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I have in my wallet a cheque from the university for an expense claim (£108 worth of van diesel). Unfortunately, they've written the correct amount in words but put £180 in the number box. It takes ages to get a cheque issued from the university and the office is only open at stupid times. Can I correct the amount to the lower (correct) figure myself or does it actually have to be done by them?
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No you cant do it yourself, if you do it becomes a "false instrument" and is in effect fraud.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Even for the lower amount?
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I have in my wallet a cheque from the university for an expense claim (£108 worth of van diesel). Unfortunately, they've written the correct amount in words but put £180 in the number box. It takes ages to get a cheque issued from the university and the office is only open at stupid times. Can I correct the amount to the lower (correct) figure myself or does it actually have to be done by them?
You can do it yourself, but you mustn't, it could get you into trouble, quite apart from issues it might cause in the University's accounts. If it's hand-written, you might get it fixed quickly (they'll be embarassed at their own mistake) - if it's gone through the accounts system, it'll most likely have to go back through it (although you might get a one-off (or even cash!) again due to their red faces. Chat up a clerk first.
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If you present it, I bet it would go through for the amount in numbers. I've had this happen to me accidentally. I don't think many cheques are read too closely.
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Bees have decided that my home will make a good home for them too.
We have a capped brick chimney stack that was used for the original free standing solid fuel boiler .
So it starts a few feet off the ground and goes up to the eaves.
Bees have now colonised it. I have quite a few holes bored through the ( very sandy) mortar over several courses of bricks near the bottom of the stack.
This is a little odd as it is just above a terra cotta airbrick and they ignored this easy access.
I like bees and do not want to disturb them at present so what advice can anyone supply.
It looks like some repointing is required but even if it is done later in the year, I would obviously like them to move on sometime.
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Are you sure you have a full colony in there? It could just be a starter colony.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Where are you, I know a good bee keeper.
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Is this a swarm of honey bees or just a colony of masonry bees? We co-habited quite happily with a colony of these in the ancient farmhouse we used to live in - fascinating to watch them disappearing into the gaps. www.spab.org.uk has more information about them and what, if any, threat they pose to your property.
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Are you sure you have a full colony in there? It could just be a starter colony.
>>I would guess it is a starter colony.
There are about a dozen holes made by them in the motar so not vast numbers of bees at the present.
The odd lost individual has to be escorted out of the kitchen or the bedroom.
I am at Esher, Surrey a mile from the edge Ken's empire.
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Bees have now colonised [capped chimney]. I have quite a few holes bored through the ( very sandy) mortar over several courses of bricks near the bottom of the stack. This is a little odd as it is just above a terra cotta airbrick and they ignored this easy access. I like bees and do not want to disturb them at present so what advice can anyone supply. It looks like some repointing is required but even if it is done later in the year, I would obviously like them to move on sometime.
Ah, yes, bees, I know a little about them. It's rather early for goings-on by honey bees, that is even if there're any kept in your area (and you'd have thousands), bumble bees (like HBs) aren't interested in making holes in mortar, so what you've got is some sort of masonry (miner) bee, most likely Osmia rufa, which looks somewhat like a honey bee. They like warm, southish-facing brickwork (although they're more at home in a natural habitat). The good news from your point of view is that they almost certainly cannot sting you! These bees are hatching now, and emerging from their tunnels (they come from eggs laid last year, in tunnels with a supply of food (honey and pollen)). If you've a hell of a lot of them, then Do Something, else don't. If you need to do something, then rake out the joints and re-point (may need doing anyway!) in late
Summer/early Autumn. If your house is built using lime mortar, re-do with the same (or at "strongest" 1:1:6
cement:lime:sharp sand), if it's made with cement mortar, then re-point with a weak mixture of cement and sharp sand (the original mix will've been weak or frosted, etc., else the bees would not have been able to tunnel!). It is important not to use too strong (hard when set) a mix or your bee problem will pale into insignificance compared to your brick spalling problem.
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FT
Most helpful.
In my 1930 lime mortar jointed chimney that faces north I have a minor lot of hardy miner bees.
On your advice I will happily leave them alone and sort our repointing later in the year to your specification.
I wish them well and thanks to all for advice.
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I have approximately £1000 worth of dollars sitting in an American bank account that pays negligible interest. I put it there eight months ago when I received a number of US cheques in the hope that the dollar would fall in the period following. Obviously, it hasn't. Any suggestions as to what I should do? I'm torn between cutting my losses now and bringing it back to the UK, or should I continue to let it languish there?
