[Pix of shot deer]

I have read this article before and decided not to reply to it until i read what chessie wrote.

I don't necessarily agree with the article or disagree but i have some knowledge if it and what it entails.

As you read this please do not take this as being of my opinion, this is just a few facts that most posters will still disagree with but are facts none the less.

The bow hunting has taken off big style in Europe mainly because of the interest from America and S Africa.

So we really have a situation in France where the hunters can chase

down - and shoot with a bow and arrow - an animal as large as a deer.

The actual technique is sitting motionless in a tree or hide and wait or call the animal to you, then usually within a range of 30/40 metres the shot is taken and most animals run off, albeit for a distance of 50 metres or less. The shooter must prove his /her ability using the bow as he /she would with a rifle at the distance chosen and prove to be accurate. They are not chased down, if the animal is spooked then there is little or no chance of you even reacting to fact it has seen you far less chase it to have a shot.

They are not all called Bambi, they are quite simply game and occasionally classed as Vermin.

Think of the pain and distress of a large animal being shot in this way -

 i do think that there will be a certain amount of pain and distress, certainly more than if it were to be shot.

Love it or hate it, hunting, in all its forms, is a part of life here and in other countries.

[window seals/gaskets]

Hi all, quick version here. Friend has transit minibus, got flat battery, got it charged, put battery back in and central locking shut all doors, where were keys??????????????????

Exactamundo, in the ignition......when you have all stopped giggling...............

Called the assistance and they couldn't open the doors, eventually they had to cut the window seal on the sliding door to gain access, with my permission of course.

I now need to find 1/   the name of window seal in French and  2/  where i can find one and get it fitted.

Any help appreciated, Hugh.

[Travel Insurance]

Hi Maricopa, thanks for that, had another go using drop down menu and there was no mention of having UK base. The total was almost 300 euro for world wide for my wife and i, thats way more expensive than in UK, price we pay for being in France i guess.

Just to say that i have used NOMAD Insurance to travel to Africa this year and is on par with Columbus, Hugh.

[Travel Insurance]

Columbus direct say that for their annual travel ins you must begin and end your travels in the UK. Not a lot of good if you live in France or elsewhere which i believe the original poster intimated, unless i have read it wrong...............

[translation required for car parts]

Hi Guys, had a price of about 400 euro for kit de distribution + pompe a eau fitted, seems a reasonable price for a job of this size, Hugh.

[translation required for car parts]

Hi dave, thanks for the info and more so the pronunciation, often the hardest part of getting info is being able to say what you see, merci bowcoo [:D]

Gosub, that is a really good site also, thanks for passing it on, perhaps you should ask mods to post it as a stickie/permanent posting to aid others.

Thank you guys, now for the hard bit, paying for it..........

[translation required for car parts]

Evening all, can anyone help me, i have done a check and found out what timing belt is but what i also need is the term for timimg belt tensioners and also water pump.I might as well get them all done at the same time, expensive but necessary i have been told. Many thanks in advance, going for devis tomorrow, Hugh.

[Cutting kitchen worktops]

Job done [:)]

[Cutting kitchen worktops]

Buy some threaded bar and bolts/washers to suit and some 10 mm steel bar, depth of cut in worktop, and bend bar to suit holes. Drill a hole same as threaded bar and make your own, not pretty but practical.

[high chlorine levels]

Hi JJ, i can see into the filter housing, which is the first visible entry point after the water leaves the skimmer. I have perhaps misled you by saying that the water is sucked out quicker than can be supplied because i believe that the impeller pumps in as much as it sucks therefore it will pump away as much water as it is designed to do eg ; 200 litres per hour. These are not definate figures, just examples, but by default if the hose from the skimmer cannot supply the impeller with enough water, eg 200 LPH then the water level in the basket will drop  lower than it should be.

In essence, i place the hose/hoover attachment into the skimmer, release the plastic cover on the basket housing to prime the hose/pump and start to hoover, occasionally priming once or twice more to ensure all the pipes are full of water and no air trapped. It is at this point that i can see into the basket housing and visibly watch as the water is sucked/pumped out by the impeller and that insufficient water comes into the basket housing via the hose from the skimmer.

PS the pump i replaced worked perfectly well using the same system as above.

Hugh.

[QUALITY BUT REASONABLY PRICED BINOCULARS]

Just a thought, do WHICH magazine have a website that may offer a service to incorporate this ??

In fact after posting this i will look myself for future use, good luck,

Hugh.

[high chlorine levels]

Hi Andrew, i have a bog standard sand filter, skimmer to pump housing, via plastic strainer encased in pump housing, impeller to sand filter and return to pool. The pipes are all 38 mm corrugated plastic, not solid type and i have recently fitted a new pump.

On that note another thing i may throw into the mix if you don't mind, when i hoover the bottom through the skimmer/hose attachment the impeller seems to suck more water from filter basket than the skimmer hose can supply, i worry that the motor will overheat.

