Dc

It's time to buy some new digital phones (at least 4) with the base one being attached to my neuf/sfr box. The problem I have is that it seems to be so much cheaper to buy them in the uk now rather than here in France. I already have some older english/bt phones with the extra connection to make it ring. I would like to hear of any recommendations/advice please!

Hi, I keep losing my telephone connection through my Neufbox. It works ok for a few calls then the next time I use it I get beep,beep,beep and then lose the line. If I reboot the box it normally works but sometimes doesn't. Its odd because I never lose my internet connection. Any ideas??

Thanks for that, but my french is not that good. I pay a top up insurance as well as cotisations and I think that implies I wouldn't have to? But what happens next year if my income increases and I cancel my top up? dc

Hi, We have been in the CMU de base for 3 years paying cotisations but  just noticed that our income for 2007 has fallen below the threshold. We are about to send in our renewal application and wondered what will happen. Does anybody know what the exact rules are please? dc  

for the first time in my life I decided to grow some cherry tomatoes. I have 6 plants and have fed and watered them religiously every day. I have eaten some of the tomatoes and apart from one plant they taste awful. What have I done wrong??? regards dc

Update: Trees now have leaves but are quite small. A neighbour informs me that a rather nasty caterpillar infestation has been the cause as they were eating the shoots.   regards dc

it is a small forest surrounded by farmland!

The trees are about 30years old not great huge oaks!

I'm not sure this is the right place to post but here goes: we were walking the dog here in dept 17 (charente-maritime) and at the end of the walk go through a small forest which normally gives welcome shade from the sun, however we noticed that there were no leaves and consequently no shade. We think they are oak trees so what's going on?

My new neigbour has had an old fioul tank removed from the cellar. There is a strong smell of fioul left behind. Does anyone have a solution to the problem. Any help greatly appreciated. dc

My new english neighbour has an old metal heating oil tank which he wants to remove from his cellar. Unfortunately it is too big to get up the stairs and will have to be drained (1/4 full) and then somehow made smaller/cut up to get it out. Has anyone any ideas on how this can be done safely and also the best way of pumping the heating oil out. Any help greatly appreciated.

As I suspected doors are not part of the relief and I have been asked to get an invoice with more detail so that they can take back a few euros. Surprising, when you think this is for my 2005 tax, I wonder why they are looking in such great detail ??? regards dc

Thanks for that, do I assume that doors are not covered,only windows and french windows? regards dc

Does anyone know the exact rules for claiming tax relief on new windows/doors  installed by an artisan please, as I have just received a letter from the tax office querying my 2005 claim? Any help greatly appreciated. regards dc

have sent e-mail.   dc

Thanks Gluestick you are a star thats exactly what I wanted to know. My problem is that the boiler restarts on a 2 degree drop of temperature on the boiler stat after achieving the required 60 degree this takes about 2 minuters to restart. So it runs for 6 mins then stops for 2minutes until it drops to 58 degrees , restarts and run for 6minutes then stops for 2 and so on until it reaches the required room temperature. I assume that the initial start up of the burner uses the most fuel so if I slow down this 2 minute restart to say 4 minutes I'll use a lot less fuel. Is my hysteresis of 2 degrees the problem or have I misunderstood? All help greatly appreciated. dc

so how do you know if your system is efficient?

Yes I think you are absolutely right!  Unfortunately I have oil fired central heating and need to know what the optimum performance of the boiler should be to try and get the costs down. Just for the heating how many times should the boiler fire up in say an hour? Next time round it's a woodburner and loads & loads of insulation.   dc

With the high price of fioul I would like to make sure my central heating is performing efficiently. Can anyone specify how many times an oil boiler should fire up in an hour and for how long. If there is an optimum performance, what is it and how do I achieve it ? Any comments greatly appreciated.   dc

Does anyone know if the expulsion from the CMU applies to both categories? regards dc

Thanks for all replies. My problem is both width and height, and I do not have all the tools to do a really good job. The real problem is I've found is sourcing the materials, the wife wants more of a sapin nord (white) colour, it needs to be double faced any ideas. regards dc

Hi, Can anybody  help, I want to make some simple kitchen cabinet doors of varying sizes. How should I do it, what wood should I be using and where do I get it from? Any help greatly appreciated. regards dc

I'm not normally a rebel but feel very let down by the new proposals so have been thinking about how to protest. So here is my solution:-  If all the people affected by the new proposals go to their doctor and demand for all manner of health checks we could burden the health system with unnecessary ailments. We would have 6 months of free tests only costing us our time, all be healthy as any problems would be dealt with and of course, all in the same boat, with plenty of claims against us, therefore private healthcare would not be an option and they would have to think again. At least this way I would actually be a "villain" rather than a law abiding, tax paying, cmu paying, mutelle insurance paying individual who has pumped thousands of euros into the French system and accept the "v" sign being given to me by the French government with good grace. dc  

My wife & I & the dog need a holiday sometime in October! Can anybody recommend somewhere in the south, close to a beach for walks/perhaps fishing, close to restaurants/bars and places of interest. Any advice greatly appreciated. regards dc

Genius, why are things so simple? Do you know how it would take paint? dc