menthe

It's the weirdest weather I have known in my umpteen years here. Planning to walk with friends this afternoon as it's been sunny and only a bit cold this morning but I made the mistake of looking at the météo. It says, orage and grêles this afternoon! So it will be lunch at home and perhaps I'll make some bread. I am no domestic goddess, moi, so this does not seem like an attractive alternative to a walk and perhaps taking some pictures on my new phone and see if they come up upside down like Noisette's.

Good tip, kingfisher, except that I'll probably mislay the stylus.......now you have reminded me that I am forgetful as well as clumsy, thanks!😜

dept71, you could be spot on. Still, we can at least let it go out with a bang and not fizzle out like a damp squib?

No, don't want to change keyboards. It's just that these on-screen keyboards do me no favours as my clumsy fingers keep tapping the wrong key. I could touch-type and OH says that's my problem right there and that I just need to type with one finger at a time. Yes, everything does get larger if you put the phone on its side or use two fingers to stretch the text. Anyway, I chose a pretty blue phone and my battery has died on my latest wrist watch so I tell OH I have bought the phone so that I could tell the time. A lot easier than trying to change the battery on the watch!

I think it's genuine too though I wasn't offered a choice. There was a code on my letter and, when I entered it, it took me straight to the offer.

And even if it goes west, we can at least let it go with a bang?

dept71, indeed you may well be spot on. But isn't that all the more reason to make the most of it while we still can?

Somebody please say what rate, before I convert everything to euros. I like just to check what other people are using....

Will pop into a post office at some time to check the authenticity of the offer. Why have one? Well, why not, if it's a cadeau? Thought I'd take it with me when I go away in June to walk in the Massif Central and use it to send emails to my husband and load it with the exercises I normally do at home. No, you don't want to know what exercises..ha! ha! There are the ones I do for my joints before getting up, the nitric acid dump ones I do 3 times a day, the Wim Hof ones I do for my asthma, the pilates ones for stretching (though not so much everyday anymore). Sometimes I do think I could be just a mite obssessed?

Judith, I saw a documentaire recently about that museum and it's supposed to be the last word, in museums that is. NOT the LAST word from any of us here on the forum, is it? DL even if you are not the miracle worker, you deserve tons of credit for keeping us informed and motivated. So come ON, eveybody, put your shoulder to the wheel or mettre la main à la pâte or simply just come and post in DROVES! The forum rules, OK?

At last, I have grasped the nettle and actually bought a Samsung Galaxy A25. Have been playing about with it today and find I keep typing in the wrong letters. Now I remember why I didn't want one of these phones. I just KNEW I'd have problems with the keyboard. Still, am forcing myself through the "getting to know you" process. At least I am trying my best to get to know the phone but I am not sure how hard, if at all, it is trying to get to know me. The reason I am posting this is to alert fittersmate to get in touch with me if she wants to know more. I shall send you a message fittersmate, if you are still about and have the same details.

DL my chap says the machine is "good enough" which should mean it'll work! So next I take the letter of offer into the bank and ask them if they sent it and the offer was genuine. If all kosher, I will choose the cheapest monthly magazine on offer so as not to expend too much dosh and hope the machine will at least be usable! As ever, thanks again for your help.

Thanks, DL. The nah-nah's certainly outnumber the aye-aye's. With some of the negative opinions though, I do wonder if the users were setting it up correctly. I think that because the 5-star opinions were very positive though there weren't many of those. Don't know if I'll bother but then it wouldn't be costing me anything and the magazine I have chosen le Point is one that I do read from time to time. I reflect that I probably pay more than the subscription for the magazine in the secondhand book shop I use frequently. I await the final opinion of my "nerd" (fond name for the chap who comes and sorts out our computers and TV when need arises) before I commit. Just don't want the hassle if it doesn't work and I have to find the special dump. to get rid of it

The gift horse is a "mini ordinateur portable DANEW". Apparently, I have been chosen to receive a present of one of these by la Banque Postale (of which I am a client) in exchange for my subscription of a magazine for a minimum of 10 months. I looked up this notebook on Amazon. It is a French product and retails for just under 250€ on the French site. If it works and it's not a Trojan horse, it would be good! BUT is it too good to be true? Has anyone banking with la Banque Postale also been "selected" for this cadeau? Everyone here who has an idea of my technological expertise will appreciate that I am in great need fo your advice/opinion. Thanks.