 At the moment the most important thing is the water quality so your assistance in this area is most welcome, the pump problem can be resolved later, again thanks for your help in this mater, Hugh.

[high chlorine levels]

Thanks for your reply, on the scale that is on the testing kit it starts at 0.5 and goes up to 5.0, with 5.0 being pink at the top of the scale. My readings are top of the pink scale.

I looked at the pool this morning and its clearer but not sparkling and PH is still about 7.2 to 7.4.

Hope this helps, Hugh.

[high chlorine levels]

Hi all, i have an above ground pool and sand filter. I had the pool open over winter but not pumping, with water below return valve level.This year i have chocked/shocked the pool with choc pastilles, quite a lot actually [:$]

Problem i have now is that the PH levels are bob on, is that strange?,but the chlorine levels are way up.It is also milky but getting clearer.  The measuring scale i have is one that you drop tiny tablets into it after filling with water, one red and one white.

My question is will the chlorine levels drop naturally or shall i have to do something else ?

[Poitiers Airport Car Hire]

There is always the ' who wants to be a millionaire' option......................phone a friend [:)]

[Unusual raptor]

We have them too in 24 - I thought it looked most like a Hen Harrier but then I don't twitch

I do, but mostly at night, just as i am dropping off  [:D]

[urgent info required]

hey guys, thanks again for the info, taken advice and all is under way as we speak, maybe slight problem with delay of Arret de Travail going in, have to wait and see.

As for the operation, all went well, had the op on Friday 15th, it turns out that my L5 vertebrae had actually snapped previously, as much as 20years ago even, this caused a narrowing in the cavity that runs down inside the spinal column, thereby trapping/pressing against the nerve. Had this cut away to relieve the pressure on the nerve and had a foam insertion put in to take care of the compression, hopefully to last my lifetime!!

Got out this morning at 10 am and home in time to get a nice warm cuppa, great.

Thanks again for all the help, Hugh.

[urgent info required]

Sweet 17, thanks for your thoughts, much appreciated.

Cerise, my apologies i should have mentioned this too, i am self employed and been registered with Ch de Met for four years.

SD, thanks again to you for your practical and mater of fact info, exactly what i needed. My doctor offered me an ' arret de travail' when i first went to him which i refused mainly cos i thought i would be ok within 2 weeks and didn't want to get into trying to claim for what i thought was a short term problem. Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing........

I am as we type waiting for the doctor to return my call to set the wheels in motion,

again thanks to all who took time to reply,

Hugh.

[urgent info required]

Hi all, hope someone can help me here. I have been off work for six weeks now with a suspected slipped disc which has trapped my sciatic nerve, had an MRI scan last week and have been told that i need an operation on my back to relieve the pressure, gotta cut away some bone and replace with a foam packer type thing. It means that i shall now be off for an extra eight weeks now and funds are dwindling rapidly.

My question is about entitlements and what i can claim and from who, i have top up insurance to cover all my medical costs but not to cover loss of income. Can anyone shed any light on this for me, my French isn't good enough to understand written documents so please don't direct me to any government pages. Just plain straight forward info of who and where and i shall get a friend to help me the rest of the way with the spoken French.

Many thanks in advance, and in tremendous pain also,

Hugh.

PS i go for operation on Friday 15 th so any help before that would be great

[Light Aircraft Flying - Licences]

I don't have a problem with French on the radio as I tend to

leave it in the hangar when I am flying! Not many airfields demand that

you have one so not using it is not too much of a problem.

Great answer bob, i like the logic [B]

[Did the earth move for you?]

Beer and beans, an eclectic mix often used in film industry to imitate canned thunder for background trax in cheap b movies..........

[What's allowed in cabin baggage?]

toothpaste, medication in tablet or liquid form etc but no tins or bottles that are pressurised, like shaving foam, at all.....my wife had a 100 ml bottle of hair dye that was 1/3 full and refused because it had peroxide in it ( no it wasn't mine ) so some liquids are still refused irrespective of size.

Then again, depends on which airport you fly from, some are stringent some aint !!!!!

[£1 flights from Ryanair]

got mine for 2.49 euro, all in direct to Edinburgh in May, can't grumble.....

[PLEASE NAME THIS WEED]

Ask Bill and Ben the flower pot men [:D]

WEEEED !!!

flob dob dibba dob

Sorry, couldn't resist...............prize available for first person to give exact translation

[Raptor!]

Really big kestrels, don't know any other raptor that hovers like a kestrel.

Hen harriers are similar colour but don't really swoop cos they quarter the ground  a few feet above and tend to ' drop' onto their prey.

Eagles tend to soar rather than hover, to the best of my knowledge, so would rule that out.

Sickle shaped wings remind me of a Peregrine falcon, colour may be juvenile from last year due to change, and speed of stoop makes me think along these lines.

Apart from these thoughts..................big swift in drag [:D]