Is there any chance of the pound falling when interest rates here get shoved up next month? What would you do?
Cheers,
David.
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in the hope that the dollar would fall in the period following. Obviously, it hasn't.
playing the currency market game is for professional hedging experts.
I'm torn between cutting my losses now and bringing it back to the UK,
5% either way in the next 6 to 12 months is not going to make that much of difference, unless £50 is a lot of money to you.
or should I continue to let it languish there?
weigh it up against interest gain/loss or potential loss of good use you could put the money to in the mean time. in the trade, the jargon is "opportunity cost".
Is there any chance of the pound falling when interest rates here get shoved up next month?
quite the contrary. the pound rises in value if interest rates rise. hence today's rise in value in anticipation of interest rates going up.
What would you do?
not play the currency market with £1000.
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quite the contrary. the pound rises in value if interest rates rise. hence today's rise in value in anticipation of interest rates going up.
This is somewhat of a stupid question (and I know you're right), but why would an indication that inflation is rising far faster than predicted imply that the pound should get stronger?
I have to admit that I was hoping that it would fall back to about $1.70/£, giving me about a 10% return. I didn't do it specifically to make money, but didn't think the dollar would ever get so weak.
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"but why would an indication that inflation is rising far faster than predicted imply that the pound should get stronger?"
Because the BofE will try to stop people spending so much by raising interest rates (you will borrow less, use your credit card less, mortgages will go up so you have less to spend etc). This should reduce inflation (esp since housing costs are no longer included in inflation measures). If interest rates go up, foreign investors invest in Britain to get a good return on their money. To do that they have to "buy" pounds, hence price of pounds goes up
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Phil
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David
if it's any consolation all the pundits said the pound was overvalued and should be at around $1.70. Probably the same one's who tip the winner of the 3:30 at Redcar.
JH
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"in the hope that the dollar would fall in the period following."
Surely you wanted it to rise so that you would get more pounds for your dollars??
" Obviously, it hasn't."
Yes it has - that's the problem for you.
In the short term pound will continue to rise because people believe that BofE will raise interest rates in May - our interest rates are quite high compared to other countries. If they do, pound will stay up in medium term (months?)
Dollar has been generally falling in value for a long time against the pound (and most other currencies), see 5 year trend at
finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=GBP...y.
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Phil
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Sorry Phil - that's what I meant to write. I wanted the exchange rate to fall, but the dollar, obviously, to rise.
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Oh, and don't forget, if you intend to go to the States "the value of the pound, oops, I mean dollar, will not be affected"
You are probably too young to remember a similar quote when we devalued in the late 1960s.
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Phil
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I would get my self a cheap flight to the states, and with my american cheque book drawn on my US bank I would have myself a darn fine vacation and buy myself some darn fine stuff to bring back, leaving a darn fine empty chequeing account.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Another option is to move it to an offshore dollar savings account with a British bank or building society. This will give you better interest rates and lower fees than a US account. It is often free to bring the money onshore if you use an onshore account with the same bank or building society.
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Agreed, either move it into an account that pays a higher rate, or go over to the US and spend it. Provided they dont' charge for it, you *may* even be able to get a credit or debit card from your US bank to pay the airfare with - and once you're in the US, close the account so you don't risk incurring charges on it at some point in the future unless you'll need it again.
There's a limit to how much cash you can export from a country too, but once you've done the above you should be well below the limit to bring your unspent dollars home with you.
The other option, if you don't *need* the money, is leave it sit in a higher-earning account until rates improve, which they must do sooner or later.
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If you're prepared to wait two or three years, then I'm sure that the dollar will increase in value considerably. In fact dollars must be a good investment now. They were the last time they reached $2 per pound - 1992 ish?
Can the United States really head that much further down? Unlikely. Can the UK really continue to thrive whilst Mr Brown takes our money and fritters it away? Unlikely.
Buy dollars.
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If you're prepared to wait two or three years then I'm sure that the dollar will increase in value considerably. In fact dollars must be a good investment now.
I wouldn't bet my pension on it.
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I'm now toying with a double whammy - buying a cheap house in USA with cheap dollars.
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>>>I'm now toying with a double whammy - buying a cheap house in USA with cheap dollars.
Been giving that idea some thought myself just lately.
