Muttley

How many customers (if that's the right word) and members of staff do you expect to come to the gym by car? It would be nice to think everyone will either walk or come on the bus, but that's unlikely to be the case. Given how busy most of the roads around Bassano usually are, curious to know where customers will park, especially in the evening.

Brendan, they should hook the bicycles up to the National Grid, then we'd all get some carbon-free electricity. Everyone wins...

......well, as my hunch said, THERE ARE NO WINDOW CLEANERS. So watch out, this guy will strike again.

As suggested by Quaywe, I've made this an announcement - please be aware of window cleaners asking for money in advance - Thread has been locked too The Administrator

I've followed with interest the recent discussion of local door-to-door scammers (the cloth sellers, the guy who is locked out of his house etc.) I have strong suspicions that there is another on the scene.

A guy came to the door yesterday afternoon with the line "We're cleaning windows, do you want yours done? Whenever I try you normally there's nobody in." I'm open to the offer, but he tells me his team are down at Tell Grove (I'm at the other end of Melbourne) so won't be up this end for a while, but "when would suit me for them to come?". After friendly discussion, we agree 9am tomorrow is fine. He then says "ok, ?10 for the front, ?10 for the back", I think yes, bit on the expensive side, but since we can never get the back windows done, may as well bite the bullet. He says "Great, guys will be here at 9am, you can pay now if you want, save me coming back." I say I never pay up front on principle, I can pay the guys when they come." "Oh, they never take the money, so when would be good for me to come round to collect?" We agree Monday pm is best, and he shoots off.

It's all so chummy and plausible. I really could so easily have handed over the ?20, despite having fallen for scams in the past. I didn't but I'll bet that half the time, people say "what the heck, I'll pay up front to save the hassle".

At 9am this morning I might get a BIG surprise when a couple of window cleaners turn up. More likely, however, we'll never see this bloke or "his guys" again. I'll keep you posted...

By the way, a description of the "window cleaner": stocky, white, maybe about 40.

Part of the problem is that threads are ordered according to the most recent response, rather than the date when the offer/request etc was first posted. A post saying that somebody wants a fridge might be first on the list, yet it turns out that the ad was put up weeks ago, but Joe Bloggs has just posted to ask if the fridge is still needed (which invariably it isn't). Wouldn't it make sense for this section to be listed in order of how recently the thread was started? Same applies to the property page, where what is of interest is that a flat is just on the market, not the fact that Joe Bloggs has said he is interested in more info.

Yes, nice bit of antique memorabilia. There should be an East Dulwich museum. "Your flexible friend".

Yes, they've cleared out. Mentioned in a recent thread...there was some rumour of new landlord, hiked rents, and Mrs Robinson opening something clothesy there. Somebody should take a photo of the tyre shop signage for the sake of posterity. It's one of the last "01" phone numbers still on display in East Dulwich.

A new map of East Dulwich seems to be emerging. I attach the first draft (it's in a word document, anyone know how to paste it into the text as an image?)

0% deals may sound attractive, but it may be a false economy for the seller. If Foxtons are getting no commission then their main interest is to sell as fast as possible, i.e. drop the price by ten grand. So what the seller saves in paying the agent he loses in earnings from the sale.

As made clear in Freakonomics (and elsewhere), the system whereby estate agents take a percentage of the sale price is not in the seller's interest. Estate agents should be rewarded for how much extra they manage to get from the sale above some agreed base price. So if you have a flat that would definitely sell for ?250k but could sell for ?300k, the estate agent should be paid, say, 10% of the proceeds above ?250k.

With smaller agents, it is usually possible to negotiate this sort of arrangement. With big chains like Foxtons it's much harder. So avoid them.

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> I don't know what I want but I want it now!

q.v...."If I had all the money I'd spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."

Pity to see this lounged, but since it's here, in answer to your question Louisa the answer to both is no doubt "yes".

-- moved topic --

By a curious coincidence, my family comes from Ilfracombe (we're talking 17th century here, have visited the cemetery a couple of times). I have no intentions of returning to my roots.

The trouble with living in 'warmer climates' - France, Spain, wherever - is that by the time we're 70 they won't just be warm, they will probably be excruciatingly hot for large chunks of the summer, with water shortages and extortionate air conditioning bills for those who can afford/morally justify installing a/c systems. East Dulwich itself may have the warmer climate everyone will be looking for.

