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sid

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Everything posted by sid

  1. Thanks for the van-space offer. I read some of these replies and it all comes flooding back, the reasons that I stopped trying to contribute. It's a kind of cosy closed club, and if your views don't match, you're very much an outsider. I don't care if someone wants to cover their interior exposed stone walls just so they can be comfortable in the depths of winter. Live and let live. French paint is OK, some of it very good. Easier to buy stuff in UK - probably, no language problem. "I've been here longer than you..." So what ? Bon route, Sauce
  2. What's flue symptom? Is it a smoking chimney sticking out of the top of one's head? Just curious.
  3. I know the feeling too, I sold my HondaVFR 2 years ago. However, I still have my 1970 Bonneville, which only weighs a fraction of the Honda. It was considered a BIG bike when I was a teenager in the 60's but is much easier to push around. How about a garage motorcycle turntable? A Google search brings up loads of hits; you could ride in, turn ready for the off, and just ride out next time? For the insurance, you should keep minimum cover. Your agent should be able to arrange something cheaper. I presume the bike isn't exactly worthless if it was stolen, and there is the fire risk already mentioned. A 4-wheel buggy "thing" won't give you anywhere near to same pleasure as 2-wheels.
  4. sid

    Room 101

    For me: 1 middle lane hoggers again 2 Facebook 3 Supercilious forum posters who can't understand why some people would prefer certain UK foods. Why? What's wrong with that? You still speak English, so why not have one or two English foods that you don't have to pay the Earth for, if that's what you want? What happened to live and let live? Ah yes, Brexit!
  5. ... in your opinion, of course. No-one has ever accused me of looking like a pimp or a drug pusher, and I object to the suggestion. You've disappointed me by being so rude. Thankfully I don't have to comply with your ideas of what constitutes good taste.
  6. Well done with the research! My avatar shows my dad on his New Imperial "Blue Prince" taken around 1935.
  7. Thanks for the link, however it's not an official website, one that has "gouv.fr" in its URL. The reference is cloudy (ha ha) to say the least because new cars are governed by EU regulations in any case and cannot be sold with illegal windows. The fuss, as I said earlier, concerns tint film added after market. I note that there is nothing there that says that these look "naff".
  8. [quote user="alittlebitfrench"]Idun Wrote 'Wonder IF they will make those with them already, get rid of them' Yep, as understand it. You will have to change them. The police are shît scared of approaching vehicles with tinted windows. Fair point. I would as well. They look tack as well.[/quote] Where did you get this information from? Have you been reading the Daily Mail or was it that Connexion again?   EDIT Just Googled it and my favourite misinformation site came up! I've got a Renault (that's a little bit French too) bought new with tinted windows and the rear side ones are extra-tinted, which is great when we've got the grandchildren in the back in the height of summer (remember that... summer, hot weather?)  Heaven knows why you'd be afraid of approaching my car, because you can actually see inside! It's the OE glass that's tinted. I'm assuming that all this fuss concerns tint film which is applied after-market. Who says they look tack? Surely we don't all want to look the same?  
  9. I suppose it depends in which part of France you live as to whether you enjoy the driving experience; I wouldn't want to drive regularly in Paris but down here in 79 (and 16,17, and 86 too) I find it a real pleasure! Especially when compared to my working journeys in the UK, regularly using the M6 traffic jam from Manchester to the Midlands. I hate it when we go back to UK, and here I can't remember the last time I used "Sorry, bad traffic" as an excuse for late arrival. Yes, people tailgate, take funny routes round roundabouts, always seem to cross the white line on bends... we've heard them all before. Autoroutes, well we use them on long distance journeys and I don't think the charges are too bad, but then I'm not commuting. I'm very much reminded of traffic conditions in UK from 50 years ago! And it's brilliant for motorcyclists.
