Senor Chevalier

Grr, that's a shame. I reckon we could cope with a half size version of the green and brown and then a blue box (or half size blue) and in doing so get them all into the specially designed bin store we invested in and out of sight.

Inflicting a veggie BBQ on non-veggie attendees is a big call. I hope you have managed expectations and told your guests that it is a "veggie BBQ" and not just a "BBQ".

Am actually now taking to the whole food scraps caddy. And being glass is half full for a moment, the arrival of the monstrous blue bin has prompted me to call up Southwark and optimise my bin arrangements. I had 3 bins before, now I have 4, but I reckon I can get it down to a green, a brown and a blue box. And if they do a half size green and brown then so much the better. We should launch a "most parsimonious bin arrangement" competition...

Hi James In this instance I think it is a specific site / offender that is a routine issue (rather than the general level of cleanliness in Southwark) that is being referred to. It is on Melbourne Grove on the approach to the station before it goes round the corner near the row of shops. I pedal past each day and rubbish is routinely strewn across the street. Easily fixed and whoever leaves their rubbish out in a loose bag ought to be ashamed of themselves / taken to coventry / issued with an ASBO or whatever... Judging by the thread above this was specifically reported on 9th May but it is still happening. I don't know if those that reported it have a reference or anything. More generally, if the streets are being cleaned every other day, then the street cleaners must be seeing this on a very frequent basis. Is there any mechanism to collect feedback from the street cleaners so that things like this can be addressed?

So what do we all think of the proposal to raise the speed limit to 80? I was quite surprised as I'd forgotten that occasionally something sensible and positive can come out of a politician. I guess occasionally policy brainstorming does deliver the goods... Presumably it is now only a matter of time before Ed suggests that it needs to be raised to the right level and not the wrong level. That the Torys are wrong, wrong, wrong and are going too far too fast. And that we should all get on board his plan to raise the limit to 78mph.

Do not use Kenwood plc. 5 trips, mess each time, never fixed. Made me wait 6 months between each visit as the treatment needed to dry out.

Ah, finally one of the ridicuous threads on here has descended into the ED equivalent of an episode of Northern Exposure? I am game clearly.

I suggest a large yellow and purple stripy bin be issued to each house for cat litter and nappies. Or perhaps 2 separate bins come to think of it.

Agree he seems like a nice chap. Certainly more likeable than the Conservative lot. If he had some actual policies that were coherent and suggested that Labour would be a safe pair of hands then heck I might even vote for him (I've been known to wobble between left and right). Unfortunately listing from one "voter message workshop" to the next ain't doing it for me. They are years away from a general election so should forget the politics and come up with an actual organised plan.

But back to the question of where to procure garment finance in such times of austerity. Now that IS a tricky one.

What's With The Whole Caps Thingy?

I've been looking for a rental recently and several agents have told me about properties currently on their for sale book. According to them, not much is selling at the moment so after a while they start working on the vendors to consider renting for a year if they are a position to do so (that way the agent still gets a commission one way or the other). I have to say I'm pretty nervous about the downside risk in the housing market right now...

Twirly Wrote: Presumably Southwark will generally have far too many green bins now. What is going to happen to them all? They could respray them blue and give them to the folk that haven't got the blue ones yet. Alternatively I guess they just get cut up and put into the blue bins.

I think in time we will probably get used to the Blue Bins. But they've only just arrived so we are surely entitled to our little moan...? Before the combination of weathering and our habituation means we don't seem to notice them anymore. And then when we go to walk down a similar street in another part of London where they don't have them, and find that it is almost imperceptibly nicer without being able to put our fingers on why that may be... and children playing hopscotch and marbles...the postman doffing his cap etc etc Maybe we should get rid of nasty coloured cars while we are at it.

OK, so to clarify. Renting is not a mug's game. Paying more in rent than you would pay in interest on a mortgage for the same place (long term) is a mug's game as is spending all your free money on rent, rather than renting a smaller place and putting some money aside to cover your property costs on retirement. That's the mug's game.