I would guess that young people who buy a place in, say, Catford think of it as a stepping stone, and imagine themselves living somewhere else when they are older. East Dulwich used to be the same, but I wonder if things have changed. Often it's the pressures of growing family that force people out, but that's far harder to do than in the past because of the cost of moving, and with the pulling power of local shops, restaurants, good public transport, a strong identity, good hospitals etc I wonder how many of "us" will still be here when we are 70 (whether we are actively planning to be or not). And compared to, say, Bournemouth, or Chester, or the South of France, is this - or will this be - a good place to be 'old'?

What do you think the demographics of East Dulwich will be in: 2020? 2040?

The discussion that follows might throw up some interesting opportunities for entrepreneurs, and some important messages for estate agents and shopkeepers...

Macroban has it. It's on the corner of Melbourne Grove and Lytcott Grove. There's a 'piazza' in front of it. Should be quite a few apples in a month's time, enough for some East Dulwich apple pies (but there ought to be some self-imposed rationing of say 3 apples per household).

East Dulwich boasts the country's first Urban Orchard (well, that's what it says on the sign anyway). The public are welcome to pick apples come apple-pickin' time, but are discouraged from throwing them at the neighbouring houses! 2 points for anyone who can name its location.

Did you know that 'forty' is the only number which when written as a word has all its letters in alphabetical order? No discussion of the No.40 is complete without inserting this essential fact.

Louisa Wrote:

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> Public transport has not become any cheaper in

> recent years.

A counterexample. Yesterday I got on a 176 on LL, paid ?1 with my Oyster, and got off near Charing X 40 minutes later. I reckon it would have cost more than that 10 years ago. Even when Ken came into power, the cost of getting a bus into the centre of town was a minimum of ?1, so for my particular journey that's zero inflation over however many years he's been Mayor, as long as you use the Oyster.

Keef - you're right, 184 probably stopped in the early 90s. Oh, how the years fly by.

The newer buses are a bit like greenhouses. Nice to have big windows at the front, but not so nice getting fried on a sunny day. For some reason, the designers of the No.40 felt it necessary to have that automated voice telling us every 30 seconds 'Bus stopping at next bus stop, please stand well clear of doors' (not 'the doors', which would be a bit more human). We all seem to have succeeded in not getting crushed by doors on every other bus in London, so what's so special about the 40 that it requires this annoying bit of nannying. End of rant. I quite like the No.40 really.

(Postscript: Until about 10 years ago, the No.40 used to go to Herne Hill, and there was a doubledecker called the 184 that went to Goose Green. 184 got replaced by the less useful [for some of us] 484, but the No.40 diverted to Lordship Lane, which was a bonus. So I've always had a soft spot for it.)

I'm taking a morbid interest in the progress of the great GV15 sale. As I came out of ED station today I noticed the rather forlorn-looking banner draped over the building says "Last few remaining". Hmm, what does 'last few' mean? I wondered. So I've just checked on Hamptons, and it would seem that 8 are 'under offer' (none 'Sold' yet apparently) and 7 aren't. So 'last few' means 'just under half' in estate-agent speak. Anyway, good news is that if you've got ?385k to spare there's still a two bed flat available, and there's still an empty shop awaiting the next Starbucks wannabe (or even the real thing).

Just been out doing errands out on LL. You can get a good peek inside White Stuff, round the side - it has a patterned back wall with a centred fireplace. Had a brief conversation with a nearby retailer who was also taking a look:

Me:"When will it open?"

Him: "Two weeks. It will be good for the shops here because it is different."

Me: "What about the shop next to it?"

Him: "I hear it's going to be a gift shop. And the shop on the roundabout will be a gift shop, too. Too many gift shops".

[i nod in agreement]. Me: "What about Foxtons?"

Him: "One month."

So there we have it, some gossip hot off the presses. Trust it as much as you trust any gossip on this site.

mightyroar Wrote:

> In my road there are two houses with the same

> number. How does the postie cope?

He probably goes on strike, that's what they normally do.

You are opening up what might be a rich seam with house numbers. A friend of mine in Woolwich at number 1A renamed her house "Nice 1A". There must be some other good house number/house name curiosities in SE22.

What, the Discount Tyre Shop? Anyone ever been in there?

Talking of old signs, it's often possible to find old London phone numbers on shops around town. Where, if anywhere, in East Dulwich can you find a building displaying the following at the start of a phone number? (I don't know the answer!):

0181...

081...

and for maximum points:

01...

Answer: The Shell sign I'm thinking of is in Bawdale Road. It is placed in the middle, upstairs window of the converted building at the LL end, opposite Franklins. Most prominent at night, when it is illuminated. I believe there is a petrol pump in a front garden in Upland Road (not Dunstans), but not Shell.