  10. Thanks for the replies. I've been absent for a few days so I'm just catching up. I've found this: https://www.elecdirect.fr/disjoncteur/poussoir-voyant/legrand-inter-poussoir-20a-double-fonction-250v-1-no-voyant-vert-412914.html (double pole, so satisfies the normes) which if mounted in one of these : http://www.materielelectrique.com/coffret-cachebornes-ekinoxe-modules-blanc-9010-p-2134.html  which contains a DIN rail, and will probably do the job. It's going to be on the wall at the side of the chauffe-eau in the back laundry room so aesthetics are not that important. Incidentally the second link (materielelectrique) is for an electrical components supplier who have turned out to be really on the ball with delivery; I ordered a batch of stuff one afternoon last week at 14:30 and the parcel was delivered NEXT DAY at 11:00  !! This is the best delivery service I've had since coming here 12 years ago! See, all you other suppliers, it can be done !!  [8-|]
  11. Eric - yes, I had thought of that, but it's not a very neat solution, however I may have to go down that route in the end! Just call me Heath Robinson. NoMoss - I've already Googled all the combinations under the sun. When I look at your selection I find that either the item is not available;  the Hager switch for example, which look suspiciously like the MK version that probably Chancer is referring to from UK (exactly what I'd like to have!!). I can't find it in the Hager catalogue. I see other switches, disjoncteurs actually, with built-in LED indicators, but they are meant to mount on the DIN rail in a tableau, which wouldn't be convenient in this case. The solution schemas seem to involve something at the tableau, again not convenient when the tableau is 3 or 4 rooms away. Chancer - This is really bizarre isn't it! I'm quite pleased with a lot of the French systems for electrics but the lack of switched sockets doesn't make sense to me; if you want to turn something off at night (for example PC and router) you have to physically pull the plug, or go to the tableau and switch off the individual circuit which may have other sockets still operating (lamps... or anything!).  We only use the immersion heater as back-up, the domestic hot water is heated from the oil central heating boiler which runs all year. I'm not getting into a discussion about which is more economic, I've already worked out that ours is economic enough! So, it would be very nice to have a simple surface-mounted switch to do the job, ideally placed near the chauffe-eau.  I fear I'm going to be disappointed.    
  12. Is there such a thing as a switch suitable for an immersion heater (say 20A) where the switch has an indicator light ? I can't find anything. We have a chauffe eau which we rarely use, the switch is out in the buanderie in a rather difficult to reach spot. On the infrequent occasions that we do use it often gets left on. I intend to update the switch from the current 1960's-looking contraption and probably move the switch, but I'd also like to be able to see at a quick glance if the current is present. FYI We don't have an heures creuses contacteur on the main tableau and in any case the tableau is a long way from the chauffe eau and not convenient. I'm guessing that if I ask a French electrician he'll probably shrug his shoulders and say it's not something that anyone asks for (like switched sockets!). Any ideas?  
  13. We use Globelink; they cater for UK citizens living in the EU, single trip or annual, depending on your needs and destinations. Pre-existing conditions need to be notified. http://www.globelink.co.uk/   
  14. Not being able to afford a specially made savoyard kitchen, even if I knew what that really is but I suspect it's no different to any other kitchen, we bought ours last year from Castorama. I suppose you could say that it's European (B&Q sell similar stuff); we think it's French; it's manufactured in France, as they're very proud to point out. The base units are adjustable with around 5 cms of adjustment. We're not tall people, we're simply used to worktops, sinks and appliances at a certain height. You don't seem to get this difference in height in the UK where we lived the first 35 years of married life. The problem is that units need to be higher than 85cms finished height for the reason I already stated; French cookers are lower! If you want a worktop to go OVER a dishwasher for example, or over a freestanding (not fitted) fridge, then the worktop is going to be higher than that. It's not usually practical to start cutting down a dishwasher or fridge [:-))], and we much prefer the security of knowing that the adjacent worktops are not going to burst into flames [;-)]. Home made plinths look pretty poor; they break the line of the unit plinths because they have to "stick out" further to accommodate the depth of the cooker. Here's the finished cooker section:   http://tinyurl.com/hzv6sxp  and anyway, we like it. No backache. My work here is done.    
  15. We have found that French cookers are usually 85/86 cms high, too low for us and they are lower than the standard worktop height, (finished height 90cms), so that with a pan on the burner there is a real risk of burning, or setting fire to, the adjacent worktop. I had to make plinths for both of our previous French cookers in order to make them safe when fitted between (French) units and worktops. Our latest cooker was purchased in UK and is far superior, having a double gas oven (try finding one of those in France). The new cooker is around 92 cms high in total and looks so much better without the homemade plinth. French gas cookers are generally fitted with town gas jets but a set of butane jets is normally supplied; it's a simple job to change them. 
