cooperlola

[:)] It is my understanding, Chancer, that the main security problem for your passwords etc is on line, not at home.  In other words if you keep a list of the passwords/numbers and change them on a regular basis and keep them as obscure as possible, this is far safer than using stuff that a hacker could figure out from info' he could glean from other stuff stored on line, but which you find easy to remember.  The chances of somebody breaking in, searching for the place where you store your password into', nicking your computer and getting your info' that way are very limited in comparison.  Thus, I must admit that nowadays I tend to write my passwords down and make them a lot more random than I used to.  I can't imagine the average burler finding where I've put them either, I think they'd be far more interested in nicking the telly and the laptop!

[quote user="powerdesal"]Is it wrong to be proud of the fact that your fellow countrymen and women can show that they are the best in the World at their chosen sport ? Is it wrong to be proud that a British team are so good at ( say ) sailing, rowing, cycling etc. Just how is that mis-placed Nationalism ? Why is it wrong to be proud of your countries achievements in the field of sports, or science or anything else for that matter ?[/quote]Who am I to suggest that any of those things is wrong?  However, I do think that national pride is vastly overated and yes, can even be dangerous. My country is better than yours because it has more athletes who did well at the olympic games than yours - what a load of ***!  R/H, in general the more talented drivers get the better sponsorship but I agree, money talks.  However, it's commercial money, not the taxpayers' and that is fine by me.  I don't think that motorsport (nor any other sport for that matter, to be honest) should be paid for in that way.  I'd rather my taxes were spent on feeding the poor, helping people get jobs, maintaining the health of the nation, educating the young (including sport at school which encourages people to be fit from a young age and makes the process enjoyable so they stick with it through their whole lives), dealing appropriately with crime etc etc, thanks very much.  However, I know that there are far more people who are pleased to see their money spent in this way and I live in a democracy, as well as having been born in one, so I'm stuck with it, but I don't have to like it. As for staying out of the argument just because I only watch the olympic sports that would interest me if they weren't in the games is a bit nuts, Gardian, sorry.  Surely even those who don't watch at all are entitled to an opinion? If they are not then, as Lucy implies, this forum would be amazingly dull, wouldn't it?

I think you should re-read what I said.  HSD - I am sorry if anybody who had contributed to this discussion thought I was making any kind of personal remark (I wasn't), so I've re-worded the post.  I think that the olympics and sports in general which pit nation against nation (world cup footie, rugger, etc etc) provoke bigotry and encourage people to think of "their" country as somehow superior because they won some sporting event or other or have more medals.  That's why I detest them so and rarely watch.  The reason I contributed to this thread in the first place - which I guess I shouldn't have done as I certainly don't want to depress anybody  - was because I found the crowd's reaction this afternoon so unpleasant and certainly unsportsmanlike.  If it makes other people feel better about themselves then great, but it makes me feel worse about the human race in general that it comes down to this. Still, better than fighting, I guess.

A lot of things have been said of me but "bereft of some basic human instincts and feelings" was never one  of them.  Thanks, I love you too![:)][kiss] I guess that this discussion just reinforces my point - nationalism ain't pretty.

Golly, Steve!  Can't say that the historic achievements of Britain ( exploiting almost every other country in the world for greed and gain springs to mind) have ever lit my fire either.  Sir Isaac Newton - yes, I admire him and his ilk because of what they did.  Because I share a birth country with them?  Certainly not. Does being born British make me as great a thinker as Newton?  I don't think so!  Does the fact that all Austrians were born in the same country as Hitler make them reprehensible?  No, of course it doesn't. But as Norman says, a long way from the Olympics.  Sadly though,sporting events like the olympics do tend to provoke all kinds of bigoted nonsense.  A shame for those who put so much effort into taking part. (Post edited to avoid misinterpretation.)

[quote user="Chiefluvvie"]nationalism and loss of identity. [/quote]Yup.  You lost me right there. I only have one identity and that's my own.  The rest is just chance.  I never met anybody whom I admired or respected because of what they got by accident of birth.  What they've strived for and worked for is a different matter altogether. Which brings me full circle.  I dislike the olympics as I dislike anything else which provokes people and even actively encourages them into judging others by such abitrary charactaristics as where they were born.  It turns my stomach.  Sorry (well no, I'm not at all sorry, if I'm honest.)  I enjoy watching some of the sports because they entertain me and I cannot believe the prowess of some of the participants, nor the determianation of all of them in doing what they do.  I certainly don't watch them to see "my country" (or rather a miniscule proportion of the population of the country in which I was born and no longer live) win.

