Dorothy

A wind up? Why?

I was a fully committed fairly heavy smoker (10 a day) when I became pregnant, both times. I gave up for the duration of both pregnancies and about 10 months beyond. However, two days before my second baby was due to be born by c-section, I did smoke a couple of cigarettes at a social event. If you had given me a mouthful for smoking when I had already abstained for such a long time, I would have given you a mouthful right back. Its not a nice thing to see, granted, but I'm afraid you behaved very badly there.

We are also fans of the emergency dental service at King's. Mr husband had cause to walk up there on Christmas Day once in excrutiating pain (having ignored a niggly toothache for, oh, no more than a couple of weeks) and they sorted him out and sent him home in good enough shape to indulge in the customary yuletide excesses.

Gear (as in clothes). See Trendy gear. We had a boutique in Winchester called Gear Box in the 70s.

Vodka and Russian. Russian = Schweppes mixer circa 1981 - it was bloody lovely, actually. Perhaps you can still get it.

Apologies if this is wildly inappropriate and I have done a search but can't find any other threads, so I hope I am not repeating an old subject. But I do just feel the need to say a word about Ken. Ken had the barbers shop near the ironing place and the cycle shop just up from Goose Green. My husband was in there today. It has been quite a while since Ken cut his hair so he asked the lady in the shop how Ken was - and, very sorrowfully, she told him that he had died. This is a terribly sad because he was clearly not an old man and had, I believe, only recently retired. We always took our little boy to Ken for his haircuts because he was so patient with him and somehow always managed to get him to sit still in the chair. And he did a lovely cut, even on a 4 year old! He always remembered our daughter, too, when it came to handing out the lollies. As a family we are very sorry to hear of his passing and our sincere condolences go to his widow and family.

Really? I haven't heard a peep!

We are definitely planning to stay in ED to bring up our children. We do have the secondary school hurdle to get over but, providing that works out ok, we will stay. Although we are not originally from this neck of the woods ourselves, my husband met four (unconnected) friends at University who were born and brought up in Dulwich, Camberwell and Sydenham. Without exception they have all come back here to bring up their own children. It is as nice a part of London as I can imagine and I have London in my blood (having lived in the Capital - Brixton, Tulse Hill, Dalston, Balham - from the moment I left University). I am not going to be joining the exodus to Lewes or Tunbridge Wells. Oh no.

You cannot move for little Olivers in ED at the moment. And Oscars.

Dear Admin Why does the blurb under the section headed "General ED Issues/Gossip" suggest that this is the place to post about local businesses/restaurants etc? Someone posted about the new cafe on Barry Road today and the thread has been moved to ED Businesses and Trades (or whatever it is called, sorry I don't have the exact titles in front of me) which is fair enough. But - is the blurb under the General ED Issues/Gossip section now a bit misleading?

I make sure I only give genuinely nice stuff to the charity shops. It is not their job to sort through all my old tatt for me. Clothing that is worn, has buttons missing, and underwear etc goes in the big collection banks in Sainsburys carpark or in one of these dubious door to door collection bags. They can sort through that lot if they like and try and find something useable. I imagine they sell the worst of it for rags.

Blue Mountain Cafe remains the only cafe/restaurant/hostelry I have complained about service (and then walked out of) in ED in 14 glorious years here. I have been boycotting since that incident and can't say I feel any loss in my life.

Chunky - your first link to The London Paper relates to the stabbing last year, 2009.

Looking forward to reading the Dulwich Medical Centre thread when it comes back ...

Oh the cockles are very much warmed.

Do you regularly watch ITV News? If you do, am amazed you have only just realised how shockingly downmarket it is. Sub-GMTV standard, imo, and thats saying some. I stopped watching it about 10 years ago.

My son's first full day in Reception at Goodrich was on 15th September, so he had only a week or ten days of settling in. This was in 2008.

Oh yes, I see, many thanks.

I do tend to forget where I have posted, so where is the shortcut to just having a quick look at one's own recent posts? Thanks in advance.

You can hire a wheelchair fairly cheaply through The Red Cross.

? Bob.

Some facts about Foxtons: If they come and value your house at ?50k more than any other agent, then they are wrong about its value! It will not sell because buyers are not stupid. Buyers have free access to every other agent in the area and the internet. Who and where are these ignorant buyers, the ones that Foxtons have exclusive access to? Who will pay ?50k over the odds for a property just because a teenager in a Foxtons mini tells them they should? Honestly!!! Foxtons are going to be covering a huge geographical area from their office in East Dulwich. Tulse Hill, Brockley, Brixton, Sydenham, etc. This is why they have such a big office, so many staff, and so many minis. The other agents on Lordship Lane focus on East Dulwich, occasionally getting instructions in Forest Hill, Nunhead, Camberwell and the immediate surrounding area. Agents do the vast majority of their work after the sale has been agreed. It is in their interest, motivated by the complete lack of payment of any kind until a sale has completed, to keep long and complicated chains together. Agents negotiate on price changes after bad surveys etc, find other properties for people if one sale in a chain falls apart to keep the chain complete, and generally deal with constant hassle from stressed buyers/sellers, non-communicative solicitors, surveyors, builders, exiting tenants. Oh and they also work generally work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day before even starting on their evening viewings. Agents take the brunt when buyers make an appointment to come and view and then cancel at the last minute, or simply decide not to show, because they have suddenly found somewhere else, their own sale has fallen through, they are too hungover, they forgot, its a sunny day and they feel like going to the park. To get a ?10,000 fee in East Dulwich these days, then the agent would need to be selling a house at ?850,000. Not many of those around here, even if prices are a lot higher than they used to be. And more likely their fee will be ?8,500. The days of 2% commission are long gone! Except that now Foxtons are here, with their notoriously high fees, ED estate agents will be able to raise theirs to maybe a cheeky 1.5% to 1.75% and still undercut them. Foxtons' local competition is taking a measured view over their arrival. It may be quiet for a few months while the locals get all excited about the 0%, but then things will improve a great deal for other agents in the vicinity by dint of the fact that local selling fees are simply going to get higher.