dave21478

I am getting a proper rage on with this at the moment. 20+ calls PER DAY.....if I am out all day my handset only records up to 19 missed calls. I re-set it each morning and come home to at least 19 missed calls. The answering machine will usually have three or four messages, which are just silence or call centre jibberjabber can be heard in the background. If I am in the house the calls come in waves with 4 or 5 in short succession then nothing for an hour or two, then another wave. This is going from about 8am to 9pm. Answering them? ha! its pointless.  The vast majority of them just disconnect when I pick up or are silent. Apparently these are autodialler machines that dial hundreds of numbers a second and those that answer get connected to a person, if no person is available as is the case most of the time, the call gets dropped or goes silent. Others are a robot voice asking me to please hold....same deal as above, waiting for a person to become free. Then there are the scams..... a recording telling me there is a parcel stuck at "the depot" for me and I need to call a number to organise delivery - obviously this is a high premium rate number. Or various banks that I dont have accounts with, the tax office, and various other companies need me to "verify my identity" by answering various questions. The few calls that I do answer and get a person are invariably selling solar panels, some kind of grant for loft insulation or some other bullshit I have no interest in and that no sane person would buy from whomever happened to call them out of the blue. They are all sneaky bastards and quickly mention "EDF partner" or similar phrases to appear legitimate. "dont call me" " get fucked" "its a rented house" screaming or whistling down the phone doesnt matter what I say, the calls continue. These come from various number prefix's.... 07, 09, 08, 01, an of course the withheld ones. Then there are my pals in Africa with various 0022, 0023 etc numbers all from Nigeria and the like, offering me "interesting, legitimate business opportunities". Many of the numbers are impossible to call back. If you try you get told the number doesnt exist. If I enter the numbers into google.fr there are dozens of sites with hundreds of complaints about each one from people getting the same shit as me. Temporary solution - the ringer is switched off and I am ignoring it. I dont really need the landline except for internet access. In the long term, since I am obliged to have the line for internet is it worth the inevitable hassle and probable expense of changing my number and making sure it is kept out of the phone book?

Had a report done at one of the properties I maintain. Main building and two separate houses on the same grounds - same owner of all three, all the same postal address etc. Apparently that requires three separate inspections, three separate reports and three separate bills. Bills? Yeah - €50 a pop, apparently. I asked the dude and told him the report for my own house had been free. He was kind of vague on the subject but reckoned its something to do with the mayors of each commune who set the price. I doubt they "set" the price, but I imagine Veolia have a fixed charge and the communes decide if they will subsidise this or not and to what degree.  But then again, the kid was so young I was surprised he wasnt writing his notes with a bowl of Alphabetti Spaghetti so who knows how much he really knew about it....

Someone I know has a satellite connection and while the connection is fine and their down and up speeds are an order of magnitude faster than my pathetic landline, they are crippled by the data limits of their subscription package. Apparently fine for general web browsing and email, but watching youtube, downloading large files or even streaming radio is out of the question unless done with care in small amounts.

Interesting - what brand did you use and where did you get it from? Also, how do you glue flat sheets with expanding foam?

I upgraded to 10, but it turned into a pain in the ass. HP laptop maybe 3 years old, came with 8 as standard. I had similar issues when 8 went to 8.1, but its worse with 10. Firstly the sound - on the laptop speakers it was ok, but those speakers are rubbish. When connected to the Hifi it sounded terrible with all bass lost, just a treble hiss. Various fannying with settings and instructions from Google found a solution that is better but it doesnt sound as good as previously. The volume is weird now, too. System sounds are normal, but youtube or other web sounds are insanely loud, needing system volume turned down to 5% and the youtube volume down to minimum to be bearable, which then leaves system sounds pretty much inaudible. Also when I plug into the telly with the HDMI lead, the display edges were lost beyond the edge of the tv screen. Messing with the resolution got it working, but for some reason I need a different setting for each screen (original laptop and big tv) which I didnt need before. As such, it will now only display one or the other, but cant do both at the same time, which is an inconvenience when starting a film on the big screen. Probably driver problems for this model of laptop rather than a general windows problem, but it chaffs my nut sack that in the year 2015 stuff still doesnt just work.

Dont worry about 1kg either way - nobody else is. In the adverts I get every week there is usually one from my local Espace Agri tractor spares/tool place who sell these metal trailers in various sizes. Something they and many other sellers regularly do is state in the advert that the trailer PTAC is 500kgs, or 750kgs or whatever the case may be, yet make a point that the axles are rated to 1 ton or 2x 750kgs for a twin axle - the clear implication is the trailer is capable of carrying the higher load but de-rated on the plaque to avoid requirement of brakes/carte gris etc etc.

