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5-element

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Everything posted by 5-element

  1. The tap water here is excellent, and comes from a local source which is very well taken care of, as it is the pride and joy of our mayor. The only cases of gastro we have had were not due to adulterated water, but to insufficiently cooked chicken, duck, or local oysters. You often see those serving or selling food, who seem to have had a hygiene awareness bypass. They will give change, scratch their nose, and resume their foodhandling duties within the same breath. This I find truly shocking - there are rules and regulations, but on various occasions that I have remarked that this was risky behaviour  in terms of germ transmission, my comment elicited a stunned look, as if I was from planet Mars. I was once in a restaurant where I saw the waiter openly picking his spots, and then carrying on doing his job. I got up and left, and told him why.On the other hand, our butchers (husband and wife team) are absolutely spot-on (haha) with their hygiene procedures. You can't  contaminate other people by having relatively infrequent showers. If, however, you don't wash your hands, or you sneeze on food, or you cut salad vegetables with the knife you used to bone the chicken, you can really spread disease. Showering 3 times a day will not make up for neglecting handwashing and real hygiene.
  2. [quote user="nomoss"] Who on earth would believe the results of such a poll? [/quote] I have no problem believing it, as I might be one of those people who shower every other day  for starters [:D]. Yet, I always wash my hands before handling food, always after visiting the toilet, and in many other instances! Someone else mentioned  "topping and tailing" expression (lovely expression which I'd never heard before), except that it seems to leave armpits out...). is it the same thing as a "catholic" wash? An elderly friend in an old people's home, complains that the residents there cannot usually have more than one shower a week...  A few days ago, there was a TV programme about the fast growing popularity of public showers (just like in the old days!) - especially in large cities, where more and more people (students, workers, pensioners, whole families) have to go to the public baths once or twice a week for their shower. Many of these people are just ordinary folks like you and me, except they don't have the luxury of a bathroom where they live, especially in Paris. There is a lot of urban (and rural) sub-standard housing about...
  3. Thank you everyone, for reporting your very positive experiences. I know my turn is coming very soon and I am absolutely petrified, so much so that I haven't even made an appointment with the ophthalmo - only seen the local one who was so nonplussed and talking about "opacification du cristallin" as he was trying to reassure me that cataract surgery was still not needed. As I have got to the point where I do not recognise people in the street, and have to wear sunglasses and visor all the time as the sunlight is much too bright and blinding, I am so reassured to read the above posts. Chancer, I didn't even know about secondary cataracts!! Judith, I had no idea that you would be able to use your eye so soon after the op. Well done all of you eye patients, I am such a coward when it comes to eyes and teeth...
  4. I do object to the name of Johnny Halliday appearing in the "French Culture" section... Never could stand him, having had the misfortune of growing up in the same era -- I did my best to ignore him and other lesser French so-called rock stars... real British or American  singers and groups were so much more exciting... it was always so embarrassing how those French singers were such bland imitation of their anglophone counterparts. J.H. did not do as badly as some in that respect. Nevertheless... let it not be said that ALL French people adulate him...
  5. Would it help Mary to say that any snake you find inside the house is unlikely to be in the adder family, but the innocuous grass snake family??? I am pretty sure that adders are not keen to be where humans are, or to be indoors. They much prefer rocky places outdoors and away from people.
  6. Christine...how could you??? [+o(] Anyway, that monster is not  a French snake, which should be a relief to the OP. Then I just had to watch more snake videos, it's going to be a nightmarish night!t[blink]
  7. Well yes, Quillan - the subject was  teenagers texting  and using mobiles. Which led to how some (more than is acknowledged, apparently*) use them to cheat in exams - which led to HOW to conceal them so as not to get caught - c'est logique, non? The TV programme I saw (if only I could remember which it was,  only 2 days ago) showed teenagers (faces blocked for obvious reasons) who were demonstrating the various ways in which they use their mobiles to cheat. * more googling and finding articles, studies, and all sorts of relevant information, official and otherwise - states that the cheating is deliberately  underestimated, as it would be lead to major scandals and upheavals. Now, that is properly appalling.   Betty, the transparent pencil case is good - reminescent of anti-terrorist measures in airports...
  8. Does jamming block all the downloaded answers to questions then? Some pupils have photos of the relevant textbook pages on their smartphone. I thought that jamming  only stops incoming and outgoing calls and texts. Norman, I didn't see the article in Midi-Libre, and probably won't read it, but just let my imagination run riot instead.[:'(]
  9. Banning them from schools has been tried, some schools are successful - but .... you have to search methodically each pupil every time they come in, as mobiles are easy to smuggle! And then the headmaster/mistress probably has  to contend with some of the parents... As for exams, there are many  tricks. For instance, a pupil arrives with TWO phones. One for confiscation purposes, the other, cleverly concealed, for cheating...
  10. It was just revealed that French teenagers send around  2500 text messages per month, i.e. an average of 83 per day. http://www.psychoenfants.fr/actus-fr_Les_ados_accros_au_SMS__107332.html I wonder how that compares with teenagers in other countries? And also, what do they ever do that does NOT involve a mobile ... Should this be just a little scary? There was also part of a programme on systematic exam cheating with mobile phones, not just by "bad" students with poor marks, but also by "good" students, who want to do really well and can't be bothered with doing it the other way...
