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Harnser

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Posts posted by Harnser

  1.  

    Back in the 1970's - there was a similar period of instability.

    "However, after a coal miners' strike Heath decided to hold an election to renew his mandate to govern in February 1974 but lost narrowly to Wilson. There was again talk of a military coup, with rumours of Lord Mountbatten as head of an interim administration after Wilson had been deposed. In 1974 the army occupied Heathrow Airport on the grounds of training for possible IRA terrorist action at the airport. Although the military stated that this was a planned military exercise, Downing Street was not informed in advance, and Wilson himself interpreted it as a show of strength, or warning, being made by the army."

     

     

  2. 3 hours ago, Lehaut said:

    On this topic, we have had an horrific stabbing in Nantes.  The PJ have been mobilised.  So too were the brothers of the 47 year old victim.  Within 24 hours they had combed through the area, got their hands on video surveillance, identified a car, the owner, found this address and got it.  "Roughed him up" got his mobile phone "arrested" him and called the police, who were still working through the necessary paperwork, Judge d'instruction etc. 

    There is a lot of talk about vigilantism etc.  From what I can understand, there is nothing to stop individuals arresting a suspect.  Even though the correct procedures have not been followed, from what I understand, it is not automatically nullified if is found to be the correct person.  Its up to the Judge to decide.  Time will tell, but people will be more impressed by the civil action rather than the Police (providing its the correct result).

    Cannot find any link to the brother's actions, but there is a clue to the  slowness/inaction of the authorities here:-

     "The prosecutor does not rule out any leads, including those of possible racial or religious motivations, knowing that the victim was "probably veiled" and that the crime scene is located in front of a mosque. Renaud Gaudeul showed great caution.“We would be wrong if we did not also investigate in this direction. But no element at this stage allows to accredit these tracks. This is the beginning of a criminal case, and the smallest details naturally interest the investigators"

    They are probably tiptoeing around the case - afraid of upsetting the members of the mosque. 

    https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/nantes-44000/une-femme-poignardee-et-tuee-dans-la-rue-a-nantes-ce-que-l-on-sait-de-cet-homicide-9a38d096-4d66-11ed-8059-c21ebfd52069

  3. On 16/10/2022 at 08:57, Lehaut said:

    According to the pundits who bet;

    According to political betting sites, Truss is 6/1 to lose her job this year. That price has actually stabilised from the 7/2 odds provided during the height of the government-triggered financial crisis in September. Still, it’s a long way from the 20/1 price gifted Truss at the start of her reign.

    Meanwhile, the chances of her being ousted in 2023 continue to rise. Bookies have shifted that price from 7/4 (36.4%), to 5/4 (44.4%), to a new mark of 4/5 (55.6%). 

    Truss is now more likely to be booted out of No 10 in 2023 than she is to keep her job.

     

  4. 24 minutes ago, alittlebitfrench said:

    100% ?

    France politically and socially is in a terrible mess.

    The country has fallen apart. It is bad. 

     

    I am guessing the many many French living in the UK would hedge their bets with staying in the UK than moving back to France. 

    Particularly as they could be unemployed in France and if they are high earners they don't want to pay french levels of tax.

  5. This situation can be fraught with problems - your friendly french farmer neighbour probably knows the property laws backwards. Go to a notaire and get proper advice.

    "as a general rule we would urge caution in granting your neighbouring ‘friendly’ farmer or others any rights of way over your land, however informal it may be.

    These rights, once granted, are often a source of later dispute and nuisance between the farmer and the owners of a property.

    If you do enter into an agreement you would be wise to ensure it specifies, in precise detail, the rights of access, including maintenance responsibilities, security and those permitted access.

    If there is no consideration for the rights of way, then no legal tenancy is created, but even so, be cautious about entering into any kind of informal agreement with neighbours about use of your land"

    https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/property-rights/rights-of-way/authorisations/

  6. The technical problem that will eventually scupper Radio 4 long wave 198 is that the transmitter uses archaic meter high glass valves. They are no longer made or technically supported - when they are done, so is R4.   

