The Riff-Raff Element

Duplicata-doodle-do.

[quote]None of that recycling an actual oil drum malarky of Africa ...  [/quote] Ours once held aviation gasoline manufactured (or at least marketed) by Agip. Good thick steel it is too. I gave the other half to a friend in exchange for welding some angle iron legs on to it. It is a fine affair that has enough grill space to cook for a big crowd, but it is starting to show its age.

Weber charcoal BBQs for the gites, a tatty half-oil drum affair for us.  I dislike gas BBQs intensely. They break all too readily in my experience and rapidly become encrusted with burnt on grease that they never quite get hot enough to brun away.

[quote user="milkeybar kid"]Anton I have internet banking but I have neither transferred money or received as I found it scary!! Have I understood as long as no one has my password (number code) all the bank details are useless to a fraudster?[/quote] That's my understanding, certainly. The account number, sort code, IBAN and so on are the "public" face of the account; the password, mother's maiden name, the name of your first pet and the street you lived on as a child are the private face. Keep the two firmly seperate and there should be no problem.

[quote user="Quillan"] I wonder what currency they would like to see as a "new, stable and secured global reserve currency "? [/quote] The Yuan has to be a front runner in the event of the dollar fading away, but I don't believe that the dollar has had its day just yet. And China has a vested interest in supporting the currencies of the nations that provide so much market for their slave-wage made plastic tat. I hear that some of the big boys and girls have been taking advantage of the gold bandwagon over the past couple of months to shift funds out of that and into some of the more valued industrial metals (copper to an extent, and also a couple of the Platinum group that are seen as undervalued and the Rare Earths). Partly this is because they see industrial growth continuing apace outside of the US and Europe and partly because gold (a metal with little intrinsic value from an industrial standpoint) is seen as overvalued and there's nothing like high prices to cure high prices. In particular they are concerned that the US might choose to monitise some of their gold reserve to support the dollar. A too-weak dollar is not good news to the US which is highly dependent on oil imports priced in dollars but valued increasingly by producers in other currencies. I would suppose that with the US now being downgraded, this scenario looks more rather than less likely. It doesn't take many brains to imagine the effect of  the US dumping 30 millon ounces or so on the price of gold.

[quote user="pachapapa"]Is the position still open? I know of people in Genève who might be interested. [/quote] I doubt that particular vacancy is still open - it was back in 2002. But openings for half-way competent physical oil traders are usually about. There's always some bank or other that gets the idea (in defiance of experience) that they can make a killing in oil on the basis of it being "just like any other commodity" and looks to recruit a few big hitters to help them do it. We used to call this the Santa Claus Syndrome 'cos it always brought us our Christmas bonus. [:)]

[quote user="sweet 17"]R-R, that's not entirely fair.  Their mountain fortress is enchanting in winter.[/quote] It can look quite pretty from the other side of the border, I'll admit. Before we came here I was offered a job in Zug with a trading house out there. The European operation of the American setup I was working for was being moved back to the States and I was looking for another situation, so I went and had a scout. On paper it looked really good - 80% salary hike, 17% income tax, pre-agreed bonus formula, big car, school fees covered, healthcare paid for, all the Toblerone I could eat, etc, etc. I was there for a couple of days and on the point of signing when I realised just what a tedious, anally-retentive, dump Switzerland was. So I declined the offer and took my chances in France instead. Financially much poorer; spiritually, infinitely richer. I might be slightly richer in pecuniary terms if this slide in the Euro contiues, but, myself, I doubt it will go on for long.

Opps. Double post.

[quote user="Simon-come-lately"]3. Who on earth makes a living from gites ?? I do it for a bit of fun ! Simon :-)  [/quote] We do. 'tis not easy, but it is possible. And part of the mindset in making it work is remembering the old saw about the customer always being right (even when they are clearly away with the fairies).

[quote user="Théière"][quote user="JK"] The guests that said ''you are in Burgundy, you should provide snail forks'![/quote] I sort of agree with that one [/quote] There is a certain logic. I tend to take the view that our guests are always right because they make it possible for me to live here. [:)]

[quote user="just john "]anyone noticed the exchange rate . . .[Www][/quote] The Swiss are getting a bit twichy about the strength of the Franc which is pricing their exports (chocolate, cheese, cookoo clocks and weapons) out of sight while simultaneously detering tourism to their dull, amoral, mountain fortress. Give it another 12 months and they'll be squealing to join the Euro. Possibly. I imagine that the practical upshot of all of this will be closer integration within the Eurozone.

