Quillan

Some interesting replies.   I guess my main concern is that the UK government have gradually reduced peoples freedom of choice whilst telling the public it is giving more.   I wonder if the government looks and reacts to high profile issues like smoking, obesity and fox hunting when there are equally as many low profile issues like old age pensioners getting free central heating, better public transport systems, pollution, the massive rise in asthma suffers, student grants to name but a few. Perhaps they pick on these issues to deflect the public away from WMD’s (the lack of) in Iraq which made the war unjustified and the fact we are now seeing the body bags coming home. Oh to be able to get inside the mind of a politician.   With smoking I believe people should have the freedom to smoke but people who don’t should also have the freedom not to be in a smoking environment, probably why I was thinking along smoking rooms as opposed to areas where the smoke can overspill in to non smoking areas. I can remember when you could smoke on planes; they segregated the smokers by drawing a curtain across which was not really acceptable.   I am not to sure that the health service will benefit from the reduced amount of smokers, well not immediately, I think it could take 20, 30 even 40 years before the amount of illness through smoking is reduced significantly. It’s not a quick fix which is what the health service needs to save money. So just where will the money come from? They could raise tax’s but then that penalises more the none smokers as they will be paying more as well and they didn’t even smoke in the first place.   The obesity thing I feel is different. This is an area where the effects of reducing the amount of people will have a quicker effect. It is said that the cost to the health service of treating people for obesity is almost as much as smokers is this true I wonder?   Somebody felt that education does not really work although I did notice that less young people smoke when I was back in the UK. So perhaps it could work with obesity although to be honest I don’t know.   My main thrust on the obesity issue was the lack of exercise at schools due to silly rules about competitive sport etc and the fact that with the advent of computer games and hundreds of TV channels to watch kids do very little activities outside of school let alone at school. Perhaps the government could use the same taxing formula on video games as they do on smoking. Yes you can sit on your arse all day but there is a price!

Wanted to post this yesterday but didn’t have the time.   English TV News programs on Tuesday seemed to spend a lot of time on two White Papers that have just been published.   Smoking, the British government are considering placing a ban on smoking in restaurants and pubs that sell food. Will this have an effect on business in these places and would it not perhaps be better to have better segregated areas (I guess rooms is what I am thinking) for smokers and non-smokers.   Obesity, it has been proposed to label foods in red that contain higher levels of fat and ban advertising for such foods till after the ‘watershed’ on TV. Is this not treating the symptom and not curing the problem. As it has been deemed to cause psychological problems for children playing ‘competitive sport’ who loose and the reduction of hours spent in PE and games, that children might not be getting as much exercise as they had in the past?   Should not more emphasis be placed by the government on schools to educate children about exercise and smoking from an early age thus ‘fixing’ the problem at source?   Has the British government become ‘control freaks’ by removing freedom of choice or are they looking at long term solutions to reducing spending on health. As people give up smoking following long term TV advertising campaigns does anyone know how the government plan replace the lost revenue from smokers?   Other countries have already taken the same steps as the British government plan; do you think it will happen in France?   No I am not joking, just interested in what others think.   So, what does the panel think?

[quote]Thanks for the reply, Quillan. After posting my topic regarding the court, I read lots of other peoples comments in the vehicle section, and there really is alot of confusion over this subject. I th...[/quote] The only advice I can give you is the following which does make some assumptions. Firstly, I don't think technically you have a leg to stand on as the law is the law. If it is possible to not attend court but to plead guilty by post you could try the following. This very much depends on the fact you can prove you sent the letter or that the DVLC admit you sent them a letter and that they did not reply. Plead guilty but as mitigating circumstances state, briefly and factually what has happened and admit you have not paid the car tax because by the nature you did not receive a reply you felt it was OK. State that you know accept that you have to pay for the outstanding fees but say that because of your mitigating circumstances you feel the fine on top is excessive. You might get away with this, I doubt it but it's worth a try. You may find that the DVLC will not issue an export certificate until the matter is closed but they won't charge you road tax from the date you made the application till the date the matter is resolved. Good luck

