard that during joint operations, French rations would be exchanged against ten from other countries!

Well, he actually, at least from what I've heard, acts softer than I thought he would, but he still has the mentality of a spoiled child... And concerning that mentality of seeing one's surrounding only as numbers and profits to be made, we unfortunately had to see the application of such mentality during the Great War, with higher officers being completly out of phase with the reality...

Well, actually, I used the wrong English term, 'retreat' being a false friend here, so, what I actually meant by 'retreat' was retirement and the pensions that goes with (the term 'retraite', in French, is used for both of them). I don't know if it works the same way in the US but in France, when you're working, around a third or less of your gross monthly pay is taken away by the social security to contribute to your future retirement pension so you can still have decent lives conditions and a spending power even after you retire. And currently, it's both the age of retirement (which was at 60 until Sarkozy and 62 since Holland and maybe at around 64 after the new reform if you want a to live from your pension [this reform is quite the system of the carrot and stick, you want to retire earlier, you can but will have a very little pension but will have a bonus if you keep working after 64]), the sum of your pension and the status of some professions (like, they said that fireman wasn't a risky profession...) that are in game, and workers really aren't winner in such reform. About that bonus for policemen, that was just given out of fear since they began to turn against the government because of the hard work conditions and the lack of personnal as well as the rise in the rate of suicides within the law enforcement forces these last years, and when the government proposed to give them this bonus of 300€ (that will not count for their retirement pension) the syndicates just accepted it and the police officers strike just stop, and they have absolutely no guarantee that their bonus will last after the current crisis... So for me, they just bit in the bait... As for the protest, well, with that reform on retirements, the weakening movement of the yellow jackets got put aside by the rise of syndicates which called for strikes and organised protests around the country at the beginning of December, the most active ones being the transport and the energy companies, but since a month and a half has passed and Macron still doesn't listen to anything, the strikes grew weaker because the stikers have seen their economies dried out and now transports are almost back to normal and only relatable actions are the localised power cuts that the electricity company stiill do in the southern and in the Parisian regions. The lack of solidarity from other fields of works and the quick Police actions against the strikers of oil refineries have been the reasons of why it was almost like flailing in the air...

That's great to hear! I really hope it will be the end of all the dramatisation of everything and actually have more moderate movements. Though, I have to say that we've got more and more of the extremist bullshit you're leaving behind that comes to European shores right now, I just hope it will remains at the embryonic phase and will not take too much impotance. ^^'

Ah, yes, I think I've already seen such video. In a way, I perfectly understand the fact that people are upset about what's happening there, it wouldn't be taken without violences neither over here if such things were to happen, already that it quite heats up when there are violent arrest... But, are the officers who shot at unarmed and/or defensless people are judge or are subjects to an invetigations?

Ah well, that wouldn't surprise me neither, as long as they don't do more casualities than the Spetsnazs, it must be okay. :P
French forces aren't very okay with videos of what happens within their walls going in the wild, mostly with their special forces whom faces are remaining covered at anytime they appear in uniform (even for military parades). Though, I've found few videos where they demonstrate their competences:
This one has quite a lot of talking in French without subtitles but the images are very interesting and show all the training of the GIGN.
This one is from a public demontration but is interesting as well
This one isn't bad neither, but well, again there are a lot of French talking ^^'

Well, more and more people are being tired of not being listened to, so they voted Macron because he said he was neither a Socialist and neither of the UMP (it's kinda the equivalent of your Republican party) so people thought it would be a great idea since he wasn't an extremist neither. So, they got very disappointed when they got an Ultra-Right-wing (as in the economical policy, not as in far-right) at the head of their country that would even less listen the people than the others. :P
Heh, what do you want, over here, firefighters are trying to denounce their lack of materials and of personnal and try to be recognised as a profession with risks to have social rights and bonuses on their pay depending on the intervention they would do. And as for the officers in the video, the thing is their position does not authorise them to discuss political matters even though even quite a lot of the higher firefighter officers agree with that messages as quite a bunch of them support there men and even went protesting in Paris... The funny thing in the story is, since they don't have much advantages already, the Prefect (the loud man who was complaining in the video) decided to punish the firefighters... by depriving them of swimming pool! XD

