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Post by whatagain on Oct 17, 2019 15:43:13 GMT
Blaireau is making a come back it seems as does boulet. Boulet means cannon shells like in napoleonic times and was used to describe the weight that would be attached to a prisoner to avoid him escaping. Hence the sense of a guy being a 'boulet' because you cannot do anything with him when you are stuck with him. Blaireau : I don't know why badgers are considered morons here. Both expressions can be used by children ...
My petty trauma of the day is berk. Going to the gym in the morning and letting my clothes in the car until going home in the evening. I need a good cheese to cover the smell.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 23, 2019 10:15:18 GMT
Looks like I won't have any hot water for the next two days. It's a good thing the weather isn't cold yet.
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Post by htmb on Oct 23, 2019 11:59:02 GMT
You can always heat up the kettle for a little bird bath.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2019 12:47:02 GMT
That's a much nicer term than the one I know for that kind of spot cleaning.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 23, 2019 16:00:24 GMT
We've had 3 scam calls today. 2 said that HM Government have suspended your National Insurance number and issued an arrest warrant and the other that a Court Order was being issued. They were all automated and all said to press 1 to discuss.
Mrs Cactus took 2 of them and was quite upset.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 23, 2019 16:08:36 GMT
Ha ha, I just received a call from the "postal service" (with a heavy African accent) telling me that an envelope had been returned to them twice and that they needed to deliver it. I told them they could keep it and hung up. I only reply to about 1 out of every 10 calls on my land line, and it is always something ridiculous. I hang up instantly if there is not somebody already on the line, since these places call 5 numbers at the same time and seem to think that you will actually wait to talk to them.
I also sometimes get an automated call saying that it is the health insurance office and that "an anomaly has been discovered in your insurance file. Please press 1." So I always hang up. I should get rid of the land line once and for all but since it is free with my internet service...
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 23, 2019 16:38:17 GMT
Yes all on landline. Always hang up if nobody on line unless feeling mischievous and have a conversation with them until they hang up.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 23, 2019 16:38:57 GMT
I got rid of my landline because of that. But I miss some calls. - can I talk to the boss ? - (me) this is not a business but a private home and my wife is not there. - ah. No we want to propose some god deal - (me) i could be called the boss for that. - we have some good bottles of wine at a very good price. - (me). Sounds great but I am with anonymous alcoholics. Hanging up.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 23, 2019 20:24:24 GMT
Our landline goes straight to ansaphone. If we're home and recognise the caller we pick up. If we're out we can always ring back. My beloved was ranting about my spending...for no particular reason other than I'd bought a rather lovely plant..I pointed out that he spends £9 every single day on cigarettes. After a bit of bickering...we never really fight...it blew over. Since then he hasn't bought any more cigarettes. It's been a week and there's no sign of him weakening. Buggered if I'm going to stop buying lovely plants tho....
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2019 22:20:28 GMT
Plants release oxygen into the air. Cigarettes do not.
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Post by mossie on Oct 24, 2019 10:40:23 GMT
Don't encourage her. The man needs praise, I know how difficult it is to stop smoking. I have seen that nicotine addiction is the worst of the lot, above alcohol, cannabis, etc.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 24, 2019 11:59:07 GMT
It is. My father had all the smoking diseases; 2 heart attacks, phlebitis, beginning of emphysema and died of lung cancer when I was 15. (I have little else in common with the Queen). My mother lived to a good age. They married late; quite a few people did not marry during the Depression or the War; so some of the baby boom were late babies (though obviously most weren't). Applause for Cheery's beloved. Perhaps you could give him a lovely plant?
Chatte can have the same meaning in French as pussy in English. That is one reason I'm lagatta rather than the pussycat or la chatte. There are other words in Italian, of course, but gatta doesn't refer to lady parts. Though who knows, perhaps it does in some regional dialects?
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Post by mossie on Oct 24, 2019 14:56:20 GMT
Is this so rude then??11 I thought perhaps it hat refused to catch any more mice !!!!!!
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 24, 2019 15:00:52 GMT
Ah, one of the famous sex strikes...
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 24, 2019 16:48:47 GMT
Oh gawd ~ don't they all! (I have little else in common with the Queen You're both petite!
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 24, 2019 18:29:48 GMT
The water heater repairman is coming tomorrow morning, so I am already having a pre-trauma about the amount of the cheque that I am going to have to write. There were two other reputable repair services that I could have called, but I decided to call the place that installed it. I can't imagine getting away with paying less than 150 euros.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 24, 2019 20:50:39 GMT
Eek...best go with the firm that installed it tho. Good luck Husband is having the odd sneaky smoke I think but neither of us are saying owt.I know that it's difficult to give up nicotine...how do you think I got so fat? To be honest it's the £3,600+ per year that he's thinking about. I buy between 4 and 8 big bags of compost most years which cost around £5 each. This year we've not only had a beautiful garden but I've fed us cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, peas,green beans, sweetcorn, blueberries, lettuce, radish, onions, mint, oregano, tarragon, lemon verbena.....I rest my case
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 24, 2019 21:17:23 GMT
November is "no tobacco" month in France. Do they have that in other countries? (Anyway, a pack of cigarettes is going to 9 euros on November 1st.)
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Post by lagatta on Oct 24, 2019 21:48:28 GMT
Cheery is making me hungry, as my last herbs hold on for dear life. Nothing like micro-local veg.
