i don't need to WISH for an old car, I've already got one.

A 1990 Volvo 240 estate.  It's a crude thing, mechanically, but the simplicity is its virtue.   Solid, sturdy, simple to maintain, if a trifle greedy (25mpg).........seemingly immortal (fingers crossed).  At twenty-one years old, my friendly garageman reckons it will reach its quarter century with ease.

I notice that other answerers seem to hanker after very complicated cars.   Doesn't anyone want a return to simplicity in cars?

The British will be very offended indeed if the world DOES come to an end in 2012 because they have spent absolute millions on building stadiums for the Olympic Games. Personally I don't care if the world does come to an end, just so long as it happens after I die.

Their official title is "Duke and Duchess of Cambridge". If William ever troubles to have his own calling card printed, it need only carry the single word "Cambridge", because the custom amongst the British aristocracy is to assume that everyone knows who you are anyhow, so no more information is needed than that. William's royal family name is Windsor, but Robbsusan can safely assume that he and his wife will have several other titles. Oh, and by the way, Robbsusan, in the VERY VERY VERY VERY unlikely event that you will ever be permitted to meet either of them, you MUST address the young woman who was so recently just plain Kate Middleton as "Your Grace" and "Ma'am". One wonders if all this adulation of William and Kate will last as they get older. It's true "Wills" is 3rd in line for the throne but his Granma shows every sign of living to 100 years old and staying Queen, by which time Willam's father (Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, next in line) will be about eighty five years old and will probably live just as long. I agree with "Digger" above that a good name for the whole family would be Freeloader. Hopefully, quite soon, the British public will have had enough of the whole Royal system and the country will be a republic. Then The Duke could join the ranks of the unemployed and homeless, unless he can get a job as a heli pilot. I suppose Kate might be able to face up to the hard graft of shelf-stacking at Tesco. If she has common-sense enough. Roll on the day.

There are machines to do this by transferring heat to the seam... for a brief period; you could call that "plastic welding"....melting the two pieces together. But please don't ask me for brand names or models.

Another scam to watch out for is on eBay; I had this happen to me; The buyer bid for and "won" the item but didn't pay; perhaps waiting for me to send the article unpaid for. I sent a couple of reminders; no result; eventually the item disappeared from the eBay system. A couple of weeks after that I got an eMail saying sorry for delay, still want it; please send my bank details and payment wd be made direct to my bank account. AN OBVIOUS SCAM aimed at getting my bank details. Watch out for that one, folks; simply hang on to your item and refuse to sell outside the Paypal system.

I notice that not one of the answerers has addressed the point I made that this country charges old people for their accommodation in old folks homes, while William gets his pilot training paid for by the tax-payer.

It is very doubtful if the RAF (ie the taxpayer) will get value out of this man's very expensive  training.  How can he truly be a serving RAF pilot, swanning around on his honeymoon tour in Canada and the USA, when other RAF pilots are facing daily danger in Afghanistan? 

On the subject of my own RAF service; I was not an officer, I was a National Service Other Ranker.  National Service was COMPULSORY.   "Peoplelove" asks what training the RAF gave me. I received no training whatsoever...........in fact the RAF stole two years out of my life , and  gained the benefit of my civilian skills and used me for two years for a derisory few quid a week.  After two years of theft of one's time, National Servicemen received no thanks whatsoever from the country.  

Many 18 year old National Service men died in action propping up the Royal Family.  At that time 18 year olds had no right to vote, could not sign credit agreements, could not rent their own accommodation.  In fact and  in law they were children., without any legal rights whatsoever.

As to having a "Bee In my Bonnet" about Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, no doubt Earl of This, Lord That, Viscount whatsoever, heir to the throne of the United Kingdom and The British Empire, yes I DO.  I certainly DO and make no apology for that.   

No amount of cleverly manipulated publicity "spin" about their marriage can conceal the fact that those two represent the disgusting inequality of Royalty versus the rest of us .  They are unelected , their popularity is very dubious.  And the fact that William got his  pilot's wings and RAF officer  rank very quickly at a time when 100 other trainee pilots got the sack should point up that inequality.

The whole point of my rant is that Royalty should be abolished in an adult, democratic society.  No need for guillotines or public executions.   A civilised way to do this would be for Parliament to decree that the whole institution should end upon the death of our present Queen.

By common agreement she has done a good job of being Queen.

But then HOW HARD CAN IT BE?   

You're always going to have trouble receiving AM radio stations because they're not designed to be received much more than a couple of hundred miles or so away.  "Fading" can be combatted to some degree. If you can listen when weather is cold and clear, signals travel further under those conditions.  Also, most portable radios have a built-in antenna which receives best when the radio is at right angles to the signal. (So if the signal comes from the east, the radio should be aligned North/south.  Twist the radio around until the signal is strongest.

I don't know where you are but you may care to look at installing a Free to Air satellite TV receiver which enables you to receive (radio programmes) signals on your TV. Here in the UK I can receive radio stations from all over the world on my TV.  About 380 of them. Loud and clear.

Both FM signals and satellite broadcasting were introduced to try to overcome the kinds of problems you are experiencing.  Another factor which I can only SUSPECT is that broadcasters  reduce the power of their transmission signals in the evenings (fewer listeners) to save on power costs.

Oddly enough, car radios give the best AM radio reception.  Try listening to your favourite distant stations on the car radio, moving the car to high ground if need be.

But I have to admit that that is quite an expensive "portable" radio.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a most important factor in radio reception.  SOLAR SUNSPOT ACTIVITY.  Over an 11 year cycle interference from the sun strengthens and weakens its effect on radio signals.  Presently the sun's activity is at an extraordinary " high" and there is even talk about a solar explosion which will destroy all of Earth's electronic systems in a split second.

Which will make your present problem seem very small meat indeed.

In the Royal courts of England it was considered a mark of education and culture to be able to speak French. An English King (perhaps Henry eighth) saw that a lady was in trouble when she was dancing at a Royal ball. Her garter was slipping down her leg. As was his right, he commanded the musicians to stop playing and he walked over to her and knelt before her, notwithstanding the fact that he was the King. Then he slid the garter down her leg, held it up for everyone to see, and called out "Honi soit qui mal y pense" which is French for "Evil be to he who evil thinks". So nowadays it could be seen as meaning "If you think something is going on here, are YOU so blameless?" Postscript from Cammy; Perhaps HSQMYP would be better translated as "Shame on YOU if you have evil thoughts". I rather suspect that Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense is the motto of the English monarch.

I've visited Besancon in the Franche Comte twice and consider it to be a pleasant-sized and situated place. It is largely tourist-free, quite handy to the Swiss and German borders and is situated in quietly-pretty largely wooded and agricultural terrain. It is a university city; nearest airport Dijon,about 40 miles. On the TGV route for fast trains to Paris.

This is a very valid point and I accuse Americans in particular of seeming to be COMPLETELY UNAWARE that there are 183 other countries on this planet.