Collywobble

Llwyncelyn, I know where you are coming from. I won't recommend restaurants to people anymore, as they always seem to have complaints that I can't understand[:)] But, please understand my negative experiences with agents has never been as a consumer, but as a service provider within the industry. That said, two of my best friends are agents, so I'm not some sort of anti-agent bigot. Actually, I'm just a schmuck trying to work out why there was €11,000 price difference on the sale prive of a house[:P] cheers EDIT: Note the *** in the last sentence?  For some reason, the forum deems the word S-c-h-m-u-c-k to be offensive and changes it.  That's a bit OTT isn't it? It must be in every three stooges movie I have seen. Hardly an obscene word.

[quote user="Cerise"]Ask away Collywobble.  Just be you .  Whenever I ask questions that are obviousl 'not done' I just shrug, smile and do the Boffff thing myself.  I'm so wierd because I let my husband hang the washing out and once our neighbour caught him pushing the hoover round.  I've had loads of different jobs.  I'm dead curious - so like to know all about people.  I DON'T LIKE accordion music and I HATE loto.  I walk my big dogs round on leads.  I don't care about polishing my windows and I drink red wine as an aperitif and café crème after dinner.  I'm so wierd in fact, that they all want to keep in with me, because it's always nice to have someone really strange to talk about after the party!![:D][:D][/quote] Cerise, remember that if you have enough money, you cease to be weird and become endearingly eccentric [:)] So I guess that puts me at the other end of the scale, i.e. deranged [8-)]

Will, I'm glad that we seem to (more or less) be in agreement here. [:)] Now that I see Mrs Will is an agent, I understand you taking umbrage at what you percieved as a broad brush generalisation.  I think its just part of the nature of forums that you don't have the advantage of faces and voices, so the sentiment can be lost at times[:)] I suspect that you are correct in your last sentence and my response to Moorejw  was meant to be more of a compliment to them than focusing on calling all agents crooks. Personally, I have lost so much time &  money to agents [:@](some Brits included) over the past couple of years and I have even been asked to get involved in things like providing two invoices for work done to a clients rental/BTL property in order for me to be paid the real price (lower onee)  and the client to receive a copy of the larger bill  in order for the agent to pocket the difference and claim not to take anything for their time. I'm talking 20%, so it was a fairly big scam. The check was being written by the agent and charged to the clients account, or the scam doesn't work, of course. This is just one example, but I could go on for hours.[:P] So, I guess I have a chip on my shoulder and defer to the cynical rather than benefit of the doubt when it comes to agents Next...  [:)] Cheers

So basically the jury is still out (for me), but it would be prudent, in my opinion anyway, to perhaps wait until I knew people before asking, as if I do alienate everyone in my village by asking what they all do, I might be very lonely.[:D]

No worries, ex-monty

[quote user="Abs Turner"]Well said Will, if you don't think a property is right don't buy it, and if it seems to good to be true it probably is![/quote] I agree with your comment completely, which is why I ignore most advertising that says "do you want a free....", but I'm still not sure how my comment about the other post/agent who posted it being honest and my inference that some of her peers are not and how that relates to "if it seems to good to be true"[:D] A 44k home did seem good value.How would I know it was too good to be true? or is the 33k too good to be true? you've lost me. My cynical side (see previous comment) said to me that the British agent (44k vs 33k) was taking advantage of their potential english (only) speaking clients who they felt wouldn't trawl through French language real estate websites, which I still feel is a fair statement. Again, I did not say all agents are crooks, I said others may not be as honest. A statement I still stand by. BTW, the whole reason for the post was: why is the same house advertised with different prices? it was, after all a question that would help me avoid getting ripped off. cheers

[quote user="Will"][quote user="Collywobble"]"it would probably be illegal to do otherwise" So it wouldn't happen?[blink] You sound honest, but I guess you are measuring others by your (decent) yardstick. [/quote] The vast majority of agents in France are honest and decent - your veiled allegations that they are otherwise are untrue and unjustified. [/quote] Exactly. Please note that I did say "others", not "every agent" and yes it would be impossible for  100% of agents (of any nationality!) be of pure intent. It was more of a comment on human nature, combined with a having observed a few remarks here about dodgey notaries. I wasn't slagging French agents.  It was more of a comment on (French speaking) Brit's ripping off other (non-french-speaking/vulnerable) Brit's. Now tell me that doesn't happen?? (think Costa Del Sol timeshares,  Florida etc)[:P] Beleive me, I have seen so many broken hearted people who HAVE been ripped of by their fellow countrymen who were estate agents. So am I slagging all French agents?  no.   Am I suggesting that it is human nature for some people to pray on 'their own' people in a foreign land yes. Cheers

I agree, it's hardly "kissing" most of the time and anyway I think those educated at a typical British public school have experienced worse !!! [:-))]

