It pisses me off every time I receive a water bill from "Long Island 
American Water". When a British company bought our local water utility, they 
changed the name from Long Island Water. Now, I see in today's paper, that 
British Energy will soon be a French company. Hey, Brits, voulez-vous 
electricite? Then write your cheque in French.

Some consolation, but not much, for me.

Leon

In news:89NCk.50675$Mh5.2328@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
  Leon bashed on  keyboard and typed:
> It pisses me off every time I receive a water bill from "Long Island
> American Water". When a British company bought our local water
> utility, they changed the name from Long Island Water. Now, I see in
> today's paper, that British Energy will soon be a French company.
> Hey, Brits, voulez-vous electricite? Then write your cheque in French.
> 
> Some consolation, but not much, for me.
> 
> Leon

Nearly all our Utilise are Foreign owned Centrica Plc Own British Gas are to be part owners in British Energy 

-- 
Trev
Nobody is perfect.
But Being a Yorkshire man is as close as you can get.

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:23:00 +0000, Leon wrote:

> It pisses me off every time I receive a water bill from "Long Island 
> American Water". When a British company bought our local water utility, they 
> changed the name from Long Island Water. Now, I see in today's paper, that 
> British Energy will soon be a French company. Hey, Brits, voulez-vous 
> electricite? Then write your cheque in French.
> 
> Some consolation, but not much, for me.
> 
> Leon

I dont get it? Which bit is funny?

"Leon"  wrote in message 
news:89NCk.50675$Mh5.2328@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> It pisses me off every time I receive a water bill from "Long Island 
> American Water". When a British company bought our local water utility, 
> they changed the name from Long Island Water. Now, I see in today's paper, 
> that British Energy will soon be a French company. Hey, Brits, voulez-vous 
> electricite? Then write your cheque in French.
>
> Some consolation, but not much, for me.
>
> Leon

  The French are taking over here too - - - French energy Co.s... French 
wine... French apples... French perfume... French chefs... French kissing... 
French letters...ect... ect...



>
>

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:10:47 +0100, "phylkat" 
wrote:

>  The French are taking over here too - - - French energy Co.s... French 
>wine... French apples... French perfume... French chefs... French kissing... 
>French letters...ect... ect...

ect??
-- 
Dan.

On Sep 25, 4:23 pm, "Leon"  wrote:

> Then write your cheque in French.

... europe Is a bit moar advanced than the US, leon.  moast Of us
haffent written checks for about 15 years, it's old tech.

love From 14

"Leon"  wrote in message 
news:89NCk.50675$Mh5.2328@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> It pisses me off every time I receive a water bill from "Long Island 
> American Water". When a British company bought our local water utility, 
> they changed the name from Long Island Water. Now, I see in today's paper, 
> that British Energy will soon be a French company. Hey, Brits, voulez-vous 
> electricite? Then write your cheque in French.
>
> Some consolation, but not much, for me.
>
> Leon

Have you looked who owns the bank that you draw your cheques on Leon, you 
better hope (likely)  its a British outfit (thats consolation for us.) 
looking at the way the 'home growed' banks are going into meltdown

Derek
Fanny may or may not.

"Dean Dark"  wrote in message 
news:k42od4l49lc4h2gqshg91a4vte7jir69l9@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:10:47 +0100, "phylkat" 
> wrote:
>
>>  The French are taking over here too - - - French energy Co.s... French
>>wine... French apples... French perfume... French chefs... French 
>>kissing...
>>French letters...ect... ect...
>
> ect??

Isn't "ect ect" Swahili for "here here"? No ... now I think about it, that's 
"huku huku". It could be that clicky language that the Bushmen use, like in 
"The Gods Must Be Crazy". Ect ... ect... ect ...

Yup, I'm sure that's it.

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:41:55 -0700 (PDT), the14thdisciple wrote:

> On Sep 25, 4:23 pm, "Leon"  wrote:
> 
>> Then write your cheque in French.
> 
> ... europe Is a bit moar advanced than the US, leon.  moast Of us
> haffent written checks for about 15 years, it's old tech.
> 
> love From 14

Since the EU is multilingual - and I think most people are as well, I'd be 
sureprised if a checque in French weren't as acceptable as one in, say, 
German ????  Not so (and my curiousity is aroused ...)???

On Sep 26, 5:18 am, AlJones  wrote:

> Since the EU is multilingual - and I think most people are as well, I'd be
> sureprised if a checque in French weren't as acceptable as one in, say,
> German ????  Not so (and my curiousity is aroused ...)???

... hmm ... Witch bit of 'Europe doesn't write cheques' didn't you
understand?  the Banking system in Europe has advanced beyond the need
for paper 'cheques' and uses a plastic debit systems called 'PIN'.
you Simply swipe your card in a machine in the shop, fuel station,
taxi, and type in your Personal Id Number.  no Paper needed, no cash
needed.  you Use the same card in any EU member state from Poland to
the UK.  money Transfer is instant.  it's Far beyond the old-fashioned
cheque system US banks seem to think of as being state-of-the-art.
and It's free, unlike the poor buggers who have to PAY to write a
cheque, then wait 3-4 days to have it 'processed'.

14

"the14thdisciple"  wrote in message 
news:3c356a08-b639-4b69-8d6c-a74872f596ea@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
On Sep 26, 5:18 am, AlJones  wrote:

> Since the EU is multilingual - and I think most people are as well, I'd be
> sureprised if a checque in French weren't as acceptable as one in, say,
> German ???? Not so (and my curiousity is aroused ...)???

