Ant

*crimps*

Anyone care to add their thoughts on Mario Kart Wii? http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,116154

Seems there are 6 people in the UK with my name. Bastards. I was using that. Give it back!

ca alors!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7354538.stm I thought I'd fallen foul of a dog egg.

I'd recommend putting the kid down on the waiting list now for a couple of nurseries that you like the look of and then, closer to the time, do as Fuschia suggests and find a good childminder. By the time the nursery place comes up the kid will probably be old enough to make the move from childminder to nursery.

I seem to have gone off fiction recently. Last book that I read and really enjoyed was In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan. Am currently reading Book Commissioning and Acquisition by Gill Davies which is fascinating to me but possibly not to anyone who doesn't work (or want to work) in publishing.

Not sure that's right bignumber5, as that reasoning could just as easily be applied to the stick option. Basically you're being asked to choose again from fewer options, so it is 50-50.

That demographic review doesn't seem right to me. It claims the population is largely young singles renting flats. I'd have said it was mostly families, with young kids, who've bought houses with huge mortgages. Or perhaps there are more young singles renting flats but they're just less visible?

Another one not to click if you're busy. http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phet/simulations/stringwave/stringWave.swf

Eeh, it's a bit dark over Will's mother's = gosh, those rainclouds over there look rather ominous. No idea who Will is or where his mother lives, or where that phrase came from. Fuckbuckets. Just a general-purpose exclamation. Cookwank - not mine of course but I love it just the same. One from the Ant household, if someone's drifting about a bit bored/not sure what to do, the suggested course of action is always to: put you in a bag* and shake you up. * sometimes a sack. for emphasis perhaps? dunno.

Nope, me too wee quinnie.

Perhaps it's one dio-sis and two dio-sees?

Right. Alternative definitions for words. I'll start us off. Documentalists. People who really like documentaries.

I think ә is just a general sort of 'uh' sound.

Dai/ә/sis?

More on the Menzies/Mingiss thing: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4595228.stm

Michael Palaeologus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Um, well today I have been quite impressed with > Amazon. I ordered an Expresso machine using the > free delivery, which did take a few days longer, > but I wasnt in a hurry. > > Tried it today - leaked everywhere. > > Their returns process is very simple, go on the > website, click a few links, print out the return > labels and then click through to the DHL site for > a free collection. > > So, I am quite impressed. Ah, but don't count your chickens yet. You've done the easy bit, but this is where their returns process falls over. Or did for me at any rate; your mileage may vary. I had my label and my DHL collections booked and I was happy. Then DHL didn't turn up. So I rang them and they didn't know anything about it and said that anyway they don't do Amazon returns any more. Or perhaps a different department did. Much calling and being passed from dept to dept with no joy at all. So I turned to Amazon, who said just drop it in a the post-office and they'll take it with no need to pay postage. Pfeh! Lies! I had to pay of course, but in the end I was glad to just to get rid of the sodding thing. Anyway, as I say, it may go more smoothly for you. Good luck!

Menzies = Ming because the z isn't really one. It's a bastardisation of a now-lost letter that had the ng sound. Not sure on sinjun though. Or Featherstonehaugh (Fanshaw) for that matter. Here's one that me and the mrs can't settle: CLEMatis (my preferred one) or clem-AE-tis (hers)?

Thanks all. That cargiant place looks interesting. Hadn't considered that it might be cheaper in London, but the more active market theory makes sense.

I did the two-year certificate jobbie at Birkbeck. It was pretty good.

The Ant-mobile is small and mostly comprised of rust and patches, so I'm going to trade it in before it dies on me completely. I have a budget of about six grand and the following requirements: - must fit 3 kids in the back (2 in child seats, 1 in a booster seat) - must have ample boot space for lugging all their crap around - must be automatic and have power steering I shall be driving to the cabbage-strewn wastes of Lincolnshire this weekend to visit the in-laws, and possibly get a car while I'm up there in order to avoid paying London prices. At the moment I'm considering a VW Passat or perhaps a Renault Scenic. Hopefully I should be able to get something between 12 and 18 months old, i.e. still vaguely newish but with its depreciation mostly out of the way. However, I'm not much of a petrolhead and may well have overlooked some cars that would suit me even better. I invite your advice, suggestions or other vaguely car-related ramblings below.

I am pain. Must drink more tea and coke.

Is it coming up to spending review/budget time again? If so it's probably a case of starting the work so that it counts towards this year's total, on which the funding allocation for next year is based.

Good lord, I had no idea such machinations were afoot.