The Off Topic Topic

[Threviel]

Huh? Normandy and Bretagne had a most pleasing climate when we were there. Compared to Scandinavia at least.

[Duque de Bragança]

Totally based on stereotypes and all of these are retirees plus class doesn't necessarily equal wealth:
Spain = working class.
Portugal = middle-middle class (Victor Meldrew, golf).
France = upper-middle class looking for an affordable alternative to a second home in, say, Cornwall or the Lake District (John Lewis, Le Creuset, country walks).

hmm, ish.
I would note you do get working class people in France too, though they tend to be those who have pretensions of being middle class or at the least had professional careers despite the working class background.

PS: Brits are infamous for not learning the language in places like Algarve or Madeira. For some reason, in France the pressure to learn the language is stronger.

Also class. The Brits in France are more likely to be upper middle-class and take great pride in (showing off) how local they've become, want to learn the language etc (and have the resources to do it more effectively).

This is true.
Related there's also the factor of why they chose those countries.
Brits in Spain- its hot innit. Like Britain but hot=optimum.
Brits in France- the culture is a big part of it. France has cachet.

Not entirely convinced by the class argument. Property in Algarve and Madeira is not affordable for chavs. Perceived culture maybe.
Not to mention Brits in France don't buy in the most expensive regions in France and sometimes end up in hinterland and no so hot regions (as in rainy) such as Normandy and Brittany.

OTOH, ignoring totally a language does not do wonders to appreciate the culture, kind of egg and chicken argument I know.

Class has very little to do with wealth, especially these days when plumbers easily earn more than librarians and some of the widely regarded shittiest jobs going (e.g. call centres) are middle class.
Its not the charvas off the council estate buying property in Spain. Its older working class people who worked hard/got lucky/found a way to hack the system over the decades.

Normandy is pretty warm and comfortable by our standards. If Brittany is ought like Cornwall I expect it to to be tropical :p

I mentioned chavs, not plumbers. Mixing up the two is macronnard-like, careful!

If plumbers are self-employed, yes they can make quite a bit but it is still a lot of work. So very unlike chavs (lumpenproletariat vs proletariat). Well-off plumbers being self-employed so not exactly fitting in grandpa Karl's scheme though.

As for Normandy warm  I guess Albion is worse than I remember. Normandy is not cold (specially compared with Scandinavia  ) but has a really oceanic weather so rainy (less than Cornwall hopefully), very temperate which is a bonus actually nowadays in summer.
Same goes for Brittany.

[Zoupa]

Yes, you need special pots and pans, but a lot of pots and pans are compatible, even cheap Ikea stuff.

Got a question on that actually. We just moved and the range is gas for the first time. How can we tell if our pots and pans are ok to use?

[Threviel]

Shouldn't everything be fine with gas?

[Admiral Yi]

Got a question on that actually. We just moved and the range is gas for the first time. How can we tell if our pots and pans are ok to use?

Not made of paper. 

[Josquius]

I mentioned chavs, not plumbers. Mixing up the two is macronnard-like, careful!

If plumbers are self-employed, yes they can make quite a bit but it is still a lot of work. So very unlike chavs (lumpenproletariat vs proletariat). Well-off plumbers being self-employed so not exactly fitting in grandpa Karl's scheme though.

You're the one who brought charvas into it :p

Whether you're self employed has little to do with the working /middle class distinction. Marxism does its own thing altogether distinct from the British system (though Marx was undoubtedly influenced by it in his writing).
It's such a fluffy thing though the best definition is generally one of manual work vs desk work.
Very timey wimey stuff though with it being more what your parents did than what you did which makes it.

but has a really oceanic weather so rainy (less than Cornwall hopefully),

If the weather is better than Cornwall, land of wine and palm trees, then it's the torrid climes :p

[Jacob]

Got a question on that actually. We just moved and the range is gas for the first time. How can we tell if our pots and pans are ok to use?

I don't think there's any special requirements. I've been cooking with gas the last 25 years or so with whatever came to hand.

[Eddie Teach]

Got a question on that actually. We just moved and the range is gas for the first time. How can we tell if our pots and pans are ok to use?

I don't think there's any special requirements. I've been cooking with gas the last 25 years or so with whatever came to hand.

https://youtu.be/X6A_1h1fexk

[grumbler]

Got a question on that actually. We just moved and the range is gas for the first time. How can we tell if our pots and pans are ok to use?

Not made of paper. 

Keep the paper pots and pans filled with water, and they won't burn up.

[Syt]

Austrian labor minister Aschbacher is under criticism. It looks like in her bachelor's paper and and her doctorate's paper she, uhm, "failed to mark quotes as such" (i.e. plagiarized).

What makes it embarrassing is that sections of the paper read as if translated by a really bad translation software into German, or by someone who fails to grasp basic German syntax.

Well, she has resigned, not accepting any responsibility ("Well, my professors accepted it!") and blaming a witch hunt.

Meanwhile there's plenty jokes that Chancellor Kurz was smart to drop out of university, therefore avoiding such pitfalls.

[Sheilbh]

In unexpected side-effects of covid and lockdown - deer herds are at their largest in the UK in 1000 years and are causing merry havoc in the countryside. Estimates are there's about 2 million wild deer on the loose:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/10/wild-deer-set-to-wreak-havoc-in-uk-woodlands-as-venison-demand-plunges

A big issue has been the decline of the hospitality industry meaning there aren't as many orders for venison which is, of course, a deeply sustainable red meat.

So for Brits who eat meat - help the countryside and order some venison
https://deerbox.co.uk/

[celedhring]

In unexpected side-effects of covid and lockdown - deer herds are at their largest in the UK in 1000 years and are causing merry havoc in the countryside. Estimates are there's about 2 million wild deer on the loose:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/10/wild-deer-set-to-wreak-havoc-in-uk-woodlands-as-venison-demand-plunges

A big issue has been the decline of the hospitality industry meaning there aren't as many orders for venison which is, of course, a deeply sustainable red meat.

So for Brits who eat meat - help the countryside and order some venison
https://deerbox.co.uk/

Wild animals are reclaiming the Spanish wilderness, too. 

https://twitter.com/mort/status/1347661903368171520

[The Brain]

In unexpected side-effects of covid and lockdown - deer herds are at their largest in the UK in 1000 years and are causing merry havoc in the countryside. Estimates are there's about 2 million wild deer on the loose:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/10/wild-deer-set-to-wreak-havoc-in-uk-woodlands-as-venison-demand-plunges

A big issue has been the decline of the hospitality industry meaning there aren't as many orders for venison which is, of course, a deeply sustainable red meat.

So for Brits who eat meat - help the countryside and order some venison
https://deerbox.co.uk/

Time to bring back wolves?

[Tonitrus]

I am not going to order a deer box.  I'll let Brain do that.

[Sheilbh]

Wild animals are reclaiming the Spanish wilderness, too. 

https://twitter.com/mort/status/1347661903368171520

As they say truly nature is healing everywhere.