John L

I don't know how many saw this last night but I couldn't stop laughing. Very funny dog. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1kKnNyJvRAY&feature=related

I read about this for the first time today. Along with all the others I hope they both make a good recovery soon. Trevor

Clair The other day I had wandered into PC World looking for a mouse and came away with this item. Then I read your post and found that it works well with Vista speech recognition. Details here. http://www.ciao.co.uk/Logitech_EasyCall_Desktop_Keyboard__Review_5644721 A large computer shop in the UK is selling this for £24.99 and it really is a bargain if you're in the market for a Keyboard, Mouse, Mic, Headphones, Miniature speakers (hands free unit). The quality of sound is really very good. There is some special software to install if you want to use the Skype facilities but otherwise it is completely plug and play (Windows Vista SP1) without you having to configure anything. Hope this is usefull info. Trevor

[quote user="Mel"]Hi S.D., Thanks for the information, it is always helpful to know what is a legal requirement and what isn't. And talking of flourescent jackets acquired from the dim and distant past, mine says 'Police' on it, do you think I'll have a problem with that? (joking) Mel  [/quote] You're nicked!

If you go to Ebay UK and look up item 260229874113 they may have what you want. I use the boot shown in the second picture. Although steel capped, they are extremely light and comfortable. Driving in them is a pleasure because of small footprint size and rounded edges. The sole also absorbes a lot of shock due to the tread pattern. The brand name varies. Mine are called "Groundwork" but they are the same boot.

To the original poster. When we sold our french house last year we were very glad we had our own notaire who spoke perfect English. The buyer was French who also had some sort of connection to their notaire and although we were supposed to get paid by a certain date after completion, there was a considerable delay and it was only due to us having our own  notaire that we were able to put pressure on the buyers notaire to get our funds. My conclusion is that it is better to have your own notaire even though they dont dispense legal advice.

I am very interested in discs shattering if dropped. Are we talking about metal/Diamond disks or something else. I was not aware that dropping diamond discs would cause problems.

[quote user="Miss Babs"]There must be someone out there who can help, reading all the other posts that someone else with a new lap top got, I really do need advice on which ISP will suit my needs with no fixed term contract, also what cable do I need to plug into the phone line where do I go to get one, and how do you set up an ISP, I assume it will give me a new email address, so how do I get that to put all my mail in outlook, I know these a really dumb questions but thats me with IT , dumb. please help.[/quote] Hi Miss Babs The easiest way for you is to go to your local FT shop and talk to them about using their dial-up service. I dont know of any ISP that will set you up with broadband without a contract. FT will give you a user ID, Password and Telephone number to access their service. You will also need a modem (probably already in your laptop). I would also suggest you obtain a google mail account and use that for your emails as it will allow you to use Outlook via POP3 and your emailings wont be tied to FT in the future. Also I would suggest you keep your FT line and dont go degroupage as its very useful to be able to drop in to FT shops when you get a problem. I hope that gets you started.

Definately NOT allowed as gas is heavier than air.

The solution is quite simple. All the authorities have to do is to have some kind of public address system that has messaages in all known languages broadcast alongside the trucks asking if there is anyone in them. If there is no answer then they can use the XRAYS without fear of hurting anyone. Cant they??

[quote user="Newcomer"]I  am presently with Nat west.   I thought I would have to  close the account as I cannot offer an new english address. I would prefer to keep the account open.  [/quote] I too am with Natwest and over the last 25 years have lived overseas for various periods with no UK address. There have been no problems.

There was an interesting article on BBC news this morning regarding the fine print in UK subscription contracts. In France the laws regarding contracts have always meant that the subscriber has to inform a company if they no longer wish to subscribe to the services signed up for. However some UK companies are now implementing the same conditions in the fine print. This means that you may find yourself having to pay for a service that you no longer require even if you think you have signed up for a fixed term. The warnings are to carefully read the fine print.

Gmail is fantastic for not allowing any spam at all. I don't even have any filters set.

[quote user="groslard"]This shows the problem graphically: http://www.x-rates.com/d/EUR/GBP/hist2007.html [/quote] Useful site. But looking at the other currencies there gives a better overall picture of currency movements.

Hi Bugbear Nice pictures.

ErnieY It's definately a 1mb service as far as my contract goes. Maybe they have upped the connection speed without telling me. On top of this. My modem is only supposed to guarantee 1mb as its now an old model..

I am not in France but thought it might be usefull to compare my UK connection. I am on a BT landline with a BT broadband 1mb service. My ADSL modem is a speedtouch 510 and the connection speeds are 2653 Kb/s download and 275 Kb/s upload using both of ErnieY's testing links. I use VOIP with a TESCO internet phone adaptor (IPA1000) and it all works well.

North America uses/used white=neutral black=phase green=earth. The original reasoning was because white is a neutral colour and black indicates something burnt. I had never heard of the Italians using red for earth though.

On the news channel I watched. It mentioned names and addresses and national insurance numbers were also on the disk/s.

I dont know if anyone mentioned these but I think they should help you. If you enter onto a road with no road markings. Then it is quite easy to forget which side of the road you should be on. It can happen on minor roads with limited markings. Remember that there is no give way to the right as there is in France. If you are on a main road then you have priority. If you are on a roundabouts you have priority.

Chris you may be right to say that nature is far too complicated for the animals to know what nature has in store for them but my theory is as follows. It is possible that the effects on our planet from internal and external forces that create the lead up to severe winter weather could have an effect on certain plants to make them produce more fruit. The animals would not of course know that a severe winter was ahead but would be able to eat more of the abundance of fruits and/or nuts.   Just a theory.

[quote user="darren"]Thanks for the advise Deby,we definately are going to rent for 6 months before we consider buying property or land,If we do find that the grass is no greener over there at least we can say we gave it a go.I think that i would always regret it if we didnt see for ourselves.I was interested to see that you returned to England for a better education system,it must be pretty bad in france if its worse than here!!   [/quote] Darren I think that by going to France and seeing it like it is makes you appreciate England far more. We lived in France for several years and met some very nice people but we now appreciate how easy it is to get things done and prefer the cut and thrust of living in the UK.  You can even get a job if you want one.

If you are ever having a problem with your ADSL (or even dialup)  not working correctly then plug a normal telephone into the incoming line and just listen to see if you can hear any crackling sounds. When it rains, water can sometimes get into the joints and terminations on the line and this will cause disturbance/noise on the line that can interfere with the ADSL/Dialup signal.

To the Original Poster. Before you go buying WiFi equipment for use in France, that they dont sell in France. Be sure that it supports the WiFi channels that are legal in France.

Transfers between BNP and Natwest are usually one day.