Twirly

If only they'd listened and turned it into a Waitrose!

Cyberia - that's a nice theory, but it doesn't always work like that on the Goose Green roundabout, particularly when approaching from East Dulwich Road. Sometimes you think you're clear, there's no pedestrians on the zebra, you start off onto the roundabout when someone whips around from Grove Vale and gets in front of you, and you're stuck on the crossing. It's a shame there isn't enough space between the crossing and the white line for the roundabout to fit a car into. Having said that, it's rare I approach in a car at any speed that would prevent me from giving way to someone on the crossing, and as a pedestrian, I can't say that I've ever had a problem either. Mind you, I always use my Paddington Bear hard stare on drivers when using a zebra crossing ;-) Recently, I have noticed some drivers stopping at the red light on a Pelican crossing (or other traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing - can't remember the different types), letting the pedestrian across, and then shooting off whilst the traffic lights are still clearly red! Why do people have to be in such a hurry? And how come more of them aren't caught and done for this sort of behaviour?!

I think you'll find it's been lounged. Admin have a habit of moving posts (even when you might think they are ED relevant), but they don't let you know. Happened to me and it was a bit disconcerting, as I actually wrote and asked them why it had been removed, but they didn't reply. Found out later by accident.

I quite agree first mate. Am not sure what the answer is though. Presumably these people don't understand that there is a problem with their behaviour. How to persuade them that they should do things differently, and behave in a socially responsible manner?

Whilst I appreciate that some folks might not be the biggest fans of Tessa Jowell, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, the OP started this thread to say thank you. Why does it have to be hijacked to criticise her/debate her politics/performance? If you don't approve, can't you start your own thread, rather than detract from this one? I appreciate a good discussion, but as ever with this forum, certain threads are good for that, and others, well, simply aren't. Thank you and good luck Tessa. *ducks and runs for cover*

I like Tas. And it's great at catering for your meat eater's and vegetarians alike (and special dietary requirements too).

That's very sad. I used to like browsing in there (though I have to admit to not having bought very much). I liked it it best when it was a cafe too. Good luck to them in whatever they're doing next. Wonder what will open up there instead?

That's awful. It seems as if various people think anything not screwed down is fair game at the moment. Have you reported it to the police? I believe that if it's on private property, even if out in the open, it's still technically theft. If you see something in someone's front garden, you're supposed to ring the doorbell and ask permission to remove it. I know we've had people do that before. Hope you track it down.

Thank you Undisputed, I'd been wondering about that. The trouble is, it won't reduce traffic through LB or Victoria - I will still need to travel through Victoria each day, I shall just be trying to cram myself onto a more crowded train. Am not looking forward to these changes at all. Two trains an hour to Victoria is going to be a nightmare, but it's a bit late now.

This morning it seems to have gone down a bit thank goodness. Bursitis is the probable cause we think - he bashed his elbow one night, and it swelled up after that.

Mr Twirly is allergic to the doctors! I'm trying to persuade him to get medical advice if it's not gone down by tomorrow though. It's not hurting him though, so he's not worried about it (unlike me!). We were just talking about it online, then I came in here and saw this thread...

Can I just ask if these bites from the Blandford fly are always itchy? My husband's elbow has gone bright red, swollen and hot, but doesn't itch. Initially he thought he'd bashed it, but it's been like that for over 24 hours now, and shows no sign of bruising, or going down. Not sure what to to about it

And do report it to the police. Seems to be a lot of this going on around here at the moment to judge by the threads on here.

Admins - thanks for your responses on here, but I had no idea to look in here! I just stumbled on this by accident. Tbh, I only ever look in the General ED issues and The Lounge (even less). I sent an email to the admins, but didn't get a reply. Hence being a bit miffed. Other forums I'm on have an automated system that tells you when a post has been moved (thereby not wasting the mods time, but keeping the punters informed). I shall know where to look in the future if one of my posts seems to have disappeared into a virtual Bermuda triangle!

Might you not be better off asking people on the Nunhead forum? http://www.nunheadforum.co.uk/

I honestly don't think you'd be wasting police time by reporting this. Give them a call and see what they think - ask if they want further details, and if they think you're wasting their time I'm sure they'll tell you. This sort of information can help them with the bigger picture of what is going on in the area - a picture that as individuals it's almost impossible to see. It might be that a policeman/woman will recognise the individuals from your description on another occasion and be able to discourage them from their behaviour (although I think it's unlikely, they may have just be messing around and not realised the effect they were having). Hope you're OK.

There was something in the press yesterday about it being "flying ant day", though I have to admit that I've not seen that many. I thought it was a bit late tbh - it's usually mid-July on a hot, sunny day with reasonable humidity. But of course we had monsoon conditions in mid-July, so they very sensibly didn't bother.

We had one of these flapping around our kitchen last night: And according to this website: http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1922 "it is not often encountered by the non-enthusiast". Am slightly bemused by the concept of a moth enthusiast, but I guess it takes all sorts! It was quite beautiful, and I thought it was a butterfly at first.

