Tango

So, my phone camera won't hack it then! But, seriously, thanks for your comprehensive answer. I used to see posts on Facebook from a group that concentrate on photography of the Milky Way and some of their photos of the Pillars of Creation and the various Nebulae were amazing, but it took some really serious kit to get those photos. Unfortunately I don't see their posts in my feed anymore, but I'm loving your shots of the Milky Way.

I dedicate this one to @Swagman

There's a lot of industrial action going on at the DVLA at the moment and lots of expats here are inundating them with requests for Certificates of Conformity so that they can exchange their driving licences for French ones.

There was a certain inevitability about it. It seems that over-promising and under-delivering is a bit of a genetic trait here. Most people I've met here have been lovely, so I guess it's their desire to please that just blows up in their faces on many occasions. And hiding from the fall-out is the other trait.

Love these Milky Way pics. What gear do you use to capture them? Obviously my phone camera or 10 year old Lumix would not be up to the job!

Missus got her car back, but the rear light cluster hasn't been replaced and the passenger door mirror won't adjust properly now. And the dealer is ignoring her messages! She says that she's going to set one of her colleagues onto them later if she hears nothing back soon!

Wow Yen, you need to talk, mate!

My missis' daughter had an Aprilia 125 scoot that gave no end of problems. In the end it developed an electrical fault that we couldn't get to the bottom of, so she sold it as a non-runner. Funnily enough though, apparently it was some special edition or something, so the guy who bought it paid more for it than what my missus paid for it as a runner!

People here have to change to the new card irrespective of their old card, if they have one. It's causing all sorts of issues because some folk who had the previous one that had an indefinite time limit still think that they don't need to change them, in spite of the French government posting all sorts of adverts advising that they do need to be changed! A fair number of older people, who are not on social media, are going to fall foul of this. There's also a good bit of misinformation circulating that isn't helping the situation.

A box of matches job?

We've been through that, Pete. A file of documents that had to be submitted and then a trip to Carcassonne to hand in passport style photos and have our fingerprints done. But we've got the cards now, so it's all good for the next 5 years.

My biggest gripe at the moment is concerning the transfer of the private pension fund from my last employer. I've been retired for a year now and they're still fucking me about! First it was the pension administrators who took forever to respond to my Independent Financial Adviser and then put up as many obstacles as they could. Once we got around that they then said that they've passed it on to the pension trustees, who are ignoring everyone! I've even got my old manager at the company to put pressure on the payroll manager to get things sorted, but nothing! Fortunately I've got other private pensions that are paying out, so I'm not skint, but I'm fully expecting the chancellor of the exchequer to start looking at ways to get his hands on some of the money in private pensions soon and I'd rather get all the money transferred to my overseas fund than see a big chunk get grabbed by those bastards! Anyway, that's what's gripping my shit at the moment!

There must be something happening to you at the moment that makes you shout FFS!! Get it off your chest here. You may get some sympathy and encouragement, but likely you'll just get called a cunt, however, you'll likely feel better whichever!

The courtesy car that my missus had recently had the lane keeping assist or whatever it's called. In the end we turned it off (although it turned itself back on each time the ignition was turned on) because it would wobble and tug the steering wheel, not only when changing lanes or overtaking, but often when there was some tarmac banding in the road! The last straw was when I was overtaking a cyclist. I was indicating, mainly to warn the vehicles behind, and moved over the white line to give him plenty of room, but the haptic feedback really tugged the steering back. So, if they think that the technology is there for this kind of thing I think there's still a way to go yet.

Missus' bike.

It reminds me of the prohibition era in the US........and I can see it going the same way. But time will tell!

Reminds me of when my last company fitted trackers to all our cars. A lot of guys were very pissed off about it. One of the guys phoned the HR manager one Monday morning and asked her where she went at the weekend. She said that it was none of his business, so he told her that where he went at the weekend was none of her business either!! Shortly afterwards the trackers were all removed!

I think that you're being very dismissive of the dangers of stopping in a lay-by in Kent...........and shitty is a very distinct possibility!

Thanks guys......

I think that this is something that's been raised many times in the past. I honestly don't think that it's something that could safely be applied to bikes. Imagine a system that shuts the throttle, or even applies the brakes whilst the bike is leaned into a bend? Suddenly having to compensate as the bike starts to run wide due to changed speed? A few people having accidents and getting seriously injured or killed would have the governments demanding the systems being disabled in quick time. His anti-EU rhetoric gives the impression of a certain amount of, dare I say it, scaremongering!

Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland

An apothecary in Lucerne, Switzerland.