baypond

I think the real hit on renumeration will be for 2009 and for many years thereafter. In the US they also decided that retrospective application of limits on pay is impossible where bonuses have already been paid. Incedently, I find it interesting that the press has not caught on to the biggest issue affecting UK tax payers, and that is the fact that UK banks have been badly burnt on their investments in US subprime, and also in the £23 billion pound write by RBS on their purchase of ABN. So while I can understand the obsession with compensation, I can't understand that no one has noticed that UK tax payer money is being pumped in to UK banks because of losses abroad. IE UK taxpayer is paying money that the US  or European tax payers would have had to pay if it wasnt owned by a foreign bank.

mostly chlorine, started with powder, and then moved to tablets to try and keep the chlorine levels up. There seems to be differing opinion as to the cause of the rash. I thought it was chemical related, but looking further in to it, it could i guess have been bacterial. We also tried the non chlorine chemicals (can't remember the name).  I actually wondered, given the success we have with a salt water swimming pool, if there isnt a salt based chlorinator option for hot tubs?

I would buy another Hot tub tomorrow if someone would guarantee a way of avoiding the excrutiating rash I used to get with the old one. The children always avoided it so not sure why I was so susceptable.

Only if we can create a genuine kangaroo court for miscreants, with fines and torture for posting misdemeanors.

Would a UK company recognise 'catastrophe naturelle' as we have just had declared in many depts and pay out for the extra peripherals?

well that is what we did, but the agent didn't want to lose the sale so brokered a deal. Thankfully no regrets now.

I came across this post while trying to find out some more info about 'compromis de vente' and whether there were any circumstances other than those set out in clause at point of signing (ie 7 day cool off, house loan offer etc) where the sale could fail without the deposit being paid, but that is another story. In my case, I actually ended up offering the full asking price, which I thought committed the vendor to sell. However, a couple of things of note from our sale were that firstly, the vendor is only committed as far as the agent's mandate is concerned. Additionally I understand that if the vendor refuses to sell and refuses to pay the agents fee, then the court case can take a couple of years to take place and can damage an agents reputation for for forcing 'a poor local farmer' in to a sale to a foreigner. Also, this idea that the sale then proceeds at the offer price just doesnt really work either. Admittedly we had particularly difficult vendors, but they told us that the offer price only worked if completion was in 9 months and we bought their kitchen for EUR 25,000! If we wanted it any earlier then we would need to find an extra EUR 25,000 on top of that for 'other furniture'. They claimed the kitchen was not fixed? We eventually settled once the agent had cut his fees in half (his choice, we told him to enforce the mandate) and come to a compromise that left us pay more than the asking price. So as a buyer it seems that what appears at first to be a great framework for buying a house is actually not as clear cut as it seems. IE When a vendor wants to be difficult, it will be difficult regardless of it being in France.

oops 14/20 but I take comfort in the fact that 70% gets me A+'s and a first class honors thrown in for free these days.

Maybe people are thinking up new blog names to join that new forum that looks exactly the same as this forum except for the colour.

I don't know if anyone knows about this nifty little website. It attempts to answer wether all those friend of friend stories are true or false. www.snopes.com It is American, so clearly slanted to that part of the world, but my favourite story which it turns out is not true was this posting on the internet in 1998: **************************************************************************************************** Actual transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95 Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision" Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision" Americans: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course" Canadians: "No, I say again, you divert YOUR course" Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT'S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP" Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call" *************************************************************************************************** What a shame it is'nt real.  

I always liked 'soporiphic' which of course moderators never are !

It's all go here in the city. Everyone leaving the Bishopsgate branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland building was getting pelted with snowballs by protesters this morning in protest to RBS and the money they have lost.

In the past I used my address,  but for the Sky in France I used an add-on to the address. So for example if your address was Treetops, tree lane, treedom, Kent I would book sky in daughters or wife's name and say address is: Annex, Treetops, tree lane etc etc This had advantage of getting round the issue of telephone linkage to the sky box, because the annex doesn't have a tel line.

Geraghty un-capped so I guess he will get last 20 mins assuming all goes well? And that is a great point about kicking. Why don't our England wingers, who traditionally get zero ball, take up the mantle?

