osie

It seems the weather does play a part as BBC1 & 2 HD are not working a the moment. Nevertheless, I can live without the HD when it rains.

Just for info I was a bit peeved last week when BBC 1 & 2 HD and London went and also RB1 Olympics 1 (but not 2).  I resorted to BBC2 NI and BBC1 Oxford.  Well it all seems to be back again as of yesterday without any tweeking on my behalf. I dont think the weather has been a factor so I am just guessing that people up there are still tweeking with their satelites. Humax, 60cm, Figeac I used to complain about the s%h£i%t tv but now I am just happy that it works...

It might be one of those new types of bots that knows about nitrate, phoshate and dissolved oxygen levels... ;-)

Its good to know they will renumber them... It would make sense. Any news of new satelites on the horizon reveals my pesamistic side.. will it still work.. Fingers crossed that the person renumbering is logical and rational and the satelite navigater has a thought for the s.o. france too ;-)

That would work but I am guessing that the favourites list is not compatible with the tv guide... i.e. I presume it is only a list of the channels.. without the future programmes associated?

Not sure if any one else has this problem or if there is a solution but... since the introduction to the new hd channels the order of all the chanels is all mixed up.  what happened to bbc1, 2, itv3, ch4, ch5. I think ch5 is at position 1, bbc hd is in the middle and itvhd is somewhere at the end with bbc3&4HD at the very end. The one advantage is that I could never type 200 to get the bbc news as the 2 and the 0 were too far away to the micro second allowed by humax... now bbcnewshd is 212 which is a stoke of luck.

Absolutely perfect... here's to technological progress

I am pretty sure there was a message quite a few years back on this forum about a website where you can see all the different land ownership markings. Can anybody remember it... I was wondering if it had already been integrated with google maps to act as an overlay. Thanks Osie

My understanding was that you cant paint ikea furniture... I saw a video on how to do it.. but that equated to.. cant do it. I have seen some adhesive sold by mrbricolage but it had really bad reviews. As I already have the furniture cut to fit, I was then wondering how to make it look nice. As I have seen success here in France with crepis I thought that route would be a good option.

I was wondering if it is possible to crepis chipboard (ikea-type) furniture. We have plasterboard and a DIY guy stapled chicken wire to it and then crepis.  I was wondering if I could do the same for cheap furniture. The reason is to make the chipboard furniture look nicer. Thanks in advance Osie

The good news is that the controller works for longer and longer.. i would say I got 10 min use out of it before it gave up on me.  Which makes me think that the grenadine sugars are starting to loose their stickyness... I also paid 13€ to have a replacement sent and it works fine... for the same price I could have had a controller configured to my tv but I forgot to mention it when I ordered.  They offered to exchange for free but I am going to hold out and see if the my original will unsticky itself. I will also give the wd40 a go now I have the backup controller.

Quite a true article for the self employed but I dont think the work ethic applies to normal employed persons.. the employed French have a very different work ethic to a brit.. neither better nor worse but very different.

I saw the ebay ones with 1.40 postage... mine is slowly starting to work again... I have found it works unless you push the ok button after which it is not 'ok'. Removing the batteries at this stage does not help.  I guess that some sticky stuff is causing it to short and after a while it releases only to be restuck when pushing the okay button again...   Sadly the okay button is quite important.

That is quite a price but I see that alot of people think its worth it... I have seen something for a tenner on ebay which i would hope will do the job... if the drying out process wont work.

Kid grenadine has been poured over the controller of a humax and at present it does not work at all well... it is responsive but unusable.  This means the humax is also unusable as it does not have 'change channel' buttons on the box. I have a few options:- Let it dry out.. fingers crossed Try to configure the tv remove to work with it Get a new one.. just seen on amazon for 28quid Get a universal one... Any thoughts on the above? which will work.. Thanks Osie

I haven't been following hoteliers complaints.  In my opinion one needs a system that breaths and where there are shortfalls one needs to make adjustments. There have been alot of b&B pop up here lately and they do have very good ratings.  I guess there is alot less pressure on getting things right and alot less harm if things go wrong. I would say that you need to keep tabs on your competitors but not to let it detract from the service you provide.  Cussing all the rubbish makes ones place look better but only in ones mind.  Having rubbish around does not make your clients any more satisfied. Client satisfaction comes from deep continuous analysis of your clientèle.  This will allow you to reduce effort where it was never needed and to concentrate it where it is. This year has been very interesting where I have seen the hotels reduce their prices which the cheaper accommodations where not able to.  When we first got this place the impression was to work if there was work and to have alot of time to ourselves too.  The reality is that we have an accountant and he monitors us.  The worth of the place is dependant on our yearly results.  This takes away the leisurely pace I intended and turned us into a company with targets. Nevertheless, this different approach is also fun btw: I was torn by writing ones in every sentence or just using 'you'.  So I ended up with a bit of both but the you is a general you as I have seen that you(personal) run an establishment with very happy clients.  So the above is just a general opinion. Oz