Well, that's why I keep it until I cannot maintain it anymore! Anyway, it will be more and more difficult for me to find a car like I want, with no electronics, with power steering, with no ABS and without those shitty loose pedals that make that just by grazing the braking one you end with the nose in the steering wheel... XD
Well, I had another one on my side "If it doesn't work, hit it. Still doesn't work? Keep hitting it! It's broken? Oh, Well, it wasn't working anyways...". Well, Ed is completly right, mostly when you know he's working on restoring cars from the 20s and 50s, in France laws about car restoration and modifcation are very strict, without counting on the braindead mentality that goes by thinking that older is the car, the most it pollutes... :/
As for the car handle, I went the day after at the scrapyard and bought one for 10€ (most probably too expensive but well, going to the garage would have been more expensive) and I did the repairs once I arrived at my place. Well, never watch or seen scenes from Initial D but it for sure, for people out of context, would have given the feeling of a street racer! XD

Ah, please don't! While I really appreciate your offer, I cannot accept it, first because it would be far too expensive (around 450€ of hotels and convention access, 320€ just for the travel plus all the other costs), second because it would help me out to actually find an actual stable job and third because it's also a choice I've made to rather invest into gliding and an eventual instructor formation rather than anything else. So, Thank you very much for your offer but that would really not be a good idea for me to accept it, mostly with all the cost involved.
Though, I might will require your help, if you don't mind and agree, of course, in a short time. To explain briefly the long story, my gliding club bought a new glider that came with its trailer but that happens to be an US made trailer with all dimensions (including screws and pipeworks) being in Imperial units. But when we brought the trailer to the club, we found out that the brakes of the trailer weren't working and other problems came after inspection so we decided to resolve them and, while we can find the screws and the tools in Imperial units over there, the problem would be for a hose that we fear we cannot find over here, so, I you agree and if we cannot find another one, I might ask you if you could get us one, we will, of course, repay you what you would pay as well as the shipping costs.

That's really great that so much positive changes happened in your life! I'm really glad to hear about that! And there's absolutely no shame in seeing a professional to solve your problems, on the contrary, it's a very intelligent gesture that will most probably help you getting better or at least understand what is the problem that you can work on solving.

Well, it's nice to hear that you find things to keep you busy too!
On my end, things go slowly, I'm trying to get a stable to job in order to actually live of more than 200€ a month, I had a trail to work in an aeronautical company, making instruments for aircrafts, but the recent Boeing 737 MAX scandal did froze the employement at the said company so I'm still searching elsewhere... ^^'
Otherwise, outside of gliding, I've managed to find a Franco-Japanse association in my hometown to which I'm now part of and I'm trying to learn Japanese there. That's mostly what's new. Concerning airshows trips, I haven't a single one planned yet, I would be interested to go the Melun-Villaroche Air Legend since they've got a very interesting bunch of aircrafts including jets from the 1950s-60s and a CA-12 Boomerang as well as the Compiègne Airshow which has France largest collection of 1920s-1930s aircrafts, but well, we'll see depending on the time and the money I'll have when they come. And I also might be called, this year again, as a volunteer for the gliding federation at the neighbourhood airshow...

I've read your message over twice, but I'll read it over again before responding at length. :)

Whenever you are ready, please let me know which trailer parts that you need for your glider trailer (along with make and model of the trailer). I will be happy to help. Always wanted to ship things internationally, but I haven't really had many opportunities to do so.

No problem, you've got all the time you want and need to reply. ;)

Well, actually, we managed to sort things out about these parts, our president, who's also an old motorbikes anthusiast, found out that the hoses, that were the biggest problem, are actually at the same dimensions as the ones on his 1918 Harley Davidson, so the problem has been solved on that point, though, if you still don't mind, I keep you in mind if we ever need some parts in the US.
Speaking, of the trailer, I think it will be hard to give you a builder since I think it's a scratch built trailer made by some engineers from Boeing and that, somehow, managed to be certified in France, if I correctly understood the situation... XD

Thank you for understanding! I had a brisk 65 hour work week over the last 7 days, and my brain is a bowl of jello. xD

It is excellent that your president remembered the hoses on his 1918 Harley! Thank goodness so many things in life can be used creatively in a pinch. Absolutely keep me in mind! As long as I'm above ground I'll be happy to help. My contacts in the aviation community have mostly fizzled out, but I am fairly good at finding random things. :)

Lol! Leave it to engineers to tinker on a glider trailer on their time off. It is a nice way to pass the hours I would think. Do you certify the trailer with the ground and air authorities or just the ground/transport authorities?

