Cat

ahem, testing...

I have two suggestions for you. The first is that you ask yourself, did I go straight home, or did I stop anywhere else.  If you stopped somewhere, did you use the same bag? If you went straight home, dig out the receipt for everything you bought, and track down each and every item you put away (it might be hiding in the freezer, the bread bin, the veggie basket etc). If the above fails, resort to plan B (and quite honestly, I'm rather disapointed that you didn't work this out for yourself). Firstly, arm yourself with a good stout broom, then slap your hand against your thigh a few times, whilst calling (in a somewhat higher than normal voice) "here cheesey cheesey cheesey".  When the AWOL cheese rushes out to see what all the noise is about, pin it down with the broom. Simple.    

KC and the Sunshine Band

[quote user="SaligoBay"]Gay City Rollers[/quote] No, no no SB, the BAY city rollers had hits in the 70's, the GAYs did exist, but not until the 80's But, if I must, then Gary Glitter (ahem, I'll get my coat).

David Cassidy

Demios, if your reply was to the thread started by Freddie, about companies operating in "grey areas", then the thread was deleted by the mods, pending the results of investigations by the Living France editor. I believe an apology to those who had, or were in the process of replying to this mail this was given in a new thread. EDIT, oh, well the new thread seems to have been deleted too now, how strange.      

Nothing whatsoever to do with France, but just a quick reminder that the film Touching the Void is showing on channel 4 tonight at 7:20pm (or 8.20pm French time). For anyone who hasn't seen it (and without giving too much away) it's the incredible true story of the results of a decision taken in a life-or-death situation by a mountaineer forced to cut the rope on his climbing partner after a terrible fall.  Interwoven with interviews with the actual people involved, it's one of the most gripping films that I have ever seen, and well worth setting the video recorder for.    

Oh my giddy aunts and uncles !!! I've never had the pleasure (or otherwise) of gazing in wonder and surprise at Mr Brysons orbs.  I can only say in my defence that it's starting to get dark here, and my touch typing's not what it used to be. BOOKS, not boobs.    

Well Punch, you could shell out and buy something from Adobe, or you could just download a free converter from here ... http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator    

I have to admit to rather liking Bill Bryson's boobs, although he is on my list of travel authors not safe to be read on public transport or in waiting rooms, along with Tim Moore and Pete McCarthy. I've not read the merde book, mainly due to hearing so many negative comments about it. Hoddy, is the evening with Mr Bryson around here in France, or back in the UK? And have you read From here you can't see Paris, set in this neck of the woods?  I found it interesting, if rather patronising.

I would definitely second the suggestion of actively seeking information from owners of houses that you like the look of.  There are some awful cowboys about, and word gets around quickly about the outfits to be avoided at all costs. I personally know of two different building contractors that I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole. The first did so shoddy a job on the house that he was building that the site was actually shut down on health and safety grounds after the gable end fell down.  The second built a seemingly perfect house, and it wasn't until it started to suffer from terrible damp problems that the owners discovered that their RDC/cellar was completely unprotected from damp, and had not had the usual plastic membrane fitted. The remedial work afterwards involved completely digging out all the surrounding area, ruining in the process the garden that they had spent months perfecting.  Yes, it was covered by the warranty, but the stress and upheaval was terrible.  After the owners got in touch with others who had used the same builders, it became apparent that this was not a one-off case. I would also suggest that even if you do use a project manager, you be actively involved at the planning stage. Building a new house from scratch gives you the unique chance to choose the orientation of the house and the positioning of windows for views and sunlight (or even lack of it, a south facing bedroom with big windows is not a good idea in high summer, believe me). We changed our plans 5 times before we arrived at the final design (due in no small part to the restrictions imposed on us by the architect of the Batiments de France) but now have something so much better than the original design submitted by the architect that I would have retospectively kicked my own a*** had I simply accepted original plan.    

