Tresco

Old age (state pensions), certainly. child Benefits used to be there. Really it's been so long that I had to apply for any benefit that I can't say for sure, but we found this site very useful, www.pensionguide.gov.uk and here's the address for the Retirement Pension Forecasting Team: The Pension Service, Whitley Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE98 1BA - is that anywhere near Washington?

I think its where the head office/s are for Health and Social Security. Somewhere near Newcastle?

If you havn't moved before, or for a very long time, you will probably have stuff you have not even seen for years, never mind made use of. Time for the 'life laundry'. It took me 6 months of gradual, then at the end feverish chucking out. One charity took two transit vans of stuff. I had a disastrous moving experience a few years ago with a very well known company, who did all the packing, at great expense. I was out at work. There was no way of telling what was in each box.  They also seriously underestimated how much stuff we had. It was hell, and made the move much more stressful. On my numbered boxes and itemised lists, I was very detailed - things like 'small brown jug from ireland'. Everyone laughed at me then, but not when we arrived. Buy your dishwasher in France - makes sense in case anything goes wrong with it, especially while under guarantee. Just my opinion.

I don't think you're being lazy, but as you seem to be preparing well for the move you could be worrying unneccessarily. At this stage, if you do forget something, it will probably be irritating, but insignificant. One thing I did was leave the person who bought our house a supply of envelopes and stamps, in case the mail redirection failed. It failed many times. I brought a supply of English stamps with me, which  proved very useful, in the early days. They are all gone now anyway. Before packing, I also changed the plugs on as many electrical items as I could. I'd bought the plugs on a previous trip. See, trivial stuff really.  

Ha! I am not alone in thinking Barthez, while capable of pulling off the odd amazing save, is a liability. I was soooo happy when he left MUFC. As to the gentlemen heroes who won the world cup, weren't there a few real tough guys among them? Jack Charlton, Nobby Stiles and Alan Ball spring to mind (tiny, but tough, the last two). Does Peter understand about Beckham now?

  My atlas shows on one page, Greece, Bulgaria, and a small part of Turkey, (labelled European Turkey!) which is probably the part you refer to TU. Now here I experienced something of a revelation. The rest of  Turkey is enormous, and the population is over 70 million. If Turkey does eventually gain entry it will be the second largest country after Germany. The article Dicksmith mentioned above finishes by asking something like 'What is Europe, and where will it end?'  Which is what I had in mind in the original post. At this rate  The Russian Federation doesn't look so very far away, and North Africa even more so. Gets me thinking back to Orwells '1984'.

Agreed, you shouldn't need an itemised list, but when we had a holiday home in the north, we once got a really stroppy customs guy. The car was loaded up with gardening stuff and DIY tools. We had to get everything out, explain why we were taking it, and when we had bought it???!!! On the return journey, I would swear it was the same guy. That time, after dislodging a few things, the smell of all the filthy stuff put him off. When we moved here we came in a box van - and seriously underestimated how much we could get in it. I made a detailed list, of which I made two copies, of the contents of every single item, in each numbered box. It was of great use to me, and thats what I did it for.

I've been trying to follow the news, about expansion of the EU. Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey are all candidates. The news reports (in France) all seem to be about Turkey. Jacques Chirac seems to having a bit of a struggle to persuade people that Turkey will come up with the goods. Jack Straw similarly. I can understand the concerns about Turkey, (enormous, poor country, human rights abuses still not got rid of, muslim majority), and i'm very interested in peoples views on these factors, but it may be ten or twenty years before Turkey is accepted as a member.  Assuming Turkey eventually meets the requirements for Eu membership, what next?. I'm intrigued by the political and strategic implications of Turkeys geographical location, next to Syria and Iraq.  Is this as much of a hot topic in UK?, and what mental geographical/cultural boundaries do people have as to 'where'  Europe is/could be?. Mine have shifted somewhat, (but it's a struggle), after the inclusion of Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania, who are all members now.

[quote]Getting back to the topic, the point is that Chirac acted on public opinion in France, whether he had other agendas too is besides the point, that's a separate issue. I think the most important point ...[/quote] Yes, the thread went off track, it often does, sometimes it comes back again, sometimes not. SB's original post posed the question as to whether Chirac acted in a noble and selfless manner, or whether the prospect of some sort of deal on oil influenced his decision making. In that respect Government leaders 'other agendas' are clearly not 'a separate issue'. My impression was that the French government were against the war for moral reasons - i.e it was not a 'just war'. The fact that Chirac has been proved 'right' in hindsight in this respect doesn't make him a good guy, in light of the other relevations SB alerted us to, and alleged past activities. Yes the anti-French stuff was pretty grim, but I have to wonder how much of it was talked up by government (UK and USA) press people, to distract people from whatever could have been the proper focus of attention that week/month.

Bohhound, yes, plenty of people are racist, in all sorts of different ways, but most don't take every opportunity to reveal their racism in the way that dunarunnerforthetimebeing does. You say it doesn't matter to you, or the 'greatest number of people in the world'. How do you know what the views are of all these millions of people. I have no idea what their views are, but I know that racism has affected and continues to  negatively affect millions of peoples lives. Some pretty obvious examples - no need to pull out the history books. Wasn't slavery based on racist beliefs, wasn't formal aparthied in South Africa, and the similar 'Jim Crow' system in the southern states of America? Wasn't racism one of the reasons why many thousands of people of asian origin were expelled from Uganda in the 1970's?. Surely there is no such thing as 'positive racism', are you referring to positive discrimination?  I would really like to know what about what the New York police and fire departments did that caused the 'disastrous results' you mention. Perhaps you could point me in the direction of your source (via private message if you think it appropriate).    

