cajal

Hi, Thanks for the selection of suggestions and ideas. A lot of thinking going on 'outside the box' The composition of the table top is thermoset phenolic plastic laminate covering 40mm MDF.  I suspect the magnets are glued in with an Araldite/pu brand of glue which could possibly be softened with the use of a decent powered hair dryer or heat gun (on low setting) held well away from the table. Unfortunately drilling these magnets is a big 'no no'.  Any holes you may find in neodymium is there because it was cast that way and not machined. Drilling them produces a powder of tiny particles of metal, which is flammable! I'm sure the combination of heat and a screw extractor in a drilled hole would have done the trick. I will try the applicatipn of heat but the 'then problem' will be getting a hold on them as they sit in a counterbored hole at the bottom of the rebate. So it is looking as though I will have to drill, carefully, from underneath for the push out method as opposed to the pull out method from above. Once again to you all, thanks. I very much appreciate your input. Regards cajal

I read an interesting article a few weeks ago after the sad death of this tiny child. It mentioned that his father took the bodies of his children back - to Syria - for burial. IF this was true, it does beg the question, well, several, in fact, why he felt safe enough to return to do that, yet not safe enough to remain there in the first place. I saw a report on the Syrian burial of this child, with film footage, on Sky news and France24. Regards cajal

Hi, I am looking for suggestions on how I could remove rare earth magnets which are embedded in the four corners of my router table insert plate rebate. They are there to enable the fine levelling grub screws in the insert plate to be stablized. I want to rout out the existing rebate to accept a larger and thicker Incra or JessEmm insert plate but the magnets will not facilitate this process whilst they are in situ. I have considered drilling a small hole up from the underside of the table to enable me to knock the magnets out with a drift. Any other ideas please???? I would rather not drill the table unless absolutely necessary Regards cajal

andyh4 wrote When in the website I changed from UK to international (France is not an option), I found a number of things: I am unable to comment on the terms and conditions of an International account as I wanted, applied for and was issued with a UK account that is covered by the FSCS. Be aware of future T&C's of the FSCS. Below is a copy of an email I received from Investec this week. Dear Mr xxxx, You may have read in the press recently about some changes to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).  In July 2015, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) announced the FSCS limit would be reduced from £85,000 to £75,000 for each client. This FSCS limit includes a client's share of any monies held in joint accounts and will take effect from 1 January 2016. To explain these changes, here is information prepared by the FSCS. If you have any questions, please call us 24/7/365 on 0330 123 3655 or outside the UK on +44 207 597 4131. What this means for you If you currently have less than £75,000 in total in your Investec accounts, this change will not affect you and there is nothing you need to do.  We will be contacting those clients with more than £75,000 in total in their Investec accounts before 1 October 2015, with further information that includes how to make a withdrawal. Yours sincerely,   mint wrote: At the risk of repeating myself, it really is not possible to open a UK bank account. The accounts I hold and the correspondence I receive from Investec are generated from: 2 Gresham Street London EC2V 7QP As far as I am aware the above address is in the UK or it was when I lived in London. regards cajal

Try https://www.investec.co.uk. No problems opening the original account as a French resident. They will also pay interest Gross.  I have a 2yr Fixed (originally their High 5 account which I converted to the fixed rate when the interest on the High 5 tanked.) maturing on 31/08/15 and a renewal happening on 01/09/15 for a 3yr Fixed. Last year I also opened one of their 5yr Step-Up Bonds.   They also offer an Easy Access savings account. My wife has also opened 3 accounts with them. Regards cajal

Following a refund, in February, of social charges previously levied on our UK investments and savings for 2013 tax year we followed the advice of the tax officer in how we entered this income on our 2014 tax declaration. This week we received our tax liability account and NO social charges were made against our 2014 UK investment & savings submissions. Regards cajal

and it is impossible to watch the Canadian Grand Prix qualifying due to massive pixalisation The same happened here.  Our Sky box defaults to London so I scrolled through the BBC 1 regional options on the EPG and received perfect reception via BBC 1 East. Don't ask me why. cajal

