Sue

Dogkennelhillbilly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Private Eye has covered this in-depth (apart from > the "cops are too PC" bobbins at the end). I haven't received a Private Eye for months. I took out a new subscription and received precisely one copy. I never received the free Christmas cards, either 🙄

Thanks cidolphus, that's really interesting and makes complete sense.

Did anybody actually read through that petition, or even check it for spelling and punctuation errors, before putting it online? I'm not sure that "demanding" things is likely to make those with the power to change things very sympathetic to the cause 🙄 Even the name of the road the ED delivery office was in is spelled wrongly, or else a typo. Hardly gives a good impression. Sorry to be so negative.

rahrahrah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just pedestrianise Oxford Street if they want to > ?reinvigorate? it. Most provincial high streets in > England removed traffic decades ago and yet > London?s ?premier shopping street?, is still a > congested, polluted, mess. I guess it would depend on where they re-routed all the buses to. I think it's too late to reinvigorate Oxford Street. It is all becoming like the Tottenham Court Road end always was - full of tourist shops selling cheap rubbish, and huge bizarre candy shops. And chains which just sell the same (boring) stuff you can get in their branches elsewhere. I hope I'm wrong, but like I suspect many people I now do almost all my shopping online (the downside of that obviously being the items sent via Royal Mail which never arrive .....). If there were more quirky independent shops, like in some other nearby areas, and more appealing places to eat, that might help, but I guess they couldn't afford the rents.

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >We're clearly at the very > fringes of 'inner London' in ED. That's true (blooming ULEZ) but Highshore Road is not very far from ED.

Moovart Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you have one of those battery operated push > button bells with the plug in ringer they > sometimes ring spontaneously esp when the battery > needs changing. Mine is an old fashioned wind-up one. There's no way it could ring spontaneously, unless I've got a poltergeist (I haven't 🤣)

kissthisguy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Shame ED's > Terroirs closed and the orig Palmerston is no > more. Is it that only chains can afford the rents? The story around the original Palmerston changing hands had nothing to do with rents. It's a sorry saga. There's a thread on here somewhere.

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't understand the point made above about > London Weighting, as I would have thought ED came > within the area for Royal Mail staff to get London > Weighting, but maybe I'm wrong. > > I believe Sylvester Road is classed as Outer > London, Highshore Road as Inner London, so has a > higher London Weighting allowance (at least, > that's what a postie told me). When I worked for > the Post Office, before BT split away in 1981, the > two allowance rates existed, and I assume they > still do . When I googled, the whole of Southwark is classed as an Inner London borough, but maybe Royal Mail define Inner London differently.

Lynne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------ > Load of flannel in reply from Royal Mail What were their excuses/reasons for the months of appalling service? How long has Crystal Palace been having problems? Surely not as long as ED?!

I just googled it. Apparently it's "Public Service Announcement". That's interesting about the doorbells, because quite a few times in the early hours I've thought I heard the door bell and gone down and there was no one there. I always thought it was some kind of annoying auditory hallucination which unnecessarily woke me up 🙄

sandyman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've been more active on this thread recently than > I usually am on EDF and I'll explain why. > > When I got a few Xmas cards earlier this week one > of them, sent a month ago, contained some personal > bad news about the sender. I'd spoken to them a > number of times on email over Christmas but > because I hadn't received the card I was unaware > of their change of circumstances and had sent them > a number of lighthearted messages and talked about > numerous trivial things in my life not realising > what was going on in their life. > > I now feel very bad about this, while they > presumably think I didn't care about what they > were going through. > > This is probably a minor issue in the global > scheme of things, but it's just one of the > consequences of the postal debacle. I'm sure there > are a lot more stories like this out there. > Probably plenty that are a lot, lot worse than > mine. That's terrible. So sorry.

Rockets Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What annoys me is that we, the consumer, are the > ones who suffer. > > Management and unions, seemingly, supported the > closure of the Silvester Road office and we are > the ones who are feeling the pain - who was > looking after our interests? Helen Hayes was very proactive at the time, however very few local residents seemed to care. Too late now, when the predictable results have happened! At least, there were hardly any people at the demo which Helen attended outside the Silvester Road office, at a time when a final decision hadn't yet been made by Royal Mail. Equally, there were very few residents at a local meeting about the move (which Helen Hayes also attended, and at which one of the union reps spoke at - and yes, was very half hearted and quite embarrassing. It wasn't clear whether he was for or against the move). Suggestions were made as to various options within ED for a DO which was fit for purpose, but none of these were apparently considered by Royal Mail. I don't understand the point made above about London Weighting, as I would have thought ED came within the area for Royal Mail staff to get London Weighting, but maybe I'm wrong.