Yep - they are twiddling at the edges saying what they would do if they were in power which is irrelevant as they are not. I was particularly amused by this one though. They are basically holding their hand up and saying that their previous stance was utter cobblers and so they have taken a giant leap Toryward. Can they honestly expect anyone to buy the notion that we should vote for them as they would execute a fractionally recalibrated version of the Tories own plan? The alternative being to let the Tories deliver their own plan. Well it's a no brainer isn't it... I'll say it again. Cobblers. ETA: Oh and the other plan. Drop ?12bn in VAT receipts to stimulate the economy. The only certainty in this is that the VAT revenues will fall by ?12bn. Will it boost growth and if so would it generate more or less than the ?12bn it costs? It's a gutsy call to say that ?12bn should be invested in this indirect and untargeted way. Utter Balls and the consequence of a bunch of twerps sat in a room brainstorming and tinkering up a plan that they can package in easy to digest soundbites to fill the vacuum left by having no agenda on this. Charge students frationally less and drop VAT a little bit - inspirational stuff and bound to work...

I see from the other thread that James B suggested we can call the Council to get a different permutation of waste receptacles. This seems sensible as what is right for one person won't be right for others. I'll give it a try and see how I can best optimise my own bin situation. That said, it is a shame the default option was to deploy another bin as I reckon most people will just do nothing so the bloody blue bin blight will continue...

Is it just me or does anyone else think that we have now converted our streets into unsightly wheelie bin parking lots now? I know it is partly that I was used to the green and brown ones and it is just a change - I may get used to the blue in time. But at least the green and brown ones vaguely blended in with trees and shrubs in front gardens whereas the blue ones stick out like sore thumbs. I'm all for recycling, but it does look terrible having anomolous plastic lumps in otherwise charming victorian streets. And what about the people that have gone to the trouble of building a bin store thingy in their front garden who can't now fit all the bloody bins in? If we are all generating the same amount of waste (or hopefully less as we become more conscious of food waste) then whilst we may need more receptacles to divide our waste, our total waste holding capacity should not have increased. Are there other options? What about using different coloured bags within the same overall bin?

...and given that spike, renting is probably no longer a mugs game.

Yikes - should there be a special sign / handshake / rolled up trouser leg / nervous tick type identifier...? I felt the same when I stormed down to the EDT to reclaim the streets on the post riot Tuesday. Couldn't quite bring myself to interrupt people with "Oh excuse me, are you perchance on the East Dulwich Forum?"

So the arguments against getting house prices under control are: 1) Huguenot - it would be punishing the majority of people for whom it is their home and not an investment 2) Loz - it would lead to negative equity and disaster for the economy I think we need to decide. If it is just a home to live in then what it is worth is kind of irrelevant if people stay put. If they want to move to a bigger house then it helps. OK I get that negative equity would trap people in homes, but it shouldn't have a bearing on what people pay on their mortgages and it shouldn't have a bearing on how much discretionary cash they have to spend. It only has a bearing on the disposable cash if it is an investment property or we are into equity release. Clearly not great to have people evicted from their homes to pay tax, so rolling up the tax and deferring it to be taken off inheritance as I suggested above should be applied to solve this. Next.

How do you monitor frequency - after a few delicious suppers do you sigh to yourself as it's keep it real time again..?

Cripes - same old on here. All the arguments in favour of the 50p tax are basically arguments for higher tax on those with high incomes (often confused with the rich). The question (as ever) remains where should the limits be. All the arguments for a 50p tax were the same that were used presumably to justify the 40p tax rate before. The self same reasoning could also be used to justify 60p and 70p and then on to 80p. The argument is a simple upward taxation argument. It is a relative argument. However, as with all systems there are limits to how far you can push something before there is a counter force / argument that has to balance it to arrive at a sensible equilibrium. The question is, at what point does it become pointless and / or unfair? I think everyone would agree that at some point it becomes unfair and would be a disincentive to work. Timster you can argue that it doesn't at 50p but there will always be marginal people (no offence Loz!) for whom it does. We all probably have different views of where that is. In any case I think the numbers from Inland Revenue will suggest the revenue generation argument is pretty thin at best and looking at fiscal policy across other countries most other governments have decided that the optimal level is somewhat lower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve ETA: Cross post with MM. Looks like we concur on this one.

Talking to other cyclists you don't know. Next you'll be saying it is OK to speak to people on the tube. Nutcase.

I love Open House and always go for a poke around the new build contemporary private houses. I went to see the new build on backlands site at King's Grove Peckham and had a good natter with Mary the architect. Interesting place with v.cool polished concrete floor and some nice touches as well as some bits of bling that I wasn't sure about. Off to see the frame house on Rushworth street tomorrow.