Richard51

[quote user="Iceni"]wb - I was one of those chaps though ACCA rather than ICAEW - I did not fancy being an indentured slave. John   [/quote] Students have been able to train as an ACA without a degree for years.  Certainly when I started my training (with KPMG) we had one or two A level students each year - though they had to be forecast straight A's at A level.  Given that most big 4 accountancy firms prefer maths, physics and engineering graduates over accountancy graduates (as the former have far better exam results at ACA) then it shows a relevant degree isn't necessary.  What counts is intelligence and aptitude. PS there is a little more to accountancy that adding, dividing and subtracting.  You're probably thinking of book-keeping. Mrs R51 John: A' level students still have to sign a training contract (i.e. be articled) if they want to study for the ACA qualification.  I believe ACCA students also have to have a commit to complete a rigorous diary of experience which is submitted for approval before the qualification is granted.  In fact most ACCA students take much longer than ACA students to complete their diaries as they have the option to just take a couple of units a year - rather than pass all 5 at one sitting like the ACA students.

I bought some 400 count Egyptian thingy whatsits and they cost a fortune and were a nightmare to iron.  Then one of the last paying guests painted their toe nails in bed - with bright cerise nail polish....and they were no more.  I wasn't sure whether to yell at them or thank them. Mrs R51

As far as I understand it (from Swedish friends) it is not a rape charge as we would understand it.  The case had already been reported back in August and immediately dismissed by the highest prosecutor in Sweden.  Then a politician intervened and reported the case not in Stockholm, but Göteborg and there the prosecutor started the investigation, for which Julian is now wanted for questioning. And to be graphic, the charges are one incidence of spreading out Anna's legs against her will, although the sex that came after must have been willing. And one case of starting sex with Sofia while she was asleep. But she was already naked and in bed with him. If Julian is extradited to Sweden then, in theory, he should be 'safe' as Sweden has no extradition treaty with the UK due to the ability of US courts to apply the death penalty. This is quite amusing reading. Whilst most of the recent releases seem to be catty gossip, Wikileaks can be credited for bring the video of the cold blooded shooting of the Reuters news staff in Iraq - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&has_verified=1 and the recent legal changes that followed the disclosure of the Kaupthing collapse http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/interpol-the-worlds-datin_b_793033.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=120710&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily+Brief Mrs R51

There is also a huge disparity across the school spectrum with some state schools (in affluent areas) performing as well if not better than private schools.  Conversely, some schools in sink estate areas, have abysmal results - the latter not helped by staffing issues.  It also seems to have become commonplace, in those schools where recruitment is a problem, to employ non-qualified staff to teach (or should I say 'baby sit') for the duration of the period. As the schools with 'recruitment issues' are usually those with 'challenging' pupils and less than satisfactory results it would seem to be a vicious downhill spiral. It would be interesting to see the sampling. Mrs R51

This thread started us on the 'digging up family history' path, and I managed to locate the official citation in the London Gazette for my uncle: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37109/supplements/2847 (Para 3 right hand column - SL Francis Finney) His brother Alexander (Bam) was shot down and we have not been able to trace what happened to him.  We promised his sister we would find out (she just got the MIAPD telegram) and never found where he was buried or how he died.  We now know where he is buried but the how's and why's escape us.  Such is war...  At least we have a grave now. Mrs R51

What is the fee for?  We just had our one inspection (2.5 years ago) telling us we didn't comply but no charge levied.  Not seen hare nor hound of SPANC since and we certainly haven't been invoiced for any inspection fees... Mrs R51

[quote user="idun"]I was very glad that it was said that the 'current' young could do the same if circumstances required it. I too think that they could and would. [/quote] I agree.  Most of the young people I know are sincere, hard working and considerate and don't fit the stereotype that the media likes to paint. Mrs R51

