malumbu

May as well get rid of them as everyone seems to flout them. Do Southwark ever enforce these?

1. Yeh yeh. When I moved into London they were going to do up Battersea Power Station. That was 26 years ago 2. For those with short memories the last attempt at developing the top site was a disaster, planning permission challenged by us Nimbys, and overturned following a JR, with help from our friends in Brussels 3. The Palace was a commercial flop for most of its time, and maybe even set alight on purpose, being an accident waiting to happen. It was pretty tacky in it final decades. The good stuff happened much earlier. Tis a wonderful site and still much to see. Bromely/LCC made a mess of it post war, eg tipping loads of WW bomb spol spoil and subsequently a lack of protection from vandals. So loads of potential.

This thread seems to have gone a bit dead. Like our great ex-leader. I enjoyed a recent radio documentary on protest, and then realised that anyone with a strange hair cut or multiple piercings was considered to be an undesirable in the early to mid 80s (eg Bsttle of the Beanfield when the establishment gave the travellers an illegal kicking). Now this was no doubt the establishment, rather than our great leader, but I will still happily put the blame on her for the nations lack of tolerance. And here's one I found as well with at least two of my heroes on it:

I went to Hereford the day of decimilisation. Also a few months later after Hereford FC had been promoted to the football league for the first time. Both times there was a buzz. Last time was to Bulmers when they were still an independent cider maker using local apples rather than the bollocks they do now. That was more of a fuzz. I should imagine that it has changed somewhat in the last 30 years.

My experience was that this was not patient led. My mother had lost consciousness a day or more before and was not going to recover. Of course there had been some hope earlier. The decision was the family's and the hospital was excellent. Not the slightest indication that they were trying to free a bed. Of course mine is not a scientific study. I saw a wonderful documentary on a nameless hospice (clearly St Christophers) a number of years ago. The nurses in my experience reminded me of the care that was shown at St Christophers. All rather sad, but of course necessary.

Giggirl Many thanks for your helpful suggestion. I'll got there tomorrow. I got the CEO and somebody else high up from Googling. There is some good stuff on line, but I suppose they really are doing nothing more than pairing up flights and hotels, not a true package. I was suprised when I got two bills, one for Easyjet and one for Expedia. They even charged me more than Easyjet's normal booking fee. I'll report back.

My mother made me a homosexual* Oh, if I give her the wool, will she make me one too? (*or substitute any more politically correct description, although I hasten to add a gay friend said this to me once, and I am not declaring my sexuality).

This is an end of life procedure at hospitals and hospices where they remove all but the essential services (ie that needed to keep the dying person'comfortable'. I'd never heard of this until my mother passed away in April. The hospital and staff could not have been helpful and she only moved onto this in the last 24 hours, after it was clear that any further intervention would not work and would actually cause discomfort. They explained every thing to us, and we had separate 'end of life' support. This helped the family at a difficult time. I am therefore surprised to hear that the NHS/Government are prohibiting this procedure. It would be interesting to hear others' views. I've just contacted the Beeb and happy to share our experience. The family do not regret it for one moment. We never thought that our mother was on some sort of conveyor belt and have nothing but praise for the staff.

You are not even vaguely funny. Go get a life will you.

They've just told me to speak to their bloomin call centre. I just wish they would take responsiblity and sort it. Then I would have a nice thread saying how impessed I was with them. It just seems to be a press the button booking system rather than actually adding any value and support. It would have been easier to have booked the thing myself in the first place. I had a couple of problems with Eurostar, more than ten years ago and very recently. They were excellent in sorting it out both times, and the first time upgraded the party to first class throughour. BA once got me back from India FOC and I wasn't even booked with them! So it is not a case that all organisations dodge responsibility or wont help.

Not booked a package tour since a coach trip to Austria in the 1980s. Do it all myself. So when I found a cheap package on Expedia to Greece changed the habbit of a recent life time. It appears the package is simply the flight, which I could have booked myself, and the hotel, which I could have booked myself. Not sure if I saved anything. So then I find it doesn't include the transfer. Well more fool me, there was me thinking a holiday to Tinos actually got me to Tinos. And now I find that we arrive too late on Mykonos to get the ferry over to Tinos for the first evening. Asked Expedia to sort it all out, but they don't seem to want to do it. There was nowt on their terms and conditions or info about any of this. I even phoned up the call centre before booking but they were evasive about transfers. It seems dumb for their system to give me a hotel/flight package where we simply can't get to the hotel on the day of arrival. I sadly get embroiled with the odd complaint, but finding Expedia pretty slippy to deal with. Any views eg perhaps how to go higher up the organisation rather than unhelpful one liners from their staff at the call centre. Ta everso

By mispelling moral I've lost the moral high ground. Can't spell fecker either.

By calling him a facker you have lost the morale high ground my dear fockin friend.

30 years cycling in London. Plenty of incidents but none involving a truck as yet. Gone by them on the inside 1000s of times, but not when it was daft (ie they could turn left across me). Two close shaves this week (and it been months since my last one), a car u-turned in front of me after we both pulled into a side street. I yelled frantically louder as I turned increasingy sharper until the driver stopped. She was more shocked than me, and it ended up in me conforting her. Not in that way I hasten to add. Then a two year old jumped into the road at a bus stop, I veered and he then ran. I assume that I shouted as a parent grabbed him. If I'd hit him he may not be with us now, and perhaps I may have gone into a car as well. Like my football skills, my positioning and awareness are at their peak, unlike my physical fitness! But I still end up analysing these situations on how I could have avoided them. I come across far more couteous motorists, including taxi drivers and bus drivers, than dangerous ones.

