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Ian

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Posts posted by Ian

    Compote, cookingand preserving

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    [quote user="Dog"]

    I had a result last week I went to the bottle bank and someone had left 2 big boxes of old kieler type jars.

    They are in lovely clean condition although without rubber seals and have some interesting embossed logos on the jars.

    [/quote]

    Chancer, if you're thinking of using these jars by filling then boiling to sterilise, be careful. My french neighbour (ex-GP) won't do that any more with jars of unknown provenance - she says she's had several burst on her.

    Cheers

    Faster ADSL than FT/Orange will provide?

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    [quote user="AnOther"]

    In practice I think the only way you are likely to get more out of your line is if/when your exchange goes full degroupee and the likes of SFR move in as they will be free of any FT imposed limits and can configure the line to work to the maximum it will actually reliably support.

    [/quote]

    Thanka, A N Other and Jako, too. It was the "degroupage total" possibility I think I had in mind. However, it looks like my exchange is non-degroupee at the moment, as nobody offers more than 1MB, so I must stay with that for the time being.

    At least I have ADSL.

    Thanks for everybody's advice

    Faster ADSL than FT/Orange will provide?

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    [quote user="AnOther"]

    In practice I think the only way you are likely to get more out of your line is if/when your exchange goes full degroupee and the likes of SFR move in as they will be free of any FT imposed limits and can configure the line to work to the maximum it will actually reliably support.

    [/quote]

    Thanka, A N Other and Jako, too. It was the "degroupage total" possibility I think I had in mind. However, it looks like my exchange is non-degroupee at the moment, as nobody offers more than 1MB, so I must stay with it for the time being.

    At least I have ADSL.

    Thanks for everybody's advice

    Faster ADSL than FT/Orange will provide?

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    [quote user="Pierre ZFP"]

    The 4-6 Mbit quoted is a theoretical maximum.  You know, like the consumption figures for cars [6]

    It might be possible with new cables with perfect joins and no kinks but in practice that ain't how the world works.

    I would doubt that changing the ISP would improve things

    You can get uncapped 3.6Mbit from a GPRS Dongle for about the same price as a fixed line

    [/quote]

    Not, unfortunately, an option. Mobile phone reception in/around our house is almost non-existant.

    Oh, well (gallic shrug of shoulders).

    Faster ADSL than FT/Orange will provide?

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    After the recent post on ADSL line speeds, I checked my line - currently, it's officially 1meg.

    Degrouptest say I have attenuation of 54dB, and could get a speed of 1.9meg. The router says I have attenuation of 51dB, and am actually getting 1.2meg (so, good news there). The internet sites say that with attenuation of 51dB, I could get 4-6meg.

    Armed with all this, I went to speak to FT/Orange today. Waste of time. The system says I can only get 1meg - that's it, end of story, have a nice day.

    Do I have any other options? Will any other (reliable) ISP give me an uncapped service that will (possibly) run at 4meg?

    Thanks

    wooden kitchen worktops?

    in Working with Wood

    Posted

    We have oak worktops (Leroy's best). I gave them three coats of heat-resistant varnish from, I think, V33. After two years of use, there are marks from carelessly placed hot pans, but apart from that they still look good, though they do show signs of use (they're wood after all).

    I guess in another 2-3 years, I'll have to sand them down and apply another coat or two of varnish - no big deal.

    However, if you want worktops to look perfect and stay looking perfect, then I don't think wood isn't for you.

    Good luck

    CA not accepting cash deposit

    in French Finance

    Posted

    CA will supply disposible moulded coin holders. It's like a plastic tube cut down one side, holds an exact number of coins in a column, then then the two halfs (halves?) fold together again. Very efficient.

    Please don't ask me what the french name is.....

    Price of dressed oak

    in Working with Wood

    Posted

    Yup, us country folk are spoilt in so many ways - I never thought access to sawmills would contribute to my quality of life.....

    Thanks for the guidance. I think what I'll do is start with rough-cut planks from the sawmill, and try my hand at ripping and planing to size. Double-ripping can come later.

    As for buying a P/T, I'm temped by the el-cheapo from Bricodepot at €180, which looks v-similar to the one in LeroyMerlin at €220, which also looks v-similar to the Erbauer sold by Screwfix at £190, and so on........ (I think the chinese factory that makes them also makes Bosch equipment). But I'll see if I can bag a bargain on Leboncoin first.

    Thanks again

    Price of dressed oak

    in Working with Wood

    Posted

    [quote user="Théière"]

    Brico depot usually sell oak in 20mm x140mm and 20mm x 180mm in 2 metre lengths which sounds like it could save you a lot of work. This of course is seasoned timber.

    If you are determined to do it yourself (and there is nothing wrong with that if you have the time) then you could mill it down yourself with an Alaskan saw mill, you'll need a decent chain saw and a ripping chain. This will be green oak so it will need to be seasoned (air dried) and don't forget to wax the ends to prevent shake.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNa7HbzLVA

    Bon courage!

    [/quote]

    Thanks for the suggestion, Théière, but I'm hoping to buy timber that's already been cut and seasoned

    All I have in mind is the idea of buying it in bulk, rough-cut and oversized, and finishing it as I need it. I don't know if this is realistic, but I'm hoping someone will tell me if I whistling.

    Thanks

    Price of dressed oak

    in Working with Wood

    Posted

    [quote user="Ian"]hi OK

                      first hello Ian .....OK that's over 4 times the amount I pay for brute oak , but saying that I have all ways planed it my self after , might be less expensive to buy your own machine ??

                                Dave

    Hi, Dave.

    (This is the second time I've replied, I seem to have lost the first response)

    Yes, I did think about buying a P/T to dimension rough-cut planks, but I'd also need to buy a table (and cutters) for my router, for the T&G. A lot of expense and a lot of learning for what, at this stage, is a limited project. Given the scierie has all the professional equipment and skill to do it properly, I decided it was just easier to pay the price for convenience.

