fisherman

At one time you could get a rubberoid paint to paint over slates. I don’t know if this would be recommended by any roofing experts on here and I don’t know that if in the long term it could cost more as it may prevent reuse of slates. But it may prove to be an economical medium term fix particularly if it is applied from a cherry picker as shown in the photo.

Paraphrasing the police evidence in the inquest, Ian Tomlinson got a whack for walking insolently so I guess this guy got off quite lightly.

Wow – what a brilliant idea. Rubbing poo in the faces of the holier than thou, liberal lefty middle classes just brings a smile to my face at the very thought of it. But of course they will not find it OFFENSIVE as it is only other peoples words and opinions which are offensive.

It’s a little ironic at one time one could use the N word but the F word was considered extremely offensive. Now it seems to me that the F word is nearly obligatory but the N word is considered offensive. Maybe in 20 years time it will flip back again.

I think cutting off your nose to spite your face may apply here. Calm down. Its annoying but a typical tax man trick in the UK, France or elsewhere. Be assured the Taxman will raise the tax to a level to hurt but not to kill the golden goose.

We had a similar thing on an ‘A’ road last year down in south 86 area. This chap was to Eastern EU appearance complete with a pregnant female.

Unfortunately having a debate on racism or several other subjects is near impossible because as soon as you offer an opinion which does not fall into line with the politically correct dogma you are accused of an ‘ism’ or a ‘phobia’ which effectively closes down the debate. There are many evil things that go on including racism (not only white / black), religious intolerance, the cast system and tribalism. To use the slur of racism for political and other advantages trivialises the issue and prevents focus on the real issues which effect the individual freedom of those that are truly living in a living hell. To answer the question of the post I don’t think that it is either racism or paranoia it would appear to be more like manipulation of a situation for their own ends.

Not wishing to be a damp squib. Pressure Vessels and Pressure Systems are subject to all sorts of regulations and periodic inspection requirements. I’m not sure if they are all applicable if used in a domestic setting, however I know that traction engines need to be certified before they are fired up, but that could just because they will be used in public. I think it would be an interesting project. There may be non pressure alternatives such as using the hot air up the stack to drive a turbine. Alternately just keep a low profile and ensure that a good high lift safety value and bursting disc are fitted for your own protection.

I don’t know how it works in France but in the UK & USA when the authorities have ‘got their man’ there are no end of leaked stories and innuendo which somehow the press gets hold of before it becomes sub-juroray. It may be just coincidental and I am sure that it is not a deliberate attempt to poison potential jurors minds. Typical example was the landlord who was arrested in Bristol on suspicion of murder. The press got hold of loads of unflattering pictures and salacious details. He was found to be not involved in the end – totally innocent but life blighted. So I’m not sure if any high profile case could get a fair trial.

I Know its annoying. But ask yourself if this proposed tax was in place when you first purchased you home would you still have gone ahead. When we purchased our place we realised that there would be some form of property taxes to pay but that was not one of our key buying decisions although for the more clued up this may well be different.

Thank you all for your kind advice.

Put your emotions aside. Think of your letter as a metaphorical stiletto. Cold, calculated and planned will give you a lot more satisfaction when you watch them wriggle.

I did not want to hijack another post with this so I have started this new thread. We had been visiting France on extended holidays for more than 5 years and then last year things started to drop off our 20 year old motor home. The upshot was that for only a little more than one would pay for a late model motor home we could buy a modest property in a small rural hamlet of about 6 houses, a couple close by but mostly spread out. Its in our nature to generally keep ourselves to ourselves and therefore we are not looking for social interaction apart from the normal pleasantries one exchanges with neighbours. But we do not want to annoy anybody either. Visiting and staying with ex-pats is a different thing from actually having a house with neighbours. The house has not been decorated since the late 70’s so we have a fair bit of fairly minor work to do. It was mentioned in another post about noise etiquette. When moving into another community one should respect the norms of that community (I could have a rant here about townies moving into the country side and complaining about the smell of a local farm – but I won’t) What is the general etiquette in regards to making noise. Does it apply to just DIY type activities or should we gag the children. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I use an FX company as well. What could be simpler – a couple of mouse clicks and its done. I seem to have so many interesting experiences ahead of me. I hope it is sorted soon.

