Frederick
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Posts posted by Frederick
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Sorry Christine .....I should have mentioned its a UK news item ......makes you wonder though how many people will be happy to chat to the bobby on the beat with a camera sticking out from behind his ear pointing at you .. getting more like the Si-Fi comics every day .....I suppose their boss can see what they are up to if he tunes in from the Police Station as well ?
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I see on this mornings news Police Officers are to trial a camera worn like a pencil tucked behind the ear to video record all they see and hear while dealing with incidents .I wonder how long it will be before some TV company is offering big money for the recordings ..and... if it sorts out the hooligan behaviour problems in towns.. . will teachers get to wear them next to show parents of difficult kids what they behave like in school ?..... The use of these cameras could spread into all sorts of job situations .
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A month in March with BF......... Portsmouth St Malo .....with A ferry To...£504.84...........now where did I put those addresses of the Aussie Reatives ? thats got to be cheaper !
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I use the Evesham Technologies "Destinator " Blue Media ......Now selling in Makro for £139 plus Vat .Comes with CDs for 20 countries in Europe. I put the French map on another SD Flash card and just change the card when I get off the ferry It will tell you where the UK Cameras are as well...but not the French ones.......It took me to the NOZ shop I wanted in Fontenay le Compt after the address from the yellow pages was put in and you cant do better than that...... it was my first visit to the town ...Bought in England instructions in English..... cant afford to be without it now and .its saved me loads in time and fuel costs in France .
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Davy H .....I am so glad you posted here .....My C5 Estate at the moment has a offside rear door and the tail gate that unlocks when it feels like it ....and the LED stop lights above the rear window have not worked for ages . I have also variious warnings such as the STOP warning light come on and the temperature guage shoot up for about 30 seconds then drop to normal. I also had the audio system play up and could not get it to read a CD.......I went to help jump lead start another car and accidently touched the cables to the wrong battery terminal ( denoted by the flash ) it must have rebooted the comp 2000 . as ...audio system has worked perfectly ever since BUT I DONT RECOMMEND TO ANYBODY YOU TRY IT ...... It confirms the computerised electrics on the C5 are a pain.......I am now off to disconnect the battery for an hour or so ... fingers crossed it remembers how to switch everything on when I power it back up......
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Julie sorry cant help you with the regulations .....but.... if you are on a French ferry dont even mention the word "Rabbits or Lapin " you can call them the "small furry animal with long ears ."....Use of the word is bad luck and Brittany Ferries will not take your booking if they know you have them with you...just try asking to have them on board ! ..It all goes back to when a cargo of rabbits chewed through the planks of a French ship and it sank with great loss of life ...French sailors have deemed them bad luck ever since and wont have them on ship....Suggest you talk to a vet about taking them with you . Good luck . I imaging sombody here has taken them out and will advise you soon .
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I have also shut down and drained the water and turned off the electricity as I was informed it was an insurance requirement. . I have not waded throuh the small print for the French house just acted on the brokers advice . I have left big deposits of salt on mesh streatched over buckets and bowls in the rooms in an effort to absorbe some of the damp. It will drip through the mesh and you will get an inch of water in the bowl over the winter I expect . We have used this method in Static Caravans and do in our tourer now. We have just seen the result of a split washing machine rubber pipe ...it just split due to age and water pressure in the home of a friend while he was away from home . His bungalow was totally soaked right through after just a weekend of water from this pipe. His insurers covered him as he was not away for more than 30 days ..His insurer ....as does my UK one ....demand water and electricity off ....or no cover if left on and empty for more than 30 days. I have a dehumidifier I took out this year....I have now decided it will be used when we next go out if needed.. it would be nice to leave the shutters open and let the sun in .....but thats an insurance no no as well..... they have to be locked .
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We had two charming young ladies visit us ...and they were already armed with the English copy of Watch Tower when they arrived at the door. No doubt they had another 9 copies on hand as I got the impression it was "Do the Brits in the village day "
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There is always Lebannon....slopes one hour North of Beirut. .... you may need a flac jacket though ....dont know if they sell colour co- ordinated with ski wear .
