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ssomon

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Posts posted by ssomon

    BBC programmes apart from news no longer available?

    in Sport, Leisure and Pastimes

    Posted

    We lost the BBC News channel about 2 weeks ago, but can get the news on BBC1. Also lost a few Freeview channels, but can still get some of them on the "+" version.

    I think this may be due to a plane tree in the road outside having grown somewhat since the dish was professionally reinstalled and aligned a few years ago.

    Unfortunately the installer is no longer in business; the number of Brits around here seems to have decreased dramatically in the last 3 or 4 years.

    Nothing to do with Brexit, of course 😉

    Exchange rate for this year's tax return, svps

    in French Finance

    Posted · Edited by ssomon

    I use a spreadsheet to arrive at the figures for our tax return, so it is fairly simple to change the rates for foreign exchanges. All our UK income stays there, so I have no actual figures to use.

    This year I made one calculation at a £ to € rate of 1.138 and another using the daily rates from www.exchangerates.org.uk , which is quite compact to print out.

    I always keep a copy and a note of the source for my figures, in case of any dispute.

    The  amount of tax payable was slightly lower using the daily rates, and more importantly, just below the next tax band applying to us, so I used those results for our return.

    This also has the advantage of probably being a more acceptable source than second hand information that is available.

    A gentle joke

    in The Lighter Side

    Posted

    Then he went to the local, put the centipede on the bar and asked the barman "What do you think of this?"

    "Sorry sir, we get a few of those in here" said the barman as he squashed it flat.

    • Sad 1

    Soverereign Citizens

    in The Lighter Side

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Lori said:

    Reminds me of some other weirdo groups in the U.S.A.  I imagine a French gendarme would have a field day with these types.

     

     

    But, judging from TV Police programmes, the average UK cop would spend half an hour or so arguing with them.

    all this twiddling about with the time....

    in Other Topics

    Posted · Edited by ssomon

    3 hours ago, menthe said:

    ....does not suit me, not my mind or my body.

    It confuses me no end and upsets my daily routine. 

    I think about all the living creatures that this shifting about between winter and summer time who are affected adversely.  The premature babies in their incubators who wonder when the nurse is going to give them their syringeful of food, the baby birds thinking about the next chewed up worm to be put in their mouths, the poor early morning workers going to work lacking sleep and motivation and so the list goes on.

    Would YOU welcome an end to this madness?

    I'm not completely sure, but I think birds are excused from summer time changes.

    • Haha 3

    Sky HD Digibox

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    In January I replaced our old Sky digibox with a Manhattan SX Freesat HD Box from Amazon, being the cheapest replacement I could find. We gave up our Sky subscriptions through a third party years ago.

    The box works very well with our existing 95cm dish, but we find the Menu and programme booking systems confusing and clumsy compared with the Sky box. It also turns itself off when not being used and has to re-initiate when the TV is switched on again, which is annoying.

    Can someone tell me if the current Sky HD digibox uses a similar system to that of the old non-HD one, or recommend a better box for receiving UK Freesat programmes?

    Which is your least liked vegetable?

    in Other Topics

    Posted

    Did you know that jerusalem artichokes are the roots of a type of sunflower. The English name s a corruption of the Italian name "girasole"

    They are not very exciting to eat, but taste better parboiled and fried. The French seem to associate them with poverty and wartime, along with parsnips, other cheap root vegetables, and chestnut flour.

    You can make an acceptable briam without peppers. Just use a few whole cherry tomatoes instead.

    Pellet stoves

    in House Renovations

    Posted · Edited by ssomon
    correct typos

    We have an 8.7kW Canadian made pellet stove which I bought on UK Ebay in 2008, and moved from our previous house in 2012. It is installed in the main living room in the centre of the house, the other rooms being adequately heated by normal air circulation. I have maintained it fairly easily at reasonable cost, using parts sourced from both France and Canada.

    Our average consumption of pellets was 35 x 15kg bags per year.

    We used it as our main heating source once the outside temperature dropped below about 7C, when the air/air heat pumps became less efficient, until the winter of 2022, when the price of pellets soared from around 4€50 to almost 10€ per bag.

    We managed to get through the winter on 8 new bags plus 2 left from the previous winter by running the heat pumps longer and lowering the temperature in the house.

    A quick calculation showed that pellets are no longer economical, besides needing more cleaning and maintenance, so I bought and installed new, larger and more efficient air/air heat pumps.

    These have kept the house at 20C in the daytime, 18C at night, and we have only used about 1 1/2 bags of pellets when using the stove for a quick temperature boost on very cold evenings.

    Our electricity bill is manageable at about 1600€ for the last year, we save over 200€ a year for pellets, and no longer have the weekly cleaning and hassle of the stove, and shopping around to find acceptable prices.

     

    New use for car hazard lights

    in The Complete France Post Bag

    Posted · Edited by ssomon

    In October 1968 I visited the NSU factory in Germany to collect my new car, which I had bought from their agent in Teheran for a very good price, and which was the first car I ever had with hazard lights.

    We drove back to England via Switzerland and France without incident, but half way up the M5, near Dunstable, there was a serious accident and I suddenly realised all the lanes in front of me were at a standstill.

    I managed to stop in time, and immediately turned on my hazard lights.

    Seconds later a Triumph Herald ran into the back of my car at close to full speed, knocking us violently forward to hit the car in front of me.

    My wife and I suffered quite bad whiplash, our two youngsters on the back seat were lying down asleep, so were OK, but  the herald driver got out and immediately collapsed in a heap.

    I never got to talk to him, the insurance eventually sorted things out, but I am convinced he had never seen hazard lights before, and thought he had to drive between my two flashing rear lights.

     

    BBC newscasters and presenters

    in Other Topics

    Posted

    On 05/02/2024 at 17:28, anotherbanana said:

    BBC and ITV have cleared out the older generation who were well educated and well spoken ( to use much maligned phrases) and replaced them with young multi racial and multi sexual presenters and actors.

    I'd be happier if they each only had one of each.

     

     

    • Haha 1
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