New Wheels, A Birth, GDPR & 2 Pieces Of Bad News (It’s 2016 All Over Again…)
Only a few weeks have passed since my last post, but what a lot has happened! We’ve made significant progress on the whole “getting settled in to France” thing, we’ve had some great news and then we’ve been hit with 2 pieces of bad news that make it seem like 2016 all over again (ah, life….)
The Good Stuff -> Settling In To France
Life has been moving on at a good pace here. Betwixt the markets, food and other awesome stuff we’ve gotten a few practical matters taken care of….
Our U-Crate Arrived!
Remember that crate we packed at the RV park in Florida using UPackWeShip back at the end of March?
Well it arrived in France, pretty much exactly 7 weeks after we shipped it from Miami and I’m happy to say it was a smooth and superbly easy process. The shipping guys on the US side gave us regular shipping updates via e-mail, and we were able to track our sailing vessel across the Atlantic pretty much in real time, using free online Cargo Vessel Trackers (e.g. AIS Ship Tracking works great).
On this side of the pond the importers in Europe (located in Rotterdam) were efficient and easy to work with. They asked for a few pieces of additional paperwork by e-mail to prove our residence in France, but otherwise didn’t require anything else. A truck came loaded with our crate on May 7th, exactly as scheduled and dropped it off at the house without a glitch. All our stuff had arrived in exactly the condition we’d shipped it!
I can’t deny it was kinda surreal to see stuff that had been part of 8 years of RV life in the USA show up in France, but it was also nice to get it. We don’t have much, but we have a few things that make us happy. Paul got his tools, I got my bike and we’ve got our books, our kitchen items and some pics on the wall. Makes it feel more like home, you know?
We Have Wheels (Regular Ones, Not An RV…)
The other big event of the month was getting some wheels. Since we’re staying for a while here in France while dad gets treatment and Paul gets legal, it made sense for us to be mobile and get a car.
We initially considered a long-term rental. Believe it or not this is actually a “thing” in France! Thanks to some convoluted French law (a common occurrence over here), both Renault & Peugeot offer specific programs that allow long-term car options to foreigners. These are actually not regular rentals, but short-term car leases with a guaranteed buy-back option (a similar deal exists for RV’s too by the way, but that’s the topic of another post). They are WAY cheaper than regular rentals, plus you get a new vehicle, unlimited miles AND full comprehensive insurance coverage included!
In order to be eligible you have to be a non-European citizen, or a European Union citizen whose residence is outside the E.U., and traveling in Europe for a minimum of 21 days or more. If we weren’t establishing residence for Paul in France this would absolutely be the way we’d go. So, if you’re an American planning to travel by car in Europe for a longer period, check this out!
- Peugeot’s Lease Program: http://www.peugeot-openeurope.com/
- Renault’s Lease Program: https://www.renault-eurodrive.com/en or http://www.renaultusa.com/
- Also these guys do leases: www.autoeurope.com
Since we are establishing French residence however (Paul won’t be subject to those pesky 90-day Schengen visa restrictions), we decided on a regular car purchase and it took a bit of doing to figure it all out.
First of all we needed a verified address which we’ve found is pretty much a requirement for ANYTHING you do in France. Thankfully my dad was able to offer one through an “attestation d’hébergement” which is basically a written statement that we live with him. Then we needed to figure out how to get the purchase money from USA to here. The research I’d done for my Europe banking blog was helpful for this. We used TransferWise and they were awesome. Lastly we needed to buy car insurance. For this, an attestation d’hébergement was (once again) needed, plus we needed proof of our last 13 years (!!) of insurance in the USA with any and all claims made. Thankfully we’ve been Geico insured since forever, so all I had to do was call them up and ask for the required document. Phew!
Surprisingly the only thing we didn’t need to buy a car in France was a French drivers license, as you can legally drive on your US license in France for up to a year*. Imagine that?
Oh and what did we buy in the end? A Peugeot 3008. It’s a “demonstration” model so we got it for a sweet deal and it is a SWEET ride!! 4-wheel drive, keyless entry, back-up camera, electronic dashboard, you-name-it. Overall it’s like a compact, snazzier version of our old Honda CR-V ,the major difference being that the Peugeot engine gets around 60 miles per gallon compared to our old run-rate of ~25 mpg (wow!), a major bonus in much-more-expensive-fuel France. We’re very happy indeed.
