Nero

Balchier Road is a hard one. Is it Bal-cheer, Bal-kee-uh, Bawl-cheer, Bawl-kee-uh?

I also think that house swapping is a good idea. By that time, the links between here and the site should be better. Loan out your house for the two weeks, get a ?1000 deposit and charge them, I dunno, ?1500 for the fortnight. Or is that too much or too little?

I've always said Dull-itch and not Dull-idge. Is that terribly milk in first of me?

..Friern. Apparently, it is Fry-un, not Freern. I know that because the nice, invisible lady who always seems to be on the 63 telling people what stops are coming up says so. Nero

I don't go to pubs and bars much, but I know what I like. I'd say please pay attention to overloud music, ample space between seats, which should be comfortable and not low (even for average height people, ultra-low sofas are bloody uncomfy!), adequate ventilation and temperature control (who wants to sweat into their daiquiri?), personable service by people who understand how to serve drinks properly and can speak English well enough to have a conversation with the clients, and no bouncers. If your place were a bit like The Drum (minus its Why Don't You aspect) or The Holy Drinker in Clapham with elements of Inside 72 and proudly boasting all of the above requirements, Rita, Emily and I might just pop in for a sherry or two. Nero

Reduced pressure near Goodrich School.

I have been in the upstairs warehouse. Think Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets How Clean is Your House. (I had to wash my hands after having picked up several bags of trimmed spring onions that were swimming in fetid onion juice and needed to wash my mitts.) It's not a nice place, is it, really, eh? Just let's hope Co-Op will make it all better. Nero

I think we are missing a Waitrose, the ne plus ultra of British food retailing. It's what M and S used to stand for - quality, an absence of fuss, good value, and customer focus. I went into the branch in Tunbridge Wells and was so impressed with the calm, the clean lines, the lack of promotional thrusting and the space. M and S has gone after the bling factor and, as a result, looks dated and tacky. As for restaurants, I agree with Sean. We don't do badly at all for places to eat in SE22 and around, both in terms of number of outlets and their quality, but at the same time, we don't actually do well. Franklins, G and B, Sea Cow and Lombok (SE24, I know) stand out for me, but the likes of GBK, Chopsticks, and Locale fall short of the mark. Right now, I tend to go to places I like rather than experiment. I'm fed up of so-so service and over-priced ponciness. I'd love a Vietnamese restaurant and somewhere like the Italian restaurants you get around Great Portland Street - La Vigna, for example.

He's the presenter on Breakfast News and is on today. When not turning to the side, he has his left hand permanently on his left thigh. It's distracting but it looks quite normal and comfortable for him. (Can't say I've seen old Bill Turnbull doing the same.) Thoughts?

There are NO ghettoes in the UK. It might suit the wannabe gangsters to say so, or Paul Ince, but like it or not, our country's most deprived areas do not compare with the terribly poor and more dangerous counterparts in the US. The UK has a safety net in the shape of universal health care, better gun crime statistics and more involved policing. Comparing Moss Side to parts of Chicago is a non-starter. Listening to people talk about ghettoes in Britain is laughable and sad at the same time.

I think of Otto the stoner school bus driver from 'The Simpsons'.

There are very white parts of Manchester, like Gorton and Harpurhey, Blackley and Newton Heath that were like Rye Lane is now, but with less money. I disliked them in the same way I dislike Rye Lane. But I will add that I don't like the feel of the place. I am white and I feel very out of place with such a high concentration of halal shops and hair beading places and evangelical churches that are mainly aimed at Africans. It's just not part of my day to day culture, and I feel somewhat alienated, and that is not a nice feeling for anyone. It doesn't make me racist, but I am not afraid to say that I don't like feeling a stranger in somewhere that is only a few miles from my house. Neither is it racist for a newcomer to this country to say he or she feels like a fish out of water in some parts of London. For the record, I am anti-multiculturalism and pro multi-ethnicity, but I feel that there are too many immigrants in London.

Not had a voucher, yet. Am at Goodrich, near the school.

