*Bob*

Alex said to Dimbleby 'wi gonnae be best pals' - that's good enough for me.

There are countless, of course, but I'm always drawn to ones that so many others fawn over in some Emperor's New Clothesy manner. "Drive"

Worth considering. I don't know how she'd feel about me blacking-up though, to be honest

Good things can come of these things sometimes - and we've been married for several years now. Keeping the blind thing going is a pain though.

Usually I just pretend to be blind. The downside is that instead it's me who gets helped-up the steps - which means uncomfortable small talk.

There are three basic methods of avoidance: 1. Start running - run past the struggling parent in an 'I'm late for my train' way 2. Pretend to be on the phone - an oldie but a goodie. 3. Give 'em two minutes and hope someone else helps.

It's a bit disappointing to be told that a significant percentage of that generation who were able to make a dozen meals from a single chicken; make do and mend; fix mechanical and electrical devices; add-up without calculators; survive tumultuous and turbulent times - a generation brought-up on common sense, resourcefulness and organisational thrift - now can't manage when Iceland closes.

Scotland's biggest problem is the weather - and unfortunately not even Alex Salmond can cure that. That said, I expect his campaign literature probably promises 28% less rain once the tyrannical yoke of Westminster has been cast off.

Politically, 'losing' Scotland would a major blow (esp for the Cons) - but is Joe Public up and down the rest of the UK that bovvered if Scotland goes or stays? Whilst I'm watching it all with great interest - and a bit of genuine historical one-off hubbub excitement - underneath that it's curiosity value really: like seeing if someone can eat fifty pork pies in thirty minutes without throwing up.

So much comes down the The Head. The last Goodrich head was a duffer and the school lost its way a bit as a result; the current one is great and the place is right back on track. We were offered both and choose Goodrich. It was bigger, more mixed and felt a bit more lively - which we thought would suit ours. Heber seemed a bit more nicey-nicey so perhaps would better suit a parent who wanted a less boisterous environment. Don't think you can go wrong with either though - should you be lucky enough to get the choice!

Fear not, Kolly. With a few simple precautions, this sort of crime won't ever happen to you again. Simply replace your traditional shed with one made from steel and concrete, with steel doors and a multipoint locking system.

worldwiser Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Alarms are a waste of time, no one pays the > slightest attention to them. I have external doors > set in a concrete frame made predominantly from > steel with a multipoint locking system. To a > passer by they look like ordinary doors and cost > not much more. Someone referred to the drop in car > crime by pointing to the evolution of car > security. Why on earth don't people extend that > logic to their homes? I'll live with being > insensitive if people wake up to how totally open > most homes are to even amateur intruders. So what you're saying is that all I need to do is simply replace the silly wooden front door (and frame) and of course the other three sets of external double doors - with steel multipoint locking ones which are instead set into concrete frames. And possibly replace the 15 sash windows (and frames) with an equally secure concrete and steel system - and I'll be laughing? Why oh why didn't someone tell me this before?

No, you are being naive. Not to mention tactless. And - with doors made neither from plastic nor wood - possibly a bit weird.

I confess I was all huffy and sneerish about it for a long while, but have to be honest now and and say that seeing lots of your actual real friends doing it was quite entertaining. And just as (as they say) dogs look like their owners, so too are buckets delivered and received in the manner befitting the personality. Entertainment in the minutiae and all that. Surely 'bucket high tide' has been reached over this last sunny weekend though? I'm already looking forward to the next mildly risible, mostly harmless social media phenomenon. Generally, as many will know of course, charidee employees here in the UK - whether at the top or base or their particular greasy pole - get pay which is comparably crappy compared to comparable positions in the private sector and face a certain amount of snootiness if they try to cross over as well.. so I don't begrudge them anything.

It's the triumph-against-all-odds story of pupil and parents unable to get into lovely fee-paying local school and forced - tragically - to attend lovely non-fee-paying local school - and getting into lovely University nonetheless. A story that will surely resonate with most parents here in South London. Well done to the kidz though. I assume the OP is carrying this chip on their behalf - without them even knowing or asking for it.

I hope Motown Caff? is unaffected by any development. I challenge anyone not to feel the authentic vibes of Motown - whilst purchasing a packet of Wrigleys Extra.

What could be more natural than catching-up with the latest from Gaza (in large print, no more than three lines) - and then feasting your eyes on a massive pair of tits? It's not doing any harm and if you say it is - you're probably a poofter or a lezza. eh lads?! am I right OR AM I RIGHT?!

If you buy a decent amount they'll give you 10% discount, which sweetens the price. It's a high street shop - so it's going to cost more than online obvs, but for all the usual reasons I'm going to support a local shop which sells something I want - even if it does cost a few quid more. They've delivered orders to me at home too.. Though I'm not sure if this is standard practice. If I were them I would consider promoting a discounted bulk order with home delivery. I'd use it for sure.

Leaving aside these conceptually challenging concepts such as 'capital city' and 'rural england' for a moment: Assuming trading-in a house on Dunstans for a rustic idyll was at least as great a swap twenty years ago as it is now - doesn't that mean she herself was an idiot for many years - right up until the point she wised-up and left the shithole? Or has she declared herself the last non-idiot to leave town?

God bless you for that. And I'm off out to meet friends; a new restaurant; followed by outdoor cinema and a bar or two. Obviously I really wish I was staring at the same field as yesterday and leafing through the Radio Times, but there's plenty of time for all that.

Louisa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- They moan and groan, hate their surroundings rather than embrace them... Those people annoy me too. Put up or shut up I say. Sounds great.. When can you start?

You forgot the essential extra bit, Jeremy: the ones in the cities must be fools.

Parkdrive Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- ... shall I continue? Continue comparing chalk to cheese - as if there is some sort of right/wrong better/worse between the two? Not sure I see the point really.

So she thinks of London 'value' in terms of how much bricks, mortar and garden you get for your money? There's her problem right there. No wonder she's happier now.

Parkdrive Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > She just feels that those that dwell in SE22 have > paid well over the odds for what they have, and > what they have isn't very much. How does she know what they have?