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brillow12

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Everything posted by brillow12

  1. [quote user="dr orloff"] I've travelled all over the world and I have found that Americans are virtually universally unpopular.  However, in reality it's the idea of America - its politics, perceived cultural attitudes and brashness that is disliked, rather than Americans themselves.  I have encountered few places where there has been resentment on a personal level towards Americans just for being American.  It's also true that Americans are regarded as stupid.  They're not of course but large numbers are unbelievably ignorant of the rest of the world.  However, the minority who do possess a passport will quickly overcome that perception.  I have personally found Americans to be amongst the most openly friendly and hospitable people anywhere.      [/quote]   I think u make an exceptionally good point.  I read an article rescently abot 'who now protects the world' ... the idea was that we all like to knock the USA but really.... REALLY ... how safe would the world be without them?  Of course such a statement is open to all the obvious attacks but take a tick... think about it... what if the USSR had Openhiemer and the H Bomb first... or the UK???  Fact is as much as I hate some of the US things... extraordinary and all that.... I have to say I sleep well knowing it is them with the finger on the triger and nut some nutjob in Tel Aviv! 
  2. Interesting question.  I wonder also is there any thruth in the suggestion by the Telegraph Newspaper that the whole world dislikes the French.    
  3. [quote user="cooperlola"]Good to see you back, even though you do sound as if you got a bit battered in the meantime!  Hope you're OK now (dangerous things these motos.)  Did you get your initial problem sorted in the end?[/quote]   Yes Thanks,  Basically I do have to pay the contributions (I call them Social Contributions but await the onslaught of benign and pointless corrections ...  not meaning anyone in particleear). [:)] The accident was nasty but I recovered fully some time ago... Risk one takes when riding a bike...  It was a foul day with poor visibility so I should realy have jumped off and waited..  Do you know the big bridge just south of Caen...  Nightmare at the best ot times (and the worst of tymes..) I simply forgot about this syte till I kneeded some info on 'an udder ting'.[:D] OK best off... Brillow... not always abrasive PS Plenty in there for the pedants to get to work at.... Have fun... [:P]  
  4. [quote user="Tony F Dordogne"] Brillow12, whether you  get the amount of money that you say you do or not, you certainly don't understand the system which helps fund your life here. Social Services most certainly don't pay your NI contributions in the UK.  What was called Social Security in the dim past may have done so but they changed their name to the Department of Work and Pensions several years ago and it is that government department that pays your NI, effectively to itself. And it was you that first used the word invalid. [/quote] You are quite right, I do seem to have misnamed some of the derpatments involved.  Using their old titles instead of the new.  My apologies to anyone who was mislead due to this error and many thanks for taking the time to point it out.  In my defence with the word 'invalid';  I used it in insofar as it aligned with the terminology of my pension company, past employer and social services... It is not a term I would use to define myself in normal circumstances, at least not as a personal definition, which is what I objected to.  I have tried to figure what you point was and can only presume it was to corect me on the misnaming of the departments and the initial use of the word mentioned...  Forgive me if I have misconstued your motives. Brillow is back!   For now.  How the heck are you all you lovely wobbly people? Sorry for the delay in responding but someone knocked me off my motorbike (on that bridge entering Caen not a week after me posting on the dangers of bikes!!!) and I had been recovering and had forgotten all about you lot till I needed to check some info about TV Licences.... [:P] 
  5. [quote user="Chipie"][quote user="J.R."] I dont say this to have a pop at you, it's just that I am very, very jealous. [/quote] Oh J.R. How can you say that! I wouldn't swap my health for all the tea in china and certainly not for a pension. I wouldn't want to be 42 years old and an invalid, thank goodness this poor man has at least got no money worries (well not real ones anyway) Jackie [/quote]   Thank you Jackie, that is very kind of you to say.   I should mention though that I have an incapacity which is an illness...  I tend not to think of myself as an InValid.  That word tends not to be used.... TO ALL OTHERS WHO ARE BEING SO UNKIND AND RUDE: I understand many of you will harbour dislike for another who does well financially and that is fine, it is to be expected for certain types of people..  I respectfully request that whilst posting here on this topic you refrain from showing this vitriole as it is innapropriate and hurtful, your unkind and hurtful comment reveal more about you than about me. Brillow.
