JohnM

Under 7.5 and for own use you'll probably be fine, but anything else you takes your chance. My brother in law met some very unhappy English truckers at a cash point withdrawing their fine and debating on what they could do for the day until they could drive again!      

I don't know a lot about the American Politicians, but I am lead to believe that the US premiss for going to War was to remove Saddam because he was a nasty piece of work. I think ours was that Saddam posed an immediate threat (45 mins rings a bell) to the UK. If I am right, then the US politicians took the country to war because of something which was/is true, although this may not justify the deaths, it does give them a bit more credibility in the honesty stakes.  

[quote]According to Mr Galloway he only met Saddam twice, like Mr Rumsfield. I doubt his influence on so short an acquaintance. I have to say I hold no particular brief for Mr Galloway however I think that m...[/quote] No, maybe 2 meetings is not enough for George to exert influence on Saddam.... but did he even try? Like you, I now feel that the war was unjustified, I think I was lied to. But I also feel that both sides could have prevented war. TB and GWB could have prevented (not started) the war BUT equally, SH could have prevented it by doing as he was told by the UN. OK, as it was the UN that was telling him, it should have been the UN that decided when / if action should have been taken. But the fact remains, SH could have prevented it, he really could, a lot of the fault must lie with him. He was as arrogant and pig headed as TB & GWB. I am quite happy that George Galloway was vocal in his anti war views to TB and GWB... but think he should have been equally vocal (even if only via the media, Al Jezeera perhaps?) to SH. SH had as much power to stop the war as TB & GWB had to start it. I really wish that the human shields that went to Iraq as a protest to the "west" had used their time while there to protest to Iraq as well (note "as well", not "instead of")  

[quote]It was an interesting performance.George Galloway is either a very wronged man or a very wrong man.I do not believe anything any politician says.My advice to Mr Galloway is to buy a bullet proof vest ...[/quote] I'm not sure how I view Mr Galloway. From what I've heard about yesterday he debated well and in hindsight, he was right that the war was not necessary. But it seems to me that he once had the ear of Saddam, yet he spent the time campaigning for the US, UK etc to leave Iraq alone. The war could have been prevented if Saddam had brought in democracy and resigned. When George had Saddam's ear did he suggest that? Did he lobby Saddam to comply with the UN orders? I am now convinced that the UK joined the war on a false premise, but I also think Saddam could have done more to prevent it (his own ego being the only loss). I don't think George Galloway used his influence properly.  

Phew. I'm not senile. http://www.qsl.net/g4hbt/pmr446.htm  

Just an extra thought on PMR's. I seem to recall once reading that although PMR is a european standard, there is one frequency which is allowed in the UK, but not in France. However, a quick google this afternoon has not found the article that I think I might have read in the past. Does this ring any bells with anyone else or am I just senile?  

Thanks for posting that link, I was thinking it was about time I looked to see what time they would pass this year... I wonder if I can build the deck at the back of the house before then so that I can sit and watch in comfort.... (Yes, I need decking). Probably not, but I'm sure they'll be back next year.  

Just an extra thought, I don't think it's a good idea to buy the more powerful US versions of the PMR. They are not permissable under the license free conditions, but more to the point, you only really need low power for most uses and by using a higher power all you will do is interfere with more other users.  

I agree with the 2 way radios. What you want is almost anything which says it is PMR 446 (PMR being Private Mobile Radio and 446 being the rough frequency) as this is a European standard. Be aware, they will say they have xxx channels, but in actually fact they have six channels, each with a number of call signals. So, you may think that a channel is free and find that as soon as you start to speak somebody else pops up. However, it's not a big inconvenience if you only want to exchange occasional messages. The other thing to be aware of is the range. They say 3 miles, but this is line of sight. On a busy, bumpy road you may not get more than 1/4 mile. (I think mountain top to mountain top you can get about 20 miles). So, when you can, you use the PMR, when you can't (and it's urgent) you use the phone. I expect this has been said but I didn't read all the replies (such is my enthusiasm to recommend PMR), if you use a British mobile to call another British Mobile that may be only 10 meters away, you will pay for a call back to the UK, they will also pay for a call from the UK. You can quickly justify the cost of buying PMR (No, I do not work for a PMR manufacturer or retailer, I'm just a fan )  

Ermm, judging by the number of views and lack of responses, I guess nobody has tried it, so maybe I need to be that guinea pig.  I'll do some more calculations when my next bill arrives and work out whether it will save me anything!  

This press release was circulated at work yesterday (the news room decided they weren't going to do anything with it because it was so obvisouly a plug rather than news, but thought the staff might be interested). Have any of you had any experience of this product? I think that some of the claims might be a bit over the top, the web site claims they can save me £82 on calls in a week... but I don't think I've ever spent more than £30 in a week so they'll have to go some! ------------------------------------- Briefing Sheet – SIM4travel May 2005 Travel SIM cuts mobile call charges when abroad by 85%   More than 15 million Brits take their mobile phones away on holidays each year, but more than half do not turn them on in fear of the costs associated when using them abroad.   Recent reports indicate that mobile charges while abroad can cost up to 10 times as much as in the UK.   SIM4travel is the revolutionary new service that reduces mobile charges while abroad by up to 85%. It was launched in response to the excessive charges levied on mobile users abroad.   SIM4travel – what is it? A travel SIM card that works in 110 countries and can save users up to £1.80 per minute compared to major domestic network operators. The easy to use pay-as-you-go SIM and accompanying number is used in place of a regular SIM while travelling, essentially providing users with a ‘travel’ number for life. It allows users to receive calls free of charge in more than 60 countries. Local calls made while abroad are made at local rates. Calling and texting the UK and other countries is considerably cheaper.   SIM4travel – how does it work and save you money? SIM4travel works by employing patented technology that allows users to make and receive calls in 110 countries without paying ‘roaming’ charges. Roaming charges are a result of revenue sharing agreements in place between domestic and overseas mobile operators – this is known as the international operator tariff (IOT). SIM4travel’s technology bypasses these IOT charges and consequently passes on the savings to its users.   SIM4travel – how much can you save? Users can save up to 85%. Examples of savings on a trip to Spain follow: <