[quote user="Weedon"] I remember Clarkson telling a story about a WW2 hero, who turned out to be his father-in-law or his FIL to be at the time, and the fact that the gentleman had never ever mentioned it. Isn't it always striking that those who show true bravery never see themselves as doing anything extraordinary. [/quote] Very true.  The father of Mr R51's best friend took part in the D Day landings.  In all the 40+ years Mr R51 had known him, he had never mentioned it and it only came up because we had called around to see him and his wife after a holiday in Normandy where we had taken our kids to see all the landing beaches, Point de Hoc, Pegasus Bridge etc.  This was in the late 1990's. Similarly my uncle was a squadron leader in Bomber Command - which we knew.  What we didn't know was that he won the DSO for bring back a burning plane (the plane had taken a direct hit) to save the lives of two comrades who weren't fit to bail out.  The fact his plane was on fire made him a target for the Luftwaffe who gave chase to shoot him down.  He managed to land the plane.  One of his friends had died but the other survived.  We (his family) only found out the details of his commendation from an RAF obituary.  He never spoke about it, in fact he was racked with guilt about having to bomb areas where there were civilians.  In later years, dementia took him back to that period and he suffered with terrible screaming nightmares. Btw the programme was about 'Operation Mincemeat' (Counter espionage re Sicily landings - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat).  I only caught the end of the JC programme and would have liked to have seen it in full. Mrs R51

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Hi and welcome I suppose I shouldn't give the following advice because its not legal but in rural areas it is quite normal to find a local farmer with a huge tank and tractor who will for a cash consideration of +/- €100 come and remove the contents of your fosse.  A word with your neighbours will no doubt find the name of the local farmer.  As I say, not legal and you certainly wont get a fosse emptying certificate but when in Rome etc.... EDIT - crossed post with Sid, certainly in my area the farmer will come and do it, I had mine emptied fairly recently and it was my plumber who gave me the name of the guy! [/quote] That's what we did - cost £100 cash.  We had already had our SPANC inspection - and they never asked for fosse emptying certs, just told us our fosse didn't comply - which we knew anyway.  In any case our mairie just shrugged about the SPANC visit (and the two year deadline) and said it was up to them (the mairie) to enforce not SPANC.  It was actually a neighbour who is on the local council (and responsible for enforcing compliance re the new fosse regs) who arranged for the local farmer to come and empty it for us. Mrs R51

"The problem if they are not pedigree is that you cannot prove what they are". This is a truism rather than a problem. Eve, you obviously don't have a dog that you consider to be a problem and I hope that you enjoy his companionship for as long as possible. However, I must point out Staffordshire bull terriers were bred for fighting and although pedigree characteristics are now stated to be very "domestic", they do have the potential for considerable damage, by design. By all means ensure that those in existence are well cared for, but please don't perpetuate the problem: in 10-12 years the dangerous dogs could be removed if drastic action was taken. If they are muscular enough and even look like a pit bull, then they should be under control ALL the time. Don't think that I'm a dog hater - we have always had a dog, our current being a rescue (neutered) Labrador cross (there is some snobbery in having a cross) who is, despite his breed, very protective of his owner (or the one who feeds him) - must be the other bit of the cross that we don't know about!! Perhaps this should be another thread - what breed should one have. Our neighbours in France are into hunting and their dogs are wonderful. They are kept outside and when being exercised will bound up to you and, if you are not on guard, will quite easily knock you over and lick you to death. However, they would never be let lose on their own. Mr R51

Rose Don't worry. You obviously had a very good (rare?) nurse  who actually related to her (his) patients concerns. She would have been carrying a personal dosimeter (EPD or Electronic Personal Dosimeter - I do so hate abbreviations)  and would definitely not have received any significant dose. By the way, the u is the symbol used for "micro". i.e. a millionth. Keyboards don't have the correct symbol readily to hand. After 2 ( or mor) wine glasses I don't really want to get too technical but it measures the absorbed dose and at the dose rate you left hospital with there are restriction ( as advised by the hospital) to adhere to. One thing that I learnt very early in my career was that radiation risks are well regulated and, totally of the subject, a pathologist once told me that he wasn't  concerned by the risk of radiation as much as from biological hazards (as its more difficult to detect these). Very true but with provisos!! NB for polonium I'd worry - its an alpha emitter only and hence is difficult to detect - the Russian chap would have agreed! ( I can't spell his name). Mr R51

What about www.AirBnB.com (or is this too cutting edge for France ;) )?  Not aimed at commercial BnB's but for the average Jo wanting to offer a spare room in his house (with shared toilet if need be)... Mrs R51

