David_Janet

Not only pets that suffer from these horrid things.  Last year I made the mistake of sweeping up a pile of caterpillar corpses so that our dog could be allowed out in the garden.  My husband had sprayed a band round the tree and we ended up with hundreds of dead caterpillars at the bottom of the tree. I hadn't realised that the hairs from these caterpillars float in the air and are barbed so stick in the skin.  The day after dealing with the dead bodies my neck started itching and by the following day I didn't know what to do with myself.  I have never had such an itchy rash and I ended up going to the doctors as it became really painful and extremely unsightly. This year we are waiting for our local paysagiste to come and fell the tree but already the caterpillars are about and I'm starting to itch.  So, if you have one of these pines in your garden and you begin to itch without coming into direct contact with the caterpillars, it's the hairs that are the cause.  Someone I know has recommended sellotape to get the hairs out of your skin but I think it's already too late once the itching has started.  The hairs contain a poison which is the cause of the intense irritation. Hope no-one else is suffering! Janet  

Yesss!!! It's 20 past 10 pm, and after trying all day - I now have TF1, France2, M6 and Arte - all in glorious HD! Somebody must have thrown a switch somewhere.... Now, whether there is anything worth watching, is another matter. David

Claire - Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. Martin, I have Sagem 'TNT par satellite avec carte d'acces TNTSAT'  box (I don't subscribe to Canal+). What HD channels should I be able to receive? (I know I can get Arte HD - which is brilliant by the way!) I live almost exactly midway between Toulouse and Carcassonne (near Revel) Thank you David

Is there a website that lists french HD broadcasts? You can get to it by going into the TV listings pages for the various channels, but you really have to drill down to determine whether a particular broadcast is HD or not. And should I be able to get more than Arte HD? I'm sure I saw an ad the other day for a programme on FR2 in HD, but I never did track it down afterwards. Thanks David

Hello - I have a friend who would be very interested but she lives near Durfort in the Tarn (81).  Is this where you are or is there another Durfort in 82? Janet  

Here's another link:  http://www.thebigproject.co.uk/news/ David

Thanks everyone - can't think why I didn't try the Arte website!  Doh!! Looks like a good Christmas concert from Vienna starting at 7pm.    

Has anyone found Arte HD on a programme guide?  We can find most of the other mainstream channels but not this one.  Could it be because it's really a German channel?  Very frustrating as we've just treated ourselves to a HD tele and want to know what's on!!! Any help much appreciated. Happy Christmas everybody! Janet and David

Thanks, Martin. I now have it clear in my mind what I need to ask for. Much appreciated. David

More interesting stuff! - but can I drag the thread back to the situation I'm trying to sort out.[:)] As I said earlier, I have the 'dish fitter' coming next tuesday, and I shall explain what I want, and see what he comes up with, but, I've since thought of another thing I might want to do, and that is I'm thinking of getting the latest Humax Foxsat HD PVR (which apparently are as rare as hens teeth at the moment), but when they become available. Someone has said, because it has twin tuners to allow the watching of one channel whilst recording another, that it will need 2 aerial cables. If this is the case, then I gues it would be wise to get the 'dishman' to do it while he's here, but (this is where I really get confused...) will it require 'dual' LNB, 'twin' LNB, 'quad' LNB or what? (and what's the difference between 'twin' and 'dual'??) And, because I will have a 'french' dish, and an 'english' dish, (...you know what I mean....!) will both dishes require the same LNB/cabling setup? Thanks again, for suffering this fool....[:$] David

Thanks a lot everyone. Very informative. Corporate politics.... Bah, humbug... Whatever happened to 'fit for purpose' and 'plug and play'  .....[:@] I'll do as you suggest Martin, and see what happens after the dish(es) have been installed (next tuesday) and tv arrival (next Friday). If you don't mind, I may need to come back for more advice. Thanks. Incidentally, I maligned the supplier - the price of the Sagem box is €229, not $299 as I said. Also, I should have said 'the Black mountains' not the Black mountain. We live at the very western end, right at the conjunction of the Tarn, Aude and the Haute Garronne, a very hit and miss area for TNT reception, apparently. (Perish the suggestion that 'they' tell people that,  simply as a means of selling more expensive kit) You old cynic, David...... Cheers.