Yes, Lehaut, I did have a shock seeing the "vast" (ha!ha!) amounts we had inadvertantly accummulated! It's just mostly bank savings accounts that I was afraid to close as we can, of course, no longer open new accounts. I also have a couple of national savings accounts which pay useful amounts but by no means huge amounts! Didn't expect much and only check once a year when filling in the tax return. I don't know whether they are more diligent with us than with the French. I can only say that I have never been "controlled". I do trawl through everything and try not to forget anything but then I am sure I am perfectly capable of making the odd mistake, more through ignorance in the early years, than anything else.

Oops, sorry sir, please sir, I was only answerin' betise's question, honest!

Is David Lister your REAL name?

Yes, DL, of course I meant social charges though I have broadly use "tax" to mean anything we have to pay on the tax returns. OH has a couple of annuities so we were used to paying sc from those but certainly interest from savings wouldn't be enough to count for much.

Concerns taxes and interest from savings and the déclaration for 2023. After years of getting zilch, I have had a bit of a shock on gathering the figures in anticipation of the tax declaration next month, to find strange looking largish sums added to our savings accounts! Amounts for interest.....but don't know if I should be jumping around for joy too soon. What with the state pensions increase and now interest increase, I am wondering about (you guess it!) this year's tax bill! Completely forgotten by now what it felt like when the exchange rate was 1.47 and interest rates on savings were 7 - 10% And now this unexpected good fortune has completely floored me! Has anyone else been surprised, delighted, thrown into confusion....and what other emotion?

Just move house, ALBF! Goodness knows you have threatened often to do so. Sorry, couldn't resist teasing you. I do sympathise. Everyone, just keep away from him, what with all that coughing and sneezing.....ugh.....give him a wide berth! ALBF, have you had a word with your pharmacien? Does anyone know of one of those Bach remedies that might work?

As I walk often with friends, eveyone has remarked that there is a high level of pollen. Certainly, every pair of walking shoes I have seem to be yellow with pollen. Don't know if my allergies are worse; indeed don't know what I might be allergic to. But I accept that during spring and autumn, my cough gets a lot worse. I take a prescription antihistamine year round and if my cough is caused by phlegm, I take a sachet of "Exomuc" and that soon calms things. If I can't sleep at all due to coughing, I take a teaspoonful of a sirop for dry coughs or simply a Dafalgan. Take my inhalers as directed but have taken the same ones for over 30 years and the pneumo says don't change anything so I don't. The rest of the time, I ignore the cough and do all the things I'd normally do, including being outdoors as much as possible. Fortunately I don't get runny eyes or nose.

It's OK, ALBF, the match finished early round about half 10, our time. Ronnie not played his best, not allowed to. and Mark Williams potting everything smoothly and with his characteristic insouciance. Result was 10-5. ITV4+1 is just the ITV4 channel programme, one hour later, so NOT live. Have a look at the guide for the list of programmes and if ITV4 is not on it, you could perhaps retune.

I join Lori in sending best wishes and thank you for posting, Gardian, as it's likely to be useful for someone.

With me, it's not the clocks, it's my mind and my body. For example, feeling hungry or sleepy at a different time and it takes me a few days to adjust. If I went to a different time zone, especially one that is more than 5 hours different, it could take me the whole length of a holiday of a fortnight to adjust and then another several days to get it all back after I have come home.

Some ATMs do charge a fee for using them. Did the screen have a message to say you will be charged a fee?