Clk Sec
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Property market is depressed at the moment in the US, so who knows if it has further to fall or not. Make sure you dont get a US based mortgage tho, a lot of mortgage lenders are failing and selling on the loan book to others..
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Is there anything you could buy in the US over the Internet to use the dollars (provided you have a cheuqe book or debit card). You would need something that was light weight for minimal shipping cost and also would not incur import duty or VAT.
The cost to transfer the money back to the UK will certainly loose you further money in charges , even after the bad exchange rate .
Another posibility is you could tranfer the money to a PayPal account to use anywhere in the world on ebay.
Your final choice would be to give it to me - pipe down other BR's you did not suggest this!
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Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
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I'm in a similar situation but have travellors cheques left over from a visit to Florida.
I would like to buy some cheap cordless power tools from a US based internet retailer and have them sent to the UK, but we would need to get the travellors cheques converted into US dollars first, probably by opening a bank account.
Could anyone point me in the direction of a decent and low (zero) cost US bank account that I can access easily.?
Thanks
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Sorry if this topic has been raised before, but I am considering installing these lights in my hallway and wondered if anybody can give me any guidance tips on their installation, how to work out the number required per given area and best supply source.?
Thanks
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We had some installed temporarily in our new kitchen, but had to remove them for reasons that were nothing to do with them not performing. You will need the 1.2W style not the 1W as these are not light enough and even the 1.2W are not as bright as say a 20W halogen, although the light is a light whiter (or more blue?).
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I refer to the style of fencing where wooden or concrete posts support horizontal aris rails to which are nailed vertical featheredge boards.
I have always been under the impression that such a fence belongs to the person who has the aris rail on their side.
Am I right? Does this carry any weight in law?
TIA.
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No.
Convention only dictates that the outside face of the fence faces out from the owners land, so the neighbours see a neater panel than the owner.
But it is only convention and the only way to identify who owns the boundary detail (fence, hedge) is to look at the deeds and if they do not mention it, to ask who paid for the detail to be installed. Of course a boundary detail may not actually lie on the boundary - which causes more problems which a decent boundary dispute surveyor can solve.
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Convention only dictates that the outside face of the fence faces out from the owners land so the neighbours see a neater panel than the owner.
The odd thing about this is that it means that the vertical boards would have to be nailed on from the neighbours side. If you're having a fence erected to block out an obnoxious neighbour then you may well not want to ask their permission for you (or your contractor) to go on their land. If they're really obnoxious they may refuse anyway, and that would leave you with no alternative but to nail the boards on from your side.
--
L\'escargot.
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Google gave the following for "ownership of fence"
www.gardenlaw.co.uk/boundaries.html
www.boundary-problems.co.uk/mainboundaries.htm
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Thank-you for those rapid replies and links.
I wonder why the term 'Can of Worms' has come into my mind? :o)
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Oh dear, I hate booundary disputes !
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>>>Convention only dictates that the outside face of the fence faces out from the owners land, so the neighbours see a neater panel than the owners.
That would be a generous gesture. I've never known it - nor would I ever expect it.
Clk Sec
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That would be a generous gesture. I've never known it - nor would I ever expect it.
I wonder where you live.
It is the norm to have the best side out. I have rarely seen it otherwise.
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It is the norm to have the best side out. I have rarely seen it otherwise.
But how do you construct it that way without going on your neighbours land to do it? Unless of course you leave a sufficient working gap between the fence and the actual boundary line.
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L\'escargot.
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>> That would be a generous gesture. I've never known it - nor would I ever expect it. >> I wonder where you live. It is the norm to have the best side out. I have rarely seen it otherwise.
The problem is most people can construct a fence and the tradition or correct way to build is being forgotten as time marches on, like many jobs they are being de-skilled to the point that any cowboy can jump on the bandwagon and make a reasonable living.The outcome is shoddy work and correct ways are forgotten as the knowledge of doing thinks correctly is not handed down from father to son.
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rustbucket (the original)
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I wonder where you live. It is the norm to have the best side out. I have rarely seen it otherwise.
Our neighbours on both sides installed fences with "best" side in at my request. It is a lot easier to grow plants up the "rough" side and a fence is ideal for growing peas and beans without having a dedicated vegetable plot. We shared the cost of the fences, by the way.
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30 years ago our neighbours didn't like grandma-in-laws mixed hedge so asked if they could replace it - duly done with leylandii. Three years ago they admitted this was a huge mistake so asked if they could, again, replace the hedge but this time with close board fence especially as they now have alsations. They have given us the neat out side side. Technically they own the actual fence, but the border is ours.
