Le Petomane

We have invited my brother-in-law in the UK to stay with us at the end of September. He is a worrier and a stickler for the rules, (he used to be a magistrate) and he wants us to send him a letter confirming that he will be staying here with us. Has anyone ever heard of such a letter being asked for by French border officials?

Are you suggesting that Brits who settle in France do so because they are dissatisfied with their own country? Not so in my case. Is it the case with most of the members of this forum? I have grumbles about life in Britain, and about life in France. I've lived in Germany, Bulgaria (under Communism) and the Middle East. All these places had their drawbacks. I'd probably find things to complain about in Utopia, Nirvana and Shangri-La. And it's not because I'm particularly picky. It's human nature. To come back to the original thread, I'd be interested to know which particular laws Gluestick thinks are unnecessary? Let's have chapter and verse! 

We kept pigs in the UK. There, they are subject to all sorts of control orders, and I guess it's the same in France. You have to have them properly penned (they are very strong and very intelligent, and can smash their way through anything that would retain cattle), and they are very prone to disease. Get a canary instead.

Many Acts of Parliament are non-controversial legislation, often bills sponsored by MPs for their local authorities, or for river or harbour authorities etc. Others, like the Finance Act or the Armed Forces Act are designed to prolong existing legislation. This "seven and a half new laws" doesn't mean anything until you analyse it. I find that the people who shout loudest about nanny states and government interference are also the first to ask "what are they(ie, the government) going to do about it?" as soon as something goes wrong. And no, I'm not a Tony Blair fan.

You think Freud was obsessed?  Have you read Wilhelm Reich?

H'mm. Perhaps you should read Freud, too...

I would like to see this Gurkha treated justly, indeed, I would like to see everybody treated justly. I am also pleasantly surprised to see the Daily Mail campaigning for more immigration, even if it's just one deserving Gurkha. What next? Mr Paul Dacre joining the next Gay Lib March, or saying something positive about state schools?

There is a serpent in every Paradise. Read "Genesis"!

I have just bought a rhubarb crown. I live in Herault, and I am not sure where to place it. I thought rhubarb liked shade, but a website tells me that it hates shade and to keep it in the sun. Any advice?

The Foreign Office minister who signed their deportation order was Roy "Chubby" Hattersley, who now presents himself all over the media as the Inheritor of Keir Hardie's Cloth Cap.

If it's any comfort to anyone, all my usual overseas transfers for May have come in OK, plus a completely new transfer from Canada for which I had provided my old IBAN reference. Some bits of the new CA are getting it right.

Only an eggcupful. And it is a vegetable oil. It's not going to harm anything. The tank is only for watering his garden. And it was in the interests of Science. And I did water and weed his garden all last summer while he was ill. And.....

Good luck to you. Michael O'Leary has a vocabulary of two words. The second one is "off".

We moved here from Oman, and were in the same situation as you. We had closed our Omani bank account. We wrote off to our ex-employers in Oman and they sent us letters confirming our earnings. These were accepted. Remember that you will pay cotisations based on your earnings for 2006.

My neighbour's water-tank, which he uses to irrigate his potager, is brimming with mosquito larvae. His tank is about 20 metres from the sitting-out-and-eating bit of our garden. Soon they will all hatch out. They won't bother him, because his house is much further away, and anyway, he doesn't use his garden other than for growing his veg. Someone told me that pouring oil on the top of the water will prevent the larvae from breathing, and yesterday I poured some sunflower oil on. The larvae didn't seem to be able to penetrate my little oil slick, and they surfaced elsewhere in the tank. The thing is, I can't cover the whole tank in oil, he would be bound to notice; I get on well with him and don't want to upset him.  I have thought of scooping them out with a child's fishing net, but I don't think the holes would be small enough. What else can I do? Buy some goldfish? Is there anything else that would eat them? What to do?