Oh dear, we have been all through this before in this forum. Even I got confused and phoned the DVLC in the end. The rules are quite simple really. Does the car have a UK registration number. If the answer is yes you are covered by UK law wherever the car is. By this I mean it must either be kept off road and have a SORN or carry a valid tax disk regardless of if you are in the UK or not. Can you be let off if you are say a contractor working in another EU country from having a valid tax disk. No Is there anyway of not having a tax disk. Yes register the car off road and not used or re-registering the car in the country it is in. You can pay a small fee and keep your registration number reserved for about 2 years I believe but I'm not sure about the time period. So the bottom line is you must have a valid tax disk, MOT (if applicable) and insurance that conforms to UK law. Now your next problem will be getting a MOT because you will either need one now or in the future to get your tax disk. The only way you can do this is to phone ahead to a MOT garage for an appointment at your port of entry because you won't have any car tax. If you are really unlucky and you owe the DVLC money they will impound the car on entry until it's paid. My personal advice is that you should phone the DVLC if you have a question and not writing as with the latter you may never receive a reply. If in doubt ask.

Moderators Hat ON Ok guys, this thread has nothing to do with who 'hackers' are or are not so please keep within the boundaries of the original post. If you wish to debate the matter further then do it amongst yourselves and not in the forum. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. Moderators Hat OFF

“You know, I have eaten a McD on every continent (except Antartica). I hate them. Daniel (left) loves them, but never seems to eat the food...”   Sad git that I am I have done similar and even had my photo taken to prove I was there, don’t think I have done as many as you by the sounds of things.   I suppose some of the stories I have told does make it seem like all the Brits behave the same way and I know they don’t. Being bought up on “good manners and civility cost nothing in life” I probably notice the bad ones more where as the good, normal people, just slip past without noticing and no doubt out way the bad. Likewise not all English dads yelling at their wife’s in the play area of McDonalds are on the verge of a mental breakdown but then I wouldn’t know coz I was not there and I don’t know what had gone on before they got to McDonalds. Perhaps his wife had taken his teddy away and the guy was acting like a pedantic child (as we often do according to my wife), who knows?

"There is still much stigma attached to mental illness, and far too much of the "pull yourself together" mentality." I totally agree with that statement and let’s not ignore the fact that many UK GP's have an attitude of patting people on the hand, prescribing Prozac and sending them on their way. There must be people here in France from all nationalities that have 'burnt their bridges' in their homeland and try very hard to stay here but for whatever reason just can't make it work. They can't go back for a variety of reasons or know that if they do they could be even worse off than they are here and thus feel trapped. It must be very depressing. I wonder how much these programs on UK TV really play in enticing people here who should not have come in the first place. We often assume that it's these programs that are the cause but are they really? This is why I think some of the people who post on this forum who tell it 'warts and all' are good because whilst they may go over the top at times it might prevent somebody from coming who shouldn't and hence save them a lot of heartache in the future. Let’s get back to the thread. When we travelled down in 2002 we stopped half way at a hotel just off the autoroute. During the night two coaches of elderly English people arrived on their way back to the UK from Spain. Not only did they wake every one up as they shouted at each other down the corridors (at 1:30 in the morning) but at breakfast they shouted across the dinning room for tea, demanded English breakfasts (you get them in Spain you know). They put their used teabags directly on to the cotton table cloths making big piles of used teabags everywhere and were generally rude and obnoxious. I tucked myself away in the corner and hid behind a French newspaper and just grunted when somebody asked if anyone was sitting there. Our local supermarket is full of people speaking English. I even heard somebody say that back in the UK you never heard anyone speaking English in their supermarket, bit like the pot calling the kettle black really.  

