Pugwash

I was telephoned from France yesterday (Thursday) evening from a colleague to say that she had sent loads of important forms and documents to me by a direct service which I had to sign and get to various people by Monday. She did not think that I would need to sign as documents were in an A4 envelope which go through the letterbox. You guessed it, got home from work to a while you were out card. Option was to collect from local DHL based in Croydon. The automated helpline confirmed that my parcel was in Beddington farm Road and the depot was open Monday to Friday only. Ring customer service line to check how quickly I could get the stuff redirected - Tuesday 29th. Explained my predicament and was asked why I did not collect tomorrow from Croydn which was open from 9 - 1. Explained that all the web sites and their helpline stated not open Saturdays. Lady tells me that she has the latest website and Croydon depot is open. It will be roughly an hour's drive for me and I will be really annoyed if it is closed as I will have to cancel another engagement. Does anyone have recent experience of this depot being open on a Saturday. If so can you post before 10 am tomorrow. Thanks

Elefteria a client I dealt with in the late 1970s named her daughter this after her partner had done a bunk when she was pregnant (He left her here)

We pay the lads who do our odd jobs including labouring ?15 ph and if extra difficult ?20 ph.

A travel lodge or Premier Inn would be nice

Parts of Worthing are very nice but some areas are a bit grotty. Was there a few weeks ago - wide range of ages, good shopping centre. if you are going to need Social Services at any point - be aware West Sussex are not generous. My daughter comes under Worthing - recycling is poor ,food recycling non existent, council tax and water rates high

My daughter lives in Goring by Sea - her nearest station is Durrington which is just over an hour to East Croydon. Her 3 bed ex council house was recently valued at ?138K purchased 8 years ago for ?125K. Opposite the station there is a good row of around 20 shops with a fantastic butcher, a bakery several cafes/takeaways, green grocers, etc. The area has several large supermarkets all within 2- 5 miles away. Frequent bus service into Worthing during the day bu they seem to stop around 7 pm and no buses on Sundays. Plenty of schools etc.

Outlook at Work was also down, we had no email access from Monday afternoon until this morning. I had to phone a hospital in Peterborough on Tuesday and they were also affected. According to our IT Team, there were problems with the server, which obviously provided access for many parts of the country

We are with the Gardens (we are Barry Road) out of curiosity I looked at the new catchment area and entered our post code to find we are not out of the area!. Looking at the map, the Gardens seem to have extended more towards Nunhead and away from ED.

yes I remember Doric Bedding, Kingstons the butchers was on the other side of the road, also the fish and chip shop run by Elvis on the corner of Matham Grove?

Insurance companies will not pay up for any damages to fences but usually will for brick walls.

When we had to get furniture moved from my in laws house, we asked the police to put out their cones as very narrow one way street with limited parking. When the removal van came they could only just squeeze in the spot. We had some aggro from people further down the road as they usually parked outside in laws house as they thought we had nicked the cones from elsewhere. We gave them to police officers name and phone number who arranged the space and they backed off. Must stress this was Lambeth not Southwark. Removal van was gone within a couple of hours.

My Mother in Law converted her very large house to 3 flats and one 4 bed flat was on a long lease. The leaseholder had to pay yearly a percentage of the house insurance (it was based on the area/cubic capacity of the flat), plus the same percentage towards any building or repairs to the external building and garden, plus there was a clause about hanging out laundry, also that the leaseholder was responsible for cleaning the stairs and hallway leading to their flat on a monthly basis. She frequently had to threaten legal action to get her money - cannot remember what the ground rent was - high as in west Dulwich

I am glad Brad is still around, I used him some years ago and was very satisfied with the quality of his work. I have coming up another couple of decorating jobs to be undertaken and will be getting in touch with him later in the year.

I have been to Kings A & E twice in 15 years - both times could not fault them. The only criticism was that , I was taken into A& E early morning with a suspected heart attack, that was quickly ruled out and other tests undertaken, around 3 pm I mentioned that I was a diabetic and had not eaten since the night before and could I go out of the unit to purchase something to eat. The male nurse who was dealing with me was very apologetic as the previous nurse should have noted my diabetic status earlier and got me some sandwiches as my blood sugars were low.

Orpington has a variety of houses and prices, green areas bordering on farmland. My parents retired to W. Sussex - both now living in care homes. Due to the high number of retired people in the county the amount of money available for social care, subsidised travel, activites etc is very much lower than some of London. My step mother had a stroke and lived 10 miles from St Richard's Hospital in Chichester. She was refused ambulance or hospital care transport home and had to pay ?25 mini cab fares as could not use bus. She got a few days care at home with personal care, meal prep and was told that since she had an occupational pension she needed to purchase care privately. There was no Stroke rehab provided, she was not offered Reablement Service or Intermediate Care (either of the last 2 should have been offered for upto 6 weeks free of charge) I would seriously look at the services provided in the area of choice , house prices may be cheap but a ?8 day return by bus to the local big town (without travel concession)can mount up. We found it cheaper to go by minicab for the 2 of us than pay the fare and saved waiting 30 mins for bus.