I agree that people of Arabic origin seem to be the least favoured, and most discriminated against, group in France. Whenever I hear French people banging on about the number of illegal immigrants living here, sponging off the system, etc, I always ask them what they would do if they lived a hand-to-mouth existence in country that they were desperate to leave.  Isn't it natural that people would choose to come here illegally if they had the chance, as the French system makes it a relatively easy for them to remain here, even without papers.  If there is a problem, it is with the system itself. A lot of French people seem to judge people by their race (Arab, Anglo-Saxon etc) rather than their country of origin. We have one black guy in our village, and although he is well liked, and not actively dicriminated against, I find that some of the jokes and comments made to his face are decidedly less PC than I feel comfortable with.  A lot of Brits say that living in rural France is like living in the UK 30 years ago, and certainly the attitude here is not unlike that in the UK in the 1970's when TV comedy shows often used "darkies" and "nig-nogs" (their words, not mine, I hasten to add) as a focus for racial stereotype jokes. As an example, the word "Nègre" is still in fairly common use here, and quite a song and dance was made during the summer about having a black TV news presenter.  I do think though that much of this is due to a general lack of political-correctness, rather than an actual dislike.  

Just a thought Ian, but is your large Collins a French (as in published in France, for French people) dictionary, rather than a French-English one? I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that French people don't acknowledge -re verbs as being regular.  I shall go off and Google for a while to see if I can confirm this.    

Also, check the box directly below it "display a notification about every script error". If, despite this you still get the errors afterwards you might have been infected by spyware/adware, in which case it would be a good idea to install and run Spybot if you don't already use this (in fact even if the errors don't return, it is still a good idea to use Spybot, or something similar).  

Doh!  I realised as soon as I had posted that I was answereing the wrong question, but couldn't delete my mail due to the 10 nanosecond delete rule. Actually, looking again at their website, they do seem to say that it is possible to transfer the name of the holder.  If the change is due to something like a marriage then all paperwork must be provided for FT.  If not due to a family change then they seem to say that... The holder of the line will ask for the cancellation of his subscription. At the same time, the transferee will ask for an opening of line according to usual conditions. You then contact France Telecom together on 10 14 from your home number (free call), by specifying that the transferee wishes to preserve the telephone number. The following supporting documents are necessary: - a copy of the indentity card or the passport of the transferee - on plain paper, the name, first name, date and birthplace of the transferee (the copy of the paper identity being sometimes of bad quality) - the copy of the leasing agreement, the lease, the commitment to sell - the exact address of installation of the person that France Telecom can contact for possible further information concerning the request - the name, first name and telephone number of the predecessor. Clear as mud, huh?

I don't think it's possible to take over an existing phone number, but according to France Telecom's website you should be able to take your private (as opposed to business) number with you if you are not moving far... "Il est possible de conserver le même numéro de téléphone si votre nouveau domicile dépend du même central téléphonique que votre ancien domicile." It is possible to keep the same telephone number if your new home uses the same telephone exchange as your old one. Are you moving far?  That might explain why you were told that it was not possible. EDIT, sorry missread your question, so this doesn't answer it [:(]    

I've never seen fresh cranberries here, but you can buy bottled ones at Leader Price.  They're good in sauces, and don't have any added sugar.  They work well for deglazing a pan (with a dash of brandy) after cooking duck breasts, in the same fashion as a green peppercorn sauce, but more gamey.  

[quote user="naps"]Just to fill the gap.... certainly delectable[/quote] or crushingly desirable (whoops sorry... wipes drool off keyboard). Where were we, M wasn't it? mmm, mightily more-ish [Www]  

[quote user="Patmobile"]Boney?[/quote] [quote user="opas"]effeminate[/quote] How did we jump from boney to effeminate? Did someone post, and then delete a C-word (surely not !!!). And what about D?   Juicy  [6]

Oh er, let me think... How about adjectives you might use to describe Johnny Depp, I'll start with absolutely divine [:)]

No Opas, I don't think Missy was asking for your agreement.... Oh, I see Ok then, ZZ top  

[quote user="TWINKLE"]Wet, Wet, Wet[/quote] O-Oh Twinks, Missy beat you to it. X-Ray spex EDIT, well stripe me, foiled again. I dallied too long on the x's by the time that I'd posted my spexes I'd been beaten by Naps so it's now time perhaps To ask Meg to do one of her hexes      

Velvet Underground EDIT, Oh pants, beaten to the post.  For my forfeit, one of me poems There once was a game on the net I've played, but not fast enough yet My Lou Reed attempt Has been ruled exempt So much for my underground velvet      

Radiohead  

I went to see Riverdance at the Zenith in Toulouse last year with a french friend, she's a complete fan.  She has tickets to see Lord of the Dance in Toulouse, and if she thought the show had been cancelled I'd have to be hiding the sharp knives and talking her down from the window sill.