[quote user="just john "]our visitors are a bit more regular http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022343/OAP-David-Bromley-lies-dead-seven-months-French-home.html   [/quote] Very sad, but some people just choose not to involve themselves and, after a while, they go beyond notice. A woman on my street in London (whom I saw perhaps twice in seven years living there) who spoke to no-one and involved herself in nothing lay dead in her kitchen for four months before someone turned up to cut off the electricity and called the police.

[quote user="audio"][quote user="Clarkkent"] Oh dear! Who can you believe here, Piers Morgan or Louise Mensch? Mr Morgan is known to many as the arch-enemy of Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye. Mrs Mensch is also known as Louise Bagshawe, author of about a dozen chick-lit bonkbusters. [/quote] and Jeremy Clarkson whacked him [/quote] Now there's a fight where I'd be happy to see two losers  [:)]

Considered opinion - she is so far up her own backside she can see the coffee stains on the back of her teeth. I'm feeling harsh ce soir.

I doubt Sarko's grannie would know how to spit. Très bcbg, I understand.

[quote user="breizh"]Can politicians beat global market forces? [/quote] Provided the market is functioning fluidly then it is seldom in politicians' interest to try to do so, even if - short term - the market makes their life difficult. The danger for the market comes when the number of players in it drops (through mergers or attrition) to the point where they routinely abuse their positions or acquire monopolistic or parastatal qualities. Think Standard Oil. In that case the potential fallout from a government interfering in a market was no worse than not doing so, and Standard Oil found itself broken up. It must always be remembered by the markets that governments can legislate and legally shoot people. In that sense they can always beat the market. [:D] How close we are to such an abusive situation in the financial markets I could not say. In the oil markets (my background) I reckon we're getting pretty close. That's my tuppence worth.

[quote user="breizh"]Also, only looked at the Asset Books of the various banks, so anything you didn't want the EBA to see you just transferred into the Trading Book for the day. Effectively the banks bought it's own debts for the day out of their customers' money. [/quote] Can't get away with that sort of thing any more - auditors are more clued up than they used to be  [;-)] But I wouldn't disagree with anything else you've got to say. Sarko & Merkel are well aware, I imagine, of how precarious the banks are in their respective domains and are just trying to brazen it out by being all statesmenlike while hoping desperately that improvements in the economic landscape (particularly in PIIGS) appear in time to save their bacon. The three card trick is all very well at dog tracks, but I'm not sure it can be reliably applied to national economies. Guess we'll find out  [:D]

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]We would have gone into recession anyway, although it probably wouldn't have been so bad. The US are $14 trillion in debt and this argument between the republicans and democrats is completely ridiculous. I actually agree with the presidents option in this case, although I reckon the biggest cuts they could make is by stopping this war on the other side of the planet, that is probably the biggest expense of all. Complete waste of money.[/quote] $14 trillion. I just looked at the yield on the 30 year bond - 4,4%. So, back of an envelope, the annual  interest alone is $616 odd billion. The GDP of all but 17 nations is less than that.

Back in the mid 1990s I was working for a small brokerage company in London that was owned by two parteners. One of them wished to mark the 50th birthday of the other (1995) and spent a great deal of money obtaining a bottle of 1945 Château Lafite Rothschilde. I think it cost him about £3500. This was duly opened with great ceremony ... and found to be corked.

[quote user="Christine Animal"]I'm pleased to see you back too Riff-Raff, though very sorry to hear what happened. I remember when you "disappeared".  You asked if anyone could recommend a good restaurant in the Niort area and we found one.  The very experienced Loiseau thought it looked good too (I could find the thread).  We nearly went there, but finally never did.  Must still try it one day with a table by the water.  Did you ever get there finally? Goodness, I can't believe it, it was back in 2007 !  It was the Auberge de la Rousille near Niort.  But maybe you went for a curry finally?!   [:D]  Or maybe you can't even remember now. http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/869207/ShowPost.aspx   [/quote] I've posted a little here and elsewhere since then, Christine, but my heart wasn't in it! We did get to that restaurant by the water and it was quite excellent.