I use a transfer intermediary. Only used them a couple of times so far but quite straight forward and you can do the transfer yourself on line. I think they also give better exchange rates than the bank. (when we purchased the house the banks exchange rate meant we would have lost about £2000) I don’t think I can give the name of the intermediary on here but pm me if you are interested.

Idun With the smiley face I thought you were. Irony is very difficult in a short post

My comments are based on my knowledge of the UK, my knowledge of France and the French language not being as yet up to scratch. I made the supposition that human nature being what it is that all of those who have the handles of power probably behave in the same way. However I may be wrong and France is a haven of individual freedom and light regulation.

Idun Reference the conversation with you son. Bearcats and the authorities in general do not understand individualism. For one thing individuals may think and for the other they are more difficult to control. Therefore they will try to stamp out anything which does not fit into there prescribed way of existence. Orwell was only a few years out on his prediction.

We did a lot of research into mobile homes and caravans a little while ago. The planning regulations have a whole section on them. Like everything else in France they are highly regulated. I may be wrong but it seems to boil down to that any permanent placement must be on an approved caravan park. I don’t think that it is officially possible just to ‘park’ a mobile home on your own plot of land and use it occasionally. (however on saying that there is one near us, so it could be just my lack of understanding of the French system or they are keeping a low profile and the local authorities are just ignoring them as they do no harm) The proposed new tax is annoying when one has not budgeted for it. I have not been able to even estimate what ours will be yet but I am hoping as we have a very small quite modest property it will not be too much. Mobile homes and houses have different advantages dependant on lifestyle, number of occupants and location which in some ways overshadow simple economics. Therefore I suspect that in the long terms it will just be looked on as a cost which one has to pay as part of the ‘package’ and probably have little effect on peoples decision on their second home choice.

If the person concerned uses the press for their own ends to boost their popularity, career and earning them they should be fair game when they slip up. They should not have the right to manipulate the press to their own ends. However if the person concerned does not court such publicity them I think it fair that their private life remains private. Which funny enough would probably mean that good old Fred G, the bogey man the politicians like to use to deflect blame from themselves should be covered by an injunction. As regards to the subject of the post. They are all part of the establishment, public servants who are now public rulers, they will end up with a stale mate neither side wanting to rock the boat too much with the risk of loosing some of their power. Unfortunately as far as the political establishment is concerned I have gone beyond cynicism and probably moved on to complete loathing.

Paul I would agree if it was likely to stop the toads driving around without insurance. But it will not catch the cars which the owner does not bother to register in the first place. Also as you say the number plate readers do pick them up. In fact if a SORN is declared then they drop off the radar for this offence. But not of course if they are caught driving on the road by the number plate reader which will flag up both that the car is not taxed or insured. So where is the benefit of this new law. I don’t think it has been fully thought through. On the face of it is a good idea but perhaps they should have left things as they were. Then the authorities would know which cars were taxed but not insured and could conduct a few home visits to ensure that the car was not on the road. I only came across this by chance when I was declaring a SORN. My guess is that there are many more motorists out there (particularly older ones) who will not know of this law. Its just my opinion mind but my guess is that it will pick up more of those honest folk who are either forgetful or ignorant of this law and have no intention of taking an uninsured vehicle on the road rather than the toads it is aimed at.

In the past I have used a black metal primer. The non green etching type is best full of solvents but does a good job. One trade name is PA21.

The reason that Fred Goodwin walked off with such a good deal was that the Politicians wanted to get rid of him quickly and Fred was smarter than the civil servants sent to do the deal.

If the car is reliable keep it. Another car may have a whole load of hidden faults which could cost a fortune to fix. I run my cars until they become too expensive to fix. I had a 20 year old Volvo once and the damn thing refused to die. It was only when I could not get spare parts that sent it to the scrap yard..

Just discovered another spiffing wheeze dreamt up by our by our so called public servants and their political masters in order to criminalize more of the basically law abiding public. If have a vehicle off the road but taxed & you decide that you may put off insuring the vehicle because you may not be using it for a while then you will be committing and offence and can be fined up to £1000. You must now declare a SORN if the vehicle is not insured even if it is off the road. If you have tax then you MUST have insurance.