Iceni

I agree CdL, same horse different gravy - though I may well return to England but only for short visits. John

Depends on the odds. MM has gone out to 5-2 from 7-4 after Ascot and I suppose that we can expect these to shorten on/before the big day so might be worth a shilling on him now. Also RW should be on board and he knows the horse much better than AP. But though I watch proper racing whenever it is on the box (ATR mostly) I keep my pennies in my pocket. John

Hmmm - an interesting Victor Chandler. MM held on but only just. Noble of AP to take the blame but the horse did not look his old self though a win's a win. On this form the Queen Mother Chase is by no means a cert. John

[quote user="PaulT"] You should have gone in and siad 'I've just noticed the Dacia on the front' Would the reply have been 'Oh yes sir, tremendously popular vehicles, they do not stay on our forecourt for very long, let's go for a test drive'. [/quote] No - the owner is French. John

In April I was mooching around the local car lot and spied a Dacia estate car priced at €10,990. Last week it was still there, still clean and still the same price. John

Lovers of the Kaiser Chiefs will have no trouble deciphering part 1 of the title. I will shortly attain 65 years and today received a "State Pension claim form". Amongst the info required is 1. Any addresses I had in the UK and the dates I lived there. (Luckily "any" not "all") 2. Employers names, addresses and dates worked there. (Again "any" not "all") 3. Originals (not photocopies) of any contribution or insurance record cards or notices Does the State no longer retain any records? Or do they hope that I will be so put off by the questions that I won't proceed with the claim. My inability to provide all of the above details should help to prove that not all accountants are anally retentive about paperwork.   John  

Touché, PPP. It is so long since since I used a Marchant or even a (forwards/backwards) Facit that I had forgotten about them. I met my first electronic calculator in 1968, a Canon Canola 16 (?), cost then £850 - more than my annual salary. Within 5 or 6 years the price of the cheapest Canon fell down through the £100 barrier and after another couple of years we were selling tiny little hand-held beasts at £5. Writing down the value of stock became a monthly task. John

[quote user="pachapapa"] In the days when engineers used slide rules, which were too complicated for bean-counters and Sinclair had still not started selling cheap calculators. [/quote] A "tool" that does not provide the answer may be acceptable for an engineer but not for an accountant. Before calculators were invented I used pencil, paper and brain. Used to be an FCCA 

1. Search this forum for "selling a car in France", the paperwork is the same wherever you sell your French reg car 2. Provided you can con(vince) the dealer into taking said car off your hands Cut the dotted corner from your CG Diagional line through what is left and write "Vendu le (date + time) à (wherever you are) and sign - hand over to dealer You and dealer fill in and sign certificats de cession in 3 copies (1 for dealer, 1 for you to keep and 1 for you to send to your Prefecture) Hand over Certificat de non-gage The dealer will not have a clue how to proceed (probably) but that is not your problem 3. Show cert de cession to your French insurer to cancel insurance 4. Where to obtain French forms and anything I have forgotten will be covered by 1 above John  

Gluey, when I read your post I was reminded of the old saying "Don't confuse me  with the facts, I have made up my mind". John

Good race - but not for Kauto Star. Seems that the stat about P. Nicholls having only 10 winners from previous 36 runners was relevant after all. Imagine though how much better Long Run would have gone with a professional jockey. [6] John

Shirley the simple solution is for your daughter and her bedmate to marry? John

Another example of a word (friend) no longer meaning what it used to mean. I suspect that it all stems from an urge to gain ZZ list celebrity status - if I publish my most intimate, inane trash and make enough people aware then I will become a Famous Person. John

I believe that violent mobs should be controlled by bulldozers, stocks should replace ASBOs and flogging brought back to lower the prison population so you will not be surprised that I am delighted that this offence was punished with a prison sentence. Sadly though I doubt that he will do 32 months or anywhere near. I note that mummy talked him into turning himself in - had he not done so would she have done it for him? I fear not. John

Are we all invited to the Bris? John

I realise that most,if not all, of you know this but just in case - these flexible pipes carry a "replace before" message. I checked today and half of mine expired nearly 2 weeks ago. John

Why bother? Buy a RHD car, re-reg in France if necessary and drive safely in France. John

I have read that the flood waters around Brisbane threaten Ipswich - that's a bit bigger than France and Germany combined. (Do not assume from my light hearted comment that I have no sympathy for Brisbanians.) John

French codes are not nearly as specific as in UK. e.g. the UK code will narrow a location down to several houses in the same road In France our code 46*** covers about 10 "towns" - each the size of a modest English village. Within 46*** Toytown is our hamlet, no street names so no numbers just a postlady with a good memory or lots of crib sheets. Even within Toytown most simply live in Le Bourg. HTH John

1. French reg cars don't have a V5 for the dealer to sign 2. I traded in my RHD, French reg German car in Wales using exactly the same documents and procedure as if I had sold it here in France. Not sure what the dealer did with the CG, his copy of the Cert de Cession etc but that was not my prob. I used my copy of Cert to cancel insurance and sent Prefecture copy to Prefecture. Simples John

Wonga.com has won 3 awards recently. And anyone able to lend money at 2689% APR (or thereabouts) is a fully deserving cause. Why didn't George Osborne or Vince Cable think of this ? John

We could be talking about 2 different things. I would give my right arm for a US style top loader and spinner. The washer is a large machine with a central paddle and handles huge washes in super quick time. The front loaders with the drum encased where you open a flap and put in the wash are just more effective than UK style front loaders that spin against gravity (well that was how it was explained to me). My greatest memory was of a chello player who had a plane to catch. She cleaned up and suddenly stripped off her dirty clothes - washed in about 18 mins and dried in less while she packed. My electricity eating versions would have taken 2 hours  at least to do the same. I now wash with washing balls most of the time, 45 min wash with one rinse but as the balls contain no soap or products I have no traces left in the clean washing. If the washing needs sterilising, I do a full wash with Vanish as bleach kills bacteria/virus/parasites and anything else the dog might bring in - not to mention our happy band of mice who I will get to the very very last one. We have various makes & models bought in France but following the names back all come from the same factory except the huge Whirlpool US fridge/freezer which like everything else came from a seconds shop in Biars Nr the Andros Factories. It has a scratch all along the top and as I am 5 foot 1 inch I only discovered it last year [:$].  

For a moment I hoped it was to be the end of Eastenders or similar. John

We don't do Christmas full stop. It is not our birthday. If we want to drink anyday we do (my son brings me over Warninks Advocat and I drink it straight). We have had smoked salmon, longustine, lentils, and anything else we fancy. We also have frozen pipes - very traditional I don't think. I do think this is the first year I have ever woken up to a real white Dec 25th though. I told OH not to go walking outside as he has back and leg problems - he did and guess what - he fell over - stone cold sober. I showered the dog and cleaned up them - I suppose it has been a good holiday weekend all in all. I even did some work [geek] Back to the same tomorrow. Work that is.

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"] But as a JW, the thing I loved about christmas was the fact I didn't have to worry about it and enjoyed watching everyone run around like headless chickens!!! :) [/quote] Being a religious freak is not a pre-requisite for having that much fun. John