dave21478

Thanks for the reply. I have had the 2 vans papers side by side, and I have just noticed the "type" is different, I assume due to one having the fridge case as a factory modification. Im willing to bet that getting the attestation for train weight is either impossible for the new vans type, or just more hassle than its worth. This calls for a minor re-think of my plans.  

Hi, I have just got hold of another wee van. Tomorrows job was to fit a towbar, but I might have found a problem. There is a sticker on the van which gives the PV, PTAC and PTR. (empty weight, max laden weight and max train weight). Now, going by this sticker, it can tow a trailer up to 700kgs or so iirc, which is fine, but looking at the Carte Gris, the section for train weight is blank. Does this mean I am not allowed to tow anything with it? Its a small van with a refrigerated case on the back. I also have the basic normal van version. Although they are a few years apart, the specs are all the same. The normal van has the train weight marked on its carte gris, but this fridge van has nothing.   Thanks.    

Hello? Its nearly the end of OCTOBER!. Thats near enough NOVEMBER!   WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL COMING HERE?????? The season just hasnt ended.... Why wont everyone just GO AWAY???!!!! Who was the mythological type who had to push a stone up a hill all day, then it would roll down to the bottom and he had to start again? Im sure thats my destiny - an eternity of damnation and changeover days.     Anyone else still doing good business?

A few years back in UK, I lived in a flat and some students moved in across the hallway. They partied all night, playing the same rubbish music over and over at high volume. Sleep was impossible. Despite being "students", attending lectures seemed a low priority for them. they partied all night and slept all day. Requests to keep the noise down were ignored or met with giggled apologies, only for it to continue as normal soon afterwards. I kicked their door in one evening, smashed their hifi with a golf club and gave them both a damn good beating......well......thats what I did in my mind. In reality I tried to put up with it, but couldnt. Then decided to give them a taste of their own medicine. As I left for work, I turned my hifi speakers towards their flat, turned it up to 11, and put Jaff Waynes War of the Worlds musical on repeat play. I did this every day for a week (none of the other occupants of the building were in during the day). Not a peep out of them for over a month. Every time they started reverting to their old ways, a quick blast at 7.30am put them right. [:D]

I noticed this in SuperU the other day. Le Bon Paris ham is sold in packs of 2, 4, 6 and 8 slices. The 8-pack is not the best value. The price per kilo drops as you go up from 2 to 4 to 6, but the 8-pack works out poorer value than the 6-pack.  

Today would appear to be the last day of work for the builders. They are going to carry on this evening to finish off, then they will just have to come back tomorrow to collect their equipment and tidy up. I moved The Complainers into the big gite for their second week for no extra charge as its more comfortable and a little further from the building work, so less noise. This act of goodwill has brought forth a barrage of new complaints. The bath drains too slowly, the stairs creak, the kitchen knives arent sharp enough, blah blah blah blah....he is just nit-picking for the sake of it really. I have been presented with an inventory of discs from the CD collection that are scratched or dirty. [8-)]   On the plus-side, I did get to witness them walking their cat today! They have a great big, fat, hissy cat with them as well as their nippy wee yap-dog. The cat is one of those types that are so perfectly grey, they look almost blue. Anyway, seemingly they regularly take it out on a lead when they are at home. Much to my amusement, I watched them take it for a walk up the road. It alternated from being a cat-shaped fluffy kite on the end of the lead, rarely touching the ground and going mental, to being a cat-shaped fluffy brick, being unwillingly dragged along the ground and sulking, before reverting to the kite again. This continued several times untill they gave up and carried it back. [:D]  

We had reached a usefull compromise. Now that temperatures are dropping, I have taken to shutting the window they used to go in and out, so they were either in or out all night (their choice). This meant the kitten couldnt bring in its catches. Sadly, both cats have disappeared and havent been seen for several days. There are guests in the gite with a nippy wee yap-dog and a big fat hissy cat so I suspect they have been scared off. I hope they come back.[blink]  

Tomorrow.... Tomorrow the Telly Addicts will leave. Unfortunately, The Complainer is staying on another week. At the time of their bookings, they were told about the buildingwork in progress and thre associated noise. The Telly Addicts dont appear to be bothered (hard to tell though, I will tell you why in a minute) but The Complainer....well, he is complaining. Often. The builders are noisy. - Yep, they are stonemasons, not a knitting club! noise is hardly a surprise. The builders starts early in the morning. - Too right, and long may it continue. They are doing a full days work which pleases me. Its not like he wasnt warned about this. He cant send emails from his laptop. - If he knew how to use his laptop properly, he might fugure it out. Im not going to tell him out of principal. Im a gite manager, not a tech support drone. Wifi reception is poor. - How can I tell him in a diplomatic manner that his computer is rubbish? Every other laptop gets perfect reception in that gite. Maybe his self-importance interferes with the signal? Mobile phone reception is poor. - Yep. If your not with Orange, you get nothing. Even with Orange, it depends on what way the wind blows, whether the cows in the field oppostite are standing up or lying down and whether there is an R in the day. I will ask SFR to install an antenna in the garden will I? This is clearly stated on the website. There is nothing to do here. - No, there isnt, is there? Its off-season in a small hamlet in a farming area, not Disneyland. There are countless other niggles too. Not a day has gone by where he hasnt approached me and moaned about something petty.   As for the Telly Addicts...how strange! They are a couple who must be mid to late 60`s. They paid a not-insignificant amount of money for their stay, they drove pretty much the entire length of France in an old van to get here. Since arrival, they have sat in the gite and watched telly. All day. Every day. They leave each morning, go to the shop in the village and buy a few things, then return to the telly, which they watch till late in the evening, then go to bed. Apart fom the brief shopping trips, I dont think they have set foot outside. Not a peep out of them! We only have the 5 basic cannels here, no canal+ or TNT or anything fancy. I dont understand their motivation for coming all this way. As long as they leave the place tidy, Im not worried though.