The new neighbours on the right have now replaced their hedge with close boards - we have the inside or rough side.
This could cause confusion in the future as to ownership but fortunately our deeds are very clear (ours is the older property).
Our garden sadly appears much smaller having gained fence boundaries and I think shows the urbanisation of a rural lane plus we rue the loss of the sound proofing the hedges gave. Both our neighbours have also removed the hedges from the front of their properties and I am shocked at how much traffic noise there is from the lane, which we are unaware of behind a evergreen hedge..
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I wonder why the term 'Can of Worms' has come into my mind? :o)
Can of worms indeed! Because we constructed a length of our fence with the "best" side facing us (the rest is in separate panels) our obnoxious neighbour says (quite wrongly of course) that that particular length belongs to him!
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L\'escargot.
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Time may have changed things but going back a long time (which I am unfortunately able to) the conventional phrase with fences was always "Fair face to your neighbour" That was always adhered to in my time in the house building trade and I had presumed it was a legal requirement.
wemyss
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(which I am unfortunately able to)
wemyss you must be gratefull for growing older as there is only one alternative
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Quite right Defender....I hadnt quite thought of it like that. But its annoying that the local undertaker in our very small town who has never even acknowledged me before is now on nodding terms when I walk down into town. In fact on Monday morning a little smile even crossed his lips.
My wife says I'm imagining it.........
wemyss
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wemyss ,be very carefull ,the undertaker is measuring you
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I am of to Croatia & Montenegro soon, what is the best currency to take.
Euros
Sterling
USA Dollars
Cash
Travellers cheques.
Are their Visa systems honest, safe to use and reliable?
Thanks.
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? should be very welcome, US$ slightly less so, but still good for an emergency almost anywhere in the world. I keep US200 in my wallet at all times.
No point in taking £ or travellers cheques. Visa should be fine, so long as you don't let the card out of your sight.
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In the Balkans Euros are number 1 (particularly now in view of $ weakness) you will probably find somewhere to change sterling and credit cards will be okay but rule of thumb is to stick to the bank branch ATM's and never the stand alone units.
Not sure what you mean by cash in the context given!
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In January of last year, I asked advice about buying a data projector - see www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=38386 - and as a result, I decided to hold off. I had wondered about buying 2nd hand, and the advice I received on that occasion suggested that it might be rather risky.
Well, I'm thinking again - but this time I reckon I should buy something new. My main considerations will be price and reliability. Price is not too difficult to research, reliability is a bit moreso.
My questions:
1) Does anyone have any idea about how different manufacturers compare for reliability? I did find something on the web that suggested that Epson were good, but that may be out of date.
2) I tend to believe that if something is actually manufactured in Japan, it is more likely to be reliable that something assembled elsewhere. Is it easy, or even possible, to find out where a machine is manufactured?
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1) Does anyone have any idea about how different manufacturers compare for reliability?
Not off-hand, but I've found PC Magazine (and its website) or CNET tend to be among the more reliable for product reviews.
2) Is it easy or even possible to find out where a machine is manufactured?
Yes, call in to your nearest high-street store. The country of manufacture has to be marked on the item. But bear in mind that most manufacturers subcontract assembly of at least some products, and that (in the case of reputable Japanese brands, at least) the same quality will be demanded of the subcontractor as the manufacturer would expect of their own factory.
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SWMBO is 40 in a couple of weeks. The only hint that she has given for a present is an ipod type thingy. For those guys amongst us, the fact that I even have a hint I am sure you will appreciate is a real bonus!
Anyway she wants an mp3 player that she can also get a docking station thingy for. Not my personal choice and not sure if she will use it, but its her birthday so I won't question it!
All the family currently have mp3 players which we use Musicmatch to load up. AFAIK, ipods use separate software so I take it they wouldn't work with Musicmatch? So would I need to have a different software package and folders for that?
If so, I would rather avoid the ipod so can anyone recommend a decent mp3 with similar style to ipod? She has a tiny wee mp3 but seems to be preferring something that has a semi-decent size screen showing tracks etc?
Any thoughts, suggestions?
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Consider a Toshiba Gigabeat. Available in various sizes from 10GB to 60GB, and NOT an IPOD. I bought mine (40GB) in Feb from ebay for about £60, roughly half the price of the equivalent sized IPOD. It comes complete with docking station/charger.
