Weedon

It would appear that my people have been in conference with your people Pat, with the outcome that if I divulge anymore development secrets my seat for next seasons series is in Jeopardy.  This I find a little confusing as my seat appears to be intact and Jeopardy cannot be found when I did a search on my 1995 Auto Express Routefinder.  I can only deduce that this may be a red herring! but must now desist from passing on more closely guarded secrets after today. Having driven my way up through the ranks, starting with a push cylinder model via an Electric Flymo, Petrol Flymo, Suffolk Colt, Qualcast Bushwacker and finally to a Formula 1 Westwood T1600 WITH sequential gearbox AND powered grass collector I find myself in a quandary (you may have one of these between the tree stump, bonfire and woodpile). I have permission to give you one more tuning hint after which I have to call a halt to anymore assistance. Many times I have heard reference to "building a cushion".  You most probably have heard it yourself "Michael Wosname is in the lead and has his foot to the floor building himself a cushion".  This may be the key you are looking for but as I have no experience in that particular field cannot help you myself but suggest you ask the ladies as soft furnishings are their forte. Perhaps one of the ladies here might have an old copy of Womens Own magazine with a pattern for one, as I have heard that if you read a Teen magazine they describe how to have an orgasm but in the Womens Own you can find a pattern to make your own.  Best of luck weedon   

[quote]Our local paper on Friday had a report of another one, where they set fire to the lorry while the Spanish driver was still in it. Shame, as I find Spanish wine just as drinkable as French wine.[/quote] I prefer my red served at room temperature! weedon

If you would like to go round anti-clockwise move your near-side (in the UK) off side (in France) rear wheel to off-side (in the UK) near-side (in France) front , with me so far.  Now with both big wheels on the off-side (UK) near-side (France) after a slow start you should be able to pick up a bit of momentum and hammer round and should not have to worry about sideways drift on the corners.  The downside is that after a while berms will begin to form on the outsides of the bends. Whilst some  people will think that unsightly its my belief that you are not concerned with, what is in effect big gouges in your lawn, more about how fast your Mr Bricolage Rally can go. The upside is that when the berms are big enough you should be able to go round like a Wall of Death. Having had my Ackerman poo-poohed I checked with Mr Ackerman (I know him as Alf) and he confirms that on the Mr B Rally you cannot in fact alter the KPI as Dave pointed out, but you can on the John Deere 240.  weedon  PS I also worked for a Cooper in the fifties, but in a brewery making barrels.

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Having enlisted the help of the pit crew (Dick & myself) plus the innovative ideas of your own, you now have the unseen problem of extra fuel consumption.  But on this I have a solution.  This does involve assistance either from your wife (with nothing better to do) or the next door neighbour.  Using a seed hopper from the back of a friendly farmers tractor, position this over your fuel tank (wife/neighbour on a step ladder) and have them swiftly deposit 5 litres of fuel straight into your tank.  If you coordinate both hands and feet you should be able to master throttle, gear change, cutting deck, clutch and bonnet to be able to get this timed to just a few seconds.  Be careful on the restart, as in the excitement the wheelspin could leave very unsightly skid marks in the grass. weedon

In the absence of tinkering with the KPI, try a pair of backless leather driving gloves, wooden gear knob, dangly dice and 2 big speakers behind the seat booming out drum and bass.  An added bonus is that it might even get rid of the moles. weedon

The problem could be the Ackerman Angle (king pin inclination). I solved my steering problem by moving the camber shims from  the front of the top suspension wishbone to the rear thus reducing the toe-out on turns by approx 3 degrees.  Try it. weedon PS Thinking further about it, that only applies to right hand drive garden tractors, if you have a left hand drive I am afraid I cannot help.

I had a look at the Walnut site and tried a couple of the recipes.  The Lemon Tart was a great success but the Cauliflower Soup not so good, probably because I missed out the spicy bit. Will try it again with ALL the ingredients. weedon

How very strange, education being likened and compared as badly as that. We are discussing education for children not childish things. You may well be discussing education for children, but my point is that some of the postings are, in my opinion, childish and if they were placed by well educated people then there was a flaw in the teaching.  If I have put my point badly, as you say, it may be that I was not educated well enough to put it any better  than that.  My other point, and perhaps not put any better, was that there is a place for all of us and for a great many people a university education would be, and is wasted.  It is not necessary to post frequently in order to be an interested part of any discussion and I suspect that many do not simply because if they do so every word they put down is dissected and they are called buffoons if a word is put badly in the eyes of others. weedon  

I, like many people buying a french property, have a couple of piles of old stones in different places.  If I wanted to know how many cubic metres I have in the two piles I might seek advice from somebody with a degree in mathematics. But if I wanted to shift them to one separate pile I would engage somebody with a strong back and biceps.  Of the two who would be the more successful and happy in life? Come on people, its like my dads bigger then your dad. weedon

Along the wire fence separating you, can you not attach that bamboo stuff you see for sale in the garden centres. That would stop the grass clippings showering your side and its a wonder he doesn't get punctures going up and down that fence, those tyres are very thin  With your grassy verge problem, can you cut some channels across the verge to let the puddles through to your side? weedon

our half an acre garden is as much as anyone would want to cope with, but still they insist on wanting "at least a couple of acres"   WHY? Maybe you lived in a detached house with a big garden before you came to France, or maybe not.  But if you have lived in a semi with a garden space that will not allow you to sit outside without neighbours watching every move from 10ft away then you might understand why somebody might like to have a couple of acres so that for a while they can be king of their own little kingdom.  That's me, so don't view me with incredulity,  let me and others like me enjoy our bit of space, its been a long time coming.  And thank god its only 2 acres. weedon