*Note/ Although we won’t need to get a French license until next year, it came in super handy that we had our International Drivers Permits (IDP’s), which we got for only $20 from AAA in the USA before we left. It means we won’t have to have our Florida Drivers Licenses officially translated into French.
The Great Stuff -> It’s a BOY!
There’s no doubt that the biggest, craziest, most awesomest happening of the past month is that my sister gave birth to a beautiful little baby boy!!!
It was a long and difficult labor, but my sister has Viking strength so she made it through like a trooper and the little boy came out healthy, happy and ready to take on the world.
My dad and I gave the new parents two weeks to settle in before we flew up to see them, but then we were ready for some serious baby time!
I cannot deny that it was an intense moment when I got to hold that little miracle in my arms, and despite having quite a bit of colic (I can confirm that he’s got healthy lungs!), he did really well the week we were there. I did a lot of cuddling, quite a bit of soothing and endless swaying. Plus I took a ton of artsy baby pics (only one of which I’ll share here….sorry, private stuff this). It was a fabulous week and we loved every minute of it!
My only problem now? Despite an absolute genetic lack of rhythm (trust me, you don’t want to see me dance), I seem to swing my hips unconsciously every time I stand still now. If someone videos me in France and I become an international meme, you’ll let me know right?
The Necessary Stuff -> GDPR Compliance
Have you heard about GDPR? Well if you’re a major company you’ve definitely heard about it and if you’re a fellow blogger you should have heard about it.
It’s a set of new data protection laws in the EU which came into effect May 25th and it’s the reason you’ve probably been getting inundated with privacy statement and cookie acceptance pop-ups everywhere you go on the web. It only applies to EU-based individuals (for now), so if you’re a US-based blogger you may not think it applies to you. But if there’s any chance that you have any readers or visitors to your blog from Europe, I’m here to tell you that it does. Plus I think it’s likely these laws will eventually trickle into the US and worldwide over the long term. Knowing what happens to your personal data online is important, and it only makes sense that websites clarify what they’re doing and how they’re protecting you when you visit them. In a nutshell, that’s what GDPR is all about.
The other thing you should know is that fines for non-compliance are HUGE. Administrative fines are up to 20 million Euros or 4 percent of annual global turnover, whichever is highest. You’ll get a few warnings before they hit you with $$$, but those are no small potatoes….
So, what has Wheelingit done? Well obviously I’m super-small-time in the whole websphere of things, but I still want to be compliant so I’ve made several significant changes to my site. Several months ago I switched the site from HTTP to HTTPS (encrypted) to ensure your data is more protected, Then this past week I wrote a fleshed-out privacy statement which details exactly what data we collect (we don’t collect much), how you can manage or change what we collect, and what we do with it (Note/ if you leave a comment on the blog or send me a personal e-mail I NEVER share your data with anyone). Lastly I’ve added a pop-up cookie notice which links to my privacy policy. So please feel free to read through all that and share any questions or concerns you might have.
What should YOU do if you’re a fellow blogger? First of all don’t ignore this, even if you’re a blogger based exclusively in the USA. GDPR applies to anyone who visits your blog from the EU, even in passing. So unless you can absolutely, 100% guarantee that no-one ever does, then the law says you have to be compliant. Also most folks will tell you that unless you’re a big-time blogger you shouldn’t worry about it (indeed, chances that you’ll get caught and fined are small), but personally I think it’s worth taking the few steps to get compliant, both for yourself and for your readers. I’m no lawyer so I can’t recommend specifics, but at a minimum you should understand what data your own blog is capturing and create a privacy policy page (an absolute requirement). Plus you might also want to consider a cookie plug-in to let visitors know about your cookie policy (I’m using GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, in case you’re interested). Lastly you might also want to consider switching your blog from HTTP to HTTPS (good practice all-around, no matter what). Please think about it, OK?
Good external links on GDPR:
- The Bloggers Guide to GDPR: https://support.pipdig.co/articles/gdpr-for-bloggers/
- 5 Actionable Steps to GDPR Compliance with Google Analytics: http://www.blastam.com/…/5-actionable-steps-gdpr…
- Using The WordPress Privacy Policy Generator: https://www.isitwp.com/how-to-make-a-wordpress-privacy-policy/
- Jetpack Privacy Policy Helper: https://jetpack.com/support/for-your-privacy-policy/
- Lubenda Privacy Policy Generator: https://www.iubenda.com/
And Now For The Bad News….
