Simon-the-censored

I see on the lunchtime news that one young guy has been in court this morning for stealing 2 Burberry t-shirts during the riots. 'Apparently' - the resulting criminal record may adversely affect his future prospects, employment, and lifestyle. Poor thing ! If only he'd thought about that before he joined the riots - but then that would require a few brain cells! Simon :-)

Chritsine - totally with you - well said! Anyway - what is rich ? And...what's wrong with being rich. It seems totally acceptable to be poor! Do we want everyone to be equal ? I doubt it - and how miserable would that be in any case! Nothing to aim for - just dull, dull, dull greyness. I'm simply don't go for the Robin Hood attitude - show me one highly successful Socialist / Communist state. Simply the politics of envy - you've got it and I want it = thieves. Simon :-)

Why do these 'thugs' cover their faces and wear hoods ? Could it possibly be because the darlings actually know they are doing something wrong.......? Bang em up! Simon :-)

brianagain - don't be daft these thugs were born well after Thatcher ! They (the thugs) simply haven't been privy to any discipline and social etiquete due to bad parenting. But I guess that is someone else's fault as well heh???!! Why are you looking for reasons ? You don't take or destroy other people's property just because 'you've got nothing better to do' - or do you? Poor darlings - they've got no youth clubs, local grants for youth programmes have been cut, Ipods & Iphones are soooooo expensive and they've got nothing to do - well bl**dy well find something to do like most human beings with a brain seem to be able to. Hey - and do you want us all to be equal ??? That great old Socialism nut - the politics of envy!! Simon :-)  

NormanH - and anyone else with similar 'concerns' or views about the 'reasons' (aka excuses) for this type of anarchic behaviour - pack it in ! I for one am not in the slightest interested in any reasons or excuses - I'm simply interested in the utterly unacceptable end result. ALL of the thuggish anarchic behaviours we are witnessing in the UK are criminal and illegal - end of! Poor young little darlings have had a hard life in the UK (not!) - so have the people of Somalia and a myriad of other desperate places on the planet - REAL victims. Maybe UK thugs should go and take a look. Pathetic scum. Simon - blood boiling, not happy

Your last post had me laughing out loud NickP - twaddle. Simon :-)

[quote user="NickP"] Norman wrote: I would see the roots earlier than Blair and Brown, in the period that launched the power of the Murdoch press, and deregulated markets. Absolutely Norman, Maggie and her co-Horts have a lot more to answer for than the Labour movement. [/quote] Oh for goodness sake change the record - what utter rubbish!!! This isn't about politics !!! Get a grip....and stop making excuses..... It's about bad parenting and yob / gang / mob culture which has somehow become unchallenged in the UK. So these scum don't know the difference between right and wrong ?? B**llocks !! They want it, they want it now and they have absolutely no intention of working or paying for it !  Simon :-)

London / UK - The Olympic host city / country for 2012 - should be interesting! Simon :-)

Since the G20 'riots' the police seem to be damned if they do and damned if they don't - what a crazy, crazy situation - an impotent police force due to uncontrolled liberalism. Bring in the army ! Simon :-)

Apparently - south Hackney is quite posh.....or was (!) Not sure if Croydon qualifies as London....?

Just been watching the news from the Old Country - the riots around the UK. Amazing images of the UK police just standing by and watching wilful damage, car burning and looting....unbelievable!!! Wish You Were There ? Simon :-)

Harry - you can pick up 3G dongles in any Bouygues, Orange or SFR shop - in fact most of the big supermarkets have them as well. Or - just order one on-line. However, you may find it much cheaper to have one with a subscription as the PAYG versions are incredibly expensive as they are time based rather than download quantity. Simon :-)