Rose, glad to see you are out and about. Your hospital seems to have given all the advice necessary as I, and no doubt you, would expect. The iodine is taken up by thyroid tissue as this is used in the thyroid to produce the hormone thyroxine. Once there, the short range beta emissions give a high radiation dose to the area, and ablates the thyroid tissue. Hence a low iodine diet is required beforehand to make sure that the radioactive iodine will go there rather than the non-radioactive iodine in your diet. Using 131I after surgery is to "mop up" (my term, not official jargon) any residual thyroid tissue. In terms of radiation protection there are two risks: contamination and external exposure. Some radio-iodine will be excreted in your sweat and so there is a contamination risk, hence the comments about telephones. Having said that, by the time you're out of hospital, good hygiene should go a long way to removing this problem. It will also be excreted in your urine, mainly that which is not taken up into your thyroid tissue and occurs for a few days after administration. Not in your case, but gents are normally advised to sit down whilst peeing - the obvious reason.! As well as the beta particles the 131I emits gamma rays (360 KeV so normally a little high for diagnostic nuclear medicine but, nevertheless, are used) which have a longer range and can come out of the body. These allow the nuclear medicine scans to be performed using a gamma camera but also will give an external radiation dose for those around you. The precautions given to you are to ensure that radiation dose limits to others, stipulated in national legislation, are not exceeded. I can guarantee you that more than 50% of patients ask about their pets. You were obviously too shy or had other things on your mind!? The simple answer is that there is no problem. One reason that pregnant women and children are singled out for longer periods of restriction is that they (foetus then baby, not mother)  live longer. The sad fact is that pets tend to live for much shorter periods and so the likelihood of adverse problems is much less. (Nothing to do with my cynical posts re funding and charities for animals versus humans :) ). Its quite bizarre that two topics in which we (Dr and Mrs) have considerable experience have cropped up on this forum in the last week or so. Please feel free to pm me as minor problems which aren't discussed at the time are really more important Mr R51    

I'll ask Mr R51 when he gets home - he's a clinical scientist (aka hospital physicist and radiation protection advisor) so radiation dosimetry (from treatments / X rays etc) is his job...  He also prepares and gives radioactive iodine for cancer treatment - so will be totally au fait with what you've had done.  (I know for certain procedures you and, say, your urine (for example) can be quite radioactive so you do need to follow the rules.) He'll be back in a couple of hours. I hope that (other than the enforced solitary confinement!) everything went ok. Mrs R51

[quote user="Richard51"][quote user="pouyade"]I have just got us the new Halifax clarity credit cards which have no charges. I called Halifax and they said that, if I withdrew CASH on the CREDIT card and paid off the card (via our online bank account) immediatley there would be no charges. Would this not work on the nationwide card? Pouyade[/quote] We have one of those as well.  It was recommended as being cheaper than using the NW debit card (post 1 Nov) - even allowing for the interest charge that would accrue from the withdrawal until the due date.  I'm going to withdraw €50 on each card when we are in France next week to compare. Mrs R51 [/quote] Outcome of our test.  We actually withdrew €40 on each card at, as near as possible, the same time - i.e. an interval of maybe 2-3mins. The cost using the Halifax Clarity (credit) card - £33.80 The cost using the NW debit card  - £33.95 (i.e. €40 at that day's NW exchange rate) plus £1.67 in fees (£1 for a 'Non-UK cash wdl fee' and 67p for a 'Non-UK commission fee') i.e a total of £35.62 Halifax Clarity wins hands down!  If you clear the balance online straightaway it's actually cheaper than a NW debit card withdrawal before the recent changes as the exchange rate we got was better.  Not sure if the better exchange rate was a one off, as a result of the tiny timing difference or whether Halifax just offers better rates. You need to manage the Halifax Clarity Card on line to transfer / settle the amount as soon as you have withdrawn (subject to a max 3 day transfer time.)  Next time I will try to put a credit balance on the Halifax card first roughly equal to the amount I want to withdraw. Mrs R51 Edit: Maximum daily withdrawal is £500 - subject to credit limits of course. 

