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Callie

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Everything posted by Callie

  1. [quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="Callie"] there must be extremely solid evidence/grounds for being granted authorisation to do any sort of tapping or hacking etc into people's computers or phones. [/quote] Yeah, right!!!! When you wake up from your (obviously pleasant) dream Callie, welcome to the real world. [:(] [/quote] I started my above statement with "I suspect" (for some reason you omitted it !).  I have not lived there for a long time and Big Brother has clearly moved in. But my work here in France has shown me that phone tapping is difficult enough to get authorisation, let alone computer hacking.
  2. Is this any different to having phones tapped or SMSs and emails traced ? This has been going on for quite a while, certainly here in France ! But, and I suspect it is the same in the UK, there must be extremely solid evidence/grounds for being granted authorisation to do any sort of tapping or hacking etc into people's computers or phones. Better cut out the porn downloads, lads !!!
  3. I think I could get quite militant about this ! Next time I see someone selling '3' eggs as plein air, free range etc, I shall say very loudly (in French, of course!) "Where are your free range eggs? I can only see battery ones - the ones marked with a 3" !!!!! I am happy to pay the price for free range and I detest dishonest trading. I do tend to go for Label Rouge eggs and chicken - but then we don't eat chicken every day !
  4. Thanks for the info about eggs, Clair. I was trying to find it, so that was perfect timing ! There was a documentary on M6 a while back where they went round a market in Paris checking the eggs that were being sold as free range. Most of the eggs were in fact battery ones and the stall holders were.....well...not telling the truth. They all shrugged their shoulders and deniedall knowledge !
  5. "I quietly was tootling along in a 70 limit my MGB when a small Citroen van took a shine to my rear bumper." He was making the most of your slipstream !!
  6. We've done just that : After 10 years of 'not a real kitchen, just a jumble of shelves', we finally made a real kitchen a couple of years ago. As there are only 2 or us, and a lot of the time just me, we decided to give out old Belling double oven electric cooker the boot. We replaced it with a gas hob and a small Rowenta freestanding oven which we have built in over the microwave. We also have a Godin cuisinière which has a big oven should we need it, though we would only use it in the colder months as it chucks out the heat. We reckon we have saved a fortune in electricity bills by changing over. I appreciate that this would not suit a larger family, but for us it's great !
  7. With regard to your problem with e-mail responses - we have found that an awful lot of people and businesses simply do not bother to respond. I sometimes wonder if they read them. Some even come back saying the recipient's mail box is full. The only other way to get a message through is sending a recorded letter with "Avis de reception" which means that you will get a signed slip back saying that it has been received. You might have a bit more chance of a response. Incidentally, this is particularly true with insurance companies. It is vital to send them recorded letters, especially if you wish to cancel an insurance otherwise they will take no notice or deny ever having received it.
  8. Hi Panda Poor you, losing a cat after 22 years must have been awful. Ours is 19 and we have had her since she was a kitten....... One thing to be thankful for is the fact that you were there with her. Sometimes a cat will know when its time has come and will go off to die on its own. I would hate that and would alwayss wonder what had happened. My sister came back from work to find her old cat lying by the cat flap - she reckoned he either had a heart attack or a stroke. But it must have been quick - and she had him there to bury.
  9. I agree with Bugsy. If an animal has been provoked into biting, it doesn't mean the dog is dangerous. Same thing if the dog was playing. There are several questions : Did the dog give any warning before it bit the person - did it growl, were its hackles up ? Did it bite a person it knew ? Are there small children around? There could be several reasons if the dog has bitten someone out of the blue for no apparent reason. If the dog is older, it could be a health problem (for example a tumour). A dog will not normally bite someone for no reason. If there isn't an obvious reason, then it may have something to do with the dog's health and the owner shjould see his vet.
  10. I agree with the above. Also bear in mind that you as the employer of a person working on the black, there will be no insurance if there is an accident on site. If these eager Poles are so good and can get the work, why don't they register themselves and make themselves legal ? I believe that if someone gives a seemingly ridiculous quote it's because they either don't want the job or that they will do it if someone is prepared to pay over the top. If you employ an expat registered builder, DO get some recommendations or see the work they have done. There are one or two registered people round here that call themselves builders but were probably just a brickie's mate in the UK.
