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5-element

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Posts posted by 5-element

  1. That sounds good, Mark - and certainly not trop facile!!!

    I love avocadoes and after trying many recipes, now eat them "au naturel" as much as possible. Sometimes, with just a springkling of salt, Tabasco or cayenne, lemon or lime juice, and a touch of olive oil. To my mind, better than  the ubiquitous Guacamole.

    They are also very healthy, full of omega-3s, their oil is "good" fat, the kind that fights bad cholesterol.

    While in England I used to mix a mashed avocado with cottage cheese for a tasty, high-protein spread.

    Enjoy!!!

  2. Do you really mean to say that if you use, say, 10-12 steres of wood per winter (which is what we use for total heating), then your total heating bill is between 12.50 and 30 euros???? Who does the forest belong to? Who do you have to pay such minuscule amount to?

    What kind of wood (i.e. what tree) is it? Do you have any other form of heating? Do you have it cut to size, and delivered, and stacked?

    It is hard to believe. That's why I am asking for all these details!

     

     

  3. You lot are lucky re. price of wood.

    Here in Herault 34, we have found that chene blanc is OK, but chene vert (holm-oak) is better for our purposes - much more dense, heavier, gives a lot more heat, especially when well-seasoned. It is the same price as chene blanc, i.e. (put your seatbelts on!) 70 euros per delivered stere in 50cm (even if buying 4, 5, 6 or 8 steres, still same price. I have tried about 4 or 5 different suppliers, and it's all roughly the same - I thought yeah, we are a captive audience, and asked (since we can see all the hills around us covered in chenes verts) why it is so much more expensive than elsewhere in France - was told that it is because the wood is difficult to access, on those hills! So, we get locally grown wood, but not cheaper!

  4. Mikey - you mention that the SUPRA inserts have badly fitting doors - is that a general rule? We bought a SUPRA because our installer advised it 4 years ago, and we didn't know any better. I notice now that the piece of "ribbon" that lines the whole of the door is beginning to be frayed, and wondered whether it was affecting the tightness of the fitting. Would you be able to say a little more about those SUPRA fires? Aren't they any good, in your opinion? You do sound like an expert!

    Ergotherpeut - I will be interested to see whether you get charged by the firemen, thank you for giving more details... as for training for chimney sweepers, I also was told earlier that usually, it is plumbers who do come and sweep chimneys. Which, given how difficult it is to get a plumber to do any job, since there is supposed to be a shortage of plumbers, maybe that explains the lack of chimney sweepers. Perhaps training as a plumber would be the right training? So it is not only under "ramonage" that you could find someone to sweep your chimney. The kind of plumbers who also do chimney-sweeping will indicate that they do "chaufferie" also.

     I also got the impression (at least around here) that chimney sweeping is a seasonal occupation, and that none of them would do it outside the season! (a bit like trying to sell lily of the valley on another day than May 1st!)

     

  5. Cooperlola - yes, I definitely that there is quite a niche there that is crying to be filled. We might start seeing some Bulgarian chimney sweepers next year, if I was them that is definitely a business I would go for - good money too, even if it is a dirty job! Plumbing and chimney sweeping are 2 jobs I would like to train for if I started in life again!!!

    I didn't realise it was so hard to find a sweep in the UK too!

    Here I am (was) on a permanent list for sweeping, with the people who supposedly professionally installed our insert - usually every year, it is them who decide when and how they will do their rounds and sweep  chimneys. Usually I have to ring them up from August on, just to make sure. This year, mid-October (their usual time) came and went, and no sign. I had to ring up every week. By mid-November they had not deigned to start on the chimney-sweeping - which they only do on Saturdays anyway!!! So I did manage to find someone else, a fairly new Belgian guy who seemed incredibly serious, he must have seen the scope for such a venture, is fully registered etc... I really wish him well, as he DID turn up on the day he had said he would, and he was only a couple of hours late, and very pleasant to boost! I know who I will be using next year (if he is still here!)

    Wishing everyone a safe and clean chimney for Santa's visit.

