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It depends how much you want to pay, but buying the rights from a photo library isn't wildly expensive. I regarded what I paid for my cover designs and the print formatting as just the cost of a hobby, what I hadn't spent in a bar or whatever. For my last effort, which was just a short story I did it myself, with the aid of a pal who likes mucking about with photoshop type apps. On an internet search I found a picture which more or less conveyed the image I wanted, and asked the company for permission to use it in return for an acknowledgement on the title page, to which they agreed.

I have four works published on Amazon (and Smashwords, which distributes to such as Barnes & Noble, Kobo and others). My nom de plume is Lionel Pettrick . I started writing just 5.1/2 years ago when at New Year neighbours gave me a handsome PTT desk diary, with a host of blank pages. It seemed a shame to waste it, and I wondered if I could fill it with something, so I started writing. I filled the diary and then some with 30,000 words of allsorts, part diary, part reminiscences, rants and other stuff. At the end of it I thought, blimey, I can write, so I wondered if I could come up with something more substantial. This led to a couple of novels, and more recently a short story, all of a historical bent. It's not out of ego that I published them, just the hope that someone would read and enjoy them. Only if you have massive followings on such as Facebook and Twitter should you harbour the illusion that you will sell more than a few. (I don't subscribe to either). Since the beginning of this year I have been selling a couple every month, all Kindle downloads, and I'm quite happy with that. Compared to some stuff I've read, I think mine isn't bad. I'm grateful to Amazon for enabling someone like me to be able to publish a book, because I doubt I would have much of a chance with conventional publishers. Early this year I wrote a movie script, but I now doubt it will ever see the light of day, the film industry seems to be a closed shop, and I guess that book publishing is much the same. I could turn my last short story, "The Modeller" into a movie, but I don't see the point now.

Silly cow. They should send her Beamer to the crusher.

Went more than half-way to Moscow then turned tail. Echoes of Bonnie Prince Charlie, got as far as Derby then ran back to Scotland. I don't suppose Prigozhin will last long enough to drink himself to death, as the Pretender did.

I can only relate my experience when I got a new passport and took it along to Rayong Imm. to get the stamps transferred from my old passport. This was done in a few minutes, and as they handed the docs back to me I asked "What about the TM30?". The officer simply removed it from the old passport and stapled it into the new one - no amendment of passport number or anything. As the endorsements in the new passport include a reference to the number of the old one I guess they didn't think anything else was necessary. That slip of paper is well dog-eared by now. Whether other offices operate the same way is anybody's guess.

Would this site help you? - Download France Visa Application Form - French Visa PDF Application Form (schengenvisainfo.com) I'm sure you're aware that your wife has the right to apply for a Schengen visa as the family member of an EU citizen exercising their right to travel to EU countries other than their own - which in your case is Austria. As your first point of entry to the EU will be France she applies to that country for the visa.

You may have to pay something. This page may help you:- Tax when you sell your home: If you let out your home - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) I will be selling my house there next year when the tenants leave, and I know I will be liable for CGT on the increase in value since April 2015, when the rules were changed. I had it valued then as a precaution.

As it happens the same every year, it's not a particularly difficult "forecast", but at least it's accurate, unlike a lot of the stuff about climate change.

Some pension providers don't seem to bother anything like as much as DWP and the Civil Service, my main pension providers. I have two smaller annuities with Canada Life and Royal London, and haven't had anything from them for several years, even P60s. I've not bothered too much, as they are fixed amounts, and as the tax rates haven't changed I've just used previous figures for my tax return. We don't get post deliveries more than once about every 4 or 5 months, so stuff just goes missing. I've not had either the DWP or the CSP Life Cert requests (which had been sent), dealt with those by phone and email. Those other annuities are still being paid, but I've sent them both an email requesting up-to-date P60s, and hope that will demonstrate to them that I'm still alive. But I entirely agree with your last comment.

Their response during the Covid pandemic was not impressive. Compiling a list of their compatriots in need of vaccination was left to the British Chamber of Commerce, to whom I am extremely grateful.