[quote user="Frederick"]Gluestick I know personally people who have been left property they could have moved into In one case they sold the house for over £200.000 in the same town they lived in . They took the cash and stayed in their HA Home . Hardly fair on those on the waiting list to sell a given house they could have moved into is it ? I also know of one retired HA tenant who lives in Torramolinos . The HA flat is use on occasional returns to the UK .. That cant be right either... There must be many many more like them .[/quote] Likewise Frederick - I know a family that did the same.  They bought a house in Spain.  They also ran a cash antiques business the proceeds of which went in the same direction...stuffed in suitcases to avoid the tax man.  They were both claiming disability / incapacity benefit too...[Www] Mrs R51

It was about 1.48 when we bought our house in early 2006....it dropped not long after we had bought.   Given the anecdotal evidence above 1.5 would seem to be a consistent rate for the several years leading to 2006.

Sorry, going slightly (ok very) off topic here but the Tontine system was devised by a Neapolitan banker, Lorenzo Tonti, who introduced the system into France in the 17th c.  It was originally an investment vehicle for multiple investors where, on the death of each member, their share passed to the others.  Winner takes all.  It is no longer popular as an investment system as, surprise, surprise it resulted in rather too many premature deaths... Mrs R51

[quote user="Chancer"]Pads. It sounds like your teacher may be like the worst one that I had, the only qualification she had was being a native speaker, unable to explain the grammatical reasons and nuances like Norman did and lacking the training/skills to teach which in itself is yet another metier. [/quote] I think it's been discussed on here before - whether having a native speaker as a teacher is always better.  Personally I think you cannot learn a language without being able to listen to the native voice and both understand and mimic the accent.  However, unless they have a very good grasp of the rules of grammar in both their native language and yours - they (and you) will struggle.  We had private lessons (expensive but really worthwhile) with a non native French speaker - who had a thorough understanding of both English and French grammar and linguistics and word origins / meanings.  For us it was hugely helpful.  The ability of the teacher to break the language down and compare / contrast with English meant we understood more in a few weeks with him that we had throughout our entire secondary education language lessons (which, for me, wasn't much!).  Nevertheless, converting this knowledge to real conversations 'in situe' definitely improved when we could listen and talk to a native speaker. Mrs R51 PS Thanks Pads for asking the question.  You're the sort of student everyone loves - the one that admits to needing the explanation that everyone else in the classroom wants- but is too timid to ask for!

Thanks Norman. That is a really helpful explanation.

I have sent you a pm Mrs R51

Have checked with the appropriate professional. Mr R51

For the law of agency to apply there has to be an agent / principal relationship.  Further, the basic duties of an agent broadly define the agent's role: that of acting in the interest of and for the profit of the principal. A fiduciary agent has, at very least, the following duties: to act in the utmost good faith to their principal; must not make a profit from the trust placed in him; not to place themselves in a position where their own interests conflict with his duty; may not act to their own advantage or the benefit of a third person without the fully informed consent of the principal. Thus, the general nature of these duties are (1) personal interests and the duty must not conflict; and (2) one must not take personal advantage of their position of trust; and (3) proscriptive and not prescriptive. Clearly these duties are in direct conflict with the business of an IFA or intermediary who's business is to recommend the best product on the market for his client - even if that product is the product of a competitor.  As an aside, the sub-prime market was created to allow banks and building societies to demand different interest rates according to the risk profile of the borrower.  The only way this could be done was to route the sale of such products through an intermediary to be accumulated in a warehouse or SPV.  The life of these portfolios was usually around five years as both parties saw these loans as a stepping stone for sub prime borrowers; allowing them to build a 3 year credit history so they could then remortgage to prime debt.  Without this there would have been no way of sub prime borowers getting a foot onto the property ladder unless this was subsidised by charging higher rates to prime customers. So, actually, the off balace sheet, subprime market was created as a result of over regulation not under regulation. Mrs R51

Agreed JJ NB only +2.5 if that equates to a girl and two boys. ?R51 and wearing a crash helmet

Gluestick - Most of the salespersons at the time were commission brokers - usually self employed or certainly 'in business on their own account'.  Mr R51