Joric

Hallo again I just thought that I should make clear with reference to last nights post that this could have happened with any of the internet service providers as they are all in the hands of FT when it comes to quality of line and the use of the equipment in the exchanges so I am told. You can also get your line back in 2 to 3 days with FT, it was my fault that I took so long to do it as I really would like ADSL and kept on thinking just another week and it would be sorted. I am now going to try Teleconnect as I have dealt with them before and do appreciate their having an english speaking and free customer service line even if it is only open during office hours,as,if I am having problems with internet connection at the weekend,I still have a phone line. My previous post was only to show the danger of letting your FT line go before knowing if your connection is stable. I did not want to name and shame anyone-I don't want to get my knuckles rapped Yes I know I was stoooooopid Richard

Hi I am just back on line at home after being without phone and internet since 15 December.Like an idiot I thought why not save the FT line charge with Club Internet.If you are thinking of doing it and are in the countryside , think long and hard. We are 6.1 Km from the server and 2.4 mega is what the system came up with.After waiting in for the I.T France technician to come and set us up the first time ( no show) , we phoned and another appointment was made for one week later (it could not be sooner). They phoned us on that day and said the technician had broken his leg and another rendevous could not be arranged for another week (probably due to the call centre being in Tunisia and the person there just having a list of appointments to fill in). Anyway we eventualy got connected to broadband and telephone around the end of January which worked intermitently for a couple of days and on ringing the "Ot line" or should it be Hotline we were told to fit a filter and it has not worked since.As our only contact with Club Internet and the outside world was by mobile we have a bill just for contacting the hot line from our mobile of about 400 euros HT and of course they took the abonnement every month and charged the 90 odd euros fee for the technician to set it up. After so many phone calls and promises and "interventions" some FT engineers turned up one day to check the line between us and the serveur and informed us that the line would only take 1 mega. To cut an even longer story short we spoke to the supervisor on the CI stand at Carrefour and she suggested that we should ask for our FT line back and start all over again with whoever we choose as our service provider.Of course it is to our cost to get our line back and we have lost our original number which could go with us to Club Internet but not it would appear, the other way round. That is what we have done and in fairness she said that we would be re-imbursed with all charges paid to them and if we send the copies of our bills for our portable calls that CI would pay those as well.We shall see if their head office agree with her. So yes I feel a complete fool for letting the line go before knowing if the ADSL would be a good connection just for the sake of a few Euros, and would suggest that people think carefully before doing what I did. Sorry if I have gone on a bit Richard  

As you say my licence is D with a 75 restriction to 17 seats.It looks like I had better make do with a 9 seater,they are easier to find  for hire anyway Thanks to both of you for answering Richard

Would any one happen to know if it is possible to hire a mini bus with more than 9 seats in France.My licence covers me to 17 so that number would be perfect. Thanks to all who answer Richard

Has anyone any idea where you can obtain any of the product like "Pool Perfect" which is an additive which uses enzymes to "eat" the suntan oil, grease etc B4 it stains the water line.I have contacted the company but they do not seem to want to answer. Thanks to whoever answers Richard

Hot water by electric---problems ----do I have to replace the ballon complete or can you replace the element seperately-I only ask because it is semi boxed in and would be easier if I did not have to replace the whole thing Thanks to whoever answers  Richard

Just a silly thought. Is it only private owners and Gite owners/hotels/campsites etc that have to have some form of security for their pools.Does it not apply to swimming pool suppliers who have a demonstration pool in their grounds with small examples of the different forms of security available but with a less than 3 metre high chain link fence around their property. Maybe if the pool is not used for swimming,it becomes a pond. Just a thought

Hi Andrew thanks for your quick response and sorry that I have taken so long to thank you.I have pumped out two thirds of the pool and re-filled and all readings are aok. Once again many thanks Kind regards Richard

I am having problems with using a lot of chlore but have a very low reading on test. On visiting the supplier of the pool the guy there said that I should add stabilisant with no chlore overnight and test again if no better,do it again which I did and then shock the pool, it did not help.I went to another pool person and they also tested the sample and said that there was too much stabilisant and the only thing was to half empty the pool to rectify the over stabilisant.They also gave me a little test stick which I used and it gave a reading of 150.If the second shop was right it would appear that I have worstened the situation by adding more stabilisant. Has anyone got any suggestions b4 I half ? empty the pool Thanks

  I have recently bought an old,low mileage camper from Germany and was wondering how to go about getting the certificate of conformity that the DRIRE require.It is a 1988 Burstner A 620 and do I contact them, or Fiat in France as it is based as most are on a Fiat Ducato.I have seem the same van for sale here in France on internet sites, so I would think this model  must have been available in France. I have got the temporary carte grise paper that the Prefecture give you when you apply but have had the paperwork returned by the Drire asking for the conformity etc.Am I allowed to use the van while all this is being sorted out on its German export plates,it is insured in France on the German number or must i get the full carte grise b4 using it on the road. Any info and help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thank you in advance Richard (joric)

I have been trying to buy some tickets for a show in Barcelona from a Spanish ticket agency,but when I get to the credit card details they ask for name,first last name and then second last name ( this is how my translation prog translated it ).I have tried all sorts of combinations of my name without success,is it possible that they only accept Spanish cards?  I have tried both English and French visa cards. Any ideas anyone. Thank to anyone who might help Richard