  6. [quote user="Clair"]The regulations are regional or local and the préfecture or the mairie should be able to tell you what is required.

    If you are required to sweep your chimney(s) by arrêté préfectoral or arrêté municipal, it usually has to be done twice a year: once before the chimney is used and once again after the fire-lighting period.
    Most insurances will not penalise a householder for not producing a certificate, however, they may well take the view the householder could have been more careful...
    The housholder can be held liable for costs if the fire brigade decide to invoice him/her, should they feel the fire could have been avoided by regular sweeping. They can ask to see an invoice (=certificate) which would prove the chimney has been cleaned in the 12 months preceding their intervention. A chemical sweep is not considered a replacement for a mechanical chimney sweep.

    As with all things, better safe than sorry. Your house, your life, you decide.
    [/quote]

    Thank you Clair, that's very helpful and confirms what I suspected - funnily enough, none of my (French) neighbours seems to know about this!

    As for  "my house, my life" you are right, except that in order to FIND a chimney sweep who will come around at all, every year I have to make at least 15 phone calls. There is a terrific shortage here in Herault, why? And around here they charge about 75/80 euros which is above the average rate for France.

    Regional differences again!

  7. But it's not just that the insurance company might not pay up: I am sure that on the news they were saying that it is "illegal" (quite a concept here in France!) not to have a professional sweeping your chimney - although that might be only in certain departements. It might be a prefectoral regulation.

    I am sorry for all those who have had a chimney fire, as it is one of my fears. We have an insert which was supposedly professionally installed 5 years ago, by a local firm which we have had occasion to not be happy with since then - they don't have such a great reputation although they have some sort of a monopoly locally - this year the professional chimney sweep said that our chimney is not lined, so that the stone is beginning to crumble, and it is unsafe. With the type of insert that was put in, it is not possible to line the chimney now, because there is no conduit or something, anyway the shape is wrong. The sweep said it is dangerous as it is, and could easily lead to a fire. As it is our only form of heating (with a SUPRA insert, which blows air all around the house) I am not at all happy. Who to trust? Since the chimney sweep also instals woodburners, difficult to totally trust him, as he might be touting for business - but he made a lot of sense.

    I asked the pompiers when they came around presenting their calendar, they were quite vague and just said that yes, they see a lot of chimney fires, and one of them believed that there was a new law which makes it illegal to have an unlined chimney. They didn't seem to know much more though (they send the young, fresh-faced cute ones around to collect money with their calendar usually!) - but I know of at least one other (French) person who had the same insert installed, in the same way, by the same firm, as our one.

    Those of you who had chimney fires (this may seem a naive question!): do the firemen send you an invoice, or are they paid by the state? And did you have a lot of damages?

  8. Thanks for sympathy sweet 17 - I am sorry that you are under the weather too, but the French TV news were saying we are just reaching a peak of the yearly gastro-enteritis epidemic? They are keen to point out that it is not the same as "indigestion" due to overindulgence, and this is a bug ("la gastro") which this year is  very virulent but short-lived (2 days, 3 max). I hope your Christmas is much better than you anticipate.

    I had 2 invites on Xmas Eve, unlikely now. Then Xmas day I was looking forward to going to the cinema to see "Azur et Asmar" in the afternoon, the kids' performance. Maybe all will be well by then. In any case, it's not the end of the world.

    Mark - don't be too quick to experience Catholic guilt, there are still over 2 days to go, anything can happen and you might get tracheitis too, which would be a waste of guilt! But maybe maybe there is no epidemic in your part of France.

  9. It's alright for some, planning to spend Christmas under the table. For me, it will probably be in bed. I have tracheitis, terrible dry hacking cough at night all night, just went to see my GP and....she is just coming down with it too.  I would like to be able to sleep standing up, can't be bothered with even thinking about shopping... Luckily there is OH, still corpus mentis, who has carte blanche to go to supermarket and do his stuff , and THAT should be interesting!!!

