I had concerns about being able to travel to work, & to visit an elderly friend ; all was made clear by the gendarmes this morning, so tomorrow, I’m off to work as usual…
Otherwise, so far today, I’ve got the Visa back running; started the tractor, & pumped up the tyres ; brought the rotovator out of hibernation ; & bathed a poorly chicken in the sink
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sounds like a successful day so far… well done…
“Be outside more”… I have just demoussed the terrace and am going now out to mow the grass. The shutters will get a coat of paint tomorrow. And later I’ll find time to see what is happening in the world - there is a lot going on and it is wise to keep up via the internet. Btw, where did I first find out about the attestation? SF of course! Bravo.
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We’re working (very slowly) through a list of jobs which have needed doing for years… 
I am trying to work up the enthusiasm for some translation work on my computer… but the sunshine is beckoning…
Does my neighbour really need me to translate this Instruction Booklet… if I can understand it from the pictures, why can’t he ??? aaargh… and so, for light relief I turn to the SF forum… yippee… 
Very true. I am now completely online rather than about 20% online - and though I spent the entire morning in a videoconference, I’m at home during the day which makes a fantastic change and means I can stravaig about the countryside in this glorious weather!
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We went for a walk this morning, one we do a couple of times a week. I have never seen so many people out and about. Ok only 8, but that’s a lot round here!
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Well, people in prison tend to use their time pumping iron and working out and they come out in great physical shape, so I intend to take a yoga and meditation class every single day (except today because I over-did it yesterday). You can get the app Glo and choose from a ton of different class styles and teachers. My home studio in the US is starting to stream live classes as well! So cool!
Enjoy!
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No they don’t. Except in trashy American make-believe prison movies. Most prisoners emerge from prison pallid, podgy, puny and prone to addictions and psychneurosis. Time prison was reformed.
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I shall spend my time much as I did today, Mat. I’ve spent three hours in the garden mowing, pruning and clearing away, tidied chicken run and hens’ mucky water fountains, tidied and swept the garden shed out, cleaned windows, prepared lunch and washed up, sanded down our garden gates for a new coat of Bondex if the rain holds off tomorrow, cycled to town and back for essential errands (having copied out my Attestation Derogatoire by hand). I do t’ai chi in the morning before breakfast.
Tonight I shall relax after boiling a fistful of beetroots to eat tomorrow with a bit of Spam.
Anything else you’d like to know? 
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My lovely pilates teacher is doing daily online sessions for us, which is brilliant! Great effort as having to deal with her kids and her dog too, who do want to join in!
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Yeah they do. The guards are scared shitless because prisoners spend their copious free time building muscle mass. It’s survival of the fittest. The weak don’t last or they end up as someone’s little bitch. My next-door neighbor worked as a prison guard at San Quentin. You couldn’t begin to stomach the real-life horror stories. Prison reform? How about abolishment of the targeted racism that overfills prison walls?
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PS: Nice allitération though!
Thanks @Mantragirl, it’s one of my several irritating quirks 
. I reckon it’s a kind of late-age regression, and it’s a worrying, worsening and wayward whim. 
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OK, sorry, if I’d looked a little closer I would have noticed that you draw on US experience, not western European. As a Brit I have experience of working in UK prisons, where prisoners are often locked in their cells for 20 out of 24 hours and have scarcely any access to exercise yards, let alone gyms. I don’t know about the French prison system, but it can’t be worse than the British.
Point about the penal system being institutionally racist is dead accurate IMO.
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HAHAHAHA good one!!!
Just missing out on a great opportunity to educate people and turn them into decent citizens. Do it right and they could save taxpayers a fortune.
And whoever thought it would be a good idea to turn prisons over to private enterprise ought to be locked up himself. Obviously they have no interest in putting themselves out of business by reforming criminals.
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Thanks - that’s just cheered me up 
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Wow and I was just going to say I thought British prisons were so superior in educating and rehabilitating and preparing prisoners to re-enter society with their A Cat, B Cat, C Cat system. I have a friend from London who got himself involved in a bit of trouble and has gone through a few prisons over the last six years. I remember one was pretty scary. He learned a couple trades but stuck with baking and now he’s getting out this summer! He took counseling courses and became a “listener” and he is a changed man with a new life! And he got it all in prison! His privileges and freedoms were slowly restored and now he gets to go home on weekends and has a gym membership and an outside part-time job. The whole concept of “rehabilitation” is incredible to me because that’s not the American way. I imagine the recidivism rate is pretty low in the UK? The only thing prisoners in the US learn is new ways to commit crimes. The privatization of prisons is basically a conflict of interest because money is made by cramming in as many prisoners as possible not preparing them to re-enter society.
Great topic, thanks!