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Scooby

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Everything posted by Scooby

  1. I never post on this thread usually but I saw the reference to pictures of your new house, Frenchie, on the insomniacs thread and just had to come look.  It's gorgeous!!  I love the big garden and the stone work looks fab.  Hope you are settling in well and it's not been too traumatic for son and heir!
  2. Scooby

    Moving in

    Same here Necatarine.  We bought most of our wooden furniture / beds etc from the trocs.  The only modern furniture in the living areas are sofas we got from Fly.  We got a fab deal in the sale - 500 euros the pair - they are a lovely cream colour, with lots of cushions..and, best of all, removable, washable covers!   We also bought children's bedroom furniture from Fly - because we wanted something fresh and modern.  The 'problem' we had is that our lounge / dining area is huge (66 sq metres) and quite rustic with lots of stone work, beams and a massive fireplace  (5 adults can stand quite comfortably in the opening!).  Modern Ikea style furniture would have looked very out of place.  I'd also add that, if you buy a bed in France make sure you buy all the bits you need.  The base and mattress don't come as standard!!
  3. But that isn't a minute change - in the context of my previous example (the 14k roof) today's movement equates to nearly 300 euro.  If you can afford to ignore nearly £300 that's great - unfortunately, we can't.
  4. Scooby

    Cadre

    I almost thought there was a crossed thread for a minute: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1889738/ShowPost.aspx Sadly this world rewards big mouths and tight asses rather than intelligence (and for the avoidance of confusion, Mr Johnson falls in the big mouth camp on this one).
  5. I think the first statement is incorrect.  With regard to the second, I would take the word of a highly qualified and highly regarded scientist (working pro bono) against the word of an overpaid, overinflated postman.
  6. Antifreeze was used in the 1985 Austrian wine scandal - because of it's sweetness.  It was added to cheap dry wines to make them sweet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_wine
  7. A movement of just 4 cents would make nearly 600 euros difference on a 14k euro roofing bill - so yes it would.
  8. But if you are renovating and transferring money from the UK a small change in the rate can significantly increase (or decrease) the cost.
  9. [quote user="Jay"]140€ an hour, 8 hours a day, I make that 1120€. For a 5 day week that's 5600€. Assuming he has six weeks holiday a year that means he earns a total of 257,600€ before tax etc. So the old saying "where there's muck there's money" is true. Even 104€ is a rip off for a job which requires no qualifications or specialist equipment. Why is it we just accept such blatant robbery. To clean my 3 chimneys takes me about an hour, I spread the soot on the garden and the equipment (brushes) cost me 8.50€. OK...OK.... I know I can't write myself a scrap of paper saying job done and if my house burns down I may not be insured so don't shout at me! [/quote] Totally agree Jay.  We clean our own chimney here in the UK and really begrudge paying those sort of rates.  The certificates are just a license to print money.  We only use our burner a handful of times a year so have only had the chimney swept once since we bought the place.  If we had it done annually, as we are supposed to, we could end up sweeping the chimney more often than we lit the fire!
  10. [quote user="Quillan"]Might sound stupid but why don't they let these children phone/contact home (just once) free of charge. Then perhaps their parents would try and get them back home and/or might start spreading the word that its a waste of money trying to get your children to the UK as all the traffickers do is rip you off and the kids never reach their intended destination. [/quote] Better still why don't they just put them on a plane back to to Pakistan / Afghanistan.
  11. When people resort to personal insults it suggests they lack something more constructive to say.....
  12. I agree with you completely Tegwini. They are illegal & economic migrants with no right to be here - they should be shipped back to send a very clear message that resorting to traffickers is just a quick way to hand your money to unscrupulous criminals.  If they let them in another few thousand will rapidly queue up behind.  As for the traffickers themselves - they should bring back the death penalty.  The traffickers knowingly risk the lives of those they are trafficking - with many ending up dead - for money.  If you want to help kids having a rough deal there are plenty in this country desperate for help.  If you like the romance of helpig the starving overseas then do something really useful like support the various well / fresh water projects, vaccination programmes etc.
