Where · are · you · going?

Sorry for the incredibly vague and clumsy subject. What I mean is this. I'm living in France, and in the process of renting a flat. I need to put somebody down as my guarantor, and as I don't know anybody French well enough I thought to put down my parents back in the UK. I asked if this was possible given all their information (pay slips, marriage certificate... all the silly paperwork) would be in English and they said it wouldn't be a problem.

All I want to know is what do I give them as the equivalent of France's Relevé d'Identité Bancaire (RIB), ie. the paper with your bank account details on it. Are there any special account details you give to people abroad, where at home you'd give account number/sort code? And are they readily available (will my parents already have them, ie. will they be faxable to me before Monday or will they have to be obtained from the bank?).

Sorry for a slightly dumb question! Thanks.

Does anybody know where I can get a birthday cake box from? (If you know what I mean) it can't be an online place because it's for tomorrow evening x

Thanks guys!

Oh and hows everyone doing at Cheltenham this week? Anyone had a flutter or two?

Spring is almost sprung, so that is the theme for today's questions.

1. Do you have any rituals with the coming of spring? (spring housecleaning, gardening, or even more exciting?)

2. Do you live someplace where the coming of spring is really celebrated? What are the celebrations like?

3. Is there any down side to spring for you?

4. Is there any event in your life which has coloured the way you look at spring to this day?

I may not be able to answer myself, because my browser has been freezing when I try to leave comments.

*Remember to leave the answers as a comment to this post.

Crossposted from my personal LJ

They save lives of course.

The one that's just outside my bedroom doorway is quite intelligent.
It doesn't just go off when I burn the English Muffin.
It actually says, in a very determined feminine voice, "Fire, fire, fire."

Now, as with most such devices, it also knows when its battery is running low, and sounds an alarm for that.
And, in keeping with the rest of the device, it doesn't just chirp, but it actually says in that same sweet voice, "Low battery."
That's sort of nice, except ... ,
When you are sound asleep at 4:00 AM,
... and the first time you hear something subconsciously,
... and, the next time - a minute later - you're saying to yourself, I just heard a voice in the dark,
... and, another minute later you sort of realize that it was saying, "low battery," and then you think about what would say, "low battery," and realize that it must be the smoke alarm.
... And, you sort of roll over and say to yourself, "Maybe I can ignore it, go back to sleep, and take care of it when the alarm clock goes off in a couple of hours."
... And, after five more, "Low batteries," spread over another five minutes you decide that there really is only one solution.
... And, you stagger up, grab a chair from the dining room, just miss your toes when you put it down in the hall, climb up, reach up, twist the thing from its bracket - and the whole thing, bracket and all, comes down from the ceiling with a shower of plaster dust and leaving two holes in the ceiling.
... And, it's still talking to you as you finally do manage to twist the bracket off and extract the battery.

If they can make it that intelligent, why couldn't they also give it a clock so that it would know the time of day and not wake me up?
Or, maybe they did make it intelligent, and I'm paying for the fact that I didn't renew the battery the way that you're supposed to when you change from standard to daylight time or back again.

Did you change yours?

Does anyone know of any social-type groups/clubs etc in Epsom/Ewell area, or Kingston, or really anywhere close by and accessible by public transport? I've already tried meetup.com and there's only one group nearby in Kingston, all the rest seem to be in London.

I have been in the UK for 18 months now and yet to really make a friend since my best friend went back to Australia in December. I have 'acquaintances' (ie people I used to work with, friends of my cousin etc) but no one I can call up and ask if they want to hang out for the day, or go shopping or anything. I'm starting a new job Monday, so that may help but I find most people my age (30) are in the 'family' stage and don't really have time to hang with a single, childless person. Most people I worked with are either a lot younger and still in the nightclub, getting drunk every weekend stage or are a lot older than me and have kids etc.

I don't have a huge amount of self confidence (am quite large and it has just killed my self confidence over the years) but am making myself find somewhere to go out and meet people but I don't have the confidence to just go sit in a pub by myself and introduce myself to people.

I've looked at night classes but they all seem to be mid-term at the moment so that will need to wait.

Alternatively, does anyone want to hang out with a 30 year-old, fat, single girl?

Oh, and I got a new job after being made redundant the other week, but the pay is ... not brilliant ... so things will need to be cheap!

And one more thing ... if you don't use your WII fit for months .. ease back in to it, don't be silly like me and do a 30 minute routine straight out ... ow ...

Hi Forty Somethings,

I'm going to Burning Man this year for the first time with a friend.  I"m on an information gathering mission. I get the BM newsletter, stay tuned on FB and we have our tickets.

We have vague ideas of what we need to do, start meeting with local burners?  Find a group to join once there? Have a theme and gifts.  

Our next biggest decision is the vehicle.  We want to drive a small camper there. It can be really small, just 2 separate beds, we have camping kitchen gear. I heard you can pick up a camper there, that you rent ahead of time,but we'd rather pack it exactly how we want it and take it there ourselves. 

If you've, been, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and tips. Areas of great interest, camper rental, survival strategies, how to choose a community,  food, shoes, does the one way bike thing work, do you bring enough water for the whole trip, or buy some there?  And everything I'm leaving out.

thanks!!

