Stories
Letters to the Editor
Contents
American Express Cheques Warning
Leboncoin.fr Warning
Jazz at Roches
Taxe d'Habitation
Ray Winestein
Microsoft
Marie Anne Jouanique campaigns for her beloved language - Esperanto
Vote where?
Hello to Creuse News from Sigrid Schmidt
(for older stories, please see this page)
American Express Cheques Warning
Dear Creuse News readers,
I think it might be worth a little mention to your readers or listeners of Radio Pays de Guéret or even both that should they be asked to handle American Express travellers’ cheques for any reason at all they should steer well clear.
And if they own a restaurant or hotel or other business NEVER accept American Express cheques as payment. They will probably be forged. And even an expert will not recognise this.
These thieves know that it takes six weeks in France, because of the banking system, to verify the validity of these cheques. By the time the recipient is informed of the situation the criminal has had a month and a half to cover his tracks.
And their French bank WILL deduct the loss from their account.
Just a warning for everyone to be aware and take care,
John in the Creuse
(May 2012)
Leboncoin.fr Warning
Dear Editor and Creuse News readers,
Due to various personal reasons , the passing away of my wife late last year and to try and make ends meet, I decided to try and sell things via the internet, namely, "leboncoin.fr" this having been recommended as the best website to use. This may be true but you have to be very careful as there are a lot of crooks who use these sites to rob you of your money.
They all give you very good stories and will offer you sometimes over-the-top prices for your articles, when you agree a price they say they want to send you a money order mandat via "western union" or similar service, they will say that YOUR SHARE of the taxes will be added to the mandate. When this happened to me on my first transaction I went to La Poste who are agents for western union they tell me that this is wrong which they confirmed with the head office of western union.
You will then learn as I did that the vast number of enquires or from the Ivory Coast, or in my case one from Russia. They also say they will send a courier to collect the article, they even offer to send cheques and will wait for the cheque to clear, I heard that they use forged American express cheques.
So if you are selling anything be very careful because there will be only one loser. Leboncoin is a very good way of selling for the honest person in the street but it is also a good way of conning people who are not careful.
if someone does not visit you in order to buy don’t sell, if it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true.
(name & address supplied, May 2012)
Jazz at Roches
Julia and Creuse News readers hi,
I saw the little piece in the March edition of Creuse News about the Caiman Swing band and their concert at Roches in aid of Haïtian children; so 3 of us went along.
I had never been to Roches before, but it lies in typically beautiful Creuse countryside between Gueret and Chatelus Malvaleix; a most pleasant meander. What an excellent evening; the band played to their usual high standards, M Bourguignon‘s humour did not disappoint, and there were in fact 3 tap dancers not just 1, who really contributed to the general festive mood of the occasion.
The welcome we received was warm, and we were asked to help translate the French pronunciation of many of the numbers, but the problem was we could understand the French but not the English, although we did get “tuned-in” a bit later!
A thoroughly pleasant experience, so if you see Caiman Swing playing near you, it’s an evening worth attending.
Regards
Alan
St Dizier Leyrenne
(May 2012)
Taxe d'Habitation
Hi Julia
I would like some help from you or your readers. I have a house in Essuis 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom.
I wanted to know if my Habitation tax is the right amount 953 euros Fonciere tax 880 euros.
I live in London and the tax on my London house is cheaper.
Can anyone tell me who I need to contact to get further information?
I have been to the tax office in Chenérailles but they couldn't seem to help much, any help would be much appreciated,
thank you in advance,
Terry Skeels
terryskeels@virginmedia.com
(April 2012)
Ray Winestein
Hello Julia and Creuse News readers,
For many months now a number of expats have been trying to locate a Mr Ray Winestein.
I am pleased to say he has been found.
If you are one of the many ripped off by Mr Winestein please feel free to contact me on 0555804044 or email graham.d.hay@gmail.com and I will provide his full contact information, assuming of course that he does not do another runner as he knows he has been traced.
