a hard day at work.....

Paul:
I was invited to a cocktail reception this afternoon.
TOTAL is launching a new grade of gasoline (Excellium
- now that's a French word) that improves fuel efficiency
and they invited the press to visit a gas station for a
photo op. Afterwards two busloads of press corps and VIP's
came to CReS for cocktails.

I arrived at the appointed hour and there was nobody there-
but of course, "It's French time".  The hostess told me they
were "on schedule" and twenty minutes later the buses
arrived.

It was a first class affair with champagne, caviar, and a
premium Côte Rôtie red wine.  Besides the TOTAL big wheels
from Paris, in attendance was the CEO of Renault and several
other French companies.  As a joke I asked my boss if he had
said hello to the VP of Refining and he said, "Of course,
would you like to meet him?"

The "projet" manager for Excellium turned out to be someone
I had met at language training school in March (he was
learning English).  He has a father-in-law from US who is
coming over in September and we agreed to get together for
barbeque.