Wow, that's quite a lot of work time that you have to do there! I easily understand you remark there... Just try not to overexert yourself by working too much neither, nothing good can come from that...

Indeed, that's really a great thing that he managed to remember about these! If only you knew how much of these little things we are using in our gliders... As an exemple, the barometric bottles for some of the variometers of some of our gliders are actually shampoo bottles in isothemal protections. XD

Oh it sure is! And it also is for the people who have to restore it after it has been neglected for the past 40 years! XD
As for the aviation trailers, that quite complicated, as of now, as long as the trailer comes from an European Union builder, which is 95% of the cases, one only has to register it through the normal system as if you were registering a car you just bought. But, when it comes from outside the European Union, aviation trailers has to be inspected by the Plessis Aeronautical Commercialisation Society to be certified on European roads. So, basically, it has to pass through an aviation related company to have the auhtorisation to circulate on the roads but has to be registered to the ground authorities since it ciruclates on the roads.

It is a lot of work. My industry is either very slow it extremely fast-paced, but it really does not have a setting in-between these. I will be okay as long as work slows down a little. You are right. Overexertion does nothing good for the workers, but our company is just now responding to that... I have been employed for 7 years at this place lol.

D: Whoa! You all are very creative! How long does a shampoo bottle last as a barometric bottle? It feels like the 1930's where people could do what they needed to succeed in flying. We have a homebuilt aircraft here that uses some light door hinges for a part of a wing that folds out for pilot access to the cockpit. The part would not harm anything if it became detached besides losing a little lift so why not? xD

Heh. Yeah things built without plans and rediscovered 40 years later....It is a labor of love. I wonder if the PACS has any cooperation with the ground authorities? That's actually a really simple system. I was expecting more paperwork and some kind of dual tax from both the air and ground authorities. It is good that the pathway to registration has few steps.

Well, it seems that it's only now that company realise that well rested workers are actually more productive than worn out ones... I've read an article few months ago about Microsoft Japan which tried to reduce the work time of their employees to see the effects and actually noted a rise in the productivity of their personnal. Maybe in a near future, it will become common knowledge, who knows?

How long? Well, I'm not sure, but I would guess long enough for lasting at least a decase since there are no efforts put on it. Yes, I sometimes have that feeling too! Sometimes, for things to work out, you have to try unconventional things, mostly if you are in charge of the craft maintenance! ;)

Well, love or necessity, in our case that rather was the latter... It was in such a state, it drove around 280 miles through a storm without breaks and completly unbalenced, I let you imagine the danger it might have been... As for the PACS, I cannot say, I don't really know how they work but they must fill a form and have the visit of a ground authorities agent to certify the trailer. After, concerning taxes, I'm not aware of the charges about them but I guess they must raise the price a little to cover the expenses for the inspection, since we bought did not bought them from the PACS, I'm not really informed about that. It seem simple, right? Well, in the facts, it's a true hell since they decided to centralise all the requests for vehicule registration documents in only one place for the whole country, before it was each regional administrations which was taking care of the cases in their area of juridiction. Now, it's a joyous chaos as you have to wait over 5 months to receive the document (while the provisory one only lasts 3 months) while it only took a couple of minutes before... And guess what, they had the same idea for driver licenses, that was the only time I actually had to shout someone's head off otherwise I would never had my driver license in time...

If Japan of all places is able to reconsider its work hours, then there is great hope for the rest of the world. They have some of the more severe work setups in terms of working before the boss shows up and at least until the boss leaves. It can lead to 12-15 hour days I imagine. For Americans, I think the change will be slower. We are still adding work hours for the most part. I am very thankful not to have a 70 or 80 hour work week though. My work recently cut out overtime so we are stuck at 40 hours a week unless something special comes up.

