suein56

***If you take advantage of special offers etc you can buy cheaper than in UK particularly WCs, sinks, washbasins, shower trays etc etc.*** Yes, I agree with that. Depends whereabouts you are but our local Castorama in 56 has the most amazing prices on their washbasins, shower trays, loos etc. They would have been really cheap if priced in £s but as they were priced in euros they were selling sound, solid ceramic ware at astonishingly low prices. We are only renting but have replaced some ceramic ware because what was here was really grotty - not really cleaned in the (only) 10 years since the house was built. Sue

****However, I was then stopped by Customs on the UK side and asked “do you have anything in your car you should not” and with this dog leaping around in the back (in clear view in the car) I said “no” and was allowed to continue without problems.**** Hi Ian If that's all that happens to us then we should be OK! I think I am so concerned that everything is perfectly correct not only because I have heard of many near misses but also because the cats were checked and scanned very thoroughly when we came over earlier in the year to Roscoff from Plymouth so that has made me very wary. And, as you say, it is much stricter going from France to the UK. I don't think I shall be completely calm until we have been and come back - hopefully without problem. Sue

I did tip the removal men who brought our small amount of goods from where they were stored in the UK, mainly because they were so careful and so cheerful even though it was 37 deg C that day, but also because they had waited at some roundabout near Chesterfield following a mobile phone call whilst our storer (different firm) rushed up in his van with our washing machine, which he had forgotten to put out for collection with our other stuff. Sounds like something out of a Ronnie Barker sketch but because of the splendid attitude of the team from the International removers it was all OK - and nothing damaged  by either firm involved so I was very happy. It was not a large tip but it was gratefully received. Sue

Hi Deimos Thank you so much for your helpful reply. I am so grateful you made your post, especially in the light of the problems of access you are having. ****Any French vet who can do the Tick & tapeworm treatment should be OK for the rabies vaccination as well. For dogs you get a rabies vaccination certificate (an A4 sheet that is all official and is apparently quite important). The booster vaccinations are important. If you are late with one you need another blood test and 6 month wait.**** Yes I agree - I finally got through to Petline run by Defra who were very helpful once I had explained my query twice. The difference seems to be re the accepted vaccines for the rabies booster. In the UK this has to be done by a LVI with one of 4 acceptable vaccines, but, because we are now resident in France we come under French rules re vaccines and as long as our French vet uses an approved French vaccine there is no problem. Edit: This we have now had done and we also have the A4 sheet that accompanies all rabies boosters for cats and dogs. Re the tick and worm treatment this should be OK with our vet, but I did have to explain to him it should be given at least 24 hours before book in for the ferry. I have booked the cats and us by phone as we are travelling by Brittany Ferries from Caen and I know what it was like when we came - the UK authorities nearly did not let one of our cats travel because he could not read her chip. After 4 goes he discovered his machine was switched on to the wrong (?) kind of chip. It was only me repeating - it worked fine yesterday at our vet's - that kept me sane. I have checked and double checked the cats' passports as the French vet made an error in recording the chip number on the accompanying booster A4 sheet for one cat and had to redo it - the difference between UK 7 and French 1 making an appearance. But all seems fine now. It almost seems as though paranoia can set in over this but I just do not want to have any problems leaving France or returning - that would be a nightmare. Thanks again. Sue    

***A large part of my work is with communications and telecommunications and thus I try to keep as up-to-date as possible***   Hi Deimos/Ian Please continue to post your helpful comments - I can assure you, for my part at least, that the wisdom you impart on this forum does not fall on deaf or argumentative ears. I am not far off being a silver surfer but my introduction in the past few years to the world of 'computing/internet/person to person communication' has been a revelation to me. Through nothing more than a plastic box (!) with a little added wizardry, a telephone line and a little knowledge, I can communicate with people/friends etc all over the globe - fantastic, almost unbelievable at times - but made continually better by helpful comments from people like yourself who 'know' about these matters. Thank you Sue      

Hi Probably a very stupid answer on my part - but your laptops are not US ones with 110/120 voltage adapters are they? If they are then that is maybe why they wont start. Sue

