JohnM

Today, the 5th of June..... I was singing a Christmas Carol! OK it was a choir practise and OK, it was only to make sure we got the music out and looked at it as we don't have many practises over the summer.... but it did seem odd to be singing "The Time of Snow" in June (even though I was in Savoie last week and there was a foot of snow overnight in the nearest ski resort!)

[quote user="cooperlola"]Well, I guess it's a bit like Mr Hamilton's post-race comments today.  Unless you've ever been - constantly - on the negative end of racism, you cannot know what it feels like and how "paranoid" that can make you.  As a person who's always been white in a mainly white society, I'm just not sure that I can ever know or undestand what racism really is and what it feels like.  Only those who are the subjects of these offences are really qualified to know - if somebody is offended by something then it's offensive (to them, if not to the rest of us.)  That's all that matters.  It's not up to white society to decide what is offensive to non-whites.  It's up to them.[/quote] This is a none race based thought. I realise that if someone is constantly on the recieving end of insulting behaviour it can get a bit "wearysome" (to say the least) but I do also feel that some people spend too much of their time looking to see if they have been insulted. This bit refers to race. In libel cases (which can be as serious as race cases) the test is whether "right minded people" feel that a reputation has suffered. Perhaps the same test should be applied when anybody thinks that they are subject to racial intolerance? (Recently a claim was made against somebody who was trying to quell gossip in her organisation and she used the term "jungle drums", she meant no offence by the term, it turns out that the complainant is a serial complainant.... just looking for trouble?)

There is a village at the top with a junction, one road heads back down into the same main valley about 4 km away (along a less steep route), the other turns into an un surfaced road and heads up over a col before heading down a lesser valley which then joins the same main valley about 4 km away. It's in the Maurienne (find the A43 from Lyon to Turin) near to St Jean de Maurienne.

[quote user="Patf"]Looks wonderful Ernie. Don't like the look of those close-packed zigzags though - must have beeen almost vertical.[+o(][/quote] Pffah. Those zig zags are imitation.... these are real zig zags.... http://vuedenhaut.free.fr/blog/index.php?2008/01/31/97-les-lacets-de-montvernier

[quote user="ViVienne"]my brothers friend was in charge of the music at the crematorium, back in the eighties a teenager died and the parents gave him a disc and said play one of these they were her favourite group. He didn't listen to the disc but just put it on. It was WAM and he played "wake me up before you go go" he got the sack!. For me it will have to be Sting singing fields of gold, or Meatloaf heaven can wait,[/quote] I was in charge of playing in the music at a service once. The young lady had been ill a while and a couple of years previously, she and her mother had chosen music for her funeral. One of her choises wasn Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and mother insisted that it was played, so I did, It didn't feel right, but her friends of all ages all said "It was so her!"

I'm not sure how one defines popular, the tune I'd like is well known (from the old Hovis advert) but the words are not as well known..... but Dvorak's "Going Home" must be on the list for me.

Thanks Araucaria. Ermmm..... I've got three phase and quite a large cellar that could hold a boiler and the chip/pellet hopper so things are looking interesting. The text message option is nice as well! How long ago did you have yours and what sort of price was it? Are there many installers? There isn't an agent for Froling in my dept. What make is yours? Sorry, I know I'm asking lots of questions but I am quite taken with the idea.

[quote user="NuBeginnings"]We also opted for independent hot water tanks in each of our guest bedrooms, makes life simple when we have guests turn the tank on. As for heating, when we brought our place it had a 100KW oil boiler installed in the main house. As we were renovating a number of outer building that would require heating, we decided to install a 100KW bio fuel boiler it can run on pellets / wood chips and logs in an emergency to heat the whole estate. The idea being to to cut and chip our own wood, we have 15 acres of mature forest. I am also going to plant about 5 acres of saplings next year for future fuel. So this year we brought pellets but by next year I hope to be using our own wood to heat the whole estate The oil boiler, then became our back up system and is used to top up the bio boiler when temperatures hit -10 ! You can get significant government rebates if your changing your system from oil to wood. [IMG]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/DSC_0050.jpg[/IMG] [/quote] If you have posted this info elsewhere in the forum please just point me to it. If you haven't, since reading this I have been quite taken by the idea of pellet / chip heating. Such that I've spent quite a few hours surfing, however, there are a couple of things I'm not sure about so thought I'd ask somebody who has got the system. I assume that they can't have a pilot light, but get the impression that they can be lit at the push of a switch. Is this so? Because my place is for holiday only and in a cold area, I have always planned that my central heating would include the box that would switch everything on if I sent DTMF tones to it as I left the ferry at calais meaning that I'd arrive to a warm house. Do you think one of them would connect to a pellet system? Cheers John

I've heard something similar, but it's not "officially" general knowledge.... because it's only a general rule and they don't really want to you relying on it. Ask a ploiceman to give the rule and they wont. (Or the wouldn't when I asked)

For me, the issue with saying zero alcohol is... how do I know when the alcohol has left my system? I can guess that if I have one pint of ordinary strength beer, it will have left my system by a week on Thursday, but what about 2 days time? what about tomorrow morning? what about 3 hours time...? until there is some way of me knowing when I am totally alcohol free there needs to be some tolerance.