Graham Hay
(April 2012)
Microsoft
Hello Julia and Creuse News readers
I read in Creuse News about someone being contacted by Microsoft and it happened to me last week. I got a call early evening from a man who spoke perfect English who said he worked for Windows Operating System and that they had been monitoring my computer for several days and noticed it was downloading loads of unnecessary files and viruses. I asked him how he'd got my phone number as I frankly wasn't buying any of this, and he said he'd got it from the 'root kernel' of the operating system - which didn't sound plausible to me. Anyway, I asked him again how he'd got my number and told him I was very concerned that he was ringing me. I obviously sounded like I wasn't going to buy into this, so he hung up on me. I confirm what Alan says in his letter to Creuse news, as I did contact Microsoft just to alert them to this situation, and they confirmed back to me that they'd never contact anyone in that manner and in any event couldn't monitor what people were downloading as a lot of people do download huge files of videos etc., all the time. They are aware of this particular scam and advise anyone who gets a call like this to email them.
My security is up to date and I ran a full virus check and obviously found nothing. But it is a scam that could hurt some unwary person who might get taken in by it. I wonder if you could run the warning again, wouldn't like someone to be fooled into disclosing any personal information.
Pat
St Dizier Leyrenne area
(April 2012)
Marie Anne Jouanique campaigns for her beloved language - Esperanto
When you are a foreigner there are just a few rules to follow:
"pay your taxes, speak some of the language and be nice about the country where you live"..
I think most British people in Creuse do their best , we don't have to complain that they are living here.
I was, more than 20 years, living in Belgium and I often missed my country, I did like living there but we all miss family, for example.
So, I'm glad British people feel good living in my country, but I can't bear that we have to learn English at the elementary school, because we can't choose another language. It's totally undemocratic.
About the imperialism of the English language: we all are talking about fairness, equality when some people speak their native language and others have to learn a language they don't choose and for most of them a language which they never speak fluently.
Equité, égalité quand certains parlent leur langue maternelle tandis que d'autres doivent apprendre une langue qu'ils n'ont pas choisi et que, pour la majorité d'entre eux, ils ne parleront jamais couramment.
Justeco, egaleco, kiam iuj parolas sian patran lingvon kaj aliuloj devas lerni lingvon, kiun ili ne elektis kaj kiun la plejmulto neniam flue parolos (pro manko da tempo por longaj studoj, manko da mono por stagxoj, ktp...).
We need a neutral, very easy, international language, a second language for all humans, that ALL people can speak very quickly.
Ni bezonas neùtralan, tre rapide lerneblan duan lingvon, kiun NI, ecx la plej malricxaj aÅ la tre junagxe laborantaj, tre rapide kapablos paroli.
Many people have had enough with studying during years for what result? Native speakers will always be privileged.
Nous avons besoin d'une deuxième langue, neutre, et très facile à parler par tous, même les plus pauvres, les moins doués en langues, ceux qui travaillent très jeunes.... Beaucoup de gens en ont assez d'étudier (une langue) durant des années, pour quel résultat? Ceux qui parlent l'anglais comme langue maternelle seront toujours privilégiés.
www.esperanto-au-bac.fr
Campagne pour l'espéranto au bac
‘L’espéranto est une langue vivante, pratiquée à travers le monde …’
Marie Anne & Creuse News look forward to hearing your thoughts, her love of the fascinating language Esperanto is passionate – ‘it’s a language that is pronounced as it is written, with simple grammar rules.’ Editor
mariezou@hotmail.com
(February 2012)
Vote where?
I've just been reading the article in Creuse News about ex-pat voting rights, and send you this as the "avocat du diable".
I notice that you make no distinction between the British "ex-pat" and "non-resident" statuses, which are different. While "ex-pat" is similar to the French "ex-pat", France does not allow its citizens "non-resident" status.
A British non-resident visits UK as a tourist and with a limited annual period of stay, and is only subject to British law as regards the passport, or any exchanges with British people resident in UK (when one must respect both British, and in this case, French law simultaneously).
While it could seem right that an ex-pat whose income is derived solely from UK, might be able to vote in UK elections, I believe that non-residents such as myself, while living in Europe should be enabled to vote in the country of residence, without taking local citizenship - since Europe is supposed to be a whole, and the necessity of changing nationality should not exist (and is often no longer facilitated). On the other hand, since local services (health, benefits ...) are provided by the host country, then once the UK cuts off a citizen's voting right, surely it should logically be replaced by the right to vote in the European country of residence? Or perhaps quite simply, where one pays tax one votes? Otherwise new entrants will have no means of influencing national policy in the host country (and the British have always been good at forming "clubs" for various purposes).