[quote user="Benjamin"]Val_2 I think you might also find that the people who are laying back in the sun have actually been where you are today and are now reaping the rewards of their hard work and not neccesarily living off some perceived "windfalls". Benjamin [/quote] Or they might equally have been employed as a widget counter in their local council for 35 years, counting each day, dreaming of retirement [:D]

Monty, many moons ago my uncle gave me his German version (records) It was very easy to grasp and I was shouting "I am the teacher, you are the student" in German at my little brother in no time at all. I do remember that my uncle had great success with it and some German friends said the grammer was great; proper without being pretentious/or dated/comedic  Wouldn't imagine that their courses have gone downhill. Another option is the Accelerated learning course. About £100 http://www.acceleratedlearning.com/language/home_study.html It works well if you are not to embarrased to do the silly tasks. e.g. there is a video and you need to mimic the woman on it.  She does nonsense like 'Kiss the wall' and they expect you to really kiss the wall, or pretend to cry, then count your noses, or 'knock on the lamp' silly stuff like that. This is all  based on research that proves it is easier to remember ridiculous things, rather than the mundane. but that is just a small part of it. None of it is hard work. There is also stuff like word games where the masculine words are on blue cards, fem.on pink etc. An audio story with a love interest etc. Its all very well done. Apparently some schools in Australia and Canada have droppedthe dated  traditional learning methods and just use this for languages. One high school achieved three years results in one year or something like that. Its all on the website. I'm a fan. previously I had no luck with other methods, such as classroom learning.  But with this, I went from hardly speaking any French at all, to being able to telephone and make a doctors appointment and then explain that my stepfather had fainted in the middle of the night in the bathroom of the holiday home and we thought he was dead. More importantly I was able to relay to the old boy that he should reduce his blood pressure tablet dossage by half.  (something he forgot his own GP had already told him) Not bad for six weeks of lessons; two or three nights per week, sitting at the kitchen table!  Mind you, a few days later I caused much offence (and no smiles) when I ordered "half-dead" beef instead of "rare" beef in a restaurant. Doh! Cheers  

[quote user="Coco"] We've also experienced it with our French B&B guests.  The Brits seem to accept that running a B&B is what we do but the French still ask what Monsieur does. [/quote] But they never grew up watching Basil Faulty. Or if they did, they may have thought the down trodded husband was just another exaggeratedly surreal aspect of the show.

Tresco, take my word for it, next time tell the inquirer that you are part of the witness relocation/protection programme. It is amazing watching people's reactions. I usually can't keep a straight face for long, then say sorry. [:$] But then again, I get to tell it to American's which is unfair. The following is off topic, but I NEED to tell someone. I mentioned time zones to a woman at the bank recently. She asked me what I meant by "time zones", I explained "you know, time zones; around the world" and she was silent for a second, then slowly said "Wow". I guess they'll be 'Boffff'n' and shruggin all over the place, I've had loads of jobs also [:)] cheers

[quote user="Tresco"][quote user="Coco"] ...Perhaps, as Tresco says, it's because we are deemed a bit too young to be retired and the curiosity gets the better of them because they know we're not farmers.... [/quote] but here...well it's hard enough saying you have 'been' one thing and then another completely different thing (job wise). [/quote] I gather that the French (as a broad sweeping generalsation) don't chop and change career?

[quote user="Tresco"][quote user="KathyC"]I always rather like the late Queen Mother's gambit of "Have you come far?"  Perhaps not terribly appropriate for the next door neighbours though.[/quote] [:D] Straight on to 'What sort of music do you like?', then. Note: It is far, far better not to ask this question. You'd be better off asking the Queen Mums question, and be deemed deranged.[:-))] [/quote] Might be better of asking a Queen mum question that a prince Phil one: "Argh... tell me... do..do you people, um.. wash?" Sometimes when I have lived overseas and people ask "what brings you to this neck of the woods?" I've often replied "Have you ever heard of the witness protection programme?" It is breathtaking how many times peoples faces have dropped "...Really?" cheers

[quote user="Coco"]SO where would you get this hgher concentration peroxide collywobble?[/quote] Usually from a professional cleaning supply company or a pharmacy. I would think that the latter would be more expensive and in smaller bottles. Then again, larger bottles will 'off-gass' and be virtually just water if they are left for too long. As I say it's potent stuff, but I just did a quick google on it to find a supplier (which I couldn't) but it appears on dozens of 'green' cleaning sites (EDIT) as a clean product to use instead of bleach for house cleaning/washing clothes etc which is interesting. cheers

[quote user="Afy"] personally dont think the move to France was the wisest thing I have done... but then that is me.  Good luck either way..   [/quote] Afy, you must have a great relationship to tolerate what appears to be mildly better that hell? based on your comment in general [Www]

