NormanH

Presumably if you didn't ask for a devis it is the charge they have decided to levy. I am not sure on what grounds you could question it. As to whether it is 'correct'  to spend that much on closing a holiday home swimming pool   which is bigger than many people's apartments,  you could refer to the monthly income of a British OAP (around 400 euros)  or a French person on the RMI (454,63 €)

That video is old hat..my OP refutes it. I don't see how anybody who bothers to read through a thread could dare to re-post it .

Sadly being British has nothing to do with the rules and regulations surrounding renting in France, into which I tried to give a few insights.nor is it a guarantee of honesty. The person who has never paid the supplement above the Benefit he is allocated is  British. As for saying that 'the landlord should use  their common sense when they interview any prospective tenants and ask them for proof of their finances" you seem to forget that the OP was asking  about renting to people on benefits.

[quote user="Boiling a frog"]Am I to assume that  all the feverent anti religious  persons or atheists do not celebrate Xmas(as Big Mac says it is to celebrate the birth of Christ). What do they do that day, how do they explain the non celebration of Xmas, or if they do how do they explain away Santa Claus , who is based on St Nicolas a Bishop in the Catholic Church, or are they just hypocrites and say nothing . [/quote] Two years ago I invited a young couple who live in the flat above for a Christmas Eve supper. They were happy to come, but as they are both Muslim they made it clear that they weren't celebrating a religious festival, just coming to share the meal with me. No booze either, although that is less strictly respected than the rules about Halal meat among the young I know locally.

[quote user="chessfou"][quote]"Le Feu" by Henri Barbusse.[/quote] Available free here: http://www.ebooksgratuits.com/ebooks.php along with lots of other wonderful books, all completely free. It can be just like reading a real book if you get something with "e-paper" & "e-ink" such as this: http://www.bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx I have one of those for the bedside table. [/quote] Thanks for that link

Not totally on topic, but to avoid confusion: I imagine that the "Marriage of Figaro" tonight will be the Beaumarchais play and not the Mozart opera, not least as it's from the Comedie Française.

This article (in French) outlines the new agreement. It will be possible to make a claim after working 4 months instead of 6 at the moment "Pourront prétendre à des allocations chômage les demandeurs d'emploi qui auront travaillé au moins quatre mois (dans les 28 ou 36 mois précédents, selon leur âge), contre six mois actuellement." but  a second claim in the year would require 6 months as at present. The total number of months paid goes up to 24 months, and over 50s can get 36 months. "la durée maximale d'indemnisation est fixée à 24 mois, contre23 actuellement. Les chômeurs de 50 ans et plus auront droit, selon leur durée d'activité, à une indemnisation pouvant se prolonger jusqu'à 36 mois, comme actuellement." Of course all this depends on age and length of time worked. It does mean that it would be possible to work a season (say mid-May to mid -September) in the hotel or restaurant sector, and then receive benefit. This was always the case but it was difficult to find a 6 month job, as the season is shorter than that. May be a life-line for some people.

Barack Obama in swimming trunks on holiday in Hawaii

[quote user="baypond"]Yep George always has a point of view! Did he quote that in the context of the CDO debacle in particular, or the housing market and credit crunch in general? The banks are the cogs in the gearbox, it is the Governments who choose the direction to drive, and the Central banks who change the gears. One aspect that has been unfortunate in this crisis is that Central Banks and Governments played the blame game for too long at the onset of the funding crisis. It meant that rather than look for solutions, they wanted to punish banks for their poor risk management and subsequent funding difficulties. Gordon Brown has steadfastly refused to take any accountability, and the BOE, ECB FED took far too long to realise that banks could no longer be efficient intermediaries for lending, until their balance sheets were repaired. Now that countries are using their Central Banks as the clearing house, and providing funding , we are gradually seeing the liquidity logjam ease. Hence the LIBOR rates gradually, but consistently converging with policy rates.[/quote] He is developing a general theory: " I have developed an alternative theory, which holds that financial markets do not reflect the underlying conditions accurately. They provide a picture that is always biased or distorted in some way or another. More importantly, the distorted views held by market participants and expressed in market prices can, under certain circumstances, affect the so-called fundamentals that market prices are supposed to reflect. I call this two-way circular connection between market prices and the underlying reality "reflexivity". I contend that financial markets are always reflexive and on occasion they can veer quite far away from the so-called equilibrium. In other words, financial markets are prone to produce bubbles." It's worth a read if you click on the blue link in my post above.