[quote]Hello Tresco I do not think there was anything racist about my post. I do think that proberbly most englishmen/women would prefer not to have a person with a deep perma-tan and a funny bit of cloth o...[/quote]   As a lot of white english people seem to spend their holidays trying to get a tan, then keep it by going on sun-beds, I have to disagree with you. So, if its not the fake tan, it must be either the colour, or the head gear. As TU suggests HRH QE 2nd just about 'caps' them all in the head gear department. That just leaves colour. As to you (repeatedly) claiming that your statements are not racist, they are.

The other posters have made some good suggestions, but I can't help but think about the work, (watering, covering up in winter - ugly too, and you will need to repot at some point, whatever you put in) and the initial expense of plants in pots. One of my 'things to do' for the last year has been to paint the front door, but not because of getting my privacy invaded.  If you think it'll make a difference why not paint yours and then think about these other measures if you are still getting neighbours turning up on the terrace in the spring? Now I've said that, it has just this minute turned into fierce autumn weather here, (Charente Maritime) and i'm wondering whether the flaky paint on my own front door will last through. Hope the weather is a bit better where you are, for planting or painting.

Could be similar to Christmas in UK, although I believe the number of accidents/deaths have fallen there. Lots of people visiting friends and family, driving long distances or late in the evening to get home? (tiredness) driving when they are drunk?

[quote]For me, the best way to learn about the French psyche (if you'll excuse the pretentiousness) has been watching my son going through the education system. What I mean is, when you see the influences o...[/quote] "I don't know what my point is either. I'm just a bit perplexed, again" Been reading too many Jaques Derrida obits SB?. It'll be a while before you even think you know anything for sure again.

  SB you have just outed yourself as a Derrida Derider, but what I want to know is, what do you really mean by it?

Hey SB, what are these wriggly slinky things you call ***? I bet you've got Dunrunnin wondering how he can vote for them at the next election. Miki, the other thing about him is, he doesn't just post plain old 'waffle', does he?. What about the term '******'? He takes every opportunity to sneak his peculiarly racist outlook on the world into his posts.

We used to see a lot of these 'dead people' on the N10 going down to Bordeaux. The road has improved a lot recently, but 3 years ago we were told to go a different way, not on the 'road of death'. The biggest grouping I saw was 5 figures, including two 'children'. A bit further down the road there was a 'cat', which some bereaved pet owner had risked life and limb to erect there. I've seen the aftermath of two fatal accidents in just over a year, on minor roads I travel regularly. I just wish everyone would get a grip, in terms of speeding, tailgating, unsafe overtaking, and wearing seatbelts.

I think of myself as an immigrant, as I hope to stay in France. I get the point about working class and middle class, but really in terms of UK thinking, i've always thought that UK people who live abroad, for whatever reason, tend to use the term expat about themselves and people they think are like them. If many of those same people were talking about people who have moved to UK, they tend to use the term immigrant.

[quote]I had the belief that we live in a democratic society where we are allowed to express our opinion. or is it only if the opinion agrees with yours Dunrunnin?[/quote] Dunrunnin, I may be imagining this, and the forum makes it difficult for me to check back. Can you clarify for me, are you saying you can only have a view if you live in France? If so, that's a bit strong. I live in France, grew up in UK, and have Irish background, yet feel able to make comment on all, and other countries that I have never lived in, or have any family connection with. Where do you live? I  ask because I remember recently you had some very strong opinions on the 'subcontinent' of Africa. Are you African?  

Thanks, SB. How did you find it?

What a diverse range of responses. I used to love the milk my milkvan came with in UK, and I have been permanently dissatisfied since coming to France. Strange, isn't it, a country with 2 or 3 isles of milk products, but no milk - as you know it. In some supermarches it is hidden, almost as pornography is in UK (but not in france, here, that's right down there, literally, if not metaphorically, with diy). You must search for your non UHT milk, and embarrass yourself asking people where it is. It may be in a tiny little chiller cabinet, next to the cat food, or it may be snuggled up to the cheeses, yoghurts etc. In my experience, it has a red cap, and is in a plastic bottle. Confused? You will (continue to) be.

Now that you have them, please do everthing you can in your local area to house them. We found a cat, starving, emaciated, batteered, about 2 weeks ago. I thought it was pregnant at the time, but it now seems it had had the kittens, and then been dumped. This cat is now mine, who knows what happened to the chattons?

sorry, I somehow managed to post without finishing. I hope you stay. If you have been here 2 years you are in a position to help or advise others, as well as get the odd bit of help here yourself. tresco

Jo, thanks for posting this, although the background to it must have been really difficult for you and your older daughter. I was not as brave as you, and refused to move here with a dependent child. It's a really tricky one, isn't it, till you do it for real? I hope you stay with the forum, you have been here longer than I have, and ha

I have done it by hand, so to speak, and with steamer. Steamer is probably quicker, but very, well, steamy. As to the the mess you make of the walls themselves, it depends what you are going to put on them, and what quality finish you want.  If you are going to put a textured wallpaper on, you can get away with pretty much anything. If you just want plain painted walls, but the walls are not brand new, after stripping, if I were you I would fill anything that I could feel if I ran my hand on the wall, because every little nick shows. I would then seal it, with PVA or equivalent, then paint. If you are going to paint the bare wall, after stripping, if I were you, I would have it skimmed. tresco