We also have a mois sans tabac, but it isn't November. November is Movember, against prostate cancer, after the October push against breast cancer (and in some case other women's cancers, some far more sneaky and lethal such as ovarian cancer). I don't know whether Movember also addresses testicular cancer.
I have a veterinarian friend whose cat contracted mammary cancer. Horrible. They have what, six to eight nipples? If all those mammary glands are removed, they are in horrible pain. That is FAR from a petty personal trauma.
We also have a far from petty or personal trauma here. Another case of a husband/father murdering his small children, then doing himself in. Wife/mother coming home to that, and the first responders also shocked by the scene. Fortunately not a frequent event.
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Post by questa on Oct 25, 2019 5:42:26 GMT
best go with the firm that installed it tho. Good luck Surely the hot water work should still be under warranty. You should not have to pay anything if it is...unless you have fiddled with it.
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Post by questa on Oct 25, 2019 6:04:01 GMT
We have Movember as well when all the blokes are encouraged to grow a mustache to raise $$ for "men's health" ie testicular cancer. My #2 son is permanently hidden by a large red "bush rangers' beard". Son #1 is clean shaven. He grew a Movember 'tash a few years ago. His loving wife threatened him with the divorce court if he ever did it again...it was like a furry caterpillar had died on his top lip.
Cigarette prices are astronomical here.A packet of 40 JPS (John Players) costs $AUD 50. and goes up twice a year.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 25, 2019 11:28:48 GMT
Zambia has slightly higher prices than some southern African countries and a packet costs equivalent to about 1 euro 80.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 25, 2019 11:57:19 GMT
Cigarette prices are astronomical here.A packet of 40 JPS (John Players) costs $AUD 50. and goes up twice a year. That puts a standard pack of 20 at $A25 or 15.36 euros. In France, they have not talked yet about going above 10 euros, which they should reach next year. I suppose they think that tobacco use is just going to die out, ha ha. The contraband vendors in my area seem to be charging 5 euros for packs from (mostly) North Africa. You can see the amount of contraband very easily, because France adopted the neutral packs just after Australia, and I am seeing the Marlboro logo all over the place. In Europe, the UK and Ireland have higher prices than France.
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Post by Kimby on Oct 25, 2019 14:36:25 GMT
Huckle be careful with vape products. Whole lotta vapers coming down with alarming lung disease. Perhaps nicotine gum or patches would be less risky?
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 25, 2019 15:09:25 GMT
Apparently that problem has only cropped up in the United States where people create their own dangerous vaping mixtures (or buy them from stupid people). In Europe, the vaping fluids are highly regulated. Of course when Huckle returns to the U.S. I doubt that she buys her vaping accessories in the bad part of town.
Meanwhile, my own trauma has expanded. The repairman came today and said that the electric components were certainly to blame. Fixing that costs about 350 euros, while a whole new tank costs 500 euros. The guarantee for the tank part is 5 years while the electrical part is only 2 years, so I am out of the guarantee time. And the guy admitted that water heaters do not last nearly as long as they used to. "Programmed obsolescence." (The EU is banning this but it is not yet completely in place.) So he will return on Tuesday with a new hot water heater. However, I have hot water again for the moment, because I dared to reset the circuit breaker and nothing has happened yet. But that's what I thought three times in the past when the whole system blew -- last time while I was in the shower in my windowless bathroom. So I will just suck up this expense while giving a thought to the people who cannot afford to write a cheque for 500 euros for an unexpected emergency. (I used to be one of those people.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 25, 2019 16:11:40 GMT
Huckle, just yesterday a friend gave me the name of a product she took & it finally got her to quit smoking. Of course the name immediately went out of my head, but if you're interested I can get it from her.
Kerouac, your attitude of stoically facing the unexpected expense whilst giving thanks that at least you're able to cover it is admirable. Also, really all you can do under the circumstances.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 25, 2019 17:13:00 GMT
Whole lotta vapers coming down with alarming lung disease. My sister-in-law who has worked in microbiology and histology for over 25 years has her concerns regarding vaping. Besides the unknowns of these new chemical products being inhaled, it is also the residue that is left inside of these devices and then reignited again and again that she believes could be one of the causes of these lung illnesses.
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Post by Kimby on Oct 25, 2019 23:26:10 GMT
Huckle, just yesterday a friend gave me the name of a product she took & it finally got her to quit smoking. Of course the name immediately went out of my head, but if you're interested I can get it from her Is it Chantix? I had never heard of it before running into a friend I hadn’t seen in a couple years. Her cheeks were rosy and she looked great. I told her so, and she said she had finally quit smoking, with Chantix.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 26, 2019 1:54:05 GMT
Kimby, that wasn't the name. My friend told me both the brand name & the generic name & I'm pretty sure neither was Chantix. She said it was a process wherein the smoker set a day she was going to quit, and then started taking the pills for x days, maybe smoking less each day -- don't remember -- then stopping cold but continuing taking the pills for a set amount of time.
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Post by questa on Oct 26, 2019 12:19:00 GMT
I have tried to stop smoking on numerous occasions. First the skin patches...they raised up an area of blistered skin which became infected. So I tried gum...and got mouth ulcers. Tried the under the tongue pill and my throat swelled up making for difficult breathing. Well I bribed myself, bullied myself until I decided that at 77 it wasn't worth the angst so gave up giving up.
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