Don't try it on an El Al flight......[:-))]

I have just ordered a new HD TV (Sony KDL-46W 4710), which, because we live in the shadow of the Black mountain and therefore cannot use TNT, is being supplied with a Sagem HD satellite receiver (I don't know the model, but it's 299Euro) We want to be able to receive SD and HD french and english TV. We currently have 2 paraboles - one a Sky oval minidish  driving a Pace Skybox, and an 80cm dish receiving french analogue TV. We will move the  Skybox + TV to another room, and put the new TV in its place in the salon. My (extremely naive) question is: does the new tv and digibox use the same dish for both english and french tv? (i.e.  are they looking at the same satellite?) If not, and I will need 2 separate dishes, can I simply use the one Sagem digibox by swapping the aerial leads, or am I going to need 2 HD digiboxes?) Sorry about the involved question - I have tried researching on this (and other forums) and googling, but got completely bogged down in technicalities, which, quite frankly, I don't understand [8-)] I'd be very grateful if anyone can: a. understand what I'm trying to achieve, and b. Explain what is needed in terms a technographical retard (me...[:$]) can understand Thank you David

I don't know whether Easy Jet has changed their procedures, but when we arrived at Gatwick on Sunday for our flight to Toulouse, there was an unusually long queue at 'Speedy boarding' (20 odd people) and not many people at the other check-in desks. We were early, (an hour before we needed to officially check in), so I asked the Easy Jet rep (the guy who wanders around in a yellow waistcoat and muttering into a radio) why there was such a long queue, and he said not to worry, we could check in there and then, using any of the other check in desks. Unusually, there were several desks with very few people, so we chose one with about 3 people i front of us, and checked straight in. It was actually the desk for the flight to Milan, but the girl at the desk said it was OK to check in for Toulouse. We were pleased that we didn't have to hang around until official check-in time, bought a bit annoyed that we'd paid for Speedy Check-in for nothing! I did notice that they stuck a small bar code sticker on each suitcase (besides the large one around the handle). I wonder if they now have a fully automated system, and it doesn't matter when, or which desk is used, the luggage is correctly routed. David  

A cold, crisp morning last winter. [IMG]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd24/hoggies-photos/cfb9eb6b.jpg[/IMG] David

Thanks for that.  Good news for me as I've already got an unopened bag of this which I bought in spring ready for sowing seeds.  Needless to say I didn't get round to it but at least it won't go to waste as I shall get busy tomorrow.  Looking forward to saving myself some money, and also to reproducing a really pretty white potentilla as well as several other "easy" shrubs. Janet

I'm about to have a go at taking cuttings from some shrubs and wonder what the French call cuttings compost.  Any advice gratefully received. Many thanks Janet      

Odile, I've PM'd you Regards David

Hi odile, The camera's serial number is:  IC 3213924. I can't remember any of the pics on it - it was stolen on 26th July last year, taken from my bag in a supermarket trolly. (we did report the theft to the local Gendarmes)  There may have been some of an orchestral open air concert? I don't think it can be the one you have because it has a rechargeable battery, and is no good to the thief after the battery discharges, unless they have the specific Canon charger. But, you never know. They may have chucked in the lane for that very reason. You don't say where you are, so I don't know if the geography is right. (Soreze/Revel, southern Tarn) Regards David

Odile, Wasn't a Canon Powershot G2 was it? Regards David

Community nurse, Lou Hartley is off on an exciting threeweek tour of Europe by motorcycle. More here:   http://www.breastquest2008.co.uk/ I wish her well, and hope she gets lots of support. David  

Very Strange. [8-)] It would be interesting to know the make of laptops you have. Regrards David

WOW! What can I say! Thank you everyone, for such informative, useful - even entertaining - replies. [:D] A lot of stuff to digest, but I think it's pretty obvious that 'proper' foundations are the way to go. I do enjoy this forum..... Thanks again David  

Is it neccessary to have 'proper' foundations for a single story concrete block garage, 8m  x  5m, or will the concrete floor base be sufficient? (It will be a simple box construction, with a tiled roof) If it is neccessary, how deep should the foundations be? And if not neccessary, how thick should the concrete base be? Thanks for any input Regards David      

Thank you both, for the replies. They sound pretty good. I might just treat myself to a new laptop! Regards David