Devon

Does anyone seriously think giving johnies to sub saharan Africa will solve anything in that dismal continant? Maybe the pope has a point.

[quote user="socket"]At the risk of being labelled one of the above, is there anyone within a 15 to 20 kilometre raduis of St Jean d'Angely who would like some company for the occasional informal rideout, nothing complicated or organized, just a sedate ride coffee and a chat, then back home before the wife realises we've gone missing .     [:(][/quote]   HI socket, I am building just outside St Savinien at the mo. Usually ride a 1200GS but also into classic stuff. I am flat out working at present but would it would be great to share a ride out later in the year. I am sorting out a weeks  French M/Cing  for some  friends in Sept: a mixed bunch but great company, some local knowledge and advice would be very welcome if you cared to join us.

Unfortunately, our beuracrats and mps meed to remember they work for us and this could be very painful.  

Thank You for some banter Mr Wiggy! [:)]

Try a Brico Depot (I think thats the correct name).  The prices don't seem to be as bad as some of the other DIY stores: Mr Bricolage for example. Keep an eye out for the special offers. Some of the stuff is lowish quality but there are some bargains.  I would agree prices do seem expensive in France. For example, I managed to pick up 150 sheets of 50mm high quality insulation for £15 a sheet in the UK, the best price I could get on the equivalent insulation in France was 45 euro a sheet. Round that  to a 150 x 30 euro discount and its a big saving buying in the UK.

Beautifully crafted but the front end just doesn't do it for me. Here's a slide show of the bike from the maker:http://vintage-motorbikes.com/galleries/ala'verda%20albi/   I hope the Guy who is trying to get Norton going again succeeds. I see a Norton rotary is at the IOM TT this year. I was hoping to take my Rotary Classic to the island this year but time and money won't allow   [:(]

Thank's for the replys. I was unable to find a haulier to pick the JCB up from a French port. I was put in touch with Richard Long Ltd: £1000 to pick the handler up from north Devon and deliver to Saintes seems reasonable (especially after paying 800 Euro to hire a machine for 2 days in France). The Handler was collected at 11am today and should be delivered to Saintes Thursday afternoon.

[quote user="Dog"] It is all part of the greed that has become endemic - there has been no social conscience for many years.     [/quote]  Very, very true and it looks like the party may soon be over. We have been fortunate to live through a time of plenty in the West, I wonder how we will cope when we have to endure  hardship for the first time in two generations?

[quote user="woolybanana"]Perhaps. Only you can know.[/quote] Perhaps you're right. I will give you the last word as I have work tomorrow (and I can't find a smiley emotion) nothing personal meant in my post, Goodnight.

[quote user="woolybanana"]Choice[/quote]   Then maybe I haven't done too badly after all?

[quote user="woolybanana"]Notice the words that I wrote. I specifically used Rolex as a statement of success, not a fact. If you all had the options that are implied, then you would love it because it means that you have the resources to do as you wish. Owning a specific watch is just a piece of nonsense, though I do enjoy mine. [/quote]   Oh dear.................. good luck with enjoying your watch woolie............ and all the other rolex owners..........though, pray tell, how should I measure success in life?

[quote user="woolybanana"]You would all have loved to been in the position to have had one and all it implies. Don't pretend or lie to yourselves.[/quote] I could have several, please tell tell me how I deceive myself in my denial of a silly watch?

[quote user="woolybanana"]RUBBISH!!!![/quote] Pardon?

Wearing a  rolex is a sign you really have failed miserable in life for me, I can't imagine spending a minute in the company of rolex wearing people would be worthwhile.

  Quoted by Gluestick Sadly and with great respect, I fear you don't actually understand banking: and more critically, what did cause the problem!   Nothing personal Gluestick and the fact it's all well beyond our control anyway, but sadly and with great respect, I fear I actually understand banking better than the banks understand banking. Our Financial  System/banks/Parliment and all the clever people they employ have created a lovelly LaLa Land and they desperately want to stay living in it: that's not going to happen IMHO I am not too interested with all the smoke and mirrors, I am interested to have a knowledgable person hazard a guess where we will all be in 2 years time: would you care to share your guess? I don't see the point in getting bogged down in detail: the lowest base rate in the BoE's history, our Banks nationalised in all but name and the money printing presses doing overtime (again, by another name) speaks volumes.

Quoted by Gluestick: As I stated before, if it was possible for banks to simply conjure money from thing air, indefinitely, then why do we have a current problem? Because it was possible for banks to conjure the money from thin air: just not indefinately. The wheels have come off and thats why we are in one of the most desperate messes since banks were invented. Banks used to take Saver's money, lend it to people who were probably capable of  paying it back, keep some as profit for themselves as well as rewarding the Saver. The Shadow banking system allowed them to cook the books and con us all. The coming hardship and depression might not be all bad: hopefully when our economies reboot (as they surely will) our Societies in the West will return to sound principles: a fair days pay for a fair days work would be a good place to start.        

