Harnser

Ooops! OH has just corrected me - it wasn't an abonnement it was an abattement - I knew it began with "a" !!

Our latest leccy bill was very small - investigated the small print - apparently because we got an abonnement. Why? Aha - because we had a power cut and we got an abonnement of €54 per supply - we have two, one for the barn and one for the house. So €108 in pocket and I ran the generator for about 10 hours and refilled it with about 7.5 litres of essence that ties up roughly with the figures quoted for the genny of about 20 hours @ 50% full load on the 13 litre tank. Didn't have to ask for it, so isn't it nice when this happens!

I just use the website that provides the input to the website you linked to = https://www.blitzortung.org/ but thanks anyway.

I've been far too close to quite a few lightning strikes in my time to regard them as something to be enthusiastic about. And being underneath a bad electrical storm in our last house in east anglia where the lightning was simultaneous with the thunder, so bad that we got the kids out of bed as there was a chimney above their bedrooms and got them downstairs under the stairs in case the chimney got struck. Really scarey.

Most people will have heard of the desperate cries for help from the Maldive Islands. "please help us we're drowning, the sea level is rising because of climate change and we are all going to drown - etc" The cabinet of the Maldivian government even staged a videoed underwater cabinet meeting and streamed it worldwide to highlight their plight. The UN responded by bunging them a few billion $. The UN obviously couldn't deny that there was a "problem" with sea level rise in the Maldives as the UN has been and still is one of the chief propaganda mongers for climate change. So one of the major scammers - the UN - got scammed by the Maldivians - nice one boys, you are obviously more intelligent than the chair polishers at the UN. What did the government of the Maldives do with the money? They built 5 new airports and loads of tourist hotels because they knew that the global sea level increase is only between 2 to 3 millimetres. Some of the islands have even increased in area. If you want to check out if the Maldives are drowning yet, check out these live streamed video webcams. https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/maldives/south-male-atoll/akasdhoo/akasdhoo.html Looks nice there!

Our household name for peanut oil is "spider oil" ARACHnophobia!

You need a French qualified and insured electrician - I don't know what you mean by a "home" electrician.

This article from Connexion details what you need to do. I wouldn't normally quote Connexion but it seems that it has the procedure nailed. But first of all contact your insurance company/broker/agent by telephone and follow it up with a registered letter to confirm what you said so they cannot deny it. https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Property/House-in-France-struck-by-lightning-Here-is-what-you-need-to-claim-attestation-de-foudroiement-insurance

Where on earth did the French get these words from? cacahuète = Peanut huile d'arachide = Peanut oil A total mystery.

Living in Brittany since 2009 we are getting the impression that here at least, the general weather pattern seems to be getting cooler and wetter. Haven't got any figures to back that up but a good signal is OH's hydrangeas which she has grown since we got here. This last winter is the first time that they have been frost bitten in 12 years. When we get hot spells they are not as dangerously hot or last as long, also we now use more heating fuel over the winters than we used to.

I didn't do a double post - what is the matter with the software on this b****y forum?

You need to research historical droughts and famines in France - the current sleight of hand of "it's the highest temperature ever recorded in France" is deeply suspect IMHO. Why? Ok - here we go. In the days of yore, distinguished educated gentlemen of a scientific bent would religiously record temperatures at the same time time every day from their scrupulously calibrated mercury thermometers installed in a standard stevenson screen at the scientifically correct location for that device -away from buildings, roads, trees, and any source of radiated heat. This was to avoid any undue influence of the surroundings on the accuracy of the measurements. What do they do nowadays? Stick an electronic sensor on the top of a building in the middle of a town with black tarmac roads everywhere and call it an " absolutely true temperature reading - honest guv" Do you see what I'm getting at here? Notes If a sensor or a thermometer is installed within a classic stevenson screen ( that's those funny looking square louvered things on metre high legs painted white) if it's painted with modern paint containing modern titanium dioxide pigment as against the old standard pigment of limewash even that can raise the measured temperature by the contained thermometer by 0.8 F. You can see why nobody is objecting to this. The whole object of this deception is to prove that there is a warming trend. But there has been no warming trend in the USA since the 1930's - it's been cooling ever since then. The warming trend you are seeing in the media is due to fraudulently altered ( adjusted) data, the past records are "cooled" and the current readings are "adjusted" to "prove " warming, that's what is going on. All the above is documented and provable.