[quote user="NormanH"]Have edited it, but that is weird as it was ok  chez moi[/quote]Thanks, all better now!  Hope Mr Jo gets better as easily and painlessly.[:)]  It does seem to be browser-specific, Norman.

[quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="Rabbie"] [quote user="powerdesal"]. It would hardly be expected that ( say ) the BBC would be less than enthusiastic ( ie Nationalistic ) in the support of it's national team of athletes.[/quote]The BBC has historically always prided itself with giving accurate unbiased accounts of the events it is reporting. That is why it has been trusted across the world. IMO it does not diminsh a british performance to give credit to a good or excellent performance from somebody from another country. By and large the experts on BBC have done this. Excessive nationalistic commentary merely dinishes the reputation of the BBC. Yes, I am delighted by a british win but I also enjoy seeing excellent performances from other nationalities. [/quote] Once upon a time, long ago, the BBC 'may' have been unbiased, sadly those times are long gone. It is not referred to as the ''Biased Broadcasting Corporation'' ( by a large number of the British population ) without reason. It is difficult to think of anything that can diminish it's reputation any further.[/quote]What I don't know, is whether the British commentary is broadcast elsewhere in the world - say in places where English is spoken and they cannot afford a full team of commentators of their own.  What must they think?  Ian Stark made a comment during the show jumping phase of the 3DE when he made a remark in favour of a British competitor then followed it up by saying something along the lines of: "I'm sorry, I can't believe I said that."  I thought it showed a thoughtfulness for the non-Brits who might possibly have been watching which was not evident today. 

[quote user="Cendrillon"]Nobody is forcing anyone to watch, if you don't like it switch your T.V. / radio off and don't read the newspapers until it's all over.[/quote]True, and this is the first I've watched since the 3 day event.  But the reaction of the crowd totally spoilt what is normally a sport I can have on whilst I doing other boring stuff in order to pass the time.  Fear not, it's the last event for me as I won't be watching any live telly now until it's over as I'm off on my hols on Tuesday. As for avoiding it in the papers I have to scroll through about 15 articles going on about Britain's successes in the Kindle in the mornings before I get to any non-olympic news and that's the Grauniad.  I dread to think what the DM's been like!

[quote user="NuBeginningsFrance"], if the mechanic orders the wrong bit thats down to him [/quote]True.  However, it could delay your repair if he forgets/is unaware so I posted the info' so you could forwarn him and maybe save yourself a bit of hassle.

I agree, not mad about his demeanour either, but I do think he's got gorgeous hair!  I certainly prefer my sportsmen modest - it was just a comparison between the two guys.  Seb Loeb's far more my type, as it happens.[:P]  But rallying's not an olympic sport (more's the pity.)

[quote user="powerdesal"]I would expect each nation to be considerably 'nationalistic' in the support and praise of its athletes. After all, that's the nature of inter-national competition surely. .[/quote]Exactly.  This is why I detest the olympics and that aspect of all sporting competition, to be honest.  Why can't we just admire greatness, regardless of where it was born?

On that basis I need to support the French as that's who gets my tax euros!  Oh, that's OK - Seb won again in Finland yesterday. But on second thoughts, perhaps not a good idea to get me started on wasting tax money on sport when people are living below the poverty line.

Shame.  Federer's far better looking.  About as good  reason for supporting him as being born on the same land mass, imho.

Not to forget Clair's wonderful recommendation of ginger.  When I was at my most puke-ful (!), ginger bikkies were about all I could eat.  I got them by the case from Amazon.[:D] Norman, your long link has played havoc with this thread, I'm afraid.

Hmm.  Well, many still die before they get to pensionable age don't they (I know of five people of my own acquaintance to whom this has happened in 2012 alone)?  It's not the way insurance works, is it?  It's about mutual support - we all contribute what we can afford to support those who cannot afford the care, that is the way the welfare state works.  If there's not enough in the pot, then we need to pay more, that's the "bottom line" (if I may use once again an overused phrase) n'est-ce pas?  If my taxes and social contributions go up, I pay them, as I should, because one day it might be me who needs to be paid for out of the pot.  On the other hand, I might well be dead before I get to 66.