[quote user="5-element"]Riff-Raff, so very sorry to read about your personal experience of suicide. Thanks to you and others,  for explanations about the gap in countries' suicide rates, it makes a lot of sense. I did wonder, as it did not seem quite right that there would be such a huge difference between France and UK.[/quote] I was surprised at the time it happened to what extent suicide is still stigmitises the family in the UK. My niece (now 13) was on the receiving end of some very unsavoury bullying at school that was based on her father having killed himself. The school seemed strangely reluctant to deal with the situation, appearing not to want to mention the "S" word in public. A charity which helped her and her mother at the time said that this was common. When the father of my daughter's best friend took his own life (also in 2009), on the other hand, the school here handled it completely openly and she was supported by teachers and students alike with not an unkind word uttered to her.

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]How can you vote if you don't know what each person stands for? [/quote] I think most people just vote for the party (or the candidate with the best hair) and don't really listen to what the candidates are saying, so from that standpoint I'm not sure that language proficiancy is that important. I was at school with the children of first generation immigrants (one set Italian, one set Pakistani) whose parents spoke very limited English indeed and yet who in both cases ran businesses and actively contributed to community life. I'm pretty convinced attitude trumps linguistic ability.

[quote user="woolybanana"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]Certainly the rest of the world seem to have difficulty with the idea that booze is instead of food (something the British cracked years ago), so perhaps this is where they are going wrong.  And of course the UK has the best TV, so instead of contemplating the pointlessness of being (a common pastime in France, as we all know) and getting all down in the dumps, Tommy Atkins just latches on to the cathode ray nipple until his brains melt and leak out of his ears, while grinning inanely. I don't know why these academics have to go and make things so complicated. I suppose they need to justify their existence or face getting all depressed. I notice that part of the survey was done by telephone: do you think that they may have weighted in the potential emotional instability of someone actually willing to answer desperately personal questions over the 'phone? [/quote] Riff Raff, I am so glad you have come back amongst us with your delightful take on life. You bloggin again? Bored with life? [/quote] Thanks Wooly! Just been very, very occupied (see my post above plus we expanded the business). The blog has just become active again in the last couple of weeks. Life is good. You OK?

[quote user="5-element"]According to the map in the link I posted above (can't seem to find the date for that world map!) the suicide rate is: UK: 6.45 per 100,000 France: 17.25 per 100,000 This seems a rather phenomenal difference, almost 3 times more suicides in France than in the UK?   [/quote] It's actually quite simple. I went into this in some detail in 2009 when my brother took his own life. That was in the UK. His death was not recorded as a suicide though it was - to us - quite clearly so. A narritive verdict was returned. At the inquest it was explained that suicide (and accidental death) are verdicts requiring a criminal level of proof; that is, beyond reasonable doubt. In practice this means that a note written immediately before the event making clear the intent of the deceased (or something similar) is required. A record of internet research on suicide and the systematic aquisition of the necessary medicaments (for example) would not be enough. The upshot of this is that many deaths in the UK that are recorded as "open" or "misadventure" (usually returned in the case of teenaged hanging) or are given narritive verdicts would be recorded as suicide elsewhere, including in France. WHO figures are compiled based on figures provided by national governements. In deference to the differing legal systems and cultures they do not massage the figures to bring them onto a common basis, though burried in their literature there are cautionary notes about this. Mental health professionals are not so fettered by legal nicety and will go back through inquest records classifying deaths as probable suicides based on a less rigorous burden of proof. When this is done, the UK"suicide" rate comes only a very little lower than France's - in the 16s per 100,000 as I recall, though as you might appreciate I have no great tatse to dig through that particular exercise to get the exact figure once again.

Certainly the rest of the world seem to have difficulty with the idea that booze is instead of food (something the British cracked years ago), so perhaps this is where they are going wrong.  And of course the UK has the best TV, so instead of contemplating the pointlessness of being (a common pastime in France, as we all know) and getting all down in the dumps, Tommy Atkins just latches on to the cathode ray nipple until his brains melt and leak out of his ears, while grinning inanely. I don't know why these academics have to go and make things so complicated. I suppose they need to justify their existence or face getting all depressed. I notice that part of the survey was done by telephone: do you think that they may have weighted in the potential emotional instability of someone actually willing to answer desperately personal questions over the 'phone?