I phoned them only to be told I now have to complete a "forgotten security details" form and post that ! I think you will find the reason for this procedure, to obtain a temporary password, is a residential issue. I applied for a 3yr Bond in Febuary and after having jumped through all their hoops received my NS and I account number, a week ago, and the letter stated that I would receive a temporary password under separate cover. Tonight, having not received the said temporary password, I called to report the matter. The customer service guy I spoke with stated that a temporary password had been sent on 3rd March so this would now be cancelled and I would need to fill out a "forgotten security details" form. To enable him to initiate this process, he informed me that for security reasons it was necessary for him to carry out a credit rating check to verify my personal information using the electoral register, Experian, Equifax, etc. As a French resident, I failed on all counts..... so he said as a workaround, in view of my residential status, he would post me the relevant form to be filled in, signed and returned to Glasgow. I suspect that an original temporary password would have been requested to be sent to me automatically, by the system, but because of either country of residence or credit rating the sytem actually said NO. Had I been a UK resident the system, I imagine, would say YES. When I made my original application it was by phone as the address section online defaults to 'UK' only but by phone the operative was able to default my address to France. Either way I don't need access to the account until this time next year when I will check to ensure the first years interest has been earned and credited to my account. Regards cajal

Could I ask you to outline the 'mechanics' of claiming for the charges made on 2013 income, as paid in 2014. I needed to visit our tax office with regards to a totally different issue (HMRC were being total jakasses regarding my annual R43 claim.) Being aware of a possible ECJ ruling on social charges levied on savings income, the outcome of which would impact on British residents in possesion of a UK S1, I decideded to take a punt and ask the tax officer if  (a)  it would be posible to make a refund claim and (b) if it is at all possible, what is the procedure to make this claim? She went away to take advice and on her return she told me that I should not be paying social charges on income generated by UK savings and investments, apart from dividend income, and that I could make a refund claim. To enable me to follow up with this claim she told me to visit CPAM (2 minutes walk from the tax office) and have them issue a statement that I was/am in receipt of a UK issued S1, its' date of commencement and return it to the tax office and that she would deal with it on return from her Christmas break. Six weeks later (9th of Feb)  my bank account was credited with all the social charges associated with my UK savings accounts. As has been posted, over the years, an awful lot depends on the area/dept where you resde as to your relationship with the tax authorities, CPAM, Prefecture etc., etc,. etc.  I believe where we live we are rather fortunate when it comes to dealing with les fonctionnaires so I would suggest you pay your local tax office a visit and present your case to them. Finally, when filling out your next tax return ensure you enter investment income in boxes 2TS and 2CG. Regards cajal

[quote user="parsnips"]Hi, I have just read in the BDO (tax consultants’) bulletin that there is a case at the ECJ (EU Pilot 5973/2013) contesting the application of french ‘social charges’ to the investment income of french resident UK state pensioners (with S1) on the same grounds that their pensions are exempted.[/quote] On 9th Feb, following a claim we made in December, all of the 'social charges' levied on our investment income for 2013 was refunded by the tax authorities. Regards cajal

'Seems to me there is a pissing competition going on' Seems to me some of you have too much time on your hands to be able to get involved in a pi$$ing competition.[:D] cajal

Thank you all very much for your interest in my predicament and for the advice and pearls of wisdom that you have all offered. I'll return and let you know how I get on Cheers cajal

Thanks for your quick response. The dish is a VisionSat and must be a minimum of 10-12 years old. My feeders (quad LNB) are only about 7m long Ours (single LNB) 8m long The copper conductors should be as bright and shiny as they were on day one. Having removed the tape from around the cable connector to the LNB I was amazed at the quality of the copper and chrome. In fact I could have combed my hair (if I had any) in the reflection of the chrome. I figured a larger dish might improve the quality and as I was considering installing a dual LNB it's probably worthwhile fitting a larger dish. Any recommendations on specific dish or LNB? Cheers cajal