[quote user="NormanH"]I think Clair (that paragon of French rationality combined with perfect English) summed this up in a related thread [/quote]I missed that (although I second your summary of our illustrious mod' of course!) Every time I hear somebody say "we" have won this or that medal I want to chuck the computer/newspaper/tv whatever out of the window.  You'd think these beggars had actually put some of the effort in themselves.  What b*l*x.  @R/H : I have turned it off.  I cannot take the jingoistic commentary any more.

Against my better judgement, I have had the olympics on in the background whilst I'm computing and have been listening to the tennis since it 's one of the few sports on offer that I'm vaguely interested in.  Am I the only one who is finding the crowd reaction really sickening?  This isn't about sport it's about the worst sort of rank nationalism and is why I detest the games so much.  Yuk.

Exactly so Norman.  Be it CMU-B or whether or not you can go onto a retirement S1 having worked in France, it all comes down to the way in which the statutes are interpreted at local level so don't give up on any avenues until they have been finally and formally closed to you, would be my advice.

I could ask you why people are subsidised for having babies when the planet has far too many people on it already, Idun, but I won't![:D][6] I guess we all think old people cost more than they are worth until we are one of them and the decision is about ourselves as individuals rather than a concept.

I agree with Norman, the best cure for fatigue is rest.  It's cr*p but it will be over.  I was only really tired for a few days after each chemo'.  I took the opportunity to watch all the programmes I keep recording and never getting round to waching. This has probably been done, but if your o/h had any pain when the needle was first injected into the pac (stent) then get a patch prescribed.  If he already  does this, then make sure he put it in place 2 hours before the jab, not the 1 that they tell you - it works much better and the effect lasts a long time if the drugs are late arriving.  A tip from my neighbour that worked a treat for me and her!

You are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Private insurance to the standard required by the law is impossible given the medical history.  Against that, even a few hours work and a tiny French pension history could cost you dearly for the rest of your life (the social charges on pension income for those of us "a la charge" of the French system are massive now that the entire UK pension is taken into account so I do sympatise!) Before everybody shoots me down in flames and tells me you don't qualify, I still think, as I have advised another poster on another thread with similar issues, that you should apply for CMU-B cover under the "accident de vie" provisions.  They can only turn you down and you will have lost nothing but a bit of time and effort.  The new EU regs are very fuzzy and the re-written French statutes open to interpretation.  A contact of mine in the insurance industry has informed me that a number of people who have been refused full private cover and who arrived here since the cut-off date, have been successful since the chages last year so, imho, it's worth a go, whatever the outcome.  That way, once you reach UK state retirement age, you can both go back to being paid for by the UK.

I believe that you are confused!  Stan is the disabled one, his wife is the carer. What would happen I wonder, Bettty, if one were put on ESA but earned too much to keep it once it wasmeans tested?  OK you might lose the money, but do you lose the S1 too?  One is a benefit and one is the right to healthcare (the EU equivalent of your getting free NHS treatment if you'd stayed in the UK) so they are quite different, imho.  Has anybody any more idea than I of how the EU would treat this?  I reckon you would have a very good discrimination case in the European courts although I'm sure you wouldn't want it to get that far, Stan.

As Albert says, much depends upon where you are. I'm no builder but here is my little thought based on what's around here.  Most of the old buildings here are rendered in lime (chaux) with some "pierre apparente" (bits of the original stone showing through) on some of the buildings.  I wonder if you could lime render and add a few large lumps of limestone to the mix to give a pierre apparent appearance to the newer parts (I have no idea if this is possible, btw)?  The render varies in colour and texture based upon the sand used so that even new render looks very in keeping with the rest of the places around. I'll try to do a pic for you later!

Iirc Glyphosate (sp?) weedkillers do work in this way.  However, they are better on young, new growth so I'd venture to suggest that you wait until the new shoots start to appear and then zap 'em.   Having said that, I've never got a bramble to respond to this type of weedkiller (the common one is Roundup) for very long and have always had to use something rather more viscious!  Something sold as killing "brush"  like SBK (I think there's an extra-strong Roundup available -XL?) but I've never been able to use that in some places in the garden as I have animals so it's elbow grease or a bumper blackberry crop every year!