Quillan, I would have to disagree with your comparison between hotels and CDH.  In my view they are a very different holiday experience and you choose the one that fits your desires best.  I am quite sure that most of our guests have chosen a hotel because of the level of attention they get; and also expect.  This may explain the tripadvisor comments as the score is dependent on your expectations. As it happens, I tend to always stay in hotels and we have reaped the rewards they offer.  We had the option earlier in the year to stay at disney in a CDH or a hotel and for all the right reasons we choose the hotel. We presently have in our hotel, 2 lots of 2 weekers on HB who have very demanding needs, a choice of food every night, attention to detail, bend over backwards service.  Not to mention all the other guests, and keeping the place up to scratch. This year especially their is an air of austerity and for this reason an enterprise has to work with it and to its advantage... prices need to be strategically controlled. My view like yours is that reservation sites offer technology and advertising to aid the running of your enterprise and therefore are an asset.

The problem with a low budget accommodation is that it will take more of your time to recuperate the ~3000euros to break even.  So, you will end up being tied to the job for a long season.  And so the big question would be 'was it all worth it'. With all the figures, the one that makes or breaks is the 'was it all worth it' factor in the equation.

I have noticed a loose concrete slab that forms part of the water inlet from a little pool to the bigger one. It is the cement between it and the base concrete that has come loose. Can I use normal cement to stick it back or is there something in the brico shops that I should look out for. The slab is about 30cm/10cm so I wont be needing a 25kg bag. Thanks in advance

I am guessing it should read... melt the sugar and then put the lot in a blender.... It sounds great when the sun stays more than a few minutes... I was wondering if this might be good:  salt and pepper during the blending stage, some olive oil added during the freezing stage .. and some reduced balsamic sauce when serving...   and also, some diced avocado during the freezing bit too.

I was going to ask this question last year about a plant with a long root that invaded the garden but I did not take a pic and so it didnt happen. This year, I went pulling them all up... so pleasing was it to pull such a big root up with minimal effort. That is until I realised it was the dangerous 'wild parsnip'... I got my hands covered in blisters. It has lush leaves at the moment and later is more fennel plant looking... the fennel looking one I already was under the impression caused a rash but I did not realise they are one and the same. I suggest if you dont know about them then google and wikipedi it as it is quite interesting.... The silver lining is that it appears the parsnip roots is very edible... so when I heal I will attempt to pull them up again brandished with a pair of gardening gloves and some olive oil.

sounds good to me... once the foot is in the door you can offer other services too...  surveillance with a high security camera.... while sunbathing of course ;-)

The worst part of letting a property are the awkward clients and you are sure to get them.  The second is return on investment so I cant see how you are going to get 50€/hour without any investment other than time... Oh yes and I guess time is the third worst part of the business. I would say that you get a fixed amount for each 'call out'... say 30€.  And it is agreed only if you are there and that you accept no responsibility. Your duties being to provide the key, show the letting, and act as a person to call if need be. I assume you are mostly there as that is why they are asking you in the first place, and I assume they would be happy with the no obligation as they are asking you as they do not have any more formal fall back plan. I think it could be good for some extra cash and it may lead onto a career in 'dealing with the most obnoxious people in society'  .. meaning the scum 1% ;-)

I have a false wall in an interior room made from brick (the french red hollow ones) and then crepie.  It is used to hide a very wet humid rock. The idea is to allow the water to penetrate the brick and then dissipate(go away). This works quite well. The horizontal top of the wall has been made into a shelf using concrete with a blue taint.  The problem is that the water is permeating through the concrete and making it go furry.  I tried varnishing the shelf top with aqua marine but the varnish just peels off as the water gets trapped between it and the concrete. So, I am wondering on a next step... Do you think that if I was to tile it then it would solve the problem or will I still have some other problems. Am I meant to put down some plastic and then tile to protect the tile glue or would that make matters worse. Thanks in advance osie

Hi Quillan Do you think it would clean a child well stained carpet... I did look at this a few months back. 119euros sound a great price.... congratulations. Thanks Osie