[quote user="Clair"]The picture above shows exactly what I get with IE7, Chrome and Opera.[/quote] Me too Clair

I don't know your property, but the average British 'holiday home' isn't worth a high price on the long term market as often it is a long way from any potential source of work, so not much in demand with French people who are unemployed but looking for a job. You  would have the advantage of a certain security of income, since at least part of the rent will probably be paid by the CAF directly to you. They don't pay the first month of any rental, nor the deposit. However you can't be sure that the tenants  will pay any extra,  ( the Allocation Pour Logement doesn't usually cover 100%)  and if you are not on the spot it is difficult to know what is going on. You might consider using an Agent , but they don't like dealing with people who haven't a regular fixed income, and demand all sorts of guarantees which would exclude the majority of people on benefits They may also say that insurance against non-payment of rent is only available for a non-furnished letting. Unfurnished lettings are usually for 3 years with extensions of 3 years on your part. The tenant can leave with 3 months notice, though in fact no-one has ever given me that courtesy Don't forget that as well as possible income tax on the rent you are also liable for CSG which as a rule of thumb is a about a month's rent payable in November each year. I have had damage, theft,  and complaints of nuisance from neighbours. I am not sure that it is worth the worry and potential major problems  to let long term.

George Soros has an interesting line on this in the China Daily "The salient feature of the crisis is that it was not caused by some external shock....It was generated by the financial system itself. This fact - a defect inherent in the system - contradicts the generally accepted theory that financial markets tend toward equilibrium and deviations from the equilibrium occur either in a random manner or are caused by some sudden external event to which markets have difficulty in adjusting."

But surely ALL fanatically-held beliefs, whether they be  religious, political, or social are a manifestation of the same evil. For me there is little difference between the militant atheist, the fundamentalist religious preacher (of any religion), a totalitarian dictator  and the animal rights extremist..

This is not a problem of tiling. It is a problem of preparation of the surfaces so they are flat and perpendicular.

[quote user="Âme"][quote user="ErnieY"]You'd probably be safe with a non RF equipped SCART connected monitor and you could get a modest one for the equivalent of  one years TV licence fee.[/quote] I think they've got that set up covered...ATTENTION : Les magnétoscopes, lecteurs ou lecteurs-enregistreurs de DVD, video-projecteurs, lorsqu’ils sont équipés d’un tuner et associés à un écran ou tout autre support de vision sont assimilés à un téléviseur et donc soumis à la redevance. CAUTION: Video tape recorders, DVD readers or reader-recorders, video-projectors, when they are equipped with a tuner and associated with a screen or any other support of vision are compared to a television set and thus subjected to the royalty. source It looks as if the PC with TV receiver will soon be subject to a licence too. There is no escape! [Www] [/quote] I think they are already. I have no TV, but watch on my computer screen. ( Adsl TV with Free) I have to pay the Redevance

[quote user="ErnieY"]I use it on a stick also but that too is on v3.0.5b [8-|] [/quote] At the moment I am using 3.1 beta.

Glad it's sorted

I use CDex to convert files to MP3 It's freeware

I used to go to one in Sévérac le Château, but I'm not sure he is quite up to the standard you say you need. If all else fails I could give you the address though.

I presume you are talking about 'mi-cuit' You don't need very much of it, so price isn't crucial.. A slice the size of a couple of small matchboxes is quite enough per person Serve it with toast and some onion marmelade..

I have in stock frozen fish and shellfish from Picard: Some prices: 500 grm cooked and shelled mussels ( I do them in garlic butter with lemon and parsley)  4, 30 500 grm Petites seiches ( I do them in a Basque sauce with tomatoes onions and peppers + a couple of piments) 4,70 800 grm filets de dorade 7,95 The advantage is of course that you only use as much as you need at a time. I also make a curry with chick peas.. A final idea is a Merguez (about 8 of them)  red pepper and potato stew cooked with a little olive oil and paprika..

[quote user="Benjamin"][quote user="NormanH"]Anything over the SMIC? Seriously there are people here bleeding to death because their income in Sterling has gone down 200-400 euros a month..and you are bleating about an one time over payment of 173 euros [/quote] I'm trying to get my head around this.  People are 200 to 400 €uros a month down so they should not bother chasing up €173? Loads of logic there then. [/quote] Thanks. I'm glad you had a moment of lucidity.

You can try a letter  of ' mise en demeure ' for what has not been paid Try knocking the letter in the link about a bit to fit your case..

According to this article  in the Financial Times once UK rates fall close to zero, the UK authority’s only option to provide a monetary stimulus is to pump money into the financial system. Haven't we seen the effects of that elsewhere before?

Further bad news today! See this report in the Financial Times