You need to research historical droughts and famines in France - the current sleight of hand of "it's the highest temperature ever recorded in France" is deeply suspect IMHO. Why? Ok - here we go. In the days of yore, distinguished educated gentlemen of a scientific bent would religiously record temperatures at the same time time every day from their scrupulously calibrated mercury thermometers installed in a standard stevenson screen at the scientifically correct location for that device -away from buildings, roads, trees, and any source of radiated heat. This was to avoid any undue influence of the surroundings on the accuracy of the measurements. What do they do nowadays? Stick an electronic sensor on the top of a building in the middle of a town with black tarmac roads everywhere and call it an " absolutely true temperature reading - honest guv" Do you see what I'm getting at here? Notes If a sensor or a thermometer is installed within a classic stevenson screen ( that's those funny looking square louvered things on metre high legs painted white) if it's painted with modern paint containing modern titanium dioxide pigment as against the old standard pigment of limewash even that can raise the measured temperature by the contained thermometer by 0.8 F. You can see why nobody is objecting to this. The whole object of this deception is to prove that there is a warming trend. But there has been no warming trend in the USA since the 1930's - it's been cooling ever since then. The warming trend you are seeing in the media is due to fraudulently altered ( adjusted) data, the past records are "cooled" and the current readings are "adjusted" to "prove " warming, that's what is going on. All the above is documented and provable.

Bad boys sit at the back!

A new Russian slang verb has emerged recently:- макронить (to do a Macron), meaning to ring up constantly for no reason. макронить is pronounced "macroneet"

She is also known for liking bicycles. That's bicycles for us, not for her, she will have a ministerial chauffeur driven car.

"But now my President’s continued equivocation is unforgivable. Macron should shut up. Just add up his latest statements. No EU membership for Ukraine for decades. No NATO membership for Kyiv either. Repeated warnings not to humiliate Russia. All this plays in the hands of Putin and no-one else. Recall that back in 2019, Macron was waxing rhapsodic on Russia as “a true European nation, heir to the Enlightenment” – a notion that applied in its time to Turgenev and Chekhov, not to Vladimir today. Look at Macron’s latest project, the “multi-tier EU” (or EU-lite) for those European countries that France and Germany disapprove of. That thing doesn’t exist, isn’t financed, has no known shape and hasn’t been agreed by anyone except a Macron-called “Conference for the Future of Europe” in which citizens drawn by lots were invited to provide “unmediated” public opinion, which somehow would be truer. Macron’s entire education, like that of most French elites, has taught him to respect strength and power, not courage. It’s the ethos of the civil service that shaped him, and it’s simple defeatism" Anne-Elizabeth Moutet https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/14/defended-emmanuel-macrons-approach-russia-now-unforgivable/

It's odd that Macron has this hatred of the UK considering that one of his great- grandparents was english.

Volodymyr Zelensky has hit out at Emmanuel Macron and accused him of trying "in vain" to have a constructive dialogue with the Russian President. "We must not look for a way out for Russia, and Macron is doing it in vain," the Ukrainian President told the Italian TV channel Rai 1. "I know he wanted to get results from mediation between Russia and Ukraine, but he didn't get any," Mr Zelensky said in an interview that was published on his Telegram channel. The Elysee said that Mr Macron had "never discussed anything with Vladimir Putin without the agreement of President Zelensky". "He has always said that it is up to the Ukrainians to decide the terms of their negotiation with the Russians." https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/05/13/ukraine-news-russia-war-latest-finland-nato-putin-live/ Somebody needs to tell Macron to stop interfering!

The site was down last night, presumably being worked on, it's OK this am - not the quickest site on the web but tolerable.

No idea - another creative obstruction from Macroleon perhaps?

As the president appoints the PM why would Macron appoint Melenchon? Oil and water spring to mind! As for my hot tip about Elizabeth Borne I just took a look at her record- Graduate of the College of Engineers, the National School of Bridges and Roads and the Ecole Polytechnique Senior civil servant at the Ministry of Equipment Advisor to the Ministry of National Education to Jack Lang then to Lionel Jospin Technical Advisor in charge of Transport in the office of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin SNCF Strategy Director Director of Concessions at Eiffage Director General of Urban Planning at the Paris City Hall Prefect of the Poitou-Charentes Region Director of Ségolène Royal's cabinet at the Ministry of Ecology Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RATP (2015) Minister attached to the Minister of State, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, in charge of Transport (May 2017 - July 2019). Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition (2019-2020). Minister of Labour, Employment and Integration (since July 2020) Impressive - But far too knowledgeable for Macron to appoint her, she knows 10,000% more than he does about what makes things tick.

We had a terrace of about 12 sq metres retiled about 4 years ago by a local english bricklayer. That included removing the old tommets (small paving bricks about 3" square) bedded on sand and lime, digging out 3-4 inches to get down to solid ground, laying rough concrete tamped, then bedding the new tiles on adhesive mortar and pointing the joints. We supplied all the materials - with a proper devis it cost €600! So €6000 does seem a tad excessive?

This all started a few days ago after this site was offline, presumably having been being jacked up, greased and had it's oil and filter changed or whatever the technerds do with websites. The biggest problem is when you try to post a reply, you press the submit button and nothing seems to happen, you don't quite know if your reply has been posted, ignored or binned.

Macron cannot appoint a new prime minister until Jean Castex and his government have resigned, which they are scheduled to do on 13th May 2022, the day after the legislative elections of the deputies. The hot tip for the new prime minister is Elizabeth Borne.