Thus we come to the bad part of our last few weeks and sadly, it happened almost exactly the way it did in 2016.
We were walking Polly off-leash in the garden. She started off towards us, let out a massive yelp and then wouldn’t put any weight on her right leg. NOOoooooo!
It was the classic signs of an ACL rupture and it happened almost exactly 2 years after the rupture on her left leg in Cape Disappointment, WA. We always knew this was a strong possibility (once one leg goes, a 2nd rupture is common), but we had just hoped beyond hope that Polly would be the exception to the rule. Sadly this does not seem to be the case…
We took her to the local vet and got confirmation of what we already suspected, with just a glimmer of difference from what happened in 2016. Her right ACL was not completely ruptured, but definitely torn. So we were now in the same nerve-wracking situation as last time, except for one thing. We’ve got a small chance that maybe, just maybe she’ll start to use the leg again on her own and maybe, just maybe it’ll stabilize itself over time.
So we’ve put her on strict rest for 2 weeks and we’ll see what happens. If she starts using the leg again we’re talking 4-6 months of rehab just to (hopefully) form enough scar tissue to stabilize the knee, with the caveat that the ACL could still rupture fully anytime down the line. If she doesn’t start using the leg again, our only option is another TPLO surgery followed by another 4-6 months of rehab. Not an easy decision, right?
Of course there’s the added stress that we knew THE GUY to do the surgery in the USA, but we don’t know anything over here. We’re starting our entire research process from scratch.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!
In some kind of twisted sense of symmetry the Universe decided that we really needed to re-live the worst parts of 2016 in its entirety.
When I took Rand to her vet health check in Jan I noticed she had a lost a bit of weight. This is not unusual in an older cat, but nonetheless it raised the hairs on my little spidey-cat-mom-senses. I started to watch her more closely and over the next 2 months I noticed small but significant changes -> a little more physical activity (acting a bit more like a kitten), increased appetite & eating, increased thirst, a little more meowing at night. All these were minor and could be many things in an older cat, but sadly they were pointing ominously towards something we already had ample experience with.
When I took her to her first check in France and saw that her weight had dropped again, I did what I hoped I would never have to do. I asked the vet to check her T4 levels. An agonizing 20 minutes later we got the result. She was hyperthyroid. Again NOOOooooo!
So almost exactly 2 years after Taggart was diagnosed, Rand got the same diagnosis. Ugh!
I guess the good news in all this is that we know exactly what to do. For Polly we know what the rehab involves (I’ve already started leg exercises on her this week) and for Rand we know what the treatment plan is (she started her Felimazole pills earlier this week and will get rechecked in 3 weeks to see how the T4 & kidneys are doing. If all is well, we’ll be seeking out I-131 treatment). Of course just like Polly’s (maybe) surgery we’re in the same dilemma for Rand’s treatment. We knew THE GUY for I-131 in the USA, but we didn’t know anyone on this side of the pond. This is the sucky side of an internationally nomadic life, and we’re getting that lesson early on.
Lots of uncertainty ahead, but I’ll let you know how it all goes. C’est la vie, right?
Thanks for the update. Sounds like things are coming along. Very unfortunate about the furry kids. So sorry to hear that and we pass along all of our well wishes. Wishing you all the best and live every day to the fullest.
Peace,
Ray, Leslie and the cattle dogs
Damn! So sorry about your animal troubles. I wish you all well and heartfelt prayers for the smoothest and best possible results.
As usual, you provide invaluable information! Happy for the birth and love the picture. So sad to learn of your fur babies troubles. Really appreciate the info on GDPR. Can we copy (but replace Wheelin it with our name) most of what you’ve done? Great examples!
YES! This is one case where I give full OK to copy anything from my privacy policy which you feel is relevant to your own blog. Do make sure it’s relevant of course, and double check the details for yourself, but otherwise feel free to copy away…
Nina
Aw, damn…..sorry to hear the pet problems again. It’s hell to get old, there’s no way around it. You can live the best, healthiest lifestyle you want….eat right, exercise, avoid stress, but the year’s take their toll on people and animals. We wish you good luck on your wait and whatever lies ahead.