  6. Hi JR, thank you for your good wishes.  I must say I feel under attack here.  by many people. ""Especially having only contributed until (at the latest) the age of 42!"" I was in neither Police or Fire Service.  I worked for a Utility.  They have a policy where they give 40 year pension if youserved over 9 years and you retire in ill health.   Brillow
  7. [quote user="Ron Avery"] Brillow read also what Sunday Driver posted.  You are not comparing like with like.  If you pay NI in the UK that is your choice and it contributes towards getting your UK OAP, but as you live in France, I presume, you have to pay your way here as well.  With an E121 you are exempt from the measly 0.5% sociale charge on your pension whilst you receive IB and are covered by an E121 but not from income tax or contributions sociale that are payable on unearned income such as interest on savings which as SD has already posted must be declared here whether you pay tax in the UK on this or not.  If you want to sort out paying any tax you must go to the tax office not the "social security" office. [/quote]   Sorry but my post was long and you may have missed the point. I do not pay NI in the UK.  Social Servies pay it for me by virtue of the fact that I am on Incapacity Benefit.  I do not get any cash, just the NI paid because I have a private pension.  I supposed I would therefore be treated like an OAP in France who is having all NI paid. Not to worry.  SS in France have now confirmed they should not have been charging me and they are returning the money. Thanks to you for your help. Brillow
  8. Thank you Sunday driver, It is obvious that I was mistaken.  My apologies for mentioning it.   Brillow
  9. An Odd sort of post Bugbear, I appear to have inadvertantly offended you. Have you never given advise to other you do not follow yourself.  Only the other day for example I told my son not to smoke, even though I do.  My point was that statistically it is more dangerous to ride a bike than drive a car and more dangerous to do either in France as opposed to the UK.  I supported this with some statistics which may be verifeid if need be. I also mentioned a fact pertaining to the requirment of having obtained a CBT beofre riding a 125 in the UK.  I did this because if some person were to have relied on the second post, giving accurate but incomplete advise they may have broken the law. My understanding was that the idea of this site was to he;lp each other and share information and opinions. I hade not intention of hurting your feelings. Please accept my sincere apologies if any of this offended you.   Brillow
  10. [quote user="bmt"][quote user="brillow12"]This can carry a castodial sentence ...[/quote] Does that imply castigation or castration?  Just kidding. A couple of rebuttals, if I may: - being cut up in France can often be the result of misunderstanding expected right of way; - Safety is largely in the hands of the rider: one can do a great deal towards the prevention of becoming a victim of others' driving, without simply not riding.  Expect the unexpected, etc. [/quote]   Quite right.... Knowing this keeps me alive on my bike but it is not a level of knowledge I would necessarily attribute to some (Brits and French)   Brillow
  11. Thank you Tony,   That is about what I thought.  I shall talk again to the Social Services here.  I don't mind paying tax on the pension but the Social Security is paid in the Uk and I do have issues with paying twice. By the way (this is to everyone and maybe you already know)  The French have very kindly setup an English speaking help line for Social Security issues.  Tel 0820 904 212.  They are very helpful indeed. Brillow
  12. [quote user="Bob T"][quote user="Sunday Driver"] Any other ideas or contraditions welcome.......  [/quote] Would anyone dare to contradict your well informed wisdom? I wouldn't. [/quote] I shall make a point, if that is OK.  It is not my intention to contradict the advisor who has been reading about motorbike law and is obviously trying to help.  Rather - it is to compliment his information... Just in case someone relies on it and breaks the law, in the UK or in France..  I write in continuation of the supposition that there is some sort of correlation between UK Law, European Law and French Law.  I stress such connections should not be replied upon.  I trust you will find this helpful. In the UK one may not ride a 125cc motorcycle on a provisional A1 licence (which is often found on a normal full car licence) unless one has undertaken and passed additional training and testing.  There are two exceptions to this, the first involves one having obtained one's licence 300 years ago... or so, the second I shall come to in a moment.  It is not unreasonable to suppose that if one is unqualified in the UK to ride a 125cc one may find themselves equally unqualified in France...  Incidentally, to suppose a negative in this matter is quite safe as one is not likely to break any laws, i.e If you are not qualified in the UK, presume you are not in France..  To suppose a positive from this, i.e. That even though you are unqualified in theUK you may be qualified in France is most unwise. That brings me to this:  If you have a car licence with a provisional motorbike entitlement and you have done no motorbike test YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO RIDE A 125CC BIKE IN THE UK. Actually it does after all seem I am contradicting the gentleman, sorry but it is necessary in order to impart the facts pertaining to the riding of 125cc motorcycles. In order to comply with the Law in England and Wales (I can not speak of Scotland as I never did practice there) One must first take and pass the Cetrificate of Basic Training (CBT) which consists of theroy and practice.  