  13. I suggest that you google honour killings and read some of the stories.  The UK police are totally ineffective and have openly admitted to missing hundreds of such deaths.  Factor in all those women on the run and you have a serious issue.  I was a tax accountant in practice and worked on a number of enquiry cases so I know the stats on evasion.  I can only assume, Buelligan, that you live life with your head up your ***
  14. [quote user="buelligan"]Tegwini; sorry I neglected to respond to your posting for so long - I too was having dinner!  The Values you list are what I would term "universal human  rights" rather than values that can be attributed exclusively to the English.  You use the word "all" quite frequently.  I consider the word "all" to mean "everyone"; not just those of "English" genetic origin.  If that is what you mean then you must agree with me; that all human beings should benefit from these values and should be welcome in England or anywhere else. [/quote] Unfortunately, we can only hope to enforce those values in the UK - but while honour killing is seen as a 'cultural nuance' our 'English' values are being trampled underfoot.  Unless of course you subscribe to a little petrol pouring and a few matches....
  15. It is usual for accountants to refer to amounts of income disclosed for tax.
  16. On the subject of tax evasion - the biggest tax evasion is from those running cash businesses and food shops viz: taxi drivers, restaurants, takeaways, corner shops...see a pattern???? A Pakistani friend of mine told me that this was the reason that these were the businesses of choice for Asians.  The £1 for the tax man £2 for the back pocket scenario.  He said it was also the reason that most Asians elected to live in the city. 
  17. I can trace my mother's family back to 11th century and my fathers to the 15th century.  Both sets of ancestors living in England throughout that time and my father's family living in the same village.  My mother's family can be traced back to the 11th century royals (pre Norman conquest).  All those with my maiden name originate from one small village in Buckinghamshire.    With the exception of one French ancestor (a French Huguenot escaping Richelieu), as far as we are aware, all our family are English.  I think we would meet the definition. I think there would be a lot more like me.
  18. [quote user="AnOther"]Humour is often a defence mechanism and will thrive in the face of all adversity [/quote] The funniest guys I ever worked with were the mortuary technicians...
  19. The latest bumper sticker being sported where we live is 'You can keep your queen, we just want your country!'.  I have to say, I was shocked to say the least!!
  20. With exception of, perhaps, Christmas I'm very cynical about piped music.  Usually the music is chosen to have desired psychological effects - slow music to make you linger in the store (and maybe buy more) fast music to hurry you along (fast food chains / restaurants).  I object to people trying to manipulate me.
  21. [quote user="Frenchie"]Oh yes, I'm sure you'll have a great time!! I'm only moving 12 km from where I currently live,  into a small village in the countryside. The house is bigger, the garden is bigger , but what makes me sad is that my 15 year old son is sad about leaving this house, really sad.. So that sometimes I wonder if i'm doing the right thing, but hey... too late for regrets!   [/quote] Frenchie, I remember moving house when I was 15.  We were only moving 7 miles away but it seemed the end of the earth to me and I remember being quite upset at leaving all my friends and where I grew up.  I'm sure I made my parents feel very guilty! Once we had moved and I had made some new friends I loved it.  The extra space in our new home meant we could have a table tennis table - something that would have been impossible where we were before. We also got our own bedroom (though that took a little longer as the house needed a lot of decorating!) He'll come around when you've had a little time to settle in.  I think, as adults, we are so used to having a car so distances become less significant.
  22. Morning milkybar - your fire sounds lovely..as does the porridge!!
  23. Where are you moving Frenchie?  I'll be packing tomorrow - but only a week in France.  I'm really looking forward to it as it will be the first time we have all been for about 15 months.  I go pretty regularly (I work flexi-time so I can build up time) and have done lots of DIY since the rest of the family went so it will be fun to show them what has been done!
  24. Ditto Frenchie - up since 1.30am but at least I don't have to work today.  It's not good trying to concentrate on 3 hours sleep!
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