Jackie

Sounds like "Je vous en prie". Doc always says this to me after I have said "Merci docteur" as I leave his surgery. I think it can be used to mean "After you" in a doorway or as a reply to something like "May I come in" "Please do".............John not Jackie

Hi Pat, Sorry to hear about your problems and can sympathise as I had the same problem back in January this year.  I had a bridge fitted which cost 1500 euros.  Received 215 euros back from CPAM and 232 from our mutuelle.  Have a brilliant dentist here and so far so good, so in my experience would certainly recommend you go this route. Bon courage, Jackie

That is what we have been led to believe and so far no problems with the French stuff............John

Hi Clair, I hate it when nobody comes back to a question. I know little about astronomy but out of curiosity I had a look on the net and thought that this might be a good place to start. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/index.shtml I assume that you have peered through the 'scope at distant things on the ground during the day. Always minding that you don't track across the sun of course, as Patrick often says. Have you been able to get a focused image, which might be upside down in the case of a reflector 'scope, I don't know what yours is for sure but from the pictures in adverts it does look like a reflector! I will always remember looking at the moon through a 6" reflector as a lad, just like flying over the surface, all craters and mountains, wonderful! The only other thing that springs to mind is that the mirror is surface silvered and as such needs to be cleaned with the right stuff, water might take the coating off and they are expensive to re-coat. You might look up "Newtonian Reflectors" on the net, as if yours is of this type, you will find stuff to tell you how it works. Good luck with the hobby, I might get back to mine one day!....................................John

Just a thought. Is the water level high enough in the pan so smells are blocked from coming up the waste pipe? If not could indicate a leak in the coupler to the waste pipe. A leak here, maybe only slight, could cause a pong even if the water level in the pan is high enough. We had one do this once and it took ages to find as the leak was so slight that there were no tell tale drips on the floor. The "suck down" effect, on flushing, due to no air getting into the waste pipe beyond the loo trap can also produce a lower than normal level in the pan, had this problem once too! Does the water in the cistern smell ok?..................John not Jackie 

 Ok this is all good stuff and thanks for the reply Mark. I have lifted another slab where the next post is to go having drilled the three holes, the rock bolts would not hold again, mix just too soft and laid in 2002. I can knock out the concrete easily under the slab to the suggested depth. On putting in the new mix should I set the slab back on top with the rock bolts inserted in position and to the right depth so that the concrete sets around them, leave for say a week before tightening up? Would it be better to use studding with a nut and washer bolting the base to the slab or better still a large metal plate instead of the three washers, bolted to the underside of the slab and leaving a length of studding sticking down into the wet concrete and would this be an approved method. My point is that the rock bolts are pretty smooth and might not key in too well into the wet concrete. I could, as has been suggested, re-lay the slab on new concrete, wait for it to go off, say a week and then re-drill. Which do you think is best?...............John

Ok this is all good stuff. I have lifted another slab where the next post is to go, the rock bolts would not hold again, mix just too soft and laid in 2002. I can knock out the concrete easily under the slab to the suggested depth. On putting in the new mix should I set the slab back on top with the rock bolts inserted in position and to the right depth so that the concrete sets around them, leave for say a week before tightening up? Would it be better to use studding with a nut and washer bolting the base to the slab, or better still a large metal plate under the slab instead of a washer and leaving a length of studding sticking down into the wet concrete and would this be an approved method. My point is that the rock bolts are pretty smooth and might not key in too well into the wet concrete. I could, as has been suggested, re-lay the slab on new concrete, wait for it to go off, say a week and then re-drill. Which do you think is best?...............John

As will others no doubt, but as I write this I hear the words of my old boss, when I was teaching, echoing around in my head. "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions"!    Pretty please!..................John

Hi Andrew, this is more or less the reply I got from Chris this morning, my having sent an email to Ted earlier. (Pour 150mm strip footing) Not too sure what this means but if I go this route I was going to lift the slab and gouge out a depth of concrete under and replace with say 3 to 1 mix and lay or replace (more likely if yesterday is anything to go by) the slab on top. The way slabs are normally laid, I thought, was as I now have with soft mix under a thin adhesive coat of cement. This being so, most pools will surely have the same problem. Certainly Chris seemed to think that this was often the case. Perhaps it should be more widely known though, to be fair, Ted did make reference to this in our earlier conversation. Anyway thanks for the info, a route I may have to go , still hopeful for a simpler solution, just lazy I guess................John  

I did post this in the swimming pool section but I guess it might be better here as it is really a structural problem I am having. A lot of people fitting their own safety fence must have come across this problem. The type of fence I have has a base for each fence support post having three large holes which are used to fasten the base to the slabs around the pool. I have found that the concrete under the slabs around the pool is too soft for rock bolts (expanding metal bolts)to get a grip! I did not lay these slabs but on inspection they sit on a thick bed of a very weak (sandy) concrete mix. The mix has been given a thin coat of what looks like pure cement and the slabs laid on top. The rock bolts just will not hold at all and the drillings come out mushy. I have been told by the fence supplier that levering up the slabs, where I am to fit a post base, and beefing up the concrete underneath is the best solution but my experiment yesterday evening showed that the slab is likely to break, this in fact happened so I have one slab to replace already. I don't fancy replacing 25 slabs! My only thought so far is to drill the three holes for the base and then pour in a fine sand/cement stiff mix, say 1 to 1, and insert the rock bolts and give a couple of days to go off before trying to tighten them up. Someone else suggested a two part resin but I can find no information on this. Is there a better way, anyone got a solution?......John not Jackie