www.sncf.com (there is an "English" option) or for the uk tourist front end www.raileurope.co.uk Hope that helps.    

I didn't know that! Nope I don't suppopse that they re-negotiated all their licenses either.  

As I understand things. Copyright is held by the production company who commission the "work" (unless the contract is negotiated such that the production company that make the work retain copyright). Publishers (TV Companies, DVD Manufacturers etc) negotiate a license with the copyright holder (or agent thereof)  to produce and distribute said copyrighted work. The license states where the licensee may distribute that work and for how long / number of occasions (i.e for two years up to a maximum number of transmissions/copies). Under these conditions, the Distributors (TV companies) have to take steps to ensure that the copyrighted material is not directly available outside of their license area. Re breach of copyright by people recording Eastenders to watch when they get back from the pub. I'm not sure if UK law actually says "you may record a TV programme for personal use only" or whether it's just accepted and allowed by the copyright holders. So... it is distributing / copying copyrighted works which are subject to copyright law and NOT viewing / reading / listening. (Just don't distribute (lend) that tape of Eastenders to your neighbour because that would be an offence (under English Law) and if the copyright holder wanted to find some sort of law to get us with that could be it). The fact that it is not an offence (under English law) to recieve, is reassuring. Still wish I knew whether there is a French law. (There's no pleasing some folk!)  

But... (even though we suspected it) it is really nice to see the words "you would not be breaking any laws" from somebody who knows. Thanks for doing the investigation.  

So... err... can I manipulate the logic here to my advantage???? As I don't drink tea at all, can I claim to be a stud???? In the interests of research... if any Ladies find this an interesting paradigm and want to put it to the test...... (Hey I wonder if I can get a research grant.....)  

For some odd reason, I experienced a couple of years before I got a habitation bill. I asked a couple of times (and got a shrug) then last year it turned up. No back payments required or fines. Somebody did offer me an explanation on here, but I can't find the answer.  

[quote]Loved 'The Apprentice' but although I liked the winner (really nice guy, all credit to him) I just felt that Saira ( sp ?) had the gut instinct that the winner lacked, and I don't think you can teach ...[/quote] Oh yes that's, what I hate, as well. Journo's that can, not string a, phrase to, gether. Then the voice, goes up when, they say, "Reporters Name", and down for, "reports" I think the hand positioning is a "device" to stop them from twitching or being waved round like a windmill. I'll forgive that. (I hate watching singers who think they are being expressive by doing tiny hand/arm movements at the end of each line).  

Re overpaid Journo's. It isn't what they are paid that annoys me (even though they do get more than me) but it's the air they give off that what they are saying is actually important, that get's my goat. The same thing applies to Pundits. (I suppose I can understand that after an election it is handy to have the implications of the result aired, but I can never understand why the same thing happens after football matches. Who really gives a ******** if "A Retired Footballer" thinks that the goal in the 17th minute was fantastic).  

Saw a few minutes of Bremner Bird and Fortune last night. The "Tony Blair" (Bremner) said something about handing over the problems to Brown who wouldn't have a chance to sort anything out, but all he (Blair / Bremner) was interested in was going down in the history books as the first labour leader to be elected for 3 terms.... Many a word spoken in jest....... ???????  

You can book / enquire about trains from Waterloo to anywhere in France by using http://www.raileurope.co.uk which is an english "front end" to the sncf website. However, it will not let you see / book a journey with more than 2 changes, so you have to ring them (or book each stage separately). The good thing about ringing them is that I've always found them very helpful - one guy spent about 20 minutes f**ting about in order to get me the best price. Ended up travelling first class for £10 more than second, but got a meal included on Eurostar each way. He was well worth the £6.50 booking fee.  

Similarly, I once proudly proclaimed that I had just arrived by sterring wheel when I meant to say that I'd flown.  

I think you'll find that every message on here says IP logged but it's usually in a different place to where it was on your odd messages. I think that the Forum software just takes everybody's IP (The identification number of the internet connection) so that if any of us post anything which could get LF into hot water, we can be traced. The real question is why the formatting went wrong... sadly I can't answer that one.  

I guess that many of them will be open. Some of the very high ones, like Col d'Iserian may have the odd problem, but  by and large you should be fine.  

The paddock in front of me is actually "House Locked" (not that you would know from my front step) and my drive is really the only access to it, so I guess I could halt development (Three other houses have right of access, but I don't think that would extend to new dwellings that needed a road over my lawn? There is one other way into the paddock but that is barely wider than a single car. So, I think I'm safe, but if it comes up and I can afford it... OK OK OK the real reason for wanting it is to justify a sit on mower!