I would suggest that everyone writes to PALS - or even local press. I work in the health and Social Care sector and always advise my clients to do the above if they feel they have had a poor service. I know from mine and colleagues experiences in our field that one complaint may not generate much interest with the 'powers that be' but a steady trickle or a vast number does eventually produce results. Is there a Health Ombudsman - I think there is

With daughter number 1, I went back to work when she was 6 weeks old, I was lucky that I was based in Peckham so very little travelling. An aunt who just retired looked after her, she also had another aunt and a Gran around who loved her to bits. Her father loved her but was not hands on - useless with nappies etc, did not help with the housework. He was also a bit tight with the housekeeping so my job paid the mortgage and bills. Although I loved my daughter, I was not a 'natural mother' and enjoyed working. Daughter number 2 - different Dad - husband very hands on from day 1, I went back to work when she was 5 months old and had a workplace nursery so she travelled with me. We took turns in getting up at night so at least one of us had a good nights sleep. I was still not a 'natural mother' as I still enjoyed working more than being with the girls. I did worry later about the effects I had on their development by being a working mum and to a certain extent putting them 2nd. I was somewhat emotional reading through one of the girls exam projects/essay when she wrote that she came from a family of strong women, and that she enjoyed her childhood as she knew my work made me a happier person to have around at the weekends and holidays and that we did not have very structured days, friends were always welcomed in and during their teenage years our house was very much open door. I think if you are able to work and do not mind a certain amount of chaos around you ( who is going to worry if you don not dust the shelves every week, and that the house is not as tidy) and other adults and children are given roles - even 5 year olds like to lay tables and help with the drying up of small items. you can cope and have the best of both worlds.

I took redundancy at the age of 40 and had a 4 year old daughter. I went to university and did 3 years BSc and then 2 years for a professional qualification. I was hard going at times, midnight assignment writing etc. Hubby was supportive. As I was the main breadwinner, it was tough financially. I qualified in my profession and now earn over twice as much as I did originally. I could earn more if I went for promotion but have been senior management with responsibility for budgets and staffing in my previous life, and cannot be bothered with all that hassle again. Advantage was that with the exception of half terms, I had all the school holidays off for 5 years.

I have seen all the Drs at The Gardens and I love Dr. Tran's off beat humour. Saw Dr. Cliffe last week and she was very helpful and sent off for a KCH appointment for my painful foot. Dr. Cliffe is also hubby's GP so I could fill her in on the bits that my husband does not tell her . I have a good relationship with Liz the nurse who does all my diabetic checks. The other nurse is also very pleasant. Most of the receptionist staff call me by my first name as I have been around for a long time. Surgery is very well clued up on mental health issues and since hubby is bipolar I rely on them a lot for their expertise. Not always easy to get an appointment but they do early mornings (8 I think is the earliest) and late evenings.

In my job I frequently have to ring GPs and all GP surgeries have a bypass number which is only available to those who work in the medical and social care field. I tried several times yesterday to get through to Melbourne Grove yesterday on the bypass number whose answer phone was telling me that surgery hours were x - x. I was well within these hours. Googled the main number and got through straight away. Receptionist expressed surprise to hear that the bypass number was on an answerphone, but to her credit within 5 minutes I got a return phone call from a helpful GP who issued an immediate prescription to my client. Must admit this was the first time I had spoken with this surgery

There are good and bad points in hospitals. A friend had a quadruple heart bypass at Barts a few weeks ago, he then developed an infection in his leg. Despite asking what it was and how it happened, the Drs refused to discuss the matter. It added to another 10 days stay in hospital and mucked up his discharge arrangements as has been advised that he had to have someome at home for at least 7 days to care for him. The arrangement was for him to go to his sister's for a week before she went on holiday. The delayed discharge meant that he had 2 days at his sisters, 2 days with a niece and then returned home alone. The majority of Drs in Kings - especially on the 'elderly wards' take a great deal of time explaining medical matters to family and patients. I work in Kings and as a patient have had good and bad experiences as both an in and out patient. Went in for an op scheduled to take place before 11 am. (having got there at 6 am) nothing to eat or drink since 8 pm the night before, op did not take place until around 9 pm and was kept overnight, not allowed any food until after midday the 2nd day - despite being a diabetic. One ward stayed in - staff awful, the next 2 - staff could not have been more helpful

As everyone states, Grief is very personal, a friend of mine's daughter last her little girl at almost 9 months gestation and found it very difficult to talk of her experiences for considerable time. We sent a card which just stated thinking of you and our names. In my time years ago as a bereavement counsellor, I had to deal with a young woman who had a still birth of a little boy at 6 months gestation. It took a while for her to talk about the situation including how she found out that her son had died, the effects it had on her and her partner. It was made worse as at the time of the delivery, she did not want to see her son and the child was buried/cremated without his parents being there. Times have changed and parents are encouraged to be actively engaged in this process and being with their child. I know as a mother, at the end of the counselling sessions with her, I used to lock myself in the loo and cry, as I felt her pain. My own daughter is expecting her first child in 2 weeks time and I am on tenterhooks as my life experiences have also shown me that birth and infanthood is not always joyful.

It is very difficult to adopt a baby - you are more likely to see toddlers. When I worked in the Adoption and Fostering services of Greenwich Council in the 1990s - adoption was a very long drawn out affair, but now quicker. You should talk to someone who has recently adopted to get latest information. You will need to provide several character references and those people need to be prepared to be interviewed by social worker. Your lifestyle, and outlooks on life and parenting will be considered. Most Local Authorities hold workshops for prospective adopters and it was compulsory to attend these when I was involved. Are you able to take a sibling group? a child with disabilities?

Just a reminder that this event is open to all residents in East Dulwich but applies to the whole of Southwark

My deeds prevent any building in the front of the house and x number of feet from the road.