I feel bad for the trailer. It sounds like it had a rough trip in the condition that it had been in. You could call it the Red Barron trip because he also had to traverse a storm at one point. His little Albatros didn't like the turbulence very much. I think from that point on he avoided flying through thunderstorms.

I cringed a little thinking of how slow and massive the centralized system of vehicle registration is. What a strange move for a country as modern and forward-thinking as yours. 5 months is a serious amount of time to wait for paperwork!! It sounds like things are grinding to a halt within the system if you have to go and shout just to keep things moving. What a pain! What good are expiration dates if they can not even get the document sent out before it expires? x)

Indeed, that really would be a huge step forward if they could reconsider that! Though, apparently, from what I've read about the work culture in Japan, the problem of work time there is mostly a problem for office jobs, apparently, other sectors wouldn't as touched as the one of office jobs are. Otherwise, Japanese Labours Laws has set work hours limit to 40h a week, past this work time by week or eight hours a day or if the employee works on holidays or on weekends or late in the night, the hour wage is increased. Though, I've also heard that several companies, litteraly called 'black companies' (I don't remember the Japanese term), do not respect these laws and are, in part, those which give such bad impression of Japanese work system. I've also read that if Japanese people are working so much, it would be because they haven't changed their mentality about work since the post war era, when the Japanese people had to work hard to rebuild a country that have been severly impacted by the war, plus the fact that the Japanese mentality is rather turned to toward the community than toward the individual. Well, I guess that being the symbol of capitalism and of the free market politic doesn't really help in decreasing work hours per week... Though, I think that's the case in many European countries as well...
There, I must say that I'm quite happy with being in France, legal work time in France is of 35h per week which can be extended to 44h on a maximum period of 12 weeks or 48h exceptionally. Though, generally, companies that works in a three-shifts basis are authorised to increase to 40h hours a week.

Be reassured, as of now on, the trailer has to rest in a hangar that has been built to shelter all our glider trailers and should only be used in case of field landing or for the annual maintenance. I didn't know this anecdote about the Red Baron, I indeed suppose that he musn't have liked that flight in a thunderstorm, mostly with such aircraft!

Well, unfortunately, France has nothing of what made its reputation in modern history anymore. Things began to worsen under the mandate of president Jaques Chirac (from 1995 to 2007), I think, it's around this period that the administration has stopped to see humans to only see numbers. You've had, since then, a degradation of public services, a control over medias and a huge wave of privatisation of public societies and properties. And right now, we're in a complete destruction of public services in France, since the driver licence bureau as the car registration bureau are now private and that work agencies are now obliged to do numbers over accompanying. As an exemple, we've got a half-public work agency aimed to the people between 16 and 26 years old, it's proved to be a real work agency, that helps the workers to do what they want to do rather than to find workers for the companies as the National work agency, the Pôle Emploi, does. That agency, known as the Mission Locale, also provided accompanying to those who needed it, might it be psychological or social. But, with the last reforms of Macron's gouvernment, this agency will now work on a number basis, which will determinate the budget that each agency will receive. If the counselors will be barely affected by that, the secretaries, the psychologists and the assistants of these agency will be deeply affected by this and will most probably not being able to continue to work for that agency and that would be catastrophic, on my opinion. And the problem is that all this politic that Macron's gouvernment is leading is about reducing the number of civil servants for, apparently, making savings, but these private services they put in place are overwhelmed and incompetant while the former public services, as they were managing each a district, were much more efficient...

Oh my! I love the way that you open my eyes, but I detest some of what I see. x)

It is wonderful that most of the Japanese do not have the rigorous working schedules of their office-based counterparts. I had thought, as you had mentioned, that the culture which sprang up in the rebuilding of Japan had lead to a work space that was extremely strict everywhere you go. As for the black companies, we have something like this too. I imagine that there are places around the world that like to bend the rules a little. Your work week sounds so lovely though! Working 35-40 hours on most days must be lovely in times where you can access the outdoors. Do wage taxes cover basic healthcare there?

Yay! It is good that the special glider trailer can sit with the others in a protected space. In Colorado, we had them sitting outside for the most part, but the weather is mostly good there outside of strong wind and hail.

