Juswundrin

Yes, ours was at a virtual standstill yesterday until late afternoon, and it's the same so far today. The network status link on the orange website is "Infos navigation", top right: http://r.orange.fr/r/Oassistance_infosnavigation but I've never seen anything on there admitting there are any current problems - a couple of days after the problems are rectified there'll just be a note to the effect that "some people had problems over the weekend, but all is now well".

Yes, ours was at a virtual standstill yesterday until late afternoon, and it's the same so far today. The network status link on the orange website is "Infos navigation", top right: http://r.orange.fr/r/Oassistance_infosnavigation but I've never seen anything on there admitting there are any current problems - a couple of days after the problems are rectified there'll just be a note to the effect that "some people had problems over the weekend, but all is now well".

Hi You need the CA8454, which you can find at www.hmrc.gov.uk HTH

Not been with CA for ages, but about three years ago I tried to pay some cash into a different CA branch from our usual one, and they said they couldn't take it over the counter & I'd have to use my bank card to pay it into the machine, When I said that we didn't have a card, they simply gave me a single-use card (which the machine then retained). From memory, they pre-coded the card with my account number and the amount being despoited. Being CA, there's probably a lot of regional variation, but I did think at the time it was a really clever system.

Thanks again Mac, that's really helpful.

That's perfect Mac, thanks; is French not likely to be offered as an option then? Regarding fibro-cement (if that's the correct name); am I right in thinking that their main drawback is that they whiten in time? (When we re-slate the back of an outbuilding that won't be a problem as it can't be seen). Thanks again.

Sorry, been offline; thanks very much for the info.

Hi We're going to be needing some re-slating work doing at some point, so I wonder if anyone could give me an idiot's guide to the different types of slate I'm likely to have to select from (Category A and B, French or Spanish or Chinese, fibro, artificial...) Thanks in advance.

Surely the link posted by thornit (page 5) is the definitive answer, isn't it; you use the day rate if practical but are allowed, for simplicity, to average 31/12 with the previous year's 31/12. End of. The staff quoting 1.04 are quite simply wrong, surely? I guess, though, anyone who has the 1.04 in writing is justified in using it; after I was given that rate, I specifically asked whether "1.0498 is the rate to use to convert all of my income received in GBP during 2008 to EUR for the 2008 declarion". I have just received her reply: "Vous devez multiplier vos revenus en livres par le taux de 1,049868766. Il s'agit du cours au 31/12/2008 communiqué par la Banque de France." It's tempting, but I believe she's wrong. E1.20 for me, and I know to use the average of the two 31/12 rates in future years.

If you read para 3 on the front page of that, you'll see that you're allowed to use the *average* of 31/12/07 and 31/12/08; it doesn't say to use the 31/12/08 rate itself. My departmental Impots have quoted 1.1863, which sounds right-ish (average of 1.0498 and 1.362, I believe it was). I'd be happy to be corrected if i'm misreading that article.

""t is a mystery to me as to what source they could have consulted to come up with 1.04 as it has only ever touched that once at the turn of the year, and then just for a few days, so maybe this is actually a number which has been handed down from above ? "" i *think* it's the Banque de France rate for 31st December (which I believe is used for ISF, so is a figure the Impots would presumably have ready access to).

Good tip, but I'm thinking that a plain paper list has the advantage that I can just update it as & when we open or close an account, then just print it off once a year. i couldn't find anything skimming through the 3916 worksheet about this, but does anyone know if there's a lower limit (either on balance or interest accrued) at which you can leave an account off the 3916? We've got odd dormant UK accounts with £1 left in, plus a penny or two a year in interest, but don't really want to close those accounts? Thanks.

Ah, hadn't thought of the sort code; that's very helpful, thank you.

Hi Could I ask a related question; I understand it's acceptable to write the account details on plain paper, rather than fill in a 3916. If doing this, do you just write bank name, bank address and account number? That's all? Thanks

Hi I'm surprised these (http://www.fairfx.com) doesn't get mentioned more often as a really good way of transferring £ to France for those of those who don't have Nationwide cards. We've had one for a year now and are really pleased with it. We use it for purchases and cash withdrawals (and withdrawing cash just to pay into our La Poste account as it's quicker/cheaper than our previous method of Moneybookers). Anyway, reason for the post; Fairfx are currently running a refer-a-friend promotion until the end of April. Anyone who joins via this will save the usual one-off joining fee of £9.95 (and I get a £5 referral fee too), so I thought I'd post it on here. If anyone's interested, just PM me your email address so that you benefit from the £9.95 saving. Thanks Martyn

"I do believe LP, that the poster did say that the pressure kept rising when the system was cold......" Sorry, I wasn't clear; when cold the pressure was static, but each time the system cooled down the cold pressure was slightly higher than the previous time. Reading that back, I'm not sure it's much clearer now... Anyway, thanks to both of you for the help. I thought I'd wait to reply until I could confirm what the problem actually was; the plumber has just fixed it, and it was indeed the diaphragm which had failed. Thanks again.

Hi The pressure gauge on the expansion vessel of our (oil) boiler is creeping up bit by bit. When hot, it's been showing 1.5, 1.6 the next day, etc and is now just above 2.0; cold, it's gradually increased from the usual 1.0 until its current 1.3ish. I believe this usually means that the diaphragm in the expansion vessel has split, is that right? The overflow from the expansion vessel is shared with the overflow from the chauffe-eau; this overflow froze a couple of weeks ago during the cold weather, so it occurred to me that the water which drips from the chauffe-eau, unable to exit from the overflow, could have ended up inside the expansion vessel, does that sound possible? Anyway, short question; is there something simple I can do to rectify this, or is it a job for the plumber? Thanks

Hi chris The brand is actually 'Rosieres' http://www.rosieres.fr/Default.aspx HTH

I think you may be misreading the info: Royaume-Uni: Tarif: tarif local cpm avec numero d'acces 0811 31 45 45 Tarif mobile: 12 cpm avec numero d'acces 0821 25 60 60

12 cpm is the rate to UK mobiles. To landline's it's charged at FT's local rate tariff.

"ING have aquired Kaupthing savings accounts so your money should be safe Poppy ." Afraid not; ING have aquired Kaupthing EDGE accounts only. The backlog of CHAPS/BACS payments should apparently start to clear today. Poppy, you might find some helpful info here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1203227

https://www.particuliers.labanquepostale.fr/index/argent/le_ccp.html Actually €4.60/year, changing to €3/year from next month. That includes internet access, monthly statements and delivery of chequebooks (payment cards are extra, but optional).

"When keeping as pets and you don't want to breed and have lots of unwanted piglets, are you best keeping two females together or are two males OK? " Hi Well, I'm far from an expert, but my feeling would be that you'd be fine with 2 males, given that: - males would ordinarily be sold castrated, and - you'd have no female for them to compete over, plus - they're an extremely placid & friendly breed (we have ducks that scare me more than our - intact - boar) :D Hope that helps.

Hi We've had a breeding pair of Kune kunes for about 18 months now (just had our first litter of piglets born on Monday, as it happens, but we're too far away from you unfortunately). Firstly, you'll really need to keep two together rather than a single pig. They're very easy to look after as long as they have a weatherproof house and enough grass (I think 5-6 per acre is the recommended maximum). Ours are in an orchard, so get plenty of windfall apples & cherries as well as the grass (& scraps from the vegetable garden). Just supplement the grass in Winter with pig pellets and/or barley flour made into a porridge. Anything specific you'd like an answer to, just ask again or feel free to PM me. You'll find lots of useful info on the web; try http://www.kunekune.co.nz for a start. Hope that helps.

That's great, thanks very much for the replies.