PossumGirl

Good to hear that she's showing an improvement, Sophie.  I will say that I found both Maggie and Shmoo rather frightening after the surgeries they had here.  I'm not used to getting a dog to take home that is still recovering from the anesthetic and it does look very, very disturbing. Even after they've woken up, the reaction can be upsetting.  For one of Maggie's cancer surgeries in L.A., she had woken up enough to come home, but the anesthesia left her crying all night with the most terrifying, pitiful sounds I'd ever heard.  I was in tears listening to it.  She was much improved the next day, but it took ME a long time to recover. PG

Susie, didn't you say she fell?  I would be very worried that she maybe pulled an internal stitch and would definitely take her to a second vet right away. Good luck. PG

Dotty!  Yes, that is the Leclerc that we use!  I know that my friend in Pamiers has not had the same success with the Leclerc she uses there, so it's clearly highly individual. I'm often suspicious of things on "promo" because I often assume it's stuff they want to get rid of! PG

I wonder if this is a regional problem?  I have been generally very pleased with the meat that I get, whether it's from our local butcher or the butcher departments at Leclerc and Champion.  I usually do have the butcher cut the meat for me, rather than buying things in the packs, although I've done that as well. When I cook stew or daube, I cook it in a dutch oven on top of the stove on very low heat for a 4 or 5 hours.  If I've used a whole roast, I then slice the whole thing down and let it cook for another hour in the juice. Always comes out very tender and flavorful. PG

Thanks, Lori. I really think the problem is the European Distributor.  She seems very nice, but a bit on the flaky side.  The bag that seems to have made them sick had been opened, then resealed.  I didn't worry about it too much, although in retrospect I should have.  I certainly would have never fed it in the U.S., but it's such a problem when you are mail ordering between two countries!  And, she's not the world's greatest correspondent to boot. I spoke with someone at the company today who said that as much as he hated to say it, I should throw both the other bags out (that's 100€ of food!! ), and I'm going to do it because it's cheaper than the vet and the heartache if something happens to them.  At least they now have a file on me and if it proves to be their food, perhaps it will help to save someone else's dog. Meanwhile, both are doing much better today.  They are enjoying their chicken and rice and I suppose I will be cooking for them for the forseeable future, something I really hoped to avoid.  I have found another company that sells dried vegetable mixes (manufactured in Europe) that you add to your own meat and grain (if you use grain).  I've ordered a small bag to try, because at least that will make one part of the process easier. I would love to find another solution.  I was very happy with this food until now, but I just don't want to buy it from the same source.  I really wish there was another choice. PG

I thought that Jerusalem Artichokes were "topinambour," Clair. PG

Thanks, WJT. I do blame myself because both dogs were rejecting the most recent bag of food.  Now, Maggie has done this before, but Shmoo eats EVERYTHING!  When he started leaving food, I was surprised.  I assumed that they were just being "fussy." Now, of course, I'm seeing it in a new light.  Clearly, the taste was "off" and that's why they wouldn't eat it. A good lesson that I'm glad hasn't had worse consequences!  Both seem to be recovering at the moment. I should add that I have been very pleased by the quick response I've had from the pet food company.  They replied to my email immediately and requested a phone conversation.  I'll call them later today (they're in the Midwest US, so a 7 hour time difference) and see what they have to say. No wonder my hair is going grey at such a rapid rate! PG

These were available everywhere in Los Angeles.  We had them in every room and they came in handy for any power cut.  Of course, we mostly had them because of earthquakes.  Once you've been through a big shaker where the whole city is blacked out, you do NOT want to be walking around barefoot in the dark trying to find an unbroken torch.  PG

This happens on the Digibox Plus every time the clocks change.  However, all the programmes record correctly and you will notice that for things set to record a series, they are corrected for the next showing.  The first time, I went about resetting all my recordings until I figured out that it was unnecessary! PG