Hi - our latest cat to be chipped - last year - was 36€ Simon

[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"][quote user="Théière"] [quote user="JK"] The guests that said ''you are in Burgundy, you should provide snail forks'![/quote] I sort of agree with that one [/quote] There is a certain logic. I tend to take the view that our guests are always right because they make it possible for me to live here. [:)] [/quote] Wow Riff-Raff Element - you must be kidding ??? 1. 'Guests' don't pay - clients / customers do 2. They are most definitely NOT always right! Who on earth calls the firemen for wasps? 3. Who on earth makes a living from gites ?? I do it for a bit of fun ! Simon :-)  

Here we are in the middle of silly season....thought I'd share one of my recent gite classics.... New arrivals on Saturday. Sunday morning Madame 'needs-to-get-out-more' from Bescancon - calls out to me across a field to tell me about a problem she had last night..... 2 (not 200 mind you!) BIG hornets were spotted - one inside her gite, the other outside. She quite clearly demonstrated the size of them to me by holding her thumb and index finger as far apart as possible. 'Luckily' (quote) her husband and brother-in-law had managed to kill them. Apparently she had tried to call me last night at 23h10 to tell me about this 'problem'. Unfortunately I was 'en fete' (!) so sadly didn't hear my phone ring :-( (shame) So - what did she do? What would you do? Well - she called the pompiers! Rightly so - they refused to 'attend'. No more hornets spotted as at time of writing - guess they were just passing through...... I've got loads more stories but thought I'd kick things off with this one as it's so recent.... Care to share any ? Simon :-)

Coops - fantastic and well said !! Just great to have you back :-) Simon :-) ...still love mine 8 months in - love it, love it, love it!

but....you only get a tax reduction if you are liable to pay French income Tax - 47% of French households don't pay any! Simon :-)

If you log on to your account on the impots.gouv.fr site - you can print of a list of all significant form dates. Top of your welcome page - sorry can't link to it for obvious reasons! In my area - for revenue - the first 'wave' are being sent out 5 Aug and the 2nd wave 8 Aug. They'll be available on line before you get them in the post. Simon :-)

[quote user="Sprogster"]If you are going to compare like with like congestion, you should be comparing the London orbital motorway with the Paris autoroutes! Amuses me that very often posters are comparing their part of rural France, with metropolitan areas of the UK![/quote]   Toulouse = ''metropolitan area'' of France Simon :-)  

I'm more than happy to pay the road tolls if France! The standard and maintenance of autoroutes in France makes the UK look pretty much third world. Apart form the peak holiday periods - the autoroutes are rarely packed and are a pleasure to drive on. I dread to think how many hours, days, months and perhaps years of my life I completely wasted on the M25! Miserable human experience.... Simon :-)

Only deductible if you are due to pay any French income tax - 47% of French households don't! Simon :-)

''We are Sorry''.....stunning! Is that the best a bunch of so called 'journalists' could come up with? It may be a trendy 'cultural' thing these days to believe that saying 'Sorry' makes everything ok - but quite frankly it's hollow and means nothing. I for one am sick and tired of hearing people apologise - it's like some kind of weird disease!! Simon :-)

second that parsnips! Pretty shambolic system - especially being that many of the people working within in think it is! You know what - the thing that astounded me was the fact that I received a letter in English (only) - from anywhere within the French administration! I'm still reeling from the shock! Simon :-)

Connexion = useless Pretty straightforward really - I was summoned to my local tax office to 'fix' my 2011 declaration. So for those of you French residents declaring any tax paid salary earned in the UK: 1. Declare the gross salary amounts on your 2047 - box VI 2. Transfer the total to box 8TK on the 2042 3. Enter the gross amounts in boxes 1AJ and 1BJ (as applicable) on the 2042. Result = status quo. Not sure what all the palava is about? Simon :-)

Good advice idun.... bubbles - you asked how to pay your Taxes Foncieres - I told you how to do it by quite simply using your French bank account. Problem solved! You can't pay any French taxes on-line using a credit / debit card - unsurprisingly! Transfer the money into your French bank account (no big deal), pay your bills and your life will be instantly simplified. Then call the EDF English speaking helpline if you don't speak French. You're just over complicating things and making life difficult for yourself. Simon :-)