Just Chris

I appear to have an air leak in my skimmer line - I know this because of the cavitation in the pump housing, and air bubbles present in the inlet jets in the pool. The skimmer line, and the lines from the drain, and from the vacuum robot line are all tee'd into one pipe just before the pump. I have isolated both the drain and vacuum lines in turn, and together, and they are free from air ingress, it's just the skimmer line that has the problem. All union joints and "O" rings are sound, and I don't think there is a leak - the pool level is fairly constant. It has been suggested that I may introduce a reverse flow through the skimmer line, to ascertain whether or not there's an obstruction. Apparently, the way to do this is to obtain a 'drain jet' - a hosepipe attachment which inflates a rubber bag to make a seal in the pipe, and allows a jet of water through. I have seen these on line in the UK, the USA and Australia, but can't seem to find the equivalent here in France (I've tried Leroy Merlin, various other bricos, and swimming pool and spa outlets). Does anyone know where I might be able to find one of these simple devices, or can anyone offer any more suggestions? I am hoping that there is not a problem in the underground section of the skimmer line... Thanks Chris

I have been following Little England - the farmer/butcher family (the Hicks) I know quite well - we used to get our sausages, gammon, and bacon from them. In last night's programme they were testing their pies on a couple of restaurant owners (Michael and Sitze - he's Dutch), who lived "close by" . I know them well, they have the Auberge in Forges, about 20 minutes away from here. The joke of it is, neither the Hicks nor the restaurateurs are from the Dordogne at all, they're all from the Correze, miles away from the Dordogne. You just can't trust the telly, can you. Chris

Thanks Allanb, and Coops - the last account I was aware of was an online, off-shore one, but only accessible by her, through her own user name and password, and from her E mail address. It could have been Bradford & Bingley, Alliance & Leicester, or Santander, or they may even all be amalgamated now. Chris

Yes, I'll go and see them. Unfortunately, the UK account was one of several in which she took a personal interest, and shifted things about from time to time, and between accounts - so we got the "best interest rates", there was rarely any pre-discussion, and the only reason I found out was because the bank rang and asked to speak to her, querying the amount that she wished to withdraw. Silly me, I don't even know which bank it was! So much for marital trust. Chris

Oh, Lord... Thanks Coops. The account in the UK, though it's a joint account, has been frozen since she tried to take vast amounts of cash from it last November when she left to return to the UK, so although it is earning interest, neither of us can touch it until a divorce is resolved, and I don't have the details anyway. I suppose all I can do is refer the Tax people to her last known address in the UK, and let them try and sort it out with her. I had a premonition that this was going to be a sticky problem... Chris

I hadn't, Coops, and thanks for drawing my attention to it. There seem to be so many discrete posts about the dreaded tax form, I probably missed it. Chris

I have posted this on another forum, too... Without wishing to appear completely helpless, I've received two tax forms - a pink 2047-K, and a blue form Revenus 2010. They are part pre-completed (by the French revenue office), and I haven't a clue what to do with either of them. I have a private pension (for which I have a P60), and that's it. There is money in the UK in a joint account, and which is frozen and to which I have no access, so I've no idea what (if any) interest has been earned.. My wife left me last November, she used to do everything financial (at her request), and has left me high and dry with nothing from previous years to go on. I know it's a bit of a cheek, but can anyone assist, or at least point me in the direction of a simple method of working out what's what? Chris

Interestingly, I find picture break-up momentarily several times each evening, around 19:50 - 20:00 CET on BBC2, etc. Most peculiar. Chris

All I can suggest, then, is that you are not pointing to a (any?) satellite. You can buy a simple signal meter which does help. Is this the first effort, or did you already have a Sky box with an aligned dish? How can you be certain that the dish is established in the right elevation/azimuth? Chris

No, not really - most are universal... I've edited my previous post re: dual cables - have another look.. Chris

You need no dongle, your dish should have been supplied with a universal LNB (attached to the arm that protrudes from your dish). Provided that you are pointed at the correct satellite, have the correct degree of "skew" on the LNB, then you should be able to acquire a signal, just as with the sky box. However, if your Freesat box is also a recorder, you'll need TWO discrete cable connections from the dish, in which case you will need an LNB with dual (or more) outputs. Easily obtained at most Bricos. Chris

No. The only way around it at the moment seems to be by typing Hotmail.com in the title bar. This is a known and recurring problem, according to Microsoft, who don't appear to have an answer. A lot of folk are a bit miffed at having Bing forced on them, anyway, let alone having it hijack their E mail log-in. Chris

For the second time in 6 months, when I go to log into my MSN Hotmail account, the screen istaken over by Bing, and I can't get my log-on screen. This is REALLY annoying me. Anyone else using MSN noticed? Chris

I have two woodburners, one is used for cooking, and jolly good they are, too. I haven't used the oil-fired central heating at all this year. It's amazing how the barrels are being scraped for more scare stories - what about the fact that thousands of square miles of woodland and forest burn naturally EVERY year throughout the globe, and have done ever since there have been woods and forests? If you compare the effect of those fires with the puny amount that humans generate in their own homes, it rather puts it all into perspective, doesn't it? All this self-flagellation of we humans for daring to try and live comfortably beggars belief.

I've been trying to download Skype (v5) for a couple of days. Even now I can't, and the status page suggests that there are still problems with the service... Chris