Aug 2012 – Jan 2013

That’s right.  This bear se habla español now.

What choice do I have?  We’re here for six months.  Or longer.  I have a feeling I’m here for a while.

They better make chocolate better than they make coffee.

I didn’t get an X-Box like I was expecting for Christmas but Nicholas got me some bling. And some lotto scratch cards.

It’s a start.

Thanks, Nicholas.

Now where’s my X-Box?

This christmas, I bought Nicholas some hot cocoa. This way, when I want some hot cocoa, Nicholas will already have it on hand.  After all, who wants to wait if the urge for cocoa comes up?  Not this bear.

I even made him a Christmas note.  And it came with a gift card.  For Steam.  So he can buy games to play.

With me.

Here’s my gaming setup.  I am a fan of having multiple monitors

Pictured in the front is the Surface tablet I won at the Facebook hackathon.

It’s also where Nicholas works hard to make me money.

It was like a 9 hour drive to get there, but Nicholas and Pokin won first place and I got my paws on a Microsoft Surface tablet as a result so I guess it was worth it.  I deserved that tablet since Nicholas used my Facebook account to do his demo since he didn’t even have one of his own.

I was mostly left to my own devices in the car but at least Nicholas had the foresight to bundle me up warmly in a scarf.

And anyway when no one was looking I snuck into Facebook and helped myself to some chocolate.  My Assassin’s Creed style scarfing helped me stay stealth.

No not my pet dog Cuddle Pup.

It’s the tin right in front of me..

That’s my bear tin.

Whenever Nicholas sells something on Craigslist or earns some kind of money, I make sure to take prompt ownership of any cash generated in those transactions.  After all, of course any money Nicholas generates selling things must have been intended for my tin.

And that tin is very important.  I use it to fund my investments.  Investments like the one I made into Nicholas’ business.   I was his first investor and I put a full $500 into his business.  So I’m keeping a close eye on him.  I expect to be paid back.  With interest.  And gaming.

Well by ordering him a cake, I meant I directed Pokin to find a supplier, communicate my preferences and handle the payment.

Naturally I ordered a chocolate cake.  Well technically red velvet but it had chocolate in it.

I even quality-control-tested the bed for him.

What’s that again?

Yeah that’s right, I’m a thoughtful bear.

To be honest, I have no opinion on flowers.

But this one time, Nicholas brought home some flowers.

Naturally I figured they were for me so I went to check them out.  Turns out they were for Pokin.

So I’ve decided I still have no opinion on flowers.

And then, just like that our France trip was over and one morning I found myself on a bus shuttle headed for the Marseille airport.

I decided I wanted the window seat.

So I took it.

At least Nicholas still had the privilege of sitting beside me.  Plus I reminded myself about the train incident.  I deserved the window seat this time.

I was excited to go on my first european train ride.

I thought I’d be writing all about the scenic country side and how Nicholas and I were bonding over our travels together.

Instead I’m writing to say that Nicholas stuck me in a net.

That’s right.  My supposed best bear bud stuck me in a net for our first-ever-train-ride-together-in-europe.

There will be payback.* *