JohnM

I'm told that HD comes into its own on big screens. If you have a small screen you can't tell the difference. But more importantly, I'm told that HD uses less band width (you can get more HD channels into less space) so the transmission companies are very keen on it. (My camera gets an hour of HD onto a standard tape, but only 40 mins of "Broadcast quality DV on the same type of tape).

Well, I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I'm single, but I like an equal partner. I'm (still) looking for a woman that isn't a nag but equally isn't "the little woman". Really can't understand why so many men allow their insecurities to be so much on show by choosing women that they can dominate and therefore "appear" to be in control (and vice versa).

Sadly, my well is not in a state to have one of those Frederick. It seems to be a bottle shaped well (I didn't know they existed until this evening) but the top brick work has collapsed. I'd like to do something with it so as to preserve the history (especially as I now know that I don't need an abstraction license for the small amount of water I would take out.

Typical of my luck. I've just had a find whilst doing some gardening... was it a small fortune in gold coins???? No. my find is going to cost me to make it safe........ I was very lucky not to fall into a 6 ft wide by 20ft deep, well in the garden of my 1960's bungalow (UK).

My sister in law was a midwife, she was amused at some names chosen and how the parents had chosen them. She picked up a baby's notes one day and said "Oh, you've called her Sian". "No" said the new mother "It's Cyan". She had looked in a book and made her own pronunciation from the spelling.

[quote user="Dog"]My niece now tells me I must address her with the following bumf added BEng MA Msc DIC ACGI whatever that means. I told her to get a job...[/quote] LOL That's fine when it's recently acquired or when having family banter with aged relatives, but why do some people insist on mentioning their qualifications (and or job title) in "inappropriate" situations. I heard one of the radio the other day and instead of listening to what he had to say, I was thinking "you silly, pompous a***, why do you etc etc etc...." John (Law & Promise, Knots, Map & Compass, Local Knowledge, Photography, 6 mile hike and Advanced Scout Standard)

Reet nthen, I spoke to my HSBC friend and asked if he still thought the same way about the cheapest way to get euros and he said "yes". So I told him about Barclays and he said "Wow, that's expensive, well it's certainly the cheapest way with HSBC". I then asked about sending money between HSBC's and he said, "Probably not in France as CCF is a commercial bank.... but if you want to open an Hong Kong HSBC bank and a UK one, transfers will be cheaper.... " I hit him.

Humble apologies if anyone else has already written this (I don't want to read all the replies at the moment). To feel comfortable, you probably need about 10% more than you've got! (Serious answer.... no matter what you've got I'm sure you'll only need a bit more to feel comfortable).

[quote user="Mikep"]Please don't shout! . . . and who's Colin Dant? [/quote] This is he: http://www.facebook.com/people/Colin-Dant/519836855

Ouch! No he isn't Barclays he is HSBC. In the light of that I will phone him to ensure that his advice is still the same. I will also ask if it will save me money to have an account with whichever French bank HSBC owns as, I asked once before and he did say that transfers between HSBC banks ought to be cheaper, but he would check and I forgot to chase up the answer.

I didn't see that. I suppose the trouble is that most big civils projects are government and there isn't the money. I hope things do pick up soon, it gives a false impression of the current value of that degree. (I can see that the half life will drop, but not that much).

On one of my first ever trip abroad (0ver 30 years ago) the reps were very busy exchanging money on the airport transfers, they were giving a better deal than anywhere else and yet they admitted that they made a very healthy profit and understood why Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. SIC.

Ignore the question above. I've just done a search on your old user name and found your new name and a comment about an initial of P. So..... Hi, how are you doing?

Errrrrr........ I'm not sure if I've smelt it or not but I think I saw the Folliet sign on the building last time I was there. So..... trying to remember who I have discussed the coffee tunnels with.... does your real name begin with a P?

I was at an interesting conference (Institute of Civil Engineers) about 10 years back and the President was saying how he had noticed that the "half life" (no idea why he called it a half life instead of just saying the importance) of a degree had dropped significantly in the years that he had been in the profession. With another ten years having passed, in which technology has leapt forward even faster, I wonder how important the degree actually is now. I guess it gets somebody that first or second job, but after that it must be experience that counts.

