Foreign Perspectives

It looks like we’re going to find ourselves in the unusual position of getting going on redoing two bathrooms and two kitchens.

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare I’m sure but it’s even worse than that as one set is in the UK and the other is in what seems likely to become our holiday home in France in the next month or two. Unfortunately, it means trawling round two sets of places to find all the stuff to do the work as it’s not really a runner to buy it all in one and ship it to the other.

Since we’re looking to decorate both places in a similar manner we’re currently trying to find a ceramic tile design that’s available in both sides of the water but, of course, that’s not as simple as you would think.

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One of the big surprises in many ways is just how fast formerly eastern block countries are moving into the first world.

For example, not so many years ago the thought of a  luxury golf property in Bulgaria would have been laughed at. No longer though for the likes of Tharacian Cliffs, starting from scratch, seems likely to become one of the top golf courses in the world according to Gary Player.

The reason is simple of course: they’re able to start from a blank sheet and have lots of cheap land and labour to construct the courses. For the rest of us there are increasing numbers of cheap flights available to get us to the area.

Overall, a win-win situation for everyone apparently.

Popularity: 1% [?]

A long time ago buying a new TV was a very simple affair. You just picked the screen size and off you went.

It’s changed a lot since those blissful days though. Nowadays when you look at televisions there’s still the size to consider but now you’ve added the choice between flat screen and CRT style (not to mention the different flat screen technologies), then there’s normal vs high definition (and HD vs HD ready) not to mention the possibilities of home cinema and potential computer connections.

Even the “simple” choice of screen size isn’t so simple anymore. It used to be that 14″ was bedroom size but now that the prices have dropped so much you can easily be thinking in terms of 32″ instead and living room screen sizes run to feet rather than inches these days.

However, with all that complication has come a massive drop in price. The 42″ flat screen that replaced our 7 year old 28″ TV was only 2/3rds of the price and those prices are still dropping.

Popularity: 1% [?]