Thanks to both of you for answering this question-I have looked on the plate on the vehicle and as you say there is space for 4 figures in kilos,the first one is 2800 which on the german reg docs equates with poid total en charge,the second is blank,the next has a figure 1  and 1550kg and the last a figure 2 and 1680 kilos these last two being the two axle weights.On the reg docs it also has the figure for poids a vide ( weight empty ) and a figure for 750kg which my german speaking friend tells me is the weight for a trailer without brakes.Also on the german international reg book there is the figure of 2370 which is the empty weight and underneath it another figure of 003100, what this is for I have no idea.So do I add the trailer weight 750kg to the 2800kg poids total en charge for the poids total roulant? Any ideas anyone? Thanks again Richard

Does anyone know how you go about finding this weight.I am in the process of filling in the paperwork to register a camping car from Germany and I cannot find reference to this on the German documents. Thanks to anyone who answers. Joric

We have two very nice Swedish families staying and after their first day of pool use the water line has gone a very nasty dirty yellow colour.On asking them it appears that the suntan oil that they used had also stained a tee shirt and a bikini,must be factor 20 Dylon. I was just wondering if anyone has any bright ideas on a remedy,the usual water line cleaner that I use does not have any effect and even though the pool is clean it does not look good.Is there a strip that you can stick to the top of the liner-mosaic effect or something or is the only thing a new liner? Thanks to anyone who has any ideas Joric

Hi Just a quick post to thank both of you for helping me.I tried another modem and it's working-a bit clonky but getting through ok. Once again many thanks Joric

Many thanks for reply-I tried as you suggested and no difference-I re-loaded AOL with windows changed to French in the language bar and keyboard just in case it had something to do with entry language but when the sequence gets to looking for a means of connection to AOL it searches  for a few seconds and then crashes.The guy at AOL said that I would need to buy a french version of xp pro and run french and English on the computer but I would not have thought that this was neccesary, or do they have a seperate system for each language? The modem is internal and I removed it in control panel,re-booted and the system recognised it as plug and play and the drivers are listed etc.do you think it would be worth contacting aol UK? I do have a firewall (Panda) but I switched it off. Once again, thanks for your help Joric

A question for all you computer buffs,unfortunately i'm not one.I have a computer which has XP home in English, and AOL 9 French system runs ok, not perfect but ok for e-mail etc.I now have a system which has XP pro sp2 and I cannot get aol to run on it.I have loaded it in safe mode and it seemed ok but as soon as it tries to find the modem it crashes. In safe mode  Aol cannot find the modem and on checking in windows the modem is operating correctly etc. Any ideas ? Thanks in advance  

We had a new water meter fitted the other day and on looking at it I noticed that the small wheel was going round slowly all the time with everything turned off.On checking I found that the valve at the bottom of the tank in the main house was trickling water all the time.I released the pressure but after a short time it started again,can anyone tell me a remedy or do I need to change the valve? Thanks in advance. Richard

Hi there Don't know if you are still having trouble but I think you will find what you need on WWW.comodalarme.com/alarmePiscineAquasensor.html scroll down and under functioning click on "more info" and save document I saw this on another site so I don't know first hand if correct (The problem with the alarm is that if you set it up to detect something falling in then more likely than not the wind or/rain will set it off,and if you set it so that it is not set off by wind then it does not detect the person falling in.You do need a lot of patience and have to choose how sensitive you want it to be,ie do you want to be getting up in the middle of windy nights or do you put up a fence which may not comply but works and have the alarm to comply with the law,it really is a personal thing At least if the alarm goes off when it rains you will know when to bring in the washing Good luck

Thinking about buying a caravan and there appears to be much more choice and better prices in Germany.Are there any pitfalls ref registering in France and what is neccesary for insurance and registration etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated Thanks to whoever replies Richard

Sorry to go on yet again about the pool fiasco but I thought that just maybe I would order a pool cover.My pool supplier rang the manufacturer who confirmed on the telephone that the product had passed all the afnor requirements.However more importantly could someone confirm that responsibility lies with the pool owner at all times and that if you had an afnor approved fence with a gate that someone wedged open, together with an afnor approved cover that they did not bother to close,the owner would still be liable.What about owners who do not live near the property or even in the same country.I apologise if all this has been covered before.The alarm seems a simple solution but I feel that you would get a lot of unhappy clients with all those decibels blasting off (I need 2 alarms) especialy if it is always the other family staying that set the alarms off. Any thoughts anyone? Richard

Sorry to go on yet again about the pool fiasco but I thought that just maybe I would order a pool cover.My pool supplier rang the manufacturer who confirmed on the telephone that the product had passed all the afnor requirements.However more importantly could someone confirm that responsibility lies with the pool owner at all times and that if you had an afnor approved fence with a gate that someone wedged open, together with an afnor approved cover that they did not bother to close,the owner would still be liable.What about owners who do not live near the property or even in the same country.I apologise if all this has been covered before.The alarm seems a simple solution but I feel that you would get a lot of unhappy clients with all those decibels blasting off (I need 2 alarms) especialy if it is always the other family staying that set the alarms off. Any thoughts anyone? Richard

Better late than never,I too would like details [email protected] many thanks Richard

Has anyone managed to track down self closing hinges and afnor compliant gate locks in France or UK? I only seem to be able to find this sort of item on the web available from the USA and then I am not sure if the locks are correct, even though they seem to meet the other countries regulations. Joric

Has anyone managed to track down self closing hinges and afnor compliant gate locks in France or UK? I only seem to be able to find this sort of item on the web available from the USA and then I am not sure if the locks are correct, even though they seem to meet the other countries regulations. Joric