Savers were never a particularly cared for, or respected breed, hence the economic mess we are in now. The ironic answer peddled by Obama and Brown to all this over borrowing - It is to press gang the banks to lend more.

No place for anyone who might be slightly injured... Flood Moyne etc No place in squad for anyone who has attended an Italian fashion show in last 2 months either.   England team: D Armitage (London Irish); P Sackey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); A Goode (Brive), D Care (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), N Kennedy (London Irish), J Haskell (Wasps), S Armitage (London Irish), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), B Foden (Northampton), S Geraghty (London Irish), M Tait (Sale Sharks).  

I have to say there is quite a bit of target practise at anyone who is fortunate enough to earn/recieve more than a UK state pension. I am one of those so called city spivs which is even worse. But..... a forum is a great place to express angst, ire, frustration as well as awesome information on pratical subjects and amusing observations. I have realised very quickly, not to take criticisms or comments too seriously. Put it this way, how many people embark on some form of roadrage from growling at other drivers to some form of hand gesture, but take them out of the car where they are no longer anonymous and they transform back to normal well behaved individuals. If you take it all to heart you end up spoiling everything.

Wales look good for it I am sorry to say. England need a solid 6 Nations if they are going to start rebuilding belief. England vs Italy - England win Wales vs England - Wales win Ireland vs England - England win England vs France - England win England vs Scotland could be a horrible surprise but it should be an England win. At worst, I am sure England will win one of the Ireland or France games meaning no worse than 3rd if all else falls in to place. The key to England success will be their ability to defend and avoiding silly mistakes. Cipriani (if he plays in front of Flood or comes off the bench) needs to concentrate, ditto sackey. Danny Care needs to think of the team more than himself.

"in a half-hectare area about 75% of the trees have been uprooted and a dozen of them (including three big ones) came down across the road" With the help of members on this forum I have discovered that your insurance will cover the loss of trees, to include cutting, clearance, hole filling and replanting. I regret the loss of trees at our house, but look forward to rejuvenating with new ones. I hope you have the opportunity to do the same via your insurance co. Remember that you have to notify your insurance within 10 days regarding the 'catastrophe naturelle' Good luck.

1.0930 now - I am going to transfer some GBP if we get to 1.1200

Hi, During the recent storms, a 4ft chimney breast collapsed on the roof and several trees were uprooted. To my amazement, the insurance cover not only extends to the usual building repairs but also extends to: Cutting up the fallen trees Removing and clearing the fallen roots from the property Filling the resultant hole with soil Re-planting And to think I was concerned that the level of cover in France might not be comparable to the UK

Hi, GERS nr Lectoure. We have just spoken to friends who are staying in our house there. We have had a chimney down, tiles missing or moved, some smaller trees and plenty of branches down as well. Our next door neighbours have a large chimney stack down with damage to the rafters. No electric, telephone etc as expected. I think we have been very lucky, it seems the damage in the area is going to be particularly severe in places. It is 10am and from the meteo it looks like the wind should be peaking soon. This ties in with friend's report that winds seem to have picked up in last two hours. Good luck to all out there!

We will be watching. He was getting a bit close to the mark on the TV shows, but as far as I am concerned he provides great entertainment. The radio piece was out of order, but the satanic slut got her 30 seconds of fame and a fat cheque from the papers for her revelations of sex and drugs, which is completely two faced. The sad part is the grand parents who were treated disgracefully.

Hi, I try to be fairly simplistic about these things. Take a look at the USA, and that is pretty much where we will be in 6 to 12 months time. The one main difference for banks in the UK is that they have massive liabilities in Europe and the US that isn't working in reverse. This means that a bank like The Royal Bank of Scotland has large exposure to the US mortgage market, but of even more concern is that the RBS paid £67bn for ABN AMRO and has massive EUR liabilities that are becoming more expensive in GBP terms to cover as £ depreciates. (They wrote down £23 billion this week against the fall in value of ABN). In the event the UK takes full ownership, the UK tax payer will effectively be taking on liabilities that originated under Dutch ownership. IE UK PLC is has taken a share of bailing out the US and Europe. Sterling has not finished, but the foreign liabilities and low interest rates mean that current levels are not seen as sufficient to balance supply and demand.

have you tried hard wire connecting to the computer yet? and see if the Ipod syncs that way? If it does, then it is the WiFi connection.