Please forgive the huge link, but this is the only reference that I can find about the Red Barron flying through a storm. Apparently he flew through wind and lightning a few meters off the ground through a thunderstorm and had little control at one point. Your are absolutely right in that he didn't like the flight initially. He said the moment was beautiful only after having survived and written about it lol.

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Oh no! I remember Jaques Chirac. He always seemed to have a mischievous smile on the television. I can not understand why we are all going so far backward in progress even if it does save money. As you have said, the privatized services are overwhelmed and incompetent. My father-in-law was part of a school district for 37 years, and he would tell me that it is important to keep the older people in an organization for this reason! The people who had been public servants for so long know the systems in place and have seen 20, 30, or 40 years of progress and know why each thing is happening. The new people will have to operate in ignorance until their experiences begin to help, and this time period will be especially rough on French consumers, healthcare workers and businesses people who all need their licenses on time and their systems to work properly. Do you see some positive changes coming in the future for the public services if any are possible?

Ah, well, unfortunately things aren't as nice and beautiful as what we want to see... After, I know that I'm quite a pessimistic person, that way, it's hard to be disappointed (but former president Hollande did very well at disappointing me while I didn't expected much of him...) and you've got more chances to have pleasant surprises. ^^

Indeed, that's really a great thing. Though, after checking a bit further, apparently, artistic fields aren't quite as following these rules, one of the best exemple is the animation, there is very few companies which have normal work schedules, one of them was Kyoto Animation.
Unfortunately, cheating companies aren't exclusive to only one place, they are present all over the world... :/
Yes, work weeks over here are really nice when you don't have stupid work hours! Currently I'm on a 8h per day basis from either 6am to 2pm or from 2pm to 10pm, that changes every week. But that's great since it gives you the possibility to do you work day and still have time for yourself during the day and to have your weekend! Well, in France, yes, a small part of your pay is taken to run the healthcare system and to allow French citizens the access to most healthcare you can ask for. But were you talking about France, other European countries or about Japan?

If I remind well, Colorado is a rather dry area, isn't it? If it's so, I suppose that indeed it a place where you wouldn't have much problem to stock trailers in the outside. Over here that's most problematic, I live in the second most humide area of the country so... XD

Ah, unfortunately, I can't open the link, it leads me back to your comment... :/
Yes, I imagine what it might have been, in gliding we're told to stay away from thunderstorms and to land if we can't make it out of there in time since the uprdraughs and downdraughts are stronger than 15 m/s, so I imagine well why he lost control of his plane! I've once saw a lighting on the other side of the city I fly at while I was airborne, believe me, I didn't dawdle to land! XD

Well, actually, Jaques Chirac didn't left such a bad impression on the French people, people thought of him as a likeable person, not with the greatest political ideas or deeds but still. And he was still someone who respected the democracy since he didn't not used the article 49.3 (which basically is when the governement says fuck off to democracy by forcing laws to be passed by skipping steps) each time the people wasn't agree with him, not like his successors... Though, that image of a friendly president mostly comes from a puppet show called "Les Guignols de l'Info" which basically was a satirical look on the news, it was very popular and made fun of any celebrities without distinctions.
I also do agree with your father-in-law, experience is one of the most important feature that has be kept for a system or a company to run well. But to answer your question, I fear that I see none unless a real socialist or far-left party is put to the governement during the 2022 elections but that's most unlikely to happen, either it will be another liberalism party, the far-right or the pseudo-ecologist party... In a way or in another public services are doomed, I think it's too late now to recover what we've already lost...

I will try to address this comment tonight but no promises unfortunately.

The GIGN look a lot like the characters on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. x)

It is okay! I am glad that you are back and will be active from time to time.

What is your favorite dried fruit? It is interesting that you mention them, because dried fruits are sometimes sold in our grocery stores as a snack.It is really nice that your flip phone still comes in handy. Ours will be bricks soon because the network style is changing and the flip phones will be too old (for the most part) to be able to work on the final network.