Our love, Sue, Dave and Lew….
Oh yes, I almost forgot to say….cool car! And, if the hands in that baby picture aren’t yours, then your sister has the same ones! Now I’m done.
You are VERY perceptive Sue! She has exactly the same hands as me 🙂
Nina
The good news is all GREAT, but dang, I am so sorry to read about Pollly’s ACL and Rand’s hyperthyroidism. I sincerely hope the universe will now send you the best veterinary care, really close by, to get everyone back on track.
Thanks for the blogging info, I will pass it on to a friend who has a blog, I know she will be very grateful.
Sending live and positive energy
Thanks much for the positive energy! I’m hoping we get as lucky with the vets over here as we did in the US. Fingers and paws crossed!
Nina
So sorry about the pet problems. Health issues out of a person’s home country are difficult. The chronic ear and I have seen much of Europe’s medical system. I do hope you can find good vets where you are. The car is really cool. Congratulations on having wheels.
Thankfully we’re relatively close to a major vet school (in Toulouse) so we should have some good vets in the area. Tracking them down is the tough part since there’s not as many folks on forums or online reviews over here. Plus vets aren’t legally allowed to advertise their services in France. So we may have to go more by word of mouth….we’ll see.
Nina
Wow, you HAVE been busy. Congrats on the new nephew, the new car, and the old stuff! And so sorry to hear about Polly and Rand having health issues. I feel for both of them — and you. At least you are already experts on the topics, if not on the doctors. Here’s wishing you all well (Taggert too).
So glad to hear that your personal items arrived safely and unharmed:) Love the new wheels! But so sorry to hear about the paws difficulties. Sure hope you find the necessary specialist. Thinking of you all:)
Thanks Pam! Good travels to you over in the US!
Nina
So sorry to hear about your pets. That is a really tuff situation. Cool car. Congrats on the new nephew. I’m glad all your things made it to France safely. You have been one busy women and it doesn’t look like you will be taking a break any time soon. Thanks for all the info you provide.
Very kewl car..! but 60 mpg? (not kmpg?) How do they even do that? Lots of good news, even great news… but so sorry to hear about your fur babies health problems. They will be in my prayers!
It’s pretty crazy isn’t it? The car officially gets around 4 liters per 100km which translates roughly into 59 US mpg (or 71 UK mpg). It’s a Diesel engine and they make them very efficient over here. I was pretty blown away myself!
Nina
We are thinking about you guys over hear on our side of the pond. Sorry to hear about the pets! And that’s a nice looking ride.
Thank you so much for the GDPR info, Nina! I was totally confused when I first heard about it, but what you’ve written makes sense. I was glad to see that our blog was already https, so that’s one thing taken care of.
Hope the fur kids are ok, and glad your crate made it safely across the pond.
To be honest the whole GDPR thing was confusing to me too. It’s not easy to know how to handle it when you’re just a small little blog (big companies have teams of people for these things!). Good job on getting your blog to HTTPS. That’s a big first step.
Nina
Our furry babies sure have a grip on our heart strings, don’t they? So sad to see them hurting or in poor health and we feel so helpless to make it better. You provide us all with so much help and information that sometimes it feels like we’re right there with you. I’m glad you got a new set of wheels and all your stuff. Perhaps it will provide you with a little diversion from the worry. But probably not enough. Keep us posted on the kids progress as you walk the legal line of blogging in the EU.
They sure do. It always hurts me to see them ill or in pain. Hopefully we can find good treatment centers over here. That’s always a big part of the battle.
Nina
Babies are such a happy occasion. Sending good vibes your way in hopes Polly doesn’t need surgery and that you find good caregivers for those fur babies!
Thanks for sharing the info on GDPR requirements. I updated my site last week. Nice to read that I was not alone in doing the exercise. It’s not a trivial effort. It was a little eye opening to learn what some some of these plugins and background services like Google collect for data. I think the disclosure is all for the good. Glad I did the HTTPS conversion a few months ago.
I totally agree with you! When I started the whole GDPR process I initially thought that my privacy statement would probably only be a few sentences long. I mean I only have comments and a few ads & affiliate links on here, so I really didn’t think there was much collection going on at all. But alas as I looked into Google, and my plugins and such I was surprised to learn how they really worked. Like you said, it was eye-opening and, also like you said, I DO think it’s a good thing in the long run.