 Please can someone reassure me I am doing things right?My OH and I need to go back to the UK to visit, there seem to be no catteries around us in southern 56 so we plan to take the cats with us. The cats came with us in March 05 from the UK with full passports, complete with entries for having passed the serological blood test in December 04, so they would seem to be OK for going back - they just need the tick and worm treatment - yes? Question 2: being French resident now the cats need to have a booster for their rabies as the French system requires this to be done annually - this is now almost due,can any French vet do this, or does it have be a special one, as the UK? Q 3: is there anything else I should have thought of to ensure the cats can enter the UK allright and then come back to France with us? Thanks Sue

Please can someone reassure me I am doing things right? My OH and I need to go back to the UK to visit, there seem to be no catteries around us in southern 56 so we plan to take the cats with us. The cats came with us in March 05 from the UK with full passports, complete with entries for having passed the serological blood test in December 04, so they would seem to be OK for going back - they just need the tick and worm treatment - yes? Question 2: being French resident now the cats need to have a booster for their rabies as the French system requires this to be done annually - this is now almost due,can any French vet do this, or does it have be a special one, as the UK? Q 3: is there anything else I should have thought of? Thanks Sue    

Hi Deimos ***On Windoze 98, Norton Anti-virus can cause switch-off problems. Are you running Norton anti-virus ?*** No, I use Avast as I find it less pernicious than Norton. Sue

Hi I am asking the same question too as my old Windoze 98 machine has just started to follow more or less the route re shutdown. The only new thing I have is an update of Zonealarm - which I am almost sure has upset something somewhere in my machine. Usually this sorts itself out quite quickly if it happens - but not this time. How do I do a repair from the original disc, Nick? Sue PS And yes I know I should upgrade to XP but there are some aspects of 98 I am very fond of.

Hi I think there are quite a few firms who do it - it is just a question of tracking them down. I was with Cornhill Direct and they covered me for the 6 months extended holiday that my OH and I took here in France before we decided to stay and live here. Sue

***It is possible that we may rent out a property in the future, prior to selling , which is a stressful business, without having to cope with mardy tenants.*** As a tenant here in France - no way would I ever be mardy - I was informed by the owner of the house we are renting that our 3 year tenancy was renewable indefinitely if we wanted, we could give her 3 months notice of our intention to leave at any time, she could only give us 6 months notice to leave at the time a valid tenancy was coming to an end. If she needed the house vacant at any other time, ie in order to sell it, then she would have to sell it with us as sitting tenants or pay us a sum for the inconvenience we would be put to in moving to suit her. As far as I am aware the only legal way she could get her house back without such a payment being made was if she suddenly needed the house to live in herself. So IMHO the tenant in question in this case was not being mardy - just expecting to receive what she understood she would receive in such circumstances - a vexation payment. Sue

Thanks for the mention Vraititi but you did the actual translation of the phrase which is what Scotty wanted in the first place - I just did a bit of speculative rearranging of syllables. Sue  

"Il faut réaliser l'accas avec découpe du fosse et luse en place de chemin".   Just a guess but - could it be: **Il faut realiser l'acces avec decoupe du fosse et mise en place de chemin** - just in case your builder's handwriting is anything like our  plumber's. Sue

Ron and all I have never had any problems before but have run the whole gamut this weekend - from no site at all - error message re zeroes or somesuch, blank pages, text pages, to nothing happening at all when clicking on a topic heading after finally achieving access to the forum pages. Gosh all this makes me realise how much I miss the forum when I cannot access it! Sue Edit: Just realised I did have a problem with disappearing authors a couple of weeks ago, but followed advice and that corrected itself.

