dave21478

pictures? [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Ash_Tree_-_geograph.org.uk_-_590710.jpg[/img]

Nope. FuCKING PATHETIC! All that effort put into a shiny new look for the forum and IT IS STILL NOT COMPATIBLE WITH GOOGLE CHROME, THE MOST POPULAR INTERNET BROWSER IN EXISTENCE.. Oh and speaking of a shiny new look for the forum what fucking imbecile designed this one? You know what forums are for? serious question to the web designers - do you know what the point of this forum is? I will clue you in.....its for people to discuss things via the medium of text. So how about NOT HAVING ALL THE TEXT CRAMMED INTO THE CENTRAL THIRD OF THE SCREEN WITH THE REST OF THE SPACE WASTED ON POINTLESS SH1TE LIKE BACKGROUND IMAGES AND MASSIVE ICONS NOBODY IS EVER GOING TO CLICK.

[quote user="dave21478"]just a test[/quote] I wonder.....

just a test

SFR suck greasy sailors wang down the docks. 1 - There is a mandatory (MANDATORY? really?) 24 hour delay after you report a fault before they can contact Orange to arrange line repairs. Or is it 48 hours? I forget, which is strange as it has happened to me so often you would think the procedure would be etched into my brain by now. 2 - The helpline is always busy. Believe me, I have called the fuckers often enough and its never a quick process. 3 - The helpline drones are utterly incapable of deviating from their diagnosis script. Your box could be on fire but they would still insist on you resetting it and unplugging the telephone etc etc while they do their line test. 4 - The helpline drones are baffled and unable to accept the concept that not everyone has a smartphone, and that people often dont get a mobile signal inside their house. I have to call them and do their stupid diagnostic hoop-jumping exercises while leaning alarmingly out my 1st floor bedroom window in order to get a signal on my portable telephone. If the call drops....go back to GO, do not collect £200....you have to wait in the queue and start again. 5 - while repairs are allegedly underway, they will loan you a web trotter gizmo which is a 3g wifi transmitter allowing you to use internet while your line is down. Depressingly, the internet connection this provides is always significantly faster and more reliable than the bloody fixed line, despite the above-mentioned signal problems indoors here. 6 - You have to pick up the web trotter from a SFR shop. Oh thats 45 minutes drive away? well tough. 7 - If you havent received the confirmation text message allowing you to collect the web trotter, you cant collect it, despite being told verbally you could. 90 minute round trip completely wasted? Tough. 8 - I will stop there, but believe me....I could go on for another ten or so points on how bad their service is. Basically, if your phone line is unreliable, your telephone line is probably like mine....a shonky lash-up of jointed and re-jointed sections of cables leading back to a series of junction boxes that resembled coloured birds nests rammed full of unlabelled wires scotch-locked together in a crumbling plastic box that is no longer waterproof and quite possibly missing its entire lid and open to the elements. After a few days of rain, once all these joins have become nice and damp my connection speed often drops down to dial-up speeds. I complain, but at best they send out Sedtel or whatever the Orange contractors are calling themselves this week who will pick one random joint and cut it out, replacing it with two more. Changing to SFR will not remedy this. It really twists my piss-tube to know that despite the above, I am still forced to pay the same price every month as those who live in a city where the infrastructure is marginally less fucked, allowing connection speeds literally ten times faster than mine.

Is it hot? Really? Well, fugg me, I had not noticed - Thanks for pointing it out. People need to find something else to talk about. Being hot in summer time should be a surprise to nobody. Stupid teenagers on scooters - Just because you CAN pass me in heavy traffic at 45kph doesnt mean you SHOULD pass me as once the traffic clears 200 meters up the road, I will be stuck behind you as you wheeze along at 52kph holding everyone up. A bit of patience please. That stupid old fart in Bricodepot....I was in the materials loading area with my trailer, plodding slowly in a straight line down the aisle. I drive a fugging bright red LandRover and the trailer is brown and blue so not exactly inconspicuous....anyway this choob was in such a daze as he wandered along in his own wee world that he never saw me and blundered into the side of the trailer as I passed him, cutting his leg open. Apparently this was my fault! He immediately got all gobby so I told him to feck right off. Apparently I wasnt showing enough respect to an elder gent using Tu instead of Vous.... He kept threatening to call the cops. I pushed my telephone into his hand and told him to get on with it and call them...he soon shut up, probably realising what a fool he was being. Regular readers might remember my period of running a local restaurant. The guy that took it on after me made no friends with his business practices, but recent events have rather angered me. There was a beautiful large tree on the terrace which gave shade. He complained to the mayors saying someone kicked it and it had moved, so was obviously a danger and insisting it was cut down immediately for "safety". He just so happened to have some large stand-alone awnings to cover the terrace giving better shade that would not have fitted if the tree had remained, but I am sure thats just a coincidence. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DUB A VOICE-OVER TRANSLATION IN FRENCH FOR SOMEONE SPEAKING ENGLISH ON THE TELLYBOX HAVE THE FUGGING SENSE TO CUT THE ENGLISH AUDIO AND NOT HAVE BOTH LANGUAGES BLURTING OUT OVER EACH OTHER. This seems to be getting more and more common - lazyness or stupidity? either way its infuriating. Its too fecking hot.....