Why should any country allow citizens who no longer contribute to the economy and community, to have a say in policy? After all, no-one obliged them to leave - and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office provides ample information as to the possible drawbacks..
French nationals are not able to break ties with the French administration, no matter where they live, so there is no real comparison of rights and obligations.
I believe that those countries who maintain voting rights for nationals resident elsewhere, often do so for reasons of cultural or socio-political balance, not to defend the right of the individual to vote. Perhaps the individual's attitude to such a right as being in the mother-country depends on the success or partial failure - or even rejection - of integration into, adoption of, the host country's community and culture (including language) - i.e. living in the new country as opposed to managing to survive in it.
On the other hand, a study of immigration into countries which do maintain voting rights for overseas citizens might prove illuminating.
Cordialement,
'Caroline'
(February 2012)
Hello to Creuse News from Sigrid Schmidt
I read your paper regularly and congratulate you on your initiative and perseverance.
I do want to make a suggestion, however. As the last issues have shown, your readers are very willing to contribute to the paper if they are personally moved to do so (the moving experience).
So I’d suggest that you put forth some topics and ask readers to share their views. The obvious thing would be to compare things as they are done here in France with the way they are done back home (which is already a number of countries as you have pointed out, it’s not just the Dutch but also the Germans, the Austrians etc.). These comparisons - besides probably telling some interesting or funny stories – may help us to remember why we moved here, it may also sharpen our sense of judging the advantages and disadvantages of doing things, thus being politically educative, they may make us change some of our habits and attitudes, but they may also be simply helpful in everyday life - drawing on the experience of others.
Topics could be, and I’m just starting to think: shopping, schools, talking to teachers, driving licenses, driving, gardening, decorating your house, inviting, the health system (doctors, nurses, pharmacies…)
Just to give you one example:
Shopping
Having worked in a larger city and living in a village about 20 km outside, I used to do my shopping on the way home from work – usually stopping at a super-market, and also at a butcher’s – they still do exist in Austria; it was always done in a hurry and quite anonymously.
What a difference here: When I go into the village I stop at the bakery, the butcher’s, the cheese shop, the grocery, the tobacconist’s, at the flower shop that also sells tea, and maybe the pharmacy and the bank, too.
Everywhere there’s not only a Bonjour, Mesdames-Messieurs, but talk about the weather and all kinds of things, utterly incomprehensible when I started to live here. My husband complains bitterly that he can usually only fulfill half the chores he planned to, because all that hand-shaking (and in my case kissing) and gossiping takes an awful lot of time and the shops close before he is through.
He is right of course, it takes an awful lot of time, but it is more than shopping, it is also taking part in the social life of the community – and I have to say that in the meantime I’m rather proud to be able to converse with the butcher about the cut I want and to understand half of the puns that people love to use – I sometimes manage to laugh at the right places and add an appropriate “Oh no, pas vraiment, vous plaisantez…”
True, I go to the supermarket in Aubusson or Clermont about once or twice a month, they have a much larger choice and they are cheaper – but shopping there is work, in the village it’s pleasure. And if you really calculate gasoline, wear and tear of the car, your time – then the difference in price isn’t that big after all.
And then the French have one institution which I really admire – it’s the épicerie roulante – not a service publique, but a service privé – and you really appreciate it in winter, when you are down with a bad cold, and the wind and the roads are icy: in our case, once a week, no matter what weather, a grocery van stops at our door and rings the bell to ask what we need – same thing for the butcher and the baker: Usually you have already done your shopping, but on that winter day you really appreciate that service. Since this happened to me once, I now always buy something from those vans, often pre-ordered, things heavy to carry, just to keep them coming when I might really need them. There again, they are a little more expensive, but...
It was the little episode that illustrated the difference to me. When shopping at the village I somehow left the eggs on the counter of the grocery shop (probably because I was too concentrated on talking). Shortly after I arrived at home and realized my mistake, I heard the bell ring. A gentleman whom I had often seen pass in his car but whom I did not know brought me the eggs – the lady in the grocery store knew me, but did not know where I lived, so she asked the butcher, who knew that I was friends with the flower-lady, who provided my address, somebody knew that the gentleman, who happened to buy his bread, passes by our house so he was given the eggs to deliver to me – at that moment, I knew that I had found my home in that community.
We’d be happy to receive any interesting articles from readers along the lines of Sigrid’s suggestions - Editor