Oh yes, there's always a queue, and flying to the UK won't make that any shorter. I phoned them back in March, I see that the call took 38minutes 33 seconds, most of which was listening to some dire music, and the cost on Skype was 42 pence. The number was their "outside the UK number" - +44 15355 359022.

I can't think of any explanation other than that HMRC have indexed your state pension every year since you retired. I've had one or two phone calls to them over the years, and this year at least they seem to have registered the fact that I get no increases - but I submit a return every year because of house rental income. You don't need to wait 3 weeks to deal with this. Skype calls are very cheap.

The same has happened to me in the past but for some reason my tax assessment for this current year showed no increase in that pension. I do agree, you would think that in this day and age these government departments would be a bit more joined up. We are the victims of these anomalous and convoluted arrangements which pay no increases in some countries but do pay them in others, and we are so insignificant that they can't be bothered to sit down and programme their systems to take account of that.

Yes, that's why I went off mine.

I hate those strimmers, they're more trouble than they're worth, I have one but don't bother with it any more. Instead I got one similar to this:- เครื่องตัดพุ่มไม้ IMAX IGS-72V(สั้น) | Lazada.co.th The downside is that I have to bend over to use it, but I don't have a huge garden, the edges are done in about 45 minutes. It does a very neat job, and there's an attachment which trims hedges as well. I only have to charge the battery every three or four times I use it. After I bought it I think I saw one with a long handle, which would have saved the bending down. From memory I bought mine on Shopee, but I can't find it any more.

Good luck to you, but they don't appear to have followed their own rules. Did you have some residual connection with the address you gave them? (e.g. still on the votes list?) Looking at their website, it says quite clearly in their Terms and Conditions:- "You must be a UK resident to have a Monzo account." Also further down the same page:- "We may close your account immediately or stop you using your card and/or app if we believe you’ve:..had a change in circumstances which means you’re no longer eligible for a current account (like moving abroad)" Terms & Conditions (monzo.com)

What's the difference between Visa T and Visa E apart from the cost? They're both single entry, valid within 3 months for a stay of up to 30 days, and the same passport, photo and credit card requirements. I take it that for a 1-week tourist visit the Visa T would be appropriate (also that a Thai passport holder requires no visa for the same purpose).

How long did they keep your passport?

Correct. Regarding the validity date of 10 years max, it does mean that you have to keep a weather eye on your annual extension renewal with Thai Immigration and seasoning your bank account, etc. For example, my latest passport will expire on 2nd January 2030, my annual extension date is in February. So when I apply in Feb 2029, I will lose nearly 2 months of extension, and have to make sure that my bank account is topped up to the 800k (if I've spent any of it) in October. In practice I'm not really bothered as I will probably be dead by then, but it's the sort of thing that catches some people out.

They stopped adding on unexpired time (which was up to 9, not 11 months) two or three years ago. A new passport will be valid for 10 years from the date of issue.

Doesn't cost you anything, but they probably will require a minimum balance. Skipton International in Guernsey require minimum 10k GBP balance, but there's no other cost, and they're currently paying 3.5% for instant access.

Judging by comments in various threads it does seem to be Barclays more than any other bank. I have been with First Direct for decades, and they don't show any sign of wanting to close me down, but I always keep a healthy balance with them - but they won't let me open a new account any more, such as their "Regular Saver" scheme, whereby you save up to 300GBP a month for (now) 7% interest. I used to use that scheme, but they pulled the plug on me 5 or so years ago, and won't let me back in, I asked them again this morning. It's still "no" to non-residents. At that time I opened an account with Skipton in Guernsey as a back-up.

Really? When they charge 100 Baht for a one-line letter to submit to Immigration?

I pay by QR code. I've had a card for over 12 years. I have the vague memory that it was necessary then, but there doesn't seem to be any advantage in having one now, although I always produce it at the till and it is swiped by the cashier.

I think the answer to that is 'No'.