  11. Apart from all other considerations, it is a pretty nasty message to send to the elderly, reminding them what a burden they are, and that they really ought not be around any longer. How dare they!
  12. I think the friend I mentioned does shave his legs. He has done Mont Ventoux too... (haven't they all?)[:D]
  13. There is one at the university - which anyone can join as far as I know (not personally, a friend was in it and loved it) - depends what you mean by not too serious: 10k, or 100k for an outing?[:)]
  14. Debra, I am not quite sure if this will answer your query: my husband has an S1, and I do not anymore since I started claiming my very tiny French pension. So he is not à la charge du régime social here, but I am - even though the bulk of my income is from a UK state pension. There was no choice for me, I couldn't remain on my S1 - from the moment I claimed my bit of French pension, I was automatically switched onto the French regime.  So I should be paying CSG and the other social charges from all of my income, whereas my husband will not. This gets a bit complicated when filing our tax return, which naturally, is a joint one...
  15. The mature computer geeks who run my current "informatique" class (all 6 of them) , are completely paranoid over internet security and devote several hours to imparting their pooled wisdom on that topic -  two of the teachers are supposedly trained in "desinfection" - and they claim that at least 50% PCs have varying degrees of malware. They all recommend FF, although some will have Chrome as well. They also claim that the free AV are as good as the paying ones such as Kasperky, provided you know what else to do (like making sure everything is up to date on the PC) I was warned, a week ago, about that IE problem. I didn't do anything about it as it was beyond my capabilities [:'(] and was quite relieved when I found that it had apparently been fixed.
  16. It looks like the forum members are not the only ones to be divided on this issue: http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/politique/20120921.OBS3209/charlie-hebdo-les-caricatures-divisent-les-politiques.html
  17. For once, I disagree with you Idun. Yes, Charlie Hebdo have the right, freedom of expression and all that, there is no question. But what they have done now, I see as senseless provocation, nothing more. Just doing it because the law says they can. It is not as if it achieves anything, to me it is saying "mine is bigger than yours, and here is the proof" without any regard for the consequences - not for themselves, but others, probably innocent, people. I am concerned that people may die because of this gratuitous act of defiance. I am not saying we should be pandering to the vociferous islamists, far from it. But let's not pour fuel onto a fire, surely there are more intelligent, and less belligerent, ways of putting one's foot down? I do think Charlie Hebdo has gone too far this time. Shocking just for the sake of it, and in such a crude, infantile way - sorry, but I am not impressed. That kind of provocation can hardly be constructive, with people sniggering on one side, while fuelling murderous intent on the other side.
  18. Some working conditions in France are undoubtedly dreadful, and for a number of people,  devastating and with tragic consequences.... yet I am a little cagey about that sort of categorisation, and wonder how often French people might acknowledge "stress" as something that happens also in their private lives... it seems so much more acceptable to hang it onto external factors such as work, than to start questioning closely your close relationships, marital or domestic life, own psychic make-up, etc... self-awareness is not always very high on the agenda, as so many people here seem to prefer to think of "problems" as a medical condition requiring medication, rather than emotional difficulties that  should be addressed as such. Apart from that blanket term of "stress", there is also "nerves" - i.e., something physical as well. Talking therapies are far less common here than they are in some other places - counselling doesn't even translate in French, and going to see a "psy" does carry quite a stigma. That this should be the case doesn't trivialise the primitive and sometimes barbaric nature of hierarchies in the French world of work and management. It is heartbreaking to hear some of the stories.
  19. That figures.... thanks Debra for confirming it!
  20. "Playboy" is good. Which leads me to think that perhaps "toyboy" is used as well - or if it isn't yet, it won't be long... Now it's my turn (with apologies Eric, I don't mean to "marcher sur tes plates-bandes") to find "son jeune amoureux" ringard.[:D]
  21. And you can even dance to it!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaP1KFVjB4
  22. The expression does not exist, but the concept has always been around of course. And for "les femmes mûres", the really predatory ones who go for "les pt'its jeunes", they are "des cougars".  The cougars are an endlessly fascinating topic for some TV programmes... A cougar is often quite proud of being one, too.
  23. Since Quillan mentioned Toulouse, I just read that although it has not been classified as one of the "15 Top ZSP" (for some technical reason), it should be a ZSP (Zone de Sécurité Prioritaire) The list of the 15 Top ZSP has just been revealed:  http://www.france24.com/fr/20120804-15-zones-securite-prioritaires-revelees-manuel-valls-france-zsp-delinquance I don't know much about Seine-St-Denis and even less about Cayenne, but Marseille comes high on the list. Since the beginning of the year, I think there have been 25 fatal shootings in Marseille (mostly to do with drug trafficking), as there are no-go areas - which the government seems keen to do something about - the latest is that another 205 gendarmes and various police will be deployed in Marseille, especially the northern suburb. There were even suggestions earlier, to send in the army to police the no-go areas! I did live in inner city Marseille for a while, in the late 60's. I remember that gunshots in the night were a regular occurrence - as well as police sirens and ambulances. So, not even such a new phenomenon, it seems!
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