Hi Catherine. Nothing I need to pursue, but you only need to peruse the boards generally to see that a certain person monopolises discussions, and has a rather misplaced belief in the ubiquity of their notions, so to speak. You have a great weekend too. My compromis arrived today after a 4 week delay, so I’m dancing! Lol.
Hi Kwashie. 100% agree with you and I'm sorry to hear your experiences on SFN haven't been great. Vilification is not tolerated on SFN and I can only apologise if James and I missed something and didn't deal with it. If you can be bothered, please send me the link to the comments in question (feel free to PM me if you prefer) and I will look into it.
Have a lovely Saturday!
Yes carol some people on this board don’t realise that it is for opinions, and they ones they hear may differ from their own. It’s everybody’s board and I think your advice to Emily is spot on. There are 1000s of b and bs for sale, ditto gites, and anyone thinking that, in the middle of the greatest slump known to man, that things will be easy, needs to hear a voice of reason. Yours.
I too have been vilified, by those who live on this board, but i respect their opinions; however personal attacks are out of order. And sad.
Thanks Catharine...but no....I am not continuing on here...have been spending way too much time on this and now I am back in UK will be working again. So thanks for the great time..but really time for me to bow out. Good luck with SFN in the future...but please remove me from the postings.
Carol - don't go - I was just about to intervene. I am going to PM you both and in the meantime I would appreciate it if neither of you post 'to' the other before we have resolved this. Or if you feel you have to, please use the PM facility. Thank you!
ok...am feeling like you have a personal bone to pick with me....am now in the UK and probably not coming back..so good time to bow out on SFN for me.....good discussions...shame you feel the way you do, was looking forward to meeting up at some point...but maybe not. Good luck with the future...
Opinion Carol, and how I am reading your comments. Sorry, if you feel I am in the wrong please feel free to complain. I am as free as anybody else to my opinion though.
Brian exactly where and what did I say that puts France a peg below hell??? you last half dozen comments to me have been biting...the only things I have said to Freddie is to be cautious and make sure before they cut all ties...I havent said anything derogatory about France...which incidentally I love....but for me...love it for holidays...not for living...the red tape is too much faff for me...and I cant abide dealing with FT and some government offices...which I wont have to do as a holiday maker...
Freddy, in my first and the opening comment I warned you would get pros and contras. I am afraid Carol is doing her best to persuade you that France is a peg below hell and that you are in paradise so stay. Take a big pinch of salt. There are a lot of intelligent and resourceful people using SFN, including the Higginsons, who are here to stay. We might have a moan, but then there or anywhere we would lift up stones and see the rot underneath. France is what you make of it yourself, not what anybody tells you it will be. Those who cannot accept criticism of the UK and especially such things as the awful health service are living in a different world to others. Leave it at that, look and decide for yourself. Use us lot to ask questions where you need constructive assistance and we shall try our best to give straightforward answers.
Carol, thank you for replying. I do hope you didn't think I was patronising, and I hope that you were not offended. I would not wish to impugn the frontline staff (or at least those I have come across) just the levels of Byzantine bureaucracy.
My wife and I live just outside Sherborne (Nether Compton). I hope that your brother in law is recovering. If he is interested, we'd be happy to meet him. There are some great pubs around here.
Vis-a-vis the NHS being the cheapest service, I think therein may lie, if not the problem, then a problem. The wastage (in my experience) just of drugs is pretty horrific, 'though I don't know to what extent the fairly recent Government inspired pharmacist review of patient medication (to stop them habitually requesting drugs they no longer use) has worked
I know that in France one must pay (and then be re-imbursed the major amount), 'though I also understand that is waived under certain conditions (don't know what they are).
Anyway, it is two-ish, I'm sure that I've bored you for long enough, and, as the man said: "a throbbing about the temples tells me that I've reached saturation point".
Very kind regards
Freddy.
Yes Freddy....you are right...the French health service is supposed to be the best in the world....the NHS though is the cheapest service for the customer.....and considering, its not a bad service...in Spain even paying for a service you get a much poorer offering than the NHS.....but as you say...pick your hospital....
And do you have a crystal ball with you there....they do indeed live in Sherborne!!!!
Carol, there are likely to be variations from hospital to hospital and region to region, as there is here, but from what I understand, the French service is (much?) better than the NHS......which at one stage in my youth I remember being described as 'the envy of of the world' (as with our education system).
Does your B.in L. live anywhere near Sherborne.....also begs a question!.
Once again, Freddy Stone
my brother in law had kidney cancer whilst living near Perpignan...he went to a hospital or clinic in Cabestany and had 1st rate treatment...he had follow ups for 2 years...they have now relocated to Dorset...and he is not a happy bunny...the UK doesnt follow up for so long...so he gets a once yearly check...not the 3 monthly he was used to and all the tests take an age to produce results...so I am aware of the difference in care...but I think that goes for the UK too. I worked at North Hants hospital...a very good hospital....but the Royal Berks nearest to us is terrible...wouldnt ever darken their doorstep!
We moved from Canada. Nothing on the other side of the computer can prepare you for the real thing. It is not that hard a decision really. We spent one winter here to see if we'd like it then and made a decision by january....
Great reply Carol. I love reading your informed and reasoned comments.
Bergerac may be Carol, but Perigueux trashes some UK hospitals and believe me I was near Addenbrokes which is supposedly fantastic for years and heard nothing but tales of woe. Never needed it once myself, thank providence.
Like Carol I fell out of love with UK because of the way it is...AND it seems to be getting more unlovable.
Yes it is buzzy, busy and you can make a crust or even more.
But life is about more than bread.
Like Carol ihave been through lots of small dissasters here with many things and
at times it all seemed to much.But....for me there is a big BUT
I too miss my many wonderful UK friends and want them here near by....BUT
they too have lost the enchantment of LONDON LIFE and have packed their bags and moved towards
adventure...
Finding a special something to do is vital.
Carol seems to miss her work and I can understand this...she may have
fallen in love with UK once more.
Wether it be a charity organisation to help others or a mail order supply of
rose petal jam and ginger chutney. You need something. Dinner parties and school
runs are only part of a plan. Life has to be rich with diversion.
For me....in France.
hmm....ask Brian about that Emile. I live in the biggest ex pat centre in the whole of France...Eymet... probably has more Brits than French....but the local hospital...is one of the major health blackspots in France...! our GP surgery also happens to look rougher than the local charity vets premises in Newbury, scuffed walls...a 10 x 10ft waiting room....no two old upright chairs the same...the consulting rooms are awful....and the GP I saw was wearing old torn jeans and a very old, grey (previously white) hospital top... wasnt filled with confidence!
Thank you for your thoughts. The reasons for which you enjoy going to France are very much the reasons that my wife wants to move (largely the weather). I think that we are likely to move somewhere close to an ex-pat centre. I understood that the French health service was excellent, to the extent that it had overtaken our 'creaking' NHS.
Have you tried the 'teapot' exercise: left hand on head, right arm outstretched to the right, and the bend sideways to the right. Then repeat to the left....might help to relieve pressure on a trapped nerve.
Regards
FS