Rob Roy

It's been very hot here too, 40 C, but like many of you it's the humidity that I find the killer, just walking across the room seems to make my skin leak! We had a storm about 7.00 am today, then showers during the morning which helped a bit, but it was hot again this afternoon. My poor husband has been re-tiling a roof for the past 4 weeks, he's been k****ered every night when he gets in.

[quote user="Patf"]I use the forum (and others) as a sort of reward and break for rest in the daily chores. Sometimes I post, but more often I just read. I don't think I contribute as much as I used to, partly from laziness, and partly because a lot of the topics I used to find interesting have been covered several times already. Mainly I like to read the comments from the "characters" on here and see how they interact, so that's voyeurism in a way. I've also been a member for a long time, I think I joined in 2001. ps - trust idun to start an interesting topic - she can pick them! [/quote] I'm similar to Patf in that I've been a member even longer than her (I think nearly all the 'older' members have had to re-register at some point at least once!) and many of the topics are repeats of what were discussed years ago, but it's still nice to see other peoples' take on things. Re the lurkers - if an item is interesting and you have perhaps 10 people discussing it and another 10 following and popping in to see the most recent posting that means you have 20 people going in to the topic, maybe once a day, and it can soon mount up the 'viewing' figures. ClarkKent - you've brought up two 'blasts from the past' there haven't you? [:)] I also used to enjoy Dick Clarke's and Salingo Bay's contributions.[:(]

Thanks Simon, you have confirmed what I thought! I had done some "Googling" before posting and couldn't find anything that was cheaper than France, but thought I would double check on here.[:)]

What are the implications (if any) for buying white goods (fridge freezer) from Andorra and bringing back into France? My husband thought it might be cheaper to get one there, but I'm not convinced.

It's not that unusual. I find it happens if you have visitors coming and you want lots of flowers!

I can only speak as I find, especially bearing in mind Sweet's post about her problems, but I am very impressed with my recent dealing with M & S. I ordered 2 pairs of jeans, underwear and a pair of earings last Monday 15th Aug, and received confirmation from them stating it would be delivered by Wed 24th Aug. Next day, 16th, I had an e-mail saying my order had been dispatched; Friday morning, 19th, it was in my post box; I'm very satisfied.[:D]

It's this company: http://www.zennioptical.com/

Yes, if you come over here you will get used to France closing down for August! There is a house being built just up the road from us - well it was until the 1st August, but all has been stopped since then; they probably can't get any materials anyway![:)]

My puppy chewed up my reading glasses last Tuesday week (I also wear distance glasses all the time) and I was dreading what it would cost to replace them, although they were long overdue for replacing! I had an eye test yesterday in Brive at an 'Ophtalmalogue'; I was very impressed with the test (including the puff of air for glaucoma) and it cost me 28€ I'm now going to order my glasses online from an American company recommeded by a friend, and with some good online reports. I was only going to get some more reading glasses for now, but the total cost of varifocals, including postage, 59$ - just under 41€ - I'm one happy bunny![:D] (and I've forgiven the dog.[;-)])

Sorry to highjack your thread, but I have a friend who is a Master Saddler and would like to move to France. Do you know if there is a shortage of saddlers over here?

We did the same - GAN insured the car from the day OH went to pick it up and drive it back and for three months whilst we re-registered.

Thank you. I try and do it most evenings, but often forget so it's usually about 4 times a week. I mixed together donkey manure (which I have plenty of!), earth from the garden (which is basically a clay soil) and bought potting compost before planting them. There is a load of polystyrene (old trays from supermarket meat) in the bottom of the pot to help fill the space so it isn't all soil.

I'm no good with pot plants either - always manage to kill them! Unfortunately cut flowers over here seem incredibly expensive. We have an old pig boiler that I plant up every year with something different - this year it happens to be Busy Lizzies![:)] [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/Garden%20and%20Nature/BusyLizzies.jpg[/IMG]

There are two types of Buzy Liz - the New Guinea Busy Lizzy is usually more of a pot plant I think - looks like this: http://www.allinone.co.uk/ecommerce/search/new-guinea-busy-lizzy.aspx Then the ones seen in gardens that are such good value - information here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/4230754/How-to-look-after-your-Busy-Lizzies.html  

They are certainly not always cheap, and it's true that you couldn't commute in the winter on the Brive route using them as it's only April to Oct, as it was last year too.

They also fly to the new Brive Airport at the weekends only - Friday night to Sunday night; you could commute weekly using them.[:)]

Christine I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. We lost a young labrador to bloat/twisted gut, he was just 1 year old. He used to gulp his food down as fast a possible which, I understood, is one of the problems as they gulp air in at the same time which allows the stomach to turn. I thought at first he was just a bit off colour, but by the evening realised his stomach was looking distended so decided to take him to the vet the next morning. Unfortunately I found him dead in the morning; but the vet told me it was unlikely they could have done anything for him as the operation is usually less than 50/50 successful - and would have cost several thousand euros, which we couldn't have afforded. Before this happened to us I had no idea about it, and felt so guilty for letting our poor boy suffer that day as he must have done instead of having him PTS. I was told it was better to elevate their feed bowls, which I do now.

Personally I don't think it was an entirely unreasonable suggestion. Surely it's better to be sure the children should be with the adult in charge of them (whether male or female), if there seems to be any anomaly, than just accept it's all right? I would not object to carrying a letter from my husband if I was travelling alone with our children (not that they are young any longer); I would also expect him to do the same. Don't forget children can be abducted or taken overseas illegally and passports can be forged.

Well, to get back to my original question I'll just have to try and find out how to speed things up!

[quote user="sid"] Those are actually very similar to my results... on a good day. [blink]  I have a 2mega  Orange service. Do you really mean "upload"? That is, are you sending files to a web server or something? The upload speed is nearly always slow, at least on services for private individuals. The speed can vary in any case; we get days where it feels as though it's going to stop altogether! Also in the evenings around 7pm when everyone is home and logging on; it is a shared service after all, so the more people that are online the slower (generally) it goes. [/quote] Sorry, I meant downloading![:$]

[quote user="Jay"]Doesn't mean a lot to anyone unless you know what speed you should be getting. Test your "eligibilite" HERE. [/quote] OK, done that: longueur de ligne : 1440 mètres affaiblissement théorique : 12.012 dB I copied and pasted this and the other information above direct from the websites. Finding information just seems to be taking longer than usual over the past few weeks.  

I did a test to check my internet speed as I think my computer seems slow at present. I got these results: Download Speed: 2105 kbps (263.1 KB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 270 kbps (33.8 KB/sec transfer rate) To be honest I don't really know whether that's good or not! I'm on Orange broadband with Windows 7 and just recently it seems the upload of pages seems slow.

[quote user="Rob Roy"] [quote user="crossy67"][quote user="NickP"] Most modern cars are now fitted with headlights that can be switched over from behind the lights.[/quote] Eh?  Tell me more, I have never heard of this.  Any lists of cars with this facility please. [/quote] My husband did exactly this with my Citreon C5, then I asked the man at the CT station if he would be kind enough to adjust the level of the beam before doing the CT. Sorted! [/quote] We didn't have deflectors (see my post above) but I think it has to do with the actual glass?

I wasn't that impressed when I saw the first picture - then scrolled down and realised it was the 'Before'![:$]  Wow, a fantastic job done, congratulations!

Phonexpat are the same - you just pay for the calls you make, no monthly fee.