For example:
tinyurl.com/3483ga {Shortened link to ebay - DD}
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Creative Labs products are excellent:
uk.europe.creative.com/
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Nicole has a Zen nano plus 1gb, its small and sounds really good, - its used mainly in the gym
Junior has a Zen V plus, because its flash looking, but still sounds really good.
Both reliable, rugged and sound excelent.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Nicole has a Zen nano plus 1gb its small and sounds really good - its used mainly in the gym Junior has a Zen V plus because its flash looking but still sounds really good. Both reliable rugged and sound excelent.
Both Creative Labs, Cheddar juniors #1 and #2 have Muvo TXs, similarly excellent as is the X-Fi sound card in my workstation.
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What deternines whether the government takes any action on a petition? Is it purely down to the number of signatures?
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L\'escargot.
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Is it purely down to the number of signatures?
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L'escargot.
In my view, almost certainly.
Clk Sec
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Has the government ever taken action based on a petition? Seriously, name me one example. We got an email about the road charging, but it hasn't had any influence on the plans.
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>>Has the government ever taken action based on a petition?
With 80% of all new laws not originating in our elected parliament, but created by unelected EU officials. Do you think a petition has any point now?
--
Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
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< snip >
The clue for the snippage is in the title of the thread... I have a QUESTION
PG
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Now don't laugh I am being perfectly serious....................
I have for some time noticed that it is becoming harder to buy ripe avocados, they are always too hard to eat. It does not make any difference where they are bought be it M&S or Lidle . I have even tried leaving them to ripen but they seem to go off before that happens.
I find them delicious but why are they always unripe now ?..Are there any chefs on this site that can tell me what is going on or exactly when they are ready to eat or how to ripen them.
Seriously Mal.
I may regret this posting ;-)
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Or it could turn into the greatest debate ever on avocados ;-).>> Now don't laugh I am being perfectly serious....................
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Not laughing I promise! We love avocados and have them on every salad, whole and in sandwiches and have had no problem in buying them "ready to eat ". I guess we buy 90% of them from Sainsbury's. We usually test them by seeing whether they have very slight "give" to a light press with a thumb. If they don't give" they would need a day or two to ripen out of fridge in kitchen.
I am not a chef and have very little connection to any kitchen!
--
Phil
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www.avocado.org/about/fruit_selection.php
Although heavily weighted to Californian Avocados seems to answer some questions, perhaps in these days of 365 availability that a particular variety of Avocados are produced for the Supermarkets. Have you tried a non-franchised independent specialist (AKA Greengrocers) they still survive despite the homogeneous relentless advance of the Supermarkets.
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Have you tried a non-franchised independent specialist (AKA Greengrocers) ..
or waitrose.
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We actually do most of our fresh food shopping at farm farm shops especially for our meat products, we tried their avocados but they were also hard, we just don't buy them any more now.
We will try Sainsburys.
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I buy avocados probably every two weeks. Used to make home made Guacamole where you need really ripe ones.
The only place to consistently find Avocados in the correct level of ripeness is Waitrose. Sometimes they are a tad too hard but always soften up at home. The worse place is Morrisons - usually hard and dont ripen without going rotten.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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SWNBO has decreed this to be this summer's destination of choice.
Any experiences ?
Hotels, car hire etc ?
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SWNBO?
What's that? She who's never been obeyed? In that case I guess the decree will be ignored and you won't be going to Sardinia :-)
(Sorry, PU. I've never been to Sardinia - though some of my neighbours have a couple of years back. They are elderly, and would not have hired a car, but they did enjoy the experience.
If you have not already looked, do look at www.tripadvisor.com They have plenty of hotel reviews for Sardinia.)
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SWNBO was a typo. Normally I would have (in the absence of an edit button) poted a correction, but I came to the conclusion that the word "Not" worked just as well. Just had a telling off now for forgetting to go toTesco after work.
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Anybody got/used one of these? I may be able to get a used one for a good price but it wouldn't be any good to me unless it was comfortable to sleep in. The manufacturer website doesn't go into a lot of detail and has obviously been translated into English - www.comanche.biz/en_home.asp?g=en_model_brisa
I need to know whether they come with a mattress fitted, and if so how comfortable the mattress is - if it's no better than lying on the ground I'll have to forget about it! We don't go camping on bike rallies because neither of us have the spine for it, literally. However my trike has a towbar, and if one of these things is comfortable enough to sleep on for a night or two then I could be in rally heaven!