Nina
So glad to hear that your personal items arrived safely and that you now have some spiffy new wheels. We did a lease with guaranteed buy-back option when we traveled to France and Italy a couple of years ago. So sorry to hear about Polly and Rand. We are sending healing thoughts your way.
Those buy-back leases are awesome! Great to know you had a good experience with them. Thanks for the healing thoughts…they’re always welcome 🙂
Nina
So sorry to hear about the health issues with Rand and Polly. They are very lucky to have such great pet-parents who will go the extra mile to find good treatment options for them. Will keep my fingers crossed and encourage my Lucy & Sammy to cross their paws – for good results.
Congrats on new nephew…very sweet indeed. Sorry to hear about fur babies going through hiccups…I hope they recover soon. Love your new car….I need a new one soon to take road trips! Take care and that everything goes well.
Into each life……congrats on your new nephew. It’s wonderful you were “over there” already for the grand event! Love the new wheels and that your stuff has arrived safely and as planned. Super bummer about the paws though (I was so hoping that wasn’t the bad news). Not something you ever wanted to be experts
about 🙁
The photos are amazing. Bristol is stunning and the lightning intense, but I may like the daisies the best :-))
Thanks for all the help you gave on GDPR. I had not heard about that. As a not very techy blogger who does have a few European readers I’ll need to work on that.
A longtime blogger in Southern France, Kristen Espinasse from http://www.french-word-a-day.com May be able to give you names of some good gets in your area. Her family has lived in region a long time and had various adventures with their critters. She is from Arizona so your rusty French is “pah de probleme”. Good luck with the babies. And the French LOVE of bureaucracy,
Excellent recommendation! Thank you so much!
Nina
Sorry about Polly I wrote you last time regarding our Lab Kyoto who mid May while visiting some friends at a Ranch in Raton NM tore her second knee the Right one this time. We are going through the Rehab for it right now and she is doing fine. Her first one was at 18 months and now she is almost 10. Well we feel that when we take care a pet we must do everything to try to keep them healthy. I hope Polly’s heals for you. Good to hear from you there is France.
We’ll be right there with you in just a little bit! Continued good heading to your baby!
Nina
Congrats on the arrival of the little, new family member. And nerve wracking news on the pets – that’s really too bad for the furry factor. Indeed, SO much has been happening in your lives. The car is a beauty. It’s remarkable how much information you are able to deploy in one post! I especially found the info about the GDPR interesting and you are right, from here in Canada, I am seeing the cookie caution pop up appearing quite often suddenly.
I hope the pets do well in their recoveries and there is a general return to good health.
Thanks for the post – always a pleasure to read.
Li
Sorry to hear about your pets.
There is so much to digest on this post! But let me congratulate first for having a new ride, nice looking car and congratulations you are now Aunt Nina!
By the time you read this Polly has weathered another surgery, poor girl. Hope she is mending well and on the road to recovery. And for Rand, I also wish she also will come out of it as easy as Taggart. The good news, you’ve been on this road before although in a different country.
Hope all is well in the next few weeks.
As for GDPR, my head is spinning but need to get on with it. Thank you so much for bringing it to our attention. I never heard of it until your post came along.
I’ve been disconnected for a bit with but am slowly catching up! First congrats on the arrival of your nephew, how nice that you will be closer for a while to be that fun auntie! And oh NOOOO about Polly and Taggart. Your input to me when our Kiah needed surgery on her front leg was beyond helpful. I know that the steadfast thoroughness with which you and Paul approach life will pull you all through this. Plus you have many of us thinking nothing but healing thoughts for you all. I hope all is going well with your dad too. He must be so glad to have you there.
I’ve been disconnected for a bit but am slowly catching up! First congrats on the arrival of your nephew, how nice that you will be closer for a while to be that fun auntie! And oh NOOOO about Polly and Taggart. Your input, perspective and positive energy when our Kiah needed surgery on her front leg, was beyond helpful. I know that the steadfast thoroughness with which you and Paul approach life will pull you all through this. Plus you have many of us thinking nothing but healing thoughts for you all. I hope all is going well with your dad too. He must be so glad to have you there.