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My UK plated caravan is in the garden in the Vendee..... I cant even get it insured.......gave up trying ages ago.. It will be brought back to the UK next spring ....UK caravans for use in France I decided were a no no ...If you plan to tour France with a French registered car then I would consider getting French registered caravan to hook onto it .....If you get insurance for it from a French company ...please post who gave it to you......
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It would be so nice to think woman prime ministers / presidents are more likely to talk rather than fight but ..unfortunatly past events in Middle East.. India and Argentina have shown that female leaders have also had to take their countries to war. ...like the idea though Jon
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I am very sorry to hear your tale ....but not surprised ....I have had years of experience of renting on short term letting argreements to people in the UK ( Dorset ) who on first appearance seem to be the ideal tenant..only to find they are a nightmare... I am talking Bank and Insurance Company employees and the like......... people you would think you could trust ..I could write a book on bad tenants I have had so many....even via agencies ..May I suggest that when sombody wants to stay for six months or even more you start thinking references..and credit checks.....Dont take anything that they could run off a computor with decent desk top publishing software as genuine .Tell them you want checkable references ... more than one ....and do phone people they have rented from.... find out all about them. I have had employers references guaranteeing payment...and praising the tenant as one of their finest workers which you would think were fine ....and then ended up telling employers if their worker did not pay their rent I would be getting an attchement of earnings order for what they owe plus court costs after I had thrown them out . The hassle from dodgy tenants was one of the reasons I packed it in and bought the house in France.......they can make you so angry . and in the end you get fed up listening to lies .
. I once had a woman with 3 children ask if they could rent my house as she said her mother was ill and she needed to move into the area to be on hand to care for her. At the viewing she arrived with her ..."Mother " ....the children were calling her "Gran ".....I rented her the house .....9 months later after a court case she was gone ....so was the man she moved in .... after the Police had kicked the front door in and dragged him off..... back to the prison he had recently come from ...The" mother " I had spoken to was a front ..... her real mother was living in London where she had to flee from ......I later learned that some of her family had homes on wheels .Most people who want long term rental have a history ....why do they want to live in your place for two years ? I would need to know a lot about them .
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Re cover of valuables temporarly removed from the home ......my house insurer Generali would cover such things if you are robbed.....or if you have an accident ....are taken ill ..then lose your personal effects due to passing out while in the public thoroughfare.and they are left behind when you are carted off to hospital ....You are even covered if you go to Monaco and get robbed there...but ..leave your bag in a restaurant and lose your camera if it has vanished by the time you go back for it ...tough.... thats down to you ! I think you will find it hard to find a French insurer who will cover you on your house and contents policy for items lost while you carry them about...cameras lap -tops and the like . My insurance is a lot less than the cost of similar cover in the UK..... I am pleased to find ..perhaps thats because there is less opportunity for fraudulent claims .
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I have hired a van from the local Super U near my house in France to do an IKEA run .It was just over 50 euros for the day including the number of kilometers I did ....I never took it to the UK......but I know sombody who has ..came in .and out via Dover with a Super U Van and collected everything for a fully fitted kitchen . The Super U do some decent size Vans......... so .........if you could take the car over first ....... or have a low cost airline on the doorstep ....could be a possibility ?
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As a regular user of BF from Poole or Portsmouth and also a Property Owner Club card user...over a year its a good saving and my son and family save as well with associate membership. But ....if you have the time for a stopover ... and price is an issue ...with the new road links I have found big savings can be made via Dover. Just for the hell of it I tried it this year .and got a return Dover / Calais for £59 and a stop over in a BB Hotel for 38 euros in Rouan and used the new motorway from there down to the South Vendee.
As my planned trip for the begining of March 07 out of Poole is showing £250 for a low season fare.... with the owners club discount... come the summer rates ...I think BF will find more people going the long way round this year ....they are certainly using their monopoly position of these routes to rake it in ....