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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How tall are you, and will you be solo/dual? I can source you a caravan than weighs less, and has a double bed and kitchen area, and 6' headroom.
It'll be 60s/70s vintage, German made and looks great. Cost of the order of £1,500, a tad more if it's really good.
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Sorry, the price of the Brisa is less than half that and it's also small enough to tow behind a trike. One of the advantages of the collapsible trailer tent as opposed to a normal height caravan - even a small one - is that it is very compact when towing. It's really only for going to bike rallies and having somewhere comfortable to pass out when dawn breaks. Oh, and to hide my beer. Thanks for the offer though!
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Family Barchetta (me, Mrs B, BabyB) may well fly to Australia this summer, as the nipper will be 20 months old and hence still eligible for a cheap ticket (2 years old is the cutoff point AFAIK) and that way he can meet his cousins, Mrs B her brother and school friends, and I can go surfing :-)
Anyone done this trip with a child of similar age? We´re a bit wary about having a nightmare journey and then ending up with a toddler who thinks night is day and vice versa at the other end. He´s, ahem, a bit active, although when he´s asleep he sleeps solidly for 11-12 hours.
All advice gratefully received. We´d be departing from Frankfurt of course. Our maximum stay is 3 weeks - is this a bit short to get him reprogrammed to the time difference?
Regards,
Barchettaman
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Flown to aus lots of time. Youngest we took sproggy was 5 years old.
Its a nightmare plane journey, no other way to describe it. with a baby it will be 10 times worse.
However, despite the awful journey its worth going. Jetlag out is recovered inside 24 hours (the first night is a mess - after that its fine) so three weeks is fine.
Windsurfing? mind the great whites and the salt water crocks......
where ya going?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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We did NZ with a 9 month old.
We flew via LA and had a one day stopover there each way, so breaking the journey. had a hire car and spent one day in the Getty museum - very pleasant (and free), on the other way we did the zoo - not so good - not realy set up for people to walk round. maybe do the beach instead?
LA airport is the pits (and with the new us terror stuff it will be even worse) minimal facilities and not pleasant.
we got in in the evening so had a nights sleep, day pottering then on with the long flight.
Maybe do things the other way stopping in Singapore or HK ?
I found a web site with details of the legroom provided by the different airlines - we went Air NZ because of that or do a loop?
have you sorted car seats ? We have in the past taken them with us because of stories about the terrible stuff provided by hire companies.
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Did the Oz odyssey the summer before last, broke the journey in Singapore on the way there and Bangkok on the way back. I think our longest flight was 13 hours. If you do stop in Asia, one thing you should prepare for, if you don't know about it already, is the heat and humidity - far heavier and more relentless than (for example) southern Spain. Hotel standards are very high in both of those cities, Bangkok is somewhat more interesting if grubbier. The seats at the bulkhead (ie first in the row) seemed to be reserved for families with small children as there was a fold down "tray" for holding a cot. Don't know whether they cost more or not, but probably worth it.
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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My 5 year old has now done approximately 20 flights to and from South America (24 hours door to door, about 17 hours in the air). The 2 year old has done it about 6 times and they both did their first flight befor ethey were 6 months old. Feel free to ignore any/all of the following, but much of it works for me/us.
Under 2 is cheap because they don't get a seat. Huge mistake. If you can afford it, get them their own seat. Only once did we travel without a seat using the carrycot or our own laps. It was purgatory and wrecked about the first three days after the flight.
Take a dvd player, take whatever are his favourite films. Take a bag full of all the foods which are his favourites, and stuff healthiness for once. Avoid stuff causing activity - caffeine, chocolate, sugar, etc. etc. if you can.
Calculate where the three "nights" are in relationship to each other - by which I mean the night at home, the night in Australia and the "night" on the plane. Start disrupting his sleep about three days before you fly. Essentially you;re going to take 5 nights to completely change his sleep schedule with the flight as the half way point. Is that clear ? I know what I mean. For us that means a fairly easy move sleep time and [most importantly] wake time 2 hours earlier for 5 days one way and two days later for 5 days the other way.
Make sure the day before you travel is a tiring one and then don't let him sleep enough that night. Don't let him sleep in the car on the way to the airport. Obviously not so little sleep that he becomes cranky, just enough so that he is ready to sleep on the plane. Ours also sleep 11 - 12 hours and done right that's 2/3rds of the flight - eating and DVDs easily fill the rest.