I found it just so strange on that first night alone. The house must have always made those noises but I'd never heard them before.

The first time I was supposed to sleep in a house on my own, I didn't. I lay in the bed that I had slept in for years and listened to "the noises" that I had never heard before (I was later told that it would have been the house cooling down). I was really unnerved.

A friend of mine is a Bank Manager. He says the most expensive way to buy and sell euros is to do it in the UK (or any non euro country). Transporting a few hand fulls of euros about the UK is relatively expensive, so that charge is passed on. Even though they charge you to use your card when out of the country it is still cheaper than buying euros here. As ATM's are quite common in European Airports, Sea Ports and Eurostar destinations, the best thing to do is wait til you get to France and get your money there (and then keep some when you come home so that you've got enough for a snack or toilet when you next go).

Well, I didn't realise that Chambery Grenoble wasn't electric, however, I think the disruption for the Lisbon to Kiev line will be more of a problem in that area. (I assume SNCF are still working towards that, I haven't checked recently)

I think the majority of Christians, Muslims, Hindu etc etc etc are decent caring folk who find that their religion helps them through life's difficult decisions and guides them well. The trouble is the extremists and the politically motivated folk who use/distort religion to order to manipulate the masses.

Wow... looking at the size of the mushrooms, I'd hate to be the one using them to darn socks! (Yes, yes, I know, there are small mushrooms that are used for darning, I just liked imaging a huge par of socks on one of those staddles).

I do hope that the drivers "needs" were factored into the price the coach company charged! If they gave a discount because he could not provide a proper service and it was known about in advance, then it isn't a problem. If he just decided on the day, then I think a complaint needs to go in!

I was once told, very proudly, that America has the best politicians that money can buy..... they wondered why I laughed.

I haven't seen him for years (nope didn't see the dancing show) but in his hey day he was certainly a master of his craft. I was talked into going to his one man show at the Palladium in the late 70's (or early 80's) and came out in awe of his command of the stage. People like him deserve recognition of their skills and talent more than civil servants who automatically get one. However, I do think teh best ones are the ordinary people who are just brilliant in their community.

Now there's a name I didn't expect to see.... I worked for Leightons 26 years ago! So... although my knowledge is 26 years out of date, here is my 2 penneth. The Pupillary Distance is (was) indeed something that is (was) done in conjunction with the fitting of frames rather than the testing of the vision and health check on the eyes, so quite simply, it is not part of the service that you pay for with the eye test. That being said it is not the only measurement that you need to think of. In most cases, the "optical centre" of the lens (i.e the centre of a perfectly round, raw, lens) ought to be right bang in front of your pupil when you are looking straight ahead with your head in its normal position, that means you also need to know the vertical position as well as the PD (horizontal). With simple, low power lenses these measurements are not crucial, but, it is important with higher powers, this is because a badly positioned lens can give the effect of looking through a prism, which makes the muscles that turn your eyes work too hard.... You should also consider the angle that the frame sits on your face, I can't remember the maths, but if you are looking through a lens at an angle, it's effect is not as per the prescription... again, low power... who cares? High power... ermm, problems in the offing. Then of course, you need to remember that eyes turn in and down when you look at close work, so reading lenses do need to be in a different position from distance.... What I am saying is.... online fellahs are OK with simple stuff, but don't be surprised if you get problems if your prescription is complex or on the high side. For what is is worth: A dispensing optician is not allowed to prescribe new lenses, but they can go through the motions to verify a prescription. Their job is to make sure that the frame fits and that the lenses are in the right position. An Optometrist used to be called an Ophthalmic Optician and is trained to test and to dispense. (Please note that there are 2 h's in Ophthalmic.... so it's OFthalmic and not not not OPthalmic) Then there are Ophthalmic Medical Practitioners, (please note the 2 h's in..... Oh, I've done that) these are doctors who have done an extra spot of training or they might be consultants (who have done a lot of extra training) from the local hospital doing a spot of extra work.