    I am also aware that people who answer this thread must have good reasons to look forward to various festivities for Christmas. There must be some who don't have much to look forward to, and presumably they are too depressed to post about this!)[:(]

  10. Cerise - I so agree with you about doing "little things", wherever you are, whatever you can. Congratulations on being part of the success to get rid of quarantine for pets! Of course, similar things happened when the suffragettes chained themselves to the railings, they were not too popular at the time.
    As for France, of course women did not get the vote until 1946!

    Cooperlola - As a French citizen, I will of course vote in the next presidential  election, although I don't feel that it is going to make any great ripples. I feel much more effective when  talking to people in the market over some local issues, or fly-posting to advertise a local event or effort, or when we all celebrate some low-key achievement together. It feels more real, and is more gratifying. I love France, and this is where I want to live!

    But don't forget everybody, as EU citizens,  you CAN vote in local elections here in France, and in European elections!  

     

  11. The meetings I was thinking about have nothing to do with customer service, thankfully.

    They are the kind of meetings that happen in any community, which are about organising events (such as cleaning-up of the river banks, having a social forum, bring in a speaker about local winegrowers, etc..) or they are decision making meetings - again, which affect the whole local community. They are also the meetings at the beginning of the winter campaign for charities, (Restos du Coeur, Secours Populaire, Red Cross) - these meetings and events take place just about  everywhere in France, and  I would have thought that most newcomers who are keen to integrate into "the French Way of Life" will want to attend and participate into. Is this not the case Jonzjob?

  12. Well thank you, Chris. Coming from you, I take that as a huge compliment.

    Oh, and something else I would like to change (I warned  I shouldn't start on that thread!)

    *I would like people to learn to behave better at meetings, ANY meeting, so that you don't get 5 conversations going on at the same time, with no regard for the speaker at all. Encourage everyone to sharpen their listening skills. I have noticed that there are not many people here who can chair meetings effectively! Which would mean shutting up the incessant chatter....back to the "respect" category.

    *On the subject of meetings, insist on everyone sitting around in a circle (this is still considered extremely radical, and many people are amazingly ill at ease with the notion!!), instead of having an old style classroom arrangement, with the "teachers" delivering to the assembly from their platform, which distorts the type of interaction possible.

     

  13. I can confirm that the problem seems to be with needing to clean the head - I have just put in (again) disc number 2 of Northern Exposure, which had been previously unrecognised as per "No Disc" notice, and this time, it did start - with some hiccups - suggesting that I do, indeed, need a "Disque de Nettoyage" - thanks for the link Cooperlola, now on that amazon site it looks like they have only SIX left - so even for these items, there is a stampede it seems?????? Too bad if I have to wait to buy one, it seems a great idea anyway... and I can pass this on to my unlucky friends too. Thanks all.
  14. I silently vowed to stay well away from this topic. And here I am... Plenty of things I would like to change about France, but there again there were (are) plenty of things I would like to change about the UK. I don't see myself as a whinger, or even as a perfectionist. It's just that, let's face it, there is plenty of room for improvement wherever you are!!!

    * I would change the ludicrous obstacles (financial and bureaucratic) that face anyone trying to set up as  self-employed - that would automatically take care of some of the huge black economy which many people are practically forced into.

    * I would change the laws of inheritance so that one does not end up liable for the debts of one's dear departed parent, especially when the said departed parent abandoned his  family when his children were still young. Being unable to disinherit your children is one thing. Being liable for your father's dissolute lifestyle is another.

    *I would make compulsory, basic counselling training courses for anyone involved with the public - teach shopkeepers not to be so rude, train people to answer emails, return phone calls, turn up at appointments.

    *To follow up on above, I would, starting at creche level, to teach children that it is OK and desirable to acknowledge when one makes a mistake, that it is OK and desirable to plain apologize when one is wrong. This is something that many French seem to be genetically incapable of doing. Not only in shops when you have been overcharged, or return some defective item, but also when someone messes you up big time.