If he is still using a bottle with powdered milk then beware, we have found that both of ours rebel at "foreign" milk. Not that there's any material difference, its just not quite the taste that they're used to, and your chances of buying the same brand abroad are low.
If he uses a dummy to sleep, take extras - a different style purchased abroad can also cause a revolution.
If he does use a dummy, have one ready for take off / landing to avoid the ear-popping pain. If nt a dummy user, then make sure he's ready for a bottle, ro carry some sweets or whatever he will suck/chew.
Try getting two seats together (child + 1 adult) and then a seat apart (other adult). That way you two get to split the work and maintain some kind of sleep levels yourself by changing seats with each other half way.
Don' t forget entertaining stuff for the airport - we find plane watching is a great activity since it a) works and b) there's no shortage of planes to look at.
Take a plastic sheet. You can end up changing the baby in all sorts of places, and the floor is a lot more acceptable if you have a piece of plastic big enough for the child to lie on.
Unlikely though it is, planes can be diverted, delayed or just plain late. Do not cut too fine on the supplies only to be well caught out with an unscheduled stop.
More as and when [ or if ] I think of it.
As a foot note, I have to say that we have no issue whatsoever, no unacceptable issue shifting times and flights are simple. But we do prepare well.
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My 7 year old started doing the UK-Oz trip aged 4 months and learnt to roll over on the floor of a jumbo jet! 12 months is about the limit for the cot type arrangements on the bukhead wall. Make sure you book the seats behind the bulkhead with the tickets.
Before 6 months was easy on the food front for us as my daughter was completely breastmilk fed so SWMBO had a ready supply of on the go food! Changing a nappy on the plane is a sort of houdini affair with the fold down table in the already small toilet cubicles. Like No-FM2R said, a large plastic nappy mat and do the change on the floor....quicker and much less stress.
At 18 months we did the flights again.....still no spare seat which was a mistake, daughter was fine but we arraived exhausted.
Aged 4 we got the mandatory extra seat, much easer flight but jet lag much worse.
hth
StarGazer
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>>Try getting two seats together (child + 1 adult) and then a seat apart (other adult).
Does that show enormous levels of consideration towards anybody else who might be seated with the two seats together?
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Mapmaker I am resisting any comments.....but always try to book non-squawking.
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Don't be foolish.
A parent cannot sit undisturbed next to theri own child whereas a stranger can do so easily.
If you have nothing of value to add, then why add anything ? Although I can see how you would find that restrictive.
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" parent cannot sit undisturbed next to theri own child whereas a stranger can do so easily. "
That was not their point was it? They said one seat with child and one elsewhere to have a break.
Not defending that at all but that was my interpretation. Personally dislike travelling long distance with noisy kids nearby.... that's why they invented the Walkman* ;-)
* Obviously have an iPOD now but the Walkman brand finally back.
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Mark I'm sure you have the sweetest, quietest, most charming children. You are in a minority. Subjecting a third party to a seat next to a potentially screaming child is thoughtlessness beyond belief when the parents have the opportunity to take three adjacent seats and insulate other travellers from that child.
In any event, I know that when I was a child, I would have found having to sit next to a third party unsettling in the extreme. To a child like me (no doubt your children are super-confident angels to whom this would not apply), being seated between parents would offer a much greater chance of a quiet journey for all.
The same goes for teenagers with noisy laptops and businessmen with ever-ringing mobile phones. Selfish, inconsiderate behaviour.
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"Selfish, inconsiderate behaviour"
Hear hear mapmaker ;-)
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M
"ever-ringing mobile phones". In a plane?
JH
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Subjecting a third party to a seat next to a ....... child In any event I know that when I was a child I would have found having to sit next to a third party unsettling in the extreme
In this PC world it is often not allowed by the cabin crew. There have been several reported news items on the subject.
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If you want two seats together for parent and child, and a separate seat for the "off duty" parent, book on an airline where you can reserve your seats in advance. Then:
- on A330/340s, seats are 2-4-2. Book a window and aisle seat pair.
- on 767s, seats are 2-3-2. Book a window and aisle seat pair.
- on 747s, seats are 3-4-3 except in the aft cabin and near exits/galleys/toilets. You'll find a twin seat somewhere in the aft cabin if you look for one.
- 777s are either 2-5-2, 3-3-3 or 3-4-3 depending on airline. For configurations with three seats beside the window, this narrows to two in the rear cabin.
