Loz

I believe that any surplus can only be put to "road safety" purposes. I put that in inverted commas as one council (Westminster) somehow decided that hanging baskets were an important tool in the fight for better road safety.

minder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But it's only nature! How do the foxes know you've got an electric fence! They'll work it out about the exact millisecond that 10,000 volts pings through their body.

jonny vantastic I Am Not A Lawyer... but if you entered a box junction before the exit was clear and was forced to stop then they have you bang to rights, no matter how long you stopped for. But, if the exit was clear when you entered and but then you were forced to stop (i.e. someone changing lanes or a pedestrian crossing in front of you) OR you stopped out of choice (i.e. you could have exited the box, but didn't) you have grounds for an appeal. See more at http://www.ticketfighter.co.uk/yellow.htm The councils very rarely grant appeals. I'm afraid it's take it further or pay up. However, I believe that as a council PCN you may take it to the adjudicator, rather than to court. But get further advice ... I repeat, I am not a lawyer.

Precisely, kford - that sort of thing should be ringing alarm bells that there is some problem with the markings and signage.

I can say with some confidence that at least 99.99% of people in the UK do not know all the road rules. And that includes those who are sent out to enforce them. That's not a slur on everyone, just a truism that there are far too many road rules for a non-expert to ever know. For instance, can you confidently say (no googling now...) that you know the rules for, say, box junctions? It's not as simple as you might think. When can you park on yellow lines? What constitutes a legal road sign? So for those that say, "just don't break the rules', I hope you a part of the tiny, tiny minority that actually know what they are. All of them. Otherwise, you are talking poppycock.

> The solution is to remove artificial targets and > financial incentives, and stop outsourcing the > work to these cowboys. I think the solution is to make a council/contractor pay the car owner the amount of the fine for every ticket issued incorrectly and appealed. See how fast the problem disappears then.

That only works on Macs, benmorg.

Tarzan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The solution is even simpler than that - Don't > break the rules and you won't be punished - > everything else is just whining. Yes, because all parking tickets are perfectly legitimate, all roads and their markings are perfect and legal and FIFA is a squeaky-clean organisation. It's just those pesky drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists. Any chance you can sort out the recession with your all-knowing wisdom?

I hope all these burglaries are being reported to the police.

njc97 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Loz - the problem with that junction in battersea > is the drivers. The excuse that "it's difficult to > see the exits" is bullshit. And the markings on > the road are v cleear. Or you could try reading what I typed. That's not what I said. And if so many drivers are getting caught at a particular junction then there is almost certainly an issue with that junction. Do you actually know that junction? Do you drive a car?

Laddy Muck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The little park opposite Sainsburys has around a > dozen Elderflower trees. Try and pick from those > in the sun though (better aroma/flavour). Enjoy. You mean DKH park? Where? Or have you stripped them bare?!

I'm in the 'Sometimes Annoyed" category. Not so much they use mobile enforcement, but that this information only seems to go into fines. For instance, there was a story the other day that a certain box junction in Battersea raised ?2m in fines last year. That to me suggests there is a problem with the junction - be it the signage or the road. Now I happen to know that particular junction and part of the problem is that two lanes on one side of the lights becomes one lane on the other - I've very nearly been caught out myself on this one. A simple change - making the left hand lane a left turn only - would go a long way to fixing this issue, but no, it's been that way for at least 15 years. Are Wandsworth doing *anything* about it? No. But why should they? It's turning them a nice profit. And that is wrong. And that annoys me.

We have a blackbird or two that are regular visitors to the garden. Indeed I spotted one this morning.

And not to forget the fine job U2 did singing about the joys of Birmingham... http://www2.b3ta.com/u2vertigo/

You're right! It does sound like "can't you suck c..." - listen 12 seconds in...

Anything available for us up near the station?

It'd be more like a cat-flap.

I found this website http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/wren/index.aspx And indeed, the suspected wrens have been making the tick-tick-tick noise in the sound clip for about the last hour since I startled them trying to take a photo out of the window.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'm by no means an expert, but I think nesting > boxes vary depending on the kind of bird you are > hoping will make use of it, eg they have different > size entry holes. > > Maybe the one you put up wasn't suitable for a > wren? Maybe, but I am still *very* miffed! Though very pleased soemthing in nesting in the garden. Last time was a few years ago when we had a nest of sparrows (I think - not very good at bird identification). Every time we stepped out the back door 20-odd sparrows took off!

That looks like it! Many thanks. The male (I assume) is busy collecting food and flying it into the nest - I'm not sure if it's for the female or if the chicks are out as I can't see into the nest. It then flies off with a white, ball looking thing. I assume this is regurgitated waste disposal? I am a bit put out, too. I put up a nesting box two years ago and nothing has ever made use of it. The wrens (if they are) built their own nest two feet away from it!

A small, brownish, mouse-sized bird is new to our garden this year and has set up a nest in the ivy outside our window. In fact, the first time I saw it it was running/hopping across the paving and I thought it was a mouse. Can anyone identify the bird on that rather poor description? Or do I need to see if I can get a photo? I am rather intrigued as to what it is.

Mornington Crescent! Oops. Wrong thread.

Yeah, I'd avoid the cucumbers for the moment.

DNA profiling not 100%. It's not 100% in identifying a person - a DNA crime scene sample is usually contaminated. Also, even if it correctly identifies a person, who is to same they committed the crime? I could commit a crime and leave a single hair that I have stolen from you... and you would be identified, even though you had not been anywhere near (and sadly for you, you were home alone that night and unable to get anyone to vouch for your whereabouts). And besides, even if it was 100%, what right do we have to to execute anyone - especially publicly? Justice should be about punishment and rehabilitation - not vengeance. Besides, as America shows, it doesn't act as a deterrent and only poor people are ever executed anyway.

Maybe there should be whole lost/found/missing/dead cat section, where people who are interested in lost/found/missing/dead cats can share their lost/found/missing/dead cat stories together.