I have to say that sometimes I am absolutely ashamed to be English and have at times pretended to be French (by hiding behind a French paper and muttering the few French words I know).   I am sure the French have their moments but they don’t appear to have the same arrogance as some of the Brits down here.   I can tell you many a tale about the Brits and there rudeness and the ‘I’ve got considerably more money than you’ (I only paid £78k for my house and it’s worth over £1M now – Second sentence out of very loud English woman in local restaurant) attitude and quite honestly the way some of these people talk to the French is appalling (Draft excluder you stupid woman, are you thick or something – To the very nice lady who speaks no English in Weldoms by a English 60 odd year old). These are English (nearly used the word people) who live here, some of the visitors can be even worse.   I have to say that with regards to our B&B I much prefer any other nationality (over 70% of our guests are French) than the English who seem to be obsessed with money and material things or just plain rude. When we show English guests round our place usually the first words are “very nice and how much did you pay for this then?” They are rude to my wife (clicking their fingers high in the air and ask for tea or coffee - she's not a dog) and never respect the rooms and furiniture. Don’t get me wrong, not all the English are the same, I don’t think I am hence I try and hide when all this goes down.   McDonald’s, as an expert, having eaten one in the UK just about every weekday for about 4 years for lunch (you can take it back to your desk and work through lunch – probably contributed towards my 3 heart attacks). I now have one here in France about every 6 weeks or so. I have to say that the service is bad, in Knightsbridge one server would serve about 5 people in the time it takes them to serve 1 here. The quality here however is much better than in the UK.

[quote]Thanks Will - I did wonder if the first notaire would be a bit put out at you choosing someone else for him to share his fees with - I think I would too! Seems like the best thing to do is contact an...[/quote] The notaire is on a salary, the money goes to the state so it does not worry him with regards to fees. He is just a collector.

I guess it depends on a few things. The most obvious is if you will use it off road, which I do. There are a few Riva's around and I have noticed that some (French) families have a 4X4 as a second car. I find mine helpfull in other was, I can pull a 2 ton trailor, handy when getting gravel, sand etc. As a RHD it's easier to drive here as it sits up higher and you get better vision. I can pull big caravans that if you use a 2 wheel drive you need a van for. Why am I keeping mine? Well you can't get the same model over here unless you get the other stuff fitted (self leveling air suspension etc) as extras and the price is horendus about £10k more than in the UK for the same spec (56,000€ against £28k in UK). MK2 disco's will drop in price as the MK3 has been launched so if you don't mind having RHD you should be able to get one used for school runs pretty cheap. Oh yes I forgot, you don't have to carry snow chains if you have a 4X4 down our neck of the woods. Anyway I love my Disco which is the main reason for keeping it.

You have to change the units on the GPS from WGS84 to something else which I can't remember of the top of my head. I just went through the settings till I found the one that worked. These maps are available electronically for Palms and Pocket PC's either with or without GPS units and are marketed by Bayo and cost aroud 39€ per map including software and they are very good. The problem I found with using a normal GPS and the maps is the accuracy especialy if you are using tracks and not proper walking signed walking routes. The tracks often change and it can be confusing. Hope this helps.

[quote]Chris, I have put in the post to you photocopies of the relevant pages from my Wendel trade catalogue. These show all the component parts for built-in thermostatic mixers. Also a page from the consu...[/quote] Bob, Many thanks, arrived in the post today and will study it tonight. Thanks again.

[quote]Standard copper pipe sizes are 22, 16, 14, 12, so you can leave the 15mm at home I can't find and bath taps without a shower attachment (someone help me here!!) Bring you[/quote] Re bath + shower. Go to somewhere like Brico Depot or Leroy Merlin (I prefer LR) they do have them as I have just bought one and it matches all the other taps.

Another nice man who will be missed, loved his programs.

Strange as it may seem I am reliably informed that the screw pipe fittings are the same thread as the UK and are in imperial.

I would not have thought the end of September was busy but there you go. I think it is more likely it was delayed because I sent it to the regional ofice in Marseille, it then went to Paris, back to Marseille then to me.

Just done mine, use the following link. http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1059132503646 Don't send your stuff to a regional consular as they only send it to Paris anyway and it takes longer, mine took about 6 weeks regardless of what they claim. Other than the time there were no problems at all.