I mentioned her social status because it added to my sense of shock. I didn't expect such a socially aware, middle-class woman to do such an underhand thing. Had she simply dropped it on the floor, it would have been bad, but sneaking it into a privet bush while probably thinking 'I'm not at all bad , because noone can see it and only real louts drop litter' - for what other reason could there be - was worse. And I was intrigued rather than outraged because I was really trying to work out her reason for her actions. Outrage gets me going, making me want to confront someone. Intrigue makes me think and makes me less likely to be indignant. James. I am no Louisa, so only mention class/appearance when it is valid. She looked like a 'nice young woman', one who you wouldn't think would do that kind of thing. And bitchy because this place is too nice, sometimes. Townley Green, when you post something that is topical, local, and psychologically insightful, do PM me. I'll then you give MHO. Horsebox, Nerves are raw in SE22. Can you imagine if it were an ORGANIC hedge? Brianb, it's rude to shout.

On Crystal Palace Road, near to the Tavern, about an hour or so ago I spotted a young mother, complete with trendy buggy, jute bag, designer sunglasses, cropped trousers, stylish hair, finish off her chocolate bar, crumple up the wrapper and, very tidily, stuff it into a privet hedge. It intrigued me so much. She was the Lucinda of litter louts. If you are that woman, please let us know what was going on in your mind. Oh, and a word of advice: ditch the snacks, luv. That way, both your figure and the local environment might improve. (I've seen other people place bottles on the top of walls or besides lampposts, or deposit huge plastic bags of trash next to someone's household bin. Psychologically, they must be thinking that they are at least doing some good, or perhaps not doing as much harm as a 'real' litterbug who would just drop their rubbish willy nilly.)

It is not by far the unhealthiest food you could eat. Crisps, chocolate bars, pints of beer, Lucozade are all nice but not very nutritious. A 100% beef burger, salad and half pint of organic low-fat milk would trump a kebab and Pepsi or chip butty and lager, don't you think? Rather a McD's than a SOT (some old tat) shop or another knick-knack emporium, or a betting shop or a bloody organic/local/fairtrade deli. The campaign against McD's is as specious as that other old chestnut - the fight against phone masts. Most of those who don't want a mast rely on mobile phones, and teach their offspring to do likewise. Similarly, people who hate McD's generally are not paragons of social, cultural and culinary virtue. They buy too much useless crap, eat and drink tat food, drive too much and spend lots of time in front of the telly or traipsing around shopping centres, but they like to think by ganging up against a big, bad company, somehow they are nice and kind and gentle, like a nun with an organic soup kitchen. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking that we're better than McD's. We're not. We just like to think we are.

Plus on a practical side, the amount of litter such establishments create is terrible. McDonald's doesn't create the litter, its customers do. The same maxim goes for any fast food outlet or producer of takeaway comestibles. For the record, I think McD's is on the whole an average-to-good company. Its food, if eaten in moderation, is good value, tasty and nutritious. Once again, it is the people who overindulge and then write (or don't write) fatuous books about the experience that rubbish the company's name. McD's has converted a lot of its packaging to more environmentally friendly material, gone very big on free range and organics, and is scrupulously clean. There are leaflets in most outlets telling the customer - if they could only bear or were able to read them - all sorts of facts and figures about its food and how it is best consumed as part of a varied diet. It is not angelic, but it's not a demon either.

Just drive less. It'll be inconvenient but not that much. And when you do drive, try to reduce consumption by keeping the vehicle light, not changing gears too quickly, not speeding. A lot of driving is unnecessary. It makes lives simpler and quicker, but the downside is congestion and pollution.

I'm having very woody lavender removed and want to replant with flowers that will more or less look after themselves. It's in a small plot of land beneath a bay window. I have a horror of pansies and other such municipal plants. Want to cram them all together and create a nice display. Would prefer natives but anything that attracts wildlife is good.

A few years ago, it was said I looked like Jack Dee, but I don't think it applies now. Would love to look like Cary Grant or Harrison Ford.

Not got mine! Expect bag wars before long.

Barry Road, before the Clock House and after the newsagent's.

Wait for the call, thank the doctor, and then ask why s/he did not ring you at the correct time. The idea that we can't treat doctors like any other person is ludicrous. They are not gods and deserve no more or less respect than anyone who is doing you a service (unless they physically save your life).

I really enjoy Lombok in Herne Hill. You'd need to book for Friday or Saturday, I think. It has more of a restaurant feel than Thai Corner Cafe. The service is very good, the food is very good, too, and it's a nice stroll through the park and down Half Moon Lane, perhaps with a stop off at the Dog to make an evening of it?

Shaken? Try the bendy 12 at the bottom of Rye Lane. It is appalling.