    Mind, at some time in the future, I'm planning to add some bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. When (if) that time comes, I think I'll be able to justify an investment in the equipment

    Thanks

    [/quote]

    Guys, if I can come back for some more advice?

    I've done the above and learnt that (1) T&G isn't the answer for joining planks (it wasn't accurate enough) and (2) getting it cut-to-size and planed was expensive. However, I have some OK bookcases and windowcills. The next major project is making simple skirting boards and door facings in oak - something around 150mm high, 15mm thick, probably rounded-over at the top.

    For this and later projects, I think I want to start from sawn timber, and machine it myself. I now have (A) a table saw (305mm blade, so good for 75-80mm thick timber) and (B) a router mounted in a router table. (For this, I've also made a split fence with a 0.5mm offset between the "in" and the "out" side, so it's good for putting a straight edge on boards - like a planer turned 90 degrees).

    If I'm buying sawn timber, I'll need to plane it somehow, so here are my first questions. I know you get what you pay for, but given my limited needs, can I get away with spending £200 (Screwfix/Axminster), €200 (Bricodepot/Leroy) or maybe €100 (Leboncoin) on a piece of (Chiwanese) equipment to do this?, Secondly, can I get away with a simple planer or will I need a planer/thicknesser? (I'm guessing that I can pass the wood over the planer more than once to reduce the thickness - is this possible?)

    Now, this sounds like a stupid question, but how do I buy sawn timber for processing? Obviously, I can ask the scierie to cut me planks of, say, 160mm x 20mm which will allow me to machine it to its final size (which isn't critical, anyway). But, would it be a lot cheaper to buy the wood in big lumps and cut off 20mm slices myself? But, how? My saw only makes an 80mm cut - is it possible to cut from both sides, as I've read? Or, do I need a bandsaw now, as well? (I'm starting to run out of space in the barn, as well as wifely understanding.......)

    Any pointers in the right direction will be very greatly appreciated!

    Sealing new oak

    in House Renovations

    Posted

    Geranium, you can get Fiddes products from Axminster (www.axminster.co.uk, I think) and they ship to France. In France, you can get OSMO from a company calles Solinbois (www.solinbois.com, I think).

    Neither are cheap.

    Cheers

    Passé Composé and L'Imparfait - when do I use each?

    in French Language

    Posted

    [quote user="Clair"]Try these to begin with:

    [/quote]

    Clair, many thanks for the quick and helful reply. In the first thread, there's a link to www.languageguide.org/francais/grammar, and they seem to bear me out

    Passe Compose for actions that are complete

    Imparfait for continuous/enduring/descriptive/...ing

    I think I'll carry on using the tenses as they say.

    Thanks

    Passé Composé and L'Imparfait - when do I use each?

    in French Language

    Posted

    I thought I knew the difference..........

    In the UK, I was taught to use the passé composé for "long duration/repetitive/descriptive/was ...ing/used to..." situations, and l'imparfait for "short discrete actions". For example "Je marchais dans un forêt, quand j'ai trouvé une truffe."

    However, my french teacher says l'imparfait "...refers to a precise point in the past..." - a bit different from my understanding.

    Can anyone help this poor confused boy?

    Tx

    Appareils électroménagers.

    in Shopping

    Posted

    [quote user="Quillan"]

    I have to say I have never heard of them but I did find this on the Internet http://www.adepem.com/far.htm a place that sells their stuff and spare parts.

    I agree with buying from local shops but the price can be high. We bought a new washing machine this year. I searched on the web and bought the model I wanted for just over 200 Euros less than my local shop and about 100 Euros less from places like Darty and it included free delivery.

    Personally my tip is to find a model you want then go to www.google.fr (thats important) and tick the Pages France then enter the product code of the item. You will find several price comparison websites come up then look for one thats the cheapest but with good recommendations. I admit my machine took about 8 days to arrive but the company that sent it kept me informed of its progress from door to door and I am very happy. If you go for a known Brand I think you will be pretty safe.

    [/quote]

    I'm not sure I totally agree with this approach, Quillan.

    If you need SAV, your first approach is to the vendor. Easy if it's a local shop like Darty or Gitem, not so simple if you bought your washing machine by post.............

    Appareils électroménagers.

    in Shopping

    Posted

    We bought most of our white goods from Darty. They were competitive on price, and more importantly, were interested in us as (potential) customers. This was a welcome change to the other places we'd looked, and means I'll go to them first in the future.

    I'm also told, by french friends, that their SAV is also very good.

    Regards

    WiFi add-on

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    Easier than I thought. Whilst rummaging in a box of PC bits, I found an old D-link wireless adapter that my son had bought for his Linux PC. With the latest Vista driver, it's working! (Though only after remembering about pressing the WiFi button on the Livebox - THAT wasn't mentioned in any of the how-tos I found and read beforehand....).

    Thanks for all the input

    WiFi add-on

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    I'm about to set up a PC, with Internet connection, for some french friends. They acquired it from a nephew, but they don't have much IT knowledge, so I've offered to help them.

    The PC is a Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo - Pa 2662 P9501. As it is about 1 - 2 years old, I'm guessing it'll have Vista Family installed. They have also signed up to Orange for their ADSL service, so have a Sagem Livebox (and phone, but I'm planning to ignore that).

    I've not had it fired up yet, but according to the spec, it doesn't have WiFi capability, so I need to install something to provide this. I'd prefer something that plugs in externally, as I don't want to have to open it if possible. What does the panel recommend? Preferably something simple that can be bought locally (Chateauroux) in, eg, Auchan or Carrefour, or one of the small IT shops you find in a mall.

    Thanks

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