  16. Its no wonder this forum has gone to the dogs. Someone asks a perfectly reasonable question and gets a snippet of information as one of the replies. Then a number of other people chime in with opinions, not facts, about how that can't really be true because they know loads of people who do just that. I know loads of people who break the speed limit; that doesn't mean it's OK, they just got away with it. I have a statement in my deeds that says I can't extract water from the river. I've no idea what the penalty would be, if any. I do know people, personally, (not whispers, or someone a friend knows), who have been visited by the gendarmerie with regard to garden fires; we're supposed to get a "note" from the mairie and approval from the pompiers (or is it the other way round?); no-one does... usually. All wells are now meant to be registered at the Mairie; that's because extracting water affects the water table. Who, in heaven's name is going to police that one when they can't keep track of non-complying fosses? Just because you've had a well for 12 years (as we have) doesn't give you any special rights, you've simply ignored the restrictions and got away with it. As the secretary at our mairie once said when I asked about having a garden fire, "We live in the country, we do as we like!" River water may be fine when you analyse it but what about a day later when a dead cow or a run-off of nitrates has got into the water? We could go on for ages with theories and extended myths. Let the guy use the water if he wants. Perhaps he'll let us know what happens; prison or hospital bed. Oh, this forum; on its last legs. Someone chuck it in the river.  
  17. We have a small river (large stream?) alongside our property; our boundary is halfway across the river bed. The notaire pointed out that we own half of the river bed but have absolutely no rights to fish or extract water. I'm fairly sure that extracting water is not allowed in most places.  
  18. At the top of the page (any page) there is currently an advert for "5 issues for £5" for magazines. Nothing happens on my pc until that is completely loaded; it's an animated gif or similar. Then there is a wide box at the top which  contains an advert (sometimes), and below the forum area there are a couple more. One being the advert for Britline (I'm already a Britline customer so the advert is wasted on me [:)], then a section "Our Magazines", and below that  an advert for "Baris - Beijing"; I haven't got a clue where Baris is, but I can guess, probably one of those Chinese misspellings that you get in almost anything from the Far East. The point I was trying to make, unsuccessfully, is that old software should still work if the owners have done their compatibility checks. Oops, put my foot in it again. I have a fairly new laptop, loads of memory, Windows 10, more importantly no problems on other sites, which leads me to the obvious conclusion; it's the forum, not us.    
  19. I vote for the original one in that case! [:P] But seriously, why continue with 2 threads on what is after all a very topical subject? And there we go, I'm adding to the one which should be closed off! THREXIT  I vote to leave this thread and post all new replies in the other one.    
  20. I don't understand the "old software" excuse. Is it "new" old software? i.e. a different system, but still very old, because whilst this forum always did use outdated forum software it did at least work to an acceptable degree, which it doesn't do now. I'm on a slow broadband connection, 2mega at best (positively superfast! [Www]), and it takes ages now to load my first page, but I can see that it's waiting to load adverts, none of which of course are of the slightest interest to me. Other forums to which I belong all appear to use vBulletin and I don't have any trouble with those.  
  21. Ah yes, the Black Hole that is Roissy ! I've had a least half a dozen items, letters but mainly small packets, disappear at Roissy. What happens to them? Is it one of the perks of the job that you get to take nice looking things home? What other explanation could there be? If its not that, and I've lost half a dozen, how big must the pile of "lost" items be building up in a dark neglected corner somewhere? Anything sent from UK by tracked Royal Mail International loses its importance (and seemingly it's tracking) as soon as it crosses the Channel to enter the sorting/customs centre at Roissy! If I have a choice I specify a courier rather than the "ordinary" post and I've found DHL and UPS to be the most reliable, but there are others. I haven't found any problems with the postal service within France and I notice now that one of my cycle accessory suppliers sends stuff to Germany by carrier for insertion into the postal service from there, cutting out Roissy. Good luck with trying to get any compensation!  
  22. Will the real "EU Referendum Thread" stand up please! [:-))]      
  23. A .png file is an image rather than a text document and you need to open it with a suitable graphics program. I'd use my Corel PaintShopPro because I already have it, but there are plenty of others, just Google "how to open a .png file". It seems an odd choice to send a confirmation like this though! Can you not ask them for another more normal format? PNG = Portable Network Graphics  
  24. There is an existing thread here: http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance-forums/cs/forums/3350089/ShowPost.aspx I wouldn't necessarily place a lot of reliance on any information posted in the magazine/website you referred to ! [6]  but the info in the above thread is correct; I used it and have registered and applied for postal votes.  
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