A long shot probably, but I need to get a JCB telehandler from Roscoff to near Saintes. Can anyone recommend a reliable Haulage company?

Could this be the moment Marx was talking about?   Starting to look that way. I read and follow a lot of what clever peeps have to on the way things are looking for Blighty and IMHO: no one has a clue what will happen. Could be the end of capitalism as the West knows it.

I am renovating a ruin at the moment in the Charente Maritime. I purchased the property with plans already passed. the plans are for a 300m2 property with a pool I believe the people I  purchased the property off paid 3000 euros for the plans to be drawn by the architect.  IMHO and in my experiance trying to design a property with little experiance or knowhow is not a good idea. Working with an architect and using their training to design a house  incorporating your own ideas is the best option

I would be interested in a japanese large cc diesel m/c when they eventually get around to producing one. A BMW GS type bike would be a big seller I reckon. Harley already produce diesel m/cs that run on petrol [:D]

[quote user="ErnieY"]He can no more prove that then he can that God exists. Forget money being the root of all evil, IMO religion occupies the top slot for the worst and most destructive evil the world has ever known. Merry Christmas. [/quote]   I am no lover of religion but weren't the nazis and communist athesists? Athesist Pol pot weren't a bundle of laughs either.   Edit, seems a certain German war time political party mustn't be mentioned on the forum.

[quote user="plastered"]I have put underfloor heating into the renovated house I have completed using an air energy heat pump. It runs the underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs and in its 2nd winter I have had no problems. I would recommend it everytime in a new build.[/quote]   Plastered, I see that, like me, you are in the Charente Marime region. Would you mind telling me, did you source your heat pump system locally? Did you install the system yourself? As I stated in an earlier post, I was going away from the idea of a heat exchange pump but I am still not decided. Installation cost seems to be the biggest bugbear.

[quote user="Logan"]I have read this thread with interest and increasing amusement. Interest because I am interested in money on an international level and amusement because most of you seem to watch too much television. Politicians cannot control money or markets in the twenty first century. Money/markets are affected by global circumstance. Politicians on the television pretend to their electorate that they are doing something. Hands on the tiller, Captain Brown or Bush in charge. It's all intended illusion. Brown thinks he can save the world by borrowing hideous sums of money only to stack up debt for the next government who win power and a new generation of employees who will have to pay it all back through much higher taxation. His and Bush’s policies are doomed to fail. Keynes and his economics belong in the past not this present day. Even Central Bankers are completely neutered in the new situation. The ECB are still behind the curve holding on fast to a principle and illusion that a strong currency will see them through. Interest rates have ceased to mean very much in global economies and the words or intentions of politicos even less. Rates round the world will drop to near zero and have virtually little effect on anything. The world’s industrial capitalist nations need to journey through a period of retrenchment and reorganisation. So emerging fitter and leaner for the challenges waiting for us all. There is pain now and pain in the short to medium term. However long term I expect our economies to rebound. The world will be a different place in economic terms then. However I expect the USA to still dominate, China to struggle, Russia to be enveloped in economic stagnation and Europe to grind slowly on. The UK should be responsive to these necessary changes as financial services slowly respond to a low global valued currency. Happy 2009 to all those investors who ran for cover a year ago.[/quote]   You don't expect Europe to tear apart and the euro collapse in your scenario then? The impression I get is the World  has never been in a position that the present financial crises places it in. That we have had the period of feast and now it's famine time would add up but I would be interested to know how you arrive at your predictions.

[quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="Devon"] Btuckey/Brian, the level and standard of insulation you have incorporated into your build is very impressive. I keep coming to the the conclusion that insulation would is the best place to invest my money to reduce heating running costs, complimented with doubleglazed windows. [/quote] Insulation is, by far, the cheapest form of heating available. However, as in most things in life, a compromise is necessary to balance life style and aesthetics against massive insulation and reduced heating costs. It is of course perfectly possible to insulate to the level where body heat alone will be sufficient to maintain temperature but I personally would not like to live in those conditions. On a pedantic note, double glazing is not complimentary to insulation, it is insulation. Triple glazing with large air gaps under vacuum is obviously the ultimate but not realistically cost effective or aesthetically  acceptable. [/quote]   Also on a pedantic  note, Insulation is not, by far, the cheapest form of heating available: it's a material to reduce the unwanted loss or increase of heat [:)]

It seems the Western World's Financial system has managed to bypass printing money by magicking money from cyber space for the last 25 years. A 'shadow banking system' helped hide the con,  then the clever bankers embarked on what was  effectively a complex pyramid selling scheme with the dosh they had magicked from their keyboards. Now the pyramid has collapsed and no one has clue how far up the creek without a paddle we really are. I wouldn't be surprised if money presses are  running redhot at this very moment to make the financial systems magicked money real. We are living in interesting times.