eh...Im not a fan but my only practical experience is the shite that was fitted to the shower room in this house when I moved in. Plastic lambris sheeting, the "planks" were about 18 inches wide, hollow construction. I have no idea where it came from but given the state of the rest of the house, it was probably Bricodepots Premier Prix range. The main problem was that it dented easily - a misplaced elbow could ruin it. In the one tiny room there was a mix, it was fixed directly over placo metal rails with the clips screwed to the rails with placo screws, which caused a bulge at each clip and was as wobbly as an `80s MFI wardrobe. It was glued directly to the ceiling (proper thick plaster, smooth finish) with what looked like blobs of white sikaflex type of stuff that pulled the plaster down when I tried to take it off and was nailed to a section of wooden wall with panel pins hammered through the lip at each join. Ze Germans who lived here before me and fitted it were master bodgers of the highest order. It broke up into horrible jaggy shards as I ripped it out and it was an all round bad experience. On the potential upsides, if you squinted and stood about 10 feet away, it looked excellent. Proper fitting would have improved matters, as would a better quality product, I suppose. My main worry would be the damage as once it was dented the crease left in the plastic was terribly obvious and impossible to just change one panel without ripping the whole section out.

In UK at a VOSA checkpoint they will determine the trailers gross weight if it doesnt have a plate by looking for tyre load ratings, hitch load rating and axle plates if present. This was in a large part due to pike....err...you cant call them that anymore.....caravan-dwelling tarmac driveway specialists.....knocking the plates of 3.5 ton plant trailers so they could "legally" tow them with their favourite Pajeros, only rated to 2.8 tons.

1 - as far as I know, yes provided trailer doesnt weigh more than the car. Given most cars are plated to a gross weight of 1.8 - 2.2 tons and more for 4x4s this doesnt leave you much room for a trailer and still be under 3.5 tons total. 2 - rules from 1 apply - what is legal in your home country is legal in other member states. 3 - I dont see a question there, but yes. up to 500kg uses the cars numberplate and insurance, 500 to 750 needs a carte gris and separate insurance, 750+ needs CG, insurance and brakes. 4 - yep, as for 2, whatever works at home works elsewhere. 5 - I think its up to and including, so up to 500, 501 to 750 and 750+ 6 - tricky. In UK it is plated max weight of the trailer that is taken into account whether it it loaded or empty, so if you towed a 3.5ton gross flatbed that was empty and actually weighed only 600kgs, you would still be charged with exceeding the tow weight of your car, if its less than 3.5 tons. Or at least it used to be - I got charged by the cozzers for exactly that, shifting an empty large trailer with a small van and had my pants pulled down over it. I heard rumour that this was to be changed and the ACTUAL weight of the trailer would be whats taken into account. This makes sense to me because I was charged with a crime I might commit in the future - IE I might have put something on the trailer that took it over weight. I argued the toss with the police man and he didnt see the amusing side when I told him he better charge me with murder as well as I might go home and kill some hookers to relieve stress later that evening. My borther in law reckons its the same in France, ie plated weight not actual weight, but he isnt exactly a reliable source of facts, so God knows.

Unless they are talking about changing the primer pump, changing the "diesel pump" on one of these actually means changing the whole injection pump and I doubt if you would have any change from a thousand euros for that at a garage. It will undoubtedly be an air leak as described above. Either the hose connections into or out of the pump / filter unit or onto the injection pump. Alternatively, the membrane of the pump itself can split causing the same problem. You might also find it stutters under load due to drawing air bubbles into the fuel line. If its very high mileage then its possibly a worn accelerator shaft and accompanying seal on the injection pump, but this would also show as a steady diesel leak. Even if it were to be this, repair kits including a new shaft and seal are available for about 30 euros and need someone who knows what they are doing half an hour to fit. In short, you either need clarification from the garage on what they plan to do or you need a second opinion from another garage.  

Some of the supermarkets insurance policies will only cover for continental Europe, not islands which includes UK. You will need to ask them this. Watch the mileage charges, be aware that they will block a hefty (€1000 or so) "securitydeposit" on your bank card and when collecting the van do it on a dry day and mark EVERY single dent and scratch on the condition report, including the interior and the roof (if visible, at the very least the front edge where it would hit low barriers).

Thats relatively common in caravan circles...often down to a metric ball and imperial hitch, coupled with 30 years of wear and tear on the hitch mechanism which mean its possible to slip off under certain circumstances.

Exhibit B (cant find the pictures right now, sorry) was from the same Bricodepot where some guys in a van had grossly overloaded a small trailer with probably a whole pallet of plasterboard sheets and "secured" it with a single small, cheap ratchet strap across the middle of the pile. As they drove the wind was picking up the front edge of the top sheet and folding it back over the strap where it would snap and fly off, leaving the back half to slide out and fall off too. This happened with each sheet one by one, leaving more and more slack under the strap. The road was empty and I was keeping well back so I let them lose about a dozen sheets before I flagged them down.