  7. The telecommand relay that controls the circuit that the washing machine is powered up by, normally has three available selections available for you   

     OFF     MAN    AUTO

    According to this news about Linky interfering with the signal to switch on your hot water heating st the lunchtime period, you  need to select MAN  = "manual" to switch it on at the lunchtime period, but then you need to remember to switch it back to AUTO = "automatic" to catch the evening heating period which linky will not interfere with.

    The difference in the tariff pleine/creuse is not stated.

  8. From October 15 and until April 15, customers who benefit from a peak hour/off-peak hour tariff will see their cumulus( hot water ballon) in operation at night only, and not during the day. It is therefore the 4.3 million customers in France who recharge their water heater during these hours who are directly concerned.

    This temporary suspension “will save the equivalent of 2.5 GW at 12:30 p.m. and 1 GW at 1 p.m.,” Enedis explains to BFMTV .

    The Linky meter cannot detect what type of device is active in the house, it does not differentiate between a television or a computer. But it can disconnect “the automatic switching signal for controlled electrical uses”, explains Enedis. The water heater falls into this category.

    https://actu.orange.fr/france/crise-energetique-des-ballons-d-eau-chaude-coupes-a-partir-du-15-octobre-magic-CNT000001T7SJT.html

  9. The single one extracts moist warm air, and the double one likewise but in addition pumps in colder air to replace the warm air it extracted. Seems totally counter- intuitive to me.

    A similar situation we had in our last UK house with a gas fire in the fireplace - regulations stated that we had to have an enormous air vent in the wall which on a cold windy winter's night nearly blew you out of your chair.

  10. 2 hours ago, Manon said:

    I wonder if anyone can help with this unforeseen problem.

    Friends moved here permanently from the USA in early September with a long stay visa while they apply for permanent residency.

    They hired a car and had started the process of buying one when a problem with insurance raised its head. Their driving licences were issued in a state which does NOT have a reciprocal arrangement with France and I’m told that they will therefore never be able to exchange them for French licences. They can hire a car for a maximum 185 days at the end of which they will need to have taken and passed the French driving Test ! My French is okay but I would be very nervous about this ( we are all in our 60s ) but their French is very, very basic. Is it possible to use an interpreter ? Can anyone offer any other possible solutions ? 

    If no other solution is available there is a driving school in Paris that specialises in coaching US citizens for the French test.

    www.frenchlicence.eu

    and 

    https://www.frenchlicense.eu/about-us/

    I know about them because I bought their Code de la Route book in english some years ago.

  11. We have since arriving, after discovering what our tap water does to the kettle, and the smell of the kettle - YUK - always used bottled water from a source fed from the Monts D'Arres in Brittany which is a range of heath moorland hills which is not cultivated, so less chance of glyphosphate contamination. Very little mineral content either, so the kettle stays clean.

  12.  

    Since arriving in France we had a non communicative, miserable postie. Nothing we could say or do would raise his mood to that of a normal human being. He was known by us as Miserable Maurice - never did find out his real name.

    Apart from when he wanted to flog us the xmas calendars - then we use to get a grunted word or two out of him - and a small smile.  OH reckoned it was caused by wind!

    Then he was absent - he wasn't there any more,  casual enquiries at La Poste revealed he had retired, with a knowing smile😁  

    Now we have cheerful happy female posties. We always try to treat our delivery people well - in other words, get your a r s e out to the gate ASAP so as not to keep them waiting - that's the secret!

  13. 11 hours ago, DaveLister said:

    And then what? Are you happy for her just to be driven out of town to become somebody else's problem or would you rather ( as some have suggested on social media ) a more permanent solution?

    Events involving 'torches and pitchforks' rarely end well.

    Nice try at putting words into my mouth that I didn't utter.

    It will suffice that the lady in question has "p*ssed on her chips" big time - Her Ratner moment!

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