powerdesal

[quote user="Pickles"][quote user="powerdesal"]There's nothing better than being on a boat that goes up at 45 degrees followed by down at the same angle, [/quote] Oh yes there is! A cup of tea and a nice piece of Wensleydale, Gromit .... [/quote] That wouldn't work for me Pickles, I don't drink tea !!! However.....a nice piece of Wensleydale or, better still, a piece of Lancashire crumbly, now that's a thought........

There's nothing better than being on a boat that goes up at 45 degrees followed by down at the same angle, the trouble is that it's only fun if you are the boat driver. It's almost as much fun as parachuting / abseiling face down / bungee jumping. Adrenaline junkie - who me ???????

Many years ago, when I lived in Africa ( Kitwe, Zambia ) there were two supermarkets in the town. ZCBC and OK Bazaar. The Europeans tended to shop in ZCBC and the locals in OK Bazaar. To us Europeans there was a distinct smell of humanity associated with OK Bazaar, however, the locals felt that there was a distinct 'not nice' smell in ZCBC. Individually I don't remember any particular person ''smelling'' but there was obviously a ''group smell'' that was identifiable to certain groups.

Pickles wrote:- ''Supplementary question: Are the French more or less racist than the British? Or are they more overtly racist? I felt that some things that I heard in France would not be considered acceptable in the UK.'' I think the answer to that question is certainly yes. The French, in general, appear to be far less tolerant of non-European people which is not good but are far more 'nationalistic' which may, not necessarily, be a bad thing. The level of stricture in UK under the heading of ''racism'' is, IMHO, somewhat over the top these days. The word 'race' is taken completely out of context and is used to cover many things that just are not race at all. Religion ( for example ) is not race, Nationality is not race either but they both seem to be in UK terms.

''Seems to me the gun and bomb are much mightier than the pen. ''The pen is mightier than the sword ..........until you meet someone with a basic knowledge of chemistry, metalwork and ballistics''

PaulT, whilst the WFA is not 'strictly' part of the UK State pension I believe that it is 'de facto' part of it by virtue of tradition and practice. It was, as has been said, introduced as a payment rather than a pension increase being made for some political reason or other. Having said that, contrary to the opening post in this thread, My wife and I have not been informed by HMRC that we will not get the payment in 2015. Perhaps this is an oversight by HMRC - who knows ? The loss of the £200 to our household will not change our lives but I think it is a discriminatory and mean-spirited move which will save 'peanuts' in real terms.

''I'd just add that I will never fathom why anyone with a brain would want to own a gun. I am sure there are situations where guns are required, but they are rare and, IMO, do not justify the ownership of one. You may disagree. In the spirit of what 12 people died for today, that's your prerogative.'' I do disagree. This thread is however, not the place for any subsequent discussion of that point.

Catalpa wrote:......''And we didn't define a whole section of the British public after Hungerford or Dunblane'' Didn't we ? The whole shooting community was effectively punished for the actions of a couple of nut cases.

[quote user="PaulT"]No Teapot, there are specific battery ones that do not go off when toasting - an ordinary one in our caravan would go off due to the small volume but not when replaced with the toast OK type.[/quote] A standard part of cooking in our caravan is to first remove the battery from the smoke alarm.

I wouldn't dream of it Gluey. She has a standard phrase....''you have to sleep sometime'' ps. I think the chain saw was because she couldn't find the right screwdriver for the shelf brackets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

''Sawing is about selecting the correct saw for the job in hand.'' How true......................Mrs PD once removed a set of shelves in the pantry using a chain saw !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The room got quite smokey as it was petrol powered chain saw. A very drastic method I thought, when I returned home.

R.A.F. corporal with Singapore allowences Cool [8-|] Rollin in it I were, + the petrol was cheap Woot! [:-))] Student apprentice with C.E.G.B. on £3-6-8p a week - not rollin in it but petrol was only 5s2p a gallon.

JJ, I never ever filled the tank of my 1947 MG TC, I could never afford to.

Chancer, you cynical - never !!!!!!!

I imagine that the price of GPL will drop - maybe, but I suspect that there is a long ''lead time''. Don't hold your breath :-(

In that case I may just give it back to my daughter and suggest she advertise it on e bay.

Thanks for all that. We have voip via a livebox and don't want to lose the phone so I guess I will just bin the home-hub.

Happy New Year to all. I sincerely hope for far fewer 'bumps' this year ( or rather da** great potholes )

I have no idea Ernie, that's why I was asking :-)

We have visited a couple of Wamsler dealers here in Normandy, one at Coutance and one at Vire. We want to see a Wamsler 900 series cooker but they do not stock and can only offer data sheets and photos.(which we already have from the net) Obviously we are loathe to order a stove without actually seeing one. Does anyone know of anywhere within Normandy / Brittany where such a stove can be seen? A faint hope I know but..........

I have been given a BT Home Hub 5 - type A. Is it likely to be of any use to me here in France and, if so, how do I rig it up?

Interesting about the smoke detector requirement. We have them fitted, and CO detector as well, but.........how many are likely to be required, one, two, more ???????????

20 paces ???? You must be used to handbags with very long straps JJ. Life is too short to worry about semantic pedantry anyway.

nomoss, I am guessing that history is just not one of your strong points - true?

As the first WW started in 1914 and HRH was born some years later I find it difficult to imagine how she or the D of E, or their children could possibly have started it. I seem to recall an incident in Sarajevo had something to do with it.