Too much of the snow, not enough of the electricity is my problem right now.

I sorted out the computer system up in Meribel yesterday afternoon which took me longer than expected, but a job well done. By the time I left, snow had started to swirl down around the summit. The flakes as I descended the mountain were as large as I’ve ever seen, the windscreen of my Kangoo looking like a big frosty albatross was pooping all over it.

The snow continued right through the valley all the way to Tignes. It was an… interesting drive up the side of the mountain, especially once I got past the dam. I passed numerous vehicles stranded in the ever-deepening snow, many of them stopping as I approached their back ends. The most annoying grinding to a near halt just as we reached a sharp hairpin right which made for an interesting corner as I had to go round him without losing speed. Thankfully the road was empty.

There hadn’t been a chance for the snow ploughs to come out, hence the problems. By the next day (i.e. today) I’d expect the roads to be in much better condition so that I still don’t need to put the snow chains on. No way was I stopping halfway up that hill to put chains on last night when it was -5 degrees outside with a hefty wind and snow coming down!

So I made it to the hotel where Sonja kindly served me a “random” meal which I definitely needed. I got one of the PCs done and then we popped out to the Alpaka Lodge for a couple of beers. Lovely little place, very cosy and home to the world’s largest dog. OK, maybe not official, but if you meet him you’ll be inclined to agree.

This morning, I rose with the intention of fixing up all the PCs so that the resort staff could take them with them the next morning as they all disappeared to their respective homes for the next few months. Start early, get done by mid-afternoon and perhaps pop up to Belle Plagne to sort their systems out.

Easy.

Only, the French electricity company decided to put in an appearance. After waiting a whole month for the useless b*stards to appear, they turn up to fix a problem which must be resolved by Sunday. And in doing so tripped the fuse for the downstairs ring main where all the PCs are that I need to work on.

No “excusez-moi” or “by your leave”. They just flicked the lot off as I was in mid-Outlook config. Argh.

So there I sat for the better part of an hour until Sonja, hotel manageress extraordinaire, noticed the silly… people had left one of the trip switches down that they didn’t need to. One click and the systems are all back up and working.

No wonder the electrics in France are so bad if this is the standard of their staff. Ah well, an hour wasted. I better get on!