A lot of people fitting their own fence must have come across this problem. The type of fence I have has a base for each fence support post having three large holes which are used to fasten the base to the slabs around the pool. I have found that the concrete under the slabs around the pool is too soft for rock bolts (expanding metal bolts)to get a grip! I did not lay these slabs but on inspection they sit on a thick bed of a very weak (sandy) concrete mix. The mix has been given a thin coat of what looks like pure cement and the slabs laid on top. The rock bolts just will not hold at all and the drillings come out mushy. I have been told by the fence supplier that levering up the slabs, where I am to fit a post base, and beefing up the concrete underneath is the best solution but my experiment yesterday evening showed that the slab is likely to break, this in fact happened so I have one slab to replace already. I don't fancy replacing 25 slabs! My only thought so far is to drill the three holes for the base and then pour in a fine sand/cement stiff mix, say 1 to 1, and insert the rock bolts and give a couple of days to go off before trying to tighten them up. Someone else suggested a two part resin but I can find no information on this. Is there a better way, anyone got a solution?......John not Jackie

Apologies if this has been asked before but can a claim be made against the cost of a safety fence around a swimming pool. My feeling is unlikely considering the number of folk having to do this! We are also having to replace the barn roof for safety reasons but I gather from a recent post that this is only going to result in a reduction in TVA if we are lucky.................John not Jackie

Hi Christine Animal, Lucky you! Don't know whereabouts you are, but in our part of Deux Sevres we haven't seen a drop all day.  Bit of cloud coming over again now but doesn't look very promising.  As most other people we desperately need rain. Jackie

Hi Christine and thanks I will pass that on to Ben. He is a big boy at about 9 kilos and that is just big and not fat! He is learning to say Ron ron and likes chasing lizards. His mate Luke, a tabby, is very shy and would not pose for the photo! On the subject of notifications I have just found a post saying LF have had problems sending to aol customers so I don't know what progress admin have had in chasing this.......................John

Hi Andrew and yes have tried experiments using black plastic pipe and it does work though not too impressed by thermal conductivity of plastic. Always interested in any technique though so info on a product would be welcome. PM sent to you as well................John 

Hi folks, not getting any notifications of replies after my posts despite ticking the box. Anyone else having the same problem???..........John not Jackie

So would welcome any ideas about the black paint. Tried bitumen and resin coloured black, both came off within a year. We need something that resists chlorine and salt. Failing this will have to consider using black plastic sheeting......................John not Jackie PS Am placing order for fence as this seems the cheapest option after alarms. 

Hi Andrew, got your email and hope all goes well. The solar pond is just that, a shallow concrete trough painted black, I wish the paint would stay on for at least one season but that is another story, of 10 metres by one metre and a throughput of 6 galls/min, giving a temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius from the input to the return to the pool end. At 7cms deep max I doubt if anyone could drown unless they fell over and banged their head as in this week on "Silent Witness"!  A transparent cover could be fitted but I doubt that efficiency would increase that much as, being flat, there would be a large reflective loss from the surface, a transmission loss at the top end of the spectrum and other losses due to internal cover surface condensation deposits.........................John not Jackie  

John where does your information come from?  Does anyone have any thoughts as to if a large, open, black concrete solar panel with a maximum depth of water, pumped in from the pool, of seven centimetres, must be included inside the pool fence or not?.....................John not Jackie

Here in Deux Sevres (79) the restrictions about topping up pools etc, apply to both mains and well water, I suppose they are worried about the low water table! Having had our well water analysed I would not want to swim in it! Chemically ok but lots of coliforms and faecal coliforms. The pool people advised us not to use well water for other reasons as well. The local pharmacy sent off the sample for testing for us and we had the result in about a week.......................John not Jackie

Ok folks, well what I have done for now is use two 20A to double 16A sockets converter. One in each of the 20A sockets. Not ideal but at least I don't have to cut the plugs off the machine leads. The two circuits are wired back directly to the consumer unit in 2.5mm sheathed black cable, where there is a switch and 20A fuse for each dedicated circuit. Each machine does not have a rating of more than 2.7kW so no worries there. As I say not ideal but saves a lot of hassle and gives me an extra couple of 16A sockets, several cms away from the nearest pipe, under the sink for extraordinary use, which means never probably! By the way live and neutral swap position between the two sockets on the adaptor! Also the local DIY place sells lots of single 20A to 16A adaptors, I wonder why! So there, and thanks to all for comments............................John

Lots of posts about this on LF and Total France sites. See Glis glis and Loir for your search. They are a pain with their nocturnal runnings about and can damage insulation and wiring. I have caught 35 in rat traps over the last two years and they are still in residence. We don't harm them and take the traps to some woods a few kilometres away for release. Nothing I have tried so far deters them. Still experimenting with nasty niffs in the wall spaces, oils of various types, mothballs ineffective as are ultrasonic  boxes. They get on your nerves after a bit with their scratchings etc and if needs must poisons are available for Loir in many supermarkets despite any law about this. Don't want to go that route as the owls that prey on them would be at risk as well as domestic cats should they catch one. If you find a solution please let us all know, you are not alone.........................John not Jackie

Ok folks and thanks for the replies. It sounds as if the 20A dedicated plug and socket is a recent change to the recommendations about wiring washing machines and tumble dryers. I guess the manufacturers of these appliances will catch up in time. Meantime I have the two 20A sockets wired and ready to go with plugs so I will lop off the 16A plugs and replace them with 20A. Hope that does not affect the guarantee on the machine!.............................John

Following advice from an earlier post I have put in two 20A circuits from the consumer unit for a washing machine and a tumble dryer. I note that these appliances come with standard 16A plugs. The 20A plugs and sockets, which I have, are rather chunky and I find it difficult to believe that the average person would cut off the molded on 16A plugs and fit these. Do they fit 16A sockets on 20A circuits? Are they not using dedicated feeds and are not 20A circuits, plugs and sockets now recommended? .............................John not Jackie

Ok Paul I will do just that and many thanks again................................John