The off-duty parent is best off booking an aisle seat so as not to disrupt other passengers during change-over. Booking that seat on a two- or four- seat row lessens the chance of other passengers beside you, making for better rest when off-duty.
Having a seat near the galley and toilet block (both usually in the aft cabin) is handy for nappy changes and getting bottles heated by the cabin crew.
Also consider whether you're better off with a one-stop flight or more stopovers (less disruption vs. longer flying time) ...
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Just trying to appoint a solicitor for sale of a freehold house, and a couple of questions spring to mind.
1. Just how much work is there really involved for a solicitor? SEnd out engagement letter (30 minutes?) Draft contract (10 minutes?) Forward fixtures and fittings form to vendor and request guarantees etc (10 minutes). Forward to purchaser's solicitor (10 minutes). Exchange contracts over telephone (2 minutes). Complete over telephone (2 minutes) Receive money from purchaser, pay off mortgage, pay agent, pay balance to vendor (20 minutes).
2. In instructing a solicitor to sell a freehold property, are there any circumstances whatsoever under which there could be an annual service charge that would explain why the solicitor is requesting this information? Or is it just sloppy behaviour?
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1. Just how much work is there really involved for a solicitor? SEnd out engagement letter (30 minutes?) Draft contract (10 minutes?) Forward fixtures and fittings form to vendor and request guarantees etc (10 minutes). Forward to purchaser's solicitor (10 minutes). Exchange contracts over telephone (2 minutes). Complete over telephone (2 minutes) Receive money from purchaser pay off mortgage pay agent pay balance to vendor (20 minutes).
Shop about. I used a conveyancer in Manchester (Hodari) , who did a great job for a low fee. Put "conveyancing solicitor quote" into Your Favourite Search Engine and see what comes out.
2. In instructing a solicitor to sell a freehold property are there any circumstances whatsoever under which there could be an annual service charge that would explain why the solicitor is requesting this information? Or is it just sloppy behaviour?
I don't understand the question - is it about a standard form of some sort?
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1. Just how much work is there really involved for a solicitor? Send out engagement letter (30 minutes?) Draft contract (10 minutes?) Forward fixtures and fittings form to vendor and request guarantees etc (10 minutes). Forward to purchaser's solicitor (10 minutes). Exchange contracts over telephone (2 minutes). Complete over telephone (2 minutes) Receive money from purchaser, pay off mortgage, pay agent, pay balance to vendor (20 minutes).
You've missed the big one, which is request, chase, consider and advise on the title and all the charges and searches from the local authority, lender, etc. I reckon that the totality for that part alone is probably somewhere in the region of two hours. Your time estimates are reasonable if everything went really smoothly although you'd also need to take into account telephone enquiries fromt the client and agent and recording the content of those calls.
2. In instructing a solicitor to sell a freehold property, are there any circumstances whatsoever under which there could be an annual service charge that would explain why the solicitor is requesting this information? Or is it just sloppy behaviour?
I guess there could be some kind of maintenance charge for an unadopted road/driveway etc. I wouldn't have expected to see them referred to as service charges though. Mostly the reason why flats are sold with a share of the freehold, rather than the freehold on their own property, is to ensure the enforceability of maintenance agreements to the common parts, so it would be surprising to see this on a freehold sale. Still, it'll do no harm to get confirmation from the vendor that the property owner isn't on the hook over any charges and no one thinks he is.
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Thanks David. This is for me as vendor though. The searches are made by the purchaser, aren't they?
The service charges bit was sent to me in a fee quotation. "Thank you for asking us to quote for selling your freehold property. Our fees will be £1,750 + VAT. Please advise what service charges are payable in respect of the property.'
Seems pretty steep... particularly for a firm that sent out a standard leasehold quotation.
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£1,750 + VAT - do they wear a mask and cloak and ride a horse? I'd ask for a quotation breakdown.
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I did get three typographical errors and a broken web link for free in their quotation email. So maybe it is worth it?
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Drop the thousand and you are much closer
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Does seem steep. We sold in November 2006 and our solicitors fee was around £450 + VAT. So far as I can recall - the only additional cost was a funds transfer fee of £29.
We were selling only and there was no chain involved behind the buyer.
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The service charges bit was sent to me in a fee quotation. "Thank you for asking us to quote for selling your freehold property. Our fees will be £1 750 + VAT. Please advise what service charges are payable in respect of the property.'
Pfffft! Get an online quote via www.reallymoving.com or similar.
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