I don't know if any of you have been following the scary events of the major pet food scandal in the U.S.  To make a long story short, a factory which manufactures pet food for many, many pet food companies use this bigger company.  To date the official toll is 14 dead pets, but no one knows for sure how many have actually died.  So far it has been limited to the type of wet food sold in pouches. However, some reports are starting to come in that there may be dried foods affected as well.  The culprit at this time appears to be a type of rat poison that is not approved for use in the U.S., but which is used elsewhere and contaminated some wheat gluten that was imported from China, although they are not 100% certain that that is the culprit. I use a food imported from the U.S. via Germany.  Both of my dogs have been ill this weekend with different symptoms.  I have no idea if their food is responsible or not, but I do have a call scheduled with the pet food company in the U.S. tonight.  It is important for us all to remember that contamination CAN occur in pet foods (as it can in human foods) and we should always be on the lookout for unusual symptoms and behaviours in our pets! PG

[quote user="tenniswitch"] I tried adding the US International keyboard and it worked very well for the accent marks, etc.  Unfortunately, it made my user startup very slow (I guess because of loading 2 keyboads?). Obviously, I'm not very technologically sophisticated.  If I just deleted the regular US keyboard and used only the US International keyboard, would that solve the problem? [/quote] Whether it would solve your problem or not, I don't know.  However, I see no reason to have both keyboards loaded as the US International keyboard is fine to use all the time.  That's what I do. PG

[quote user="Lori"]We had to get new brake pads for our 2000 Toyota Corolla.  The pads don't match the Corolla sold in Europe.  So, the mechanic made a few calls and ordered them from overseas (don't know where).  Took 3 weeks for them to arrive, but they are on the car now and work fine.     [/quote] I may stop in at the Toyota dealer and see what they say, Lori.  Better to find out before we need them rather than after! PG

[quote user="ErnieY"]Books, don't talk to me about books. We're about to come over with our second trailer load of household stuff and I swear in both bulk and weight 50% of it is books, I'm talking hundreds here,  fiction/non fiction/biographys/autobiographys/travel books/decorating/interior design etc. etc. etc. got enough to start a library, I think 3 of them are mine, glad we've got a 300sq/m barn, we're going to need it ! [/quote] We're writers, so books are our life!  We did get rid of about 1/4 of our books, but we still moved with a couple thousand.  Most of the boxes that we had were books, so when we looked for a moving company we found one that charged based on volume as opposed to weight.  Saved us a fortune. PG

This is one of those HUGE cultural differences with the U.S.  Everyone I know who has had a hernia op has had it as outpatient surgery!  In for the op; sent home the same day a few hours afterwards.  A good friend (69-years-old) just had one done last week. He actually got home from hospital and emailed us the same day to let us know he was all right!  I can't imagine ANY U.S. insurance provider paying for 5 days in hospital for a complication-free hernia op! PG

[quote user="oglefakes"] PG, Based on the fact that the Echo isn't listed on the Toyota France website, are toyota able to supply spare parts? [/quote] Good question, Ogle!  Luckily, because it's a Toyota, we haven't needed any yet. It's a 2003 and it still only has 26,000 miles on it! (Can you tell we don't drive a lot?)  We've been told that it is very similar to a Yaris, so I'm hoping that we will be able to get brakes, etc., when the time comes. If we can't find parts here, then we'll just order what we need from the States and hope for the best. We were incredibly lucky that our village mechanic used to be a Toyota mechanic!  He loved working on the car.  Unfortunately, because he had some back surgery recently and for some other reasons that have nothing to do with him, he was forced to close his garage.  We'll have to go to Toyota in Pamiers for service from now on, so I do hope they'll be able to help.  They actually ADORED our Echo when we went in for assistance with the paperwork, etc.  They had never seen one before and everyone kept coming out to stare at it. Quite funny. PG

My guess is that it sees its own reflection and thinks it's another bird in its territory.  You might see if there's something you can do to keep the reflection down (let your windows get dirty??) PG

