fatcats

I lived in Denmark hill for a few years followed by east dulwich for a few years (peckham rye park side) then lSt year moved to a street where we're slap bang on the border between west dulwich and west norwood. I don't miss east dulwich at all apart from peckham rye park. Everywhere had started to feel very samey to me, perhaps I had been there for too long.Many of the pubs started to resemble each other and the crowd always seemed exactly the same, wherever you went. There's not one restaurant in east dulwich that I've wanted to go back to since we left. But while I was living in se22 I thought I never wanted to leave it. We do back regularly to Denmark hill though which feels a bit more eclectic to me. I do agree there are fewer pubs and restaurants in wd and se27 but as our friends started to buy properties and disperse we often find ourselves travelling to other parts of london to see them so we do not feel we need dozens of places on our doorstep. We have a handful and that's fine. The bus links from west norwood are so good we can be in brixton in 15 min max, or crystal palace, or Denmark hill or we can walk to dulwich village, or herne hill. Transport from tulse hill station into the city and beyond is excellent. I love walking through west dulwich and gipsy hill up to crystal palace, the streets and the views are beautiful. I think you could be very happy east or west. Both places have a lot to offer.

If you want to interpret it like that, go ahead. For me, the best way to look at it is what I said earlier, 90% of accidents can be avoided by the person whose fault it isn't. Ultimately, if you get knocked off your bike and are killed, you're dead. It might be someone's else's fault entirely, but I'm not sure that would be much comfort to a dead person.

I don't see someone lecturing, all I can see is someone who is deeply shaken by an experience and who is trying to minimise the chance of it happening again.

I've been a cyclist and driven a scooter, haven't driven a car as yet. Motorcycle training is great for safety, having said that so is the cycle training that Southwark and other councils used to offer free of charge to residents. When I did it it was 2 x two-hour free sessions and it was invaluable. We went through everything like lane dominance, making eye contact with drivers, life saver checks, I'd recommend it to anyone. Someone made a really good point on another thread about a fatal accident - it was that 90% of accidents can be avoided by the person whose fault it isn't. So I think it's perfectly reasonable to point out that cyclists could avoid accidents by wearing high viz gear, no implication of fault at all. Even if a driver just gets distracted - in which case the driver would be at fault - that high viz gear can be enough to jolt someone's awareness back to where it should be. ETA: free cycle training still available in Southwark: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200123/cycling/446/

Great thanks - would definitely be interested in the blog etc.

Hi Andy Just out of interest, are you thinking of a club where people meet up or could people exchange ideas on a thread like this? Or both? Meeting up would be difficult for me at present but I would be extremely interested to hear how others are cutting their energy consumption. Cheers

Is it me or do Arsenal just look a bit clueless in front of goal?

I've been told that scooters are less likely to be stolen if you use a cover. However, someone has taken a shine to the covers I buy for my scooter and keeps stealing them. I suppose I should be grateful that they're only stealing the cover and leaving my scooter alone, but the most recent cover only lasted 1 week before it was stolen again. Can anyone recommend a cover that's a bit harder for someone to tea leaf? Thanks in advance

Hi All Can anyone recommend someone to make some floating shelves and a cabinet for our electrics? Thanks in advance

This rang a bell, so I did a search and it seems it may have been going on for a while: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,962061,962061#msg-962061

Red devil Since you seem pretty knowledgeable about these things, please can I pick your brains about refurbished period radiators? I've seen some online that look really nice, and cheaper than brand new. But I have no idea whether buying radiators like these is a good idea or not. Any advice would be brilliant! Cheers

Will check them out, thanks again red devil.

Thanks red devil. Will have a look at all of those suggested. Re: the radiators, yes think we're hoping for cast iron column radiators. I know what you mean about ?250 not being a lot, meant it more in terms of our empty wallets really, and the fact we have to multiply it by 4. Of all the things to spend money on when doing up a house, skirting boards and radiators has got to be among the least gratifying! Thanks a lot for your suggestions, much appreciated.

Hi there As per the title really, need to buy new radiators and skirting boards. Skirting boards need to be quite wide, the type they have in Travis Perkins is ?11 per metre before any discounts which seems quite high to me. I think they were the solid wood ones. Any ideas would be great. Radiators, again any good ideas for this would be great. We need four and the ones we were looking at online were about ?250 each which is again quite high. Would be really grateful for any ideas. Cheers

first mate, have you tried messaging rspcalondonsoutheast?

Well done first mate, for caring and being so tenacious. The dog is lucky it managed to attract the attention of someone as caring as you.

Do you know which neighbours own the offending cat(s)? If so you could politely request that they invest in a litter tray for it. We bought a supersoaker to stop a neighbourhood cat from terrorising one of ours. I can't guarantee its effectiveness but I think you would find it quite satisfying to get a direct hit. I've heard that lion poo is quite effective. I think you can get it in garden centres. Although how you know that is 100% genuine lion poo is anyone's guess. Other than that my nan always used orange peel and put in the flowerbeds etc.

Thanks for that. Shocking. The Tragus Group now claims to pay service in addition to minimum wage (same statement as on the Strada website), so maybe they were shamed into changing their policy.

I was really shocked by the comments about Strada so had a quick google to check it out. According to their website, tips are paid in addition to minimum wage. No idea how to check if this is true. http://www.strada.co.uk/service-charge

Monument Valley in Arizona and two National parks in Utah - Arches and Zion - I remember as some of the highlights from doing a Seattle to LA road trip that went via Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. We went to a lake in Utah which I think was lake Powell, that was pretty awesome as well.

I guess at least with something like a local builder, for example, you might get their details from here, then go and visit a site that they are currently working on to see for yourself. I suppose with other tradesmen it is more difficult to just pop round and see one of their previous jobs or works in progress. I use this forum to find local tradespeople and also the "Which" forum (we haven't actually used anyone from the Which forum just yet but we have had a few around for quotes). It's obviously not a perfect way to find someone but what is a better way, I wonder? It is surely a potential minefield however you go about it.

I've read in a few places about virtual assistants that work from home, could you look into this? I'm afraid I don't know too much more about is although I did find this link: http://www.virtualassistants.co.uk/ I'm pretty sure Sky TV and broadband uses customer service people based from home, or at least I think that they used to. So it may be worth investigating that as well. Good luck, I hope you find something that helps you to look after your mum.

No problem, hope everything works out with your project. It's stressful enough doing works to your house without having to deal with someone like the guy you describe above!

I'd recommend our builder, David O'Brien. He did some structural work for us which involved removing 2 chimney breasts and a load bearing wall. He stepped in after we were let down by another builder the day before the work was supposed to start. He works with quite a big team of people so is sometimes able to juggle things around and start at short notice. He's very pleasant to deal with and very good at returning calls. If you do a search on here and also the virtual norwood forum there are a few posters that have recommended him for building extensions. The work he did for us was reasonably priced and we were pleased with the work he did, which has been signed off by a surveyor from the council's building control department. He also does not demand lots of money up front.

tomskip Wrote: > > I think the poor thing is just going to have to > suffer and die. Feel upset! At least you know you tried.