We live near Cahors in the Lot.  Over the past month we've experienced more torrential downpours than usual and with the advent of the change of TV satellite we have lost the signal to our Sky box more frequently than prior to the changeover. Our dish is 70cm horizontal and 60cm vertical and is attatched to the chimney stack on the roof. The signal strength reading has always been 6/7 on a scale of 1-10 and the signal quality has aways been 9 on a scale of 1-10. This afternoon I attempted to fine tune its position using an in-line meter but all to no avail as I  was unable to achieve a higher signal strength with either horizontal or vertical adjustment. So, my question is, do I install a larger diameter dish or is the loss of signal during rain something we have to live with. Prior to the satellite changeover we could sometimes lose the signal during torrential rain but not during bog-standard rain. Thanks cajal

Good afternoon, Success at last.  Thanks for both of your suggestions.  Unfortunately Rutlands wanted approx £25 postage and the cycle shop didn't know such a product existed. Anyway my wife took up the challenge and trawled around the quincailleries and at the 4th one she visited found the French equivalent -"Lubrifiant Glisse Bois"  manufactured by Express. It comes in an aerosol can, ( beggars can't be choosers) doesn't contain silicone, doesn't stain wood and is applied to both the wood and machine face. Once again, thanks for taking the time to respond to my query. cajal

Good morning, I would like to give my planer/thicknesser beds and various other machine beds a coating of the above. Does anybody know if this product is available here in France and if so what  is it referred to in French and which retail outlets are likely to sell it. Axminster will not post this product outside of the UK. TIA cajal

We lost one of our dogs to Leishmaniasis last April, as she was a Greek rescue dog we had given a home to 3 and a half years earlier, we assume that she must have contracted it there, although she tested negative before being brought from Greece.  We will never be sure, as we had also had subsequent holidays in the Lot region of France, and she had appeared well when we first rehomed her with us in the UK.  It can take as little as a few months to as long as c7 years to appear, depending on the resistance of the dog.  Only a blood test can confirm a diagnosis.  There is a lot of information on the internet re this horrible disease and it is present in France.  Protective collars are available from your vet called Scalibor collars.  As UK vets do not come across this very often, our vet did not think it was Leishmaniasis at first, and put it down to skin allergies, or food allergies or just old age.  It was only when I found detailed information on sypmtoms on the internet that I put 2 and 2 together and we brought it up again with out vet, sadly it was confirmed with a blood test.  The very best of luck, I hope your dog gets the all clear. Jane

Forget Eparcyl.  Just flush live Yoghurt down the toilet.The fosse expert from Parc de Causse recommended that one.

Moneybookers (France) BNP Code Banque.............30004 Code Guichet.............00828 Numero de Compte.....0010616512 RIB............................76 cajal

The gas quarterly charge and the cost per unit. We are on town gas and our unit cost is :-  units consumed x 11.35 (coefficient conversion) x €0.0285  The standing charge is €10.33 / month Hope that helps. cajal

New edition now available for download. http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/1/ cajal

Either way you should all now be aware that there are imminent changes in the pipeline so to keep up to date it may be prudent to visit the Grisoft site regularly to check on the progress. Please try posting in smaller text you have made it rather all too large on my computer now !! Everything appears normal on my screen. cajal  

There are two versions of AVG 6.0 'Paid for' and 'Free'.  The following link will explain the situation for those who use the 'Free' version http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/16/lng/us/tpl/v5 cajal

From http://www.grisoft.com site **************************** End of Support for AVG 6.0 Grisoft announces the end of support for AVG version 6.0 effective on December 31, 2004 for technical reasons. This version has been available since 1999. It's structure does not allow for further improvements planned for version 7 nor improvements of detection techniques expected to come in the future. End of support means we will no longer provide program updates or Virus Database updates for version 6.0 and therefore, within days, this version will not protect against new virus outbreaks! Current AVG 6.0 users should upgrade to AVG 7.0. Information on upgrading to version 7.0 can be found at http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_upgrade.php. - October 25, 2004 - ***************************** If you are a registered user of the free version of AVG6.0 you can upgrade to AVG7.0 for free   cajal

For anyone wishing to transfer money from France (€) to the UK (£) and wants to use Moneybookers France (BNP) to carryout the transfer the following are required by your own bank. Code Banque..............30004 Code Guichet..............00828 Numero de Compte......00010616512 RIB...........................76 Hope that helps cajal