Let us hope that Milcha chocolate is part of the rations that you have. It is wonderful that the large food companies have put their science to work making the rations more palatable. x)

It is sad to see your retirement age increase. We do have social security, but it is a joke. Supposedly, it is always on the brink of being a broke fund unable to pay out. We also have retirement funds like a 401k that plays the stock market and a Roth IRA. Those are tricky though. I consider them to be a very unreliable source of earnings. The bank savings....so far these are safe.

Thank you for informing me about your pension system in France and the system of the syndicates that have pushed aside the Yellow Jackets. I would not be surprised if the syndicates had government-supplied workers to make sure that the movements and strikes would fail. It is amazing how fear sells yes? Hopefully the police will remember how the government is running and won't be so harsh on the people again although it sounds like they have already gone back to their original role as pawns of violence.

I spoke too soon about the bs that Europe has started to see lol. It did not die, it evolved. xD Apologies from North America as a whole for what is coming to you shortly....

The officers that unjustly shot people were investigated by their fellow police and not charged or put through a "show trial" of sorts to make appearances of the law being applied. For the most part, they had no sentences or very light ones. If a normal civilian did what they did, they would be on death row or serving 40 years in prison instead of being demoted or fired....or having nothing at all happen.

LMAO! I would suppose that the Spetznaz get a stern talking-to if they kill more than two people per incident. xD I am happy for the videos that you were able to share, and I really understand the GIGN's need for secrecy. No one wants their book of secrets spilling out or countertactics could be developed.

Is it irony to deny firemen of water? Hopefully they will not be denied their humanity in terms of proper equipment and fair pay that they are fighting for. :/

Honestly, I have been looking for a vehicle without electronics also. Most of them have 200,000 miles or more though. This place is obsessed with electronic things. Maybe I should be happy to send a message here vs a boat or a carrier pigeon!

It is exciting despite the setbacks of the 737 MAX program that you may have a job soon for more income. Being a glider instructor will take very cool nerves! Also, how are your Japanese lessons going? I think that your lessons there will definitely open doors that were only slightly open before. The Japanese are a wonderful people. :)

Also also...I cringe at how many Euros are spent. xD Our dollars are so weak against the Euro right now. It's like looking at Rubles vs Dollars lol.

The airshows that you have described sound lovely! If I go to see the WW1 event this year, do you want to see pictures? The Aerodome about three hours away holds two events a year.

The CA-12 Boomerang is always something that I have hoped to see fly. We do not have many aircraft like that here, although the Max Holste Broussard has at least two copies in the US. :)

Well, I'm not that much a lover of dried fruits (for me it's like you're pulling away the most interesting part of fuits) but I do appreciate dried figs, that's actually one of the only fruits I prefer dried. Well, over there, dried fruits are pretty common as apperitif snacks or, but that's almost exclusive to dried grapes, in cooking. Yes, it really is helpful to have phones of this kind still working, even though with the new tiny SIM cards I would need an adaptater. But hey, they are told to be more resistant than diamond! That's a shame that they will be unable to work anymore but I guess they want to push people to buy expensive smartphones rather than some cheap phones or even using the phone they've been using for the past ten years... Over here, that could be very problematic if they ever do that, there are still quite a lot of people still using that kind of phones and lots of them would have lot of troubles to learn how to use a smartphone. :P

Well, unfortunately we hadn't their products since they are a German company and that the French administration decided to work with only French companies. But now that you mention it, I don't remember having chocolate bars in our rations... Well, actually, I've search that up, and that's the service in chatrge of the industry and economy of the French Armies that put a bill of specifications on the market and each products were tatsted and chosen by a jury of a dozen of military personal, which explains why the MRE over here are so tasty! XD

Well, over here we've been understanding (until no so long ago...) that social security hadn't as a goal to be profitable, but that, that was until we've put people for the Grandes Ecoles at the head of these systems... Since then, public hosptial only got worse by not renewing or replacing old medical material (though, that also depends on the hospital and the services within) and by not replacing retiring personal...
I've searched up these plans to see what they're and indeed, they do not seem to be very reliable, it doesn't give a feeling a security when you read it like that... I think I can understand why you prefer your personnal savings over those proposed to you.
Btw, I've noticed that what I wrote you about the retirement pension wasn't totally right, actually, I've wrote you that a third of your monthly salary was used to pay for social security and your future retirement pension, while it, indeed serves to pay the social security, it does not pays your pension but serves to pay the one of current retired people. And to make sure that this system works, it's a governemental plan that is obligatory and that has no concurency, so I was a bit surprised when you told me about the two plans you have in the US. XD

