France: the second world country

as i've said before, France definitely couldn't ever be considered a third world country, although when you go to the post office it feels slightly like it, so as a compromise i call it the "Second world country"

As opposed to of course the mighty mighty mouthy country we all know and love; the U.S.

a few snippits for comparaison purposes:

my wifi card -
i ordered it in Dec, still not here. why you ask? they have run out of stock. As far as I can remember anything I've ever needed in the states (except for car parts) is always available and at any time of the day.
The kicker is that the place where i internet ordered it from didn't even have the customer service-ness to notify me. (Have I mentioned that the US is the best country in the world for customer service too?As J.D. says "here the customer is king, but the king better know when to shut the fuck up")
so as of the 15th of Feb, i still have no wifi card. shucks.

my gym -
given, Rouen is a small town (250,000 in the center and surrounding mini-suburbs); and everything in France is teeny tiny. which i rather like. and so is my gym. I just signed up for a year's membership (hitting the diet trail again) and off I went.
Here's where you laugh. It has three eliptus machines (the ones where it feels like you're running but your feet never leave the footpads - running, but low impact), four bikes, one rowing machine, three treadmills, one of every weight machine, some other random torture devices, and the aerobics classes room. Oh, and yes for the cardio machines there is one tiny television to distract you from your fat-burning agony session.
Open till 8.30 pm (practically a revolution for France), half day on Sat and not on Sunday. (Who the hell could not have their gym open on Sunday?)
However the best part is a sauna - teeny and big enough for four people but hey, any sauna is better than none. Even though I do prefer steam rooms.

Now you have to understand I went with my friend K to her gym in the burbs - 24 hours; a tv for every machine, machines too many to count, steamroom and sauna, blah blah blah. you get the idea.

My "controle technique" -
For the first time in France, I got pulled over. Turns out every car older than five years old has to go to a technical control every two years. J.D. and i being two lowly foreigners (and first time french car owners) didn't know. and the lesson cost me 151 euros. FUN!
(Important aside - i gave him my american drivers licence and he didn't say anything, whew! that could have technically turned into a big mess, but that's a story for another blog)

So, now that i need to have one of these technical controls, i promply finish my day's work, go home and call one place that i drive by regularly. I call 'em up, they tell me their open, i say i'll be right over. WHOAH little girl! you have to make an appointment. Ridiculous. Like for the dentist's office? yes like for the dentist's office.
second world country. J.D. laughs and proptly reminds me I'm not in the US.
So i make my appointment and that dirty deed got done.
make an appointment?????
i still don't get it; the funny part is also that anytime i drive by one of these places, THERE'S NO ONE THERE!
could it be pessimistic of me to suggest that it could possibly have something to do with the french work ethic? (meaning - avoid real work as much and as long as you can)

well, i'm sure i'll have more for later, for the moment this will have to do.