Without this any peron found riding a 125cc bike, even though they have the provisional entitlement will be in breach of several Laws.  They will not be insured and they will technically be riding without a licence.  This can carry a castodial sentence, a large fine and can lead to the motorcycle being impounded. The second exception to which I eluded is when a motorcyle rider with a provisional motorcycle licence is riding a bike of 125cc capacity and is accompanied by a DOT approved motorcycle instructor (or examiner) in constant one way radio communication with said motorcycle rider. This post only applies itself to the ommision in the reply you received.  There are other issues about which you need to know, for example, even with a CBT the rider may not carry a pillion passenger....  I see people in France no older than 16 years carrying their pals on their little scooters.... Plainly the Law MUST be different here than in the UK.... Mustn't it?? I trust you will find this useful and do hope that you have not already fallen foul of UK or French Law.  I can recomment several very good DOT approved training schools in the UK if you would like to contact me. Finally, I would say this:  In the UK 6 out of every 100,000 people die on the roads.  In France that number is 9 in every 100,000.  This statistic is all the more striking when one realises that France is a country several times the size of the UK with the same number of inhabitants.   It is estimated that if the British and French swapped countires that the death rate in the UK would rise to 45 in every 100,000.  (9 in every 100,000 is already the highest death rate in the civilised World)... I am not having a go at the French, even their own Minister of Transport conceeds there is a real problem and that they need to drive more like the English (why not the Scots or Welsh? Don't ask me.... He used the word 'English' and I am just quoting him).  I love it here and I love the French bt to survive you have to be realistic about the driving standards here.  Can anyone truthfully contradict that?  (Yes I have been cut up in the UK too.... but not every 500m, every day, in the school carpark!!)... :-) Add to this the fact that you are 9 times more likely to have an accident on a motorbike than in a car and if you do have that accident you are 25 times more likely to die from it than if it were in a car. The moral.  DON'T RIDE A MOTORBIKE IN FRANCE IT CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH!!! For all those who think I am crazy I can tell you I ride a 650cc Kwaka bike here in France..  What the heck?   Ask yourself this... Would you like to see your 16 year old daughter coming home on the back of a motorbike.... Anywhere... but particulalr here? Cheers Brillow
  13. I wonder if anyone has some advice for me. Here are my circumsatnces:  I am below state retirement age (I am 42) but due to very poor health I retired in the UK last year.  I was granted a private pension from my company final salary pension scheme (they do still exist :-) Also due to my ill health I receive Incapacity Benefit in the UK, this is Long Term.   I do not receive money from the IB (due to my private pension as this element of IB is means tested) but they do pay all my National Insurance and will do so until I reach normal retirement age. The UK authorities had no problem issuing me an E121 and when I presented it to the French Authorities I was met with complete disbelief.  They seemed unable to comprehemn that a person of 42 year could have an E121.  They (as many others) seem to suppose that an E121 is ONLY for people past STATE retirement age and an E106 is for ALL others.  I have even had a certain company of Experts tell me this and argue that I can only get an E106 while I have the E121 in my hand??  In part it is why I ask you guys... I have seen some extremly well informed discussions on this site.... from car registration to  hedge cutting.... Seems some people still think that becoming an ex...pat automatically makes one an ex...pert. Anyway, eventually, with considerable help from the UK, the French System did accept that I was entittled to an E121 and I now get all my health care in France free of charge ... (free being a relative term as I have paid NI for many years and the UK IB continues to pay.... my NI and......  France did sign up to the reciprocol agreements etc...). So.. to my question..  I actually have two: First: I have been asked to pay Cotribution Sociales here in France.  I have asked the French Authorities if it is possible that I may be exempt on the basis that my Social Security is effectively being paid by virtue of the recipricol arrangement (as NI is paid for me in the UK)They say "No".    This seems unfiar as I shall never draw state pension in France and I already have the E121.  Why should I pay effectivelt via the recipricol agreement and again here?  This seems illogical to me. Due to the fact that they initially said "no" to my E121 I wonder am I getting the same sort of response or are they correct?  It may well be that the arrangement only covers my Health Benefits in France and I can accept this but I hate to pay something if I need not. Second:  I have a private pension from the UK of just under 7000 euros per month (it varies slightly with exchange rates).  It is a private pension and I am paying income tax on it here.  Again the same question applies. I do understand that normally an early private pension may be taxed... but should it be so when that pension is given by virue of Ill Health? You opinions and advice would be welcome.    Many thanks Brillow        
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