Putting them in a pile on the kitchen table! That has reminded me that the rest of mine are still stuck on my living room door. I thought I had taken all the decorations down yesterday. ****. That's how long bad luck? A year? 😶

malumbu Wrote: ---------------------------------------------------- > Royal Mail was always loss making, which is why I > expect the GPO was broken up, and then the post > office made into a separate business as telecoms > and the high street were profitable. Actually Royal Mail was not "always loss making". I can't remember the exact details, but if memory serves, certainly in the late seventies/early eighties Royal Mail was required to pay a large amount of money from its profits to the government, and therefore did not have that money to invest in - for example - mechanisation. Prior to that, when the Post Office (I have no idea if it was still called the GPO at that time) split off from BT, it still comprised Royal Mail, Counters and Parcels. It was later on in the eighties that those three were separated into separate businesses. Subsequently Royal Mail had at least one major reorganisation, aka "Business Development", circa 1990. Unless my memory is completely wrong.

The present councillors in my ward (Goose Green I think) seem to vary. James McCash seems decent, helpful and proactive. I don't think an anti Tory jumper is in bad taste, personally. All Christmas jumpers are a bit of fun. Of the other two, one is elected year after year and doesn't seem to do much and the other seems to keep a low profile. I agree that James Barber was a very good councillor and I have always voted for him although I am not Lib Dem, but I presume most people were voting for their political preference and not looking at the merits of specific candidates. Though it seems a bit weird to be talking about him on his own thread!

Laddy Muck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sue, I think that the surgery is usually closed > for a large chunk of the day every Thurs. for > training. You might have caught them during those > hours. I called them quite late today outside of > their training hours and got through no problem. On Wednesday their phone message said they had been asked to close by the NHS (I presume to do vaccinations, as per JohnL's post above) and this morning it said it was due to staff shortage. I know their recorded message sometimes mentions staff training, but this one didn't. I got through after 2pm as advised by ECPS.

CPR Dave Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Heh, imagine turning up at the Ivy House expecting > it to be an Ivy franchise. Or vice versa ..

ianr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > ETA: The "urgent" number given came up on my > > mobile as being the Tessa Jowell Health Centre. > > Was that the number of the Tessa Jowell GP > practice, 020 8194 7600; or of one of the other > services/providers located there, such as the > SELDOC out-of-hours service? It was a Primary Care Service. EPCS. 0208 194 7570.

ed_pete Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Could calling 111 be any help ? Thanks, that would have been my last resort but I finally managed to get to speak to someone at The Gardens this afternoon, phew!

sandyman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, seems odd that we aren't receiving old > christmas cards now that we expected but are > receiving little bits of business-related mail - > it almost feels as if they are being prioritised > as RM might not want to lose business custom. > > I am still receiving Christmas cards, some posted weeks ago, but am still waiting for financial-related things, also posted weeks ago, so I'm not sure that that's true. It all seems totally random to me. Some larger items seem to have disappeared forever.

Dogkennelhillbilly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Bus Times app works really well (and it's > free). I have no idea what percentage of the bus > using population wouldn't be comfortable using s > mobile phone or how much the indicator boards > cost. In my experience, the live indicators are usually more accurate than the app (or Google maps also gives bus information), and it's much easier just to look at the indicator rather than fiddling about on a mobile.

Rockets Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And on the Ivy Brasserie my concern would be where > they would put the Ivy Asia as it seems that > everywhere there is a Brasserie version an Asian > version appears as if by magic next door! Also, there is already confusion with The Ivy House in Nunhead being mistaken for other Ivies, so this will make that worse!

Penguin68 Wrote: -- > I suspect that the true appalling nature is being > hidden by local management from the centre to > protect their own backs. I suspect the same.

Thanks. I just phoned Lloyds Direct, who say they can do nothing without a prescription. I will have to try the "urgent" route, but I feel bad taking up their time. ETA: Phoned the "urgent" number and they say they can't help with the medication but the surgery will be open again after 2pm. Why on earth couldn't The Gardens just have said so in their phone message? Anyway, hopefully this information may be of use to anybody else trying to contact them this morning ...... ETA: The "urgent" number given came up on my mobile as being the Tessa Jowell Health Centre.