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Flybe have today anounced its taking over loss makaing BA Connect..... means job losses for BA Connect staff .....and Flybe are not taking on their aircraft .New aircraft will be aquired for routes..... some routes are to be dropped .Southampton Airport set to grow more as a result of this take over ....and a new terminal building may be built . an airline to watch in the future re new routes ?
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This sort of thing makes me so angry and I wonder if some African countries are doing SCAM courses for people they seem to produce so many .. Missyesbut is so right suggesting keeping an account with little in it ....when you send out bank details ... and may I add anyone buying with plastic on line or where there may be a risk of card copy and missuse ..... you use a card with a provider with whom you have requested to maintain a low limit .
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Thank you very much !.......keeping that one quiet from OH she likes sitting on the dunes out there ....one of them crawling over her and they would know about it in La Rochelle
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Thanks Chris ......I believed them to be Cranes as they are depicted on the Grues town emblem .... shall heve to get myself a decent book ....learn about... "Storks " .
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I have recently returned after 5 weeks in my house in Grues a village on the edge of the Marais Poitevin , During my recent stay I never saw one of our local nesting birds so assume they left with their young early September. In the fields are planted poles with what looks like a cart wheel on top and they are encouraged to nest on these.. From what I have seen they seemed to have be well used this year.... and the electricity poles ... and one pair of Cranes I have been watching produced two chics on a roadside electricty pole . If anybody should find themselves visiting this part of the Vendee and would like to see what the local bird life is up to ...may I suggest a visit to L' Aiguillon sur Mer . Go to the point which looks out over the sea and the Anse de L'Aiguillon . The area at the point is not very big ...but .there is an area for car parking .It has a sandy beach on the sea side looking out towards the bridge over to the Ile de Re from La Rochelle and a big area of mud flats on the land side ... It is an important nature reserve and a bird migration observation area for this part of France ......so you will see lots of people with tripods and telescopes about . but dont expect to see a cafe .. a toilet ...or a tourist gift shop !
. If you time your visit with the rise of the tide... the salt marsh at the point is covered in little shallow creeks ....so small you can step over them .( wellies are a good idea ) You will see the small mullet in large numbers coming into these creeks with the tide .....in no more than 3 of 4 inches of water in places .....The egrets , comorants and other birds see them as well .....they gather and hang about waiting for dinner to arrive ....and its quite amusing watching them as the fish jump out of the water round them ..You wont need binoculars big enougth to study the moon .....they will not be far away from you .... Was expecting to see lots of migrating birds this month .....did not... if its still warm enough up North I should think they are hanging back ?
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We ended up buying one of the small round blue light bug zappers .....we leave it plugged in on top of the fridge ....what that does not fry my wife slaughters with an old fashioned fly swat when they are in reach ... it now sits on the coffee table while she watches the TV just in case one dare come near . very effective !
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From my experience its not worth the hassle buying in the UK unless there is some special design you really want. Brico depot prices are much cheaper than the UK ones..... about 40 % anyway .....and they have a pretty good range . Try and get sombody to send you a copy of their product book with all the prices . Example a "Nautica " toilet pack thats the toilet.... with the two flush buttons ..... lid...and the flushing mecanism is at the moment 41.90 euros a thremostatic shower mixer tap is 19.50 E ......wont find a similar one in the UK for that at a plumers merchants .
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Thanks again for all the information...Gluestick..... .I have a sack full of flu piping to go with it ..... now I know what to do one day it might well be all connected up and we get "lift off "....I shall just have to see that my wife is not about when I light it the first time the expression "having kittens " comes to mind ...
Dodgy tenants
in Gite Owners Forum
Posted
As an ex landlord renting through a well known South Coast agency in the UK I discovered just what a Short Term Letting Agreement was worth on one occasion.and just how much of a waste of time an agency could be .Rent stopped being paid...agents wrote to the tenants.....letters were ignored....arrears built up...and .agents were lax in not visiting the property to chase it up. I visited my property to discover the people who had taken out the agreement had "rented " out the house to three lads and moved on .having got their deposit back from them .... and I was left with what were in fact squatters..... . luckily when I told them to get out and go sleep under the pier they left....