  11. Hi Bumblebear - we did the same with one of our Border Collies. He seemed to know it was time because he went down the garden and lay under the trees - something he had never done before. Mr Callie dug a hole and the vet came out and was very kind. It was all very peaceful.... But I still shed a tear when I think of him - it was over 4 years ago...... but whenever I cut the grass down there, I talk to him about what we are up to.
  12. [quote user="NormanH"] A person with a French pension doesn't actually pay direct Social Security charges, but pays La CSG : 6,6 % La CRDS : 0,5% unless the tax level is very low.  [/quote] These two charges are nothing to do with health or social security but are charges towards reducing the national debt (!). Thank you Flunch - I had no idea that the French pensioners only had 70% cover.  I believed that this was so until people reached French retirement age, and that after that they no longer needed a top up as their cover went up to 100%. As regards medication - there have always been different rates of repayment depending on the medication.  These repayments do change - for instance homeopathic remedies now have to be paid in full whereas five years ago there was a percentage remboursement.  Is there a difference if a UK state pensioner comes to France with a known problem that requires expensive medication?  Would they worse off living in France, ie would they have to pay more here than if they had stayed in the UK ? I had no idea that health and pensions was so complicated........ but when we came to live here, retirement was far out of sight.  Now it's looming closer.......
  13. I'm not sure i really understand the problem. If you are in receipt of a UK government state pension, and you have the E121, why do you need any sort of top up for health cover in France ? As I understand it, once you reach French pensionable age, all health cover is free. Please somebody correct me if I have got this all wrong !!! I have to confess that I am not entirely up to date with the ins and outs of health entitlement for expats who are not working here, are on UK state pensions, or those who have taken early retirement but are not yet entitled to a state pension.
  14. Teapot - LOVED it and am sending it to Mr Callie ........!
  15. Jazzer - I had the same thing. So I added our address to the "reject Spam" list, and haven't had anything since ! If they have gone into your Spam box, just ditch them !
  16. There's a brilliant fabric shop on the edge of Tours at Chambray lès Tours which is huge and sells furnishing and dressmaking fabrics, accessories etc etc if anyone is interested. Good prices too ! One of the advantages of dressmaking is that if your shape is not "standard", you can at least get clothes to fit you ! Plus no-one else will have the same - and you can put your own designer label on it !!!!
  17. With any luck the word will get round that LIDL is strict as regards the sale of alcohol. If only others would stand up to the little tykes like that manager did !
  18. Oh come come, Norman - everyone knows that when men have colds they are dying !!!!!!!!! And do you really believe that men are going to admit to feeling 'more emotional' for a survey ?????? It could be a slur on their manhood !!!!!!!
  19. Hello JR As with all hibernating creatures, a bat's heartbeat slows right down so the cold is no problem. They usually look for the clichéd cave or somewhere really cool where they will be undisturbed. Because they are in hibernation mode, they will look as if they are dead......but they are very much alive.....just resting......
  20. Val - I worked in Brest for their sailing festival during the summer and was surprised at the number of young people who said that there was not a lot to do in Brest. Apparently there isn't even a football club. Our accommodation was in the VAST lycee up the hill. I have no idea if this is true, and given the enormous number of students in Brest, I would be astonished if there were no facilities for them to get stuck into instead of binge drinking.
  21. If young teenagers can afford to binge drink, then their parents are giving them too much pocket money ! It's all very well raising the legal drinking age - they could always raise the price of spirits. Ooops, I hear howls of rage from moderate drinkers. I know, why should the 'innocent' suffer for the' 'guilty'? Under age drinking has been a problem for a long time, both in the UK and in France. I thought the comment was interesting about young people drinking more spirits because they associated the drinking of wine with their parents' generation. I don't know what the answer is, or how to go about convincing young people that it isn't actually very cool to get raving drunk. I'm sure previous generations wondered about some of us when we were young !!!
  22. My parents have had an account with Credit Agricole for years and are resident in the UK. They do not have a property here either. They have a current account with a cheque book, no card, and have never paid any sort of bank charges. Occasionally they have to fill out a form for tax purposes (a nil entry).
  23. Evening Primrose Oil is also great for preventing hangovers !
  24. We have always used torches as my parents did before us !
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