Glorious France

[Nobody]

Actualy, that Dacia is build on the previous Megane platform, nothing wrong with it.
Last car-expo in Brussels we went to the Dacia stand, and tried the pick-up version. A blast from the past I have to admit, real 80's square plastic inside.

Actually Clio II, not Megane. Although some parts are indeed from the Megane ...
As to the blast from the past - I agree. It appeals to the cheapskate/no frills crowd :D
Had the a/t version been on sale in Europe, I'd be driving one now.
Borys

I think Top Gear tested one of these. Let's see whether I can quote them from memory:
"I kinda like this car. You get..." *looking around searching for equipment* "... a car essentially. Nice if you want to go from A to B and don't need anything else."

[maddox]

I'm still puzzled.   I had a strange experience yesterday.

I'll have to tell the full story tough, and that will ask for a bit of reading to digest.
3 months ago, a new restaurant opened nearby, Indian/Punjabi, named Red Fort.

Now, never scared of trying something new, mum in law , Babs and me gave it a try a month ago, and it was very good.

Now, the thing that unbalancend me happened yesterday.

Mum, after a week being snowed in, finaly got here, and she proposed to have dinner there.

A few facts.  We have a Sikh temple in town, 3 houses removed from the restaurant. Red Fort is one of the more fun victories of the Skhs against the Muslims.  In other words, it stands reason the restaurant is an ofshoot of that temple.
But the personel is cleanshaven and shorthared. The kitchencrew wears "conventional kitchet headwear". (open kitchen, anybody can look in) , what doesn't follow Sikh basic religious biddings.

So, when our waiter had a little bit of time, I asked a few "neutral questions", to determinate that the restaurant is "Indian", or "Sikh" and it appears that the Sikh are pragmatic people. If the culture they are in has rules against anything that they deem "religiously important" they will adapt.

But the thing that unbalances me is the fact that the waiter gave me his steel bracelet.  Just because I asked those questions.

Is there any hidden meaning, or is it a Sikh thing?

One thing I did find out, like the Orthodoxs Jews, they don't actively convert people. 

[miketr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_%28Sikhism%29

Its a religious symbol, a sign of their faith.

Michael

[maddox]

That I know, 1 of the kakkars.  But unconditionaly gifting it to a stranger....

[miketr]

Don't know what to tell you. The one thing I can say is wearing the turban isn't a requirement of their faith, not cutting the hair is.

But giving you the bracelet, yah that is a little strange.

Michael