[quote user="Just Katie"]Throw it into the garden and never allow it back into your home again otherwise it will stink.[/quote]   Well, this is the chosen solution. As well as pissing on the sofa, it has decided that 2am is a good time to go outside, drag a live loire into the living room, have a noisy fight with it, eat half of it, and leave the dismembered remains and guts strewn across the floor. Then vomit or crap (or both) on the floor next to the remains for good measure. It has done this a few times now.   So, it remains The Cat With No Name, and it stays outside from now on. Just in time for winter too.    

Last year, a cat randomly turned up and refused to leave. Left with no option, I adopted it. A few months back, she disappeared for a few weeks, then returned with 1 single wee female kitten. This kitten has now grown up a bit, and refuses to leave too, so, left with no option, I have adopted it as well.[blink] After two false starts involving jobbies in the sofa, it got the hang of the litter box no problem, but every now and then for no apparent reason, it has a whizz on the sofa. If I see it squatting, I grab "The Punisher" - an old trigger spray bottle filled with water. A single squirt works wonders for deterring the cats from doing something they shouldnt, but the kitten still uses the sofa every now and then, despite the punishment. What can I do to stop this? The litter in the tray is changed often, and they have no qualms about using the box, the couch seems to be used for other reasons.   [IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/dave21478/DSC00008Medium.jpg[/IMG] By the way - its currently The Cat With No Name. Im rubbish with names - any sensible suggestions?    

On a related note - I will moan here rather than start a fairly minor moan in the Driving forum... What happened to people being able to control their cars? who teaches these people that when they start getting stuck, they should accelerate hard and spin the wheels as much as possible? That sort of thing might work in Hollywood, but in the real world of mud, snow or sand, its just stupidity.[:@]    

Well, the season is still in full swing here, despite me attempting to put people off with the old "noisy builders" excuse.   The latest couple arrived for the small gite and showed an impressive lack of common sense by driving down the sloping drive and parking their shiny new Dacia Logan in the muddy bog that used to be the lawn (builders have chewed it right up with their Maniscopic, and we had heavy rains yesterday. They have promised to re-do it before they leave) They decided to pop out for some shopping, and after a few minutes of fruitless wheelspinning, he only succeeded in digging himself deeper, despite my warnings this would happen. Out came the tow strap....hooked up my Vectra, kicked my heels while he tried to find the ring that screws into the front of his car for towing, eventually pointed it out to him myself, screwed it in and we were ready to go. It was very unfortunate indeed that I managed to kick up such a huge plume of muddy water and spray it all over his shiny new car. I was very upset and didnt have to stifle my sniggering at all. No, really! Then, showing proper clutch-control rather than gung-ho accelration, I towed him out easilly. He was decidedly ungratefull too. Should have just left him there.[6]  

Brilliant, thanks everyone.  

Well, the restoration of my 81 Mini van is going well, and although its still far from the road, I should really look into the paperwork   A CofC isnt really feasable is it? Rover dealer? all VERY unlikely I would suspect. What about the DRIRE? are they likely to have anything on their lists? Given they didnt have my R-reg Vectra on their list, I am not confident.   What would the next step be?    

Found it. [IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/dave21478/DSC00081Medium.jpg[/IMG] The kitten is entirely to blame. It would appear that she knocked it from the table, and while playing with it on the floor, batted it under the fireplace. She does this with pens etc quite often, but because the key is flat, it could slide out of sight quite easilly. [IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/dave21478/DSC00008Medium.jpg[/IMG] I shall chastise her with the skooshy bottle filled with water.     As for ordering a new key, my local dealership are as usefull and helpfull as a hefty kick to the knackers. PLus, I need the van this afternoon. Anyway, while out,  I WILL get a duplicate made.  

Oh, and its just a basic flat key from a 2000 model diesel. No fancy immobiliser transponders or plips for central locking etc.  

Like the gormless dickhead that I am, I have lost the one and only key I had for my Citroen van. The doors are unlocked, so getting in is no problem, its just the ignition... Plan B is to butcher the steering lock off and replace it later, but before I attack it with pointy things tomorrow, what would the course of action in France be for someone who couldnt do this themselves? In UK, you can phone AA/RAC and they can send someone to help (costs though, not included in breakdown cover nrmally) However, a quick look in my yellow pages shows my nearest locksmith to be about 45 minutes drive away. I dread to thnk how much the call-out charge would be. The van is on minimum insurance cover, so no help there.