Thank you Ron - I have never had a problem before, but yesterday control panel and author names disappeared - now your solution has sorted it out and given me back 'control panel' etc. You really don't appreciate something until it is not there any more! Many thanks Sue  

We have an ordinary, private, bought-over-the-counter, 3 year contract for our rented, unfurnished house. Before signing I questioned the proprietor as much as my French would allow and was told that we could give her 3 months notice at any time - though she would appreciate it if we stayed for at least a year 'cos of the cost of advertising, etat des lieux etc. But that if she wanted us to leave she had to give us 6 months notice so that we left on the contract-end date. If she wanted us to leave earlier it was normally accepted that she had to pay us money for the inconvenience we would be put to. So I agree with pinkfluff - stand your ground - you have right on your side. Sue

***According to them it is impossible to refund money on to a carte bancaire in France*** Strange how Ikea can do just that then. Sue Edit: I know Ikea is not a DIY place but the hours and the tools it took to put our wardrobes together they might well be. Mind you the wardrobes are lovely now they are finished.  

We have just (10 September) received my husband's E106 which is valid until 31 December 2005 - as we became resident on 1 July 2005 this gives us just 6 months cover. The FAQ letter with it clearly states "The form E106 is based on your entitlement to short term Incapacity Benefit, the qualifying procedure used to work out entitlement only allows for the 3 tax years before you left the UK to be taken into consideration." When I rang Newcastle to query the time period I was told that only the last 2 years contributions were used for self-employed persons - so as Penny says it is virtually impossible for a self-employed person to achieve more that 12 months E106 cover. Sue

****I was charged a total cost of £27.00 and my bank in France will charge me about 10 eruos for handling the transfer. Does anyone think this good, bad or average??However, from the time the cash leaves my UK account it takes close to 12 or 14 days to arrive in my French account. That's quite a lot of interest someone is accruing and it's not me.**** Hi Guimbarde Not having been here v long I am still using my First Direct account for transfers. Last transfer I made last month at 1.455 (no idea if that was good or bad) and paid £21 charge. The transfer was made the same day from my First D account to our Banque Populaire account with no charge at this (the French) end. I am looking to set up something cheaper eventually but for the moment this is fine and I certainly cannot argue with the speed! Sue  

We have just bought a replacement washbasin and pedestal for our (rented) house for 19€50 the basin and 10€70 the pedestal - they might be 'premier prix' but our plumber says they are 'de bon qualite' and he has no problems at all with the job of replacing our present basin with the new stuff from Castorama. Mind you we had to go to BricoMarche yesterday for a small truc and we noticed that they have a very good basin at 14€50 and the matching pedestal at 7€50 - so we might yet change our minds and the basin/pedestal! Sue

This reminds me of the time when the Oxford police contacted us - student son's belongings at that time were included on our house content insurance policy through a student extension - to say his stolen bicycle had been 'found' and would he like to come and reclaim it? As the theft of his bike had taken place quite a while before our son had already replaced it with a S/H one courtesy of the insurance. Seems the thief had been apprehended by the police for bag-snatching - having a handbag in his possession that was plainly not his. The bike had been traced to our son by the police coding on it. Pointers: good lock essential, insurance helpful and vigilance necessary. Sue  

Just a short note but I have since asked my neighbours about this problem and I have been told that, usually, the problem lies in the build-up of 'whatever' (did not catch the word) under the rim especially at the front of the bowl. Yucky it was but I had a look and, yes, there were brown calcified deposits there. After a good scour with scouring pads and cleaner (rubber gloves v necessary) the whole is greatly improved and smelling a lot better. Round two tomorrow methinks. As ours is a rented house changing the loo is not really an option unless we pay for it ourselves. Sue

**The problem was the older type of toilet have quite shallow traps and the "waste" had built up over the years which was causing the smell.** Paul How old might this 'older type of toilet' be? Our rented house is 10 years old but we have a slight smell associated with both ours loos and I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. BTW they were both pretty bad when we moved in but are a lot better now! Sue

***A carpenter gave my (french) neighbour and I a devis for a bit of fence work on the shared boundary. At 1000 euros it was way over a fair price. My neighbour suggested only 800 euros and the carpenter replied (in french!) " take it or leave it". We left it.*** Fair comment, but have you seen the price of 1/2 way decent fence panels in your Brico eg LeRoy Merlin or wherever- we have and were astonished. The panels are better quality here but are not cheap. Your chap might have been/was probably quoting for good quality, long lasting panels. Sue