Just checking out Costello at Glastonbury. TV coverage looked pretty awful but the Radio 6 recording sounded much better. Then in considering my good and bad Costello experiences remebered I saw him on 27 December 1980 with an amazing lineup at the NEC Squeeze Madness Rockpile Selector UB40 (in the brief year or so when they were phenominal) And John Cooper Clarke as compare ?5.50 equivalent maybe to ?35 now And it was a great Saturday as we beat the red scum as well 3-1 Great late Xmas pressie

Was he any good? I did like him yonks ago. He had a fairly low profile now.

I always liked the name Dennis Pennis.

Daily Mail = Daily Hate Daily Express would be similar, but no one reads it Buy the Grauniad for the TV guide on a Saturday. Peed off with the increased price in the last couple of years That 20p Indie looks good.

I just googled my name and didn't find anything about scams. Can someone explain please! Scammers - greedy clever people ripping off greedy ignorant people. Ignorant in this case being 'unaware' rather than stupid. Paul Vegg, Google 'Mike Haley Scams" and you will see some interesting stuff on scammers.

sadly a young lady was killed on a Boris Bike BBC London did not report it particularly inmpartially. I have written to them. Shame on you BBC London Report the facts. Do not speculate. Tom Edwards Transport correspondent, London We don't know the exact circumstances of what happened. Whether the experience of the cyclist riding the hire bike is a factor we don't know. [Why speculate? You are putting views into the readers minds] We also don't know yet if the painted blue lane of the Cycle Superhighway lulled the cyclist into a false sense of security. [Ditto] A poor lazy piece of journalism. You could just as easy say. We don't know whether the driver involved was drunk or on a mobile phone Worse still from their website: Thanks to Terry G L Rowe who commented on BBC London's Facebook page about the cyclist killed in a crash with a lorry and how safe cycling in London is. He said: "I am an x-lorry driver and the amount of times bikes came up my inside was madness some cyclists, they run red lights some cyclists, [go] wrong way down one way streets some cyclists etc & its always the lorry drivers fault!!! we have to take a test which lasts about 2hrs, what do bike riders do?? ?just take of there stabilisers and off into the roads!!!!!! [some drivers drive whilst on their mobile phones, most don't 'mirror, signal, manoeuvre', many run red lights, some couldn't give a monkeys about other road users. So now who's fault is it? Report useful things like the TfL work to educate both drivers and cyclists, including the opportunities for cyclists to sit in the cab of a HGV to get the lorry drivers perspective. Not impressed. Malumbu Pedestrian, cyclist, motor cyclist, driver, human being.

I've had go deal with Giant Hogweed and suggest injecting the stem with reasonably concentrated glycol phosphate (ie roundup). I got strange looks asking in pharmacists, dentists, GPs, vets etc for a large syringe and needle. Seach on Google and you can buy some kit from the US

I got British Gas to explain their costs fully, which to their credit they did, and then six months later they were no longer the cheapest. That EDF deal looked quite good but I hate the whole market and wish that it was still state owned like it seems to be elsewhere. Really must move suppliers. A nation that was once awash with oil, floating gas and simply gloiwing with nuclear, all provided by the state, and now look at the mess we are in. In part (and dear readers I worked in energy markets) a legacy of Thatch's dash for gas and privitisation. I am sure that many of you wont agree!

I was left for dead on Red Post Hill in 1998 after being clipped from behind and knocked 20mph into a stationary car. Dark, but very clear night. Car sped down Casino Avenue, a route that you would never do from that direction. Five mins later after some passers by had picked me up, a guy in a red Merc CL E reg, with loads of gold asked me if I was alright and that he's seen the whole thing. It dawned on me later that he was the culprit . I pass a now rather shabby red Merc not far away and it makes me wonder. Nice ending is that the staionary car that I hit, said don't bother about the dent and drove me home.

Oy red devil. When you are 16 you think there are rules to music. You had to be a hippy, punk or rocker at that time. We used to call liking funk etc discobating. A short time later hate mod music, even thought there was always a 60's style RnB band supporting the new wave acts doing the rounds. A couple of years later you start to realise that some of it is quite good (mod, disco etc), and as you get older musical tastes broaden. As a 16 year old I can't imagine that in later life I'd be going to the Cambbridge Folk Fest (don't go now as the line up is dull and not at all radical) and listening to Bob Harris Country. If I had a tape player I'd get out one of my C60 compilations and find a suprisingly wide (and soemtimes shocking) mix of chart music from my teen years. Just couln't pogo to Chic that was all.... or worse still headbang. Now some should be confined to the bin such as soft rock, pop rock, Rainbow, Europe and I will never like Meatloaf until my dying day, even if I can apprecate him. So back to Glarstoow. Bit underwhelmed really but I'd rather watch the tennis or be outside. Tried to get my head around Public Enemy, who I really should have seen at Brixton in the late 80s. And some group jumping around at 9 were very watchable. Listening to Porishead is like listening to the Cocteau Twins. For a year or so etherial and birlliant. Now sadly leaves me cold. I think it is more probablay about the Beebs coverage, and the line-up outside some of the main bands, looked pretty good. Sad that Costello was rather flat, after seeing so many good gigs, including headlining Glastonbury (around 40000 people at the time) in 1984. Perhaps should have done another stage. Off to the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve Fest later (only ?4 after 5pm) - do join me.

Thanks to the one PM I received. It a housing issue I hasten to add. More interest would be nice, although pleased that no one has yet called me a nimby or had other digs at me.