JohnRoss

Having put up with sciatica for the last four years and during a session with my masseur kinésithérapeute the subject of TENS machines came up. He, of course, had a friend who flogs these but the prices were a bit daunting to say the least.  I note that Lloyds Pharmacy in the UK sells these from just under £15 at the moment and a friend in France has one and swears by it. Another model called Touch easy is also available in the UK at a slightly higher price but I wonder if any of you have found a good model here in France. I am told I have a trapped nerve in the spine due to the AS and it ain't going to get better on its own so I am keen to try this as surgery may be the only other option, other medical conditions rule out injections and anti-inflammatory meds. So anybody got one sourced here or in the UK and would you recommend it?....................................JR

We used two different ones, both English speaking,  during the first three years after our arrival in France. Each filled the forms 2042, 2047, 2042C, 3916 etc in different ways and charged about 750 Euros for so doing. I have not enough experience of accountants to recommend either of them but have no serious complaint against them and can supply info by pm if you wish. One is in Poitiers and the other down South somewhere. Everything was done on-line. I figured that I would have to make a really bad mistake to pay this much in tax so decided thereafter to do it myself. This has not been without its problems as you can see from some of my recent posts and Jackie's posts but there are the wonderful Tax Faqs to look at on this forum and you can be sure of a helpful, sometimes, response from someone who knows, or thinks they know. Likewise for the other forum at Total France. There is also  [email protected] who have been replying to questions in English............................................JR

Thanks for the information. They are two different prints of paintings with a total value of 1850 US dollars. The prints are each from a limited edition of 300. The TARIC code for prints give a 0% rate but I understand that VAT may be charged though not sure what rate would be used.........................................J

I want to buy some prints of a couple of paintings from the USA. Anyone know what VAT and duty I am likely to get charged bringing them into France?........................JR

Problem solved and if anyone is interested and has a similar problem see:  ............................JR  http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45596             

Any other AOL user have this problem? Decided to try AOL 9 VR again and deleted all AOL content on the computer and loaded up the AOL 9 VR disk. Loaded ok but at the end I got a message saying "AOL will now install the files for you to connect to the service. Click yes to install these files. You may be asked to restart your computer otherwise you will not be able to connect." So I clicked yes, nothing happened. So I clicked on the AOL icon and got the same message except this time, having clicked yes, it said restart the computer which I did. When it was restarted I got the same message again and round and round we go in a loop. I get the same result with any version of AOL I try, 9.1, VR in French and VR in English, same result each time. Tried it in Safe Mode, nothing doing. The English speaking help line has gone and the French one is not of much help. Running Vista on a newish Inspiron 531...........any thoughts?......JR

Thanks, I have tried to find out what an earth loop test is. A quick look at the net has shown lots of info on earth loop testing boxes and earth impedance testers but no info on how it is done, any pointers. Could a Megga be used for this and if so how and how does removing the link come into this?.............................................JR

I notice that our property, and several others I have seen, has a metal link between the consumer unit and the earth mat or rod. This link is held by two nuts and can obviously be removed for some purpose. Removing the link would isolate the earth device, rod or mat, I assume to enable some sort of test. What sort of test would that be? I can only assume that this test is something that would need to be done from time to time and not just when the house was wired originally otherwise why would this facility be fitted in the first place, any clues?.............................JR 

Thanks for the suggestion but as the bloke wants to start tomorrow and as I have nadgered my back/neck and am in a surgical collar and cannot do much the bloke said he would do it for me and lay tiles on top for an extra 100 or so euros if I got the tiles so I will let him. He looked at the underside of the floor in the cellar and said he thought that it would take considerable extra weight..........problem solved..............................JR

From this and other sites I gather that some tax offices suggest using the rate on December 31st whereas others specify a rate. The thing is that if you have made some money on investments whatever and have not moved it into France what rate do you use. You could say that you would use what you would have got had you done so but the question is when. This year using the Dec rate is almost the same as suggested here and other places, is slightly in our favour whereas in other years it is not so it probably balances out in the end. For most of us we are only talking peanuts anyway......................JR 

Hi yes I could not find the box to tick about the 2042C but,like you, when looked at the completed form in my documents there it was unticked. Other have said not to worry as they should notice you have done a 2042C. I don't tell the rate I used but I try and use the one recommended on this and the Total France site, so far no questions asked, croiser les doigts....................JR Croiser les doigts: Cette locution est d'origine religieuse, et vient de l'Angleterre du Moyen-Âge : il s'agit d'un signe représentant la croix emblématique du christianisme, censée protéger le fidèle superstitieux du mauvais oeil ou plus simplement du malheur.............Something I did not know.........JR

Thanks for that. I will have a look at these blocks, maybe the smaller red brick ones that are used to build internal walls. They would have to be bedded in concrete with maybe a skim over the top as well to stop them moving independently of each other I guess. Having been down to the cellar I find that the main concrete support beam for the floor is 20x18cms in the middle of the floor. Other concrete beams are layed crosswise and the concrete blocks dropped into these. (Maybe called Hollow Pot in the UK though I am not sure about this.) The fireplace is just to the left of and above this main support beam. The easiest solution would be just to cast the plinth in one lump of concrete and from your figures one could only hope this would not be excessive in weight...........................................................JR    

Prior to putting in a wood burning stove into a fireplace I want to build up a plinth for it to stand on. It will be 90x164cms and 8cms thick. The floor it will be going on is tiled and of concrete block construction suspended on concrete beams. I could do the job in concrete with tiling on top but I am a bit worried about all the extra weight on this suspended floor. The weight of the stove would be additional so what other materials could I use to make this plinth at a lower weight. I had though about some sort of hollow brick blocks or wood beams with chipboard and then tiled but I think that would flex under the weight of the stove and crack the tiles. I really don't know what materials are suitable/available for this, can anyone suggest something I could get at my local Brico.........................................................JR

Many thanks Cathy as you can see all working now......................JR..............Jackie says thanks too!