There are around 20 odd breading pairs in the Pyrenees and quite a few of them are tagged. Their actual locations is kept secret although we have heard them calling in the spring. I was under the impression that the hunters are informed of their general location so they are not disturbed but then I would have thought that the hunter way their natural enamy but then I don't know anything about the subject really. It is however a terrible thing.

You need to contact Landrover in Paris, I had the number but can't find it. Send them a copy of the logbook and all the information of the data plate along with a cheques for €116.  

[quote]Chris, Our trade supplier, Wendel SA in Villeneuve has a Hansgrohe corps d'encastrement pour mitigeur douche for 82,40 Euros. There are then various chrome trim plates to fit on the front. Wendel ar...[/quote] Hi Bob, Went to try and get one yesterday. Used the link you gave me and found an outlet in Carcassonne, I even took along a hard copy with the French description. What he produced was what I would call a surface mount job, long tube thing with on/off at one end and temp setting at the other. I did a drawing showing the plate with the on/off and thermostate which he understood but said he didn't have them. I asked if I could order one and he said know but sent me to a guy a few doors up. We had a look through his catalog and I found what I wanted and asked him to show me the cheapest which worked out at around €400 plus. Now I see you can get them from B&B for around £116 so I think this price is a bit steep. So if you can get one up your end for €80 odd can you email me offline and perhaps I can send you a cheque and you can get one and send it on. Many thanks for your help by the way.

[quote]What a miserable lot! It seems that there are a lot of people sitting in relative comfort having bought successfully in France years ago (or maybe without the conviction to do do at all) just itching ...[/quote] “What a miserable lot! It seems that there are a lot of people sitting in relative comfort having bought successfully in France years ago (or maybe without the conviction to do do at all) just itching for others to fail.”   For some ex-pats living in France there is perhaps no difference for them in some ways to living in the UK in as much as they started with something small and through hard work have gradually moved upwards through the property market and have now got the property of their dreams. They won’t want to see their houses (in a way typical English attitude) devalued, even more so by market forces from outside the country. It’s a bit like the US elections effecting the house prices in the UK (not that it would?), people would not be happy.   “Relative to previous house price crashes the increase in reposessions is negligible. Interest rates look to have peaked and they seem to have done the trick in taking the heat out of the housing market - a correction was inevitable. As for a housing association buying 50,000 properties - what absolute rubbish! That would be roughly equivalent to all the homes managed by the largest HA in the country.”   What the figures, if you read them properly, indicate is a steady increase in the amount of repossessions, the percentage of which is gradually rising. Interest rates have indeed ‘looked’ to have peeked because ‘Tony’ will go to the poles in February and as it was he who gave the B of E a free reign  to set interest rates. They won’t want to bit the hand that fed them the power as both other parties said they would bring control back to the government. Of course as an article said in the Economist the next election is the one to loose because they (and others) predict that the sh1t will hit the fan in the next year to 18 months and who ever is in power gets the blame.

Hi Boghound, I still stick by my claim about the CoPilot software, I use it quite a lot, even found my Neurologist in Carcassonne with it, took me to the door. Another reason for me to use a PDA system is other uses for the PDA. I have just bought the Collins English/French/English dictionary for under 40$ via the web for it and it's very good, even has the verb tables with past, present and future which I find a great help. I also bought a French speaking software help with my pronunciation. I guess that really you need to go somewhere and actually try things out. If your down my way you can always have a go with my CoPilot to see if you like it.

Many thanks for the replies. I was really looking for the cost of a new roof but it may balance out as you guy's are paying for a old one to be taken off and the woodwork repaired so it might balance out. Doing some quick maths it would appear that the average is around €180 per M2 for renovation. Riprob, yours may not include the trusses, they are probably mentioned elsewhere but I don't know what they are called. The reason I asked was for a friend who is building his own house (on his own with no assistance whatsoever). He is now at the stage were he needs to put the roof on and as he has nobody to help him was looking for prices to get somebody to do it for him. Once again thanks.