I started a thread the other day, it was deleted, no explanation. Wrote in to ask why (it contained nothing offensive, or even argumentative) as I couldn't understand it and would like to know what I did wrong, but I've just been ignored. If I don't know what I did wrong, how can I avoid doing it again?! I guess that this thread will probably disappear soon too?

Bic Basher - surely those who work in the City mostly already do that? I used to work up near Moorgate, and I'd never get the tube there. Used to get the bus up in the mornings (which I guess shouldn't be too much busier than normal, unless they've got specials lanes/diversions in place as in the West End?) and walk back in the evenings when I had a bit more time. By the time you've got down to the tube, waited for the Northern Line, got the tube and back up the other side, it's definitely quicker to walk/tube. Harder if you're going a bit further afield. On a slight aside, who on earth chose cerise pink for all the signage? Yes, it stands out (which I guess is the point) but it's a trifle garish!

Sounds as if you've got a very sensible daughter - hope she's OK.

Am pleased to say that my test run to Brixton on the 37 and thence to Green Park on the Victoria line went like a dream this morning, 45 mins bus stop to desk. Of course it might not be quite so smooth when everyone else is doing it, and will be a nightmare if the Victoria line is down, but then so is any journey when the train or tube line is out. In fact it was so easy (got a seat and everything!) it may become a favoured route.

So this morning I decided to do a test run of an alternative route. I work part way between Green Park and Bond Street stations, and since I don't really like the tube, my usual route is bus to either Peckham Rye or Denmark Hill, train to Victoria, then bus to Park Lane. Alternative is to London Bridge and then the Jubilee line, but that is going to be a serious problem during the Games I suspect. I could walk from Victoria, but it would probably take me at least half an hour (it does on the way home when I walk back to Victoria - and that's down hill). So, I decided to catch a bus to Elephant and Castle (the 12, as that's what came along first) and then get the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and walk from there. Firstly, there was an accident on Peckham Road so one lane was closed (hope the young girl I saw being helped by the paramedic was OK) which caused tailbacks and longer to get to Elephant and Castle than I anticipated. Then when I did get there, the Bakerloo line had just been suspended due to a fire at Piccadilly... so I had to get the Northern Line to Stockwell and then the Victoria to Green Park - and arrived 45 minutes late for work, and the Olympics haven't even started yet! Since I only work 4 hours a day, this is particularly galling. Tomorrow I'm going to try the 37 to Brixton and the Victoria Line from there... wish me luck.

Anstergirl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I live on Forest Hill Road and the speed of cars > appears to have drastically INCREASED since those > crossing places were put in. The crossing places > have only made it marginally easier to cross. The > should be zebra crossings and at least cars would > slow down a bit. If you are driving down hill you > can see any evidence of crossing places so drivers > make no allowance for this. I saw the aftermath of > this crash when on way to work, and sadly was not > surprised. There is an urgent requirement to > reduce speed on this road before people are > killed. James Barbour - response please. Judging by the thread on the zebra crossings near the hospital on East Dulwich Grove, speeding drivers don't take too much notice of zebra crossings and it won't slow them down. I guess that's what needed is a combination of speed bumps/traffic lights/speed cameras, which when their installation is announced will cause others to complain about them. I remain surprised that with the plethora of speed cameras around London, combined with the numbers of people you see speeding, that people still do it and manage to retain their licences. Something doesn't add up, but I've not idea what. I also have to admit that it's very easy down that stretch of road to suddenly find yourself exceeding the speed limit (though unlike some people, I know where my brakes are!). So maybe speed humps at the appropriate points might be the easiest and most effective solution.

I'm sad to say that when I move to somewhere bigger, it'll be out of East Dulwich, as I just can't afford it. I bought, on my own, 14 years ago, with a fairly modest salary and it was a struggle initially. Yes, I've seen a vast increase in the value of my flat, but I would dearly love to have a house with a garden, and despite there being two of us now since I got married, there is no way we can afford a house here - even when I was working in the City in admin (and I think you'll find that the "average salary" of ?90k is laughable - it's skewed by a few people earning a small fortune, whilst the majority of us were on more modest, but still very good, incomes), and my husband was earning a similar salary. (I'm currently trying to make a go of being self employed, so a salary is a long-distant dream at the moment.) Are the houses around here really worth the prices being asked for them? I realise that the market dictates value. But is a smallish Victorian terrace with a handkerchief sized garden really good value at current prices? I don't think that my flat is really worth what I will probably end up asking for it in real terms (but I will still have to ask for it, so that I can afford to move elsewhere). It sounds to me as though the foreign money coming in is squeezing the property market so that us ordinary folks, with average salaries, struggle to live in a reasonable area - or, as in my case, move to an area, find it's nice and then get priced out of it. I shall really miss the area, but there's not much I can do about it if I want more space/a garden.