Jur

Is Semana Santa getting to you?

Sharon B

Nah, just too much time at the Clubhouse

EsuriJohn

When TELEFONICA grrr wont give you a line and ADSL and the Portuguese Vodaphone Dongle goes belly up where else can you keep in touch with the world. This is posted from Marco in Laguna sq where we can get both manchada and wifi.

Jon-Bxl

Hi John sorry you still are having problems with Vodaphone. I use the TMN dongle as recommended by Alandeve on this thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=alandeve

It's pay-as-you-go and you recharge at all sorts of places tobacconists etc. We are so often in Portugal that we never run out of time. 10Euro for 10 Hours and you get a message telling you when you are down to 3Euro. I was surprised at how little I used it and how long the 10Eur lasted. But I am not a big user in Spain just email, internet and Skype - which works fine from the appartment.

The TMN Shop is in VRSA. Just walk up the pedestrian bit away from the river. Where it ends there is a road (about 50m before the roundabout) turn left and its 20m down.

Good luck
Jon

Jon-Bxl

I got this in my inbox - I have no idea if this is any good and I have no connection with the company. But they are offering free advertrising for rental accomodation... FYI..

Regards
Jon




http://letmyhome.holidayrentalweb.com


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Jur

I like the "get bookings in minutes!" slogan on their page.

Jon-Bxl

Wow I just heard this morning that Spanish unemployment has gone over 20%!! Thats terrible! I remember last year it was 17%. BUT these are averages across Spain - the unemployment in Andalucia alone was 22%.

If that difference is still there - it means that 1 in 4 people are now unemployed in Andalucia - 1 in 4 people we see 'around town' have no job. How sad for them.

We've seen burglaries on the increase already in CE even taking someones dog (can you believe!! A family member for most pet owners!) - maybe more burglaries to come

I got quite interested when the Pound crossed 1.15 to the Euro, even when the markets had obviously factored in a hung parliament (which previously was negative for the pound). Now with Greece, Portugal and Spain all downgraded and Italy having major problems too (the 'PIGS')... maybe the pound will get back over 1.20 / 1.25 sometime by the end of the year - good news for our UK based friends coming over.

I hope however the 1) Greece is positive this weekend 2) the Greece experience does not spread to the other countries above - it means another worldwide recession on the heels of the last..... double dip - UGH!! Maybe worse as we havent recovered enough from the first, Omens are bad for the stock markets, I think. After some great business results the first quarter - this could reverse all that good news. Not to mention civil unrest in Southern Euroipe Luckily the UK is not in the Euro, our huge debt matches the 'pigs' and we would be on that list too....

We live in Belgium, I remember last year when the ex rate was 1.02. I bought, in England, French Champagne and French cognac to take to France/continental europe... It was cheaper than buying locally. Whats that about coals and Newcastle, sand and Arabs?

Jon

Re Greece FYI this is why the Germans are understandably worried ( a bit biased) but we would have the same issues if we were asked to pay

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-en...in-greece.html

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-en...-pensions.html

jackytoo

According to this morning's Sur, unemployment is 30% in Málaga and Cádiz provinces


http://www.diariosur.es/20100430/loc...004301110.html

The sad thing is there is not many benefits for families.

MikeJ

We had a note from one of the community presidents warning about people seen loitering near the electronic gates - usually 2 girls and at night - they cover the gate sensor after a legitimate car goes through to allow an accomplice through later. So keep an eye out when entering the compounds, especialy after dark.
I recollect having a problem with someone who tried to tailgate me a couple of years back. Unfortunately I had trouble finding the right gear on my hire car until the gate had closed behind me - oh dear what a shame never mind

Jon-Bxl

The best thing is to wait a few seconds till the gate closes behind you, then go off. But I doubt people will do that, especially renters. Time to try and get those pesky rent-vcars into gear!

Rgs
Jon

John and Lynn

We have just had our latest gas bill direct debit taken from our bank (May) and it was 120 euros compare with the normal 20 euros. Anybody else had a large bill in and if so do they know why? We will try to contact them, but as we don't speak the lingo...

Jur

Holy, That´s 10 gasbottles!!

Is that a monthly bill?

John and Lynn

That's for 2 months, not that it makes it easier to understand. And we weren't even there or using it for the 2 months previous

Jur

It seems way too high to me, but I can´t compare as I still have the good old gasbottle system. (If you miss the delivery truck it´s of to the gasstation !)

Why don´t you let your local accountant/lawyer/property manager check?

Jon-Bxl

I dont know if this applies to you - but I heard that there were mistakes made when assigning the meters to the homes... i.e sometimes there were wrong meters identification numbers associated with the home. This happened with some of the people in our development.

So one may be paying for anothers usage. This may not apply to you, but a sign that this is the case is when you have this kind of bill - usage when you are away.

The way to check is to switch off 'your' meter at the supply and if your gas works - then you are paying for someone else's supply.

Regards
Jon