Well, actually, this is rather a good thing that the syndicates took over, btw, they didn't intended to compete with the yellow jackets. Since they are organised and still have quite some power, the strategies of the medias only reporting the violence done by the protesters are not effective anymore, instead, the medias goes for the people stuck because of the strikes. There's only a few syndicates, most of them aligned to the right wing, which aren't protesting and France biggest syndicate that decided to continue negociations (while, on my opinion, it was already clear that it was useless) instead of calling to the strikes, but this last one is a boot licker and will loose quite a number of members because of that. Ah well, the civilian police in France are not ready to understand that, they are the perfect little soldiers, they need to prove themself in front of the military police... Seriously, I've been controled once by the civilian police while someone committed (and got away as they came) an infraction under their eyes, the older one controlled me and I was shocked to find an half-sympathectic policeman, I say half because while he did a bit of conversation, he was really impolite, no 'hello', no 'thank you' and no 'goodby', as for the second one? I still wonder if it was a dummy or not, it didn't move a muscle and remained in a at ease position during all the time I was controlled. XD And I'm living in a little city, so, just imagine those in big cities such as Paris...

Oh well, we've been through other bs of that kind, so we should make it in one piece, I guess... XD I don't think North America is all to blam in this, most of these start from there because, I believe, you're the largest english speaking population and since English is the international language, it has most chances to spread around the world. But our primary culprits would just be the human mentality and the mentality instored by our current society, with people desesperately seeking for attention...

Oh, we konw that here too! We too have minor charges against law enforcement forces, though, over here they at least put one year of prison for unjustified killing when, of course, the policemen are publicly identified...

Well... At least the job is done, right? XD Most seriously, I see more the Spetznaz as military special forces occasionaly used as a counter-terrorist force. Now, does that justify the use of a BMP-2 against a single man armed with a gun and enclosed in a wooden house? Well, not necessarily... But for fox's sake, that's Russia for you! XD
It's not just the GIGN, all the French military units are facing some quite heavy confidentiality rules but only the Special forces (GIGN, RAID, CPA, Commando Marine, Strategic Aerial Forces and a few other regiments) have their faces hidden to the public. And only images approved by the base commanders are authorised to circulate outside of the military network, otherwise, it can lead to severe punishements. The French Armed Forces always had the secrecy politics, at the points that, after WWII, it has been given a popular nickname 'La Grande Muette', The Big Mute.

Well, I don't know if it was out of irony or because it was the only mean of repression against them but it certainely shows problems from within the administration. I'm not hoping too much about that since they do not hesitate to reduce the personal in over crowded hospital that barely keep the head out of the water (I mean, you have to wait at least 4 hours at the emergencies before to be taken care of excepted if you're already between life and death...).

I guess it would be easier in France then, just as an exemple, the air conditionner in cars only became a common things from the second half of the 2000s. But I, for sure, understand what you means, we're being more and more forced to have electronic devices. Though, I think some modernity is a good thing but too much can be nocive...

Well, I might have, I think I've got a good opportunity right now, even though the current events are reporting a possible employement for this summer, if things go well, it would be a full time and permanent contract so I'm crossing my fingers now. :)
I've thought about that (even tried to pass the theoric to become one but failed them 4 times of very little...), but to professionalise as such is extremely hard, there's only very few clubs that employ gliding instructors, most instructors in France are volunteers. Well, my Japanese lessons are going alright, it's a bit complicated since you've got to learn everything, from the wrting system (thankfully I'm not learning ideograms yet!) to the way of thinking, but that's also what makes this language very interesting and fun to learn, I'm a bit slow down in my learning because of the current situation but it just makes more time to study it as well! I'm not sure if it will open me much doors but one thing is sure, it's that it certainely will not close them! And yes, they really are, very polite and friendly, all the japanese people I've met so far were really adorable!

