The snow doesn't want to fall, instead we have an icy rain, a kind of semi melted snow. According to the weather office Paris is always at the edge of the snow clouds, either in the south or in the west of them. In the large open-space office where I work there was today only four people instead of twenty six or so, everybody is on vacation. No office celebration of the holidays this year, at work, the last three years we did a festive meal on Christmas' eve but for some reason nobody thought or wanted to arrange one. The mood wasn't festive this year, almost no Christmas decoration either. I created maps all day today. I managed to find a much bigger (unused) monitor than the one I use nowadays (I'm expecting a new one, large screen, 16/9), plugged it and was very satisfied of my find. I did some very precise drawings on the maps, precise label placement and arrows, a very nerdy thing to do. I'm not looking for perfection, but for doing the best I can and draw maps esthetically pleasant to see, with a professional look. I'm increasingly proud of my maps, these days. The remaining co-workers went to chat with me from time to time and complain about the many things that go wrong in a grumpy very French way. Some are dumbfounded by the recent unforeseen changes in the day-to-day objectives and I should say that I'm a bit unsettled myself.
Tomorrow I'll begin the cats watch! I have a mission: watch my niece's cats who are alone in the Cachan's house. I'll go tomorrow to lock them inside the house (they like to wander outside), feed and water them while I'll be in Poitiers for Christmas, and I'll resume the watch Saturday evening.