Chris, As a gesture of goodwill on my behalf, here is a tip. If you are looking at doing a new website, have a look at this www.joomla.org Joomla is a FREE opensource product. You might want to see if your hosting company has it on their list of instalable products. Most hosting arrangements have some sort of menu you can use to install it and other stuff. It is becoming very popular with PLCs I have been playing with it. It is very very easy to use. The sites below have cost me almost nothing apart from the hosting and a 20quid template or two that I have modified. cheers

[quote user="Ron Avery"][quote user="J.R."] Most french people that I meet ask me what I do for a living. [/quote]  You sure they are French?  This is the last question most French ask, they may ask if you are married, if you have a family or where you live but asking what you do for a living is just not the norm when meeting French people fotr the first time.  It is very much an English trait which seeks to pigeon hole the person above or below the standing of the other person based on the outdated class system in the UK. I have been asked what I do or did for a living but certainly not on first introduction, I met hundreds of French people last summer and only one, a journalist asked what I did for a living in the UK,  so to answer the OP,  IMHO what you have been told is true, it is not regarded as polite to ask a French person's occupation on first meeting. [/quote] I'm not sure that it is. I have been asked "what sort of car do you drive?" which I hear as "how much money do you have" The other week I was at a party and  the only two things I could think of to say to the fella I was standing with were: 1) What do you do for a job or 2) That's an incredibly short skirt you drunk girlfriend is wearing. (I have two daughters whom I adore and I'm not being sexist or prudish, it was just a statement of fact) My polite side won and I asked what he did for a job.  I can't actually recall what he said... From my side, it may be a copout due to a lack of conversational skills, but it's definately not class related.

[quote user="Teamedup"]Collywobble, wouldn't all the people who worked with your father be on the same rate though. The anciennete is something very odd in France and started in about 1947. It exists with public and private employers. [/quote] Many were. But there was always new ones passing him by (read enthusiastic ones)  they started  on  a certain grade and they got a statutory pay increase every year.  Very big on length of service being reflected in wages, not length of usefullness  [:D] I'm talking 1960's through early  1990's. It was the state electricity corp. He tried to get me to work there, but I think I explainded to him that I would rather stick pins in my eyes. cheers

 ps some of my work is here  http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/daveolive/?start=20  all hand built    Great stuff Dave, the cat is so life like[:P]  Seriously though, I could almost smell that floor. Looks brilliant. cheers

[quote user="Chris Head"]In truth, no one is going to post the information you need on open forum.[/quote] Aye, I suspect that is a very accurate statement Chris. [:)] BTW, I had a look at your site the other day and my wife (an arty type) said she she admired what you can do with your chopper. I pointed out that it was a chainsaw. She did say that the only negative was that the pics don't expand, so it's hard to fully appreciate the detail in those smaller photos. Something you might consider if you change the site in the future, so your work can be fully appreciated. cheers

Rodie, still seems a considerable amount in relation to the purchase price, but I'm sure it was kosher Patf, yep, an MOT would be nice, but kudos to the local [:)]

[quote user="Teamedup"]I have never been told this. And how could you tell what someone was earning unless you then asked how long they had been doing the job too and you would then have to work out how much that person would get after all those years anciennete, unless they were on the SMIC ofcourse. What people earn in France is so complicated. ie two electricians work for a decent company. One is thirty and been there 3 years and the bloke doing exactly the same job who has been there 25 years could be earning double that of his younger colleague. And I don't mean that one is the boss of the other, I really do mean exactly the same job.     [/quote] Yeah, its a very public service mentality (if that comment causes offence, tough[:P]) my dad worked for the government for 36 years and his pay went up every year regardless. Funny, it also seemed that he did less work each year in a ying-yang kind of way.

[quote user="beryl"]I think I read that somewhere too once but it has never been a taboo subject with anyone I know.[/quote] I just remembered where I read it (I thought someone had told me) in a book called something like "A grown-ups guide to living in France" or "..running away to France" Come to think of it, the author had a few comments that hovered somewhere between condescending and pretentious I thought it prudent to ask, as I wanted to know if I should feign outrage if someone asked me cheers

[quote user="Val_2"]Another problem being self employed here is that should you make any sort of profit one year,however tiny, your cotisations are adjusted automatically and go through the roof. Our monthly pension went up over 150% from the last payment for Dec 04 for the next one in Jan 05. I had to get them to stretch it out because it was more than we could possible afford to pay and live and pay all the others too. It get ridiculous and when your works insurance is more than 4000€/year with no claims whatsoever, you have to take that into account how you are going to pay it unless you charge a decent rate for a decent job done.[/quote] Again, like I say, it appears to be enough to make one work on the black. At first I thought the comments like "its expected" were only partially true, but I'm now thinking that it must be assumed everyone does it. A bit like traffic speed limits: if it say 30mph, everyone does 39 etc. many years ago I backpacked around (pre liberation) Czechoslovakia and was told that a colour telly was almost a years wages, but everybody had one. I was told that they all got them "on the black" including the local party members and that it was expected. It's a funny old world.[:P]