HeadNun

I'm not a patient at this practice, but this all makes for distressing reading. It's really frightening the way things are going. A friend of mine was a GP in Devon and left her practice. She now does out of hours shifts for crazy money (yes, she has moral qualms about it, but when the incentive's there...) and she says at weekends there might be only two GPs on call OOH across the entire north county. If things are bad in London, they are even worse elsewhere. How this crisis is going to be fixed, I do not know.

Surely the review has been commissioned for the opposite reason - that a lack of competition is keeping prices up?

Leon's great - it's the second time I've called him out and I have only good things to say about him. Totally reliable, trustworthy, knows his onions and charges reasonable prices.

I would genuinely like to know how he, or his GP, can prove that his adult onset asthma is related to London air.

If it is a troll, I hope it doesn't go back to its troll cave. The post made me chuckle, which is always welcome. No harm in some gentle ribbing.

When did you eat the meat? Because food poisoning usually happens within six hours of eating something. Any longer and I'd venture you've caught a gastric virus, or consumed some food carrying bacteria that was fecal-orally transferred. Pugwash, I'm pretty sure food poisoning wouldn't show up in tests. I would also give the shop a call and tell them. It may be it's not connected to anything you bought there, but any business worth its salt would want to be informed so it can carry out the necessary investigations.

It's very hard not to be suspicious.

Let us know how you get on and, if you're successful, please share your method. I'm keen to try, instead of spending a small fortune on the jarred stuff. And yes, you can get those things in Organic Village and perhaps save a few pennies - SMBS is so expensive.

Alexy Navalny. Sadly, we will never know how, or the extent of the awful things that happened to him.

This happened to me too recently. I unpacked everything, rescanned it, paid for it, left... and didn't give it another moment's thought until I read this. I was mildly irritated at the time, but just got on with it. What is happening to people today, that they get so wound up about life not going perfectly the whole time and feeling Sainsbury's / The Universe owes them something? Shit happens, you get on with it. Who honestly has so much time on their hands that they enjoy spending it complaining and then then complaining about not being listened to, when they complained, alongside a gazillion other people who complain about nothing? Sorry, I just can't fathom it.

If you find somewhere, I have a car (shock horror!) and will happily collect and drop off for you. Just PM me.

Yep, I get this A LOT. Fed up with London mums thinking they're VIPs just because they've spawned a child.

Is this for real? It's hilarious, I can't believe the Uber driver agreed to it. I tried to Uber someone's packed lunch to them once and two drives flatly refused to be liable for the sandwich.

No vet'll touch it because of bird flu. Probably best to leave it and let nature take its course. 😢

Do sight hounds 'often' kills cats and small dogs? I'd like to see your stats on that. Sight hounds generally have very gentle natures. Yes, dogs sometimes kill squirrels, but that's life. Are you just as disapproving of cats because they kill mice and voles? My dog once packed with three other dogs and took out two of my cousin's ducks. I was mortified. Cousin just shrugged and said that's how the animal kingdom works. We can't always control animals' natural instincts and urges, try as we might.

Mal, did you actually read what I wrote properly? I said that I've used public transport my entire life, and continue to do so. (I suspect over many years when you owned a car). So it's not necessary for you to lecture me on the virtues and convenience of trains. I've been to places in the UK that are pretty remote by train, bus and boat, so don't get me started on how it's less stressful, because it's not necessarily. Also, have you been to the US much? If you have, and you've visited places outside a few big cities, you'll know there is hardly any public transport system to speak of. Americans don't walk. Even in major cities like Atlanta, people stare at you if you're out on foot. It's so culturally different to the UK that comparing the two countries' car usage is a nonsense. I don't think I'm entitled for owning something that makes mine and others' lives easier and often more enjoyable, cars are a fact of life and there's a good reason for that.

Every single person I know who has a car in London uses public transport where they can. I don't know anyone who drives to work, except tradesmen. I used public transport, shopped online, walked and cycled my whole adult life, until I passed my driving test in my early 40's. I still do those things but having a car has changed my life. I'm now time-rich because I don't have to spend half a day doing a single, basic errand on public transport. I can get out of London and enjoy a freedom I'd never before had. It's expensive, but cheaper than getting trains everywhere. London air is cleaner than it's ever been, Londoners are mostly good at playing their part in doing their bit for the environment, and car manufacturers are getting better at lowering emissions. I don't see why owning one should be viewed as such a sin.

Good idea. I think I'll join you and start equine trading - specialising in high horses. We could clean up. So glad your dog's OK, Mary T. You must have been terrified. Happened to mine once and it took me longer to get over the shock than my pup.

I was being mean about her blog writing. It's twee, yes, but nice to see the place from an outsider's perspective and also nice to see someone taking so much pleasure in discovering the area,

Oh it's fine, Jazzer. I read it and it's a really fascinating insight into the area. It really threw up a few surprises and there's some great, original writing on there.

🤐

Once you know the smell, it's pretty distinctive (def not human). I haven't been able to open my windows some days in the summer and the neighbours have had the same problem. And then there are the other presents they leave on our doorsteps. Not to mention ransacking bins and leaving filthy nappies etc all over the street. Agree about councils needing to build more public toilets, but I just don't think the foxes would know how to use them

I think councils need to start considering fox culls. The problem is getting out of hand. Recent visitors to mine from out of London commented a lot on the overwhelmingly strong smell of urine in the streets. During the summer it's even worse.