Any bikers in the Bordeaux/Marmande area may be interested to know there is Grass Track and Longtrack racing there during the summer.  The grass track is the European Championship and Longtrack the World Championships.  Riders from Britain, France,Germany,and Holland compete. www.sidecarspeedway.com for more info. weedon

Apparently Tony Blair has had a spray tan. That should at least capture a percentage of the don't knows. weedon

I was 100% with Outcast on this one up until the time I told the money grabbing cashier at Carrefour she had no right to grow fat at my expense. Now what do I do with this pineapple as it is making walking difficult for me? weedon

[quote]Hasn't got a spare 'V' belt in it.............?Mike[/quote] No I took it off to put it on a tumble dryer But it did have an old scouts hat and a swiss army knife with a blade broken. It's no problem though because the hat didn't fit and I never knew what that blade was used for anyway. weedon

If its a V type belt try a mower repair shop, take the broken bits with you for a pattern. As a temporary solution rather than an old stocking you will have to use a leg from a pair of tights but cut the gusset off cos it makes a noise when it goes round the pulley weedon

I have just got rid of my old Transit (UK plates). I asked in my village garage who gave me the address of a place who broke up vehicles and sold second-hand parts.  I went there, using the phone is difficult, they took my address, they came with a transporter on the day and exact time arranged and its gone.  So far, touch wood, I've received no speeding or parking tickets for it since although how I argue my way out of it if I do will be another story weedon

When we first came to France 4 years ago we brought a Transit van on UK plates with us and at the same time purchased a car here for everyday use.  Both vehicles were insured through our broker here who assured us the Transit was legally insured.  On 2 occasions I have been stopped in my Transit at roundabouts by gendarmes, whilst on my way to the Bricos, who asked to see my documents and to get me to blow into their bags. They seemed to be satisfied with both my breath and my documents. weedon

Having no valid MOT in the UK does not invalidate the insurance although if you had to make a claim an insurance engineer might ask to see it but they could not refute any claim for that reason.  If the MOT runs out and you take the car back to the UK still registered there, you are only legally covered to drive to the nearest testing station, having pre-booked it.  And that doesn't mean you can drive it 350 miles to your home town to get it done! In the UK if you present a vehicle for an MOT on foreign plates the VIN number would be written on the test certificate in place of the registration number maybe thats what happens here although I have no knowledge of the procedure here, but I will in August when we are due the first one. weedon

I read about that power line, I think it was in the April issue of "French News".  Although I read the article the only part I remember was that it would join up with another near Le Mans.  I cannot now find the paper so am unable to quote more fully. Bad luck if you get one of the new pylons in your garden.  I bet that didn't show up in the searches of recently purchased properties. weedon

[quote]Yes, I think that's right. I have IE5.5 and can't get the spell checker or a few other things like Smilies.Liz (29)[/quote] Maybe the programme used on this Forum is entitled "Swings and Roundabouts" because I have noticed that different users can use different features. I have a lot of gubbins at the top of the window in order to choose different styles and colours etc. and I have smilies, but I don't have a search facility, I cannot tell who the poster is unless they put their name at the bottom and I cannot access my original details. Has anybody got the full monty or can I rest easy with the knowledge that whilst superior to some I am inferior to others. weedon

[quote]**"Those who can't hack it at home, won't be able to hack it anywhere."**Sad but true, M!! Another way of saying it is: 'No matter where you go, there you are.' Change of location does not change a...[/quote] Have to agree with just about everything Ian and Ray have said. The only thing is that some people do so much research but never actually get to just "suck it and see",  for them the thrill is just to have a dream of doing it, sometimes you just have to have a go. It all depends on your confidence in your own ability. I can only speak as a retiree but I do think that some young families get caught up in the must have it now culture and want to have a better life now without realising that the "lucky" ones who have made the move and enjoy it only got lucky after the hard grind of a working life. Its not being critical of the originator of this thread but I did think when I first read it, After Spain where next? weedon

Flying out for a day to meet up with builders to discuss what you want them to do and then  presumably  let them carry on without you being there and trust them to do as you think you have agreed. Call me a cynic but I see tears ahead. When all is said and done there is nothing like using local established companies rather than here today and gone tomorrow fly by nights.  Take some time to discuss what you want them to do, ask their advice because they have probably done similar work loads of times with other people, and if you don't know them, be there when they do the work or at least get somebody you trust to pop in to check the work is being carried out as requested. I have seen another posting which said he wanted to pay the going rate and not over the odds.  I don't think its terribly helpful to engage a builder if you have a preconceived notion that he will rip you off.  Some will, but TV programmes make it seem like they are all at it. Its my humble opinion that you need to get a rapport going with a decent builder, one that you are completely happy with and maybe you have spoken with previous clients, if you have to pay a little more to get the right people then that's life.  Its only cheap for a reason. weedon

My french is just about non-existant but I have looked in my Shorter Dictionary and dans quelle galère est-ce que je me suis embarqué translates to what have I let myself in for. And galérer is to have a hard time. AND c'est une vraie galère is it's a real pain. weedon