PaulT

Ah, but when oil prices DROP the price at the pumps does not DROP immediately, just when it goes up does it RISE immediately.

Chancer wrote 'Some South African tenants had two "outdoor dogs" in that ther role in ZA was to protect the family and they had outside kennels, they were used to me and didnt bark, then I took a French girlfriend home with me for Valentines week-end, they did not bark at her either. However when we were Inside my love shack where they could not possibly hear us every time we got close to being intimate the larger of the dogs would growl menacingly Woot! [:-))] and I do mean every time, it had us in fits of laugher Big Smile [:D]' Must have been a Catholic dog

So do you take this in isolation? The Germans, British and US had, for many years, been involved in bombing cities thus killing and maiming civilians. If the dropping on A bombs on civilians was a crime then so must all the sorties flown on cities also have been. So how do you judge what was a war crime? A sortie that, say killed a hundred civilians but had no real effect on ending the war - times those by the number of sorties to come to the total death toll or two raids that killed many thousands but ended a war thereby saving many millions of soldiers? Also who were the soldiers apart from civilians ordered to fight.

They were not really POWs but to the Japanese an expendable workforce that could be starved and brutally treated and required to carry out heavy manual work. If the two bombs had not been dropped then the ill treatment would have continued along with many deaths trying to defeat them. Given the two choices the right one was made.

With the funny rules that the French seem to have is there a danger of putting a stamp on something that does not need a stamp mean it will not be delivered? :)

The maps are useful but if the station is a distance away there is always the risk that they will run out of fuel before you get there. Anyone thinking of venturing deep in to France this UK half term holiday may be best to think of going to somewhere in the UK.

Seeing about the envelopes have opened mine - and there is a post paid envelope inside to use from France. There are instructions that the ballot paper must be placed inside another envelope and then this envelope placed inside the post paid one for use in France. Surprised that they have arrived this early. Now, do I vote REMAIN in which case the LEAVE side say my left arm will fall off or vote LEAVE in which case the REMAIN side say my right arm will fall off.

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]PaulT if you read it, this is a real-time app, updated by real people, so I'm not suggesting it's perfect, nor that it covers every petrol station in France. Naturally, if you live somewhere you will know and be able to find local stations with supplies. It's of far more use, I suspect, to those undertaking longer journeys and travelling through unfamiliar areas. "My local garage is fine" is sod all use in these situations. If you read the overview, it suggests that 4,700 (from memory) of about 11,000 (again, from memory) stations in France have problems. So, less than half. But still a significant number.[/quote] Was not criticising your posting just pointing out that not all garages are shown......but from it if you need diesel there are problems.

Ours arrived today - still UK resident but spending 5 months in France.

Betty the link only shows some fuel stations - the three nearest supermarkets to me are not shown nor are the independents. This morning the nearest supermarket had petrol but no diesel and looking on your link those shown have no diesel.

BBC News reporting all 8 refineries blockaded.....still, if you have a diesel there is always the heating oil :)

Hasn't the Government imposed caps on rises - maximum of 2% so the council taxpayers cannot be used as cash cows.

Betty wonder if they are now worrying about how many 'previous' customers they have now alienated.

[quote user="woolybanana"]Of course, it is only coincidence that the Underground night service in London will now begin on 19th August with outstanding issues left aside. And it seems that the delays were all down to the retiring mayor.[/quote] Come, come WB, this is down to the RMT being totally intransigent - change happens otherwise progress will not be made. How absolutely absurd that a major capital city does not have a 24 hour underground system. Was it not a case that when BR ceased stem operations the unions insisted that the diesel locomotives had a driver AND fireman! I understand that the basic pay for an Underground driver is £50+ and look at what ransom had to be paid for the Underground workers to work during the Olympics.

BBC News report: However, some 1,600 of France's 12,000 petrol stations had either run dry or were running short of supplies by late Monday morning. and: However, the transport minister said it was wrong to talk of petrol shortages. Obviously, the transport minister has a secret supply. Leclerc in St Gaudens closed and queues at Casino and the other non supermarket stations.

Change management...... Many years ago I was a member of the EETPU (opted out of the political subsidy) and there was change in the sphere in which I was employed. The union rep said that changes were coming and it would be pointless to fight it. Always respected his view and he was right and the change was for the better. In the UK I look at the RMT and there efforts to stay in the Dark Ages (you may disagree) and the number of stirkes, especially on the London Underground is amazing and very frustrating for commuters. Sometimes, it seems to me that lemmings have a better sense of direction.

Welcome to the civilised world.

For clocks the easiest way around the problem of having to reset them is to either buy ones linked to an atomic clock - in the case of France the one in Germany or clocks with battery backup. For kitchen appliances you will just have to keep resetting them.

Yes, at one time used to take items back to the UK but no longer......OK, still take the wine. This was even when the £ was near 1.45 euros.

Our French house must be in a unique part of France - the natives are still here in August. Did not realise that in every other part of France every native migrated to the beach in August.......and I thought that in many rural parts of France wages were low thereby not enabling everyone to spend the month on beaches.

See my previous post.....you do not use electricity, watch or listen to radio and TV, travel, visit restaurants or entertainment centres, expect police, fire and medical personnel to be available +++++++++ if you do perhaps you are selfish.

[quote user="EuroTrash"]"If French Autoroute's are great to drive on, then I have to say they cost an arm and leg." Perhaps because there is no annual road fund licence? Every country has to have some mechanism of collecting money from the motorist to fund the road infrastructure. At least you can choose whether you use the autoroutes and pay the tolls. You can't choose whether or not you pay the RFL in the UK. And if you use tolls, everybody who uses the roads contributes to their upkeep, locals and tourists alike.[/quote] Ah, but it is not just the cost of the RFL in the UK. Compare fuel costs.......OK so perhaps at the moment just diesel as petrol seems very expensive in France.......and the cost of driving in the UK is higher than France.

Just a thought, the airlines of various Muslim countries require new aircraft. Representatives cannot visit Boeing as they will be denied entry to the US. So they visit Airbus who quite happily sells them aircraft resulting in those countries replacing any Boeing aircraft and the Muslim countries airlines becoming exclusively Airbus. So due to the downturn in orders and replacement parts Boeing lays of staff that then impacts on its parts suppliers and also unconnected companies that would have sold items to those staff laid off. Good idea Mr Trump.

How about the concrete stretch of the M20 on the way too and from Folkestone / Dover - absolutely horrendous for noise. A friend once thought 'I'll save on the tolls and take the non toll route south'. The result, a lot longer to drive plus because of the stop start in the towns etc the fuel cost increase equalled what the tolls would have been. And yes, the tailgating - bad enough in the UK but the French have turned it in to an art form. I had already decided to put video cameras in the car front and back prior to this trip but my mind is definitely made up now.

Think someone is in need of the men in the white coats with the straight jacket. Hatred merely breeds hatred. The US is a rather large place so generalisations do not really work. Being used to the security screens in UK banks in the early 90s I was most surprised to enter a bank in PA to discover no security screens. On the other hand encountering for the first time having to pay for fuel before taking it - the cashier commented 'you are not from around this area'.