pitway

Blue mesh or web indicates the presence of a buried mains water pipe, no idea why there is a cable there though

[quote user="dave21478"]All the rage in the modified car world.....your normal UK number printed in a French style on a French car or on German style plates on a VW etc etc. [/quote] a failure come MOT time on a UK car if the plate is not to the B.S. standard font and spacing???

When my daughter needed to rent a flat in Nantes she required a guarantor, at the time I was not in a position to be one as I was unemployed. My sister offered to be guarantor, whilst she has a house here and a french bank account she was refused as she is not a french resident. If you intend to come over after the holiday season you may be able to rent a gite on a fairly loose basis from an english person wanting a little extra winter income, just depends how long you think you might want to let. 

I wouldn't want to mess with the fuel on a new car that has Catalytic converters and particulate filters and the like, modern diesel engines are designed to run on new low sulphur fuels, but some of the older diesel engines like mine were not, the article that was discussed was supposedly written by Mercedes and suggested that it was beneficial in restoring the lubrication of the pump lost by the removal of the sulphur (or the part that creates sulphur when it is burnt???) As an aside, I drive lorries for a local factory all the vehicles are Mercs actros, the slightly older one has far more power and is more economical than the newer modern one that is using an (ethenol??) additive (adblue) system, the engines are the same but the difference is quite noticeable as is the fuel consumption! in the region of 10 litres per 100km difference

I have read on a couple of forums about adding some two stroke oil to diesel , supposedly helps lubricate  injector pumps and other internal bits of diesel engines. Other claims about improved fuel consumption and performance too. The jury seems to be out on this, anyone do this?? think the ratio of 200:1 is the suggested mix. 

err no too! I am paid for 35 hrs per week, but actually worked 40 hrs a week. I do get that back eventually in the form of RTT (Recuperation temps travail (time in lieu)) now just recently they have upped that again and I am now doing 45 hrs per week!! OK I get the time back eventually but wouldn't mind it being paid as overtime but this company won't play that game :-(

Had a few calls from this and other similar numbers over the last few days recently, had another episode back last year too, this one 00420239011111 on a google search shows it has been going on for years the one forum I looked at was 2008!! It seem ridiculous that in this day and age with telecoms being controlled by computers you can cannot bar calls from selected countries. They really P155 me off when they call and I am trying to have a little afternoon siesta after getting up for work 3am Grrrrrr!!!

[quote user="Bugsy"][quote user="Catalpa"][quote user="Bugsy"]Get yourself an electric fencing system. Low power with the wire set 10cm above the ground will work.[/quote] No it doesn't - [/quote] Oh yes it does ............[Www][Www] [:D] . [/quote] Oh no it doesn't !!! panto season has started early here hasn't it [:D]

[quote] A photo driving licence is a valid document issued by a Government. Would it work?[/quote] My sister had to fly to france last weekend she turned up at the airport only to discover she had pick up our mothers passport !!!! Panic!!! The people at Bristol airport said not a problem your driving licence will be fine ??????? Then the girl noticed she was flying via Switzerland, ohpps! no you can't do that you will need your passport I have heard that many of the low cost airlines will only accept a passport, is that their own policy or is it government rules? I don't know, I wonder if she could have flown back just using her driving licence??  

[quote user="Pads"]  Nous allons bien, merci, j'espère qu'il en est de même pour tu. [/quote] I don't know why I am replying to this [:)] my spoken french is rubbish and as for written ....... But,  should your line finish with toi? I read all your help posts and admire your hard work trying to get to grips with the French language, I wish I could be so dedicated!! I get quite a lot of ribbing at work when I have to write things down, fortunately those times are rare phew! I had to do a course for driving a large tractor/loader had a bit of a panic when I discovered that the exam at the end contained questions that I had to write a reply and not all multiple guess   but I managed and did pass. Felt a bit smug really as two of my colleagues failed Keep it up Tim

[quote user="Maryo"]Hello: We want you to know that we’re here to help you. However, it’s difficult to do that in a public forum when we don’t know who each person is or the details of their membership. We can help you better and resolve your specific queries or concerns if you contact us directly. You can do so by visiting our own online member forum where we can answer your questions. You can find the forum here: http://bit.ly/gy87cg. Once on the site please post a question and our community manager will be able to respond to you directly. Alternatively, for more information about your specific membership you can contact me directly at [email protected]. If you contact me directly, please reference this forum. Regards, Maryo Customer Service[/quote] If I have read the thread properly then the OP has sorted the problem, she is only advising fellow forum members to what appears to be an ongoing charge that doesn't jump up and bite you when accepting the discount.