I wouldnt worry too much about it to be honest. "According to research" is one of my most hated phrases these days, because it normally precedes "XXX may cause cancer" Pretty much anything "may" cause cancer these days, but the stuff to worry about is things you may be exposed to for long periods (years) that have cumulative effects and arent flushed out by your body. Sanding your beams I would very much doubt will be anything to worry about. Aside from cancer, the dust can be annoying. I have on of these Storm Trooper style respirators from when Im doing very dusty stuff...  [img]http://www.recreonics.com/images2/advantage_200_respirator.jpg[/img] I got it a few years back for a few quid from a DIY shop. Its much better than the paper mask things, and the filters are available as seperate replacements. I just blow them out with compressed air every now and then and its fine.  

 I forsee no problems burning wood with nails in it. Also, regarding the "dryness" of wood, take two bits and clunk them together. Properly dry wood will make a diferent noise to wood that is not ready to burn. Obviously, I cant describe the noises to you, you need to try it for yourself to hear the difference. Also, different types of wood make different noises, but there is always a noticeable difference between wood that is well dried or not.  

A normal week runs saturday to saturday for me, but off-season I will rent out pretty much any period desired assuming that it doesnt interfere with another booking, and charge a pro-rata amount of the cost for a normal stay. You just need to ask. If a gite is empty for the month, then most owners would rather let out for a few days than miss the booking completely. Pets are welcome too.   by the way, im not in the area you need!  

Hell, no. Its HOT this evening, stiflingly hot. Im sitting in t-shirt and shorts just now, with the fan blowing in the corner and all windows open. 10pm and my thermometer says 23 degrees. [:P]

Its all very strange, they turn up at 7.30 every day, work hard, breaks arent excessively long, and they are doing great work. They pack up each night and leave the place tidy. Its not what I was expecting at all. Which is nice.    

uh oh, I guess I might rock the boat a little here..... Im halfway between Albi and Castres, and find the area to be very dull. It was not a good decision to move to this area and I regret it now, and am looking to relocate at some point. Around me is farming country, farms and some more farms. Not quaint wee places were jolly farmers toil with an old tractor and will happily sell you some eggs and milk, but BIG industrial farms where cereal crops and beef are grown in massive quantities. The local town...well, there is a bar, where you can drink pastis and talk about farming, the weather, tractors, farming, rugby or petanque. Or farming. Any other topics are frowned upon. If you cant follow a conversation about crop rotation, calf birth defects or John Deere clutch drag, then you are left out. Well, thats what the men talk about, the women talk about health problems and depression. There is a nightclub. It opens 4 evenings a year from what I gather. And thats not a joke. It actually opens 4 nights a year! Basically, there is a complete lack of culture here. Music, arts, anything fun or interesting is just not catered for. Its easier to buy a new transformer for your electric fence than a cinema ticket here. If I want to have an evening out, visit an attraction or exposition of some kind or just go to a decent resteraunt, it involves a minimum of 40 minutes each-way by car to get there. The surrounding towns, with one exception, are dull, ugly little places with no charm. At the entrance to my village, both sides of the road are lined with scrap cars overflowing from the local garage. A great sight to welcome new arrivals to the town.   The Tarn DOES have nice areas, the Tarn valley from Albi along towards Ambialet and Requista to Millau is beautifull, with lovely places to visit, and the towns are much more vibrant. The same goes for further south of Castres, towards Mazamet, then on through Revel, Castlenaudary and to Carcasonne. I dont live in any of thes places - sadly - so cant coment on life there, but the impression I get from visiting is they are more cultured, with more activities, more to do and generally a better standard of entertainment and leisure. In my opinion, go north or go south. Avoid the middle. Choose wisely.  

Well, I was 28 when I moved to France, and am now 30 and reasonably settled here. I had no ties in the Uk though, no house, no debts etc, but also, no money, so it was completely clean start here. I moved in with my older sister who has been living here for over 20 years, and from there I was able to set things up for myself - Job, house, bank accounts, insurance etc etc. Im not an office-based peson, I am a mechanic by trade (although unqualified as such) , and am more of a hands-on person. Im currently working running a Gite complex - ie janitor / handyman and I do casual work here and there as I find it or as I need the money. I do the minimum to keep me solvent, and have no qualms about digging ditches if thats whats needed. Im not going to get rich here in France, but thats not why Im here. Whether I will stay here permanantly?....I dont know. Selling up and moving here is a big step, but your younger age lessens this somewhat. The worst case scenario is it all going wrong and you move back to Ireland. For someone in their 30`s this is less of a blow and less stressfull than it would be for the crusties who post here [;-)]

Ok, I have been playing with the quote comparator on Assurland.com. If I change the number of years licence held to 8 years then 5 years and state no accidents, I get 36% and 24% respectively. Sounds reasonable to me.