You are going to struggle to get that tight enough with ratchet straps to stay upright over that kind of length. When I put up fencing, Its sheep fencing so wire mesh with squares about 6 inches to a side, standing a total of about 5ft high. To tension it between the fence posts I anchor one end and then do sections about 30 - 40 feet, pulling it tight with a hand winch like this.... [img]http://www.clasohlson.com/medias/sys_master/8872749203486.jpg[/img] hooked onto the tractor or 4x4 and using a steel vertical bar that clamps onto the loose end of the fencing. This can pull it nice and tight allowing me to pin it to the wooden posts for a permanant installation. I would guess that if you used a pair of those (they are pretty cheap online) and can get a vertical support every ten to twelve feet or so it should be ok. The vertical supports can be sections of steel re-bar bought from the diy sheds....easy to grind a point and hammer into most ground types. Farmers use this all the time for electric fencing with plastic isolators to carry the wire. You are going to need very sturdy trees at either end to anchor it though. If its to keep animals out - why not use an electric fence? That way there is not too much worry about stringing it tightly. A battery / solar powered spark unit if you are far from mains power, post or isolators to go on re-bar posts and the wire can all be bought from an agricultural supplier. Depends on what you want to keep out/in - cows or horses just need a single wire, sheep will need multiple wires or a mesh.

Hmm, its direct between motor and back axle? normally they have the variator for the different speeds and a clutch mechanism which normally just releases the tension allowing it to slip.  If yours is direct to the back axle its probably a hydrostatic gearbox/axle assembly. If so, check the gearbox oil level before going further....it might need topped up or changed if its gone thin and smells burnt. The belt could still be worn too, though.

The feds used to do this in Aberdeenshire, there was a list of locations in the paper each week. I have seen similar here with the local rag having a rundown of potential sites each day. The tinpot local radio station encourages people to phone in with locations of speed traps which they broadcast with the traffic news, but I guess thats not anything to do with the police themselves.

Got the report through the post - it doesn't conform to current standards but isn't dangerous and doesn't pollute so no further action needs taken. No mention of charges. Suits me fine.

Given how many people I see every day still holding their telephone to their ear while driving, I expect nothing much to change at all.

you should at least get your facts right before flapping your mouth-parts.

[quote]All insurance policies must include third party road risk in all EU and EU associated countries that's law. You can request for EU cover on your policy for up to 30/60/90/180 days depending on the company to the level of cover stated on the policy (e.g. Comprehensive) . Your insurers are within their right to cancel a policy if they find out you are abroad longer then their allowed period if you have not disclosed the trip to them. As an example if you have not advised your insurers and you are abroad and have a accident they can cancel the policy while you are abroad and leave you stranded. Its always best to have the right policy for you. It may cost a little more then a cheap online policy but you will have the cover you need.[/quote] says the man who signed up to the forum specifically to sell insurance. Beat it, sunshine.

Forgot to say, small trailers etc under 750 (or 500....whatever) kgs are covered by the cars insurance automatically, so no worries there. My stand-alone policy for the big trailer also doesnt attract NCB - just had my renewal through for exactly the same amount as last year.

Assuming it is over 500kgs (or is it 750? I forget) anyway - assuming it is, many insurers will allow you to add it onto your car policy for a fee. This covers it for road use and you would need to check the terms from your own insurer to see what it includes in the way of theft while parked etc etc. Or you can have stand-alone insurance like you have just now. The problem with adding it to your cars insurance is I would assume that ONLY that car can tow it. Maybe that suits you but if you have a second car or let family/friends borrow the caravan then it might create problems. When I got my transporter trailer I had this problem and opted for stand-alone insurance which I ended up getting from some online horsey place who normally insure nag boxes, underwritten by MMA. This means it can be towed by either of my cars or I can loan it to other people (I dont, but I could if I knew anyone I trusted enough!) and its still fully covered.

it was a joke, but never mind.

