Tango

Mother's and Father's days will be their next target!

France like bringing in lots of legislation...........and the French like to ignore legislation! The French are very inventive at finding loopholes or ways around rules, it's a national sport!

Bit like here then?

Got all my ducks in a row!

I'm not aware of this game, but I used to participate in a drinking game called "fuzzy duck"!

Lots of people on strike today in protest at the government's plan to raise the retirement age here. It's actually not affected us directly, but some folks on some FB groups complaining about various government and municipal facilities closed. I've been coming to France for many years and strikes are a regular feature here, but some of the "expats" are having a hard time understanding this!

The biker groups have been protesting for many years and forced previous government back-downs, but it looks like the government is now facing down the bikers. Yes, the implementation is the next hurdle, which looks like it could drag on, but the government are pushing for the bike CT to come into effect later this year, ready or not!

The difference in France is that client journalism in support of the government is almost non-existent. If anything, the media is more likely to support the bikers than the government!

Looks like the Controle Technique (MOT) is close to being introduced in France. Motorcycle lobby groups have fiercely opposed it over the years, but it looks like the French government have finally caved in to pressure to introduce it. Details are still sketchy and there's a lot of speculation over what will be covered by it and the implementation of testing stations. Testing stations for cars are independent from garages or dealerships, so setting up independent testing stations for bikes could take some time. There's a lot of speculation around how the test would treat modifications to bikes, with rumours that owners would be encouraged to keep original exhausts, amongst other things. This could have a big impact on the secondhand bike market, where many bikes have been modified and OEM parts may no longer be available to return older bikes to original specs. Obviously it could also have a big impact on the custom bike scene too. Interesting times ahead.

Using the other one?

It's like the old joke about 2 guys walking through the savanna and they meet a hungry lion. One of the immediately reaches into his backpack and gets a pair of running shoes out and starts putting them on. The other guy says "you're wasting your time, you'll never outrun a lion!" He replies " I know that but, as long as I can run faster than you!"

Oh dear, he won't be at all happy. His step son is an Arsenal supporter, so he'll be ripping the piss good and proper!

If they lost my mate who was here last weekend will have a right moody on!

Sorry @Slowlycatchymonkey , but I think I've discovered why the delivery of your new bike took so long!

@Marcel take note!

Happy birthday to Mr Slowly. It's not Mother's day today is it? I'm hoping not, as I've not organised getting a card and flowers sent to my mum!

Had an exciting day yesterday. Had the appointment with the anaesthetist, but typically he was running late. So Mandy had to phone the cardiologist to say that we were late. They rearranged my appointment to after lunch, so we popped to the supermarket to get some stuff for dinners and had some lunch there. Got to the cardiologist nice and early, but typically he was running late, so Mandy had to phone our GP to say that we were running late. They asked how late we were going to be, we said probably about 10 mins, so they said not to worry and just come along anyway, so we did. It all worked out in the end, but we both definitely needed a beer yesterday evening!

Why do people announce that they've given up drinking alcohol like it's something to be proud of?