Yeah... The Euro... It's a good idea on paper but on the field, it's something else... And if it's so expensive, well, tell you that many European countries have their cost of living rising without the people being able to follow behind... In France, with one Franc in 2002, you could buy a baguette (very Frenchy exemple but it's the best exemple XD) and when we passed to the Euro, the baguette was now worth 1€, or 7.50 Franc. In France, the cost of living has been multiplied per 7 but in some countries, that really was worse. As an exemple, since you spoke about Rubles, went in Russia for studies and was completly amazed that, there, she could have a full meal for the equivalent of 2€.

Concerning Airshows, I think I will apply the 'wait and see' policy on my end, two of the biggest airshows of the year already have been cancelled... If you go to that event and if that doesn't mind you, I'd love to see your pictures, please!

Well, I must admit that I discovered this year the existence of a flying CA-12 in Europe! And well, over here, airworthy WWII aircrafts are being pretty rare with only two or three P-51, a Hurricane, one or two Yak-3 conversions, two Ju-52, few Fi-156 and MS.500, a little fleet of T-6, another of SV.4 Stampe and maybe (a legend says it still is airworthy) a replica of a Caudron CR.760... Ah! The Broussard! Honnestly, it's really an aircraft I like, it's not beautiful but not ugly neither, but it can take care of so much roles!

I hope that, in the current situation, that you and your friends and family are doing well, stay safe!

I wish you would write a biography about yourself. Everything new I learn about you gets more and more interesting! Also, I agree on your opinion about dried fruits. It seems like drying out the fruit removes all of the interesting bits. Dried figs must be lovely! My grandmother's sister (one of the two other sisters) used to can her own fig jelly and preserves. :)

As for the phones, I understand what you mean. My grand-aunt by marriage is great at texting, but others are not quite as lucky!

I have laughed listening to your tales of the MRE food selection and Russia's use of the BMP-2 against the man in the wooden house. You would think they were coming up against John Wick!

How is your job opportunity now that COVID is going on? I am surprised to read what you have told me about the health system and the changes that the Euro has brought. It is scary for those of us who need the value of money to hold steady when the rug is pulled from under our feet!

I think I have seen a picture of the Caudron CR 760, but I might be confusing it with the MS 406 that I had seen flying in a video. Unfortunately all airshow are off this year, so I have no pictures. The little SV4 is cute! Looks a bit like a tiger moth.

My friends and family are doing really well! I hope for you the same. It is a strange year but also a good year.

Sorry for the slow reply, computer has been quite capricious... >_<

Unfortunately, I fear there wouldn't be much to and not too much interesting things to say... ^^'
Home-made jelly must be good! Over here we're more making jams out the excess of fruits, it's been quite rarer in the last decades but it regained in popularity lately. I think it's a good thing to make home-made food.

In the Federation of Russia, excessive force doesn't exist, in the Federation of Russia, you always put the most chances of success on your side! XD
Well, Russia has to keep its first place as the 'Meme Country'!

Concerning that job, I've begun to work there on Monday 3rd, it's going alright, the job in itself is really nice and well paid for what I'm doing so I'll do my best to stick to it! I have to admit that I really was very lucky to get that job, mostly with the COVID crisis going on.
Indeed, it's pretty scary! At my job, we've got 4 Romanians workers and I've befriended with one of them, a mechanic, he told me that he left behind his wife and daughter to come work here because he only was paid around 1100€month and he had to pay for his daughter's studies, that are around 1000€, and her housing. I've got a lot of respect for that man but I find that really disturbing that he had to come so far away from his place and family to be able to support his daughter in her life... :/

Ah, that might be possible, I've seen few photos of the Caudron. But on the otherside, the MS.406 (that I had the chance to see fly two years ago) is quite a figure of the European airpark, so photos of it aren't uncommon.
What a shame that they have been cancelled, but better safe than sorry, I suppose. Here, the biggest have been reported to september for the most of them but they might be cancelled as well since they already aren't sure if student will have a normal start of the school year...
Indeed! They are looking quite alike, like most of the European trainning aircrafts of the 1930s.

That's good to hear! My relatives and I are also going well, I live in region that has been spared by the epidemic so everything is fine over here! Indeed, it's a very strange year, and, I don't hope for that, I fear that the next year will still be deeply marked by the events of this year...