And yet the artificial lake I built 500 meters from the swimming pool which is larger, deeper, full of murky water, trailing weeds and other plants, has no steps and slippery sloping sides needs none of this pish.

Great - thats something else I am going to have to start stock-piling, next to my creosote, incandescent light bulbs and hoovers over 1600watts. Thanks a bunch, EU.

Probably not. Its likely to have a spring tensioner though so check that hasnt seized. The belt probably needs replaced - they are a wear item and need regular-ish replacement as their profile wears down giving less traction on the pulleys.

oh yes. If I see an advert on leboncoin which has no price listed and call up I will be told one price. If my brother in law (French) calls it, he will very often be told a lower price. My work these days is property maintenance for some very high value properties, mostly owned by non-French. Every devis I have had for any kind of big work I cant do myself has been outrageous - significantly higher than the job should normally cost. Sometimes several orders of magnitude higher. Top prize goes to the chap who submitted a devis for cobblestone paving of a driveway. 350k - A third of a fecking million! We want cobbles not gold bricks, mate.

In my nearest Carrefour its not unusual to be the only customer in the entire shop, so when I get to the till the cashier is usually doing a crossword or fiddling with their telephone. God-knows what the deal is with that shop, there is no way it can come even close to making a profit. Elsewhere (and I go elsewhere a lot as despite the bliss of an empty shop, their goods are often well out of date on the shelves and its filthy) its the usual deal with slow moving queues and cashiers taking their sweet time without a care in the world beyond when their next break is, which they often discuss loudly across the aisles with those working at the next tills. What really twists my pee tube at the moment is checkout design. Various places have "upgraded" their checkout stands which always seems to do away with having anywhere to put your shopping bag, just a wee conveyor after the scanner that ends abruptly. This means you have to fling everything back into your trolley. Then add into the mix those wee sets of rollers after the scanner designed to allow easy manipulation of larger boxes which the cashiers seem to get great pleasure from rattling your bags of soft fruit over, bashing the crap out of the contents as they do so. It seems to be done with the purpose of having more checkouts....ie fitting 25 into a space previously occupied by 20, which is academic as there are never more than 8 open anyway. Complete waste of time and money - but that's par for the course too. If you want a real test of getting service, try approaching the badly misnamed "accueil" when the two venomous harridans are deep in conversation with each other. They will pointedly look at you, look away and continue chatting until their conversation ends before turning back to you when they are good and ready and not a second before. I used to like shopping, but French supermarkets have turned me into a right miserable bastard who is ready to murder everyone in sight by the time I have made it as far as the pasta aisle. And all that is before I even get started on supermarket pricing policies....just keep your eye on the price per kilo/litre/item every time you visit, thats all I am going to say on the matter else I risk turning the forum properly blue.

I occasionally see a pump truck on the roads in this area for emptying these things. It has a Veolia logo on it which I am sure is merely a huge coincidence. The people telling you something has to be done -at a cost to you- more often than it needs to be, being the same people that provide this needless service? Yes, I am sure that is merely a coincidence.

A properly working septic tank shouldnt need emptied. There will be a gradual build-up of stuff that cant be broken down, but that should take decades before it becomes a problem. I have never heard of this four year law, and suspect its yet another cash-grab bullshit law the French are so keen on.

The house fosse works well, but up at the farm I doubt it even has a fosse, the plumbing is decidedly medieval and very probably is just a "straight through" system, maybe a holding tank at best.....apparently not uncommon for farms round here. Cost me nowt - no mention of money at any moment and if they try to bill me later they can sing for it.

Just had a guy from Veolia turn up at my house as part of the inspections for the commune. He spent about 8 seconds gazing disinterestedly at the square of yellow grass that marks the position of the fosse and a further 3 seconds looking at the access cover on the pipe leading to the soakaway, before declaring it all "ok". Apparently it doesnt meet the new normes, but needs no further action due to it working properly. Suits me just fine. Up at the farm, He observed without comment as I pointed out the embankment in the distant field below the house with a bit of cement pipe sticking out of it and a just visible pile of turds and bog roll on the ground under it. Apparently this is "ok" too, but should really be upgraded before the place can be sold. Farce.