... hmm ... Witch bit of 'Europe doesn't write cheques' didn't you
understand?  the Banking system in Europe has advanced beyond the need
for paper 'cheques' and uses a plastic debit systems called 'PIN'.
you Simply swipe your card in a machine in the shop, fuel station,
taxi, and type in your Personal Id Number.  no Paper needed, no cash
needed.  you Use the same card in any EU member state from Poland to
the UK.  money Transfer is instant.  it's Far beyond the old-fashioned
cheque system US banks seem to think of as being state-of-the-art.
and It's free, unlike the poor buggers who have to PAY to write a
cheque, then wait 3-4 days to have it 'processed'.


This scheme was devised by the banks to eliminate the "float" that the 
customers used to be able to take advantage of. A cheque (or, as we naively 
spell it, a check) sent to pay a bill gets credited to the customers' 
accounts by the store, but until the bank receives the check and deducts the 
money from the customer' balances, interest accumulates to the customers' 
credit. That is why large transactions are no longer made by check, but for 
someone like me who charges everything to a credit card and then pays the 
monthly balance by check, there is a substantial benefit.

In the EU, the banks have cleverly duped the public and the customers' float 
has been eliminated. We in the US have cards such as you describe, called 
Debit Cards, where the amount is immediately deducted from the user's bank 
account, but the conventional credit cards allow the user to float a 
sizeable balance until the end of the month without paying interest or 
penalty. In fact, many credit card issuers don't even charge an annual fee.

Leon

On Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:34:12 -0700 (PDT), the14thdisciple wrote:

> On Sep 26, 5:18 am, AlJones  wrote:
> 
>> Since the EU is multilingual - and I think most people are as well, I'd be
>> sureprised if a checque in French weren't as acceptable as one in, say,
>> German ????  Not so (and my curiousity is aroused ...)???
> 
> ... hmm ... Witch bit of 'Europe doesn't write cheques' didn't you
> understand?  the Banking system in Europe has advanced beyond the need
> for paper 'cheques' and uses a plastic debit systems called 'PIN'.
> you Simply swipe your card in a machine in the shop, fuel station,
> taxi, and type in your Personal Id Number.  no Paper needed, no cash
> needed.  you Use the same card in any EU member state from Poland to
> the UK.  money Transfer is instant.  it's Far beyond the old-fashioned
> cheque system US banks seem to think of as being state-of-the-art.
> and It's free, unlike the poor buggers who have to PAY to write a
> cheque, then wait 3-4 days to have it 'processed'.
> 
> 14

My, touchy aren't we??  
> 
> ... europe Is a bit moar advanced than the US, leon.  moast Of us
> haffent written checks for about 15 years, it's old tech.
> 
> love From 14

Saying that you haven't written a check in 15 years is a long way from
saying that 'Europe doens't[sic] write checques.' Having done a bit of
world travel (thanks to the US Service) I've become painfully aware that
the US is, being diplomatic, not quite so cosmopolitan as much of the rest
of the world.  ((And, as a citizen of the US *THAT* distresses me.))  On
the other hand, with the exception of the well known "Ugly American" most
of us are somewhat more diplomatic than many I've met from the EU
countries.

//al

"AlJones"  wrote >
> Saying that you haven't written a check in 15 years is a long way from
> saying that 'Europe doens't[sic] write checques.' Having done a bit of
> world travel (thanks to the US Service) I've become painfully aware that
> the US is, being diplomatic, not quite so cosmopolitan as much of the rest
> of the world.  ((And, as a citizen of the US *THAT* distresses me.))  On
> the other hand, with the exception of the well known "Ugly American" most
> of us are somewhat more diplomatic than many I've met from the EU
> countries.

We have been warned not to drink the water, not to allow strange women into 
our hotel rooms and to count our change carefully after each purchase. As 
far as the water is concerned, when beer is available, that's good enough 
for me.

I never was able to determine how strange a woman must be for me to refuse 
to let her enter my hotel room. Can I allow the chambermaid in? How about 
that cute tour guide who wanted to draw our itinerary on my map so I 
wouldn't get lost but who stayed overnight because it was raining so hard 
and the buses stopped running? See? You can't draw a line.

As for counting my change, I have devised a system to prevent being 
overcharges. I pay in the smallest denomination note or coin I have. If 
that's not enough, they tell me. If it's too much, I count it three times 
and still am not sure if it's correct.

Leon

the14thdisciple wrote:
> On Sep 26, 5:18 am, AlJones  wrote:
> 
>> Since the EU is multilingual - and I think most people are as well, I'd be
>> sureprised if a checque in French weren't as acceptable as one in, say,
>> German ????  Not so (and my curiousity is aroused ...)???
> 
> ... hmm ... Witch bit of 'Europe doesn't write cheques' didn't you
> understand?  the Banking system in Europe has advanced beyond the need
> for paper 'cheques' and uses a plastic debit systems called 'PIN'.
> you Simply swipe your card in a machine in the shop, fuel station,
> taxi, and type in your Personal Id Number.  no Paper needed, no cash
> needed.  you Use the same card in any EU member state from Poland to
> the UK.  money Transfer is instant.  it's Far beyond the old-fashioned
> cheque system US banks seem to think of as being state-of-the-art.
> and It's free, unlike the poor buggers who have to PAY to write a
> cheque, then wait 3-4 days to have it 'processed'.
> 
> 14

Must be interesting paying your kid his pocket money.  :>)