Miki, you beat me to it. “The point I was making here was that in my experience French people will still buy quality food despite their lower disposable income.”   I think many of us here have said that the quality of food is better here than in the UK, it has more taste and probably has fewer chemicals. France also produces much of its own food. Somebody mentioned pre made meals being so dire in France, perhaps that’s because all fresh meat is French where as processed food tends to be ‘Fabricated in France’ and is usually made from British beef etc. Food is not cheap in France compared with other main EU countries like Germany etc. Many of our guests have complained about the cost of food in France so it’s not just a UK thing.   “It's a greater priority than in the UK. They will do without other things. They appear to spend less on their houses, drive older cars, take cheaper holidays. I am of course generalising. Of course there are sections of the population that may not. But in general that is my experience and we can only write in these forums of that.”   Actually I think you may be wrong. I say this because unlike other EU members the English are very materialistic by comparison. French can’t understand why people live in 4 bedroom houses when there are only two of you. French second hand car prices are high so people tend to hang on to their cars longer. The French don’t look at cars the way the English do, just look on a main dealers forecourt at the condition of second hand cars. They don’t bother to get them valleted to sell them, it’s a car, you know has a wheel on each corner and gets you from A to B (although a/c is nice to have down here).   “In rural France, in small villages it is still possible to find the butcher, baker, candlestick maker et al. Why? Not everyone shops in supermarkets precisely because they seek quality and are demanding as a result.”   Our village had three bars plus all the things you mentioned (well not the candlestick bit) but just like in the UK the supermarkets killed it all off, now we have only one restaurant with bar.   ”Living in France offers a higher quality of life for many reasons than that in the UK in my opinion. I cannot and was not speaking for anyone else. Quality is always subjective. However I would just say that in general the standard of living for most French people is equal if not higher than that of the UK. I have lived in France for many years and certainly don't have a blinkered view of French life. However I am surprised to read so many British people sounding very disillusioned about living in France. Perhaps it's a case of unrealistic expectations in the first place. You need to take a balanced view of life anywhere. There is good and bad in any country. For me in

Sorry to disagree with some but I would go ahead and install the service pack.   As pointed out the dialling is probably something to do with the settings of the ‘auto windows update’ feature which you can either turn off or after installing SP2 you can tailor much better to work when you need it to like only check when online and then to inform you before downloading.   Manufactures like IBM and Dell often ‘outsource’ their help desks to other companies. Because the PC manufacturer gives you a OEM version of the software for which he pays far, far less for in comparison than you would buying it from in a shop, he has to support it, not the software manufacturer. It’s all part of the deal. Now to be honest if the helpdesk doesn’t know much about a service Pack but they do know that the PC worked fine when it left the factory with the original software then they will tell you don’t put on the service pack, it could mean extra work for them.   Ah but wait till it does go wrong because you have been hacked because you didn’t install the SP, they will say tough, why didn’t you keep your operating system up to date.   I have said this before. It is a software/hardware house responsibility to ensure that their product works with the current version of platform (operating system) on which it was designed to run. Microsoft for a fact send copies of all it’s SP’s and patches to leading software/hardware houses and partners prior to shipping for evaluation and to offer them the opportunity of creating any patches and/or drivers their products might require.   So I am afraid that software not working is a poor excuse for not installing the latest patches as you should always check to ensure you have the latest patches and drivers for your software/hardware before installing the SP.   With relationship to free software like firewalls etc. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Often these programs gather information and send it to a third party, nothing nasty just information on your habits for marketing use. Now a few will jump up and say ‘Not true dummy’ but then how would they know if it was or it wasn’t when it’s job is to stop this from happening it’s highly unlikely to report it’s self. In the 80’s a very large mini computer manufacturer got caught fiddling speed tests on it’s processors. Instead of running a long calculation it just counted time then came back with the answer, people thought it was really quick.   Companies that sell products spend money on R&D, loads of it. Companies who give stuff away can’t so they will always be behind. It’s that simple, it’s all about money, money first, customer second, which is one of the reasons I left the industry after 20 years.