[quote user="Lori"]When we imported our car, we were allowed one tax free shipment into France.  Since our household goods were arriving later and separately from our car, we had to bring an itemized list of all the household goods that would be coming later and that list was stamped and attached to the car entry paperwork (by Customs at Le Havre - entry point of car).  This way, the household goods were counted with the car as our one shipment.  No taxes or fees.   [/quote] Our situation was a bit different, as we were considered "repatriated" when we moved and therefore didn't have to pay any taxes on personal goods, no matter how many shipments they would have been.  We did have a caveat that we wouldn't be allowed to sell our car until it was here for a year, but that wasn't an issue since we have no desire to sell it. PG

FL, "clinique" here means private as opposed to "public" hospital.  So you should make your choice based on reptutation of the ones offered and which is most convenient. PG

[quote user="oglefakes"]Lori/PossumGirl, I know this is off topic, but as you have both walked this path already (whoops, I sound like my next door neighbour) are there any items that you really really wish you had brought more of with you?  pointers appreciated.[:)] [/quote] Ogle, except for a few books that I sold and now wish I hadn't (not the first time we've done that!), I actually wish I'd brought LESS stuff!  I have a big armoire in my garage, filled with kitchen stuff that I will probably never use, but which Mr. P insisted that I keep.  We also bought our photocopier (along with a transformer) and it never worked right, the transformer was super-expensive, and we still wound up trashing the photocopier and getting a new one (less good) here. I have wound up buying some items for my dogs online, and I do get vitamins in the U.S., because it's easier to find what I want and still winds up cheaper to buy them that way. PG

[quote user="Prasutagus"]Is there anybody out there who does not regret it one little bit?  [/quote] No regrets here either.  Like Tony, we've got a great circle of friends, our life is more relaxed, we love the surroundings and have no desire to return to the U.S. PG

We shipped our car over in the container with our household goods.  The only cost involved was in getting a larger container. If we'd just sent the car with a shipper, I believe the cost was going to be $800. PG

[quote user="Lori"]We brought a Toyota over.  I've posted on here about the experience.  It was a living hell !!  I would  never do it again.  In the end, it took us nearly TWO YEARS to finish the process.  Had to change nearly nothing.  The problems were due to no one seeming to know what process to take.  From Toyota to Garage to Prefecture.    [/quote] Geel, Lori!  I didn't realize this. It was really simple for us.  The guy at the DRIRE in Carcassonne was very helpful and knew exactly what he needed and what we needed to do. Toyota was occasionally a pain, but that's because they weren't very rapid, not because they wouldn't help. PG

[quote user="oglefakes"] PossumGirl, what did you need to get done? [/quote] Let's see... Our parking lights used the same bulb as our turn signals, so we had to have an extra bulb put in so that that wasn't the case (can't have orange parking lights apparently); American brake fluid indicator lights seem to go on when you no longer have brake fluid at all, as opposed to when it's just really, really low, so that had to be finagled; we had to have the VIN engraved on the engine; we needed a rear fog lamp; the reflectors on the back end were not acceptable so we had to have new ones added and the only real complcation was the seat belts.  This was actually caused by Toyota being cheap. The driver's side seatbelt had a label that said it conformed to European standards, the other seatbelts did not.  The inspector, unfortunately, looked at one of the other seatbelts first!  We had to get a letter from Toyota stating that the parts to replace the seatbelts weren't available in Europe.  And that was it. PG

We imported our Toyota Echo in 2005 when we moved.  It cost about 200€ to make the few changes necessary to get it registered here. PG

Along with the other suggestions you've gotten, I would recommend trying to find a food that does not contain brewer's yeast. There seem to be a fair number of dogs allergic to it, which is a problem since it's used in most dog foods for the B vitamins.  This is Maggie's main trigger food and, yes, it does cause itching as well as diarrhea. Also, I noticed that she is much better on a food with a higher protein and fat content.  For example, when we fed Burns, which is an excellent quality food, she had a lot of dandruff and dry skin.  Now that we're using Nature's Variety Prairie, which has more protein and fat, she doesn't scratch at all. PG