civilservant

peterstorm1985 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'd like to see questions such as, > What places should you expect to queue? > Should you let your dog crap on the pavement and > not clean up after it? > Is it OK to spit on the ground? > What are litter bins for? > Is it good to open doors for old people and those > carrying heavy objects? > Not so fast! At that rate a worryingly high proportion of the ED population would find itself consigned to Sangatte as a result of spectacularly bad test scores!

We had them in, they had a look at our loft - which is boarded over - and diagnosed that the reason that our back bedroom is b**k-freezing in winter is because we haven't got any loft insulation over it. So we are having it insulated, and the Council pays half (I think) Let's hope that when it snows next week or whenever, we'll be a little warmer.

ahem - 15 - fail... Ian Jack today in Guardian on precisely this subject - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/14/ian-jack-what-is-britishness-citizenship-test Having done the test, I can't work out what its aim is. There is a clear bias in favour of people who are able to digest and spew out facts and dates on demand i.e. people with at least a secondary education. Questions such as "In which year did married women get the right to divorce ... a. 1837 b. 1857 c. 1875 d. 1882" - how do they prove true understanding? If you were really interested in asking people about their understanding of British culture, you'd want to ask it in a less nit-picky way e.g. : "When did married women get the right to divorce ... a. in the 17th century b. in the 18th century c. in the 19th century d. in the 20th century" - which is probably why native Brits fall down so badly.

Jesus of the Moon - Nick Cave

lucy in the sky with diamonds - beatles

TG, pay attention! can't you see that e-dealer is trying to play his own game? >The Free Electric Band - Albert Hammond Together in electric dreams - human league & moroder

born free - andy williams

maxxi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes but the good citizens of ED seem to be forever > popping them out like trainers from a Korean > sweatshop - and popping them straight onto > scooters designed to cause widespread > knee-scrapage and handlebar-to-groin injury as > they whiz along LL. Agree I don't quite understand the ED urge to continue procreating beyond the hallowed norm of 2.4 kids So, anyway, when can we expect ED to return to being a non-smug sleepy 'burb content with the shopping facilities offered by its local Coop and Iceland? Say for the sake of argument that there are three sprogs in the typical incoming family described by Mr Ben. Assume that they are spaced a sensible 3 years apart, and they grow out of scooters at around 5 years old. Then, it only takes about 11 years for said family to reach the end of its scooter-usage phase. That takes us to 2022. Family decides to move to Surrey/Kent/France when middle kid is 10-ish, following oldest kid's horrendous experience of Charter/Harris Carpet Academy/Kingsdale - that adds another couple of years to the timeline. So, probably not before 2024...

If the problem is truly one of people with buggies and small children cluttering up Lordship Lane, all this will pass. Children only occupy a small proportion of one's adult life, unless one goes in for large families or second/third families. Children add life to the area, and ensure that things stay local. As people age, their needs inevitably reduce and in line with the lifecycle of localities, LL will probably return to being a sleepy and run-down nowhere without any kind of public life except that provided out of hours by pubs and young single flatters. And that is arguably worse than squads of yummy mummies with their feelings of entitlement. I'd be careful what I wish for.

sorry, maxxi - should have known you'd know that - molto respecto to old-time efficiency!

yes, Townley Green, but eye still not firmly on the ball how does Animals/House/Rising/Sun fit with Eight/Days/ Week/ Beatles? Days - the Kinks

back on track!:)) astral weeks - Van the Man

The Honeysuckle and the Bee - Fitz and Penn yes, I too Googled (the songwriters) My excuse? Shock at seeing FJD describe ABBA as "some old 70's soul band"

Bit of confusion here, Maxxi - guys are relics of anti-Catholic sentiment and are burnt on Bonfire Night, presumably as a 17th century update of some pagan end-of-summer ritual. Hallowe'en occurs on the night of 31 October but is probably a Christianised survival of a similar pagan end-of-summer beano. 1 Nov and 2 Nov are All Saints Day and All Souls Day respectively - both major days in the Catholic calendar. All Saints Day is also known as All Hallows Day. Hallowe'en is a secularized/Scottish/Proddy/Yankee-fied (take your pick) version of the "eve of All Hallows Day", when ghosts and ghouls and witches are supposed to roam free. Trick or treating is an American updating of old Scottish Hallowe'en customs. It is effectively a kind of blackmail i.e. if you don't treat me, I'll 'trick' you by soaping up your windows or letting down your tyres or some other wickedness. Treats don't have to be restricted to sweets of course, they could also be cash, but fortunately tots these days are amateurs.

If you've got a pumpkin outside, a small witch and I will come knocking on your door on Monday 31 Oct evening hoping for a treat. We haven't got a trick option sorted, though - ideas welcome!

fab selection! I envy him!

OP's idea is not so strange. It's already in use for trains via Denmark Hill, where a lot of people get on/off. Some trains are non-stop to Victoria, while others stop at a number of stations in between. I think they also use different routes, as the non-stop ones seem to take appreciably less time to get in (as well as not needing the stopping time at stations).

Yes, but it's far from the best - the Luggage is a beguiling invention but the wizard Rincewind is not and Pratchett only gives him very minor walk-on parts in some later books. If you want to hook someone on Pratchett, better start them on a later book

bet you've never been on the District Line to Wimbledon when Chelsea are at home. Now that's lairy...

Sad to say, I've read my way through the Pratchett Discworld oeuvre since stumbling on The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic a long long time ago. IMO the ones that feature Sam Vimes' vain attempts to keep order in Ankh Morpork are the best (not so keen on the witchy ones). So any of Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch or Thud!. And since I'm in confessional mode here, I'll add that I reread Feet of Clay as soon as I'd finished it. PS I've seen Pratchett described, by a broadsheet reviewer no less, as 'silliness with A-levels'. Though that's probably not such huge praise anymore.

I second first mate - I hope all are re-united, and soon

but has she got '999' (or is that '666') in her microchip?

http://www.strawson.freeuk.com/dalek/2daleks.jpg ED-ers, er... no, CGF-ers, wake up to the new blue bins (edited to reduce local levels of threat)

http://web.orange.co.uk/images/ice/music/francis_rossi_8477dca232c31cebeee2138c7e19e01e.jpg

'sown on' like this, you mean http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_k4MD-wATVjc/S6oRijx1ExI/AAAAAAAAAC8/FT2qQ4VlgNY/s400/ashtyn+1.jpg