    *I would definitely do something drastic about the embarrassingly high male-dominance in any posts of management - even in the association sector. Just yesterday in my local paper, an article describing how a number of "associations de solidarite" were getting together in the region, and were having a meeting, with a photo. The photo showed 9 people.... ALL MEN. The worst about this is that it usually goes unnoticed where and when it happens, as it is so usual and embedded in the culture.

    *I would also take a look at the Hospice movement in the UK and learn lessons from it. Here, palliative care wit the same quality is still in its infancy, long way behind.  Psychological/emotional support to a terminally-ill person and their family is supposed to be the realm of the doctor, and nobody else, even when there are trained counsellors who volunteer for that kind of care!

    * this is a tough one as I have no idea how this could change: how to inculcate notions of respect to individuals so that there is no parking in spaces for the disabled, no dog-poo any old where with the dog owner insulting you if you dare make a remark "Et vous, qu'est-ce que vous faites alors, quand vous avez envie de chier?" one of them spat at me....

    and now for some less serious stuff

    *I would scrap most of those excruciating French TV variety shows with all their "vedettes", i.e. an endless suply of wannabes or rather, "would-like-to-have-beens" - this format of entertainment has not changed a bit in the past... 40 years!

    *I would start to use small plates to put the bread on, instead of directly on the table when eating meals or breakfast

    *I would stop people from using a saucepan without a lid to heat up water, and acquaint them with kettles

    Lots more, but this will do for starters...

    Oh, and just in case someone accuses me of  dissing "our French friends", I AM ONE OF THEM!

    (and I am British too!)

     

  15. I probably can already answer my own question with "Go and buy another one!" BUT...

    The DVD reader we have, was bought nearly 2 years ago - not top of the range, more the middle range. We have hardly used it. One of our criteria was to make sure it could play ANY DVD, i.e. not just shop-bought ones. So far so good.

    The trouble started with a DVD hired from a video shop, the film stopped in the middle, started, and stopped and started again. We mentioned it back at the video shop, they played it and for them there was no problem.

    Then someone lent me the 4 DVDs of "Northern Exposure" (all Kosher and shop-bought!) which I was really looking forward to watching again. After many tries, it did play the first disc, but over and over kept insisting that "No Disc" - even after I cleaned and replaced it. Then it wouldn't even recognised the presence of any of the 3 other discs. "No Disc" was what it announced every time.

    Then, another rented DVD, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (not that this has any relevance whatsoever!!!) - again it stopped and coughed and started several times in the middle. Thankfully we managed to see it through to the end.

    We asked our friends who did buy a top of the range DVD player... and theirs has done exactly the same thing. They bought a second one, a 39.99 euro wonder, which seems to work better. The shop manager told them to scrap the "real" DVD player, gallic shrug etc...

    Now - is this totally normal? Should one only buy disposable DVD players now? Does anyone else have this "No Disc" experience, over and over again? Anything else I should do?

    Thanks.

  16. Ergotherpeut - Rivotril is in fact Clonazepam, with sedative effects like all benzodiazepines, also used against seizures -  as an adjunct treatment in some forms of epilepsy. But it can be very useful as a last resort for anything  like muscle spasms, especially when those are painful, or when the muscles are totally locked. 
  17. 5 will do, although, surprise surprise, it's not my real name [:D]

    PG are you a multi-tasker, i.e. making heaps of food for an unspecified number of people, and checking your posts as well?

    Seriously - I do hope it all goes well - I am sure it will, and I hope that you will learn much in the process too! Your pumpkin recipes sound fabulous... unfortunately I have already disposed of the 2 pumpkins that managed to grow in my garden this year, a 12-pounder and a 15-pounder. (some still in the freezer).

    Next potluck (because there should be others, many others!), you could do it starting early afternoon, i.e. lunchtime... this way, there is more time to eat over the rest of the day! Miam miam!!!

  18. According to my British National Formulary, Foradil is Formoterol Fumarate, which is available in capsules - the one you mention, and also as dry powder inhaler = 6 micrograms/inhalation (i.e. same thing?) it's called Ostris and made by A...a. I hope this is the information you were looking for?

    I don't have asthma and so I don't use it, so cannot compare notes.

     

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