I see shit like this on an almost daily basis. Exhibit A: some old dude in Bricodepot carpark tying some thin sheets of ply to his cars roof - no roof rack, mind - just straight on the roof. The choob hadnt even unscrewed the aerial mast, just bent it over. He was tying it to the wing mirrors with what looked like strips of cloth ripped from an old sheet. It was a really windy day too. [img]http://s17.postimg.org/mjvnvcrov/Untitled.jpg[/img]

Ok, this has been an ongoing niggle for a few years, but its beginning to bug me enough now to the point where I might actually do something to remedy it. When I built the bathroom here, someone* made a chuff of the plumbing. There are the standard fittings sticking out of the wall for shower head/tap and under the sink for the taps there. However the hot and cold pipes are plumbed the wrong way round. No issue for the sink, the flexi hose tails can be swapped to give the "correct" way round on the sink tap, but the shower is a problem. Its a thermostatic mixer and it will not work if the plumbing is the wrong way round. I can solve this by swapping over the feeds to the whole bathroom in a service space behind the bathroom where the pipes are accessible. This means the tap works properly, but I then have a luxurious hot-flush toilet. I could fit a normal non thermostatic tap, but dont want to if I can avoid it. I tried dismantling the tap to see if it could be rebuild the other way round, but its not possible with mine. The guy in Bricodepot got angry when he saw me dismantling a different model in the aisle to see if it could be swapped over. The PROPER solution means ripping out tiles, plaster etc and swapping the feeds to the shower inside the cavity wall, but thats not going to happen. A possible solution involves a way to swap over the hot and cold feeds as they exit the wall. Have I seen, or did I imagine, such a thing?....a chrome finished horizontal unit that fits to the tap fittings and has internal waterways that swap the feeds over, then the normal tap fits onto it, spaced a further couple of inches away from the wall.

There is a cheapy lying at the farm....my father bought it for my mother in her final years and it never really got used. Knowing my father, it probably cost under a hundred quid from Maplins or somewhere like that. Its about 3 feet long and maybe 10 inches in diameter. The instructions are long-gone. It has two different eyepiece things that slot into the side of it. With one, I can get a decent close-up of the moon, but the other gives nowt. I dont know if its operator error or if there is something wrong or another part missing etc. The one thing I will say is get one with a decent tripod and adjustment system. This thing is incredibly frustrating as the adjustment is crap - almost impossible to get fine movements, which is vital as within about 20 seconds the earths rotation will mean the moon has moved out of sight and the scope needs shifted slightly. A chap I work for has a better one which has heavy counterweights that must weigh a pound or so each on the movement axis and the adjustment is done via screw threads with the crank handles on flexible driveshafts so no vibrations are transmitted to the scope as you crank it.

Actually, I think they have maybe made the advert section narrower. I no longer have the ads displayed, which might be affecting it, but the text area seems to be the same overall width as before. [img]http://s27.postimg.org/e0tt1bznn/Untitled.jpg[/img]

Trick of the eye, I think. Looking at this screenshot from day 1.... [img]http://s29.postimg.org/3tpmc9f3r/Untitled.jpg[/img] The width of the text is still at the same point on my windows task bar, so I dont think its been widened at all. Its shit, and probably going to stay that way. If they want to make it usable, there are 2 small changes that they must implement. 1 - Compress the avatar and the junk written under it or at the very least space it 20mm further left to easily differentiate it from the text of a post. When people have written more than about 6 lines of text, the "date joined" information is literally touching the text of their post. (Hoddy has something about his which takes up twice as much width as other users for some reason) 2 - On the forum page that lists the different boards, make the "last post" date and time easier to differentiate between the rest of the text so that we can see where the (very few) new posts are being posted. Obviously I am not going into the details of the ridiculous page width, barely functioning quote system, browser incompatibility and dozens if not hundreds of script errors every single page generates as that is clearly well beyond the capabilities of whatever fuckwit is pushing the buttons at HQ, but the above two changes are basically minor graphical adjustments that will make it much, much easier to read and use and should be within their capabilities without screwing anything up further .

Sadly, darts has also succumbed to the overly caution elf n safety brigade, with silly honeycomb dartboards and plastic darts nowadays. I got a proper board from Intersport locally, but the darts were surprisingly expensive, and even dearer in Decathlon, whos range in store was pitiful. By chance, I happened upon a few sets of darts in my local NOZ....they sell odds n ends, old stock etc and rarely have the same stuff two weeks in a row. Only 2 euros per set for proper metal darts, which was nice

And someone is getting paid for this. It has the looks and functionality of a teenagers Myspace page circa 2005, but a web designer is getting paid actual money to blunder around making glaring errors. Im in the wrong business.

I went to town with my ad-blocking program (uBlock - highly recommended) and created permanent additions to its block list to cover various forum page elements and it has cleared away all the obnoxious icons from the right hand side. Sadly there is no way to expand the text to the newly blank area. [img]http://s10.postimg.org/mq7fhu5qh/Untitled.jpg[/img]

Its not just me is it? Tell me I am not the only one seeing this insanity? [img]http://s29.postimg.org/3tpmc9f3r/Untitled.jpg[/img]

Well, at least it still works with Firefox. I am surprised we dont have to revert back to Windows95 and Netscape Navigator.

[quote user="dave21478"]jesus wept[/quote] ?

jesus wept