Quotes do not appear to be working on this machine. This is a response to Mr P. Ahh. Now I understand the tone of the message and therefore I will apologise for the unfortunate typo. However, may I use this opportunity to highlight the problem. You could have said something like "I assume that was an unfortunate typo in my name, however if it was deliberate you should be ashamed because resorting to insults is not a way to win a debate". That would have been simple, easy to understand and quite meaningful. Instead you went off at a tangent assuming that I would know what you were thinking. I now have to make an assumption, that is, that you've used the word "refrain" to mean "stop" rather than the other usage where it means a chorus in a song. So although it has made me smile, I do apologise for the offence caused by using such an unfortunate misspelling of your username.

[quote user="Quillan"]Yes but the cabling system is just a medium to send the signal round so you need various types of adapter for the use you want to put it too. The types of adapters you may need for the newer house wiring system in France would be RJ45 to RJ11 for phones, RJ45 to 'Video Converter' (there are different ones depending on type of video), RJ45 to USB converter, RJ45 to Speaker and the list goes on. You just need to know what your looking for (I didn't mean that to sound sarcastic but you know what I mean), they are all out there.[/quote] Agreed, and I do know what you mean so no sarcasm read into it, but the point is, you (I) want to walk into the shop and pick up "just the lead/socket/ready-made-wire you want"..... with the RJ45 it isn't quite like that, for a system that seems to have been the "norm" for many years that is annoying.

Sorry Mr (Mrs, Miss or Ms) P, I don't mean to be rude (on this occasion :-) ), but I often find your comments rather obtuse. I think I understood you on the RJ45 comment that I responded to, but you've lost me on this one.

I never thought I'd write this, but if I understand pacrapapa correctly... I have to agree. Lots and lots of the wires/connections for the "T" system and quite a few for RJ11 in Castorama but very little for RJ45. It confused the heck out of me.... RJ45 is the standard but it's nigh on impossible to buy the stuff you need.

LOL. I did rather think that any humour in my comment was considerably disipated by trying to highlight it, but it looked naff as it was, I was rather pleased to see that it's naffness was somewhat trumped.

Good point. Now the question is, was it amusing enough to bother repeating it? Probably not, but for the sake of clarity. It should have looked more like this: QUOTE (loads of other bits) A BSc in waffle I think you'll find (Some more bits) END OF QUOTE MY COMMENT Is that a BSC as in Basic Swimming Certificate. END OF MY COMMENT.

[quote user="Théière"][quote user="Jay"] You must have a degree in waffle. [/quote] A BSc in waffle I think you'll find [:)] [/quote] Is that BSC as in Basic Swimming Certificate?

Nope not this week. I've got another 3 to wait for my trip. (My neice very kindly invited me to join her, I'm sure it's my company she wants and not the fact that it'll save money to stay in my cottage and the car hire will be cheaper as I am (a bit) over 25. :-) I've not been to La Plagne for about 15 years, I'd like to see how it's changed since the connection to Les Arcs was put in. This next trip will will take advantage of the Maurienne Freedom Pass. Have a good trip.

And is case any of you are confused by the use of the acronym, POTS only means "Plain Old Telephone System" it's nothing too clever.

[quote user="woolybanana"]So, people who do their best for their families should expect less care than others?[/quote] Yes, I do come over as hard and uncaring don't I. The point is, these people are expecting more care than others. On my next trip into Tower Hamlets I will not be expecting to be airlifted out. If I choose to take a risk in order to earn a lot, I hope I don't grumble that the government failed me if everything goes sour. You see, I am not totally convinced on this whole nationality thing. If I choose to go to another part of the world, I choose that place and all that may go wrong. Why should I be rescued from a dangerous situation just because of my passport? People are people are people, surely as much effort should be put into getting all the innocent Libyans out as well???? Their lives are just as important as the Bristish Oil workers, some probably more so.

This is pure conjecture, but, if as you say, the tank gets filled up by the surface water I am inclined to think that it is something to do with relative (water) levels. I guess the soak away doesn't soak away very quickly when the lawn is flooded so "grey" water backs up towards the WC and gives the effect of a blockage. I guess it also means that "grey" water could be seeping out where the rain water is seeps in.

Quite frankly, although I hope there are no more deaths / injuries of anyone, Libyan or Bristish or French or, or ,or.... the oil workers were probably paid extremely well to be in Libya due to the danger... so it's up to them to take some personal responsibility. I.e not the Government or the Oil Company.

I'm told that women like Petrol Station flowers best........

A bank manager friend once laughed at me for dealing with "money" (notes) in a different country. It seems that is the most expensive way of doing it because of the banks money handling costs. So... the best thing is to only withdraw euros from a euro machine in a euro country and pounds from a pound machine in a pound country etc etc. Don't change notes for notes unless you have money to waste (or are really really desperate).

When I was looking for the satellite I pointed the dish in roughly the right direction then moved it very slowly until the sat finder indicated some signal. Then I gingerly moved the dish up and down, side to side until I had got the strongest signal. I then put the TV on it only to discover that it wasn't the satellite that I wanted! It took quite a long time to get the right one at max strength!