Once you have bought something from them, boy! are they persistent!!!!

Mrs P bought one a couple of years ago put it in the ground but whilst it is still alive it refuses to put on any serious growth, the ones in other gardens around here seem to be trimming them to keep them under control!! anyone any suggestions? a good feed maybe?? but which NPK? Tim

Next time you go in the supermarket take a look in the bleach and cleaning section, I bought a product BEC J.NET Gros travaux in 5 litre plastic "bidons" white with red and blue writing/picture. Cost about 5 euros?? Spray this on your walls/patio and you may well find you don't even need to powerwash!! certainly restored my wall and patio looked like new. It is a bleach based product. tim

whilst my daughter had actually passed her test , a trip back to the UK I did enquire if she could drive my car if needed, not a problem they said, but my franchise would be  a couple of thousand Euro instead of 500 !!!! A learner under accompanier could well be very different.

My daughter looked into this a number of years ago, she was told by the driving school that she couldn't do it as I was still using a UK issued license, someone will correct me if this is not true. So first question do you have a French license? Tim

How are you paid, by the hour? or per job? it depends what your contract says I would guess, In my case I have a CDI I work 40 hrs a week but I am actually paid for 35. The extra hours are tallied up and when the boss doesn't need us we recoup the hours that have been worked (RTT). Miffs me a bit as he generally uses this for his benefit, if I want a bit of extra time off when I need it he usually says no!! When I was still on a CDD I used to get all the extra hours plus a prime for the end of contract when the duration had finished Not sure if any of this applies to you though Tim 

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]I love Kate Bush :)[/quote] one in Kate bush is worth 2 in the hand[:D] I'll get my hat on the way out!!

Green-acres.com has been quite sucsessful for a couple of people I know, it's not free but is not expensive either; For sale adverts Publication 3 month until sale * English only € 39 incl VAT € 59 incl VAT In all the languages available € 59 incl VAT € 99 incl VAT Might be worth a go hope this helps Tim

I get loads of enquiries "how much for a change over" my answer, how long is a piece of string!! There are just too many variables to do a definitive price for every change over. I lay out my pricing as is, on an hourly rate, if the renter has left the house in a complete pigsty then the price charged reflects that, if it is way over the "normal invoice" then the excess should be retained from the security deposit; some owners do some don't, that is their decision. I try to provide an all in gite service, that means making sure a house is left to a very good standard for an incoming renter ie the house is clean the garden is tidy etc. Steve (I think works in a whole different ball game being more a "paysagiste") has to have very professional equipment, maintenance costs are high and being in the artisan threshold and a turn over that puts him in the TVA regime has no choice but to charge more than I do. I too have grass cutting equipment but only "hand tools" so to speak, nonetheless I am not talking cheap brico shed stuff here, you can expect to pay 1000 euros or more for a good quality lawn mower here!! not 250 euros from brico marche. People working at SMIC (minimum wage) (9.00 euros here) are  normally working for companies, they have everything provided for them they don't have to buy equipment (still have to pay social (NI) on top of that though!! although at min wage level probably no tax) so from 1300 euros per month they probably only get 1000 euros a month in the bank. As I said before, 17 euros I think is good. plus if you are happy with the results then stick with it. cheaper is not necessarily better. I think I have rambled enough, it is late, off to bed,  

Sounds about right to me, especially if they registered and paying social charges.

Thought I would have a play just to find out how bad my French really is !! now I am confused (not hard!) in the food section when it gets to translate these phrases i get Vous avez beaucoup bu? the answer - Did they drink a lot how do they get "they" from "vous" ?? Am I missing something here?

lovely bit of music Made me think of this, another favourite of mine here or this (more uptempo version) probably it was this version that helped me discover the classical one brill

True, There is a place on the certificate "sortie autoriser" the doctor will put a time in there if appropriate and you can be out of the house during that period, as said medical visits are ok. I guess if they were to do a control and you wern't in you would have to give a good reason for not being at home.

The two companies I have worked for here seem to operate in that manor, even for one day off they tend to ask for a doctors note. Never caused me a problem, it just meant that you owed them the hours and would have to replace them at some stage as they will probably pay him anyway. So, it is best to get a note for everything even a cold!! waste of the doctors time in my opinion as there is little anyone can do about a cold except just wait til it gets better. I often hear people here say "you've got a cold, have you been to the doctor to get some antibiotics?"!!!