Ok, this may seem like a bit of an odd or personal question (female-orientated), but I've heard of a contraceptive pill that doesn't have the same side effects as Microgynon 30 - but cant remember its name - it starts with a 'C'. I've texted the person who suggested it and had no reply. I want to talk to doctor about it tomorrow, just cannot recall what it is. Sorry if this is a weird post for this community, I don't use it much, but would be grateful if anyone could shed light on it! :o)

Anyone else been watching Skins?
I am not that impressed by this series. Is anyone else enjoying it or is it just me?
Is there another drama I should be getting into, Heroes isn't really doing it for me and I never quite got into Flashforward.

Also we went a whole weekend without an LJUK post.

nilajean told me a story years ago, how she had always cried every afternoon as a little girl, because Miss Lois of KTVI's version of Romper Room never, ever, saw little "Nila" in her Magic Mirror at the end of the program. With child's logic, nilajean felt unloved that the Magic worked for every other boy and girl but not for her. Eventually she grew past the age for Romper Room, but she never forgot the results of her unusual first name.

KTVI tweeted this morning that they were going to have Miss Lois on the morning news for an interview. I made some frantic calls to the station (as their understaffed weekend newsroom producer wouldn't pick up but let the 'phone go to recording and I had to keep re-calling, but after I explained why I was calling, she took our telephone number and said she would try to get it to Miss Lois.

Miss Lois called, bless her heart, and said she still had her Magic Mirror with her and could now see Nila, even though fifty years had passed. Always a kind woman who loved children, she understood how a little girl with an unusual name would feel passed over, and then as adults we had a delightful discussion about how much we all missed the show. It was one of the sweetest conversations I have ever had.

Afterward, nilajean and I got to explain to our boys, born far too late for Romper Room, about Do Being a Do-Bee and Don't Being a Don't-Bee, the "Bend & Stretch" song, and the non-sectarian prayer Miss Lois and the children always said before their snack time. ("God is Great, God is Good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.")

I haven't seen nilajean with this big a smile in years, as the weight of all that remembered pain melted away. Bless you, Miss Lois. We still love you.

Hulu the old TV show from the 70's we watched each week EMERGENCY seems to me as if they CBS must have bought the rights to siren sounds. To the extent that they want to use the sound effect as much as they can every episode.

Wailing sirens and multiple minutes of dramatic sound effects with copter shots of the squad and or the engine racing thru the streets of L.A., CA.

To the point that then 1970's we did not notice it, tho now I notice it more.

Plus some of the stock shots replayed were not notice then as much as now.

Is it me or are we now so jaded that these tricks have now become passe?

Hi,

I need some advice about where we stand legally with regard to some building work that's been ongoing for months.

( Behind a cut because it's quite long. I tried to make the long story short, but... )

My question is, what can we do?  I know I can take him to small claims court, but the govt website says it should be a last resort and we should try mediation first.  Does that mean solicitors?  I'm a bit scared that if we badmouth him too much we'll end up getting our windows broken, as English incomers to the village, but right now I want to hunt him down in whichever pub he drinks in on a Friday night and punch him in the face.  I'm so FED UP of this.

Can anyone advise me of what our next step should be?

I have a spare ticket for the Ireland v Wales 6 Nations game at Croke Park tomorrow.

Face value €75 but I'll take £50 or so for it.

My father-in-law forgot the date of the game and booked to go to watch Liverpool and Portsmouth on Monday, and doesn't have time to get back from the rugby to get his flight to Liverpool on Saturday night.

Translink are running "Rugby Special" buses and trains from Belfast tomorrow for £20, just as an added bit of info...

Flogged it to a tout outside the ground for face value.

I like themes. I've chosen to do this week's FFF with something that was said in tv shows from our younger years...and then pose a question stemming from it...

1. The closing song from "Gilligan's Island" stated, "No phone, no lights, no motor car, not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe, it's primitive as can be..."

QUESTION: Don't look in a dictionary...What is your definition of luxury as you see it? What one luxury would you like to add to your life?

2. In an episode of "Leave It To Beaver," Ward Cleaver asks his son Beaver how his day of fishing went. Beaver said, "Great. We didn't catch any fish but we saw a man slip on a rock and we heard everything he said!"

QUESTION: Do you feel cursing is more prevalent today? If so, why?

3. On the "The Flintstones" cartoon show there was a contest to allow viewers to choose the name for Fred and Wilma's baby girl. The Flintstones announced "This is our baby girl, Pebbles."

QUESTION: What name would you have submitted?

4. On "The Donna Reed Show" the son Jeff came home with a report card where he got "C" in every subject. Donna is bothered because she thinks, "He's not average. Maybe it's the teacher's fault because she doesn't appreciate a special child." The husband Dr. Stone says, "Is it perhaps Jeff's fault?"

QUESTION: Do you think parents nowadays are more or less in denial than this version of Donna Stone depicted in that episode?

Extra: On Art Linkletter's show "Kids Say The Darndest Things" a child is asked how parents get a new baby. She replied, "They fill out a form to order if they want a boy or girl and then the bird delivers it."

QUESTION: What do you think of the idea of being able to order the gender of a child?